The soapboxes cvontinue! As always, these are the opinions of fandom members, not us here at EQD. If you'd like to submit your own soapbox, hit up this post for infos.
Have some headlines:
- Why Radiant Hope is a Good Character!
- Why Doesn't Vinyl Scratch Talk?
- Why Doesn't Anyone Like the Breezies?
- Should Equestria Girls Been Anthro Instead?
And get articles below.
Why Radiant Hope is a Good Character!
By Alexrioponylover95
Hello everycreature!
So it should come to no surprise by now that Radiant Hope is my most favorite comic exclusive character and that The Siege of the Crystal Empire is along my most favorite of the comics arcs. However, many do not like the story and the character, even going so far as to call Radiant Hope an idiot and the story wasn’t all that well written. Now I’m not here to force anyone to change their opinion, but I can at least try to explain why I think Hope is a great character to me and why her story in The Siege goes well.
Now I can see why people think Hope is a bit dumb, she blindly trusted the Umbrum and did what they told her to. However, to me, that’s not being stupid, it’s called being manipulated, as the Umbrum, to Hope, appeared to be nothing more than cute, little fairies, of course hiding their true forms from her. Once she saw who they really were, she changed her mind and well tried to tell Sombra as much.
Speaking of Sombra… It’s the relationship those two share that I really enjoy. Hope did everything she could for Sombra, staying with him when he was always sick during the Crystal Faire to bringing him back, while asking for nothing in return, everything she did was for Sombra. And well as her name states, she had hope for Sombra, hope that he wasn’t the monster others have claimed despite everything Sombra has done. And she chose that over her future of one day becoming a princess, leaving behind her studies with the royal sisters to go out alone, telling me she’s rather selfless, giving up a once in a lifetime opportunity just to have her friend back.
And The Siege of the Crystal Empire did end with Hope succeeding in changing Sombra for the better and even saved him and better yet has ended with a potential cliffhanger for a followup story. The story being Hope and Sombra taking a journey to find the scattered pieces of Princess Amore across Equestria and bring her back. Now, maybe this wouldn’t be in the mainline FIM comic series, but its own separate thing one day, like with Feats of Friendship and Spirit of the Forest. It would be a good way to explore more of Hope and Sombra’s relationship, which hopefully develops into something more than just being friends, and heck it could bring some renewed interest in Hope’s character and maybe some readers might like her a little better.
Again, this is just my take and why I really like Hope and her character, as well as The Siege of the Crystal Empire, hopefully this will get you to see that arc in a different light if you reread it. And if you haven’t already… Go do so! You’re missing out on a lot!
Why Doesn't Anyone Like the Breezies?
By: Forge
Unlike Kirin and Bat Ponies, the breezies were almost entirely forgotten after their first episode years ago. The tiny faerrie race had a lot of potential to be something cool, especailly with their alternate world idea, but they just sorta disappeared after they aired. I don't think anyone even really bothered to draw them or write fanfics about them. What is the reason for this? Usually if an idea isn't loved in the show, we still find some way to make it fun again.
Please make some breezie stuff!
Why Doesn't Vinyl Scratch Talk?
By: ManaMinori
Many within
the g4 pony community have oft wondered by Vinyl Scratch (DJ Pon-3)
hasn’t spoken a single word since her initial appearance. Curious minds
have led to wonder if she is, in fact mute- whether by accident or by
choice. She is seen having a preference to communicate through body
language, if anything.
I think this is a rather interesting
development and poorly represented form of communication in media, as
not everyone is either adept or willing to communicate through words.
And
I think that in Vinyl’s case, it could be explained as the latter, and
by doing so, could paint her as a most powerful character. How could
this be so? Well,
Let’s try taking a look at what a spell” is.
The
root “spellam” originally meant story, saying, tale, history,
narrative, fable and then the term ‘spell’ started to take on the
meaning of a charm or magical incantation in the Middle Ages.
