You are here on EQD, so obviously you spend a lot of time on ponies. As with all hobbies, it has probably had some kind of affect on your life.
So what is your story? Have you made a legion of new friends? Have you gone out and met them in real life? Did you improve overall as an artist/musician/writer?
What did pony do to you?
747 comments:
@BlueNight
ReplyDelete...Luke Allen?
It's given me a new perspective on writing and made myself into a better writer overall.
ReplyDeleteHonestly now i have a community to be part of (which feels good) and i've been happier since
ReplyDeletei was in utter depression, my grades were as low as they could get. then i discovered ponies and got out of it. my grades are a lot better and i'm happier than ever before.
ReplyDeleteThis has to be my third wall of text trying to explain how My Little Pony changed my life. But in all honesty, it’s not a very easy thing to explain. It involved going into personal stuff with my past, my family and my slow descend into depression.
ReplyDeleteTo put it as shortly as possible, there is a lot of negativity going on in my family; their views on life aren’t always that good, and from time to time there would be arguments between my parents, the kind that throughout my life has etched their way into the depth of trauma. People are stupid. That’s the message that was floating around. It never went so far that I was having serious depressions yet, but it was starting to affect my grades in school and my overall enjoyment of life.
Friendship is Magic served as nothing less than a reset button. It reminded me from the ground up how human interactions are SUPPOSED to work, that humans may not be perfect, but there is a lot of good in them too that should not be ignored. It reminded me of all the good things in life, and told me that maybe I had been exaggerating all the negative parts a bit too much. Here’s a good analogy: when I was a kid, and woke up from a bad dream, my mother would come and comfort me, telling me it was everything was going to be all right. My Little Pony severed the same role, waking me up from the bad dream I had created for myself through years of accumulating negativity. It taught me, for lack of better wording, to giggle at the ghostly.
Of course, bad people do exist, and there are a lot of them. Sometimes, things happen that makes you wonder if humans even belong in this world. I still live with my family, and their attitude isn’t any better… but ponies shifted something in my head. It used to be that good shows served as an escape from the Bad Outside, creating a haven for me to crawl into; this show took the Bad Outside and pointed me to the good, making me feel more at peace with the world that I live in. It made me want to be a better person, a better friend, so that I could give something back to this amazing phenomenon.
Besides my happiness back, this show and its fandom has also given me the drive to start writing again, a ton of amazing music, a whole archive of amazing stories, several new podcasts, courage to be more social thanks to meet-up groups, and a lot of love and tolerance in my heart. Life may not be the easiest sometimes, but there’s no doubt it’s a live worth living.
It has changed my life. I can't tell you how lost I was before this. There was no love in my life, only anger. I was unhappy to say the least. When I found ponies, my life changed for the better. I'm friendly, I have made more friends, and I can honestly say that when I walk in the room, everybody in the room smiles. It's so great to be able to have that effect on people. I love this show, this community. Thank you...
ReplyDeleteMLP:FiM did a lot of stuff to change my life, but there are 3 main changes which I feel should be mentioned:
ReplyDelete1. I have more friends, and yes, I have met them in real life.
2. Innocence has been revived in me, and I find myself starting to be more reluctant when it comes to playing pretty violent games or looking at porn.
3. I find that I'm...happier than before. I've become more accepting of things, and I don't have a temper anymore.
@Lavendar Harmony
ReplyDeleteWow, that's pretty similar to me
Makes me happy. Less depressed and more optimistic. It's something that just... well makes me smile.
ReplyDeletePonies have made me happier. It's given me something that, without fail, makes me smile.
ReplyDeleteI've been introduced to something wonderful, I just wish I got involved with the community more...
MLP brought rainbows in my life, now I keep smiling and I've changed my behaviour a lot.
ReplyDeleteIt also helped me with my English (even if i'm sure i'm making silly mistakes right now...) and I tried my hand at drawing because of ponies.
And it gave me little faith in humanity too...
@Bombedrumbum
ReplyDeleteHear, hear! I concur good sir!
I too had no friends due to social isolation stemming from health issues earlier in life.
Ponies introduced me to a community of like minded individuals who support each other. Individuals I am happy to call my friends.
FiM has really helped me makes a lot of progress in my writing. For many years I had hopes of becoming an author, and had lots of ideas running around in my head, but I could never get motivated to actually plant my butt in the chair and take the process seriously.
ReplyDeleteNow, why ponies instead of something else? (shrugs) Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps the brightly colored ponies resonated better with my muse than derivative anime I had been watching previously? That's really the best guess I can come up with.
Regardless of how it started though, I can tell you that the fandom itself has been amazing in helping me grow. The sheer number of others who have been willing to comment and critique what I've written is amazing, and continues to inspire me onward.
Also, I've noticed that since ponies entered my life, I've been a lot more happy in general, meet some people that I otherwise never would have and thus have a lot more friends, and I also have a better appreciation for the process that goes into creating a show like this.
It made me much less jaded and gave me a reason to smile again. Also now I cant stop reading fanfics.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say for sure, really. I don't have many problems in life, but that's probably because 8th grade doesn't offer many issues. I guess it's helped me be a bit more optimistic and confident. Being an amateur student artist, drawing ponies has helped me improve altogether.
ReplyDeleteI have become more open minded to other peoples opinion.
ReplyDeleteNot that I have ever "hated" on anybody for their opinions. (And I'm proud of never doing so)
This will probably be a bit darker than many stories, but it is my story.
ReplyDeleteThis show set itself up in my life at just the perfect time to prevent a major catastrophe from happening. I've always been depressed, but I could never afford to see doctors over it. When my mom passed away in 2009, that depression spiraled further and further until I had very little positive outlook on life. My girlfriend did what she could to keep me thinking positively and for what she did, I still think her to this day. I had a deep attachment to my mom, and was a big mama's boy. We were practically best friends, so it was really hard for me to move on even with the aid of my girlfriend... Once the show appeared in late 2010, I think it was around episode 9 where I finally let down my guard and dropped the typical "What the hell is this shit doing on my /b/?" crap. It was like a light in a dark place in my life. Between the show and the community, I was feeling pretty good. When my girlfriend left me in June of 2010, it was a shocking and painful moment in my life. If I didn't have the bronies and the show to fall to for peace, the one-two punch of my mother dying and my girlfriend leaving me would have resulted in my suicide.
Cupcake, Pulse, Outsider, Wastelander, Lauren Faust, and so many more... I love you all to pieces. This show is a miracle.
I just love to see all of you talk back and forth. The banter, the jokes, the feeling of well being. It makes me smile. I haven't found it very much in a group so diverse as ours. I am proud to be a brony and you all make me happy to be one.
ReplyDeleteI have become more open minded to other peoples opinion.
ReplyDeleteNot that I have ever "hated" on anybody for their opinions. (And I'm proud of never doing so)
It helped me get past a rough part of my life. It also retaught how to smile =3
ReplyDeleteponies brought joy to my life and sadly is now beggining to ruin it. Everybody in my class found out about me being a brony and now i cant take 2 steps into school without being insulted, threatened and teased. the worst part is they did a small amount of research and now know EXACTLY what to say. I dont know what to do, my freinds are anti-bronies (they watched an episode) and everyone else thinks im insane.
ReplyDeleteit made me buy pony toys, draw more pony art, and talk with more bronies online. Sadly I've never met any bronies in real life to make friends with yet.
ReplyDeletemy pony art is here tho...
http://dragnmastralex.deviantart.com/
I guess as a whole we could say that the show's given us a very positive outlook on life and has taken us into territory none of us could have pictured; art, media, real life connections, etc. Really hope the people at Hasbro, Studio B, and the rest of the team behind the show have a look at this and see the kind of transformation this show has brought about to so many people. If and when they do, I'd say they have our eternal admiration.
ReplyDeleteFor me, ponies changed my life. The show and this fandom have made me happier than I've ever been in my life. Not only that, but it also inspired me to improve as a musician, and to try my hoof at writing fan fiction.
ReplyDeletePonies let me finally realize my special talent, which is drawing. Without ponies I would have probably never gone any farther in my life.
ReplyDeleteI haven't made any IRL friends through ponies, but i have made several online friends.
ReplyDeletealso, met some people who i could be friends with, but haven't pursued that yet.
still the biggest thing, is it gave me something to look forward to that i want to look forward to.
To tell the truth., I don't think my life has been affected by this show in any notable way. Sure, some of the time I could use to do other stuff is now spent with ponies, but I guess that's what happens when you get into a new hobby/fanbase... right?
ReplyDeletePony has taught me that something can be enjoyable without adult themes (violence, sexuality, etc). It has taught me the value of innocence in a world almost devoid of it.
ReplyDeleteIt has also taught me the true extent people will go to perverse such things. So it hasn't all been good...
It made me more aware of how terrible an artist and writer I am.
ReplyDeleteBefore I was just a teen who was angry at the world for no reason thinking that inside everyone, no matter how nice they seem, are just asshole caring for themselves, and thought I was worthless compared to this huge world. But after, well if you want me to get all Alan Wake on you, it was that light in the darkness,shining on the truth that everyone isn't selfish, that I can have a purpose in life. Whether its just making someone just a little bit happier. Or just being their for a loved one.
ReplyDeleteIt teached me the magic of friendship (duh). Friends are good to have and you need to respect them and care for them.
ReplyDeleteI haven't actually told my IRL friends about me being a brony but I have seen that my love for a little girls show is not so weird after all as a lot of people like it. That makes me happy :)
Well, just recently, I've made some brony friends at college.
ReplyDeleteJust today we got together in an empty classroom and watched a few episodes on the projector. We spent the whole time just laughing and joking around. God, it was so much fun~!
We even got a friend of mine who'd never watched it before to join us. She seems to love it, and she says she can identify a lot with Pinkie Pie. xD
My story might not seem like much to anyone else, but it means a lot to me. I'm not usually this social or outgoing with people. It feels good to have people I can really relax and let loose with.
I'm not sure something like this would've happened had I not become such a huge fan of MLP:FiM.
*awaits "tl;dr" comments*
I once thought it helped me improve my writing, until I met Ponychan's /fic/. Now I'm trying my best in helping others... with their writing.
ReplyDelete1. It made me more positive.
