Superstars111

Hallo! I'm Jared. I'm rather new here, and I was directed to this thread. Out of curiosity, what would you say is the ratio of Christians to non-Christians on this forum?

My Favourite Mane 6 Pony: Fluttershy How did you find MLP Forums?: I was using Google to search for some information about the writers. (Specifically, the favorite ponies of each writer). Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find this information. But I did find a thread here about the writers that interested me. How you became a fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: Several of my friends were bugging me to try it, and I did, mostly to get them to shut up. Greetings! My name is Jared, or Superstars111. I have a rather long story about why I got involved in My Little Pony. If you're willing, feel free to read it. Or you could just skip it and go to the last paragraph. Either way. As long as I can remember, I've had an interest in two things: logic, and reading, which eventually became an interest in writing. Not to say that these are my only two interests, but they were my first. I started out by teaching myself to read when most kids my age were struggling through the alphabet. (Being the oldest of my siblings and cousins, my parents weren't quite sure what to do with that. But for my younger siblings, they knew to expect them to pick up reading quickly.) At a young age, I looked at the way adults would treat me. With the exception of my parents, I was disturbed to see that they seemed to care about me only because someday I would grow up and be valuable. Other than my parents, people didn't seem to see me as being valuable yet. For that matter, they didn't seem to see other children as valuable yet either. Of course, I couldn't put it into those words yet, but I knew something was up. Maybe it was because I have ADD, and was able to look at things differently. Or maybe it was because my grandma was rather obvious about her mistreatment of me. (I later started to think that I imagined her poor treatment of me, since she never harmed me physically. I realized that I hadn't been imagining it when I found out that my dad knew about it too and would defend me when I wasn't around.) At the age of five years old, I decided that my grandma must be treating me the way she was because she had forgotten what it was like to be a kid. That was the only thing I could think of. So I decided that I would never forget what it was like to be a kid. This was a difficult resolution, because people don't instinctively notice the aging process on a day-to-day basis. And over time, I started to forget this resolution. Eventually, I turned sixteen, and joined my school's Drama Club. When we were practicing the finale, we were sorted into lines and paired up with a partner. The tallest students were paired with the shortest students. This was under the assumption that the age and height would generally match up, and the older students could show the younger students where to stand. I was paired with a sweet little girl named Aubrey, who was eight years old. She and I quickly became close friends. (Three years later, I've graduated and am helping to coach our Speech&Debate team. She's just turned twelve and is about to join, as she's now old enough.) Well, at Speech&Debate, when I was still competing, she would show up at the meetings with her older siblings. And, at that point in time, I was only competing in Speech, not Debate. Which meant that I spent two hours there, and then could leave for the two hours of Debate. But that night, my dad was staying to talk to other parents and coaches, so I went out to the parking lot to talk to Aubrey and her friends. They were playing Ghosty Ghosty Come Out Tonight. I'd never heard of it, but she explained the rules to me, and asked if I wanted to play. I said sure, why not. So she called across the parking lot to her friends, "Jared's going to play Ghosty Ghosty Come Out Tonight with us!" Of course, the people who were competing in Debate and not Speech were just arriving, and as they got out of their cars, they heard her, and looked at me like I was crazy. I felt rather embarrassed to be caught playing kid games with a little girl. And then I realized my resolution from when I was five. Aubrey wasn't valuable becaue she was going to someday compete in Speech&Debate and win a lot of trophies, she was valuable right then. I realized that at some point, I had started thinking of her as a little sister, and I loved her. And I wasn't going to be embarrassed to spend time with her. Aside from Speech&Debate and Drama Club, I was also involved in an organization called AWANA (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed). There are several age groups that go through workbooks according to their level. Once you get to the high school level, you're assigned to work in one of the younger groups as a helper for part of the time that you're there. I had been assigned to work with the Cubbies. The