Had some things I wanted to share, some memories regarding 4th-Gen MLP in general and the EG-verse in particular, including how I became interested in them. Hey; what better way to balance out the negativity we've been seeing here the past few months than with some good old-fashioned reminiscing?

But first, a bit of background music to set the mood.

Throughout my life, I avoided My Little Pony like the plague. Part of this was because I was always under the impression that it was aimed solely at girls, while the rest of it was because--if my online handle wasn't enough of an indicator--I preferred felines over equines (as an example, I became interested in Sailor Moon as a kid solely because of Luna and Artemis). I never really felt comfortable getting involved with MLP; I didn't even know that successive generations were a thing.

That started to change in late 2014, early 2015 or thereabouts. I'd been obsessed with Touhou Project-related stuff back then (and to a lesser degree still am), so when I heard about then-Screw Attack's One Minute Melee between Sakuya Izayoi and Dio Brando, I went to watch it as soon as I could. When I followed this up with watching reaction videos, I started noticing not just that several who'd seen that particular fight were interested in MLP, but also that "Starscream Vs. Rainbow Dash" was a thing.

So I watched the fight, watched reactions to it on YouTube (most notably those of Shanmul1995 and DYWTBA_Brony), and gradually became interested in what I was seeing. At this point, I decided to test the waters a little bit and checked into a certain set of fan animations (and reactions, of course) I'd heard about through TV Tropes but didn't look at too closely. It wasn't guaranteed to be factually accurate, but it would still give me an inkling of what I was getting into.

Turnabout ever-loving Storm.

I was on to something here. I continued reading stuff on TV Tropes about the show and recaps of the episodes, seeking out stuff that would interest me. I kept myself limited to stuff that I found either cool or funny (the latter mostly revolving around Pinkie Pie, as expected). The major downside to this, of course, is that due to my fairly narrow search criteria, the bulk of the episodes I haven't touched; the 100th episode is the only one that I've sat down and watched from beginning to end, if only because I like it when secondary/background characters get more fleshed out in personality.

Admittedly, this is why I don't call myself a brony. To me, being a brony would require a certain dedication or obsession with the show that I lack, being willing to maintain an interest in MLP that at least surpasses just casual observation, and I don't have that. When it comes to entertainment, I prioritize cats, professional sports (the Detroit, MI-area, to be more specific), and Touhou over almost everything else.

Back on topic: eventually, my approach to the series would bring me into contact with the EG-verse. There's something about the setting that intrigued me then and still intrigues me now, and for the life of me I can't fully place it. Was it the idea of ponies being transplanted into a form and setting completely foreign to them? Was it the memories of half a lifetime ago when I was less mature coming to the fore? I'm not sure, but whatever it was, I became more fascinated with EG than the show it spawned from.

My primary thoughts on Equestria Girls

Anything about it I hate? Hmmm... well, nothing about the series itself comes to mind, but maybe something related to it?

I like to read a lot, so to borrow a phrase from Dwarf Fortress, 'it was inevitable' that I would find out about people's dislike for Flash Sentry. I could understand that him being a flat character would be part of it, and I could sort of get that some wouldn't like his relationship with Twilight (with emphasis on 'sort of'; I avoid shipping as a whole unless it triggers a laugh). What I didn't get was the amount of hatred that finally registered in my brain.

You have to understand that I had to put up with a lot of crud when I was attending school. People were always trying to find ways to get under my skin, make me snap, cause me trouble, that sort of thing; I never understood why I was such a target until later in life. To be honest, from what I've seen of Flash's personality and temperament, I could've used more people like him in school: someone who was genuinely nice instead of being out for personal gain, was perfectly willing to be a friend instead of pretending to be one (here's looking at you, pre-redemption Sunset Shimmer), and in the worst-case scenario would have left those who just wanted to concentrate on what they were learning alone. It just never fully made sense to me at the time why he would be ostracized to that degree in the fandom, and it still doesn't.

I'm not even sure if I want to understand that.

...

My favorite moment in EG? That's a bit of a tough call, but I'd have to go with one of the endings for the 'Best Trends Forever' short, with Pinkie managing to stuff enough confetti in Principal Celestia's office to be able to swim through the hallway when the stuff inevitably gets blasted out. To get why that's my favorite moment, a bit of explanation is in order:

To those who haven't been to my profile here at Fimfiction, the description at the top reads: "Don't ask questions. Just have fun. Slam the oven door and join the party." This refers to the 1951 Bugs Bunny short Rabbit Every Monday (which, as a bit of useless trivia, is the first cartoon I can ever recall watching). In it, Bugs tricks Yosemite Sam into thinking there's a party in his oven. After a little bit he starts to feel bad, decides to let Sam out... only to discover that there really was a party in the oven, and in a room that made Sam's cabin look small at that. Bugs joins in and concludes the cartoon by saying: "I don't ask questions; I just have fun!"

