My Little Pony

[Serafina]

I actually didn't get into it due to anything on the Internet, but due to the fact that apparently half of Munichs lesbian community (or at least half of the part i hang out with) watches it. I'm sure that says something.

[Zixinus]

Well, it is about a bunch of girls hanging out with many other girls and having adventures.

Plus, the fandom's utter conviction that Rainbow Dash is a lesbian (then again, the femdon probably has shipped the Mane 6 is so many directions that we'll need to use Minkowski spaces to illustrate them). I simply don't get it personally (she's the most competitive, aggressive and tomboyish of the lot, yes, but why does that make her a lesbian?), then again I don't know many gay people.

[Ritterin Sophia]

It her tomboyish nature and the rainbow coloration. That said I don't think Rainbow Dash is a lesbian since it's not something I think MLP actually bothers to cover, even though there are fandom jokes about it.

[Serafina]

Why none of those traits make her a lesbian, she would totally fit into my lesbian community.
Then again, so would every other Pony of the Mane cast (yes, even Rarity).

I think it's simply that we can identify with the characters very easily (i certainly can). And in some cases their adventures are very applicable to us as well - if you take the last episode for example, i could name several people who were in almost the exact same situation as Rarity: They tried to integrate into one social group without letting the other social group know that they're not coming to the laters activities due to the first group (for example when you can't come to a party where your slightly younger friends go because you'd rather go to a lesbian knitting evening - happened to me recently).

Oh, and YES - having a series where you can ship so many characters in a manner you like is also fun. In most series you just can't launch that many lesbians ships, simply because you lack female characters, or those female characters don't interact much (because they appear in different seasons or are on opposing sides), or are just utterly incompatible (because they're mother and daughter or such). Not a problem if (almost) your entire main cast is female.

Of course we're aware that we are just interpretating stuff into the characters that isn't there (because the show is entirely asexual) - but let's face it, if you want lesbian shipping you have to do that anyway, unless the show in question is named L-Word or Lip Service.

[lordofchange13]

That's how everyone starts, by watching a few episodes to see what the fuss is about. Next thing you know you're writing fanfiction and using a pony avatar.

Mwahahaha my plan to claim SDN for Equestria continues apace.

Check for all but fan fiction, for now.

[open_sketchbook]

Yeah, this show is just totally insidious. I've resisted the pony avatar on forums simply because I hate it when people switch their avatars and I lose track of who is talking, but my MSN avatars have been animated gifs of ponies for the last six months and I've got fanfiction covered.

If you had told me a year ago that this is what the internet would look like now, I'd have probably had a heart attack.

[Skgoa]

That's how everyone starts, by watching a few episodes to see what the fuss is about. Next thing you know you're writing fanfiction and using a pony avatar.

Am I a subject in an experiment you run?

[lordofchange13]

That's how everyone starts, by watching a few episodes to see what the fuss is about. Next thing you know you're writing fanfiction and using a pony avatar.

Am I a subject in an experiment you run?

evilsoup is the Xanatos of Xanatos'

[bilateralrope]

With the very last bit, what Rarity should have said was 'well yes, I know these ponies: that's Twilight Sparkle, the princess' personal student-'*Twilight gets mobbed by social climbers*.

I'm a bit surprised that nobody recognised Twilight. She has been the princess' student for years, surely someone would have noticed.

Unless Celestia doesn't interact with the upper crust much. Given how quickly they went along with Fancy Pants at the end, I can see why she would avoid them.

[Zixinus]

Of course she doesn't go around the nobility much. Aside her attitude towards self-important ponies as seen in "best night ever", she's the sovereign of Equastria. She has royal airs and dignity to keep, something hard to do when the targeted audience of self-important ponies do not match you to their (unrealistic even to a entity that daily raises the sun) expectations of behavior.

[evilsoup]

I'd just like to note that Fancy Pants (of Her Majesty's Secret Service) clearly recognised Twilight, that's why he winked when he said '...this lovely filly from Ponyville...'. Of course Rarity was too nervous to notice, and Twilight was too fucked up on jagurbombs to pay attention.

