@Itsthinking  
I can see it, but I also recognize when things are to be taken with a grain of salt. Trust me, I’ve been through a lot myself and if I got offended about all the jokes I hear abut those things, my pacemaker would explode.
 
@SquiggyBomb  
I respect you for being able to put up with that. I can’t stand real life child abuse. It can even tug at my heartstrings in fiction if written/directed well.

Spike dishes out as well as takes it. He’s no different in that regard to anypony else, other than have a base of rabid fans who get furious at any perceived insult.  
@Trickquestion  
You mean like “I’m so sorry I can only offer you this gem, which so happens to be the very thing you keep whining about” Fluttershy? Yeah, those friends sure treated him horribly.
 
And he couldn’t bake it because he kept eating the gems.

@Trickquestion  
The whole episode was a stock plot that relies on characters being too distracted to ask one question, and it is not unique to FiM. The fact that Spike had to be left out of this says a lot about how he is characterized to me. He wasn’t downcast, he was just being greedy at the concept of getting gems and yeah yeah, having to take care of animals.
 
@QueenCold  
I…I guess not? I dunno.

@Itsthinking
 
My art can be a hugfest, but let’s be honest, there are different things to be explored.  
I’m already really toning things down for MLP. There are certain themes I used to explore a lot back when I was an anime artist, that I personally don’t want to associate with MLP. It would kinda rape my inner child.  
I used to have stories about family feuds between warlords, arranged marriage for diplomatic reasons, rape brushed off as a marital duty, etc. I don’t think I’m treating Spike too bad here. ;)

@Itsthinking  
Then they should have explained that better, and not made him visibly downcast at being rejected. And the straight man argument just points out how stupid and badly written “Games” was as an episode. If a character would end an episode in five minutes by virtue of acting intelligently, then you have a bonafied Idiot Plot.

@QueenCold  
The worst part is when I told the teachers and cops about the bruising they said they couldn’t do anything about. That’s what angered me the most. The knowledge that these kids were suffering and I couldn’t do anything about it.

@QueenCold  
Can you see how some people can’t buy the “it builds character” line, even as a joke, then?

@Trickquestion  
Peewee was a wild animal, not a pet. It would have been wrong for Spike to keep him, especially since him raising him opened up a whole can of uncomfortable implications.
 
People seem to forget that it wasn’t the Equestria Games. It was the promotion committee to get the Equestria Games. How entertaining would that have been for Spike, honestly? Plus, with how often he plays a “straight man” character in episodes, there would have been no conflict with him there. The episode would be over in five minutes because he wouldn’t get caught up like everypony else did.

@SquiggyBomb  
As it should. I mean, come on, bruising? I keep saying this over and over again: just because you can reproduce, doesn’t mean you should.

@QueenCold  
Oh no, I was talking about his caretaker in Canterlot, though I admit that I laughed at the concept.
 
I’d really like to see more of that, though I know you probably just don’t want to make artwork where all of the characters dote on Spike all the time.

@Itsthinking  
See, what bugs me about “Just For Sidekicks” was the bit with the Crystal Games, and PeeWee. If you took those bits out of the episode, I’d agree with you completely. But with those bits in, Spike goes from a selfish jerk (which is already stretching characterization a bit) to someone who’s been seriously insulted and shut out by his friends, lost a pet he cared for, and now just desperately wants something to go right in his life. The fact that she wouldn’t even let Spike bake the freakin cake, after learning his lesson at that, really sinks the episode for me. If they actually considered how all that would effect a person, the episode would have ended with Spike just laying down in a corner and crying.

@Background Pony  
I know Spikefans are many people. But like with fans of other characters, they’re often stereotyped to be a certain way by people who want to antagonize them.
 
Not contributing to a stereotype can’t hurt.

@Itsthinking
 
I guess that one did hit hard then, because I’ve given him lots of love. Note that I haven’t given him any hate, just unfortunate experiences. I suppose that could be seen as hate though.  
Yeah, I know which one you are talking about. The one with sick Twilight and even sicker Spike, right? That was a great big, exaggerating joke about how oblivious purplesmart can be.  
Remember, I usually portray them like so:  
>>321681  
>>189022  
;)

@QueenCold  
I was in a program in high school where a student would act as a counselor to a child.It’s mostly boys it happens to. Their parents use the excuse “It builds character” to try to justify them abusing their child. I would usually see a kid with a fresh bruise once a day. It made me angry. It still makes me angry.

@Itsthinking  
OP is one person.  
Spike fans are many people.  
One person is not the same as many people.  
Many people can have many different opinions, which may or may not be similar.
 
It isn’t OP’s fault that you can’t comprehend this difference.

@Trickquestion  
Two of the three characters tied down onto these tracks are the only people that truly “get” Spike and would be able to understand the intricacies of his character development. Writing for him isn’t for the weak, but they have mostly shown how to do it. Just For Sidekicks used him for laughs, but Spike really deserved everything he got and genuinely learned a lesson by the end.
 
I look forward to more Powell episodes, and I can only hope that with him being her favorite character, she requested to do the bulk of them.

@QueenCold  
That was mostly it, but it hit really hard because it seemed like something that actually would happen in the show.
 
Plus the >implications behind Spike’s personal caretaker, but I realize that was more for laughs than anything.

I guess that’s what bothers me most about Spike’s character. It’s not the fact that the world and everyone in it treats him like garbage, but the fact the writers seem blissfully unaware of the awful messages they’re sending. Showing Spike actually psychologically effected by the kind of life he lives, and calling the characters out on it would go a long way towards improving the quality of his episodes.

@Itsthinking
 
Other than the school play gone bad, which ones if I may ask?

@QueenCold  
Yeah I know. It’s just that I’ve worked with kids who’ve gone through that kind bullshit. Even as a joke it’s gets me a little mad. Sorry.

@Background Pony  
He’d be a cynical misanthrope (mishippothrope?) if he weren’t so naturally happy-go-lucky.
 
 
@SquiggyBomb  
This.
 
 
@QueenCold  
Not to be rude, but I don’t think you’ve shown much love for him recently. Just a lot of horrifying moments for him.
 
But I would be interested to see what you’re planning on doing.

>Comic Sans  
>People Taking OP Seriously

@SquiggyBomb  
I’m pretty certain that was a joke

@Background Pony  
You do know that’s bullshit right? Abuse doesn’t build character it creates horrible psychological issues.

@Itsthinking  
I know, but I’m still gonna do it. I was gonna do it anyway. I’m kind of a sadistic butthole to my favorite characters. I tend to make it up to them with a sweet picture or two. Sometimes the latter just takes a while.