@Background Pony #D2A5
 
Eh, I can understand that. I guess you don’t really need anything more, when defending a character’s right to exist.

@Background Pony #181E  
All I’m really saying is that some people like to tout their perspective as if it were the last word, disregarding those of us who think the complete opposite. I see this constantly with regards to Flash, and it’s annoying to be constantly marginalized.

@Background Pony #D2A5
 
I’m not clear on how that makes your own opinion any more legitimate.
 
If people dislike Flash for whatever ridiculous reason they might have, it decreases their enjoyment of the show; from their perspective, it is reasonable that he should be removed so that they might enjoy the show more, absent any other considerations.
 
Your own argument is essentially “I like him, so he should stay”. It’s pretty much the exact same argument.
 
(I should note that I have no strong feelings on Flash’s character; I wasn’t interested in watching the movie, so he’s pretty much irrelevant to me so long as they don’t introduce him into the actual show or comics.)

@Jarkes  
Hrm, yeah, I didn’t mean that there was anything wrong with being a BP, I was only trying to identify who I was talking about, since I didn’t feel like hitting the @Reply for any particular comment.

@Background Pony #D2A5
 
…Says another anon.
 
(You had a point once you clarified, one that I happened to agree with; I was just pointing out the likely unintentional hypocrisy)

@Background Pony #B42E  
It’s pretty straightforward. He’s under the mistaken impression that there’s any more to his postulations than opinion and taste, which makes his efforts ridiculous to me. I happen to like Flash as he has been portrayed so far, and it irritates me when anyone acts like there is something inherently flawed or objectionable about him. If you just don’t like characters such as him, fine, but it is pretty lame to act like that preference is “correct”.

@Background Pony #D2A5  
Explain, please, how his opinion is more bogus than yours.

Screw your bogus opinions anon, I like Flash and he should stick around.

@Takashi.0  
Wait, nvm, I thought it was some sort of “liar liar pants on fire” thing.

@Background Pony #C162  
Why?

@DemonioBlanco  
@Haymaker  
@PonyPon  
@Takashi.0  
@Archonix  
@Millennial Dan  
@Background Pony #CA7D  
@Lurks-no-More
 
All of you. You’re on fire.

@Background Pony #181E  
Dunno if Spike is a screw-up, the only episode which portrays him like this is “Spike at your service” which is hated because they totally made Spike useless even though it was constantly portrayed before how he can do everything WITHOUT screwing-up.
 
Agreed it would be possible to write Spike out but I guess that would upset a lot of fans. Compared to writing out Flash Sentry, writing out Spike would create a true shitstorm in the fandom especially from all those Sparity and Spilight fans.

The way I see it, Flash Sentry’s lack of personality was intentional; it was a way for girls to believe that Flash was the perfect guy despite the audience presumably having significantly different ideas on what that might constitute. It doesn’t create the most satisfying of pairings, but it does let you sell the toy without stirring up a lot of conflict over how he was clearly unsuited to her because “I like a different type of guy, and I’m totally like Twilight” and so on and so forth.
 
 
@Archonix
 
I don’t really care if it’s pandering or not. It would make my life easier.
 
That said, if they write him out in a plausible manner, they can insulate themselves from the accusation of pandering - and snipping a romance in the bud is a pretty minor thing. He was never intended to have a big role to begin with, so it would really only matter to those who cared about flash.
 
@Background Pony #CA7D
 
Eh, Spike’s pretty much a screw-up through and through. When he helps, it’s the exception, and not the rule. It’d feel too weird to change that.
 
As for writing him out, it wouldn’t be terribly difficult. He’s the faithful pet of the main cast, no? Let him prove his love for them by saving them from some dire threat… At great personal cost. Or for the more merciful amongst us, maybe just be recalled to Canterlot on official business, or sent off on some quest. There are a lot of different choices, and it would be a great lesson for the kids: that friends eventually leave, so you should treasure what time you have with them.
 
(OEB8 from before, on a different computer)

@Jarkes
 
*didn’t work properly for her

@Takashi.0  
That might be nice.

@Millennial Dan  
Maybe she’ll get her own short.

@Takashi.0  
All the more reason they reeeaally ought not neglect her in the sequel. But sadly, I can’t shake this feeling that she’ll be taking a back seat to whatever conflict occurs between Twilight and (cough) Adagio Dazzle, whoever that is.

@Jarkes  
I think that was more or less the intention.
 
 
@Millennial Dan  
True.
 
But then again, all the other villains have had some explanation for why they do what they do Sans Sombra, so I guess “Oh she was my Student, but she left” was a bit too little for some people.

@Jarkes  
That seems reasonable enough.

@Takashi.0  
Yeh, she’s gorgeous and all, but I’ve gone to a lot of effort in the past to point out how many errors people make when they say she’s “flat”, or something to that effect. Honestly, what does that even mean? Is it because of her particularly focused single-mindedness? That’s hardly what I would call “bad writing”.
 
As for knowing more about her, it would be nice, but just because her past has mysterious elements to it, that really isn’t much ground to complain. There’s a lot we don’t even know about the pasts of the Mane Six. No one ever complained that they didn’t know Darth Vader’s whole story after seeing him the first time. He was just a nasty villain who seemed intimidating, and people were cool with that.

@Takashi.0
 
Personally, I think the reason she got turned into that demon thing was because she was trying to use the Element of Magic for selfish purposes, so it didn’t work properly before. And I also figured that once she got hit with the mega friendship beam, in the split second before it turned her back to normal, it showed her exactly what kind of person/pony she was, inducing a Heel Realization.

@Millennial Dan
 
If nothing else, I love her design.

@Trickquestion  
Frankly, I think you’re crazy. I found Sunset to be far more interesting than several other antagonists that we’ve gotten from the show.

@Takashi.0  
I’d certainly find it far more pleasing.

@Takashi.0
 
I would’ve preferred more explicit parallels to Kamen Rider Fourze (I like to pretend that Sunset’s sudden redemption at the end was the reference I’d been hoping for, because that happened all the time on Fourze), but yeah, you’ve got a point.