CronoM

@Tavi959  
The show itself remains good overall, while Starlight herself is an epitome of bad writing, consistantly and repeatedly over ~3 years. Does the concept of a ‘consistant problem’ elude you?
 
And no, one ‘Starlight Glimmer’-level -of-bad-writing character is not enough to make people leave the show, thus, people who are still fans of the show criticize Starlight for good reasons When her writing improves, that will stop, just like it did with, say, EG1 Sunset or pre-EG4 Flash (who actually made himself emotionally useful in the 4th movie).
 

 
We can argue our perspectives and preferences until our throats are raw and not achieve a damn thing.
 
Do you understand yet? There is absolutely no way to accurately quantify percentages of a characters popularity one way OR the other, but the fact remains there is an existing subculture of Starlight critics and an existing subculture of Starlight defenders, of which the other main stay characters in the series do not have or require, which speaks volumes. Her continued reception is mixed, that much is clear regardless of what you or others pretend you know what the percentages are.
 
@Alexlayer  
Precisely.
 
@Hakirayleigh  
You really are missing the point.
 

 
As I pointed out above, continuing this dialogue is pointless. It won’t change anything, So how about we all close this discussion chain?
 
If not for the sake of agreeing to disagree, then at least for the sake of not going through the motions on this debate and not annoying the mods.
Tavi959
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So many people are so bloody butthurt over a cartoon horse that three years on they’re still complaining. People who hate Starlight this much are more venomous than the people who hate MLP; at least most of those people stopped caring after a while.
 
Don’t you people have better things to do than spend three years whining about a cartoon character you don’t like?
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For everything else, Starlight personality was useful and necessary to the plot.
 
The only one in which she’s admittedly necessary is ELTSD, since the whole plot there really couldn’t have worked with anyone else. I’m actually with you on the complaint there, though.
 
“Royal Problem” needing Starlight, though, is utter bullshit which I’ve already deconstructed in the past. Applejack could have carried out that episode, and if she could, several others likely as well, and for all of those that want to pull that made up excuse of “nobody but Starlight would be as blunt to the princesses”, Horse Play already proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that AJ ain’t scared of calling out Celestia when she’s doing something wrong!
 
The whole thing about having Starlight in that episode is basically a sinfully vain, self-congratulatory “take that” on anyone who for some reason or another doesn’t like Starlight, because it’s basically the writers establishing that, for any major/special episode coming up, “Starlight being there in a critical role” is basically a checklist point, the special event this time being “the long awaited Celestia & Luna episode”, and so far, they’ve stuck to this rule. Heck, in retrospective, it’s both a blessing and a miracle that they didn’t forcefully shove her into “The Perfect Pear” somehow.
 
And as for Mirror Magic, I’d argue that the episode didn’t need Starlight too, only… I’d probably be wrong, because the entire point of the episode is to shrill Starlight and nothing else (well, to sell her EqG doll too, but that’s just more of the same). The writing doesn’t give a fuck about Juniper Montague since they never bothered really developing her and clearly don’t intend to feature her again. The whole “moral” of the story is poorly handled, loose, repetitive and against continuity, so it’s clearly just there to pretend there’s something deeper to this lazy propaganda. And the entire plot is nothing but a series of forced contrivances designed just to make Starlight look cool at the expense of absolutely everyone else.
 
So yeah, arguably Mirror Magic couldn’t exist without Starlight because its entire point is to pretend she’s the very best thing in the show. Honestly, though? As far as I’m concerned, such episode should never even exist to begin with.
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@Blossomforth  
No need. I have been offered a job.
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Mirror Fucking Magic
 
Ouch! That has got to hurt.
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@Alexlayer  
My only complains abot thse episodes:
 
ELTSD: Twilight didn’t show more discipline to Starlight and the remane5 are so forgiving.
 
TRP: It isnt 100% clear Daybreaker is true evil Celestia.
 
M FUCKING M: Juniper Montage and Starlight didn’t have her magical arsenal.
 
