Tell me about being a Brony/Pegasister! Genuine Interest for a Design Project

[mermaid_huntress 3]

Hello there!

I'm a very new MLP fan

I'm an aspiring graphic designer, and for class I have been asked to research an interesting subculture that I am not a part of and create the royalty cards for a deck that pertains to that subculture. I chose the My Little Pony fandom, and began watching the show as part of my research. I was happily surprised to find out that the show is great and that the fans seem to be a community full of warm people and talented artists

 

As part of my project I need to interview a few people who identify with the subculture. So if you'd like to help me out, just answer a few quick questions (below) in the forum or message me for my chat information and skype (totally optional, but a video interview would be great for my grade and for furthering the quality of this project)

 

Remember that the end result of all of this will be a (hopefully) really sweet deck of MLP themed playing cards! The questions are super easy and it's for art!

 

Age & Gender:

 

Who is your favorite MLP character and why:

 

Which character do you think of most as a "leader":

 

Tell me what things you like best about the show as a whole: (ie the animation, the writing, the character depth, the stories, the humor, etc)
 

Many say the MLP fandom breaks gender and age norms/stereotypes and has brought people from different demographics together through their shared love for ponies. What is your experience with this?:

 

Have you ever faced social adversity for being a MLP fan?:

 

Anything else?:

 

Thank you so much!

Edited November 21, 2013 by mermaid_huntress

[ThunderPunch 2]

Age & Gender: 15 Male

 

Who is your favorite MLP character and why: Tie between Rainbow and Spitfire

 

Which character do you think of most as a "leader": Celestia

 

Tell me what things you like best about the show as a whole: The stories and the 

 

Have you ever faced social adversity for being a MLP fan?: Well, I dont really have any merchandise and mlp doesnt really come up in conversation so very few people know that I watch the show. The people who know dont really care, and they are mostly bronies themselves 

 

Anything else?:

My top 3 songs:

1. The smile song - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNrXMOSkBas

2. True True Friend - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tCPxXW_9qI

3. Raise this barn - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT0cYJp2D44

Edited November 21, 2013 by ThunderPunch

[repsol rave 2,963]

Age & Gender: 18 male

 

Who is your favorite MLP character and why: Applejack. because she is the most 'adult' character of the show and her southern personality is really relateable to me.

 

Which character do you think of most as a "leader": either Princess Celestia or Twilight Sparkle

 

Tell me what things you like best about the show as a whole: (ie the animation, the writing, the character depth, the stories, the humor, etc) most the writing and character backstories. i really like the way the writers visioned a world of love and ponies
 

Many say the MLP fandom breaks gender and age norms/stereotypes and has brought people from different demographics together through their shared love for ponies. What is your experience with this?: well, people from all cultures and religions are welcome in this fandom. that's what makes it so great in my opinion. everypony is the same, and is treated equally. everybody can talk to eachother about ponies, but also about everything else. this fandom really changes your perspective on mankind as a whole in my opinion.

 

Have you ever faced social adversity for being a MLP fan?: nope. but then again people in my country usually don't even know what a brony is.

 

Anything else?: it's pretty awesome how you chose to do this project about MLP, and even more awesome how it made you a brony! brohoof to you :3

Edited November 21, 2013 by repsol rave

[Silverwisp the Bard 2,353]

Name: Simon

Age & Gender:  24 years old, male (German, if that's any help)

Who is your favorite MLP character and why:  That would be a tie between Twilight Sparkle and Rarity.

Twilight because I can identify with her (highly intelligent to the point of being a bit of a dork, curious, OCD ect.). Rarity because she is just a fun contrast of caring generous nature and narcissistic superiority.

Which character do you think of most as a "leader": There have been numerous hints that Twilight has been groomed into a leader, possibly even a successor, by Princess Celestia. However, while she has made progress throughout the show, she's not quite there yet. So I'd have to say Celestia.

Tell me what things you like best about the show as a whole: The animation (which is everything Flash should be) and the humour, which manages to be engaging without diving into the gutter.

Many say the MLP fandom breaks gender and age norms/stereotypes and has brought people from different demographics together through their shared love for ponies. What is your experience with this?: Gender norms, is an obvious yes, we're talking rainbowcoloured ponies after all. As for age, I'd say its comparable to the miniature gaming/pen&paper rpg crowds; about 16-34 year old, not unheard of, but older than the average cartoon fandom.

Have you ever faced social adversity for being a MLP fan?: Once, by some guys from my local (traditional) game store. Didn't really bother me though.

Anything else?: As someone who has been part of several fandoms before, I must say that the MLP fandom has surprised me in how much it teds to bring out people's creative side.

