Thrond

11 minutes ago, Mirage said:

You're walking a mental tightwire here because I'm afraid many would disagree with you. Those who are sympathetic to socialism will obviously object to Starlight's actions because she is portrayed as the antagonist. We naturally reject the antagonist, even if it aspires to some of our own beliefs. We'll say to ourselves, 'oh, well, I'd never do it like that'...

 Remember, Fluttershy didn't think there was anything going wrong. Antagonist aside, there was something compelling about a peaceful village where everyone was nice and happy. 

 However, the fact of the matter is that Socialism isn't realized at all unless there is conformity. That is it's philosophical identity!

Okay nope this is my limit. I am not arguing over the definition of socialism. I think a lot of socialists would be very surprised to hear you claim they believe in oppression or conformity. 

Though I seriously wonder what the OP's point about anti-communism was if they're using Starlight as an example. 

Is Flash Sentry a Nice Guy™?

I do not like this song. That auto-tune is really annoying, the rap is wack, and this kinda just seems like a lame lyrical theme. And for a song that is more or less about how cool the girls is, it sure is a lot about him. Get out of the way, Flash. 

Toaster monster is kinda funny but I am completely burnt out on the superheroics half of this series. Most of the time it just feels bland to me; here they just sort of shoot lazers at the thing until it dies. I mean this is just a music video, but surely it could be flashier. 

This is on YouTube now. 

Hello!

The My Little Pony wiki has a very helpful list of all animated Equestria Girls content here. The YouTube channel also has playlists for both seasons here and here. Last time I checked, the chose-your-ending shorts were broken on YouTube, but you can find all of the endings on the wiki. 

13 minutes ago, Mirage said:

What made it dangerous?

I'll admit that it probably didn't have much potential to present an existential threat to Equestria, but it was clearly bad for the ponies suckered in by it. 

15 minutes ago, Mirage said:

Listen, don't even try to gloss over the fact that Starlight's philosophy was obviously socialist. Equal outcome, equal 'happiness', equal cutie marks, equal strength, equal everything.

There are many forms of socialism, and the core of socialist ideologies is not necessarily authoritarianism and conformity. I do not like Soviet-style communism, but I am not interested in arguing over which political ideology is better. Sure, Starlight's ideology was a sort of socialism, but it was an extreme fringe version.

2 hours ago, saum22 said:

Then you have to realize that major government institutions having racist leaders is somehow not detestable by Celestia (The friendship board and shit), which implies Celestia is either racist or supports racist (or simply just doesn't care) politicians because they further the idea that Equestria is greater than their rivals (Changeling kingdom, etc).

The implication of that is pretty clearly that Celestia does not have absolute power. We know that she would not want to put someone like him in charge, so she must not be able to do so - a fact supported by Celestia supporting Twilight but not directly overriding Neighsay. The Equestrian system of government is not explored in sufficient detail for us to make inferences from the show. 

2 hours ago, saum22 said:

The economy is somewhat privatized and somewhat collectivize (not in the areas which would help the working class, however (Applejack's livelihood being threatened by the Flim Flam brothers is an example), which is something found in fascist states. Most of the show revolves around friendship and harmony, which is mostly populist rhetoric as not much change comes in the system.

These are also found in socialist regimes and liberal democracies. The economic system of Equestria is also not very clear, but I think the traits you notice are vague enough to mean anything.

Applejack had supply problems. She needed far more than protection from competition. 

2 hours ago, saum22 said:

Celestia herself is a strongman, an incompetent one at that (Always having twilight do her work of protecting the kingdom, or rather empire, but without twilight has to use the elements of harmony to keep invaders out) who has a cult dedicated to her due to her strong magical ability being affiliated with godliness.

I doubt she encouraged that cult. She may or may not be an absolute monarch - it's not clear. It does seem there is certainly beholden to some sort of political elite, or she wouldn't even bother attending the Grand Galloping Gala. It's also worth remembering that Celestia has almost exclusively used force against threats to national security; her government is always presented as highly benevolent towards its citizens. It does bother me that we have no evidence of a democratic system in Canterlot, though...

