Gigapony

OR, it's a cartoon about talking technicolour ponies and the animators decided to say "screw it, I don't feel like coming up with an alternative for this" when presented with the need for a pony to grab something. Plus, it looks adorable when they do it.

Hmmm, as nice as the "DT has a horrible dysfunctional family" theory is, I'd be wary of subscribing to that, given how little actual background we have on her family (we've seen all of one episode's worth of Filthy Rich, who seems like a super guy, and remember that in MLP, lack of parental screentime does not mean lack of parent full stop). Plus it seems like it's a little too dark and deep for MLP. I'm more inclined to think that DT's simply just a little jerk. She picked Apple Bloom to mess with originally on account of her blank flank and that was it. But notice that Apple Bloom and her friends always get the upper hand and get some kind of karmic revenge on her in the end. That'd be enough for DT to put the CMC on her shit-list and establish Apple Bloom in particular as her arch nemesis. So basically, DT is a spoiled little brat who is WAY to used to getting things her way and Apple Bloom constantly throws a spanner into the works for her, and it pisses her off enough to keep taking the mick out of AB and her pals. And also note that DT was cool with them when they became jerks writing for the paper. She's pleased when people follow her lead and do as she wants and act as bitchy as she does (hence her friendship with SS), and immediately went back to being pissed at them once they went all goody-two-shoes again.

@@Mikestar, very sound advice, mate. Thank you for that. I guess it just takes getting used to. Without going into too much useless detail, in my youth I was constantly judged and bullied, and I often chose the more difficult path and tried to retaliate, and once I reached a point in my life where I really wasn't equipped to defend myself, I tried to ignore it but all I did was push the bad feelings under the rug, which obviously isn't healthy. Now I instinctively take being hated/disrespected a lot more seriously than I probably ought to, and it's a bad habit that I need to change. @@Durandal, you are right, it's a pity but hate will always be a part of life. And it's weird because I've been part of fandoms with plenty of haters before. I've always loved Pokémon and any fan of those games knows how many haters it has. I'm a Transformers fan and we've always had the stigma of "geeky loser toy collectors" to deal with. I'm also an anime fan and I don't think I need to remind anyone of how hated "weeaboos" are. So being hated on is nothing new to me. But those haters were always so... easy to avoid. They were nowhere near as vocal and in-your-face as anti-bronies, at least that's how it seems to me. I never once saw any "anti-Transformers" groups on Facebook, or "kill all the weeaboos" memes. Which is not to say there weren't any, but one could probably go a LONG time without running into one. They seemed like so much more of a silly fringe group and not like the "us vs. them" feeling of brony haters. Maybe that's why MLP haters affect me so much more, because they seem to be all over the place and they take any chance they get to give grief. But I should clarify, I won't be leaving the fandom any time soon. It's been too good to me. But I do get frustrated when I think to myself "Jeez, how many weird unpopular hobbies am I gonna get? Can't I for once be into something people won't judge?" which is a silly sentiment but there it is.

This bit right here brings up one of the things that's got me feeling off. You're absolutely right about the male norms being outdated and silly and whatnot. You know that, and I know that, and I'm sure most bronies know it too, but the rest of the world doesn't, and that's what gets me. The majority opinion on what a bloke "should and shouldn't" do is ridiculous, but it is the majority, and that's not set to change any time soon, and I don't even think us bronies are going to make a dent in it. So what bugs me the most is the fact I'm going to keep being reminded how "wrong" I am, and how different I am, and how much of an outsider I am, and that's something that I fear could really damage how much I enjoy this fandom.

All right, this is probably a very stupid topic, I know. But I'm genuinely curious because I am feeling a bit conflicted lately and I'm hoping to get some insight or at least maybe someone who can make me see things differently or feel better. Has anybody here, in spite of all the good this fandom may have done for you, ever felt like being part of this fandom was more trouble than it was worth? Has anybody ever had a moment when they said, even for a second, "Maybe I ought not be part of this"? I ask because I feel a little bit that way recently. And mind you, I'm not talking about liking/not liking the show, because I'll always like it no matter what; after all, it's just a show for God's sakes, and if it entertains me I'll watch it. I'm talking about the fandom itself and all it brings with it (good and bad). And I am talking specifically, of course, about the much-mentioned "haters". I've always been an open brony. No, I don't shove it in people's faces or cram it down their throats, but I wear shirts like any fan of anything would do, and buy merchandise for myself like any regular person would. I've been lucky enough to do all this without coming across any real negative experiences (and in fact, actually got some positive ones) but I feel like any day now I'm due for the dreaded moment when someone just has to shoot first, so to speak, and I'm not sure how I would react to that. I'd like to think I would be super-cool and ignore the guy, or even better, come up with some witty retort that leaves him speechless. But I know myself better than that, and in the heat of the moment, I'm not sure that I wouldn't just end up making myself look foolish and end up going home with a bruised ego and more ravaged self-esteem. I know everyone says "Just ignore them", "They just want a rise out of you", "Don't mind the trolls", "Be proud of who you are", and all the rest. I try to, and I tell myself I don't care about the hate, but the truth is I do. I love being a part of this fandom and I love all the good it's done for me, but I just don't like knowing that I'm seen the way they see us. I've always been an outcast and I learned to dislike being part of a "hated" group, it makes me uncomfortable and I really hate being, well, hated. I don't want to leave the fandom, and going "back to the closet" leaves a bad taste in my mouth because I have a right to express myself. But I just can't shake the feeling of "Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into?" whenever I read about all the horrible nasty things people say/do to us for liking a bloody television show. I feel like it can't be worth the stress. Am I alone in feeling this way? Has anyone else thought like this? Am I as big an idiot as this post makes me look? I do sincerely thank anyone that spared their time to read this wall of text. I suppose I'm venting a bit, but it's been bothering me and if there's one thing I know I can count on this fandom for, it's to give support.