For everything else, Starlight personality was useful and necessary to the plot.
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@Hakirayleigh  
That would be episodes like “Every Little Thing She Does”, “A Royal Problem” and the worst of the worst, “Mirror Fucking Magic”.
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@cloudkicker108
 
But @Alexlayer, you said found Starlight more tolerable. I can’t imagine when you really hate her her “guts”. That would be traumatic af.
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@Hakirayleigh  
Don’t waste your time with him. He’ll always find a reason to hate Starlight. Honestly, for someone who supposedly dislikes her, he sure spends a good deal of time talking about her.
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@Hakirayleigh  
Good lord, you’re missing the point completely…
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@Alexlayer  
But of course we don’t know the causes about that power and your complaining only the staff haven’t revealed Starlight talent is like looking for three feet on the cat. Give it time or enjoy Each character has mysterious strenghts.
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@Hakirayleigh  
Yeah, and animals are Fluttershy’s field, so it’s nothing that particular out there. Not to mention it’s not an all powerful thing that outshines others (it outright didn’t work on Discord, for example). Plus, it’s only instilling fear on others, not imposing her control (if anything, animals will only do thing for her to repay her kindness). Plus, as far as “power” goes, it’s arguably all that Fluttershy has considering the girl doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.
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@Alexlayer  
Really its an insult only Celestia pupils had those privilegies. Starlight could study a lot with any teacher to get her power, maybe better using ways was the teacher lacks, but even if Sunset had a teacher…
 
Besides, how “The stare” is a quirk?? Itimidating animals is a massive power.
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@Hakirayleigh  
Those are quirks, and they don’t make Pinkie or Fluttershy “better” than others in any way, specially not at what they do.
 
Starlight being just “gifted” makes Twilight’s and Star Swirl’s years and years of training and studying seem like they just aren’t worth anything because here’s a unicorn that doesn’t even have to try and yet she’s capable of matching them with just a fraction of the effort. It’s practically an insult to a far more likable character…
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@Alexlayer  
So, now why Fluttershy has “The stare” and Pinkie “The sense” about no previous explanations is a bad writing?? Not really, maybe lack of time. But Im sure Starlight being an autodidact is better than only be “Clestia student” to become a pony with great magic talent.
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She is the logical continuity of the Twilight Sparkle unicorn story arc, which was dropped for „Look at me, I’m the new alicorn princess, but my toys!“
 
Twilight became an Alicorn by the end of Season 3. Starlight wasn’t introduced until Season 5 and wasn’t made a protagonist until Season 6. In case you failed to notice, Twilight was given a new arc right after transformation. One about learning to fit the new role she’s been given. When a character finishes an arc, it does not mean their usefulness is over. They can all start new arcs.
 
And while admittedly having her become a mentor character for a new apprentice is indeed a new arc befitting of her, the show hasn’t really made use of this to make anything better out of Twilight. She’s been shown incredibly tactless, incompetent and unbefitting as a mentor, which stands out all the more when we’ve seen her act as a good mentor seasons ago (“Twilight Time”, Season 4), in which she was well-tempered, tactful, smart and an overall awesome mentor.
 
But like it often happens with Starlight, in order to make her look good, the show goes out of its way to make others be either stupid or incompetent.
 
I can understand that. I don’t share your opinion, but everyone has his/her right to like a character or not. But that’s a very personal question and I wouldn’t dare to rub it someone under his/her nose. For me, I don’t like Rainbow Dash very much. Something some fans maybe would tar and feather me. But who cares? As long as we could enjoy the show together I fine. :-)
 
Fair enough. Though, I still think the fact that the role she usually fills can often enough be filled by many other protagonists does stand out as a valid criticism to her character.
 
Technically I never said that the show is flawed, but it’s a good point. I think I understand WHY it’s Starlight Glimmer is the climax of all the dammed up anger. From back to season one there were some very big problems. First and foremost: the discontinuity. No proper time line, no real lore, no real borders. Practically each and everything could appear out of nothing. So why not a powerful unicorn which is needed, because we can break this bond of the Elements of Harmony. Who do you think would dare do anything what Starlight did? Or confront high and mighty princess Twilight if needed? The mane six are limited in their own designs. And we can’t change them, because they are toys. Never change a running team or the product line. So, what should we do? We use a plot device, named Starlight Glimmer. At least if we can’t use one of the classic designs to trigger the event. You know, the shy one. The goofy one. The dramatic one…
Do I expect the perfect show? Hell no! Why should I? As you said, there is no perfection. Actually I like these little up and downs. „We’re not flawless“ is one of my favorite songs. A good one a needed one (in context of the fandom). But why someone would focus the anger on one special character is beyond my understanding.
 