2 hours ago, saum22 said:

Now, you may be arguing that the show doesn't show most of what I'm saying because there are three ethnicicties (Pegasus, Unicorn, and Earth pony) but these are still the same species, pony (which is closer to an ethnicity in this show because various species represent races (the most obvious one being yaks, who represent Russians, in a very offensive manner). 

Yaks are way more different from ponies than humans with different skin colour are from each other. In any case, I'm always surprised by people who see the yaks' portrayal as offensive, because the show has always treated the yak culture with a lot of respect. They seem stereotypical, and yet their stories are often about cultural relativism. 

2 hours ago, saum22 said:

In my eyes, the three groups rather represent socioeconomic classes, with the upper nobility being Alicorns (the  lower nobility being Unicorns (rarity and canterlot being the prime examples of this) Pegasi being the middle class (Having government jobs such as weather management that are very important, but don't give amazing wages) and Earth ponies being the lower class/proletariat class (Applejack and her constant economic crisis being the obvious example of this).

I'm fairly certain we've seen a fair degree of socioeconomic diversity among all three tribes. Also I do not think Rarity is part of the nobility, or that her family was particularly wealthy before she became a celebrity. 

Clearly tensions still exist, but they must be somewhat minor, because we know that the relative harmony among ponies keeps the Windigos away. 

2 hours ago, saum22 said:

You may now ask "How is Equestria anti-socialist/communist?", see Starlight Glimmer (Lenin but a bajillion times worse and oversimplified) and that debacle. 

Starlight was an extremist who ran a dangerous cult. She isn't even representative of Marxism-Leninism, let alone socialism or communism as a whole. 

(I'm going to regret all this very shortly, aren't I?)

20 minutes ago, Will Guide said:

I know that. I was just saying sometimes seemingly bad things at first can work out for the better in the long run. Turn a disaster into an opportunity to improve something. For example, a home being turned into a mess is an opportunity for remodel. See what I mean?

I just think maybe we could have gotten to multicultural harmony without Discord jeopardizing the whole thing. 

16 hours ago, Will Guide said:

I thought this topic was already asked months ago when the final season ended.

As for me, my short answer is no, he wasn't that much trouble at all. And despite what you think about Discord himself, his actions indirectly led to all the races in Equestria coming together to save our heroes from the terrible trio. In a way, he helped solidified the friendships between all races.

At the start of the series the ponies would only get along with each other but not with any of the other non-pony races. But now at the end of the series we see dragons, Changeling hippogriffs, griffins, and yaks hanging out with each other in Canterlot.

Consider the following: this was already happening due to the efforts of Twilight and her friends, and Discord only contributed to it by messing up catastrophically. 

14 hours ago, Megas said:

And what gets me is how everyone bitches about Celestia making the fate of the Crystal Empire a test for Twilight, but Discord does it in the finale and it's passed off as "Discord helping in his own special way!" "lol Discord being Discord!", fuck off with that garbage.

Which is funny because that episode mostly treats what Discord did as a serious mistake. Honestly, it's hard to get that mad when I don't expect anything better from him, whereas I don't think we were supposed to think the Celestia stuff was messed up. 

He helped save Equestria that one time, but there were also those two times he was helpful to the villain. And he's a jerk to everyone so I don't see why some of the characters like him so much. I like him, but that's because he's not real and so I don't have to deal with him in person. We know that he wouldn't stay turned into a statue forever, though, so maybe it's better that he merely annoys everyone around him. 

I don't know who you would replace her with, but the fact that Fluttershy turned out to be a naturally talented buckball player in "Buckball Season" never made much sense to me. 

Most of the time, though, I think the show picked the right characters for the story. Whether that story did those characters justice, or whether it was a story worth telling in the first place... those are other questions entirely. 

