A thread to discuss My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the tie-in media.
All of the usual forum rules
apply. In addition, please remember that the thread is discussing a kids' show, and it's primarily focused on the work itself, not the fanfic — in particular, we don't want to see lewdness creeping in.
Edited by Mrph1 on Aug 26th 2024 at 10:24:26 AM
Well I'm pretty sure the Saddle Arabians are horses but he might not have personally met one.
http://h0useb0und.tumblr.com/Wow...I consider myself to be a pretty hard-core feminist and even I think that's going overboard. If that comment is real and not a parody, of course.
I mean, yes, it involves a female character trying to change herself to attract a male, but it's a complete reversal of the usual way that scenario plays out. If it was the typical scenario, it would be Applejack trying to act like Rarity, but instead it's the other way around, so it's a classic girly girl character trying to imitate a tomboy. Plus, I would be surprised if the show DIDN'T go for a "don't try to change yourself to attract a mate" kind of moral so it's not like it would be likely for it to have a message of "girls need to be whatever their man wants them to be" or something like that.
Even before Magic Duel, they used them a lot in idioms. "Hold your horses", "I'm as hungry as a horse", etc.")
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayI'm scared of this episode. I'd be fine for me if the show ignored romance like it announced it would, but it keeps dwelling on the negative side of things(Blueblood, love potion, etc), that I feel it goes for "Romance is Ew" instead.(No, I'm not claiming that's the case, but these are the vibes it gives me). Unless a forced one is demanded into the episode(Shining Armor/Cadance, Flash Sentry) in which case it's underdeveloped, unfocused, and kept away from a 10-foot distance.
And this consistent trend is what I feel will resurface once more in the upcoming episode, and I'll have to take out even more garbage thrown at my romantic ways by this show again.
Well I don't really agree, but for what it's worth, pretty much every other fictional work ever has romance. I'm often annoyed by how Hollywood feels the need to add romance to everything.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayYeah, I'm with Story on this one. In general media tends to emphasize romance a lot (look at all the mainstream films that are out and count how many of them have romantic subplots of some sort), so it's nice to see something that treats it as something that isn't the end-all be-all of life. Not to mention that the show hardly portrays it as universally negative; SA and Cadance's romance is never depicted as anything but positive.
Besides, the show itself has only approached romance as the subject matter of an episode all of twice, in "Best Night Ever" and "Hearts and Hooves Day"; those were less "romance is ew" and more "romance isn't worth the trouble if you aren't going to do it right", which is completely accurate. More specifically, BNE was basically "make sure the person you're pursuing isn't an ass", and "Hearts and Hooves Day" makes it almost a purely aesthetic thing; the closest it comes to commenting on actual romance is "don't try to force people to fall in love".
edited 6th Feb '14 8:36:30 PM by japaneseteeth
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The show's spoken stance on romance is that it's avoided to present how a story with female main characters can be much more, that there are other possibilities. That's fine with me.
And then it starts repeatedly kicking romance in the teeth for added measure of... I don't know what. Or dragging it in bound and gagged(no, not in that way) to sit in the corner and be occasionally glanced at.
More like never depicted as anything at all. It dwells on the negative so much you can feel someone's contempt behind this, but when it's time for positive - you can't see anything with a sniper sight. I wish it just ignored the matter instead of this.
edited 6th Feb '14 8:36:12 PM by Luminosity
What about Shining Armor and Cadence? Isn't that a pretty positive portrayal of romance?
http://h0useb0und.tumblr.com/![]()
Dude, saying the show "kicks romance in the teeth" is massively overstating it. The subject has showed up like, maybe twice in the show. And neither of those times were really "anti-romance".
edited 6th Feb '14 8:38:57 PM by japaneseteeth
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Yup. Wonder how long she's had that shrine for.
@Lum: That doesn't explain anything. I asked why it's teeth kicking, and all you said was "well, it is".
Here are all the examples of romance in the show I can think of, and whether they'll negative or positive:
- Best Night Ever: Negative, because Blueblood is a tool (and even that was less "romance is bad" and more "romance is bad when the guy is a tool)
- Hearts and Hooves Day: Neutral. Romance itself isn't shown as being anything bad; the CMC were wrong for basically drugging Cheerilee and Mac into falling in love.
- Canterlot Wedding: Positive. SA and Cadance's relationship is explicitly shown as the thing that allows them to defeat Chrysalis when all else fails.
So the subject is shown in several different lights, some of which are positive, some of which aren't. At the absolute worst the show seems to say "romance isn't necessary", which is completely true. It never says "romance is bad" only that it can be bad when not approached properly. To use "Best Night Ever" as an example, Rarity is never portrayed as being wrong for wanting to find a stallion, she's portrayed as being wrong because she chooses her target based entirely on his status rather than on what kind of person he is.
edited 6th Feb '14 8:48:13 PM by japaneseteeth
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Two negatives, and one... one.
I pretty much agree that neither of the negatives directly state or imply that the concept itself is bad, but the only opportunity of positive shows... nothing. We don't know how it happened, what they find in each other, or, umm, anything. This "positive" example was more fake than the actual fake one with Cheerlie and Mac.
2 negatives and 1 nothing. Isn't this a viable reason to expect a 3rd negative?
Positive: The Cakes. They have a long-standing relationship where they seem to have no problems and even have kids.
If anything, I'd say it says the opposite about romance. That is, that it's a serious thing that deserves real attention and the impulsive cases where it's treated negatively are an example of how not to do it, because it disrespects romance.
FE: New Mystery Only Feet 7PM PT Sun, Mon, Fri; Umamusume Haru Arima 7PM PT Wed, Thurs: http://www.twitch.tv/kuroitsubasatenshiIf neither of the negatives directly state or imply that the concept is bad, exactly why are they negatives? Honestly "Hearts and Hooves Day" shouldn't even count, because no romance actually happened.
Also, I forgot this before, but "A Friend and Deed" is pretty much a straight example of romance being shown in a positive light; Cranky is miserable until he's reunited with his lost love, at which point he's finally able to be happy. It's pretty unambiguously shown as a good thing.
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You know, someone actually died from using a carrot for that purpose. Talk about playboy bunnies.
"A Friend In Deed". Hmm, good point.
edited 6th Feb '14 8:52:45 PM by Luminosity

You know that they do talk about horses in the show, right? Of course, I suppose it could be a fossilized word in idioms that the average pony no longer understands.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play