Sometimes, I see all the comments and arguments about Spike and Rarity’s interactions that I sometimes wish that they would just make the Spike a dog thing be canon to the show and that way Spike is Twilight’s pet, like I’m assumming a lot of you that would see Spike as a child.
Personally, it’s getting to the point where I would be hoping for some episode where Spike leave for the dragon lands and doesn’t come back, we get another dragon sighting only to find out that the dragon is Spike’s biological mother/father and wants to take him home, or that the writers would just write Spike off the show.
Seriously, it is pissing me off that when I log on to this site, I am seeing the same old arguments and flaming going on about things that obviously aren’t gonna happen in canon.
And I am an HUGE Sparity supporter because of the underdog thing.
I just wish the arguments would just stop, but obviously that will never happen…sigh.
@GekkanShounen
Biko-kun’s argument hinges upon one factual error: that there is no established canon for the characters’ ages. While we do not have a number, we do have concrete confirmation that Spike falls within the age range of a child and that Rarity (along with the rest of the six) is a full-grown adult. We also have the characters’ relative ages thanks to Cutie Mark Chronicles. We know that Spike was born when Twilight was roughly Applebloom’s age, which means that there is about a ten year gap in their respective ages. We also know that Twilight was still an undergraduate when she left for Ponyville, which would put her in her early twenties (she certainly did not get held back for any grades). That would make Spike maybe twelve, which is exactly the age range that the writers say that he falls in. It also jives with everything we have seen on the show.
@Blondie
Dude, no need for the hyperbole just to disparage me. I’m well aware what the writers have said, and bico-kun below has already explained why there’s still room for headcanon interpretation regardless. Anyway, you can keep on fanning the flames on your lonesome. There are things to be done and I’m going to follow 62AE’s example and take my leave. I think that’s something even you can agree is a good idea.
@GekkanShounen
Dude. He posted a video of the writers of the show saying very clearly that Spike is a child and that Rarity is an adult. They even seemed surprised that they would have to explain so obvious a fact. We are beyond the realm of differing opinions and firmly within the territory of definitive proof. If you can not accept that now, you are just not dealing in reality. You may as well be arguing that the sky is hot pink at this point.
@Background Pony #F176
Simple Ways does not get the respect it deserves just for the fact that it depicted sexual attraction for pretty much the first time in the series run. It was surprising, because they had never really acknowledged sexuality beyond the fact that the Cakes had kids.
Every source; the show and the writers, indicate Spike is not even in his teenage years. Thinking otherwise could only be produced via backwards rationalization.
@Blondie
Actually it seems a new one might be brewing. Anyway, the nameless 62AE didn’t so much win as introduce nothing new and merely made statements that presumably most of us were already well aware of to begin with before smartly backing out. Taking everything we’ve seen on the show and in the comics and other assorted tidbits into account, if Rarity and Spike were to get involved in a romantic relationship on the show, which is very unlikely, it still wouldn’t be pedophilia but more akin to ephebophilia as stated by someone else earlier. That is of course if we’re using the popular assumption that the characters age similar to our familiar conventions. Tiny body or no, Spike would not be considered a preteen child. Again, we can only agree to disagree.
@Background Pony #08CB
To be fair, I think that, barring anymore events like the royal wedding, romance won’t be adressed in the show period or if so it would end up somewhat like “Simple Ways”.
@Background Pony #8460
The show’s creator, its current showrunner, and one of its most prolific writers are all on record as saying they view Spike as a little kid, maturity-wise. That’s how age and maturity works in a cartoon.
I don’t mind if people want to headcanon that Spike is older for the purpose of their preferred shipping pairing, but is it so hard to acknowledge that it just isn’t canon?
@Background Pony #62AE
As you say, you can ship whomever you want. They’re fictional characters. They have no personal preferences of their own. The main issue, though, isn’t whether or not Sparity is likely to become canon (probably not, outside a series finale epilogue). It’s the labeling of Sparity, in general, as a pedophilic ship. As I said, most Sparity shippers only ship a Spike capable of consent with Rarity, whether through timeskip (my preference), or interpreting their ages or aging processes differently. The latter involves headcanon, of course, though shipping in general is a form of headcanon, but, since there is no established canon for their ages or how dragons, at least, age, other than it’s apparently a very odd process involving magic, it involves no violation of actual established canon. As I said, the multiple writers’ opinions cannot be taken as canon until they introduce their ideas into the show. It wouldn’t make sense to do so, especially since they probably have little consensus on most unresolved issues. Not only that but they don’t own these characters, and do have to have various levels of approval for their ideas. The writers could all say that they think Trixie is a stallion who transitioned to a mare, but unless Hasbro suddenly becomes a lot more progressive, that would never be canon, either.
@bico-kun While theoretically possible, all of what you just said would rely on the writers deciding to throw Spike’s character as he exists now and his designated role in the show (as Twilight’s live-in companion, unofficial little brother and assistant) out the window for what purpose, just so that he could be put into a romantic relationship with Rarity? Even ignoring the maturity, species, and plain personality differences that would still exist between the two (that I think are very real barriers to even mutual romantic interest between them), how could the writers justify making a change like that? It’s even a more drastic change than Twilicorn, and couldn’t be justified the same way because Princesshood was something Twilight has always been destined for from the beginning of the series, even in Faust’s vision for the show, and because princesses make for good toy sales for the target demographic. They would have no reason to want to redesign Spike’s entire design and role in the show though, and his aging normally is even more unlikely as the show apparently follows common established cartoon tropes by keeping the characters at the ages they are and not allowing them to advance (age chronologically, physically develop, graduate school etc…. most cartoons work like this). If the writers have said we shouldn’t even expect to see the CMC earn their cutie marks (and I forget when this was said… it might have been the same convention as the Sparity comments and might even be somewhere in the same video I linked to) then I think it’s really unreasonable to expect such drastic change for Spike or rely on that.
The hypothetical point about other writers eventually coming in is somewhat valid, but until that point and McCarthy along with others currently involved are out (if this ever even happens before the show runs its course) I don’t see the point of presenting that as an argument. And it would still have to answer to the other points and facts that exist, meaning new writers would have to really want to try and make it work for some reason.
Really, Rarity could flat-out reject Spike out of nowhere in the season 5 premiere ep and it still wouldn’t “sink the ship” in the fandom… people can and do ship characters with absolutely no justification (and that’s fine, again they should be allowed to). But as far as the likelihood of Sparity being canonized given all the facts that do exist, I think objectively it’s clear it’s very, very slim. Spike’s interest in Rarity has always been a one-sided thing in canon and even that has started to be downplayed in more recent content (puppy-Spike being paired up with Fluttershy instead of Rarity most of Rainbow Rocks for example, such a strange turn of events you’d almost think they were making a concerted effort to downplay Sparity), and you would have to alter canon reality so much in order to make it work that at that point I think it pretty much rules itself out. That having been said I’m stepping away from this conversation now if it’s going to involve me being dragged into a shipping debate because I know how entirely fruitless those are and how logic tends to be thrown out the window by people eager to justify things. And I have better things to do sorry. My point in posting here was to prove that Sparity as it exists in current canon does walk the dangerous pedophilia line as per the writers and how they see it, and I’ve done that. So cheers.
@TheAmazingPeanuts
Thanks, and I’m glad we could come to an understanding then.
