spoiler Does Stygian eerily resonate with you?

[Toastypk 923]

I watched Shadow Play a few days ago, and it's awesome.

But Stygian. Man. Love the guy!

But let's talk about his...inner feelings. Oh man.

Disclosure: Before going into this episode, I knew there was a guy named Stygian, had to do with the Pony of Shadows, and might not be a bad guy. But I didn't know what happened or why, and I've spent weeks speculating. Now that I've seen the episode, I know what happened and why. And reflecting on it, I've... come to realize that the emotions he felt are eerily real to me.

I've been jealous before. I've felt wronged and spiteful before. And in the worst case scenarios, when that happens, all these awful, spiteful grudging thoughts take place. It's almost like saying that misery loves company. It's a draw I've been in before. Feelings of rejection seem to breed utter contempt. 

Case in point: Weeks before Thanksgiving, I bought the Zelda Breath of the Wild DLC, which had a code in recepit form. I purposely put it with my game systems so it woudln't seem like some random recepit laying on the floor to be accidentally thrown away... but it was. My mother did that as we were getting our rooms clean, and I started to get frustrated, because that was $20! I was told that it was my fault for putting the recepit there, and that I would only get $10 back, but I was pretty livid. If someone took a $20 bill from you and burned it, yeah you'd be pissed! I started to make a bigger deal out of it, and the $10 was rescinded, and I made a bigger deal out of it. How could it be my fault when I put it in a certain place? On Thanksgiving I drove to the same Gamestop trying to see if I could get a reprint, but they couldn't do that, and I made an even bigger deal, this time really pissed off and yelling at the phone. This just about ruined Thanksgiving. I was off somewhere, when I came home I was ostracized, and I felt spurned and wronged. I just wanted to be away from everyone. It's not far fetched to have spiteful thoughts at this, just steeped in darkness. (things were fixed later, but this is a situation that had these sort of contemptuous thoughts that are easy to get into.

There's a good line I found from a deviantart drawing of Styg:

Feelings of jealousy and betrayal can lead one to become consumed by the darkness growing within them. And as Stygian discovered, in a world as highly magical as Equestria, that last part can potentially become literal.
 

I'm only just realizing this contemptuous mindset extends to my attitude toward many  poitical things too, which I ruminate about way too much now thanks to OCD.  Things that may or may not have anything to do with me but are thought about too much anyway.. Things that are happening that flood me with disgust. I've hypothesized what one would do to stop something like that, what (very much not good) ways one would take things into one's own hands. Things I would never want to do, but the spiteful feelings are seriously real. Sometimes I've had to shake those thoughts off, but it's concerningly soothing to think about them.

The thoughts Stygian must have been feeling are very real. Not in a literal shadow sort of way, but even so.

Some posts I've seen dismiss him, one using the word "crybaby", which I don't really agree with. Dismiss the idea of it just being "emo" and you see some serious feelings going on here. And though poor communication skills between him and the Pillars is very obvious, the sentiment expressed is eerily resonating. I know I'm not a dark person, but it's easy to fall into this trap.

What about you?

Edited December 19, 2017 by Toastypk

[Adamgreen 1,129]

I thought Stygian was great! He's really a relatable character and his reformation was executed pretty well. I do get what you see in him and I do agree the part of jealousy you've said.

The criticism of 'edgy' and 'emo' is nothing new. It's just the sense of expression that is used a lot lately and get tired pretty quickly.

[Sovereign Leader Rarity 12,008]

Well, before using Rarity as a means to re-brand myself, I was drab, dull and emotionally weak, constantly overlooked by my peers at school, never truly accepted or wanted. In that regard, I can definitely relate to Stygian and his struggle to be seen as equal to his colleagues. He was certainly the best part about "Shadow Play" in general in my opinion .

I'm still unsure as to where I stand on that episode in general. There are things that I love, but there are actually also some particular features that I really don't care for.

[Hierok 11,832]

I really like Stygian. He makes fine points on his betrayal, but I rather had him removed and made Pony of Shadows a being of his own. 

[Toastypk 923]

5 hours ago, Rarity the Supreme said:

Well, before using Rarity as a means to re-brand myself, I was drab, dull and emotionally weak, constantly overlooked by my peers at school, never truly accepted or wanted. In that regard, I can definitely relate to Stygian and his struggle to be seen as equal to his colleagues. He was certainly the best part about "Shadow Play" in general in my opinion .

I'm still unsure as to where I stand on that episode in general. There are things that I love, but there are actually also some particular features that I really don't care for.

The only constructive criticism I have of the episode is that it would be so good as 3 episodes instead of 2, fleshing out the artifact finding (which almost reminded me of Ocarina of Time, seriously, 6 legendary figures having to seal a dark power), and maybe even get some more lines for the other pillars.

But I loved it.

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

Stygian was great, I wish we could have gotten more dialogue from him after the shadow was banished.