My Little Pony's Justice 2 - Official MLP Thread v2

[Your Vest Friend]

Huh, just found out a little tidbit that brings the 'History of the Wonderbolts' thing into repute. Again, after so long.

My dad's watching a film downstairs. I asked him what it was, and it's an old film called The Cockleshell Heroes. He then gave me a bit of his personal experience on it; when he was younger he applied to join the Royal Marines (he didn't get in because Rugby injuries flared and made him unfit to qualify). When he went to the base to sign on, the first thing the actual officers did was sit them in a room to show them that film before anything else, as the film was based on an actual Royal Marine mission done during WWII and shows off their history.

Now, here's the thing; that film isn't trying to pretend it isn't fictionalised, it's been readapted for entertainment purposes and is probably pretty glamorized. Surely something calling itself the History of the Wonderbolts wouldn't reach the level of fictionalisation something without that moniker can reach, so shouldn't it still be suitable for Rainbow Dash to learn from it?

Just another random ramble.

[Kevin]

Mother of god.... That 100th episode is gong to be amazing! Not I really can't wait for it to air!

[Rucdose]

https://youtu.be/Rhpvx58iq00

 

 

[gato]

You can tell the exact moment when the show jumps the shark...

 

I'm not kidding:

 

 

 

This is awesome XD

 

 

EDIT: Got better picture o/

 

[Kevin]

You can tell the exact moment when the show jumps the shark...

I'm not kidding:

This is awesome XD

EDIT: Got better picture o/

I was laughing so hard at that! Clever writing there!

[Nix]

The fact that Vinyl and Octavia actually live together is incredible.  

 

Every fan fic is canon.

[gato]

I've been meaning to make this post for a while but both real life and the fact Discovery Family spent the last 2 weeks actually hyping the episode (I don't remember when was the time I started watching teasers... I used to avoid them... I think the year long hiatus affected me . _.) left me with little choice on the matter... Yet I still want to talk a bit about Slice of Life before it airs since while I'm quite hyped for the episode, it's a kinda controversial idea that I want to give some thought about, so lets start with...
 
 
 

THE PANDAMONIUM!!1!

(Or "how an animation error stole the 100th episode")

 
 
Pandering is a word that has been thrown around a lot on this fanbase with a tone of disdain and negativity, I thought for a bit as to how long this little complains comes from, I know it was used a lot on Season 4 (tho I rarely saw any reason to) and while your opinion about it might vary I can't think of anyone using it when thinking about season 3's finale... I think it might have started when Keep Calm and Flutter On got announced (and Meghan kinda admitting that a fan request influenced it) but it might even go before that (Scootaloo and Luna having episodes). In this particular show the word pandering has been used pretty much every single time something the adult fandom might like and goes a tad away from the show's comfort zone until that point has happened (like Luna Eclipsed or Power Ponies)... Which... Isn't really what pandering seems to be about.
 

"What's happening with video games is the same thing that happens with anything new and interesting. At the beginning, everybody wants to see what it is. They gather around and check it out. But gradually, people start to lose interest.

"The people who don't lose interest become more and more involved... And the medium starts to be influenced by only those people. It becomes something exclusive to the people who've stuck with it for a long time. And when the people who were interested in it at first look back at it, it's no longer the thing that interested them."

 
As per what Miyamoto-san and my (very) limited research on the matter points, pandering is more when you let the fandom (or rather, the vocal part of it) influence what should or not happen in your work too much, the risks of taking such actions are large since you can end up not only alienating the silent side of your fanbase and blocking any potential newcomers but also the vocal side that you are trying to please might not even be happy with the result at the end.
 
I believe the closest thing we've had so far is Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks which has a lot of fan favorite characters taking the spotlight while the Rainbooms are trying to defeat the Dazzlings. Season 5 can also be argued to be very pander-ish since it's actually going into some new (and most of the time interesting) directions as well as trying to address some plot points and little irksome things the fans have pointed and speculated for a while (take the opener, Tanks for the Memories and the latest episode as examples of this). It does make one think how much of this was because some random fan asked about it in a convention or if it was something the team always wanted to tackle but for some reason or another never saw the need to, remember that it's thanks to this show's success that we went beyond Magical Mystery Cure so who knows how much of this was deemed dispensable until they actually saw the chance to pull it off. As someone who really enjoys this kind of thing I can't say it bothers me, and I do think so far it's been done in a way that can be enjoyed for everyone but then we got this coming episode...
 
