There are quite a bit of fanfics that establish believable romance, but you cannot go into a fanfic and say, "I don't think this will work because of these reasons." You'll just disappoint yourself.
And that's my problem. I can't get rid of any of the preconceptions. Well, okay, I actually did do it twice. But that's two times in twenty-three years of being a huge geek who wanders in circles that produce that sort of stuff.
I'm strongly against violence in any way and especially when taking these cute, innocent creatures and making them do these actions is terrible to me. I haven't read any horror fanfics and I plan to keep it that way because just their descriptions make me...disappointed. Also, clopfics disappoint me in a different way. If people find satisfaction out of the characters fine but I definitely don't. The thing wrong about them though is the few I read, just to see how bad they were, were weird descriptions of the characters. I can't really tell how I would find the characters in this *ahem* manner but the impressions I got from the clopfics seemed just plain wrong. I don't know though, maybe its weird to accept them at all but I'd rather a clopfic over a horror any day.
I don't really mind shipping and such, I read cupcakes and was completely unphased by, in truth, it was somewhat boring. I'm a fan of shipping, as long as it doesn't get too extreme. And I'm not really a fan of grimdark, but it doesn't really phase me. Not going to hate though, opinions are opinions, and in the end, we're all bronies/pegasisters with a common interest.
Clopfics and troll-horror is amusing in how bad it is for me, but this raises the real question. Y U Mad tho?
Okay, I'm going to disagree with a few things here. Elaborate how it is in any way silly. Sorry if I'm being 'overtolerant' here, but I would never, ever insult or belittle anybody because of their sexuality. Everyone has their own thing, and that is to be respected. Or maybe they just have different tastes to you. It is not in any way bad. Like above, you're going to have to explain how harmless pornography that doesn't involve inconsent to any degree is bad. For example, I'm only attracted to women. That's socially accepted, right? Does that make it okay if I went and raped a woman? God no, that is one of the most disgusting acts you can inflict upon a human being. Anyone with an attraction to ponies may not be beamed upon by ridiculous social norms, but how is making content that satisfies their attraction without even involving anyone else bad? If it's shoved in your face when you don't want to see it, that's not really nice, but to call anyone a pervert because they merely enjoy it is incredibly cruel and intolerant. Bestiality is sex with animals. Schediaphilia is an attraction to cartoon characters (regardless of anatomy). So right from the off you're firing blind and insulting a group based on traits of an entirely different one. Now, the ponies in the show are drastically humanised. Have you ever considered that it's not the fact that they're ponies they're attracted to, but the human and personal qualities? Clearly not, as instead you've just called everything you don't like creepy. That's immature and it's a mentality I hoped was dying. People 'act' on these urges because they're allowed to and it's consentual (considering they're the only ones involved). How would you feel if someone stopped you having sex with whatever you're attracted to just because they didn't like it? That's completely disrespectful. Not only is it nobody's business what other people are attracted to, but it's horrible how such a significant portion of a community constantly preaching love and tolerance can then just go full hypocrite and start attack people based on things they can't help. Honestly, a few of the views here have disgusted me. Here's me thinking this was a community where everyone was welcome, but it turns out that you could be the friendliest, outgoing, cheerful and most polite person going and would never dream of causing any living them harm or discomfort in any way, yet should you have a sexual orientation that the people here disagree with, you will be insulted, attacked and made out to be a sick individual worthy of institutionalisation. Way to let this community down guys. Love and tolerance (unless we don't like it). Oh, and on the note of grimdark/gore, I'll just say I like both when in good taste. It seems such an umbrella term to call anything even remotely negative or in some way unique grimdark, which in turn leads to it being called creepy. It's just another case of misconceptions that people can't be bothered to correct because they're too vehemently denying it's validity to even try to understand. I love 'grimdark' because the contrast of happy characters against a dark and gritty atmosphere is a really interesting contrast. On the other extreme, I find typically canon and standard art extremely boring and unoriginal. Grimdark allows for much more originality and creativity, as you can really stretch what are very maleable characters (as you would expect from a kids show). Gore is different. People need to stop associating horror with gore. I like gore when it's tasteful. Bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed is boring and uncreative, and it's trying to bring shock value. With that being my stance, I wonder if any of you are going to hate me, now that I have a slightly different taste in art.
