There is a reason that MLP is so popular.

[Espy Rose]

So you're entire shindig was simply to say "bandwagoners gonna bandwagon"?
Because that's how most big events go down on the internet. People like being a part of big things, and MLP: FiM is no different from anything else.

In any case, my solutions follow through to those who don't understand the culture and find little things like my post content as "shoving pony down one's throat".
Beyond that, though I understand that some people will simply be stubborn and hate, all it takes is to educate the ones who are willing about being more passive about the representation the fans do for the show (the reasonable ones, at least. Every fandom has its bad apples that need to be straightened out).

=====

I also like to believe that my post content isn't "too much".
Personally, I only see the pony subculture as expressing itself "too much" when it comes to cases like what you described at the school.

 

[Vinylic.]

EDIT: Tokyo. I don't even.

It's true bro.

 

[Wretched]

So you're entire shindig was simply to say "bandwagoners gonna bandwagon"?
Because that's how most big events go down on the internet. People like being a part of big things, and MLP: FiM is no different from anything else.

In any case, my solutions follow through to those who don't understand the culture and find little things like my post content as "shoving pony down one's throat".
Beyond that, though I understand that some people will simply be stubborn and hate, all it takes is to educate the ones who are willing about being more passive about the representation the fans do for the show (the reasonable ones, at least. Every fandom has its bad apples that need to be straightened out).

=====

I also like to believe that my post content isn't "too much".
Personally, I only see the pony subculture as expressing itself "too much" when it comes to cases like what you described at the school.

You're naive if you think that ponies are the same thing as any other internet fad.
It is much bigger. It is much more involving.
Ask anyone who doesn't like ponies.
Go ahead.
Do it.
Teran, would you say that the Pony obsession is of the same caliber as all of the other internet obsessions? And people take it to the same length as all other internet obsessions?

 

[Vinylic.]

Wretched is true on that one. MLP is the most common meme.

 

[Espy Rose]

If you wanna play semantics, MLP is considered a meme just like any other, Wretched.
And I'm not denying that it's probably bigger and more involved.

Honestly, I don't even understand what you're trying to say anymore.

Futhermore, asking for those who don't like ponies about there perception of pony is a internet subculture is just hilarious.

 

[Zatchiel]

You're naive if you think that ponies are the same thing as any other internet fad.

I wouldn't label them in their own category, as they ARE just any other internet fad, they just have a humongous fan following in comparison to many others. Even still, I've seen fads with much more notoriety and internet following. Ponies are among memes. People follow memes. People follow LOTS of memes. Ponies are among the memes of a greater following magnitude. They're the same as any other internet fad, but get this: The fact that it's My Little Pony causes controversy. This is dumb, we're all friend here.

Ask anyone who doesn't like ponies.

I'd rather ask someone who doesn't have a definitive perspective on it, or an unbiased sample. "Asking someone who doesn't like ponies" just yells your answer at you.

 

[Wretched]

You don't see thousands of people changing their avatars and sigs and locations and titles to trollfaces or to lolcats and you don't see them using them at the end of all of their posts.
Ponys is an exception.

 

[Jasou]

The only problem I have with the MLP community is the fact that if you question their motives, a large majority of them get horrendously butthurt.

They're kind of like furries. They tend to brag and show off--rather flambouyantly--what they like and any single, even vague opposition causes them to rage.

My frustration is why get so angry over someone questioning what you like.

And yes that frustration applies to more than just the MLP community.

yea, even tho i am a furry myself i don't really care if people don't like what i like. If they hate it then that's fine we all have our own opinions right? I don't brag or show off either (then again i'm only one person). Off-topic: even tho i am a furry i do not make all my decisions for furry reasons. I didn't start maining fox in melee for those reasons, i actually started playing him because all my club members started playing s-tiers (just to clarify we are kinda a nooby club) so i wanted to try a better character and my friend started using fox so i tried him out too and i found his play style quite fun (yes because he is a little broken). my first main was the doc, because he is so flippin boss and i love his play style. he is still my 2nd main character today, but i dropped him at that moment because i couldn't play him well vs characters like sheik

@tokyo LOL i know someone in real life who likes everything from that list

 

[Espy Rose]

On the contrary, Wretched. I DO see other internet memes being overused on occasion. The use of trollface in particular is overdone to extreme extents across all internet subcultures. We have an emoticon just for it here on the boards, used consistently among users. Did you even WATCH the boom after Keyboard Cat? How about the Numa Numa way back when? There's been PLENTY of internet memes that have been overdone to some extent. MLP just happens be the one at the moment that's stolen the spotlight.

