In my view, the derpibooru fiasco was a pyrrhic victory at best. Loads of people still use derpibooru, with the average user still believing it successfully fought off some "nazi menace". Nobody on staff ever faced any personal consequences for their actions, not even after
the derpibooru moderator chat logs were leaked. Even though the horsefuckers had a lot of ammo on their side, there was no way to use the information to break up any misconceptions the public might have had. Their opponents were organized and networked, so none of the exposing info ever got to the media. It sure as shit wasn't printed in the Atlantic, or posted to the "community news" site Equestria Daily (which was subverted by Hasbro long ago), nor was it allowed to be posted on the forums themselves. I have even heard reports that /mlp/ jannies were in on it, too (but they are always in on anything anyways, reee).
The horsefuckers of /mlp/, and everyone aligned with their cause, ended up having a lot of fun. The artists submitted a metric shit-ton of DNP orders to derpibooru to starve it of content (the majority of which are active to this day), then went on to
raise 22,940$ for charity with their anti-censorship art pack,
which directly resulted in saving a horse from starvation, while the more autistic horsefuckers
created multiple alternative boorus to compete with the flagship, which (insult to injury) work way better than derpibooru ever did.
It only needed one horsefucker to speak out and give everyone else something to rally behind, since the fear of becoming the next target for the social terrorist left was too great for anyone to dare to speak out individually. A common sentiment, but it would have been better for all parties involved if everyone spoke out before it got that bad, to prevent any of this from happening. Of course, the decline of the show, as well as its lackluster (and for many insulting) ending, also damaged the community, but with good leadership (and a heaping spoon of friendship) they would have bounced back quick - they did it before! Even now, very passionate people are still creating great content and community events, but you cannot deny the immense negative impact the actions of just a handful of people had on the community at large.
This is the kind of damage that you cannot fix. The same old smears from that era continue to be perpetrated, still negatively affecting careers and reputations to this day. Woot is still causing trouble, Potluck is still causing trouble, TSP is still the owner of derpibooru and is still a giant sperg.
This can, has and will happen to other communities as well, but the horsefuckers are an important case study in this ongoing struggle. It's a reminder that affected communities are able to fight back against the banality of evil, but also a warning that you may not be able to salvage what you hold dear, if you let evil fester for too long and don't speak up. Keeping your head down will only save your own neck - not your friends' and not your community's. But if you hold your head high and defend what you believe in, you'd be surprised at the amount of people who will accept you as their champion.
There is some allegorical potential in the story of the rescued horse, who was named "Verity" (
link)
By definition, Verity means, “a true principle or belief” or put differently, “the quality or state of being true.”
“Sometimes we name our horses after a physical characteristic and sometimes a name represents a type of validation for what we do,” noted Hillman. “In Verity’s case, it was the latter and it was a perfect fit.”
Hillman says if it weren’t for the two phone calls made by a community member, Verity and her four companions may not have fared as well as they did. Unfortunately, many other horses aren’t as fortunate. Hillman stresses the importance of speaking up if something appears to be off.
“Time is of the essence when it comes to equine intervention. Especially for young horses like Verity that are more vulnerable, lack of proper care and nutrition can have catastrophic and life-altering consequences,” stated Hillman. “If you see something that doesn’t seem right, make the call!”
derpibooru.org
