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@TSG

Considering Ask Princess Molestia was probably THE most followed pony blog, it's nothing like numerous fanfiction stories. Maybe Fallout: Equestria could be considered, but much of that is from different writers contributing, so it doesn't quite count so high.

Really though, it's done. Calpain, Jen, and Joseco all said they were pretty much done with it. We were lucky if there was an update once a week, unlike the old days where you'd see a few posts every seven day period, and it seemed the jokes were starting to go downhill. APM had a good run, but it's time to let it go. You don't see people complaining about Egophiliac's Moonstuck ending, do you?

Today marks ten episodes for this season. We're not quite halfway through, but it seems like a good time to ask the questions:

How are you guys feeling about Season 4 so far?
Any speculations, hopes, grievances, or otherwise pony-related opinions you would like to get out?

I'm personally thinking the season finale will involve the Equestria Games (it's looking pretty obvious at this point). It's based off of a big international event, and it's a good plot setting to start a disaster of epic proportions. This season's arc looks like it's revolving around the relationships outside of their group for the major plot points, too. Just look at the updated photograph that is now sent to Celestia (and Luna, who doesn't get a comfy chair) in the intro. We can already see some extra love is already going to those secondary characters. I'd like to see them get some more.

So far, I'm liking Season 4. It's nice to not have to worry about it ending in a few weeks too (we'll cross that bridge when we come to it). Some episodes have been a little.. "meh", but they can't all be winners.

EDIT:
Because why not:

I really dug this episode. I was a bit bothered by Spitfire's behavior at times, but it seemed more like Fleetfoot was the ring leader for being catty and manipulative. I could just make an excuse that it was also just them letting competition get the best of them, seeing as they're all so used to having the spotlight on them, but really even with that excuse it still just feels weird to me. Though it was all mostly forgiven when in the end they admired Dash for her loyalty and I did get embarrassingly fangirly when Spitfire gave her the badge. I loved the focus given to side characters, it was nice to see all those characters we've always noticed finally given voices and canonical names. Even though I really didn't care much about Derpy either way, I loved seeing her return, crossed eyes and all, and I thought it was really clever that the animators left her out on purpose until this point for the element of surprise.

Seeing as both Rarity's and Rainbow Dash's episodes focusing on their elements (and potential keys to the box) were so frikin good I can't wait to see what the other mane 6's episodes will be like. I have a feeling Twilight's will be saved for the very end, maybe even for the finale.

See, I wasn't sure about that Michael Ross/Mike Vogel thing. Both had LinkedIn profiles and looked the same, but the Mike Ross one had the most up-to-date information. However the Mike Vogel had his Twitter profile pic. And the whole VP thing, it says on his Twitter that he is VP of development AND scripted development. I shortened it to scripted, but I guess the most accurate thing to do would be to include both.

I liked this episode. Well done writers, you have restored some of my faith

[edit]

I'd write more, but I'll get to that later

You know what I like most about Derpy's appearance in this episode and The Last Round Up? She wasn't just a background decoration like Applejack she was a legitimate character. I mean I like it when she's just an Easter Egg but now she's seen really interacting with the cast and not just interacting with the other voiceless characters that are literally background decorations. So let's do a quick recap of my three favorite moments of the episode.

"Lightning Eater"

Everyone's favorite moment apparently.

And of course Cheerleader Twilight, so cute.

Now if you excuse me I'm going to go freeze myself until the next episode premieres.

Derpy snout is best snout.

Also I genuinely felt bad for Soarin in this episode. What the fuck, Spitfire?

Counting the premiere as two episodes, this is the fourth episode I've watched of the new season.

Overall I was pleased with it, but then, I'm never unhappy to see the Wonderbolts. That said, I really had a hard time getting over how much of a dick Spitfire was to Soarin'. I didn't really see any reason for it: since the Wonderbolts were already guaranteed victory to begin with, there's no need to replace Soarin' with a faster flier. Spitfire got off too easy, especially since she was still more than willing to take Dash over Soarin' even when confronted with the fact that Soarin' was able to fly again. While it didn't ruin the episode for me or anything like that, I really wish they had devoted more time to Spitfire realizing her wrongs and making amends; everyone seemed to forgive her just because she offered Soarin' his spot on the team back. While it was obviously intended to be a sincere apology they didn't convey it as well as they should have. It greatly hampered what would otherwise have been a fantastic episode. Dash and the main six were all treated well and it was nice to see Derpy again, especially in a prominent role, but I think Bulk Biceps was the most entertaining part. I always hoped the writers would bring him back and they did not disappoint.

Click to enlarge, if you're into that sort of thing.

brb shipping soarin and dash

Yea, this episode really painted the wonderbolts team leadership in a negative light. But I'm going with the headcanon that Spitfire is simply like that.

She's a cold, calculating, all-business bitch that has her eyes on the prize and see's her own team members as expendable towards the ultimate goal of victory.

