A thread to discuss My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the tie-in media.
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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
I really didn't get the impression Celestia was going to see Alt!Luna as much as she was Alt!Sombra. Unless I missed something/ that was explained in the 4th issue. (I dropped it around the 3rd one.)
But, I really don't want to argue it further because I've made my stance on this arc pretty clear. I just want to enjoy the awesome medley Dark posted, and demand someone make a PMV out of it.
"I feel like I'm on a raft and surrounding me is an ocean of dumb."- Mr. SarkThe initial using him for comfort after losing Luna, makes sense. Though it's never actually explained.
The instant "he's so dreamy" crush she got on him the moment she saw him also tempers that idea with "Nope, just regular romance turns you stupid." As does her doing it AGAIN hundreds of years later after she's older, doesn't have the excuse of Luna being gone, and knowing the dangers. That, was just plain stupid.
They hint at it near the end of the third one, and say it explicitly at the beginning of the fourth. After Luna's banishment, the alt dimension was her escape from her grief. And after getting chewed out by Starswirl for it, Alt Sombra and Luna were pretty much the only friends she had for a while. Canon Luna has some pretty hilarious choice words about getting temporarily replaced by herself.
You say that like they're mutually exclusive or something. Secret extradimensional affairs don't really preclude also being an emotional train wreck after doing what she did at almost exactly the same time.
edited 26th Jul '14 6:34:42 PM by Pykrete
It explains the past, not her doing something stupid just for the sake of setting the plot in motion in the present.
It's never really said about how often or recently she went. It's very possible this was the first time she had visited in a while. Remember, Luna's return was very recent on a Celestia scale, and so was Alt Luna's corruption — it's likely this was the first time she even had to deal with more than one evil Alt Princess, hence spilling half-dead out of the mirror.
edited 26th Jul '14 6:44:38 PM by Pykrete
Except none of the issues with going back had to do with alt! anyone, but with how her crossing over so much was screwing over both universes. "Oh, it's been a few centuries since I saw that hunk of a stallion i turned into a total braindead school filly for the instant I saw his oh so dreamy face. I know going to see him would lead to our universes both getting screwed, but damnit I'm horny."
Tia acts like this was some deep, true love.. when all we saw was her acting like a moron over how hot Alt!Sombra was from the moment she saw him, (Which was infuriatingly annoying enough.) and nothing showing it ever got past that other then her saying how much she loved him.
Yeah the show, and anything connects to it, just need to stop dealing in any way with romance of any kind... it only ends up turning characters into morons.
Oh hey, this conversation again.
Whatever. I'm making buttermilk pancakes with white chocolate chips, and also super delicious crispy chicken for lunches this week. Nothing gon' keep me down.
While it's not a solution, Celestia never actually directly interacts with Sombra past that initial bit, so we don't really know how they were together. We see a few snippets of their romance, which seems very caring and sweet, but not enough to form an actual opinion.
Which is a flaw in storytelling, but I never got the impression she was dumb-struck. You may be thinking of Rarity and Fluttershy...
Anyways, Shining and Cadence. All I have to say about the last point. This show can do Romance right, whether or not it's a good decision.
edited 26th Jul '14 6:55:20 PM by kegisak
Birthright: an original web novel about Dragons, the Burdens of Leadership, and Mangoes.Well yeah. Emotional anchors are powerful stuff. It's one of those things that's difficult to avoid when writing people instead of paper dolls, because people tend to, you know, have those. And in the long run, it wound up biting both of them in the arse a lot harder than I expected the writers would be allowed to get away with.
As a romance, yeah it's pretty mediocre. That's kind of to be expected in a short comic arc in a series that prefers silliness and sight gags whenever the opportunity arises. Believable romance is the kind of thing that's borderline impossible to do in such small bites under those priorities.
edited 26th Jul '14 7:10:59 PM by Pykrete
What kind of recipe are you looking for? Some big, the-dish-is-the-meal type deal? Or a main dish, side dishes type thing?
Birthright: an original web novel about Dragons, the Burdens of Leadership, and Mangoes.Either would do. Though the former might be faster to cook, depending on what the recipe requires. Last Sunday was steak with mushroom cream sauce and homemade mashed potatoes. So I'd probably avoid something like that, for varieties sake.
"I feel like I'm on a raft and surrounding me is an ocean of dumb."- Mr. SarkHmm... well, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cat-cora/crispy-baked-fried-chicken-recipe.html
this]] is the chicken recipe I mentioned before, and it's super good. If your family likes sweetness you can use frosted flakes in place of cornflakes. Chicken goes well with green veggies and salad, as well as noodles, though I usually go with a cream sauce there so if you're looking for variety...
