Complaints About This Fandom (Or Something) · 1:13am Mar 22nd, 2017
This fandom sometimes. THIS FANDOM.
*Heavy breathing intensifies.*
So I was reading the YouTube comments on the new season seven trailer and...they were all Bronies hating on the show. Seriously. There was not a single NICE comment about the show on any season seven trailer that was uploaded.
So what were they complaining about? Starlight Glimmer this. And Starlight Glimmer that. And how she is ruining the show. Waa waa waa.
Um...Starlight Glimmer isn't ruining the show. She is just a student of Twilight's that gets an episode every once in a while. And to be honest, Starlight's episodes are some of the better ones. Similar to how Discord or Spike episodes usually stand out because they are awesome characters.
But eh...Bronies are convinced that Starlight in season seven spells the end for MLP! Doom! DOOM!
*Face palm.*
This fandom really annoys me sometimes.
I know that many people won't agree with this, but I personally like Starlight Glimmer. I think she has an interesting back story and her reformation through season six was enjoyable to watch. People like to say that Starlight is a Mary Sue, and that is their reason for not liking her. But the thing is, Starlight definitely isn't a Mary Sue because she has very big character flaws. She has a hard time forming relationships with other ponies. She is obsessed with learning about magic. And she often gets into trouble because of her obsession with learning about new spells and such. So the fact that she has so many flaws, means she is not a Mary Sue in the least.
A good example of Mary Sue would be Bella from the Twilight series. Bella literally has no flaws. And she always gets everything she wants. And somehow she is also 'powerful' despite not doing anything to earn her abilities.
Bella is literally one of the most bland characters ever written in literature. But the thing that annoys me about the Twilight Saga the most is that is had the potential to actually be a GOOD series. I was forced to read the abomination of a novel series in one of my English classes. And when I finished it, I couldn't help but wonder why Stephenie Meyer (the author) didn't focus on the Vampire Council, the werewolf lore, or the genuinely interesting things she brought up in her book series.
I actually thought that the werewolf lore was pretty cool. It was one of the stronger aspects of the series. I liked that it originated in a particular native american tribe. That was part of what made it so interesting. Apparently there were people who complained about the Native Americans being werewolves in the series for whatever reason, despite it being a unique idea. I think that the internet just likes to find controversy in stuff for no reason most of the time. Or complain about stuff in general.
In my opinion, if Stephenie Meyer had focused on the vampire and werewolf lore, the books actually would have been pretty good. But instead, we get a dragged out romance about two main characters that are so bland and uninteresting you lack any sympathy for what will happen to them. It is a good example in any case on how NOT to write a romance series...or novel series in general.
A good example of a vampire series done right is the Vampire Diaries show and its spin-off series, The originals. The characters in it are really interesting and likable. I would definitely recommend checking both series out if you have some time.
But anyway, getting back to Starlight Glimmer. Starlight has actually had to work hard to become a powerful spell caster. No one thinks she has some great destiny or some power that 'will change the world'. In fact, you could argue that Twilight is more of a Mary Sue than Starlight because Twilight actually did have a 'destiny' as one of the Elements of Harmony, and Celestia was grooming her to be a princess from the moment she entered the School for Gifted Unicorns. But Twilight has a good amount of flaws despite these Mary Sue like qualities. So she isn't really a Mary Sue either. And neither is Starlight Glimmer for the same reasons.
A fair criticism of Starlight would be that she was reformed too quickly in the season five finale. I can see why people might feel that way. But then again, Starlight basically witnessed for herself what would happen to Equestria if she continued to try to take the mane six out of the picture. And this influenced her decision to try to change. So I actually can understand why she was reformed by the end of the episode. And I am glad that she got episodes tracking the progress of her reformation throughout season six because it just added to what she learned in the season five finale.
I like that Starlight has a lot of flaws and that she has to work through them. That is what makes her such a relatable character. I think the more interesting episodes of the show in general are ones that tackle a flaw in one of the characters and seek to resolve it in some way. I would love to see an episode that focused on Celestia having to learn a lesson for a change for this reason.
All that being said, people are allowed to not like Starlight for their own personal reasons. But it is kind of unfair to throw the whole show under the bus just because Starlight is in it.
I personally like all of the characters of MLP. Even the villains are entertaining to watch. That's why when I see the groups on Fim Fiction complaining about a certain character, I really don't get it. But to each their own, I suppose.
To be honest, the negativity of mlp fans kind of gets to me sometimes.