ReplyDelete2. It gave me feelings that I never felt before.
3. It gave me motivation to become stronger and more athletic (thanks to Rainbow Dash and Applejack)
4. It made me like books (thanks to Twilight Sparkle)
5. It made me love ponies! :)
6. It gave me new fap-material xD
7. It changed many perspectives in my life.
8. It made want to draw again. I want to draw ponies now! :P
9. It also became my most favorite cartoon of all time!!!
ponies makes ma happy. They made my life much less dark...
ReplyDeleteI dont know what would be left of me without ponies. they're a huge part of my life.
By the time I saw ponies it was already in season 2. I was drifting through life without any real motivation or goal to reach and it was tearing me apart. MLP:FiM let me see back to the beauty and simplicity of my childhood and gave me something I could look forward to every week.
ReplyDeleteBut more importantly this site gave me something to look forward to every day. I don't feel down any more; in fact I feel happy to be able to live to see more of this shows gifts to me.
I was heading down a dark road that was more than likely going to bring back the depression that I once had. Ponies saved me. EqD saved me. So I thank all involved and smile like Pinkie wants me too. Btw I'm 19 and I'm a forensic's student at a UK university. I wish I could find UK pony friends but I live really far from any cities at the moment. But still. the moral is; I am happy now thanks to ponies.
Yeah I have become a much better writer I have become a more friendly kind and happy person and a much more loyal and trustworthy friend and even though a lot of my friends are anti-bronies I think I'm better friends with them than I ever was. Actually I think that the show has the power to brighten and improve the lives of everyone if only people weren't so uptight about gender stereotypes set forward by our backward extremely capitalist and biased governments. Also has anypony else noticed that the usual grey tint the world had is gone
ReplyDeleteI've met some bronies in my school, and people on the internet that I would have never talked to if I hadn't become a brony. I also have started to devote more time to my art; but that doesn't mean I've gotten any better. Yet.
ReplyDeleteMLP:FiM is the first time I have ever joined a fandom. I'm not normally a person who would care about what goes on in the depths of the Internets; but since this awesome show has aired I can't help myself but to become absorbed in every aspect of the show. So many wonderful people with stellar ideas have come from a simple show that aired on the HUB. I don't think any of us would have even imagined this huge community that has developed from ponies! Since the time I have become a brony, I have accepted people that, in the past, I would have never even given a single bit of time. Thanks Seth, for creating a home where we can all come together and just talk about whatever may be on our minds.
ReplyDeleteMuch love everypony. <3 Take care. /)(\
Ponies changed me, that's for sure!
ReplyDeleteBefore I really got into the Pony Fandom, I was a bit cynical, a moody git, really. Gotten a lot more positive and stuff, and I've even gone so far as to be inspired to get my life on track due to my new found positivity!
@Bombedrumbum
ReplyDeleteC'mon bro I'm starving share and care and send me some of those ribs !..please... :D
@wackypony Same here. Plenty of online friends, but no one really in real life. The only real life bronies I know are an old classmate of mine, and someone that I met at BroNYCon and have regular interaction with on deviantArt. Would be so awesome to meetup with all of you, and if the chance ever presents itself, I'll definitely seize upon it.
ReplyDeleteGiven me a lot of hope, really... both in terms of general mood, and in terms of faith in humankind. Sounds weird, perhaps, but it's true. Also put me back in touch with parts of my personality and creativity that were "locked off"... and pleasingly reduced my cynicism levels. I find the productivity and prevalent sense of idealism in the community very inspiring.
ReplyDeletePonies have changed my life so much. Although I still struggle with self harm and depression, I don't feel as emotionless and worthless. I can feel happy for 20 minutes every Saturday, and as little as that may seem, it has changed my outlook life. I've become more open minded and even though I hate people in general, I've made some amazing friends through MLP.
ReplyDeletePonies also inspired me to try drawing. I always used to think I was horrible at art, but I have the motivation to practice and get better now. Because of that, I now know what I'm going to do for the rest of my life. Become a graphic designer.
I could go on and on about what My Little Pony has done for me, but I'll stop. To put it in a nutshell, ponies made me happy again.
being a person with only 7 friends life has been pretty rough on me.....hell i was confused with were i should go and whats wrong with me. some days i didnt even feel like i was my actual self. BUT MLP CHANGED THAT. this amazing community ive found a group of people i can actually talk to about what i like and many other things. without this show i believe that my life would have continued to go downward. So i say thanks bronies for showing me how to be myself and enjoy my life ^_^
ReplyDeletegave me more friends something nice to follow confidents in what i like and should have no shame and i try to make life choices bassed on pony lessons
ReplyDeleteAs quite the lone wolf, it has made me a bit more open. Before, I was always rather reclusive, having little social interaction other than with my immediate family and the various mandatory exchanges in day-to-day life (checkout at a store, etc). Sure, I am still somewhat introverted, but less so, and in genereal I just feel like I "belong" more.
ReplyDeleteIt has made me more open-minded in general (not to say I wasn't before, but still). It's the classic story that many others share: a year ago, if I was told I would end up being a fan of anything related to My Little Pony, I would have laughed. Yet here I am. I've also learned to laugh at myself a bit because of that.
I found papercraft , That guy with the glasses , Skittles , Doctor who and a lol team!
ReplyDeleteMy class came more friendly too and It changed my style
made me about 100% happier, for a while it was the only thing that could make me smile.
ReplyDeletelove it!
Ponies filled up a vacum I didn't know existed within me in the first place.
ReplyDeleteBesides the obvious answer of gaining a high quality animated show to follow religiously, ponies have given me a virtually bottomless pit of culture to consume and enjoy. I use this fan-produced culture to violently break and tear the monotonity of everyday life asunder.
I've also been reminded how to properly value the little things that improve everyone's day.
I've also gained new friends, but these friends aren't Bronies (if they are, they are perfectly undercover and in the stable). I suspect that the show's positive energy is highly contagious even if ponies aren't brought up as a discussion subject.
How MLP changed me? Well I'll admit, somewhat. I never heard of Lauren Faust until this show, I looked up her bio and saw that she did work on the Iron Giant and other movies I watched in my teen years. She's also connected to other shows that I over looked while I liked watching Cartoon Network back in the day.
ReplyDeleteMy older sister still had her old MLP G1 tapes from back in the day and maybe a few of the g1 ponies still around. Don't know where those are now but she was a real fan back then. I don't think she's aware of G4 though.
As for what the show did for me. It got me back into writing after taking a two to almost three year hiatus. My story I stopped before I went on hiatus was a Naruto story that I never finished and only got the attention of the shipping fans. I was meaning to get back to it but never did. I would get constant threat or two from crazy fans writing me to continue. Never did.
My guilty pleasure is watching the Arthur cartoon series by Marc Brown also based off his book series of the same name. Which was pretty much the Pre-MLP:FIM but surprisingly the show is the 2nd animated series to have a long running series behind the Simpsons. The show was great but slowly after the tenth season the characters really got more degrading than their former selves. Almost made you want to jump into the tv/computer screen and beat them to death. The show I still watch, my parents know of it.
So in the summer of 2011 I was seeing images of ponies every so often on the net. People saying the term Brony and other things. So, during my paid week off vacation from work I finally sat down and watched an episode of FIM. Thought it was pretty interesting for a show aimed for girls and their family. I watched the next episode and got more of the same. Third episode noticed the pattern changed from adventure to slice of life just like Lucky Star. It turned out pretty good. So one thing lead to another and I ended up watching the entire season in the amount of three days. This show, specially season 1 is what Arthur used to be about. Learning about friendship, the matters of life and all that hoity toity.
Season 2 rolled around and I watched the episodes up till this point. It didn't have the same magic it did with Season 1 and already saw that the show was self aware of the huge fandom of bronies. Images again would sprout up of anything from that show and I mean anything. There's a tree in the background while Pinky can be singing and some bronies could talk about that for hours. Blame James the Angry video game nerd for that reference. Season 2 wasn't my cup of tea as only a few episode I would like.
I wrote fanfics for MLP to renew my interest in writing. The stories are not top notch and I don't care if they ever make it on Equestria Daily. I'm not a super fan like some people. I just watch the show and write fanfics. I don't go out and buy every pony toy and DVD that Hasbro pumps out. i'm not that kind of fan.
I don't go to these meet ups. Reason why, I'm constantly working and have other things to worry about. I would if I could guys.
I do say it got awkward between me and a coworker as I said my girlfriend's kid (sorry i didn't mention her earlier) was looking at pony toys. My coworker rolled his eyes and said his sister's kid hates the show and would rather watch Godzilla films over it. Well more power to her. I'm also a Godzilla fan over anything. Then he listed a few pony names. BonBon, Lyra, Derpy... strange I thought. How would a hater know of the background ponies if he only watched one episode? Anyway, I didn't press on it and just kept talking about video games.
So what MLP did for me. Not much just renewed my interest in writing again. I think it's a great show. Has good value most of the time. Impressed that it has a huge following but sad at the same time knowing since previous incarnations that this show will eventually end. Next generation might not have the same pop as g4 but it was a fun ride huh?
It introduced me to the most wonderful, dynamic, and creative community I've seen in years, one of my top 2 favorite shows ever, and got rid of any depression I may have felt beforehand. I like to think that this show has made me a 20% better person.
ReplyDeletePonies have helped me vastly expand my artistic outlet. I have close to no friends out in the world, and the online community has created a sort of 'clubhouse' for me to come back to. Ponies instill a pure happiness inside me, and I have a kind of affection for their innocent antics that just isn't there in many other aspects.
ReplyDeleteIt got me to seriously write fanfiction. Before this, I had ideas for stories, but I could never motivate myself to write them out. Now I have two I am actively writing, one of which is at chapter six.
ReplyDeleteWell i'm happier, that's a start. More changes will come though.
ReplyDeleteIt turned my life around. I would have probably killed myself if it was not for Friendship is Magic. Once I got into the show, I went to a 'radio' called 'EveryPony Radio' on last Brony Day. There, I met the best people I have ever met. It brings tears to my eyes (something of which almost never happens) seeing everyone there and how they acted. They all were perfect, all of them fit right in together in that wonderful place. I still talk to most of them, although most of them has gone to Skype, I have as well. Never met any of them in real life, though.
