The Truth Behind Molestia's Shut-Down: An Interview with Team Member Calpain



Not long after the Ask Molestia tumblr blog was shut down, the team at Horse News was able to snag an interview with Calpain, Equestria Daily author and Ask Molly team member, to help clear the fog around this messy issue surrounding one of the fandom's most beloved fan characters.

Rarifag: So, what exactly brought about the blog's shutting down?

Calpain:
Well, we've been planning on moving on for awhile now. We have other stories we want to do in the pipeline

Rarifag: True, true, but why now? Why shut it down instead of leaving it up as an archive of fandom history?

Calpain: The blog got reported and taken down by someone and instead of fighting for it to go up again since we were close to closing it anyway, we decided the last strip worked surprisingly well as a goodbye. We're going to see about putting up a downloadable archive in the near future.

Rarifag: Can you confirm that this shut-down had little-to-no influence from the "Down With Molestia" movement?

Calpain: Yeah, as far as we know it had nothing to do with them. And moving on had nothing to do with them; yeah, JJ and I are moving on to a non-pony project, we just want something different. We're sad to see her go, but happy for the future.


We here at Horse News hoped that this interview will make the deletion easier on our readers, at least giving them solid answers. We'll miss you Molly.

Update: https://twitter.com/CalpainEqD/status/426452937221476353


Comments (93)

  1. And despite DMW having absolutely nothing to do with it, we can expect them to trumpet from the rooftops that their 'crusade' succeeded and that the evils of rape jokes have been destroyed forever.

    Damn fanatics...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can share this story, anon, share it, and let THEM know the truth too

      Delete
    2. While I agree that DWM shouldn't take credit for it, they're allowed to feel happy and successful over it. What they wanted to happen finally did.

      Princess Molestia makes a mockery of Molestation; it's not just a simple fetish for people to ogle. I definitely feel overjoyed about it shutting down.

      Delete
    3. gr8 ruse m8

      Delete
    4. oh golly gee
      ur a fgt
      get out

      Delete
    5. That's dangerous territory you are treading there

      Delete
    6. w-weh they took away my fap material FANATICS!!!!!!!!!!!

      Delete
    7. Who the fuck cares? The blog is gone, let it end. Even the blog creators are making less of a big deal than you asshats. Going after people over a stupid blog about an imaginary character to where I have seen people issue death threats, malware attacks and more over a stupid fucking blog? Just let it go and move on with your fucking lives, or is your existence that meaningless that this is the biggest news to come to your doorstep today? Some blog about an imaginary rape joke inspired character was removed and other people who didn't like said blog are happy about it, and must be destroyed? Is this really how pointless your lives are?

      Stay classy bronies. You wonder why people mock this retarded fandom, this is why. Go back to enjoying the show and stop acting like a bunch of tools.

      Delete
    8. Your life can't have that much meaning if you felt the need to post that.

      Delete
    9. And you felt the need to reply to that...

      Delete
    10. Funny if you realize that the brony community overcame the social stigma of mature people liking a little children's show.
      The opinions where just as emotionally charged and deemed valid by default: "Bronies are pedophiles".
      And here we are, dancing around the removal of a webcomic we deemed "only fit for rapists".
      In no way should rape be considered funny or any form of entertainment.

      Meanwhile "50 shades of grey" sold over 16 millions books, The movie "A Time to Kill" seem to reach boxoffice without a problem, and the quote "sequel like a pig" hasn't spawned a mob of whiteknights demanding the banning of the movie "Deliverance".

      We ignore the cloppers, we don't accept it, but we know we are grown people loving a children cartoon so we know weird is not equal to bad.

      At least, we thought that.
      Things seem to change I guess.
      Love and Tolerate within socially established parameters.
      Being a brony means you ARE outside socially established parameters.

      Delete
    11. I sorry everypony but my time has come....

      Delete
  2. I still think they should have at least kept the blog up. :/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They had no say, Tumblr took it down due to Hasbro

      Delete
    2. Hasbro? It says in the article it was reported and taken down. No one said anything about Hasbro.

      Delete
    3. http://mlpdaily.tumblr.com/post/73658825648/molestia-defeated-hasbro-involved-pinkiepony no, it was a hasbro Cease and Desist claim that ended the blog, and JJ is just trying to beef up his ego by saying "yeah well i didnt want that to continue that stupid comic anyways"

      Delete
    4. Whatever eases your butthurt, bud.

      Delete
  3. http://youtu.be/4OfAkt4pGAA

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh well .
    Nothing lost then .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Next time it is something you like.
      And everytime there will be some smartass saying:
      Nothing lost then.