It's like they complain about EVERYTHING.
An MLP movie is going to be released? The fans say it is going to suck and bomb at the box office. No really. Read the YouTube comments about the MLP movie. They are really depressing.
MLP might have more than eight season? The fans say that the world is going to end because a show with more than eight season is destined to fail! (Obviously they have never watched Star Trek, Doctor Who, or any of the other long running series on television).
Starlight Glimmer is going to be in season seven? The MLP fans are triggered and all want to leave the fandom.
And I'm just over here like...what the heck are all of these people freaking out about?
I guess what bothers me is that MLP really hasn't done anything wrong (as of yet) in concerns to the show or the Equestria Girls movies. The writing and quality has remained pretty consistent. Which is actually rare to see in cartoons that have been on the air as long a MLP has. You can tell that the MLP staff really cares about making a quality show. And they do listen to their fans, which is how we got episodes like Slice of Life that explored the daily life of the background characters that the fans of the show love or Crusaders of the Lost Mark which reformed Diamond Tiara, another fan favorite, and gave the CMC their cutie marks, something the fans have been wanting to see for a long time.
Yet many of the same fans who complain about the show seem to think Star Wars has never done anything wrong when it legitimately did fall flat on its face with the prequels and the Star Wars Holiday Special.
There are plenty of shows that you can criticize for getting stale over time. The Fairly Odd parents is a good example. And so is Spongebob Squarepants. But in those cases it is because Nick really doesn't care about its programs or its audience so it literally milked those shows dry.
The MLP team is dedicated to making quality episodes and I can't foresee them making the same mistake that Nickelodeon has with many of its own shows.
I guess my view is that, complaints should be directed towards shows, movies, or other entertainment that have actually done something wrong. Until MLP does something to deserve a harsh criticism, I think it should just be watched an appreciated for what has accomplished.
It is ridiculous that there are fans that will go out of their way to send death threats to show writers they don't like. This has actually happened more than once. And every time it does, i can't help but give major face palm to the state of the fandom as a whole.
I think that some MLP fans have been reading way too many end of the world novels or something. They just need to chill out and enjoy the show.
Then there are all of the Bronies leaving the fandom because the 'show is boring now'. I can understand taking a break from watching certain shows. Especially when it come to shows that have a lot of episodes (such as One Piece, the Dragon Ball series, and others). But it also seems like a kind of immature thing to leave a fandom just because you are tired of watching the episode for a while. I mean, if you are getting tired of watching a show for whatever reason, you could always take a break...and watch another one. Sometimes I also get tired of watching certain shows or I am just not in a mood. So I will watch other shows for a while and then come back to watching the other shows when I feel like it.
But that doesn't make me hate the show (or shows) that I took a break from. It just means that I want to focus on watching other shows for a while and will eventually come back to watching the other ones when I get back around to it.
I still think that if people feel worn out from watching a particular series, the most logical and mature thing to do is just take a break from it and come back to watching it later.
There are times when you just need to take a step back from things and breathe. That's a good lesson for many things in life, not just taking a break from watching shows or other entertainment. Sometimes you just need to take a break from things that are stressing you out, no matter what those things might be.
I'm interested in a lot of things but I'm not obsessed with anything. Because being obsessed with things is unhealthy. The same thing can be said about anything really. Being obsessed with work, relationships, school...really obsessing over anything is never a good thing.
I think people worry abut stuff that is more or less a non-issue in this fandom a lot. And then they rant about it on their YouTube channels or the comment section of YouTube. And I'm just over here like...can't you guys just sit back and enjoy the show?
Despite what many of the fans say, I actually think that season six was a big improvement in relationship to season five. And I am looking forward to season seven! I also hope that the MLP movie will do well at the box office.
But anyway, I've rambled on long enough about this topic. Thank you for listening to me vent a bit. I needed to get this off of my chest.
Feel free to let me know what aspects of the fandom bother you in the comment section below. I would love to hear your opinions on this matter.
Weird, if they're whining about Starlight Glimmer, you'd think they'd be happy that she's not Twilight's apprentice anymore, which means she going to get A LOT less screen time.
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4466922 A lot of them are triggered simply because they saw her doing something in the season 7 preview. And apparently Starlight is going to be in the second episode as well (titled All Bottled up) which just triggers the same people even more. :I
4466925 I personally like her a lot as well. I think she had a lot of great character development and growth through season six, which made up for her somewhat abrupt reformation at the end of season five.
