Po-Nonimous

Also, I want to add, specifically touching one of those verses you brought up- 1 Corinthians 13:6 “Love does not delight in evil/ unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth”, how that relates to MLP EQG Rainbow Rocks, even. Not just within the show, itself. During the battle between the Dazzlings and the Rainbooms reminds me of how demons (the Dazzlings) are influencing everyone, and getting them to do what they want them to do, while the mane 6 (the Rainbooms), are combating them with friendship and righteousness, which prevail in the end.

“Welcome to the Show”

 

“Welcome to the show. We're here to let you know our time is now.”

(Revelation 12:12- On this account be glad, you heavens and you who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing that he has a short period of time.)

(this also ties in with how Starswirl banished the sierns to earth)

(Revelation 12:9- So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. )

 

“Your time is running out”

(referencing the Devil's short time, and the people he's influencing, along with his, running out)

 

“Feel the wave of sound as it crashes down. You can't turn away. We'll make you want to stay”

(2 Corinthians 4:4- among whom the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through.)

(1 John 5:19- We know that we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.)

 

“We will be adored. Tell us that you want us”

(Psalms 106:36- They kept serving their idols, And these became a snare to them.)

 

“We won't be ignored. It's time for our reward. Now you need us. Come and heed us. Nothing can stop us now”

(Psalm 31:6 - I hate those who are devoted to worthless, vain idols, But as for me, I trust in Jehovah.)

(1 John 5:21- Little children, guard yourselves from idols)

 

(same)  

 

Rainbooms “Don't need to hear a crowd cheering out my name. I didn't come here seeking Infamy or fame”

(Psalm 31:6 - I hate those who are devoted to worthless, vain idols, But as for me, I trust in Jehovah.)

(1 John 5:21- Little children, guard yourselves from idols)

 

“The one and only thing That I am here to bring Is music, is the music Is the music in my soul “

(notice how unlike the Dazzlings, the Rainbooms have instruments to aid them)

(Psalms 81: 1,2- Shout joyfully to God our strength.. Shout in triumph to the God of Jacob. Begin the music and take a tambourine, The melodious harp together with the stringed instrument.)

(Ephesians 5:19- Speak to one another with psalms, praises to God, and spiritual songs, singing and accompanying yourselves with music in your hearts to Jehovah)  

 

“Gonna break out (Out!) Set myself free, yeah. Let it all go (Go!) Just let it be, yeah”

(John 8:32- and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.)    

 

I'm not going through the entirety of the song, and decrypting how each verse ties into scriptural teaching, but I think you get the idea  

That is really awesome! I really like how you tied that all together the way you did. *BROHOOF!*

And also good point about Luna who, being the Guardian of the night, also protects her subjects from possibly fatal nightmares. At the very least nightmares which could be harmful to those who dream them. Luna can also be compared to Hecate, who is the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts and necromancy.

I don't think MLP strives too hard to be wholesome. Remember that scene with apple juice on Applejack's face in Simple Ways? That just didn't feel entirely wholesome to me. 

LOL! I don't remember that episode or scene so I'll have to take your word for it. However, I do distinctly remember one scene where Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were flying through the air and Dash was pushing Fluttershy from behind. The placement of Dash's hoof appeared most inappropriate to me but I think we can blame that on lazy layout artists who weren't really paying that much attention to what they were doing. LOL

Excellent points although I feel I must make one small correction here: When you speak of Twilight being the expression of Filia which, in the Greek, would be υποκατάστημα (loosely translated as "branch", which is as close a translation as there is from Greek to English) I think what would be more appropriate would be Agape χάσκων which, translated from the Greek, would be more akin to brotherly or familial love which is what the Ponies express most clearly in the show.

Nice topic! I'm glad you started this.

First, yes! I think MLP:FIM is far more wholesome a children's show than has come out in many years. Looking at the Elements of Harmony I can see direct correlations with many passages in the New Testiment, particularly this one from 1 Corinthians

13 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, (Princess Celestia) I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, (Fluttershy) love is kind. (Rarity) It does not envy, it does not boast, (Fluttershy again) it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (Rarity, again) ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (Again, Applejack) ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (Rainbow Dash)

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

The show consistently teaches the lessons of honesty, integrity, generosity, loyalty, joy and many other things which are taught in Scriptures and, more often than not, I find myself wondering if many of the scripts in the show aren't lifted directly from Scripture, itself and that's the primary reason I love the show.

