It's really an odd color choice and It doesn't feel like nighttime and it the nights don't actually look dark or at least dark enough with that shade of purple.
This is the thread for discussing anything pertaining to Fanfiction in general. Like your ideas, thoughts, what you're reading, etc. This differs from my Fanfic Recommendation Link-Swap Thread, as that focuses primarily on recommendations. Every week these two threads will be posted at alternate times.
Although, if you like, you can talk about fics you don't necessarily recommend but found entertaining.
IMPORTANT NOTE. Thanks to /u/BookHorseBot (many thanks to their creator, /u/BitzLeon), you can now use the aforementioned bot to easily post the name, description, views, rating, tags, and a bunch of other information about a fic hosted on Fimfiction.net. All you need to do is include "{NAME OF STORY}" in your comment (without quotes), and the bot will look up the story and respond to your comment with the info. It makes sharing stories really convenient. You can even lookup multiple stories at once.
You're a pony accompanying Daring Do on a crazy adventure through an ancient temple. You've been wandering aimlessly for hours in search of the priceless artifact hidden somewhere within the temple. Eventually you spot the treasure and both step into the room in which it is located, but neglect to realize that you triggered the Grainger™ 2NCA6 motion sensor that was installed at the entrance. All of a sudden, the doors shut and the walls begin slowly closing in.
There's no exit in sight, but not all hope is lost. A secret compartment in the floor swings open to reveal a multiple choice quiz taken via Google Forms. You must correctly name all of the provided background ponies. If you get all the questions correct, you'll be saved through the opening doors. If you don't get all the questions correct, you'll be saved by the TV-Y7 rating. Have fun! QUIZ HERE (Don't forget to hit "View Score" at the end to see your results)
Hello everycreature may I welcome you to the First IN Progress Discussion for the Fimfiction Book Club! Today we will be discussing where we are in the story we are reading thus far, due to the sheer length of the book in question we started last week, so I figure that we shall just disucss what we have been reading this week.
That said what was our officially chosen Fimfic to read for the Book Club? Once Again we have a TIE! Weird right? So here is how I figure we can do this. Since it seems that y'all really do want to read BOTH of these stories for the fimfiction Book Club. So what does that mean? It means that I literally flipped a coin and it's results mean that this week's story to read is "Regarding Falling Villains" by NaturalBornDerpy leaving the Three Estee Oneshots for Next week.
So that said I am hoping to see how this turns out. So here is what the plan is. On the day when the Fimfic for the Book Club is announced, like last week for example, we shall read the first chapter and give our initial impressions of the Fimfic in question in the comments below, and then the following week, today, once we have all had time to read and digest the fimfic, we can discuss it in whole. What we liked, what we disliked, what you would have changed, etcetera.
And if you really liked the story feel free to leave a comment to let the author's know. Trust me as a writer myself I know just how much that is appreciated.
So let's give our In Progress Discussion on "Regarding Falling Villains" by NaturalBornDerpy shall we?
So what is everyone thinking about this story? What do you like, what do you dislike, is there something you would have changed, or is there something that you simply wish to discuss in regards to the story?
Also a link to the previous edition of the book club here, 5th Book Announcement "Regarding Falling Villains". . . .
As always feel free to ask for a reminder whenever these threads go up. I am always happy to ping y'all if requested to do so.
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!!<
And if you're not wanting to discuss the subreddit or community specifically you can also check out the weekly off-topic thread here!!!!!
So this has been somewhat on my mind for a while now. What exactely happened to the rest of the Alicorns in Equestria?
Besides the ones featured in the show: Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Twilight, and Flurry Heart, we see Alicorns iconography scattered across the entire show. From ancient pony ruins, to old pottery, to story book legends, and extended material books.
Just what happened to the rest of the Alicorns? Why were they teaching the Princesses before suddenly disappearing from the land leaving those two as the last? Did Discord do something to them? Did they just bamf out of existence one day fighting off/sealing off some greater evil? What do y'all imagine happened to the other Alicorns?
So . . . This is the fifth thread in this series and we're approaching the halfway point of the first season. At this rate, it'll take almost two years to get through the series. But don't worry, I'm sure I'll tire out and start briefly covering a larger number of episodes per entry in a few weeks.
