The Newbie Thread: Introduce Yourself!

[Melvitty]

There is not enough in all the world to describe you two.

Haha, thanks. I went by his room and gave him a Spike toy as a token of peace and broniehood. He was totally

[Nemo2342Friendship *is* Magic]

I clicked on one of the banners and saw the thread, but dismissed it for a while. Later I saw it again and clicked it again, since I never go into TV-IV. Read, watched, converted, very disappointed when it got gassed and the mods got a stick up their bums.

As to conversions, I read a lot of LPs and basically every single one at one point has SOMEONE going 'Ok what's with the pony avatars'. Unfortunately no one wants to risk any kind of detailed explanation for fear of causing a thread derail/ threadshit, and not being able to link to a thread hurts. Still, the sheer number of avatars is still getting the thought out.

Yeah, I threw up a link to this forum in the Anno LP, because someone in that thread was wondering if they should change their ponytar since MLP had become verboten. I seem to have gotten away with it since I was trying to head-off a thread derail, but I always get a bit nervous about even mentioning ponies now. Oh well, at least I still have this place for some love.

[KillerJunglist]

So far the only person who I've gotten any shit from about ponies is my girlfriend's sister. She saw my phone background (that I mentioned a few posts back is Twilight Sparkle) and gave me the "grown man watching ponies is creepy" lecture. I asked why and she really couldn't say except for "It's a show for little girls!"

I mentioned that she is obsessed with Twilight (the books) and that she is 34 years old. "That's different..." she responded, which I cut her off with "AND you read horrible, cringe-inducing slash fan-fics about Twilight, Harry Potter and Dr. Who... How is simply watching a TV show creepier than that?"

She thought for a second and responded with, "It's a show for little girls!"

Knowing her, she will come around to watching the show and admit that it's good, but never admit that I told her she should watch it.

[Westy543]

Drunkill randomly PM'd me one night on IRC, he's like "Hey check this out, it's pretty cool," with a link to the SA thread (pre-gassing). I was like "Lol ponies" and also busy. A few weeks later I see "Ponies. http://i.imgur.com/6qxW6.gif " in a channel's topic I frequent on SynIRC. I absolutely burst out laughing, since I love the Deal With It meme, and I totally wasn't expecting the glasses. At that point I was like "huh, this show actually DOES look really well made," just going by that short animation. So I watched the first episode, and laughed a good deal. Then I watched the rest over some period of time. That's why that gif will forever be linked in my signature, it's what got me into ponies. :3 I guess I was never a neighsayer. As far as my masculinity, people can dwi. Ponies are awesome.

Since then, I've made bronies out of like 4 of my and drunkill's friends. One of them even posts on here!

Last Wednesday Westy543 messaged me on steam and was like, "You seem like the kind of guy that enjoyed the Powerpuff Girls or Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends." And me, being exactly that kind of person, said yes. So he told me to hear him out, that the same person made an MLP show, and that I should give it a shot. Skeptically humoring him, I started watching the episodes in order.


By Thursday afternoon, I had watched every single one and eagerly awaited the next day's release. I am now addicted to .

IT'S HIM

[Che Delilas]

Yeah, I threw up a link to this forum in the Anno LP, because someone in that thread was wondering if they should change their ponytar since MLP had become verboten. I seem to have gotten away with it since I was trying to head-off a thread derail, but I always get a bit nervous about even mentioning ponies now. Oh well, at least I still have this place for some love.

I wouldn't worry too much as long as your post leads to fewer fyad assholes spamming the report button and pissing off the mods.

Woman with gut feeling without any actual explanation.

I wish I had a link to Lauren Faust's response to someone on her facebook(I think) asking what she thought of the fact that the show was being watched by a bunch of "manchildren in their basements" etc. Her response was that people who call them that are "a-holes" and that she created the show to appeal to both children and their parents. The link is buried in the gassed thread on SA, no way I'm going to find it. It would be a great thing to show to your friend.

Try and get her to seriously think about this: Take a show with developed, three-dimensional characters, fantastic production values, good stories, a conscience and a (generally) healthy message. On that abstract set of qualities, considering no other factors, would she consider such a show worth watching? When she inevitably answers yes, ask her why aiming the show at girls suddenly makes it unworthy. Is femininity inferior? Is it okay for women to watch shows aimed at men? Does it make them less of a woman to do so? I'm not trying to say you should be all smug and argumentative about it, it's just to try and make her think and dispel her preconceptions. It could be because pretty much every show aimed at girls in the history of television has been absolutely horrible. If that's where her hangup is coming from, it's understandable, but in that case you can emphasize that this show is the polar opposite of every one of them, and that people should be aware that such positive influences for girls do actually exist.

