"Fame and Misfortune" · 3:18am Aug 20th, 2017
Better late than never.
Setting the metafictional subtext aside for a moment: It’s very interesting that the mane six get more fame from publishing a book than from saving the world multiple times, or from any of their other accomplishments. Even Rainbow Dash, who has experience interacting with her fans as a Wonderbolt, can’t deal with the fervor she attracts as an author. I guess we know where the average pony’s priorities lie.
As for that metafiction, the middle of the episode does veer dangerously close to saying “Anyone who ever criticizes us is stupid and crazy. So shut up.” But that ending song does pull back from that. Since the mane six were used as stand-ins for the show’s writers, that song about their flaws was metafictionally an indirect apology for not getting the writing better. A pity that the song doesn’t make that much sense in-universe. (Really, “We’re not perfect role models” is kind of a non-sequitur answer to many of the ponies’ complaints.)
I have to assume that a lot of the books’ adult fans were perfectly reasonable ponies who actually took the lessons to heart. But because they were so reasonable, they knew harassing their new favorite authors was stupid and wrong. So they didn’t go to Ponyville, so we and the mane six only ever saw the ones who lacked that basic level of restraint.
Just like how, in any real-life fandom, it’s always the complete jackasses who attract the most attention and give the rest of the fans a bad name.
It’s been a while since I’ve updated my bingo card...
And, even taking into account those pre-hiatus episodes I never got around to blogging, there’s still nothing to add.
Ladies and gentlemen, the real reason why A.K. Yearling is a recluse.
This does seem to be a case of the noisy minority. And without 24-hour news media starving for anything resembling a story, it's not like the rest of the Mane Six's admirers would know to come forward and denounce the more extreme contingent.
And there is one of the main splitting points about the story, whether you look at it as meta-fictional, or take the story on it's own merits as a story. I'm firmly in the latter group... and as such it... does not make any sense at all and pushes things way to far in the cynical and mean spirited direction to fit in with the show. Ponies haven't been this universally assholish since Putting Your Hoof Down.
The message they are trying to say is amazing, but they fumbled making a story that supports it, which is all the more a pity.