Eh… I mean, you’re just validating my criticism here, because in a way, you’re right. Starlight was a plot-device before she was a character, and it may be partly because of that that, when it became time to write her as character, things didn’t go smoothly at all.
 
I gotta disagree, though, with the idea that “The mane six are limited in their own designs”. After all, Twilight went through basically a metamorphosis through the series, and several arcs. You’re probably onto something, though, seeing as how the ReMane 5 do seem to be growing stagnant, and the writers seem to be running out of ideas for them. Yet, I fail to see why doing with them something like what they did with Twilight – giving them a radical change and a new direction – never seems to cross their mind. Ever since the end of Volume 5, I’ve been constantly hoping for something like this to happen to Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, but alas…
 
Well, moving on.
 
@DarkObsidian  
I assume my post is a little bit to long, so here Part III.
 
…okay, never mind. I’ve got nothing to say about any of this. I mean, this all may be right, may be wrong, but like you said, it’s all speculation and we’ve got little idea about how things actually work within Hasbro.
 
Overall, that’s all the replies I can think of giving you. Now, Starlight keeps having her ups and down – heck, I even consider “The Parent Map” to be a really good episode for her (though it makes her old bad ones even worse in retrospective…), and that gag of her old room really cracked me up XD – but given her track record, I can’t help feeling worried whenever an episode is going to feature her. Ultimately, only time will tell what the final verdict is, but as of right now, I’m finding her just barely tolerable.
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@DarkObsidian  
First of all… fair enough on dividing the post into several (Derpibooru apparently has a limit to words per post), but… did you realize you posted Parts 1, 2 and 3 in reverse order? ^^U
 
Anyway, let’s address your points…
 
@DarkObsidian  
Hard evidence not to your posts here on Derpibooru but to most detractors is this:
As long as you don’t start a huge discussion about what actually a hard evidence is and whats not. Are (horse) famous analysts a valid prove or not? Is an online article fact or just the opinion of the author? At least these are some of my sources.
 
Yeeeeeeeeeeeah, sorry, but no. What you’re doing best here is saying “Someone agrees with me”. I can just as well do the same thing with these links…
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWHdqVggiBc  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZyFnMhcMOk  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZndFO5LG2S0  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO0mTbF3mnk  
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2018/01/editorial-why-i-hate-me-some-starlight.html (did you even know the article you linked had this as its counterpart, actually?)
 
So bottom line, this type of arguing is gonna lead us nowhere.
 
And heck, even one of your videos – the one from Silver Quill – actually addresses most (but not all) of the issues with Starlight’s writing, hence validating the criticism, so if this is your line of argument, you’re shooting yourself on the foot.
 
Objection! All other villains were beaten in battle. Starlight surrendered on her own free will, when she had the chance to finish her revenge. Not matter the consequences. Starlight has shown a form of insight distinguishing her from other villains right from the beginning and it’s a good reason to apply not the same standards.
 
Okay, fair enough, so Starlight’s the only one (by then, not anymore by now) to have surrendered on her own, which admittedly makes her stand out. Problem with that is… it’s still really poorly written. She spends an episode and half acting on sheer thirst for revenge, behaving downright sadistically around Twilight, refusing to see reason over and over again, and then all of the sudden she’s sorry and giving up? It’s way too soon, way too out of nowhere. Even when Twilight was showing her the consequences of her action she still refused to see reason.
 
Compare that to Discord who, yes, was beaten the first time, but on his second appearance, actually gave into friendship on his own free will, and you can see a much better example of that. The change in Discord was gradual, with him being shown care and affection on his own that ultimately made the turn around feel credible, partly because there was work put into it, and partly because there was time put into it.
 
Starlight still goes from “I hate you and I want to see you suffer no matter what!” to “I lost my one friend, oh woe is me, how can I trust friendship anymore!?” in the spam of a commercial break. I don’t care how you wanna slice it or if you wanna highlight the fact that she’s the only one who gave up on her own free will, the change in her attitude is still way too rushed.
 