Deja vue.
Anyway, the show needed a new change otherwise we'd go nowhere. Starlight was kind of the tool we needed but didn't know
I kinda disagree with the part that MLP hasn't done anything wrong, but that's not the point here. Yeah, I think Starlight is getting unfair hate just like Flash Sentry. The sad part is, and this is my opinion, is that season 6 didn't seem to focus on Starlight.
I explained this in a blog from a while ago. Here.
And this is another blog from yesterday.
Starlight is a good character and i like her.
I don't get why people dislike her, this seems more like the old no humans in the show paranoia than anything else.
4466938 I think it is good to introduce new characters because it helps to keep things fresh and interesting.
It would also be nice to have some episodes revisiting characters from previous episodes such as Trouble Shoes or Lightening Dust to help further develop their characters and also add to the interest of the show.
4466946
4466982 I actually think season six was one of the best seasons, besides season four and season three. The episodes were really well-written and were consistently good. Season six was a improvement over season five which had a strong first half, but had hit or miss episodes after the half-way point. Season six consistently had good episodes all of the way though. And the the season opening and closing of season six were very enjoyable as well.
I also disagree that Starlight should have stayed a villain. Because she was never really 'evil' per se. She just ran a communist village and wanted to get revenge on Twilight for taking away her friends in that village after the events of the season five premiere. After she saw how her actions of getting revenge on Twilight and her friends would effect the world, she had no other motivation for wanting to do bad things. So it made sense that she wanted to try to understand friendship and become a better individual.
I can't think of really anything the current generation of MLP has done wrong. It has had some hit or miss episodes. But I think that usually comes down to a matter of personal taste. For example, whether you like more adventure type of episodes or more of slice of life type of episodes. Personally, I liked the adventure episodes and the episodes that focus on the non-pony characters like the dragons, griffons, or other creatures. But that is just my personal preference. And it doesn't make the other episodes bad or uninteresting. It just means that I prefer to watch the episode with non-pony characters as the focus.
4467004 I think it usually comes down to the fact that some fans are convinced she should have stayed a villain. But in my opinion, that really wouldn't make sense for her character.
Starlight ran a community where she essentially forced everyone to be friends. But she did it because she genuinely thought it was the right thing to do. Then in the season five finale, Starlight was just trying to get revenge on Twilight and her friends for taking away the friends in her village and what she had worked so hard to build. But after she realized how her actions were effecting the world, she decided that it was better to try to put the past behind her and try to become a better individual by learning a better way to live her life.
Having Starlight become full evil wouldn't make sense because it wouldn't match up with her motivations, which were all personal and directed towards the mane six.
THANK YOU.
4467044 I am glad that it is something you could agree with. :)
4467049 You're literally one of the FIRST to blog about Starlight related news that isn't vile or venom.
4467043
Whe need another villain but Starlight should't be that villain.
4467027
Umm, no. Season 6 wasn't the best, but that's just me. I mean, the whole backwards development, aesop amnesia and broken aesops really irked me that bad.
I get why you think Starlight is better as reformed. I'm not of those haters that think when the mere mention or an appearence of Starlight happens in the show, I will not rage. I mean, this is hate at the level of Flash Hate. Unfair and face-palming.
What do you think?
Ah I would agree, to me the only complaint is that the show maintains a consistent TV-Y rating when it has plenty of elements that may make it a TV-Y7 story if explored in more detail.
Other than that I'm fine with it.
Do I feel that they played down becoming a Demi-God? Yes, a bit.
Do I feel that maybe Starlight needs more than counselling and needed a personal journey of self discovery on a more profound scale due of the implications of the crimes she committed in "Our Town"? (Seriously that is some Orwellian style madness right there once you think about it.)
Do I feel that the Changelings where reduced from potentially one of the most terrifying things in Equestria to a wannabe fantasy racial minority? Yes.
in the end though the show is very good, plenty of times quite funny, and it has good and sweet characters.
What's there not to love?
{Notice that my only complaints are do to lost potential instead of the show actually being bad.}
Do I analyse the hell out of Equestria to make my writing. Yes. But mostly because I don't want to resort to any cheap cop-outs. And that you can make a good intellectually stimulating Grimdark-fic without resorting to turning it into a Crossover or an Alternate Universe. Because doing that is easy, actually being creative? Now that is hard.
So there.
4467058
That people will hate characters no matter what, Hell even i hated Flash and Celestia for no reason at all.