This sort of attitude makes it easier for me to believe why Dash would turn down her dream of being a Wonderbolt and continue to choose Ponyville over Cloudsdale. She's realizing that the Wonderbolts aren't all what they are cracked up to be and that their leadership goes against Dash's loyalty morales.

We've been building up this pretense for so long that Dash's ultimate dream in life, above all else, is to be on the same team as her hero's. She'd been being everything in her life to reach that one ultimate desire. Why wouldn't Dash side with Cloudsdale? Why wouldn't she take the one chance she had to achieving her dreams?

Well now we know why she didn't: Because Spitfire is a humongous dick.

If Spitfire wasn't this horrible. It would have been harder for me to believe that Dash's actions in the end was in-character

So I know we're talking about the new episode and all that, but I would just like to draw everyone's attention to this interesting essay I found discussing sexism and all that jazz within the brony community. You should note before reading that this was originally written in early 2013 but was just posted by the author now for one reason or another, and also before reading be warned that it is a little long at 27 pages. Still, I find this to be something worth reading, seeing as it does discuss an issue that is frankly pretty harshly ignored at times and deserves to be discussed.

We'll now return to our regularly scheduled programming:

Season four is shaping up nicely – Rainbow Falls especially:
Copious amounts of Derpy, Bulk Biceps had actual dialogue/character interactions instead of the obligatory "YEAH!!!", we got to see the Wonderbolts again (and hear Fleetfoot talk for the first time), and if you look closely at the bottom right corner of the screen when the train pulls into the station at Rainbow Falls, you can see Lyra and Sweetie Drops sitting on a bench. (screencap in the last panel)

Remember when there used to be two Lyras in every crowd?

Oh, and this happened…

Is this going to be a thing now?
There's even parallel endings with the spool of thread Coacoa gave to Rarity and the Wonderbolt pin that Spitfire gave to Rainbow Dash. (Anyone wanna bet that they turn into keys by the end of the season?)

Harshwhinny said:

How are you guys feeling about Season 4 so far?
Any speculations, hopes, grievances, or otherwise pony-related opinions you would like to get out?

1) Twilight needs to start doing stuff. The whole reason I liked her becoming an alicorn is that she became an alicorn. There where new plots, new characterizations, and new ideas to explore and instead we're just getting the same old, same old. If I wanted a show to completely and irreparably change the status quo, only to not do anything with it, and instead have the characters do exactly the same stuff they've always done, I'd go watch season 17 of Pokemon.

2) When we get to the season finale and the villain makes his/her big entrance at the Equestria Games, I want the villain to have some good motivation/planning. None of this "take over Equestria" "get revenge on the Princesses" or other malarkey. Give me a villain I can actually nod my head to. Maybe an Earth Pony wanting a fairer shake of the species stick, or a government official tired of the Princesses ineptness--anything other than the standard "evil" personality

3) Reuse previously build world elements. Instead of constantly throwing in new plot devices (Zecora potion, comic book, bat spell) and characters (Daring, whatever the name of the fashion bitch was, Mane-aic, etc) that will never be brought up again save for a continuity reference, get some use out of the stuff you already have. You got an alicorn amulet sitting in the Everfree Forest, collecting dust, a mirror pool just waiting, a pair of unicorn brothers itching for round two, and of course, a disgruntled griffon wanting to show what true loyalty means--you have dozens of plot devices just waiting for some more use, and instead we get more of them shoved at us.

Blue Screen said:

She’s a cold, calculating, all-business bitch that has her eyes on the prize and see’s her own team members as expendable towards the ultimate goal of victory.

Damn it, Blue Screen. Now my desire for an evil!Spitfire fanfic has grown even more. It's just too tantalizing to resist. C'mon Fimfiction, hurry up and deliv--

>clopfic about Big Mac/Smartypants
>"Humans are ponies' slaves" clopfic
>Compilation clopfic about TF fetishes
>"Twilight eating semen for a week" clopfic

Dam it, Fimfiction!

Chefcook90 said:

(Anyone wanna bet that they turn into keys by the end of the season?)

I'm still going with /mlp/'s prediction that the objects will do shit all and the real keys "were in our hearts the whole time." It's just too corny not to happen.

@Chefcook

Is this going to be a thing now?

Most certainly. Common belief is that the rainbow shimmer in the eyes and the seen objects indicates that it is key-related. So we have Rarity's spool of rainbow thread and Dash's Wonderbolts Badge as possible key candidates

@Crimson Locks

Okay so I've had a look through the essay that you presented. First of all I think Verbose might want to look at that since that's the kind of subject he is well versed in.

Certainly a curious read, though I cannot help but feel it is trying its absolute hardest to make all bronies sound like chauvinist pigs by picking out the quotes from the few actual chauvinist pigs.

The author cannot make the claim that this fandom is having more of a problem with sexism than anything else or even an increasing trend until it can prove the statistics. But it can at least say that the problem is there

I cannot deny the concerns put forward by actual women in this fandom and the feelings that they report. There is no doubt in my mind that a lot of women in the fandom are struggling with creepy dorks who don't know how to be a proper gentleman.

