Sympathy for the Smoulder and Other Salient Ramblings · 8:11pm Jan 12th, 2019
So, in case you haven't noticed, Fimfiction.net has been experiencing a whole lot of drama as of late. Users have taken sides, and comments sections of both blarghs and Discord conversations have grown exceedingly derisive. Even toxic. It's rather sad, especially considering that this entire community stems from a cartoon program that promotes "love and tolerance."
So, as much as I hate to do it, I have decided to take a stand and state my own opinion on the issue. Without much further ado, here goes:
Flash Sentry is... okay.
Really! He is! He's okay!
Think about it. Flash sentry doesn't murder puppies and he's most definitely not an anti-vaccinator, so there's no empirical reason to hate him. Hyperboles aside, I can understand the dislike for the character. When Equestria Girls was announced in early-early 2013, lots of people were insanely turned-off by the concept. Understandably so. It revealed that Team Hasbro was taking its most radical departure yet from Lauren Faust's original vision--and for what? To compete with Monster High? When word got out that Twilight Sparkle was gonna be banging elbows with a teen high school "Prince Charming," a veritable jihad was declared.
But... in the end...? That turned into a whole lot of nothing. The writers--seemingly--quickly caught wind of how little fans cared for hooking Twilight up with someone. Not that they were attempting to appease the angry waifu-clingers, but romance really doesn't contribute much to the core "plot" of the Equestria Girls franchise.
And yet, the hatred for Flash "Brad" Sentry has remained after all these years. And to an impenetrably ludicrous degree, too. What's the sense in that? It's almost like people labeling a writer as "pretentious and purple" while ignoring everything else he's written for the following seven years. I mean, that doesn't ever happen in this fandom, right? (F'naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa).
Now, before we get any more emo or preachy, let me make one thing perfectly clear:
I am perfectly fine with people not liking Flash Sentry.
Furthermore, I won't pretend to say that his character has much (or any) depth in the canon cartoon material.
Also, I suffer no illusion of somehow actually being able to change marsupials' opinions on Flash Sentry. I mean, sure, it would be nice to convince people to give the character a second chance. But I won't expect people to actually like Flash any more than they can feasibly put their circumcised foreskin back on.
What makes Flash Sentry so appealing to me is the same thing that makes any character in a fandom appealing. They serve as a vessel for imagination in fanfiction. That "vessel" is multi-faceted, and--depending on the subject matter--will make some characters more exploitable than others. And--as fate would happen to have it--I've found Flash Sentry to be the most appealing "vessel" at this particular phase in my fanfictional pursuits. But before we get into that, let's look at incarnations of Flash Sentry in "past Skirstian endeavors."
My first ever story with Flash Sentry in the tag. And boy was it explosive (for maybe the first two weeks' of its existence). In truth, I only chose Flash Sentry for this fic because he fit the archetype I needed for a "soldier returning home" narrative, which was mostly inspired by my watching Youtube clips of Mormons returning home to their families as I anticipated the glorious advent of Ponky.
I'm actually rather proud of this story, especially Rarity's inclusion and its ending. It tickles me pink that the talented Obabscribbler got together a group of likewise talented mofos to translate this thing into audio format. But the ultimate legacy of this fic has something in common with my second usage of Flash Sentry:
This fic is... not quite as good. It's Feature Bait Emotion Pr0n at it's Pr0niest. But, still, I'd say that--while wonkily executed--it's still okay. One might not have assumed this from the slew of downvotes it received in its first week. But that brings me to the point of even mentioning these last two fics.
Initially, when I first wrote Flash Sentry, it was simply to perform an experiment. Chiefly, I asked myself: "Could I write an objectively competent fanfic that'll get downvoted solely because of its chosen character?" Turns out... yes... downvotes happen. And I find it quite hilarious--especially considering the Flash Sentry of both stories is the horse version... whom we all know even less about. If I had chosen an OC stallion in both instances, I'm willing to bet there'd be 75% less downvotes. But people had to hate it cuz it had Bradddddddddd. Yes, children, sometimes trolling is in fact a art.
But, I still do have an ego... and a desire to make readers happy. So, with a few exceptions, I avoided using Flash Sentry as a main character in any of my fics. Side character? Sh00r, but it was clear that I needed to focus on the girly girly ponies and their girly girly hijinks.