When you think about a milestone episode the first thing you'll expect is that something big is going to happen. It's a time to celebrate the show's existence and pull all the stops to make it something memorable, a time to reflect on how good this product is and what makes it so enjoyable... So you think it's going to be something game changing and epic like Twi's fight with Tirek, or Rainbow Dash's first mission as a wonderbolt, or a CMC getting her mark, or Rarijack being canon... Even a flashback episode to reminecense the awesome days past by (tho admittedly, that'd be pretty bad for us). Instead, we are getting ponies who barely got anything to do with the show up to this point taking the spotlight that should go to the characters who carried this series across the years.
 
Who the hay is this crazy eyed pony and why should I care about her anyway?
 
 

22 Short films about Ponyville

(or "Buy our toys!" done right)

 
 
According to Larson the idea of the 100th episode being a Lower Deck one came originally from Hasbro with him actually opposing to it... he ended up warming up to the idea s he progressed but this wasn't something he wanted to put into the show originally. This makes it very hard to predict how much of this episode will affect the show as a whole (he probably doesn't think about using this characters after this one), nor how much of the fandom has actually influenced it (as an example, Larson himself is rather fond of that Steve guy yes and tried to include him on Magical Mystery Cure) but I feel this episode presents us with some opportunities.
 
For starters what this episode is going to bring to the table is something that season 5 has been doing rather well and that's worldbuilding. After this episode the would be background ponies gain a lot of characterization and makes the town a lot more livelier because of that... Maybe you aren't going to see a Derpy episode (it's a dangerous ground) but this opens up the possibility of including a lot more to the scenes of any regular episode by having this ponies interact with it (maybe say some lines that contribute to a joke but not taking a key role on the hypothetical future episode in question), this could also end up giving some consistency to ponies that really need it like Bon Bon or Time Turner. This episode could act as a very nice way to introduce this characters to the fans who didn't know about them and while (as I mentioned before) it remains to be seen how much use they'll see after this episode, the possibility is now there.
 
On the other hand, I find rather crafty from Hasbro to make this move since it turns what were kinda niche into something with a lot more exposure, which might or not help to boost the sales of the merchandise that turns around them... This is what I like to think as product placement done right since it doesn't feel like they are letting the toys dictate how the show goes, but the other way around. Things like these or the journal of the two sisters and the Daring Do books by GM Berrow... More of this please.
 
 

I'm not saying it was fanfics...

(Or "but it was fanfics")

 
 
A lot of the personalities that we came to expect from the ponies that will star on the incoming episode come from the fandom, yet the show staff have stated multiple times that they are contractually prohibited from reading any piece of fanfiction... So how will our background ponies work?
 
Well according to some stuff scattered across the conventions (sorry, forgot to do source checking on this one) they aren't allowed to read fanfiction but they are well aware of what's popular. Plenty of contact with the fans in conventions and the stream of featured content on EqD is likely to give you an idea about what makes the collective bronydom tick... Is this a good thing? Not necessarily, for starters now all my hopes of Lyra being a cursed pony destined to suffer for the rest of her life forgotten by everybody else are dashed (read: I don't actually hope that), but ideas like Vinyl and Octavia living together might become a reality! There is also the chance that Larson might see something and yet decide to go with something slightly or completely different depending on his feelings as to what works or not on the canon world.
 
So what is popular for this fandom then? In order to answer this question I decided to do a little compilation of all the renown memes (and I'm NOT talking about the funnay pictures) we had across the years and post them here. Keep in mind that this is not a list of things I like (as a matter of fact I feel strongly against some of these) but one that points the things that are popular between us.
 

 
* Derpy is a mail mare: I literally have no idea where this fanon started (probably the early days on /co/) but it's widely accepted by this point that Derpy is the town mail mare... or one of them considering how the show keeps throwing us no lazy eyed mail ponies one after another. She has been shown to work at a delivery service of sorts but she also does weather work... Maybe she can't keep a stable job? (I hope that's not the case).
 
* Derpy loves muffins: I believe this one has been pretty much confirmed thanks to all her odd names out there and the Equestria Girls universe.
 
* Derpy is a companion: Kinda hard to believe something like this might get into the show, but who knows...
 
* Derpy is Dinky's mother: a similarly colored background filly that appeared in Winter Wrap Up quickly became the favorite candidate to be our muffin lover's daughter, many daws and feels were had from the lots of misadventures this duo has gone through in fanon.
 