For a pony rival maybe even surpass the Element of Magic in magical skills it’s only logical to use her natural gifts to solve problems. Problems forced on her and lacking the fact, that you can’t use the same standards for her as other ponies. It’s like to put a gifted child in a normal school. Even the cutie map known that it has to be Starlight with her own special way to deal with the royal princesses.
 
I’m sorry, but.. what point are you trying to make here? Because regardless of the context, what Starlight does in those cases is morally wrong, and no amount of her being particularly powerful is going to justify any of that. Explain, maybe, yeah, but explaining is no justification, and she should still be held accountable for those things, but the show either lets her off way too easily or even goes as far as rewarding her for it, which is not a good message to give if you ask me.
 
She is not the only powerful unicorn we saw onscreen: Like Stars Swirl, Clover the Clever, Chancellor Neighsay, King Sombra, Sunset Shimmer, Tempest Shadow, Mistmane, etc. The all stand out because it’s a real possibility. Not just coincidence.
 
You’re missing the point. If just her being powerful was the problem, I would dislike Twilight as well. But Twilight, much like Star Swirl and Sunset (whose magical power we don’t really know the extent of in detail), dedicated their whole life to the studying and learning of magic.
 
We barely have any records of Starlight even showing that sort of dedication. We’ve got, in fact, the opposite of that, because she’s been clearly established in “The Crystaling” and “Every Little Thing She Does” to be someone who doesn’t need years of dedication because, by some innate ability, she can master in moments what others need prolonged practice and studying to make happen. This is why I said she’s powerful “just cause”. She’s established as having an unfair advantage over everyone else that makes her “special” because the show apparently needed to make her stand out somehow, but the trait itself just contributes to Starlight being a privileged brat.
 
The incompetence of characters out of real reasons is indeed a huge problem of the show. Starlight is not the only episode-focused one benefit from that unnecessary “cartoon logic“.
 
True. It has happened with others before, but never to the extent or amount that it has happened with Starlight, to the point it’s now one of her defining characteristics and I’m nowadays downright expecting something like this to happen if she’s around. Come “School Daze”, for example, proving that this is still gonna be a thing (unless it happens to be the last case ever, in which case, halleluiah!)
 
Shown things out of the screen is a stylistic devices to save screen time. The reverse of this are needless filler episodes showing nothing important or any kind of progress.
 
Eh, you can call it “stylistic device” if you want to, but I call it bad writing.
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@DarkObsidian
 
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@DarkObsidian
 
Don’t want to argue or join whatever happened in this thread. But maybe you should try to write things into a single post.
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@ILoveMyoozik  
Don’t just point at me (or Alexlayer); let’s be honest, we’ve all done our fair share.
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Nah, I’m a stubborn German and I never give up so quickly. In fact it’s a shame they don’t understand German because than I would produce MUCH MORE wall of text. I love differences of opinion. If I’m a little bit offensive sometimes, than it’s a cause of not enough coffee. Or TOO much coffee. And my English skills aren’t got enough to be “polite”. :-D
 
Oh, and for the adminstrators: I’m sorry, I should use the forum the next time. (__)
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I assume my post is a little bit to long, so here Part I.
 
@Alexlayer
 
So… you say it’s your opinion, but after you said detractors like me have been proven wrong? With hard evidence (that you’re failing to provide)? Either you’re trolling, or you really need to find better ways to express yourself.
 
Nah, it’s just 50% trolling, 50% the fact, I don’t agree with critics like you. Grin. :-)
 
Hard evidence not to your posts here on Derpibooru but to most detractors is this:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QjtzLdHAAo&t=612s
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rVZEm4AzP0
 
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2018/01/editorial-why-i-love-me-some-starlight.html
 
As long as you don’t start a huge discussion about what actually a hard evidence is and whats not. Are (horse) famous analysts a valid prove or not? Is an online article fact or just the opinion of the author? At least these are some of my sources.
 
You must be new around here if you think that’s the scope of things.
 
