Jump to content

I am EXTREMELY Angry...


Thoth

Recommended Posts

Well, I'm certainly in a huff.

To explain:

Recently, my Dad and stepmom contacted my mom, apparently "concerned" about me being a Brony and being involved with something relating to pedophilia... :-|

Now, how this began is quite odd. Apparently, they reached someone related to them who was friends with me on Facebook, who knew of me being a Brony. Not only that, but they believe that the fandom is completely compromised of older fans, 20-50 year olds. Not only this, but they believe that the fandom is related to pedophilia and think that 15-year olds like me should NOT be a part of the Brony fandom...

Not only this, but apparently this'll influence the decision of whether or not I can go to Bronycon with my friend or not...

...what they seem to think is that it's connected to pedophiles, and that it's "unsafe" in some way. According to what I'm being told, I only have until tomorrow before they come over to..."discuss" this and likely try to keep me from ever being a part of this fandom again... :sniff:

I showed my mom Equestria Daily, FiMFiction and explained EVERY SINGLE POSITIVE POINT, along with the acknowledgment of the bad side. She's at least understanding...but how I'm going to convince them, I don't know.

I need some serious help, guys....HELP ME STAY APART OF THIS FANDOM...I mean, I need the POSITIVES of the fandom. The art, the literature, the way the community helps charities! I know this fandom is good, and only good. If I can't show them that, I need you guys to help me show them that!

...I plan to show them this thread if I get enough support....I just don't know how to react....

...I could be just two days from exiting this fandom forever...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are definitely a bunch of brony charity projects that you could show them in order to show that bronies are good natured people for the most part, like Bronies For Good being an example (linky-> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bronies-For-Good/184942304898546 ) and you could also show them the awesome array of brony musicians if you wanted. Honestly, you should tell them about all of the awesome people who are involved, especially the staff of the show itself and how positively they've reacted to bronies. Lauren Faust is one cool chick after all, and everyone else on the show is also really great! You could probably find interviews with her that show exactly why she created the show and her reactions to bronies. As a last resort you could insist that they watch a few episodes to convince them, but only if they were willing after seeing all of this other awesome stuff.

I can't think of anything other than showing them all of the positive stuff and explaining it. Hope that everything works out great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

man that really sucks soo darn much if i were just show em all the positive sides of the fandom, like the drawfreinds on equestria daily and the music and animations videos that all the fans have created on youtube, and show em also how much the community as a whole cares for one another and the amount of art and fantastic stuff that we can all produce.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Family of Thoth,

We live in an increasingly complex culture influenced by a great number of things -- many of them good, many of them bad. I suppose I could tell you that My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all of its fans and community have nothing to do with the sexual deviancy you might have picked up from media sources. However, since I don't have much credibility relaying this to you over the internet, I urge you to take a good look at the positives that make this cartoon -- and by extension -- community, wonderful. Sit down and watch a few episodes with your son; you'll see it is a show that encourages love, tolerance, friendship, and demonstrates important lessons that apply to everyone -- kids and adults alike.

There's nothing sexually deviant about My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and it certainly has nothing to do with pedophilia. This forum itself is heavily protected and moderated by a dedicated staff, round the clock, to ensure the content posted and discussed here carries a strict, all-ages rating. We have many members here younger than 15, and we encourage them to share their love of the cartoon with the older fans in a positive environment free from anything that might be deemed inappropriate by their families.

I think it's wonderful you're taking an active role in protecting your teenager, but I urge you to take a closer look at why this cartoon series is getting so much attention from so many older fans, and maybe you will begin to understand the premise and culture that it is built around has nothing to do with the sex or deviancy you may be hearing from the media. Thanks a bunch for reading this!

~ Rosie

  • Like 13
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rosie i couldnt have worded that any better myself, you really hit the nail on that one.

But yes what rosie says in the post above is well and truley what we all strive for here, love tolerance and the greatness that the community comes with, i really hope that you will be able to sit down and talk about it all out civil along with you son the family of Thoth.

