IDW Editorial Desperately Needs Jesus · 9:18pm Feb 1st, 2016
So, I want you all to read this, and think about it carefully:
http://www.equestriadaily.com/2016/02/exclusive-friends-forever-25-6-page.html#more
If those panels start to unsettle and nauseate you after a couple of moments' consideration, then don't be alarmed. A feeling of dissonance and vague disgust upon reflection indicates only that you are still sane.
A character, on screen, brags about drugging a well beloved character, sawing her limbs off, and then gloats about the prospect of cannibalizing them.
In a comic marketed for kids.
This is literally half the plot of fucking Cupcakes.
And the more I think about it the worse it gets. The comic is actually hugely understating the reaction Dash should be having to this. It's not just that she needs her wings - someone fucking drugged her and is now going to fucking eat part of her, and she's aware that it's going to happen.
I am actually almost sick to my stomach with horror the more I think about what that would be like for Dash to experience.
Now, I'm not one to really believe in the efficacy of corporal punishment. I don't even think spanking your kids for misbehaving is a pragmatic or just notion. I say this so you can put my suggestion that IDW Editorial should be flogged for this into proper perspective.
So, yeah. Now you all know, and I'm going to go somewhere and try not to throw up.
Edit: Just so everyone knows, I am being somewhat comically over the top with my reaction. I do get mildly quesy when I get upset when something horrifies me, but nothing enough to physically incapacitate me, and I'm angry at IDW for this on a lot of levels, but I don't actually think flogging them would be helpful. Chewing out? Maybe. Flogging not so much. A few people have expressed contempt or disbelief over this post, and I apologize for being unclear.
OK.
I am, personally, a fan of Lil Miss Rarity. It's the one true source of horror in this fandom.
I have read Fallout Equestria, Fall of Equestria, Cupcakes, Rainbow Factory and various other gore/vore/cannablism stories, and none left any kind of impression on me.
But this is disturbing. This is very very disturbing to me.
I hate Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep because the episode treated self harm, suicidal tendencies, and depression as minor quirks. But this... This sends far worse implications. This is borderline rape. And it is in a MLP FiM comic for kids. I mean, I always knew this was messed up, and I've always kind of enjoyed it, but I never knew that the SHOW would become this messed up.
Jesus. That was unsettling.
There's nothing sickening about this at all. It is a silly cartoon plot. You're thinking outside of the context of cartoons. In the context of cartoons, someone stealing someone else's body parts for use is amusing, not horrifying. I mean, it's annoying, sure, but it is a ridiculous plot which is meant to be ridiculous.
I mean, seriously - this has already happened in the show. Discord stole their wings/horns in Season 2.
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Discord poofed their body parts away with magic. Temporarily.
These characters cut them off.
Also, Discord wasn't planning on boiling anyone's body parts into magic gumbo and drinking it.
S'little details that matter.
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Magic gumbo is delicious.
Terrible for telling the future, though.
3727381 Uh hum. Cutting off would imply that they TORE AND RIPPED OFF RAINBOW'S WINGS. She'd be BLEEDING and DEAD by the time she woke up. Still horrible but they're treating it like it's a horrible thing. WHICH IT IS. Also you think this is bad? Last story arc had to deal with borderline GENOCIDE had Sombra not been stopped so I don't see how this is any worse.
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"and Snickety-snick! Wings!"
Snick-snack is onomatopoeia associated with cutting things. Also, she wouldn't bleed out if they used proper surgical techniques which, given the stitching on her back, it is implied they did.
Also Genocide means a very specific thing. It means a concerted effort to wipe out a group of of related people. It literally means "to murder a race of people." Geno-cide. Sombra was not trying to kill all of the ponies, he was using war-slaves to try and conquer them. The Season 5 finale cements him as probably the most straight up evil villain the show has in it's roster, but he's not genocidal, merely a slaver and a warlord, which were things we already knew but hadn't had concertized.
And yeah, seeing that on screen was disturbing and upsetting for me, but it's a different kind of beast. There is a difference between normal darkness in writing and just straight up horror. And there is a difference between horror and gorn. Seeing a nation suffering under the weight of waging a just but costly war against an evil tyrant hurts to see, but the emphasis was on loss and sadness. It's very big, and impersonal. Hell, the writers went out of their way to try and make it more personal for the audience by showing how the war was affecting characters we were fond of. Here it's just LOL CANNIBALISM! The writers don't even seem to understand how disturbing this concept actually is when you take more than a second to think about it - which makes it even worse. There is a gulf of subtly and tact between the two examples that makes the whole difference.
