@Amethyst_Crystal  

Yep, with some good old-fashioned diplomatic violence!
 

THE PLOT THICKENS

G1: Spike you must be happy with you are. Dragon or Pony
 
 
G4: Spike you’re a credit to your species. Not like those brutes. Have fun with that identity crisis, and noble dragon thing of yours.
 
One of my main problems with G4 is that Spike, whose episodes have great potential, then the writers just fall flat for I don’t know what reason.

@Amethyst_Crystal  
Cool. I’ve put up a thread to discuss starting a roundup in the forum.
 
@Sjogre It’s here.

@Sjogre  
Spike actually manages to become a good diplomat between the ice orcs and lava demons, creatures that are used to being enemies. He also helps the selfish narcissitic Princess Ponies to learn to be more humble and work together in the same four-parter. That was the first story of MLP’n F’s season two.
 
I would be interested in a G1 thread. It’d be easier to keep track of conversations that way.

@Niggoslav_Krawczyk  
No, not everyone watching at the same time. I’ll post a youtube link, but everyone watches when they have the time. Everyone watches a serial, talks about it until the conversation dries up, and then moves on to the next.
 
If someone else wants to set up a viewing time, cool, but I’ve never really been into that sort of thing. I’ve actually got a habit of writing impressions as I watch, which requires a lot of pausing and rewinding.

@Sjogre If you mean having a synctube-style thing I wouldn’t be able to do that, upper management so no set schedule, but the discussion part I can drop by for.

@Niggoslav_Krawczyk  
I’ve hear good things about Tales but just never gotten around to watching it. Part of the reason I want to start up a Roundup is to put it on a schedule rather than a vague “whenever.”
 
_{Well, that and the last Roundup I was participating in was on a board that seems to have died…}
 
Season three of FiM had a theme of the Manes taking on more responsibilities or advancing in her career path. While Spike did technically participate in that, his growth was extremely underwhelming to everyone else.
 
@Amethyst_Crystal  
Over time, G1 Spike ended up in something of a leadership or counselor role. It was actually kind of interesting.
 
So, any interest in a G1 Roundup? I’ll be posting a thread in the forum asking about it later, but I’d like to know if anyone here would participate.

@Amethyst_Crystal  
Yeah I know I was just saying that it felt like it was created in direct opposition to the other girls’ shows that were running into the same problems that the ones in the early 2000s did, nothing but fashion fashion fashion, check out my awsm hat, oh look at those cute boys, yay beach party, etc. Whenever Jem wasn’t about ‘gram rawk’ it tended to go that way too. But there’s a lot of glam so it was less noticeable.

@Sjogre  
Ah. It didn’t have any magic battles and such, it was basically set in the 1950s, with ponies, sockhop, burgers&shakes diners, poodle skirts and all, but with 80s hair. But it took those cliches, and those of other then-running girls shows, and put’em in a suplex.  
The episode I was mentioning was basically a twist on Grease with the popular girl and the ‘baaad ganger/jock’ type boy, where they would normally end up a couple at the end, but it 180’d in the last five minutes. Can’t remember the title offhand though.
 
 
@Amethyst_Crystal  
Yeah, I wish they would be a little more obvious about, say, Crystal Empire, being more of a growing moment for Spike and not Twilight. Sure, she learned to let go of her responsibility and delegate it to another, but that other learned he could handle responsibility beyond just stacking books and keeping times, and I was really hoping that it would spark him becoming more like G1 Spike through the rest of the season.

@Niggoslav_Krawczyk  
Why aren’t we making this a G1 board, then, since it’s better than G4, or will be once season 4 is over?

@Trickquestion “Get off my wagon. kicks him under the wheel”  
Ponies: Megan for princess!!! Vote Megan!
 
 
@Amethyst_Crystal  
I kind of want Chrysalis to land in Dream Valley after being blown away now…  
Well, hopefully when the flutter ponies aren’t visiting. Them bitches be hardcore.

@Niggoslav_Krawczyk  
This would be on the forum, so it would be discussion more than art. We’d also be watching, or at least discussing, the show in order, so watching the episodes as they come up is the idea.
 
