This is worth discussing. I found Fluttershy to be relatable in a refreshing way. Greg didn’t hold back when it came to giving her unflattering traits so she had some traits I have that I never it almost never see anywhere else. I particularly like her in RDP “Bittersweet” and MAS -14.

That being said, she could have been better. I like that she wasn’t portrayed as being morally wrong for who she was but I wish she had more times to shine. It would have been better for mentally ill and neurodivergent people if we could have seen her be anything other than sad or plain forgotten.

Back in the day I watched the commentaries and the Personal Time with Gregs and in those he seems to have sympathy for Fluttershy and the characters he writes for in general, though sometimes that sympathy feels a bit shallow. I’ve been rewatching the commentary tracks with Greg and Petirep and Fluttershy’s living situation is described as maternal instinct gone awry; she feels empty so she adopts animals to fill the void, but she can’t take care of them all. Describing this behavior as maternal instinct gone awry is lazy, pseudoscientific, and could apply to any woman, so it doesn’t address why Fluttershy is the only mare exhibiting this behavior.

In the commentary for RDP “Bittersweet” Greg talks about how the scene with Rainbow Dash and Applejack was going to go deeper into Applejack’s misgivings with her life before it was cut for time. Greg explains that Applejack’s life isn’t as bad as she feels it is and Rainbow Dash was going to help her see that but because of time, Apple Bloom shuts her complaints down quickly instead. Better representation would be allowing Applejack to feel her feelings; that tends to work better for mentally ill people as well as people who just aren’t in a good place. It’s OK for someone to be unhappy even if everything seems fine.

 
Looks like we got another SJW

@Millennial Dan  
“She gets a somewhat “worse” parody version than the others do.”  
Not really. She’s the one that’s obviously worse, but they all are bad. Applejack belittles everyone else’s problems because HERS are so much worse. Rarity is a racist slut. Rainbow Dash is an idiot with a mindless government job that the system has taught to be lazy. Peyton is paranoid and can’t get her meds. Twilight is an alcoholic that treats her “friends” like a science experiment
 
Fluttershy internalizes and focuses on her problems, loading them on everyone around her, and people just loose sympathy for her after a point. She’s the most obviously worse, but they are all equally terrible.
 
Except the CMC. They are the only ones that can agree for long enough to get something done.

@TheColour66  
You’re talking about the parody version of her, and using that to say it’s hard to sympathize with her? It’s that portrayal itself that some (including myself) find annoying in the first place. She gets a somewhat “worse” parody version than the others do.

Everybody has problems in the series. Fluttershy seems like she doesn’t deserve the hate she gets…at first. But as you watch the series, you learn that, because of her personality, she doesn’t try to improve herself. She complains that nobody remembers her name, but she calls Rarity “Rodger”. She doesn’t afford anyone else the decency she expects for herself. It’s hard to sympathize with her when she doesn’t sympathize with anyone else. Wrapped up in her own little pitty party.

@Millennial Dan  
Seriously, say some things in the yellow one’s voice sometimes. It’s really fun.
 
“I’m sorryyy…”  
“My name is Fluttershyyy…!”  
“I used to have the biggest crush on my uncle…”

@Minus  
The caricatures in his parodies aren’t all necessarily “equal”, you know.
 
This Greg person has been accused of being offensive in the past, and frankly, his response to those accusations is what convinced me that he is kind of a jerk sometimes.

He portrays ALL the characters in a negative way. But oh no, he can’t be doing that to your waifu!  
Fluttershy deserves to be made fun of just as much as everypony else. Besides it’s clearly not done maliciously. You’re just being offended for the sake of being offended.

i agree with you anonop but remember it’s a fictional setting and as long as he doesn’t do it in real life that’s okay.

Those cartoons suck massive amounts of ass to begin with, you’re surprised one character gets the bone?

I’m thinking it’s a parody of DWM.

@ClownDicks  
His animations just about always have her staring off into space with a completely blank look, sometimes drooling a bit. Lame.

@Background Pony #7AF6  
How does Mike treat her poorly?

@Sorait  
I always did hate the way he does Fluttershy. She gets a lot of flak from some of the major content producers, like MixerMike, and it is a little irritating sometimes.

wtf is this shit

>ponychan
 
Of course this would be posted on there.

@PrisonedMuffin  
They’re saying Greg is being disrespectful to people with social anxiety issues for his depiction of Fluttershy in Rainbow Dash Presents