When I went back to watch and finish MLP:FiM in 2020 in the middle of a pandemic, I was kinda surprised that, even after the ending of Cutie Remark and even when Starlight apologized after the events of Every little thing she does, she kept manipulating other characters with either her magic or her vocabulary and then getting away with it without the show adressing those issues ever, which is... kinda creepy.

While I was finishing the last 3 seasons, I've read some defenses on Starlight in Derpibooru last year that were very weird and pretty biased, but two particular comments really got my attention: "Starlight doesn't like to be judged because nobody likes to be judged" and "manipulating other characters and making the same mistakes are part of what makes Starlight great". I found these defenses very scary and creepy, so I've made a whole fanart based on these comments.

To be fair, I don't think every single Starlight fan is this defensive (I was lucky to meet some polite fans that love her, which is kinda cool). I'm only talking about the loud minority, the agressive fanboy group, the minority who thinks you shouldn't question Starlight, the minority who always says "you wouldn't get it", the minority who takes every question as a personal attack and goes full Brie Larson mode, the minority that manages to make you feel horrible for questioning some creative decisions instead of being a yes-man, the minority who takes an argument and intentionally gets it misconstrued so he can say "hey, help me to annoy this guy, I can't do it on my own".

When it comes to Starlight Glimmer (and depending on who and where you talk about it), I think the debate has reached a high level of heat that it's imposibble to logically discuss it. I think most of the blame is on the writers who have splitted their audience this way. I’m not justifying the bad behavior, that’s not the point. I’m saying that, if you made your fanbase angry and divisive by a questionable series of crative decisions you made (to the point where having a debate of this character became an awful experience), maybe you should take a closer look at the creative decisions you’re making.

And at least I'm not mad, because, as toxic, manipulative, negligent and creepy Starlight is, I don't think she broke or ruined the show. Starlight hasn't ruined anything. I still have my favourite episodes. I still have the 2017 film, I still have my favourite characters, I still love the show for what it is despite its problems. And, to be honest, I actually liked her in 3 episodes: The beginning of the end, The ending of the end and A Hearth's warming tail. That's more than enough for me. But overall, she's just a character that completely ignores any sense of heart and responsibility. Besides, after writing an alternative idea for her to work as a character, I don't have much else to say about her. The least I could do is to have fun.