*Inhales* Hello. My name is Beatles123, Also known as Matt--I am actually 20 years old and...I am a Brony. I regret nothing. I wanted to find a cool place to join in with the fandom. Plus, I wanted to give my thoughts on the show. First, I wish to make clear to everyone, this fandom IS spreading...I was skeptical at first, but after much nagging by my friend, who is also a Brony, I quickly fell in love with the show. You may ask, "What is a 20 year old doing watching cartoons?" But that's just it--I love animation and have grown up with cartoons all my life. I've been there through PowerPuff Girls, Dexter's Lab, AND Fosters! So you can imagine I know EXACTLY what Lauren Faust was going for here and I must say, she has achieved it! Looking at the show, I am reminded of the heyday of Spongebob, with it's witty humor and entertaining plots. I strongly feel Lauren has created lightning in the proverbial bottle here. It reminds me of the same approach the PowerPuff Girls had. The show isn't *FOR* girls exclusively, so much as it's just that the heroins happen to be female...and Ponies. When I look at the show, the PLOT and CHARACTERS sell me. As long as the plot is unafraid of itself and willing to get it's hands dirty at times, the show will draw people in. That's what the PowerPuff Girls did, and FIM does it just as well, for the most part. My ONLY small gripe with the show is that I feel the confines in which the creators are forced to work--by which I mean making the show deep, but "Not too deep" for the sake of the younger audience--are limiting what the show can do. I will notice that a plot seems like it can get VERY deep and engaging, but then quickly simplify things again so as not to go outside the realms of what The Hub and Hasbro want. My response to this is: Don't limit yourself. Edginess can still appeal to children, you just have to be comfterble with things and realize that they are not stupid. Spongebob, in the show's prime, thrived on being able to make a kids show mature and funny without going too far into "Off-color" territory except for a few occasions, but they were so far between that it was more funny than crude. I am NOT saying this is Lauren Faust's fault. I believe it is a case of Hasbro being a bit protective of the "Cute" imagery of MLP. They don't want to take any risks and are playing it too conservative with the show's material. BUT! The fact that the staff are able to do so much within those boundaries is an amazing feat in itself, to be sure! I just feel that if the show didn't have as many rules to adhere too. it could be an even better show...I can totally see Twilight sparkle being essebtially what Sally was in the dark setting of the Sonic TheHedgehog Saturday morning incarnation. I can see the show doing well with deeper (and sometimes darker) plots, and STILL appealing to kids and girls of all ages while retaining it's sense of humor. In a perfect world, the show would be Y7 rated and on Cartoon Network, where more and more people can see how wonderful this show and it's characters are But, that is neither in our control or likely right now...for now, I just wanna get to know you all and enjoy the show together! Thanks for reading, and I hope you can see where I'm coming from. I look forward to meeting you all! =P
Hay there Beatles123! Welcome to our Herd! Nice intro there - I'm sure when ePONY gets around to here, the three of us can have long discussions on important topics - just like this one. If you think it's awkward being 20 and a brony - try being 46 and a brony. Most people - except my closest friends - don't believe me. They think I'm joking. Their loss, I say. Well, I don't push the show much to non-bronies any ways. All the reasons you list are excellent points, and even your complaint is accurate. Of course, that's usually what the fan fic is about - giving the show a little more depth, and exploring topics not discussed on the show (not necessarily talking about shipping, either). I'm not sure how much edginess will appeal to younger kids, I think I was seven or eight before I got into edgier things (if that makes sense), but perhaps you're right. I'm sure you'll find this to be a very interesting forum. There are many long discussions on this sort of matter - just check out General, and you're sure to find something of great interest. Enjoy!
Just out of curiosity, do many in the fandom keep a sense of reality when it comes to the shipping and conventions, or do you find people go overboard with it very often a la the furry extremist culture? Lets not forget this is a family series! lol. Sorry if that seems like a rude question, but knowing how 4chan is and all it's horror stories, I was wondering how large of a portion of their warped portrait of it makes up the actual REAL fanbase. haha.
Welcome to Everypony, Beatles123! ...btw, agreed with Yuuki ^^ ...furries, aren't all bad. I also agree, the show does feel... limited, to an extent... but that's just one of those things that us fans of dark comedy and cartoons will have to suffer... Like Dwynter said, try reading the fanfics and fan art, they add in to the brony experience. :3 Anyways, welcome to Everypony and the herd! I'm sure you'll make some friends here, and enjoy your stay! ...check out EPR and the fanfics section, btw... they're great! Seeya around, then.
Not all...it's the ones who take things too far and warp things that I don't agree with. It's good for a role playing fandom, I get that. it's when you blur real with fantasy that they can get nutty. But I digress...as long as we aren't posting up hentai or acting like our fan couples are canon, Im good.
I believe what you're talking about is called "clopping" - and that's distinctly frowned upon here. You don't need to worry - you won't accidentally stumble on some "exotic" pictures. We're pretty good about that sort of stuff. Shipping gets talked about a bit, usually in General Chat, but I don't think anyone role plays on the forums. At least, not that I know of, but I'm sure some others can better answer that. And the only fan couple that we consider cannon is Spike and Rarity. Oops! I wasn't supposed to say that.
"Clopping"? Sounds...unclean. Good to know to avoid, thanks. It'd good to know not every fanbase takes itself too seriously. ^^
Welcome to Everypony! Enjoy your stay because you'll be here FOREVER! Praise Rainbow Dash / Vinyl Scratch / Muffin Princess Derpy! :derpe:
*Ahem* DRD... Wrong intro thread there, buddy. Thanks, Dwynter, for the "I'm sure when ePONY gets around to here, the three of us can have long discussions on important topics" comment. That made me giggle, heh. I must say, Beatles, I am thoroughly impressed with your introduction. I certainly look forward to any further well-developed and thought-out posts you may make. I essentially agree with what you've said. I was a fan of The Powerpuff Girls and Dexter's Lab when I was a kid, so I'm not surprised at all that I found MLP:FiM appealing. I also don't like the constraints: both time and plot wise, but as you said that's for the sake of the younger audience. At least we have fan-fiction to sorta take care of that, even if it'll never be canon. As far as shipping and clopfiction are concerned, since they were mentioned, the latter you will NOT encounter on the forum. There's a time and place for that, and here is not the place, and there is never a time (on the forum). That stuff is kept private and outside of the realm of Everypony. Shipping, as Dwynter said, is mentioned on here every once in a while. Roleplaying? There is a Roleplaying section on the forum, but I don't know how often it's used. From what I understand most roleplaying occurs in RP chats and on Skype, but that's just a guess. I personally have no qualms with either, as long as it isn't forced upon anyone. The way I see it, every fan has the right to come up with their own fanon. Naturally, there are those that take a mild approach and try to emulate the canon of the show, while others adhere toward the extreme, coming up with extravagant stories that, other than the characters being in it themselves, would have no basis in the canon MLP:FiM universe whatsoever. Despite this, I have no problem with it. If I don't like it, I simply won't read it, and I don't judge those that are into those things. My philosophy is "to each their own." My only pet-peeve is when someone tries to take a piece of fanon and claim it's canon. Uh... yeah... where was I? On Everypony, was it? Heh. With that said, welcome to Everypony, Beatles! I hope you enjoy your time here with us!
Personally I think the whole "Clopping" thing is what gives the fan base a bad rap. Whether you personally support it or not, I think that is something you keep to yourself. Me, I realize it is a children's show and that Lauren Faust would NOT approve of such interpretations of her characters, so I tend to not indulge in that, for the simple fact that I try to have a respect for the characters themselves. *shrugs* but yeah, to each his own. =p
