The State of My Little Pony

[ThereIsNoSanta]

we're still around. i guess the ones who felt the need to make a load of noise about it have got bored.

And thank god.

No offense to the loud ones. But at least it's just another fandom now. It was hard to avoid before.

There's nothing more obnoxious than someone who gets in your face and insists that you love what they love, because it "changed them". All of the grotesque pageantry of religion with the strange shallowness of Hasbro.

This show turned seemingly ordinary people into evangelists like nothing I've ever seen before.

I just could not agree with you more, it was spooky.

There was this one kid in my class who I kid you not, had a pony themed bag, pony pins on his hat and all. And he once told me the show changed his life, and asked if I had watched it with the same passion someone preaching the gospel would.

I still hang out in pretty nerdy circles, but I haven't bumped into someone like that in a long while.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

We had a friendship guru? Who was that? Aylaine?
Anyway, it hasn't lost appeal for me, I always just sit behind on the episode count, and then catch up a few weeks or a month later.
Though, I have noticed that the fandom seems a bit less active. Which is a shame, because there were some pretty decent folks in it.
And apparently my nephews still love the show, last I heard. Which was a couple of days ago. Makes things easy when I have to babysit, I don't have to watch some show that drives me up the wall.

 

[EternallyBored]

snip

huh funny, that group tends to despise bronies and considers them all to be white male shitheads taking away the show from its true audience, little girls. Haven't seen any of that other stuff, if anything Tumblr is teeming with bronies that hate SJWs (mostly just a group of girls on tumblr that despise the fact males like the show and try to dress it up as feminism). Where are you seeing this stuff exactly?

I've never seen any of that special interest group stuff either, not in any real quantity anyway, sure there's a lot of girl/girl shipping going on, but that's mostly due to the fact that 90% of the characters on the show are female, there's only like 3 male characters to every dozen female. Same thing happens when girls get in to Shonen anime that's %90 men, all the shipping is yaoi.

Actually, if I remember, bronies tend to get a lot of sympathy on subreddits like r/tumblrinaction usually for being the target of false stories trying to smear them all as White neckbeard loser pedophiles.

Really though, in a fandom as large as MLP, with most estimates putting the number of fans in the millions range, I guess your bound to run in to all types. For a little while I thought there were a ton of racist people on deviant art leaving all kinds of terrible racist messages on any image that drew the characters as humans and made them anything other than white, then I realized it was maybe a dozen accounts just spamming any picture they could find.

Anyway, you're hanging out with the wrong fans man, I've never run into any of the things you describe outside a couple fringe tumblr and deviant art pages.

snip

I believe it is a sarcastic referral to Eternalnothingness, a somewhat singleminded poster who was pretty much the only person that posted pony topics on offtopic for a good 8 months or so. He was obsessed with the idea of friendship and that the season 4 finale and the movies ruined Faust's grand vision. It was revealed at one point that he had been spamming poor Megan McCarthy's Twitter with accusations for months. No matter what you said to him he would always return in a couple days to say the same things again.

He also had a fixation on DBZ and how Twilight was becomming like Goku from the show. To the point he genuinely seemed to think that season 5 would kill off all the other characters so Twilight could power up and become some kind of pony version of goku.

He was a trip, but damn was he fun to talk to, I miss that guy, he was always good for entertainment back when the forum was being flooded by Sarkeesian threads.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Holy Shit! You're the only other person I've seen here that noticed the dramatic change after the first season. I thought I was going crazy back then.

Yeah, we were pretty well in the minority about that. I made a thread about it a couple of years ago, and only like 7.6% of the poll said they didn't like the show anymore. Actually, you posted in that thread [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.399344-Poll-MLP-Has-Jumped-the-Shark#16372962].

We had a friendship guru? Who was that? Aylaine?

I thought it was EternalNothingness(Commander_PonyShep), since he was pretty obsessed about the show and always made those bizarre threads about it.

 

[Neverhoodian]

I choose not to follow the fandom all that closely (because reasons [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0ly60b42ig],) so I can't really comment on its status, aside from the fact that it appears to have settled down. People have seemed to come to grips that bronies are not in fact deviant pedophiles or horsefuckers. On the flip side, the more rabid bronies have largely stopped their unwanted proselytizing of the show everywhere they go. This has resulted in less drama and shitstorms all around, which is a good thing.