ReplyDeleteSince getting into the show and becoming a Brony, my writing has gotten much better. I have taken up the hobby of drawing as well, something I love doing (just got a tablet, actually). I did get into video editing, making PMVs and things like that as well (would have continued to do so, but the program I had is now gone). It made me do something I have always wanted to do: learn how to code. 'Tis fun. ^-^
I hope the ones at Hasbro and Studio B see how great a community this is. I want them to know how much they have helped so many people in life.
MLP:FiM has given me a guilty pleasure i never really had in the past. it has also given me something of a brighter outlook on life and things around me. i have frieds, had them before FiM .. only now i appreciate them more. i understand the meaning of the bonds that tie us together, of what comes from just being social. social is something i never really liked to be. i always had my books, my miniature to paint, my cat, and my thoughts. now i have reasons to share these things, if not to skill to make them more presentable and pallateable to others.
ReplyDeleteMLP:FiM reminds me to try and be a better person. I try to remember to treat people respectfully online. Just because I don't know you and never will, doesn't mean I or anyone else has the right to treat someone badly. I try and remember that the pixels that are interacting with me are real people with feelings. And though I held this philosophy before MLP, I hold it closer now.
ReplyDeleteOne of the big things that this cartoon has driven home is to not knock something until you know enough about it to make a real decision.
For about a year when this fandom really hit the internet, I was not a brony. Actually, I found the whole fanaticism rather grating. I didn't flame people or anything, to each their own, but every time I saw a pony avatar or discussion on some of the sites I frequented, I had to roll my eyes. I really disliked the fact that some of the sites I went to were being derailed by ponies.
So, one day I decided to watch the damn show. Not as a surrender, but to try and understand why people thought a girl's cartoon about pink ponies was SO DAMN GREAT.
Well, I watched the first episode and it was ok. I wasn't hooked yet, it takes time for me to warm to new music (even from my fav artists!)
movies, shows and other pieces of media. Buuuuut. It was a two-parter so of course, I had to see how it ends. Then I watched another, then another. And by the time I was through four or five episodes I knew I was hooked.
(O_O I'm a BRONY..!)
So yeah. That's my long winded way of saying the show has made me more open to new things. And now, when I see ponies on a site, I love it. Moar, dammit.
Ponies was a God-send.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize till after the fact but, I was in a constant depression caused by a number of things your normal teen deals with. Ponies burst through my personal overcast bubble and shone it's happiness and joy about.
I picked up my guitar again after hearing MandoPony.
I'm going to get into everything electronic music-wise this summer.
I'm gonna work on making my own acoutic music, singing and everything.
I've started drawing some more, but ponies are still really difficult for some reason.
I've found out that writing fanfics is extremely hard but well worth the work.
I laugh a lot more and have a HUGELY improved outlook on life.
I am so much nicer to by brother and hardly argue with my parents.
The community is totally awesome and some of the best people I know.
I work harder thanks to Applejack, I (attempt) to study some thanks to Twilight Sparkle, I've learned to laugh at everything thanks to Pinkie Pie, I am kinder to every person I know thanks to Rarity and Fluttershy, and I am feeling 20% cooler thanks to the one and only Rainbow Dash.
Ponies are awesome and really a wonderful lifesaver! Thanks for anypony who just read my rant XD
I'd like to think that pony has made me be a little more considerate.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, when the rest of the world isn't, it hits that much harder.
While it makes me a little sad that I haven't made any new friends because of FiM, overall, the show itself, as well as the brony community, has made me a much happier person. I've always done my best to make others happy, even if I have to hide my own sadness to do it, so I immediately became attached to Pinkie Pie. But I also have a hard time approaching new people, so I could also relate to Fluttershy. FiM has helped me to be even happier and more open to others, as well as inspired me to be more creative, tolerating, and an overall better friend.
ReplyDeleteThe brony community is such an amazing thing! I just can't believe it sometimes! There are so many people in the world that cause harm and unhappiness, and I just don't understand why they would choose to do it. Maybe it's because they have been harmed and unhappy themselves. Every single day, the brony community reminds me of how many genuinely kind, thoughtful, and understanding people are out there, and it gives me hope that someday we can all be friends.
Because, after all, friendship IS magic :D
It gave me motivation to improve my art another step, which has given me the most recognition I've ever had for anything I've done. I'm really grateful to be a part of this amazing community.
ReplyDeleteThe show has undoubtedly changed my life. Before it, I had a history of depression, sometimes to a suicidal level. But this show and this community have made me feel joy like I've never felt before. Whenever I'm sad or depressed, all I have to do is watch an episode of this show, and everything instantly seems better. So, I want to say thank you to the wonderful people who made this show, and to the wonderful community of Bronies that got me into it.
ReplyDeleteFiM was the last thing between me and suicide. Shit, I even had it all planned out and scheduled when I noticed it on 4chan and decided to give it a shot. It showed me some good in the world, and the value of perspective. Simple as that. A damned cartoon made me want to live. I love you bronies.
ReplyDeleteI already had a fairly optimistic and happy outlook on life, and FiM has only helped to reaffirm that. I am much more tolerant and generally happy, and whenever I feel down, all I have to think about is ponies and the brony community to feel better. It definitely reassures me knowing that there are amazing people out there who still believe in trying to make the world a better place, who believe in doing good simply for the sake of good.
ReplyDeleteThe show has taught me many things but I've learned so much more by being part of the fandom. I am humbled every single day by the awesomeness of this fanbase I am priveleged to be a part of, and I'm constantly reminded of just how cool human beings can be. And I owe it all to ponies.
Ponies has allowed me to become more open-minded and accepting of others no matter what and has provided me with a great community and a solid core of online friends who I talk to all the time and will be meeting at bronycon to go along with my IRL friends. Ponies has been uplifting for me and been an all around wonderful thing
ReplyDeleteB4 pony, I would spend hours a day lookin for an anime or cartoon I could watch that I hadnt seen, now I do the same, but with pony
ReplyDeleteWell I've always been a bit of writer and I've always had an interest in it. But for a while I got really depressed and had a negative outlook on the world in general. But one of my brony friends told me to read a specific fanfic because he knew I had an interest in stories. I read and I wanted to find out who and what these characters were. When I found out it was MLP I left it alone for a while. Finally I came back and I watched a few episodes, and then another, and then another..
ReplyDeleteAs a whole, ever since I discovered MLP my entire look on the world has changed. I'm no longer depressed and everyone has noticed that I seem a lot more happy now. The show and the fanbase makes me laugh and feel great overall. Before I felt sad and hollow, as though I was never going to get anywhere, ever since Friendship is Magic, I've never felt down about anything. Plus, the community has given me an outlet for my creative writing and I'm now an avid fanfic writer, I now have hundreds of ideas and stories and I've never felt better.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePonies changed my life for the better. That's pretty much all there is to say. c:
ReplyDeleteI know the show filled a void I was missing in my life. This show the brony community has made me happy which is something I truly haven't felt in a while.
ReplyDeleteI know the show filled a void I was missing in my life. This show the brony community has made me happy which is something I truly haven't felt in a while.
ReplyDeleteIt gave me a new perspective on how humanity can prosper and actually move forward.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you guys should totally collect all of this up and send it both to the team and to Hasbro to show what kind of impact they really have beyond simple sales figures.
ReplyDeleteI played video games for pretty much my entire childhood, so I have a hard time relating to people in social situations.
ReplyDeleteMy Little Pony teaches really good, really powerful messages about how to be a friend--how to compromise, work with others, etc.
These are lessons I never picked up, and I have been learning a lot about how to be a person from the show.
Also, I'm an English major. I've started writing fanfics and analytical artices about the show, and it feels really good to be writing once again.
I LOVE this show, and I'm only slightly ashamed to admit it.
WELL, let's put it this way: I've written more fics in the past 5 months than I did in the past 2 years, due to ponies.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it's currently my most obsessed-over TV show, ever. Even more than Ed Edd & Eddy, even more than Invader Zim or Digimon. All three of those combined can't hold a candle to my love for ponies~
Ponies made me a better person overall, without them I probably wouldn't have the happiness I have now.
ReplyDeleteNot very much honestly. I love watching it and the characters and stuff, but everyone I know irl, family and friends, just thinks its gay and I'm gay for watching it.
ReplyDeletemade me start drawing again, love everyday life, more confident, generally happier and better as a person. Definitely affected me more than any show or media i'v ever seen, i LOVE IT! Thanks isn't enough!
ReplyDeleteOh and back to the topic ...umm I guss the show has made me, and a bunch of my friends more loving and tolerating towards people who are different..
ReplyDeleteAs shameful as it may sound we were kind of a-holes before, especially toward "that" one furrie we knew ...now now before you get angry he is one of my best friend to date :) and that is was MLP:FIM has done
I'm currently starting to become way better in drumming. I'm going to buy some new proffecional stuff (Ziljdian Z3 Cymbals) and some recording tools soon.
ReplyDeleteI want to start a music project, or join one. I just want to make music right now, but as a drummer I can't do that much alone. (I want to go full instrumental)
I also started to read alot fanfics. So I'm reading again.
I'm not so depressed all the time, and at least i have a reason to use internet just because facebook is waste of time.
ReplyDeleteAlso i realised how good i'm at drawing.
@JustSomeGuy I think they pop in every now and again and see what we've written. But definitely, send them what we've written. I'm pretty sure they're told over and over how many lives they've changed. But it never hurts to share our thoughts with them.
ReplyDeleteAs a student of visual designer, I would say that i need to thank MLP:FiM for giving my DeviantArt account a true purpose in my life.
ReplyDeleteYou see... Since I first created my DA account it has been neglected for almost 2 years. Abandoning it like an old dusty house, but now after becoming a brony, and looking at the brony community in DA too... Inside my "art self" i triggers some kind of new ideas inspired by love and kindness.
That was the best possible thing I have ever experienced and now i'm still drawing MLP fan-art in DA, i plan to submit here too but i think i need more practice before i submit to this site :D
It makes me happy...I was and still am a depressive person...but ponies help me see that there is still good out there, they make me happy, they make me smile. Sure I don't have more friends since people in my country don't even know pop culture they probably don't even my little pony has a cartoon series, and I'm not very social on the internet either. But point is it has helped me try and chase my dreams and continue my pursuit to become a better artist. They give me hope. =)
ReplyDelete"What did pony do to you?"
