Why Isn’t There An Openly LGBT Pony?

…Yeah, I’m just gonna come out right here and say something: This article is about My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and talks about whether we should have an LGBT pony. If that doesn’t appeal to you, do us both a favour and don’t read. Don’t read, don’t comment, and I will have no problems with you whatsoever. I know it can be seen as a strange subject, and even if not strange, if there’s one universal constant I’ve found in my lifetime, it’s that nothing is for everybody, so no hard feelings, really.

So, something caught my attention a while ago. Apparently, there was a writer working for IDW who said that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy being in a romantic relationship should be canon. I’m not gonna get into that discussion much more, other than stating that, despite being an outed Flutterdash shipper in the past, I know that having the obvious tomboy and the introvert come out as a couple could be seen as a stereotype. Rather, instead, I find myself wondering why, whether it’s these two or anyone else on the show, is there no openly, canon, LGBT pony. And I know, there are other shows out there with positive depictions of LGBT characters. I’m just saying, not everyone who watches those shows watches MLP, where they would like a positive depiction of an LGBT character.

Now, there might be some of you out there saying “But wait, Jyger85! There IS an LGBT couple on MLP!” Well, first off, you can call me Jeff, we’re all friends here. And second off, NO. That is not canon. You THINK it is, and I not only know why you think it is but actually agree that it should be, but it isn’t. And for those of you wondering what I’m talking about, I’m talking about Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon…or Secret Agent Sweetie Drops, or whatever her name is now. lol Point is, these two have been background ponies showing up together for YEARS now, but anytime they’ve talked, they keep saying they’re best friends, and according to the MLP wiki…

“And I quote…”

“Sweetie Drops frequently appears with Lyra Heartstrings, which has been explained by a layout artist to be mostly coincidental and based on aesthetic considerations, as far as season one is concerned”. However, here’s why a lot of people think these two are a couple…

1. Admittedly, fans of a show will sometimes try to dig deeper to try and see if there are elements of the story and characters beyond what is shown to us, and will oftentimes ship people for reasons others might not be able to see.
2. There’s a list of evidence on TV Tropes showing all the reasons presented in the show why fans might believe these two are a couple (among others, lol), but for me, it boils down to one episode: Slice of Life. Listen to their dialogue in that episode, watch their body language and facial expressions, and listen to the emphasis they put on the words “best friends”, hammering it in to the point of sounding forced, and tell me that these two do not come off even the SLIGHTEST bit as a couple.

What’s hilarious, though, is that, in the same episode I just mentioned, we find out that DJ Pon-3 (once known as Vinyl Scratch) and Octavia Melody actually live together. Now, whether they’re just room-mates or a couple has never been made canon. My own thoughts? Well, I don’t know if I believe in the romantic pairing of these two, but they are most definitely a pair, and one I’d love to see playing off each other in the future. Still, I wouldn’t mind if these two came out.

But back to Lyra and Sweetie Drops. Personally, here’s what I would do. You have the finale (whether it’s a season finale or the series finale, I don’t know, but maybe it’d work better if it were the latter) include a scene where the Mane 6 are running through Ponyville. They’re running in great urgency to stop something, and it’s a very pulse-pounding affair, and you see everything in the background rushing by, and at one point, they run past town hall, where you see the two exiting right after getting married. That’s how I would out those two, and here’s why: Because a lot of fans love to watch the background and freak out over stuff they see in it, and I guarantee that would get a TREMENDOUS reaction. Just have it in the middle of the episode, and watch what happens. lol

Anyway, that’s all I had to say about this. Lemme know what you all think in the comments, and keep watching the background, because you never know what might pop up. Ja né!

Jyger’s Favourite 5 – 5 Non-Canon Pairings I Ship

Sorry if it seems like ‘second verse, same as the first’ around here, but I’ve kinda fallen into a comfortable routine with the way I’ve been blogging as of late. Also, I tend to just do whatever I feel compelled to do with my blog. Don’t worry though, I WILL get back to reviewing and Tales of Dumbassery. At any rate, in the spirit of the season of love, I’m gonna take a look at 5 Non-Canon pairings in fiction (be it comic books, cartoons, etc.) that I ship. Why? Because I’m BORED, okay? I’m stuck at home with a cold, and I had to do SOMETHING for Valentine’s Day, so here you are! XD I will say now though that if there’s anyone uncomfortable with some of these pairings, I apologise. If there’s anyone who  doesn’t approve of lesbian couplings, I will warn that there are some here, so if you don’t like, turn back now. With that said, here are 5 Non-Canon Pairings I Ship.