Again, I'm sorry that for some reason, the pony meme/culture is so much bigger, and therefore, easier to spot than others. I'm sorry that people participate in things they find enjoyable, and that you feel it bothers others. Other than that, I have absolutely no idea what you're still trying to say, because you've already made the message of your OP quite clear on the 200th post.

 

[BSP]

Even if ponies are bigger at this point in time

What exactly are we trying to get at?

 

[Reizilla]

Whiners gonna whine.

What it sounds like to me is: Someone just had a bad experience with ponies and can'r get over it.

 

[John2k4]

Alright, having not seen an episode, I can't say much.

However, I have seen a couple clips of episodes on Youtube (usually mixed in with other things). Not my kind of show, but it really doesn't look that bad.

 

[Zatchiel]

Thank you, John.

 

[ciaza]

I have no problem with the avatars and the sigs and all of that.
The whole point of my OP was to point out that the show was popular for the reason that people use it to fit in, and they haven't even realized that they don't really give two ****s about the show in general. When I say "It is too much" I should've emphasized that it isn't too much for me, but it is for other people when they don't understand the culture behind ponies.
EDIT: Tokyo. I don't even.

I know that this is the User Blogs, and opinions are great and all, but can I ask that perhaps this one time you back yourself up here? What people are just jumping on the bandwagon when apparently they don't even care about the show? What people are 15 - 16 that are apparently having identity issues and fell they have to conform? I'm 18, for the record, and watched the show since day 1, just like Zajice said he did. I got some of my friends into it, and they loved it even before finding out about the online community. I've met people at anime conventions, all over 18 and all loved the show! Even if it were true that a lot of people did just conform, can you show that that is the reason why it is popular?


Suc - give your wife a big ol' slap for me. Also, I am extremely disappointed in your action to make Alt mod of the DH when it was most obvious that I deserved to take your place .

Look forward to seeing your analysis of the show soon.

 

[Vinylic.]

It's just my little pony. No harm at all.

The complaints just makes it sound harmful.

 

[§witch]

This is a terrible thread and you should all feel terrible.

 

[Zatchiel]

It's just my little pony. No harm at all.

The fact that it's My Little Pony and gets a massive internet following raises question. The thought of having load of people throw it around in intent to troll is... intolerable. It makes me cringe because they influence how the community is observed as a whole.

The complaints just makes it sound harmful.

I see where the complaints are coming from, because I used to be on the opposing side. I hated MLP before I gave it a shot. My conversion was a stretch in comparison to most, but I recognize that others around me deserve consideration enough to moderate my post content.

Among the many issues people have stated thus far, near or absolute guaranteed resolution by the same method of ignoring users is pretty much consistent.

 

[Mike G]

The only problem I have with the MLP community is the fact that if you question their motives, a large majority of them get horrendously butthurt.

They're kind of like furries. They tend to brag and show off--rather flambouyantly--what they like and any single, even vague opposition causes them to rage.

My frustration is why get so angry over someone questioning what you like.

And yes that frustration applies to more than just the MLP community.

This 100%

 

[El Nino]

What I find funny about the popularity of the show is that the first series started essentially as a long running advertisement for the toys, which came first before the show.

Vintage ponies are the only real ponies.

 

[Indigo Jeans]

The only problem I have with the MLP community is the fact that if you question their motives, a large majority of them get horrendously butthurt.

They're kind of like furries. They tend to brag and show off--rather flambouyantly--what they like and any single, even vague opposition causes them to rage.

My frustration is why get so angry over someone questioning what you like.

And yes that frustration applies to more than just the MLP community.

People who rage when they are asked to take a step back and examine themselves are stupid. Please kick one for me the next time you come across one.

 

[Wretched]

The whole point, like I said, was to get the Bronies to take a look and examine why they like what they like.
See where it got me?

 

[Zatchiel]

That pic is horrifying, El Nino. ;_; I've grown a fond fear of the 'classic' MLP.

 

[Indigo Jeans]

The way it looks to me is people gave responses, and people made a big deal out of it. As was bound to happen. Really, examining one's mental self is a healthy thing to do (I do it a lot unintentionally and literally get into debates with myself, lol) as it helps FORM your identity by getting you to sort out emotions, ideals, etc. Everyone should do it every once in a while, and it shouldn't turn into a tumult.

 

[Vinylic.]

The fact that it's My Little Pony and gets a massive internet following raises question. The thought of having load of people throw it around in intent to troll is... intolerable. It makes me cringe because they influence how the community is observed as a whole.

