[ SECRET POST #1943 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #1943 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 07 pages, 161 secrets from Secret Submission Post #278.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 - too big ], [ 1 2 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom.livejournal.com]

19. http://i.imgur.com/HMPyK.png

[amarra-jade.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say I hated the finale, but I agree that Cadence and Shining Armor were pretty dull.

[twistedbones.livejournal.com]

God, I wish I would never have to hear the word Mary Sue again.
It's the most ridiculous complaint to make about a character and this essay neatly explains why (http://adventuresofcomicbookgirl.tumblr.com/post/13913540194/mary-sue-what-are-you-or-why-the-concept-of-sue-is).

[sexyblack.livejournal.com]

I agree that Shining Armor's character being suddenly introduced felt really forced, especially since it wouldn't have been hard for in any other episode for Twilight to even mention that she has a brother.
But regardless of that and the other points...don't forget the target audience is children. The writing is not going to be some literary masterpiece.

[(Anonymous)]

...I don't understand what's wrong with showing different kinds of love.

Also, are we forgetting that at its heart this show is an advertisement for toys? Of course new characters will appear and get shoehorned in to backstories, Hasbro likely demands it. Everyone is kowtowing to a higher power here, and that's the almighty dollar.

[inkedfeathers.livejournal.com]

I loved it, even if I did feel like Shining Armor came out of nowhere...

But hey! I figured they weren't told about him in advance, so there really was no way to mention him before.

And I don't know, I liked him and Cadence, but I usually love canon pairings, so. ^^;

I felt like Cadence and Twilight's relationship felt very genuine and touching.

[(Anonymous)]

As far as her name goes I thought Cadence was named after the young daughter of someone who works on the show?
And I thought the flashbacks were kinda funny, you know with Celestia watching over the Day, Luna the Night, and apparently Cadence get's Twilight.

Queen Chrysalis' design made it for me though. By far my favorite design on the show (next to Discord).

[crazyponko.livejournal.com]

I was rather 'meh' about the whole thing. Cadence was much more interesting when she was actually the Changeling Queen. I wish she had been able to retain some of that haughty attitude without being outright evil. And I would have liked the other ponies to do more.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh please the rest of the two seasons was about the importance of friendship/family love. There's nothing wrong with a bit of romance too. I'm just thankful none of the main six have been paired off.

Also Celestia has always come across as pretty useless to me. I mean, everyone else is always doing the fighting for her. It's because if she showed up every time to save the day then no-one else would have a role.
It makes sense it context anyway. Yeah the couple were bland but it was their love that powered the Changeling so take it away- she's depowered- use it against her- she's helpless. Makes sense. Fire with fire. Family/friendship love might not have worked because it's different. They had to fight fire with fire.

I just love the Changeling's design. It's gorgeous and creepy! But I do agree that the songs aren't great and the main couple are boring and forced- but then again they're plot devices so what can you expect?

[(Anonymous)]

Twilight having an older brother was random and disappointing. Where was he in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles"? Her flashback had it look like she was an only child (only foal?) and as an only child myself, that pleased me since all the other characters whose families we know anything about have at least one sibling. So far the only exception is Diamond Tiara, whose sole characteristic is being a spoiled brat.

[drunken-clowns.livejournal.com]

I have mixed feelings about it, but Shining Armor was just as bad as Cadence, Sue-wise. Maybe she had a more outlandish design, but I think the way he was written was even more idealized. I liked them both actually, but I think a big plot with them like that would need some more buildup than it had for it to actually work- at least less us know they exist before asking us to be super invested in them!

The Celestia thing was also a bit too much, and I don't mind the idea of romantic love having differences from friendship and being able to do some things friendship can't (probably vice versa too) but I think that could have been better handled, too. It also felt strange that in a season finale, only Twilight out of all the cast regulars did anything important.

That scene where the villain attempted to trick Twilight into killing Cadence, though? That was amazing, and I was really surprised that they actually went there in a show like this, even if they did it in a way the younger viewers might not catch. Also it was a return to the more magical girl type format! Which I'd gladly put up with a bunch of plot holes and new characters out of nowhere for.