As for the show itself, I'd say it's still going strong. Yes, the show's tone has changed a bit over the years, but I don't see that as a bad thing. Besides, most of the elements that made it popular in the first place are still there. The animation is still colorful, the writing is still strong, the characters are still likable, and the music is still amazing. As long as the show has these elements I'll be happy.

Besides, episode 100 was one for the ages. Seriously, who would have ever expected something as gloriously insane as THIS?

 

[Nazulu]

Holy Shit! You're the only other person I've seen here that noticed the dramatic change after the first season. I thought I was going crazy back then.

Yeah, we were pretty well in the minority about that. I made a thread about it a couple of years ago, and only like 7.6% of the poll said they didn't like the show anymore. Actually, you posted in that thread [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.399344-Poll-MLP-Has-Jumped-the-Shark#16372962].

Oh, well, there you go.

Completely forgot that one.

More than I expected I guess now.

Spoiler: I'm just gonna...

 

[IceForce]

He also had a fixation on DBZ and how Twilight was becomming like Goku from the show. To the point he genuinely seemed to think that season 5 would kill off all the other characters so Twilight could power up and become some kind of pony version of goku.

He was a trip, but damn was he fun to talk to, I miss that guy, he was always good for entertainment back when the forum was being flooded by Sarkeesian threads.

You and me both. Some of the most bizarre (and funny) discussions I've ever had on this forum were had with that guy.

It was a damn shame when he bit the banhammer bullet, ... but also inevitable too.

 

[EternallyBored]

He also had a fixation on DBZ and how Twilight was becomming like Goku from the show. To the point he genuinely seemed to think that season 5 would kill off all the other characters so Twilight could power up and become some kind of pony version of goku.

He was a trip, but damn was he fun to talk to, I miss that guy, he was always good for entertainment back when the forum was being flooded by Sarkeesian threads.

You and me both. Some of the most bizarre (and funny) discussions I've ever had on this forum were had with that guy.

It was a damn shame when he bit the banhammer bullet, ... but also inevitable too.

I've actually seen him around since getting banned here, his posting style is easy to recognize. He managed to get banned from both the Ponychan boards and the IGN forums after leaving the Escapist, pretty much for the exact same thing he did here. He seems to be completely incapable of learning, but at least he's persistent. Hopefully he's at least stopped spamming the show staffs Twitter accounts.

 

[IceForce]

I've actually seen him around since getting banned here, his posting style is easy to recognize. He managed to get banned from both the Ponychan boards and the IGN forums after leaving the Escapist, pretty much for the exact same thing he did here. He seems to be completely incapable of learning, but at least he's persistent. Hopefully he's at least stopped spamming the show staffs Twitter accounts.

He still doomsaying and predicting the end of the show with all the characters dying?

I actually suggested to him that he should start a blog (which I think he may have actually done), since that's somewhere where he's unlikely to get banned from, and a much more suitable place for him to post the things that he posted.

 

[McElroy]

For me, I got cynical. There were too many people who liked the show for weird-ass reasons (though maybe I shouldn't have hung out on FiMFiction so much). Some of the episodes became ridiculous and the toy-pushing agenda just felt through too much. Speaking of toys: Equestria Girls (and the fact that non-target audience people claim they like it), and of course Hasbro getting more active with their C&D-hammer. I was a 'legit' brony for a little while, but being a fan of a calculated toy-selling scheme AND a grown up person don't really mix imo. I don't regret any of it, though. I even made friends and so on.

The only S5 episodes I've seen are the pilot 2-parter and the panda-episode. All-in-all I see the writing became more inconsistent after season 2 anyways, and I started to see different writers shine through a bit too much. Also they "reformed" Discord which is just wrong.

And if you don't agree, I guess you're a Nazi.

That will be my future slogan for the elections.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

snip

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Usually just FimFiction, equestria daily and if I can scrounge up the courage/whiskey, channer space and /image boards.

You know, the face of the community you don't see at the conventions. And I know con goers are a unique breed, but they're hardly the worst and/or true face of the fandom.

Now are the inclucivity crowd a numerical majority? No. Vocal? Absolutely!

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

The loud bronies are gone and the internet found something else to be loud about. Now its just a fandom and I'm fine with that. I still have a friend who, using his admin powers, will ban any brony that gets onto his server. He didn't even particularly hate the bronies in the beginning but when it spammed everything, including the game he loved...

Well, let's just say resentment for the pony spam is still out there.