      Delete
  5. Here's hoping for that Archive. But somehow I don't know if it will be the same with the original context gone...

    ReplyDelete
  6. The people with DWM are already tooting their trumpets claiming the victory as their own.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, even if they are not the ones that accomplished it themselves, they did get what they wanted, so, they have reason to rejoice

      Delete
  7. http://web.archive.org/web/20131023152202/http://askprincessmolestia.tumblr.com/
    here's the archive of the thread until they give out the download.
    also theres THIS, so yeah http://boards.4chan.org/mlp/res/15728999#p15731891

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Proper archive: http://archive.heinessen.com/mlp/thread/15728999#p15731891

      Delete
  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  9. "and somewhere, a pink-haired Tumblr user realizes that her life no longer has a purpose"
    -@princessponkie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good. Maybe she'll blow her brains out and spare the rest of us any more drama.

      Delete
    2. PinkiePony's life had purpose? From the moment she was born I thought she reliased she was a waste of oxygen with no positive qualities, and thats why she devoted so much to harrasing males online and trying to take down a blog about pony asses. I assume its also why she's continuing to start shit, I mean I've never seen people who are popular, smart and successful irl act the way she does.

      Delete
    3. After following a lot of news on the subject, it finally boils down to the following events:
      She was babysitting and this kid mentions she doesn't like Celestia because she found out she rapes.
      The child browses the internet unsupervised and found rule34 art, bravo. I think the good news is she hasn't been chatting to pedophiles (...yet, because god forbid this story is about how parents learned a lesson and installed internet-filters)
      PP then reports the tumblr account: molestia to Hasbro (was it his comic the kid saw? or was this just the first tumblr account she knew with the name molestia?)
      The tumblr account gets brought down and PP is on a whiteknight high being cheered on by her fellow whiteknights.

      Meanwhile some kid is still browsing the internet unsupervised.

      PP is a rightious-indignation addict.
      PP is fictional character 'Helen Lovejoy' made flesh.

      Delete
  10. >Yeah, as far as we know it had nothing to do with them
    Still PinkiePony will take credit for the whole thing, rejoicing on her throne atop her mindless followers

    ReplyDelete
  11. Just another set of fans that got famous in the fandom now thinking they remain famous without the fandom. Hope they don't crash and burn when they realize that no one cares about their little non pony projects. I know I don't.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh dear,
      I'm afraid I have to break it to you that John Joseco has been making a living as an illustrator and comic artist since long before ponies became A Thing, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future - probably more so, if he now spends less time on this unpaid side project. Sorry to rain on your spiteful little fantasy.

      No, wait, not "sorry". The other one. "Happy," that's it.

      Delete
  12. Yessss, YESSSS! Cry your little brony tears because your shitty rape jokes finally got kicked to the curb.

    Your laments are DELICIOUS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some people have no sense of humor.

      Delete
    2. That is to say you are incapable of comprehending that some people have a dark sense of humor.

      I am no fan of the tumblr but I am not unaware that it was ultimately harmless.

      Delete
    3. Nope, I've still got plenty of great fap material and rape jokes that haven't been taken away. Now it's your turn to cry, bitch! haha!

      Delete
    4. A HAHA! You are wrong!... therefore, I shall not give you my laments

      Delete
    5. Jesus, you people are like a broken record. Even stupider, you act like you actually accomplished something. There's a bunch of sharks swimming around and you make a big deal out of catching a guppy.

      Try again when search "MLP porn" and don't get any results.

      Delete
  13. Pinkiepony is still a bitch.

    ReplyDelete
  14. If DWM had nothing to do with it, why is the head of DWM saying she was the cause by messaging Hasbro nd rubbing it in?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. because that's how people are. lying and self glorification are not uncommon traits

      Delete
  15. We should just spam pinkiepony, queue up infinite reblogs cuz she took down her asks. Make her regret everything she's done to attack our fandom.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are strongly suggesting to me that you're a part of the problem with the Brony fandom.

      She wasn't trying to attack the fandom, she was trying to make it more welcoming to rape victims by combating the rape culture within it. That JJ happened to make a highly popular Tumblr blog that trivializes rape using a parody meme of a My Little Pony character meant that it was a logical target for her campaign. In general, she wanted Molestia and other MLP sex memes to disappear from harmless Google searches of MLP characters; this wasn't a personal vendetta against JJ or Bronies, but thanks to the immense backlash of death and rape threats made against her because of the campaign, and the useless misdirections apologizing for it ("Oh, but not all Bronies are like that! Just ignore them"), they did a fine job all by themselves of earning hers and her supporter's hatred, not to mention even more from non-Bronies and non-fans of MLP.