4467052 I personally don't understand the hate for Starlight. Some people are mad that she didn't remain a villain, but honestly, that wouldn't have made sense for her character arc. She ran a communist town because she genuinely thought she was doing the right thing; not to intentionally hurt the ponies there. In the season five premiere, she traveled back in time exclusively to get revenge on Twilight and her friends for taking away 'her perfect community' and her 'friends' from the village. But after seeing how her actions would effect the world as a whole, she decided to put the past behind her and try to become a better individual. There was literally no other reason for her to be 'evil' or do the wrong thing.
Another reason they don't like her is because they claim that she is a 'Mary Sue'. But honestly, Starlight is anything BUT a Mary Sue. She has so many character flaws, you could probably make an entire season of episodes about each one. She's also had to work hard to learn her magic (she's had to study a bunch of books). And she consistently fails at many things she tries to do. So I don't see where people pull the Mary Sue thing out of. But it makes no sense.
Those are the two main things I have seen people complain about in regards to her character. Besides just straight up not liking her for really no reason except the character in itself bugs them.
Personally, I like Starlight because she adds a lot of interest to the show. She is another character (besides Discord and to some extent Thorax and Trixie) who needs to learn about friendship. The episodes with Starlight, Discord, Thorax, and Trixie can be used to serve the purpose of introducing important friendship issues. Where the episodes of the mane six can focus on more abstract life lessons. This gives the show a good balance of morals.
4467067 Flash was just boring, you would think that a girl like Twilight would have better taste in men.
I think she's an interesting character who shows a lot of promise. With the right touch, she could be one of the most interesting characters in the show, because she has potential for a compelling character that hasn't been touched upon yet.
4467067
Same here, until I matured and I started to see how wrong I was of hating them. Especially Celestia. Her decisions in the show can really divide the base and I was one of her haters. Oh, how wrong I was looking back. Good thing the whole thing Tyrantlestia and Molestia are over. While I hated Celestia at the time, I didn't liked how the fandom portrayed her as a child molester. It was creepy and not funny.
4467053 I think it would be nice to have some more of the creatures from Tartarus break out and make an appearance in the show. Like Tirek for example. Or other villains from the underworld that we haven't been introduced to yet.
4467073
Or stalions
4467058 I personally liked season six quite a lot. Season four is still the best season (in my opinion). But season six definitely had a lot of consistently good episodes that were highly entertaining and helped add to the lore of the world. Such as the episode about the dragon kingdom which showed us more about dragon culture and the episode about Las Pegasus which introduced us to a brand new location in the world. There were only a few episodes in season six that weren't my favorite. And they were both CMC episodes. I wasn't a big fan of On your Marks or The Cart Before The Ponies. Both of the episodes were kind of awkwardly structured and didn't have the same impact as other episodes. But I enjoyed the rest of the episodes, which I felt were all strong in their own ways.
4467081 Basically, you understand what I mean.
4467078
Well i would like to see a villain who is not a villain but the mane six and others see him/her like that because of the way she/he acts and solves problems, also that he/she had solved problems that the mane six wanted to solve making them somewhat jealous of said character.
4467063 I personally think the show writers are doing the best they can, given the limitations they have with their TV Y rating and angry soccer moms breathing down their backs, threatening to sue them or something if they do just one thing wrong.
(Just think of the whole Derpy controversy. And parents have complained about other things related to the show such as how Tirek was 'to scary' for children. Which is probably why he hasn't been brought back as a villain.)
The comics and books are actually a lot darker than the show. So if fans want more 'edgy' material they can always read the books or comics to get darker storylines.
The show itself is a lot of fun and does the best it can, despite the fact that it is ultimately made for young children and has to deal with the limitations that come along with being a children's show. This is also 2017. You can't get away with putting the same kinds of things that they put on children's television in the early 2000s, 80s, or 90s.
If things get to dark, some parent somewhere will complain, and all the dumb soccer moms will get together and try to pull a show off of the air. So people who make shows for kids actually deal with a lot of stuff behind the scenes.
4467101 So Mare-Do-Well but for all six.
4467074 I agree. I am interested in seeing what the writers have planned for her in future episodes that will help to develop her character further. :)
4467101 I think that would be awesome! Those always make interesting episodes. :)
4467109 I know that. It's more because society has changed a lot in the way we teach and tell stories to children.
I grew up on Samurai Jack and the 1940's Superman shorts though. Honestly that is seriously inspiring stuff to me.
