Thinking about G5 · 6:26am September 25th
Hello everypony. Man, I has been a long time since I did one of these. Sorry about that. Life's been a roller coaster these last few months, and updating my post here just keeps slipping my mind. I am still writing and my editor is still editing, but that's not what I am here today to talk about.
As I'm sure everypony knows, it was just recently announced that G5 will be ending much sooner than expected. The news has made a lot of thoughts start bouncing around in my head non-stop, so rather than let them fester, I decided to write them all out here in case anypony is interested in them. This will probably be a little bit ramble-y, and I'm not sure if it will flow well, but I am going to write it anyway, if only so I can put my thoughts out there.
So, first things first, I quite like G5. Is it as good as G4? Probably not, but let me ask you something: Would ANY new MLP generation have been as good as G4, especially right from the very start? G4 was a lightning in a bottle, a reinvention of the old MLP designed for all ages that took the world by storm. Yet despite that, you can't tell me that the early seasons, or even the later seasons, were perfect. Remember when Rarity and Twilight had the same magic color? Remember when the large crowds were just copy-pasted versions of the same ponies rather than unique background ponies? Remember when Twilight was standing next to the adult versions of her friends from Celestia's school even though she was still a filly? Remember the dud episodes from the later seasons?
G5 is by no means perfect (I can think of a few problems that I will probably cover a bit later), but I always got the feeling that some people just weren't giving it a fair chance. That just because it wasn't G4, it somehow wasn't worth anything. And even with the problems it had, I feel that the later episodes of both Make Your Mark and Tell Your Tale were really starting to hit their stride. They were overcoming their 'Early installment weirdness' and were starting to become their own thing, very much in the same way that G4 did. It was getting better and better.
Which is why I can't help my immense frustration at the fact that it's been ended so early. We were supposed to get 100 episodes in season 2 of Make Your Mark! And we're not even getting 1/4th of that! It would be the equivalent of canceling an entire season of G4! And it just, leaves so much unfinished. We don't get to learn more about the seaponies, we don't get to learn more about Sunny's mother, or Skyros, I'm still not sure if they are going to finish Alura's story or not. Love or Hate G4's ending, at least we got some WARNING about that and a chance to see the story come to a real ending. With G5, it just feels like their abandoning, and honestly it makes me want to slap whoever at Hasbro made this choice.
For me, the biggest 'flaw' with G5 is just...wasted potential. The basis is there, the characters are there, the world is there, but it just feels like things weren't given the chance to grow and develop like they should have been. Take Phyllis and Sprout. There was so much room for them to grow, to come to terms with the new post-unity world and learn from their mistakes, to see the mistakes they made as they adapted to the new world they were now living in. But Sprout barely made an appearance at all, and Phyllis was a Karen in 1 episode, had a few background appearances, and, that's it. I don't know if it's because they did those small seasons of a few episodes rather than the full G4 seasons (I desperately hope they go back to the longer seasons if there ever is a G6), or if Hasbro was calling too many shots and not letting the writers work the way they did for G4, or some other factor, but there was just so much that could have been done with all of G5. Something that is made all the worse with the premature ending of it, as now there won't be a chance to see these characters develop.
And honestly, it just makes me glad I have my own G5 story, as now I can help keep the world going, even if only in my own little way. But that still won't fully fill the void in knowing that we won't get any more G5 after the final few episodes air.
And then we get to the fandom, and I need to start this by calling attention to what happened to Misty's voice actor. For those who don't know, at a fandom event (I don't know which one specifically), a number of G5 staff, but especially Misty's voice actor Bahia Watson, were booed by 'so called' bronies, to the point where the organizers walked Bahia off the stage and apologized to her! And I know the Brony fandom has its cases of Fan-dumb, but holly F*** this just takes the F***ing cake!
Seriously, what the hell?
First, blame HASBRO for any problems with G5, not A VOICE ACTOR JUST DOING HER FREAKING JOB! Second, I love Misty. She's not my top G5 pony, but she's pretty close, and I think Bahia did a wonderful job bringing that adorable jellybean pony to life. Third, and I can't state this enough, if you don't like G5, then just don't watch it! That's it! You can still be a member of the fandom, still make friends here, still draw and write stories about G4 all you want! That's fine, better than fine! G5 doesn't REPLACE G4! Both can mutually exist in the fandom without detracting from the other!