[antialiasis.livejournal.com]

Cadence really wasn't important enough to be a Mary-Sue, honestly. Characters aren't Mary-Sues just because they're princesses or good babysitters or have an ability to spread love (in a world where there's magic and some characters have special abilities to sense disaster or cause disharmony or whatever). The show didn't unreasonably fawn over her or anything. She and Shining Armor weren't overly interesting, but I didn't really care; they served their purpose and I liked the unusually high-stakes plot and musical awesomeness of This Day Aria.

The lyrics of This Day Aria are mostly just kind of hilarious. I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE DRESS, I WON'T PARTAKE IN ANY CAKE!

[bookplayer.livejournal.com]

It's not unusual for characters on TV shows to not mention their relatives until they make an appearance. In fact, I'd say it's the rule, rather then the exception, and I can't think of another show I watch where I'd be surprised if they introduced Character A's brother without him having been mentioned. I also wouldn't be surprised if we met more missing relatives in the future. (Of course, I'm holding out hope that the Apple parents and Scoot's parents are still alive somewhere.)

If anything, I'm a little more annoyed at another alicorn showing up out of nowhere. I think that's why you're calling Mary Sue, and I would agree except that that's the only real sue-ish part of Cadance. Her magic is in line with regular unicorn powers, and if she'd been a unicorn I wouldn't have blinked.

I was disappointed that the mane 6 didn't save the day, not because I have a problem with romantic love, but because it felt a little deus ex machina. And I thought that, for a two parter, we got a LOT of Twilight and not much of anyone else. Plus what everyone has pointed out about the repeat of the Lesson Zero moral.

So yeah, I didn't hate it, but it wasn't as good as Return of Harmony. They can do better.

[(Anonymous)]

hi anon

it's a children's cartoon show about imaginary colorful ponies

hth

[lovegonnadrown.livejournal.com]

waaaaaaaaah i hate seeing girly fun things in a children's cartoon about girly miniature horses waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

[joshua-glass.livejournal.com]

I think complaining about her name is your weakest proof... in a show where people (ponies?) are named Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie, Cadence isn't exactly... more overthetop.

[faeiri.livejournal.com]

I don't think Cadance/Cadence is a Sue. She looks like she got pretty easily captured and replaced by Chrysalis, so from the start of the episode she's hardly invincible. She was probably convinced into babysitting like a normal person, even though she ended up loving it. Yes, she is an alicorn, but that's only because Hasbro wanted sellable pink princess ponies. She was dull, but it was hardly her show anyway.

I'm just going to be impressed that a show about colorful ponies at a wedding turned out as entertaining as it did.

[crownedapple.livejournal.com]

I liked it, for the most part. Aside from the Hearts and Hooves Day episode (and the Cakes, I guess), this was the only example of romantic love the show has ever had, and the H&HD episode was... not a good example. Certainly, I wish Shining Armor and Cadence had been at least established before (where the hell did Cadence come from, anyway? Why is she an alicorn? Why is she a princess? Augh), but it was a decent season closer. Plus, I still love the bug designs of the changelings, though the rate at which Chrysalis has become the fandom darling is rather alarming.

But I will agree that the lyrics of the This Day Aria were painfully bad. My inner grammar critic screams every time at "I could care less about the dress." It's "couldn't!" "COULDN'T!"

Ah well. C'est la ponies.

[metaraymek.livejournal.com]

Eh, while I'm indifferent to Cadence, I don't think she was particularly Sue-ish at all.

In the end, it's just a :30 minute cartoon made to sell toys to little girls.

[(Anonymous)]

OH my gosh yes. This is the only episode of MLP that really disappointed me.

Mostly because of what happens to Twilight. She has a brother that has even once been mentioned, ok that happens in TV sometimes. My problem is she's supposed to be super-duper-close to her brother, and he had never mentioned once he had a serious relationship, and he was "too-busy" with a castle lockdown to even write.

Seriously? He had time to find a girl and get engaged, but not write? How long was this lock-down anyway?

