If you could redesign twilight's castle...

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

So, here's a question: if the castle that twilight lives in were different from how it looks currently, what asthetic or style/design would you use for it?
This is not a "the castle does not exist" scenario, but rather a "the castle is different" scenario: what would you have designed the castle like?

[Renzie 100]

Well, I think it looks nice the way it is...

[Cwanky 17,459]

I would just replace it entirely with the Golden Oaks Library. I just do not care for the castle or its name. It sticks out like a sore thumb in Ponyville that screams "LOOK AT ME IMMA PRINCESS!!!!" as it is.

[Scrubbed user 3,415]

 

I'd remake it inspired by Mordhaus.

[Sintanan 151]

Assuming you mean remodel the playset that is already there and not do something completely different...

 

(Gotta love Photoshop)

 

 

Barring that, being able to replace the playset, I would have preferred the staff able to keep with the original plan of giving Twilight the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest.  The planned castle had enough unique architecture to be its own thing, but wasn't an eyesore like the crystal castle playset is,

[That Guy with the CMB 5,872]

I would turn it into some kind of...tree library. Something like this.

 

 

[Wind Chaser 4,767]

The crystal aesthetic has to go. This is Ponyville, not the Crystal Empire. What they did with the new castle is tantamount to sticking a One World Trade Center-like skyscraper in the center of a rustic small town. With Ponyville having no known influence from the Crystal Empire, it flies in the face of one of Equestria's most unique and realistic characteristics; the cultural differences between each and every unique city. It also poorly represents who Twilight is as a character; the cold colors, cavernous interior, and large size clash with the character's warmth and humility. The way it appeared out of nowhere in the end of "Twilight's Kingdom" also missed a grand opportunity to portray the citizens of Ponyville as something other than set pieces and/or damsels in distress.

 

I'd scale the castle down and give it a warmer color scheme. The crystal-like design would be left to the Crystal Empire. If I could redo "Twilight's Kingdom", I'd show the rest of the ponies pitching in to build the castle rather than having it pull a Deus Ex Machina out of the ground. As others suggest, it should look a bit more like the library, but slightly larger and grander.

[cmarston1 5,952]

I would have gone with giving Twilight the castle of the two sisters instead because the whole arc of restoring it seemed to go absolutely nowhere and it would have been nice for it to actually have an actual conclusion.

[Megas 27,069]

I'd make it look less cold

[LHfunk 422]

Make it look exactly the same as the Library on the outside, but use magic or quantum mechanics or something to make the inside the same as the castle's.

[Denim&Venöm 16,529]

Some more sensible architectural designs: 

 

Like this

 

 

 

Or this

 

 

or this

 

 

Perhaps something more contemporary

 

 

Nothing wrong with fashionable trends

 

 

Maybe something a little more rustic

 

 

Maybe soemthign modern?

 

 

Or something utilitarian?

 

 

Or y'know...this...

 

 

Edited June 2, 2016 by Denim&Venom

[Wind Chaser 4,767]

I would have gone with giving Twilight the castle of the two sisters instead because the whole arc of restoring it seemed to go absolutely nowhere and it would have been nice for it to actually have an actual conclusion.

I'd agree with this, and I have a feeling they were probably building up to this until toys happened.

[Sintanan 151]

 

Well, now I know what I want to do for my first major project when the Poniverse Minecraft server updates to 1.9…

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

The crystal aesthetic has to go. This is Ponyville, not the Crystal Empire. What they did with the new castle is tantamount to sticking a One World Trade Center-like skyscraper in the center of a rustic small town. With Ponyville having no known influence from the Crystal Empire, it flies in the face of one of Equestria's most unique and realistic characteristics; the cultural differences between each and every unique city. It also poorly represents who Twilight is as a character; the cold colors, cavernous interior, and large size clash with the character's warmth and humility. The way it appeared out of nowhere in the end of "Twilight's Kingdom" also missed a grand opportunity to portray the citizens of Ponyville as something other than set pieces and/or damsels in distress.

 

I'd scale the castle down and give it a warmer color scheme. The crystal-like design would be left to the Crystal Empire. If I could redo "Twilight's Kingdom", I'd show the rest of the ponies pitching in to build the castle rather than having it pull a Deus Ex Machina out of the ground. As others suggest, it should look a bit more like the library, but slightly larger and grander.

 

 

agreed about the crystal asthetic. I'm cool with Crystal designs (hell, I normally LOVE crystal designs in fantasy), but not for EVERYTHING, yeah? Each area should have its own theme and asthetic, and the crystal stuff should be left to the crystal empire, not the Area of Ponyville.

I would much rather they have had the Castle (if it had to be in ponyville) have a more organic feel and be a giant Tree kind of thing (such as making it appear to be a regrown Golden oaks library or something). Make it feel like a kind of wood elven structure.

 

 

 

I would have gone with giving Twilight the castle of the two sisters instead because the whole arc of restoring it seemed to go absolutely nowhere and it would have been nice for it to actually have an actual conclusion.

brohoofed here. I liked that they were refurbishing it and it really seemed like it would have been a natural and Perfect way to give twilight a castle: the mane six working together to rebulid it would have been nice foreshadowing and also synced up well with the six unlocking the box being the catalyst for its true restoration.

