Queen of Hearts
Added 2020-03-16 01:24:02 +0000 UTCconcept doodle, i'd like to explore cadence and her relationship with her daughters (and kingdom)
Princess Cadence fascinates me. Not her actual character (which is remarkably flat). But like....her conception. Alicorns were a big deal back in early MLP. Celestia and Luna were powerful and mysterious beings, and we didn't know the extent of their abilities.
Then came this little pink powder puff. Why was she an alicorn? Where'd she come from? Who are her parents? All these answers and more, Hasbro failed to answer. At least we knew her power. Celestia wields the sun, Luna moves the moon, and Cadence......makes ponies fall in love? No, wait, that's kinda creepy, let's never show her doing that again. She....encourages ponies to feel love? Um, but not romantic love. Platonic love? Love in general? Why is a princess necessary for this? Especially if Twilight is the princess of friendship. Cadence's existence is redundant as hell, and it's super obvious in all her appearances that the show has no idea what to do with her besides stick her in the background looking pretty and passive. The show invents a whole empire just to give her something to do, but after Sombra, the empire has zero conflict (besides oh dear! Can Rarity get Cadence's mane done in time??), and Cadence is stated to be bored ruling there.
Cadence is a character without a purpose.
(I'm not mad about this or anything, I like Cadence just fine. I'm just making an observation.)
The comics explore this a little (you can read it here: https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/My-Little-Pony-Friends-Forever/Issue-30?id=69206#1 ), showing that Cadence is often frustrated being dismissed as "a pretty princess who lived happily ever after", and passed over in favor of the other princesses. She even asks: "What if Celestia and Luna just put me in charge here as a figurehead? Made me the crystal princess because I'm an alicorn and they felt obligated to do so?"
Her duties consist of being a smiling face and sitting as a guest at children's tea parties. She expresses annoyance that she may be inadvertently teaching young fillies that being pretty and living happily ever after is all they can aspire to be. Cadence grows withdrawn and miserable and nearly gives up her crown- to which the crystal ponies only look surprised, but don't protest. Cadence's misery turns the crystal heart grey.
In the end, it's Twilight who saves the day with a speech about how Cadence isn't just pretty, but also really nice, accessible, accepting, and inspiring, apparently. The crystal ponies just kinda watch this happen, not even smiling or cheering to confirm Twi's claims. Cadence hugs Twilight and decides to get on with the stupid crystal ceremony, making the crystal ponies finally cheer, and the crystal heart glows again. Yay. And then Cadence never questioned her role again~
This story is.....kind of uncomfortable? You'd think that the crystal ponies would be horrified to learn that their princess was feeling useless, and would trip all over themselves to assure her that she is beloved and needed. Instead they just stand there looking only vaguely interested......almost as if they know Cadence is speaking the truth.
Is it possible that Cadence was placed in the empire as a figurehead? Is it possible that "crystal princess" is just a fancy title to dress up her true purpose.....powering the crystal heart? Is Cadence stuck in the empire as a living battery to an ancient relic, unable to ever feel too sad or frustrated or discontent, lest the big blue magic macguffin shut off and leave thousands of helpless subjects exposed to deadly ice storms and monsters? Is Cadence trapped? Blink twice if you need rescue, Cadie!!
Comments
Even though it was clear early on that the show wouldn't be exploring situations of romance, I didn't think that Cadence made the Magic of Friendship redundant (although I WAS asking where the heck new alicorn came from). The different types of loves could complement each other, just like Sun and Moon. The Crystal Empire draws heavy inspiration inspiration from Greece, which has an very interesting naming convention for the different types of love: Philia is friendship, in which a person tries to make life better for close associates, and subsequently improving themselves as a person. This is the premise of the whole show, so not much to go over. So is that obviously Twilight's domain? I would say no. The line between a [i]platonic[/i] and [i]romantic[/i] relationship is that with the latter, it can evolve from Ludus and Eros. But not exclusively. So Shining and Cadence could represent Philia-Ludus and Philia-Eros. "Eros" is infatuation, and the Greeks could often portray it as dangerous, but still very real and healthy. Cadence could maybe represent this, but of course, it's also associated with subject material not quite appropriate for a kids show. Ludus is playful flirtation and young infatuation. But that stage of love isn't what Canterlot Wedding was meant to be touching on. When most people think of a 'love story,' they think of the two leads on their own, then meeting for the first time. But like Twilight, the audience is thrown into their story when they can already make things work, and like Twilight, we have to deal with it. Although the excellent IDW arc featured Cadence and Shining's first date, and it's classic Ludus. Done much better than with Twilight and Flash or Timber. (Maybe Eros could be represented as a Mania corruption by Chrysalis, who is initially presented as a foil to her. Chrysalis doesn't lust for any person, but sees love as a mindless devotion to exploit. It could be said she has a boundless lust for power though.) "Storge" is depicted in raising Flurry, but it could also be counted in how Celestia and Luna view all their little ponies in Equestria. But with how the Two Sisters nurture an entire society, looking at the long-term and big picture way more often, they could also connect to Agape, our basic respect and dignity towards complete strangers. If we had to assign one to each, Celestia would be Storge, and Luna Agape. While Celestia is mainly defined through the relation with her apprentices, Luna's conflicts have more to do with public relations (usually based on damage she feels responsible for). Luna is also noteworthy because although she always liked Twilight, back in "Crystal Empire," she questioned the soundness of