. Rants and Raves.
Every man has a right to an opinion...

Most of my rants and raves in the pony world have been covered in the Equality Among Equines campaign. But there are a few things that do annoy me and I do have the tendency to go on and on and on about them.

Rant #1: Ebay Hawks
A while ago, while surfing Ebay, I found a pony I desperately need. She was listed somewhat incorrectly, and so what should have been a very expensive pony was actually going for a bargain (the pony in question was Hollywood, the mail order flutter). I kept my eye on her, and when the price didn't raise much beyond the starting price, I put my bid on. For days, I was top bid, and I was very, very anxious and exited. Maybe I'd finally have this pony to my name!
Now, I'm pretty well known in the pony community, and my ebay address is my email address, so people would have known, had they seen I was high bid, who I was. My rant here is that, with just hours before the final bid, Hollywood was snatched from my grasp from somebody I knew, somebody who knew me, and someone I knew already owned her several times over. The price rose beyond my somewhat limited resources and they won her. Now, personally I do not think that this was very "pony" or fair in the slightest. This person knew I needed the pony myself and yet they selfishly bid against me. The pony community is a fun, close nit place, but I think it is incredibly selfish and unfair when someone who has twice the collection you do out bids you for a pony they want only as a trade piece!

Rant #2: Judgmental Morons
When I was very young, and I collected My Little Ponies as a typical childhood toy, I was bullied. People used to take the micky of me because I played with the ponies, and I'd often go home in tears because of it. Oh the familiar tune of "My Little Pony, skinny and boney". The irony here is that I was then at the age when collecting My Little Ponies was the 'norm' for my age. I was about 5 or 6, I guess.
I continued to collect until I was easily 13 or 14. And then it stopped. Why? Because of the judgmental morons that I was plagued with every day at school. They told me I was immature, told me I needed to grow up. Urgh, I wanted to hit them. Still do. Not, of course, that I'm advocating violence in any way *innocent grin*.
Now I am 17, going on 18 this year. Everybody in the school knows I collect My Little Ponies. I wear MLP T shirts, take them into school (college), talk about them, boast about them, show pictures and draw them in my lessons (what's work?). Now, at this age, I don't get picked on for my taste in hobby. People now understand the nostalgia and talk to me with curiosity, not disgust. And the warming, nice (in a twisted way) side to this ? All the nasty people who used to say I had no life and had to grow up; they're all nowhere in life. Most have left school with no future ahead of them. Maybe they are the ones that need lives.

Rant #3: Death happens
This rant spans two worlds I'm into. My Little Pony and Sonic The Hedgehog. Both of them have a stigma that death cannot happen. Recently, in the UK Sonic comic, a main character died. This caused a hell of a rant by someone who believed that death was not appropriate for Sonic The Comic. People act like this over My Little Pony, too. In *my* view of Ponyland, (er, Equin), Death happens. Baby Apple Jack will rid herself of the 'Baby' prefix the day her mother passes over. It's just a way of life, and it somewhat shocks me that so many people do not wish to accept it. Children who learn about death at a young age are more prepared for it when it inevitably happens to someone they know. Parents claimed that watching Disney's "The Lion King" helped their children when greiving over the death of a relative. Simba coped with his fathers death, and they learned that they could get over it. This is a classic example of how painting the picture in a sensible way does help.
Our society cannot afford anymore to be hush hush about death. We simply cannot. If we cocoon ourselves and our children away from such a blatant, inevitable fact, we will grow inwards. The human society cannot do that any longer. Nor can Equine society. In Equin (my version of Ponyland), I have tried to bring along the idea of worship, heavens and another life, mimicing, in a way, that of Watership Down. The society in which the rabbits of Watership Down live is so complex, it is almost a reality. This is what I hope to achieve in Equin.

Rant #4 (not MLP related) : Computer Games do NOT cause violent kids...
I am so, so, so sick to death of hearing this. I read it in papers, I hear it on TV and every time I do, it makes my blood boil. No lone computer game can make a child or teenager want to kill somebody. Carmaggedon, Doom, Resident Evil...I grew up on games like these, and worse, and I personally feel no need to go out and test my driving skills on some pedestrians. There must, MUST be something there before hand for a computer game of any kind to set off a child.
Nowadays, we have to have a reason behind everything. You simply dont get people who just WANT to cause harm, who like murder, who relish being in command. Oh, no. Games, violent movies, heck, books will be next. It makes me so mad. Sure, maybe, at a stretch, they provide the spark. But first there must be the fuel.

My Little Pony is © Hasbro
All original site content, such as the pictures and text, is © Selena EMA Thomas unless otherwise stated. Do not steal my art without permission!! I am registered with PAIN!!
All views here are my own. This is in no way a reprisentation of the 'official' Hasbro version of "Ponyland", but the way I see it.