And then there's this asshole:
2016 Skirts was not a very cheerful Skirts (but hey, what else is fukkin' new?), and this story was literally started the night of the US Presidential Election. No joke. Around the stroke of midnight, once the polls had made things clear, I sat down and began this joyful nugget of a longform fapfest. And it's not as if all of my political boo-hoo-ness was the prime inspiration for writing this story. I had found myself over the course of the year growing more and more sympathetic to Flash Sentry's plight in Equestria Girls. And I had come up with an amazingly awesome fic idea that--it's a total shame I didn't write it.
Originally, I had conjured up this idea of a fic where Sunset Shimmer reveals that--the moment she arrived in the humenz world--she drugged and kidnapped her human doppelganger and banished her to some far-off location in Equestia before taking her place in the real humenz Sunset's family. After the first three films show poni Sunset turning over a new leaf, she decides to own up to her sins and go on a quest to find the woman she replaced. Before doing this, she confesses to Flash, and Flash is galaxies BEYOND pissed. It's revealed that Flash Sentry first fell in love with the humenz Sunset, and poni Sunset took her place and hijacked the relationship before going full-female-dog. Ultimately, the plot had Flash and Sunset both going into Equestria on an epic adventure of redemption... wherein they find out that (ironically) the humenz Sunset in unicorn form had transformed the grief of her plight into anger and gone full villainous-Starlight-Glimmer-mode with unchecked power, resulting in a climactic confrontation that would have thematically required the sacrifice of a main character to fix. Probably Flash's.
And while I still think this story idea would work on many levels, I found myself only truly caring about one aspect of it: Flash's. I like the idea that he's in a sad, depressed state--but then realizes that everything is rooted in the fact that the real love of his life was exiled away by the doppelganger whom he had ultimately made friends with. This transforms his grief into unbridled fury and he forces the poni Sunset to take him into this strange horse world where they encounter things that he isn't even remotely equipped to tackle with his strange new hooves. But he still persists, heroically bound to restore this person from his past... and himself too.
Too bad I ditched all of that for an overwrought emo-fest. F'naaaaaaaa. But, in its defense, it nevertheless showed a much more salient trend in this Lemur's approach to the horse-horse. Namely...
Self-insertion!
GodDAYUM, I love this story. I love the "ship." I love the casual kink-discussion. I love the excessive teasing in the fic. I love the fourth-wall-breaking narrative tone I decided to go with.
No, I'm not pretending to say that it's the best fic ever, but it's the one that I enjoyed writing the most in 2017. It says something about your story when it spawns two sequels, neither of which you yourself have written.
And what I think I find most cherishable about the fic is the rather obvious-as-hell fact: it's thinly-veiled self-insertion. Flash is more me than Flash in that fic. Granted, he's a younger, handsome, chivalrous, totally-not-a-shameful-neckbearded-manchild-still-living-with-his-parents version of me... but me nonetheless. I think most people who read it at the time picked up on the fact, seeing as SS&E in 2017 was growing less and less reticent about showing off his proclivities.
And it was shortly after this period of time that I learned to stop worrying and love the Brad. Because I stopped seeing him as that two-dimensional poster child for Brony-Equestria-Girls-Hate. Instead, I saw Flash as a way of living through the colorful pastel world that Hasbro has granted us. To that extent, he belongs in the same category as other go-to-protagonists whom I've obsessively used since 2011: Rainbow Dash, Lyra Heartstrings, and Scootaloo. I use Rainbow Dash for adventures and titillating comedy. I use Lyra Heartstrings for overwrought psuedophilosophy. And I use Scootaloo for emotion pr0n.
So where does Flash fit in? Well, he's got a dick. Aaaaaaaand... that's about it.
Can you find the dick? I know it's in there somewhere...
But in all seriousness, there's something about Flash Sentry in Equestria Girls... or rather my own personal interpretation of Flash Sentry in Equestria Girls that makes him so dayum appealing to mesa. It's something of a meta angle too. What's a meta angle, you ask? Well let's look at a different show altogether for a brief fart.
Gawd, I lurve this show. I'm not alone in this. The program had amazing writers, godly actors, and a wonderfully poignant balance between drama and comedy. It also showed news ways in which television sitcoms could handle dialogue and balance multiple storylines within a twenty-four minute segment. M*A*S*H is, without a doubt, one of the greatest products of American television ever.
It's also an eleven season show about a two-and-a-half year war. I mean... wait... wat.
Seriously, if you desire realism in your tv shows, M*A*S*H fails through sheer existence alone. Which is a shame, because the show triumphs--or tries to--in how "realist" it can be. There are more Christmas episodes than there were actual Christmases experienced during the Korean War. One episode even takes place over an entire year... like... wtf.