Yeah, this show is made primarily for young girls. And it's good enough that, as a man, I'd rather watch the whole thing in front of all my friends than subject myself to even five minutes of trash like Two and a Half Men. You can tell her I said that.

Edit: VVVV Yay! Thanks Warp, exactly what I was talking about.

[Warp]

I wish I had a link to Lauren Faust's response to someone on her facebook(I think) asking what she thought of the fact that the show was being watched by a bunch of "manchildren in their basements" etc. Her response was that people who call them that are "a-holes" and that she created the show to appeal to both children and their parents. The link is buried in the gassed thread on SA, no way I'm going to find it. It would be a great thing to show to your friend.

Here's her Ms. Blog rebuttal of attacks of it being anti-feminist, racist etc. I really like how she expands a little bit on the back and forth power struggle on what they have to include in the show and why they have to do some of the things they do.

Also, tangentially related, one of the layout guys recently did a Q&A on /co/ I guess. For those who haven't read it: here. I really love it when people connect with their fanbase. It's refreshing and it really reinforces the whole idea that they actually give a shit about what they're doing.

And I knew I saved these for a reason:




TL;DR: Lauren Faust is a fantastic person and this show owns

[Kanthulhu~~Books!~~]

[quote="Warp"
And I knew I saved these for a reason:




TL;DR: Lauren Faust is a fantastic person and this show owns [/quote]

Am I the only one that's getting two "frog in an ice cube" instead of the pictures? It's happening for me all over the forum.

[IRQpat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat]

Am I the only one that's getting two "frog in an ice cube" instead of the pictures? It's happening for me all over the forum.

That would be imageshack sucking. Imageshack is pretty good at sucking.

[Warp]

That would be imageshack sucking. Imageshack is pretty good at sucking.

Well, shoot Is there a better place to host images then? I didn't know imageshack was being dumb.

[OderlanAnd you may ask yourself, "How do I work this?"]

imgur.com is good

[Warp]

Alright I'll give it a shot. Hopefully now they'll actually show up.

[KillerJunglist]

{snipped for length purposes}

Yeah, this show is made primarily for young girls. And it's good enough that, as a man, I'd rather watch the whole thing in front of all my friends than subject myself to even five minutes of trash like Two and a Half Men. You can tell her I said that.

Edit: VVVV Yay! Thanks Warp, exactly what I was talking about.

Oh, I explained it like this, maybe not so eloquently but I tried. She just kept shaking her head and saying "show for little girls".

My girlfriends did defend me tho. She asked, "Has Killerjunglist ever told you 'you should watch this'? Has he ever been wrong about something being good?" (I didn't want to say this because it sounds conceded, but I do have a reputation with my friends for always picking out the best entertainment.) She agreed but it still wasn't enough. Some people...

[IRQpat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat]

Oh, I explained it like this, maybe not so eloquently but I tried. She just kept shaking her head and saying "show for little girls".

My girlfriends did defend me tho. She asked, "Has Killerjunglist ever told you 'you should watch this'? Has he ever been wrong about something being good?" (I didn't want to say this because it sounds conceded, but I do have a reputation with my friends for always picking out the best entertainment.) She agreed but it still wasn't enough. Some people...

Well, think of how the thread convinced people to watch the show. You have to inundate this person with until the cute overwhelms them and they start to wonder...

And then in a few short days, one of us

[Che Delilas]

Oh, I explained it like this, maybe not so eloquently but I tried. She just kept shaking her head and saying "show for little girls".

My girlfriends did defend me tho. She asked, "Has Killerjunglist ever told you 'you should watch this'? Has he ever been wrong about something being good?" (I didn't want to say this because it sounds conceded, but I do have a reputation with my friends for always picking out the best entertainment.) She agreed but it still wasn't enough. Some people...

The blindest are those who keep their eyes shut. Kind of sad that a woman her age still believes in inherent female inferiority, but it doesn't sound like she's willing to listen to any arguments.

[blonkAh, my ridiculously circuitous plan is two-four-six-eighths complete.]

Ugh, yeah I've brought the show up to a couple of my close friends. One of them laughed but gave it a shot and said it wasn't bad but not really his thing. He's told me once or twice since then that he's gotten the urge for more so he'll probably come along. My other friend and his girlfriend were not as keen about the show and went with the "that's a pedophile thing to do" route. I gave them an explanation but they didn't really waver away from "it's creepy" and "kinda gay" but...whatever. I'm not here to force ponies on people but I do think it's short-sighted and ignorant to write off a well-produced show just because the target demographic is for young girls.