Surprise! I am! :-D
 
 
Sigh… seriously? After I’ve done it many times before? Fine…
 
Thank you, that’s very kind of you. :-)
 
Starlight’s got easily the worst redemption/reformation story in the show. Not that others weren’t flawed (in fact, all of them are), but the show had done better, and then took about every possible shortcut with Starlight possible, turning her from practically a psychotic egomaniac to a “woe is me, I have no friends” sorry pony in the spam of a commercial break. And contrasting every villain that came before her, she suffered no consequences whatsoever for her wrongdoings – not even being given the metaphorical “short leash” like Discord and Sunset were – but was instead given a privileged position and a luxurious place to live as Twilight’s new pupil. It’s as if she’s basically got rewarded for her wrongdoings.
 
Objection! All other villains were beaten in battle. Starlight surrendered on her own free will, when she had the chance to finish her revenge. Not matter the consequences. Starlight has shown a form of insight distinguishing her from other villains right from the beginning and it’s a good reason to apply not the same standards.
 
A good portion of her episodes following after that feature her doing similar things to those two which she was deemed a villain for, which basically sums up as “using her magic over unwilling subjects to force things to go her way”, and then either getting off easy for it again, or even praised for the deed.
 
For a pony rival maybe even surpass the Element of Magic in magical skills it’s only logical to use her natural gifts to solve problems. Problems forced on her and lacking the fact, that you can’t use the same standards for her as other ponies. It’s like to put a gifted child in a normal school. Even the cutie map known that it has to be Starlight with her own special way to deal with the royal princesses.
 
To make her look good, the writing does everything it could possibly do wrong or cheap to that end. Examples including but not limited to:  
o Making her extremely powerful for seemingly “just cause” to make her stand out.  
o Make other characters act immature, obnoxious and/or incompetent when around her so that she can appear to be the voice of reason and/or competent one.  
o Have characters speaking highly of her to the audience, even when the attributes they describe of her have never been shown on screen.

 
She is not the only powerful unicorn we saw onscreen: Like Stars Swirl, Clover the Clever, Chancellor Neighsay, King Sombra, Sunset Shimmer, Tempest Shadow, Mistmane, etc. The all stand out because it’s a real possibility. Not just coincidence.  
The incompetence of characters out of real reasons is indeed a huge problem of the show. Starlight is not the only episode-focused one benefit from that unnecessary „cartoon logic“.  
Shown things out of the screen is a stylistic devices to save screen time. The reverse of this are needless filler episodes showing nothing important or any kind of progress.
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Obsidian plz. I know you have good intentions, but just let this thread die, cause Alex and cloudkicker has done more than enough to feed OP’s duckery.
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Ten years of changes - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of MLP:FiM!
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Economist -

Smiling Panzerfuchs 2.0
I assume my post is a little bit to long, so here Part II.
 
@Alexlayer
 
Plus the fact that, as I mentioned before, she arbitrarily gets shoved into stories that just aren’t about her because, since apparently she’s the newest, shiny OC that their creators are so in love with, it’s like now she’s gotta be part of anything important happening.
 
She is the logical continuity of the Twilight Sparkle unicorn story arc, which was dropped for „Look at me, I’m the new alicorn princess, but my toys!“  
I’m born in the 80’s, I grew up with shows produced by toymakers. Believe me, I’m glad to see the focus on her, because that is, (IMO) what Lauren Faust originally intended. Well, I admit that M.A. Larson seems to like Starlight a lot. Because she’s a good device to polarize the (adult) audience. Because it’s a show not only for kids, but for the older siblings and parents too. For kids only my a**…. :-)
 
Extra bit: I find her extremely boring. The best she’s at is serving as a “Straight Man” for characters with far more charming/entertaining personalities than her, and we already had Applejack for that.
 
I can understand that. I don’t share your opinion, but everyone has his/her right to like a character or not. But that’s a very personal question and I wouldn’t dare to rub it someone under his/her nose. For me, I don’t like Rainbow Dash very much. Something some fans maybe would tar and feather me. But who cares? As long as we could enjoy the show together I fine. :-)
 
So… your newsflash here being: “Hey, the show is flawed”? Yeah, no shit. Everything is flawed because nothing is perfect, you don’t need to tell me that. But while many a characters have had poor writing before and continuity has been questionable at times, none of these flaws have been, from my perspective, as glaring or deal breaking as Starlight has. There’s a reason for which the Starlight Drama tag has become such a prevalent thing as of late that it now increases in number near every time after she shows up in an episode.
 