Well it really depends on the person how one reacts or likes certain material. I myself love to read shipping but absolutely hate Grimdarks like Fallout Equestria. Gorefics like Cherilees Garden i dont mind and will read. However Clopfics im iffy on, some are good ill admit and bring in a new element but most arent good at all. Nevertheless what im not really keen on is how Bronies often ostracize other Bronies that like Shipping, or Clopfics causing unwarranted elitism that further divides us. That is NOT loving and tolerating. if anything the bronies that can appreciate NSFW stuff should be the elitists since they can see the talent in that field, such and JJ or Slugbox.
This post entirely. I can't describe how much I agree with this. However I need to go to uni, so I'll edit my post later with my thoughts.
First thing off the bat: No, I don't hate you. Disagree with you, sure, but you're still one of my favorite people to see. Now, let me start off by noting that I did say I get where people were coming from, and clumsily mislabeled it as anthromorphization or something like that. The human characteristics are very attractive-it's why we like the characters-and it's always been said nothing is sexier than a good personality. So that part of it is not creepy to me. The naturaly follow-up, though, is for me. Now before I hit on that, let me say-Yes, you're right. I did make a horrible mistake. My issues on the matter did not mean I had to condemn people into this and be harsh on it. I could have handled that much better and much more in line with my beliefs. I'm a representative of myself, my ideals, my factions and religions, and this fandom, and I openly admit I shamed the lot of them by being so callous in my presentation of my opinion. THAT SAID, I still have my opinion. I'm gonna clear the air on it a bit here, so indulge me. First off, schediaphilia, weird as it is for me to say, is fine. I mean, good gravy, have you seen some of the women we had in cartoons growing up? Some of the ones today? Certain characters admittedly feel wrong to go drooling at, but quite frankly the attraction to cartoons is probably healthier than not. Hell, you're not going to hear me say Yuna from Final Fantasy 10 wasn't hot-I'll let that speak for itself. So again, cartoons aren't the problem. Nor is it a lack of understanding how the personalities attract people. However, it is creepy to me with the natural problem of untangling persona from image. UNDERSTANDABLE WHY IT HAPPENS, but it still creeps me out a little. The simple fact of the matter is that we associate the characters with the images-it's what we're supposed to do for storytelling and ironically not for real interactions, but that's a literary discussion. We are hard wired to do so. And to be quite frank, even if we're aware of the fact, it still isn't a naturally occuring thought to tear the two apart and reassociate them. For other things, it's a non-issue, but for My Little Pony, the fact of the matter is that the mind is not fighting the fact that it lusts after a person who's visual image is the icon of a horse. Yes, it's a cartoon, but it's still a horse. Yes, it's a human being in mind, but the icon that we are associating the persona we're attracted to IS A HORSE. There's enough sexual confusion going on in the world of young men and women with standard pornogrpahy as is(which really IS a hot button issue with me) that I feel that the promotion of clopping really isn't helpful. I'm not faulting the people for getting those trains of thought, it's following it to see where it goes that's my problem. There's a great lesson in the idea of being attracted to the ponies, because that does in it's weird way re-emphasize the fact that appearance is secondary, that we need to put that aside, but not enough people untangle the message(the persona) from the messenger(the icon, in this case, a horse). It is, I'm sorry, still beastiality when it goes that way, no matter how you dress it. I mean, hell, there are good human interpretations of the characters, if yer gonna fap, attach the persona to that and go. Putting that aside, the promotion of clopping just continues to confuse the issue with people while commiting the same basic sins as pornography. Now, let me finish on that the bigger issue is pornography and character integrity, along with many other art works that confuse the mind. Minor notes, I was addicted to pornography for a while and worked really hard to get off of that, and I feel I'm a much better person for it. I feel like pornography of any kind really is vile and polluting to the mind and that it is one of the most dangerous things made readily available in today's society. It destroys any and all ideas of what relationships should be like, what to look for in a partner, what one thing means to another, and what people need to be in order to be happy. So even if I got rid of the issue about the fact that the fact that people are