S06:E13 - Stranger Than Fan Fiction

[King Sejong 859]

   Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the best fan of all? Quibble Pants was quite a good stallion, albeit rude and opinionated, but for a minor pony, he was quite well developed as a character, representative of the darker side of fandoms, including this one. Some fans declare they are right, because they are orthodox, like the material from its genesis, other fans declare they are right, because they enjoy the blossoming, as the material matures, I fit between both thoughts, I like original and new stories, and don't waste my time with fan quarrels. Rainbow Dash and Quibble Pants were quite good together, the chemistry was there, for some reason it reminds me of Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, Judy was intellectual and Nick was logical, as Quibble Pants manages to get himself caught up in the story, for Calderon trapped both of our heroes, but Quibble Pants uses his savvy to help them escape. It was nice to see Daring Do again, even if it was a brief but sweet appearance, as Quibble Pants realises the stories were real, having a reaction we all have from season four, after "Daring Don't". With some logic and courage they escaped the temple and thwarted Calderon, nevertheless, both Rainbow Dash and Quibble Pants came to an understanding, as they understood why they like the book series, for different reasons, and for different degrees, but they still loved the Daring Do novels, and that was the purpose of this episode, to bridge the differences, balance and harmony, for all fandoms out there, I do believe there would be a lot of shipping between Rainbow and Quibble, but I am interested in the art, I'm sure Deviant art will have them shipped together in a matter of hours.  

[Castle Bleck 19,326]

Additionally, best end-credits "music" ever.

Edited February 26, 2019 by A.V.

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

One of the best S6 eps until now.

[Castle Bleck 19,326]

You know, for a lesser antagonist, Caballeron actually pulled off a decent Xanatos Gambit midway through.

Edited February 26, 2019 by A.V.

[Will Guide 21,360]

Quibble's expressions in the middle are hilarious! Keep the pause button on standby to get a good look at all of them! 

[ponylaces 1,870]

I liked this episode a lot, it was so much better than I expected it to be.

 

I initially thought it would be stereotypical and condescending towards some aspects of fandom culture, but I actually thought a lot of the things in this episode were pretty accurate. Quibble's views on the Daring Do series can be easily applied to fans of MLP thinking that the earlier seasons were better, and that's actually kinda cool. It doesn't insult people who, let's say, think like Quibble. It shows that even though some fans will have different opinions, it's important to respect one another and still get along nonetheless. I liked Quibble because he wasn't really an asshole, he just thought differently than Rainbow. I do think he should've respected Rainbow's opinion on the series instead of completely dismissing her for having an opposing opinion, but the important thing is that he learned his lesson at the end.

 

I love how the episode had a little bit of slice of life (mostly at the beginning with the convention) yet it was also action packed around the second act. The episode was both hilarious and exciting. The meta jokes could get a little on the nose, but most of the jokes more hit than miss. Loved all the snarkiness in this episode and how witty and sarcastic Quibble could be. Quibble might be one of my favorite new characters! So yeah, I'd give it a 7 or 8. Loved the guest appearance too.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

Also, you know, for a lesser antagonist, Caballeron actually pulled off a pretty decent Xanatos Gambit midway through.

 

 

Honestly, I'm largely a Caballeron fan and I loved the part he played here, and he wasn't entirely incompetent.

[ph00tbag 108]

I can't help but feel that this episode was somewhat fortuitously timed in relation to current events in the fandom. High visibility horse drama during high visibility horse drama? Inception! But the moral of the episode is perfectly timed as well. Being able to live with differences of opinion is kind of a lost art in the internet age because it's so easy to just ignore people you disagree with. But you often find yourself cut off from other positive experiences just because of a petty disagreement.

 

I really liked how Quibble's dispute with the story started out as a flimsy attempt to rationalize his subjective opinion and present it as objective fact, and by the end, he had learned to approach his critical analysis as more an observation that the later novels don't appeal to him, but, importantly, that doesn't make them objectively bad. And he pointed out that just because someone else doesn't like something you don't like doesn't mean you have to prove to them why you do like it. Basically, on both sides, you need to lose the ego, and be willing to consider that another person's experiences can be valid, at least to them.

 

The Daring Do body pillow made me laugh pretty hard. Quibble Pants was a perfectly realized character--kudos to the writing and performance on that one. Rainbow Dash as a straight pony works so much better than people realize. I've always found I like her more when she's written as competent but impulsive, and this episode nails it. Daring Do's relative uninvolvement in the plot was actually pretty nice--the episode wasn't about her, anyway. She was a great background pony. Honestly, it's hard to pick at nits in this episode. Very enjoyable overall.

Now can we talk about Rainbow Dash getting frisky with Quibble in the foam pit?

[twiia 1,843]

This was a rather interesting episode. I'll watch it again when I get the chance.

[Photon Jet 5,491]

 

I still can't get over how much Quibble looks like my OC. Looks like I have a model to recolor now.

 

He looks just like my OC as well.