[GlaziusHe finds himself through the martial arts discipline of Nokando, which he says hardens the body and turns the mind inward.]

It doesn't take you long, random-walking the Internet, to come up with a theory of the conservation of creepiness.

To wit: the creepiness of a media property plus the average creepiness of its fan base is a constant. You find the most twisted shit about the most whitebread source material. And you know, that might be true? But even if it's true, the creep factor distribution is pretty positively skewed: there are a lot of whitebread fans and most of the creepy comes from a handful of real creepos.

So, especially if it's someone you've known for a while, and they're making it an issue, this is the proposition: are you the veggies and straight-talk fellow they have always known you as, or are you a heavily-closeted secret master of the creeperous arts revealing yourself through the medium of cartoon ponies talking about friendship?

Sadly, there are certain specific ways in which people yearn to be wrong. Truly the gulf between one human and another is as deep as the ocean, and twice as wiTHE PONIES ARE BUILDING A RAINBOW BRIDGE WITH THE MAGIC OF FRIENDSHIP OH MY GOD YOU GUYS OH MY GOD

[Willsun]

(Everything you wrote)

Best stories I've heard thus far, what with your boyfriend and your brother, I think those are the best ways to go about enjoying this show. And like everyone else said,

I honestly don't think there's anyone I know around me that would get into the show or that I could properly try to persuade into watching it. Them's the breaks. Although it sucks, this show is just a nugget of joy that I don't want to ruin by trying to defend it real hard against people who do the whole "pedo" argument or can't get past the "pink" of the show.

[KillerJunglist]

Ugh, yeah I've brought the show up to a couple of my close friends. One of them laughed but gave it a shot and said it wasn't bad but not really his thing. He's told me once or twice since then that he's gotten the urge for more so he'll probably come along. My other friend and his girlfriend were not as keen about the show and went with the "that's a pedophile thing to do" route. I gave them an explanation but they didn't really waver away from "it's creepy" and "kinda gay" but...whatever. I'm not here to force ponies on people but I do think it's short-sighted and ignorant to write off a well-produced show just because the target demographic is for young girls.

I can see how this kind of thing could wear thin on someone like like Lauren Faust's patience. Her and her team are trying to create quality entertainment and doing a damn good job, but then there are those who won't even give it a chance giving reasons that aren't even related (You watch THAT TV show? You are a pedophile! ).

I do feel like it's kind of an extension of high school mentality; you are not allowed to publicly like some things because they are not considered "cool" enough by the general consensus. Retribution for enjoying something outside of the norm is ridicule and possible ostracization.
I see this behavior sometimes among my age group (lets say 28-35), and when I do I most often say, "what are you, in high school still or something?" Oddly, that usually makes them re-think their actions.

[Maple LeafOne look at your plebeian atrocity and I find myself asking where in it you hid the kitchen sink.]

This is kind of my favourite topic in this forum

[Warp]

Although it sucks, this show is just a nugget of joy that I don't want to ruin by trying to defend it real hard against people who do the whole "pedo" argument or can't get past the "pink" of the show.

Yeah, this. It's a tricky situation trying to introduce this show to people, almost like a science. You need to be able to sell it big to most people because the fact that it's a "girly" show is something a lot of people need a lot of push to get past (which is stupid but that's just how it seems to be). And yet, when someone starts raving about something and pushing you to watch something you've never really heard of, that in itself tends to be really offputting too, and seems to have pretty much the exact opposite of the desired effect.

Kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation

[brightman420 Party err'day.]

I think that the common conversion story is probably the best way to get someone to like the show actually. You tell someone about the show and they judge it based on it being MLP and such. However with the avatars on the forums most of us were like, "wtf is that," and they'd keep popping up and it would just subtly bug you in the back of your mind. Then you'd see the ad and be like, "finally, I can get answers now." Then you read the thread and maybe think that if so many people like it might as well give it a shot, if you hate it at least you can mock it better or something. However the show is good and after a while invade your mind and that's that.

So if you can somehow subtly get someone to see avatars or a part of the show out of context then maybe it will work. Maybe try showing someone the Flutterguy clip without mentioning that it's MLP at any point. Actually it might fester in the haters' minds anyway and get them eventually with the power of friendship

[Alkydere]

Conversion for me was quick and out of nowhere. I was a big fan of Orange Fluffy Sheep's Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced LP, which caused me to somewhat look up to him when I started working the LP for the sequel game. I had been seeing Pony avatars slowly creeping all over SA, especially those in my thread or in Epee Em's MMBN megathread. Suddenly, OFS went from being an Orange Fluffy Sheep to being offered a Robe of Lords, and I saw the ad at the bottom of the page. Curious, I looked at the thread a bit and then started watching episodes.

