Friendship Report: Old Friends

Dear Readers,

We've all lost friends over time, some we leave, some leave us, and some were just friends because we saw them five days a week. Sometimes we find ourselves looking back on these old friends and wondering how different it'd be if we were still with them. Sometimes, much like Twilight did, we find these old friends and reconcile with them, which is actually what I did a few months ago.

Friendship Report: Shining

Dear Readers,

In case you haven't noticed, I have spent the last month or so not posting on this. There are two reasons for this, one, I've been busy sorting out my life (still no success there), and two, The episodes have been very hard to write about. I for one loved the hundredth episode special, even though they changed Derpy's voice, I also liked the latest episode, but I will be honest, I wasn't much for Princess Spike, nor am I much for the majority of Spike episodes.

Friendship Report: Expectations

Dear readers,

As some of you have already come to terms with, not everything is quite as beautiful as we imagine. Take London for example, most of us expect it to be a posh place full of rich fold who have their chauffeurs drive them around in gilt Rolls Royces. It's true there are a few of those, but it's mostly full of chavs and tourists.

Friendship Report: The Smooze

Dear Readers,

I should probably do a report on the jealousy shown in the last episode, but I'm much more interested in the adorable creature known as The Smooze. We all have a friend like him, one who eats everything, who leaves a mess, who secretes a weird green goo, and who we wish we could lock up in a storeroom for the evening. No matter how distasteful this friend may be, it never seems right to leave him (or her) behind, and so they have to come with us where ever we go, because it wouldn't seem right not to.

Friendship Report: Clown?

Dear Readers,

Although I found the latest episode quite entertaining, I found the message to be a bit unclear. I think it was supposed to be something about blessings in disguise, but that didn't sit right with me. To me the message seemed more along the lines of "Fake it 'til you make it." Yes, I did get that line from Fallout 3.

Friendship Report: Goodbyes

Dear Readers,

In the last episode of My Little Pony, poor Rainbow Dash was struggling to say goodbye to her adorable pet tortoise: Tank. We all know how hard some goodbyes can be, even if you're going to see whoever it is the next day. Sometimes you just don't want people to leave you, or you don't want to leave them. Either way, this theme brought on an episode filled with references and hilarity.

Friendship Report: Worries

Dear Readers,

In the last episode of My Little Pony, poor Apple Bloom was worrying about what would happen if she got a cutie mark she didn't like. I for one wasn't much for that episode, but it did have it's moments nonetheless. I think she shouldn't have woken up from the first dream and instead actually fight to get her pest pony cutie mark back in order to save Equestria (or at least Ponyville). But that wasn't the case, and the message was different.

Friendship Report: Cutie Marks

Dear Readers,

I hope everyone has enjoyed the season premiere, I sure did. It featured a new song, which I loved, some hilarious new characters, and a message which really spoke to me. Unfortunately, that message will just bring about a large rant from me, purely because of my views on the subject. Equality to me is a big taboo.

Friendship Report: Happy Easter and Season 5

Dear Readers,

As a lot of you know, today is Good Friday, so Happy Easter all those who celebrate it. Slightly more importantly, at least for me, tomorrow is when then next season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic begins. This may bring a slight change to my Friendship Reports, as I plan on taking the lessons learned at the end of the episodes, and trying to relate them to my life. That is of course, if the episodes continue to have a little Friendship report at the end of them.

Friendship Report: The Waiting Game!

Dear Readers,

I hope you all feel well after what was probably a really good party, those of you who didn't party I hope you enjoyed your sleep, or whatever it was you were doing. Anyway, we are now in 2015, so do try and remember that when those of you who attend school or college return to it. Anyway, there will be quite a few exciting things to come out of 2015.

Friendship Report: Lego!

Dear Readers,

This week I finally got around to watching The Lego Movie, a film that was sadly dwarfed by Frozen when it came out in cinema. Anyway,I found this film to be so good, I had to watch it twice, first on Wednesday, and then just before posting this. Like many films aimed at a younger audience, it had an underlying message, one all of us bronies should know.

Friendship Report: A Good First Impression

Dear Readers,

You should all know about the importance of making a good first impression on people. It's usually a good way to ensure that people are nice to you throughout your relationship with them. However, good first impressions can be quite hard for some of us, like myself, so here's my failure at making a good first impression.

Call of the Cutie Conference

MLP Conference Funded by Brighton University

A report by Hayley Berry

Despite the immediate feelings of shock, dismay and negativity it sparked amongst campaign group members as a result of its actions, Brighton university stood proud earlier this year, when staff there admitted spending funding received from the public on a conference, dedicated to the open discussion and research of the show, 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'.
In total, it was found that £400 money originally from the public went towards the event, causing questions to be asked among those in disapproval of the show's 30-year history being discussed in a number of in-depth talks throughout the nine hour event.

Profits made to the university itself after the event came to a disappointing £16, from the 14 attendees who each paid a £30 fee, to listen to and take part in conversations involving such topics as the show's history, the many mythological stories surrounding it and even the merchandise itself, namely how it links to such artistic expressions as photography and poem writing.

A quote from a university spokesman interviewed regarding the conference states the university's main priorities and commitments lie within "a broad portfolio of applied research that often had low profile, but had high public benefits". This also comes as a direct reply to those who believe the study of what are essentially being seen as "children's toys" was in the end really worth the sheer amount spent, for such little profit in return.

For the spokesman in question at least, the answer seems to be that it is. He was said to have made the point that, in spite of all controversy surrounding the university's spending choices, they still continue to be a highly ranked UK university, proudly supporting almost 7,000 various different jobs in a number of sectors.
They also make a yearly contribution of £700 million pounds to the South East Economy.

With all this in mind, whether or not the university funding the conference was justified, is something I will leave your pony fanatic selves to ponder and maybe come up with your own decision....

Frienship Report: Inspiration & Idols

Dear Reader,

This week I've learned a little something about inspiration and the people we idolise. Of course I don't know who you idolise, I only really know who I do, and more than anything I look up to my oldest brother Chaz for inspiration, who conveniently looks to me for the exact same thing.

Celebrities in the Brony Fandom.

An article on the many ways, the lives of those in the spotlight are affected by the magic of friendship...

By Hayley Berry



"Celebrity" - what's first thing to come to mind when you hear that word?
Whatever the case may be and wherever you may stand when it comes to your view on the rich and famous, I can bet one thing's for sure - the last thing that comes to mind is their possible interest (or lack thereof) in the candy coloured pony fandom we've all grown to know and love.

For a number of pony lovers, without true, legitimate confirmation from the person themselves, there is no real way of telling whether an idol of theirs really does enjoy the show, as sometimes there can be misunderstandings surrounding a famous person's likelihood of being a part of the fandom. An example of this is Deadmau5 was suspected of being a Brony, when we was seen wearing a Fluttershy depicting shirt to a concert he was playing in island. This caused him to have to later explain to misled fans that he is not, in fact, a Brony.
The important, integral life lessons each of us learns from the day-to-day activities of our pony friends are all around us. To me, one of the most memorable and key things that we can take from them, is that the people who can take these lessons and apply them to their everyday lives, are not just those of us who consider ourselves the "regular" MLP fans but those we look up to as well. To me, upon announcing their love of the show we all have placed our hopes and hearts into, the people who give us the joy and happiness their chosen career field brings, be it music, film-making, writing etc. should only be seen as more of an asset to the way we choose to live, than they were before taking the big step of letting the world see this whole new side of them. It takes a huge bout of confidence and respect for the fandom, for anyone to feel ready to openly admit being a Brony/Pegasister to the world. The main reason for this being the risk of abuse, bullying and sometimes even neglect from those closest to us, as well as from people we've never met (and probably never will). So for a famous person to declare themselves as one of us must take an even greater amount leap of faith, for which my level of respect for such people is very high.

To conclude, my personal opinion on what we can all take away from the interconnecting worlds of celebrity and non-celebrity Bronies/Pegasisters, is that no matter what our personal status in the world may be, acceptance and tolerance of each and every one of us in the fandom is key to its happiness. Just because somepony may be under pressure to please those they are working for, because they're out there in the spotlight and need to make an impression, doesn't necessarily mean they should become a robot, so to speak and as such keep their love of something that may get them mocked or worse, abandoned by their fans or close ones to themselves. This is something we need to show the ones we look up to. Whether or not we are a fan of any particular famous pony fan out there, I believe we should conduct ourselves in such a way that lets them know they have no reason to be afraid of admitting what they like to the world, to anyone. After all, isn't that what kick-started their careers in the first place...?

There are a whole host of possible answers to this question.
For some, it is a title that shows status, poise and talent in the person's particular field or chosen pathway in life. For others, it is simply a label, placed upon a person to make them seem more "important" or "higher up" in life than the non-famous amongst us in this world.
Personally, my view on the term depends entirely on the person it's being used to describe. Are they somebody who has worked their way up from the bottom to be where they are, seen hard times and struggled through them best they could, with little to no help along the way?
Or are they somebody who happens to be lucky enough to be physically related to such a person, the results of which usually take the form of said relation being used as what most would call a tool, a tool to be used as a quick fix in the lands of celebrity stardom. Something a person feels no shame in using to get them where they want to be much more quickly.

What would you do, if you were to one day find out your idol was a Brony or Pegasister? Would it change the way you viewed them as a person, or would you simply not mind and carry on your life as normal?
There are a number of factors that could influence where you'd go from the point of finding out; who exactly is said idol, is being a Brony/Pegasister something you'd long suspected of them, or a complete surprise?
Should the latter be the situation, do you think you'd be able to handle it or would you be a little disappointed that the Brony family you've come to love after all these years is expanding so quickly? Would you see it as almost like your child, something you as the "parent" has held close to your heart for so long, but must now set free so that others may also experience the magic for themselves?

There were a number of fans who saw this news as disappointing to hear, but accepted it nonetheless.
Alongside these misunderstandings, however, there are also happier times when the famous are happy to openly accept and admit their love for the show, sharing it with the world without a care for what people may think.
A celebrity who fits nicely into this category is Anthony Bourdain, who once clearly stated that he is happy to sit and watch the show with his daughter.

Everypony doesn't have to agree with or even begin to like a person for their interest in our fandom, but respecting them and as such treating them as both an individual, and as a part of our family will be the first step towards changing the way we are seen in the public eye in general - if celebrities in the Brony fandom can one day be accepted, perhaps us non-celeb's will be too...

Friendship Report: Street Cred & the New Look

Dear Readers,

This week my good friend Ash learned a valuable lesson in friendship, in fact he learned two. Firstly he learned that he can't really choose his friends, sometimes they choose you. He also learned that it doesn't matter if hanging around with one friend ruins your "Street Cred" or whatever you prefer to call it, a friend is a friend no matter what.

Brohoof!

As you may remember, Bronies UK decided to add a few new authors to the blog, I am one of the four new authors. I did do a post last Friday about a brony in need, but I have to say that I don't really keep up with the My Little Pony news. So I'm going to do something slightly different, a pony column. So here's a nice introductory post to what I'm hoping will be a successful weekly column about the magic of friendship.