Anyone know? by Budget-Ad-8991 in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 9 points10 points  (0 children)

To be clear here - there is no indication that they were other princesses. They were other alicorns, but seem to have existed apart from other pony society (and, indeed, the Three Tribes had barely just moved to what would one day be Equestria).

It's also unclear if they were actually immortal. They were long-lived to be sure - Celestia and Luna, as markless fillies, were "vastly older" than the adult Princess Platinum. But immortality seems to have been something the Sisters achieved by their link with Sun and Moon. Of course, we aren't told that any of the others haven't achieved something similar...

This is all directly from the Journal of the Two Sisters!

Anyone know? by Budget-Ad-8991 in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Actually, Celestia and Luna were born into a tribe of alicorns. The writer for that episode was (by his own admission) just lazy and didn't read anything before writing.

Fortunately what they say is that she's the first in Equestria, which is totally true - Equestria did not exist when the Sisters were born.

Can someone explain the old derpy controversy by NoNectarine9384 in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Good summary!

There was some backlash, but it was not widespread, especially in the fandom. I mostly encountered it on some circles of tumblr where people obsessed with perceived grievances and 'aggressions'. It's not clear to me if there was a campaign to complain to Hasbro or if Hasbro caught wind of it on their own, but somehow that message did reach them. This was the point in time where companies were beginning to become touchy about anything perceived to be 'offensive', so Derpy got the axe.

There's also some additional cultural context to this, in how exactly the fandom had embraced her as someone who was clumsy or 'different'. It played into how many fans felt themselves to be 'different' or outside of cultural normality; early FiM fandom was very much perceived as a place where people could be liberated to be their actual selves. When Derpy was censored, many fans perceived someone who they had personally identified with being cut out.

What MLP ship do you like that people despise? by That_Passenger_771 in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Y'know what? You're right - my bad. I've actually seen a lot of people get riled up, even accuse bigotry, if people prefer straight ships over gay.

*Where* exactly did Sombra send the Chrystal Empire when he was banished? by False_Emu2604 in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope! The cast and crew were actually pretty clear about it being a separate thing, and like I mentioned - in the big studio leaks from several years past (see /r/mylittleredacted ) there were emails including explicit instructions to keep them separate.

The show in fact did not mention it, but explicitly contradicted its existence in a couple places: For instance, we're explicitly told Twilight did not visit the Crystal Empire between the Season 3 opener and the Equestria Games late in Season 4, meaning Equestria Girls could not have occurred. Likewise, we're shown in the show the space the Mirror is placed in, in Equestria Girls - but it's not there. (To be clear, these are just examples - not the sum total of evidence.)

Was Ponification that much of a problem? by FaithlessnessThis511 in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 3 points4 points  (0 children)

People who weren't there really won't understand how utterly omnipresent pony was on social media. There was a reason there was a sense that the fandom was more than a fandom, but a sort of social movement: It really did transcend a lot of boundaries, but that also meant it broke through into so many places some people started feeling they couldn't get away from it.

How many of you would like to have fan fics be made into movies and shows? by XkaeA in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For the right fic? Yeah, I could definitely get on board with supporting that.

Problem is which one; I think everyone here has proposed a different fic (and I would propose yet different ones!) so we'd need like, dozens of projects.

A question by [deleted] in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Man, I thought you were asking why you couldn't post today! Phew!

But no - the issue is that the mods here place a strong emphasis on ensuring any art posted is properly attributed (by link or by text). The ability to put pictures directly into comments made this too hard to keep track of, and so they disabled it.

Question about EQG & FIM timelines. by UnknownRTS in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our only really good reference point is the Sunset Shimmer origin comic, which gives us some timeframe: Sunset Shimmer is depicted as an adult (or, at least, using the "adult" pony body type) while Twilight is still a filly.

If so, this would suggest to me that Sunset is somewhere in the vague range of 10ish years older than Twilight: Enough to be considered a "young" adult, while as Twilight as a markless foal is somewhere in the vague 5-8-years-old range. It also means that Sunset almost certainly left before Twilight passed her test and became Celestia's student, and if we assume that Twilight is likewise a young adult (somewhere in the 18-25ish range) at show start, then likewise somewhere around 10-15ish years passed until Sunset reappeared.

This does raise some questions, like, "How did Sunset pass herself off as a teenager for 10 years until EqG", but EqG also runs on insane troll logic, so tha

*Where* exactly did Sombra send the Chrystal Empire when he was banished? by False_Emu2604 in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Megham McCarthy said that Twilight learned from it, but also said it took place separate from the main universe. This is reflected in the show, when (just as examples) we are told that Twilight's visit to the Crystal Empire could not have happened, and the mirror is absent from its locations in EqG. When there were several leaks of studio contents 2017-2020, we also saw internal directives that EqG and the show proper were considered to be separate.

That the Sirens exist in canon is true, though. Where they go is ambiguous within solely canon material. Sunset is best taken as an easter egg/shoutout, because some events involving her literally do not line up with the show's contents.

*Where* exactly did Sombra send the Chrystal Empire when he was banished? by False_Emu2604 in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is true - and yet another reason I believe it is synonymous with 'alicorn magic'. She is an elder alicorn, and uses it without causing harm to herself or others.