So, to find myself properly enjoying the show, I don't even pretend to accept the fact that it takes place in the actual Korean War. Instead, my head conjures up this Twilight Zone situation where Hawkeye Pierce and a few other choice characters are... like... stuck in the sitcom itself. That is to say, I imagine the show as a prolonged limbo where an alternate universe version of the Korean war goes on for an entire decade and Hawkeye Pierce is forever stuck in his early-to-mid twenties when he's quite clearly in his late forties and f'naaaaaaaaaa. It sounds absurd from the outside, but that's how I choose to mentally enjoy it. Because, in the end, no show is ever truly infallible and sometimes you gotta fart out a lot of idiosyncratic bullshiet to enjoy the material ahead of you. It's how I enjoy Star Trek at its lowest.
Seen here... not actually the "lowest."
This philosophy, for better or for worse, can be applied to Equestria Girls... and even My Little Pony as a whole. I do not believe--on paper or before a podium--that I would be capable of convincing the world that either halves of the franchise is objectively better than many of the other programs out there. That being said, what Lauren Faust kick-started is legit decent... and it's got great voice actors and great animators and great writers. It's an all-around competently pretty package with both highs and lows. But there's no denying that, in watching the program, you sorta have to set the bar to a position that's lower than a lot of us want to admit. And y'know what? That's okay.
Well... mostly okay
But--boy oh boy--is it hard to watch any of the Equestria Girls movies the first time without cringeing. I say this mostly from the perspective of a typical brony who started with Friendship is Magic and ingratiated himself with the "original" Fourth Generation mantra of what it means to project a clean healthy program for a "female" demographic. Faust's concept catered to a universality of perspectives with realistic characters cast in the spotlight, taking precedent over any particular knee-jerk gender marketing.
Equestria Girls, on the other tentacle, really just... panders to a perceived audience of marketable femininity. It's the same sort of corporate-motivated schlock that poops out an entire bevy of animated bullcrap that fills up the most disregarded vestiges of Netflix programming. While the writers and animators and voice actors have managed to instill genuine charm and comedy and mirth into the series--especially the later ones--the show is still pretty dayum see-through by proxy of its sheer contrast to Friendship if Magic. And... y'know... good on the producers for corralling all of their design decisions into a spinoff series, but it doesn't make things any less difficult to digest.
But Skirts?! If you have such venomous things to spout about the show, why do you still choose to watch AND enjoy it?!
Funny that you should ask, serendipitous italicized inquisition! There are many reasons, really. Unlike some marsupials, I'm still of the firm belief that more poni is only good poni. I also love the voice acting and the gifs that the show spawns and the music and the character interaction... just like I do with Friendship is Magic. Sh00r, I do have to set the bar lower with Equestria Girls, but that doesn't make it any less of a "happy place" for me to send my mind and just... relish in the fact that my favorite continuity for the last decade has been explored in its own unique facet.
But perhaps the ultimate truth for why I like Equestria Girls so much--as horrible as it sounds--is that it all boils down to: "Hey! It's the same characters that I love, only that they're human and fuckable!"
Let's get real for a second--as if we haven't already. I do not seriously believe that I will ever... ever enjoy "the plot" like a huge chunk of the readerbase of Fimfic does. They're... they're horses, okai? For whatever "insane" reason, my brain will never bend its way around that fact. And this is not meant to "kink-shame" anyone who follows the call of estrus in this fandom. About 75% of my brony friends stare lustily at Rarity's marshmallow posterior and think Gamorrahaic thoughts. And it's not like seeing clop writing/art will make me implode. I've been around Derpi long enough and I've even helped close friends by proofreading their smut fics because I want to be that kind of a bro.
But it's still. Not. My. Thang. Maaaaaaaaaaaaaan. It's been said that--to generate a positive reaction--I should consider doing literature of the clippity-clop variety, and... I just refuse. I outright refuse. Not because of some moral stance or hatred of my fans. Just... ick ick ick ick ick.
Humenz, on the other tentacle, are my jam. And "aging them up" to headcanonical "legal" status is not only preferred but also insanely easy to do inside the brain bone, not to mention a simple tweak to make on a literature website that simultaneously says that it's perfectly okay to fuck sapient horse children.
So, even long before I considered actually doing any sort of literotica, I knew that Equestria Girls would be the perfect place to plant down my fictitious harem (at the cost of +50 caps, depending on the location in Appalachia). If there was some mental need to make lurve to Fluttershy or Rarity, it would happen in this magical mental land of 18-year-old high school seniors. Cuz fuck you.
