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
^^ E'erypony's Applesexual.
Slightly relevant.
Also just reposting because it went up late last night.
edited 22nd Jun '14 9:43:19 AM by Wryte
Honestly, I find the romance thing in the comic arc more annoying than the one in EQG. The Flash/Twilight thing was merely bland. Not particularly interesting or notable, but it wasn't OOC or contradictory of anything we've seen; it's entirely plausible for Twilight to get a crush or to be friendly to a guy. The comic one, on the other hand, ends up making Celestia act OOC for the romance to function; she's normally a self-sacrificing monarch who might not always make the right decisions, but always does what she thinks is best for Equestria. The comic arc brushes that aside and has her knowingly destabilize multiple dimensions because of the romance.
Context for those who haven't read the comic arc: In the past, Celestia and Star Swirl used a magic mirror to visit other dimensions to search for new magic and technology. In one of these alternate dimensions, she met and fell in love with a good version of Sombra, and used the mirror to visit him. Then Star Swirl discovered that overusing the mirror to go to the same dimension too many times could destabilize the dimensions, so he bars her from using the mirror to see Sombra. The problem is that she continues to sneak through the mirror behind Star Swirl's back. When he finds out, he destroys the mirror so she won't cause any more damage. Which is more problematic, but it can be chalked up to her immaturity, as it takes place back around the time of Luna's banishment. The real problem is that the comic arc itself is kicked off by Celestia rebuilding the mirror (Which she's apparently been working on ever since then) and going off to visit Sombra again. So basically, she risks blowing up the universe because she can't let go of the guy she likes.
And it's doubly aggravating because there was so much potential in the whole "evil versions of the canon characters" premise, and we barely get to see any of it because the romance dominates the story.
Anyway: on the off chance that Lemster pokes his head back in, I have to add my two cents:
The main thing I like about the show is the characterization; it takes character archetypes that would be very flat and boring in most shows and gives them a lot of depth. E.g. Rarity is the prissy, girly, fashionista pony. But rather than just leaving her at "the girly one", the show puts a twist on it by making her a fashion designer who owns her own business. Rainbow Dash is another example; she's the "jock" character, but her characterization goes beyond that and delves into her self-esteem issues and looks at why she's so dead set on becoming an elite flyer.
edited 22nd Jun '14 10:14:42 AM by JapaneseTeeth
Reaction Image RepositoryTeeth: I agree to an extent. I'm perfectly okay with her doing it in her youth because she was... well, young, foolish and smitten, the first two of which she practically admits outright to Luna. The part that bugs me is that even after she gets older and wiser, she keeps doing it.
FE: New Mystery Only Feet 7PM PT Sun, Mon, Fri; Umamusume Haru Arima 7PM PT Wed, Thurs: http://www.twitch.tv/kuroitsubasatenshi@Kuroi: Exactly. If they would've explored the whole "I was young and stupid, but now I know better" aspect of it, it wouldn't have been too bad. But the fact that she keeps doing it just makes it seem like she hasn't matured at all in the past millennium.
Reaction Image RepositoryHow much of what is on the covers is ever IN the comics? We see a quick picture of them on a wanted poster but that's it. And I'm fine with that just, yeah her still being that in love and that stupid is annoying, mostly because, there's no reason. If they actually built up the romance, showed them forging a connection that would be something. But it basically just comes of as "Oh he's so dreamy" and next thing you know she can't live without him.
But still makes more sense then EQG's failure of a romance plot.
Um, how, exactly? Flash/Twilight is a really bland and unnecessary pairing, but it doesn't derail Twilight's established characterization to make it work. And there really isn't even any romance beyond Twilight occasionally blushing.
edited 22nd Jun '14 10:52:38 AM by JapaneseTeeth
Reaction Image RepositoryDark: They take a total backseat. They show up on a wanted poster and then one of those tiny side-story sections of the comic that sometimes appear after the main section has played out.
FE: New Mystery Only Feet 7PM PT Sun, Mon, Fri; Umamusume Haru Arima 7PM PT Wed, Thurs: http://www.twitch.tv/kuroitsubasatenshiSo, given how much potential the new arc wasted, what kind of personality's would you have given each of the Evil Mane 6 {And Spike too}? I'd probably make Fluttershy a Dirty Coward, a huge Jerkass and probably an abusive animal trainer too {Though in a cartoony way}, Evil RD would be an Expy of Scourge from the Sonic Archie Comics {Since Scourge is Sonic's evil AU self, and RD already borrows some traits from Sonic} but with enough of her own personality. She'd also be a Reliable Traitor who has Chronic Backstabbing Disorder in contrast to RD's Undying Loyalty. Not sure what I'd do with the rest, other then making Evil Rarity greedy and having her "Generous" moments be entirely for her own benefit.
Because Celestia falling in love with him at least makes sense. If her actions after don't. Twilight, suddenly having any kind of feeling for some random creature she's never seen before and just met.... makes no sense at all. Both come down to "he's so dreamy" but at least one, the character has a frame of reference to know this.
edited 22nd Jun '14 11:15:18 AM by Seraphem
Twilight's a student of dark magic, using the powers of enslaving ponies to her will. She's snarky and has a dark sense of humour, but is otherwise only interested in gaining power and knowledge.
Spike is a dragon baby she found in the wild and trained him to be vicious and greedy, bonded to her will by feeding him dark crystals.
Applejack is a scheming seedy seller that targets ponies with nothing to lose in bad situations so she can get them to sign away their most valued possessions and keeps them in debts and deals they can never repay. And is a dirty lier to the teeth, while acting nice. Gives a new meaning to the name Applejack.
And Pinkie is a Laughing Mad Chaotic Evil trickster that makes ponies miserable by spying on them and provoking their worst fears and anxiety, while being cheerful as ever deriving joy from others suffering.

Everypony's apples for Applejack.
They'd like to get bucked by her apples...