[BlackWater627 700]

Aaaaand meme face is trending. Called it. 

 

View on Derpibooru - Original source

[Snow 7,002]

I can't help but feel that this episode was somewhat fortuitously timed in relation to current events in the fandom. High visibility horse drama during high visibility horse drama? Inception! But the moral of the episode is perfectly timed as well. Being able to live with differences of opinion is kind of a lost art in the internet age because it's so easy to just ignore people you disagree with. But you often find yourself cut off from other positive experiences just because of a petty disagreement.

 

I really liked how Quibble's dispute with the story started out as a flimsy attempt to rationalize his subjective opinion and present it as objective fact, and by the end, he had learned to approach his critical analysis as more an observation that the later novels don't appeal to him, but, importantly, that doesn't make them objectively bad. And he pointed out that just because someone else doesn't like something you don't like doesn't mean you have to prove to them why you do like it. Basically, on both sides, you need to lose the ego, and be willing to consider that another person's experiences can be valid, at least to them.

 

The Daring Do body pillow made me laugh pretty hard. Quibble Pants was a perfectly realized character--kudos to the writing and performance on that one. Rainbow Dash as a straight pony works so much better than people realize. I've always found I like her more when she's written as competent but impulsive, and this episode nails it. Daring Do's relative uninvolvement in the plot was actually pretty nice--the episode wasn't about her, anyway. She was a great background pony. Honestly, it's hard to pick at nits in this episode. Very enjoyable overall.

 

Now can we talk about Rainbow Dash getting frisky with Quibble in the foam pit?

( O ) _ ( O ) NO. . . it must never happen

[Cosmik Vek 764]

So, this was a good episode to say the least.

This one introduced us to Quibble Pants, a caracter who really did not seem to like the other Daring Do books because of some realism issues. Himself kinda covered some of the bad aspect of this episode, mainly due to the fact that he was a bit too harsh on that aspect of the books and he kinda got repetitive at some point in the episode and it kinda got ols. But I do understand that the writers wanted to showcase a caracter that is like someone who really can critic a lot of the things in a story, just like some diehard fans in this fandom. He kinda covered the side of this fandom that likes the earlier episodes and that is truly accurate.

And that, of course, all led to this greatly executed moral that everyone can look upon, because it does make a point in that some of us like things in a series that some of us might dislike and Quibble said it all by himself, and that helped his caracter I'd say

And it was certainly funny at part, like some of Quibble's remarks early on in the adventure (before they somehow got really repititive), and it kinda got immersive after a while (in the Daring Do adventure that is)

Also, I'm surely not the only who liked the end-credits there, it kinda maked me remember of some other cartoons who did that already.

So you know, it was kinda good, but not the best for sure

TL;DR: Quibble Pants might have been too harsh and repetitive on the realism and all, but his caracter was realistic and they surely nailed him in some way. Then you add the humour and the immersive Daring Do adventure, then yeah, you got Stranger Than Fanfiction, a nice episode.

Rating: 8.5 to a late 9/10

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

SPOILER ALERT: I don't have much to say about this one but I will say that I liked this episode and I really liked the concept and set up. I think they were totally spoofing bronies at Brony Conventions who fight over Princess Twilight etc. The convention scenes totally looked like a Ponycon! I like how they made use of Daring Do being real again. It was very clever. The new male character dressed as Daring Do was funny because he never stopped talking even during the credits but his unbelief and sarcasm was a tad annoying and I think that was the whole point. I loved the lesson that they agreed to disagree. Why can't people learn this lesson in real life for once, instead of forcing others to agree with you or do it their way??   

[Zantetsuken 364]

Ok, Stranger Than FanFiction. Written by Mike Vogel (someone who can write) and Josh Haber (someone who can...... ehhhhh kinda write I guess)

This episode was great and I loved a lot of it, first off I just want to express how I'm happy that we didn't have another Daring Do episode where Ahuizotl was the villain. Not that Ahuizotl is a bad villain, not at all, as a matter of fact I think hes quite good, but you need to mix it up and I'm glad they did.

 

Now my thoughts on the new character Quibble Pants, first off, stupid AF name, don't know why they chose that, I rarely ever see ponies wearing pants in Equestria. Other than his name, I like him and he represents a very real type of fan that we have all ran into in one fandom or another. He's like one of those people who only likes the first 1 or 2 gens of Pokemon and hates everything from gen 3 on. It is not wrong to have that outlook, I'm sure there are bronies like him who probably dislike most MLPFiM episodes after season 2 or 3 or vice versa, thus I think hes a very relateable character. One thing that was kind of annoying was his reluctance to accept that what was happening was real, espically after the bridge scene, but I'm just willing to chalk that up to being a running joke that overstayed its welcome.

 

Overall thoughts are, I think this episode was a real fun ride. I also liked the moral in the end which basically amounted to 'you don't have to like all of something to be a fan,' I mean yeah its a bit simple and kinda obvious but sometimes those are the best morals. It was a good start to the second half on the season now lets hope they can keep it up.