That's how it was in the beginning. Bronies would consider to derail threads and post content related to the show.
Things got less tense and the term "bronies" was briefly defined as fans.

I see where the complaints are coming from, because I used to be on the opposing side. I hated MLP before I gave it a shot. My conversion was a stretch in comparison to most, but I recognize that others around me deserve consideration enough to moderate my post content.

Among the many issues people have stated thus far, near or absolute guaranteed resolution by the same method of ignoring users is pretty much consistent.

I didn't hate anything.

Not justin bieber.
Not hannah montana.
Nothing.

So to be honest, I was curious for the show. So I watched it.

Not only that.

I watched dora, horseland, etc due to boredom and people would call me a guy with problems for that?

Nope. Only here. The Internet.
This is where people share their hatred on something the most.

People do not say anything but "the show is dumb" outside cyberspace. So, they bring up more reasons here inside.

 

[Reizilla]

The way it looks to me is people gave responses, and people made a big deal out of it. As was bound to happen. Really, examining one's mental self is a healthy thing to do (I do it a lot unintentionally and literally get into debates with myself, lol) as it helps FORM your identity by getting you to sort out emotions, ideals, etc. Everyone should do it every once in a while, and it shouldn't turn into a tumult.

I do this during my free time a lot.

 

[frotaz37]

Vintage ponies are the only real ponies.

Agreed.

When I was younger, I had a babysitter who gave my older sisters two huge tubs of my little pony toys. We actually had all the ones in that picture except the one on the far right.

Speaking of vintage ponies, have any of you ever seen the first MLP movie? It is ridiculous. Giant evil blue centaurs threatening to behead his minions if they don't successfully capture ponies and turn them into giant dragons that will be used to pull his chariot so he can conquer the world with the rainbow of darkness.

It manages to be girly and epically dark/disturbing at the same time. It's one of my favorite cartoon movies, even if it's not on the same tier as Rainbow Brite and The Star Stealer or Little Nemo.

Ya'll should watch it, it's called Rescue from Midnight Castle. You aren't a true MLP fan unless you've seen it.

 

[Zatchiel]

I'm a fan of My Little Pony:Friendship is Magic, not THE My Little Pony. Those other 'ponies' scare me.

 

[frotaz37]

No they don't, stop exaggerating.

 

[Zatchiel]

They do indeed.

 

[Jasou]

The way it looks to me is people gave responses, and people made a big deal out of it. As was bound to happen. Really, examining one's mental self is a healthy thing to do (I do it a lot unintentionally and literally get into debates with myself, lol) as it helps FORM your identity by getting you to sort out emotions, ideals, etc. Everyone should do it every once in a while, and it shouldn't turn into a tumult.

i do that in an unhealthy amount, but your right people should do this once in a while i don't think much people do

 

[frotaz37]

They do indeed.

Just watch the movie. You can find it on youtube.

You never know, you might like it.

 

[Zatchiel]

Worth giving a shot. I'll check it out tomorrow when I can get to a computer.

 

[Espy Rose]

I've seen it before. My family consists of two young nieces that I occasionally watch over, so I've seen quite a few Carebears and My Little Pony related animations. Rescue from Midnight Castle is okay, but that's all I'll say about it. It wasn't particularly engaging, but the overall scheme of it was pretty dark.

They DID give me their Applejack toy though, since they know that she's my favorite pony (that, and we'll sit down and watch G4 together). That was awesome. :>

 

[frotaz37]

Yeah for some reason 80s cartoons tend to have a lingering sense of darkness to them. Even the old Care Bears movies are pretty creepy (evil faces in books wtf?).

 

[Vinylic.]

Nostalgia critic reviewed that carebears movie.

It was godlike.

 

[Teran]

Teran, would you say that the Pony obsession is of the same caliber as all of the other internet obsessions? And people take it to the same length as all other internet obsessions?

The only thing I've seen beat ponies in the obsession meter is Pokémon in its glory days, but that made a whole lot more ****ing sense.

 

[Yoki]

The only problem I have with the MLP community is the fact that if you question their motives, a large majority of them get horrendously butthurt.

They're kind of like furries. They tend to brag and show off--rather flambouyantly--what they like and any single, even vague opposition causes them to rage.

My frustration is why get so angry over someone questioning what you like.

And yes that frustration applies to more than just the MLP community.

Here's a basic rule of thumb. If :
A) you are, for whatever reason, thinking that "XXX" people are "YYY"
B) "YYY" isn't as much of a straightforward consequence of "XXX" as "White supremacists are racist people"

Then you are wrong.