I’m well aware, yet even then, the Main 6 protagonists remain likable throughout the series, only having their ups and down at best. Starlight has been around for two/three and a half seasons (depending on whether you count Season 5 or not since she wasn’t a protagonist there), and her reception is still mix at best.
 
Newsflash… Now I have a catchy tune: Falco – Jeanny. Thanks. ;-)
 
Technically I never said that the show is flawed, but it’s a good point. I think I understand WHY it’s Starlight Glimmer is the climax of all the dammed up anger. From back to season one there were some very big problems. First and foremost: the discontinuity. No proper time line, no real lore, no real borders. Practically each and everything could appear out of nothing. So why not a powerful unicorn which is needed, because we can break this bond of the Elements of Harmony. Who do you think would dare do anything what Starlight did? Or confront high and mighty princess Twilight if needed? The mane six are limited in their own designs. And we can’t change them, because they are toys. Never change a running team or the product line. So, what should we do? We use a plot device, named Starlight Glimmer. At least if we can’t use one of the classic designs to trigger the event. You know, the shy one. The goofy one. The dramatic one…
 
Do I expect the perfect show? Hell no! Why should I? As you said, there is no perfection. Actually I like these little up and downs. „We’re not flawless“ is one of my favorite songs. A good one a needed one (in context of the fandom). But why someone would focus the anger on one special character is beyond my understanding.
DarkObsidian
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
Ten years of changes - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of MLP:FiM!
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Economist -

Smiling Panzerfuchs 2.0
I assume my post is a little bit to long, so here Part III.
 
@Alexlayer
 
If you want me to point fingers, though, I’d say I blame mainly Josh Haber (who’s written a bunch of Starlight Episodes) and Michael Vogel (who’s also written a bunch of Starlight episodes, and has stated that he favors Starlight’s character), but at the same time, I know they’ve also written good episodes too, so it’s not a statement on their overall quality as writers. At the same time, I strongly suspect there being someone else pushing on the “Starlight Agenda”, but because the affairs in Hasbro are largely private, there’s no way to really know. I’d just wish whoever was so into their shiny new OC would get over themselves already.
 
I know what you mean. Considering the fact, that Josh Haber first worked alongside Megan McCarthy and than was hired as the lead story editor for season six, my first thought was “Hey, good idea!” But I guess he had some instructions (build up or push toy lines) and only limited creative freedom. If you think about Hasbros attitude against their own other products like G.I. Joe or Transformers, I’m not surprised, that they gave a sh*t about continuity, lore or basic character development as long as they could make some money. Just freelancers, neither Haber nor Vogel couldn’t put too much into their works. I don’t think none of them did a bad job, but they focused on the only thing they got to be creative: Starlight Glimmer. Villain first, personal student later. You don’t think they didn’t know that from the beginning, right? Actually I think it was the whole concept behind season six and the disignated setup for season seven. Because the story arc (with Twilight Sparkle as lead protagonist) is from Celestias student to element of magic to secondary princess to princess of friendship to mentor to teacher. Short version.
 
What’s the “real problem” then, mh?
 
To put it straight: The bad habitue of Hasbro for a non-permanent production staff of writers and editors. Yes, Meghan McCarthy may be the fix producer and she was main story editor from 2012 to 2015, but with season 5 the damage already was done. Without knowledge about the internal affairs it is pure speculation, that’s true. But I’m pretty sure, that after the season four finale no one knew how to continue with this. Josh Haber did what he could, but the result hasn’t satisfied the expectations. McCarthy returned with season six to use what was good in the early seasons (more character focused episodes), but the fans wanted more (Buhu, we have a cutie map, we want adventures! World Building, buhu! Faustian Front). So we got season seven, a really good mix, but this time Hasbro was upset, because NOT ENOUGH NEW TOYLINE!!! (Really? So many new characters and we still need a School building? Okay… From mentor to teacher, we got it…) I only can guess what a mash-up season eight will be. I hope for the most and fear the worst.
 
My point: Hasbro/DHX could make things much more easier for all participants (fans, producers, shareholders) if there were only one creative producer team responsible for the whole world building, storytelling AND product placements. I don’t think the sales department should be part of it, but if there were a better connection between what the see onscreen and could buy later in the shop there were much less problems. And you had much less problems with character development. These things could better work you can see in most mainstream anime franchises.