Where did that brony spirit go?

I'm not sure if we're becoming a more depressive group, or simply a larger group. It's doubled in size since I joined, two months ago; hence, the number of depressed people have doubled.

Sure, some are just attention seekers, and while I might know who some of them are, I'm not a professional, and wouldn't call them on it. I could very well be wrong. I've made that mistake before, with disastrous results. So, I treat everyone as serious. And from my little experience in the matter, I don't think the attention seekers think of themselves as attention seekers, so they may not even recognize themselves here.

As for depressed people, well, we all get depressed from time to time, and coming here for comfort seems quite reasonable to me. I'm sure if there was an internet when I was a teenager, I'd be on it looking for hope, some sign that things to get better. And, as I say, they do get better - just not always in the way you think.

I'd also like to remind people, that we are (for the most part) a bunch of amateurs. We are not professionals, and for truly depressed people - to the point of suicidal thoughts - all we can do is encourage. For true help, I suggest a professional.

Any ways, the brony spirit. Anyone care to define the brony spirit? What it means to you? Is it just ponies? Or is it more? I'm not sure what the brony spirit is - having just heard the phrase a few minutes ago when I started this thread. I'll have to think about it, and post again later.

I'll stop here, before everyone goes blank, and says "TL;DR"

 

Bearing in mind these are just my personal thoughts and ideas and, as such you are allowed to disagree! just dont read it
Brony spirit...I suppose its most direct source is the show we have all come to love, but that in itself Is absolutely NOT the spirit, rather it is the happiness derived from the show that we all collectively share which gives rise to us all being as one in harmony. (see what I did there? no? me neither)

..I love you guys.

 

If the brony spirit is truly about loving and tolerance, then I'm a little disappointed it took a children's TV show to make people realise that, as that just sounds like common sense to me.

 

When I first joined Everypony back in July, my intention was just to discuss the show with other fans as I don't know any IRL bronies. I was given an impressive first impression by all the greetings I received and quickly learned that this community is different from others. Still, my intent was to only discuss ponies and nothing more. After the first month passed, and I made some posts, some of them becoming the walls of text that some of you recognize me for, such as this one. About a month in, I finally made my first friend on here. I thanked him for his friendship. Little did I know that joining this community would have some impacts on me, not only on the Internet, but maybe even a little bit IRL. This was no longer "just a pony forum."

For those of you that consider this "just a pony forum," and I say this with the utmost respect, you must either be an inactive member, oblivious or in denial. It's true that this may be just a message board for many members here, perhaps even the majority of them, but to quite a few of us it has evolved into much more. Whether you want to believe it or not, this forum has impacted the lives of some people here. It's formed relationships, strong friendships, enabled people to try new things, and has been able to assist members with their problems. You may think it sounds silly, and I must admit that I was surprised when I first realized this. So don't bother saying this is just a pony forum, because I can assure you, you are dead wrong. Tell that to any of the members that I described a few sentences ago and see what reactions you get.

Let us not forget, that even though we are communicating via an Internet medium, there are real people behind all of these names, and some of us genuinely care about them, some to the point of loving them, even if we've never met them in person. I'm sorry if that kind of a concept is too difficult for some members to grasp or comprehend, but it's the truth. I've even had my mind open up more since I've been here. There are people on here that I think about during my everyday life, and that has never happened to me before. Even though I've never met any of you, I'm so grateful to have been able to talk with you and call you my friends. I've even had issues that members have helped me with. The only difference is I typically don't post them on the forum. I usually do that via Skype or private message.

This place hasn't totally lost its magic, at least in my case. I still discuss ponies, and ponies are still being discussed. You ought to check out The Library sometime. There's still pony discussion going on. However, considering how much the community has grown, there is only so much discussion that ponies can give us, and we must find alternate forms, either by creative expression, or just general discussion. I'm so happy that we have become comfortable enough to discuss our problems with one another. That, to me, is one of the hallmarks of a good community, and is not some disease as some of you may have called it. I understand that some of us may not be happy to see all the depressed threads show up, and to that end, I agree that a separate subcategory should be created for such a purpose. Even I must admit that I can get depressed once in a while as I'm reading the topics, but I never, ever want to see people forced to hold back their feelings, even if I'm being semi-hypocritical— only semi, because I do talk about my problems, just not on the boards.

I may not reply to most of the topics, but not because I don't care. I truly care. I hate seeing some of the suffering that the members here have to go through, but it's just that I don't have much to add to what's already been said and I'm usually not experienced in many of the issues presented. So I don't feel I'd make a useful contribution. Thankfully we have members like Yetione and others here that tirelessly and selflessly try to help other members that are in need.

I saw a member in EPR refer to us not only as a herd, but as a family. They were referring to a specific member leaving and said something along the lines of, "We are a family, and when any one member is thinking of leaving, it's a big deal." I do feel like I'm part of a second-family here myself. In some ways, I feel closer to some of you guys than I do to people in real life because I've talked about some things, other than ponies, that I'd never dream of telling anyone IRL. This is what I love about this place, and that is one of the things that makes it more than just a forum. It isn't just a page filled with screen names and discussion. It may be in the literal sense, but many of us here, including myself, know it's become much greater than that. The cartoon gives us happiness, and the community gives us togetherness.