ReplyDeleteThey invaded and raped my mind with a blast of Friendship Canon. :D Look at me. I'm a young software developer in a big company and the first thing I do coming back from work is checking Equestria Daily. I mean, seriously?
But have no fear. I wouldn't miss this happiness and joy the show and the community gives for anything. ;)
It's opened me up to vast amounts of musical aspects thanks to the remix songs that have been made and the people behind them. It's made me more open minded and understanding of life as a whole. It's strange, I can't put my finger on WHY it has, it just HAS. My friends think I'm a little strange for watching it, but they're are my friends and they still love me either way! (Even when I go out with my Rainbow Dash T-shirt :D) And I even converted one of my friends to a Brony, making my bond with them even stronger. Thank you MLP:FiM
ReplyDeleteIt gave me much more content to look after, plus made me much tolerant of pretty much.. anything else on the internet.
ReplyDeleteMde me more Tolerante toward things i dont understand at first eye cast
ReplyDeletea guy useing rollerblades wareing only 1/10 of a batman costume ?
yeah, before MLP i would think he was a nut case
now: it might be a joke, there might be something more to it then what i see
Love n Tolerantes
I would say FiM has drastically changed my life.
ReplyDeleteBefore this I was a depressed person, even if my life seemed good, I was missing quite a lot.
After an injury that ruined the last bit of happiness I had, and several following problems after I found ponies. I've got a better look on life then before.
After only a few episodes I knew I wanted Rainbow Dash as my best friend, she is maybe the fourth character I truely love and respect from a T.V show.
However it has also caused interst in my psyche as a friend of my mom is a psychologist who knows about the Brony craze and asked me about it deeply. She has yet to find a definitive reason.
Ponies I owe a lot, I'm glad of my love of animated shows with horses.
Which makes me wonder, has Spirit Stallion of the Cimmeron been ponyfied?
I was fortunate enough to be an optimistic, profoundly happy person before FiM, but it has made my life so much richer. Most importantly, it got me my first date with my amazing beautiful, smart, and kind girlfriend. It has made my life even better than I ever could have imagined.
ReplyDeleteIt's done a lot here and there for me, but not a lot in other aspects. I think it's time to tell a story.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I stumbled across it quite a while back, sometime in... April of last year, I think? That makes sense. Either way, Season 1 wasn't quite over yet, but it was close to the end. At the time, I'd recently gone through a breakup that was both entirely expected and relieving, yet saddening at the same time. It was during this time that my friends told me I should watch Ponies when I asked them what was up with them being all over the internet. Their suggestion wasn't related to the breakup at all. They weren't saying it just to cheer me up. They just figured I would like it. Boy were they right.
Now, I love adorable things in general, and I'm not the kind of person who ever went through a phase of, 'what's all this gay pony shit?' I just checked it out on advice from some friends. I watched the first and second episodes and found myself thinking, 'that was pretty cool!' So, I went on and before too long, watched the entire first season and was anticipating the next episode.
Honestly, around this point, the show was so cheery, adorable, and fun that I eventually forgot about the breakup entirely. I mean, it wasn't just the show that did that, of course. That'd be silly. But it certainly helped.
Let's jump forward a bit. For a few months now, I've been lurking and sometimes chatting around the community. And when I say that, I mean I've been doing it actively. Hardly a day goes by without me visiting EqD, and I have around 600 pony songs saved on my computer and iPod. It's pretty ridiculous. I've never been affected by a fandom as extremely as this one. Pokemon was my biggest interest before this, and it remains among my biggest interests, but Ponies has skyrocketed to a current first place. I've never once in my life (before ponies) contemplating writing fanfiction, and yet I'm planning one. I'm really slow and unmotivated most of the time (riddled with self-doubt the rest of the time), but I'm planning one. It's crazy that I'm even considering it, really.
I've always been an optimist, and ponies has strengthened that. It's even made me a little more outgoing, I think. Though I'm still entirely socially awkward, I find myself having an easier time talking with folks at work and other places. Don't know why it affected me that way, but it seems it did.
How hasn't it affected me? Well, I don't necessarily have boatloads of new friends or anything. In fact, I suppose I've been having myself a hard time getting anywhere with anyone in the brony fandom just because I haven't done anything big yet. Well, except for the Save Derpy Petition. That was mine, but really, who pays attention to the author of a petition? The important thing is the signature, really.
Anyway, anyone from the community I DO add to a friends list of any kind, I don't always have an easy time talking to because I'm socially awkward enough that I worry about bothering them if I try to talk with nothing all that relevant to talk about. I've had Tarby on my Skype and Facebook for quite some time, and have hardly said anything to him. I'm sure he thinks I'm a bit strange.
Furthermore, I don't actually have my own transportation, so a meetup is regrettably out of the question for me. The only exception is AWA or DragonCon, things like that. I plan ahead for those things, and tend to have friends who go. Last AWA, I snapped so many pictures of pony cosplayers. It was great.
Anyway, this is getting long I guess. I'll wrap up by saying: Ponies has been absolutely positive for me. I just wish I knew where to find folks to be friends with.
For me, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has given me something for my adult life to obsess and fawn over. Things I like fade in and out from time to time, but it seems like I'll be liking Friendship is Magic for as along as it stays on the air.
ReplyDeleteSaw this thanks to Cityflyer502.
ReplyDeleteHmm well I was already a positive person but I guess the show and the fandom made me even 20% more so then before. I got back into art after not doing it for a long while. It actually did something for my confidence in myself. I am more out going and assertive then I was before and less introverted then I was before I started watching the show and entering this fanbase.
The show made me happier in general and gave me something to look forward to every week The show also led me to this awesome community which produces great art, music, and fanfiction. The music has driven me to want to create my own.
ReplyDeleteToo early to tell.
ReplyDeleteBut I have been having fun proofreading the translations for the Japanese fansubs they put up on NicoNico (especially the cider episode), and it's gotten me curious about finally getting comfortable with doing vector art instead of brute-forcing everything.
It's such a strange show with appeal I can't put my finger on, so it's gotten me to think a lot about media in general and what this-or-that aspect of the show "maps onto" in terms of other shows, etc. hopefully making me a little more savvy overall at spotting things like that.
And it's just cute as all hell and makes me smile at the antics of these goofy girls and laugh at the snappy humor and pop references, especially during a long slog of work.
This is more of an indirect one, but reading comments like this always restore some of my faith in the ability for people to create positive change in the world, even with seemingly insignificant things like a TV show.
ReplyDeletePonies has served to help me cope with the recent loss of my cat. I first heard of ponies from a friend in college, who claimed that the show was awesome. But what really got me to start watching ponies was a pony thread in a SWTOR guild I was going to join. The image of "pony curious" Rainbow Dash combined with the trampoline Pinkie Pie gif basically catapulted me onto Youtube to start a pony watching binge. And OH MY GOSH AMAZING!
ReplyDeleteThe same friend who first told me about ponies introduced me to Ponychan. There, I found tons of awesome images and a thread for a SWTOR pony guild. Long story short, I have ended up playing SWTOR with that guild, and I have made all sorts of awesome new friends (I gotta say, it's crazy the correlation of intelligence with pony fans). It's awesome to watch new episodes over voice chat and livestreams!
I recently got another friend, who had been tempted by his other Brony friends, to finally start watching ponies. Currently, I am in the process of getting more friends to watch ponies as a sort of once in a while pony party!
Ponies has given me a reason to listen to music more. I previously felt that most music produced nowadays was more sad, sappy, or generally negative. Pony inspired music? No way. And I listen to it all the time. It's so great to have fresh happy hyper music that is so uplifting and inspiring!
Creatively, I have often thought of ways to ponify things (and enjoy seeing things being ponified). I have never been much of a dedicated artist, but, due to ponies, I have begun practicing how to draw ponies and I have slowly but surely began filling up my class notes with sketches of ponies. I think they're pretty good, but I have a long way to go. I know I'll reach it, and then some. :)
It is awesome to be part of such an awesome international community (sub-culture, at this point) and I'll definitely be spreading the love by contributing however I can to it myself. :D
I swear there's more to say, but this is just what first came to mind. Love and brohooves for everyone!
I use to be a very mean person who only cared about girls and money and well that's what t.v and my parents taught me. They said one day you will have a successful job that earns you lots of money and they always tried to change who I was so that I would be the ladies man. And that's how I was for the last well... About 12 or 13 years. I had almost no friends because I made fun of people because they would make fun of me. Back then I use to be fat and well that was my means of defending myself I was also a nerd (and still am) and would get picked on by the jocks I guess. I soon found out I had no friends and spent a lot of time alone. I had saved a lot of money and was planning on buying girls things so they would like me but I still felt odd... This changed one day though. My favorite youtuber talked about MLP at first I thought he was stupid for liking the show but that ChangEd once I watched it. It took a little getting used to but well the rest is history. I started making friends and I found a different kind of happiness that made me feel complete. Who thought ponies were the ones to give me a slap in the right direction but I now love my life. I no longer am fat, feel deppressed, am lonely, or want those other things I thought would make me happy. Now all I want is a pony (possibly Dashie!) then my life will truly be complete! Hehe but that's for later thanks for reading this if I didn't bore you to death. Thank you and Destroyer out!!!
ReplyDeleteI was completely burned out.
ReplyDeleteTried a bunch of things to recover, but nothing worked.
Saw the show one day, then *boom* instant recovery.
this show gave me a reason to enjoy life, and put a smile on my face. iv made some friends because of it, and iv met some not so nice people because of it. but BUCK those guys. ponies for ever!!!!
ReplyDeletePonies made me smile before "Smile Smile Smile".
ReplyDeleteThey say some ponies are party poopers. I consider myself a Pony Pooper. Check out my YouTube account for some MLP nonsense become more nonsensical. The ponies seem to have replaced Pokemon Mystery Dungeon as my primary source.
I used to sleep in on Saturdays. Then I took a pony to the knee.
Since I started watching ponies I noticed that I hate on other people more often, and many times just because I think I'm better than them, before I didn't have this problem.
ReplyDeleteI also started stealing and I lost a lot of money on betting, not to mention that I started drinking too much.