mentally sexing the icon and not the persona, you still have something that is highly offensive to me anyways. On top of that, the issue with pornographic My Little Pony asides from the fact of it being pornographic is that it betrays the characters. Dare I suggest it, the show as it exists simply doesn't exist on that level-it's the same issue with doing something grimdark, except grimdark DOES have places where it weirdly crosses over-in other words, I've seen it work in such a way that it stays true to both MLP and the grimdark attitude, with all characters being themselves. Pornography though? FiM can't maintain it's integrity when you enter that realm. Sexuality can be explored in a way that stays true to FiM(I could extrapolate on that, but I suffice it to say that I trust Aynine when she(?) tells me there's good shipping, although ask me what I know about the psychology of child sexuality and growth), but after a certain point it loses it's mood and themes, its atmosphere, its integrity. Since a majority of my earlier rant is on that subject, you can guess how important that idea is to me. Do I object to clopping? Yeah. Am I gonna look down on anyone who does it and reads and looks at that stuff?(You's are generic here) Well, you bring it up, you get my opinion of it. But the fact of the matter is that in all reality there's is so much to any given person that I can put that aside and still think you're a great person. I can enjoy talking about MLP and games and movies and all sorts of stuff and have nothing but fun and respect. Just because someone is a clopper doesn't mean they can't be my friend, or at least someone to respect. So, All in all, summary time? I still think it's wrong. I'm sorry, I do. I'm against it. I am not a fan of it. It gives me the creepies in the specifics and the red visions on the big picture. BUT you are right, I condemned and spoke way too harshly, and might have hurt people who are into it, and while I don't agree with that, I still don't want to hurt anyone for it. Y'alls choice is y'alls choice in regards to that, leave it away from me and we'll do fine. It is not a reason to dislike someone or cast them down, and I am sorry for doing such that. Love, Tolerance, Understanding, and Friendship-they aren't just words, they are active forces to be used. I guess even I still need to learn that.
How can rule 34 even be classed as perversion if most characters in it are purely fictional, anyway? Contrast rule 34 with looking at nude pics of your friends on the internet. I'd choose the former, wouldn't you? What about rule 34 vs child pornography? Et Cetera.
I feel this post would have been 20% cooler if it ended in "Dear Princess Celestia..." All jokes aside, that's a very mature thing to say. We all have our own opinions and experiences. You mention that you were once addicted to pornography, and that's the motivation behind your opinion. I don't feel the same way. When I view pornography (a teenager looking at porn? Scandal!), I often find myself thinking more about the psychology behind it, not the acts themselves. This is why standard pornography means very little to me. There is no story, no personality, no conflict or drama. I'm unsure of how I can articulate my feelings, so the closest I can get to it is that like many other things in life (pictures, movies, video games), pornography is an art form of the sexual, sensual and psychological desires and passion of the human mind that has been perverted (irony+1) by the want for profits. People are far too satiated with the mediocre, which means the works that truly shine don't get the appraisal they deserve. This leads back to your argument about 'clopping' and MLP porn. The artists and writers who make it are (in my eyes) merely trying to reflect their understanding or perception of the characters psychology, trying to use their own perception or artistic ability to convey how they feel the characters may either start to feel for or express these more mature feelings about each other. When does a friend become something more? How do two characters personalities fit together in a romantic environment? How does what we know of each characters personality effect how we think about how they'd react to an intimate situation? These are the questions that I feel the more mature/skilled artists try to answer in their fanfictions and/or artwork. I would say something for the ones who do so for the sake of sexual gratification or money, but at the end of the day, it doesn't change that there will be people out there who do it for that reason only. As long as it doesn't become what we're known for, we can just tolerate them and let them have that little bit of the fandom. No one is forcing you to see it, and if they try to, there are many ways to deal with them.
"Corrupting"? I'm sorry, but nothing corrupts people if they have the will to save themselves. Besides, HOW would people be corrupted for looking at R34?