Within 48 hours, I had the blue bronie avatar you see here on my SA account and haven't looked back since.

Within another 12 hours, my co-LPer mouthed off about not being a easily manipulated by fads and not having either an MLP avatar, or an MSP Adventures one. He now has an MSPA avatar with a girl on the back of a pony.

[brightman420 Party err'day.]

I checked the thread on Monday and waited to watch the show on my DVR that Friday, had I actually paid attention and learned that the episodes were on YouTube I would've been hooked about that fast too.

[blonkAh, my ridiculously circuitous plan is two-four-six-eighths complete.]

I do feel like it's kind of an extension of high school mentality; you are not allowed to publicly like some things because they are not considered "cool" enough by the general consensus. Retribution for enjoying something outside of the norm is ridicule and possible ostracization.
I see this behavior sometimes among my age group (lets say 28-35), and when I do I most often say, "what are you, in high school still or something?" Oddly, that usually makes them re-think their actions.

This is a pretty good explanation. People don't like what they don't understand, and when someone says they enjoy a cartoon show about ponies it doesn't register well with them so they immediately come to the conclusion that it must be weird/bad. Still, you would expect some level of tolerance from adults. I'm sure most people have that one thing they might be a little embarrassed about liking. For instance, I know a few girls who still log in to neopets to play games now and then, but I don't give them shit for it and I would expect the same from them.

[SnakebiteWhy am I here...?]

The Artrix kept mentioning it on Skype while calling me his faithful student, much to my annoyance... But I figured that if he liked it that it was probably worth watching (although he did link me to awful stuff before...).

I watched, loled, watched more, loled more... and now I'm hooked.

GEE. THANKS.

[AramekYour MRI results have shown total infection to now be approximately one fifth of the full mass of the tissue."So you're saying..."Your brain is about 20% tumor.]

I had been seeing some Ponytars around SA for a bit, thinking they were kinda cute, but paying it no mind, until I found the banner ad. It was Superbowl Sunday, my roomies had gone to one of their workmate's houses to watch the game, so, I was just reading SA, and generally having a nice Sunday. After clicking on the banner ad, I began reading. I read so much, I even watched a few episodes before they came home, caught me watching it, and began to heap shit unto me. Although, I have since converted one of them into a fan.

Not to sound sappy or anything, but, I don't have a whole lot of "good" days at work. So, having the gigantic pony thread to read, and episodes to watch, it just made me feel all sorts of great. There's a time and a place for giving each other shit, and being generally unpleasant to each other, (it is Something Awful after all), but, just to have something fun, and so genuinely feel-good to do, well, that's what I really looked forward to.

To put it another way, is like Lovedump, but we're not (all) faking it. It is a cool little cartoon that is both fun to watch, and you can really feel the effort they put into it. I don't harbour any illusions of escapism in my entertainment, I am just simply entertained. And, really, that's why we watch things we like.

[Willsun]

Aw, wished your was more like . But I agree, I liked the old thread even if it was ALL pony discussion packed into one place. I'd still read/skim them all, and although that meant certain people's questions or discussion can get lost by the sheer speed it moved at, I liked seeing who was new joining in and hoping that the increasing amount of posters meant people would do less low-content posting.

I still can't believe how it's been less than a month since this show hit (for me).

[zodberg]

I've indoctrinated my friend (catrobot) with our dogma
however since she likes magical girl shows of many shapes and sizes this was basically like getting a cat to purr.

Soon I will show ponies to a macho lady I know who enjoys american comics, shonen, and a lot of Transformers.
I don't know if this will work.

[Orange Fluffy Sheep]

Soon I will show ponies to a macho lady I know who enjoys american comics, shonen, and a lot of Transformers.
I don't know if this will work.

Transformers is, like, the same thing with a different demographic in principle. It probably should work.

[Melvitty]

Best stories I've heard thus far, what with your boyfriend and your brother, I think those are the best ways to go about enjoying this show. And like everyone else said,

Aw, thank you. Everyone here is so nice. I tend to shy away from posting anything ever and more especially personal stuff, but in the pony thread and now here, it doesn't feel so scary. I love you guys. Pony power forever!

[Beef Assistant]

Talked to a friend I hadn't seen in like a year over MSN and mentioned that I pretty much totally really like MLP. He essentially said, "You too!? All my friends love that show." I'm assuming he'll be inundated with friendship soon enough.

[AwesomonsterMy shoulder's achy! That means there's an alligator in the tub!]

