We need more soapboxes! Submit them ye foals.
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 does Spike want? Well... ASK him!
- Spike is manlier than you
- Why won't the fandom just chill?
- How This Episode Shoulda Happened: Yakity-Sax
And get your soapboxes below!
What does Spike want? Well... ASK him!
By: FlareGun45
Over the years I've been making guesses and suggestions for what Spike's potential future could be, and I've had agreements and disagreements in every possible way. But the main reason why I'm talking about this is because nobody else is, not even the characters. The thing is: NONE of us actually know what Spike really wants to do with himself. I say he needs a destiny, others say he doesn't, but who can actually answer that question? Give up? It's Spike himself!
All of us, including me, have been assuming, but nobody is asking HIM what he wants! No, seriously, nobody ever bothers asking him. In Father Knows Beast, he had a list of things he wanted to do if he ever found his parents, of course that didn't go well. In Sparkle's Seven, only then were we learning of how much he wants to be part of the Sparkle family lifestyle! Those things were only brought up because Spike had a reason to share them - he's kinda a closed-book, always appealing to the wants and needs of others over himself. That's what makes him awesome! But why doesn't anyone ever ask him?
Does Spike wanna be more than just an assistant? Is he truly content with his life, or does he just tolerate it? We dunno. We don't! Only he does.... and the creators of course. Twilight's always so busy with her princess stuff and achieving the ranks, does she really ask him what he wants? Hey, potential friendship lesson right there! How would any ordinary person feel about being in his position? Me, personally, I woulda talked the ponies off a long time ago! But I'm not as nice as he is! ;)
Spike's main story arc is him finding his place amongst the ponies, an arc that doesn't feel quite finished yet completely - but it's VERY close! Did he find it already? Well he's gotta say then. Every starring episode he had so far this season leads him closer to his story arc's destination! So I'm pretty confident that wherever destination we get for his arc will at least be satisfying! All it starts off with that one simple question: "What does Spike want?" I'll accept any answer he gives! It's not getting an answer what aggravates me. I'll only accept HIS answer for satisfaction.
Spike is manlier than you
What does it mean to be a man? Is it to carry a custom weapon and know how to break a human body? Is it to bed as many women (and men) as possible? Nah. In my mind, to be a man is to do what needs to be done with minimal error, complaint, or desire for reward; to see value in hard work for the sake of hard work.
That’s what Spike is to me; a man. He’s ready to do what his friends ask of him at a moment’s notice. It’s sickening to me that people write him off as abused or manipulated when he lends a helping claw to Twilight and the gang of his own free will. At any moment he could leave and go on his own journey. In fact, the one time he did, Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash only followed him out of well-placed concern.
The tendency towards seeing any amount of work Spike performs for his friends as ‘abuse’ comes across as entitlement, at least in my eyes.
Why won't the fandom just chill?
By: Ren'n'burned
I'm getting sick of all the drama surrounding the end of the show. So many people whining endlessly on Twitter about the coming apocalypse like it's absolutely already set in stone that the show ending means the fandom ends.
That's now at all how this works. There are other conventions, loads of people making stuff, and lots of things to do every day with my little pony. The actual show hasn't been a part of most of the fandom in years. How many people do you know that don't even keep up with it anymore? Cause half my friends don't even discuss new episodes since we watch them randomly, and sometimes not at all.
But we still check out fan art and share music. That isn't dying. Besides, a lot of horse famous people have tried branching out and been met with silence. Your audience is pony. That's what they want.
How This Episode Shoulda Happened: Yakity-Sax
By: FlareGun45
So I'm starting up a soapbox mini-series! Since there's only a few weeks of FIM left, there's no further use for theories, so welcome to a segment I like to call: "How this episode shoulda happened"! Remember: these are JUST my personal opinions!
The first episode I've been thinking about was Yakity-Sax. It's the episode where Pinkie found a new hobby, some new yak instrument with a big confusing name - yakaphone I'm gonna call it. That thing literately hurt my ears, so it was quite impressive that I felt like I was part of the action! Though this episode didn't do well for Pinkie's character, so how could this episode be better?
For starters: maybe this coulda been a Yona episode, with her having the time of her life with her yakaphone but it's bothering everypony, and only Pinkie admires Yona's talent. Yona doesn't realize that everypony (including the Student 6) were quite annoyed by the instrument. The Student 6 threaten to not be friends with Yona anymore unless she retires this instrument, which makes Yona have a choice to make - her friends, or her hobby!
Pinkie then finds the solution of having Yona just play her instrument in her own time in private, or in front of Pinkie, and if her friends don't accept her hobby then she should just hang with those who do. The Student 6 then apologize to Yona for being so harsh to her and her hobby, just because they don't like it doesn't mean they should force Yona to stop, but Yona also apologizes for pushing her hobby into her friends' faces and just wanted to share what made her feel good with her friends. That's when maybe one of the students help Yona out in learning how to play her instrument better!
It's a typical slice of life episode, but at least EVERYONE is in character, Pinkie gets to be a TEACHER, and the Student 6 learn their lessons! That's what the School of Friendship is about - having the Teacher 6 be the ones teaching the students, but also learning a little something themselves!