Seen here: You. Getting fucked.
But if I actually wanted to manifest these naughty ideas in literary form, how would I go about doing it? I mean, I could self-insert myself, but Gary Stu EqG-Fanfiction isn't exactly the most refreshing material out there. If only there was a preexisting Brad Stu who could act as the perfect vessel for a male perspective looking in on all the young women and their prettiness--oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii--
So, in case y'all haven't figured it out by now, the entire point of this blargh was to arrive at this exact moment and explain that... whether or not Flash Sentry is a good character, the truth is that it doesn't matter. He's the right character in the right place and at the right time for me to rely on in almost 90% of my Equestria Girls smut ideas. He's the vessel... and I'm itching to fill that with a lot of spunk. If anyone wonders what I was doing in 2018, it was wrestling over a gazillion ideas... and almost all of them have involved Flash and the crazy happenstance coming ("coming") at him from all angles. I tossed and turned over these ideas for so long that I sabotaged any chance I had over actually uploading anything... until about a week and a half ago.
And now it all looks like a damnable deluge of Flash-fetishization. Probably because that's what it is, but I'm declaring right now that it's not exclusively because of the nature of the character... but rather the potential for the character. If this was an alternate universe and I was a less inhibited Skirts who lurved horse butt, then I would have written three dozen Lyra Heartstrings horse pr0n epics by now under the same principle.
But let's concede on one fact here. There are aspects of Flash Sentry that I legitimately lurve... but they exist on that "meta-level" that I began rambling about earlier when I mentioned both M*A*S*H and Star Trek. When I look at Flash in Equestria Girls, it's similar to how I look at Hawkeye in M*A*S*H. I define the character not so much by what I see on the surface, but what I perceive into the production elements.
Namely this: I believe Flash Sentry was invented to be the exact thing that most every Brony vilified: a two-dimensional Prince's Charming love interest to Princess Twilight. As the series progressed and the plot necessitated major thematical/character changes, I believe the writers realized that his purpose was hollow. And, in most any other sensible program, he would have been erased or written out.
But that's not what happened with Bra--er... Flash. As painful and cringe-inducing as it was, they kept him in. He had a relatively useless scene in the third movie (if nothing else, it substantiated that Sci-Twi wasn't just another doormat to swoon at his presence, and thank Nietzsche for that). Then, in movie four, they brought him back... if only to more-or-less close the circle of his arc by having Sunset tell him to let Princess Twilight go. That's... going above and beyond for a character with almost zero relevance by that point in the series. I think it shows that the writers have a great deal of love for him... or perhaps they feel sorry for the character, cuz--in a meta perspective--his life has been made a melancholic hell since his inception.
And that's where I really learn to appreciate and feel for Flash, methinks. It's sort of a weird, poetic, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead situation. He's the victim of a romantic abortion--a ship that was almost forced onto screen in the first film but just... peter'd off into existential nothingness. And with each installment we see a bluer and bluer snapshot of the poor bastard's life.
One of my absolute most favorite types of protagonist is the "lonely melancholic young male." It's why I unironically lurve Squall from Final Fantasy VIII or Link in just about every 3D Zelda game. Sure, a lot of it is projecting, but I adore sad male protagonists... not because I like to roll around in that syrupy emo bliss, but rather I enjoy the climb out of that melancholic state. I love stories where a guy is in a sad pit but eventually climbs his way out to find love, fulfillment, prestige, or--in the case of 2019 skirts--erotic bliss. That captures my heart (and other organs) in so many ways. That youtube clip ^^^ I last linked almost makes me tear up whenever I watch it, I've got it that bad.
There's a reason why a .gif like this warms my heart and inspires me to write heartlessly cruel femdom smut. I wanna see this precious boi get happy. It's a source of fantasized wish-fulfillment for mesa. I just chose to have the fandom's least liked character be the medium for it. F'naaa. Lucky me.
So, perhaps--in some silly way--this "explains" why Flash has been (and will continue to be) a constant source of characterization in these fics that I am producing as of late.
And on that topic--the one regarding 2019 fics--it's safe to say that not all of them will be Flash-centric. A good portion of them, sh00r, but not all. I'm working on "diversifying" things. Changing stuff up... while at the same time sticking to what I consider to be my predominant themes. Have I mentioned that I have a stupidly long list of ideas:
I just need to cherry-pick and upload in such a fashion that I'm not constantly spitting out crack!fics. Such a pile attracts moths, after all. Instead, I wanna do some serious stuff mixed with porny stuff mixed with typical "old-Skirts" stuff. And, as if this declaration isn't antithetical enough to the blargh I've written thus far, the next idea I'm wanting to work on doesn't even involve Flash at all:
With a title like that, who could do wrong(!)
