▲ Warning: Self-induced furry drama. Sensitive furries need not read any further.

So....where to begin?

Ok. So many years ago there was this entertainer, Michael Jackson- who some of you may have heard of. Anyway, Mr. Jackson used to entertain children at this magical place called Neverland Ranch. I'm not saying I was one of those children. No. Not at all. I'm just saying that back in the eighties he would entertain us- I mean them! And if you were alive in the eighties, you might have even thought it was cute! You might have said to yourself: "That Jackson 5 boy; he's so good with the children." And he was... But at some point what had seemed so cute passed on into creepy. Can't put my finger on what it was... It seemed to happen shortly after Mr. Jackson turned 30. (Sorry, Whyte Yote.) For some mysterious reason his antics just weren't cute anymore. They were creepy. I think he's dead now... Anyway, this brings me to "My Little Pony, Friendship is magic."

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Like many of you, I was also horrified to see this onslaught of creepy cuteness overtake F.A.
Bowing to the masses, Fender put up a banner admitting as much. He mournfully lamented: "Like it or not, bronies are here to stay." Or something like that. I wasn't paying any attention. So... I bit my tongue as I browsed submissions and saw picture after picture of wretchedly cute ponies assaulting my senses. But YOU didn't hold your tongues: I read journal after journal ranting about how dreadful the "My Little Pony" craze was, that it was ruining F.A. and how everyone hoped it would go away. I don't recall much support for the pony craze, yet the pony pictures just kept coming. I actually tried to get into it, saying something to the effect that I thought Fender Pony was cute. (He was.) Anyway, I was relieved when the craze subsided.

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Which brings me to the current craze: Comparison memes.
When they suddenly started appearing, I thought they were cute- how clever for someone to make a template, I thought. However, after seeing about a hundred of them during a single browsing session, they no longer seemed cute. By the next day they had become an invasion. Every other submission was a comparison meme. It had passed from cute to creepy. Everyone was doing it. The final straw came when my inbox started filling with these things. I could avoid browsing, but I couldn't hide from my own inbox. I received one form C_____, the last furry I expected to be caught up in the fray. Pissed, I made a remark to C______ that I had seen too many of these things and that this craze was worse than the "My Little Pony" fad. I received a reply. What do you think it said? C_____ said: "Um....don't look then?" Considering the list of nasty responses that C______ could have given, I thought this was kind. After all, I was picking a quarrel, I was the black cloud raining on C______'s parade. I was the lone voice of dissent. I should have bit my tongue. But I didn't. I felt that C______was just another lemming jumping off a cliff. I was overly offended by C______'s seemingly innocent reply: "Um...don't look then?" In what universe has that ever been a satisfying answer? It is the age old cry of the oppressor: "Um.... don't look then." Fah! I believe Saddam Hussein said the same thing when he was accused of human rights violations in Iraq. Or was it Ron Jeremy who said it? I get those two mixed up sometimes. I wasn't paying attention. Anyway, its right up there with "Let them eat cake."

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The reality is there are many things we would rather not see, but we find difficult to ignore. When you see a five car pile-up, it's hard not to look. If you see Lady Gaga- it's hard not to look. If you see an ugly mug on a comparison meme in your inbox- it's hard not to look. Not that I even minded seeing those memes- just not all at the same time. I suppose this craze bothers me more than "My Little Pony" because I come here for fantasy- Neverland ranch if you will. Pictures of actual, real people peeking out from behind their fursuits forces me back to reality. No matter how magical Neverland is, we are reminded that Mr. Jackson is lurking nearby.... I haven't completely discounted the idea of doing my own comparison meme, but I guarantee that you will never see my ugly mug in your inbox.

Love, -D.