ghostfacekiller39

~snip~

I agree, actually - except for the idolization and movement part. I don't see anything of that sort in this thread as much as a thread just saying "I miss this guy, does anyone else?"

It was a very nice sentiment on behalf of the OP, but I don't really deserve any kind of special attention of any sorts. I'm not necessarily a profound member, and likely all anybody remembers me for is always bickering with the staff/with someone about Rarity. That's fine and all, but I'm not really much special. 

Someone should just make a "lost members" thread or something, if it doesn't already exist, if they want to remember ded folk like me.

YAY! But yes, there are those here who miss you. If you are really dropping out, please shoot me a message on steam. I never got to really know you. (Also, I miss the "goodmorning everypony" in the rarity fanclub).

 

-hug-?

-hugs-  :grin2:

My steam link is on my profile, so hit me up there and add me. I did a cleaning out a while back of people who I didn't ever have any communication with, and I've never been good at one on one conversations with  people, but if you want to add me and chat sometime then I'll be happy to.

I miss that handsome son of a bitch too.

Yeah, good point. I guess some people, myself included, just don't see the problems you see, or think that what you're talking about isn't really as bad as you say it is. I dunno.

I just don't really like it when I think something fails to look at a subject from a global point of view and confines it to a nationalistic point of view. Holds everyone back as a whole, in my opinion, because we fail to see things from the perspective of others. That's a pretty big deal to me, honestly, because I feel that nationalism - regardless of what type of government ideology is being used - is something that holds almost the whole world back.

Is that necessarily a bad thing? 

Of course not, but that doesn't mean that I agree with it, and I can't really understand why it deserves it at the moment

Yet it was a pretty accurate representation of a reality back in the USSR.

I've grown up in there.

 

Hmm...then I guess it is an accurate representation of what it can lead to, but it never specified that's the way it had to be and made no attempt to even imply as much, so I can't say I agree with the execution entirely - I still get the impression that Communism could be a great thing if not for people like Starlight Glimmer, but it's people like her that make it like that. 

I will take that into consideration when I begin to perform an actual analysis of the episode, though, instead of just my initial thoughts. Thanks for the feedback, man.

What undertones are specifically communist and not any other movement that spouts equality?And Starlight's not an eastern unicorn, Meadowbrook is, and Twilight doesn't even specify eastern Equestria or perhaps Meadowbrook is from some other land to the east like the Saddle Arabians.

The fact that she used it so easily to her advantage to exercise total control and gain power as many leaders under a communist government have done in the past immediately comes to mind. The way it was portrayed as being inherently a bad thing instead of a good thing also comes to mind. 

Upon seeing the character and the synopsis of what it was about, people instantly drew lines to communism, man. Maybe you can offer me a line of reasoning that proves it wasn't?

Furthermore, even if it wasn't, then I can't say I agree with the execution of the concept it was trying to push because of the implications of it. The writers need to be careful of what they put out there, because if this was communism then it offered a narrow-minded look at the ideology from a nationalistic "we're right and it's wrong" kind of view instead of from a global point of view, which still could've been executed in this very episode without changing the ending, the villain, or anything major about the plot because of the way Starlight Glimmer was executed as a villain, which I would say she was the best villain since Discord or Chrysalis. She could've very well been a Stalin-type individual who used the breaches of an equal society to create a dictatorship. Sadly, though, it tried to take a different approach to it and made everyone miserable and brainwashed, which often isn't the case and just struck me as promoting capitalist nationalism - and I myself believe in a capitlist society, I just really hate it when things refuse to look at a subject of this nature from a global point of view.

I can see where some are coming from with the philosophical setbacks of equality, though, instead of the political setbacks. I can see that angle and see it as a valid one. I still can't forgive this episode if it ends up being the case, though, because the writer should've been so much more careful with what he was implying than he actually was - the best rating I'd offer the episode is a 6/10, and that's under the assumption it's from a philosophical standpoint as opposed to a political one, but the sloppy execution holds back what would otherwise be a great morale.

