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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Live Reactions & Discussion)

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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.

     Original OP text 
I don't know WHAT the Hell happened (I blame shenanigans) but we're going to start from scratch. Post your feels for this awesome show again! Naow!

Edited by Mrph1 on Aug 26th 2024 at 10:24:26 AM

harryhenry It's either real or it's a dream Since: Jan, 2012
It's either real or it's a dream
#204226: Mar 7th 2022 at 9:03:49 PM

Since fanfics have been discussed here before: My god, the Codex Equus page is so big the example subpages are just two letters each. And all of it seems to come from just one troper, Randomfan11. Honestly? Hats off to them, it's incredible how much they've worked to document such a dense and ambitious fic. I just wish it wasn't on DeviantArt, that site's format does not play nicely with text.

Edited by harryhenry on Mar 8th 2022 at 6:05:50 AM

Theriocephalus Amateur Veteran from gimme a map and a moment and I can tell you Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Amateur Veteran
#204227: Mar 8th 2022 at 12:11:21 AM

Oh yeah, wow, it's gotten even bigger than last time I checked it.

Yeah, DA isn't really the best site for text, especially since... recent unfortunate changes.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from The Wiggle Room (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#204228: Mar 8th 2022 at 6:11:44 AM

Deviant art is really the last place I'd store fan fiction, archive of our own exists ffs

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Ferot_Dreadnaught Since: Mar, 2015
#204229: Mar 8th 2022 at 9:17:11 AM

We have a Pony Fanfiction Thread. That might be a more fitting place to discuss such.

YMMV.My Little Pony The Movie 2017

  • Strawman Has a Point: Tempest Shadow's claim that "All this power wasted on parties when there are far greater uses" is meant to be part of her villainous philosophy that gets disproven. However...
    • Tempest's motivation for joining up with the Storm King (getting her broken horn fixed) may point to another "far greater use" for pony power: medical research. If Equestria had put more resources towards that instead of parties, there may have been some meaningful remedy[[note]]Even if one assumes that [[HealingMagicIsTheHardest regeneratove magic would be a no-go]], a prosthetic horn might be worth looking into.[[/note]] available to her younger self. Or for that matter [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E5FlightToTheFinish Scootaloo]], or [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E19TradeYa Stellar Eclipse]], or [[WebAnimation/Snowdrop2013 Snowdrop]], or what have you.[[note]]"You don't need to be not-disabled to be special" is a fine Aesop in and of itself, but for a society which claims to value friendship, passing off [[InspirationallyDisadvantaged feel-good platitudes]] as a substitute for developing actual solutions is [[CrapsaccharineWorld not a very friendly thing to do]].[[/note]]

It confusing Snowdrop as canon makes me question the analysis. My impression was the disabilities thing was too far removed from the (unintentionally valid) argument which was pertaining to their military. And by the disables angle I question if Tempest's actions (betray your nation to conquest/enslavement to get cured by someone with no reason to expect to be willing or able to honor that arrangement) are past the point of unintended validity.

I've seen a bunch of complaints over the Scootaloo/disabilities issue. I don't necessarily disagree but I question if this is an appropriate place for such or if it's shoehorning in wank to something too far removed from the matter to fit. Thoughts?

Edited by Ferot_Dreadnaught on Mar 8th 2022 at 9:18:02 AM

Theriocephalus Amateur Veteran from gimme a map and a moment and I can tell you Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Amateur Veteran
#204230: Mar 8th 2022 at 10:40:56 AM

Well, since you're bringing this up, there's also My Little Pony cleanup thread. That might be a more fitting place to discuss such.

Ferot_Dreadnaught Since: Mar, 2015
#204231: Mar 8th 2022 at 1:06:22 PM

Asked them.

As for this prior inquiry regarding NeverLiveItDown.My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, I'll take them to NLID cleanup soon. Some last questions first.

  • For A Canterlot Wedding and the EG Holiday Special, I'm not sure Ron the Death Eater applies to them abandoning Twilight and Sunset as practically all the fics throwing shade at them over it still have them show as much if not more remorse for their actions afterward so it's bashing but not vilification. Thoughts on that?
  • If they live down or the fandom moves on from the NLID, is it retroactively no longer an example or how long must it have been an example to count?

