Clarity

Who said anything about talking? Discussion and trusting a friend not to judge me are two completely different things. Myself, I talk about anything that comes to mind with my friends, because most of us have fairly similar interests. It might be different for you, which is fine. With another group of friends, interests usually center on sex, music, popular videos, et cetera. So I talk about those topics with them. I don't have a lot of secrets, but what I consider a friend is someone who I can confide in and they'll understand and keep that secret without being appalled, horrified, or disgusted enough to turn their back on me. I was not saying that a friend is someone on whom I'll dump all the things from my darkest recesses of my mind. I'm saying that, though they may not know the secret, if they do know, they won't cut themselves off from me. In short, it's someone who I can trust. Your choice. But my standards are my standards; it's not anyone else's place to tell me who I should consider friends.

Ah, yes; I've read that as well. This is MLPF, though, so not many would recognize that name. He also didn't put any of that stuff on his MLPForums profile. Just thought I'd point that out. I don't like having "levels" of friendship, because it may hurt someone's feelings to call them just an acquaintance when they may consider you their best friend. But obviously, not every person/friend I meet means the same to me. For me, it's split into three very fluid categories: acquaintances, people I talk to, but not daily, whom I do not know very well; friends, whom I talk to daily and enjoy many other activities with them; and best friends, those with whom I can let down my formal guard and fool around with, with whom I can tell my deepest secrets without any fear of judgment. My friends online... many of them are great people, but I can't say that they're my best friends. Many times, I feel that I'm not getting as much support as I'm giving them. As Lightning Bliss stated, friends need to be there for you as you are there for them. I understand having your own life, but I don't understand not giving your fair share of support to a friend. Having friendships is a privilege. I'm not expecting people to give me a $50 iTunes card every time I help them with something, but I do expect that when I'm in trouble, they'll be there to help. It shouldn't be a bothersome job, but rather a necessity that comes with friendship. Be a supportive person; you cannot be callous and uncaring when someone you claim is a friend is in trouble. It's not a standard of friendship for me for the other person to reciprocate their friendship to me as equally as mine to theirs. I don't care if I like you more than you like me; not everyone means the same to everyone, and I understand that. However, when I offer friendship, if it's ignored, then I'm going to start to wonder why I wanted to become friends with you in the first place. I don't often pick favorites, 'cause, y'know, hurt feelings an' all. But I can say with absolute certainty that there is one friend of mine who is supportive, fun, caring, and all of those things I mentioned above. More often than not, he comforted me when I had trouble, even though he has a very busy life, too. Many times, I regret not giving enough support in return. I can't express in words how much I appreciate everything he's done for me. If HIS FACE is reading this, I love you.