Also, in other news, I created a new group: Petticoat Palace. The group's purpose is just as garish as its title. It's meant to be a hub for sharing--not only my stories, but--fics at large that frolic in the subject matter of crossdressing, fembois, sissydom, and other girly shiet. Yaaaaaay Internet.
I'll also take this opportunity to remind anyone who's crazy enough to check out my Discord Group. It's safe for work and full of awesome marsupials/J00rists who enjoy a friendly atmosphere of chewing the fat. And if anyone wants to dabble in a less than safe for work server, I've got one of those too. You can hop into Lemur Cave and then poke shortskirtsandexplosions#5452 for a link, if you're so insane. For what it's worth, I occasionally share drafts to adult fic documents that I'm working on there.
Last but not least, I'd like to remind the marsupial alumni that I have a Twitter Account. Most recently, it's gone south. That is to say... it's always sucked, but now I'm aiming to use it as a place to link to my literature--especially that of the NSFW variety. Because, odds are, someone out there may be apt to enjoy the stuff I'm keyboard-plonking forth, and seeing that Tumblr died, then Twitter appears to be the next best thing. Look forward to lots of PS4 screencaps, photos from WDW trips, and pedantic retweets of liberal rhetoric. Yay, fun!
And as I close out this blargh, let me take a moment to address something.
This is not a "coming out." Maybe it seems that way, and perhaps on some level it can genuinely be interpreted as such. But I am not trying to pull some crazy stunt or shove Flash's dick into anyone's eyeballs. I have long lambasted the idea that being a brony = being a sexual lifestyle or some such, and I think the same thing extends to this.
It's just that... for whatever pathetic reason... I have punished and murdered myself over giving in to actual smut-writing. And while it may not see like much to others, it's a strangely huge deal for me... a "hurdle," as t'were. And I'm just now in the process of hopping over it. I'm not very good at it, but I do endeavor to be decent or even above-decent someday. While I appreciate support, I will not force anyone to drench me in hugbox/echochamber platitudes.
I'm just having... way too much fun. And if you can't do that on the Internet, where in the ever living fuck can you? I'm not gonna walk out into the park and shout: "Hey! Ever dream about fondling Flash Sentry's coin purse in lacy panties?!" I mean, sh00r, some assholes are up for that. But not this one. I wanna be an asshole with class... aka an adult fanfiction writer. F'naaaa.
At least I picked a good year for it! Right?!?
Sincerely, your blue knight,
-SS&E
Flash!
Oh-ooh!
SENTRY OF THE UNIVERSE
Seriously though, just be you. This is just a fanfic site, so who cares what some anonymous manchildren think? I use that term to describe someone who takes this stuff way too seriously, not your average fan, just so there's no confusion.
I really want to read this now. Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan.
Everything I expected and more.
Jesus this is a long-ass blog. I'll have to read it later.
Pity one of the images of list of story ideas wont load. Bet theres some really good stuff in there.
So, Ill stick with toasting you with a vimto milkshake, and ponder the remake of The City At The Edge Of Forever. Diaspar.
Get out.
Shortskirtsandexplosions, Or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love The FlashFriendship
4996218
Well I definitely got tricked by that intro into thinking this would be a very different blog!
I really appreciate seeing blogs that are honest with a part of an author's intentions like this. A lot of people seem to try and pretend that everybody is very sanitized and always doing things for some deep reason. Even on a horse fiction site. Which is nuts to me, and also creates an atmosphere oddly wary of just open honesty.
I like seeing parts of your thoughts throughout this. I think more people should be more open about who they are and what they want.
Flash is a surprisingly solid dude. I find him more enjoyable with every rewatch.
I agree with so damn much of this. Also, a large part of why I used Flash as the POV protagonist for Persona EG (aside from literally being the only dood with a speaking role back then) is that he IS so generic and so open-ended that I could write him literally any way I wanted to.
Ironically, these days I try to avoid overusing Flash in pr0n type stories unless I have a specific reason to use him, but it's less because of the "Flash sucks" mentality of this website (which I have never shared) and more a simple matter of "I can more believably tell this story with THIS dood". Like pairing EG Ditzy Doo with EG Troubleshoes, for instance. It was a one-off idea for something cloppy that ended up turning into something I didn't expect and it would never have been what it is if I'd used Flash as Default Penis. But there are times when you pretty much have to use Flash as Default Penis because nothing else makes sense...and that's okay.