And for any G4 purist out there, I'm sorry, but, just, get over it! G4 is over! I get it, I'm sad too, MLP G4 helped me to recover from an episode of depression, but don't harass the people who like G5 and still want to see it grow and expand! If you do, then I'm sorry, but you have no right to call yourself a brony. The entire premise of BOTH series is friendship, understand, unity, and acceptance of people despite their differences. If you care so much about G4 that you are willing to trash anyone who likes G5...then you fundamentally don't understand anything about the show. Twilight herself would be disappointed in you, and I suggest taking a good long look at whether you still want to be in this fandom at all.
Honest question for anyone who actually read this: Is this what is was like when Twilight first became an alicorn? I discovered the show right before season 4 of the show, and never learned about the controversy around the Season 3 finale until well after all the fires had died off. But is this what it felt like? This feeling that the fandom is at war with itself, that some people just don't seem to understand that it's ok for other people to have their own opinion despite all the messages of the show itself? That if the haters don't like something, they can just not watch anymore?
I've honestly had trouble sleeping the last few days because of the news of G5's end, and I feel that I needed to write all this just so I can organize my own thoughts about all this. I'm also kind of crying a little just thinking of everything that we won't get with G5, but even with it's abrupt ending in October, I still love G5. I love imagining Sunny and Izzy together, I love thinking about the world and how it might have come to be, I love writing about my own take on Sunny's mother, and I love that we still got more pony after G4 was done.
Because G5 is just more pony, and in a world like ours, we could all use some more love and friendship. I hope we one day get a G6, I hope this won't be the last we see of Sunny, Izzy, Hitch, Zipp, Pipp, Misty, and Sparky, and I hope that the fandom will be able to work past any problems we might have to move towards a better future that continues to share our love of pony with one another.
If you got this far, thank you for reading, sorry for the rambling, and just know that I will keep writing about ponies no matter what the road ahead might bring. I hope you have a good night/day, and I will miss you G5. Just like G4, you will love on in my writing and in my heart.
Don't worry about the rambling, it's good for everyone to get their thoughts out of their heads every now and again
5806387
Thank you so saying so
All I remember is that some of its initial marketing/press/whatever turned me off from ever wanting to watch it, which is absolutely Hasbro's fault.
5806394
Hasbro deserves most of the blame in my opinion. I just hope they learn their lesson if they do make G6
Fantastic job calling out those maniacs who go batshit insane over people liking G5. Honestly, that says more about them than either generation.
I think the best word to describe this sudden cancellation is “tragic”. Because that’s how it feels.
At least we can continue G5 in our own fanfictions.
I for one like to imagine Sunny and the others making their way to Skyros and finding her mother alive.
There's a writer here who got downvoted to Tartarus and stalked by haters over the "crime" (not really a crime) of hating G4. His stories, which mainly involve G4 characters being seriously tested/challenged, are still being downvoted...
But, he's still writing stories and blog posts, regardless of the haters and stalkers.
It's like being an absolute donkey (no offense to donkeys everywhere) to people over them not liking a cartoon show is a complete waste of time and energy! "Right eye violently twitches"
To that writer, I say: Never stop writing!
Thankfully, I also love G5 MLP and I'm quite saddened that it ended so early.
I was really hoping to be able to see a potential romantic relationship blossom between Sunny and Hitch, but I guess that's impossible now.
5806413
I'd like to imagine that happens to. Now I would just need to figure out what to do with my own story involving Skyros given the differing circumstances around sunny's mother.
5806422
Never stop writing. Everyone is allowed to have opinions of their own, but when you start harassing people over them, then you've gone too far.
5806427
Agreed, it is sad, and I will miss the main cast dearly. But they will live on through our stories and art.
5806498
Don’t worry. You’ll think of something eventually. (Wink and thumbs up)
5806500
Very true.