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FanOfMostEverything


Forget not that I am a derp.

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  • Sunday
    Friendship is Card Games: Mane Event

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    8 comments · 161 views
  • 1 week
    Rumor Gathering

    While diminished from its peak, the Writeoff is still very much an ongoing concern. Regrettably, while I actually had an idea for the most recent prompt, my Saturdays are packed to the gills and thus I didn't have time to compose it before the submission deadline. As such, I have employed Dueling

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  • 1 week
    Friendship is Card Games: Wondercolts Forever: The Diary of Celestia and Luna

    The next entry on the schedule was issues #21 and 22 of the G5 mainline, but those have failed to manifest, making me wonder if that line’s actually been ended in favor of the various mini-series currently in progress. And among them, I only have one released issue unaccounted for. As such, it’s time to turn to the next pony novel… which does not contain ponies.

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    6 comments · 168 views
  • 2 weeks
    Incident of Examination

    There's a Crystal Prep-themed Sunset shipping contest on at the moment, and one castoff idea I had got me wondering about Sunset attending CPA... and running against a logical issue. At least I got

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  • 2 weeks
    Friendship is Card Games: Tell Your Tale, Season 2, Part 2

    Looks like that Leap Day hypothesis carried some weight. The long-form episodes should be interesting in their own right, but we’re not looking at one this week. Let’s see what there is to see.

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    5 comments · 184 views
Oct
13th
2015

Parley: The Headcanon is Dead. Long Live the Headcanon. · 2:54pm Oct 13th, 2015

If you haven’t seen Crusaders of the Lost Mark and care about spoilers, ignore this. Everyone else, I’d like to have a discussion.

In my last blog, I made a joke about how multiple events could be considered the Great Headcanon Massacre of 2015. However, most of the focus characters of “Slice of Life” have had pretty firmly established fanon personalities for a while now, and the episode often hewed as closely to those interpretations as it could. As for Friendship Games and human Twilight, we may not have gotten the cackling world conquerer some of us were expecting or hoping for (at least, not for most of the movie,) but we still got a mad scientist.

On the other hand, the Crusaders’ cutie marks have been one of the big questions in the fandom for a long time, and one with a wide variety of answers. With canon established, I’d like to hear the could-have-beens. Before this episode, what did you think the Crusaders’ marks would have been? I’ll start us off. (I’d have included visual representations, but… well, there’s a reason I write.)

Apple Bloom: I’ve had a lot of ideas for Apple Bloom. A hammer with a small apple on the opposite end of the handle, an apple blossom with a tool over each petal, a seemingly normal apple save for the corner of the wood that hasn’t been painted yet, and so forth. In the end, I settled on a blueprint of an apple. Apple Bloom is the leader of the Crusaders, the one who got the whole enterprise started. She’s the planner, the organizer, the initiator. She’s all about the creative process, and I think that mark would do a good job of symbolizing this.

Scootaloo: This one I’ve known pretty much since I started watching: A caution sign, as in an exclamation point in a triangle, only in Scootaloo’s mane and coat colors and with the line segment of the exclamation point replaced with a lightning bolt. Her cutie mark would be Harmony’s way of saying “Kids, don’t try this at home.” A talent for daredevilry needs that sort of symbology.

Sweetie Belle: Again, one I’ve known from the start, an eighth note with a heart for the dot. Not terribly original, I will admit, but it fits Sweetie’s artistic temperament, talent, and passion. Not much else to say here.

Feel free to go into however much detail as you want, along with other information like how they’d have gotten the marks (something that I admittedly spent little time considering.)

Also, one more thought to share: Consider what we did get. Three marks, individually distinguished, but united in purpose, devoted to the realization of destiny. The Cutie Mark Crusaders have effectively become the Fates, the Norns, or some other take on the Triple Goddess of Time. You can say that their light show was the result of three marks being earned at the same time or years of backed-up cutie mark magic finally being expressed, but I think there may be something more. After all, the last time a mark appeared this dramatically, Celestia had to personally defuse the situation.

So, what did you think? And for that matter, what do you think lies ahead for these three? This is a beginning as much as an ending, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on either end.

Comments ( 17 )

I remember somebody did a blog on the three specializing. One of them handled the emotional problems with cutie marks, another the social, and a third the practical... I'm not sure which is which, but I think it was AB, SB, and Scoots respectively.

