Are you pondering what I'm pondering? · 1:33am Feb 17th, 2017
Okay, this is something I've been pondering for a while, and will require me to possibly ramble on a bit and rant some and I might ruffle some feathers along the way, so before I do that, have a cute pony pic to put you in a calming mood.
(I'd like to say I followed DraconicXeno's directions on how to insert this from Deviantart, but turns out, that way doesn't always... work.)
Okay, I've been thinking this over for a while and it relates to our actions as a fanbase. Have we grown too arrogant? I mean, sometimes it seems we expect perfection from every episode and expect our characters to be perfect little angels or decry them when they seem OOC. I mean, take No Second Prances for a good example. As quoted from TV Tropes about this episode:
The biggest point of contention with the episode concerns Twilight Sparkle and her characterization. You have fans who feel Twilight's characterization is in line with the rest of her appearances, especially when it comes to old foes and you have fans who feel that Twilight is acting out of character and should have been more accepting. There are also a handful of fans who take a Ron the Death Eater approach to Twilight's characterization and accuse her of being an outright villain to the Draco in Leather Pants Trixie.
Seriously, people, it's been like this since season one. Ponies aren't perfect, just like people. They learn and grow, and fumble and make mistakes along the way. As The Doctor (And you should always listen to the madman in a box, he's usually right) once said...
Look at these people, these human beings. Consider their potential! From the day they arrive on the planet, blinking, step into the sun, there is more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than-- no, hold on. Sorry, that's The Lion King. But the point still stands. Leave them alone!
Okay, maybe a bit too philosophical there, but the point stands! Nobody's perfect, just like no pony is. They've always got something new to learn. And then coming right after No Second Prances just to seemingly give me even more of a headache was Newbie Dash. Seriously, ever since Rainbow Falls half the fanbase thinks the Wonderbolts have a nasty motive for everything they do. Take when Rainbow was accused of taking Spitfire's place and Soarin had to take charge. Some people don't understand that he had to be Captain Soarin of the Wonderbolts, not Rainbow's friend, and all evidence did point to her and she didn't really have a good alibi, plus she did say she wanted to fly. And do I really need to start with Newbie Dash and the issues with what people thought was the Wonderbolts bullying her? I mean, they didn't know her history with her nickname? What are they, Time Lords or Psychics? It was just miscommunication and Rainbow's ego getting in the way, even if for understandable reasons, and we did see several bits of foreshadowing throughout the episode that all the Wonderbolts made similar errors and got humiliating callsigns.
My point is, we expect the ponies to be either good or evil, and when a pony gets a characterization, even if only for a moment, that fits into neither category we go off all mad and bash them. I know some of us, well a lot really have history with bullying and such, but a lot of us are grown adults and should know better. And thankfully, some of us do. Seriously, there are a lot of these protection groups around FIMfic for a reason. It's really heartwarming, but it's also saddening that these groups have to exist in the first place. Of course, there's all the episodes where ponies seem to act out of character, but really, they're just like us human adults, they make mistakes and are complex characters, which is why we love the show in the first place and now it seems whenever a character's complexities show themselves, we hate them for it. And then there was the episode Fili Vanili, where people actually sent DEATH THREATS to the writers over how Pinkie supposedly bullied Fluttershy. Death threats!?! I mean, seriously? Pinkie is like a child at times, she sometimes simply doesn't understand what she's doing is wrong. We're supposed to be the love and tolerating fanbase without the drama, and look what's happened. We're hypocrites at times, and I'm saddened to say it. So that's my ramble/rant. Your opinions on it, agree/disagree?
(And before you ask, I'm not leaving the fanbase, I've just become as less idealistic towards it as I once was. Jaded would be the proper term.)
Yeah...the death threats is news to me and ironic, protesting the bullying of a fictional character by threatening a living person? Doesn't really send a good message to the public about the brony community.
I agree with you on this. Some people take the show way to seriously. like you said the characters have flaws like everyone. Fans tend to make there favorite character seems like they have no flaws. Newsflash everyone has flaws, hell some of my favorite characters from some shows I like (MLP, Steven Universe, Rome) have flaws too. Like I said you are right on this issue.
