i like how this video addresses the common misconception that lauren faust wanted the show to have absolutely ZERO romance. that is totally a misunderstanding of what lauren intended for this show, and you're very much right that rules are made to be broken.

The show is called FRIENDSHIP. Is magic. I'm not surprised that there wasn't much romance in the show about friendship.

Though I am a big time shipper, I have no problem with the show's general avoidance of romantic topics because, overall, everything else it offered was more than sufficient. Like you said, the few times that it does delve into that field, it executes it properly.  Any time I feel down that there was not more romance in the show, I just go to FimFiction to fill in that hole in my heart. I am also equally glad that the 'lovey dovey' rule was not thrown out the window because, as we have seen in the past, shipping and romance can ruin a show; an example being 'Star vs the Forces of Evil'.

I actually liked the Rarity and Prince Blueblood gag in the Best Night Ever episode, it was one of the ones that stood out more to me, but I get it if others don't haha.

not something i ever thought about much while watching the show throughout my life, but this might be one of the reasons i enjoyed it so much. as an aroace person, i do enjoy romance in fiction quite a bit, but it's more of a side dish to the main course that is the story and characters individually. having main characters with no show of romantic interest and still being accepted as successful adults is incredibly validating as someone who grew up female.
overall, very good video that got me thinking.

I am glad the MLP show didn't put a heavy emphasis on relationships and I bet it was difficult for Lauren Faust to convince the writing team because every other animated show, I always felt like somehow the girls became love interests or are always talking about boys. I loved that MLP shows when they did break the mold, it was interesting to see the relationships happen but I'm glad it wasn't the focus on the rest of the show. When I got to high school, I was career oriented so I focused on studying, got my college degree, I kept learning in my own time. When I watch shows it seems like the girls always got into relationships and it wasn't interesting to me like the main plots. I also enjoyed Totally Spies growing up and I loved seeing the action parts.

When i was a kid i was overwhelmed by the amount of cartoons centered in girls that showed romantic relationship just for the sake of showing it, the protagonist were always reduced to a girl obssesed with boys or just a boring pretty boy. I think that is one of many reasons i kept liking mlp even as a tween. The characters relationships and goals weren't completly merged and all these themes were treated with much more maturity than, like, a Disney channel show from the time.
The main theme of the show was friendship, and child me was very glad that they stick to it.
(Sorry for my bad english)

"sicking a mob of fans on Flash Sentry"
Yeah that's basically what happened and he wasn't even a character with a personality in my opinion

One thing I've always felt is that in a show about characters with very strong personalities, it's improbable that they would develop a romantic relationship with anybody that isn't specifically tailored to be their love interest. Rainbow and AJ is the perfect example. The characters we see before The Last Problem would NEVER date each other. They're both way too headstrong, career focused and do not compliment each other even a little. Trying to develop that relationship in the middle of the show would either A: Feel forced and unnatural, or B: Take too long for watchers to remain invested. BUT, have them be developed off-screen into different characters, suddenly putting them together is fine.

Also, one thing that seperates MLP from a lot of other kids' shows is that the main characters are adults . They're going to have a wider perspective of their lives and what they desire, and they're not cauldrons of hormones.

The concept of romance in the mlp universe is very strange just as the shipping in the mlp fandom is very complicated, For in the actual show relationships between the most unlikely and unexpected characters happened while in the fandom every day some of the most unusual ships are formed some good, some bad, others decent, others only adequate...My point is when it comes to romance and shipping characters from a cartoon it can all be one big complicated and confusing mess.

But i have nothing against shipping, Even I have various favorite ships. Im just saying that with how many mlp ships there are it's all become one big mess over the years.

I always felt like the "no romance rule" was mostly for fhe sake of setting up the show. I didn't think that anyone expected the show to be as big as it is. I feel like Rarity in the Best Night Ever was an excellent way of showing a character who may want romance but not letting it derail the plot.

"Will they wont they" is usually not a good source of conflict bc most of the time the answer is "They will". Good writers know this and make their dynamic less about getting there and more about how getting there affects both characters.

I can totally see Rarity having a family but she's the one making all the money while her spouse is a housewife/husband 🥺

Personally if Lauren wanted a couple she could have just used already developed characters like most ships in the fandom was related to one of the main characters not a brand new one. Wich I know they did with rainbow and applejack but personally I think they should have had more episodes.

As someone who believes kid shows (or shows in general for that matter) shouldn't center mainly on shipping and romance, I still love shipping and seeing some sub-plots now and then around that. And I think MLP did the "Lovey Dovey stuff" perfectly since you are free to ship things throughout the show but it's not the Mane 6's only purpose to serve. Props to Lauren for avoiding the cliches and breaking out of the overused tropes throughout media when it comes to female characters :).

As a woman I personally remember always getting really annoyed at the shows with love in them. Like,a girls only interest is not love and we should (man woman or anything in between) not be conditioned to think love is what makes you a person and that you can’t live happily without it. A LOT of people don’t need love to be happy and all a show is doing by having every character with a love interest is showing kids that if they don’t want a lover they aren’t a person. As you said there are times you can break this rule but you shouldn’t have all characters in a(or wanting) a relationship. One final thing I think we can agree on though is that kids shows should not be showing that the only way to love is by being a stalker,please.

P.S:when I say love I mean like romantic and sexual.

I haven't seen all of the Equestria Girls stuff, but man I feel bad for Flash. Across the four movies, he has terrible luck with romance. Before the movies begin, he was dating an absolute witch, but at least he broke up with her. Then the guy falls for a new mystery girl. She seems to like him back, and then just vanishes. When she comes back, he's already under the effects of a mind-altering spell and can't make any relationship progress with her. Then, the next time, she's ... not herself? Turns out his own universe's version of the girl he really likes doesn't have the time of day for him at all. And the final nail in the coffin is being reminded to back off "gently" by his ex at summer camp, and then watching not-his-girl go for the camp counsellor. I mean, come on! The poor guy! He deserves better.

Yona and sandbar are so cute together 😭😭😭😭

So you call Appledash an eleventh hour couple(which they are) while also calling Fluttercord a fan ship. When Fluttercord was almost written in the episode(they planed to have Discord give Fluttershy a kiss on the forehead, but took it out 'cause they decided it was to forward), and Appledash was always to be there as it was in the final episode: something to be interpreted with and played with by and for fans. (Correct me if I'm wrong on any details.)

I'm so happy to see you uploading! I really enjoy your content and I can't wait to see more! = )

Making rules and then seeing when to break them is an amazing thing to not overdo things