* Derpy is Amethyst Star's mother: it's a bit out there... But ever since Dinky was seen on the sisterhooves social with the purple-pink-ish mare the later was happily added to the Hooves family, how and what kind of role she fills in there varies from person to person.
 
* Derpy and Golden Harvest are close friends: Admittedly it feels like our carrot top pony has fallen a bit under the radar lately but this relationship between her and the fan's mail mare was one of the most popular things back in the day, many fridges were emptied during those weeks.
 
* Berry Punch, the town drunk: Admittedly this one is very hard to pass the censors so we might not get much from her... Considering this is pretty much the only fanon we have from her besides...
 
* Berry Punch the cool mom/sister: We know she's athletic at least since she won last year's sisterhooves social and she got a reputation of being protective of the filly.
 
* Time Turner is the Doctor: I was never a fan of this one but it's by far the most popular fanon he has around him, can't argue that his appearance and cutie mark really give that image about him.
 
* Time Turner is a married stallion: With Derpy Hooves, all the entries around the mail mare's family also apply to him by proxy most of the time.
 
* Lyra and Bon Bon are Lesbians Cousins the Best Friends: Probably the most popular fanon around these two ever since they've seen sitting together on a single scene in the background, but you have to admit that it took off like little else considering the amount of art and fanfics these 2 get to the point that they could be considered THE OTP from the fandom. Of course the show is most likely never addressing this but they've been throwing several nods here and there (they'll get some cool points if they have Lyra calling Bon Bon "Sweetie", as in, her toy name is Sweetie Drops).
 
Following this fanon we also get...
 
* Lyra is a silly pony, Bon Bon is a grumpy one: The most common sights of the minty unicorn are doing something funny in the background which gave her quite a fun attitude in most of the fanworks, Bon Bon on the other hoof has seen doing little else but complaining about something, there are occasions when the opposite happens, or when both of them are equally crazy but these are in the minority.
 
* Lyra wants to be human/is obsessed with humans: it's funny because humans exist (thanks Meghan), this all comes from a single scene that have her sitting like a human on a bench but it exploded into what's one of the most common jokes on the fandom (which might be why some people grew tired of it as the years went). This one has a slightly creepier variant that's her obsession with hands.
 
* Bon Bon has a different voice every single day: A running gag of sorts in the show, it remains to be seen if she'll appear in the coming episode and if this little joke will keep on going.
 
* DJ-PON3 and Octavia are friends roommates: The second most popular fanon couple as far as background characters go, two very different ponies that by some circumstance or another ended up together and found a friendship unlike any other... Our DJ is often portrayed as the epitome of coolness on the pony world, a party animal, a fusion of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, a rock star... Octavia on the other hoof seems to be very prim and proper, the most stoic and uptight pony you might ever meet.

 

* DJ-PON3 is a mute: It's no where near a popular fanon but I decided to include it since it seems like Hasbro wants to play with this idea if Rainbow Rocks is anything to go by.

 

* Golden Harvest is to carrots what Applejack is to apples: and by that I mean mortal enemy kidding, probably one of the few individual treats Carrot Top Pone has besides being with Derpy is her pride in her work as farmer/gardener and her love for the fruits of her work, this has lead her to butt heads with Apple pone more than once in fanon, but since Applejack isn't taking a role on this episode this might not get to happen.

 

* Minuette is the town's dentist: Not much to say about this one, other than being a companion it's pretty much the only fanon she got... not that I dislike it.

 

 

There are several other pones out there like Flitter, Cloudchaser, Blossomforth, Thunderlane and Rumble but they don't really have a strong fanon besides being regular ponies doing regular slice of life pony things.

 

There are others like Aloe, Lotus, Redheart, Bulk Biceps or the flower trio but these already have some sort of character from the show so it wouldn't do to post about them.

 

I think that's pretty much all about them as far as I can remember, please let me know if I forgot about anything! o/

 

 

 

But yeah, that's what popular, will it be used on the show or will it be changed for something else? As the time of this post there is less than a week remaining until we finally find out and I'm personally very hyped about this (despite all the negativity I threw at the beginning of the post, I was mostly trying to see other people's perspective about this one) but for now... I think I'll go to sleep. _(:3

 

 

pd: yes, Lyra is best background pony.

 

 

EDIT: I forgot about Button... I still need sleep tho...

[Emperor Robrainiac]

Tommy Oliver made an important review of "Appleoosa's Most Wanted" this weekend. Watch all of it.

 

 

A lot of it can be applicable to the Sonic fandom too now.

