>>5699
>a plausible foundation with a somewhat crazy conclusion for April Fools that included a derproll.
yeah, I noticed but still I wanted to go deeply as if nothing happened. I clicked on a couple of links before replying, extending autistically the thing to see where it could land.

>I do find stuff that surprises me. Early days any of these sometimes conflicting implications would be fanfic fuel
the old days of Lyra having an attraction towards humans because she was sitting on a bench like a human. Obviously the scarcity of content lead to create everything almost out of every single detail so that was exactly the dynamic of the early era. Nowadays, it´s in reverse, the fanabse has too much to deal with so much content and a huge world of this kind.

>but now many are forgotten and a few weren't terribly known in the "golden age".
same with the background ponies. Anyone can recognize Derpy, Octavia or Vinyl Scratch but who recognizes the background ponies of Canterlot Boutique for example or the unicorn that had butterfly wings on 2,4,6 Great. Exactly, barely anyoone out there.

>Most I saw on the Spike thrown away line of him on Canterlot business was people considering a excuse to get rid of him for the ep (which is probably true).
considering how plot devices work or how Spike was mistreated back in the early days until the 6th season (ironically applies to male characters as well almost simultaneously) and the lore didn´t reach a quarter of what we have to deal nowadays, that line holds lots of irrelevancy. It could have mattered though if they went like they did with Moondancer in Amending Fences though.

>I still think it is interesting to look through as sometimes some Season 1 stuff still has a bit of lore implications of old intent.
fair enough, in fact Student Counsel revisited the cockatrices and we didn´t see them for a very long time back in Stare Master (though they appeared in School Raze in the Tartarus). So yeah, those old intentions could have been more developed but almost everything relevant was mostly revisited later.

>Like Faust not wanting too much tech and therefore insisting the train be pulled by horses (yet even then we still saw stuff like modern paper and Twi's mad scientist computer)
oh the irony in her own contradictions. Someone created Feeling Pinkie Keen around season 1 with that modern tech, hello?

>Through it obviously wasn't as developed as unified story, more of just a vision for the world and some intent for how it worked on some level. Just as much is early inconsistencies from what was a children's show without that in mind. Which brings me too...
I was certainly asking this and why early seasons cannot be taken with the magnifying glass all that much because those episodes were already created without aiming to an adult audience or at least, go to RPG levels of level for developing their stories. Despite not holding season 1 at the top of my ranking, I have a soft spot in that regard because writers back then didn´t expect anything like this.

>>5713
>Season 7 was technically a fanfic almost toward the end bringing all these elements into play. What I mean with Lore I mean that the Season has the most organized story where I think they were planning both forward and back. You wouldn't say the Spike being gone on royal business back in Season 1 would have much thought out behind it but in Season 7 A Health of Information arguably has a fair bit.
indeed. In fact, I recall you mentioning that the standards of the latest seasons were a wet dream in the first seasons, yet what happened in season 7 didn´t catch us off guard because the tone of the show gradually changed towards other directions.

We were used to seeing laser beam fights or premieres/finales with a build up that included lore so one could dream what would be the reaction from the fanbase if the 2nd half of season 7 happened in 2010/11.

A fanfic for the golden era but an ordinary series of events for the standards developed over time. Funnily enough, the background ponies in Slice of Life acknowledge without shivering the appearance of a bugbear, meaning that the world itself has grown used to experiencing the unusual events that at first, they would be scaremongering about it in season 1.

Compare it to the fear that they displayed towards Zecora in Bridle Gossip for example, the innocence is gone because of the repeated magical events and Zecora seemed like a stranger or even a villain (because of her spookiness and mysterious vibe) when in A Health of Information she works as the essential plot device for driving Fluttershy´s quest and introduce Meadowbrook´s story.

Another change of mindset for the Everfree Forest as well despite repeating it again. This has happened both the community and for the world itself, meaning that the writers translated that growth into the universe subtly until the point of almost seeing two different series while staying the same at its core.

The extraordinary turned out to be the norm for everyone. Simply by comparing the cute nature of innocence and the fear of the unknown that one draws from the first season should serve as a sign how much everything has changed over time.

>Man'iac is indeed one and she could probably dance weird with her mane.
while reading this, I have envisioned the scene itself. It wouldn´t take much effort in the brain to imagine how it would go.

>I did not ban this user. So it was either part of the joke or a global admin actually did something.
oh so you didn´t actually do it. /endpone/ might have two or more users behind that are lurking without making much noise, including volunteers.

If you are reading this post, I just wanted to say hi.

Visual examples of lore translated into down to earth characteristics throughout the show:

Mysticism/legendary presentation of a species in the first picture and the actual reason behind that mode presented inside the slice of life story (it happens within the same episode yet the formula of transformation stays untouched)

3rd picture: secrets hidden in a castle of the two royal sisters that could explain the roots of this world (and it does deliver that).

4th picture: the castle becomes a frequent place to visit and despite its history, it turns into a strategical place for typical slice of life stories.

>>5716
>>5717
>>5718
> All the mysticism around them and over the course of the seasons became usual places to visit (especially for the students and the mane 6) that the lore behind them just became either mundane or more familiar to the characters,so much that they adapted it as another home.
This maybe one of the strongest points you have ever made, period. Both in universe and out. In universe the characters get used to what would be a threat or something spooky and from an out of universe perspective those places and concepts just being assimilate for later use for a setting for SoL stories because that is still mostly was the show's nature.

>4th picture: the castle becomes a frequent place to visit and despite its history, it turns into a strategical place for typical slice of life stories.
I think the castle itself was in part just not used much after Season 4 and during its SoL stories in that season it still had an air of mysteriousness applied then only being treated with that true mudaneness after the introduction of the students. Your point still applies of course.

>(it doesn't diminish their relevancy on the show though).
Indeed it doesn't. Those events still happened even if the subtext is changed later.

>Having said this,I think that I am ready to say good night to this board.
I think you are!

>Sleep well!
You too! and to the rest of the lurkers and sometimes posters!

>>5719
>If there is enough of them I wonder if I split/different faction will form? At least certain patterns that can be found.
perhaps the biggest clash could happen to a place that we all know: /mlp/. Eeeeyup, considering how a certain faction of the posters around there are so hermetic, they are going to several conflicts or silent changes of opinion over time. However, even by being the most reluctant, they only bash the most recent seasons but I don´t hear them saying barely anything negative towards Sunset nor Dolores so this board, despite its looks, certainly changes in mindset behind the shitposts. So probably those nostalgic fans will be counted in an irregular manner, without a defined faction in any specific place. If you know about a place/ or social fan circle more reluctant than them, I am all ears because I am only predicting from the info that I personally know.

>Perhaps it could even be applied to part of my criticism of the world feeling too small over the later seasons. I don't hold this as strong as some as I consider us lucky that we got what got. I'll have to do more thinking on this.
I completely understand that. In fact, whenever the show expands itself, the more one realizes that the world is a village. It even happened in history for ourselves. In the 15th/16th century, America was the hottest thing ever, as if we saw a new world and now, in the 21st century, it feels more like: "what is the new headline again? Can you bring something else?" mindset.

Same here in Equestria. I am actually going to post a few more examples tonight about this after finishing the replies of your posts.

>"Wow this is pretty violent and adventurous for our TV-Y rated little girls show to sell toys." I bet it be awe (and perhaps a little controversy if we count the fact that some thought Season 2 was too much even before the final).
because keep in mind that MLP was facing more stigma than it does nowadays (it hasn´t disappeared but the fanbase has made huge efforts to fight against and everyone knows nowadays that MLP is one of a kind). Seeing that conflict against the changelings would feel indeed like the greatest thing ever because it was fresh for the standards expected form the show. However, they kept pushing the limits and A Canterlot Wedding became less impressive because Twilight vs Tirek happened, The Cutie Map happened, fights against huge monsters or spells of enormous levels of magic happened in slice of life episodes (Three´s A Crowd and Inspiration Manifestation respectively)...so yeah, the show went so many times there that repeating it again and again changed its tone gradually.