Edited November 21, 2013 by Silverwisp the Bard

[Heatwave 177]

I can relate. I was going to do some interviews as a part of a research paper dealing with cyber-bullying for my english class. Never happened though, but I'll help you out!

 

Age & Gender: 22 years old, Male

 

Who is your favorite MLP character and why: Rainbow Dash, She represents part of who I am, and the other part who I want to be.

 

Which character do you think of most as a "leader": Twilight Sparkle...because she is... (unless your talking outside the mane 6, than Celestia and Luna)

 

Tell me what things you like best about the show as a whole: the animation, the writing, the character depth, the stories, the humor. I hate to just re-hash what you put as examples, but you hit every nail on the head. xD
 

Many say the MLP fandom breaks gender and age norms/stereotypes and has brought people from different demographics together through their shared love for ponies. What is your experience with this?: Truth. I find it interesting how different people will recognize differences in each other, but upon finding out they are both "Bronies," they are automatically more accepting and friendly than they would have been otherwise, or were being before. Because it's so "outside the norm," It provides a much bigger bridge than football or transformers would, in my opinion.

 

Have you ever faced social adversity for being a MLP fan?: Not yet. I'm still fairly young in the fandom though, so I assure you, it'll come. Not that it will change anything though.

 

Anything else?: Welcome to the Herd.

[Hive King 1,998]

Age and Gender: Male, 14

Favorite character: Sunset Shimmer, for looking awesome and having one of the better villain plans

Leader character: Celestia, wise and fair

What I like: The stories and the villains

Many say the MLP fandom breaks gender and age norms/stereotypes and has brought people from different demographics together through their shared love for ponies. What is your experience with this?: Closet brony, found lots of fun people

Social adversity?: Nope for reasons stated above

Anything else: DBZ is boss and that's why I like SMILE HD

[Rinkitty 589]

Age: Illegal.

Gender: Female, as far as I know.

Favorite Character: Twilight Sparkle/Fluttershy. 

Lead Character: I always saw Twilight as a leader.

Things I Like: The stories, the character development, the time and care that is noticeably put into crafting the episodes, the innocence. There's not much I don't like about the show, honestly.

My Experience Being a "Brony": I couldn't care less what people think of me. The show brings me happiness, and I won't allow others to bring me down.

Have you ever faced social adversity for being a MLP fan?: Not yet. Well, does my little brother picking on me count??

Anything Else?: I'm fully supportive of cloppers. Don't let The Man get you down, fellas! Clop 'til you drop!

[Armchair Adventurer 211]

Age & Gender:

18, Male

 

Who is your favorite MLP character and why:

Rainbow Dash but to be honest even I am at a loss as to why. As I watched more and more episodes I just warmed up to her. She is very different from me in some ways and very similar in others. I really like Twilight Sparkle as well for the same reasons. We are different yet similar. 

 

Which character do you think of most as a "leader":

Definitely Twilight Sparkle. She has been the main focus of the show so far, I think that much can be said for sure, and most of her character development was towards becoming a "Princess" or in other words a leader.

 

Tell me what things you like best about the show as a whole: (ie the animation, the writing, the character depth, the stories, the humor, etc)

What initially caught me off guard about this show is how intelligent and funny it was. Besides that, I love the characters, the stories (everything from slice of life stories to adventures). It just comes together so well! 

 

Many say the MLP fandom breaks gender and age norms/stereotypes and has brought people from different demographics together through their shared love for ponies. What is your experience with this?:

I'm glad to see that this is happening. I've always been reluctant to join online communities but ever since I decided to join the brony community I've met some really awesome people and a few very close friends. I'm yet to have any kind of negative experience involving bronies. We have every kind of person here imaginable and it's great that a show helps bring people together to such a high degree. We help each other with problems, have intelligent conversations ,about any topic really, and people in the community create a lot of quality works. In some ways, this community has gone way beyond of just a few people getting together to discuss a show they like (not to downplay the merits of Friendship is Magic of course). It's starting to take up a life of it's own.

 

Have you ever faced social adversity for being a MLP fan?:

Not yet. In fact my experiences have been far more positive so far than I expected. I'm still a bit careful about reveling that I'm a brony to people but so far nobody said anything bad about it. Some people find it weird but that's to be expected. I did too before I checked out the show.

 

 

Anything else?:

I wish for your project to be a success, and I hope you stick around here after it's done !

Edited November 21, 2013 by Armchair Adventurer

[PoisonClaw 8,153]

Age & Gender?

21 year old Male

 

Who is your favorite MLP character and why?