For the same reason some LGBT people will react to disapproval and being told that they should be ashamed of their sexuality by claiming their Gay Pride, peer pressure is the main reason why some MLP fans will identify themselves as "bronies" (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). Just like the Gay Pride, this may annoys people (that wouldn't actually mind one's sexual orientation) and only strengthen the opposition. Then what happens whenever someone criticize it ? Most MLP fans, even those identifying themselves as bronies won't care. "Stop liking what I*don't like" is as old as the world, why bother ? Still, any sufficiently big group of people will have its load of [insert adjective] people, and as always, they're the loudest ones.


I've seen a few of them in forums or Youtube comments, but for the little time I've lurked Ponychan, I can assure you the complete opposite is true. I saw a thread from a brony discussing the reasons behind this fandom, another one from an outsider in investigation, a few failed trolling attempts, amongst other insightful discussions. The general consensus seems to be that MLP isn't the best show ever, but attracted them as a haven amongst this world's cynicism, and then the community took them over. Someone asked how to "convert" his friend, and literally everyone told him he shouldn't to try to shove it down its throat, as MLP just isn't for everyone. If anything, I could understand people saying they're overly goody-goody, but aggressive...*wait, what ?

Still, I agree that it seems way too much for just a TV show (but then again, every single fandom makes me feel that way...).


As for me... This report from some guy who talked to the show's director says it all. For the record, the decision he's using as an exemple here was made long before the show even aired, when they had absolutely no idea the show would get any kind of periphery demographic :

All the great little "bits" that they keep throwing in—from high-quality animation that they sweat and sweat until it's perfect, to Sondheim-homage musical numbers, to outright references to things only adults will get—are basically the Studio B staff just entertaining themselves rather than anyone in the audience. Jayson said that what makes this show so great is the result of a million little wonderful surprises, occasions where someone assigned to some task just comes back with something that goes way above and beyond the expectation and throws everything into a whole new and awesome light; and all those things sequenced together inevitably ended up making the whole show just that awesome. Hasbro giving them a very loose rein and generally a policy of "why the hell not?" was what brought it all together. Case in point: Discord. Discord was a character straight off Lauren's pen, because apparently she'd been bingeing on Trek:TNG lately at the time that script got written. She decided to play him just like Q, because why the hell not? She'd originally planned to have Discord voiced by a De Lancie soundalike; but then during one of the meetings, someone (Jayson said it might well have been him) just said, "Why don't we just try to get the real guy?" Sure it cost money, but Hasbro said why the hell not? And John was free, and he was game, so there's our Discord. Why the hell not?

So as to who they're performing for, it's not us, it's not 6-year-old kids, it's themselves. They're just doing what they think makes the show as great as they can, to entertain each other as best they know how. In other words, the creative team on this show really is just having that much fun making it. Best thing I could ever have heard.

I have a soft spot for anything made with this state of mind, and I could feel from the first episode I watched how much the animators f***ing loved their jobs and put their heart and soul into it.

 

[Ryo242]

Here's a basic rule of thumb. If :
A) you are, for whatever reason, thinking that "XXX" people are "YYY"
B) "YYY" isn't as much of a straightforward consequence of "XXX" as "White supremacists are racist people"

Then you are wrong.

For the same reason some LGBT people will react to disapproval and being told that they should be ashamed of their sexuality by claiming their Gay Pride, peer pressure is the main reason why some MLP fans will identify themselves as "bronies" (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). Just like the Gay Pride, this may annoys people (that wouldn't actually mind one's sexual orientation) and only strengthen the opposition. Then what happens whenever someone criticize it ? Most MLP fans, even those identifying themselves as bronies won't care. "Stop liking what I*don't like" is as old as the world, why bother ? Still, any sufficiently big group of people will have its load of [insert adjective] people, and as always, they're the loudest ones.


I've seen a few of them in forums or Youtube comments, but for the little time I've lurked Ponychan, I can assure you the complete opposite is true. I saw a thread from a brony discussing the reasons behind this fandom, another one from an outsider in investigation, a few failed trolling attempts, amongst other insightful discussions. The general consensus seems to be that MLP isn't the best show ever, but attracted them as a haven amongst this world's cynicism, and then the community took them over. Someone asked how to "convert" his friend, and literally everyone told him he shouldn't to try to shove it down its throat, as MLP just isn't for everyone. If anything, I could understand people saying they're overly goody-goody, but aggressive...*wait, what ?

Still, I agree that it seems way too much for just a TV show (but then again, every single fandom makes me feel that way...).


