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 PST. To submit your own, see this post.
Headlines this week:
- What's really missing in Spike's arc?
- My little pony is the closest modern story to Lord Of The Rings
- What I Want to See That May Not Be Seen Before MLP Ends
- The Equestrian Dream
- The S1: An EXTREMELY overrated season
And get your soapboxes below!
What's really missing in Spike's arc?
By: FlareGun45
Spike has done alot in the show, but there are still a couple of things about his character position and story that don't make alota sense. I'm not certain of what's coming for him, but there's only one thing about Spike I'm sure about: there's SOMETHING coming for him! I dunno what it is, I have no clue whatsoever what his potential destiny could be, after one was promised for him via character descriptions and Meghan. However, I was looking at his destiny all wrong this whole time! In this case...
Destiny =/= Career
Destiny = Prophecy!
Of course he's happy being Twilight's assistant! But how far will he go to assist her, instead of doing just collateral? Why is he called a main character by the devs anyway? Why does he hang with the Mane 6 (which should be 7) if his role can easily get replaced by Starlight or Discord? Well the answer is simple: we'll just need to wait till the finale comes and our answer will be revealed!
Sparkle's 7 already told us what he's capable of, he could be misleading again! He was there since the beginning, but there's a reason why his story arc doesn't feel satisfactory yet compared to the other main cast, cause his main goal wasn't revealed to us - hidden away, so we wouldn't expect it when it finally comes out! And not even HE might know about it! He's the key to Grogar's defeat in some way, along with the Mane 6 with him, yes, but he's the MAIN hero! I'm sure of it!
As much as he's done alota good in Equestria - it keeps getting forgotten about, or someone else just takes it from him (like the changeling redemption arc), he's always overlooked and left out, and that's why alota people, most of you included, think he's just comedic sidekick, but perhaps that's the point! ;) That's the story tricking you! Why else would a main character take this long to really prevail as getting noticed as the greatest symbol of friendship Equestria has ever known? When'll his actions finally be addressed? When will he be noticed, no longer be the sidekick, be a full member of the Mane 7, and finally reap the reward for all the good he's done? Soon! Very soon! :D
My little pony is the closest modern story to Lord Of The Rings
By Fluttershypeasus
Firstly, we have the aesthetics of the universe. LOTR is perhaps the quintessential fantasy story; there’s a heavy emphasis on magic, fantastical races and heroes going on adventures.
MLP plays the fantasy role very well. We have magic used so frequently it’s become an almost everyday affair, where unicorns use telekinetic magic for even the most trivial affairs such as eating and drinking. There are plenty of different races, each with their own magical abilities; the Pegasi have control over the weather, the unicorns have control over magic and the earth ponies have the ability to farm the land. The stories often focus on very fantastical villains attempting to take over the land, such as Lord Tirek attempting to absorb everyone’s magical essence.
A commendable aspect of LOTR is how many themes it manages to convey; we have the importance of small acts of mercy, the idea that evil will always destroy evil even when good cannot(such as the fact that Gollum, not Gollum, destroys the ring) and of course the value of friendship and of valuing home and family.
MLP, however, follows these themes to a t. Even after Discord betrays her and lets Lord Tirek rise to power, Twilight Sparkle still insists for Discord to be spared, which is what allows Tirek to be defeated. And when the then-evil Discord turns everyone against each other by deconstructing their own values they are brought back by remembering the simple acts of friendship and family they did in the past. Finally, the episode “frenemies” shows how evil characters can never truly trust each other since they are constantly stabbing each other in the back.
What I Want to See That May Not Be Seen Before MLP Ends
By Moonlit Stones
When My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ends this autumn (or sooner), there may still be a lot of things that I want to see more of.
First off, one of the things that intrigues me about Equestria is we haven't really seen a part I want to explore the most, the Undiscovered West. We got to see Mount Everhoof in an episode, so why not the rest of the world? We don't see much of the Undiscovered West, let alone some areas, like the Smokey Mountains. I really wish we could see more.
Another I want to see is the true founding of Equestria, which may be different from the one we saw in the episode "Hearth's Warming Eve." What did the founders, their friends and relations actually look like? Is the story we hear the real facts? It burns me up inside thinking about it.
Last, after the Equestria Girls "Spring Breakdown" story, I want to see what fallout happens now that there are more portals to Equestria in the EQG world. Will our heroes fight more monsters from Equestria? And what about the loose magic? What will happen?
We probably won't get these answers any time soon.
The Equestrian Dream
Imaginer 31415
Nearing the end of a year discussing themes of the American Dream in my American Literature class, we were tasked to analyze a modern text of any kind through the lens of race or social class or gender. I chose to write about the School of Friendship and how it pertains to race. This school was truly the first of its kind to intentionally incorporate other species. While struggles with representation still linger, a la “She’s All Yak,” this school is monumental for Equestrian history.
This begs the question, at least for me, is there an “Equestrian Dream?” We’ve seen parallels between Equestria and the U.S. before, and I would like to see it brought out a little more. Given that it’s already Season 9, I might be late to ask, but I’m curious how having a society focused so strongly on friendship and community would lead to different views of success than what we have here in the land of the free, the brave, and the abysmal healthcare system.
The S1: An EXTREMELY overrated season
By Dark Mind
I will never understand the appeal that the very first season of the show has. Several people not only call it the best in the series, but also the ONLY GOOD ONE, and frankly that statement leaves me very puzzled (other than annoyed). That season is full of very flawed episodes and childish dialogues, just think about it Ticket Master, Stare Master and The Show Stoppers, which portray the characters annoyingly, or Boast Busters and Briddle Gossip, which puts the Mane 6 under such a not good light, or eps like Swarm of the Century, Feeling Pinkie Keen and Over a Barrel, which had plotlines that didn't have any sense. About half of the episodes of the season are not really that good, and only and half dozen of them could be actually considered classics (and are almost all featured in the second half).
The only reasons for which this season is so beloved that I could find are these:
-Mere nostalgia. Fans who watched it in its very first airings, and have such a personal attachment to it;
-The name behind its direction. Lauren Faust. I think many people overpraise that season only because Lauren Faust fully directing it. After Return of Harmony she left the show, having barely anything to do with S2, and nothing in any of the subsequent seasons.
Whatever of the two reasons is the one, I must say it is very sad...