three and four year olds. I had originally gone along with it because that's where they'd put me. That's where they'd put me because my mom was a leader there, and I was rather shy at that point in time. But when I remembered my resolution, I remembered that I cared about these kids for more than what they would become. Even at three and four, they were valuable right then. I worked hard, and quickly became the favorte among the kids, the parents, and the leaders. Most LITs (Leaders In Training) move on to the higher clubs when they get older. But our Cubbies Director requested me back for my second and third years. In your fourth year as an LIT, you get to choose which group you want to work in. I became the second LIT in our AWANA's history, and the first in my generation, to request Cubbies, and work there all four years. After I graduated, I went back again, and have just finished my first year as a Cubbies leader. I find it odd, because my hearing isn't very good, so most of the time, I can't even understand what they're saying. But I still love them, and I've been able to watch them grow and move up through SPARKS, and even into T&T (Truth and Training). Someday, I hope they come back to Cubbies again as leaders. Anyway, with my newly remembered appreciation for children, I turned to one of my earliest interests: logic. While I don't discard emotions, I don't use emotions for making descisions. Several of my friends, close to my age, and one of them being a guy, had been pressing me to try My Little Pony. Of course, I had heard the mockers, and I had heard the Bronies' defense. I had been staying out of the whole thing. After all, I wasn't going to mock them if I hadn't given it a chance first, and after what I'd learned with Aubrey, the stereotype was meaningless to me. I mean, I'm a teenage guy, almost 20, but many of my friends are girls that are younger than I am. Aubrey was the first, but not the last. My Cubbies have become friends, and some of my students in Speech&Debate. I think it's sad that whenever a guy is around younger girls, people assume that he has some type of sexual interests in mind. So I didn't judge MLP, but didn't defend it either. But my friends kept pressing me to try it. I kept telling them that I would when I had the time, but they didn't let up, and I kept putting it off. Until I saw a picture on Facebook of two ponies in a background image. One was brown and had an hourglass. The other was some color that I forget, and had a rose. With that, I began. I typically don't judge TV shows until I'm at least a season and a half in, to make sure that I've got a good idea of what it is. After that, I'll either keep watching, stop watching, or decide that I need more info. In the case of MLP, it was either the first or the last. I forget. Either way, I ended up watching it more and enjoying it. Now, you may or may not have read that long story. But either way, here's some more about who I am. I'm a nineteen (almost twenty, I guess?) year old guy who enjoys the stage. Although I was once rather shy, I've developed a fondness for Drama Club, competitive forensics (Speech&Debate), and other types of performance. I enjoy singing, although I can't actually read any more music than the timing, and English Country Dancing is also rather high on my figurative list of enjoyable ativities. Hugs are wonderful, as well as logic, reason, and sound thinking. I'm quite the nerd, and have been called the Grand Master of Nerdiness. Not meaning that I know about all things nerdy, of course, but rather, that I understand the essense of nerdiness. It's also very important to note that I'm a Christian. It's sad that this often carries a negative sound these days, because to be perfectly blunt, there aren't a lot of smart Christians out there. Most Christians believe it because that's what they were taught, or because it feels good, or whatever. Of course, the same can be said about most evolutionists, and so on. This is one reason why logic and sound thinking are so important to me. I don't seek what feels good, or what's popular. I seek the truth. Which means that a lot of times, I'll see Christians agreeing with my point, but using logical fallacies to prove it, and it gives those few of us who actually know what we're talking about a bad name. What does my being a Christian mean as it relates to you? It means that I love you. I take my belief seriously, but at the same time, it wouldn't do anyone any good for me to shove it down your throat or force you to believe it. If you'd like to message me about what I believe, I'd be happy to discuss it with you. I'm also open if you'd like to talk to me in general about who-knows-what, and also keep in mind, I've struggled with extreme depression. Not quite as far as cutting or suicidal thoughts, but I do know people who struggle with that, and if you need someone to listen, I'm available. I'm typically bad at ending stuff like this, but this is the end of the post, so fare well.