I will say though that watching A Canterlot Wedding could feel more unsettling and strange than watching To Change a Changeling, despite the latter occurring in a very far away place from Ponyville. How did that feeling of being at home managed to happen? Familiarity and overexposure with the species that served for more slice of life material (redemption included)

No wonder one starts to ask questions towards what show one is exactly watching because what was promised at first might not deliver later what they displayed apparently (seeing these two images without context look truly contradictory)

I meant the post >>5723 for >>5720

Anyway,

>>5719
>This maybe one of the strongest points you have ever made, period.
after discussing deeply two seasons along with you extensively, I believe that it was bound to happen something solid in the middle of these discussions. Thanks.
I still can mention more examples (my method to analyze and illustrate what I think requires specific examples, I need to go a little bit with the inductive hypothesis here) of that evolution and how lore is portrayed in this show (not lore explicitly but within its context and purposes to use it).

>In universe the characters get used to what would be a threat or something spooky
exactly. Zecora and The Everfree Forest are the clearest examples to put on the table for coming up with this thesis. You notice how the interactions from the cute innocent ponies that wandered around Ponyville would stay in their pinkish world yet in the following season, they react less impressed towards those weird events that shouldn´t normally happen in theory but they have adapted a mindset that those situations could happen at anytime. So in the end, you don´t see much fear in their faces anymore (and Fluttershy by herself exposes that fearful feeling for a brave one over time. A Health of Information happened because of her maturity).

>from an out of universe perspective those places and concepts just being assimilate for later use for a setting for SoL stories because that is still mostly was the show's nature.
nailed it. If you want to see more of X place, for example the hive, it means that you want to see more content of Thorax or Pharynx, same applies to the Dragonlands with Ember, Smolder or Spike, or whatever...but if you want to visit any weird place that contained lore at first, it means that the lore will run out and as soon that state arrives, all you can extract from it will rely on the characters and some of them are entailed for certain settings.

Perhaps the changeling serve as the greatest example of a 180 turn from their debut to their state from season 6 onwards.

>>5719
>I think the castle itself was in part just not used much after Season 4 and during its SoL stories in that season it still had an air of mysteriousness applied then only being treated with that true mudaneness after the introduction of the students. Your point still applies of course.
I perfectly knew that I omitted the fact that the show didn´t revisit the Castle until the 8th season (the Tree of Harmony was seen again in Shadow Play though). However, as soon as they decided to continue with it,we saw what happened when the students decided to go there.


>Indeed it doesn't. Those events still happened even if the subtext is changed later.
despite the mundane feeling brought later, the fact that those places have hold prominence over time means that the stories behind them were still relevant. My theory of what lore matters or not depends on the screentime given to that. This means that each time a pillar appears, you will instantly remember their lore because you ask where they came from.

Despite the tree of Harmony becoming a crystallized treehouse and more familiar, you remember inside your head how relevant it is because of its presence in the show, those amounts of lore that runs inside its branches. No matter how much the legend or the mysticism present was in that place, that lore is attached to what it represents and how it marks the next directions for the show. So, it´s more like talking about layers that compose its history. Originally meant as a sacred place for the royal sisters and then, ending up as a huge plot device for other relevant events that surpasses its original intent.

You have posted the Pony of Shadows from Castle-mania and funnily enough, those eyes didn´t mean anything at the time except the spooky feeling a la Scooby Doo. However, the writers went ahead with it and that subtle spookiness became the central point of the latter half of season 7. From a spook ending out of nowhere to the darkness that Sytgian held inside towards the pillars long ago, introducing even a comic arc like Legends of Magic.

That´s a huge stretch and with lots of lore galore because of that single moment.

Now, I want you to go further with the concept of lore and how this show adapts it to its normalization. Let me present to you the biggest (or at least one of the greatest candidates) middle finger and anti lore character/moment of the entire series.

Again, do we have to talk about seaponies? YES but related to your question of lore.

Imagine that you are introducing a new species, a new place that inherently carries so much potential for lore and unanswered questions of its existence. Okay, so let´s imply that we are watching the movie for the first time and...

how do we (the fans) and the mane 6 see Mount Aris for the first time? Spooky,abandoned, a mysterious aura surrounds it, lots of questions arise and even a slight sense of uncertainty might be conveyed at first during its build up. This is messed up, quite unfamiliar and we´ll need lots of time to digest this. Uh this looks interesting, I wonder what happened, let´s see...and how does it turn out in the end?

Now, watch out, they introduce Skystar as the first character to meet there and her proactive positive attitude serves as an icebreaker of familiarity all of a sudden, no hostility to be found. She is the biggest anti lore example of this that boosts the turn from the unknown to the most familiar place to visit. So what was the secret behind what we saw before?

It goes like this (not actually her words but they sum up the whole situation): "Oh hi, you are my newest friends. Now I am not going to get bored anymore" Then she actually explains the entire lore to you and the whole story behind them: "We are the hippogriffs but we had to move away because the Storm King attacked us so we became the seaponies with the help of a pearl to transform ourselves and now we live in Seaquestria instead. Oh and I am the princess and my mother is the Queen".

And that was it. Their entire lore exposed and the mysterious aura gone and on top of that, a huge musical party happens within the entire place that had little to envy to other parties from Ponyville or Canterlot. No lore was hidden anymore and conflict relied in a slice of life manner instead of lore´s buildup. How much time has happened between the first exposure up to the upbeat party?

AROUND 5 MINUTES! FIVE!

GG Well played. This case serves to prove how something so fresh and mysterious can become so familiar in a record time. You got the lore but it transformed into something so essential/basic that it became the simple logic for how the whole thing worked.

This exemplifies how FIM not only eats up the lore but sometimes the show DEVOURS and digests the lore SO FAST that the newest introductions also have to add slice of life conflicts that you would expect from Ponyville. Either you introduce more lore to it or they have to rely on the characters themselves in order to be entertaining. This is why kirins or the seaponies were so liked, you see their appreciation because of Autumn Blaze, Skystar or Silverstream rather than stop and think about their backstories.

>>5729
>Derail the thread!? This is right in the thread's topic. I fully get having to cite stuff. It's probably better that way!
well, perfect then. Because all you have to do is to simply read this and you know, reply at the parts you feel like answering.

>You can wait for me to reply to a couple of points here or you can go on without me if I take a couple of days. Your call.
I believe that I am trying today to finish the whole thing because a lot has been floating inside my mind so I feel like I am ready to spit it out even though I have to improvise a bit while typing it.

>I'm trying to find one fic that if my memory serves me is somewhat relevant to your's (at least I wanted to compare them). If I can't I'll go on and finish the review without it.
fair enough, then I continue with this series of replies.

>the one defense here is that this was being done with a movie mindset of exposition.It is separate from the show and done doesn't want to overload audiences with lore as so much as have a entertaining adventure from point A to point's B and C. Though it is a partial one since it is arguable that it made the movie a bit weaker and other movies put background stuff that they desperately try to attach meaning to all the time.
you´ve got a point there and considering how many times the staff has had to change ideas, concepts or entire scripts behind the process of the movie, keeping things simple perhaps was the most effective to satisfy everyone. You do well in replying this to me.

However, that lore is all that was needed for the future material related to them in the next episodes of the show. Sure they tried to add their hobby of going through the seas like pirates but that mostly stayed as a really minor setup for a joke.

I´ve got to concede your point but still, it´s the quickest and most notable example to put out there for explaining a normalization coming altogether in such a short amount of time (probably the shortest at that along with the kirins). They display all the requirements for mysterious lore, direct explanation to the viewer and move onto down to earth problems. I could have posted Klugetown as well but that place doesn´t manage to receive as much spotlight as the southern location nor it follows the formula of normalization that I am exposing throughout these posts.