Anyway. Looking forward to seeing how many kinks and dicks and things fall out of the lemur tree in 2019.
I haven't read your newest flash fics, but after this blog, I'm going to.
They were. And, a little-known fact is, that they still are. Today, it looks like everyone in the fandom is raving about EQG and craving the newest movie (or episode, or short, or whatever it gives birth to these days). There are a few reasons for why it looks like that; Equestria Daily covering it big-style to pander to its tiny, but dedicated (that's a nicer way to say "shouty", not lying here), fan group, a few popular authors writing a fic about it here and there (or even doing it most of the time these days *cough*, no, I'm not talking about you), ect.
And, of course, "Love and Tolerance", a mantra and lifestyle that I am supporting myself in case anyone doubts it after reading what I'm saying here, which is highly responsible for it that you can't poke out your head and point out something negative about EQG without getting slapped by a group of highly-offended EQG fans.
All of that makes it looks like that EQG is the big thing in the fandom, but the fanbase it has is actually still very small. Most of the fandom still opposes EQG and would openly show that, too, if it weren't for the fact that the small fanbase EQG has is all the more loud, rabid and often even downright aggressive to make up for their tiny size. Accusations of being an utterly intolerant person, personal attacks, name-calling and even assaults in private messages are things I have only seen EQG fans do, but never fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (even though there are a couple extreme individuals in this group, as well).
I have experienced my fair share of attacks from EQG fans, too, every time I talked negatively about it and after the five and a half years since the first EQG movie surfaced, I can safely say that the reason why EQG seems like so grand and big in the fandom these days, is because the minority who likes it is aggressively defending EQG to the point of shouting people down and intimidating the larger opposition.
After a while, this has resulted in it that the EQG-despising majority of the fandom has either decided to be quiet or to lie regarding their thoughts about it when a EQG-related discussion crops up to avoid getting attacked further.
It's a very depressing thing to talk about, but every single interaction I ever had with EQG fans (of which there were many) was downright hostile and vicious and made me wish more that EQG had never come to be. EQG really brought out the worst in some people, which is ironic in a sad way, considering how corporate-driven and fundamentally different from MLP: FiM, as well as unfitting to the "My Little Pony" franchise as a whole, it is.
To me, EQG and its small fanbase always feel (despite that they use this phrase, as well) like the antithesis to "Love and Tolerance".
This comment will see the downvotes coming in quick (not that this will bother me, it's just a prediction I'm making), but since you talked about "Love and Tolerance" at the start of your entry here to defend Flash "Brad" Sentry, a character from EQG, I had to share these experiences I made.
Also, I'm not referring to you here, just to avoid miscommunication. I never talked with you about EQG so I can't say that you would show above mentioned behavior and I know that there are always exceptions, even in small fanbases. This comment was merely written to highlight how my experiences with EQG fans so far have all been incredibly negative and hostile and, therefore, to show how most EQG fans fail to follow the principle of "Love and Tolerance" that we as a fandom established.
...Uh, no, I haven't noticed. There's drama? What's happening? Somehow I'm completely out of the loop.
4996275
See MrNumber's latest blogpost and Intricate disguise's rebuttal.
I think you're using Flash for the exact purpose he was created for, good on you!
And things like that Rarity song you used as a gif seem to be evidence to me they're trying to hit secondary targets with EQG. That video is not created to appeal to tween girls.
That's a really solid point about MASH. I guess if the Korean war can last 11 years, high school can last more than 4.
Most of all, I want to chime in with 4996221 . Pretty pretty please write this sometime!
4996276
Ah. Thank you. That explains it. I usually keep the mature content filter on because the featured box is unbearable with it off, so I easily would've missed any discussion about stuff like this.
And to add some contrast to what I just said, let me talk about My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic for a bit, too:
This is going to be related to what I said in the EQG comment, about there being a minority that is loud and shouty, aggressive and hostile and that intimidates the opposing majority with that. This isn't something that you find just in the form of the EQG fanbase, the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fandom also has a loud minority of a certain kind, in that case, a minority of "fans" (yes, the quotes are on purpose and there for a good reason) who are utterly hateful in their approach to the show.
I don't even need to detail that in such a long textwall. You have all seen them; the loud and awful ones who call the show (especially in newer seasons) "garbage" and who openly insult the writers as "incompetent".
