@SmittyG  
You would honestly be about a million times better off using an OC. Part of the problem here is that Rainbow wouldn’t willingly act this way, and I think part of you knows it. That’s why you’ve got this horribly abusive subtext going on, which is only exacerbated by statements like “caving into a submitting role.” (shudder) Your narrator is forcing her to act this way, and it’s not hot, it’s domestic abuse.

Thanks for that post BGP, seriously i appreciate the time you put into it..  
I shall see what i can do really, i think i might leave some story out for a couple of days while i actually plan it better.
 
I really thought the sick Dash update was a good scene :/  
Dash was headstrong and her normal self, while Master was caring but firm.  
Maybe the text didn’t help about breaking her though..  
But Dash caving into a submitting role is kind of what i was aiming for as further scenes develop.
 
Yeah, i’m sorry, writing really is not my strong point ;_;
 
Maybe i should open up a discussion tumblr for pet-dash as i receive a few questions i would like to post/reply to from anons, but am unable to do so under the main tumblr. Then people could give their feedback/hate/suggestions there?

Wow.
 
Wow.
 
Welcome to the abused spouse’s club, Dash.  
:(

More great posts, Background Pony. You have articulated many of my thoughts on this issue much better than I could have.
 
By the way, I don’t have any problem with the artist’s style either. I think his work is well drawn and colored. His Rainbow Dash is quite adorable, which makes what she is going through even more sickening for me, actually. She is so happily swallowing all the abuse she is suffering.

@SmittyG Sorry for the double post, but this came to me as an after thought.
 
Even though this is likely just lip service, as I honestly don’t expect a response from you, I’d be glad to discuss anything I’ve said further with you; here or elsewhere if you have a preference.

@SmittyG This is the same BGP as before. First, I’m not insulting your art. If you read my posts carefully, you’ll find that most of my irritation is a combination of “Master”‘s portrayal as a, thus far, neglectful and abusive person in regards to Dash, and the fact that people are pitying and sympathizing with him when in real life they would likely think him to be a fairly bad person. That Dash simply comes right back to him after leaving for nearly two months and acts like nothing that happened was a big deal, even though it was big enough for her to leave in the first place, it looks exactly like an abused woman running back to her abuser.
 
My biggest criticism is that you’ve only shown what looks to be a very abusive relationship with a very OOC Dash that has none of the charm of her in-character persona. Dash is a highly independent character by nature, so putting her in the submissive role to a person we don’t even get to see or know anything about isn’t helping.
 
A story either works and flows well at every stage or it stumbles. Periodic posting is only going to be a hindrance when you stumble. You have to remember that pacing is a big part of storytelling. Breaking your story up when readers are voicing dissatisfaction likely won’t help you quell negative sentiments. Did you ever think that people might actually be interested in the story on its own? There are some well done story tumblrs I’ve seen before, perhaps you could take a similar route.
 
Also, you must realize that you’ve chosen a very sensitive subject that many people simply don’t even like the concept of. If you want to continue this story, you will need to grow some thicker skin. If you honestly thought taking Rainbow Dash and doing a 180 with her personality, making her a sub, and then showing her “Master” put her through situations that qualify as abuse would not strike a negative chord with some people then you are just being silly.
 
To be frank, I feel that you really stumbled when you had Dash get sick. That immediately put up a red flag for people because the reasoning is just so OOC for Dash and it seemed like purposeful abuse to anyone who doesn’t understand the psychological aspects of a Master/Pet relationship. Then when you had her humiliated because of her Master forgetting about her, you firmly crossed into abuse territory; specifically emotional abuse that you further cemented by having Dash leave Master. Finally, having her crawl back, as I said before, is exactly how many abused women behave; thus striking another chord. Combined with some comments I’ve seen from you that basically just skirt talking about people’s criticisms, I didn’t have much to go on about your intentions. I do apologize for being abrasive with my accusations about your intentions, but you were really giving me a ‘troll’ vibe until just now with this latest post.
 
I do not know what kind of story you set out to tell here, but I’ve seen touchy subjects handled much better than this. Had you stuck to mostly sweeter moments and avoided depicting actual neglect and abuse, you likely would not be seeing the same level of negativity you currently are. I honestly believe had you portrayed this as a non-abusive relationship that you would have actually had a shot at making people think twice about Master/Pet play.
 
You are a fairly skilled artist, but I would say that your writing skill is quite lacking. Were this tumblr a fanfic, it would likely be ignored. Without knowing your “final message” for the story, I can only say that what I see does not make me think about anything positive. If you want this to be something deep, meaningful, and thought provoking to people, then you need to step it up and give us something that will make your detractors reevaluate their views on Master/Pet play. Leading off with some of the harsher elements of those types of relationships may not have been the best point to start at. With only eleven posts, we don’t even really know these characters. You’ve given your readers no time to form a connection with either “Dash” (because she is so OOC here, she may as well be an OC; meaning you have to reform a bond between this submissive character that isn’t Dash and the reader from scratch) or “Master”. We haven’t seen them do anything to indicate that they genuinely care about each other outside the Master/Pet dynamic before you drop sick Dash on us. That’s not good set up. Remember, this isn’t a written story, so you’re more limited in how you can portray such feelings. I’m not usually one to actively discourage others, but I’ll be damn surprised if you can pull off what you seem to be aiming for without drawing a lot of ire from people given the approach you are taking, assuming you can achieve your goal with this story at all. Continuing this is not going to make you an object of mass love and adoration, so be prepared to deal with the incoming hate or just give up now. Be thankful that you even have readers/watchers that care enough to defend you in the first place, most people don’t even have that.