>I am honestly curious if you have something that I haven't seen or have but articulated real well (like a lot of this thread).
I feel like the exposition of this topic feels like a political rally and my arguments and words have to be chosen skillfully at that. Just that I am not going to stress you with politics (dear god no) here but many characteristics of the way I am articulating this...I learned most of them because of excessive exposure to it and now I feel like I am an expert in this topic when I could have much less info than you or any lurker out there. All this is simply displayed in a strategical way with some improvisation. I still have to set up my mind a little bit how to illustrate what I said before but again, I have ventured myself for that, so here it is.

Its ordinary nature doesn´t rely exclusively on that. It could have managed to cause a greater impact like a seemingly boring place like the Crystal Empire and its crystal ponies.

Just that the Crystal Empire is memorable because of how many episodes it has appeared in the show, how different the setting looked in comparison to the rest of Equestria and how it has gained slowly more spotlight with different plots (Equestria Games, Sunburst, Thorax appearance, Flurry Heart...). The location might not be the most interesting one but it slowly displayed more layers to its track record.

But the problem doesn´t end there because the concept of the rainbow isn´t exclusive to that place. Before getting there, we had seen Cloudsdale and Rainbow Falls before in the show. So this means that its entire lore depended on the concept of bringing happiness and harmony to the town by recoloring the entire place. Its lore was also the entire point but it happens that this plot device was seen before in many episodes so it overlaps the whole thing to something not only familiar, but also overdone in the past. If there were more layers of lore behind it, it would end up with much more interesting results.

So, what additional issue does Hope Hollow have? Basically the single fact that the special was contained there: only in the special and nothing else despite expanding the map. None of the characters which were seen there appear in the finale nor in any other way in the show (or even the comics so far) so their impact gets greatly reduced. The location is summed up in that single special. If it appeared (or any of the new characters) in another episode in the show (like Mount Aris/Seaquestria did after their debut in the movie), then they would have received more impact or a bigger legacy than this.

This last paragraph makes the huge difference in the end. People might have considered The Crystal Empire boring in its debut but over time, it escalated positions silently. Hope Hollow didn´t receive that treatment beyond its debut (and it came really late), there weren´t any more secrets or reasons to discover it beyond its main conflict.

And so, the lack of lore or uniqueness entailed to review the entire thing directly from the interactions or characters themselves or the Slice of Life story exposed for one hour. In that regard, the reviews were written in the S9 thread, I am not going to repeat them here.

So, after posting this, does this mean that expanding the map of Equestria gets rid of the mysticism? Mostly yes, the myths gets exposed and put into practice. HOWEVER, never underestimate what you have known for years because the little things sometimes build greater mysticisms than the newest places to discover beyond the recondite locations of Equestria. The first case here is...

The Sweet Apple Acres.

What? Do you believe that I have lost my sanity? Let me explain why this laid back location has managed to build up more secrets than its debut.

You know, that laid back atmosphere where lots of episodes have happened around the Apple Family and several other episodes meant to take a break and remind you about the humble things...perhaps they teach you a secret or two.

Imagine that you didn´t know about the Apple family and imply for a moment that instead of being an ordinary family, they were sacred creatures...the amount of history and events that occurred there have been told for generations and the place has remained timeless throughout its entire existence. If the down to earth Apple family was replaced by ancient creatures, you would start wondering about this entire location all the time yet it´s so familiar that we forgot that its familiar concept backs up its entire point and holds its entire strength/purpose.

So mundane that it gained more points when the map was expanding itself, it reminds you how things are simpler there and despite all the changes and strange turns, how it manages to stay the same and keep its pure nature (even more than Ponyville). People get sad (and even dramatic) for missing the Treebrary because it vanished completely but do you know what hasn´t disappeared for a much longer period and will stay there for you all to appreciate it at anytime? This comfy place with the iconic barn.

and now, do you believe that a mundane place of this level cannot hide mysticism around it?

https://youtube.com/watch?v=uajuy2CLtso [Embed]

Look, the "lore" might not be as impressive as an ancient building with degraded stone but those dreams of seeing a magical Seedling made a child happy for a while and who knows if the story was true. We will never know but sometimes, some stories might have happened without noticing it while they were living their daily lives.

However, we all know that this location has worked for all the mundane plot devices imaginable for the Apple Family countless times but at some point, one sees a couple of stars in the door of your farm and stare at them, remembering that all the members have lived in it but you know somehow from the inside that some details are missing here...

and sadly, one doesn´t need an extraordinary myth in order to create a special aura, created both in season 7 and 9, just because of the two stars that AJ saw in Apple Family Reunion. All the family came together except for two specific members and now, one would imply that this tree is an average one like the rest...

but it was the last place where both AJ´s parents were seen and what makes the whole thing even more unsettling and paradoxical to it, the whole wedding between Big Mac and Sugar Belle happened in that same scenery, as if history had repeated itself all over again but with two different ponies, all the elements were there, like stars aligning themselves in a perfect manner.

This happened just before the finale and the whole wedding paid homage towards two members of the family that couldn´t be there present in order to see one of their children growing up and marrying to a unicorn (a non earth pony for the first time ever in the family) but it happened in that same place because the rest of the members knew that the parents lied there.

So the mundane nature became haunting because of a tradition and gained a special aura that you don´t anywhere but here because we all have seen the evolution of what that tree represents and what the Sweet Apple Acres hid beneath its apples...only to be revealed in the latest seasons of the show.

Listen, see the pictures and read this calmly. Take a seat and think in hindsight about it for a while...before reading about the next location.

There are several viewpoints to establish towards this place but one of them that people tend to forget is how its actual concept has managed to accomplish itself over time. I ask you a question here:

wasn´t this place inspired in Minas Tirith (Lord of the Rings) when Faust decided to design it? And indeed, it looks like the white city was replicated in terms of design....but it has also replicated its destruction and huge battles have happened in it as well.

Yes, this city has revived the entire concept of Tolkien´s idea because this place, like no other in Equestria, has been taken over in such wild ways that it leaves the 5th Avenue of New York shivering when it comes to apocalyptic situations. Do you remember the times that this place has been taken over?

>A Canterlot Wedding
>The Beginning of the End
>The Ending of the End
>The Movie (2017)

Those are the main ones but to an extent, To Where and Back Again and Princess Twilight Sparkle were episodes in which the princess kidnapped, Discord threatened Celestia and the Mane 6 in Return of Harmony or even the villain trio fooled the guards in The Summer Sun Setback. This place, despite its high class appearance at first sight, is nothing but boring because whenever you expect it the least,a whole army of changelings fly around it or a ship appears and in less than 5 minutes, the whole location becomes unrecognizable and works as the set up for the final boss. Not only that but it has had to be entirely rebuilt, changing the throne of the royal sisters in one of them.

This leaves us with unsettling ambients and images of pure chaos (especially in the movie). This city manages to exhibit the other side of the coin, darker than any other location and potentially in any other timeline,it would have worked a setting for battling RPG bosses in any video game. It could easily become the root of any possible dark force that takes it over.

Something tells me that one wouldn´t expect this to be exposed but eeeyup, its potential for becoming a post apocalyptic place is much easier than one believes at first sight and it fits horrifyingly (yet amazingly) well at that.

but it doesn´t always consist in nightmares. The bright side of the coin has also brought a different tone for this place over the course of the show.

We talk about how it has slowly happened to be the high class meant for unicorns only to become not only mundane with it but the centerpiece of reuniting everyone together.

You know that the harmony was centered around Ponyville, where the three races of ponies joined together and lived in harmony.

Well, Canterlot has slowly transformed itself into that rainbow themed place where everyone has to visit at least once in their lifetime. It has become over time the worthy successor of Ponyville and indeed, it all started here with Twilight reading the book but the main events didn´t happen all that much until the visits from the mane 6 were more frequent and became the norm.

What astounds me the most about Canterlot is how versatile it is for anything really. One could set up any hypothetical situation around it and it would work nicely, from myths and nightmares (building up tons of lore if a villain conquered at some point) to the simplest slice of life story ending with a party.