Those who even go so far to completely derail and pick apart a dedicated comment where someone who actually loves the show and bothers with it explains why something isn't a plothole or why a certain plot development was actually a great thing for the show or who just praises the show and expresses how much they love it, like they think that every positive statement about the show or episodes they don't like must be crushed like a disgusting insect, so they can keep feeling validated in their hatred of certain episodes or seasons.
This fandom gave birth to an entire generation of reviewers who do nothing but pulling the show that we as its fandom are supposed to love and support, rather than attack and demolish, through the dirt, both on YouTube and in lengthy, ranty journals on Deviantart, in longwinded comments on EQD and here on FIMFiction.
These kinds of people who feel so comfortable in hating on the show for no reason other than making themselves feel good by doing that permeate every comment section where people start to talk about it or about new episodes.
This is a kind of vitriol so strong that I often see even true fans of the show, who actually love it and don't just pretend they do and who can see the actual quality in the various episodes of it, cower down and, rather than fully expressing their good feelings for it, resort to safe, careful statements like "It's decent.", out of fear that one of those "fans" comes out of the woodwork and starts guilt-tripping them for loving the show.
It's sad, but we have very evidently a minority in the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fandom who hate on the show just because they can and because they get a wicked sense of enjoyment out of shitting all over it. And who, much worse, like to pressure others into the same mindset.
Which is something that they might not even do consciously, but their tone is often so aggressive that it paints off on the majority of the fandom who still loves the show as much as they always did and cherish for each new episode as a fandom of something is supposed to do.
What makes this worse is, that so many who criticize the show in such undeserved ways don't even bother to actually watch and understand the plot before making their judgements and instead, merely skim over it with a half eye, write their lengthy rant reviews to show the rest of the fandom what's "wrong" about the newest episode and then move on to whatever other hobbies they have, completely missing the point about an episode because they didn't pay real attention to it.
I lack experience with other fandoms so I can't tell if this behavior is the norm for fandoms or if that's just here in the brony fandom, but either way, an outstanding thing about our fandom that is on the sad side of the spectrum is that we have a really weird group of pseudo-fans (if I didn't say enough to make you recognize them here, they are those who also get incredibly riled-up and mad every time it is suggested that they aren't true fans of the show because they do nothing but hating on it, those who do nothing to support the show and still insist on being "fans" of it) who are only here to hate on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and to force their hatred of it down everyone's throat.
It's something that I don't see getting taken serious by the fandom overall, but it does seriously spoil the mood for people who just want to enjoy the show, with side effects that hurt the entire fandom.
4996261
Yes, it will, because you are acting intensely presumptuous and condescending by deciding that you know how to speak for the entire fandom in denouncing a subset of it.
It really amazes me how vicious and widespread the hatred for Flash remains years after the fact. Was he a bland, boring character? Yes. Is he still? Less so but yes. But is this deserving of all the hatred he gets? Hell no. He was just a one-shot love interest for Twilight and really barely even that, he was a cute guy for her to crush on. My objection to this would be getting into the psychology of Twilight finding a human male cute when she probably doesn't even know what a "cute" human would look like by a normal human's standards.
I can only surmise people hate him because, as you imply, they want to see themselves in his place, as the hot stud that gets to bang Twilight, and then Flash swoops in and steals her. I wrote a Sunset x Flash fic that has a lot of downvotes, at a ratio of 5-1. In fact of my five fics with the highest ratio of downvotes, Flash features in three of them as a main character, and while there are legitimate reasons people would dislike two of those fics, it still makes me wonder how many are downvotes just for having Flash in them.
As for the sexy part... yeah, it's kinda hard to deny, especially with that Rarity vid, that EqG kinda exists to pander to the sex appeal of the cast. I claim no moral high ground here, Sunset is the sexiest thing ever and I gobble up fanart of her like a dying man. And while the series can put out legitimately good stories (I think the original film trilogy is very good on an objective level), at this point they've kept it going to push toys and to push the sexy girl angle. There's no other reason to make that Rarity music video, or to have several shorts of them at the beach in swimsuits, or to keep changing their outfits just because. But if this fanbase has proven anything, especially in later seasons, we like shameless pandering, both in pony and in human forms.
So I say "you do you and buck the haters."
I honestly didn't understand why people starting hating on him back then, and I still can't fathom it now. He's fine. He's a good boi. He's bland, yes, but in a world where characters like Vic Van Lier (NBA 2K16) and Kara and Zavala (Destiny) exist, I'm perfectly fine with him.