Im still rather new to this and its the greatest most loveable fandom that i have come across yet, everyone just gets along with everyone else.. we can realy all connect with one another buy sharing things, issues and questions that we may have revolving around My little Pony Friendship is magic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bronies are of all ages and interests. I'm a teenage girl, and a musician. My brothers are bronies, too. One is 21, and he's a personal trainer. One is twelve, and he loves legoes and computer games! Truly, it is just a cultural movement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Thoth's parents. I think its great you take such an active role in your child's life I really do. That being said and assuming thoth has already explained to you the basic reasons this show is watchable, I would like to say that I understand your suspicions. I wasnt always a brony and when I was on the outside looking in I though there mus be some alterior motive behind these people who claimed to like this my little pony nonsense. I thought to myself "There's no way they watch that for the show itself, I bet they just say they like it to mess with people". (please bear with me I promise there is a point to all this)

Not long after discovering this fandom my best friend, a 16 year old male, revealed to me that he was a brony. I was still incredibly skeptical. I thought he was messing with me at first, I literally laughed in his face until I saw the look of disappointment and insecurity he had on. He and I had always been honest with each other and I could see he wasnt joking. He told me about how the show was funny and entertaining if you could see past the pony exterior, how the characters were engaging and deeper than those of your average cartoon. After that I said "Hey you do what you want one your own free time I still think its weird."

It wasnt until about a month later and a very boring late night that I gave in to his occasional egging to just try the show. It was funny really because I had been avoiding it as though watching it would change me into some girly-man. I watched the first few episodes, actually entertained, but wondering why the hay am I watching this? I was sorely confused with my own interests. How could I ever like this show its for little girls right? This went on for a while, I would jokingly tell my friend I hated him for getting me into it. However, For about three months I told no one else about it, afraid of being looked at like some kind of freak just as I had passed judgement before. I would wait until 1 AM to watch the show out of fear of being ridiculed by my own family.

After those three months I slowly began to accept what I had become. Truth be told it hadnt changed me at all like I thought. If anything, I had changed for he better. I cursed less, I made an effort to be as nice to people as I could, I tried my best to stand by the same morals taught in the show. I became proud of what I am now and realized that if I like this show that no one had the right to judge me, especially if I had become a better person for it.

That is how I became an 18 year old brony. Not because I am a sexual deviant, not because I was roped into it by some older man on the internet trying to ensnare me in a pedophilia scandal, not because I am emotionally stunted, but because I enjoy the show. Ask the millions of other bronies and you will hear countless other stories like mine. I encourage you to look at the forum where there is a conversation about this.

I hope this helps paint you a more accurate picture of our growing community and what we stand for.

-Crescent Blaze

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is worth mentioning that we live in a culture dominated by media. A media that is conveying an ever increasing message of negativity and cruelty. Compare the number of shows about violent, destructive themes. Law and Order: SVU (and all of the L&O shows), Dexter (serial killer...), the CSI franchise, all of the supposed "reality" TV that chases sensationalistic destructive behavior. All of this is apparently fine by most people's standards. But not everyone enjoys this constant bombardment of negativity and finds solace is the cheerful, brightly colored, clever stories that My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has to offer.

I am married with 12 year old twin sons. We watch the show together or separately and talk about the funny things that happen. As hard as it is for someone my age to connect with our kids, this show helps us do that, and gives us common ground.

One other point is the fact that this is just the latest media-hyped scare fest. At one time it was back-masking in records.

In the 80's Dungeons & Dragons was connected to devil worship. Now people know it leads to Cheet-Os and Mt. Dew, not ritual sacrifice.

In the 90's Pokemon was linked to Satanism, promoting psycic beliefs and witchcraft.

Then it was Harry Potter promoting witchcraft and the occult.

Now we are here and MLP:FiM is a pop-culture event and it has its own media terror to go with it as well.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I believe is convincing them most is that they've layed eyes on the BAD side of the fandom...by that, I mean the very 'suggestive' images that have been made by artists.

I've told my Mom that I don't DENY the existence of a mature side of the fandom. However, I've assured that it is NOT a majority representation, even LESS than a minor representation.

My Dad and Step-Mom seem fixated more on that particular fact, and I don't blame them. It's glaring. However, you CANNOT let a small piece of art symbolize an entire fandom...that's my belief at least.

Keep it coming. They're coming tomorrow, so that kind of makes this thread my last line of defense...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Thoth's parents,

I, being probably of the same age group as you and while not a parent myself, have several children, teenagers and young adults in my life that I do love and want to protect from the evils of the world. I emphatically understand that you are concerned about your son being on the internet and potentially speaking to adults who might have ulterior motives. There are dangers in the world that you can't predict, so you don't want to take chances that your kid could get hurt.

You also have to keep in mind that almost every kid, when they are 15-ish, does something their parents don't 100% agree with. It's just a part of growing up. You are extraordinarily fortunate that your son has chosen to just hang out with a bunch of like-minded nerds and talk about a pretty remarkable, but understandably silly at first glance, cartoon, instead of the myriad of other things folks in his peer group are experimenting with. Sure it's about magical pastel horses, but it imparts deep truths, and validates and reinforces the moral that it's OK to be who you are. Plus it's clever and funny as all get-out. This last part, in the broadest sense, why most of the adults in this fandom are here.

