Fandoms are a peculiar thing. It's great to be a part of a fandom and share common interests of things that you like with one another. Take me for example, I love MLP and show that through these blogs but recently, I've been interacting with Tangled fans on Twitter and talking about our love of the show and our frustration with some other fans, that we feel take things a bit too far regarding their criticisms of a certain character's actions in the season two finale. Why do I bring this up? Because that is something we see in this episode. I've touched upon the idea of fandom and how it can be a bit toxic years and years ago when I reviewed Slice of Life and as you'll recall, the second half of that review was titled Why I Review for Passion & (Not Popularity) Now fandom and passion are a two-way street, it's great to love something but you shouldn't let that engulf your everyday life. On the same token, just because you don't like something new in a franchise that you are passionate about, that does not give you the right to attack someone involved in the project. Look at how people go after Rian Johnson because of Last Jedi or a bit closer to home for me, the crap Ghostbros put Paul Feig through because of Ghostbusters: Answer The Call.
It's not hard to see how these creators could get fed up with the constant attacks from the fans that think they know better than the people in charge. I am not saying this is the case of all fans but when you see these barrages of hate that have led to people leaving Twitter because of the bullying from the fans, it's not hard to see how this is a problem and how some fans think they have a sense of entitlement or that they own the franchise, when they are just fans. This was also prominent when the first images of Noelle Stevenson's She-Ra reboot for Netflix were released and fans of the older series had complaints about aging Adora down and some went as far as to attack Adora's looks. This felt really troublesome
(Really? I don't see it but I don't have any nostalgic attachment to the original though)
Please do understand that I am not saying all fans are the problem but that fans that act like this can be a bother to creators and other fans of these franchises as they can make the fandom as a whole look bad. With this long and sure to be controversial introduction outta the way, let's move onto the plot section.
The Plot
The plot is basic enough as Dash is attending a Daring Do convention and he meets a fellow fan there by the name of Quibble Pants. I'll say upfront that I love the look of the convention.
I've only ever been to one convention in my life, BrickFair but even then, this gets the idea of what a convention looks like down pat. Even some of the less savory aspects. Ahem...
I recall the weekend before I wrote this review, Jenny Nicholson posted something about how weird it is to see saucy body pillows of characters like Twily at places such as Bronycon and well, she's not wrong.
That kinda sums it up in a nutshell, if you ask me. From, what I've heard from some people they think that this episode was a gentle rubbing from the show staff towards some of the fandom about how older fans complained that the earlier MLP seasons were better than the newer ones. Which I'm fine with as it presents both arguments in a just and fair manner unlike my most hated episode (which I may never review) of this series as it doesn't do that and even the writer of that episode, M.A. Larson has disowned it.
So, Dash and her new friend Quibble Pants have some fun and enjoy everything and it seems like they're getting along until Dash realizes that they've only been doing things from the original trilogy. And that's where what I brought up in the introduction comes into play.
Quibble Pants: Whoa, whoa, whoa. There are no other books.
Rainbow Dash: Of course there are. Daring Do and the Trek of the Terrifying Towers, Daring Do and the Many Faces of—
Quibble Pants: Uh, p-please, please don't. Just don't even mention the titles. I-I'm not saying those books don't exist. I'm saying that I refuse to acknowledge them.
Rainbow Dash: Why?
Quibble Pants: 'Cause they're horrible! I mean, there isn't a single thing after Ring of Destiny that is even remotely in the realm of the possible!
Rainbow Dash: What?! I know for a fact that everything in every one of those books is one hundred percent possible!
Quibble Pants: Uh, and how could you possibly know that?
Rainbow Dash: Gyuh, uh, I just... do!
Quibble Pants: Well, that's a compelling argument.
Rainbow Dash: Why would you even come to this convention if you hate Daring Do so much?
Quibble Pants: I don't hate Daring Do. The first series was smart and cool and an amazing nod to old-time serialized adventure books, that somehow manages to be self-reflective and ironic while at the same time celebrating the art form without a hint of cynicism. Which is why I came here to ask A. K. Yearling muzzle-to-muzzle why she sold out and dumbed down the rest of her books into just a series of impossible action sequences!
A bit wordy yes but I think this whole section of dialogue is needed to show what this episode is attempting to show with Quibble that it's not really all that cool to act this way. You can have your issues with something that your a fan of but sometimes, you can take it a smidge too far. Let's hone in on, the last thing that Quibble says.
Which is why I came here to ask A. K. Yearling muzzle-to-muzzle why she sold out and dumbed down the rest of her books into just a series of impossible action sequences!