It is interesting that the social elite* of Canterlot don't have much contact with Celestia. Maybe she's more interested in her school - I mean, for an immortal god-princess there's only so much entertainment to be had out of charity auctions and ghastly modern art exhibitions; but with her school the ponies would be educated in something that genuinely interests her, and (assuming it works the way I think it works, that is educating them all the way from 'magic kindergarden' to university-level) there would presumably be research into different types of magic. So Celestia could even learn new and interesting things from her students.

Ooo, that's another episode I'd like to see in the future (along with 'mane cast are away, a bunch of the secondary characters save the day', 'where are Applejack's parents' and an episode featuring the parents generally): what does Celestia do all day? i think it would be interesting to find out.

*Of course these ponies might not actually be the elite, they may just be important from Rarity's provincial Ponyville perspective. Like, the real pony aristos (who maybe do have access to the princess) look down on the noveau-rich social climber ponies we saw in this episode, but Rarity's actually basically a peasant who wishes she was a princess (lol mid-atlantic accent) and so from her perspective they all seem very impressive and posh.

Am I a subject in an experiment you run?

Only if you started watching MLP due to my My Little Warhammer

[Crossroads Inc.]

Ooo, that's another episode I'd like to see in the future (along with 'mane cast are away, a bunch of the secondary characters save the day', 'where are Applejack's parents' and an episode featuring the parents generally): what does Celestia do all day? i think it would be interesting to find out.

Any one of those would be epic, and yet we will probably never see them just by the fact they all are perhaps a bit more "adult" then what the producers are comfortable doing.

Take AJ's parents for example. If it ever came out that the reason we haven't seen them is the one we all are POSITIVE is the answer, well, can you actually see MLP touching the topic of, not just Death, but the Death of your Parents? I mean try and recall a cartoon(American CN type cartoon, anime need not apply) that actually dealt with death?

[Revy]

Maybe the reason we haven't seen AJ's parents is because Celestia banished them. Or imprisoned them. Or banished them and then imprisoned them in the place they were banished to.

[Zixinus]

Or they are on a different Apple family farm. Or they have a lifestyle that does not suite a young filly and sent her (and Applebloom) to Sweet Apple Acres.

[lordofchange13]

Maybe the reason we haven't seen AJ's parents is because Celestia banished them. Or imprisoned them. Or banished them and then imprisoned them in the place they were banished to.

Maybe they tried to help Celestia's phoenix the last time she came to ponyville,and wasn't in a good mood.

[evilsoup]

I'm not that familiar with American children's cartoons. There's a whole slew of children's media over here that deals with that stuff. Picture books, cartoons; one of the most popular children's series of recent time, Tracy Beaker, was about a girl in the foster care system. I think it's important to deal with this stuff: if children's shows (and the media more widely) refuse to show 'broken families' or unusual family situations for (misplaced) fear of upsetting children; then you end up with children in those unusual situations feeling alienated.

I think such an episode might get made, Hasbro have been giving the show a lot of independence. I also think that it would be fantastic if handled properly. But yeah, I'm not going to hold my breath.

[Narkis]

Yeah, this show is just totally insidious. I've resisted the pony avatar on forums simply because I hate it when people switch their avatars and I lose track of who is talking, but my MSN avatars have been animated gifs of ponies for the last six months and I've got fanfiction covered.

If you had told me a year ago that this is what the internet would look like now, I'd have probably had a heart attack.

Yeah, if I find a good image of Celestia's guards I'm changing mine. It's the helmets really. But a fanfic sounds like too much work. (at least for now.)

When do new episodes air, incidentally? I'll probably have caught up by the weekend, and I already dread the anticipation.

[evilsoup]

It airs Saturdays at around 3pm GMT. There are livestreams available, and people normally have the episode up on youtube within a few hours.

[bilateralrope]

I'd just like to note that Fancy Pants (of Her Majesty's Secret Service) clearly recognised Twilight, that's why he winked when he said '...this lovely filly from Ponyville...'. Of course Rarity was too nervous to notice, and Twilight was too fucked up on jagurbombs to pay attention.

I missed that detail.