I know this from several facts:

1. Statistics show that there are a lot of teens in the fandom between the ages of 15 and 18. This age group is not known for being smooth with the ladies. Boys that freak out over female presence with "A/S/L! Show us ur tits!" and treat women with less dignity can be expected in this age group.

2. Many Bronies have a background in 4chan. And honestly I think 4chan is where the author of the essay is getting his material from. 4chan is an environment known for turning sexism into a joke where guys will freely objectify and dehumanize women for humorous gain. "Tits or GTFO" is one such sexist joke that originates from 4chan (through 4chan's history of dealing with 'fake females'), however it is not to be taken seriously. A mistake that the author may have made

3. Neckbeards. These women-hating bastards make up 0.01% of the fandom but they're out there making women extremely uncomfortable wherever they go

All this said. Some things just don't stack up and sound a little too alarmist.

For one thing: The article claims that females are being cornered off the the "pegasister" box. This is evidently untrue as surveys show that bronies overwhelmingly believe that 'Brony' is a gender neutral term

Yes, it can be argued that 'Brony' is a male oriented term since it originates from the term "bro" and it was invented by males. Perhaps there are some people who insist on keeping it that way. Yet this means absolutely nothing. It doesn't matter if males initiated this fandom. That in no way means that it belongs to that demographic. So the growing trend is to emancipate all male connotation from the term

Common sense is the reason for this move: The brony fandom prides itself of fighting against gender expectations. How can it do so when the very name of the fandom enforces gender distinction? Bronies realize that if 'Brony' is reserved for males, then the fandom remains equally guilty of enforcing the same thing it defies. Therefor the stunning majority of all bronies agree that females in the fandom may use either Brony or Pegasister freely.

If there is a vocal male sector telling females that they cannot be bronies…those must be the neckbeards we talked about. Ladies, tell those guys to shove it and call yourself whatever you want. And tell them to shave too.

[cont]

For another thing: The author addresses male behavior around females online. It is important to note that what he describes is not a phenomena that is exclusive or encouraged by this fandom specifically but rather part of a much bigger problem: global internet misogyny. The sexist behavior we see in Bronies is actually the exact same sexist behavior we see all around the world across the internet.

This is not to distract from the problem or say it's not our problem. In fact this point makes this issue even bigger. Rather I'm simply saying that the source of the problem isn't this fandom in particular but rather the Internets own history and culture

To drive the point that this is a global internet problem rather than a fandom problem: Check out this Cracked article in which a writer created a fake dating account designed to discourage creeps and perverts as much as possible. And he failed. Still managing to attract them anyway

Meanwhile our author did a similar thing. He created a fake female account and received a great deal of creeps approaching him. Not surprising

The points made on pornography extends into this as well. I'm glad the author decided not to try and make the pony porn an argument based on sexism as those are separate subjects. But he does point out the porn that indicates non-consensual infliction on female (and to be fair; some male) characters. If there are lots of guys with the notion that internet culture doesn't respect women, then of course they indulge in porn that doesn't either

What alarms me though is the 30 year old married guy that approached 14 year olds on-line…okay now that is fucked up. That honestly makes me sick. I might be a clopper but at least I have standards. Who are these people? Are these the same pedophiles that fap to Sweetie Belle porn? Those disgusting filly fuckers can get out of this goddam fandom. These are probably the same women-repelling creeps responsible for the fanbase being 75% male.

So while it's not like we can go and rush to defend women from the elements, (as the author also points out; urging female protection in the fandom also turns out badly for women) If there's certainly one thing the fandom can work on, it's getting rid of the people drawing horse-CP right in the middle of a freaking MLP convention

Overall, there are some important points being made. But so many of which boil down to a simple explanation: that we are witnessing the behavior of mid teen males doing what mid teen males tend to do on the net.

Yes mid teen males will say "Tits or GTFO".
Yes they'll drool over cosplayers.
Yes they'll exclude females from modding efforts thinking that girls don't into game.
Yes they'll let their 'friendzone' grievances embitter their attitudes to women
Yes they'll let 4chans anti-feminist tropes influence them
Yes they'll objectify women
Yes they'll white knight
Yes they'll vilify the notion of 'girly'

I'm not about to dismiss the situation by saying "boys will be boys". These issues can be improved via awareness, better guidance and role models. Just saying that it's not fair to blame the fandom at whole for this and that the solution may go beyond the fandom. And we can certainly do something to get rid of the sick perverts making MLP conventions unsafe for kids

I can at least support the authors intent: That if there's a fandom that should be someplace that female demographics can feel safe. It should be MLP

I just thought of a horrible pun on Princess Mollestia and Tyrant Celestia at the same time.

Princess Malice-tia

…Just a thought.

Edit: Okay, seriously, don't hate me for that topic rewind, I'm still looking for a video of the episode. So the most I can say is what everyone else has said. Such as "Yay, Derpy's back".

