Friendship is Card Games: The Blockywockys · 12:03pm April 7th
No, it’s not about a Jabberwock made of Legos. That would be a Hearthstone card blog. The first Tell Your Tale special is about the extreme lengths and depths Izzy will go to to overcome a creative block. Let’s take a look.
When the episode was first uploaded, the video title read in part “S2 E00 undefined” which is tremendously funny to me. Izzy broke the space-time continuum, and she’ll presumably make a hatrack out of it once she figures out how and whether cause now follows effect.
Okay, a pegasnail flying into the camera was already funny. Using it as a scene transition was even better.
Wait, did they replace the glass at the top of the Brighthouse with a context-sensitive force shield at some point, or did the rising ambient magic just change one to the other? At this rate, I’m expecting mutations in ponies within the decade that make the Mirari crisis look like a mild rash.
I’m not surprised that Zipp is a morning pony. Sneaking out early means more time for clifftop parkour, after all. That said, it feels a bit wrong for her to get up before Sunny, if only because of the latter’s name and love of breakfast. (Indeed, a love so great it brings out her horn and wings.)
Similarly, Ms. Moonbow being an incredibly heavy sleeper does feel right.
Muffins and donuts coming out of the same oven at the same time bother me more than they probably should. Baking is more of a science than an art, after all.
Huh. That may be the first time I’ve seen a failed quick-time event in a musical number. 
Dare I ask how or why Hitch and Sparky produced that many dirty dishes?
I have several questions, not least about Posey approving of anything the main cast is doing. (Though I suppose she appreciates mobs of all stripes, be they flash or angry.) The more diegetic musical number meshes oddly with what we’ve seen before, most notably Sprout’s weaponization of the same concept.
That said, I do appreciate how the increasingly exhausted Izzy is behind the beat.
I’m sure there’s a heterosexual explanation for this frame, but it certainly wasn’t the first thing that came to mind.
Pipp using magical cosmetics. Surely this can’t go wrong. Eleventh time’s the charm, after all.
Also, this almost operatic approach of singing everything is getting grating. We’re almost three minutes into the episode at this point. How much longer is this?
Ah, good. I get the sense that Sunny was meant to be a background vocal, but it almost seems like she was singing a completely different song and it only became apparent in those last seconds.
And that was just the cold open.
… Izzy. The dance number’s over. You can stop now.
Meanwhile, Allura still exists. And has to deal with the concept of summer.
Ah yes, why spend the first four minutes of the special establishing a problem—e.g. showing Izzy struggling to come up with a new project—when you can introduce the characters in as grating a manner as possible? That kind of thing works in syndication, but this is only available on YouTube; if people are seeing this as their first bit of G5 media, they made that choice on their own… with possible input from the inscrutable whims of the algorithm.
Also, thinking about it, why does Señor Butterscotch insist on being a thing when Izzy’s friends are all readily available? Is this just Izzy’s equivalent of rubber ducking?
Ah, that’s exactly what’s happening.
“Create a sandcastle Zen garden?”
“What’s the point? It’ll just wash away!”
… Yes, exactly. The impermanence is the point of any Zen garden. This is one of those frustrating bits where depending on the writer’s knowledge and intentions, it’s either very clever or very stupid. I can’t tell which.
“I know I’ve seemed extremely normal all morning” she says, looking at the sunset.
Interesting to see how Izzy visualizes her ideas. Given that the arts weren’t exactly flourishing in Bridlewood for most of her life (aside from depressing poetry) it makes sense that she considers creativity both a magic in its own right… and a potentially finite resource. That said, again, would’ve been nice to see this while she was in her crafting corner and not as a flashback.
“Oh, Great Horn in the Sky, why!?”
Well, that raises some fascinating questions. Possibly syncretism of alicorns and the Canterhorn into a single tremendous magical pinnacle, with a dash of Skyros for flavor.
“Are you okay?” asks Sunny. Not “What’s wrong?” Not “How can we help?” ”Are you okay?” Read the room, Starscout. Unless Izzy invoking previously unheard-of deities is a common occurrence.
Given that Izzy’s blockywocky flashbacks include non-unicorns, she’s either been studying art history or making this up as she goes along… which would seem to run counter to a creative block, but she’s clearly coming up with ideas, as expressed through Señor Butterscotch. She just doesn’t like any of them. This is a blend of a creative block and anhendonia that may have a deeper root cause.
