In Defense of Flash Sentry

*Opens with Pony Kaizoku, sitting at a desk in a dark room with only a single lit candle to keep him company as Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata plays. He is writing something.*

“…And it is with a heavy heart that I must depart this world. Cut down at the prime of my youth (If 25 can be consider the prime of one’s youth). In any matter, I leave this world pleased, knowing the various friends I have made will continue to grow and create new and wonderful content for all to enjoy. Though, how I wish I could partake in said content, I am not long for this world. For with the writing and posting of this MLP Deep Thought, the brony fandom shall descend upon my home, and verily tear me apart. However, I shall shed no tears as I leave this world, for in my hearts I know I have lived a long and fulfilling life.

Actually, now that I think about it; Twenty five really isn’t all that long. I mean, not when you compare it to other people. And fulfilling? What did I do that could be called fulfilling? I wrote a few anime parodies some years back. Made some headcanons, and now I make journals talking about certain aspects of a show about pastel colored ponies and the largely male fandom that spawned from said show. I wouldn’t really call that fulfilling…sad, maybe but not fulfilling.

What, where was I Oh right; my will. To my dear friend Sharingan-Shinobi I leave you all my non MLP related material…mostly because I’m positive you could a better job writing them than I could. Hell, you did do a better job.

To my other dear friend Author-Bat-Pegasus I leave all of my MLP related material to you and BravoKrofski. Because again, the both of you could do a better job than I.

And to the rest of my friends…I leave you with nothing. Mostly because I don’t think I have anything you’d want…sorry.

And for the rest of my possessions I wish for them to buried with me. Mainly because I worked to damn hard for all that shit to go to waste! I’m taking it with me! Like the Pharaohs! Yeah, I’m comparing myself to Pharaohs! What of it!? *Clears throat* and with that, I bid Farewell to my lovely friends.”

Signed, Crimson Kaizer. *Deep sigh* Intro.

Theme of Phantom R

Greetings and Bienvenue all. I am the Crimson Kaizoku, and today, I'going to discuss something that has loomed over the fandom for some time....Flash Sentry.

*Thousands upon thousands of boos while various items are flung at me. Including food, bricks, Twilight’s golden scepter, and Derpy Hoves*

Yeah, yeah! Cool your shit! I know that Flash Sentry is one of the least liked characters in the show! And, to be honest, if I have joined the fandom at an earlier point, I’d probably hate him too (okay, maybe not) But the thing I do not understand is the sheer amount of hatred he receives. So, in this blog entry, I will hear both sides of the argument, break them down, analyze both and give my thoughts. I will try to be as unbiased and fair as much as possible. Now, that being said I am going to lay down some ground rules for myself and anyone who decides to comment;

1. I will not insult anyone.

2. I will try my hardest to be fair about this.

3. I will refrain from bringing in my personal feeling into this.

4. I WILL NOT instigate any arguments or allow others to do so.

Now then…let’s get to the first complaint;

(Side Note: I will mainly be talking about the show. I am aware on the comic and that certain characters are flesh out more in them)

1. He is not developed.

I find it difficult to say this about someone who hasn’t really had a great deal of screen time, and has fewer lines than Time Turner and Bon Bon, but I will try. Yes, I will admit that Flash Sentry is under developed. He has not been given much of a personality, and has not done much but, neither does a chunk of the secondary or the background cast. I have mentioned this before with Bulk and Mac being reduced to their catchphrases, but let’s look at some other background cast; Cheerilee hasn’t grown since season 1. Mayor Mare hasn’t grown since season 1. Hell, Celestia has barely grown any, and she is a major character. It isn’t fair to say he has no development when so many others lack this as well. Could he use some growth? Of course. Should he be so despised because of it? No. By that logic, we should hate every character that lacks development; this would include the background cast as well.

2. Stole Twilight.

Not…A…Reason. Twilight does not belong to anyone (in the show or in the fandom) Therefore, he cannot steal her. For that matter, saying he “got in the way of my ship/ruined my headcanon” Is not a reason either. (Addendum; I do realize that a good majority of the fandom uses this mostly as a joke, but other members of the fandom do not. This is for said members.)

3. He is bland.

To call someone bland is to imply that they have no characteristics…which are partially true. Flash doesn’t have much character. Keyword being “much”; He has shown to be a nice person, easy going, has a passion for music, a sense of morality and (as shown at the end of the first movie) isn't afraid to get a little goofy. It’s not much, it still is character. It is fairly simple stuff, and give that he was not the main focus of either movie, what we got isn’t too bad. Plus, this just sets it up so he can get a solid character in later season.

