Afterthoughts: Stranger than Fan Fiction · 9:11pm Aug 2nd, 2016
art by AssasinMonkey
That. Was. Brilliant!
After a relatively short hiatus, Season Six returns with a thoroughly fun, top-tier episode, continuing the season's impressive streak of solid entertainment.
Even more, the episode continues the season's thematic progression of having episodes with morals that are more adult and applicable. This isn't to suggest that the morals of previous seasons weren't also very good, but compare to this one, they were more generic and simplistic. And for the third episode in a row, I feel there are a lot of fans who will feel personally attacked.
From my Afterthoughts on "Flutter Brutter":
“Flutter Brutter” is an episode that I expect to get mixed and even angry reviews for all the right reasons. The episode does not play gentle, and some people will feel triggered when it shines a light on issues in their own life that are uncomfortable to acknowledge, much less deal with. If it feels like the episode is making fun of you, chances are, there is something in your life that you need to address.
And from my Afterthoughts on "Spice Up Your Life":
Once again, the writers have given us an episode that will probably strike a bad chord with certain people. Like with “Flutter Brutter”, there are going to be people who find this episode strikes a little too close to home for their comfort. And again, if it is doing so because the featured character reflects actual faults in yourself, then it should be uncomfortable, and it is doing so for the right reasons. However, by the same measure, if the discomfort is because of surface similarities and not underlying issues, then it really isn’t about you.
The episode delivers a fairly realistic caricature of fandom arguments and many of the fans who argue them (particularly in regard to those who react negatively to progression or change, or who personally define the "true" fandom within the parameters of what they enjoy and become hostile towards elements that do not fall within those boundries and the fans who enjoy or support them).
But the episode does not treat these types of fans with scorn. Quite the opposite, the message of the episode (as it was, I felt, somewhat heavy-handedly stated at the end) is that respect and friendship surpasses differences of opinion.
More on that below the break. But first, I must say that the episode was an utter delight for me, in particular because my only other fanfiction is a Daring Do fan story! I had entirely different reasons to feel the episode take aim at me. 
And I couldn't help but notice that the Daring Do adventure in this episode involved a gimmick that I used myself in "Origin Story". 
Cover art by Icekatze!
One of the beautiful aspects of this episode is that the conflict was so broadly applicable. The episode invoked the Daring Do fandom, but what we saw applies to any fandom. God knows, it applies to bronies. How many of us know (or are) fans who refuse to accept certain episodes? Or who only like the first season? Or the Lauren Faust seasons? Or everything before Twilicorn? Do you know (or are) someone who has staunch views on whether or not the comics are canon and will voice those opinions to everyone foolish enough to disagree? Or how about someone who has strong opinions on the relative value of G1? We have a rainbow variety of Quibble Pants amongst the bronies.
But the episode wasn't targeting bronies. This also applies to every other fandom. More importantly, it applies outside of fandoms. That is what makes this episode so timely. You can still be friends, and respect each other, even if you don't agree on what movies should be part of Star Wars... or you disagree on something more substantial, like refugee immigration... or clash over which presidential candidate you find least offensive... or even if you voted separate ways on Brexit. In a time when a lot of the world seems to be becoming more divided, this episode reminds us that we don't have to wall ourselves off based on opinions and interests.
art by TheRandomJoyrider
While many fans surely identified with Quibble Pants or Rainbow Dash, I also got to identify with A.K. Yearling (save, thankfully, for the actually-being-your-protagonist part... I'm very glad that I am not Littlepip and haven't had to go through what she did). I've been asked more than a few times to intervene in such arguments. (I usually manage to handle it with A.K. Yearling's grace. But... not always.)
Provoked by the react series by Strategic Jordan (latest episode here), I have been re-listening to several chapters of Fallout: Equestria on audiobook. Even though I wrote the story, I am regularly surprised by little details that I had forgotten. I have repeatedly stated that only Fallout: Equestria is canon; it is such a long story with so many details that it is difficult to expect anyone writing a spin-off to keep completely accurate to it. By making no other story canon, nobody is forced to read and try to keep track of the lore and details of additional stories as well... and, in fact, since their stories are automatically non-canon, they don't have to stress about keeping perfectly to the first one. In Project Horizons, for example, Somber ignores or re-writes a lot of the Fallout: Equestria canon, and that is okay.
Still, within the Fallout: Equestria sub-fandom, we have our own varieties of Quibble Pants. We even have the rare individual who decides that they will only accept certain parts of the original story, but categorically reject others (most often, the Epilogue and/or Afterword). Obviously, these actually are canon, much like the stories beyond the first trilogy of Daring Do were actually real (albeit perhaps with A.K. Yearling's now-acknowledged tendency towards embellishment 
). Many times, when arguments occur, whether in fandoms or outside, at least one of the people are objectively wrong. "Stranger Than Fan Fiction" tries to teach us that even when they are, we can and should still be respectful both of the individual and of the personal or intellectual reasons behind their stance... even if the stance itself is wrong. And that friendship doesn't require either agreeing or being right.
art by luminaura
My best friend and I are like this. We like a lot of the same things, but we often like them for different reasons, or like different elements of them. (We naturally have just as many places where we have very stark differences of opinion.) This has caused a few fights and rough patches in the decades we have known each other, but it doesn't stop us from being the best of friends.
