That pony thread

[Kerreth]

Dr. Hooves (spelled without the W) is now .

[Pie]

Since Bear's dad will be moving into the place we are currently moving from; he's been moving some of his stuff in as we've packed ours. We set up his Netflix a few days back and we got to check out and watch the first few episodes of MLP:FiM. XD It's pretty cool.~ It's impressively built and I can really respect all the work and thought that went into the series so far. =) It has the feeling of being made for younger audiences, but I've been enjoying it; admitting-ly I think a little more the further we get. XD

-anyway, aside from that, I was just curious about what a lot of you MLP fans like so much about the series and what you get out of it. =) What is it about the series that has captured your interest and has propelled you into fandom.

[Alexx]

[Tehwilburforce]

I am a huge fan of cartoons as well. I grew up on a bunch of old favorites from Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. One of these was the Powerpuff Girls. I didn't mind cute shows so much, though I was afraid to have my friends see me watching them(I don't care, now, though). What MLP and The Powerpuff Girls did is take something that was intended mostly for a certain demographic (In this case, young girls) and make appealing enough for anyone.

On another note, I also love my fellow bronies. It is probably the only fandom I have become majorly invested in. The people I have met at various brony sites are very kind and welcoming. I am actually part of a league for semi-competitive TF2 that's run and populated entirely by bronies. It's so much fun. Nobody gives you a hard time for not being so good at the game and the group has even established a school for new recruits to be trained in the game's techniques, so that we can develop our skills enough to join one of the teams. I can't think of any other group who'd put that much work into something for their new members.

[Soeroah]

Copy pasting my thoughts from another site =P


For me, it was nice to see a modern cartoon that felt like something from my childhood, instead of what I usually see on TV now. I first watched MLP:FiM as a curiosity, to see what I would think. While it was a bit of a struggle adapting and watching the first couple of episodes, I quickly began to enjoy the characters, the humour, the music, the animation, the stories and the songs. I guess that's a lot of what I like about the show, in my opinion it's just good, and I think that view is shared by a lot of the fans.

I'm also a bit of a fan of the fanbase. I understand there are some unsavoury types, but there are shady parts of just about every fanbase. From what I've seen, though, the majority of the fans are passionate and fun-loving people who go out of their way to help people where they can, something I don't usually see with other fanbases. While I try not to generalise, I've noticed a lot of fanbases have a bit of an aggressive attitude, while the bronies tend to be more defensive. They usually won't begrudge anyone their own opinions as long as they aren't being unfairly targeted.

I love how fast the fanbase puts out new art, music remixes and animations. If we don't count the latest songs, I think the record is a song being remixed within three hours of being heard for the first time outside the offices. It's been said that the FiM adult fanbase tends to be very art-focused, so there are a LOT of comics, pictures, animations and the like out there, generated all the time, which further interests me.

Finally, I think I'm quite a fan of the creators of the show. They know about us older fans, and they support us. Just recently there was an entirely fan-created convention where 4,000 fans got to meet writers, animators and voice actors/actresses for the show. Those professionals were only allowed to go with Hasbro's consent, which means Hasbro basically said "sure" to at least 15 people who worked on the show and let them interact with the fans over a few days.

The fans love the show, the people who work on the show love the fans and the fans love the people who work on the show. It's a wonderful community of give-and-take, in my eyes. Episodes have references to popular culture and the adult fanbase. For example, one scene was almost a shot-by-shot parody of a Star Wars scene, another included a Big Lebowski reference. At least one character has become the "symbol" of the fanbase, and the fan-name for here was made canon. Official advertisements include shout-outs to the Bronies.



So, in addition to the animation, music, storylines and voice acting all being quite fantastic in my opinion, I also love stuff outside of the show- the fanbase, the creators, the content generation. I mean, a season 3 song has already been remixed and covered, and season 3 doesn't start for a few more months yet.

[Kerreth]

So I'm rewatching season 1 on Netflix now, so I'm "prepared" (or something) to watch season 2 (I've only seen the first 3 or 4 episodes and then the last 2), and AWKWARD NETFLIX PREVIEW SHOT.

[Tehwilburforce]

If that picture were darker, it could pass for a Scooby Doo/ponies crossover.

[Pie]

I know this is probably kinda old now, but I've been meaning to post this for a while. XD



The current build of the game looks rather impressive. =D

[Pie]

oh! -and thanks everyone for your input on why you like the series, community, etc. I think it's really awesome that the producers embrace the community, it's definitely the right way to go! XD I mean, why would you alienate people who are huge fans of your work, right? =D I think it's really interesting reading about the bond that has developed in Pony fan communities. I wonder if a lot of it boils down to the idea that since they are huge fans of what many "normal" adults would consider to be a "kids' show" and experiencing the fear of being judged by other adults lets them accept others easier out of compassion. '_'

Bear and I haven't gotten seen much more MLP since we moved since we watched the first few episodes on his dads Netflix, but I was enjoying it and admit was kinda of sad at the idea of not seeing more after the move.

-and like Alexx, I'm a huge fan of animation. =D

[Soeroah]

Weeell, Hasbro is surprisingly okay with the show being up on YouTube, if you've got access to YouTube. Could watch the episodes there =P


Like, Hasbro's REALLY good about it. The only reason they take some episodes down or send cease and desist letters to people who make and sell fan-produced toys based on the show is because American laws apparently force them to defend their copyright once an infringement has been reported or they lose it completely. An odd law, yes, but one Hasbro only enacts when forced to.

So don't feel bad about watching the episodes on YouTube if you can- Hasbro knows it's how the show got so popular!