Why, specifically, does a 33 year-old married woman with a full-time job and no criminal record enjoy cartoon ponies? Because I am starting a small boutique press for children which includes toy design, so I often have to watch/read/play things to understand how other people are marketing towards my target audience, and most of the time they are pretty brutally insulting towards children's intelligence. This doesn't, and that's why it's caught on so well with all sorts of demographics...parents who are watching it with their children, college kids (and let's face if, you may try to deny it, but you totally watched more ridiculous things between classes in College. We all did. Passions, anyone?), Teenagers who may be going through a rough time of being teenagers, kids who are "too old for cartoons", kids who are too young to understand the plots, old folks who just need a little joy in their lives. Couple that with a deep and longstanding nostalgia for the original toy characters, and the fact that the show is what I would have hoped someone would have written when I was 8 instead of the the schlock I got (which is specifically WHY I want to create things for children), and there you have it. Nothing weird, creepy, evil or sinister. Given that, wouldn't it be weirder if I WASN'T a fan of the show? But beyond watching, being involved in a likable fandom like this that DOES include rational adults and not just what amounts to a test group is a great way to brush up on your own techniques and to get good critique without having the pressure of utilizing your own original creations.

Your son wants to be a writer. He's obviously drawn to gentle fantasy that reinforces that love and friendship are powerful forces. Great things can come of that, especially if he gets to network with people at that young age who can steer him at least away from the same silly and hubristic mistakes they made in trying to do that for a living, and most of the adults in this fandom has pursued a creative career in one manner or another.

Keep in mind that adults make children's programming, award-winning books, games, pretty much everything you have purchased for your son until this point in his life. And it's adults who retain a childlike zeal who make the best of all of these items. And most of those people who do go on to make amazing children's programming have to remain active fans of aspects of their genre throughout their lives. They start out as teens talking to adults who are involved in their field who can point out any misconceptions. People who can point out the realistic ceilings to entry in any field. Heck, he even might network with someone who has seen his writing and writes a letter of recommendation to a college or university he wants to attend. That is the kind of fandom he's involved in, particularly on this board which is very strictly all-ages and most of us take a very dim view on the corruption of innocence. Sure there are a few jerks out there who like to make gross porn versions of things that the rest of us love, but that has happened before you were born, and will just keep happening after your son is a great-grandfather. In fact, most of the time these days it's done just to get under the skin of people who dislike that kind of thing.

He's fortunate that he has a built-in online support system for what he's interested in, but one that is positive and accepting yet not afraid to give realistic, intelligent and constructive criticism to his fan-works(which just improves his non-fan works) just because he's 15? That's kind of a big deal. I wish I'd had that at his age.

-Ms. Scotchie.

The sarcastic "you are overreacting in a way that makes me glad that we are not in the same social circle because I would be rolling my eyes at you" response.

Dear Thoth's parents,

Presumably you have raised your child properly so that he understands that is someone messages him with a comment that is off-color and implies a request for illegal sexual activity, to just block the person. He's a little old at this point to not understand that, and the fact of the matter is that just because it's out of his target demographic does not make it more susceptible to attracting creepy people.

Show me something you like, or you feel is age, gender or whathaveyou-appropriate for your son, and I will show you at least 2 fetish communities revolving around it that involve pedophiles that can be found with just a quick Google search.

-Scotchie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I watched the first two episodes to see what all the buzz was about. The friendship, love and forgiveness shown in those two episodes made me cry. On this particular website, I have had numerous conversations regarding these themes as more episode supporting them have been released. When I have said insensitive or offensive things in haste, I have been gently and lovingly rebuked. This site has been a creative outlet, and an uplifting experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, I know everyone here is talking about mostly the show and how it shows love and kindness, and I'm fairly certain the point has gotten across. But I just want to say that if it weren't for the brony community, I would be the sad lonely kid who rarely talks at school, and at home all he does is sit there and stare at his sad, sad old facebook page (seriously I used to have a depressing life.) But now that I'm a brony I have opened up socially and now I have a nice circle if friends, all of them are fantastic friends, actually pretty incredible friends. Also I never did anything, ever. And the brony community has inspired me to do things, now I compose music, and write stories, my GPA has improved by a whole 3.0. You may think the brony community is sick, but it has not only changed my life, but many, many others. And everyone would agree.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All very nice comments here =3

I'd say just print out this thread and read it off to them, saying that all these different people are genuinly good people who just like a show. of course, there ARE some questionable fans who make questionable material, but that's just how society is in itself... Society isn't perfect, and therefor nothing that is created by society can be perfect either. even though the show has started of movement of loving and tolerating people around you, there will always be those shady characters that will get a lot of attention from those outside of that society...

