My Thoughts on the My Little Pony Subreddit

The content and tone of this blog will deviate greatly from many of my previous ones.

Let me first note that I am a relatively new user to Reddit; I was coaxed by uncle Dave to join when he, unrequested, gave me an iPad during the holidays last year. I only seriously began to use Reddit (for both posting and consuming) in the earlier half of this year. Naturally, as a new Brony, I subscribed to a few of the few alive and relevant subreddits, including the main one, /r/mylittlepony.

The place is evidently receptive to anything relatively clean pertaining to MLP, e.g.: episode discussions, fanart, videos, music, fanfictions, MLP-related news, and more. However, even in their submission suggestions, it is clear that fanart dominates (although they allot a single day elusively to text posts, I believe), whereas the rest of the content is prodigiously more likely to thrive on other MLP subreddits like /r/mylittlelistentothis and /r/mlpvids.

However, the stuff can still be posted there for a shot at being one of those posts that actually becomes hot without having to be a piece of fanart. I always try to upvote those posts when I can because I think the whole purpose of having a general subreddit for MLP has utterly been undermined, but that's not the point of my writing this.

I downvote more posts from /r/mylittlepony than all other subreddits combined. I usually have nothing against the content I see there; in fact, I often enjoy it, but it's so often the same people posting and the same users blindly upvoting. It's always the same artists, too, often not because the artists are promoting themselves there (which isn't a bad idea and is actually an act I'd encourage if I could in some meaningful manner) but rather because the artists are constantly being featured elsewhere, namely in "elite" artists' groups on dA and EQD, which somehow finds the goodwill to feature some of those who aren't their favorites. Granted, I think it's a safe assumption that these artists have worked to get to the point where they are with their visual art to be worthy of such designations. Most of the artwork and artists hail from DeviantART or Tumblr, yet the people at the top of the feed are nearly always the people who have thousands of followers on those sites, anyway. Must their reach be extended to a couple-hundred others at the expense other artists of the fandom who are trying to rise?

If people who vote on the submissions there are voting with their minds, the answer is the affirmative with a capital "Y" and a boldface exclamation point. It's utterly contrary to what I'd come to expect of this fandom's values and members, but maybe I'm a little too sanguine in my outlook on people who favor a show marketed to children in expecting them to not act infantile where it might matter. Or perhaps it is the childishness in me that has rendered me so optimistic and hopeful toward one of the groups to which I strongly and readily affiliate myself.

I am not bothered by the artists or the artists' work. I am merely unhappy with the community's apparent complacency as it lets its aggregators pick favorites among the creme de la creme and do minimal digging for the excellent work in the visual fanart field being produced. If the artists at the top were posting themselves to these places and were simply being received well while the artists who are trying actively to rise had any chance, I would be more understanding, but it seems pretty clear to me that the contrary is the reality, and it's the consumers, fellow fans, who are responsible. It is for this reason that I downvote posts from there profusely. This thing I'm complaining about is something I'd like to change myself; I'd post what I find there, but I often don't have enough time to even browse my friends' work, let alone search for hidden talent and getting their permission to post their work there. I wish I could be a little hero.

Works on FimFiction I've Proofread/Edited for (From most recent to first)
The Smiling Stallion (ongoing) by Robipony

Hidden Wonderful World of Pinkie Episodes by Robipony

Works I've Audio Read (From most recent to first)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBf7TwT6GoA An Issue in Friendship by Captain Burrito

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP6YQ0zevYQ Time by MadMaxtheBlack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKOWRYVTONs Eternity by Camlan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVhe7GeTD8Y Crusader's End by CalebH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6LX_wjJtNM The Serene Forgetting by Avox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gZ2SWao4wc The Weak by Wisdom Thumbs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_428y-6LboY De Grave of Blueblood by Metal-Quill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyF3uyJAPBs Ruin Value by Titanium Dragon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcfsa1MVbQA Mare of the House by jmj

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ocU-BfXLDI I Don't Know If I'm Real... by North

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCyE2T8yLa0 Drifting by ShadowKirby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MhWVZbkUBc Dreams Fade by Enduring Man-Child

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaYt5jHyq1FjxBLphDM-qlTLdbKE5ULNi (Playlist)
Friends Forever and Fading Twilight by ObeySaturnGod

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCo2g7d7oRM A Life Rebuilt by Epicburst

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zEz9_69ics Drop. by Sexy Pudgy Pinkie Pie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhrgvQdpFL8 Let It Snow by Graymayne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh_2BnkBQvE Those Who Are Oppressed by emoshy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhCKtWeI9hg Lives' End by Arvaus

Comments

[Chinchillax]

What? You downvote everything!? You're like the evil version of me, I upvote absolutely everything by everyone because I know it will make them feel a tiny bit better and it's my method of procrastination.

/r/MyLittlePony is pretty much useless except for fanart 6 days a week. Only on Thursday does any other content have a chance to thrive as it's always "No Pics Thursday."

If you really want good fanart you should subscribe to /r/ImaginaryEquestria.

And you don't need to worry about "permission" to post things to Reddit. As long as your linking directly to the source, it's fine.

[TheDizzyDan]

3519322
I don't downvote everything there, but usually what I have outlined above constitutes most of what's first and foremost on there. One downvote on every single post of this kind is likely going to have zero notice and little karma impact for those major posters on there, but it's really my only way of vocalizing my point, aside from blogging on here about it.
When I see the same popular artists being recognized on there being posted by the same people, I feel no obligation to try make them feel any better. Again, my downvote really is inconsequential when everybody upvotes the posts by the same artists constantly.

That's what they do on Thursday. I'm so rarely available to browse it then that I had forgotten the name.

I will keep that place in mind when I next venture back.

I suppose so, but if I were in the artists' place, I'd want to be informed wherever and whenever my work is being featured externally. I understand this is a case of sharing, as opposed to using, but I'd still feel obliged to ask.