Vertigo-01

The MLP fandom seems to have flourished very well in a short amount of time, not so dissimilar to how Harry Potter had a little over a decade ago. Now that the series and books are officially finished, the fandom still carries on strong. I'm not saying I believe the MLP fandom will be as strong, but I would be surprised if it ever completely fizzled out. Twenty years? Too hard to tell at the rate technology is advancing. Ten years? Chyea, I think it'll still have some life left in it.

After the attack on Fimfiction today, I talked with a friend of mine who doesn't like MLP, but has never voiced an actual issue with it. I was surprised after talking with her that she did, in fact, have an issue -- and it was based off of the community. Unfortunately, there are a lot of self-proclaimed bronies and MLP fans at-large who post slipshod material, usually of a very raunchy nature, on feeds like Tumblr and etc. Feeds like that tend to get a lot more attention and notoriety than do others -- not just because they're risqué and against the norm, but also because it flourishes. MLP "porn", as it would be, pervades the interwebz something fierce. At least to someone standing outside of the fandom. People like those here on the forum I would assume are much more versed in the fandom's true nature, and just like with any other fandom, the gambit of straight-laced fans to the other extreme stretches far and wide. This has been the case with anime for decades now, and it only seems to be thanks to the passing of time that people (namely in the U.S.) don't adopt quite as staunch of a negative view toward those who play around with NSFW anime, manga, and related artwork. Like others have voiced, I feel as if "anti-bronies" are often scared or sickened by the pony nature of the fandom, especially since they're not exactly anthropomorphic, retaining the basic form of a pony in animation (versus anthro's like Sonic, who stands on two legs and is far more humanized in form). But my friend made it clear that her issue wasn't with that so much as it was with the prolific nature of the material many fans share online. The discomfort for her didn't lie so much in the fact that it was related to ponies as it was that from the outside looking in, it seems like "most" fans, as she worded it, are only interested in clopping. There's a lot of angles the debate can be viewed from. I only felt bad that her repulsion was due in part to what she identified as the fandom at large.

It feels like MLP songs have been gradually becoming more lack-luster over the seasons. That may just be my take on it, but the song in this episode felt very forced / rushed. I do like that they paid homage to the library. That was a very cool touch they installed at the end in the castle. But otherwise, the episode felt a little dull around the edges. It just seems like a bit more could have been done with the time allotted... Although we all now have a new mane style to play around with Twilight.

I'm in agreement with the majority, I believe Starlight will have to make another appearance, either as a recurring villain or as a major return at the end of the season -- which, if they do the latter, would be pretty cool. I'd love to see the lengths Starlight would go to accomplish her ultimate goal.