Now, as I wrap this up, there are a hoof-full of things I just have to comment on. This episode was a cornucopia of delicious details.
From Derpy also being a Daring Do fan (and having the best Caballeron cosplay...
...to the nod the cloppier side of fandoms, including fans with a "favorite characters in bondage" fetish and dakimakura (with even one of Caballeron's henchponies buying one!)...
Honestly, I don't know which I love more: the pillow, or Rainbow Dash's reaction to it!
...to the disgruntled expressions of the (often harassed and under-paid) non-fan staff...
Schadenfreude!
...to the adorableness of Rainbow Dash fangirlling about the convention, getting to be in A.K. Yearling's room, and Daring Do herself!
Once again, the new episode delivered so many new faces that the fandom is drowning in the wealth of it. 
And Rainbow Dash has rarely if ever been so cute. Or so smug. This was an incredible episode for her.
Even still, Patton Oswalt stole the show. And Quibble Pants got, hooves down (metaphorically speaking), the best line in the entire episode!
"You need to get your money back."
I could empathize with Quibble Pants. If someone, particularly a complete stranger, dragged any one of us into a patently reality-defying situation, how long would we spend looking for the con or the reasonable explanation before finally being willing to accept magic/alien body-snatchers/a pony princess from an alternate dimension/etc as real?
by Mark Twain
“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.”
And it is easy to understand Quibble Pants' objections to the "realism" of Daring Do's very real adventures. This is actually a problem that fiction writers have always struggled with. In reality, people make decisions that seem completely absurd or unbelievably idiotic. Not just as individuals, but en-masse. The basic morality and decency of people can catastrophically fail, and situational blindness can occur on a staggering scale, allowing things to happen that seem cartoonishly, moustache-twirlingly evil. Coincidences can stack up that make the death sequences in a Final Destination movie seem plausible in comparison. To wax slightly political, if you described the current primary party candidates in the United States presidential election to people just a year ago, how many would have dismissed it as not merely impossible but ludicrous? How about thirty years ago?
And yet, fiction writers cannot write such things without them being called out as "unrealistic". Instead, writers have to make fiction more believable than reality in order to allow many readers to suspend their disbelief.
by The Nostalgia Critic
"That's not bad writing; that actually happened."
Thus, I particularly loved this perfect exchange.
Daring Do: Who were you again?
Rainbow Dash: He's a fan.
Daring Do: Uh-huh.
Finally, those credits! Best surprise credit score yet! 
art by 紫目(muRSKme)
And here I was worried I'd just make the entire blog an advertisement for my own Daring Do story.
Which I'm linking here, again.
Go read it! 
Huh. You know, I'd never really considered why fiction has to be less strange than truth until now. Definite food for thought there.
And yes, best pony had best cosplay.
MLP is getting deep. Confound these ponies, they drive me to think.
Come on, we all know that 'reaction' was an act, she was trying to pretend like she was all appalled and creeped out so Quibble wouldn't think she was weird. She totally planned to double back and get a few of those later on when he wasn't around.
Personally I can identify with the ending as the show ends and Quibble Pants shares his ideas with Rainbow Dash.
Sometimes when you let the ideas flow they have a habit of getting away with you. Then you find yourself trying to trim down on said ideas and sorting them out.
It was an enjoyable episode all around for me.
I likes Caballeron's reaction to the convention.
As this is a Daring Do episode, I was bound to love it regardless.
That reaction to the pillow had me laughing so hard!
I actually didn't see that look on the staff pony's face until you put up that screen shot!
Well, this is your blog so promote shamelessly.
I would go read it, but I've already read it. 
Stranger than Fan Fiction was a great episode returning from the hiatus. Very meta to the fandom and fandoms in general with conventions and arguments.
Twilight being busy as always is so sad. I completely forgot her part in the very beginning of the episode. Thinking it was an edited screencap when Rainbow Dash and Daring Do meet up inside the room. Twilight going to the Griffonstone friend summit? Future episode foreshadowing? But the most terrible part is Rainbow Dash either forgetting or not having enough time to get Twilight's Daring Do book signed by A.K. Yearling herself. There just wasn't enough time with retrieving the artifact in a 30 minute timeslot I suppose
"Realism" is in the eye of the beholder, so who are we to judge what is "REAL" and what is not in the realm of fiction?