I still haven’t gotten around to watching Tales, so I guess that a G1 Roundup would be an opportunity for that.
 
@Trickquestion  
Pony Bart Simpson* was kind of a jerk, but that’s all that comes to mind. At most, they were quick to confrontation, although I wonder about the ponies that settled Dream Valley…
 
_{*Yes, I know her actual name, but I think Bart Simpson every time I hear her talk, so Bart she will remain.}

@Background Pony  
G1 ponies manage to protect Spike without making him feel weak about it. He’s done a few useful and clever things too though.

@Itsthinking  
Where did you get the idea I was saying anything was Spike’s fault? The way Twilight and the others have abused him, he should’ve left long ago. The dragons, at least, accepted him as one of their own, and expected him to be himself and act like a man.

@Niggoslav_Krawczyk  
Tales had the ‘slice of life’ aspects of FIM, while ’n Friends before it has the ‘fantasy quest’ aspects of FIM.

@Trickquestion  
Oh, and Masquerade.

@Trickquestion  
A few ponies are much less tolerant or diplomatic than the others, more likely to snap or get rough with villains quicker. Gusty, Honeysuckle, Lickety Split, Truly, and Ribbon come to mind.

@Itsthinking  
I couldn’t hear anything going on in there because of the sounds of all the HURRDURR RETARD being spilled.
 
Honestly at this point I would say we should just go off and declare everything she does that isn’t HWE non-canon. Wonderbolt Academy wasn’t bad, but it didn’t really move anyone anywhere. It was more like someone handed her Rainbow Dash and said “You broke it, you fix it.” and she writes an episode that’s all “HAAHAA SEE SHE’S NOT AN ANGRY ARROGANT CUNT AFTER ALL, RIGHT? I’M FORGIVEN NOW, RIGHT? :,D”
 
 
@Sjogre  
I would but I haven’t completely watched it in awhile, I’d need to binge over turkeyday. Besides, couldn’t contribute nothing anyway, I got no arting skillz so I’ll just be throwing ships at everybody like frakkin’ Whitebeard. I do recall Tales having a really great relationship episode though, where one of the girl ponies wanted a jerkjock as her BBBFF, but instead of hooking up suddenly at the end they realise it won’t work and just agree to be friends (the sole cliche being she tempered his jerkiness a leeeetle.)  
IMO Tales seemed a bit like FiM in formation, it was directly opposing the Barbies of its day and written to counteract all their tardo conformity/fashion uber alles propaganda, and when girls’ toons took another massive decline FiM popped up similarly. Seemed custom-design to counteract the bad messages being sent from other toy companies while still selling the same kind of toys.

@Sjogre  
That’s what I liked about them. They were really compassionate and caring but also very able and willing to beat the shit out of you if they have to defend their territory and their loved ones.
 
Mr. Moochick and Habbit should also be acknowledged too, for providing some of the most useful magic and information in the series for Megan and the ponies for their various quests. Of course, they live in part of Dream Valley too, so they need to stick up for each other.

@Sjogre  
Did they at all have a Colin Baker pony in the bunch? You know, that one weird guy who was decidedly more kill crazy then the rest?

@Amethyst_Crystal  
Oh, the ponies didn’t like violence, as rule, but they certainly weren’t adverse to it.

@Sjogre  
Very importantly though, the show emphasizes that you should give antagonists a chance to stop or make up for what they’ve done.
 
There have been a few that were willing to change their ways instead of get their asses handed to them.

@Sjogre  
Thanks for clarifying all that about Sweet Stuff, I think you hit the nail on the head about her characteristics adn the problems she was having during her episode.
 
@Trickquestion  
Well she has threatened monsters and villains with a variety of lethal magical items, and carried out those threats too (same with the ponies).

@Trickquestion  
She was talking to a catgirl that was holding a baby pony over a pit. And Megan was perfectly willing to let the catgirl fall to her death if she didn’t accept her terms of surrender. Close.
 
That’s not the only episode with diplomacy taking the form of an iron horse pressed to someone’s skull.
 
I haven’t watched all the episode recently, but I can’t recall any actual anti-violence messages. When someone failed to listen to reason, then mama said knock you out.