I've met some friendly and charming people online who I'm always happy to interact with when I need a break from the dreary parts of my day. It's actually a nice little boost to find such folks to share a common interest with at odd times of the day, and I greatly appreciate the interaction I have with them as a result.
ReplyDeletePlus I've found countless hours of entertainment through a supremely talented and engaging fandom. I've seen loads of inspiring artwork, read moving and engaging stories, been introduced to new music, played a variety of indy games and seen great animations and videos. And it was all free. You can't beat that.
Oh, and the ponies themselves (and the show they spring from) have managed to entertain me far more than I would have suspected coming in to all of this. I have even found, on occasion, a little voice inside myself chiding me to be nicer, more patient, and generally friendlier from time to time in real life. Probably not a total coincidence there...
Life is more fun when you have ponies to brighten it. I don't remember the last time I've been sad or miserable.
ReplyDeleteAlso it's nice being part of such a huge subculture. I've all but abandoned previous subcultures I've been a part of just to belong to something. This one I love to be a part of, and couldn't be prouder to be a member.
I have met a few friends through pony, but social interaction with them is awkward because what we have in common seems to start and end at pony. Conversations often end with awkward silence.
I don't know if anyone will actually read this, but here goes...
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started watching MLP: FiM, I was in a really horrible state. I'd recently lost my great-grandmother to old age and my grandfather to lung cancer. My friends and I were drifting apart. I was spiraling down into the deepest depression I'd ever been in. It only got worse when my grandmother got horribly sick, my pet goat had to be put down, my brother's pet lizard died on the one year anniversary of my grandfather's death, and then we lost my grandma to her illness...all within a 6 month period. Throughout it all, whenever I found myself feeling depressed or thinking bad thoughts I would watch an episode of MLP and feel better again. When my goat was put down, the first thing I did was watch Bridle Gossip (my favorite episode). My tears were gone by the time the episode was over. I'm pretty sure without MLP to keep my head up, I would have hurt myself in some way because I was so depressed. Now there's not a day that goes by where I'm not reading MLP comics or watching MLP fan videos or just surfing for the newest MLP fanart!
MLP has also restored some of my faith in humanity. I'm a firm believer that people should be allowed to like what they want, so it makes me happy to know that so many guys are watching a show that a large portion of society sees as a show for little girls. Go bronies! Don't listen to what all those neigh-sayers are saying! You shouldn't have your "man cards" taken away or be shunned! You should be embraced and rejoiced! I can't believe the amount of talent that is put into all of the fan art, music, comics, animations, fiction, etc. that I see. You guys ROCK!
I also have MLP to thank for introducing me to Doctor Who. The background character named "Doctor Whooves" got me intrigued about the t.v. show Doctor Who. After watching Doctors 9 through 11, I'm now not only a brony (or "Pegasister" though I prefer brony) but I'm also a Whovian, as well! Doctor Whooves and Derpy are my favorite background characters, and I can't get enough of them! I'm not certain about shipping them together romantically, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of them traveling around together in a pony-fied version of the TARDIS! Yay!
So that's how MLP has affected me. Thanks to whoever actually reads this! Brohooves all around!!! /)^3^(\ Ya'll make me feel 20% cooler! Sorry, I had to squeeze that in somehow! Haha!
It made me a happier, more outgoing, and if it weren't for ponies, I never would have started making music!
ReplyDeleteI guess you could say it's helped me feel a bit more at peace with my current situation. I used to feel really down about certain parts of my life, but it's hard to feel down when every time I turn on my computer or look at my phone there are technicolor ponies smiling back at me. Also I'm much less likely to judge something based on outward appearance now than I was before. XD
ReplyDeleteThe me that didn't watch 'My Little Pony' is not as confident, less motivated, not as happy, more uncertain and a worse artist than the me that watches 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'.
ReplyDeleteMLP:FIM has definitely helped me improve as an artist. It got my drawing...sometimes 2 or 3 finished pieces a day.
ReplyDeleteAnd the show brings me some sort of...peace, I guess. Whenever things are bad I know if I just crank up Smile or watch an episode, some of that sadness will go away.
I might actualy have killed myself if it weren't for FiM... :O
ReplyDeletealso: it helped me help others within the fandom and that makes me happy ^^
It has made me MUCH happier, gotten me to try things I normally would not have, and seems to be getting rid of my stage fright (I have no idea how...).
ReplyDeleteThere is more, but that would take too long haha.
What's with all of the "idunno if anyone will read this comment"s?
ReplyDeleteI've always dabbled in writing but I've never written more content that I actually liked (and that was liked to such a degree by another person) in such a short amount of time as the stuff inspired by ponies.
ReplyDeleteI also dabble in Flash and this show was like some beauty that existed in myths to seduce Zeus. A level of animation that made me strive for it and taunted me when I could never attain it.
Actually, FiM, or more accurately its fans (thats you, reader of this comment) are what made me want to learn to draw in the first place. I mean, have you SEEN some of these Drawfriend pictures!? They're incredible! Who wouldn't want the ability to create something like that for themselves? And don't even get me started on the fan music. Basically, it inspired me cultivate skills or, hopefully, talents.
Beyond that, though it might sound redundant for another poster to say this, it made me more open-minded. Truth be told, when I decided to watch MLP for the first time, I was set to mock it. I figured I was about to have myself a laugh at this lame show and its pansy fans. But just before it started, I thought "you know what? I'm just going to watch it and see how it turns out". By the time Nightmare Moon laughed and "To be continued..." appeared, I was wondering what else I'd been missing because of my assumptions. How many fan communities I'd missed out on being part of. Now I give things the benefit of the doubt since who knows when I'll find the next FiM. Sure, I ended up sitting through two Twilight movies because of it and they're just as bad as they say. But I know that for myself now and first-hand experience beats a second-hand review every time.
Definitely helped me this last few months since June as an artist and made me happier overall since I'm going through some personal shit that depresses me.
ReplyDeleteOn the art front, it revitalized my career since the show gives me plenty of material to work with and add my cracky, twisted humourous spin on the series in the form on the comics I do.
My DA gallery was in a rut too before ponies.
As for the show, not once has a show been as enjoyable and actually GOOD as this one. It's very intelligent, well written and the characters are all relateable and awesome.
@bombe
ReplyDeleteMost people won't read them
@Bombedrumbum
ReplyDeleteLotta people telling long stories, lotta people assuming these long stories will be TL;DR.
Mine included~
Though I didn't actually say the 'dunno if anyone'll read this' part.
Haha.
Take the following story as you will, but for what it's worth I assure you it's 100% true.
ReplyDeleteI'm a happily married man with a wonderful wife and two children: a 3-year old son and a 6-year old daughter. My daughter is a special needs child. She was diagnosed a few years ago with high-functioning autism, though as time has gone on and my wife and I have done more research we think she may actually have Asperger's. Either way, she doesn't relate to the world around her the way other children do and we have sought ways to help her learn and grow into the kind of young woman we know she can become. Over the years we wondered what kind of televised entertainment she would get into. Both of us were wary of letting her get sucked into any of the many, overly girly franchises such as Disney Princesses. Our daughter's first real interest was the Disney Fairy line, which was more or less okay by us. She became quite enamored of it and played with the dolls and toys from that line for some time. We were convinced that the fairies would be her thing.
Sometime in mid-Spring last year, my wife decided to let our daughter watch a couple episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I was fairly skeptical of this at first since my opinion of the franchise was formed back in the 1980s when my sister was majorly into it. I knew it as one of those overly girly series that we had tried so hard to keep our daughter away from. Still, I have made it a point to know what my kids are watching and so we all sat down to begin watching the show.
The impact this show has had on my daughter is phenomenal. It has sparked her imagination, brought her farther out of her shell and given her an interest that's let her connect with other kids her age and make some true friends. And on top of all that, it's a show that my wife and I (both being fans of animation as well) have gotten far more enjoyment and entertainment from than we ever imagined we would. Even my son, who admittedly still loves Transformers more, enjoyed watching FiM with us.
The most amazing moment, though, happened this past Saturday with the episode "A Friend in Deed". We were familiar with the leaked song for the episode and it was already a favorite of our daughter's, but we weren't ready for what happened when the song appeared in the episode. Our daughter sang along, played along and showed a level of joy I have rarely, if ever, seen in her. This, along with just how amazing the song and animation that went along with it were, all but brought my wife and I to tears.
You want to know how this show has changed my life? On top of all the creative energy and positivity from the fanbase that I've gotten, it's given me and my family something we have truly grown closer through. Combine all that with what it's done for my daughter...how could I not be a fan of it for life?
I don't like overpraising something as simple as a children's show, but... being someone that faced an increasingly desperate existential crisis, the sort that gradually snuffs out all joy in life and leave you an empty husk that merely exists with no future in sight, it gave me a spark of hope.
ReplyDeleteWhen I discovered MLP, I watched it with disdain, as another fad born from the infinite cesspool of filth that is the Internet. Then I found out about the community, and what they were doing. I saw merit in the series, something that manages to be heartwarming and full of hidden depths at once.
After months of seeing the fun and expectations of life wither and die out to be replaced with sheer emptiness (I lost 30 lbs in a couple of months, simply because I couldn't be bothered to eat), I finally had something to look forward to; a community that restored my faith in humanity, friends that I truly cared about, and a series that's about what's really important in life; being happy.
Some might say it's pathetic to claim a children's show changed, or even saved one's life. I can see their reasoning, but at the same time, I urge them to understand that nobody has the same views on life, and that one's own experiences are the only things that matter in the end.
MLP gives me the energy to wake up in the morning, see and listen to what fans made, give me a reason to believe there's a future worth fighting for, and overall strive to be a better person. While I may be in the extreme minority, I do think there's more people like me than it seems. Sometimes all it takes to enjoy life is to take it back to it's sheer fundamentals, instead of being swallowed by the negative aspects.
What can I say that hasn't already been said? While the show has caused me stress from ignorant jerks who try to make me feel guilty, it also makes me feel proud to like something outside of what society deems "normal". To me, it's an awesome, heart-felt show that I'll never forget as long as I live.