A lot of people want to argue how the adventures and morals of multi-colored pastel ponies are "unrealistic" to, let's say, the gritty horrors and struggles of "The Walking Dead", the political backstabbing and vile game of "Game of Thrones", or the (forgive my language) veritable "MINDFUCKS" that is the result of Evangelion.
It's basically the debate of "cynicism vs. idealism" when it comes to "realism", but that's a whole 'nother can o' worms for another day.
To put it bluntly, take whatever reality as it is and have it resonant with YOU, and don't let anyone tell you other wise.
AND FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, I NEED TO GO TO A BRONY CONVENTION BEFORE THIS FANDOM DIES!!!!!!
4128338
Yes, she did!
I really enjoy your reviews, Kkat and this one was spot on! I really agree with your point that if something in an episode bothers you or makes a point, it might just be holding up the mirror. That is a good thing, in my opinion. The world might become a bit beter place if we gave ourselves and others a lot more thought.
By the way....I just recently finished FoE and I loved it. I followed your advice in the Alistair Black interview, where you asked for people to just read the first five chapters and see what they thought. I couldn't put it down! You did a beautiful job of world building and character building and analysis. I have recommended it to several friends as well. Just wanted to say what a terrific read it was and that you are a great writer.
I think the most important part of this episode, personally, is that they spend a decent amount of time fleshing out Rainbow and Quibble's argument. Long enough that people watching can take sides, in extreme cases. And then, when Daring shows up and Dash comes to her and asks her, "hey, this guy doesn't share my opinion, can you set him straight?" She just gives her a look, and says, "What...? Dash, we have more important things to do, come on."
Placing bets now on how long it takes before we see a real Daring Do Bondage Body Pillow at a convention.
#ShotsFired
And are you saying you WOULDN'T want to be shot, repeatedly, be subjected to many other forms of trauma, watch a friend die, and then have to lock yourself in a life support... thing... for who knows how long? That's a shame. Sounds like a rousing good time.
That being said, I found the episode... Fun. Quibble definitely reminded me of my best friend's philosophy regarding the Star Wars prequels, and my own regarding Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull (which is an opinion I will, regrettably, defend to the grave...) and that made me laugh (and cringe) quite a bit more than I would have otherwise.
In regards to certain things being canon, period, that's fine. I've always been an advocate for the expression of personal beliefs. That being said, there's not really an excuse for attacking people based off of your (or their) beliefs. You may think something like Somber retconning parts of Fallout: Equestria is the literary equivalent of spitting in the original's face, but that doesn't mean you should inherently express your opinion about other peoples' opinions.
I'm guilty of this myself. I've let arguments on forums, and in personal communications, get out of hand because I could let other people's opinions be. But I'd like to think I'm past that...
(Don't mind me, going on what feels like a complete tangent...)
EDIT: I didn't actually see Derpy's cosplay before... That's adorable.
And that poor staff member... Hope she's getting paid enough for putting up with that sort of crap... Seriously, convention goers have a problem with being... rowdy.
4129260 Not to be a white knight or anything, but, did you not see the part where kkat said that it was okay? I mean, you quoted the part, and it's emboldened, and I highly doubt it was sarcasm.
4129260 I'm with 4129279. I'm confused... did you misread the sentence?
Wait till Dash sees her Pillow's.
I started shipping Pants and Dash to be honest. It seems like the first solid straight shipping for Rainbow Dash. I don't count Soarin because Apple pie if you know what I mean and the rest weren't really hitting my spot.
I also think Quibble started believing in the truth a bit late, maybe if they let him accept thing 2 minutes earlier I wouldn't have the constant feeling of >>Seriously!?<<. He got beaten for bucks sake! Unless Cab's cronies are weak chaff but unlikely considering they're mudponies.
4129310 Senpai noticed me!
4129310 4129279
The '#ShotsFired' was intended to be sarcasm (or at least a bit of a joke). It's hard to show that with just text. My apologies for not doingetting it very well. :(
I perfectly understood that it was a legitimate statement with no undertone. I just found it funny given that certain members of the community have been extremely vocal in their opinions about Somber and his story. Which, admittedly, was probably the point of the statement to begin with.
Again: sorry for the confusion regarding my response to it. 'Twas intended to be a joke.
I have 1 episode I cannot rewatch:
S03E03 "Too Many Pinkie Pies" is horrific. One creates sapient beings and then commits genocide. Something is very wrong with Dave "AntiScience ProGenocide" Polsky. This painting expresses mine emotions:
img08.deviantart.net/eb52/i/2012/324/6/f/twilight__s_killing_pinkies_by_racoonkun-d5lkov5.jpg
4129714 From how Twilight was explaining the spell it sounded like she was simply sending them back to the pond rather then strait out killing them.
Of course if "The Saddle Row Review" is any indication, then they either missed one or the spirits of the pond don't have to stay in the pond if they don't want too and can retake the guise they previously held if they wish too.