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#204232: Mar 8th 2022 at 2:21:15 PM

If they live it down, then by definition they cannot be this trope, and there is no question that they have in fact lived it down.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
Afrovenator Since: May, 2021 Relationship Status: LET'S HAVE A ZILLION BABIES
#204233: Mar 8th 2022 at 2:33:43 PM

I'm peeved that we didn't get an episode focused on Cadance. Such a shame that her backstory is pretty empty.

"You see, I had to trap Sonic in the hell dimension cause he disrespected gamers."
Ferot_Dreadnaught Since: Mar, 2015
#204234: Mar 8th 2022 at 6:04:09 PM

[up]Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell gives her that. She was found as a baby pegasus raised in an earth pony village filling them with love, then Prismia stole everyponies love with a McGuffin love until Cadance turned that magic on her which is how she became an alicorn.

Not sure how it holds up but I believe it's more origin story than Celestia and Luna got in the show.

storyyeller More like giant cherries from Appleloosa Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
More like giant cherries
#204235: Mar 12th 2022 at 6:48:59 AM

Post of the Week #3497

Just us being some silly buggers.

Posted by God_of_Awesome - Post #188039 in the new thread

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play
YamiVizziniX Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
#204236: Mar 12th 2022 at 7:50:43 AM

That about sums the thread up.[lol]

There is no beginning. There is no end. There is only... Hooty.
Ultimatum Disasturbator from The Wiggle Room (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#204237: Mar 12th 2022 at 8:32:19 AM

silly fillies the lot of you!

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Demetrios Lucky Seven from Des Plaines, Illinois (unfortunately) Since: Oct, 2009 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
DoctorWTF Since: Jul, 2020
#204239: Mar 12th 2022 at 11:50:00 AM

Edit: Moved post to MLP cleanup thread.

Edited by DoctorWTF on Mar 12th 2022 at 11:57:12 AM

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#204240: Mar 12th 2022 at 12:00:08 PM

The question of if and how that horn could be repaired or treated is never answered either, or even brought up again. Really, the whole idea of broken horns is clearly a question the show does not want to go into outside the movie (which is exceptional territory by dint of being a movie).

Interestingly, we have seen broken and even amputated wings.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
Afrovenator Since: May, 2021 Relationship Status: LET'S HAVE A ZILLION BABIES
#204241: Mar 12th 2022 at 5:02:48 PM

So I was rewatching Hearts and Hooves Day and I noticed that the princess (who appears to be an Alicorn) on the book the CMC read looked eerily similar to Cadance as a teenager.

"You see, I had to trap Sonic in the hell dimension cause he disrespected gamers."
DoctorWTF Since: Jul, 2020
#204242: Mar 12th 2022 at 7:13:37 PM

[up][up] For what it's worth, the hospital flashback scenes of "Honest Apple" include a brief shot of an unnamed background pony with half his horn missing, though he was never again seen or mentioned.

Also, Tempest's raw magic blasts (plus the fact that she had regained her telekinesis in her subsequent comic appearances) suggest that a unicorn's horn does not actually generate magic, but simply channels it like a radio antenna. Which would mean that prosthetic horns (such as what you sometimes see in Tempest fan art) may be feasible. Though Tempest's backstory heavily implies that she was more focused on being normal for the sake of being normal than doing anything magic-related with her life — in which case a prosthesis would not have been a satisfactory solution for her, even if it were functionally fit for a princess (though the "Tempest's Tale" comic has her set to go to Celestia's school with her friends before the Ursa Minor incident).

Blueace Surrounded by weirdoes from The End Of the World Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Surrounded by weirdoes
#204243: Mar 12th 2022 at 7:21:16 PM

Sometimes, after that kinda events, you just want for things to go back to how it was before, so she probably would have reacted badly to the idea of a prosthetic.

