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
Possible alternative interpretation to Flash's expression: he's not angry, he's suspicious. What manipulative bullshit is Sunset up to this time?
FE: New Mystery Only Feet 7PM PT Sun, Mon, Fri; Umamusume Haru Arima 7PM PT Wed, Thurs: http://www.twitch.tv/kuroitsubasatenshi@Sereg: I'm not disputing that he did a nice thing for her, but the problem is that there's no reason that any other character couldn't have served that same role of being Twilight's "first contact". It could've just as easily been Dr. Whooves, or Derpy, or Lyra, or Bon Bon, or Cheerilee, or just about any other pony and it would've made that same point.
The only event in the story where I think that you couldn't replace Flash with somepony else is the bit where he dances with her at the end; it wouldn't have had as much impact if it were the characters who helped her win the prom in the first place. You could bring up the argument surrounding the picture and how the rest of the cast don't have his backstory of being SS's ex, but honestly that's only mentioned off-hand and doesn't really influence the plot at all.
And if time budgeting was a problem, I think there are plenty of other things that could've been shortened or modified. Like trimming down the whole sequence of her having to convince her friends to get back together.
edited 2nd Apr '14 1:13:42 PM by JapaneseTeeth
Reaction Image RepositoryWhy should NEED to see "there is some good in this world" or whatever? She saw nothing wrong with it, nothing to make her think otherwise. The ONLY thing she knows about it is Sunset is here. Which is a problem that came from her world. He didn't help her with being overwhelmed, didn't do anything beyond simply help her up after she fell, then walked off. And her response to that the was so ridiculously out of proportion and just made no sense, why suddenly be all blushing and "OMG a cute guy is being nice to me."?
This also fits.
No. The impact is massively reduced if it's somepony that she already knows. The same applies to the photo scene.
As I said, his newness is important for the impact.
Fair enough. This is a decent point.
EDIT:
Makes it more personal to her.
And this puts a face on the world that Sunset has infiltrated. Previously, Twilight had no intention of protecting this world from Sunset. Her crown was the thing she was concerned about.
And this was enough. Be acknowledged is a powerful thing. More people should realise this.
Firstly, she has a human body and therefore human hormones (that she isn't used to) now. Secondly, she was surprised. That lowers your defences to such things and people do tend to go for those who treat them better than they expect. Thirdly, I've mentioned the acknowledgement. Fifthly, he's an outsider who's treating her well (yes, this can be logiced away, but first impressions happen before logic). Sixthly, he's the first that helped her when she was overwhelmed. That attracts romanticism. Seventhly, crushes do stuff like that. I remember what mine could be like.
edited 2nd Apr '14 1:29:42 PM by Sereg
edited 2nd Apr '14 1:24:05 PM by Crowfall
This is the internet. There is no escape.
But you could have used an endless parade of five-year-old Sweetie Belles
as a distraction.
I edited in a bunch of responses.
@Crowfall: I admit that the time issue would be the bigger reason. As for the rest, I'll have to disagree with you.
EDIT: look. I didn't want to talk about how awful Flash is in the first place. I started this because I was tired of seeing people discuss how awful Flash is.
It's not quite as bad as Sayaka-bashing, but it sometimes reminds me of it. (For a while, I actually left the PMMM fandom, despite it being my favourite sho ever, becase I was tired of hearing how awful Sayaka is)
edited 2nd Apr '14 1:34:46 PM by Sereg
I would have ditched the Trixie sequence first. Then again, it's already pretty short as movies go.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayI'll stop this!
Who ships Sweetie x Spike?!
edited 2nd Apr '14 1:36:41 PM by KingKix
Dakota's blog An odd agent of justiceGiven that this thread spends most of its time talking about Pokemon or delving into sockpuppet roleplay dating shenanigans, I'm finding an actual on topic discussion refreshing. Though I think I've covered just about everything I have to say about the guy at this point, so if people want to change the topic that's fine.
@Sereg: Well shit, that backfired, didn't it?
@Kix: Not me. I think it feels too weird, like he just transposed his affection for Rarity onto her younger sister.
edited 2nd Apr '14 1:37:51 PM by Crowfall
@Sereg: I don't dislike him. If anything, I think he had a lot of potential. My only gripe is that he didn't get enough screentime to be nearly as interesting as he could have been.
Reaction Image RepositoryI don't. Then again, I ship completely differently from everyone else, as you've seen.
I think it's best summarised as a response to JT. I don't care one iota, how interesting the ship is. I care about how happy the characters would be together. (Crack ships are an exception.)
EDIT:
You're telling me! This is why I suck at social-fu!
Still, I'm calmer now, so I can discuss without feeling victimised.
@JT: That I'll give you. I simply think that the same would apply to most characters in the show if we'd only seen that much of them.
I mean, I actively disliked Rarity until Suited for Success (I am prejudiced against attractive people, wealthy people, makeup and clothes)
edited 2nd Apr '14 1:43:45 PM by Sereg
Yeah, I'm just saying that most people don't pick their ships based on that logic. And the two aren't mutually exclusive either; there's nothing stopping someone from writing a Twidash story where they do make each other happy.
Spike/Sweetie Belle is okay as ships go, I guess, though you'd have to be careful to avoid the obvious subject of "Rarity turned him down, so he's settling for Sweetie Belle."
edited 2nd Apr '14 1:41:05 PM by JapaneseTeeth
Reaction Image RepositoryAre you mad?! That's "Flash Light" FOR KIDS!
![]()
Yeah, that wasn't what I was going for.
edited 2nd Apr '14 1:47:17 PM by KingKix
Dakota's blog An odd agent of justiceYeah I just plain don't like flash and think the movie would have been better without him. The scenes with him it all just made me cringe at how cliched and idiotic they were, plus the whole stupid romance stuff. yeah the show proves time and time again, romance turns you into a moron.
And the "But she has human hormones" thing, doesn't really pull weight when a large part of the movie, has her constantly acting like a pony still.
Oh God Shipping wars. I want to say that while I would like to ship Flash Light in my Next Generation fic I might one day actually write, I am completely aware that I am making up the entire personality of the latter. Ironically some of the things that make him the idealized boyfriend would actually be interesting if he had a character. Why is he both interested in rock music and being a guard? How does that translate to Equestria where Rock, if it exists is widely different? Those are questions fan fic writers can answer but the movie sure as hell didn't. I take Flash Light as a ship that pairs Twilight with a background pony that happens to have a few lines, because that's what it essentially is.
The Crystal Caverns A bird's gotta sing.

As you said, he's unobservant. Combine that with how quickly he responds to Twilight and it paints the picture of someone who is very idealistic, naive and overly trusting (and yes, he acts on this in his behaviour towards Twilight and previously Sunset)
She was completely overwhelmed at first. He was the first to help her and show her that this place might not be so bad and scary.
Look at his expression. He's angry (and thoughtful). This is not about being generally helpful. This is because he can't stand the idea that she's being framed.
It would've been nice, but the fact that he refuses to interact with Sunset is telling in itself. Also, again, time budgets.
This is the point. It's to show her that there is good in this world beyond the familiar.
Again. Look at his expression.
Context matters. He' the first friendly interaction she has and brought her out of a state of bewilderment.