staking so many lives on Celestia's favorite graduate. So again, that's her focus on the lives of the many. Also of note is Philautia, self love. I'd say that the gold standard for this is Steven Universe, culminating in "Battle of Heart and Mind" where Steven's Id and Superego literally need to hug each other to save the day. Lessons on Philautia come in a lot of shapes and forms through the Mane 6, but I don't think any of the existing Princesses can effectively be assigned to that branch of love. Twilight has moments of intense self doubt for a lot of the finales, but a lot of times that just rounds back to relying on others as a lens for herself, or a motivation to press forward (this is hardly a bad lesson though). When I think of other Princess(-esque) characters with pivotal moments of learning self love, I think of Luna, Sunset, and Starlight. But with those three, their arcs feel more like lessons in forgiving oneself for having done sincerely monstrous things. The stories told with YOUR Next-gens and next-gen royalty are great examples of Philautia arcs. The characters haven't done anything monstrous (mostly... not yet...), but their self-opinions of themselves are so low in the legacy of their ultra-talented, ultra-famous parents. So now you've helped fill out the whole Greek spectrum of (Greek) love in Equestrian royalty. Even your reformed version of Chrysalis could fill in for the branch of Pragma, seeing as how her marriage of Celestia started as a political arrangement. I suppose if we wanted to count Discord, he'd be the aspect of Ludus, with him treating everything like a performance or game, and his and Twilight's relationship can be a little catty. But enough of me dreaming up a pony god love pantheon. Back to Cadence's involvement, even though her introduction was jarring, I really liked how we had a new pair of Royal Sisters(in-law) with a theme of complementing values. A shame Cadence got shoved aside. I could accept that this show was GOING to be focused on Twilight and Ponyville. That Hasbro wouldn't order new episodes to suddenly shift to the married couple. But although I never thought the show writers RESENTED Cadence, they found a reason pretty quick to keep her segregated from the rest of the story. Lauren Faust has stated that Cadence was created on request for Season 2, and wouldn't have been an Alicorn if the final decision came down to her. The show would make use of her in the role of being a big sister for Twilight, which was nice, but in terms of affecting world events, major storylines, or politics? Minimal, even by the light standards of this show. By the finale when we see Twilight ruling the entire country, we couldn't be bothered to even glimpse Cadence. At least the Crystal Empire got a bone, with a stain glass mirror showing that Flurry turned out pretty rad and takes care of them. You do bring up a good point with their lack of citizenry input during Cadence's comic though. Skipping the Doylist in me saying that the writer just didn't bother... What if the Crystal ponies just don't know HOW to talk to royalty? From their perspective, everything was great under Amore, until an evil king with mind-trauma magic came in and made them his property. Then years later (from their perspective, time bubble and such), suddenly a new Princess comes in and saves the day. Do they even know how to actually TALK to royalty? Benevolent or otherwise? Very little is demonstrated with their culture, so this IS just me speculating. I think I'm pulling a lot from "Post Negative Comments Only" by Estee. But I also recall your take on the Crystal Empire before, where because they're so old fashioned, their Princess gets saddled with WAY more duties. That was the reason for why Flurry cracked and ran away, when not even Pandora's failed coronation shook her so badly. If I'm recalling your lore correctly...? I think Cadence was viewed as a concept that threw off the broad character path and setting that they wanted to preserve until the end. Even with the positive role she did played for Twilight anyway. Twilight got a female role model that wasn't just the motherly authority figure Celestia. (While writing all this, it's made me realize how dang rare it is for any media, for kids or adults, to ever portray that much of a positive relationship between in-laws. Even when someone does, it's mostly guys.) But honestly, besides just the symmetry of a new Diarchy, I would have wanted Cadence and Twilight to ascend to de-facto rulers just because it seems unfair for Twilight to get SO MUCH work.
Dragon Turtle
2020-03-19 03:29:13 +0000 UTCHuh, your thoughts mirror a similar situation that almost happened in something else...but it’s unrelated. Great work and I live the details. The hair looks really good.
That guy
2020-03-16 14:12:59 +0000 UTCThat's interesting, and I'm now realizing that Cadence should've been Chrysalis' nemesis all along. It should've been Cadence who defeated her, time and time again, and it should've been Cadence who extended Chrysalis her hoof in friendship. I get that the show wanted it to be Starlight so it could have a reformed villain trying to show an evildoer the way of good, but......for corn's sake, at least this would've given Cadence SOMETHING to do in the grand narrative. If Cadence is so good at understanding love that it earned her an alicorn extension, she should've been the one to teach the changelings how to love in a way that wasn't parasitic. As it stands, we're told that Cadence is the alicorn of love mostly because she's the only one to have gotten married. Which....okay.
Lopoddity
2020-03-16 02:24:24 +0000 UTCOne small caveat I noticed besides your discussion about Candance the character being relegated to being a figurehead. I would like to add that shes also the antithesis of Queen Chrysalis. All Chrysalis wants to do is take love and she will do anything (make lovers her personal host) to get that love. (Though one could argue its for a valiant reason like protectign her hive) But Candance is shown giving love and infact running and powering a whole kingdom on the bases of sharing love. Its her subjects afterall that held saave her and restore her powers. I remeber the pivital episode where Candace decides to put part of her trauma behind her and give poor little Thoraz a chance and teaching him about love. Its partially thanks to her that Thorax started to change and develop.
Vio_dacreator
2020-03-16 01:57:16 +0000 UTC