It is interesting that the social elite* of Canterlot don't have much contact with Celestia. Maybe she's more interested in her school - I mean, for an immortal god-princess there's only so much entertainment to be had out of charity auctions and ghastly modern art exhibitions; but with her school the ponies would be educated in something that genuinely interests her, and (assuming it works the way I think it works, that is educating them all the way from 'magic kindergarden' to university-level) there would presumably be research into different types of magic. So Celestia could even learn new and interesting things from her students.

Which brings up the question: How much ruling does Celestia actually do ?
So far we have only seen her in ceremonial roles, which makes me think it's a similar situation to the British monarchy.

*Of course these ponies might not actually be the elite, they may just be important from Rarity's provincial Ponyville perspective. Like, the real pony aristos (who maybe do have access to the princess) look down on the noveau-rich social climber ponies we saw in this episode, but Rarity's actually basically a peasant who wishes she was a princess (lol mid-atlantic accent) and so from her perspective they all seem very impressive and posh.

That could be the case, though Fancy Pants' opinion has a lot of sway with them. Suggesting he belong to the real elite.

[Zixinus]

It is possible that these "elite" were elite in the sense that say, Paris Hilton or the editor of Glamour (or insert-your-despised-fashion-magazine-of-choice) is important: they have sway, they have importance, they certainly have wealth, they have influence over the public and their names are repeated often around the profession of whatever they do. They may come from rich families and do various public stuff, like host auctions.

But nobody is going to go around telling them national secrets (unless they pay to get them) or (seriously) expect them to make mayor decisions (even if their opinion is influential). These ponies have no real power, just a big, rich snouts that they hold up to the air.

It is possible that during the Nightmare Moon Crisis, these very elite hid under their beds like everypony else and had as much idea as to what to do as anypony else. Or were demanding some poor, hapless Pony in Position of Authority(tm) (likely whoever fills in Celestia in minor official matters) to Do Something(tm)!

[Narkis]

It airs Saturdays at around 3pm GMT. There are livestreams available, and people normally have the episode up on youtube within a few hours.

Excellent, I'll be right on time. One season down, nine episodes to go.

[Zixinus]

As for Celestia ruling: just how much ruling does she need to do or want to? In sudden appearances, everypony bows to her (except Twilight Sparkle, who knows her personally and knows when to abandon royal protocols). The various ponies WERE pretty terrified of upsetting her, even though Celestia hasn't shown any actual "off with her head!" snap-judgements (even with Nightmare-Moon, it said that Celestia attempted to reason with her first).

So, I'm guessing that Celestia has SOME power.

My guessing is, that like with her magic power, she doesn't use much more than she has to. I am guessing that Equastria is set up to work without her, at least in most matters.
Ponyville has a Mayor and when the Mayor requested an audience, Celestia obliged almost immediately, abandoning the party set for her. This is an important detail. I can't imagine, say, Luis the 13th abandoning a feast set for his honor just because the local Patrician wants to speak to him (hell, the patrician would invite himself to the feast to talk to Luis).

That says that either Celestia takes whatever duties she has seriously, or that she set things up enough that she considers any request by the local person in authority to be serious.
Though, I am convinced that whatever the hell the Mayor asked Celestia for was probably fairly irrelevant or at least could have waited.

We never see a tax collector (and I doubt we will ever see one, this is a children's show after all), or policeponies (the only ponies clearly with a role that may involve violence is Celestia's personal guards) or even bureaucrats (aside the Mayor) or any other agent of whatever government Equastria has.

My guess is that Celestia has plenty of power, but simply does not use it. She prefers letting things run their course rather than enforce her own will unless it is necessary.

[lordofchange13]

It airs Saturdays at around 3pm GMT. There are livestreams available, and people normally have the episode up on youtube within a few hours.

Excellent, I'll be right on time. One season down, nine episodes to go.

Someone will post a link on this forum pretty quick after they go up on youtube.

[lordofchange13]

[Bright]

At this point, my personal head-canon is that Fancypants is the mayor of Canterlot, or possibly another government official of some kind. It would go along well with his cutie mark (crowns symbolizing statemanship) and huge importance in Canterlot's high society.

Also, I'd like to declare "Fleur de Lis" Celestia's bastard daughter, but I can't really imagine Celestia not acknowledging something like that.