 

Well cripes, that was brutal. I mean, there are a lot of points I agreed on, as I'm not as much of a fan of the show as I used to be, but... damn he really got pissed off. 

[Celestia]

[cool stuff]

[Your Vest Friend]

There's a children's magazine out now featuring DJ Pon-3 (and lazy, faulty stock art), and that has her being mute throughout despite being a big focus of it. It would be really easy to give her dialogue there, so it seems her muteness is intentional.

[Ducktor Naldush]

Tommy Oliver made an important review of "Appleoosa's Most Wanted" this weekend. Watch all of it.

 

 

A lot of it can be applicable to the Sonic fandom too now.

[Celestia]

I disagree with the cutie mark thing since I never really felt like that was a strict rule. I don't really feel like the show ignores previously established stuff either, at least not to an unbearable extent. I don't blame anyone for feeling the way he does, it just doesn't click with me personally, I guess? I can't understand being angry at someone for saying that but y'know...bronies.

 

He's definitely spot on about the fandom (though that's hardly the only issue with the community, it's definitely something that would effect big name fans the most, so yeah).

Edited June 8, 2015 by Celestia

[Strickerx5]

Tommy Oliver made an important review of "Appleoosa's Most Wanted" this weekend. Watch all of it.

 

*video*

 

A lot of it can be applicable to the Sonic fandom too now.

[Your Vest Friend]

New teaser image and longer synopsis.

 

 

"This special features a first-time spotlight on several supporting cast characters, as Ponyville’s favorite residents – Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity – are busy protecting their community from a surprise attack. Meanwhile, as everyone prepares for Cranky and Matilda’s highly anticipated wedding celebration, an invitation printing error forces last-minute changes, sending Mathilda’s loyal Ponyville pals—a group of rarely seen and never-before-heard ponies—scrambling to rearrange everything for the nuptials."

 

 

[gato]

For the record, Muffins.png being considered a mailmare is because of that one scene in Feeling Pinkie Keen where stuff fell on Twilight from what was apparently a delivery vehicle type...thing. So it could go either way, but I'm not expecting it to come up personally.

 

Also about Vinyl, from what I gather in the clips so far she hasn't spoken a word, though I haven't actually watched the one with her in it. I'm curious to see if she's actually mute (which would be pretty cool actually) or just not the talkative sort. Really hoping for the former since I've grown really attached to that headcanon, which isn't exactly normal for me. D:

 

I'm kinda nervous about this episode in general, but well...I was wary of "Make New Friends" too and that ended up pleasantly surprising me, so who know?

[Strickerx5]

I'd also like to add that the whole analysis part of the community really only started during season 3. To be quite honest, I think the Canterlot Wedding garnered a lot more attention from people who had originally just past off the show as good fun. Kind of threw it into the "lets take this more seriously and dive into information that might not even be there" type of crowd. I'm not saying that's a bad thing (or that everyone who joined the show after that are part of it), but I do believe that isn't the best outlook when coming into the show. I remember the days of season 1 and 2 where the only people really reviewing it were Everfree Radio (points to you if you remember them XD) and the only other places where you could here other people's thoughts on it (outside of forums) were commentaries... when youtube still allowed that. Add in the fact that this isn't the first time an analysis person has blown their cool and I think there begins a pattern. I'm not saying all of them are like that (some of them are actually pretty good from what I've seen), but it's something to watch out for.

 

Also, to put it frank, I've never been a fan of someone announcing to the world their new found dislike of something. It's cool if you stop watching it (why in hell would you continuously watch something if you don't like it?) but to make a scene off it? I don't care how big you are in the community, it just comes off as immature really. Just stop watching it and if someone asks you why, just say (short and sweet) "It's not my thing anymore". It's like when I stopped caring about baseball. I didn't announce to my friends out of no where like that. Just did it quietly and when I was asked about it, I just said what I put before (and that's when I was 10...). It seems these kinds of outburst are becoming common (not just in the pony fandom, but everywhere really) and it's becoming a nasty habit as the results are never decent.

[Lisbon]

Also, to put it frank, I've never been a fan of someone announcing to the world their new found dislike of something. It's cool if you stop watching it (why in hell would you continuously watch something if you don't like it?) but to make a scene off it? I don't care how big you are in the community, it just comes off as immature really. Just stop watching it and if someone asks you why, just say (short and sweet) "It's not my thing anymore". It's like when I stopped caring about baseball. I didn't announce to my friends out of no where like that. Just did it quietly and when I was asked about it, I just said what I put before (and that's when I was 10...). It seems these kinds of outburst are becoming common (not just in the pony fandom, but everywhere really) and it's becoming a nasty habit as the results are never decent.