I'm sorry, but I don't know what else I have to prove, honestly. 

Equestria isn't the world. A map portrays it more like the shape of America, and they were basically in what would probably match up with Maine.

Of course it isn't, but that doesn't mean it has an incapability to reference things in the real world to prove a point, especially when it's done as subtlety as it was there.

Furthermore, just because it like that in certain parts of the real world doesn't automatically mean that it isn't like that in Equestria. It's certainly a possibility, and when there's such strong communist undertones coming from Starlight Glimmer's village as well as her being referenced as an Eastern Unicorn, when communism was historically strongest in the eastern part of the globe in the real world, then it's really, really hard for me not to draw that connection. 

I don't think it was going for a political message. It was going for a philosophical one.

Yes equality is good and everyone should have the same opportunities as everyone else. But this was about repressing people from being their very best. You shouldn't hold back someone from expressing their gifts, passions, and beliefs because of the chance that someone else will feel inadequate, feel jealous, or dislike/disagree with them.

 

As an artist for example, there are always people better than me. But there's also someone worse.

You should build up those who want to get better, not tear down the ones already suceeding because it's "not fair".

If that was the case, then it should've been executed in a way that couldn't be so easily connected with strong political undertones. The writer really should've watched his implications if that's what he was going for, and he clearly didn't. Therefore I can't really forgive this flaw even if it was proved to be what you claim it to be and my initial thoughts were wrong.

Holy shit, they actually presented Fluttershy with a good conflict for the first time since S2

...aaand they blew it.

I'll be honest, I really don't like what I saw out of the first half. Maybe it gets better in the second half, though. I'll write about it at length later.

Not responding is generally preferable if someone argues with you without the intent of having an actual intellectual debate. If someone tries to give you hell for your avatar or something, they more than likely fall into that category.

I'd punch Gilda solely for using such terrible and dated insults.

Good. I really, really don't want IDW getting any legitimate recognition from the show just because of how much most of their comics suck in terms of characterization of...err, everyone, pretty much. Just the abysmal quality of their writing in general, really.

I'd like to use this picture as another example of something that's wrong with the comics and why they shouldn't be brought into the show's canon:

I don't like the comics. At all, honestly. I hate them, even. I just want to get that out there.

Putting that aside, I see all sorts of off-kilter continuity that doesn't need to fit into the show, fan pandering galore, horrible representations of the show's original characters while putting the comics' original characters in the glory light..hey, look, it's about 90% of all fanfictions everywhere.

Just good, honestly. Keep 'em separate for quality's sake.
 

Anyway, to all the people pointing out the number of votes Rarity has, keep in mind this topic was made in 2012. Things were different back then, and it doesn't really reflect on the fandom's current thoughts anymore - and I would say Rarity would have some votes in the fandom's current state, but I doubt it'd be this many.

Just a PSA from your friendly neighborhood ghostie
 

I have to while S4 was really good for Rarity as a character and Rarity Takes Manehatten made appreciate her more, I still wonder what it could have been like if the writers actually went through with having her be gone for a period of time as it really could have been something pretty interesting and could lead to some great character developement that I would actually like to see happen in the show but I don't necessarily need to see it nor do I think it would be likely. Plus some of this idea I came up with as I was sick and tired of every single member of the mane 6 being forcefully shoehorned into pretty much every single episode of season 4 to the point I just got tired of seeing the entire group together.  With some exceptions like TT123.

But don't worry about the fanbase they eventually would have calmed down such as what happened with both AliTwi and EQG and plus if handled correctly maybe it could have helped gain Rarity popularity as well.  Who knows?

Well, I still can't express a feeling of agreeance with Rarity being the best choice as the on-screen development she received in S4 would be much better than any off-screen development. That and I already came up with a theory of removing one of the mane 6 for an extended period of time that I feel would have more effect on the show as a whole and potentially benefit the entire mane cast as opposed to just one pony  

Granted, I edited that in far after I made that post, so I'll just quote it here so you can see it

 

 

Delving into this, actually, if we were to take a main character out of the setting for an extended period of time, why not Twilight? She has reason as new royal duties would be calling her, she was relegated to minor supporting roles in many of her appearances in S4, and she's considered to be the glue that holds the group together. How would the rest respond under those circumstances?