I'm fine with not giving a fuck, and I try not to every chance I get. However, and it must be said, it's really impressive how much hate our little fandom seems to get. I've been part of many, many fandoms and while they all have haters, I have to admit I've never really seen anything quite like this. I don't think even the notoriously hated furry fandom has to deal with this much grief. I get that people can be annoyed at bronies, and I get that some bronies are genuinely annoying, and I get that to some people it's wrong to like a girls' show, but to put this much energy into all but campaigning for the "destruction" of what amounts to a handful of people watching a television programme... well, to quote GLaDOS: "That would be funny, if it weren't so sad." For my part, I feel better that I'm putting my energy into something that makes me happy rather than focusing on something that pisses me off.

Take note of this scene from Rarity's story in Cutie Mark Chronicles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iolsBLzo28 She speaks with her usual posh Mid-Atlantic accent at the start, but when she gets to the rock and loses her temper, she noticeably lapses out of it and talks with a "standard" American accent like Sweetie Belle's. There's other moments scattered throughout when she lapses in and out of her accent, but this is the most blatant. She definitely just puts it on to sound classy.

Rarity's from very humble beginnings apparently. Her parents are clearly not very fashionable and are portrayed as stereotypical "uncool" parents with Midwestern accents. Rarity's exaggerated accent is something she puts on to sound more posh, basically. You'll notice in certain scenes she lapses out of it from time to time. She's always trying to look more high-class than she actually is (see "Sweet and Elite" for the ultimate examples) and is apparently somewhat ashamed of her background, so she talks and acts like a rich pony. As for where her parents live, I'm assuming they must live somewhere in Ponyville, since Sweetie Belle goes to school there and lives with them.

Basically, has getting into MLP led you to like other stuff that you didn't like before or gave you a new appreciation for things you didn't have much of an opinion of? For me it has. I've always liked apples, but I've noticed recently that ever since I became a brony, I've begun liking apples and things made from apples a lot more than I used to. And it's not just because I think eating apples is a "pony" thing to do, I genuinely crave the stuff now. For example, after first seeing the Flim Flam brothers episode, I got this massive craving for apple juice/cider. Now I can't get enough of it. I often grab breakfast at a local Dunkin' Donuts after work, and whenever I do I always grab a bottle of apple juice. And I keep getting cravings for apple desserts too, because of how often they show up on the show. I was always a big fan of apple pie, but I feel like nowadays I REALLY love it. And just yesterday (which is when it hit me) I was sent to the aforementioned Dunkin' Donuts on a doughnut run for all of us at work, and I specifically made sure to get the apple-filled kind for me (and grabbed a juice too). Dammit, Applejack. You did this to me. Anyway, just felt like sharing that, and asking if something similar's happened to anypony else. Or maybe I'm the only insane one. O_O

You know, it's almost textbook, really. Every fandom goes through this whenever it's between shows, toylines, or in the case of us, seasons. Going back to my previous example of the Transformers fandom, people thought it was dead and buried in '91 when Generation 1 ended, then after a two-year hiatus G2 came out in '93 and gave the fandom a (small, but) needed boost. People again thought it was dying when G2 ended in '95 until Hasbro came out with Beast Wars in '96, and people once again thought it was going to die because of the radical change to the franchise. Instead, it boosted the fandom back to its original glory and basically ensured its long life for decades to come. I bet the same will happen to MLP. I am fully confident given how unique this fandom's been, that it will have a time some years from now where nostalgia-based toylines/shows will come out for it the same way it did for Transformers, catering this time to both bronies and its target audience. And say what you will about Hasbro, but it has a pretty good track record for doing this with its franchises if they get big enough (not just Transformers, but G.I. Joe as well), and MLP's certainly big. You lot just wait, the fandom's not dying. It's in its infancy. The Golden Age is yet to come.