On 2/27/2020 at 11:14 AM, Latecomer said:

i think there's a difference between being true to your own vision and being true to someone else's - you believe in yours for a reason, after all. It's hypocritical, but i don't find Rarit incapable of hypocrisy. 

My interpretation was always that Rarity simply didn't think it was possible to succeed as a Canterlot restaurant without conforming to Zesty Gourmand's tastes. Consider that she had never even considered eating at a place like the Tasty Treat before, and that Coriander only asked for her to improve the restaurant's business. It's not an unreasonable decision to make considering those facts. 

On 3/2/2020 at 7:56 AM, nightshroud96 said:

For me, it would be what if Spike was the one who assembles the rescue team in To Where And Back Again instead of getting captured.
I mean, HE was the one who befriended Thorax, but instead I felt like he got robbed here..

 If it was important for Starlight's development, it wouldn't have killed the writers if they had him AND Starlight assemble the team and together encourage Thorax during the confrontation against Chrysalis.

Heck, have Luna be in the team too instead of just sending a warning to Starlight and apparently getting captured too somehow(if the changelings got the others due to them sleeping, then its iffy for Luna's case since she was flipping awake at night. Really.. the whole "everyone else gets nabbed by Chrysalis somehow" bit of that finale wasn't executed right at least..).

I think the very fact that he befriended Thorax is why he couldn't be part of the rescue team. Both of his episodes that season had him doing something big and heroic, whereas that finale was about the day being saved by people who were not heroes up to that point. Luna did have the "reformed villain" thing going for her, but her status in Equestrian society is too high for her to be an underdog in this context. Starlight had saved the day in the premiere, but she is the lead character in this episode so she gets a pass. 

3 hours ago, Steve Piranha said:

and both decided to move to the farm

Why would Applejack move to someone else's farm?

3 hours ago, Steve Piranha said:

mostly to avoid controversy from less LGBT societies I bet 

Easier to censor if they don't show anything outright. 

Let’s just say that Pinkie Pie knows more than she lets on.

I just don't see a more reasonable explanation for that weird conversation they were having about chores. I can't think of a simpler reason for them to live together. Whether those hints should have been included is another conversation entirely. 

I just like it on a metaphorical level. We see an Equestria which is more open and accepting than ever before, to the extent that groups of people who had been previously feared by ponies are now openly living among them. I find it quite heartwarming. 

11 hours ago, Number62 said:

It was as far as "The Cutie Re-Mark" was concerned. Admittedly, Lauren Faust had nothing to do with that episode, but that doesn't matter as far as I'm concerned with the show.

Oh god I forgot about that, that episode didn't even make sense.  

11 hours ago, Number62 said:

Princess Celestia wouldn't need to be lazy because the show is not very sure of her capabilities.

I'm just joking around here. I think Chrysalis was simply more powerful than her and I don't really want to overthink it. 

The "mean six" personalities never get old to me. The real mane six get some nice moments too - the part with Rainbow Dash and Applejack trying to figure out why Rarity is acting weird especially stands out, but Pinkie Pie's silliness and Twilight being a dork are always welcome, and the subplot about Rarity desperately trying to survive without all her things leads to some great moments. But the mean six really do steal the show; their bad attitudes are just so silly, and Chrysalis getting mad because she can't do anything is a blast as well. I feel like some of the mane six make questionable choices - I would like to think that Fluttershy would remember to tell her friends where she's going, for example. And I kinda wish they figured out something weird was going on, as I feel like they were too quick to turn on each other, especially given that most of them initially seemed confused by the mean six. But I think the stuff about how their friendship can survive anything is cute, and I think it's really funny that they never meet the mean six - though maybe it would be even funnier if they knew something was weird but never figured out what. In any case I still find this one delightful.

Also, Starlight Glimmer MVP. My favourite Starlight moment remains "Marks for the Efforts," but I don't think I've ever found her more relatable than in this episode. Camping: it's no good. 