Actually, I'll be brief about the next episode on this journey; Bridal Gossip. With the oh-so common moral of:
"Never judge a book by its cover."
I mean we all judge a book by its cover to some extent. The trick is knowing when to be skeptical of your own assumptions. But on a practical level, you can't read the beginning of every book you see.
Another issue is . . . Everybody agrees with it. Or at least consciously says they do. When Twilight finally concluded Zecora was going to eat Applebloom based on eavesdropping her words, was she judging a book by its cover? Would she have thought she was judging a book by its covered if you asked, or would she have thought she had good reason for her assumptions?
I've also read that scientifically, intuition can actually be very useful, cobbling together minor points of information we may not even be aware of. I think the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell discusses this, but I've only read the description.
For a real life example, one time a man from the street offered to fix a dent in my mom's car for money. I saw a cross he was wearing around his neck and I didn't trust him, but I didn't speak up. I worried my distrust arose out of a prejudice against Christians.
The guy did a shit job, covering the dent in some white stuff then disappeared with the money.
In hindsight, I don't think I distrusted him because of his religion.
I distrusted him because of his big-ass, look-at-me cross he had advertising to everyone his religion. My mom even said he told her how "Christian" he was as a way to seem trustworthy.
Don't trust people who try to use their religion to convince you they're a good person.
I might as well try to convince you I'll make a good friend by saying I'm a HUGE fan of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and like to discuss the lessons from the show.
I'm not a good friend, of course. I'll neglect friendship, fail to resolve things that are bothering me, and be myopic in the things I talk about with you until our connection withers and dies.
Anyone wanna be friends with me though? I promise, you won't have to worry about commitment.
Anyway, I think I failed to keep that brief. Sorry 'bout that.
But not too sorry, NEXT MORAL! Swarm of the Century
"I've learned that sometimes the solution to your problems can come from where you least expect it. It's a good idea to stop and listen to your friends' opinions and perspectives... Even when they don't always seem to make sense..."
This is actually similar to the "Don't judge a book by its cover" moral. In real life though, I think it's more common to know why you don't value someone's input than just assuming they're being "random" or "crazy". For example, they're someone who insistently and predictably inserts their religion or politics or other beliefs into their thoughts, or you know they have no qualifications on the subject.
By the way, ever notice horror movies teach a really similar lesson to this episode? Imagine if Twilight Sparkle wrote to Celestia after experiencing a horror movie in real life.
"Dear Princess Celestia
I've learned that sometime an accurate warning and valuable advice can come from where you least expect it. It's a good idea to stop and listen to the opinions and perspectives of apparently crazy people when you visit a new place… Even when they don't always make sense because they're just yelling "Get out!!" or "There's a death curse!".
That in mind, I agree with other people's critiques that Pinkie should've communicated better, just like Crazy Ralph from Friday the 13th should communicate better.
Anyway, I could keep trying to get to the mid-season point but I want to keep these threads under a certain arbitrary length (which this post will exceed by its end). Also, I wanted to talk more about a recent episode.
Hey Arnold Vs. She's All Yak
Last week, I noticed the past few episodes had plots resembling certain episodes of the old Nickelodeon show Hey Arnold. So I re-watched those episodes, namely the ones that most resembled She's All Yak. It was an interesting contrast.
I thought it be interesting to contrast how My Little Pony and a different show teach similar morals.
In episodes where the character of Helga puts on a fake appearance, such as Helga's Masquerade, Helga's Makeover and Dinner For Four, there's an inciting external problem that provokes the change. Helga gets teased, or she wants Arnold to be in love with her when he's not.
In episodes like She's All Yak, or to an extent the season 1 episode Boast Busters, there is no external problem. All the main character's assumptions and insecurities, and the episode's argue their moral by the main characters being in a situation where they're already loved. Sandbar already has a huge crush on Yona and Twilight's friends are already gonna stick by her.
In Hey Arnold, as I think is often the case in real life, there is more missing in terms of interpersonal connection. It's not all bleak, but the way the episode's make their "argument" is different.
In Helga's Makeover it's her closest friend that tells her she liked the old Helga, and Helga finally snaps at the uncomfortable bizarre-ness of the makeovers she's trying to partake in with other girls. It's partly the familiar pony ending of "Your friend likes you who you are, also, you're special." combined with "Also, normal people are weird. You don't need to be part of that."
