I have gotten a ton of notes and emails about the Lyra plushie that Hoppip made with some ‘extra features’, and here are a few I got though Tumblr. As much as I would like to respond to each of them, I don’t have time. I would rather spend my time making new embroidery designs for the MLP fans out there. For a compromise though, I typed this up. There are basically 2 types of comments/notes/emails I have gotten. Either the comment is about how I could make something so objectionable, or why I allowed my design/embroidery to be used in such a fashion. So let’s answer some of those questions.
The reason I make the designs and embroider is so that everyone who wants one can have a MLP plushie or patch or whatever they want until Hasbro finally starts making merch. That is why I only charge the cost of materials for pretty much everything. I make about 14 cents on average per design I embroider, and you can see all that detail on my blogspot if you want to make your own (Please do!)
Included with patches, I also embroider on fabric for quite a few plushie makers. Hoppip is one of those. I embroidered enough pieces to make 2 plushies each of Lyra, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash for Hoppip. The plushies that Hoppip was making were very high quality, and I personally liked them when he requested that I embroider those 6 sets. I was aware that he was planning on selling them, which is perfectly alright with me. When I saw the first Lyra, I thought it was absolutely awesome. Very high quality, looked great; extremely professional.
I saw the 2nd one less than a minute after Hoppip posted it. I was looking for something, and ended up on his page, and saw it by accident. What I saw was lyra in pants, and I was ecstatic. Because Lyra was in pants. PANTS. I thought it was a great play on the meme. The underwear was a little different to me, but I suppose if a pony wears pants they need underwear too. It wasn’t until the next day when I started getting email that I found out that the Lyra plushie had ‘extra features’. My boyfriend was actually the first to point it out to me.
First, I am annoyed that I didn’t find out about it ahead of time. I expected the courtesy of a question on if I wanted my name attached to it. I am honestly still not sure if I want my name by it or not. I am very proud of my embroidery designs and the huge amount of time and love I put into embroidering things, and making sure the design is as close to possible to the show as I can make it. I know that when I embroider the parts to make an MLP plush, that plush will be loved and cared for, cuddled with, played with, all that good stuff. I hope that the designs I make do more than just sit on a shelf or in a display case, but I spend the time necessary to make sure that they can survive being played with by kids, loved by adults, or look as excellent at possible as they sit under glass as a display.
As for the design of this Lyra itself… I think it crosses the line. There has been a lot of talk about the ‘weird’ sides of MLP fan culture, or the division between fan types. (fans of the show as the show, and fans of the converted into ‘adult’ show) To be fair, this division exists in all fandoms, so I don’t see it as being different; it is just a part of all fandoms. I don’t like stuff like this plushie, but it exists. I’m sure people have made Sonic, Bunnie Rabbot, Homestuck, and probably even Barney the Dinosaur plushies with ‘extra features’. Those folks do not define their host fandom, they are fringe cases. The fandom, any fandom, should not be looked down upon because of fringe cases IMHO. My opinion is that what folks do in private is only of concern to themselves, and I don’t think anyone else should have a say in that.
So basically, by my personal preference or morals or whatever you want to call them, I would not want that type of plushie to exist. However, I do not believe in censorship in any form or fashion. As an extension of that I absolutely will not tell someone what they can or can not do with my designs. I will not censor something because I don’t personally like it. In the end, the Lyra plush is art. If for nothing else than the statement that it makes. And it makes one hell of a statement. It looks like the plushie accomplished Hoppip’s goals; as with the sale of that plush it looks like he can afford to get his own embroidery machine. Probably several embroidery machines.
What I really like about the fandom is how the fandom as a whole has responded. The meme of Lyra being used for a oven mitt, arrow quiver, vase, and all that is absolutely hilarious. It speaks a lot about the fandom to be able to morph something like this into such a running gag and meme.
Cliff Notes:
I didn’t make it. I embroidered the fabric for it without knowing it would have ‘extra features’
I don’t like it.
I won’t tell the artist, or any artist, to stop, because I don’t like censorship.
![woonastuck:
Just a little merch update… Thirty lab coats, thirty Science Woonas embroidered on the front by everyone’s favorite embroidery pony, Ethepony (whose work is gorgeous, high-quality, and vulnerable only to kryptonite[citation needed]). The coats are real lab-ready coats from a uniform store, not the disposable or costume kind, and we’ve got a pretty decent size range. The box is 41 pounds of pure SCIENCE! If you’re heading to BronyCon in June, we’ll have these for sale at our table — if there any extra left over we’ll look into selling them online. c: Pinkie not included; she’s just there to be adorable and plan surprise science parties.
These labcoats are awesome. You must get one! I really enjoyed making a design of science woona!](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4xcmxWsvr1r757rdo1_500.jpg)