Unless you want me to criticize the voice acting of mr muscle head for sounding a little different than his usual "Yeah"s.

@Crimson Locks

Yeah, agreeing with Blue's opening in this, we need Verbs' opinion on this, cus his addition will be massive.

I'll start out with something towards the author. He admitted it himself, that due to being a male whatever he writes will always be read as something with a 'male influence'. Can't disagree with him in some way, but it made the entire introduction feel extremely White Knight-y. It's good he made clear that he's not a brony but just a journalist interested in the fandom. Same for that he says he's aware of his position after that. But overall the introduction is just too long, and it completely pulls us away from the general topic of the essay.

But addressing some of the points in the first chapter the essay:

• Yes, the overal male-focus in the initial articles of the media gave a very dominant idea that the brony fandom is dominated by male members. And the response he claims by bronies is also true, as in the beginning of the fandom (more like the first year altogether), a lot of male bronies looked at female bronies in the same way as "There are no girls on the internet". A lot of members genuinly believed they were a 99% male fandom, if not more, and any female brony introducing herself as a female would be glorified (or shunned).
• 'Pegasister' never had as much support as people thought it had. Brony has always been looked at as a gender-neutral term by both genders alike, as has also been shown by surveys. There are undoubtly male bronies who feel like females must have a seperate term to alienate them in the fandom, but the essay completely ignores their minority.
• Perhaps it's based on the areas you visit, but I never really saw male bronies stating that bronies "must be male" and defending it with misogynist statements. Of course I cannot look at this from a female perspective, so I'm not going to draw a conclusion from personal experience, but I don't think the essay is correct in how it gives the feeling that a majority of bronies follows that thought pattern.

The author is aware of the medium that is the internet. Sexism, misogynism, social awkwardness around the opposite sex and sexually repressed creepiness, they are all but too common on the internet.

Does that mean this issue should be ignored? Of course not, and the author says so as well. The internet contains a lot of issues and all of them are very real, having to accept them exactly because they are common is never the solution. A very recent example being the Molestia shutdown in which a lot of bronies were completely oblivious of some of the issues the blog brought forward for the sake of their own blog-boner. And the fact that they then started sending rape-related hate messages to the blog people believed to be the cause without properly researching this beforehand is only an extension of this issue.

I can't really bring up something against the people drawing porn at what are supposed to be child-friendly conventions. What idiot thought it was a good idea to have clop panels at conventions? Have some sense, of course you're going to attract creeps that way and with that create a bad name for the fandom.

The replies he got on a fake female account he made are… disturbing, to say the least. But let's be clear of a simple thing here, for a straight roleplay you simply need both genders. And any place on the internet will show you that when it comes to anonymous sexual-orientated roleplay (Omegle for example), males are the dominating gender. And with most of them being straight as well, it's no suprise that females are often approached for this. It's still disturbing, but general statistics make it an obvious result, bronies being no exception.

Which brings me to something Blue Screen pointed out as well. The author makes it very clear that there are a lot of issues in the fandom, but he lacks the evidence that the cause is a majority of the male bronies in the fandom or that the brony fandom is exclusive to this problem. I don't like to pull this argument here, but a minority ruining it for the majority is present here, but the author somewhat ignores it. Like many I do not wish to be represented by the people that are causing the issues in the fandom, and would only look at their absence as good riddance.

Overal I do feel though that the author is exploiting the bad sides a bit too much while ignoring the good sides. It makes sense though, as a female with no negative experience in the fandom is of course not going to contact him as she doesn't really have much to share that will benefit his research, same for males who weren't really personal victims of this behavior as much as females. Plus it was the point of the essay to point out the issues in the fandom, not make it a circlejerk about the positive sides. These are issues that boil down to standard mid-teen male behavior on the internet. Does that make it less disturbing? No, but it's not an issue exclusive to bronies, and there are plenty out there who aren't causing it.

An interesting part I found was the female who was constantly "protected" by male members. It shows that even when male bronies are trying to "protect" females from certain parts of the fandom, they are still causing an issue as they completely take away their freedom of choice under the idea that they are superior members. It's not protecting, it's patronising.

I'm also curious by how many females simply identify themselves as males online to avoid being the victim of certain male behavior. I know a lot just keep their gender hidden until necessary to point out, and that once it turns out they're female the replies are somewhat nasty and disturbing, but the ones that decide to identify as males and their experience in the fandom would be an interesting read on this topic.

But the message the essay gives is clear, and that is that issues exist and that we should not ignore them as common as they may be both within the brony fandom and outside that. Ignorance is a big issue, and if bronies wish to improve the image of the fandom, they should guide both themselves and others into more respectable behavior. Perhaps the image of "love and tolerance" was never a real guideline, but a fandom is something all people should feel welcome in, and if people don't then the issue is the fandom itself.

At least we got some cuteness out of it.