ReplyDeleteI feel like there's more to what I want to say, but I'm not sure how to explain it.
it made me control my depression and other problems into a better me now and also made me feel more confident and fearless on several things and i guess it just made me feel good i guess, also met some new friends that are bronies and some others that understand me. which i guess thats a relief
ReplyDeletePonies are slowly making me lose grip on reality. Having recently lost all empathy, respect for those around me, motivation and sanity the colorful world of Equestria is what makes me happy. Generic melodramatic brony out.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to MLP: Friendship is Magic she will be your guide for today.
ReplyDeleteThey helped keep me positive while my whole family spiraled into poverty and dragged me down too.
ReplyDeleteI can take on the world now because I know that somewhere out there, people/ponies exist that aren't driven by greed or personal gain. I wasn't sure of that for a while.
@ertty75
ReplyDeleteYeah! And also some PMVs and things like Flutterstep (I don't know how to name that xD)
Sorry If I bored everypony with my story but hey it improved my life I now have friends and have accepted myself for who I am
ReplyDeleteWell it probably saved my life. I used to think about suicide almost everyday. I needed something to keep me going, and I was running out of ideas. I was trying to get my friend to join me in my latest (and last) idea when he said he couldn't because he spent all of his time "Watching ponies" I saw the first episode that night, and every episode to that day by the end of the weekend. I haven't had one suicidal thought since, except for the occasional "I can't believe how stupid I was for thing that was the answer". Ponies probably saved my life, and I am now excelling at many things that I gave up on a long time ago. I have made many new friends because of the confidence they gave me, found new interests along with old rekindled ones. When I felt like crying, Pinkie told me to Smile the tears away. When I felt stressed or overloaded with work, Twilight showed me that it's worth it to be the best that you can be.When I thought about lying to get out of work, Applejack showed me that integrity always pays off in the end. I'm a nicer, more honest person now, I smile a lot more, and I work a lot harder for the future.They made me more open about being myself. They gave me someone to turn to when I needed help through the dark times, and someone to show me that the good times are just starting.
ReplyDeleteWhile I haven't made any new good friends inside this fandom yet thanks to my laziness, the show has made me a way more acceptive person than I was before watching it. Now, I see no problem when a person likes things that the society calls "dumb" or "lame". I no longer judge people by their tastes, but rather by their actions.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have now a daily pony happiness and a weekly wait for our 22 minutes of awesome (almost) every Saturday.
Now... to get started with this whole "friends" thingy...
It inspired me to right fanfiction and got me to enjoy many new media.
ReplyDelete(warning, long post below with moderate emotion)
ReplyDeleteI joined originally to keep myself happy during the 10 weeks of summer I had. Seemed like a fun thing to do.
I came for the summer, stayed for community. It's more than a tv show, it is a sub culture.
Just this evening, I've bookmarked about 20 pony-related tumblers and seen about 200.
There is so much talent in the fandom, with original music, animation, stories, artwork, friendship. I love it all. Whose heart did not break during my little dashie?
or slowly becoming more amazed as FOE kept going... and going... and going (how Kkat wrote 625K words in less than a year, I will never know).
And what about derpy? Did you not weep with joy when she spoke?
and then there's all of the non-pony music I've been introduced to. I've found a love of turbonegro, weird al, kanye west and more, all through ponies.
I love you all, just for being the way you are.
thank you for reading. You're more awesome because you did.
Ps. the new lunar republic will rise and celestial empire will burn.
Ponies removed the bitterness from my personality. Well, most of it. I try to be more helpful and kind to those around me now as well.
ReplyDeleteDoes happiness counts cuz that what the show has given to me all this time....
ReplyDeleteincluding this awsome community that is taking over pretty much everthing
I know its cliche, but if you had told me a year ago that I would be obsessed with My Little Pony, I would have told you that you were insane. Now... my bookmark tab has 11 different pony sites on it, one of them is a blog i run about ponies. This fandom has turned me from being a guy who just went with the flow, to running my own blog, managing a dA page for my brony friend, and talking daily with bronies from around the world. this has opened me up to opportunity I other wise would have missed. I cannot thank you all enough for being a part of this fandom and supporting other members in the way you do. I am a proud Brony, and it is because of all of you. Thank You.
ReplyDeleteMark (AKA Hyperlink)
My blog: http://equestrianbookclub.blogspot.com/
Thanks again.
Well, I've only considered myself a brony for a few months, so I'm sure that greater things will happen to me in the futurethan I've already experienced - I haven't made any new friends per se, but I've become greater friends with others I found out were bronies.
ReplyDeleteIt's also gotten me back in to writing fan fiction, which I've definitely missed.
Other than that, I feel I've become more tolerable and more apt to stand up for what I like - yeah, it's a show about ponies, but it's an AWESOME show about ponies! So even though I haven't gotten to do much yet, I hope to go some meetups and conventions in the future.
@Bombedrumbum Oh, you beat me to it. I was just thumbing through everything everyone was saying, taking in all the positivity. And if that word, doesn't exists, now it does. LOL
ReplyDeleteI may not be responding to what everyone says, but I can't help but jump for joy reading all the goodness this show has brought about for all you guys. And those that say "I'm no good at this, I'm not good at that, I suck..." stop saying that. We've got awesome talent here in the community, but it means absolutely nothing if there isn't anyone there to see it and admire it. Just being there, watching the show, looking at the art, listening to the music, etc. is more than enough. So don't let that bring you down. Being a fan is awesome in itself.
Happines count cuz this show has given me happines since day one...
ReplyDeletealso this awsome community that is taking pretty much over anything...
i love u guys....
I was an all around sad and angry person before I found ponies. I had a small group of friends but I was always distant and wasn't very fun to be around. After I started watching the show I saw how I was acting and moved to change my attitude. After a while I actually put some of the lessons from the show into play in my life. Overall this show has made me a better person and helped me to secure more friends and better friendships.
ReplyDeleteI've been more into Pony than any other fandom. I've definitely never gone to as much trouble to get merchandise as what I have with MLP. I've made a couple of friends through the fandom, but I don't really interact online enough to make dozens. The show itself I think has made me less of a recluse, I'm definitely more willing to go out and interact with people socially than what I was, and my social skills have improved as a result. It's been a major net positive in my life, except maybe to my wallet.
ReplyDeleteHaven't really improved in any art form however. Still I write because Pony fanfiction is really fun to write.
So... How has it affected the blogponies?
MLP:FiM time as a brony has been a mixed bag. I first watched the first two episodes back in September, but I did not consider myself a brony until I started watching the show again in mid-January. The reason why I started watching it again was not because I was bored or became curious a second time; I already knew I would enjoy it. I started watching it again as a way to fill up my free time and stop my addiction to ... pornography. Yes, it is a terrible reason but a reason nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteOver the past month my viewing of MLP:FiM began to make me realize another problem. I am terrified to know what my parents would think. It's not just this specific show, it feels more and more like everything I do I would get their disapproval. Now don't go thinking they are wrong and I should be ignoring them. This whole situation is more difficult to explain than I want.
I haven't met any brony friends. It's always funny to drop a random reference around people though. Someone actually set me up for the kumquat/pickle barrel! It's like they WANT me to do that!
ReplyDeleteBut, other than lols, I'm becoming a better writer. I don't know how I found myself writing MLP fanfiction, but I do. Ideas from those stories have given me inspiration to write non-fanfiction stories, too. I've also figured out that I like sculpting. Maybe I can make some money from this, even.
My Little Pony has changed my life. There, I said it! I love it! I love MLP! I'm a brony! I'm part of one of the best fandoms I've seen in my life, and I can't wait to see where we go.
Brohoof, everyone. /) <——
So many arrogant little *punks* in my school have 0 manners, mlp:fim has taught me to hold back, however, it's also taught me to speak up, so I end up shouting at them when they are rude to me, and when one went to hit me, I lifted him off the ground by his hood [I'm 5"8]and pulled my fist back in a fit of black rage, my friend pulled me off and gave me the Fluttershy look, so I stood shaking, and he said sorry an ran. This and Mlp:fim has taught me that sometimes you just have to hold back to keep people happy.
ReplyDeleteIt pulled me out of near depression and taught me the most valuable lesson that I have ever learned: How to be happy as I am and with absolutely zero dependency on anything else for it.
ReplyDeletewow... so much text, so much emotion.
ReplyDeleteThis is the beating heart and soul of the brony community in this thread.
If FiM wasn't around, I wouldn't have started making much music at all probably. I didn't have a prompt, but because of the amazing "opportunity in this very community" I have been pumping out tons of music and people actually listen and it makes me "smile, smile, smile". This show has done the same for lot's of other people, whether they be artists, musicians, animators, or anything else really. I love this show, and I love you guys.
ReplyDeleteI'll be honest here
ReplyDeleteI as a person haven't changed much, I'm terrified to speak to others and what few i do speak to, it's rarely since i don't want to bother them.
The only real difference is my attitude towards others.
For the first time in years, I actually care about my common man, I had given up hope basically and Bronies and MLP:FIM has restored it a hundred fold.
So thank you everypony, thank you for inspiring such passion in me and making me believe again, I was at the end of my rope.
And thank you, producers,m for making me truly care about something and for bringing the first legitimate smile to my face I've had for years.
I love you all so much. <3
@Masquerade
ReplyDelete(\ *brohoof*
@CityFlyer502 EDIT: And if that word doesn't exist, now it does. LOL
ReplyDeleteYou'd think I'd learn to double check my posts after being around here. Oh well. XD
Ponies have improved my overall quality of life and myself as a person.
ReplyDeleteQuoting applejack:
ReplyDelete"Ah didn' learn anything!"
Lol, j/k brony fandom is the shit XD
Started out just browsing the Internet... Saw some ponies... Ignored it for a couple days. Didn't negatively judge it from the beginning, the art was really interesting and while it was certainly strange, ponies? I kind of liked it. Then I noticed they were everywhere, so I gave the first episode a chance. And then the second episode. Then the 15th. so on so on... Was a closet Brony for awhile, was open about it on the Internet pretty quickly, but didn't start telling people in real life that I was a Brony until somewhat recently. Buck yeah, they were Bronies too! The show itself is now my favorite show, and it's the only one that actually makes me smile while sitting alone on my computer anymore. The Love & Tolerate thing is something I'll take to my grave, whenever I see some cliche or somebody so annoying I mutter in my mind "Guh I hate these people" I realize my mistake and mentally apologize. As for actual interaction, I used to just nod and keep on walking, now thanks to Fluttershy's personality's resemblance to mine, I now manage to at least vocally respond a bit. If that makes sense. And I'm proud to say I've helped convert 2 (or more) people to The Herd.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading some of these comments, suppose I'll stop lurking this site and post a bit.