Tough choice, but I'd have to say Fluttershy since she's the character I share a lot in common with and can relate to the most. The fact that she is the most adorable cast member might also have something to do with it...

 

Which character do you think of most as a "leader"?

Princess Celestia. Twilight may be the main character and have her own experience being in charge, but Celestia has been shown as a mentoring/leading character since day one and that hasn't changed since. She may not be perfect, but no one can be really.   

 

Tell me what things you like best about the show as a whole (ie the animation, the writing, the character depth, the stories, the humor, etc)

Short version: All of the above.

Long version: All of the above, but also because it has been a long time since I have seen something this good in terms entertaining shows. When MLP first came out, a few people said it would be the death of creative animation, but in fact the opposite has occurred. Compared to all the awful children's programming I have seen being shown on television these days, MLP was the first ray of light in dark time for good shows that paved the way for even more excellent shows.  

 

Many say the MLP fandom breaks gender and age norms/stereotypes and has brought people from different demographics together through their shared love for ponies. What is your experience with this?:

This hasn't been the first time something like this has had people questioning gender norms, but I would say it's been the most surprising, as well as widespread. I've been apart of different fandoms for years now and some of them can get rather...vitriolic at times to the point that even casually mentioning them is enough to insight a flame war. That's not to say the Brony fandom doesn't have such people, but they're generally fewer and farther between when compared to how some fans can't go five minutes without attacking one another for one reason or another. It's quite funny actually when you think about how people can be brought together and be so understanding over something as simple as candy-colored equines. 

 

Have you ever faced social adversity for being a MLP fan?

Nope, though that may be simply because I don't flaunt it in the face of everyone I meet. I wear pony themed shirts yes, but that's about the farthest I go in terms of public exposure. Closest thing would be the jabs I get from my family for liking something that is primarily a little girls show. So long as I'm enjoying myself, I frankly don't care what they think.  

 

Anything else?

I hope that even after this project is over you decide to stick around. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. 

[Mand'alor Dash 2,224]

Age: 19; Turning 20 on the 24th.

 

Gender: Male. Yet another link in the massive sausage-fest that is bronydom.

 

Favorite Character: Going purely by canon characters, definitely Rainbow Dash. Badassery aside, she's easily the most interesting character who is faced with the most interesting problems throughout the series. As the element of loyalty, numerous episodes have her loyalties conflict, and force her to choose between them. In Griffon The Brush Off, she had to decide between Pinkie Pie, and her foalhood BFF; in Return of Harmony, she was made to choose between stopping Discord, or saving her friends and family up in "Cloudsdale"; and in Wonderbolt Academy, her life-long dream was put into direct conflict with her sense of right and wrong, and she was ready to to give it all up because of that.

 

Which Character is a Leader: Again limiting this to canon characters, Twilight Sparkle would be the best candidate for this position, mainly due to her actions in Return of Harmony. Twi's a go-getter, and she knows better than anyone else how to work as a team. I'd say that makes her fit for the title.

 

Best Thing About the Show: A dead-even tie between character depth and world building. I watch the show for both of these, because neither ever fails to disappoint. The characters are fascinating and realistic, and yet the world has such amazing aesthetics and lore. I just can't pick.

 

Social Adversity: Just a little, but some folks are just assholes. I don't let it get to me.

 

Anything Else: Yeah. Reading is Magic, filly!

[a Pegasus Pony 134]

Age & Gender: 16 Male

 

Who is your favorite MLP character and why: Vinyl Scratch, Even if she is a Fan made character she is portrayed as a Pony how loves EDM music and I myself love EDM music with a passion. She seems like that one chick I would always want to go with to a EDS

 

Which character do you think of most as a "leader": Celestia, She has made some mistakes but hey... It happens. Also she knows what to do and how it will pan out always, a Leader can tell a good situation from a bad situation.

 

Tell me what things you like best about the show as a whole: (ie the animation, the writing, the character depth, the stories, the humor, etc) I love the animation it has just because it looks so vivid! The humor itself can add on to that and it always brings it's attention to me.
 

Many say the MLP fandom breaks gender and age norms/stereotypes and has brought people from different demographics together through their shared love for ponies. What is your experience with this?: Before I didn't care and I still don't care. Anyone can do something like the other but the point is to excel past the rest.

 

Have you ever faced social adversity for being a MLP fan?: Yes and it was somebody trying to troll, they couldn't say much because they were no better as well. Sooo I left him to be.

 

Anything else?:

No.... Why?

[mermaid_huntress 3]

Thank you so much to everyone who replied! Seriously, so helpful I will be messaging those of you who volunteered for video interviews asap!