@Random and BSoD: I couldn't have said it better myself. The essay definitely feels like it talks as if this only happens within the brony community, but I suppose the point of having the brony community as the main subject was to act as a something to attract a more concentrated audience consisting of the people most likely to do the things mentioned in the essay (14-18 year old males). It would have been nice if the author actually cited where the events mentioned in the article took place, but the most specific he gets is Ponysquare and brony conventions. Then again, I have a feeling the women who gave testimonies didn't often mention where these events occurred. Still, it would've been nice to have a little more focus on the where instead of the what. One interesting note on the pegasister thing: the only times I've been told I should go by pegasister was by people that aren't even a part of the community. There is no doubt that there are some men within this community that want to push the pegasister label because they want to feel like men are the more important ones, but almost every time I've had "pegasister" pushed on me the exchange usually went like this:
Me: I'm a brony
Person outside community (usually male friend): Uuuum, don't they go by pegasister?
Me: Uuuuh, no, brony is considered a more gender neutral term within the community.
And then the subject either stops there or it continues with the person saying it doesn't make sense for the name to be neutral when it has "bro" in it or how there should be names for the different genders. I think I may have actually had a brony tell me I should go by "pegasister" maaaaaybe once before.

Either way, I feel that this was an essay that could apply to just about any fandom (or even the real world) but it happened to focus on bronies, most likely because the brony fandom is where this kind of stuff tends to happen the most. I would be interested to know what Verbose thinks about the essay.

@The article

That was really stupid.

There is so much wrong with this article that I am tempted to write a formal rebuttal combing through every line of it to show just how dishonest and misinformed it is. It manages to hit on some issues which really do exist, to some extent, in the pony fandom, but the way which it goes about it is nothing less than putrid.

I agree with BSoD on most of his points where ground must be given to the author. Yeah, there are a couple issues in the pony fandom, mostly reflecting the depravity of internet culture generally and these shouldn't just be ignored. The main point I want to get at however is that, despite where it blindly stumbles upon truth, that this is a poorly written article and probably with some malicious intent behind it. The author should be criticized for distorting the facts and blatantly contradicting himself in order to weave his narrative that the brony fandom is full of rampant misogynists invading mlp and turning it into their boys only club.

Just take a look at this.

"It is interesting to note that I have seen a pattern emerging of older men within the fandom 'preying' on younger girls."

or how about this

"There have been specific examples of alleged physical rapes within the “Friendship is Magic”
fandom, and while I do not wish to engage with the 'popular' one that I see a lot written about
(conflicting stories make it difficult to discern, as an outsider, what actually happened), there is
clearly a predatory side to this fandom in certain cases that unsettles a lot of people, including
females.

Now thems are some fighting words. The author is saying that the fandom, not on rare occasion but as a fucking trend, has a 'predatory side' You don't say some shit like that without SERIOUS evidence to back it up. Where are the news articles and police reports coming out of the last bronycon describing how some woman cosplaying as Rainbow Dash got gangbanged to death? The author presents none except for this apocryphal bullshit which I become increasingly tempted to believe he distorted as well.

tl;dr

Stats or GTFO

@Fifths: I think you are drawing conclusions from the essay that aren't even there. You say the author had malicious intent and wanted to paint the bronies as monsters, and yet the author clearly states at the end of his paper that he realizes not all people in the community are like this, and it is fairly likely a case of vocal minority. It's very clear to me that this person doesn't want all bronies to burn in hell, but that he wants awareness of the issue. I don't find this article interesting because of statistical truth, or even because it's written all that well, but I find this interesting because it at least attempts to bring to the spotlight a subject that is personally important to me, using the firsthand testimonies of people like me. It's not all that factual or statistical, but that does not mean it is without any merit whatsoever.

On a related note, here's a fun game called "Guess the gender ratio".

Round 1:

What is "A Complete Sausage Fest"?

Oh, I acknowledge that the issue is worth talking about. I just don't think he did a very good job of it. Even with that little caveat at the end, I still think he just plain misrepresented the facts and he should have known better.

100% Men.

Let's just say there are about as many women on this site as there are black people in Frozen

(Note: this is just a joke, I'm not trying to shitstorm)

@Fifths: Fair enough.

4,521,783,356,193,009,753,675:1.

Oh this gem again.. Gender ratio? Hm… euphoric/10

But putting aside the joke there can be actually women… or i should say girls ?

(From two pages ago)
Wow, that's great, thank you!
Magic wand, huh? Don't think I saw that one, I'll look into it when I'm not being pwn'd by exams.
Presumably I merge the layers and magic-wand away the background when I'm done with the eyes?
Not sure what to do about rough eye-edges though, I must admit, though I could sort that out later when I'm initially done with it.

Stunthead (also two pages ago) said:

…Nah, I just wanted an arch nemesis and you’re the only person here I’ve really had a debate with. So… SHUN! SHUN THE ARCH NEMESIS!

