Twilight Sparkle: Thanks for hearing us out and letting us vent.
Shining Armor: Hey, no problem. Listening is one of the few things I'm consistently good at these days.
Twilight Sparkle: It's just... This is my first-ever group, so... I didn't really realize going into it how much of this boils down to interpersonal issues. Like, we've been using the power of friendship in-game, but... We also kind of have to do it in real life, too. And I don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to making friends and mending bridges.
Shining Armor: Hey, no one does. Everyone stumbles into the hard lessons.
Twilight Sparkle: That's both comforting and a little scary.
Shining Armor: Yep, that's being an adult. Anyway, enough heavy stuff. How about we focus on partying with your awesome new friends?
Twilight Sparkle: And your awesome new fiancé!
Shining Armor: Heh, yeah. We've both done pretty well!
When I started making this comic nearly 10 years ago, the idea was "that new My Little Pony show would make a pretty silly and dysfunctional D&D campaign." All this time later, the idea seems to have morphed to become "this dysfunctional D&D campaign serves as a much more complex exploration of the show's themes of interpersonal resolution."
Note: Guest comic submissions are now open! Guidelines here. Current deadline: 4/13/21.
After ten years, some degree of thematic evolution is to be expected. Even the show went from "purple horse learns how to socialize" to "putting aside tribalist tendencies and cooperating is the only way to ensure long-term survival of the species."
Whenever I try to explain that concept as my current political stance, and it always ends with liberals calling me a conservative asshole, and conservatives calling my a liberal idiot.
Sort of proves my point, ironically... As it currently stands, people are unable to se the "other side" as anything but a Badgiy that needs to be defeated, and not their own other half...
People really should of listened to MLPs messages a bit harder... And G5 looks like it may be all about this topic.
"Both sides have valid points and should listen to each other more" may be the most unpopular valid opinion in recent history. If only cognitive bias and logical fallacies could be defeated with magical friendship lasers.
This comic has done a lot to shed light on how interpersonal relationships really drive around a group, and what we can do to drive towards better sessions where more of us have fun together.
At a computer in a secure room, in a bunker on an island in a lake on a technically extinct volcano (which can be reactivated if needed) watched over by an army of drones, as I focus on the most important task of the moment: making more guest comics for Spud.
This might not be an accurate vision. The odds seem unlikely that there will be an active guest comic request on April 1st, 2026; it is more likely we will be amidst another main arc.