In Helga's Masquerade, the ploy of using a costume party for dressing up and acting like a girl that Arnold is in love with just makes the Arnold like her 'cause she reminds him of his actual crush. That said, the ploy actually kinda works, when Helga over-hears. Arnold saying he kinda likes her. Moral: Dressing as someone else won't make someone fall in love with you, but it can make them more fond of you so, maybe kinda worth it?
In Dinner for Four the scenario simply goes completely wrong. Helga uses coupons to go to a fancy restaurant and act fancy and she goes to the wrong restaurant. The results of the masquerade are underwhelming for Helga when he simply says that he's "impressed". A more sincere moment of friendliness occurs between them when shows the honesty to own up to being unable to pay and washes dishes with him in the restaurant kitchen. In this episode, being a plain good person gets one further than pretending to be fancy, and involves less situation comedy.
Hey Arnold isn't quite as feel-good and idyllic as My Little Pony. But I suppose that's part of My Little Pony's charm. Though I do find the aforementioned Hey Arnold episodes more resonant, and I prefer them over their analogue MLP episodes.
(Particularly *Helga's Makeover, which depicts the "normal" people/behavior as bizarre, without making them as cartoonish, mocking caricatures, which is a combination I think a lot of cartoons, even MLP, fail to do.)
Anyway, I feel like in a sense these threads are both covering too much and covering too little. But I still want to give each topic both as much depth as possible and as many NPT views as possible. So . . . Onward goes the analysis train.
There are always things about the show I want to talk about, but I'd rather not always dedicate an entire full blown thread to it or it's never the right time to mention because no one would care. Maybe it's a thought that could be answered quickly enough to end discussion or something insignificant and stupid brewing in the back of your head for awhile! Anything you want to throw out to r/mylittlepony and say your piece!
Is there anything you've wanted to mention lately but never got around to it? Anything you want to speak up about for a bit? Any pony topic at all?
Can someone explain the MLP phenomenon? I don't understand and I want to
Because she's always breaking the fourth wall!!! xDxdxdxDxdXDxdxDxDxdxdXdXDXDxdXD (ok ill stop)
Like I just like ponies. Big deal. I finally toughened up and submitted my mediocre pony art to another subreddit and I'm already getting downvoted. Why do people even care? It's a pleasant show about adorable ponies and it teaches good lessons. Why be a jerk about it?
So people like to joke and hypothesis that both Starlight and Sunset Shimmer will eventually end up being the next Alicorns that get ascended ala Twilight Sparkle was but I just realized something. . . Twilight didn't just ASCEND out of nowhere.
Twilight ascended when she completed a never finished spell while utilizing the magic of harmony (or rather the internal magic of ponies connected to the Elements of Harmony) where upon she was teleported to some realm of ascension where Princess Celestia was waiting for her. Twilight's Ascension was a PLANNED thing from Celestia(in the past she likely planned a similar test for Sunset Shimmer).
Even Cadence's ascension came from tapping into a powerful force of magic, in this case love, to defeat some great evil in her home town.
But what about Starlight? Starlight is a VERY powerful unicorn, perhaps the most powerful in Equestria now that Sombra is dead, but unlike Twilight she was never connected to the Elements of Harmony. Nor was she connected to the power of Love. Specifically ostracized by the Pillars of Harmony (as led by Starswirl). She has nothing to connect to, no great fundamental force that allowed for the other ascensions, so her ascension seems unlikely unless she specifically creates a spell to become one with Twilight's help.
This is very much contrasted with Sunset Shimmer who Princess Celestia had always planned to ascend by her side only for fate to intervene. Sunset Shimmer who's destiny had been to become a Princess at Celestia's side, who fled and became the Element of Empathy in another world regularly connected to the Elements of Harmony and it's Rainbow power. She is connected to the same force that Twilight was but due to being in another world, and never having an OFFICIAL element, she remains in this strange form of stagnation. Unless she comes back through the portal I find it unlikely that she will ever fulfill her original destiny of becoming a Princess and Alicorn.
Which raises the question I had in the first place. If Starlight Glimmer and Sunset Shimmer WERE to ascend and become Alicorns. . . .just what would their trials and tests be? What fundamental force of magic would they connect to? And how would it all come about?
