Another week, another pile of fandom opinions, analysis, and more! As a reminder, we are no longer taking straight on clop editorials, but we did get a pretty interesting rant from an art enthusiast this time that kinda hits those borders so I went ahead and approved it.
Expect these posts every Tuesday at 2:00 PM PST (3:00 EQD Time). To submit your own, see this post.
This week we dive into the following:
- Should We Display "Lewder" Pony Art at Home?
- Equestrian Diversity in Characters
- Is Spike's Destiny to Become an Ambassador?
- Are Twilight and Cadance Really Alicorns?
- Brony Gaming Is Dying?
And get your soapboxes below!
Equestrian Diversity in Characters
By: Booksmart
When I saw reveals of the characters for The 2017 MLP Movie, I was truly happy and excited what I saw and learned :D : A pop Star Pegasus mare named Songbird Serenade, a broken-horned unicorn named Tempest Shadow , a anthropomorphic cat and reformed con artist named Capper, a anthropomorphic pirate parrot named Captain Celeano , and The Storm King. a villainous weather-manipulating Wendigo-esque monster that could give Game of Thrones a run for its money! But I was also surprised at my fellow Bronies
mixed reviews about them: Some were positive, some were negative , some in between. It's normal to be afraid of change as well as the unexpected. Yes, The show is called My Little Pony. But let's not forget that second part: "Friendship Is Magic! ;D The show has 7 main characters: 6/7 of them are female equine heroes and 1/7 of them is a good-natured, male dragon youngster. Each of them has their unique flesh-out personalities , abilities, quirks, and stories. And from season to season, we have been introduced to many new characters , both pony and non-pony alike! And diversity is a beautiful thing: It gives characters their uniqueness and amazing interaction with each other,break stereotypes, takes us to new worlds, tell new stories, and try new things we haven't done before! Diversity has played an important role in society and media and life itself. Especially in pop culture such as Star Trek,Star Wars, Doctor Who, Supergirl. Even superhero movies like Doctor Strange and upcoming movies like Spider-Man:Homecoming and Thor:Ragnarok Is playing the diversity game! So why should MLP be an exception? Stay open-minded, my fellow Bronies! It could open new doors. ;D
Is Spike's Destiny to Become an Ambassador?
By: MegaSean45
Spike being a dragon raised in a pony world has alot of potential in it, potential that hasn't really been looked into between seasons 3 to 5. Now that season 6 seems to prove that the writers know what to do with him, we can expect something big outta him! Now Spike is really good at persuading, as proved in Just for Sidekicks and Secret of my Excess, and solving certain problems with the delegates in Princess Spike! Not only that, but how he helps out Twilight, Starlight, and the Remane Five in their tough situations really bring out the best in him! After all that, season 6 came, and he started the paths towards Equestria's alliance with not just the dragons, but the changelings too! I know he's really happy and compelled to be Twilight's assistant, but as he's growing up he might also want to expand his horizons to other things, and all this evidence gives the Equestria ambassador position the best suited career for Spike! Celestia foresaw Twilight's destiny as the Princess of Friendship, and having Spike in Celestia's possession before Twilight, she probably had a plan for this lost dragon egg too: to start unlikely alliances!
Are Twilight and Cadance Really Alicorns?
By: Nightmare Muffin
In FiM, emotions determine the effects of cast magic, as seen in many instances. Celestia explains "if the empire is filled with hope and love" magic that results is positive, but "if hatred and fear take hold-" dark magic results.
Twi and Cady weren't born alicorns, but became them as a result of magic and the emotions that they felt at "ascension". Twilight had displayed qualities of the 6 elements, and Cady defeated an jealous witch.
Twi FELT she already as powerful as an alicorn on the inside before she physically became one. Magic comes from emotion/feelings, which come from the heart. In MMC, Twi's purple magic came out of her heart, possibly, like Cadence's. In Coloratura's song, she sings "let the magic in your heart stay true, just like the magic inside of you".
Once magic in their heart comes out and transforms them to what they are on the inside, they take the appearance of alicorns. But it's just that- an appearance. Lacking the biology, longevity, and inherent magic of natural alicorns, explains why magic doesn't animate their hair, or why they won't outlive friends. Twi and Cady are still unicorn and Pegasus, biologically. Just like Twi's friends aren't really Bats or Breezies.
Should We Display "Lewder" Pony Art at Home?
By: Boldero O'fire
I recently acquired a piece of pony art on canvas that some would consider "saucy" in large scale size for my house. Over the years I've decided that I no longer want to have generic accent pieces up, and prefer to have things I actually care about. This begs the question though: does lewd pony art have a place in modern art?
One would be hard pressed not to find people, fully nude, in many a provocative position in art. Hundreds of great works have been accented with visible sexuality, some going for millions of dollars at auction. Big ticket Hollywood stars seem to use visibly striking, agressively sexual pieces as a sign to how successful they are for anyone that would wander in to their abodes. As if they are above society and it's silly fears of the human body.
It's almost a lesson in confidence. Telling the world that you are comfortable enough with your sexuality to display something that goes against cultural norms. Will the reactions always be positive? Most likely not. From an artistic perspective though, I spent quite a bit of money commissioning one of the best artists in the fandom for my recent pinup piece, incredibly hand painted on canvas. I can't see why this wouldn't count as fine art just because the subject is a cartoon equine.
Brony Gaming Is Dying?
By: Mindwarp
I've spent the last week visiting a few of the old pony gaming groups I used to visit back in 2014. Oddly enough all of them are almost completely desolate. It's as if bronies are no longer playing with other bronies anymore and it bothers me. I miss the days when there were regularly 10 brony TF2 servers completely capped. I thought maybe Overwatch was the reason for them being gone but it looks like there aren't any OW brony clans at all. My steam list that used to be filled with pony avatars now has five nights at freddies and crap everywhere. What happened to brony gaming? Are people just not doing it anymore? I looked into local meetups and the Facebook page for one nearby hasn't updated in forever. I kinda wish I used to go to it just so I'd be able to figure out what everyone was doing now.
Maybe people are still playing but not as actively promoting their games since they already made enough friends? I know i fell out because of that back in 2015 since I already had too many games going at once. Thanks for reading.