But as a whole, the brony community is made up of good people who want nothing more than to make others happy, and at the same time enjoy a show that makes them happy.

I would also suggest you get them to watch this video. It's showing how a couple of people became bronies. i want you to pay close attention to the one at 1:30, he got fired from his job and fell into a downward spiral of depression... but his friends showed him this TV show and it made him smile, it got him happy and it raised his spirits. I feel the entire video should at least help clear things up. although Rosey's post is also a great contribution =3

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have a thread on this forum that tries to count every user's age and gender. It's a bit old, and males from their twenties to their fifties do make the biggest part of it (although there are much more young adults than older adults), but it does show that there's a lot of teenager bronies here. I don't know if this will help but here it is.

http://www.canterlot...re-or-stallion/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everyone...thank you so much for the support you're giving me. It means so much to receive support from this great fandom. I'm hoping that this thread proves how caring, how great, and how truly incredible and good this fandom is to my parents.

Feel free to continue posting support here.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Thoth's parents,

Hello, I am an Eagle Scout who enjoys My Little Pony and I can see why you would be concerned about your son's involvement in the Brony community. As there are two sides to every coin, there will always be two sides to every fandom. If you understand this concept and that this site is a prime example of the positive side of the coin, you will probably see the light and allow your son to associate with us.

Sincerely,

SilverSwirl- Eagle Scout

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, Equestria Daily just popped out a massive research result on bronies.

http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/05/know-your-meme-survey-results.html#more

It have some interesting infos in it, notable that bronies are massively 16-20 years old males, not interested in sexualising ponies, not linked to the furry fandom, and not really interested in pony-related pornographic content (the "rule 34" pie chart*). Basically, we're all internet kids. There's a lot of other interesting information (regarding religion, race, and other stuff) in it, I just listed what concerned your parents most, in case nobody's interested in reading a 33 pages survey. (There's a lot of useless information for people who aren't bronies too, such as "who's your favorite pony ?")

Apparently the survey have been done by a social studies student and another internet user, and they list a bunch of research works in their reference page at the end.

In the end it's only another document on the internet. But I hope it will help you show who the bronies really are, and that it will help you dispel some of the misconceptions carried by the media as well.

*Rule 34 is internet slang, or an euphemism, I don't really know what word really applies here. It means that whatever you can think of, you will find pornography of it on the internet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not long after I first got into the fandom, I witnessed a group of Bronies work together to prevent another from committing suicide. Here are the threads if you want to read into that:

http://www.friendshipismagic.org/forum/f10/ill-gone-while-4187/

http://www.friendshipismagic.org/forum/f10/dddrgn-safe-4305/

Not only did a considerable number of the forum try to support this one member through his hardship, a few of them even went out of their way to trace him and go after him to stop him in the act and save him.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello, parents of some stranger from the Internet!

I'm a full-time college student who gets good grades. I don't drink or do drugs. I appreciate theater and the arts. I teach Karate part-time. I actually teach many children, and to be honest, I'm kind of hurt that you believe that, just because I'm a brony, I'm more likely to be a pedophile. I understand that a bad first impression is difficult to change, but please hear us out.

I've never met this Thoth fellow, but I'd like to stand by him. We share more than a common interest in a TV show; My Little Pony stands for sincerity and friendship, honesty and compassion. As older men/males, we've spent plenty of time on the Internet. We've had a glut of irony, trolls, and biting sarcasm, and we're ready for something real. We honestly love the show and the community that has formed around it.

I also have a single mother (I assumed, since no stepfather was mentioned. My apologies if I was mistaken), a father, and a stepmother. They still don't entirely believe that I really enjoy this show. I've been asked several times, both subtly and explicitly, if we were watching the show on drugs, or if there was some other ulterior motive. I've told them the same honest truth as I mentioned above, and while they still don't understand my affection for this show, they accept it and me. I'm very thankful for that, and for the good relationship we all maintain.

I know that you must be afraid for Thoth. You have legitimate reasons to be concerned; I have no doubt that you've seen horrible things. It is the Internet, after all. But look here! His plea for help has been answered by so many helpful bronies. I've never seen a more supportive group of people anywhere. Yes, there's that 1% of us who are reprehensible, just like in the rest of the population. But please believe me: you couldn't hope for a more positive, uplifting group of people for your son to associate with.