Oh right… Should I start saying nasty things about Derpy to fit this role?
Ew, she's all cross-eyed and shit! And she's all goofy and clumsy and stuff, who could want that?! And don't even get me started on… Hold on, there's someone at the door.

OH FU-

(on a serious note though, I think I'll stick with my original opinion of her, I'm sure you won't mind.)

As for current page stuff, I'm not touching the dating site. Though I will say it's probably got more female members than you guys are expecting.
And that apparently the vast majority of people on there were looking for transgender partners…

I know some people are into that, but it seems a bit odd for it to be so absurdly common.

Also, I can totally guess the gender ratio of the show itself though! It's a total taco fest!
Though on a less obvious note, I've seen at least one fan-artist completely invert that, almost fascinating.

Didn't read the sexism essay, don't have time for 27 full pages of that… I'm sure everyone's covered it anyway.

@The demise of Molestia

It has been greatly exaggerated.

Best gamer has returned!

As JJ said on his Mod Blog:

I remember when the first time the other site got deleted, I created this one as a backup. I linked here once before. I know the majority were Gamer Luna fans. Right now there is nothing really on there. The site will mostly be safe-for-work.

If I go through with this, I’ll answer once or twice a week since I’m doing my The Lounge and other comics. The strips really don’t take that much time.

Thank you for your time and support! Stay tuned!

LIFE FEELS GOOD AGAIN!

@Platus
Yay! Some good news! I always enjoy Gamer Luna pics and posts.

@Brony Dating Site… WTF?
You surely must be jesting, does that website actually exist? Wow.

@Derpy
RIP headphone users. Don't say I didn't warn you.

@Brony Dating site

Oh wow, it exists. It actually exists! Ahahahahaah

I may have seen this before but disregarded it as a photoshop. But no, it's totally real. I looked around for any sign of user statistics but I cannot see any. At least not on the surface of it, maybe actual users can view more info.

Okay that's it. I issue a DARE. Somebody has to make an account there. I fucking dare you

Post pics of what you find. I DEMANDS IT. Me? Oh hell no I'm not going in there. I have my own dating site.

Crimson should go. So it would finally have more than one gender in it, hohohohoho!

Man, what have I been doing the last few days?
Lots to catch up on!

@Molestia stuff
Yeah, as was pointed out before, the blog had been shut down twice before and quickly restored so it isn't an issue of the content being exceptionally 'inappropriate.'
The only reason she isn't coming back this time is because JJ was planning to move on anyway and didn't feel like going though the effort.
It was a long-running blog that was plenty of fun, but all good things must eventually end and I'd rather it go out popular than linger on forever (though some may say that had already happened).

<div class=spoiler title="And yet, from the ashes…">

HERE WE GO!
… though she specifically said that she's not taking 'inappropriate questions.'
Adorkable Luna, away!

@Sexism thing
I don't really want to spend the time to read a whole 27 page document, but I do sort of have to agree with Fifths here.
Pointing out that a fandom based largely on the internet dealings of young men has some awkward and creepy members is one thing; that's pretty much guaranteed and while it definitely deserves attention, it's not much outside of the general trend of the internet.
But when you take the extra step of insinuating the actual crimes of rape and predation of children, you had better have more to back it up than 'someone said so.'
Those aren't accusations that should be put out there so lightly, even with the author's later hedging.

Can someone tell me: Did he interview any girls/women who have had nothing but positive experiences?
Or was every story a horror story?
Because, from the other comments, it sounds like the primary issue with this article is one of massive selection bias.
If you write a piece in which you itemize and list out all the negative aspects of something while devoting only a minimal amount of time to saying that these aspects are not typical, you are introducing a pretty significant bias automatically.
It's sort of akin to the news media's growing sensationalism: Ask most people nowadays about the national crime rate and they will likely cite the overwhelming number of stories about rapes, murders, robberies, and assaults circulating in the news everyday to conclude that crime must be on the rise.
In fact, violent crime has been on a pretty steady-to-dramatic decline for the past couple decades and most people are probably safer than they've ever been, yet we still hear about swathes of citizens running out to buy guns to protect themselves from the apparent marauding horde of evil-doers running rampant across the country.
It's easy to write about the problems (and make no mistake, they absolutely should be reported on so that they can be fixed), but if it isn't properly tempered by realism, it's just fear-mongering.
Conventions can be big business and a fantastic place to meet with all kinds of people but if people start going around claiming that they are 'full of perverts' because of the actions of an incredibly tiny minority, they are just hurting all the legitimate con-goers by doing so.