I linked Dragonshy to a friend of mine and she was like "This is a little dorky" and generally a little dubious. Now she is on episode 11 after having watched that and the next one, and then started from the beginning I did not expect to be able to convert any of my friends, but I guess pony friendship magic is more powerful than I thought. Also we had discussed My Little Pony as something we both were way into as kids (I never lost my love for it, really) so I suppose that helped.

[Beef Assistant]

I was going to edit this into my post I just made a few minutes ago but it's got legs to stand on:

A day or two ago a friend on Steam was arguing with me about liking ponies or liking them too much, saying it was an inappropriate thing to like. I think he was saying I was obsessed with ponies just because my name/avatar was Pinkie Pie, which I suppose isn't really unreasonable. I mean, why else would someone have an avatar of a pony unless they really really liked the show? I tried to explain to him that no, it's not "inappropriate" in the least and it's just a cartoon I enjoy; there's nothing wrong with liking it and it would be pretty hard to define liking it "too much". I'm not writing motherfucking fanfics or anything.

I honestly thought he was trolling and thought he had ignored me through Steam. He wasn't and he didn't. Instead, it was a matter of being weirded out by what's basically just an internet phenomenon that he didn't understand. We eventually settled things rather amicably and I went back to playing Rift like a nerd.

Hopefully he doesn't think I'm a jerk for posting this because I just found it interesting. I didn't think people thought it was so weird!

[KillerJunglist]

I still think that 4chan's obsession with the show makes a lot of online-types nervous about it. I really don't blame them, as anything 4chan latches on to becomes out-of-control creepy in nanoseconds. Plus the less than savory fan art that comes from them doesn't help much either. Once you can get people past that they tend to open up to the show a lot, as it is really good.

I was lucky, I learned about the show prior to seeing anything that 4chan whipped up. Even then I've been avoiding anything from /co/ or especially /b/ like the plague.

[Maple LeafOne look at your plebeian atrocity and I find myself asking where in it you hid the kitchen sink.]

I still think that 4chan's obsession with the show makes a lot of online-types nervous about it.

Okay, I don't go to 4chan or any imageboard, really, but heaping all the blame on them is usually incorrect and biased. I'm not saying they're not creepy as hell and wind up creating things based on MLP that would spook the average online-type, but not everybody goes to 4chan or anything even related to it. When pitching the show to a friend, or when a person questions the use of a Pinkie Pie avatar, they don't usually think "it's a 4chan thing so it's obviously yucky" and the unfortunate fact is...it's a cartoon (-1 point) for little girls (-2 points) about magical ponies (-1 point) made by the wife of the guy that did Powerpuff Girls (+1 point) primarily watched by young adult males (-1 point). We're four points in the masculinity hole here.

Sorry for this outburst, but blaming 4chan for every internet injustice is sort of a button for me. They're responsible for a lot of evils, but not all of them just because they're 4chan.

[Che Delilas]

No no, the fact that it's a cartoon has nothing to do with its masculinity (the general public might consider it a strike against maturity, but that's different).

4chan is definitely not the cause of any funny looks when it comes to this show, though. Its (perceived) nature, being a show about ponies made primarily for young girls, is where most people have their hangups, I'm sure. The fact that 4chan latched onto it is going to be incidental in most people's minds, if they even know about that at all.

[SnofeldOh my yes, this is the good stuff right here.]

Why is it not okay for dudes to like cute things?

[KillerJunglist]

Sorry for this outburst, but blaming 4chan for every internet injustice is sort of a button for me. They're responsible for a lot of evils, but not all of them just because they're 4chan.

No, you are correct, it's just that the friends that I have told about the show have almost all said "Doesn't 4chan like that? Ew." And my friends are all computer nerds.

Oddly, those are the same people that after actually watching the show have converted, but in my limited experience it's come up more often than not.

[WhitemageofDOOM]

Why is it not okay for dudes to like cute things?

Because sexism.
If the female is an inherently demeaned state, than the feminine is inherently demeaning.

We've done a lot of good in fighting sexism, but it's mostly been about expanding the acceptable roles for women, we still haven't made the feminine be considered equally valid to the masculine.
Frex. Rarities character being considered the exception rather than the norm, with the norm of being "Mindless consumer" rather than "Loves looking good"(The idea of the mindless consumer being absolute nonsense aside).

[Warp]

Why is it not okay for dudes to like cute things?

We're so ingrained in a society that believes if you're a guy "masculine=good, feminine=bad", that's why . (It exists in gay culture as well, though maybe not as much but there is most certainly a strong stigma still attached.) I won't go all E/N, but it's really frustrating to have to deal with and honestly pretty infuriating, and unfortunately I don't see it changing any time soon.