I still stand by my Derpy ship with him. She's been the friend who's picked up more
BradFlash pieces, she was always there for him. It was just a matter of time before he opened up his eyes and noticed she was there.That said...
derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/12/6/1311385__suggestive_artist-colon-badumsquish_derpibooru+exclusive_twilight+sparkle_behaving+like+a+cat_blushing_box_brad+nailer_cardboard+box_carpentry.png
Actually, I *did* do a Flash Sunset story which didn't get too much hate, despite an ending that really needed some scissors-work. So I've got some sympathy for our four-legged Brad.
Simple Quote.
"A feeling that most surprisingly brings the worst in others, volatility and vitriol being symptoms of this, is Jealousy, a feeling of desire for that which another has to the point of Ceaseless coveting. Such a complex and Cruel emotion, stealing sense and reason from those whom are a wash in it's beguiling clutches."
Basically Many are just Jealous that flash can influence Twilight romantically while her adult psyche is being bombarded by teenage hormones while in the human form. And this pisses them off because they put Twilight on a pedestal similar to how many religions put their Idols up to a higher standard. but instead of taking a second to think they blame the hammer that put cracks in the facade they placed over their Idol.
I've believed this is the main reason EQG persists at all among the fandom for years. Finally, someone comes out and says it.
I cannot find it in my heart to disagree with this assessment. :V
4996294
One word: Anon-a-Miss.
This fandom is incapable of letting shit go.
4996336
Oh lord people need to let it go, yes it sucked royal but it was barely even canonical...
I think this put me deeper onto your headspace than I ever wanted to go lol.
But for real good for you man, good for you.
I find people's mental machinations very interesting, so thanks for sharing, you crazy man.
4996336
4996338
I'll go you one better: Mare-Do-Well. You want to start a bar brawl/prison riot/just plain wreck a Discord chat with bronies in? Just namedrop Mare-Do-Well and get out of the way.
4996367
Mare-Do-Well was shit! D:<
4996379
Can't disagree there. I used to really like the episode? But then I really took a closer look at it, and honestly, the early season writers on MLP were just really bad at writing interventions, even blatantly, intentionally hamfisted ones like that.
At time when the blogs are resounding with the outraged battlecries of the unruly mob, trust one voice to sanely bring attention to an issue that really matters to the fandom
.
4996261
Yes, because you are being incredibly condescending and speaking for everyone. With an argument constructed such that anyone who disagrees with you is in on the conspiracy and, as a bonus, lets you feel like a martyr for truth. It's really pretty transparent and silly.
edit: What Drakey said
4996333
Also Sunset Shimmer, the Sirens and Sci-Twi. Though there is admittedly significant overlap there.
Oh my god with the pun titles. 2019 is already a good year!
I like several others have posted never got the reason for the hate even with the intial apperance since Flash was so much of a blank slate afterwards that more fic writers haven't used him in interesting ways. Hell I'm still slightly surprised that we haven't seen more good human Flash going to equestria or Human Flash and Alicorn Twi trying to see if they can make a cross portal relationship work. Especially on Twi's end since the portal is in her castle,
Also
4996276
Holy crap that happened? Seriously?
Wow.
Glad to see SSAE your post was mostly about the show and it's spinoff themselves.
What most of us Gen Xers are loathe to admit is all these properties from the 80s, from MLP and Strawberry Shortcake to Transformers and G.I. Joe, were designed to sell toys and still exist for that purpose. It's a minor miracle that Lauren Faust and her successors created and perpetuated this rich and varied universe while obeying their corporate masters.
I have no beef with two-legged versions of our favorite four-legged friends. If anything, it gives us that many more opportunities to tell bigger and better stories about these characters.
4996218
goddammit I was not ready for that
I spit coffee all over my pajamas.
And skirts, it absolutely seems like you're having fun. That's reason enough. Keep doing what you enjoy!
Happened the same to me. Not that that one fanfic I wrote (and never finished) was any good. But based on comments, one or more of the downvotes were specifically because they hated Flash Sentry (and the story was about blank slate armored pegasus flash sentry, not blank slate schoolband accidentally attracted to two horse girls flash sentry. But it involved a romance between horse sentry and horse sparkle).
Anyways, as I commented in previous blog posts, don't worry, be nasty. You don't stop shipping discovery kids characters because you grow old, you grow old because you stop shipping discovery kids characters. Explosions are good. Skirts are great. There is no Dr. Pepper in my country so if you ever want to send me a sample that would be great. Robert Reynolds (Earth-616) did nothing wrong. Exploration of kink is good for your psyche.