1 hour ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

Twice! Also, the only "weird" one is the pony who can make parties appear out of thin air. 

Also, did Celestia get hit by Chrysalis's magic on purpose in "A Canterlot Wedding" or did Celestia merely underestimate her? 

Maybe she just got lazy because she figured Twilight would come up with something. 

5 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

I wonder if he "broke free" or if Celestia let him out? 

Nah, she didn't do that until the second time. Why would she let Discord out only to have him turned back into stone? I mean she needed to bail the mane six out at the last minute when they failed to defeat him. 

Yeah that makes sense. Kinda gives a bit more meaning to Celestia's suggestion that Twilight go make some friends. Twilight thought that making friends would not help her save Equestria, but Celestia knew otherwise. Sometimes I feel like Twilight's friendships were only a means to an end, though... 

12 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

After thinking about it, Celestia was behind EVERYTHING & the Mane 6 were her clueless puppets. 

She always got the mane six to solve her problems. Sister lost to darkness? Get your student to make friends. Discord broke free from his magical prison? Get your student and her friends to deal with it. Grand Galloping Gala is boring? Hmm, maybe your student's weirdo friends can liven things up. 

(I really want to know what Celestia thought when Twilight complained about not having enough tickets. Did she immediately realize it was an opportunity to crash the Gala?)

Chrysalis just kept getting progressively sillier every time she appeared. I always thought she seemed overconfident, to the point that she repeatedly made very obvious mistakes, and then by the time season 8 rolled around the show seemed to validate that interpretation by making her completely incompetent. She gets credit simply for sticking around so long - Discord and Luna stopped being in their second appearances, but she just kept on being sinister. Chrysalis MVP. 

As I said in the other thread, I like Trixie more than any of the minor antagonists, but I only really started liking her when she stopped being a villain. I think Flim and Flam are my favourites; I never got sick of them like some other people did. 

Chrysalis has become my favourite through sheer perseverance. Doubling down on her hotheaded incompetence is the absolute best thing they could have done with her; it was always there, but until season 8 I wasn't entirely sure how much of that was deliberate. I really do consider her silliness to be the perfect fit for the show. Cozy Glow, Discord, and the Dazzlings are similar in that sense. 

I don't remember all of the low-level villains, but I found Flim and Flam the most consistently entertaining. Trixie is my favourite character of the bunch, but mostly for what happened after she became friendlier. 

15 hours ago, FloppyfluffyEars said:

You might disagree with this, but I think that season 3 actually carried on this same idea. While I do not think that it evolved from the proceeding season in the same way that S2 did from S1, I do think that  the third season kept the same "organic" interactions between the characters and the same meta humor of the other seasons. It has the sense of innocence and whimsical but there was a definite maturity about the world that kept allowed for deeper topics. I mean, as an audience I think to know that the show could go into serious and more emotionally deep issues was peculiar feeling. ...

 I think that since because S3 didn't build hugely on what came before but rehashed a bunch the old concepts from the previous seasons (other than alicorn Twilight), the season was looked upon poorly. However as you mentioned, a few writers still retained the vision that Faust had, and I think that season 4, while having a different flavor than the previous seasons, did feel like a evolution for the show. The show might not have explored the characters in detail as S1 and 2 did, it did put them in new situations and allowed for other side characters to be introduced and developed.This seems to be the  the spirit of the show; character driven, the interactions between the characters, and the creative drama and scenario. It seems like we agree that one aspect of the show-- the focus on the main characters--- has probably diminished over time  The first two seasons really delved into the motivations, the personal history, and psychology of the characters. The third was derived much of it's spirit from the spirit of the first two seasons and the fourth, to me at least, felt like expanding on the first two and added some different features (e.g. the lack of the elements, the journal instead of the letters, guest stars, more drama and emotion and the introduction of a season long arch). 