That's always an issue when someone does this and look I'm guilty of it too. I did it years ago with an embarrassing video about the show was derailing Pinkie's character or with complaints about twists and changes added to a show like Survivor ruined the integrity of the game. No-one's above doing this kind of thing with something they're passionate about, but that's when we need to pull ourselves together and ask if airing these complaints in the public are really worth it and do we wanna ruin the enjoyment of another fan. I may have thought some of the twists that Survivor added in later seasons to spice up the game was dumb but there are fans out there that probably loved them and think they are part of the greatest season ever. No-one in a fandom has to like the same thing but if we can understand that, this can allow the fans to get along better and to have better interactions with the creators.
I always attempt to be respectful and show my appreciation for the hard work that creators put into things I enjoy as I'm just a fan. Take the Tangled example, I mentioned up-top, I love showing my love to that show and thank people like Chris Sonnenburg, the creator and executive producer of the show for making a wonderful show that anyone can enjoy.
Now, this isn't to let Dash off the hook as she does do that but her fandom and friendship with A.K. Yearling does blind her to the fact that Dash thinks Quibble not liking the later books is a minor thing compared to why Daring is truly there. As Yearling puts it.
I've got bigger problems on my hooves than dissatisfied fanponies.
This is a good point but at the same time, I do not believe that it should excuse Quibble's actions. As we see, when his "I know better than the creator attitude" gets him and Dash into trouble when they're kidnapped by one Daring's foes and his attitude keeps him from thinking that it's real until he's almost attacked by a monster.
However, Daring swoops in and saves our characters and Quibble learns that she was real and starts to realize he and Dash can still be friends, even if they like Daring Do for different reasons. I know that I didn't go much into the kidnapping section, it's fun and does liven up the episode but that wasn't the main focus of this review and it was really just background dressing for what the episode is really about. Which is summed by Quibble and Dashie with these lines right before the credits roll.
Quibble Pants: Wait, hold on. Before we get in another fight, I-I think I finally figured it out! I love the Daring Do that solves puzzles and uses her brain to get out of tough situations, and she did way more of that in the original trilogy! You love the Daring Do that is brave and awesome and comes out on top no matter what the odds!
Rainbow Dash: Okay...?
Quibble Pants: And that's okay! We might never agree on what makes Daring Do cool, but you... are definitely cool. I-I mean, the way you saved me on the bridge? Wow! And escaping from the temple... you, Rainbow Dash, are awesome.
Rainbow Dash: Well... I-I'm not the one who can locate a treasure in half the time Daring Do can! You may have terrible taste in books, but you're pretty awesome yourself. In a brainy, egghead, puzzle-solving kind of way. Heh.
Quibble Pants: I guess we don't have to agree on everything to get along. Friends?
Rainbow Dash: Definitely friends.
In all, not a bad episode with a good message but man was this review hard to write because well, I was nervous tackling this subject. I know I've discussed fandom on my other blog, A Look at Disney when discussing the character of Syndrome last Halloween but fandom and politics are sometimes two of the hardest things to write about because you never know what a person's reaction is going to be when you put your thoughts out there like this. Kinda feels something like this.
Let's move onto characters and I'll only be focusing on Dash and Quibble because again, everything else was really background dressing for what the episode was actually about.
Characters
Rainbow Dash voiced by Ashleigh Ball
I enjoyed Dash quite a bit in this episode as I love seeing the fan side of her come out. It's always so sweet and relatable as we all have that thing, we geek out over. And this setting really let her get fan on and yeah, we saw that she got annoyed with Quibble but I think anyone would after a while as he could just be exhausting nitpicking every little detail.
Quibble Pants voiced by Patton Oswalt
This character could be exhausting but I think that was part of the point with him to show that fans like these do exist and every fandom has a Quibble Pants in it. And they aren't always going to be the easiest person to get along with. Thankfully, Quibble didn't go as far as some of the real-life examples that I mentioned in the opening of this blog but who knows what would've happened if Dash hadn't intervened and helped him realize his attitude could ruin the enjoyment for others.
My Final Thoughts
Fandoms are exhausting, they're great and it's awesome to be able to share a common interest of something you love with someone else but man, can fandoms sometimes be real exhausting. That's not to say they're bad as I don't think this episode does that but sometimes, the Quibbles that don't realize what they're doing can drain the fun out of something for others that love the thing they say they are a fan of. Join me next time around Nightmare Night as we look at...
28 Pranks Later
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