Sure you could do this with Ponyville but the scenery that accompanies it is just breathtaking either way. You can go no wrong with it.

These two pictures reflect that if Ponyville didn´t exist, you wouldn´t miss it all that much because in the movie and in the finale, it displays what the tree of harmony showed before its destruction, without any elements of harmony for that.

and now, last exercise before dealing with the last entry.

Look at these two pictures...

You know that something has happened between them, you know what is behind these two images.

And I believe that they speak for themselves and they don´t need words...

what looks average and a usual thing for the idiosyncrasy of today, it will become unusual for those who follow it and have not known them.

There will be a year when her friends might not exist anymore and only Twilight remains because of the contract of replacing Celestia: immortality. And when that time arrives, everyone will start to study what happened to its predecessors and will look at the main place where everything happened: Ponyville.

It´s living history and every secondary/background pony that has managed to live along with Twilight before her coronation will be become more fortunate and will tell old stories or anecdotes that sound completely strange to those who haven´t met her friends nor have seen Ponyville in their lives yet they will want to study in the school she founded.

We are talking about a nerd that was reading a book about the story of two sisters who fought a thousand years ago, in the middle of a park of Canterlot and look who she is now. You know that she doesn´t have experience. But that experience will become the knowledge/popular culture for those who follow her in the timeline and they will talk about these anti heroes, with nothing worthy to admire, as mythical heroes that changed the direction of Equestria.

Review: Friendship is Forever A-Dressing Memories

Mainly focused on the tiny bit of new stuff so I didn't watch all the flashbacks all the way through but I did try to keep track. This was a wonky experience. Seeing it have the exact same opening theme just with Friendship is Forever branding brings a confusing sense of nostalgia with a slight hint of surreal. I can't say that I hate it because it's not like it did anything that made me mad but there was somethings that felt off. First off some of the selections for the flash backs seem rather odd. Like Twilight saying: Rarity has always been an inspiration for her with one one flash back focusing on her fashion empire and than it moves to focusing on Spike's love for Rarity in episodes that had really good moments for Rarity that would have fit as part of TS' first point; her handling her own in A Dog and Pony Show or her generosity in The Best Gift Ever. I guess you could say that later one was redundant with the generosity point already made earlier but you'd think the Spike flash back's would be focused on Secret of My Excess and perhaps a brief mention of a couple of other moments and then Dragon Dropped if you'd want to have a section dedicated to him. Secondly, it was slightly weird to have Spike show a brief bit of love for Rarity in pic related as it almost could be undermining her point about Spike and her relationship changing and Dragon Dropped itself in a small way. It's only slightly weird on it's own but remember it for some point later. Thirdly: is it just me or did the animation seem slightly choppy and jaggy at points? I thought it was just me but I saw a couple of other's say this too.
Like here:
https://pony.tube/videos/watch/9f699b7c-8b8d-45f6-aa2c-37d9816b56e1?start=1m33s
Or here after she tells Dolores and Spike to be careful with the fabric.
https://pony.tube/videos/watch/9f699b7c-8b8d-45f6-aa2c-37d9816b56e1?start=13m
Not something I'd really complain much about since it is a just a rushed side project but if it is true than it adds to the feeling that this was just slapped together.

4/10 I don't mean this in an offensive way but in that there was little here. It is just a clipshow with a bit of dressing. Admittedly I can find bous content /comfy/ but this felt a bit barebones compared to even the shorts they've had in the past.

One other thing:
I loved the moment when Rarity and Twilight hugged at the end. It is the only moment that stood out to me. It just sounded really sweet and genuine. That moment gets a 7/10.

Here we have the results about what fans feel towards Pony Life and one of the screencaps related to the season 10 comics.

Dragon Quest, similar to last episode, I think has some interesting dynamics even if I have some questions of its execution (though this ep has a lower potential). Storywise I consider it to be okay on paper but the dragons are rather uncompelling as antagonists. They are extremely generic, just archetypes over personality. I still enjoyed the ponies in this and still enjoyed how the dragons were presented as a mysterious and scary in the first part but there wasn't much to follow up. The main controversy around this episode though is obviously its moral. I actually remember seeing people back in the day connecting this to race more than masculinity, but it is clearly the second one they were going for here. The teenage dragons are supposed to represent stereotypical negative male behavior. The point of the moral is that Spike's more pony, more feminine, behavior is not a side of himself that he should reject but embrace and that such masculine traits maybe negative. How bad is that moral? Well, while I dislike the constant portrayal of all masculine traits now days in some circles as being bad I'm not sure this was written with that type of feminist intent even if it was written with a critical eye to masculinity. I actually think it was written still under a mindset of being a girls show toward the young boys watching it and maybe feeling insecure. It makes a lot more sense to me looking it as "It's okay to be girlish! A lot of the boys are mean anyway!". Extreme stereotypical behavior and simplistic morality are used in children stories all the time and I think fandom (along with many adults with other childrens media) often forgot this. It why I have such a hard time judging such childlike sudden shifts in morality as bad as it is in service of the lesson and to make it easy to understand.* I still find the lesson questionable and I would probably have preferred a bit more nuance but that is what I bet their mindset was.

Overall I consider this episode below average. 5/10 I think it was somewhat lackluster with a questionable moral but it should be judged under a childhood storytelling lens and not under as a racist attack or coordinated feminist attack against masculinity unless somepony can find me evidence otherwise.


*though there is a very strong counterpoint that as the series progressed it did often show greater nuance and that it makes some things puzzling and stupid when they would lean back into that level of writing.

Other notes:

I think it is a shame that Peewee wasn't included in the rest of the series as it could have been used as a arc of Spike learning of adulthood and responsibility. Wouldn't that have been a cooler Spike and Apple Jack episode in Season 3?

I still enjoyed the dragon costume and found those brief moments funny.

Does this contradict me saying that lands felt distant and that now everything just feels a train ride away? I don't think it does completely as it never was established how long Spike traveled and that it was still treated as dangerous and far away.

>>6073
>Storywise I consider it to be okay on paper but the dragons are rather uncompelling as antagonists. They are extremely generic, just archetypes over personality.
the episode is quite average both in its execution but like you say here, it become painfully generic and you don`t see the dragons as awfully cliched as this episode portrays them here. In its first debut, you see their special traits like being rude, rebellious and more disorganized (because of their free will) than the ponies. In later episodes, the gang doesn´t change all that much their attitude so they were in character: they are jerks and keep their cool among them. So far, this doesn´t sound troublesome but the way that this episode presents them...

>still enjoyed how the dragons were presented as a mysterious and scary in the first part but there wasn't much to follow up.
if someone reads posts I wrote here: >>5726 and >>5733 >>5734, while the debut episode for the dragons themselves have an air of mystery when they are flying over Ponyville, the ponies (mostly Rarity, RD and TS) imply that they are big, tough and scary. The quest starts for Spike and it looks like they are located far away (we´ll talk about that later) and it seems that we are following the same path that they would apply for Mt.Aris /Seaquestria, Hope Hollow and even the Kirin village.

Alright, so the air of mystery was set up in the first third of the episode because of the ponies point of view and lack of information about them (Twilight didn´t find any single book related to them. This could explain why Neighsay or other ponies would look down or would have fears towards other species). How much time does that sense of mystery last when Spike arrives at the Dragonlands?

Less than a few seconds.

That´s a new record. All the mysterious/scary aura was absolutely ripped as soon as we saw the gang. Besides swimming in pools of lava, what kind of new lore does this episode add about the dragons? The gems don´t count by the way. So, we are going directly to the slice of life territory in an episode where it deals with native dragons for the first time. The movie, Rainbow Roadtrip or Sounds of Silence turned out to be more sophisticated in this regard. We have to rely on the interactions, traits and the message here.


>The main controversy around this episode though is obviously its moral. I actually remember seeing people back in the day connecting this to race more than masculinity, but it is clearly the second one they were going for here.
>The teenage dragons are supposed to represent stereotypical negative male behavior.
these lines explain why it is the only episode with dragons that featured rock music and a try hard mentality that replicate the cool teenagers of the 90s. However, I am going to connect you the message with the race but with a different perspective. Just wait and see...