Ah, bugger. Listen, don’t overwhelm Smitty. He’s doing his best to work on the story. Don’t start flame wars over a drawing. We all have our reasons in doing stuff like this. There will eventually be a conclusion to a story, so let’s wait for that.
 
Who knows? Maybe the master might not treat Dashie so much like a slave anymore! Maybe he’ll treat her in a humane way after a while. Do we know that? I guess we’ll have to be patient and let Smitty do what he has to do.
 
I know some of you are upset about what’s happening, but with every conflict comes a solution. Things aren’t always the same way currently are. Everything changes.
 
Smitty, I, personally, think your a great artist. I don’t care what things people would say, like the flaming back there. If people are pressuring you, ignore them and take all the time you need.
 
If tl;dr: There’s always an answer to the problem. You just gotta wait for it.

Smitty, try to take the criticism in stride. People like Background Pony are speaking their minds- and you’ve got an excellent opportunity to convince them that a healthy relationship is possible. Just put a little more thought into how you have the Master describe Dash. Humanize him by having him see her as a human.

Seriously! I can’t make the story work in 11 posts!  
Please!  
I stand by my DA comment, i’m not making this for flame wars, I want it to be something you finish looking at and have it play on your mind. Something you take away and truly think about.
 
Can i do this in 11 posts? no i cant! I’m not very good at art and i’m extremely limited on what i cant do to meet the post-a-day rule i’ve set myself.
 
I’m trying my best, and i’m trying to keep everyone interested by not just posting content relating to the story.  
I’m hopefully that people will find it interesting as the story develops, but the negativity is just such a downer :(

It’s not stupidity, at least not on my part. I don’t believe in bowdlerizing a text in the manner you describe.

I like that everyone bitching about this tumblr is too stupid to just shop out the text.  
Really.  
This is ALL you need to do to extract maximum cuteness. Plebes and dweebs, ya’ll, plebes and dweebs…

Quite well said, Background Pony. Thank you.

@Niggoslav Yes, my main point of contention with this, putting my personal like or dislike of the subject matter aside, is that this situation is Dash being abused and simply passing it off as a mistake. In other circumstances this “Master” would face legal repercussions for his neglect, yet people are just lapping this up as if nothing is wrong with leaving someone tied up outside like that. When a mom “forgets” her baby in the car and it dies of heat stroke, she goes to jail. When this guy “forgets” Dash and she suffers emotionally enough to feel like leaving him… he gets people’s pity and sympathy. Both cases, while not exactly correlated in outcome, represent the same type of abusive neglect that brings harm to someone you are supposed to be caring for. What burns me up is that this guy is getting a free pass for behavior that should be getting him condemned. But no, Smitty wants more drama out of this, so Dash comes crawling back like so many abused women do.
 
The artist’s attitude towards this tumblr and the reactions around it are quite irritating as well. That SmittyG seems to be doing this stuff to “create mixed emotions” (quoted from his Devart page) is laughable. The artist is essentially admitting to doing this stuff for the sole purpose of creating these flame wars while he sits back and laughs. He’s not creating deep, meaningful discussions between people about a touchy subject; he is creating fuel for people to use to fight, bitch, argue, and insult each other over a touchy subject. It’s a damn shame too, because he had a chance to make this not feel abusive. The tumblr could have easily been used to portray an oft misunderstood subculture in a believable and healthy way. Instead we just got drama and abuse of Dash, because this fandom needs more of those apparently.

Americans give up their freedoms and take abuse all the time, so how is that unh-Ah, I concede this point to you then dear BGP!

Ah, yes. Because the desire to have total control over another sentient being is perfectly healthy. Not to mention, willfully relinquishing your free will is also a completely healthy behavior. /sarcasm
 
Just because some people like it, doesn’t justify the abuse. If someone is irresponsible enough to leave, let’s say a child, outside and it got sick like Dash did, what would you be saying about him? Would you so easily forgive him? How is this any different? Just because the victim feels compelled to go back to such an idiot, does not excuse his failure. Were Dash a child, she’d be taken away from him for her own safety. That she’s deluded enough to think she’s still safe with this guy is really sad.
 
I can understand some forms of role play, but violating someone’s trust like this is just wrong. I can see how elements of a sub/dom play could be entertaining, but this is basically slavery. I just don’t see how this is a healthy behavior, much less a healthy relationship.

Okay, you know what, fuck this. I’m play some Armored Core to blow off steam, take a shower, blacklist smittyg and forget this Tumblr ever happened.  
Good fucking night.

one last comment then.  
he did mention breaking her but to explain that would take way to much effort, he nearly killed himself with depression and guilt in making that one mistake and yet so many still sees him as a soulless abuser…i love this tumblr, its cute, its hot, its got good sub dom pet play features but if you dont like it or understand it then dont create a shit storm on every post.
 
thank you and good night.

I’m done here but if you would take sub-dom/humiliation play to be the same as horrific and unasked physical abuse you’re too far gone to even speak to.

I’m glad you are entertained on so many levels. :-)

I love this tumblr simply because the discussions it spawns are hilarious.

The narrator said that he wanted to break her, to show her really who was dominent in their little relationship. Looks like it worked. Leaving her out there humiliated her enough that she was willing to come back to him even after such a breach of trust. Dash is broken. Congratulations.

Wolff, it was…no, fuck it, no more pointless arguments, i am out.  
/gone

And the poor dear really believes that it was an accident. Sad.

@gitton
 
I don’t know. Might depend on the subject. Some people probably find me insufferable. *shrug