As for me... This report from some guy who talked to the show's director says it all. For the record, the decision he's using as an exemple here was made long before the show even aired, when they had absolutely no idea the show would get any kind of periphery demographic :

All the great little "bits" that they keep throwing in—from high-quality animation that they sweat and sweat until it's perfect, to Sondheim-homage musical numbers, to outright references to things only adults will get—are basically the Studio B staff just entertaining themselves rather than anyone in the audience. Jayson said that what makes this show so great is the result of a million little wonderful surprises, occasions where someone assigned to some task just comes back with something that goes way above and beyond the expectation and throws everything into a whole new and awesome light; and all those things sequenced together inevitably ended up making the whole show just that awesome. Hasbro giving them a very loose rein and generally a policy of "why the hell not?" was what brought it all together. Case in point: Discord. Discord was a character straight off Lauren's pen, because apparently she'd been bingeing on Trek:TNG lately at the time that script got written. She decided to play him just like Q, because why the hell not? She'd originally planned to have Discord voiced by a De Lancie soundalike; but then during one of the meetings, someone (Jayson said it might well have been him) just said, "Why don't we just try to get the real guy?" Sure it cost money, but Hasbro said why the hell not? And John was free, and he was game, so there's our Discord. Why the hell not?

So as to who they're performing for, it's not us, it's not 6-year-old kids, it's themselves. They're just doing what they think makes the show as great as they can, to entertain each other as best they know how. In other words, the creative team on this show really is just having that much fun making it. Best thing I could ever have heard.


I have a soft spot for anything made with this state of mind, and I could feel from the first episode I watched how much the animators f***ing loved their jobs and put their heart and soul into it.

I like the sound of that.

 

[Sucumbio]

Suc - give your wife a big ol' slap for me. Also, I am extremely disappointed in your action to make Alt mod of the DH when it was most obvious that I deserved to take your place .

Look forward to seeing your analysis of the show soon.

Well, it's official. We both like the show. Heh. I hate to say it, but it's because it was done by Lauren Faust. Everything she's done is awesome. Kid's Next Door, PPG, Foster's Home, now this (and she's got another one coming out in 2012). Can I say that it'd be just as likeable if someone else had done it? No. I can't... I think it HAD to be her to make this watchable by someone me and my wife's age. She's got a gift that is often sought after in animation storytelling, which is the ability to speak to kids while simultaneously reserving just enough adult humor to keep parents entertained. She does this so well that it transcends age boundaries, and you end up with entire fan bases of people aged well beyond the "target" audience. Add this to her unique and quite beautiful animation style, and you have a great show.

The theme song is ATROCIOUS and I feel totally gay watching the show as its playing. but as soon as it's over I go back to remembering that I'm watching a Lauren Faust cartoon and all is cool again.

My favorite character so far is Twilight. It's a major plus that she's voiced by Tara Strong, the voice talent behind Raven from Teen Titans, another personal favorite cartoon of mine. But I find all the characters totally compelling in their own way, and I look forward to seeing each episode and how it all plays out. Last night we watched 2 episodes, the season 2 opener "The Return of Harmony - Part 1" which we were totally enthralled with because of the guest voice of John de Lancie, who once again shows us he's really Q at heart, and plays that role just as convincingly.

The other was episode 9, "Bridle Gossip" which introduces Zecora. Though a fairly predictable episode (c'mon they were standing in a huge pile of blue flowers!), it had some great humor going on, and I suppose the moral of the story was that they were so obsessed with being judgmental that they couldn't see the forrest for the trees, so to speak.

SOOOOO, overall I'd say 1.) great show, fully deserving of it's accolades. 2.) I guess the whole brony thing is... well. It's what happens when a great cartoon maker makes a cartoon that normally everyone male and female alike would enjoy, but because it's also based on a girl toy, it has no choice but to require some scrutiny towards it's male fanbase. In other words this cartoon could have been just as awesome and successful but be based on nothing, just an original idea, if the title wasn't "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" I think the "brony" movement wouldn't have been necessary.

But then the question would remain, would it have been as successful a show? Perhaps not.... the underlying controversy that's resulted has indeed lent itself to a stronger movement within the masses, so perhaps it had no choice but to be this way.

I like the sound of that.

^ This is actually what I think the OP was talking about. This rookie came in with a long post that you'd expect to find in the debate hall, and the immediate response by a MLP fan is...

 

[professor mgw]

Im a noob, is a brony a human that doesn't belive in ponies? Ponies that hate other ponies? Or something else? :T