Derpy Hooves

So...yeah, about the Derpy Hooves thing....this is interesting, to say the least. Without sounding like a complete SlowPoke (.....kinda punny here, but regardless) I know pretty much everything that's going on with Derpy....and I have to say "Holy Fuck!"

Derpy is, so far as my knowledge goes, an outstanding example of what fans can do when united.....or what a complete and total fluke can do when people end up loving it enough. I mean, let's be honest, no-one really....rallied together to make Derpy a main character or as big as she was. We just posted alot of ponies on 4chan, while mods weren't looking, and then....well things went from there. Hell, if you think about it, she's like the unplanned pregnancy that you've grown to love so much you'd hate to see it grow up and leave...you always want it there. It's the unplanned pregnancy that you thought long and hard about aborting, decided against it, and wondered if you were ever clinically insane for even considering doing such a thing to such a perfect creature. I speak from some level of experience given the fact that I would not be typing this at all if that were not the case of my mother....but that's besides the point.

But even though Derpy was an accident, we've grown to love her. She's begun to stand for something. Not just standing in the face of adversity and being yourself despite your short comings, be they simple clumsiness or out and out physical disability (I use the term disability only in the loose sense, I'm of the belief that a disability can only hinder you if you allow it to...it's a matter of figuring out a way to work around or with it, rather than against it). No, she is far more than that. If we consider MLP Frienship is Magic to be about not just the magic of friendship, but about growing up and flourishing as a person....then Derpy would be the shows largest beacon. In just the small windo we have seen her in we can easily say she regards the world with a child like curiosity, wonder, and positive attitude that, quite frankly, we just don't have anymore. Actually, I'll revise my previous statement, if MLP is about growing as a person, Derpy is about retaining your inner child and innocence.

Regardless of the circumstances Derpy is able to look at the world in a way that we just can't anymore. Hell, I'd be willing to bet that Twilight Sparkle would love to "study" her and, not revise, but re evaluate what it meant to grow and what it meant to be a friend. We go about our day from one point to the next believing that we've seen it all and done it all. And even with the lessons that Twilight and the Mane Six, at this point all ponies, give....they're still missing something. Or at least they haven't covered something quite yet, and that's innocence. Never losing that one thing that makes you, or made you, a child. That curiosity and drive to do whatever you wanted that we lost at some point along the way when we got older. To be honest, I'd be willing to bet that's what attracts alot of us to the show in the first place, those who are over the age of 18...I know it did me. It was wonderful and refreshing to see something so childlike and yet so profound that we find ourselves rooted and unable to watch anything else. 'Course, that doesn't always last given the Rule 34 stuff we've made out of the show...but I'm not going to lie, who didn't see that coming a mile away?

But with Derpy...she seems to me, in all her clumsiness and jinxedness....we love her. She sees the world in a bright way that we can't even begin to fathom in this day and age. And, quite frankly, I don't want to see her go. Her name and voice lend to her power, her character, and her ability to BE this childlike person. If we lose this...well then, we lose a large part of our fandom, and a large part of the show, in some sense. We love Derpy, we really do, and it wouldn't ruin the show as a whole to see her go..but it would be a little less bright and a little less innocent. Especially to those who realized exactly WHY this situation occured.

So, at this point I ask any who read this to simply sit and wait for a while. Wait for truly official word from the people upstairs before anything happens. If Derpy remains as she is, then begin to celebrate as hard as you can. If not...then do something different.

Do not rage, do not hate, do not troll, and do not compromise yourself as a person in your hurt and anger. It will be hard, I know, and many will be unhappy and upset with the situation. They will want to blame someone, blaming Hasbro would be easiest given the circumstance, but the true "culprit"are simply people who do not see exactly what we see. In excercising their own right to communicate their own offenses, even if it was misguided. I'm not Christian myself, but a quote from Christ works well here: "Forgive them, oh heavenly Father, for they know not what they do."

They do not understand, and quite frankly, they may never. Especially those who merely signed on for the purpose of "trolling" don't understand, though them more the consequences of their actions. This show is about love and tolerance....just because they refuse to show it, for one reason or the next, does not mean we have to. We need to show the same love and tolerance that we believe it....up until a point. Love and Tolerance can only go so far, in life, but on the web....it can go forever. Nothing will be solved by petty squabling, and if you show them knowledge, they will shun you like you wouldn't believe. They don't want another perspective, and they never will. Do not hate them, but love them. Do not despise them, but pity them their shortcomings.

And as far as Derpy herself goes....please, leave her as she is. Don't change someone who has become so important to our fandom...please.

And to other bronies who believe in this ideal...pass it on. I don't care if you post or if you speak it, but please, tell those of you who share this fandom: Do not be angry, no matter what happens. Love and tolerance must be practiced, even in the face of a rampant misunderstanding. And please, for those who can get message to those with the power, please, tell them to keep Derpy there.