Naturally, there is a dark side. We have had some issues recently that have been pretty upsetting not only to some of the members here, but myself as well. For the first time, I had to break a friendship with a member here and it's a shame it had to come to that. Unfortunately that just comes with life, both real and online. Friendships come and go. Some are healed while others remain shattered. It would be nice to see everyone get along and be happy, but even our community, which is probably the closest I think to achieving this, can't make everyone happy. This may just be a hurdle to overcome for the community here. Just as real-life has its ups and downs, so can a virtual one.

Speaking of reality, I come here often to escape reality and enter fantasy. It's a way to escape from the stresses of the world. Anyone here that thinks the real world is totally bad or totally good has a very binary perspective. The world is a mixture of good and bad. It has its bad times and its good times, and a good portion of them are manipulatable just by our own perception and outlook on life. Other parts, inevitably, not as much. Just as all good things come to an end, so do bad things. I'm not just saying this. My life, just as many, if not all of yours, has its good times and its bad times. I cherish the good times, and try to work through the bad times. The road of life isn't always a smooth highway, but a waning road filled with twists, turns, bumps and potholes and other obstructions. Once you make it past the hazards, you are again on a smooth path. As hopeless as a situation may seem at the time, it will not last forever.

With all that said, we are a mixture of many different people. From casual forum posters, to those that have allowed this community to impact their real lives in multiple ways. That's the beauty of Everypony. It is both just a pony forum and not just a pony forum at the same time. It has provided love, happiness and friendship. Although we do have sadness and anger present as well, that is just a natural occurrence. As someone else said, we are human, not ponies. Although trending toward discord may be human nature, that doesn't mean we can't overcome it and maintain harmony amongst friends. Many of us do that here. I, myself, have said some bad things to my friends in heated moments, but at the end of the day we forgive and move on. To err is human. So I don't believe the entire brony spirit is gone, nor do I think that the herd will die. I just think we're in a slump and it'll recover with time.

I recommend, just as others have, that a new subforum be created for discussion of personal issues, to act as a compromise between those that don't feel like reading about others' issues and those that want to share them and/or offer assistance. I want to reiterate that the openness of this community is one of the things that I think distinguishes it from others. I'd never want people to be forced to bottle up their issues inside.

As for me, I haven't lost hope. I still find this community very enjoyable despite some of the negativity. We'll just have to get through this, and I have faith that we can. We are bronies after all.

 

W-wow, ePony. That was just... Heavy. And powerful.

Thank you. That puts a lot in perspective, at least to me.

 

Allow me to explain my reasoning.


A community is like a clock. All of the cogs mesh together to create the Ticking and the Tocking.
The Ticking and Tocking is the work of the community.
If one of these cogs is damaged or broken, we, as a system, fail to work. Because, without that cog, the clock will not operate.
The community will stop working, and, as most of us know, this is very bad.
Now, give the cogs personification. We, as the "Cogs" must work together to repair this broken cog.
If we, the cogs, cannot fix this cog ourselves, the "Owner" of the clock (Grey) has to call in a repairman. (Varying Moderators or Administrators.)
This repairman comes and either helps us to fix it, or it removes it as a whole and replaces it with something else as a placeholder.
We, as the Cogs of the Clock, have to keep the other cogs happy and safe.
The Cogs have a right to express their negative feelings towards their problems, and we, as the cogs, repair these cogs, which are now "Broken."
Every Member matters in this clock. Without the support of our fellow Cogs, we, the clock, does not work.
These depressed threads have been nothing more than the little cogs expressing who they are, and what their problems are.
This isn't negativity; it is trust between fellow bronies.
This isn't just forum people and fellow bronies; we're all one big family.
Jacques Portsman approves this message.

 

Colorful, but really not true. The community does not depend on everyone. It depends on a few people, really, and most people come and go and are totally transient and honestly do not matter. Many are, in fact, detrimental and are better ignored. This is the internet, not A Shining City Upon A Hill.

Also, you got to cut down on the number of images after your posts. Those 3 .gifs in a row are just too much. This isn't 4chan.

 

May I redirect you to this thread? Thanks.
Your negative attitude is what doesn't really help. At all.
My point is this; the cog is damaged, and we are trying to repair it.
Now, when the cog is damaged, almost all of the cogs stop their movement.
These cogs are the ones that are trying to help repair the broken cog.
So please, keep it positive.
Some may be detrimental, yes. But that doesn't mean we should give up on them!


We are all family. Whether we like it or not, we're all one big, huge, dysfunctional family that sticks by each other to the end of the fandom.

 

Part of being a brony is (in my opinion) a sense of fellowship with your fellow bronies. So, even in bad times that might be all gloomy-doomy, we can still stick together as bronies.