I remember one fic where Scootaloo ended up being an ambulance pony, (flying really fast to injured ponies and airlifting them to a hospital,) which I thought was a really cool idea. It fits the little daredevil, but it's also more grounded than going for the same things RD does. I don't remember what story it was from though, (or even what the story was about,) but it's definitely my favorite idea. If anyone knows where it came from, I'd really like to know please.

And for that matter, what do you think lies ahead for these three?

Season finale: CMC defeat Starlight Glimmer. Yeah, I know they'll probably only have a background role, but I can hope, right?

I had two thoughts: (1) the CMCs were far, far wiser than was plausible, considering how consistently disastrous all their past plans have been; and (2) I would have enjoyed the story much, much more if it hadn't been a musical. Diamond Tiara's introspective solo was a very good song, but the others ranged from mediocre to outright terrible.

As far as alternate cutie marks go, I'd never really given it any serious thought, because I never thought the show would actually allow the kids to GET their marks. The whole point of the CMCs is the quest for identity, not the destination. I don't really have much faith in future Crusader episodes with the girls acting as door-to-door cutie mark counselors.

Ooh, I like that idea for Scoots' mark. Very creative and very in character for her! :scootangel:

3466951
Ah, but the show's shown an usual willingness to kick status quo to the curb and do the impossible. :twistnerd:
Personally, I would have been disappointed if they'd never gained their marks.

I can only imagine that now, we get to see how they utlize their talents in helping ponies while at the same time, furtherinng their own likes. Sweetie Belle is now one with the arts (as shown with her mark) maybe now she will do more singing and help others with that or look to be a songstress herself and sing her own songs of hope. Scootaloo now has the ability to sinspire others with her mark, being that she now can guide other in athleticism, maybe she can be skilled in her own way. Lastly, Applebloom is now one for hard work and determination, how can she use her potion making skills for that purpose. While they are unique, they are now as they always have been, united. I like how AKR pointed ut that Pinkie isn't just parties, but also loves to bake and that is what I see for our little trio

I never really locked in on Scootaloo because I was expecting that she would get her mark after realizing she doesn't need to be Rainbow Dash 2: Now Named Scootaloo. She seems to have had that revelation with a lot less fanfare than I expected, or maybe she knew that the whole time and I just didn't notice. There is a lot of overlap in their personalities, after all.

Sweetie Belle I was always convinced would get a singing mark, but thinking it over she doesn't seem that invested in singing. She enjoys it, but not to the extent of getting a cutie mark out of it. Any ideas I had here were all variations of hearts and music symbols.

Once Apple Bloom started learning potions from Twilight and Zecora I wasn't sure if she'd get one for that or woodworking. I also wondered if she'd somehow combine the two and get a mark for that, but I wasn't sure what that would look like.

is it weird that this episode in no way ruined my headcanon?

I'd always been a fan of Apple Bloom the Potion Master, like the second mark that was teased in Bloom and Gloom, but AB always has been a versatile one. I suppose she can still be good at building things up and putting things together, even if it's in a more abstract way most of the time.

To be honest, I'd had no idea what Scoots's mark would end up looking like. A wing filled with lightning suits her, though. Here's hoping she'll inspire colts and fillies to be as awesome in their own ways as RD inspired her to be.

For Sweetie, I'm pretty sure we were all expecting some image of an eighth note to show up on her flank, and we were not disappointed. She obviously has a talent for singing, but maybe her true talent is to inspire others through song. That, or starring in musical numbers where ponies discover who they really are.

I'm excited to see the CMC acting in their larger role in Equestria, especially if it means they ascend to become the alicorns of destiny or somesuch. Someone should really get to writing about that idea, by the way.

On a wild tangent, we have a new liquid pride level: Big Mac.

I never had a firm idea of what the CMC's marks would be, but the only thing I really expected was that they'd all be different. So that part threw me off. The episode and the cutie marks themselves all seem a little strange at the moment - It's like they're a single composite character instead of being three different fillies. But that'll surely fix itself in future CMC episodes, when we see their day-to-day life with their new marks.

All in all this was the least headcanon-destroying cutiegenesis the writers could have gone with.

It's good to see the status quo being shaken up a bit. The CMC have been late bloomers for a while now, but their quest was never going to last forever.