#1 – Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

Yes, I’m a Flutterdash shipper, okay? I can’t help it, I just find that the characters balance each other out well and are adorable together. And yeah, the jokes/speculation about Rainbow Dash being a lesbian has been around pretty much since the show started, but I think the scene that proved how cute it was to me, and honestly made me believe it WAS canon for a while, was this:

Now earlier on, it seemed like Rainbow Dash saw Fluttershy as more of an annoyance than anything else. As time went by, however, it was becoming clearer how much she cared for her and wanted to help her out, in particular during Hurricane Fluttershy when she wanted to help her with her confidence. Likewise, Fluttershy seemed THRILLED to help Rainbow pick out a pet during May The Best Pet Win. There’s other little hints along the way too of them being more than friends, but seeing as how this is a show for little kids, I somehow doubt it’ll ever be canon.

#2 – Ash and Dawn (PearlShipping) from Pokémon

Okay, I know that the average long-term fan of the Pokémon anime was more a PokéShipper (Ash x Misty), but I actually prefer Ash with Dawn. I see them as equals who are constantly learning from each other, leaning on each other, and supporting each other. I find they have more in common, I find they get along better, and I just find them to be the cuter couple.

As for Ash x Misty, one of my problems with it was that hints of it seemed a bit more…forced. Like they were just there to tease the viewer, or on occasion to annoy the characters. Now, it’s been pretty much made canon that Misty liked Ash. This actually poses a problem for me, though, and that is simply why, if she liked him all that time, didn’t she SAY something? They were hanging out for how long? Let’s see, when they went back to Viridian City for Ash’s Gym Battle, they said that it’d been a year since they’d been there. That was approx. one season, and Misty left at the end of Master Quest, that was Season 5, so they were hanging out for 5 years??? 5 years, and she NEVER said anything. Misty, it’s the 21st Century. It’s perfectly okay for women to ask men out. And I know he’s kind of a twit, but if you spilled your heart out to Ash and told him how you felt, he’d if nothing else be understanding of your situation.

#3 – Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn from Batman/DC Comics

What’s odd about this one is that I thought for a while that it actually WAS canon. lol Don’t get me wrong, I know that Harley always eventually went back to her Mistah J, but I thought at times when they weren’t together she had an on again/off again relationship with Ivy. And considering that DC has been putting in more gay relationships in comics and that Harley recently had a fight almost to the death with Joker in the comics, I’m kinda surprised they don’t just greenlight this. And hey, even bad guys need some happiness in their lives, right?

#4 Adam Park and Tanya Sloan from Power Rangers Zeo

Again, I thought for a while in Zeo that they were gonna do this. When Tanya was having troubles, in particular when she broke up with her boyfriend, Adam was the first person who was there for her. A lot of times, they were seen hanging out and being close; I honestly thought that at some point, they actually would be made into a couple, which let’s face it, would be WAY better than the forced romance of Tommy and Kat that season. But I’m going to assume that they were instead best friends, and I guess that works too. I still ship this though, looking back on that season.

#5 – Colette and Presea (Prelette) from Tales of Symphonia

First off, because I’ve never had a chance to say this on my blog before now, I LOVE Tales of Symphonia. Are elements of the story completely original? Not exactly. Is it the greatest game I’ve ever played in my life? Probably not. But I still love this game and its cast. As for these two, I just find them freaking adorable. I love how desperate Presea is to save Colette when she gets kidnapped for the…how many times was that by then? I forget. And when they save her and Colette thanks Presea, that’s when Presea smiles for the first time. And of all the couples that could be made canon due to the choices of the player, I do wish it were possible to make this one.

And that’s my favourite non-canon pairings in fiction. Stay tuned though, as I plan to talk more about my favourite canon couples in anime, and in comic books. Ja né!