I also know a beef-and-potato casserole recipe that's really simple. Basically just brown the beef and thinly slice the potatoes, then but the beef in a pan and layer the potatoes on top of it, then stick that in the oven for about an 40 minutes to an hour, depending on how crispy you want the potatoes. For added flavour you can layer cheese on the top or add a sauce to the beef. tomato sauce, maybe.
Birthright: an original web novel about Dragons, the Burdens of Leadership, and Mangoes.I'm not sure I'd call them romance. They're kind of just there with pre-made couple status as a plot device. The comic arc was entirely about getting them in speaking distance and stopped short of anything romancey happening between them.
There's nothing wrong with that, of course. It worked for what it was, and their characters aren't solely defined by it. I just wouldn't call it romance.
edited 26th Jul '14 7:23:41 PM by Pykrete
Checking back in, briefly.
My quick thoughts on the comics:
SA and Cadance: I enjoyed it; it gave SA and Cadance some further characterization that actually turns them into something more than archetypes, and it shows that Cadance and Twilight really do have a good dynamic. My only real critique of it is the fact that it goes with the "love at first sight" cliche rather than developing the relationship. The highschool flavor of it is something I'm ambivalent on; it's up to personal preference whether it's an issue.
Reflections: Two main issues with this one (that aren't about Celestia's characterization. First, the romance itself isn't interesting enough to justify spending so much time on it. Second, the resolution wasn't very satisfying. Without spoiling it, I think it doesn't make much sense in light of the established theme of the mirror universe, and it didn't really follow logically from what we knew about the situation. That said, the arc is still entertaining, and the art is really good. It's more a matter of "This is okay, but it could've been amazing if it had been handled better" than of "This is crap."
Reaction Image Repository@Kegi: That chicken recipe sounds pretty good. My family are a bunch of picky eaters, so pleasing everyone is a task. Chicken tends to go over well, so I'll bookmark that one and one I have for salmon and carrots, and run it by everyone tomorrow. Thanks!
edited 26th Jul '14 7:28:33 PM by PrincessGwenevere
"I feel like I'm on a raft and surrounding me is an ocean of dumb."- Mr. Sark@Kegisak: I recently discovered a chicken recipe that uses potato chips as the breading. It's probably even less healthy than regular fried chicken, but it's really good.
Reaction Image RepositoryYeah everything about Cadance and Shining was great in that arc. my issues are all with the setting being horrendously out of place and nothing about it feeling like it should exist in Equestria. To the point that it really felt like it would make more sense to just replace the ponies with humans without changing anything major and it would work better. The whole teenage 80's high school movie crap just... no just no.
The Mirror verse, yeah my biggest issue is they tried to do to much, and most of them were great ideas that would work great, but becuase they tried to do ALL of it at once, none of it got done well.
The show can do characters that are in a relationship if they start in one, like Cadance/SA and the Cakes. But anytime they try to put anypony that wasn't in a relationship from the start into one... they have to turn them into a blithering moron to do so.
Yes even Tia, while it does seem there might have been more that we never actually saw develop, she still turned into a babbling moron the moment she saw how hot and dreamy Alt!Sombra was. And sadly, it was still the best done romance so far.
In happier news, gave the scooter and oil change.. and holy fuck is that an improvement in how it runs.
edited 26th Jul '14 7:34:02 PM by Seraphem
You know what would be great? An episode of FIM with this premise.
https://derpibooru.org/219375?scope=scpe5943670823750280383f874dc39e7db1259cf4d8

All it really means is the Princesses are younger than we usually assume. It wasn't just romance making Celestia stupid — it was inexperience and all the baggage that came with banishing Luna right about that time (she was breaching the mirror almost as much to see alternate Luna as Sombra). Also, the realization that Luna's banishment may well constitute a majority of her life thus far. Don't you just love kids' stories?
Keep in mind, the cartoon doesn't really show much of Celestia outside of an official or mentor capacity, while the comics primarily show her outside that and in more personal moments. I personally like the dichotomy; the tiny mischievous moments in the cartoon wind up being just the tip of an adventurous, catty, and slightly vindictive streak that she consciously tempers in public.
For those who've been following it, Through the Well of Pirene just concluded. As usual, I have mixed feelings about seeing a good story end.
edited 26th Jul '14 6:46:22 PM by Pykrete