>The point of the moral is that Spike's more pony, more feminine, behavior is not a side of himself that he should reject but embrace and that such masculine traits maybe negative.
>I actually think it was written still under a mindset of being a girls show toward the young boys watching it and maybe feeling insecure.
except that Sweet and Smoky dealt with that moral much better without having to establish a masculine vs feminine duel in terms of attitude. What´s even funnier is that one of those toxic masculine characters that were displayed in this episode for backing up that claim, he also turned out to be insecure at showing a more sentimental side of him with poetry without using the feminine argument, just that he looked uncool towards the rest so he needed to feel superior from the outside. Reading this in hindsight, if you didn´t mention Spike here, I would imply that you could be perfectly talking about Garble.

now, what´s the biggest problem with this episode? Someone would claim that it´s Garble and the rest because they are annoying antagonists or poorly written characters. Around that time, yes, but seeing this episode in hindsight, they weren´t an actual menace but more like jerks who didn´t know any better beyond their routine. If they fought against ponies, they would endure in the battle for a quite short amount of time. Antagonists? More like they treated Spike as a punching bag for not being cool enough to fit in.

So, as Bridgefag has said before, the problem relies on the message. Let´s judge it with a twist here:

Assuming that we were blind people who we didn´t know anything about feminism nor took the feminine vs masculine values for Spike into account, let´s do the exercise of not falling into that circle and see why the message/moral is still a mess. Click on the script and read the letter written for Celestia:

>>6075
>Dear Princess Celestia,
>Seeing the great dragon migration made me wonder what it meant to be a dragon. But now I realize that who I am is not the same as what I am. I may have been born a dragon, but Equestria and my pony friends have taught me how to be kind, loyal, and true! I'm proud to call Ponyville my home, and to have my pony friends as my family.
>Yours truly, Spike.

Now, my little lurker, read those lines closely again.
This might sound really sweet at first but if you have seen the later seasons, you would realize that this letter has aged BADLY in hindsight (in my opinion). Sure, the ponies would teach the values of friendship to the rest with the school but Spike,are you serious?

He is implying that kindness, loyalty and honesty wouldn´t come from the dragons themselves, he is undermining the dragons (and himself) just because he has had a bad first impression and uses a bad sample of how rude their nature was at first for him. Sure, he was dealing with a gang but one doesn´t need to be a dragon for having that nasty attitude, ponies (or any Equestrian) can perfectly do that as well.

It becomes even worse when you watch Sweet and Smoky, Father Knows Beast and/or the Gauntlet of Fire right after watching this episode. He is implying that dragons like Ember and Smolder don´t exist. Even Ember´s father and Garble (before displaying his poetic side) sincere moments in their intentions. In Sweet and Smoky, Ember and Fluttershy introduce themselves and in a few seconds, Ember displays kindness, honesty and commitment to hatch the eggs towards Fluttershy. In Father Knows Beast, Smolder listens to Spike´s confusions about being a dragon and Sludge. She answered with a sincere tone after knowing those thoughts (compare both Smolder and Sludge, they have no color in their moral values at all)

Combine this with the line:
>Spike: I wonder if dragons cry...
We haven´t seen them doing that explicitly but there have been moments of regret and solitude coming from them.

Sure, they needed a little bit of help from the mane 6 in order to boost those universal values (the "ponification" of their cultures) but the effort at becoming better comes from the individuals themselves (and their education), not from the condition of your species. He is saying that he was taught with those values despite being a dragon and sure, Twilight helped him to understand them but here is the catch, what if other dragons want to learn those same values too? Are they handicapped in order to learn them?

When you mix the stereotypes and judge on a surface level with the first impressions, these holes in the well intended message appear. Thankfully, the show hit the reset button with Ember in season 6. It gave the dragons a second opportunity for sowing potential plots/messages with a more interesting take than this but it took 4 seasons in order to see that.

Phew, I am almost sounding like a social justice warrior here but this proves that if the show had an agenda (as though we were implying that there was a genuine conspiracy behind it), it would display quite a few contradictions with itself.

>>6398
Who poured their ponycider into your oats?

>>6402
>way
amen

>I don't know if I've really been a fan proper for most of this year.
I don´t blame you. After The Last Problem had aired back in October, the 4th gen ride ended and therefore, the medium that had brought all the fans together just vanished and found its own deadline. The 4th gen became a thing of the past after that point.

All of this that has occurred in 2020 is like a bonus, a transition or a break from the whole ride, hence it is called the post gen 4 era in which we rely on comics, spin off or community material in order to keep an interest for this franchise. Or it is basically because you want to spend time in these sites or circles but the main appeal, the FiM show, would no longer accompany us anymore.

>Also thank you very much for the rundown, you really didn't need to.
you are welcome. I mean, those reviews are shared in public in order to be discussed or induce arguments or extend more thoughts towards that content. Also, feel free to expose your thoughts about it if you want.

>but I think he was in a car accident that left him in a coma.
uffff sweet mother of Celestia, holy shit, that´s really messed up if that turns out to be true. Another user from here went through that as well (although with far less severe consequences. a few years ago (so perhaps, he will feel somewhat alienated by reading this). Then those changes are most likely to be permanent. A real pity honestly. Hope he gets better soon (although that accident sounds too strong to even consider any chance of any short term recovery, let alone if he even gets to make it)


>I've never been good at keeping up with drama but it feels a little weird being as out of the loop as I am currently, I suppose.
a lot of things and sudden shifts have happened since The Atlantic posted an article about bronies and nazism and then ,Derpibooru making a statement on Twitter about BLM. After that, the happenings didn´t cease to stop. I could attempt to write a summary about it but I would rather let any outsider judge it on their own and then, analyze it with your own perspective.

In the Big Man Tyrone´s video about Marenheit 451 art pack, there is a comment (with the help of Raptorshy) that sums it up on a surface level (there are more summaries out there that do a more detailed job in this department) and if you check the Derpibooru observatory thread on /endmlp/ (there is a link to it at the top of the page), you will see that Bridgefag has explained the situation with a detailed manner (don´t expect a neutral/unbiased tone though), although the thread is more focused on archiving the key threads before Derpibooru´s staff gets to delete them.

You will have to lurk quite a bit in order to find out everything. /mlp/ (4chan) has had a general dedicated to it and it has managed to bump limit 20 threads (even one of them got more than 1000 replies, as if it were a sticky thread for a new episode of Friendship is Magic!). So yeah, this whole drama has left no one indifferent and even >>6396,who is not all that familiar with the fanbase, has noticed that certain people are truly insane. Not your average degenerate/autist who makes cringy things for a brony cringe compilation but insanity combined with authoritarianism, woke culture and questionable decisions (including doxing). You will find out what I am talking about eventually.


>thanks, I'll check it out
>I´ll keep catching up and lurking.
alright, take your time. No problem about that.

I bring up the map of harmony because for the writers, it worked as a very comfortable plot device that has its roots on "destiny". You don´t know what drives that map to indicate these new places (although the tree of harmony introduces itself in the form of Twilight in What Lies Beneath and Uprooted) but it has been the excuse used for the writers in order to expand the map, focusing on worldbuilding and lore of these new locations.
Just place the cutie marks for the characters needed for that plot and things will go as intended after a little introduction of one minute or two in order to solve a friendship problem. In this season, the map showed three new locations: Mt. Aris/Seaquestria in Surf and Or Turf for the CMC, the Kirin´s village in Sounds of Silence for AJ and FS; and Sire´s Hollow in The Parent Map for Star Light and...Sunburst.

This is the theory, the selected characters are supposed to solve a friendship problem in this episode yet it´s not until now in which I have realized that the title of this episode actually describes the entire subversion of the map.

That is to say, what I mean to correlate with the map of friendship with this episode is that in these 22 minutes.....the writers are actually subverting and mocking at the purpose of the map. Think about it for a second.