 

The only thing I will note as a problem here is that the castle of the two sisters exists OUTSIDE ponyville; So Twilight would be living far away from  her friends unless it was treated more like a Hall of justice/office building for twilight than her home (I.E., she'd commute there whenever the map called her or princess duties needed to be done somewhere more private, but she'd still have a place in town to live at normally)

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

I can't for the life of me fathom how in the hell DHX, who are genuinely passionate and in tune with the characters, their personalities, and their desires, could ever allow Twilight's castle to be a giant crystal monstrosity. Twilight's castle should have been a Grand Library that puts all others to shame and draws in scholars from all around the world. The experiences of the mane 6 exploring the world and friendship should have been used to write countless books. There should be entire floors dedicated to magic.

 

 

How they whiffed this badly the world will never know. 

 

 

edit: Twilight getting a giant, gaudy, crystal castle is like if Captain Jean-Luc Picard became Princess and had a carnival fun house as his castle. It just doesn't even remotely match his personality, and twilight's doesn't match hers.

Edited June 3, 2016 by EquestriaGuy

[Luminance 2,181]

Twilight's new castle looks to "sharp" for Ponyville. It should be aesthetically pleasing to match Ponyville's whimsical style.

[Goat-kun 2,500]

I’d say a real tree but that is so mainstream. I’ll go with a wizard’s tower instead.

 

Top floor: observatory/study/bedroom able to accommodate all of your wizard-related needs.

 

Middle floor: a pantry/arcane storage with a comparatively small kitchen/laboratory (big cauldron is a must) and bathroom, both built with practicality in mind.

 

Ground floor: a big windmill would power various contraptions within the tower, most of them belonging to the foundry and workshop at the bottom, others being the elevators and observatory.

 

Basement: a Harmony root grew that damnable map and transformed it into a secret hero briefing room. Personally, I’d scrap this crap and turn the basement into a magically reinforced secret chamber dedicated to “safe” studying of forbidden arts.

 

Exterior: add some color, wood, flowers, and a vine or two to make it seem more rural.

 

Miscellaneous: The place would be protected by more than mere stone walls. Elaborate traps and warding spells would make short work of any intruder.

 

Another good choice would indeed be a library, but those truly important ones that harbor secrets of strange aeons and old magic beyond your average Plot Swirl junk usually work better as dungeons than castles, and since Twilight is not some omnipresent guardian of eldritch knowledge that bestows maddening insight upon the worthy but a seeker of truth herself, I do think that it is a bit too soon for her to take a prolonged refuge in such a place. Twilight’s library would have to be The Library, and it can’t be that if it only has pony literature. She’ll need to level up a whole lot more before she can even dream about running such a place.

[FullmoonDagger 200]

I actually drew it a bit ago x) I fucking cried when I saw the castle design for the first time, it was so ugly...

 

SO yeah, here's my drawing:

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

Twilight's castle should have been a Grand Library that puts all others to shame and draws in scholars from all around the world. The experiences of the mane 6 exploring the world and friendship should have been used to write countless books. There should be entire floors dedicated to magic.

 

agreed there; twilight's old house was a library, her new one should feel like an upgrade version of that.

[M'gann M'orzz 745]

Make it more like the Crystal Empire Castle, cause that Monolith looks damn neat.

Granted that one works well BECAUSE it's at the center of the city, it'd look weird elsewhere.

[WhitewolfStormrunner 4]

I honestly hope that I'm not necroposting here, but I thought I'd throw my two bits (or whatever my comment is worth) into the mix.

 

First off, I just want to say that are a TON of great redesigns here, and I love 'em all.

 

Secondly, though, I just wanted to say that (and no, I'm not trying to be rude or snippy here) what people seem to be forgetting is that Twi's castle, as garish and over-the-top as it might be to some folks, was NOT her choice, as it was given TO her by the Tree of Harmony (which itself is made of crystal), and maybe that's why it's the way it is.

 

Quite honestly, I was really hoping that Twi would be given the Sisters' old castle in the Everfree, too, as I would've absolutely LOVED to see what it looked fully restored to what it looked like in Celestia and Luna's time there BEFORE Luna became Nightmare Moon.

 

MAINLY because I'm going to be doing a comic adaptation my MLP anthro AU fanfic, and, given that Luna does NOT become NMM in this one, I've decided to make to make their Everfree castle their crown city, and therefore the capital city of the Equestria of that particular time-period.

 

And while I'm NOT going to be ditching Canterlot altogether in it (well, MAYBE not), it WON'T be the center of life in the Equestria in my story. 

Edited July 16, 2016 by WhitewolfStormrunner

[twiia 1,842]

More like the golden oak library, and tone down the colors and crystals a bit. Its an eyesore

[weesh 690]

well damn, I came on to say I wanted something more nature-y, and much more like a natural tree, but apparently that's the consensus.  

[snowflame 189]

It looks perfect for me. I would just show mere of it like the kitchen Applejack said has rusting touches. People say they do not like crystals buy the Elements of Harmony were made of crystals and they are from the same source. Violet was the only right color choice for Twilight. The green touches make it more interesting and if they were some other color like pink it would be too girly, black would be too dark for this castle, blue would look like Crystal empire, yellow would not fit etc. So green is great. If something had to be changed then maybe more white like the tree, but not all white so it would not look like Canterlot. So white/violet mix. But I am completely happy now.

[Techno Universal 2,575]

I would love it if only it was more Tronish-futuristic Like a metal spire with blue glowing circuit board patterns. Inside it would be ultra modern.