I actually have my own convention story relating to this topic.
At the second EQLA, on the first day, I was making my rounds through the artist room when I happened to see a booth out of the corner of my eye.
It was way in the back corner of the room but it stood out for a couple reasons:
-Next to the expected MLP art were other non-MLP pieces, mostly relating to furries. Very out of place.
-He was apparently selling CDs or DVDs of his portfolio, again largely furry in nature and, as I found out later, at least partially pornographic.
I didn't really go over to check it out, but I heard a couple whispers about 'that guy at the back' offering adult work if you wanted it.
No more than an hour or two later, I was walking down the con's main hallway when I saw the artist from that booth clearly arguing with one of the staff members.
He had been reported and immediately had his vending and admission permissions revoked.
He was led back to clean up his table and was gone for the rest of the weekend.
I'm pretty sure a lot of the other attendees never even knew he was there in the first place.
Now, I could go on about how unseemly this character was and how immensely creeped out I was by his presence, but I would be more than remiss to not mention the quick and professional reaction of the staff to remedy the problem for the couple-thousand other fans all happily going about their day.
The positives far outweighed the negatives and, I think, give a much better view of the fandom's actual position on these issues.

@New Episode
I'm going to quickly sidestep the return of Derpy because there were so many awesome little things in this episode that should not be overshadowed by our grey friend.

Can we talk about this?

FEEDBAGS!
I don't know exactly why, but this shot made me giggle so much.
Something about the reminder that these things are actually horses, combined with the outright casualness of eating while flying, and the reminder of a picture I had seen literally years ago all combined in one moment and I loved it!
Such a silly little moment!

I also liked Bulk in his new role.
As he was, he was a little too like Big Mac with his single word personality (as IDW made humerus note of) so it was cool to see him taken in an interesting direction.
He's not going to be topping a 'favorite character' list any time soon, but he brought his own charm and I'd love to see him come back again.
<div class=spoiler title="Cannot Un-Hear">

I will also second the statement that Spitfire and Fleetfoot were massive asses in this episode and they got off way too easy for the level of betrayal they exhibited.
They even acknowledged RD's time at the academy apparently without taking her message of 'Don't treat your teammates like crap in order to get ahead' to heart in any way.
I like this guy's ending:

There, that feels more appropriate.

By the way, why were the Wonderbolts flying for Cloudsdale anyway?
What the heck is their position in Equestria?
Sometimes they seem to just be a stunt-flying squad, other times they are sent out as if they are Canterlot's air force or something.
Basically, I had always assumed that they were based out of Canterlot, but I guess not?

Oh yeah, and DERPY'S BACK!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Wabbaljack is best pony.

@Article

I'm working now (yes, I'm an American working on MLK Day. The joys of entry level desk work.) But it's something certainly worth looking into.

But only based on what I'm reading so far and my own current stances (as they change over time):

• The brony fandom is probably one of the worst with regards to cultural sensitivity.
  • Web Culture being the birthplace of the brony fandom is the background for this. I doubt that bronies are any worse than other 4chan, Reddit, or Tumblr circles.
• Bronies/people in web culture tend to be awkward, shy, introverted, white guys with bad experiences with most "normal" people. That leads to all sorts of things. Being bitter. Shunning mainstream culture and its ideals (for better and worse). Not understanding other people's points of views that are extremely different (if not directly opposed to) their own. Not being exposed to other people's opinions as most people are.
• Internet anonymity.
  • …Internet anonymity. It makes a lot of things worse (and better too, but for what the essay is hitting on, probably a lot worse.)
• Not enough people like Twilight Sparkle.
  • No, seriously. It would fix a lot of things.

(I'll give a better post later, but I can't even promise it'll be in the next day or so.)

Not enough people like Twilight Sparkle.

No, seriously. It would fix a lot of things.

^ THIS!

Seriously.

Cannot be said enough times.

• Not enough people like Twilight Sparkle.
  • No, seriously. It would fix a lot of things.

That cute little alicorn does need more love.

How much love? Keep giving it, she'll tell you when to stop.

An entire Tumblr devoted to Gamer Luna? Aww, JJ, you magnificent bastard.

I already have no life. I guess I'll sign up for this.

If you want me to search for anything else, just ask.

Can you look at legions or zones? Such as Asia or Australia?

If you want to meet bronies in Antarctica, you can.

I'm very suspicious of these profiles.

So what we can say about the women on Black Brony date is that they have low standards and will basically settle for anyone with a pulse? Hot diggity daffodil sign me up!

Oh hey folks you know what I just realized?

THIS pone is in My Little Pony's version of the Olympics. Just let that sink in for a second.

I'd imagine her to be a pretty good 80's-like empty swimming pool skateboarder like Steve Caballero.

On a related note to the issues in the MLP fandom, I came accross this post on my Tumblr recently. Read the post as you will, feel free to reply and that here, but that post isn't the reason for my post now.

But one little image in that post got my attention:

Read it as you will, but they're disturbing stats with the recent Molestia takedown and the essay on the previous page which also contained sections about people drawing smut at 'child-friendly' conventions.

Moon Moon wrote:

How much love? Keep giving it, she’ll tell you when to stop.

There is no way that sentence can be read wrong in any way possible……..