 

[RedRockRun]

I love the ponies! It would take a lot to change that.

 

[PunkRex]

It always happens, fandoms always level out/move out of the spot light, just look at Over the Garden Wall, an amazing series but when was the last time you even saw someone mention it? Plus, a host of other great cartoons have started up since it's first airing, Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, We Bare Bears the previously mentioned OtGW, not to mention Adventure Time and Regular Show are still going. Visit Deviantart or somewhere similar you'll see it's fandom is still very much alive, the constant chatter that surrounded it has just sort of died down, the loud-mouths have confessed their oaths of un-dying loyalty and the trolls have gotten bored and moved on.

It's actually a really pleasant fanbase to be in now without all the drama.

The show lost it's touch after the first two seasons. Even though the recent episode of Season 5 was pretty good.. it wasn't anything special. I feel like the producers are just trying to make the show last longer in hopes they'll pick up again or something.

Now Steven Universe is something special. It runs only for 10 minutes per episode, but somehow keeps getting better and better.
I highly advise for anyone even remotely interested to go watch the show. It's freaken good man. Also DEM feels too!

MLP has had some meh episodes but Steven Universe has had eps that felt like straight up filler. Maybe MLP has an advantage there in even though the majority of it's eps are slice of life it's fantasy setting still enable it to get funky while SU's more grounded back-drop kinda makes certain eps feel boring in the grand scheme of things. Not to mention no episode of MLP has pissed me off like the ending to 'Island Adventure' did... seriously, what were we supposed to take away from that!?

But yes, when SU hits the feels, it hits dem hard...

 

[FPLOON]

Besides, episode 100 was one for the ages. Seriously, who would have ever expected something as gloriously insane as THIS?

Seeing that performed live was a treat in and of itself...

-snip-

First off, I'm just glad Over the Garden Wall finally got a DVD release... Even if it's not on Blu-Ray, the special features on the DVD are awesome, nonetheless...

Secondly, unlike Adventure Time, whenever a Steven Universe episode feels like a [total] filler, it at least feels like it's going to build up to something later down the line[footnote]Unless CN cancels the show, I guess... [/footnote]... Also, "Island Adventure" is one of my favorite episodes ending and all... I'm sure that particular subplot's going to return in some way, shape, or form, let alone hinted at throughout future episodes...

Thirdly, I feel like every episode of Steven Universe hits something, feels or otherwise...

 

[PunkRex]

-snip-

First off, I'm just glad Over the Garden Wall finally got a DVD release... Even if it's not on Blu-Ray, the special features on the DVD are awesome, nonetheless...

Secondly, unlike Adventure Time, whenever a Steven Universe episode feels like a [total] filler, it at least feels like it's going to build up to something later down the line... Also, "Island Adventure" is one of my favorite episodes ending and all... I'm sure that particular subplot's going to return in some way, shape, or form, let alone hinted at throughout future episodes...

Thirdly, I feel like every episode of Steven Universe hits something, feels or otherwise...

1. I live in the UK, last time I checked we haven't gotten a physical release of OtGW yet.

2. I don't really agree, SU has some really great eps away form the main story line but every now and than you get one that does nothing. Also, I had no problem with the idea behind 'Island Adventure' or the fact Sadie went a bit loco in the coco, after all SU has a habit of making flawed characters really, REALLY interesting (seriously, I love Pearls arc).

It's the fact that Lars was the one who apologized at the end, f*ck that, (for once) he had every right to be loud and mad. Yet the ep kind of ends with the idea that it was Sadie we should be siding with! Everything else was fine, I like how the relationship between Sadie and Lars is developing, it's the fact the writers had Lar's apologize.

3. Yeah, even the eps that aren't particularly interesting are still super funny.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

Can't talk for others but when i told people to give MLP a chance and check it out, it wasn't any diffrent then with every comic, movie, book, game, anime or boardgame i found interessting too.

Attack on Titan, Kill la Kill, Winter of the Dead, Quantum, Twilight Imperium 3.. jeez, i run around and tell people to check out stuff constantly
But so far - according to feedback - in a non-obnoxious way.

And jeah, the rest of the fandom is still awesome. People still create tons of pics, stories, music, pmv's etc. though the names of the creators changed over time and most people i personally know still follow the show.
Even if they're not always up to date but wait till a new season is fully aired until they watch it.

 

[Risingblade]

Is that show still around? I thought they cancelled it or something