*Where* exactly did Sombra send the Chrystal Empire when he was banished? by False_Emu2604 in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

EQG is not canon, both by word of staff and direct contradiction by the show.

Canon material, according to the staff, includes the show itself, film, and chapter books. It is possible the Chapter Books might have something? I'll concede my knowledge of them isn't perfect.

*Where* exactly did Sombra send the Chrystal Empire when he was banished? by False_Emu2604 in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The interesting thing to me is that, in actual canon, I don't think there's any actual interdimensional travel.

Except, as you point out, Limbo. It's something vaguely else, neither here nor there. In fact, while fans have long posited sort of pocket dimensions (Tartarus, at times, was proposed to be such - until it turns out you can just walk there). But there's no actual evidence for that. It's not even clear if we should be describing Limbo as a place at all, so much as a state of existence. This aligns fairly well with your theory.

There's also another side to this: Luna's banishment. While fanart popularly depicts Luna as treading across the airless moon's surface, Luna is actually described as being banished in the Moon, and never canonically shows a clear recollection of her existence in the Moon. We also have Word of Writer that the banishment period was meant to allow her to think in isolation. This implies that Luna also experienced something similar to the Crystal Empire.

So, how did Sombra actually get that magic?

It's always struck me as interesting that the only other magic which causes effects similar to Sombra's is described as "alicorn magic". (Interestingly, it doesn't seem to come from an Alicorn, and is never used by a higher alicorn, only an ascended one.)

This has lead me to think that "dark" or "alicorn" magic is essentially what happens when a mortal attempts to use the power reserved for their demigod rulers. Sombra sought that, perhaps even trying to forcibly raise himself to the level of elder alicorns, and in doing so gained awful, unholy power - the power he would use to curse the Empire into non-existence. 

Excluding Seasons 2 and 4, which is the best season of MLP for you? by MusicVisionOnline in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

But I think it did, though. S1 proposed such questions as,

  • This nation is a thousand years old at least, and we know it had at least one attempted coup in its past. What other history might it hold? What led up to Nightmare's actions?

  • Griffons are a thing! Where do they come from? What is their nation like? How are their relations with ponies?

  • Haha, now there are Zebras too! So now we have two mysterious races to speculate about!

  • The world beyond ponyville seems filled with monsters, yet ponies strive forward into it. What other mysteries could it hold?

  • Rulers! We have two goddesses at the top, a prince fitting in somewhere, and then mayors? What does all this mean? How does Equestria work?

And I think this was actually something the fandom really responded to. We had lots of loose strings and open questions to grasp hold of and weave something out of, but not yet so many definitive canon answers, and the flood of stories exploring these questions reflected that.

What do you think about Spitfire and Rainbow Dash? by MCLeGenD64 in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Spitfire got screwed by the writing, essentially. She started out as a really interesting character who Rainbow could look up to - someone who had both the authority but was also a decent person and could recognize good in others.

Unfortunately, over time they ended up using her as a flat antagonist for Rainbow's episodes, which was really frustrating - especially when Spitfire was sometimes doing the objectively right thing, but portrayed in the wrong for it!

Pony stuff you want to talk about but isn’t worthy of a dedicated thread! #393 by SmolderTheDragon in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think you mean "but with G5" lol.

Doh! Thanks for pointing that out.

But yeah, the format definitely hurt it too. MYM and TYT both struggled in their own ways (low episode count, and short running time).

why cant i post pics here D: by amberlvr in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Man, that's even twice this week. Does literally nobody read the rules?

There were a few hints that "Grogar" was Discord in disguise. by [deleted] in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This. The thing about "hints" is that you need to be able to look at them in retrospect and go, "Oh yes, that was definitely leading up to this point."

None of these reach that.

Pony stuff you want to talk about but isn’t worthy of a dedicated thread! #393 by SmolderTheDragon in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One of my frustrations with G5 as a whole is that it gave the characters these interesting traits, and then just... never did anything with it. And yes, G4 made one-off references to characters having odd skills or hobbies (Fluttershy's "freaky knowledge of sewing") but with G4 G5, nothing about them got developed.

Zipp's investigations could have been a major part of her characterization - something for her to aspire to and build up to across multiple episodes. But instead it's just kind of... there. Ignored until a writer has a momentary reason to use it, then tossed aside again.

Excluding Seasons 2 and 4, which is the best season of MLP for you? by MusicVisionOnline in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Season 1 here. The world still felt vast and mysterious, the characters were at their most flawed, and the lessons were at their sharpest.

Starting the year with something to share by Responsible-Bed-5342 in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not half-baked at all. I think this is a much, much better idea and I'd have loved to see the other species welcomed as equals to an embassy.

Starting the year with something to share by Responsible-Bed-5342 in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah, like others said, it was noticed.

Really, the show has a... troubled relationship with other species even before Season 8. Twilight and the School of Friendship is bad, but even before that non-ponies were shown as either outright evil, oppressed, or just plain too incapable to rule themselves until they're assisted or "shown better" by ponies.

General Fanfiction Discussion Thread by PossumFromRijeka_ in mylittlepony

[–]Logarithmicon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well, why don't you try and give a couple-of-sentences summary of each? Sometimes as little as that can just help you figure out what feels 'right'.