In
the Indo-European tradition, words were always viewed as having magical
abilities, or possessing a dangerous magic. For example, the daughter
languages of Proto Indo-European arrange the consonants in the root for
the animal “wolf “ in bizarre ways. This is probably because the
original speakers (before 3000 BC) feared that if they said the actual
word for ‘wolf’ it would magically cause the animal to appear. It’s the
origin of ‘curse words’ — the belief that the usage of particular words
had powerful negative effects — the ability to curse yourself or others.
Words
are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of
magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it. – Albus
Dumbledore. So what does all this magic talk really mean? Well, for
writers, it means we’re magicians; we’re powerful. We can cast spells
over the world by spelling words into existence and we can change the
way people think, feel, and act. That’s our ability as writers,
speakers, and storytellers, that’s our gift — to influence others, to
create the unexpected, to change the way people see and understand the
world, to put on a show.
Still don’t believe in the power of words? Finish this sentence:
“What if…”
Oh,
the endless places those simple words, those six letters, can take you.
The sparks of imagination burning in your brain this very moment. Your
imagination, like a child’s, explodes with unrestrained possibility.
What if you could use that very power of inspiration, creation, and
connection with everyone you meet? Answer: you can.
We wielders
of words, we sorcerers, charmers, creative conjurers, magical beasts, we
are free to spell words into existence at will — writing that’s crafted
to convince, to change, to instill a sense, a feeling in someone beyond
their control. There’s real power there. We are undoubtedly
unstoppable.
Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get
the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little. –
Tom Stoppard For non-writers, take note: that power is not held by
writers alone. We’re ultimately talking about the brain — our endless
canvas, where words live and breathe — and it’s open to all. Artists,
designers, strategists, thinkers, and any sort of creator in this world:
you’ve made it this far, so I have a gift for you: you, as well, are
magical. You too have the power to create thoughts, feelings, and
imagery in people’s minds in your own way. You speak, you write, you
think, you are unstoppable, as well.
How? By using your passions
and craft to tell stories. You are human and therefore you are a natural
storyteller. It’s built into you. You can control minds. You do it for
yourself without realizing. Every night your stories give you an escape,
letting you play in fantasy worlds. You go to bed and your brain sits
up telling itself wonderful stories, both memorable and mundane.
Mankind
has spent thousands upon thousands of years developing the magic of
communication and stories. How dare you not believe in it. Words are
mankind’s greatest creation; capable of transcending time and space;
capable of controlling the human mind; capable of anything. We see this
mirrored also in how Twilight rewrites one of the greatest magicians
known to ponykind’s spells- Starswirl the Bearded, in Magical Mystery
Cure.
While we may look at Twilight Sparkle as a pony with an
inexhaustible well of magical ability and spells through her
bibliomaniacal tendencies, accesses, and lineage (Taking into account
the profession of an author (and also spellcrafter) her mother, Twilight
Velvet has), then perhaps we can look at Vinyl as one who willingly
rejects the amount of influence words , and thus, spells, might have on
the world around her. She constantly surrounds herself with the art
form of music, rather than that of written word and influence. Perhaps
this can be seen as a Personal influence, as music can alter the
listeners own mood and emotions.
I suspect that Vinyl may have a
far greater degree of control in the field of magical manipulation than
Twilight herself- not only by refraining from crafting written and
spoken spells, but also by showing that with great power can come
greater responsibility, she indeed conducts herself far more responsibly
by comparison. Vinyl has all the power in the world to influence others
around her with a single word, a single spell. But I think she is
willingly choosing not to. And THAT, is why she remains mute.
Should Equestria Girls Been Anthro Instead?
By: Corgon
Equestria Girls has always weirded me out, primarily because it feels like a cop-out to have wildly colorful humans with fake tails and ears when they could have just gone the cute anthro route. There are so many amazing anthro models out there that artists in the fandom have created, and it's a huge shame that they didn't go that route to make it really stick out. I get that they wanted to compete with Monster High, but why not do something completely unique and drag in an entire side fandom in the process? I wonder how popular furry dolls would be vs. the humanized one. It's really a completely untapped market. Hopefully G5 spawns some side series like EG and hasbro considers going the furry route.