Thank you for reading.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I want to do this as a letter, but I feel awkward doing so. So I'll just pretend its a letter without making it into one. (Warning: this will get personal. Also, I briefly discuss Catholicism, so apologies if I offend anyone in advance, but I didn't do it in a negative way, I promise!)

I'll start off with who I am outside of this community. I'm an adult in my mid-20s on the verge of graduation from college with a B.S. in Molecular Biology with a 3.2 GPA. My long term goals are to go into the Biotech field and do cancer research in the hopes of finding a cure or more effective treatment that doesn't involve the nondiscriminatory destruction of cells. I have since added the aspiration of finding a cure for HIV/AIDs. This is less for myself and more for my dear late friend who recently passed who was following the same path as myself (not of AIDs, but that was HER goal, and I feel obligated as someone who was following the same path and discussed it regularly with her to pick up where she left off). I'll come back to that when I'm talking about the show and how it has impacted me. I'm also a martial artist. I taught martial arts to people of all ages for 7 years before leaving my school to pursue my academic goals. Before I left, I had achieved a 2nd degree black belt, with the proficiency of a 3rd degree (but lacked the money to pay for the registration), and was given reign over my own school location under my master and ran the school for 2.5 years completely autonomously. I taught people ranging from the ages of 3 all the way through the age of 50. I'm a general fan of music and well produced media. I like anything that can captivate me, and as someone who grew up in the 90s, I developed a very strong appreciation for animation of all kinds. My musical tastes have been shaped by musical theory classes which I took while learning guitar at a college summer camp at the age of 7. I later became a percussionist who went on to perform in honor bands. Basically, I always give my all no matter what I do, striving to become the best as I can be no matter what.

Now, I can't say that I have become a different person since I found MLP:FiM, but it has reminded me the importance of friendship and the power it has and the connections it creates. Now I mentioned that FiM actually did influence me to take on my late friend's hopes and dreams. I was close to them while together in college dorming, but after transferring schools, I rarely saw her for 2 years. I reconnected with her after about 6 months ago and rekindled our lost friendship and found more in common with each other than ever before.And FiM made me realize that it was unacceptable that we hadn't seen each other for 2 years, and she unfortunately passed 2 weeks before I was supposed to meet up with her. We had planned to see each other over Spring Break. An unfortunate tragedy prevented me from seeing a friend whom I actually grew closer to after not seeing her for 2 years. However, FiM made me realize that it isn't over. Her hopes and dreams were as much a part of her as her personality and physical being. I'll never be able to see her again, but I can carry out her hopes and dreams, and dedicate any research I do in that field to her. I can complete her work and her dreams and she can live on as an inspiration to me and others. And that is the message of FiM. Friendship Is Magic.

The show's title sums it up better than I could ever do in three simple words than I can ever do here in an essay. This community is about friendship, love, kindness and compassion. Things that this world has forgotten about it seems. It brings values that are meaningful for all ages and for all genders. We are lucky to have a show with such blatant sincerity and a community who follows that sincerity with such vigor and good intentions. The community has been around for a bit more than a year and already raised thousands of dollars for various causes, whether it was due to Bronies for Good charity, or Tara Strong's charity auctions, this community gives forward relentlessly. I'd estimate, only from what I have seen, that the brony community (which at the present time is still in its infancy) has donated in excess of $30,000 for noble causes. Whether it is for a medical clinic in Uganda, or for a little girl with cancer (among others, but those are the two off the top of my head), the brony community is ready to give selflessly. And that is probably the best representation of our community. We come in all shapes, sized, colors and creeds. And yes, like any growing community, with good, there is some bad. However, I've looked, and there is far more good than bad. And pedophilia? Haven't even seen a whisper of such things in this community. I've only seen a community with a heart of gold, with some confused people. But hey, no community is perfect, right? I hate to bring in religion, but can you say that every Catholic is a pedophile because a few priests thought it OK to have sex with little boys? Is that fair? I'd assume you would think not, and it is the same for our community. And we haven't had anything even remotely resembling that to give the impression that this community has any pedophilia tendencies. Furry tendencies I'll grant you, but not pedophilia. The assumption is based upon the fact that this was a franchise for little girls, but that is a false assumption. People need to look past that and see the contents of the show and the community. Or have I missed something and "Don't judge a book by its cover" become an obsolete concept?

I hope you enjoyed my rambling and hope anyone who reads it finds it enlightening.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...