*amazing beast of a post*
thanks lash! you are the man.
and here's that debate that you mentioned:
original guy: I'm going to argue ponies suck.
me: challenge_accepted.jpg
original guy: Ok, first of all, ponies lack opposable thumbs. They are not able to hold any things in their hooves.
Second of all, ponies don't know advanced geometrics. Ponies couldn't have built the pyramids.
Third: ponies have never been to the moon.
me: 1: if they can't hold anything in their hooves, then how are they able to
perform surgery? or
sew things? besides, they have magic for holding stuff.
2: the buildings of ponyville exhibit architectural traits dating at least up to the middle ages. not to mention the
castle built on the side of a cliff. such feats of architecture would be unthinkable until several hundred years ago.
3.now i KNOW you haven't watched the show. a pony visits the moon
a minute into the very first episode.* and that was 1000 years ago. humans went to the moon, what, less than 50 years ago? pathetic.
* warning: the first episode isn't all that great, if you actually plan on watching it. lol
another guy who actually watches pony: Ponies are a largely caste based society.
You'll find those with horns are given leadership roles- they are educated and given governmental jobs with access to education and skilled work. When outside of government, such ponies will be entrusted with the preparation of formal costumes for festive and ceremonial occasions.
Below them is the winged caste. Primarily go-betweens, and a form of soldier class. Not necessarily militaristic, of course, but relied upon for their flying ability or their control over subordinate species.
Finally, the servant class. Hornless and wingless. Mostly manual labourers, farmers, or those involved in the hospitality industry.
me: what nonsense, the mayor of ponyville is an earth pony (that is, not pegasus or unicorn)
i would classify their social structure as "benevolent monarchy", although their world leader is a huge troll and tends to take challenges to her authority pretty seriously (e.g. banishing her sister to the moon for 100 years)
another guy who actually watches pony: A figurehead, with no real power. Virtually every time she appears she needs the help of non-elected ponies, led by the unicorn elite to solve problems which, let's face it, she should have anticipated. Crises come almost weekly under her regime.
a troll: Nah, My Little Pony is just a farm for the local glue factory.
me: true, but it's possible that, like races and genders in our world, different types of ponies are better suited for different tasks. it could be argued that unicorn ponies are better suited for leadership roles, like males seem to be in our world. it would seem that putting a phallus shaped object on a pony's forehead is how you show that a female pony has traditionally "male" characteristics such as leadership, in a manner appropriate for a children's show, without putting the actual male ponies in charge (which would be much more blatant sexism).
original guy: So, the solution to everything is magic? Ie. handwaving all the plot holes away by saying "oh,
a wizard did it". I would have accepted it if you'd have said that their hooves have extremely high
van der waals forces, or tiny microscopic suction cups in them, or something. But to explain away everything with some vague "magic" is lazy writing.
me: i view this as an opportunity for the show to use future seasons to elaborate on their universe's laws. it may be that unicorn ponies have the ability to change molecular structure at will. maybe they can manipulate electromagnetic radiation. maybe it's simple telekinesis. who knows? only the show's writers. no good author explains everything in full detail in the first volume of a series, do they?
original guy: That's all good if they
have consistent laws in the universe. But to me it seems more like they're just winging it as they go.
It doesn't really matter if the laws of their universe don't make sense in our reality, as long as they have internal consistency. But do they have that? Seems to me that everything that doesn't make sense is just handwaved away by "magic" (see #3).
Electromagnetic radiation can't make items stick to their hooves, unless all items in the pony universe are magnetic. If they can use telekinesis, why do they only use it to float items next to their hooves?
And if it's magic, why don't they use the same magic to solve all their problems? Things just don't add up.
Also, who makes all their clothes and accessories?
me: - i can see why it would appear that way. and they don't use magic to solve all their problems; if they did, the show would be extremely boring. i would guess that their magical abilities are limited in some manner, since some ponies are more talented at magic than others.
rarity makes fancy clothes (as seen here), but i'm not sure who makes their everyday attire. most of them walk around naked; they are less sinful than us it seems.
him: Ok. This is getting to an interesting direction.
Are ponies immortal? Do they reproduce, and if so, how? How come we never see baby ponies, or pregnant ponies?
Where are their genitals?
Do ponies have sex?
me: there is evidence that ponies age. baby ponies do exist. their origins are uncertain; this is a major plot point that many fans are hoping will be answered in future seasons.
we don't even know if they reproduce, how do we know that they even have genitals? if they do, it's likely that they are being censored out due to the fact that this is a children's show.
according to the internet, yes, ponies do have sex.
him: Also: Why do they all have tattoos in their butts? Do ponies live in a trailor park?
me: they aren't tattoos, they're tram- i mean, cutie marks. it's hasbro's way of explaining puberty to young girls. google it.
him: Puberty = tramp stamps? I mean, "cutie marks".
I thought puberty was about angst, crappy bands and secretly getting drunk.
me: young ponies get their cutie marks when they discover their true calling in life. 3 ponies on the show are the only ones in their class who don't have cutie marks yet. that kind of thing.
him: okay, so about the architecture... Castles built on cliffs show a clear lack of judgement. Who sane person would do so? What if the cliff collapses while there's people still in the castle? It's an accident waiting to happen.
me: ponies seem to abide by similar moral standards as humans. they also seem to exhibit a similar level of maturity. indeed, many of the morals learned by the protagonist are morals that people in our world would do well to learn for themselves. it doesn't seem feasible that the castle was built that way simply due to poor judgment by the pony society. rather, they have such immense confidence in their architectural techniques that they can construct such a castle and still meet the exacting safety standards that we humans hold for our structures. remarkable, really.
him: I don't buy it. Human "moral standards" are pretty lax: humans are constantly killing others, doing immoral things for money, etc. And don't get me started on shady construction companies that cut costs and pocket the profits - leaving the inhabitants in deep **** 5 years down the line, living in a moldy or poorly constructed home. Humans have also been known to do stupid things. If ponies have similar morals as humans, they could well construct a castle near a cliff and just figure it's not their problem if it collapses, as long as they get the money.
me: this is a castle for the leader of their world. i think the architects would be held to extremely strict standards.
him: Maybe, maybe not. Maybe their leaders are just very gullible? Like the emperor's clothes, the pony leader got sold a crappy palace but everyone's too full of it to say it straight out.
me: celestia is far from gullible, she's actually pretty crafty. at any rate, the castle has stood for hundreds of years, so it appears to be architecturally sound.
oh, and there is no need for strict morals in pony society... would you commit murder if there was no food shortage and everypony was able to lead a fulfilling life?
him: I wouldn't, but some mentally un-stable pony might.
me: you presume that it is possible for ponies to become mentally unstable. i refute that assumption. have YOU ever seen a mentally unstable pony?
other pony watcher: I PRESENT A COUNTER POINT SIR!!!!! I have seen mentally unstable ponies! and it looks like
THIS!
me: okay, pinkie pie is THE only mentally unstable pony. except for fluttershy in the season finale. and rarity when she gets stressed out. and applejack in that one episode.
original guy: so how do ponies breath (sic) on the moon anyway?
me: magic
him: Again, magic explains everything? Lazy writing.
me: it's possible that she didn't visit the moon bodily, but instead, her consciousness was transferred there. that wouldn't require breathing.
him: Ok, so now the ponies are capable of astral projection? Is this canon or is it just your speculation?
me: not canon, just my speculation. however, a few ponies do exhibit the ability to move large celestial objects, so it's not unreasonable to assume that they can change the atmospheric composition of a small satellite such as the moon at will.
the troll from before: What, no rebuttal to my point?
me: