Question For The Pony Fans Out There: Why So Epic?

[RJ 17]

Good evening my fellow Escapists, this is a question for all the pony fans out there. I'm not here to question why you like it, not here to poke fun at the...ahem...more embarrassing side of the fandom...you know the ones I'm talking about.

But rather, I'm here to talk about the fan fiction that has come forth from the fanbase. At it's core, it's a sweet little show about cute ponies learning life lessons about happiness, friendship, and overcoming adversity and your own character flaws. Again, I'm not asking why so many people who would be outside the target audience for such a show seem absolutely infatuated with it. But, well, how do we go from the above description to getting fan-made videos such as this:

Spoiler: Cowboy Bebop reference, anyone?

Or fan-made trailers for the upcoming 4th season such as this:

Spoiler: What, did DC Comics take over?

I mean good lord, the fans have taken a cute little show and turned it into Lord of the Rings meets Game of Thrones meets Day After Tomorrow meets frickin' Apocalypse Now.

I like the show a lot and I'm eagerly looking forward to the upcoming season...but I just have to wonder what it is about the show that makes so many fans want to turn it into some kind of grand epic. Is it purely the fact that so many guys have latched onto the show? Is it just in male nature to take things we like and want to make them far grander than what they actually are? Sure, there's some action in some of the episodes, but the majority are just disconnected, one-off episodes with a specific focus/moral. Why is it so much of the fanbase wants to, as with the example in the first video, turn it into an action-anime like Cowboy Bebop?

Or am I wrong all together? Is this actually a lot less common than youtube and written fan-fics would have one believe? It certainly seems very prevalent to me.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I don't watch the show, I don't particularly like what I've seen of it.

However, this?


Is the best fucking thing ever.

 

[RJ 17]

I don't watch the show, I don't particularly like what I've seen of it.

However, this?



Is the best fucking thing ever.

A friend of mine linked me to that video literally 10 minutes ago. That's what gave me the idea to create this thread.

I am surprised that you don't like the show though, Daystar. After all, the fanbase has created countless works of fantastic art...such as this:

Spoiler: Mod edit: Please add spoilers for large images!

:3

 

[Little Woodsman]

I think that a big factor in what you are seeing is that the world of FiM is so well suited for epic stories/creations that it simply inspires fans to make epic works set in it. I mean if I'm going to write a story about a conflict that shakes the world to it's very core I'm more likely to set it in a world ruled by magical beings who govern the very night and day, where there are mystical creatures of all descriptions and a world-shattering menace was kept in the castle gardens than y'know, Pittsburgh.
Hmmmm....you know I've never thought of it until now (and that's kind of odd considering my name...) but I wonder if the "little" in this iteration of My Little Pony is a reference to the primary cast being the sorts of ponies who wouldn't be known of or noticed by anypony not in the small community they come from, essentially "little people".
Darn it RJ17! You've made me think! Do you know how dangerous that is?

 

[Heronblade]

If that is whats running through the fan's heads while they watch the show, it certainly clears up a few mysteries.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

I like the show a lot and I'm eagerly looking forward to the upcoming season...but I just have to wonder what it is about the show that makes so many fans want to turn it into some kind of grand epic. Is it purely the fact that so many guys have latched onto the show? Is it just in male nature to take things we like and want to make them far grander than what they actually are? Sure, there's some action in some of the episodes, but the majority are just disconnected, one-off episodes with a specific focus/moral. Why is it so much of the fanbase wants to, as with the example in the first video, turn it into an action-anime like Cowboy Bebop?

Personally, I think it's because we're never going to get it from the show itself. That's not to say we don't get some cool things pulled straight from the cartoon, but I just think it's easier to do it ourselves rather than wait for the show to put something out. Not to mention that while the show has one, we don't have an age rating or other forms of restrictions (yes, they did throw a C&D at Fighting is Magic but other than that, they're pretty lenient), so, in a sense, we can do a lot more with it than the actual production crew gets to.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Because it's fun to watch Twilight Sparkle deliver lines in the raspy voice of Al Pacino?
Since I haven't met my ego stroking quota for the day, I made that back at the height of the Pony craze.

Though I've since lost interest in the show, I can tell you that my mindset for wanting to put the show into more epic context was something close to this. I really liked the world it was all set in, as someone mentioned before it's a very D&D esque fantasy world and in the very beginning there were plenty of bits of information left unfilled. I think I would say that's probably what caused me to lose interest, the filling in of information that was more fun left unfilled.

I dabbled a bit in a forum RP and fan-fiction and the thing that drove both of those was the want to inject some adventure into the show's world; even if it was non-canon fan wank. I had rather grand plans at one point for a crossover fic with Kingdom Hearts[footnote]Mostly because there already was one at the time and I felt it was complete crap.[/footnote]. I got bogged down in plot though, and trying to integrating elements of the KH universe in a non-retarded way; I never finished the first chapter. Essentially I wanted to watch Equestria burn under an invasion of heartless, write some clever boss fights for the main characters that played on implied insecurities, and have a blast orchestrating the whole thing via Maleficent.

Even the RP I participated in, which being my first RP I was not nearly prepared for the nightmarish cluster fuck it turned into, I first joined on the premise that it was going to be an adventure of sorts. When it became clear that wasn't going to happen[footnote]And that I was likely the only player not in it to act out tumultuous soap opera romances.[/footnote] I ended up kind of on my own setting up a solo adventure that wouldn't be out of place in a D&D campaign.[footnote]Again, everyone seemed rather content to act out their soap opera, so by that point I was pretty sure nobody was even reading my posts.[/footnote]

I honestly could probably go on for hours about why the world captured my imagination so fiercely, but I think I can boil it down to this. (I feel I've started to ramble without direction) By the end of the first season (which I think I started watching around the middle) I had a rough blueprint of a world with infinite possibilities. Seeing what had been set in front of me I wanted to try and explore it within what seemed to be the rules it set forth. It was a very sweet and innocent world, but I'd been shown just enough of its darker side to know that there was grand adventure to be had for anyone willing to fill in the blanks themselves.

Then things started to happen to the community and the show by the time season 3 rolled around. When season 3 came to its conclusion I had to take a page from the book of Captain Jack Sparrow and say, "I wash my hands of this weirdness."

 

[Ldude893]

Then things started to happen to the community and the show by the time season 3 rolled around.

Until the day that the show itself concludes, I'll always remember the last months of Season 3 as the darkest months that bronydom has ever faced. Those months saw the C&D shutdowns of multiple popular fan made projects like Fighting is Magic, alicorn Twilight, the announcement of Equestria Girls, the 'failure' of the Bronycon Documentary and the resulting distancing of John De Lancie from the fandom, among other things.

Fortunately, things cooled over during the break between Seasons 3 and 4. Equestria Girls turned out to be harmless at best, and there's already optimism for the next season. I saw the whole thing as a demonstration on how despite everything bronies supposedly represent, they're still prone to disharmony and sh#tstorms. Chaos happens, but it ends sooner or later.

OT: Aside from the points listed already, I do like to point out how unlike many shows, it's easier (though not without effort) to replicate the style of animation used for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Aside from the simple character designs, all of the animation could be done on Adobe Flash, so it's possible to have fanmade content that's almost identical to the show itself. Case in point:
<youtube=sDdL4z5qfr4>
<youtube=pAQRUUhgIfA>
<youtube=Sob1t-iUCmE>

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I have NO idea, but it's probably why I have a hard time stomaching the whole thing. People are so fucking enthusiastic about it like it's the best thing ever, and when they explain it they might as well be explaining every other TV show I watched as a kid.

 

[Worgen]

I don't watch the show, I don't particularly like what I've seen of it.

However, this?


Is the best fucking thing ever.

They just came out with a new version of that one also.

And have some more epic.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Then things started to happen to the community and the show by the time season 3 rolled around.

Until the day that the show itself concludes, I'll always remember the last months of Season 3 as the darkest months that bronydom has ever faced. Those months saw the C&D shutdowns of multiple popular fan made projects like Fighting is Magic, alicorn Twilight, the announcement of Equestria Girls, the 'failure' of the Bronycon Documentary and the resulting distancing of John De Lancie from the fandom, among other things.

Fortunately, things cooled over during the break between Seasons 3 and 4. Equestria Girls turned out to be harmless at best, and there's already optimism for the next season. I saw the whole thing as a demonstration on how despite everything bronies supposedly represent, they're still prone to disharmony and sh#tstorms. Chaos happens, but it ends sooner or later.

Oh I'd distanced myself from the fandom long before season 3 started and that other stuff went down. The furries took over (something for which I will forever blame Sethisto for) and things got a bit too creepy for me to justify staying around. It all just became very hostile to anyone with a opinion that went against the grain. When I popped in briefly at the end of season 3 to see how others took the ending I could see that in the time I'd avoided it, it had become one giant circle jerk of "Love the show unconditionally or GTFO." Where at the beginning there was a nice pallet of fans that ran the spectrum, it would seem what was left was the extremists who ran off anyone more moderate.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

The reason of MLP's popularity with mature adults/teenagers escapes me. Completely. It's a show about anthro girl ponies. What's so ******* awesome about that? Someone please tell me before my brain goes into overload trying to figure it out.

This is weird too because I can usually tell you why something is popular. Not this though.

My personal theory is that MLP's "popularity" arose from 4chan as a massive attempt to troll people. And the people, being very random, decided it was cool instead.

 

[Ldude893]

It's a show about anthro girl ponies.

Just to clear up terminology:

My personal theory is that MLP's "popularity" arose from 4chan as a massive attempt to troll people. And the people, being very random, decided it was cool instead.

I'm guessing you went to google up bronydom before coming back to edit your post?

Anyways, you're partially right. The whole brony movement spawned after a certain online article bashed the new My Little Pony cartoon as a symbol for the 'end of the creator driven era' in animation. Some 4channers took curiousity to this, and went to watch the show themselves. If there was an attempt to troll people by actively displaying love for MLP, it was eclipsed completely by 4channers who genuinely enjoy the show..
I'm sure there are a lot of people outside of 4chan who caught on to the show themselves, and the people in 4chan weren't the only ones who fell in love with it. Still, it's a big factor in why it spread.

 

[KeyMaster45]

The reason of MLP's popularity with mature adults/teenagers escapes me. Completely. It's a show about anthro girl ponies. What's so ******* awesome about that? Someone please tell me before my brain goes into overload trying to figure it out.

This is weird too because I can usually tell you why something is popular. Not this though.

My personal theory is that MLP's "popularity" arose from 4chan as a massive attempt to troll people. And the people, being very random, decided it was cool instead.

Hi, welcome to 2013. We have complementary valet parking for your malfunctioning DeLorean if you like.

Yes, we know you were aiming for Snookie's day of birth to stop her from coming into existence, but for some reason time machines keep bringing people here. Our crackpot team of scientists will be happy to take a look at it for you while you mingle with the others who have just arrived and are now having their minds blown by waning pop culture fads. If the stress of it is too much we've also brought in Morgan Freeman to soothingly assure you that it's all going to be okay.

Please try to avoid speaking of the future with other guests as some of them may not be from your era of the time space continuum.

 

[Alssadar]

I have nothing really of value to contribute as I do not watch the pony show any more, besides the original video that initially caused me to watch the ponies.
Holy crap, I just realized that whole explosion of the fandom was only 2 years ago.

 

[Proeliator]

If there is a reason, I would like to know it too.

I think it is because it is an extremely well executed show, and due to it's genre's naturally limited cognitive stimulation, fans will create a specific addendum that supersedes the genre in order to achieve a greater fulfillment, while simultaneously spreading that joy to others.

Also I laughed pretty hard at most of the videos, so, something is being done right.

 

[Klagermeister]

Yes, people like to take ponies and put them in non-pony situations.
It's called a crossover.

Spoiler: Every.

Spoiler: Fucking.

Spoiler: Thing.

Spoiler: Ever.

Spoiler: Has.

Spoiler: Been.

Spoiler: Turned.

Spoiler: Into.

Spoiler: A.

Spoiler: Crossover.

Why do people act all surprised and shit when ponies are on the infinitely-long-list of crossover subjects?

 

[KingKickass]

Yes, people like to take ponies and put them in non-pony situations.
It's called a crossover.

Spoiler: I'll leave this here

Spoiler: Every.

Spoiler: Fucking.

Spoiler: Thing.

Spoiler: Ever.

Spoiler: Has.

Spoiler: Been.

Spoiler: Turned.

Spoiler: Into.

Spoiler: A.

Spoiler: Crossover.

Why do people act all surprised and shit when ponies are on the infinitely-long-list of crossover subjects?

Because it's the new thing to bash on with a fanbase that can be exTREMELY obnoxious and annoying.

OT: Basically what Klagermeister said, if people like multiple things they'll find a way to incorporate one of them into the other

Spoiler: See this for a more mainstream example

It happens all the damn time and is no big deal. (see deviantART for a LOT more examples)

 

[Rufus Shinra]

I have nothing really of value to contribute as I do not watch the pony show any more, besides the original video that initially caused me to watch the ponies.
Holy crap, I just realized that whole explosion of the fandom was only 2 years ago.

Ah, yes, that video. The one that made me discover MLP too, and one that I first saw on... The Escapist. Awesomely awesome. Though my first reaction was "Fuck, the musics by 'Two Steps From Hell' are so badass that even a bunch of girlish cartoon ponies can be badass with them!". Then, of course, I didn't know at the time that those ponies are badass too.