4. He was made to be a love interest/He has no reason to exist.

*Seethes* Okay, As Silver Quill pointed out, artistically, yes. He was made to compliment to Twilight. One could interpret this as him being just to be a love interest…but, there is no solid proof of this from a story perceptive. In fact, it may be the opposite. Examples people cite is the fact that Flash was shoe horned in during the scene were Luna was interrogating Twi. A friend of mine(This guy) mentioned Flash was meant to represent the whole of the school, showing how much of an impact Twilight had on them. If it had been the mane six, it probably wouldn’t have had a big impact. What Flash says really encompasses this; “What was I gonna do? Not prove your innocence? Wouldn't be much of a Canterlot Wondercolt, would I?"

That, and even if he was made just to be a love interest…is that such a bad thing? Batwoman Katherine Kane and Lois Lane started out as this, and while most mainstream media sees her as nothing but this, comic readers know how untrue this is(Hell, sometime mainstream media gets it right. For better examples see Superman the animated series final few episodes and the movies “Superman Doomsday” and “Superman: Unbound”. As for Katherine Kane…she’s now an ass-kicking lesbian (ironic, I know), with a very well received solo comic. Long story short, just because a character starts out as something, doesn't mean they will stay that way. (Another note: I do not believe any of the other mane six were made aware of Sunset's scheme. If it had been one of them who appeared with the photos, that would have been a plot hole)

5. He is a Gary Stu

For all two of you out there who don't know this, A Gary Stu is the male equal to a Mary Sue, e.i. a completely flawless character who never makes any mistakes and is loved by all, and solves everyone problems. Flash cannot be a Gary Stu due the fact that we do not know anything about him over then that he and Sunset used to be an item, he drives a car, and various bits of his personality. I’m going to go on a bit of a tangent here; The best example of a Gary Stu in fiction is Batman written by a lesser writer…or Frank Miller (So, a lesser writer). In the hands of a lesser writer, Batman becomes the ultimate male power fantasy. He makes no mistakes, is better than everyone, and no one seems to question him and everyone goes to him for help. I good example of this is Batman and Spawn where Batman beats up Spawn.

Yes…Batman, a mere mortal, beat up Spawn, a super powered demon from hell! Granted, Spawn did get some hits in. But the fact that Batman was still able to hurt him says a lot about Franks writing style when it comes to Bats. This term gets thrown a lot by people, especially against a character they dislike a great deal. If Flash showed any true signs of being a Gary Stu, then it would make sense to use the term. But he does not, so it loses any true meaning when used in relation to him. Another note, to certain members of the analysts community(you know who you are) out there who love to using this, please stop. You are using this phrase wrong.

6. He made Twilight cry.

This is not an argument. This is not nitpicking. This is straight up cherry picking. How is it when it comes to the topic of Flash Sentry, so many people use this as a reason to hate him…yet, they seem to forget that;

A. He was under the siren’s spell.

B. Photo Finish, Snap&Snails, and Trixie did far worse. (Trixie trapped them in a goddamn trap door).

C. For as cruel his words were, he had a point…Twilight really didn’t have any idea what she was doing.

Funny how everyone seems to forget these things, huh? This is the single most Blatant example of cherry picking the fandom has displayed. The other reasons at least have some type of logic behind them. This, however, does not. As such, I refuse to acknowledge this as an argument.

Look, I’m not here to tell you who you can and can’t like. You have the freedom to like or dislike any character, episode, song, etc. But, we all must admit that the sheer amount of hatred generated around Flash is ridiculous. The negative reaction to him any time he shows up is absolutely terrible. People actually called “Three’s a Crowd” the worst episode of season for just because of Flash’s appearance in it….Yeah. So, why am I doing all this? Why did I spend several hours looking at all the arguments against Flash and tried my best to debunk them?

Is it because I am a fan of Flash Sentry? Is it because I would like to see him treated better by the fandom? Yes to all of this, but there is another reason. The main reason I deiced to write this.

In the start of the New Year, one of my resolutions was to be known in the fandom as that guy who never shuts up about Flash Sentry. It was a joke, obviously. But, after I posted my last MLP Deep Thought(which you can find here, here, and here) I had a really nice conversation with one H-StallionWolf, and I felt like I might have changed his views on Flash a bit. If I can do that again, if I can get just one more person in this fandom to look at this character and go; “You know…maybe this guy isn't all that bad.” If I can get someone to just give him a chance that would be enough for me.

I realize that this will be a fairly controversial blog post. I also realize that most might just see this as the rambling of a fanboy and ignore it completely or insult my option and/or my person. I don’t care. I needed to get this out while coming off as calm (and trust me, the alternative was not pretty). Still, I implore anyone who decides to comment to follow the above stated rules. I want this to be a place where we can have an intelligent conversation, not an Internet shouting match. With that being said, this is Crimson Kaizoku saying keep trucking on, be fandom not fandumb, and…Give Flash a chance.

Peace.