Credit to Pipp as the other artist of the group trying to empathize. I imagine she’s had her own creative frustrations.
“Sunny not being able to turn into the alicorn” is an interesting way to phrase it. Almost sounds like a superhero title. Also, it says something when most of the scenarios Izzy presents involve magic. Again, she sees this part of herself as something beyond mundane crafting.
Also worth noting that Misty not having friends was her base state for most of her life. Not really an outrageous scenario there.
Seeing the main cast light up like this, I can’t help but think of the Pokémon anime’s trend over time of having all attacks glow. Much like a Pokémon’s claws don’t need to shine if it’s just using Fury Swipes, magical radiance isn’t necessary for an encouraging speech. Especially when it’s just an encouraging speech. Seriously, this entire building needs to be wrapped in lead foil.
On the one hand, I do appreciate Zipp showing Izzy that her lateral thinking is still up to snuff. On the other, what a roundabout way of doing so. (Also, given the rhyming advice, I find myself wondering how much of Iron Will’s motivational writings survived to the Starscout Era.)
Speaking of Pokémon, here’s Twitch. And his legendary Ice/Psychic type. (Or maybe Psychic/Flying. Allura certainly pulls off the arrogance of a Galarian Articuno. And the color scheme!)
Though in this case, she’s just using an enjoyably over-the-top Rock Smash.
Oh hey, the cave from “Portrait of a Princess.” Given my expectations for G5, it’s honestly shocking to see this degree of continuity.
Feeling inspired to seek inspiration is certainly a step in the right direction. Though sourceless rainbows providing a pre-packed bag raises a number of unsettling questions. I suppose it’s a question of what’s more concerning, the Cutie Map’s directions without instructions or the Brighthouse’s support without direction.
Dear writers,
Please cool it on adding “-y” to half of Izzy’s dialogue. It’s getting annoying.
Knowing you’ll never read this,
FoME
Leaving a note is reasonable… but everypony in the Brighthouse was there when Izzy declared her intention to quest for the answer to her problems. And yet they’re somehow surprised. I suppose the assumption was that they’d go as a group. And I do appreciate Hitch insisting that they not split the party. It rarely ends well… though Misty is one of the success stories during her double agency.
Misty’s magical training has taught her well in the Starfleet school of problem solving. (Note: Some vulgar lyrics.)
“Confidence like a song.”
I’m reminded of something a friend of mine in high school liked to say: A bad analogy is like a pair of pants.
I’m not sure what’s more ridiculous, the fact that the rest of the main cast literally sent their thoughts and prayers… or that the rainbow grossly overshot Izzy. Sure, it encouraged her… but we never saw whether she actually needed that.
Now we get into the question of “How far do these portals go?” Going by the map, Starlight Ridge is on the same planet as Maretime Bay and the Bridlewood… but then we get into the question of why Allura can’t simply walk to wherever she came from. Though it’s possible the Nova Charm can open portals both between and within planes, to say nothing of the map not being representative of the actual space and dimensions involved.
Look, we’re getting into interplanar travel here. This is my jam, and I reserve the right to overthink it like no other part of G5. Same principle as “It Isn’t Easy Being Breezies.”
“You looked so peaceful. I didn’t want to bother you.”
“I’m listening.”
It really feels like a chunk of the conversation got cut for time here. Which makes little to no sense. Still, definite sense of discontinuity, and not in G5’s usual way.
The dance with the stars may be more helpful than any advice this random auroricorn could provide. Honestly, bouncing around the world in general should. Nothing helps spur creativity quite like going out and seeing and doing things. Staring at a screen (or crafting supplies) and wracking your brain isn’t the richest source of inspiration.
Ah, Saganmancy. The power of the cosmos in the… cheek of her hindquarters? Magic coming directly from the cutie mark has some awkward elements. (Also, given that this kind of streaking effect is usually produced through time-lapse photography, I have to wonder what kind of time dilation is going on here.)
“Play is always the way.”
Ah. The random auroricorn is wise indeed. (Also credited as “Stardance,” appropriately enough. And on an amusing note, she has the same voice actress as Allura.)
And on to the Isle of Scaly, which is… further north than Starlight Ridge?
