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 this week:
- Theories of Unicorn Horns in Equestria
- Communal Bathing in Equestria
- The Elements of Friendship: Possible G5 or EQG Movie?
- The Surprise Significance of Season 5?
- Fanpandering vs. Story
And get your soapboxes below!
Communal Bathing in Equestria
BY: Nightmare Muffin
In many parts of the world, bathing has always been a communal act- the Greeks, Asians, Swedes all practice it for various reasons, be it religious purification ritual, or whether they serve as community centers to bathe and discuss art, music, or politics….. but not so much in the modern world and major cities, like the U.S.. Now, especially within the Anglosphere, we’re used to showering at home, alone, as a function n plexi-glass containers in the fastest means possible. With the amount of Greek mythos behind MLP, along with the very strong presence of community interaction (given all the festivals and press for togetherness and friendship), you’d think communal bathing would be common, in what scenes we’ve seen of the ponies getting clean. But strangely, this isn’t the case. Twlight is shown to have a bathroom and a tub and bathes alone, in the episode "Feeling Pinkie Keen”, as does Rarity, in “It isn’t the Mane Thing About You.”, and Trixie in "Father Knows Beast". The only instance we see of communal bathing is in "Bridle Gossip", for medicinal purposes. So why do you guys think ponies- being such a close knit society that literally thrives on interaction, bonds, community, and friendship, don’t have communal bathing?
The Elements of Friendship: Possible G5 or EQG Movie?
As many of you may know there have been images for these toys showing both the MLP & EQG mane six together. One thing that catches my eye on this package is the “The Elements of Friendship” logo on the package and it gave me a thought… what if, quite possibly, the logo is a name for either the next Equestria Girls movie or Generation 5?
Now the idea for it to be G5 does sound highly unlikely, but I’d be surprised if G5 turned out to be a crossover series between FiM and EQG where both worlds unite with humans, ponies and other creatures co-existing and have to adjust to this new world together, honestly I like this idea but again it seems unlikely to happen.
However, even though this idea may not happen, the possibility of it being the name of a fifth EQG Movie seems quite legitimate as the title itself represents the words “The Elements” meaning it’s not just the Mane Six but also the Humane Six finally teaming together as humans and ponies.
Plus given the package, it could also be a hint/clue of what may come. But, this is all speculations on my part. What are your guy's thoughts on this theory?
Fanpandering vs. Story
By: FlareGun45
So how much of a fan are you to Derpy? I'm gonna be blasphemous and say that even though she's cute and doesn't bother me, I don't see the big appeal of her. Crossed-eyes, big whoop. I liked her better as a Where's Waldo type of character, cause it gives us a nice activity while watching the episode, and you'd feel a sorta achievement when you find her! But this post isn't really about Derpy, it's about the difference between what's best for the story, and just giving the fans what they wanna see.
The show's been mostly like this lately: merchandising and fanpandering. I don't have anything against that though, but when it starts being used outta controllably, it makes ya wonder if the writers are just getting their ideas through fanpandering. Characters like Maud and Trixie stick around outta popular demand, while we never see characters like Babs and Little Strongheart cause they're not popular enough. Then we get all these tease ships like Rarijack cause they're popular shipping choice and then the story is thought of second (Rollercoaster of Friendship for example), and Spike's crush on Rarity is still around cause alota people really want them to end up together instead of him moving on which is the more story-driven approach. Not just because I wanna see it, but it's the better story-driven choice, and moral-driven choice too. Then we have Vinyl and Octy as roomies and Derpy as a post pony only because the fandom made 'em that way.
This is why I'm hoping episode 200 isn't just an uber fanpandering episode like episode 100 was. Story first, that's what makes a great show!
The Surprise Significance of Season 5?
By: Lord Blu
It seems more or less official that the upcoming season 9 will in fact be the last season of FiM. With that in mind, it seems season 5 can now be considered the official "half-way point" of the series. This is actually quite fitting when you really think about it, for season 5 was a season of transitions; changes that would stay with the show throughout its second half, such as the Cutie Map coming into being (leading to regular friendship missions), the Cutie Mark Crusaders finally getting their cutie marks, and of course, Starlight's Glimmer's introduction in the premier, and reformation (and promotion to recurring cast member) in the finale. While this most likely is simply a coincidence (its doubtful any of the writers imagined there would be four more seasons after this one), it's still a very well-timed coincidence when you stop and think about it.
Theories of Unicorn Horns in Equestria
By Moonlit Stones
Something has gotten me thinking about the horn of a unicorn and what makes them work on a pony who wields it. What uses besides magic powers could it also do, and what is a horn made of anyway?
In some mythologies, a unicorn's horn (called an alicorn) is made of a crystalline enamel, like its hooves, but considering how Tempest Shadow's horn was broken off as seen in the movie, it may not be so. I may consider it to be like the horn of a narwhal, made from ivory, or a rhinoceros horn made from keratin, a tough protein which also make horse hooves.
For magical properties, a horn can be useful in many ways. It is said that the horn can purify water and be used as antidote against poisons. Unfortunately, in pony lore, the unicorn must have a cutie mark that allows them to do these powerful tasks just like any other pony. If the horn is broken, it may be used for these purposes, although the pony's magic will be explosive (maybe).
These are a few of many theories about unicorn horns that we may or may not get answers to in the future.
