@ABronyAccount  
Cruel means intentionally hurting someone, or forcing them to do something against their will. Flim and Flam have never forced anyone to do anything they didn’t want to do. They do bad things, but they aren’t cruel. That’s the thing about them. They’re not evil, they’re just bad.

@PurpleWonderPower  
Perpetually seeking to scam and cheat absolutely everyone is cruelty.

@ABronyAccount  
Exactly. They’re not cruel or evil, they’re just manipulative, with “positivity as a ruse”, like I said. They’re not harsh or forceful towards their enemies, they just manipulate them into doing what they want. Everything the Apples did to help their scams in their first two episodes, they did of their own free will. Blackmail is cruel. Flim and Flam aren’t cruel, they’re just dishonest and devious, they’ve never deliberately tried to hurt or damage someone. They aren’t those kind of antagonists. They’re shockingly out of character in Season 8, as is pretty much everypony else.

@PurpleWonderPower
 
No, they’re pretty awful. That’s why they keep ending up as antagonists. Their positivity is mostly a ruse. As one of the show’s writers put it, “They are villains, but they are designed to be charming and disorienting. They speak very quickly. They finish each other’s sentences. They’re in constant motion. Everything they do is designed to dazzle and confuse people, so they can shake your hand while they’re stealing your wallet.”  
Blackmail is totally up their alley, especially if someone is threatening their latest scam.

@ABronyAccount  
Why? Sure, Flim and Flam are bad guys, but they’re just manipulative, selfish and devious, they’re not evil or cruel. Whenever they want someone to do what they want, they just persuade them to do it, cause they’re tricksters. They’d never do something like blackmail. That’s just cruel. And they’re just total meanies in Friendship University. They’re supposed to be all positive and charismatic, cause that’s what they do, dazzle ponies into falling for their ruse. They’re not mean or nasty or try and do awful things to ponies.

@PurpleWonderPower  
I worry about you sometimes.

I hate this episode so much. It was an absolute abuse of Flim and Flam’s characters. As if they would ever blackmail anyone into doing what they wanted, least of all Applejack’s friend.

Twilight: “They have nude pictures of me!”

Party time people

@genervt  
I prefer ‘extortion’. The ‘X’ makes it sound cool.

Blackmailing is such an ugly word.

“Pinups! Pinups everywhere!”