Okay, I edited and paraphrased it a bit just now for clarity.

It's going through a natural point of stagnation due to a longer than usual hiatus. This is unavoidable. People care less about pony because we aren't being given enough material for chatter. Just a lot of speculation.

Considering the huge numbers of amazingly talented and very imaginative members there are on this site I'd be surprised if many of the fans ran out of things to speculate about. I mean, that's half the fun during the hiatus time, isn't it? Imagining would could or might be in the next season? I think so.

Sadly many trolls still think of us as the "cancer/autism of the Internet" but we still are in great condition with many active artists, musicians, and charities.

Well, about the trolls... I do what I can to counter them by countertrolling them with fun, humor and friendly good spirits. They're never sure how to take it when someone just accepts them as they are, hate or not, and I think I've actually managed to turn a few around doing that. One less troll is one less troll. (Maybe I should start a thread on effective countertrolling? Hmm... Maybe.)

Agai

To be *entirely* fair, Luna has had a bit of a personal arc going over the past couple of seasons

First she showed up in Scootaloo's dreams to help her with a personal problem in "Sleepless in Ponyville." Then, in "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils," she showed up in Sweetie Belle's dreams to help her with a personal problem. She'll likely do the same for Apple Bloom in S5, but only time will tell on that one - the point is, both the story of "Sleepless in Ponyville" and "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" would've completely fallen apart without Luna in the episode to play her role. Those two episodes were written with a Luna appearance in mind, as they bank on her far too much to be otherwise

 

So I don't know about that one either, because when has Celestia had an arc in the canon show dedicated to her? Point is, the writers give Luna lotsa attention, likely because they're aware of her popularity within the fandom. Perhaps it's not on a grand scale as you're saying, but I personally feel doing so would detract away from the attention of the main storyline and maybe it's for the better that way, but that's just personal opinion. In any case, Luna has gotten episodes that were written with her in mind, as she was the glue that held the entire story together or what pushed a major plot point in motion, etc Just can't say the staff undervalues her either.
 

I brohoofed your post not because I agree with it but because you have a real knack for constructing and presenting informative and accurate posts.

Granted, the fandom does show Luna a lot of love, just like the fandom shows to characters, such as Derpy, who've made almost no appearances in the series and even then only very briefly.

But, again, there's the question of quantity. As I said, before, Rarity being one of the Mane Six is expected to make a lot more appearances than any non Mane Six character but, on those occasions where I have seen Luna presented I thought she was a truly unique and amazing character and, again, sure! Rarity can whip up an absolutely fabulous outfit for anyone at the drop of a hat but Luna's the only one who can go into someone's dreams and rescue them from potentially deadly nightmares. Props to her for that skill.

There should be a separate one for stallions titled "The Most Handsome Stallion" at some point.

Good idea! It'd be interesting to see which stallion would win that.

I noticed in a post from last week that someone suggested that the fillies be included in this contest. I like the idea of the fillies being in a contest but why not one of their own, like "cutest most-all-around-adorable fillie" contest instead? What's everyone's thoughts on that?

Honestly that was 1/2 sec of a commercial of a superbowl ad. If anything it was a VERY small wake-up call. If Hasbro announces the date of the new season beginning that's when you'll truly see some much continued activity as bronies wake up from their extended hibernation.

Okay, point taken that it wasn't more than a second or two but it was enough to attract the attention of literally thousands of non-brony Facebook comments, thousands of Tweets and at least five comment threads on Reddit so someone must have noticed something somewhere.

It might be interesting to do a poll at some point to just to see how many people now visiting this site got interested because of that commercial blip.

Fair point I guess. But unfortunately Luna fans will just have to deal with that. ;p

Hey, now, the contest isn't over, yet!

On a side note: I wonder if we could talk Lauren Faust into talking Hasbro Studios into producing a strictly fan-created episode? Just getting them to respond should be challenge enough to make it interesting, don't you think?

But how does Luna's 'producer underrated-ness' make her more eligible for 1st place in this tournament?

Because look at all the episodes that Rarity's in! Being part of the Mane Six she does have an inordinate advantage in terms of episode exposure compared to Luna or even Celestia so that disproportionate exposure ratio is going to have some bearing on the fandom and who they tend to like more: Rarity or Luna. I think if Luna got a lot more episodes that showed her character and personality to the extent that Rarity has enjoyed then I think you'd see the Luna fandom explode! That being the case she'd likely have a much greater chance of winning in a competition like this.

