I confess, reader, I am a fan of the show and I watch it religiously. And I feel weird and it even makes me uneasy knowing that my partner of feelings, that is to be my girlfriend, does not see anything interesting in it. When I showed her it, she watched only for a minute. She turned to look at me with seriousness and asked, "You really like this show?" And let out a guffaw in a mix of incredulity, mockery and incomprehension.

So my question came up: Why this attraction to and passion for said show? A friend sent me a link from /b/ on 4chan.org and I discovered MLP:FiM, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, in the threads where they posted pictures from the latest aired episode and fan drawings. There were many angry posts in response to that thread, where accusations of homosexuality abounded. "Angry people," I thought to myself, "It'll be good to watch an episode of the cartoon and come back with material to join the accusing/accosting herd."

Oh the surprise when I didn't go back to the forum due to staying up all night watching ponies.
Fuck me! I reacted in episode 6. I could NOT stop watching. But: What was it? the colors? The audio? The catchy tunes? But, a previous edition (version) of the same concept many years prior, greatly angered me, that upon hearing the beginning melody, that 8-year-old boy jumped off the couch to change the channel on TV in a fit of rage.
So: What did the new version have?

I thought quickly. What was it? While looking forward to Thursday, day of the airing of the new episode over the Hub channel.

What could it be?. In those days I read a blog dedicated to said television show, http://www.derpyhooves.com, where I commented on an entry about a guy who wanted to explain the /b/rony phenomenon in such a failed manner, that he ended up like a vile crazy girl in the second paragraph of his text. An exhibition worthy of any gay march in the world, which could even demand this guy in its ranks. Here is the blog of said crazy girl http://cosmicspacefrog.tumblr.com/ I hope I'm wrong and she's a little girl.

Knowing myself disillusioned and alerted over that author guy just come out of the closet, I decided to know the reason behind the /B/ronie phenomenon.

1. Colors: Yes, colors. Bright and very contrasting colors. If it works with babies, why not adults? The surest part is that they were consciously chosen in that range for their effect.

2. Background: Most male fans of the show, at least the loud ones, were born in the eighties, a time when the first versions aired. Maybe, the force of MLP:FiM is mere nostalgia and longing. Even if you hated it, it's still part of one's childhood.

3. Attraction: Maybe I'm not the only one and you were also turned on by the idea of going nasty with these characters (I confess again). Why bonner?

4. Women: Whether you want it or not, these are feminine figures. They're ponies, pegasi and unicorns but most characters are anthropomorphic, although more by their atittudes and actions than their image, and they remind us of women. Could it be that they're prototypes of feminine character that the male born in the 80s wants? Hence the attraction?

5. Taboo: It's a challenge for everyone. Watching little girls' cartoons. It's the forbidden, that which you didn't do as a child due to pressure, rather the mockery of your friends or schoolmates. You were a kid and you knew you weren't supposed to do girls' stuff. Now you're an adult. It's a challenge on the other and you say, "I like little girls' cartoons. Got a problem?"

6. The /B/rony Effect: The influence comes not only from the show, but also from the mass of fans who make an almost endless amount of alternative material. They modify the original product and propose new material. Proof of that are the endless images that populate and swarm around the internetz. The phenomenon is so new (at least to me) and interesting; They consume not the product but the concept. A clear Example: Derpy Hooves. A background character, simple visual filler turned iconic character of the show, much more than the protagonist and co-protagonists. She was a character without a background and without real presence. The guys at 4chan, noticed that in one picture she had her eyes crossed and people liked it. They christened the character, they created a background and drawing fans of the show, imbued it, with unprecedented ideas. We the fans of this character out of non-official canon are many. It's a canon tacitly agreed by the fans. And so a new concept is also born. The Fanon (Fan canon)

This comic says something similar to what I mean.

Average /b/rony

7. Plots: The show has good plots, those that carry a good sense of narrative rhythm not taking into account the "Cuttie mark crusaders" (yay) episodes which are lazy, innocuous and somewhat boring. This point calls to the attention of the good work carried out by the authors.

8. Waifus: A deformation of Japanese wanting to speak English. Which means "my Wife", and it is used for a character for which a person, almost always a fan, taken special affection for a cartoon character. These romantic relations are seen by many as sick. I think, that in the end, it's not different from regular old platonic love, where the person does not fall in love with the person or object, but the concept, the idea. My Waifu is Lyra :3

Lyra: My Waifu :3

9. Maybe, there are cases that just follow the show and the dolls for their children, who are fanseses of the show.

10. Perhaps, lastly, it's just a bunch of queens sublimating their faggotry.

/*Note: Something else I find interesting is that the female characters don't follor the prototype of the regular woman. I will write that another day*/

MLP:FiM are property of Hasbro, Inc.