WELCOME TO THE... ~MLPFORUMS BIRTHDAYS MASTERTHREAD!~ (Pardon me for the flanderized title. I'm not good at decorating threads.) Hello everybody! This is the thread where you come to to celebrate a very special event: a birthday! Whether it be yours or a friend's or even a random stranger on the site that you've never talked to, all birthdays are appreciated equally in the MLPForums Birthdays Masterthread. You might be thinking, Hey, why do we need a thread like this? All birthdays are listed in the calendar already, anyway. This thread sucks and so do you. Well, the idea popped into my head one day during June 17th while I was chatting with a group of friends. One of them, my best friend (and worst enemy) will be having his birthday very, very soon. I, being under the age of consent, was unable to use Paypal, and I couldn't think of anything to give him that would be worthwhile. I mean, what can you really give over the Internet? To some friends, I gave birthday cards or love letters. But I think those have been overused (at least by me) by now. And then I thought, What do I usually do at a birthday party? I cheer, I hang out, I chat and I have fun. The gifts weren't usually the ones that matter, even though they're a very kind gesture. Most of the fun? It comes from having friends—or even people you don't know very well—celebrate your birthday along with you. I also remember seeing many statuses announcing that it's their birthday—but with hardly any replies. I usually try my best to reply to those statuses, because it is a rare day, but I usually then move on. Not much I can do for them, which is sad but probably understandable considering they're not anyone I know. I do know that some kind and dedicated people would look through the calendar events and send PMs or comments to the birthday people; I've received some myself when I changed my birthday once in order to pull a prank (long story). A lot of new members may feel left out due to the fact that no one takes notice of their special day, because let's face it—how many times have you looked at the day's birthdays and wished somebody a happy one? Entonces, I made this thread. Nobody's taking notice of your birthday? Wanting to celebrate a friend's birthday but you're not sure how? Don't worry. I'll make sure your name is in big, bold letters in the list below. Just come in and join the big party! So you may be asking yourself... what should I do in here? I mean, why should I take the trouble to post in this thread when I can just PM or write a comment? Well, first of all, making a masterthread makes your birthdays public—everyone will be celebrating them! Private messaging makes it feel small—which may be your favored way of partying. That's fine, not everyone wants a fancy dinner or lots of attention. But if you want to celebrate the special day along with others, then this is the thread to be in. Next, you can give gifts! Post a card, a drawing, a story, or some other related gift that can be given over the Internet right here. Private messages work, too, but if you want to show everyone what you gave your best friend, you now got a place to do so. Also, you may list upcoming birthdays of friends you want to celebrate—I'll make a separate list for them so friends know and can have time to prepare a gift for them. In short, if you want to have a huge party with everyone in MLPForums, then the MLPForums Birthdays Masterthread is here to do just that. A few rules about this thread: 1. First off, the birthday masterthread isn't limited to just MLPForums members' birthdays. You can celebrate any birthday you want—including birthdays of your family members or friends who may not be members of this site. 2. This is a semi-chat thread, as it's pointless to come in here just to say Happy Birthday; you may want to offer your best wishes, give gifts, reply to give your thanks, et cetera. However. This is not the General Chat Thread. Do not go on a long string of replies that have nothing to do with the topic. You can do that through private messages or status updates. 3. Early or late birthdays can be celebrated, but please don't go overboard and celebrate every single one of your 364 un-birthdays. The point of this thread is to celebrate birthdays on the day it occurs and upcoming birthdays. And by upcoming I mean very close. 4. This goes without saying, but please don't be rude, disrespectful, or otherwise dickish. Not every birthday is special, but more often than not, it's a day to celebrate—not to ruin. Don't crash another person's party. 5. Wait for it.... .... Birthday list today (June 19th, 2014) This lists all of the birthdays today! The date of someone's birth may just be a regular day to you, but to them, it's another year passed by... A few things about this, too— This lists all of the birthdays according to the calendar. If I don't mention you and you know it's your birthday today, either you didn't set up a birthdate on your profile, or you don't want to display that information. You may ask me to add you if I did not do so. I'll try to make sure this list is updated every day, but I'm a busy person and it may not necessarily be up to date. However, it's easy enough to just go to the calendar yourself and find out who's having their birthday. I will mention you in the list if it is your birthday. If you don't want to have that annoying notification, feel free to tell me. If you're celebrating the birthday of someone not a member of this site, you can give me the name of the person or the way you want to refer to them, and I'll add them in—without the mention feature, of course. Inactive members will be added and mentioned. I'm sorry, but I really do not have time to go through 20+ profiles to see if you're active or otherwise. Today's birthday girls/guys are... @ScootaDash @Mia Angelle @cassy1235 @Ryos @TwinStarDazzel @DaiOchu @Mzukiller @Ghostfire @Rivet Canterlot Mechanic @CL307x @Lightning Dasher @Hurricane Sandy @LunaTheGoodMoon @wacarb @Nol @DreamRisk @Rudes LOL OLD WOMAN I HAT YOUR FACE <33 @Icy Void @Newmoon Winter @Harmony Cube Happy birthday to you all! Wish them a Merry Christmas!

That's because, surprisingly, far more good stuff happens than bad stuff in this world. Think about it. A murder would likely make it on the news because... well, it's murder and murder is really, really bad. But what's the opposite of murder? The giving of a human life. Tons of babies are born every day but hardly any of them make it in the spotlight unless it's the daughter or son of someone famous. People just don't care about the more amounts of good stuff and care more about the tragedies.

You know you're a member of MLPForums when you see a smelly Rubberfeces in your latest visitors.