But, the show's producers will do what they want according to their whims and what they think will sell the most toys and merch. Unfortunately, that last part is always the deciding factor in any franchise, including this one.

K.

What I mean is, she surrounds herself around fashion and beauty, in the show she's seen as the epitome of generosity and fabulosity. I find it fitting if she'd win this tournament.

Of course! Excellent points. Still, unlike Luna, she can't enter into a person's dreams to rescue them from a particularly horrible nightmare. That ability has to count for something.

lolwat

 

Luna is far from underrated. She's loved by a lot of people. Just go on deviantArt and look at the tonnes of fanart featuring her.

Just to clarify, I was speaking of the show's producers estimation of her, not the estimation of the fandom.

Going by the Journal of the Two Sisters, written by Rogers with help from Meghan and Lauren, Celestia and Luna were born alicorns, and when they were growing up at the hills of Canterlot there were more alicorns around, though they all seem to have gone somewhere between then and when the founders of Equestria came. So it seems likely that alicorns are an actual race that can breed and give birth to other alicorns naturally, in addition to some ponies being able to become alicorns.

Okay, good points but how does that explain Twi, who wasn't born an Alicorn but ended up becoming one in the season four finale?

Of course, Rarity has displayed numerous times that she's a subversion of the trope that most fashionistas get stereotyped as, so there is really no comparison there whatsoever

 

She was even created as such - a subversion of that stereotype. Rarity has an incredibly interesting creation back story.

 

Hasbro wanted Faust to make a pony who was obsessed with beauty and fashion and whatnot - something typical and expected of a little girls show. Of course, one of the things Lauren had in mind when conceiving these characters was that she wanted them to be strong characters and not the sissy little tea time characters seen in previous iterations. Thus, Faust created Rarity - a fashion pony who wasn't a consumer, but was a producer who was meant to defy every stereotype associated with her career and general character type. A pony who was giving instead of greedy, a pony who was girly but strong and able to take care of herself and run her own business, and a pony who was outstandingly beautiful yet kind and sweet to all those around her

 

Speaking of outstanding physical beauty, that's the inital reason they had Spike become infatuated with Rarity - to prove that she was exceptionally beautiful, even in comparison to her friends, only to show that she wasn't shallow and not like what people expected her to be at all

 

You can vote for whoever you want to and root for whoever you want to, but I must say that my vote is going to go to the pony with outstanding physical beauty as well as outstanding inner beauty 

Those are all excellent points and, ironically, I couldn't agree with you more about Faust's reasons behind Rarity's creation and the final manifestation and presentation of that character. That's why I am a casual Rarity fan. Not for her being a fashionista or because she's exceptionally beautiful but because she's the kind of pony that, even if she were to lose to Luna, would be honestly happy for Luna's success and hug her with pleasure.

Still, I maintain my position that Luna is a drastically underrated character and does deserve to be shown more in episodes which feature and point out her own personal growth as both a person and as a potential leader of Equestria. After all, if anything ever did happen to Celestia then Luna would be the next logical choice as ruler. I mean, as well meaning as Twilight is would you really want her ruling Equestria? As much as I like Twi I wouldn't want to see that happen. Besides, I think Luna winning would be a nice way for the fandom to show some real love for this character.

We're definitely in an inbetween season drought (that is just as bad as it was between 3+4). Many fandom musicians and creators have left, some are more or less on hiatus, and some sites have shriveled up (Everfree being the big one). While some conventions close down, others get more special guests and become more popular. It's really hard to say if its truly shrinking, staying the same, or possibly growing. All i can say is it still feels kind of weird having no fuel (ie new episodes) to keep the fandom alight and it feels like all the old familiar sites are closing down for winter or aren't as healthy. Will it be wrapped up when a new season comes along? Maaaaybe?

I've seen it said many times already how the show being on hiatus has caused a lul in forum activities across the fandom and that's a good and valid point. Still, and as I've said earlier in this thread, I've noticed a very steady and regular flow of new members since the showing of that Superbowl commercial that briefly but very prominently featured Ponies as Colts fans so, who's to say, really? Perhaps we'll see a drastic increase in activity after the Hiatus is over and everyone has new episodes to pick to pieces. lol

All humor aside, it causes me to wonder if the fandom is about to become much more mainstream since the showing of that commercial? I think it'll be very interesting to see how that pans out.