If I had to choose to remove one and I couldn't say none of them, I feel the only appropriate choice would be to saw my arm off without the use of any medication and then allow myself to bleed out

GOOD LUCK GETTING AN ANSWER FROM MY CORPSE   
 

I actually do like the idea of Rarity leaving the group after Rarity Takes Manehatten.

But not permanently of course.  She would be gone from the group for about a little bit more than half a season, and Sweetie Belle Toils would still happen. But it would be episode twenty of season 4 instead of 19.

Also Simple Ways wouldn't have existed in the first place (not like anyone cares about or actually remembers the episode).

Instead we would get an episode focusing on Rarity's return to Ponyville after the time she was gone in Manehatten but it would be episode 18.  So I guess a few episodes would have to have been switched around in ordering but still this would have been fun to see.

It could actually work for character development for Rarity as the time she spent could have been used to help her move forward in her fashion career and it would be interesting to see how the writers would handle having a main character of the group be gone for a period of time and to see what character interactions would be like without Rarity.

I just don't know if that would be the best course of action, honestly, as Season 4 ultimately gave Rarity what many of her fans have deemed to be her best season. Given the large amounts of backlash she once received peaking during the S3 - S4 hiatus as well as the near-absent performance she had in season 3, she really needed a lot of love in Season 4 to appease the fanbase as well as make up for lost time.

Maybe at a different time I could agree and say this would be interesting, but given the circumstances Rarity was facing going into Season 4 I'd say she needed the time she received from both the perspective from a fanbase point of view as well as from what her character needed in general   

Delving into this, actually, if we were to take a main character out of the setting for an extended period of time, why not Twilight? She has reason as new royal duties would be calling her, she was relegated to minor supporting roles in many of her appearances in S4, and she's considered to be the glue that holds the group together. How would the rest respond under those circumstances?

Well there are few episodes that could be fixed by switching a character with another.

 

For example, Spike at your Service could be fixed by replacing AJ with Rarity. Spike has a crush on her so his clumsiness would be understandable.

As far as I know, actually, that was the original plan. They just scrapped it because it made Rarity seem too mean-spirited to constantly reject and try to force away someone she knew had deep feelings for her

Whole reason Rarity didn't have a dedicated episode in S3. Thanks, Obama!

Remove Rainbow Falls while you're at it 

That wouldn't be a problem in the slightest

I would change it so Rarity goes away forever at the end of Rarity Takes Manehatten 

Anyway, on topic, I'd just edit "Sonic Rainboom" from the show's canon and call it a day

I would go all out gay for my moose god, @FadedSkies

love u bby~

Funny story is that me and my sister were watching that episode when we were older, and we came to the sudden realization: This episode literally covers domestic abuse.

Oh, how it covers so much more than that .-. That's the scariest episode in the whole series, in my opinion, just because it's so real.

I'll be honest, my favorite episode of all time across any cartoon is in this series. "The Mask."

And when they revealed Kitty, the lady behind the mask, to be a cat, that scene was so intense that it still kinda scares me to this day .-.

Don't know why it was so intense either, but god, those green as hell eyes man.

Plus, the villain from that episode, Mad Dog, is also extremely scary because he's such a realistic villain .-.

I'm a bit worried about Rarity, she was awesome in season 4, but I hope it'll also be the case in season 5...

 

 

Fortunately, the writing staff remained largely the same, and the only notable departures were Merriwether Williams and Corey Powell. While I like Williams as a writer, her absence won't have any impact on Rarity for better or worse, and Powell's absence is definitely going to be a better thing as she absolutely sucked at writing Rarity. So if anything, I think she may be even better without Powell having any input

Anyway, here's Rarity being so pretty, oh so pretty