MLP G5 Discussion and Speculation Thread

@Shimmering Spectacle
I have seen Misty get compared to Tempest before. They’re both antagonists getting used by a bigger baddie, but Misty’s character is definitely different. Tempest wanted to get back something she lost, Misty wants something she’s never had. Tempest’s relationship with The Storm King was a soldier to a general while Misty is a foster child to a cruel step parent. In the comics, it was shown that Tempest was with The Storm King since she was a child, but that isn’t comparable to the relationship with Misty and Opaline. Even grown up, Misty feels indebted to Opaline for what she allegedly did for when she was a child, it’s a different level of emotional manipulation.

I dont quite think they are comparable other then being redeemed antagonists who want something. Tempest knows what shes doing is evil and she acts on it, her whole life she knows what shes doing is wrong but she acts out for what could “fix” her. (More similar to starlight, bad day escalating into villian)
Also i dont particularly agree, being an abused child is like the most pity you can get for sympathy in the audience, her actually acting and trying to make opaline proud but then failing makes the audience feel even worse for her compared to her doing nothing but being abused. (especially how we get to see her personality through it as opposed to only having one mood when around opaline)
Also yeah in terms of power dynamics its way diff, Tempest could kick storm kings ass if she wanted to, but with misty its such a one sided power dynamic with opaline being her abusive adoptive mother who isolated and gaslit her for her whole life. Thats what i was reffering to in the prev post, misty cant refuse opaline, bc due to the abuse, opaline is everything misty has. She is mistys world quite literally

@LoreJuniper
I guess I should also mention that I don’t believe the writers intend for us to read super deeply into Opaline’s cruelty towards Misty and the effect it has on her, since this is My Little Pony after all, but I think the time has come for us to agree to disagree. Especially since I found something cool to speculate about thanks to this.

What if Señor Butterscotch is sentient?

… you dont write textbook realistic parental emotional abuse accidentally

@LoreJuniper
Hasbro can, Disney can.

Yeah no not at all. How is any of the cases where they do it accidental, it’s literally integral to the plot

The lack of manes growing out the neck, the eyebrows… is it just me or do these ponies kinda get uncanny sometimes? I don’t hate them but they do seem like human-horse hybrids sometimes. Yuck

@Background Pony #545C
Nah same xd its still weird Pipp has no neck mane

@Background Pony #545C
me too

There’s a lot to unpack when comparing Misty to Tempest, and I’m glad I shelled out for that screenwriting book.

First, we need to talk about conscious desires versus unconscious desires. A conscious desire is the goal a character is actively thinking about. Unconscious desire is what the character “actually but unwittingly wants”, and is in conflict with their conscious desire. A lot of stories involve a character sorting things out and deciding on what they really want.

Tempest is an anti-villain, which is a character with positive traits, goals, and/or virtues, but who acts destructively. She’s The Storm King’s cruel and sadistic enforcer. She is also polite, professional, respectful, a good leader, she gets results, and she has worked hard to overcome her limitations, which are all admirable qualities. Consciously, Tempest wants her horn back, and to be feared and respected. Unconsciously, Tempest wants to be accepted, to not be helpless, and to not feel like a freak, which are positive goals. She is the protagonist of her own story.

Once Tempest connects with her unconscious desires and sacrifices all the benefits The Storm King grants her, she has completed her Hero’s Journey and deserves to enjoy the fruits of her self-improvement.

Misty is also the protagonist of her own story, and a villain. Misty is endearing, but it’s interesting to note that when you get right down to it, she doesn’t have any positive qualities. Tempest is really good at her job, reaps benefits of the position, and gets to indulge her sadistic side. Meanwhile, Misty has no business being a villain. She’s clearly uncomfortable with the things she had to do, and it’s implied she doesn’t even get enough to eat. But she’s never known anything else.

At the start of Chapter 2, Misty doesn’t appear to have any unconscious desires. She’s motivated entirely by pleasing Opaline and getting her cutie mark. Towards the end of Chapter 2, we see that thanks to her interactions with The Mane Five, she is starting to develop unconscious desires for a real family. Misty is willingly going along with Opaline’s plans for her own personal gain. However, you can also recognize that Misty is being manipulated. She doesn’t deserve a cutie mark, but she deserves better than life with Opaline. Even if Tempest never got redeemed, she would still deserve a better employer than The Storm King.

I’d say Misty’s unconscious desire both pre ch 2 and post is to be loved. She is so desperate for affection and praise that she goes to great lengths to get the tiniest bit of validation from opaline

@DerpyFast
Misty’s positive quality to me is that she has good in her, but otherwise, she’s a total screw-up. That’s why I love her though. :3

Well i mean we see her positive qualities already. Shes kind, curious, eager and earnest. She doesnt have much personality beyond that due to how her abuse and trauma affects her (again, accurate to how actual abuse and isolation affects people)

Do people sympathise with Misty or Tempest more?

@LoreJuniper
>kind
She almost got Hitch and Sparky murdered but ok

They deserve it. They were weak.

@Dyonys
I’ll just consider that as an accident from my point of view.

Also the reason why sparky wasn’t infected, is likely cause he’s just a baby, and it’s even possible that his amygdala (a section of the brain that controls fight of flight responses) isn’t fully developed yet, and how the adult ponies isn’t infected either, is likely cause like us humans, they’re brains are too evolved and is far too intelligent to be infected by the gas there.

@Dyonys
I think its kinda damn obvious im talking about her actual moral character, and not what opaline makes her do

@Phoenixflambe
One chose to go into villiany after a traumatic event, ones an abused child who was isolated and manipulated for her whole life, take a guess

@Shimmering Spectacle
I think its moreov it specifically affects animals, sparky is a dragon which is a sentient species in this world so it wouldnt affect him

@LoreJuniper
oh yeah, I forgot that it’s not just the ponies

@Shimmering Spectacle
It was an accident when she drove the marestream into zephyre heights tow- :> xd

Abuse doesnt make all her actions ok lol
Shes still responsible for them

@Dyonys
I think youre forgetting she didnt have a choice in the matter

@LoreJuniper
She can literally just not do it
What is Opaline gonna do? Have evil laugh at it? She does nothing lol