4467117 I grew up with so many cartoons, I can't even list them in one place. :P One of my favorite cartoons from back in the day was a show called W.I.T.C.H. The show was a dark fantasy and was incredibly GOOD. It's too bad that it never got a third season. I would love to see Disney bring the show back and finish the third season after all of these years.
4467124 Good times.
In a way, we should be thankful that it hasn't collapsed yet. Long live the show.
4467128 What, you mean W.I.T.C.H?
4467130 No I mean MLP. I've never watched W.I.T.C.H, sorry.
4467112
Yes but more jerky.
"Very good, while you where bussy solving "friendship problems" i was here solving the real problems, next time if you want to help somepony stop lecturing them about friendship and do something for them"
4467148 Yeah see that would make fans HATE them since they're just there to be 'see what you should be doing instead of this stupid shit?!' constantly.
4467152
Yeah like that, but like the mane six this character wants to help ponies, so sometimes this character could work with the mane six to solve problems and the mane six could learn one thing or two from this character, the character will continue to be a jerk but seeing his soft side will make the fans have a hate-love felling about the character.
"You must help other ponies because it's the right thing to do, but the best way to help ponies is to teach them to help themselves and others and when you teach to help and how to help then you had helped more than one pony, now leets hurry you slowpokes! or i will leave you behind and solve this myself!"
I really don't understand why she gets so much hate. Sure, her motivations for being evil were rather stupid, but the Season 5 finale was still good. And her Season 6 episodes were good, too.
4467133 Ah, I see. Well I agree. I am glad that MLP is still going as well. It is always fun to watch the show and the movies. :)
Can't say for them. I just roll along with what happens.
4467216 I could actually understand Starlight's motivations for wanting to form the community that she did in the season five premier.
From Starlight's flashbacks, it didn't look like her parents were very active in her life as she was growing up. In other words, she came from a troubled home. And the thing that helped her cope with that was hanging out with someone who she viewed as her family; Sunburst. But then Sunburst got taken away from her, which added to her childhood trauma.
So she decided to make a village where no one would ever go away or be better than anyone else so they could essentially all be friends forever. Her intentions were good, but she didn't realize that what she was doing was actually not forming genuine friendships but rather forcing them on other ponies around her.
Then in the season five finale, she wanted revenge on Twilight and her friends for taking away what she viewed as her friendships and everything she had worked so hard to build. But when she realized that her actions were effecting the entire world, she decided to let go of her past and try to live her life a different way.
So her reformation (although it was quick) also made sense.
And this is why it doesn't make sense to have Starlight remain a villain (like many fans insist that she should have done). Starlight literally had no motivation for being evil except to get revenge on Twilight and her friends for what they had done to her. Once that got resolved, she had no other reason to be evil/ do the wrong thing.
It would be hard for Starlight to spread her 'philosophy' to the entire world as pony culture is vastly different. She only got lucky with that one village who just happened to be looking for a leader at the same time she showed up. Starlight has no army and no connections. If she became 'evil' she would make a pretty terrible villain because she isn't in charge of anything, she has no access to resources, she has no army, and no connections.
I guess you could go the raw power route, like Tirek. But even then, Starlight wouldn't be a match for the 'Rainbow Power' of the mane six (given to them by the Elements of Harmony). Starlight is powerful, but she's definitely not the most powerful creature in the world. Tirek is more powerful than her by a long-shot. So is Discord, and probably King Sombra if he came back for some reason. Even Nightmare Moon was more powerful than Starlight.
Starlight only has the ability to influence ponies with her philosophy. But since no ponies really want to listen to her, that power is also taken away.
So long story short, Starlight isn't bad guy material. And I think that it was smart for the MLP staff to reform her. I would have been pretty disappointed if they didn't, given that it would make no sense with her character arc.
4467513 That's a good way of looking at things. :)
4467529 There is no real reason to think otherwise, fandoms will be fandoms. There will always be the ones disliking and all that. I enjoy more what the fandom creates with animations, fictions, music and art- more so than the actual show.
4467183 Yeah I don't think he/she'd work since you're basing them off a overly hated episode.
4467550 I enjoy the show, the books, the comics, and so on more than the fan stuff. I like the official stuff more because it is more polished. Fan stuff is nice, but it isn't as formal or well-thought out than the actual stuff from Hasbro.
Or MASH, or Cheers, or NCIS.
This is true.
4467638 Yep. There is those shows too. And there are a ton more.
4467587
I never saw that episode
4467722 Give it a look.