ROUND 2 FIGHT 1
RariJack vs AppleDash
💎RariJack🍎
🍎AppleDash⚡
Hey, if anyone here loves me, please vote for Rarijack. I understand that Appledash jumped in popularity because the show chose to imply it was canon, but given this:
Was happening in literally the episode just before they decided to make that implication, it read more like a pandering thing than something that the show consistently and constantly was building up the way Rarijack was, and since they were robbed a canon resolution to their character and relationship arc by executive meddling(same with EQG, since they never got a proper finale and the writers were also building them up there), I'd rather they weren't also robbed a victory in the realm of public opinion.
To be completely honest with you, as someone who is indifferent to RariJack, how is that any different from all the other ponies touching and hiding behind each other and stuff? I'm sure if Rarity had been nearby, let's say Twilight for instance, she'd hide behind her as well. It just seems like normal stuff the mane 6 did with each other. I don't watch EQG so I wont even bring that into the conversation (I've seen lots of evidence for both FlutterDash and RariJack on there tho) but as for the main series, I don't really see how rarity and apple jack's interactions were any different from what everypony else was doing. Idk I just don't really see it as "build up".
It's okay, in the context here, Rarity wasn't hiding behind Applejack, they were sitting there during an apparent reprieve briefly before Applejack leaps into battle:
I didn't want to really go into it. But since you wanted a sense of what the build up is, it may not be towards the end of a romantic relationship, but they got a ton of development in the general direction of getting closer with time. In things like having lots of background moments like these that are separate from just being next to each other because they're generally unique poses or interactions, particularly in relation to what the other are doing or typical posing. Holding hoofs like the first image, for example, is something I'm not sure we see very much of at all, and while I saved several cute background images of most of the Mane Six, over the course of the show, there were a ton for Rarijack in a way that on it's own wouldn't be notable except for the consistency of the atypical poses or frequency, and that they happen in ensemble episodes even when they aren't the focus. The went from having pretty intense and frequent disagreements, to, as early as the Friendship Mission to Manehatten having the core issue not be that they disagree about how to handle the problem, but Applejack being insecure about what she can do in a way that mirrored the community they were helping, as opposed to other missions where the issue was "someone please actually listen to Fluttershy" or "we thought we were on the same page, but we were not." To Rarity having so much faith in Applejack she made her a judge in a fashion show and refused to think she was in the wrong even as it fell apart. Applejack giving the speech about how Rarity shines in It Isn't The Mane Thing About You that rivaled the intense fondness she used when she talked about Rara in Mane Attraction, after an entire episode of talking Rarity up. Like just in terms of relationship growth, they absolutely made the leap from dicey and walking on eggshells to absolutely glowing. Them hanging out in the background isn't notable in the way that Pinkie and Fluttershy doing it also isn't that notable, but they do it a lot, we know they have offscreen Spa Days, we know they hang out, and what we see on screen reinforces it because they talk constantly in the background of crowd shots, they frequently back each other up and play off each other in the context of larger plots(The Home Sweet Home resolution being Applejack's idea, and Rarity immediately knowing how to build off it, variations of "I'm with Applejack" during group discussions), Rarity tries to pack less because of Applejack, and Applejack once unironically and unprompted described her Hiking Boots as "unattractive but functional" in a way that either means she's parroting Rarity or literally just talks like that now, and Rarity unironically decided to wear a bandana and glammed out Cowboy style boots around and in supplementary material describes the style as "Applejackilicious":
You can not see it going romantic, but the fact is that the show put the work into their relationship. They've clearly affected and influenced each other, and you couldn't recycle the conflict of Look Before You Sleep in season Eight and have it read as in character because by that point they're best friends and Applejack pulls faces like this over Rarity Antics
They got huge relationship growth and while Appledash is a dynamic that its very possible for people enjoy, it didn't have the benefit of much development. The thing I said about Look Before You Sleep? They literally did that with Fall Weather Friends and Non-Compete Clause, and had them end the episode fighting on top of it. Like they have nice moments and common interests, but their relationship for the bulk of the series is very static. They like sports, they like competing, they make fun of Rarity and sometimes Twilight together, and have no problem draping themselves over each other's backs, but it's hard to claim they've had much significant relationship growth, influence over each other, or that they're each other's closest relationship when they've each had so much more material and genuine affectionate reactions with other characters and seen some degree of growth because of those friendships. It isn't a bad ship, but in terms of canon, it wasn't a particularly well written one for anything they had endgame intentions towards.