It made me not think of being in the military which is the best thing ever. Two more years and I'm getting out, if they don't automatically extend my contract to suit their needs.
ReplyDeleteI've learned a lot of my own lessons of friendship in real life. Ever since I read My Little Dashie, I've been improving myself to be the best I can be
ReplyDeleteIt has inspired me to be a programmer.
ReplyDeleteMy Little Pony has definately made me a happier,more laid-back person.The great voice actors and detailed animation have also inspired me to pursue a career in a cartoon production team.All in all,ponies never fail to put a smile on my face and warmth in my heart.
ReplyDeleteSo I was sitting on my computer and my friend(Who I have known for 10 years) messaged me on facebook telling me to fuck off. I asked him why and he said because he thought I hated him. I asked him why he would think that and he said a person at my school messaged him through facebook telling him I hated him. The person who messaged him hates me because I'm emo/ I told him that he had something in his teeth and he got pissed at me for pointing it out. After I told him that is was a lie and he still didn't believe he got off of facebook with the last words of "fuck you".
ReplyDeleteI was going to go cut myself (I'm not kidding) and before I did I was closing out of my windows on my computer and I accidentally mis-clicked and hit a video in my suggestions on youtube and it was the "smile smile smile" song from the latest episode.
A few minutes later after hearing the song I was crying literally with a smile and went back to facebook and managed to talk it out with my friend and explain everything to him.
This is literally the first time that the show has actually done anything for me physically and I'm so happy it did.
There is nothing more comforting about coming home from a hellish day at work and being able to go on my DVR and watch a good MLP episode. These ponies give me comfort, and make me smile in a dark world we are in now. And to think when My Little Pony Tales aired in the late 90's, I made fun of that old show calling it "girly", I feel stupid for doing that 10-12 years later but nontheless, this show is not just a show, I gives me comfort in bad situations in life and it is worth the extra $10 on my DirecTV bill.
ReplyDeletePonies did some strange things for me, and at first not all positive though the later effects truly did make up for any negativity.
ReplyDeleteI had an abusive father, and a mother who never payed shits worth attention to me, along with a brother with Cystic Fibrosis who scared the shit out of me since I was four (I had awful nightmares of him dieing in real life that melded perfectly with reality.) and who has and still is a huge dick and bully to me (I have to hide my bronydom from him everyday, one day he suspected I was a "ponyfag" and I had to lie so he would stop threatening me with a fucking machete.) because of all this it is no wonder I had no ambition, was filled with self loathing and had basically no social life except for one good friend who put up with my bullshit for reasons I still don't understand.
Then Ponies.
I have discovered a talent for both writing and public speaking I have, came out of a shell of depression, have a large circle of sweet bro's who are the fucking BEST OF FRIENDS, seriously I could never ask for any cooler group of buddies. I now have a social life (who woulda thought that watching a show for little girls would GIVE me a social life, like what is that huh?)I have gained some confidence and ambition. Got a girlfriend (Buck yea) then dumped her for being a superficial bitch who treated me like a dog (which sucks) Then realized I had the confidence to say so to her (Buck yea again) and now quite love myself.
So yea no big deal.
i guess the show taught me to be more positive in life, im a lot less judgmental and angry since i started watching the show on the evening of Christmas day. :)
ReplyDeletePonies fill in all of my free time between school, friends and games and none of these activities are mutually exclusive... mostly makes you understand how to work with people who have conflicting view points or ideals...
ReplyDeleteRainbow Dash best pony.
Friendship is Magic has done the following for me:
ReplyDelete1) opened my ears to great music, both instrumental and vocal. 2) cheer me up almost every time i'm sad or blue. and 3) restored my faith in recent cartoons.
Sorry for the wall of text BTW.
ReplyDeleteMade me realize how much I, and my life, suck, and how the best things can come from unexpected places. The community is also hella talented and friendly, and the creators of the show actually aren't indifferent to such a huge fandom, thus earning a little bit of faith in humanity from me.
ReplyDeleteBefore I started watch it, I didn't hang out with my friends in any other place than school.
ReplyDeleteThen, when I started watching it, it made me feel sad at first, I was like "Man...I feel so lonely...". I never said to my friends how much they were important for me.
The week after I strated watching FiM, I told my friends how much they were important, I started hanging out with them more and more often.
So yeah, it made me realize how important friends are, and you should tell them all the time.
FiM definetly changed a part of my life.
given me something to cheer me up after a bad day, it never fails to make me "smile smile smile"
ReplyDeleteIt definitely helped me in times of need. And inspired me to do certain things, drawing ponies is really much fun.
ReplyDeleteI did make some friends in the community, but probably not as many as some others.
I didn't have much luck in that aspect, I tried to befriend many, but none have accepted my friendship. The actual friends I made, were made because someone who was already in the community introduced me to them (without even asking). I'm grateful for that.
But it kinda saddens me to have been gullible enough to think that I'd be able to make new friends in a community about love and tolerance, and all the ones I actually tried to befriend rejected me, or well, worse, ignored me. All but one I must say.
It's ok, I'm an optimistic guy and I don't hate anyone, but yeah. This was my first fandom, and the good experiences I had in it, have been a bit overthrown by the bad ones. So I decided to step down not too long ago.
Now I just enjoy a wonderful joy that fills me with happiness.
I now appreciate whenever Rainbows are formed.
ReplyDeleteAnd I now cry during the emotional parts of movies.
It might sound weird, but I can't really remember how my life was before FiM. I just know that at some point my whole life became a lot happier, about the time I joined the community. I didn't have a bad life before, but it certainly became better. But that can also have to do with some other things that happened, though I'm sure ponies played a big role.
ReplyDeleteI love this community. Thank you, everyone of you.
I'm french , and i guess it's because of MLP i'm happy today .
ReplyDeleteBefore that , i was a little depressed :(
That show is so funny and awesome , it changed me .
It's really awesome , how that impressive community can making me smile .
That show changed me , i'm really grateful , you guys can change the world for sure !
Thanks a thousand time !
A bientôt !
Ponies are the main reason I stopped smoking. And because of them I've been improving as a writer and artist.
ReplyDeleteI had depression. I was always upset. My older cousin Patrick was already a Brony, but a closet brony. He never had told anyone. One day I was feeling really down and Pat sent me a set of links to youtube with a message that said "Watch these and just smile." It was a bunch of short scenes from the show, the first one being Fluttershy saying "You rock! woohoo". I didn't even know what i was watching till i looked at the related videos and relized it was my little pony. Since then, I just smile, and I have spent the majority of my time getting others to smile. It changed me, and showed me something we all wish for. Happyness.
ReplyDeleteI have friends that aren't into ponies and I hardly talk to them and then I have like a few brony friends and I hardly talk to them too OTL. I even try to attend the meetups(hoping on making it to a 2nd and 3rd one before summer) and trying to talk to people there. I mean they're friendly and stuff(better than the friend's friends I've met) and I really like that in them. If I'm able to I'll try to make all teh bronies I meet my friends(assuming none of them turn out to be dicks later).
ReplyDeleteIt made me learn about a community that I can trust, share with, and be happy in. I talk with my brother a lot more now, when before we didn't talk at all. At the end of a really bad day, i open eqd up and the ponies-and people- bring a smile to my face. Ive made new brony friends, and just plain friends. I had one friend who i , well, just couldnt talk to as well anymore. he liked many eccentric things that i hadnt even known about! It turns out he did know about the whole Starving students like MLP thing, but only in passing. I convinced him to look at it, and he is know about 200% more of a brony than i am, somehow. This show really brought us together again. We can just talk, like we used to , and out friendship has never been better. THANK YOU MLP AND THE COMMUNITY, i cant even express all the other events that have just changed me and my life so much.
ReplyDeletePonies made me realize that not only can a show focus on friendships rather than romance, it can do it EXTRAORDINARILY successfully. It's kind of a nice escape from all the violence and angst in popular media that we're told we're supposed to like. I've always wondered if it was possible to tell a good story with friendship as a framework for the relationships of the characters rather than romance, and this totally proves it.
ReplyDeleteOn a personal level, it's great to get involved in an active fan community for once. And you're all so nice! I never thought fans on the internet could be nice to each other, ever.
Ponies have helped me keep out of depression (mostly) since I lost my job due to an injury that kept me stranded at home for three weeks. I refuse to let them take over my life, but they're a pretty big part of it right now. I even got brave enough to try drawing again after seeing all the amazing art. I've gotten a handful of friends IRL to watch it and they all love it. This show is awesome.
P.S. Where are all you guys making pony friends online? I can't seem to find any.
well first and foremost i'm a lot calmer i was using anger as a crutch for my depression (if i wanna beat someone else to a bloody pulp i don't think about how sad i am) so i was driving everyone away. the happiness of the ponies plus the distraction of fanfics, art, and the like rendered that crutch obsolete so i'm generally a nicer better person because of ponies and the community
ReplyDeleteFor me? It showed me that pony society is something that will never happen in our world. Why? Because people have pride not to use funny stuff, sing together and enjoy life. We work, we eat, we watch our tv and internet and sleep. that's the way it goes. Pony society gives an interpretation on how to enjoy life a bit more.
ReplyDeleteThe brony community has shown me -mostly because of derpy and all the commotion about it in the last weeks - that having a handicap is not shame. It troubles you but it does not affect your hapiness if you allow it too. handicaped people sure have problems, but there are enough ''healthy'' jerks and other people out there who have family issues and whatsoever. I love Derpy because she is happy with her life and her daughter in spite of her handicap, and I see a lot of her in me as I have asperger.