Sunburst and Star Light aren´t solving a friendship problem but one related to their parents. The map actually warns them for forcing them to do a visit to their old town just to say that they have grown up and the problem relies on the cringe and the embarrassing moments that get out of their nerves coming from their parents (which by the way are the most comical parts all the way through the episode, I must say. Their reactions are priceless whenever they feel treated like little children). In fact, the viewer believes that in the 3rd minute, both Star Light and Sunburst say this in the train:

>SG:It's not that I don't want to go home. It's just that whenever I do, my dad treats me like a filly. Like nothing's changed since I was a foal.
<SB: Huh.
>SG: I know. I'm a horrible daughter.
<SB: N-No, no! My mom actually does kind of the same thing.
>SG: Really?
<SB: I don't even have to go home. She sends me letters constantly asking about my plans for the future. "You're a grown-up pony, Sunburst! You need a plan!"I haven't been home in a while either.
>SG: Hmph. We'll just have to explain to our parents that we're on an important friendship mission so they can't bother us.

that the whole mission was right there after all yet it is presented as a factor that could hinder them from solving the problem when that´s actually the real problem. It was a familiar conflict, not a friendship one.

All the acting (practiced behind the scenes with several rehearsals) from Stellar Flare and Firelight (and the other ponies) are just the effective excuse in order to spend more time with their children (Sunburst and Star Light) respectively. Building up a friendship problem (artificially) because both are aware of Twilight´s title and the purpose of the map, yet they subvert the concept completely and expose how ridiculous the map for just pretending in front of them. This becomes really humorous when Stellar Flare demands (with a smile) both the booksellers and the sleek pony to force a conflict in front of Sunburst when the three of them feel really tired to set up an artificial scenario.

>>6457
> hold the rage within your body
rage?

>>6467
>I don´t know why one would be uncomfortable by listening to the voices.
I don't know either, that was just his explanation. Not the words, the situations, he couldn't hear it because the voicecast hurt too much to hear through the pain.

>>6468
>Saddle Rec & Review?
Why did they change the title at the last minute? Anyway yes, and ...

>its slice of life spirit, about the details, the antics and messages
No. No it's not.

This is why I can't watch the show directly. If I wanted to see a bunch of bumbling bufoons screw up for lack of information and overinflated ego, I'd set up a webcam and re-watch my own antics, or any of my coworkers. I can't' stand stupidity and "slice of life" is only vaguely interesting because the stupidity is slightly different from what you would have done if you were the same pony.
FiM is a furry cartoon in a high-magic world. *that* is why I watch it. To wrap my head around the unirverse, the laws of magic, the question of hooves ... all of that fascinate me.
Stories follow naturally from the "slice of life" stupidity that was the Nightmare Moon Incident. Given the nature of pony, and how it differs from human, and given the nature of magic, and how it interacts with technology ... we have a set of options, and I firmly sided with the New Lunar Republic. That I lost does not add to the non-existant regret.
I am saddened that not too many want to pursue the question of "hooves, how do they work?" but I am not only not satisfied with the answer "they get by with hooves" I am positively offended that you imply I am mis-watching the show for coming to the conclusion that magic is so prevelant that earth ponies are unaware they have limited-range-levitation available to them.

I understand some want to live in a world full of marshmellows and simple garbage trailers so they can argue on a bridge. But I can do that here ... and I desparately want something different.

On to the other misunderstanding,

>>6469
>How can I not mention her within an episode
But you don't. You mention Sun Burst, you discuss Cel Lestia's collage, but never name Glim-Glam by name. Not correctly.
4-chan came to some agreements about the "cute names" for ponies. Thus we have Yellow Quiet, Marshmellowhorse, Ponka Po, Purple Smart, Background Pony, and Blue Fast. And Glim-Glam.
But not Fluttery Shy, not Twy Light.
I'm not upset if you're not upset, but her proper name is Dolores Umbridge; Not Star Light, not Seafood Dinner.

>>6479
>Made me chuckle
Glad I could amuse. Now I'm curious about the intended context of that image you found though...The artist's style is familiar but not quite enough to place it with other works I'd have run across.

>>6480
>damn, what episodes did he watch

I don't know but it would likely have been season three or earlier. Also, it's quite possible, though this is a bit of a wild guess, that he could have been under perception altering substances when he tried watching.
At this point you know about as much about this guy as I do, so we're left with head-scratching from here on out.

>Well, that´s like...your opinion, man.
Of course, and along with 'MLP is a furry show/world' I get that I'm in the minority with that opinion ... but is the opinion I hold.

>in which post did I mention that?
Ah .. I think I may have jumped to conclusions by reason of your assertion that _everyone_ watches FiM for its 'slice of life' nature. This comes in part because when I've tried online to drum up support for an RPG game, the power users (at least once that would have been me) were excluded from playing not by logic of the use of the game rules, but by logic that ponies should be small, and helpless. Yes you can be a unicorn but only if you promise not to learn anything or cast spells like a wizard would.
Bleh.

>Earth Ponies do have magic
I should post this comic I came across ... "the day the magic died"; since it fits in with much of my existing headcanon I thought it was nothing short of amazing.

>>6468
>MLP is not Game of Thrones
And thank Celestia; I've been extremely unimpressed with everything I've second-hand heard about that show. And also I tried to read the book but halfway through I realized it was a non-magic world following a bunch of savages so superstition they were *convinced* it was a magic world.
Bleh.

Mid-day post, and as it turns out my work wants me to ... well, work.
l8r all!

>>6503
NEW PERSON!! RUN AWAY!! NEW PERSON ALERT!!

Hi.
//Too late, can't write more.
Such as responding to
>>6499
>If everything is furry, then nothing is.

Which I have words running around in my head about but they won't crash into each other and fall down so I can pick them up and stick them to some paper.
Also I'm packing for a trip this weekend so I may not write much for awhile.

>>6499
>all the fictional creatures that have human characteristics

The discussions of "what is *furry* [to you]?" are beyond the scope not only of this thread, but quite possibly anything shy of the full breadth of the whole human experience.

But for me, "furry" isn't about shoving people-traits onto things, but elevating animals (specifically mammals) up to being people. Ponies are furries because they have to consider the ramification of a mane in the middle of their long neck, and of having a single digit at the end of each limb -- still animals -- but also the ramifications of fitting the 9-5 work schedule in with game-night with friends (1st-world problems 101).

To say "everything is 'furry'" feels a bit like a cop-out. But what I've seen a bit of, is everyfur has their own feelings about what "furry" means to them personally. So there are a thousand venn diagrams that, yes taken as one big diagram encompass a great deal of material, enough to say 'everything is furry' that is to say, a mix of human and more-(or less-) than human. But everything is not furry to a particular furre,

Maybe a consideration of what attracts me would be useful. At the one con I went to, I bought a book of artwork and short stories collected from various artists. I was amazed partly because rather than just a collection of pinups, this was a serious look at a microcosm of the furry world in the same manner as any collection of short stories on robots you might find in the bookstore.
I showed it to a friend, who could appreciate the skill demonstrated but wasn't enthralled because, as he put it, "I dont have in me, what you have in you."

I love the share-world aspect of FiM. It means the fanfiction can focus on much smaller details, using known characters and settings to examine the part of the human experience that seems glaringly obvious, or odd, in that setting.