If you're so insistent on interpreting this literally, you should also complain about how RD should've bled out--internally or otherwise--because to sever her wings and leave them completely intact so as to serve the intended purpose of providing flight (for which they clearly need the whole wing or they could've just stolen one of RD's molted feathers), they'd have had to tear some of RD's bones and muscles right out of her back and stitching her up with a permanent marker wouldn't be adequate to keep her alive. Clearly this comic that is marketed to suggestible little children who have no way of distinguishing the absurd from everything else is understating the full extent of physical trauma that results from dismemberment, just as both the comics and the show understate the very real cranial and cognitive damage that can result from repeat blows to the head as RD has often experienced.
Seriously, have you never watched Looney Tunes or read fairy tales?
Here's what your reaction should be--yes, I'm telling you what and how to think; I'm fully qualified, certified and authorized to do so.
"Oh my! Looks like quite the predicament RD is in! RD, Twi, you've got to hurry and get her wings back before moonrise!"
3727445 Okay so.... the fact that they are TAKING IT VERY SERIOUSLY but giving Rainbow skewered priorities instantly makes this warped and disturbing yet Sombra pretty much threatening to put people in STONE where they could see everything yet unable to move or talk at all isn't? My friend you have some weird ideas about what makes a kid comic twisted and warped.
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Oh
You're talking about the comic.
I don't read the comics regularly.
I'm sorry. I thought you were talking about the Season 5 finale.
3727458 It's okay.
Whelp... nothing I can say. They know who they are marketing to, and to add to it the little kids who would read these comics wouldn't really know what's going on. They are playing to the blissful ignorance of children, while taking advantage of the sadistic nature of some of the fanbase. The backlash that could come from it would only come from parents that take the time to read it, and only if they chose to do something about it.
I can only guess they are simply playing high stakes poker with their marketing ideas, I'm torn in one hand I side with you in finding worry about this. But in the other hand I want to pat them on the back for taking the risk they have. Gonna have to take the devils advocate on this one and just sit back and watch what happens.
...Seriously? This comic has actually made you physically sick? For realsies?
That can't be true, though. I mean, if it were, you wouldn't be able to function at all. You'd get PTSD when someone called you a name on a social network.
There are a lot of things that horrify parents but not their kids.
Eesh.
On the one hand, that is a giant barrel full of nope and your reaction is not unwarranted.
On the other hand, this is the same IDW that put Chrysalis literally killing a kitten front and center in Issue 1. This is not some crazy out-of-nowhere escalation from their editorial board, it's toeing over the line they drew long ago.
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I have edited my post with a small addendum for clarity.
It still feels like someone ranting because he saw something that is clearly being taken seriously bad but thinks it's not for some reason?
3727984 It's understandable, everyone looks at things differently.
"A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees." - William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
3727984 Whatever. It's clear what you really think about this.
#IDW #Comics #MLPComics #FriendsForever #Cupcakes
#Cupcakes? #FoRealsDawg?
#L2Humour #NotFunny #Liar #MeantEveryWord
#You said something dumb and self contradictory
#Somebody you trust probably pointed this out to you
#And now you want to back pedal
#Even if were move the alleged jokes the substance of your complaint is still ridiculous
#Notice how the reply with the most positive votes is mine
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy dark stuff. And I could even see a context in which this story works rather nicely. I didn't even think about what I was seeing until it was pointed out. But... kind of unavoidable once it is.
There's no blood and guts all over the place. Maybe this was some kind of magic or something that doesn't leave blood and guts all over the place. Put another way, Warlock zaps your kidneys into his bag. Is it no longer organ theft?
And yeah. Distilling the wings into a potion. Straight up cannibalism. That's deeply disturbing.
What if parents buy this for their kids thinking the colorful ponies means the stuff is safe and wholesome and their kids get nightmares? Because this right here? Lovecraftian.
After thinking about it for a day, I have come to the conclusion that this is an overreaction. I would suggest that what criticisms have been aired above simply reflect an individual's opinion over certain themes in a comic which clearly is not normalizing or advocating any of the deplorable actions mentioned.
Since this is the case, I will simply state that the best course of action would be to:
creator.keepcalmandcarryon.com/kcp-preview/NQOxtJXW
This concludes a suggestion of possible inaction by the author of this comment.