Ah. I see the problem. Blaze heard there was a blockage in Izzy’s fluids and thought that was literal. It’s not like she’s studied equine medicine. If ponies have literal creative juices, best to get them going with an adrenaline rush.
“Cannonball!”
Well, we have seen party cannons in G5. Makes sense that they’d be aware of the less festive alternative.
And then every bone in Izzy’s body shattered because she still hit a dragon at terminal velocity.
(Just kidding. Everyone knows ponies are made of taffy and hard rubber. 
)
I do appreciate the Izzy tennis ball memes coming full circle with that rebreather. Though the fact that Nova Charm portals can dump people in the middle of the ocean is… concerning. (Also interesting to note that the other side of the portal doesn’t immediately begin flooding.)
“Crystal B, you think of everything.”
Nice to get confirmation that yes, that was explicitly the Brighthouse itself providing Izzy’s bag of supplies. (Supplies which are presumably now completely waterlogged, but protective enchantments are a thing.)
And lo, seaponies never stopped being a thing. Including the bioluminescent dangly bits from the G4 movie. There is the question of whether or not they’re hippogriffs… though I fully believe that the residents of that area cycle between the two forms as they flee from various persecutors. (Aside from the tempestuous reign of Silverstream the Bloody-Beaked, but that’s another story.) The fact that Destiny has cutie mark on her dorsal fin raises some questions, but heck, even the dragons have cutie marks in this era.
There’s also the question of how the seaponies dealt with the Ebb of Magic, but given how they don’t have a representative Mineral MacGuffin, it’s possible they were spared from both Opaline’s depredations and Twilight’s last resort.
Interesting to note that stories of seaponies persisted this long among unicorns, and vice versa. Interspecies folklore and history is a question G5 hasn’t dealt with in great detail, in part because they literally can’t afford to dip too deep into G4’s legacy despite inextricable ties to it. Great planning, guys, really.
… Yeah, no, you can’t have a character dumbfounded by “blockywockys” after two other equally isolated cultures handled it without question.
“Seaponies believe that laughter can cure anything.”
I see Pinkie’s musical number is still remembered fondly. (Whether Twilight’s attempted theft is still in the books is uncertain at this time.)
I do appreciate the return of spontaneous synthesis after crafting something by hoof. If there’s some sense of working for it, items appearing ex nihilo are less irritating.
Polymerization allows me to fuse two cutie marks to create an even stronger…
Wait, no, that’s also the wrong card game.
Sure is great when a voyage of self-discovery is carefully curated with all the rough edges and uncertainty sanded off. 
And the Charm deposits Izzy within view of Allura rather than just dropping her off at the Brighthouse. How conveniently inconvenient.
Ah yes, the abandoned amusement park that was always on this beach as of ten seconds ago. Of course, how could I forget?
I’d ask why Izzy would ever go in there… but it’s Izzy. The entire place is made of crafting materials.
I do appreciate how, as Izzy regains her creative vision, she sees not just what the fairgrounds can be, but her friends enjoying that realized potential. In particular, imaginary Misty being confused by Izzy’s attention is oddly hilarious.
A heart-shaped Ferris wheel is deeply concerning.
Huh. Rainbow Power never stopped being a thing. (Also, nice to see that Allura does care about her chief minion.)
See, this sort of effortless creation is a bit more bothersome… though may just be my envy speaking. Goodness knows I’d appreciate the ability to skip all the steps between initial concept and end result. (Plus, Izzy was blocked up. One shudders to imagine what a surge of creative magic might do without any direction.)
“Quick! To the abandoned fairgrounds!”
As I said, once they showed up, they’d always been there. See previous comment regarding my astonishment at some degree of G5 continuity, then turn it on its head.
And then the Nova Charm split into EqG geodes. Or maybe FFXIV job crystals.
Ah, no, they’re powerstones. Can’t rely on Izzy’s overflowing magic to power this place forever. (Though that leads into questions about Maretime Bay’s electrical infrastructure and how much was already hooked up to the old park.)
“We’re stuck here forever!”
Again, have you considered walking?
The random bottomless coffee pot and cup only reinforces my belief that G5 originated from Pony Life rather than Friendship is Magic.
“Look, Sunny! I built an amusement park and got you something for your job!”
It’s certainly an interesting approach. And, to be fair, Pipp got the same treatment, as did Izzy herself.
“Fun first, rules later.”