By contrast I don't much care about the zootopia shared world. It has all the same advantages but: I don't like the city, and I really don't care to dip into the casual disrespect all the characters there feel towards each other. Oh, that makes sense, because big cities are like that. But because I don't like the city in general, except to go shopping and then to leave for home again, it makes sense I wouldn't care about the 'shared world' of zootopia.
So obviously Zootopia is a furry movie; one of the first that takes the concept seriously. And I enjoyed the movie, but never fantasized about being there.
The Lion King might or might not be considered a furry movie. They're 'ferals' as with our ponies, but in tLK the societies are brute savages, having neither the time nor the resources to consider trappings of farming, commerce, politics, housing or clothing. Naturally this is also a part of the human experience, as I'm re-reading Genesis now and reminded they just got by as nomads in a land of nomads with no industry anywhere. But I do not want to live there, so tLK is not within my 'furry diagram' of "where I want to be"

My next post will be about things that also seem furry, but aren't because they're monsters -- no attempt to humanize them at all even though as with Chryssy you could talk to them. DnD's gnolls, which I usually play as because they're as close to a furry race as you can get. But in their case the fluffy tails, and sharp teeth are meant to hold you at arm's length, and so should not be generally considered "furry"

But as I said before when I get home from work I'll be packing then sightseeing so I expect I won't post again until next week.

>>6505
I'd said that furries have to have an animal base, but "human" or more generically, "people" needs to be the other half.

In the case of some implementations of Chrysalis, she's more monster than pony. Even in the show she's an insect of sorts, so there's no point in the continuum that she's relatable after the fashion of a pet or as to livestock.

In the event you've heard of the comic Albedo, you may know the author made furry comics because Aesop's fables used furries -- not called that, but as with the "shared world" aspect of Equestria, when you start a tale speaking of foxes, scorpions, and other familiar animals, the listener will begin with an understanding about the character, allowing you to put the moral in a little starker contrast.

Ponies, et al, aren't viewed by the fans as "means to an end" but as friends you'd wish to meet -- but still with that air of 'other' that separates ponies from humans -- this is the basis of furry I'm getting at, but what about when that friend's neighbor is unrelatably evil? Despite the fact you could talk to them, their main characteristic is how much fear they create. The setting of such tales usually focuses on 'dehumanizing' the villain and I think if you don't want to talk to them, they aren't able to fall into the 'furry' trap unless they're a furrified, ponified form of a known villain

What about humanized ponies? I thought about having quite the collection of John Joseco's work because it's so good at capturing what a pony would look like, but without the animal base, and tale told using that version of the character would not be a 'furry' story.
Catgirls are just anime girls made weird, but I'm not always sure where to put tales-of-the-other set in a furry world. Sweetie Bot, for example. She's a robot not a pony.
Fluffle Puff's Chrysalis is another edge case that I think brings her out of 'insect monster' into 'furry character' realm. She's strange but completely relatable once you get past the 'eats love not pizza' thing.

I had started my previous post thinking there was pretty clearly a case for a definition of furry, and talking monsters, despite what grew out of their hide or the length of their ears, were not furry. But in writing this all out, I see now that 'furry' is about the viewer. If you react to it the way most furries do, "This is how I breathe; this is how I see myself when I have to interact with all the stupid people who are chocking me with their everything" then as FOX Worthy might say, "that comic might be a furry strip"

I could also ramble about my thoughts on the overlap of MkUltra slaves and furry / pony art, but those are even less coherent or consolidated than my 'furry apologetics' thoughts.

Alright, i thought that I was going to leave it here but this is important to report.

As if 2020 couldn´t be worse....it´s capable to perform even become more awful than it already was.


Nightmaremoon IS DEAD!.

It has received a DMCA from Hasbro and we won´t have its service for streaming episodes after 24 hours or so.

So in this case, we would have to download the episodes from Yayponies for the show discussion, find alternative sites or just wait until a copy of it pops up (hopefully soon).

This, of course, has been related to GitHub´s change in which the DMCA takedown prevents the access to the files that have copyrighted material and of course, OF COURSE this decision had to come from the music industry.

You can read the entire claim here (both in this link and the screencap):

https://github.com/github/dmca/blob/master/2020/10/2020-10-23-RIAA.md


So, judge all of this for yourselves (including the context of this happening), post your thoughts and take care.

>>6729
>Hey, it's getting close to Nightmare Night so I'm pretty curious on this.

As I said it's more of a rambling opinion. But there are artists, more noticeable in the longer-running furry circles, that are fine for a while, then rather suddenly un-hinge. Shitting dicknipple ladybois with missing eyeballs, stuff that no customer commissioned and few of their existing circles can put up with.

Time was, when I just assumed 'hey, all artists are tortured sous, so I've been told, so this is normal' And on the internet, eventually everything becomes normal.

But now that I'm amongst those researching the questions from the entity known as "Q", it occurs to me that maybe this isn't normal at all. After reading a few reviews from VigilantCitizen, it occurs to me that maybe what I was seeing, is some forgotten slave, now that s/he is of collage age and neither smart nor pretty, they're no longer getting their weekly programming-rapes and are able to use the power of fantasy to examine those holes in their memory -- and at some point, all the crazy comes out at once.

Certain themes in particular seem more likely for these candidates, and that is the hyper-herms, although some like Doug Winger always produced such and seemed normal the whole time. But the increased interest of late in giving everything a dick seems unnatural, even as impressive as the equine stallion's member is, it belongs on stallions, not humanized mares. Also sexualized youth, and I grant you that the rules of the internet say the more innocent, the greater the pleasure in corrupting it, but CMC-as-whores, while they're still cutiemarkless? And of course needless gore. And I've seen a few trifecta, where a herm Celestia ruts some random filly so ferociously her dick comes out the filly's mouth, spewing entrails everywhere apparently to the Princess' great delight.
(hopefully these all spoiler. They're not the worst of anything, but they're a little NSFL)

>>6733
Other times I'm just ware of the creep factor. Two artists come to mind immediately: Crooded Trees, and Fruitbloodmilkashake.

Yes, their art was like that the whole time, and some of the more disturbing pieces from C_T is clearly copied from all-human art ... this is *also* extremely disturbing for the same reasons.

If artists are tortured souls, who tortures them? Perhaps is was in front of us all along, and we opted not to see. Or perhaps our collective interest in the grimdark is all it really takes for these delicate souls to find themselves so at odds with the world that they need to draw youth cut into ribbons by those they trusted most.

Do your own research, think for yourself, and most importantly, be careful who you follow (those they trusted most).

Well, considering that you might need to time to read this commentary and given that this a commentary that puts a specific episode in the spotlight, I am sharing the commentary in advance. If I shared this right in the exact same day, perhaps it will be too late for anyone to consider it.

However, you will realize that arriving at the exact same day isn´t a very important factor after all, you will know why...

Here it is: my personal commentary dedicated to the Nightmare Night event on /endpone/.

Well, time to revisit another episode and considering that October is widely considered as the spooky month, this board isn´t falling all that short.


Considering that we´ve got more than 200 episodes to pick, there are very few that are dedicated to the Halloween event (Nightmare Night for the equestrian tradition). In this case, we take a look at the whole episode list and there are two episodes that are dedicated to this festivity: Luna Eclipsed and Scare Master. To an extent, one could also pick between episodes like Castle Mania, Bats!, 28 Pranks Later or the trilogy between Luna and the CMC, with the moon princess serving as a mentor while the little fillies go through bad dreams that will aid them to see the root of said problem.

You know, this Saturday should be fun and perhaps, what better way to escape from reality by revisiting some nice episodes which all of them will provide a spooky time but also with tons of humor and fun interactions among the characters. Take for example, the awkward moments in which Luna has to go through to get rid of her bad image but ends up being the central piece that made the event special. Or maybe one should venture into a made up labyrinth made up by Fluttershy, disguising herself as the true fearsome bat that the other mane 5 will get truly terrified at trying to escape from her presence.

That sound fun and even Luna Eclipsed is one of the universally praised episodes that one could perfectly come back and rely onto it whenever one wants to watch. Just take a nice seat, grab some popcorn, a blanket and you will most likely have fun by revisiting these old episodes. No matter the taste that you have, any episode can provide some good entertainment in order to get comfy while watching material related to the theme for this specific date.

Out of these, this board will deal with something related to the month of terror and write a commentary related to this material. However...

...I am not writing about these episodes. Not a single one of them. You will ask: “What else does convey that sense of horror for October 31?”