4425441 Yeah, there's a reason we're one of the laughingstocks of the internet. I don't like being laughed at.
4425442 Completely agree. Supernatural has this problem too. I mean, take Sam and Dean's father. I mean sure, he wasn't exactly the perfect parent, but he wasn't a abusive jerk like some people make him out to be. Nobody's perfect. He did show genuine care and concern for his sons at some points, even if the other half the time he was arguing with them or leaving them in some crappy motel to hunt monsters and find Yellow-Eyes. And sometimes flaws are what make a character likeable to begin with. I mean look at Rainbow and Trixie. Arrogant beyond belief, but that's what makes them... well, them. If you took that away, they simply wouldn't be the characters we know and love.
In response to the title:
I think so, Brick, but why do they call it a flea market if they don't sell fleas?
4425477 Knew someone would get it. Never been a fan of the show myself, (Although I did see a few episodes thanks to my sister) but I do know the phrase.
It all seems a little over the top, although little may be an understatement. OOC isn't really something that bothers me because there's always a new situation for a character to react to an experience. We as real people don't go around strictly sticking to an archetype, we just do what we want and react how we do.
For stories, it's even more distanced from what we consider to be characters types for the ponies. Good examples would be grim darks and stuff? How often have we seen canon reactions from the ponies in the show? No, that's because the show can't fully establish their characters! If we wanted to put one of them in a new situation, like a horror situation, we'd have to interpret how they'd react ourselves. So I see what you mean and I agree, I don't necessary stick to characters as they're show in the show and people don't always call me out on it.
Yeah, I know there are examples that everyone will use, like Pinkie terrorizing Flutters shy or Rainbow's pranking. But for that latter one, if you can tell me a that you've not just woken up one day wanting to act stupid all day, then yeah fair enough, but it's unlikely you've never been like that. As for the first one? I'd give an explanation... But it's Pinkie Pie.
So as for keeping characters in canon character, plus the whole argument of how a character should act in general while in supposed character well...
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(P.S. the way of getting images I told you about sometimes won't work for DA, but it works for Derpibooru, where you can find most DA pictures anyway.)
4425477 4425481 One day I may understand!
Poor me, I don't listen to... Hip Hop!
4425656 ...I'm beginning to think titling this blog post what I did wasn't such a good idea if it seemingly makes people miss the entire point of the post...
4425679 Ah, okay then. You did get me confused there.
I agree with you. Personally, I never had an issue with the Wonderbolts in general, nor with Pinkie "bullying" Fluttershy.
But I do also understand the other side's view. (I do not condone the death threats, though.) We are now up to six seasons and the characters have gone through "life". So them acting OOC, although not always the issue, as you said nopony is perfect, but sometimes it really feels like they've been reset and forgot their life experience and this stick bad considering that one of the themes this last 2 season was continuity.
Personally the only episode I had a real issue was "Every Little Thing She Does". No it's not about Starlight brainwashing the ponies, although I had things to say about it. It's about something Starlight said towards the end of the episode.
She said: Things went out of hand. THINGS. WENT. OUT. OF. HAND.
I know the show is destined toward little kids, that said kids have short intentions spawns. But as others said, it's not because they have short intentions spawns that they are stupid.
I think the big problem here is that you're ascribing actions of a vocal minority to a large amount of people in the fanbase.
The reason any death threats stand out is because it is so extreme and uncommon. This is a problem that is common among any group. Some people do a thing, and then others react and say "why did we do that thing?!" and then others go "I didn't!" Hell, for all we know, it wasn't even a fan of pony that sent those threats. Idiots on 4chan and other crapholes do stuff like that all the time just to stir up trouble.
The best thing you can do is ignore the repetitive vocal minority. They aren't actually representative of the fandom, and by acknowledging them, you only feed them.
4426800 Yeah, but the problem is the vocal minority Is just so... Well, vocal, and with a fanbase as large as this it's hard to tell how minor their minority is at times.
4427147 Well, you could always just say...
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But that small minority stands out because of what they do, ignoring them will just deny them what they so desperately crave.