"Nyx" Rant · 9:39pm Jul 10th, 2013
[This rant contains gratuitous swearing and me generally being pissed off at an aspect of the fandom I find incredibly annoying.]
I want to start off by saying: I absolutely hate the idea of Nightmare Moon being the result of Luna having been possessed by some demonic entity. It's stupid and here's why:
1. It removes most of Luna's character depth. Everyone who has ever been a teenager knows about angst. They know about being needlessly angry all the time, feeling alone and abandoned, and wanting to lash out at a world they think doesn't understand them. It's not emo or wimpy or goth, it's part of growing up and everyone feels that way at some point. Most of us, however, don't have the power to do anything about it. We content ourselves with venting on the internet, yelling at people, and generally being a sour puss until we calm down and get on with our lives. Luna had the power to do something about it. She did what every teenager has wanted to do, and struck back at the world for not being perfect. In short, Luna embodies teenagerdom and how difficult it is to grow up.
2. Expanding on the above, Luna's struggles with jealousy, loneliness, depression, and overwhelming rage make her relatable. They make her, for lack of a better word, human. Because we all wage a constant battle against our base nature. And we don't always win that battle. Luna didn't win that battle. She let her emotions get the best of her, she stopped trying to be a better person, she got sick and tired of being mature and decided to act like a brat. And we've all been there! I can think of more than ten instances in my life where I've felt and behaved the exact same way just off the top of my head. Granted, my childish tantrums didn't involve eternal night, but they came pretty darn close!
3. Luna in 9/10 works using the concept of possession is a Mary Sue. She's a perfect little princess who can do no wrong, is misunderstood by the mean little nasty ponies, and deserves every bit of our love and affection because she's just so wonderful. *Vomits violently* A good character isn't a good character because they're perfect. A character isn't likable because everything about them is something we like. A character is a good, likable character if they're relatable! Sometimes they're behaving in a way we'd like to think we'd behave in that situation (IE: helping someone up after they tripped), maybe they're struggling with something we've struggled with or are struggling with (IE: dating, school, work, a sick/dying family member), and maybe, like Luna, they're lashing out at the world in a way we've always wanted to. Regardless of what they're doing, the thing that makes us feel for a character is how similar they are to ourselves. Even if it's just one, tiny little thing we latch onto it and it makes the character all the more real to us. Nobody's perfect, anyone who claims differently is selling something. Heck, Jesus himself, the "perfect man", struggled with his own internal demons. Rage and fear are the most obvious but you can bet your ass he was a teenager once too and felt the exact same things we did.
4. The apology scene at the end of Episode 2, where Celestia makes Luna apologize for her actions as Nightmare Moon. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen Celestia get crap for this scene. "Oh that Celestia's such a bitch, making little Woona apologize for trying to destroy the world", "How dare she get mad at the brat who nearly committed genocide", "She's the one who should be apologizing for forcing our beloved little girl to such extremes". Ugh. Okay, here's the hard truth: Luna acted like a total psycho bitch and deserved to be punished for it. Is a thousand years on the moon a little harsh? Not in the slightest. People seem to conveniently forget that Luna is an immortal, an immortal who came closer to killing everyone on the planet than Discord, Sombra, and Chrysalis put together. So a thousand years on the moon is a little light for attempted genocide in my book. Regardless, Celestia loved her sister and lightened her punishment for the sake of Harmony. But even if Celestia is ready to forgive, that doesn't mean Luna gets off the hook without an "I'm sorry". Which is exactly what happened. Seriously, how many times have YOU broken something in a tantrum and not had your mother make you apologize (hopefully after spanking your butt 'til it was sore) for it?
Now, don't get me wrong, I love Luna as a character and have read countless stories which do her justice. I'm just sick and tired of people wanting to paint her as a saint. It's annoying, completely at odds with the established character, and frankly makes me want to puke my weaselly black guts out.
Now for that gratuitous swearing I mentioned: FU-
Nothing but applause broski, although I will admit to having thoughts about making fics with Nightmare Moon being reborn as a separate entity from Luna, but still, at the time Nightmare Moon = Luna. She was responsible for her own actions. She is not perfect.
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as I feel that your point only works with poor writers who can't realise the main reasons, namely that she would ahve been WILLINGLY possessed for the exact reasons, and was more than willing to commit such acts regardless of possession or not, I feel I must respectfully disagree and remind you that 9 our of 10 writers actually suck very badly.
My mum used to use a wooden spoon... Hell, one time she threw a drawer at me cause my room looked like, and I quote, 'A bomb site'...
1202467 I was originally going to include that point but it slipped my mind. Simply put, I don't object to the idea that Luna made a deal with a demonic entity to gain the power necessary to (temporarily) overthrow her sister. Or that she pulled a Vegeta and had it remove her good side because her conscience was getting in the way. Personally, I prefer the latter.
I can agree with your points, but I must also concede that at times I enjoy the possession trope, depending entirely upon how it's handled. With a broad generalization, your position is reasonable, but I for one work on a case by case basis. Granted, this means that I slog through a majority of insensate drivel, but occasionally I do find the nice gem, and this includes some from the Luna Possession storytelling chestnut.
As Theodore Sturgeon said, "ninety percent of everything is crap."
1202478 Aye, it's usually one of those two that tend to be the best versions, others are that NMM is, literally, a being made from Luna's rage and jealousy, like in the originl Past Sins, as opposed to a COMPLETELY separate entity that controlled/tempted her, as THAT idea tends to be the one that takes Luna's responsibiity away from her actions.
And from wht's been said by Lauren and the current bigwigs of the MLP Team, one of those two is the most likely source. i.e. NMM is a form of demonic entity, but Luna's actions were a choice of her own. Which, btw, it's a mix of the two that I used in FNTK and, by extension, the Chessverse.
Apparently the Nightmare is an independent but parasitic entity, as it *spoiler* possesed Rarity in the comics. It further explains in the comic how Luna is afraid of using the full breadth of her power because she is TERRIFIED of hurting her subjects by coming under the Nightmare's thrall again if she were to 'relapse', so to speak.
Not saying you don't make an excellent point. When a creature with god-powers goes batshit and interrupts the natural balance, I sure as crap would get an apology out of her, especially if she was my own flesh and blood.
1202526 My understanding was that the Nightmare is Luna's darker emotions made manifest. Sort of like how in Dragonball, Kami split himself into good and evil halves. So it's not possession, per se, as the dark entity of Nightmare Moon came from Luna and was originally part of her. So by that logic, the canon explanation doesn't fall under my rant. Not to say that I'm pleased with it, just that it's not super relevant to the topic.
1202538
I apologize most heartily, then. However, I am always down to read a well-written rant.
My preference on the whole NMM and tried to destroy the world shenanigans is that an entity outside of Luna enhanced what was already there past her own good sense. But, that's just my own outlook.