Ask yourself first if you and the kids can even celebrate properly this event in the first place...or even in the right mood to have some fun...assuming that MLP even works as a route for accomplishing that sense of escapism…

Let´s put the whole thing in context, Season 7 didn´t deliver any arc that would be shown...in the first half. Unlike season 4, the arc dedicated to the pillars of Equestria (the actual debut of Starswirl The Bearded) would begin with those mythical stories delivered in Campfire Tales (Mistmane, Rockhoof and Flash Magnus), Daring Done (Somnambula), A Health of Information (Meadowbrook) and would finally peak with Shadow Play (Starswirl and Stygian). This arc was much shorter in comparison with the keys for opening the chest of the Tree of Harmony in season 4, so the old fairy tales would work as some kind of plot devices for the mane 6. Except that said fairy tales would turn out to be actually true and bring said characters back to life.

If you are familiar with the style of season 4, this won´t surprise you much. It´s familiar territory for this show but, A Health of Information...deals with a very uncomfortable topic that you wouldn´t want to hear about. In fact, this episode, while not scary by itself, it will remind you of the sad reality. Watching this episode is like trying to extinguish the fire with gasoline or like that person who is drowning, another person appears and is capable to save him from drowning but instead of giving him the hand, the savior decides to put the foot over his head so he cannot reach the surface and breathe again. Perhaps these metaphors will illustrate that MLP here...doesn´t help you at all for trying to escape from reality. It´s like that constant reminder that you have had to face one way or another.

The episode, in less than 3 minutes, will remind you about the sad reality: a rare disease in which a cure hasn´t been found by the health system (only the symptoms) and said disease can spread like wildfire.

Called swamp fever over here, the main plot device for this episode consists in the disgrace that Zecora had accidentally run into a blossom, releasing a powder that would affect her health. Coughing bubbles, causing confusion and what´s worse: grow leaves by turning into a tree. On top of that, said transformed tree would also spread the disease to the rest in the future. This means that the infected becomes a problematic disease vector and later in the episode, Fluttershy recommends to Twilight and Cattail to wear those masks in order to protect themselves from getting it.

I am stopping right here for a second, and ask you: how much of this resembles to reality? Am I describing a MLP episode or the real world? If I didn´t mention neither the characters nor you had any idea of MLP, would you say that I am talking about real life? This should trigger the red alarms and that´s why, while the episode itself doesn´t scare the viewer, thinking about what you have watched, noticing the similarities and the theme going for these 22 minutes, perhaps this experience might leave you uneasy, not giving you enough room to take a break from what you want to escape and forget about. MLP does neither relieve nor diminish the environment that has surrounded the viewer for the last few months. If anything, it can only add more pressure or an unsatisfying pass time that won´t make you forget about what you have been going through.

Sure, the episode ends well; Fluttershy finds the cure by following the steps that Meadowbrook discovered long ago (including her mistakes: the stings from the golden bees by failing with the first try), using the mystical mask in order to obtain the honey that would work as the cure/antidote for such terminal disease that in this universe, has even WORSE consequences that death itself. The only parts that will make this more digestible and bearable for a kids show are the comedy parts that Twilight delivers throughout the episode (cooking, her reactions displaying amazement towards the discovery...).

The rest of the episode consists in a desperate quest about Fluttershy sacrificing her own energies in order to save a friend from an avoidable task that she asked and made Zecora run into really serious trouble (to the point of not seeing Zecora again). Fluttershy has always received those recurrent complaints of her trying to be assertive and trying to get rid of her shyness. This happened until more or less Filli Vanilli (Season 4). From the It Ain´t Easy Being Breezies, she wouldn´t raise that problem and she would overcome her own mentality and dive into future matters with more confidence and a natural behavior, without bringing up her track record.

By the time season 7 happened, this would become obvious with Fluttershy Leans In, in which her attitude would display that confidence and prove how far she has gone. However, A Health of Information, not only she displays bravery while facing the golden electrical bees, she goes all that far to sacrifice herself for a friend that she reaches the point of going fully reckless without resting at all. She displays the complete opposite without forcing that confidence (even more strength than Twilight and Cattail expected while she was sick), she is able to do anything and face the obstacles without caring about her own health. Not only her past flaws have vanished but you seriously wonder if the Fluttershy that has progressed throughout the show is the same one as the yellow pony Twilight knew in the premiere.

Again, only the humor is the saving grace for reminding you about the fact that this is MLP and not reality. This aspect gets the job done for dealing with this matter but as for the rest, you might have mocked at MLP for being childish and such...but try to laugh at it while watching this episode. For sure, you won´t find such mindset all that rewarding as one outsider could do back in 2010-14.

I also raise the question of Equestria being a desirable place to begin with. /endpone/ has brought up the topic of the process of turning the Everfree Forest into an average place. That process of normalization in which ponies would visit said place more often after fearing it for so long. While this point is normally brought up, I ask this question: why wasn´t the Everfree Forest feared because of this disease?

Ponies have held an irrational mindset towards the Everfree Forest yet I am asking, why don´t they have fears towards it because of what happened in this episode? While this place looks isolated and no one lives there except a Meadowbrook relative(Cattail) who happens to clean a house, this disease doesn´t bother all that much the characters in this episode yet anyone would rationally have genuine fears towards a disease that implies death.

Pretty funny to think about it, when one is desensitized towards this matter that should worry about yet the main characters don´t display such fears towards a genuine matter that causes heavy health issues for real. While no one lives there, I seriously wonder why no one else has come up with the idea of grabbing a flamethrower and get rid of the trees that would cause the swamp fever. At least, the disease has a pretty spotty location but with more troublesome consequences in exchange.

As for the last part of this review, I am ending it by quoting the message that would be displayed in the last minute:

>"If you don´t take care of yourself, you won´t be able to care about anybody else"
I would personally add another line for this lesson: "If you can take care of yourself, will you be able to do that if others don´t?
I am not trying to prove the message wrong but more like, your health doesn´t simply rely on what you do, but you also rely on others or even any random factor for falling sick. While this message has been displayed for giving Fluttershy a lesson coming from Twilight and Zecora several times (especially her lack of sleep for coming up with a solution that could have happened sooner or the fact that she went truly ruthless while trying to solve the problem), one can perfectly deviate it with IRL matters.

The episode by itself doesn´t deviate much the tone that FiM has delivered throughout the years and it doesn´t have any correlation with any Nightmare Night theme. However, it´s a subtly dark episode; this darkness doesn´t come directly at your face but more like, the thought process is what makes it dark.

This episode may cause chills by itself but in 2020, it conveys a very uneasy feeling that you would have desired to be over at some point this year. Visiting this episode is almost like having that fetish of constant suffering without getting any mental break. Trying to spend your free time using the route of escapism and finding yourself in the same starting point that you wanted to avoid by resorting to this innocent cute show that was meant to bring you comfort.

The terrifying part doesn´t come on its own. What makes it truly eerie is the fact that... some people might not be able to even neither celebrate this festivity properly (there is no room for fun) nor set the right mood to celebrate literally anything. You, as a fan, try to escape by resorting to this franchise, coming for mental help and comfort, and all that this episode does for you is the reminder about what you have been going through. It´s so cruel that not even the kids can forget about this problem.

I am repeating the question that I brought up at the very beginning: how much are you capable to sacrifice for the ones that you love (family, friends...)? How far would you go in order to find a way to move forward and try to come up with a solution, even by resorting to desperate manners for reaching that desired objective, the reward that would bring you back to that precious comfort?

These questions, dear reader, are what make this whole experience for this October 31 unsettling. The terrifying parts don´t rely on trying to scare you directly but more like testing your personal will at facing issues that could have ended in very dramatic "what if" case scenarios. Subtle darkness that creeps within your body until your neurons, forcing you to react in some way in order to hope and come up with that vital solution, doing the impossible at times during the process.

Do you want to be more exposed to the harsh reality that you have been going through?
Then, A Health of Information is the suitable episode to remind you about what you have genuinely feared to a greater or lesser extent at some point during this year.