I don't get how Ophanim can accuse anyone of weird ♥♥♥♥ either.

I didn't think we still had people on this forum mature enough to judge out loud.

Naw man, I love everyone and I am the weirdest man on the planet, but I acknowledge that I am weird. Watching a show designed for preteen girls is ♥♥♥♥ weird no matter how you slice it. ♥♥♥♥ can't be healthy.

I think me watching mlp is pretty weird yeah, but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing.

I just wonder if any of you have seriously analyzed why you like the show.

Do people have to analyze why they like things? People should just be able to enjoy what they want to, instead of having to pick apart and try and figure out why they like it.

The show is extremely well put together, with good voice acting, bright and entertaining colours and very distinct characters. It harks back to the kind of cartoons many bronys would have seen in their own childhoods, in part due to its animation style and in part due to the voice actors being the same ones appearing in many cartoons from the past ten years.

The music is also extremely well put together, with catchy lyrics and upbeat melodies. Daniel Ingram, the composer, wrote every single song in the two series the show has run so far with the intention that people would latch onto them and want to replicate them in as many ways as possible.

Then of course there's the way the show's creators have responded to the popularity of the show with the online community. The second series was rife with references that originated on the internet following the first one. Lauren Faust, who developed the show, has appeared at brony conventions on multiple occasions and interacted with the older fans directly.

Then of course is the research that the university students did on why it was so popular, and they found that often it was a case of a social inclusion surrounding the topic, exactly like a gaming clan or online fan club. Enjoying the show was intensified by knowing there are hundreds of thousands (possibly millions, I really don't know) of others out there enjoying it exactly the way you do.

Clearly I've never thought about it at all before.

I agree with Harzipan on that I don't think it's necessary to have to seriously think about why you like something or not, at least when it concerns a tv series or the likes. Not that you implied it was necessary, just underlining it.

That said, ofcourse I've thought about why I like it, and for me I think it comes down to the personalities of the main cast. It's a cartoon and a childrens' cartoon at that, but each of the main cast has a pretty nicely rounded character and their (sometimes pretty wildly) different personalities often make for funny and generally entertaining interactions. I think that's the reason people watch any show, be it a cartoon, a sitcom or any other series. To watch funny and/or sympathetic characters act in entertaining situations. Something along those lines anyways.

I suppose you could then ask why you'd specifically watch mlp instead of anything else. To be honest, I'm not quite sure about that myself...

Please, O Wounded Heart, please point out to me where I said anyone is required to analyze why they like something. There is no "should" about it, ♥♥♥♥, everyone can enjoy what they want to. I never said "I, Ophanim, declare that henceforth, enjoyment of animated ponies shall be illegal, punishable by death", now did I? Zip up, girl, your fursecution complex is showing. I'll spell it out for the butthurt man-children in the topic: I do not ♥♥♥♥ care whether or not you watch cartoon ponies do stupid ♥♥♥♥. I could not possibly care less about you, much less whatever inanities you choose to spend your time on. What I am interested in, however, is an analysis as to why grown men watch a show designed for preteen girls. You don't HAVE to analyze jack ♥♥♥♥ just because I wondered if you had, but I would appreciate being presented with an analysis so that I could analyze the analysis, for my own enjoyment.

@Roast Veg that's all well and good, but none of it addresses exactly why grown men latched on to a show about preteen girls in the first place. You explained it on the level of a social phenomenon, not on the level of a personal adoration, which is the analysis I have prompted. Nostalgia, yes, that much is blatantly obvious. However, it's not even close to the whole story. Ignore it as a social phenomenon, examine it on a personal level.

By the way, I've never even seen the show, and no "You can't understand until you watch it." is not a valid or intelligent response, it is a revelation of your inability to communicate complex ideas. Put away your crying eyes for a second, put on your Dexter specs, and try to engage in some intellectual discourse, ala Roast Veg, who, while still obviously a bit butthurt that anyone would dare judge him/her for watching a children's show about ♥♥♥♥ ponies, at least attempted to be rational about it. A step back, all of you. Analysis at arm's length or ignore me, but don't let your feelings get hurt by the mean man on the internet who has the sheer ♥♥♥♥ gall to be critical of you.

Adriaan is the only person whose response I can totally respect, but I still find it a bit lacking. I'm genuinely curious, would you mind elaborating as to why you find the characters so compelling and easy to empathize with? I mean, I don't know ♥♥♥♥ about the show, but I know that one of them is named "Derpy Hooves", a fact that I despise with every ounce of my being. It just seems so god damn puerile and inane, I cannot fathom how anyone would find it interesting. I'd be fantastically interested in an answer to the question you put in my mouth, which would have been my very next question.

Oh, and just because I think I'm ♥♥♥♥ hilarious;

You do realize that your statement was in and of itself "judge[ing] out loud.", don't you? Because it is, and your backhanded insult cased in snark was exactly the case of the one finger pointing forward and the four pointing back.

Obviously, I can only speak for myself, but half of what is said in the last post is actually why I enjoy it personally. I'm an amateur musician, so the songs strike a chord with me when I think about why they're so catchy. I see parts of my own personality in some of the characters, and the "moral of the story" that each regular episode demonstrates (in a blatantly obvious manner, so I appreciate the transparency) speaks of an idealistic world where the same mistake isn't made twice.

I wouldn't have gotten into it in the first place, however, if it weren't for the mob psychology of all my internet friends becoming interested in it at once, and dragging me in with them. If you ignore all the reasons why I actually watched and became enthused with all the episodes, the real reason why I started watching was because everybody else was, and I would assume that applies to many first timers, since, as you're demonstrating, it's not an easy thing for young adult and older teen males to get into.

So, in a attempt to change topics away from the recent MLP one, what did people think about my desktop?

I can have it in red, green, orange and blue, and it looks quite nice with the new icons.

Here's my new not-so-cluttered desktop

Personally I dig the whole red theme, but it's too common you know.
Don't get me wrong though, I think you have a brilliant desktop, I'm just more of a blue desktop or a light brown.
Liek this.

Does anyone have any suggestible Rainmeter skins?
I have a gap in the middle of the screen I might fill with a clock or some other nifty animation if you guys knew any.
(And please no dark arcs)

So something along the lines of this?

There's also a chrome setting, for shiny metal instead of black metal.