But it also learned me that humans are a stupid race of idiots. Humans do not care about each other - some exceptions here and there, but still, you do not care about people you don't know or people who you do not give a shit about. Think about the culture of greed that we are living in right now. People want more and more and are not satisfied with what they have. We have run away from God because he would be a tyrant, but in the end, we as a human are the only ones to blame. When I compared myself and my friends and family to ponies I realized how pathetic we are. Seriously: we only care about ourselves and maybe our close relatives, but no about others who may need our help. older people, sick people, victims of war and distasters (governements only care about them if they're allies of if they have oil) so... yes, it has strengthen my faith in God. Ponies cannot help us, because they do not exist. God is the only One who can help us. That is all I have to say about it.
Long story short, it's basically made me much happier of a person in general. Back when I first started watching the show last July (for reasons I can't exactly remember anymore), I was going through some rough times and ponies sort of helped me pull myself out the dark hole I had fallen into for a while. The rest of the change in my attitude was much more subtle over the months and it's pretty easy to notice in hindsight. I'm definitely less cynical, I feel that deep down everypony is kind and decent (whereas I used to think the complete opposite 100% of the time, still do from time to time) and makes me realize how hollow I felt before without this "magical feeling" friendship gave me, something I had taken a bit for granted before. I've made more good and trustworthy friends because of ponies and even strengthened the other more casual friendships into true bonds of friendship. And the Brony community and the way they embrace the show and its morals is just so incredibly fantastic that it's restored a lot of my faith in humanity as a whole. Ponies is well beyond "meme status" by now and has truly exceeded just being a cartoon about adorable ponies, IMO.
ReplyDeleteSimply put: ponies are awesome and they really bring the best out in you and make life worth living sometimes :D.
It's made me stop despising everyone except my group of friends. It's stopped me being a grumpy old piece of shit.
ReplyDeleteThe show and everything on EqD have given me something to look forward after the horrible, dull drag of the week.
It's also made me realise who is actually worth talking to. After becoming an open Brony, when asked about things I like, I will naturally express my love for the show and fandom. If they can't accept that then they aren't the kind of person worth my time.
Ponies have radically changed they way I act. Luckily for the people I encounter.
Really wasn't inclined, but started watching the show. Became a true fan of the show mid summer of last year after watching the first 26 episodes.
ReplyDeleteIn all honest the show helped me to grow as an artist and an individual. Even though i'm just tracing stuff now it's given me that drive to work towards bettering myself. Also found some happiness in creating my own story that's in the works. All of that knowledge will be helpful for when I make my own universe/story that i've had on the back burner for some time.
Here's to you bronies/pegasisters out there for helping a shutin grow a bit more. ;)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI no longer have blood just rainbow and muffins runs threw my veins now XD
ReplyDeleteIt broke me out of a year's worth of depression, break the writers/artist block so I can start drawing again, and gave a slightly brighter view of humanity.
ReplyDeleteThe first week I started watching the show was finals week at my university. I'm the type who hates to be an inconvenience and not very good at asking for help, but I knew I needed help to move everything to storage and I was desperately out of time. I remembered Applebuck Season and got the courage to ask my friends for help, thank goodness!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm happier, especially with such great music on my ipod. Sometimes when I feel like crying or just feel really down, I listen to Giggle at the Ghosties (and now Smile Smile Smile) and I can breathe and start to smile. I mean, the music alone has been such a change- it's my favorite stuff to listen to.
And most importantly, it's given me hope.
Hope in a better world of nice, genuine people. I love reading comments on pony sites where everyone is so supportive and caring and if there are fights or trolls, then people laugh it off or even apologize(!).
It's also given me hope for the next generation to have this show provide such good messages and real role models for little girls who are so often just assaulted with pink and princess. It really gives me hope in the future and I hope that it is helping a bunch of little girls and boys out there, teaching them that they can be who they want to be and how to be a good person and a good friend.
(sorry it's so long)
The fandom for me made me a person that cares a lot less what others think of me. Beforehand, I tried to just fit in and not seem like a weirdo. So when I started becoming a very much addicted brony, I kept it a deep dark secret that no one could find out about. Eventually I decided I was being stupid so I told my best friend. He thought I was joking so he decided to walk around school telling random people he watched the show even though he couldn't tell you the name of a single character. When I told him I wasn't joking he basically looked at me funny and decided to list off shows which he says are probably better than FiM which consisted of every single show in his memory could conjure up. Eventually, I got him to watch an episode and that stopped him from making fun of me but he doesn't watch it regularly probably for his reputations sake. From there I decided to put MLP wallpapers on my phone mostly to see reactions but because of that I have a bunch of new brony friends and in general, I feel I can act like myself more often. Nowadays, the MLP wallpapers on my phone has become a tradition, half because I love the show and the community and half as a "Screw you" to haters. Honestly it probably changed my life.
ReplyDeleteI have to rewrite my post because there is a bit of back story:
ReplyDeleteAbout 3 years ago, I was a firm believing, practicing, and incredibly joyful Christian. I had been religious most of my life, but it had only then become a major part of who I was. My Christian friends loved me, and my non-Christian friends loved me all the more because I was a tolerant and loving person.
Then, as I always have, I started analyzing things. I started picking out patterns. Systematic, meticulous things that were going unnoticed by most of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Little bits of Biblical wisdom going ignored; Covering up a need for real change by making small, unimportant changes; and the overall business of converting more people to Christianity.
I realized more and more that I was surrounded by people who were not practicing the beliefs that I held. Even when I found groups who claimed they saw the corruption and were trying to rise above it, it was just a claim made to calm the hearts of people like me.
So now I am left in a limbo of sorts. I want so badly to be a Christian, but not if it involves the people who I find in churches. I have no way to incite a major paradigm shift in Christian practice, but that is what it will take for me to be a Christian again.
I say all that, first to get it off my chest. Second because without God, I am aimless. I used to think my life had such a clear direction, but now what do I do? So I lost my happy-go-lucky attitude. When life got me down, I could no longer just smile in spite of it all.
I found what little comfort could be offered from FiM. It's not much, but every once in a while, when I feel crappy, I can just smile again. I never thought about it, but that really means a lot to me.
I want to say that My Little Pony has brought me, in no particular order, to the point of suicide and back again, it has caused me to meet people that I think are very intolerant and snide, but it has also brought me the closest and kindest friends I have. It has caused me heartbreak, but most importantly it has brought me fulfillment in my life and a very /very/ special somepony to call my own :) So if I might use this opportunity to say: Thank you, Lauren Faust. Thank you so much :)
ReplyDeleteMade me a more positive and happier person. I love the community I find it energetic and happy. One day I hope to make some Brony Friends as I have none currently due to being shy in life and online.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I don't have quite the epic tales of redemption that some of you folks do, but I can safely say that I've never dived quite so deeply into a fandom before. Even in my prime as a member of my college's anime club, I never spent more than a few minutes on an imageboard every now and then. Now I spend an hour or two poking around Ponibooru and the myriad Ask Tumblrs, and I've read more fanfiction in the past four months than in the previous twenty years. I even crashed a local meetup!
ReplyDeleteIt's made my life that little bit brighter, too. I was delighted when "Lesson Zero" came out, because it's the perfect reminder that not everything I do for grad school needs to be perfect. (Still wish I had Twilight's organizational skills, though.) Not quite "curing depression" levels, but it's always nice to have that extra little bit of support.
It's also seeped into my artistic endeavours. "Winter Wrap Up" makes for a surprisingly good exercise if you're learning bass guitar. (Plus, it's fun to play.) Ponies have even gotten me to consider taking up writing or drawing. If you'd told me that a year ago, I would have laughed in your face, yet here I am, thinking about it all the same.
It's reinforced the idea that I shouldn't be judging people, especially their entertainment choices. This lesson seems to come up a lot in my life, but I'm planning on becoming a librarian, so it's a good thing to remember.
Of course, it's also complicated things — I have no idea how many hours of badly needed sleep I lost to Fallout: Equestria — but it's been well worth the price.
So, no sob stories or grand epics, but some stuff to think about all the same. And so I raise a glass to Ms. Faust and the FiM team, who've demonstrated that demographic targets and merchandising are no excuse not to do the best you can.
They made me even more unique than I'm already am
ReplyDeleteI also thank Luna for a beautiful night every full moon.
ReplyDeleteIt has given me a different look at the world. And lots of smiles! /)
ReplyDeleteI was just about to give up on pony after watching the show for several months and not meeting another brony in real life, but then someone showed me the Dashie vs Startscream video. Since then I've joined several groups and spend more time with others than I had ever thought possible. Thank you ponies, you have taught me the meaning of friendship.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePonies have made my life infinitely better :D
ReplyDeleteMy mom called me creepy
ReplyDeleteI kick people in the face less.
ReplyDeleteI actually have a rather short list
ReplyDelete* More optimistic, generally less sad.
* Randomly smiling
* Creative writing (fanfic) -- that one is new. I used to absolutely hate writing.
* Discovered some stuff about myself, like my opinions on music. I used to indiscriminately hate genres, for example.
* Desire to help out charities and the like.
* Met the most civil and widespread Internet subculture in the world. I've seen brony avatars on the FIRST robotics forum. So we're smart as well.
My story is probably rather generic, but it happened.
Happiness, kindness, open-mindness, confidence, friendship. And that's all about ponies and what they've given to me.
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course, I enjoy every single moment I spend with Bronies. You, I mean WE, ARE THE BEST COMMUNITY I've ever met.
Ever since the NATG last summer, I've been constantly improving as an artist, even when drawing humans! I have a lot more creative motivation now, with no small thanks to the splendid group of fellow-minded artists I met through the NATG Alumni group!
ReplyDeleteIn other words, ponies have made me more awesome.
I for one found that, on the whole, it's made me a lot less stressed out. Honestly I don't know what it is about this show. Part of it is that it's just nice to have a break from constant violence and profanity in entertainment. It's not that I mind those things, nor am I offended by them, but it gets monotonous after a while. You know you've become desensitized when all the great 4 letter words in existence only provoke boredom in you.
ReplyDeleteAlso, after converting 6 of my friends, I feel like I'm a lot closer to them now. No one must know our secret!
And to just be super shameless, It's also put me in the spirit of giving. You know, like how I'm basically offering to develop someones game for free right now? And I have actual reasons for this. And I've been trying to tell people this...
Anybody want to take me up on that? No? Ok.
[email protected]
I have a few closer friends and enjoy laughing a lot more!
ReplyDelete