Given that the park was already here, I’d think the regulations would be in the archives somewhere… but that assumes any degree of archives beyond what Argyle cared to preserve.
“Nopony else had even heard of them; they thought I was bananas.”
Of course, as evidenced by multiple creatures understanding the term without any further questions. Yes, I noted the possibility of Izzy making up the term, but saying that the titular concept never existed is frustratingly disingenuous. Creative blocks can and often do happen. (Or that's me reading her dialogue too harshly.)
“Once I stopped worrying about my creative-y juices, a new project came along to inspire me.”
Ah, that was the problem. The event flag hadn’t yet been tripped to make this place appear.
“I had a date with Destiny.”
Huh. New ship in the harbor. We’ll see if Destiny ever shows up again before I give it any serious thought. (There is an opportunity with the upcoming Set Your Sail comics, after all.)
Glad to see we didn’t get a repeat of Pipp’s previous attempt to market Izzy’s work… which, come to think of it, was also about Izzy suffering from a creative block. Sigh.
And now we come to the question of whether we’ll see this instance of Rainbow Power again.
In all, we have definitive proof that whoever’s left in the G5 writer’s stable has no idea how to actually write a narrative for the 22-minute format. There’s a rough idea at the core, yes, but rather than build on it into a coherent plot, concepts are introduced and discarded with not just indifference but seeming contempt for how they might work in the grander scheme of things. And among those discarded concepts is Allura’s entire motivation. I sincerely don’t know what they plan on doing with her now that the object she so covets has been sundered and plugged into a fun fair. (To say nothing of repeating the Opaline-era tendency of the heroes thwarting the villains by complete, oblivious accident.)
I’ve called past G5 media the animation equivalent of jingling keys before, but this especially feels like it’s targeting preschoolers. Bright colors and flashy moments with little regard for anything else, continually using magic as a narrative shortcut to skip past any sense of hard work, danger, or risk. It saddens me. It does mean plenty of raw material to work with, but ironically, I’m going to have to do a good chunk of the work myself.
Also, as promised last week, Outlaws of Thunder Junction mechanics are on the table, even if most of the crimes committed in this special were against complex storytelling.
Breakfast is Served 1W
Instant
If this spell is the first spell you’ve cast this game, you may cast it without paying its mana cost.
Create a Food token. Scry 2. (A Food token is an artifact with “2, T, Sacrifice this artifact: You gain 3 life.”)
The most important spell of the duel.
Heartbond Invoker 1W
Creature — Pony Mutant Cleric
6WW: Creatures you control gain double strike and lifelink until end of turn.
The Prisbeam shines in her mark.
1/3
Color Commentator 3W
Creature — Pegasus Rogue
Flying
Whenever you commit a crime, create a 1/1 white Pegasus creature token with flying. This ability triggers only once each turn. (Targeting opponents, anything they control, and/or cards in their graveyards is a crime.)
ZNN is strictly neutral in its mockery.
3/2
Cold Trail U
Instant
Spree (Choose one or more additional costs.)
+1 — Target creature you control gets +0/+3 and gains hexproof until end of turn.
+2 — Tap target creature and put two stun counters on it. (If a permanent with a stun counter would become untapped, remove one from it instead.)
Allura never worries about hot pursuit.
Surprise Splashdown 1U
Sorcery
Target player mills six cards.
Awaken 3—3U (If you cast this spell for 3U, also put three +1/+1 counters on target land you control and it becomes a 0/0 Elemental creature with haste. It’s still a land.)
The Jade Sea was as shocked as Izzy.
Quest for Inspiration 2U
Enchantment
Whenever you draw your second card each turn, put a quest counter on Quest for Inspiration.
As long as there are three or more quest counters on Quest for Inspiration, spells you cast cost 1 less to cast for each card you’ve drawn this turn.
Shark-Grin Deeptrawler 1B
Creature — Pony Merfolk Warlock
When Shark-Grin Deeptrawler enters the battlefield, target opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
Delirium — At the beginning of each opponent’s upkeep, if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, that player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
2/1
Terror of the Boardtrot 3B
Creature — Pegasus Rogue Guest
Terror of the Boardtrot has haste, menace, and deathtouch as long as you’ve visited an Attraction this turn.
Plot 2B (You may pay 2B and exile this card from your hand. Cast it as a sorcery on a later turn without paying its mana cost. Plot only as a sorcery.)