I wouldn't count on Celestia and Luna ever getting an episode. It's just not in the cards.

 

Celestia's role in the show has been reduced to the point where she's now just meandering about, waiting to get knocked down several more pegs by McCarthy yet again just for the sake of making Twilight look superior. The show would not suffer in the slightest if the decision was made to write her out entirely, and I'm honestly surprised that didn't happen in Twilight's Kingdom. 

 

Luna's role is dwindling as well, not that hers was ever as big to begin with. 

 

 

 

 

Please watch Twilight's Kingdom if you really think Celestia is a "perfect ruler." 

Please go back and re-read my post. I didn't say she was or is the perfect ruler, what I said is that she has to put on an aire of always being perfect in the eyes of her subjects. In other words, putting on for the sake of her public image but she's far from a perfect ruler.

Excellent! Can't wait! I'm also looking forward to seeing your skills improve over time. That should be fun to see.

Nice! Well done! I always like your work. It's so cool. Keep up the great work!

My first name originates from Old High English and means Faithful Guardian. My middle name originates from Old German and means "All Bright" or "A light". My last name also originates from Old Middle German and means Helmsman (It also meant someone who was both wise and who was good at passing on wisdom and good advice.)

Although I haven't been here very long or a Brony for very long, either, I've been seeing a daily increase in the number of fans joining this site. This seems to be happening all over the fandom, especially since the last Superbowl, which featured a commercial that showed the Mane Six dressed up as Colts fans.

It was just a little two or three second segment of a much larger commercial but I'm sure millions had to have seen it.

Since that showing and, as I said, memberships to this site have gone up rather dramatically. Check out the welcome page and see the number of new members that've signed up in just the last week. 

How could someone who sleeps during the day rule a country alone?

Simple. She'd do it at night, when everyone's asleep. That could make things easier for her since: no constant distractions. She'd be able to focus on the things that need get done, write up delegation lists for specific ponies to do specific tasks during the day. Come to think of it, ruling Equestria sounds like an incredibly boring career. I can imagine Luna getting bored with it very quickly.

K.

What I mean is, she surrounds herself around fashion and beauty, in the show she's seen as the epitome of generosity and fabulosity. I find it fitting if she'd win this tournament.

Those are all fair and excellent points but in comparison Luna's certainly come a lot further in terms of personalitity transformation. Like I said, earlier, she's gong from being a socially awkward, incapable being (not to mention terrifying to most) to a graceful, charming, socially well skilled and adept individual who truly does love her subjects and displays openly so, on that basis, she more than deserves to win.

Ahead by 6 votes? Don't count on it.

Starts sweating. Luna's moved up by one vote. The margin is narrowing.

Rarity is a fashionista, she deserves to win this tournament simply for her devotion to fabulosity.  :grin2:

 

Anyway, here's a Powerpuff Girls-style Rarity.

 

Being a fashionista and being fabulous isn't the same as being truly attractive and beautiful. It's whats inside a person, their character, that makes them attractive or not. Sure! Rarity has an absolutely wonderful personality, being kind and generous the way she is but saying she should win just because she's fabulous and a fashionista just isn't enough. If you'd met some of the designers I have you'd change your mind pretty quick. Some are brilliant designers but their personalities are so bad and ugly they're not worth even a second thought.

Ahead by 6 votes? Don't count on it.

It's only six votes. That could change in the blink of an eye. Besides, it's still early. All of the older Luna fans haven't gotten home from work yet. Let's see what happens when they weigh in on this. (You might have good reason to worry.)

My only question about this is, "will it be any good?" We'll have to wait and see. (Providing it even gets done.)

Definitely Sims 2 more than any other version because I have far more custom content, OMSPs and pose boxes for that than anything else (I really didn't like Sims 3 because: pudding face and a lack of easy managability for custom content plus game updates would usually render any CC totally unusable.) Worst of all, S3 was designed to be incredibly picky re video cards. I have a close-to top of the line vid card in my PC with plenty of memory and GPU power and I still got a prompt from the loading screen telling me my card wasn't compatible with the game!

Batman Begins for Nintendo Gamecube because the game play was difficult enough to make it challenging and the story line was interesting enough to keep it intriguing enough to make me want to play to the end of the game/final battle.

Same thing for Spiderman 2. Lots of interesting challenges in that game and tons of Easter Eggs hidden stuff that required some real brainwork and concentration to find.