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My 5yo son LOVES My Little Pony. He's been going strong on it for a year now, with no signs of stopping. He has all the episodes on his iPad and watches them constantly, can recite dialogue by heart, can mimic Applejack's accent with frightening accuracy, can sing all the songs, and so on. When we play together, I am almost always asked to be either Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash, so I've had to get good at impersonating those two. We tell MLP stories at bedtime and have even started reading some of the tie-in chapter books.
But despite all of this, until last night, he hadn't watched the last episode of season 3, "The Magical Mystery Cure."
He was worried about the fact that all the ponies' cutie marks were mixed up in the beginning and found it too scary to watch, so he'd always turned it off. As a result, he didn't know that Twilight Sparkle becomes an alicorn at the end of that episode. This was a problem because all of the tie-in books we're reading refer to her as "Princess Twilight Sparkle" and to her wings and so on. I hadn't watched the full episode either (he would always get upset and turn it off), and I really felt like I needed to see this important piece of canon in order to understand some of the things happening in the books. So last night, I talked him into watching it with me. He hid for some of it and was really worried, but once Twilight got the cutie marks straightened out, he was fine. At least until the point when Twilight was transformed into an alicorn.
And then he started to sob and say, "No No NO!!" He was completely distraught, inconsolable. I held him and we watched it until the end, and he continued to cry for a while. I asked him why it upset him, and he said that he didn't want it to change, that Twilight being a princess and having wings would make it all different, and he wanted the old Twilight back. All I could do was nod and say that I understood -- which I do, of course. Who hasn't had their heart broken by the direction canon went at some point in their fannish lives?
Through all of this, my husband just shook his head and said, "He is just like you." Which he totally is, at least in this way. I guess it's a good thing he has a mom who really understands how much fictional universes can get inside your soul and bring you so much happiness... and sometimes, so much pain.
Welcome to the fandom life, kid.
Crossposted to my Tumblr here
But despite all of this, until last night, he hadn't watched the last episode of season 3, "The Magical Mystery Cure."
He was worried about the fact that all the ponies' cutie marks were mixed up in the beginning and found it too scary to watch, so he'd always turned it off. As a result, he didn't know that Twilight Sparkle becomes an alicorn at the end of that episode. This was a problem because all of the tie-in books we're reading refer to her as "Princess Twilight Sparkle" and to her wings and so on. I hadn't watched the full episode either (he would always get upset and turn it off), and I really felt like I needed to see this important piece of canon in order to understand some of the things happening in the books. So last night, I talked him into watching it with me. He hid for some of it and was really worried, but once Twilight got the cutie marks straightened out, he was fine. At least until the point when Twilight was transformed into an alicorn.
And then he started to sob and say, "No No NO!!" He was completely distraught, inconsolable. I held him and we watched it until the end, and he continued to cry for a while. I asked him why it upset him, and he said that he didn't want it to change, that Twilight being a princess and having wings would make it all different, and he wanted the old Twilight back. All I could do was nod and say that I understood -- which I do, of course. Who hasn't had their heart broken by the direction canon went at some point in their fannish lives?
Through all of this, my husband just shook his head and said, "He is just like you." Which he totally is, at least in this way. I guess it's a good thing he has a mom who really understands how much fictional universes can get inside your soul and bring you so much happiness... and sometimes, so much pain.
Welcome to the fandom life, kid.
Crossposted to my Tumblr here