Wake me up at your own risk.
DoctorWTF Since: Jul, 2020
#204244: Mar 12th 2022 at 7:48:01 PM

[up] Particularly considering that her friends had allegedly abandoned her over her busted horn, which may have done more to make her feel not-whole than losing the ability to cast spells normally. Though if it were available to her right after she lost the horn she was born with, she might have been a bit more receptive.

Ferot_Dreadnaught Since: Mar, 2015
#204245: Mar 13th 2022 at 12:45:05 PM

[up][up][up][up][up]Where have we seen amputated wings in G4? (The closest I recall was temporary magical removal which didn't get the depth Tempest got.)

[up]My impression from the comics was Tempest regaining what magic control she did was due to reopening herself to friendship enabling her to get the help she needed to train and get over her emotional issues that were holding her back (there's lots of evidence pony magic is tied to their psychological state). See this from Red Vs Blue:

You were broken by war. It was his goal to see you never healed...because despite what he may claim, only one of you needs the other to survive.
Replace "war" with "an Ursa Minor" and "survive" with "get what you truly want" and that sums up Tempest and the Storm Kings relationship. It thematically fits that Tempest rejecting friendship caused the conflict and accepting it fixed/improved things for her.

I agree that the lack of in and out of universe though/effort into the settings medical science was an issue that could have prevented Tempests fall or make it work better, and worth mentioning. But any world building regarding medical science would still leave Tempest's injury beyond its ability to treat as that's the point of her story. (If such recovery was established as impossible even with powerful magic would she have been less inclined to join the Storm King in desperation for treatment? Or just change her motives to revenge for being shunned?)

The reason Tempest turned to villainy over her disability was There Are No Therapists (Luna is the closest thing, and she was still NMM at the time), so she never got the help that was available to help with her issues (including wrongly assuming she was being shunned over it).

GlitterCat Since: Mar, 2018 Relationship Status: The Skitty to my Wailord
#204246: Mar 13th 2022 at 2:57:45 PM

Rainbow dash in the bad future where Sombra was never defeated had a prosthetic wing. Season 5 finale.

see my completed Tangled (Varian) fanfic collection! https://archiveofourown.org/works/24467056/chapters/59049532
Ferot_Dreadnaught Since: Mar, 2015
#204247: Mar 13th 2022 at 4:39:39 PM

[up]Good point. But it's shown that wings alone are not enough for a pegasus to fly without magic so maybe:

  • It might be easier than prosthetic horns as they don't/less need to channel or do complex magic. Wings are complex but could be emulated with real life mechanical articulation, horns must be more complex as they produce more complex magic and there's not even a theoretical basis for emulating them in or out of universe.
  • Prosthetic wings were never considered for Scootaloo as her small wing were more a symptom of her disability which is the inability to generate magic lift.

This is another consequence of the show's lack of detailed thought into the magic system.

DoctorWTF Since: Jul, 2020
#204248: Mar 14th 2022 at 3:39:06 PM

[up] Well, there's also the matter that until "Growing Up is Hard to Do" showed her adult form, Scootaloo's wings weren't visibly that much smaller than those of other pegasi her age. As an adult, she could theoretically wear normal-size prosthetic wings over top of her foal-size wings. At her present age, that would probably require cutting off her existing wings — probably not a very attractive idea.

And then there's Bulk Biceps - yes, he can fly, but: A. He's never seen flying all that well (even in Wonderbolts Academy, he struggled to take off). B. He was never seen as a foal — for all anyone knows, he was in a similar predicament to Scootaloo growing up, requiring extensive strength training just to get to what we saw in "Rainbow Falls" (I've speculated that that's where his love of lifting originated.) So it's equally plausible that tiny wings are a handicap, simply one that's treatable to a limited extent.

Failing that, Scootaloo could always get herself a hang glider, or a version of Tank's Magitek propeller (tortoises don't have any flight magic, but he does all right). That there was never the briefest mention of that option is just a teensy bit harder to justify.

Edited by DoctorWTF on Mar 14th 2022 at 4:48:26 AM

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#204249: Mar 15th 2022 at 12:44:44 AM

Considering that Bulk Biceps is a walking steroids joke, I don't think he is all that representative.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
Snicka Since: Jun, 2011

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