I don't reckon the fandom's dying at all. In fact, I think it has all the hallmarks of being one of the great long-lived fandoms. Nobody can disagree that the brony phenomenon has been a small or fleeting fad, this has been a very unique experience for everyone that's even managed to make the news on more than one occasion. It's no longer a "fringe" fad, I'd go so far as to say it's right up there with the likes of Pokémon, Transformers, Doctor Who, and Star Trek. And speaking of which, as someone who comes from the Transformers fandom (which is now almost 30 years old and still going strong), it's amazing how similar the two are, which gives me every ounce of faith that this fandom will continue for a long time. It may go through some changes along the way, but I don't see it dying any time soon.

So besides the already amazingly good points already mentioned in this thread, which I won't bother repeating because they've said it better than I could, I really have to question the ultimate objective of parents bubble-wrapping the world for their children? So R34 comes up when you search on Google? Even when you're not looking for it? Welcome to the modern world. Shit like that happens for anything. A cursory romp through Google showed me that R34 comes up on the first page of results for stuff like Harry Potter, Spongebob, Gravity Falls, Powerpuff Girls, Hey Arnold, Dora the Fucking Explorer... DEAL WITH IT. The world is not meant to raise your kids for you. YOU ARE. You can't childproof the world, but you can make sure your kids are equipped to deal with the stuff they see, and become smart enough to make the proper decisions and have mature reactions to the world around them. Someone that's been quarantined their entire life, is going to get sick immediately after walking out the door. I'm not advocating shoving the horrors of the world in kids' faces, but I also cannot support this forcing the world to silence itself for the sake of "protection" because it's only harming kids in the long run by turning them into blank-minded blissfully ignorant morons, whose gumdrop fantasy world fabricated by mum and dad is going to shatter utterly when the real world punches them in the face at the wrong age and they're not going to know how to react when mummy's not there, because their parents thought it'd be better to CENSOR THE ENTIRE WORLD so that television and computers can do their jobs for them and raise their kids. We're creating a world where kids are taught to be afraid of every adult around them, that everyone's out to harm them, and cultivating a culture of suspicions and hatred, where EVERYTHING is "us against them", and everyone around you is a potential predator with a mind to hurt you. And I think that's awful. Meanwhile, kids are missing out on shows with sound morals and good lessons, because a crop of idiots that just discovered the internet has decided that adults watching candy-coloured ponies is a harbinger of the Antichrist.

Hmmm, I have to respectfully disagree with you, mate. What you're saying can be the case for some, but not all. Personally, I can't stand being an adult. I have almost no freedom as my job is rubbish until I find a better one, and I can't afford anything but the essentials unless I get very lucky, where as a kid I could rely on gifts for anything I really wanted. I also don't have my own place and as much as I also love cars and driving, it certainly doesn't mean I can go wherever whenever, because I really can't. In fact I could say that as an adult I have less freedom than I had during my childhood (which wasn't exactly candy, sunshine, and rainbows all the time either but was better than this), and speaking for myself, I'd gladly trade the responsibilities, social pressures, and financial woes for the simpler days of being a child any day.

Well, it's clearly a reference to the My Little Pony franchise in itself, as a caricature of the stereotypical childish, girly cartoon that it's always had a reputation for being. Not the first show to do so either. Dexter's Laboratory had a few references/homages to MLP's earlier generations, complete with cutie marks:

Well, I can see where we'd have some advantages, but it's not always the case, depending on circumstances. I myself am 25, but I can't go to any cons because travel is expensive and I can't get time off work for them. I have to get lucky and try to go to any local ones. Whatever money I do earn has to be prioritised for bills and rent and I rarely have anything left to spend on toys and whatnot. And one must consider that although teenage bronies do catch a lot of flak for liking ponies, the stigma is much nastier for grown adults liking it, and we are usually first in line to receive labels like "paedophile" and "man-child". It's also a lot harder to find fellow bronies our age, and the ones that are out there are usually the ones who hide it.

Well... I really do love space and everything, but... *imagines hugging Lyra* *imagines hugging a constellation* Lyra is significantly cuter than a series of stars arranged into the vague shape of a lyre to aid navigation, so Lyra the pony it is!

I agree with Meghan that it does open up a lot more interesting story possibilities for him. As a villain, all you could really do with him was just kinda rehash the same formula: "Discord breaks out, does mean things, Mane 6 stop him", and not much else. With a reformed Discord, you really don't know what to expect from him now. He's by no means a goody-two-shoes, and he keeps his old mischievous spirit, and he can be a really badass ally in the fact that just because he's good, doesn't mean he has to help you. He's all-powerful and can probably save Equestria from damn near anything, but he has to want to, and who says he isn't going to have some fun along the way? It'll probably be doubly reminiscent of DeLancie's role as Q in Star Trek. I personally can't wait to see what happens when the Mane 6 have to go to Discord for assistance in S4 (and I'm hoping they will), I predict it'll be a very cool episode.