After reading that post, I'm honestly sick and tired of
a) people acting like the reputation of a fandom actually matters
b) people telling other people what to do with their porn (keeping it out of "all ages" places is a no brainer but otherwise gtfo)
c) acting like the behavior of bronies actually affects little girls' enjoyment of the show (I'll give you a hint: it doesn't)
d) thinking the internet should be made a safe place for children to browse unsupervised. I know that MLP porn tends to get through safe searches and that's pretty bad, but don't expect us to babysit your kids, guys.

I know I may sound like a complete hypocrite after posting that essay that also talked about MLP porn, but at least that essay was talking about the issue of people being terrible people, not something so trivial as whether or not a little girl can surf the internet without supervision, which they shouldn't be fucking doing anyway. I'm also pretty disgusted that this poster demand bronies purge any members that fit their definition of "misogynist pig" as if this were a witch hunt and we had any control over who was a part of this incredibly large fandom. Yeah, we get it, the Homestuck fandom is so much better and safer and whatever than the brony fandom. Ugh. I need to step away from the internet for a while.

Disturbed B said:

I already have no life. I guess I’ll sign up for this.

If you want me to search for anything else, just ask.

Cool, now when you get killed by a creep, and there's a Dateline special about it (Love and Tolerance: The Story of One Fan's Tragic Mistake), they can say "He was egged on by an internet forum." and then flash up pics of the thread. We'll become famous.

@RandomMan
>there's porn of fictional characters
>people fap to them

In other news, scientists announced today that the Earth is indeed round.

I'll never understand the "horror" over it. Yes, people masturbate to ponies, just as they masturbate to Ash Ketchum having sex with Misty/May/Dawn/Iris/whatever-the-hell-the-name-of-the-new-one-is. Who are almost always still 12 in the pictures/fanfics.

The argument that the children will find it is almost always bullshit. Even with safesearch disabled, searching "Twilight Sparkle" only yields but a few suggestive pics in the first 50 pics. With it enabled, the only thing I saw was inflation, and that can just be written off by the kid as "silly ponies doing silly things." Since I doubt children are going to type in "Twilight Sparkle r34" or "Twilight Sparkle vagina," it's a non-issue. Supervise your children. But that's too hard in today's society. Parental responsibility, what a silly concept.

…also contained sections about people drawing smut at ‘child-friendly’ conventions.

Because as we all know, when a ten year old girl walks up to an artist asking for a picture of Twilight, he's going to draw a picture of her fucking Big Mac. From the information I have, any smut that is passed out at these things is black market-tier. Under the table, outside in the parking structure kind of things. Even if it does happen in the convention itself, I doubt any children are going to see it.

Anyone else feel like killing themselves? I kind of feel like killing myself. I want to kill myself because priests molest children, police terrorize their people, the cute, innocent pony show has become this hotbed of pornography and controversy, and one day the sun will explode and it will all have been for nothing.

Why am I even here? This is fucking stupid.

Because life is short, and you are bored.

@Disturbed B

Okay, you are now officially our investigator on the field. Message some of those "women" and see what they do. I'll be surprised if any reply at all, to be frank. Most of those were probably make for shits and giggles by other bored people.

@That homestuck/MLP porn comparison

Ugh, grimdarkthroes is much too defensive to the point where he completely exaggerates. He forgets that Molestia was satire. You cannot just find MLP porn with any search. Deviantart only shows pony porn if you look for it. We're known for non-con? Really? R34.Paheals statistics only show that Bronies have a more active porn community compared to the others which is a given because it's a more active community overall rather than evidence that it's a fandom majority. It also proves that the ponies are statistically more appealing than Homestuck kids. Maybe that's because they are more popular characters…and not kids. Little kids looking for pictures of rainbow dash wont be searching on R34.Paheal. We didn't ask the show to cater to us and if they do, that was the shows decision. Who's attacking little girls?

To be fair to him, some of his 'how-to-fix' idea's aren't really bad idea's. It certainly wouldn't hurt to moderate the clop more. And we probably should be doing something to make sure that the target demographic aren't affected. Maybe then we wouldn't be having so much drama. I'm doing my part by not wanting to be anywhere near those ankle biters

…but…guys in all honestly…I'm not really interested in having to debate points here or defend this or deny that because, seriously… if people have been going around trying to say "but…but…. dem homestucks " as some sort of lame excuse for their own sexual deviancy then grimdarkthroes' retort is simply those people getting what they deserve.

As a Homestuck myself, I can see why grimdarkthroes would be pissed off about that. He should be.

Bottom line: There's no need for fandoms to go around pointing fingers at each other in light of these events.

Whatever creepy sexual deviancy that the other fandoms get up to is their business. When people start calling you out on your rape jokes, you need to look at yourself. Not turn to all the pokephiles and yiffers and say "They were doing it too!". With this fandoms size and sphere of influence, also comes a degree of responsibility.

@Fifths

You look like you need a hug. .

You got the point mate.

i find that a bit…fishy.

many might disagree with me,but isn't that statistic a bit on the troll side?

i mean,with certain tools you can easily "trick" these kind of statistics,right?