Pretty much agree with Luprony and Foxytail. I personally do enjoy light shipping, I just think it's cute. As for horror/grimdark, well I can't take cupcakes seriously as it is so far removed from canon. I love the satires and art for it though. Creepy pony art is among my personal favorites, though my favorite thing in this category have to be Story of the Blanks. The story behind Sunnytown and it's ghoulish inhabitants is not only unsettling, but it feels true to the setting. As for clopping...well... its none of my business. People have the right to their sexuality, being straight, gay, pony based or something else, as long as no one is hurt, they can do whatever they want. Speaking of grimdark, the setting of my campaign for the pony rpg is a few hundred years the mysterious disapearance of the mane 6. Equestria is under an invasion from the neighboring land of Mortaria, a land inhabited by long dead ponies under the control of an alicorn master necromancer known as the Nightmare King. With the elements of lost with the mane 6, Celestia calls new pony heroes to investigate their disapearance and locate the elements and stop the Nightmare King before Equestria is plunged into darkness. The darker nature of this plot is mostly to convince my non-brony friends to try this setting out and maybe even convince them ponies can be awesome. I don't think this is that far from the original setting, the utopian Equestria standing as a contrast to the darkness of Mortaria.
I don't really understand how the fanworks can make you lose touch with reality... Or corrupt you in any way.
There aren't many things I value in life other than art, and I can't really build upon what has already been said by Lupr and Foxy. The point of this thread, from what I perceive is "I don't like this, so I'll post a thread about it because it irritates me.". Ok, I'm sure the thread meant no original offence, but the emphasis on what annoys you isn't strongly justified. You say it is wrong... that's it. That's all I see, no basis in this argument. Back to Lupr, I agree. What happened to love and tolerance? If it this "motto" was valued, this thread would have been prevented by just one thought "Hmm, I don't like this, but everyone is different, so I'll accept it.". No thread needed. In my opinion, Shipping, Horror and Gore fanfics seem to have more thought put into them then the other fics I have read, and they somewhat show the creativity capabilities of the community, and I enjoy reading them when they have a good, well-paced storyline. R34, clopfics... what? It's there, and some enjoy it. Let 'em be, it's not harming anyone, it really isn't. The characters in the show are fictional, made-up ponies voiced by humans, doing human activities, with human feelings and characteristics. Take away the fact they're ponies and WHAM! sexual fantasies over these characters are more normal than you think. If you don't like that stuff, ok, I'm cool with that. There, it's as easy as that.
Nailed it. My thoughts exactly. Another thing I want to mention. This debate has come up before, not just online and in forums but in federal court cases to assess whether or not fictional works are entitled to free-speech protection. To this end, the US government uses a method known as the Miller Test. The Miller test is a generally accepted way to judge whether a work is legally obscene and should be restricted by law. There are three criteria for obscenity: The average person in the community would have to find the work objectionable. The work must describe sexual conduct in an explicit and deliberately offensive way. The work must, as a whole, have little or no literary, artistic, political or scientific value. When you apply with to fanfics and art, it is very hard to find a work that breaks all three rules. While the first two are easy to pin on many user-created works, the final rule is much harder to apply. As Merri said, the shipping, gore and horror fics tend to be (for some reason) literary the best we produce, and some of the darker and more explicit art is great when considering its artistic value instead of its possible disturbing content.
Well, too much pornography isn't healthy. Do you imply that rule 34 material is more addictive? Speaking of addictions, anyone else with an greater addiction to ponies than porn? I am not exactly a monk, but I can surely be without naked girls longer than ponies. Nowhere is my pony addiction more aparent than my desktop, one of my friends used to critizise me for that, his desktop is basicly hentai. I said I don't see the problem, I mean, he got his girls and I got mine:derpe:.
In hindsight this seems like such a crime, I had to go make up the difference. So that asides and moving this back to something resmebling the original point(I mean, y'all want me to rant about poronography and how between personal expereinces, testimonies from others and studies, I conclude even infrequent porno screws with people, I'm gonna say it needs it's own thread), I have skimmed another fanfiction which has locked me into needing to read it proper, which is is a shame because I hate myself for having skimmed it. The story is My Little Dashie, and those of you who know it know what I mean when I say I hate the piece because it's so damn good-it's designed to be sad and does it very well, for those who don't know. For making me depressed from yesterday today on a skim, the fact that I'm say ing i have no choice but to read it proper is a testament to how well this thing was written But this makes the point, the case for fanfictions. The show COULD NOT tell a story like that, but it's absoltuely beautiful and heartbreaking, and so fanfictions can exceed the capabilites of the original material. Yeah, it's a matter of one in a million(or rather 60 something out how many EQD has, but I assume all the 6-stars of similar quality), but it can and does happen-and should happen! I just wish more people took time to put in that level of quality.