And then nobody listens to Twilight because of wedding-fever, so Twilight gets desperate and makes drama, and EVERYONE shuns her instead of doing something kind, forgiving, or something that the show is supposed to be about.

(shun the non-believer, shunnnnnnn)

And then Twilight solves almost everything herself, and Princess Celestia is all like "Good Job, Twilight. YOU learned something important today." Yeah, that everyone in the show turned out to be half as compassionate as they should have been?

Whoa I'm not even in the fandom and I turned this into serious business.

[kyogres.livejournal.com]

I liked the finale in general, but I agree that Cadence and Shining Armor were shoe-horned into Twilight's past, and that the lyrics to that song were horrid.

Under normal circumstances I would agree with your stance on romantic love overshadowing other forms of love in fiction... but I was okay with this instance because there have been many, many episodes that focused on love shared between friends and families. (I mean, the title is Friendship is Magic.)

PS - I thought Cadence herself was kind of boring, but I really love her design! Probably my favorite pony design on the show.

[ambientfiligree.livejournal.com]

I AGREE ANON. I just about cringed through both episodes, with brief moments of amusement. The finale is definitely not up to par with the rest of the series. Everything (lyrics, characters, plot) came off as forced and weak.

People defending it as just a kids' show are taking the cheap way out. A standard was set by the series itself, and drew in adults. You don't see the same kind of fanbase surrounding the Strawberry Shortcake or Pound Puppies remakes, so clearly something in MLP:FiM is superior. When MLP decays into the same level as other kids' cartoons, it's not surprising that fans are disappointed.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm not even gonna touch the Mary Sue thing, but I personally will say I'm freaking glad they used the Power Of Love ending. Why? Because kids need some goddamn positive depictions of romantic relationships. Where is that in kids shows today? Nickelodeon isn't doing shows like Doug and Angry Beavers anymore (instead opting to be an all-day Spongebob and iCarly marathon), Cartoon Network has hardly ever been pro-shipping in the first place, Disney Channel... you know what, no one should watch that at all. So where are kids learning about relationships now? From reality TV and rap music. Yeah, that's helpful.

Why do I care so much about this? Well I guess I'm just a little unusual in that I've been a hopeless romantic since as far as I can remember (something I've been meaning to say in a secret for a while now). As much as I admire Lauren Faust, it broke my heart when I heard she didn't want ANY romance in the show. Yes, I understand wanting to have female characters as something other than just a love interest, but no romance, ever? Never ever ever ever ever? Like it's not even a part of life? Like girls can't be strong just because they're in love? And apparently Craig McCracken feels the same way, when people started shipping the Powerpuff Girls with The Rowdyruff Boys, he called it "creepy" (but enforcing a literal battle of the sexes in the grade school set is okay, I see). It puzzles me deeply, seeing as how they're married and can't really believe love is horrible and a woman can't be strong because she's in love. :/

As I said, I guess I'm just unusual (and out-of-place for this time period). But after the apparent author tract that was Hearts and Hooves Day, I say thank goodness the writers redeemed themselves with the Power of True Love in the finale.

Also, total SoarinDash at the end. XD

[cakemage.livejournal.com]

Eh, I liked it fairly well, though not as much as most fans seemed to. I'm pretty all right with Cadence, though. She kind of reminds me of a babysitter I adored when I was a kid, so I don't have many complaints about her. Also, Shining Armor's voice was so mismatched to his character that it kind of endeared him to me, oddly enough. What bugged me was that Twilight was the only one who noticed anything was wrong. Even the supposedly-wise and knowing Celestia didn't suspect anything and had to have it spelled out for her. Chrysalis mostly made up for that, though, at least to me. And anyway it is, after all, a kid's show, and not nearly as deep and complex as some try to make it out to be.

[xanykaos.livejournal.com]

I could be wrong, but I think the power of True Love probably is the best weapon to use against an army of succubus... succubusses... succubi...

Succubi. That one.


Then again, I could just be thinking about the Dresden Files, where it was the best defense against the White Court.