I love my fellow bronies, but then again, I love lots of people. Is that odd? I don't know, friendliness is usually my dispostition.

 

You write something that's tl;dr? That's impossible. There's too much brilliance in a Dwynter post for it to be too long.

ePONY and Dwynter, you guys both brought up some really good points. Definitely got me (and I'm sure quite a few others) thinking about this topic very differently than I was before, so thanks for that!

 

It is funny that someone hell bent on helping everyone is so inconsiderate about a simple common courtesy. It is for people like you that signature limits were established. One .gif, we get it, it's your fancy, message received. Don't need to be bludgeoned by them every time you post.

I am not negative. I am logical, reasonable, and mature. Many members appreciate my realistic and rational view on things in this fandom. Notice how you called me "negative" and not "wrong", because, obviously, I am right. My posts are logically consistent. Urging me to be "positive" so that you can uphold a silly analogy about cogs and clocks and timebombs is silly. You have created a totally arbitrary description that is flatly inaccurate. I get it, there are a lot of people here who want to create a helpful, welcoming, and friendly community here and I think that is something we can all strive for. I happen to disagree that the way this is achieved is by phony and meaningless appeals to collective emotions and by placating total strangers about suicide. The Breakfast Club was just a movie.

One cog is broken? I would say a good number of cogs are broken, many cogs have good intentions but are making the situation worse, and then there are cogs who are getting fed up with the sob and pony show.

Seriously, do you even know what you are talking about anymore?

No, we're not. We have a common interest that we like discussing, over which friendships may form. We are not a family, we do not have obligations to each other. My obligations extend as far as everypony's terms of agreement policy, and the members who value my perspective are the ones I will identify with and play minecraft with and share PMVs with and so forth, but I am not wasting a second of my leisure time crying over some divisive losers.

 

I love this community--Everypony I mean, not the entire fandom (since there are some places where they are a lot less, um, friendly ._.). I even joined a forum, something I haven't done in a long time. From day one, I felt welcome, if not a bit awkward...wait, what am I saying? I still feel awkward. I don't do a very good job at hiding it, either.

Honestly, I can't see why anyone would think, just because a few people might be going through some rough times, doesn't mean the community is going to implode. At least, I don't see that happening. Maybe if I lurked more in sad threads, I'd see it. I guess I'm being too ~optimistic~ and ~open-minded~ again. I personally don't post much in sad threads, because I fear I'll say the wrong thing if I say anything more than simply a sympathetic sentence or two.

Regarding the last few posts...this community being a family? Well, I wouldn't exactly say that, but I do genuinely consider a lot of you very good friends of mine. [size=-2]I still maintain we should all move into a neighborhood somewhere so we can be dysfunctional neighbors together. ShyGuy, you're still mayor.[/size]

 

I wouldn't mind the idea of moving into a ne-e-e-eighborhood with you all.

Now that that's out of my system, both sides of the aisle are correct. We're not a family, and we don't really need to work together. We could be lazy, not give a crap, and just be on our merry way. We'll still be who we are, minus everyone here t support us. No harm done to our every day lives.

At he same time, I've seen some real dungheaps for forums in my time on the blagosphere. This forum has to have some of the most kind and understanding people I've seen on the blagosphere. I'd hate to see it go out. It's a light in the darkness, and I'd like to do what I can to help that light blaze for as long as possible.

 

How nice of you to say that.
Some of us feel closer to each other because of the community.
Calling us "Divisive Losers" is offensive to me, and I'm sure to some other people as well.
Anyways, I agree with SunBurn. A separate section should be made for people who want to discuss their problems.

 

Everyone will have problems at some point. I just got over one myself. If it wasn't for the friends here, I'd still be that way. A separate thread would be a good idea for people to talk about their problems.

Saikyo,I agree with you on the family thing. You guys are all an awesome extended family I can talk to.

Manehattanite, Whether or not you are logical. What does it matter how Saikyo posts, It makes him, him. I change my sigs all the time because it makes me, me.

Elementsofchaos7. Sadness only breeds more sadness.

This thread was for the brony spirit, not for more problems. Can't we all just LOVE and TOLERATE each other.

 

maybe.. i wonder if bronies here and there will at least cooperate with each other and solve all these problems

 

There is so much wrong in this sentence. If the community only had 20 people, then it would fall by now. But, as we know, we have several thousand which keeps us together. Why are you here if you have no trust in the community?

I'll just remember this quote that was posted back in April- "Do you know what happens when the herd doesn't grow? It dies out."

 

I'm fairly dissapointed in you guys, this is probably the first time I've had to close a thread for arguing and flaming.
Yes, the community is in a bit on a slump as of late, I'll be sure to address that in the new news post.

As for now, to keep depression and other attention threads to a minimum please direct them to the "Community Officers" Foxytail, Spitfyre or Rasii before posting them.

Also if you're going to make a point, please be respectful of the opposing side.

 

*Kisses both Eris'* I didn't know which to pick.