3/2
Roped In 4B
Sorcery
Return target creature card from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control. When an outlaw is returned this way, return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand. (Assassins, Mercenaries, Pirates, Rogues, and Warlocks are outlaws.)
Leap of Flame 1R
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may reveal a Dragon card from your hand.
Target creature you control gets +3/+0 and gains flying until end of turn. Sacrifice that creature at the beginning of your next end step unless you revealed a Dragon card or controlled a Dragon as you cast this spell.
Curse of Decrepitude 2R
Enchantment — Aura Curse
Enchant player
Whenever enchanted player activates, cranks, or visits an artifact, they sacrifice that artifact.
The good news was that Izzy had found one of the biggest piles of junk in Equestria. That was also the bad news.
Power the Boardtrot 2RR
Sorcery
Cleave 6RR (You may cast this spell for its cleave cost. If you do, remove the words in square brackets.)
Create a [tapped] Powerstone token for each [nontoken] artifact you control. (They’re artifacts with “T: Add C. This mana can’t be spent to cast a nonartifact spell.”)
Overnight Treatment 1G
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
If it’s neither day nor night, it becomes day as Overnight Treatment enters the battlefield.
When night becomes day, sacrifice Overnight Treatment. If you do, put three +1/+1 counters on enchanted creature.
When day becomes night, you may put Overnight Treatment on top of your library from your graveyard.
Grand Opening 1GG
Sorcery
Open an Attraction. (Put the top card of your Attraction deck onto the battlefield.)
Storm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each spell cast before it this turn.)
Magic grows stronger with every passing day, as the Boardtrot can attest.
Star Dancer 2G
Creature — Unicorn Shaman
When Star Dancer enters the battlefield, target non-Aura enchantment you control becomes an enchantment creature with base power and toughness 5/5 for as long as Star Dancer remains on the battlefield.
She moves with such passion that the cosmos can’t help but join her.
1/3
Crafted Courser 3
Artifact Creature — Unicorn Mount
Modular 2 (This creature enters the battlefield with two +1/+1 counters on it. When it dies, you may put its +1/+1 counters on target artifact creature.)
Whenever Crafted Courser attacks while mounted, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
Saddle 2 (Tap any number of other creatures you control with total power 2 or more: This Mount becomes saddled until end of turn. Saddle only as a sorcery.)
0/0
The Great Horn in the Sky 3
Legendary Enchantment Artifact
Indestructible
T: Add one mana of any color.
4: Choose a color. Until end of turn, The Great Horn in the Sky becomes an X/X Unicorn God creature in addition to its other types, where X is your devotion to the chosen color. (Your devotion to a color is the number of mana symbols of that color in the mana costs of permanents you control.)
Soul of the Crafter 4
Artifact
Artifact spells you cast cost 1 less to cast.
T: Add C.
Each such crystal is engraved with the memories of thousands of inventors, smiths, and craftsmares.
Bonanza Boardwalk
Artifact — Attraction
Visit — If you control no other Attractions, open an Attraction. You can’t visit Bonanza Boardwalk this turn. Roll to visit your Attractions.
Thanks to careful space-time manipulation, there’s never a dull moment.
(3 lights)
Killing Frost WU
Instant
Spree
+1 — Tap target artifact.
+1 — Tap target creature.
+3 — Destroy all tapped artifacts and creatures.
”That’s much better.”
—Allura, stranded sphinx
Destiny, Seaweed Braider GU
Legendary Creature — Pony Merfolk Artificer
T: Mill two cards.
T: Choose target artifact, land, or Merfolk card in your graveyard. You may play that card this turn.
As with Sunny before her, a chance meeting with Izzy had revolutionary consequences.
2/2
Dream into Being 2RG
Sorcery
Look at the top two cards of your library, then exile them face-down. You may play those cards this turn. At the beginning of your next end step, cloak each of those cards you didn’t play this way. (To cloak a card, put it onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature with ward 2. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it’s a creature card.)
Thoughts 1U//Prayers 1W
Sorcery//Instant
Thoughts: Scry 2, then draw a card.
Prayers: Until end of turn, your devotion to each color and each combination of colors is increased by two. Draw a card.
Abandoned Fairground
Artifact Land — Junk
T: Add C.