You get what I'm trying to say? Pinkie's stunt in that short is the sort of reality-breaking humor I live for. It's a cartoon, after all; realism is optional, not required. >^_^<

Honorable mention: Sunset losing to Fluttershy at a video game.

...

As far as my favorite character in the EG-verse, there's just no contest: DJ-P0N3/Vinyl Scratch, bar none. Do I really need to say why?

And as a side question, what's the difference between dubstep and standard electronica? It all sounds like noise to me.

Honorable mention: Pinkie Pie.

...

My least favorite character? Well, truth be told, the only one that comes to mind is Principal Cinch. Aside from her, all of the characters I hate--that is, the truly unrepentant jerks and bullies--are on the Equestria side of the mirror. Characters such as Lightning Dust, and that. I don't necessarily like everyone in EG, at least not on the level of Vinyl and Pinkie, but I don't hate them either. Whether the fandom in general appreciates them or not, they all have their own value to the setting, and I can respect that.

And in the end, Cinch ended up getting her comeuppance anyway. Cadance got her job by the time 'Dance Magic' rolled around, so it's a lot easier for me to render her a non-factor.

...

Will EG as we know it last? Maybe, maybe not. Time will tell. Even it doesn't, however, that's what memories, fanfiction and fanart are for. Like it or not, enjoy it or not, EG left a mark on the MLP franchise that can never be erased as long as the Internet exists.

Well, that's pretty much all I can think of. If anyone has their own memories of the series they want to share, whether it's how they got into it or something else entirely, then feel free to leave their comments here. Ciao mein, everyone, and stay positive!

Glad to see another person here in the site that likes Touhou.

Anyway, this was a very informative subject. Thanks for sharing your opinions and thoughts with us.

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Touhou is one of those things that I've always thought I should get into (I love my shoot 'em ups) but I've always found the franchise a bit baffling and inaccessible.

It just never fully made sense to me at the time why he would be ostracized to that degree in the fandom, and it still doesn't.

It's kinda what fandoms do, really. After all, we are all fans - "fanatics" - so enthusiasm runs high, and all that energy and zeal sometimes feeds back on itself in ways that aren't entirely helpful or positive. Once an idea takes root and becomes memetic, it can amass a great deal of inertia in a fandom.

Flash Sentry is kind of a victim of that. His debut appearance in the first Equestria Girls wasn't exactly great - his character is flat and his involvement in the story is shallow and clichéd. Add to that the fact that he's a canon love interest in a fandom of shippers (Twilight's first love interest, at that), and... yeah, he's doomed. And unfortunately, fandom perception is heavily shaped by that first impression, so he really went through the wringer of fandom judgement.

His appearances since then have done a bit more to flesh out his character, and I agree, he seems to be a nice guy who takes things in stride, despite the universe's propensity to dump on him.

As far as my favorite character in the EG-verse, there's just no contest: DJ-P0N3/Vinyl Scratch, bar none. Do I really need to say why?

Yes, actually, because I don't know a lot of people who would say that. :) She doesn't get very big roles in the series.

And as a side question, what's the difference between dubstep and standard electronica? It all sounds like noise to me.

Short answer: wubs. Longer answer: dubstep tends to use sharp, syncopated beats and low-frequency bass with oscillation and distortion effects. The "sounding like noise" is often intentional, I think; artists use bass effects to create interesting sounds that aren't necessarily melodic but give the music some satisfying punctuation. At least, that's how I see it. I don't know how to music

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You're welcome. >^_^<

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On Touhou: Baffling I sort of get, but it's not as inaccessible as it used to be. Steam's been selling the most recent games (from the past 3-4 years or so, though granted they're still in Japanese), and a handful of fangames with official English translations have been making the rounds there too. Though whether they're good or not tends to vary from player to player.

On Vinyl: I think it was her appearances in Rainbow Rocks and 'Music to my Ears' that got my attention, particularly since she'd swapped the boots for sneakers by that point. The transforming car was the icing on the cake. Admittedly her unicorn-self was pretty cool (to the point where I had fanart of her commissioned for me a few years ago), but her human-self... well, that's a paraphrased Rainbow Dash quote.

On dubstep: I think I prefer that over the more technical explanations, honestly. It at least makes a bit of sense, so there's that.