Community soapbox time, where opinions from around the fandom are dropped down below for you all to discuss and debate! Expect these posts normally when not late every Tuesday at 2:00 PM MST. To submit your own, see this post.
Headlines for the week:
Rainbow Dash becoming Wonderbolt Captain
Fluttershy’s extended circle of friends being influential to the Manes
Appreciate What You Got
Doing is better than being
Season 8 is looking like a disaster for some of the main cast
And get your soapboxes below!
Rainbow Dash becoming Wonderbolt Captain
By: MegaSean45
I wasn't able to fit this in my previous post - it was long enough as it is! Rainbow Dash has proven herself to be an awesome Wonderbolt and an efficient leader! In Wonderbolts Academy, Rainbow focused more on the safety of others and controlling herself when flying rather than being reckless like Lightning Dust. In Rainbow Falls, she did teach Spitfire and Fleetfoot the meaning of loyalty when they wanted Soarin to take a fall just so Rainbow could fly with her team; that proves that Rainbow truly knows what's best for her comrades and doesn't focus on just climbing the ranks and living glory. There was also Top Bolt, when she taught Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail about pride and confidence respectably!
Now what if there was a scenario that proved Rainbow was a better leader than Spitfire? Cause it's really aiming to be like that! Rainbow Dash's final episode of the series I believe is gonna end with Spitfire stepping down as Wonderbolt captain and giving the position to Rainbow Dash! She has proven herself so many times, and Rainbow would be an awesome leader! Y'think Rainbow just becoming a Wonderbolt was the end of her arc? No way! Every 3 seasons she just climbs higher and higher in the ranking ladder until she reaches the very top! It's probably her destiny to become Wonderbolt captain!
Fluttershy’s extended circle of friends being influential to the Manes
By: Nightmare Muffin
In a twist of irony, Fluttershy, who started off as the shyest pony of the group of main characters, seems to have developed more friends outside of the main circle of gal pals. What’s more, she is given more episodes that feature her spending time with them. I find this extremely refreshing, as we don’t usual see the other Mains hanging out with their outside circles of friends, once they’ve made them. When has Twilight last hung out with the new Canterlot friends she made since “Amending Fences”, or Pinkie with Cheese since “Pinkie Pride”? On the other hand, Fluttershy has been regularly hanging out with Discord at least once a week for their tea parties, and Treehugger at least once after meeting her offscreen in “Three’s a Crowd”. Same for Zecora. I think it’s due time for the other mains to be allowed more episodes with their outside circles of friends.
Appreciate What You Got
By: Soothing Stone
After the leaks and BronyCon's ending came out, I've seen a lot of bronies worried about G4 ending, doom and gloom and all that stuff. While it is sad that the show is ending, I am here to tell you one thing: Appreciate how long the ride has been. I've been in the fandom since the summer of 2011, and believe me, people were worried that the show and/or the fandom were doomed to fail or end at any moment. It's been like this every year since then.
However, if you showed a 2011 brony the kind of stuff we've gotten just to this point, he or she would have their minds blown. Eight seasons with a confirmed ninth on the way, a THEATRICAL MOVIE(this was a brony request since day one and nobody thought they would get it), and an entire spinoff series in Equestria Girls was unheard of. Even I, as optimistic as I was in 2011 about the show's future success, thought season 4 or 5 would likely be it. Instead, they're the middle seasons of pony's lifespan. If you think we've had a short run, ask any Firefly fan if they wished they had the run we've gotten.
That's not to say I'm a little sad to see pony ending. I am. It's one of my favorite cartoons of all time if not #1 on the list, and seeing it end was unexpected news. However, nothing is going to stop me from enjoying the 200+ episodes, movies, comics, and fan works we've gotten over all this time. And that's something to appreciate in the end. Here's hoping G5 will be just as excellent.
Doing is better than being
By: Marik Azemus
MLP continues to impress me by staying true to itself and not surrendering to identity politics. Hell, I’d argue it’s the least politicized show on TV right now. It has a good moral center, and I think it comes from a prevalent message about the importance of DOING something, rather than BEING something
The characters in this show have goals, ambitions, and responsibilities that we’ve been blessed to see them pursue and achieve, allowing them to cement an identity for themselves through hard work and self-improvement. Compare this to the upcoming DC Superhero Girls show, which has characters as ‘the valedictorian’ or ‘the activist’. Those aren’t accomplishments, those are boring tokens.
It would have been so easy to make a cast of characters filled with ‘the pretty one’, ‘the cool one’, or ‘the gay one’, but this show is far beyond that and I hope more shows follow its example long after it’s finished.
Season 8 is looking like a disaster for some of the main cast
By: Tadashi/FirePuppy
As we now only have eight episodes left of Season 8, some fans are already enjoying it while others like me aren't. For another season IN A ROW, Rainbow Dash has gotten the most episodes focusing on her right off the bat, and she's still getting at least one more this September! Spike has been getting too much attention as well himself, mostly in the middle of the season, having appeared without Twilight or the others in The Break Up Break Down and becoming a winged dragon in another episode.
However, characters like Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy are all barely getting anything. Between the three of them, only Applejack got a role with the Student Six, while the latter two only got junk roles. My guess is that maybe the writers wanted to get rid of the worst episodes first and save the best for the next (and final) season. If that's the case, I just hope it's true; I really want to see Fluttershy and Pinkie interact with the Student Six, and especially together more. After all, there is a limit of 26 episodes per season, and most very good episodes can actually take longer production than ones we don't like much.