T, Sacrifice Abandoned Fairground: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn. Activate only as a sorcery.
3, T, Sacrifice Abandoned Fairground: Open an Attraction.
The Brighthouse Awakened
Legendary Land
T: Add C.
T: Add one mana of any color. Spend this mana only to cast a legendary spell or activate an ability of a legendary source.
5: The Brighthouse Awakened becomes an X/X Avatar creature with hexproof and indestructible until end of turn, where X is the number of colors of mana spent to activate this ability. It’s still a land.
In a G4 background gag, pony Superman is an alicorn. Just saying.
It makes the four-move limit more logical. Not that the anime always obeyed it, but I know the Orange Islands at least was deliberately breaking it to make that Dragonite look even more unbeatable.
To be fair, Mean Six did that in G4.
<-dead clone
The awkwardness of pony naming conventions strikes again: the manga used this for a character from the far future... that G5 by its nature contradicts the existence of.
Stupid Complicated Game Alert: Indestructible doesn't stop you from being sent to the graveyard as a state-based action for having 0 or less toughness. Make sure to spend colored mana on the ability unless you want to remove your own land.
Legit did not cop this was meant to be that cave. That's how much I've been numbed to the possibility of consistent continuity in this generation.
Yeah, I had similar thoughts, finding this to be about twice the plot of a regular TYT short at four times the length, with circular dialogue writing and superfluous scenes (at a minimum, the Starlight Ridge, Dragonlands and early pick-me-up scenes are totally superfluous and could be cut with only the smallest adjustments). Series head writer Gretchen Mallorie was far too ingrained in hyperactive 5-minute shorts to know how to handle anything of this length. And as you note, the sounds-and-lights approach to plotting and magic makes itself even more known at this length.
Two side observations: I'm actually glad in hindsight they gave creative block a junky name rather than just calling it what it is, off this plotting and execution being a piss poor way to show kids how to get through it. And as for Allura, I strongly suspect as she was meant to be the next villain in MYM but it didn't get renewed, meaning that TYT's writers have thus effectively inherited a character they didn't invent. And, with little pressure from Hasbro to do much with her beyond "eh, wrap her up somehow", we get, well, this. Honestly, I was half expecting her to be totally dispatched in this first special, and rather unsatisfyingly at that. Guess we'll get at least one other special of this prowling around, plus whatever shorts they deign to have her cameo in.
Setting aside the wants of old fogeys, there is the nuggets of a touching story about struggling with creative block here for sure, but the very American-kids-animation reflex to undercut such moments of pathos with jokes or hijinks robs it of any real legitimacy.
I saw that a few days ago. I thought it was amusing, but a lot of other people on-site didn't.
Truth be told, I have largely stopped caring about continuity on principle. Liberated from the constraints of serialization, what I saw here was a lovely story about struggling with creative block. Which is obviously something I can identify with deeply
So all told, this episode definitely isn't the start of a new epic chapter that's going to revitalize the franchise and the fandom. Sure, it would be nice to have one of those, but this wasn't it. But for what it was, I actually enjoyed it quite a lot.
It definitely read as a deliberate joke to me, and it made me laugh.
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If one were more cynical, they could ask why the writers decided to do a story about being out of ideas.
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Oh, the Tree of Harmony knew exactly what it was doing.
And yeah, accidental overlap with everyone's favorite not-a-spacepony. I should reread the manga soon; some of the best pony-based sequential art we've ever gotten.
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As I noted, going out and doing things rather than sitting in one place and worrying about a creative block is a valid way to deal with it. More because the new experiences will provide idea fodder than because of any abandoned amusement parks you may stumble upon, but the principle is sound.
(Granted, the execution is a bit iffy. The last we want is kids wandering into random interdimensional portals. That's how you get original-recipe changelings.)
But yes, I could definitely see Allura suffering from being the antagonist of an abandoned storyline. It's a tragic bit of synchronicity; on both Doylist and Watsonian levels, she's stranded somewhere she was never intended to be with no clear way home.
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I do appreciate the opposing opinions, both because it's nice to see people enjoy the show for what it currently is and as a reminder that I'm looking at this way too seriously. (I'm still going to do so, because that's just how I work and because I look at any piece of pony media through the lens of how I might be able to employ it in my own work. But the reminder is nice.
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Though, TBH, my favourite TYT episode so far is Friday Night Food Fight.