[Strickerx5]

I can definitely understand his frustration, honestly. The vast, vast majority of the time I've spent in that fandom wasn't what I'd call pleasant. I actually packed up and left because I couldn't stand it anymore, and funnily enough it's how I ended up on this board. Sad thing that I can see the flaws this community has and still find it pleasant by comparison alone, but I digress with that point.

 

He also had a lot of people who followed him that should've gotten know that he left, so I can see where he was coming from there too. I kept up with TO because I loved his work and I felt he was among the best - if not the best - the community had to offer in terms of providing analysis. I would've been happier knowing he was up and leaving as opposed to just left hanging, wondering when the next video was going to be. That's just me, I guess.

 

Also, I want to add that pulling an https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT1J65KHX8E like TO did isn't a good way to go out in any scenario. I also hear he's packing up and heading towards the Steven Universe fandom, but seeing how common it is to be a fan of both MLP and SU, I doubt he'll have much luck picking up any kind of steam with them unless he heads over to the part of the fandom that is deadset against people who like MLP being in their fandom, which won't do a lot in terms of people taking him seriously when it comes to intellectual discussion.

 

[Celestia]

You also have to keep in mind that this is a Youtube channel we're talking about, and the reputation that comments (especially on that site) have. Not to say the responsibility in this particular situation isn't primarily on bronies in particular, but combine the problems of the fandom in general with any comments section and, well....I can imagine how hard it'd be to deal with that.

 

Of course I haven't read any comments on any of his videos so I don't know for sure if they're that bad, but it's...not exactly hard to imagine either.

[TheGerkuman]

Personally I just feel like people are finally realising that however good a show may be, it's a show. Eventually one runs out of steam, it's inevitable. The question then remains what is done about it. I can see the same thing happening to 'Tommy Oliver' if he does move to Steven Universe. It's eventually going to do something to piss him off and he'll move on again, because nothing ever stays the same and hype is never eternal.

 

Of course, with the Horseshoes thing it turns out the guy was planning it all from the start to be some kind of MLP reviewer CM:Punk, so what do I know.

[Your Vest Friend]

You know, I don't know why people are surprised that Lyra and Sweetie Drops call themselves best friends. That's what was was said in the preview of the Applejack novel coming out soon.

[gato]

Hasbro be like...

 

 

And Larson delivered.

 

That's all I have to say about what little I saw about the episode (work and whatnot)

 

Will post more later, looking forward to the fanfics :u

[Kevin]

What. An. Episode!

 

First off, I want to address the criticism that "this is too pandering to the fans" or "They should focus on the main characters, not the background ponies!" I can see where the argument is coming from, but I see this episode is doing two things:

 

1. Thanking the fans for helping the series make it this far

2. The show making fun of itself.

 

This episode was basically writers having some fun and you know what? It was awesome! We got so many treats and surprises that made for a great episode! I can't decide which scene was funnier Sweetie Belle commenting on how a friendship problem will be solved in about 30 minutes for Vinyl and Octavia literally jumping a shark.

 

Looking back, it's hard to believe that we've reached 100 episodes and we're still going and we have to thank both the fans and everyone involved in the show itself for making it happen. It's been quite a journey that I'm proud to have been part of and I look forward to seeing where things will go from here!

 

P.S. Thanks M.A. Larson!

[Nix]

A lot of the jokes and nods to fan interpretations of certain characters were just as forced and horribly awkward as I imagined them to be (mostly Time Turner), but the episode was still fun.

 

Lyra and Bon Bon Sweetie Drops killed me, absolutely incredible.

 

Also Cadance was there.  A++++ 11/10 Best Episode.

 

Edit:  Also, that poor little Changeling all by his (her?) lonesome.  He probably just wanted a snack.  D:

 

He's also probably that one changeling from the Royal Wedding who was super happy for no apparent reason.

[gato]

A lot of the jokes and nods to fan interpretations of certain characters were just as forced and horribly awkward as I imagined them to be (mostly Time Turner), but the episode was still fun.

 

Lyra and Bon Bon Sweetie Drops killed me, absolutely incredible.

 

Also Cadance was there.  A++++ 11/10 Best Episode.

 

Edit:  Also, that poor little Changeling all by his (her?) lonesome.  Probably that super happy Changeling from the Royal Wedding.

 

Doomie? He was on the episode?

 

Man that's obscure.