3467094

but their quest was never going to last forever.

That was my headcanon, kinda like the wandering jew ponified.

Has anyone done the wandering jew ponified yet?

Let's break this up to save on scrolling:

3466924 3467080
Certainly an interesting concept. Together, they provide the complete package. Interrelated marks do seem to have synergistic effects. Just look at Flim and Flam.

3466940
I'd honestly assumed they'd play a major role in the finale and earn their marks in the process. As it is, the tri-linked marks may actually be resistant to removal unless Starlight can catch all three in the same beam... though given what we've seen of the finale, that may not be an issue even if it's the case.

3466951
We'll see. After all, people were skeptical of what they could do with quick-reformed Discord and Princess Twilight as well. Character growth and slaughtering the status quo are some of this show's greatest strengths.

And you may not have been impressed, but I was tearing up during that last song.

3467086
I think the key point of divergence away from Dashin' 2: Electric Scootaloo was "Flight to the Finish." It really cemented Scootaloo's self-worth in her own mind.

Also, you make an excellent point about Sweetie Belle. The natural talent may be there, but it's true that she's never really applied herself in that direction.

3467089
Kinda, yeah. What is your headcanon regarding those three?

3467093
I can put the Cutie Norn Crusaders on my to-do list, but that won't guarantee it'll ever see the light of day. That's part of the reason for the blog. Hopefully, I'll inspire someone with fewer ideas.

3467094
I am looking forward to seeing the Crusaders figure out who they are now on an individual basis. I just hope they don't glom together on a constant basis, thinking that that's what they're supposed to do. After all, their abilities clearly don't work on themselves, or they'd have figured this out long ago. :derpytongue2:

3467412 regarding cutie marks beyond vague terms (apple, music, flying) nothing.

Regarding future, helping other foals get their cutie marks

regarding actual careers, AB marries Snails and helps around the farm, sweetie spends time either helping rarity or singing, and Scoots becomes a wonderbolt

Honestly? My thoughts were that the CMC would end up with the Crusader shield as their cutie marks. They'd each have it in a different color, but it would very plainly be the Crusader Shield that you see on their capes. My idea was that the three of them would discover that their talent was effectively being the CMC. That their lives would involve trying everything that life had to offer; every little adventure both big and small, mundane and extravagant. They'd be the ones to try it all, from crocheting, to monster slaying, to journalism, to skydiving, to law, to archaeology, to bookselling, to extreme mini-golfing.

Honestly, I'm actually rather irked by what we actually got. I think it's fallen into what you might say is the 'uncanny valley' of my idea. It's honestly really close to what I thought up, but there's just enough about it that bothers me that it's niggling at me like a nit in my nightclothes.

3467950
This right here. This is what bugged me the most.
I can take the rushed feel, I can take the heel-turn redemption...
The mark itself is workable... but it rejects its own source material.
The original CMC crest and cape! Red Blue and Gold. Decent, if basic, color combination.
Replaced with Purple Purple and Purple.
With purple accents, and purple highlights.
And that's not even exaggerated hyperbole, it is literally what we got.
In such a way that you cannot even see what the hell it's supposed to be because it all a purple blur.

Seriously, did they remove the art team and ship in a pack of kindergarteners?
Because if there was a professional art team involved they need to be fired for those uninspired eyesores.

I've been calling this season "Destroyer of Headcanons" (primarily to myself) since Griffonstone. So many Griffon Kingdoms gone in a single puff of logic...

The ending was surreal for me. I honestly wondered if the whole thing was a troll or an it-was-all-a-dream in some way.

Too rushed, was the main thing. Diamond suddenly knowing things about friendship that she didn't know before, out of thin air. The same thing I felt about Magical Mystery Cure. Could've done it in half an hour, 22 minutes was too short.

I was disappointed that Bloom's icon was so generic. An apple heart? But she was the only potential pony role model for girls into engineering! So I was quite invested in it being a spanner or hammer or something, albeit including apples in some way because something something earth pony racism. She got short shrift design-wise. The other two were fine, within the possibility space of Stuff I Sorta Expected.

I got that the shield was their three mane colours, obviously, but the purple-red-purple does make the whole thing a bit hard to make sense of at a glance. Most cutie marks are unambiguous, iconography-wise.

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