@ChuymaruZ  
Geez, oversensitive much?

@Steelclaw  

 

Or better.

the moral of the story is: never make a “take that, audience!” episode, it makes things worse

@Strawberryjuice  
Yeah. Everything I post comes with a grain of salt.

@BigBadSeed  
Ah, sorry, I didn’t look at the uploader, I just assumed it was a background pony.

@Strawberryjuice  
Your interpretation is totally valid. I was just doing a joke.

I’m not gonna read the 100 comments before me so someone might’ve said this already, but I don’t think that was the moral. What I got from it was that even if some are dramatic about the show, and argue about frankly irrelevant things, and critizise some of the things the show has done, that doesn’t have to take away your enjoyment of the show. You can be Toola Roola and Coconut Cream and enjoy the show for what it is and learn from it. It’s ok to critisize, but just because someone doesn’t enjoy something, doesn’t mean you can’t.

@Ryodraco  

 
It wasn’t even really “going after” anyone. It was a good-hearted inside joke that some people are taking all out of proportion.

@Background Pony #CFD9  

 
Whereas I still re-watch that scene and laugh at it every few days. I’d say it’s one of the best single scenes in the whole show. You don’t even need to know what the rest of the episode is about to get it.

@WeirdBeard  
Exactly. I think it’s very telling that “Honest Apple” and “Fame and Misfortune” came out so close in time. With the hiatus to think it over in between before being poked with the moral again.

@Ryodraco  
The episode also showed it wasn’t just negative critics going overboard. The mindless constant praise Applejack & Rainbow Dash got from overly positive fans showed the downside of too much positivity. So the episode wasn’t an attack on “critics.”
 
I’m sure many popular fanartists in the brony fandom can relate to that, as they want thoughtful feedback on their art, (positive or negative to improve) like Twilight did on the book, but didn’t exactly get that.

@Rod Hungwell  
It wasn’t even taking a jab at real critics with well constructed arguments. It was at most going after “critics” who ignore the message of the show (or anything famous really) in favor of arguing about petty things. As others asked, was there a single legitimate criticism the episode included that was treated as stupid? The most serious criticism they included was regarding Fluttershy’s development, and that was given a serious, detailed answer (which then led to them noting that having Fluttershy show off her growth does not necessarily satisfy such critics).

@Rod Hungwell  

 
But that’s not what the message of this ep was. The end song agreed that some of the things the fans had to say were true (i.e. “we’re not perfect”). And the conflicts that many of the fans created in the show don’t have any clear fandom parallels. I mean, how on earth would IRL fans mob RD and in doing so prevent her from doing her job controlling the weather? How would they invade Sweet Apple Acres and literally join the Apple family? I mean, the writers even directly called this out: remember when the reporter pony commented about the characters in the book being “not realistic”? Twilight’s response only makes sense in universe given that the book was basically an autobiography. But it’s not a valid response that an author could give to real fans of a fantasy series.

@Rod Hungwell  

 
Oy vey… Did you even read what I said?
 
Also, you’re just showing your bias by dragging the “Starlight” issue in this thread, and that’s not a good way to get your point across. All you’re doing is just showing your own hatred & bias to the character.
 
No offense, but that attitude that “only we made the show popular, so they should kiss our asses” attitude is very toxic, and ignorant. As it wasn’t just bronies, as kids, parents, casual-fans, and such helped popularize the show too. The show staff has shown plenty of thanks to the fandom online, at conventions, and such. I’ve seen the show staff accepting criticism just fine, if it’s worded maturely. The episode wasn’t “anti-critic,” people tried to claim the same about “Daring-Don’t,” even though Quibble Pants was shown to be a nicer character as the episode went on.
 
If you think they don’t appreciate you, and are always picking on “us poor defenseless bronies,” then that’s your problem. You’re taking the episode way to personally, and reading too much into it.

@Ihhh  
everyone knows internet death threats are practically meaningless. I’ve had someone threaten to snap my neck to my face and I laughed at them ffs.
 
@Beau Skunky  
>another “if you criticize the episode you miss the point” post
 
Isn’t that convenient. WE were supposed to learn something - not them - even though the problems with Glimmer went completely undressed. Never-mind the sheer irony of her being present throughout the entire episode. We were supposed to learn self awareness, despite the cringe-inducing song at the end that shows the writers these days don’t have any. And it’s not strawmanning or anything, because that’s a bad thing and it would make them look like the jerks here, when it’s clearly the people who unintentionally shilled the show all over the internet for 7 years, creating the fame that these new guys have now despite being terrible writers who really think they aren’t doing anything wrong.
 
If you’re a fan of this show you’re used to taking your lumps for it - that’s not what the problem is here. Casting your critics as the conflict creating force in an installment of your series and going “lalala you’re wrong” is literally something a bad webcomic artist would do. That’s all I’m saying.

@Seabridge Drive  
just search murrison here, but trust me, you dont want to know

@Beau Skunky  
@Ihhh  
Who the hell is this Morrison/Murrison guy

@Beau Skunky  
He’s right you know. (And by “he,” I mean you, of course.)

@Rod Hungwell  
The staff has actually shown alot of restraint, and honestly have been good sports about the fandom, and talked to them, accepted criticism, and such. I think you guys are taking it too personally if you think the whole episode’s point was a huge “take that” to those watching.
 
Aside from a few fandom jokes, (which were honestly quite light-hearted) which are ironically something fans would “get,” I see the episode as more like…  
Say for instance you put up fanart on some art site like DA, or something, and you hope it inspires others somehow. Instead it becomes insanely popular, or a fad, but all your commentators rather then appreciate it, or give constructive criticism, or opinions instead just go off on something else about it you didn’t expect.  
If anything, it’s just an observation on the ugly side of popularity, which even those of us online have experienced, so it’s not strawmanning, or attacking the audience. It’s showing the audience how to handle unexpected popularity, their fans, and to understand that it’s not all bad, and some “get” what you’re trying to do with your art, or whatever. It’s telling the audience they shouldn’t let things get to them.
 
@Ihhh  
To be fair, didn’t Murrison leave the show finally?

@Rod Hungwell  
So I guess the writers never receive death threats and morrison doesn’t exist, and I guess it’s now a straw man to quote fans word for word.

@Rod Hungwell  
Wow. I mean… wow. The level of self-delusion combined with self-absorbtion on display in that comment is truly impressive.

@Ihhh  
Not really. Aren’t these guys supposed to be the kind of middle aged men who always take the passive agressive high road on things? And has any critic ever done anything comparable to writing an entire episode of a T.V show based off how butthurt they were? Strikes me as extremely petty to be honest.

@Rod Hungwell  
So the fandom can make fun of the show staff as much as it wants, but the moment the show staff makes jabs at us they’re suddenly being overly sensitive? Bit hypocritical of you don’t you think?

@Dizzy Pen  
>no u
 
please. this isn’t even the first time they’ve done something like this.