Y'all are awesome. This place never fails to make me happy when I'm feeling down. Thanks everyone
I saw this thread earlier https://www.reddit.com/r/mylittlepony/comments/84nmf6/earn_quick_bits_fast_and_easy_learn_the_secrets/ and thought to myself, this makes me want to play a incremental game, mlp based. Ya know, the ones like adventure capitalist/egg Inc/cookie clicker/etc. Where you collect bits and raise your own business or town. I found a pony version of flappy bird. Why not an incremental game? Why not zoidberg?
(if I'm stupid and didn't see it the first time I searched the play store, please let me know!)
What do you think is the funniest scene in the show?
EDIT: The reason I made this is to remind people that just because something's not popular now doesn't mean it'll NEVER be popular again. For instance, I STILL see people saying that traditionally-animated films are dead forever in favor of CG.
So, there's a thing called the Trolley Problem. It has a few variations, but the most common version is: A trolley hurtles down the tracks towards a group of four people. You stand at a switch, able to move the trolley onto another track - but a single person stands there. Do you pull the switch, condemning one to save four?
At its heart, the trolley problem can be rendered down into something even simpler: Do you harm the few, to save the many?
In a pony scenario, one might reconfigure this into a loosely different question with the same point: Ponies are facing down a villain where it seems someone will end up hurt and/or dead in the end. However, through their action, a smaller number of ponies may be hurt than if they do nothing.
The interesting thing is that we've actually seen this scenario, or something like it: In the S4 finale, Twilight faces down Tirek. He reveals her imprisoned friends, and offers an exchange - her power for their lives. Twilight chooses her friends, sacrificing what seems to be all of Equestria to ensure their continued survival. Yet, this violates one of the core tenets of the Trolley Problem: The people on the tracks must be unrelated. Twilight's friends are not unrelated, which is why they work as hostages in the first places.
I'm not so sure it's a bad practical example, though. As I've discussed before, ponies seem to be a more exaggeratedly-social species than we are. They're far more prone to forming small, herd-like groups on whose support they are more dependent. I posit that the average pony is more likely than the average human to save the few than the many, because they are more likely to be deeply socially connected to the few.
There's a version of the Trolley Problem called the "Fat Villain": You can stop the trolley, by pushing the one who set up the scenario in front of the trolley (said villain being presumably large enough to stop the trolley). Here, ponies and humans seem to agree: It is right to cause harm to one who is causing harm, in order to spare others. Interestingly, this even overcomes the close social bonds ponies form: All canon sources are unambiguous that Nightmare Moon seizing power would be an unambiguously bad thing, and Celestia banishes her to spare the rest of the population.
This is, as a side note, a large part of why I like Celestia - she repeatedly upends the typical pony social behavior.
With all of this in mind: What do you think? Would ponies - would Twilight Sparkle, or your favorite character whoever they may be - pull the metaphorical lever? Would they spare many by condemning a few, unknown-to-them ponies?
With the big change in season 8 being the introduction of the School of Friendship, it's clear that the show runners are of the opinion that school is something fun and relatable.
While I can't deny that second part (though I'm sure there are some homeschooled kids that don't get what the fuss is about) that first part is kind of questionable to me.
It's not exactly like I had a hard time in school, but I can't remember a time in my life where I was exactly excited to attend, and wouldn't have preferred to be doing almost anything else. As such, dwelling on a school setting has never been super exciting for me. I was more interested in the wizards and magic than Hogwarts and Houses in Harry Potter. There's a ton of anime that I end up losing interest in because of the cookie cutter school based scenario.
Truthfully, a big part of why I'm not as into Equestria Girls as some other fans is because I've never been onboard with the school focused setting. Don't get me wrong, I was a kid who found learning fun, enjoyed solving problems, and liked taking tests. It's just even to me school was never fun and exciting, it was boring and dull even at the best of times. At the worst of times, well, it was a little slice of Hell. Keeping that in mind I flat did not like school or enjoy my time there. Stories/characters that act like school is this fun exciting place feel alien and disingenuous to me. It kills my interest and immersion.
So how about you? Do you like school? Do you have fond memories that get you excited about the concept of a story set in a school? Are you in class right now, having the time of your life learning exciting things and paling around with friends? If you do or don't, if you have or haven't, is that effecting your excitement for the upcoming season at all?
Hi there! It's Thursday again and that means another chance to talk about what's been happening around here and how you feel about it!
Same as every other time, feel free to discuss whatever it is you'd like regarding our little subreddit good or bad. If you're unhappy we'll try our best to fix whatever problem you're having!
If you want to talk about the MLP fandom in general, that's fine too!
But some people may not want to talk about comics or anything else that hasn't happened yet, so you should be nice and hide those conversations from those people by using the spoiler tag.
If you don't know how it's as easy as making an emote:
[It has ponies!](/spoiler)
Becomes: It has ponies!
And if you're not wanting to discuss the subreddit or community specifically you can also check out the weekly off-topic thread here!!!!!
This is a sentiment I saw recently that I immediately rejected, but on further reflection I don't really have a way of disproving it.
I have the general view that even if you stop watching the show that doesn't necissarily mean you stop being a brony. Ditto if one stops interacting with the fandom I think you could still be considered a brony if you still consume some amount of content (even if it's just lurking on forums/reddit).
But what do you think? Are there more people who were bronies now than there are people who would consider themselves bronies? Have we gotten to that point as a fandom?
While there were indications of this as early as season 5, with Starlight taking on an important role in Twilight's Friendship School it is now undeniable that she fits this particular trope. Starlight isn't a side character or guest star party member, but she is a concrete part of the cast that we can expect to be with us for the rest of Gen4.
Let's explore how she fits this role. Like most 'sixth rangers', when Starlight was introduced she was unusually powerful... stealing the Cutie marks of an entire village might be hard to gauge as a feat of strength, but severely altering a time travel spell and fighting an Alicorn Princess to a standstill multiple times is probably the most powerful we've seen a unicorn be in the series without the use of some kind of artifact or spooky crystal powers. Add to this that she started out as an antagonist for our main heroes, only coming around to join their team after misadventures and misunderstandings had been cleared away.
We see further how Starlight matches this trope after she joins the cast, taking out a villain (Chrysalis) that the Mane 6 previously struggled with without their aid. While this wasn't due to the power gap between Starlight and the Mane 6, it does still fit how the sixth ranger is typically handled upon first joining the heroes.
Now that Starlight is starting to be more integrated into the main group, we can expect the Mane 6 to start to rise to, and even surpass her power. Chances are Starlight will soon be taking the role of Celestia and Luna of being 'worfed' to demonstrate a new villains strength and cunning. (I'll be watching attentively this season if that ends up being the case.)
It remains to be seen if Starlight might become the 'traitor' sixth ranger, or if she will just be the token evil teammate. The longer Starlight is on friendly terms with the Mane 6 and the more intograted she becomes the less likely a traitor turn seems, but it also will have more impact we're it to occur. At this point it seems very unlikely, but those who are still hoping for it I'd say 'never say never'.
Ultimately I'm glad it seems to have turned out that Starlight is a sixth ranger, as I am a fine of that particular character-type, even though it is a little overdone. I look forward to seeing if Starlight eventually ends up taking more of a leadership role within the group dynamic, or if she will end up as a perpetual 'fifth wheel'.
