Let's Talk About Flash... · 9:57pm Jul 21st, 2014
As you may have guessed from my author's profile, I'm very new to FimFiction and to the fandom in general. Sure, I've definitely seen the show and all of the episodes and even read a few of the comics here and there, but I've never actually been involved with the fandom until now. When I wrote the third chapter of Winds of Change, I probably should have seen this landmine coming, but unfortunately I ran right over it and the comment section exploded with praise and abuse for Flash. Oh well, write and learn I guess.
Although I'm hesitant to poke a beehive a second time, I thought I'd try to clear the air on a few things even so.
First, do I hate Flash Sentry? No. Not really. There's nothing there for me to hate. He didn't have a single line of dialogue as a pony-guard and his human-form was so utterly bland and uninteresting that it would have been easier to get angry at a piece of white bread. What I do hate, is everything he represents.
I found Equestria Girls insulting to the franchise due to the bland tiresome tropes that they recycled from every high school story ever and High School Musical in particular. The TV series in general is wonderful about avoiding these tiresome tropes while Equestria Girls seemed to go out of its way to hit all of them. It was quite literally a paint-by-numbers story right down to the generic pop songs that I can't even remember, and I think all of that hatred is crystallized and emphasized in Flash Sentry like a pressure valve, and even bringing up mention of his name causes that rage to explode.
So what about my own abuse of him?
Well, it was supposed to be a more subtle joke on what I mentioned above. Flash doesn't have any character and hasn't given any reason for anypony to hate him, but his very presence was enough to make everyone around him want to heap abuse on him, from abandoning him to Chrysalis, to being kicked by Chrysalis, to no one caring about his beaten state, and being reluctant to give medical attention to him. As the comment section has so pointedly told me though, it didn't quite go off as planned.
Still, we shall press on, leaving bland characters behind and focusing more on the developing relationship between Twilight and Chrysalis. Thanks to everyone who gave feedback and I hope you'll stick with me to the end of this tale.
I found it perfect, really. The "I don't know why, but I must beat his face in" pretty much sums up how he should be treated.
EQG just annoyed me so much - somehow, the movie was so utterly dumb. The movie, aimed at an older audience, was dumber than the show it stemmed from... aimed at a much younger audience. And the second one doesn't look any better, either. It's just... sure, amusing parts, but as a whole,
.
So fire away, make each chapter have Flash abuse. I'll laugh my head off every time.
I don't mind him if he's well done. Its just fun to pick at him for me.
The guy is sadly a non- entity. Just a totally bland character that was forced in to fulfill hasbro's wishes.
Now the writers just put him in to deliberately annoy the fandom. They know most people hate him, they just find it funny when we freak out about him.
Personally I think you really captured the unwarranted antimosity to him perfectly. It was quite funny seeing his head get bashed in.
To be honest, I went in fully expecting to hate EQG and everything it stood for, but I came out pleasantly surprised to see it wasn't the animated miscarriage I was preparing myself for. Mind you, the underlying concept still annoyed me somewhat, that Twilight(the writers) managed to contrive a reason to not just try to "steal" back her damn crown/EoM, and instead decided to try to earn it with that stupid highschool prom queen bullshit. But it did gave us Sunset Shimmer, and while she ended up being just another one off villain who reforms, and we'll likely not see her again after the next EQG movie(maybe... we did see that cardboard cutout Flash give us a shit-eating grin), she's formed the basis of a few good fanfictions, much like Chrysalis- albeit to a lesser degree, which is a good thing for the fandom.
Hell, even Flash contributes to the fandom in that regard if you're one of the five people who actually like him. I personally don't like Flash though because of how Twilight reacts to him. She goes from pony to human and in a few days she manages to become attracted to him, for no other reason that he's a... cute boy... ugh. Maybe if there had been some time to flesh him out a bit, the mere sight of him wouldn't cause my gorge to rise, but Twilight just latches onto him for no discernible reason. But alas, it's a 70 minute cartoon movie based off of a children's cartoon. They had neither the time or motivation to actually give it a worthwhile plot, they wanted a movie to sell toys.
Anyway, uhhh... that's why I got a few kicks out of Flash getting a few kicks.
Winds of Change is excellent enough to stand on its own without hating-on-Flash as a nod to the fandom. Winds hasn't leaned very heavily yet on its Comedy tag, and that's OK; tapping Flash to do so wasn't an awful choice, it just felt too meta given the context.
Now that you pointed out what you were doing, I found it pretty clever. From reading it, I thought it was just generic Flash abuse, which I'm fine with. Maybe if you had dropped more clues, or had some of the characters utter fourth-wall breaking insults, it would have been more clear.
Generally, the only people I find who actually support Flash Sentry are, 1. very young, 2. under the impression that people only hate him for waifu stealing, or 3. people who see him as just another bland male character that needs fan development. Let's be honest--there's a lot of those.
You know what? Go ahead and just nuke Flash Sentry already. I thought that abuse was hilarious and I give you my kudos.
Hm, I thought from the beginning that it was just a side comment on a bland cardboard cutout being presented to us as a likable character, so I did not mind that part. While I agree that it could become tiresome if you would continue it all through the story, if there are one or two instances I would not complain about it.
Now to look forward to the relationship between the leading ladies developing.
I watched EQG. While there were a few cute moments and funny jokes, it was overall a kick in the tits. One of the reasons I love MLP is because, as cheesy as it might get, it isn't highschool drama with scripted, forced sexual tension thrown in because there just has to be a love interest who plays in the school rock band.
Frankly, I applaud your treatment of Brad--er--Flash. It made me smile. And the fic is freakin' excellent. So keep kicking him in the nuts all you want, or if you don't want to alienate those readers who are fond of him, he can die offscreen after falling off a cliff and forgetting he can fly. Either way, I'll read it. J'adore!
Oh I remember that scene, It would have been even more hilarious had the victim been Shiningf armor instead.
I agree with what you said about Flash having no character. That's why I liked that you made him "that guy" who for inexplicable reasons people just want to abuse. I find reading about said abuse mose enjoyable, keep up the good work!
Well, I agree that Flash is pretty much a nobody, and I do like seeing him get abused for everything he represents, but it didn't really feel right in your fic. I mean, I was in the middle of reading a psychological thriller, and all of a sudden it was more of an old sitcom than anything else.
One subtle attack on Flash might have been a great nod to readers, but I think you overplayed it so much that it became the main point of the chapter.
I enjoyed Equestria girls, but that's probably because I was so busy watching Twilight being adorable while trying to get the hang of the whole "human" thing that I completely missed the story. And even if I hate it for Flash, I love it because it also gave us an awesome character in Sunset, who makes a much better protagonist than villain IMO. Then we got Rainbow Rocks out of it later, and I loved that one. Vinyl being awesome, Sunset Shimmer's silent redemption in the background, some of the best music in MLP from the Dazzlings, and the best villains in the series came together to make one awesome movie even if it doesn't quite mesh with the show very well. Oh, and Sonata is like a big blue kitten too, so that's a plus.