Seasons 3 and 4 did still resemble seasons 1 and 2, but I do think the attempts to explore more serious subject matter may have pushed the show in the wrong direction. The format of episodes like "Rarity Takes Manehattan," which is based on challenging the main characters' values, is such that each of them seems to end right back where it started; I don't always feel like we're getting new things from the characters, even in episodes I would consider among the show's best. And on top of that a lot of episodes felt kinda gimmicky to me in both seasons, especially in season 3; I find that fun to an extent, but it gives the weird sense of those episodes being filler in a show without much of an overarching storyline. I disagree that season 3 rehashed the previous seasons - to me it seems very experimental while keeping the feel of seasons 1 and 2. It's just that a lot of those experiments didn't quite pay off. 

I do still like season 4, but in some ways it felt to me like the show stagnating before it went completely off the rails in season 5. Numerically there are fewer episodes I like, and when I look at those I didn't like, they either have dumb gimmicks ("Power Ponies," "Simple Ways") or try too hard to force a specific narrative ("Bats," "Rainbow Falls," "Somepony to Watch Over Me"). And in episodes like "Flight to the Finish," I notice the things that the show doesn't explore more than the things it does, which would essentially remain the case until season 8 suddenly became a lot more direct. It's still good, and it's certainly more ambitious, but I think the cracks were already starting to show. Maybe what My Little Pony did best in seasons 1-3 wasn't sustainable, but the show never really come up with anything I thought was a suitable replacement. 

On 1/1/2020 at 3:13 AM, Them's Seeing Ponies said:

I can't confirm that the show would've improved further had Faust and Renzetti remained on board for longer (given that not all of S2's attempts at deepening the show's world were successful) but it definitely would've moved in a different trajectory

I think I heard that even Faust's involvement in season 2 was increasingly limited as that season continued production. And that might explain why the show's transformation into whatever it was in season 5 was a gradual process rather than an immediate shift, but it makes that decline all the more inexplicable. 

13 minutes ago, Sepul-Coloratura said:

I won't say season 7 was a bad season or direcrly caused other seasons to be bad, but it is kinda responsible for the two next season's direction which I don't like. Did season 8 and 9 could have been good with that direction? Yes. But the reason why season 8 and 9 is bad at least for me also has something to do with the direction. (and same thing applies to season 4 and all the seasons after that)

I don't think seasons 8 and 9 are that much like season 7; to me it seems that they're both much looser, and season 8 specifically is a lot more imaginative than the seasons surrounding it. The general decline in the mane six certainly carries over, but that got started at least as far back as season 5, if you ask me. 

I agree with everything @Them's Seeing Ponies said, though the deepening approach to characterization that I most enjoyed started as early as late season 1, when episodes like “Party of One” started focusing more aggressively on a single character’s insecurities. Episodes like that became less frequent as the show went on, and later examples sometimes seem kinda awkward. I will say though that, despite that season’s messiness, the style of humour in season 6 just does it for me.

8 hours ago, Latecomer said:

Season 6 felt to me like it was good enough to justify it's own existence, but not a sequel - I'd have been happy to let it end there is To Where And Back Again wasn't so terrible a two-parter to finish on.Season 7 had me looking forward to Season 8 (which disappointed me, of course).

Season 7 almost made me stop watching. Anyway I think we know each other’s perspectives now. 

Ironically, I felt that season 8 had a sense of growth that the previous several seasons hadn’t. It made me actively frustrated that a show which was demonstrably moving forward in certain areas was also becoming even messier. 

1 hour ago, Sepul-Coloratura said:

Think I already participated in very similar posts to this, but

1. A Friend In Deed
2. Sonic Rainboom
3. Luna Eclipsed
4. Lesson Zero
5. Inspiration Manifestation
6. Too Many Pinkie Pies
7. Party of One
8.  Look Before You Sleep
9. Secret of My Excess
10. Hurricane Fluttershy

There are many other episodes that I could have chosen to put in the list instead, but having only 10 spots are the only reason they are out.

I think you have the wrong thread.