 

7.8/10

Edited July 30, 2016 by Zantetsuken

[Kevin 160]

Now that was a great episode! We've all met someone like Quibble Pants at one point or another and he's a very love to hate kind of character and they did a great job with the moral of the story here.

 

Another thing I really liked about this episode was the adventure part of it. It was so much fun and I loved the interaction between Rainbow and Quibble. I think Oswalt did a great job playing him and he gets bonus points for the improv of that end credits rant!

 

Overall, a great start of the second half of Season 6!

[Will Guide 21,360]

Well, I finished the episode and it seems the lesson of how different kinds of fans can be friends even if they disagree with how the show they're fans of are being played out is there just as I predicted it would be.

[Midnight Seashell 206]

I love the shoutout to the fandom but isn't it strange how Quibble says Daring Do's books after the trilogy have out of the ordinary events and stunts yet they live in a magical world where possibilities are endless and how come eventhough Daring is an experienced explorer she was so close to making wrong decisions yet Quibble made the rigt decision for her?

[BastementSparkle 20,324]

I just have to say. I actually really, really like Quibble. He reminds me of a lot of real life people. He prefers certain books in the series for a specific reason, and feels the later ones lost that original touch that was there. He's very critical of the later books, and he's honestly actually pretty intelligent, he's got some good reasons for preferring those old ones.

 

 That said, he's also a bit blind to his own biases, and kind of antagonistic to people who don't agree. Which in my experience, a lot of very critical fans really are like that. The amount of times I've been treated like a blind fanboy simply for liking later/earlier versions of something, even when I admit that they are flawed, are numerous.

 

 But Dash is guilty of the same to some extent, not being willing to accept his negative opinion on the later books, his attitude may have rubbed her the wrong way first, but she shouldn't have acted the same back. I'm guilty of that to some extent too, as I think a lot of less "Critical" fans can be. Both types of fans can act like jerks about their opinions, and both sides are kind of prone to viewing themselves as solely the one under attack. Glad they learned their lesson.

 

 Also, this episode was just really funny. The "You should get your money back" line was great!

Edited July 30, 2016 by Base

[Cosmik Vek 764]

So, this was a good episode to say the least.

This one introduced us to Quibble Pants, a caracter who really did not seem to like the other Daring Do books because of some realism issues. Himself kinda covered some of the bad aspect of this episode, mainly due to the fact that he was a bit too harsh on that aspect of the books and he kinda got repetitive at some point in the episode and it kinda got ols. But I do understand that the writers wanted to showcase a caracter that is like someone who really can critic a lot of the things in a story, just like some diehard fans in this fandom. He kinda covered the side of this fandom that likes the earlier episodes and that is truly accurate.

And that, of course, all led to this greatly executed moral that everyone can look upon, because it does make a point in that some of us like things in a series that some of us might dislike and Quibble said it all by himself, and that helped his caracter I'd say

And it was certainly funny at part, like some of Quibble's remarks early on in the adventure (before they somehow got really repititive), and it kinda got immersive after a while (in the Daring Do adventure that is)

Also, I'm surely not the only who liked the end-credits there, it kinda maked me remember of some other cartoons who did that already.

So you know, it was kinda good, but not the best for sure

TL;DR: Quibble Pants might have been too harsh and repetitive on the realism and all, but his caracter was realistic and they surely nailed him in some way. Then you add the humour and the immersive Daring Do adventure, then yeah, you got Stranger Than Fanfiction, a nice episode.

Rating: 8.5 to a late 9/10

I also might add a late negative point here: the pace of the events before the adventure, aside from all of that it was mostly alright.

[CT-1138 3,182]

SO MANY REFERENCES!!!

 

Also, Quibble is totally a caricature of PT-hating SW fans.  

[ph00tbag 108]

 

 

Also, I'm surely not the only who liked the end-credits there, it kinda maked me remember of some other cartoons who did that already.

I think that will go down as one of the most widely loved parts of the episode, to be honest, because everyone's been in one of those conversations, and most of us have been on both sides at one point in our lives or another. It was a loving little jab at ourselves.

[Batbrony 16,051]

OK, just got to the end of the episode.  Sorry everypony, my mom showed up with some boxes for me to move, but that ending was PERFECT!!!  Oh my goodness, loved, loved, LOVED everything about that episode, will have my review up in no time!

[Will Guide 21,360]

HA HA! I'm still laughing over what they did during the end credits! They never did them like this before.

 

Now I know why the guest pony is called Quibble Pants!

Edited July 30, 2016 by WiiGuy2014

[Foxy Socks 2,599]

Definitely a well written episode. I like hoe Quibble developed, and his character mostly. Rainbow Dash was good in this too, though she could just fly during some situations. Then again Quibble couldn't, so I guess there is that. But still, she could have flown past the bridge and let Quibs cross it himself. XD