4130270
"Back to the pond" could be an euphemism.
To the escaped duplicate, Twilight Sparkle must be a monster haunting her nightmares.
4128474 EDIT: I deleted the entire attack on idealism. If You want to know of idealism's downfall, look into G. E. Moore, Bertrand Russell, and especially Friedrich Nietzsche.
In regards to people who complain about something being too Appolonian/lighthearted or Dionysusian/dark-hearted, they should be complaining about why aren't My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, and other Appolonian and Dionysusian shows like Nietzschean/Dionysosian/Hyperborean shows such as Adventure Time, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and other shows that mix the light and the dark to point of feeling real.
~Dionysos, Der Antichrist
4130315 >
Either that or they're careful around Twilight and her friends because it would take a while to get back to Manehatten from the Mirror pool. That would either get expensive taking the train or be a long walk if bits don't follow the Pinkie sent back to the pool. Twilight Sparkle. The Wet Blanket of the Pinkie Clones.
4129714 Dave Polsky is an atheist, and, in "Too Many Pinkie Pies," wasn't advocating genocide; he used "implied" genocide as a story element, not as something to learn from.
~Der Gekreuzigt
4130654
It's as you say: they didn't show it. . . . but, they did imply it. Whether the duplicates are dead or not isn't shown nor known; so, let's answer with a simple "maybe," okay?
Also, the "It's a kid's show/movie." argument is not a valid rebuttal; with things like "flipping the bird" (Zootopia), dakimakuras (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), genocide (Adventure Time and Steven Universe), psychological warfare (Avatar: The Last Airbender, its sequel, and also Adventure Time), and so many other dark topics getting through in plain sight, I doubt You can defend the argument, nor validate it.
~Der Gekreuzigt
4130953 Fair enough.
I'm really glad I loved this episode not just because I'm a huge Patton Oswalt fan. Having him guest star is just a super sweet bonus to a thoughtful, affectionate send off to fandoms that takes them down a peg.
4131179 I think this has strayed too far off-topic. If you want to continue this, please do so in PMs. Thank you.
4131197 Whoops! Sorry for the long wall of text on, most of the time, a single topic ( - and also sorry for being, I think when I look at the comment again, needlessly tedious and talkitive.).
EDIT: I'll just remove the attack on idealism and the addendum I wrote.
~Der Gekreuzigt
Honestly, I wish that Hasbro and the writers didn't choose to pander to us so hard. I can understand special occasions like the 100th episode, but this one was just Full Meta Jacket. Yeah, we know we're a buncha nerds and neckbeards who go to sperg out at conventions haha funny. The plot was good, don't get me wrong, I liked the last Daring Doo episode and I still enjoyed this, but this feels like the straw that broke the camel's back when it comes to completely straying away the original medium-fantasy low-technology setting. The plot could have gone exactly the same way as it did without the convention element, and it feels like it's just been shoehorned in there just for the sake of it.
I think the fallout series has the same problem with people liking the old fallout games versus people who like fallout 3 versus people who like fallout nv versus people who like fallout 4. This has divined the fandom up over which game is better and which is the worst but to me all of them are good.
This episode was glorious to me, and it does definitely remind me of some fans' quibbles...including some tame ones from me over certain episodes.
The message on being able to agree to disagree is solid though, and I particularly liked how it showed how a small, stupid disagreement could get in the way of an otherwise healthy friendship.
On that topic it was sweet seeing Rainbow make a new friend, though it seems like definite shipping material.
Thoroughly enjoyable episode indeed. *sigh* Reminds me how I gradually ended my years long worship of the composer Kajiura Yuki as it became more and more clear that her latest band Kalafina is there to stay. Or how I utterly disapproved of (my currently worshiped
) composer Revo, known for his stylistically versatile, but mostly rock-ish operas, writing a song for Sailor Moon of all titles and giving it to a pop-idol band. Can proudly say the difference of fan opinions has never led to a fight or even a heated discussion for me though 
Whenever I have a problem with fans - it usually comes from the very nature of fandom - some of them severely lack moderation.
4133338 That's where the Mark Twain quote comes in.
Once again I feel late to the party. Can't believe I missed Derpy's (or is it Muffins now?) cosplay. Reminds me Daisho Con at work, always incredible. I believe as well that this episode showed we can have different opinions and ideas and still be friends. Sort of unfortunate that that isn't always true or doesn't always happen.
On a last remark Quibble reminds of myself during the credits. Talking to a friend about ideas or stories or just geeking out about something. That's why I like this show it has sooooooo much better messages and stories, then what is on today.
It kind of makes me sad to see the shows that are "for children" in this age, but perhaps that's just my old soul speaking. I enjoyed reading these afterthoughts you certainly have a deep and keen mind and heart.