      So, thanks for your suggestion. I could've forgiven you had you just been ignorant, but I can't forgive what you just said. It makes you a whiny, selfish, entitled piece of shit who only cares about their own feelings. Did you forget that this was a little girl's show? Or that PinkiePony was a rape victim herself? She had every right to speak up and make people aware of this problem. If you don't agree, that's one thing. Spamming and threats are cowardly, insensitive, and definitely UNFRIENDLY fucking responses, so drink in the irony for a while. Drink it in deep.

      Delete
    2. Anon ur a cunt

      Delete
    3. Eat a dick.

      I don't care if she was raped by an entire zoo, censorship is wrong.

      Delete
    4. I wouldn't mind getting raped by an entire zoo

      Delete
    5. April wasn't raped. Never was. She's a lying autistic cunt that poked the bee's hive one too many times and was almost put in prison for pulling a highly illegal stunt. And yes, she WAS attacking the fandom. There's many recorded screen caps of her threatening bronies and she was ACTUALLY attacking REAL rape victims if they slightly disagreed with her!!!

      Learn the whole goddamn story before you start white knighting that fake feminist. She KNOWS she's fucked because she's 18 now and is in hiding due to the fact that she is extremely close to being charged for all of her shit she pulled with this drama. She's done NOTHING to help victims of any kind and she'll always be jealous at the fact that the brony fandom as done much more than she'll ever do. It's funny how when someone calls her out on her bullshit, she pulls a lie out of her ass to play "victim" and gain sympathy. And you're just another ball washing sheep that's eating it all up . How about YOU drink it in deep.

      Delete
  16. Or just leave it alone? Get over it? Move on with life? I liked the blog too but this is way too much. Getting mad at some girl name April Davis year that still has yet to find out what the real world is and a bunch of manchildren getting upset over a blog page is ridiculous. Twenty years from now no one is going to care what happened and guess what? The whole rape problem and stuff will be the same as it is now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You've never been upset that your favorite show was cancelled. Calling them manchildren is a bit much. Moreover if the rape jokes were male on male do you think pinkiepony would have cared? There's a bit of messed up hypocrisy in this scandal somewhere.

      Delete
    2. Yes I have, but not to a point where I was gonna unleash rage everywhere. All this is just ridiculous on both bronies and this girl.

      Delete
  17. But pot... Aren't you black too?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Still plenty of molestia pics going around.
    Molestia - 10000000000000
    moralfags -1

    ReplyDelete
  19. i am glad its gone

    ReplyDelete
  20. Nice lie. You can just admit that Hasbro has -- once again -- crushed the fandom:

    http://www.reddit.com/r/mylittlepony/comments/1vgyjt/tumblr_down_after_almost_four_years/ces9mwf

    http://imgur.com/ZFMj6LX

    ReplyDelete
  21. Everyone should stop bitching, please. Let me get things straight first; no, I'm not a brony. Nor do I hate them. I can't really understand why people hate other people based on their preferences either. Anyway, what if you had a favorite blog? Referencing the anon far above me, what if your "fapping material" and "rape jokes" sites got taken down? Then you would be bitching, correct? But, this is the internet. Trying to reason with people tends to get nowhere...it's like talking to a brick wall that just repeatedly throws shit back at your face. Welcome to the Internet indeed...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How about you actually know what the fuck's going on before telling people what to do?

      Delete
  22. You know what, this is even worse then if the DWM jerk took it down. Fuck Hasbro, you know what, I was going to spend money on some Vinyl figurines at Hot topic. I'm taking that money, and doubling it, as a donation to the EFF and Pirate Party. Fuck Hasbro.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. to be fair this is more a job for the comic book legal defense fund since its all about freedom of expression in comics

      Delete
  23. molestiaarchive.tumblr.com

    ReplyDelete
  24. Worst goodbye ever, oh well, at least S4 isn't trash

    ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) RIP IN PEACE ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Pinkiepony, we will find you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She's already been found. April Davis. ED has her dox as well. With her home address and all. Just look it up.

      Delete
  26. people if we are really upset over this we should ask the comic book legal defense fund to take the case they are all about freedom of expression in comics so this is more there territory.

    ReplyDelete
  27. >Rarifag

    Classy.

    Delicious Brony tears! Yum yum yum!

    ReplyDelete
  28. The thing about letting the fanatics believe they won is that it validates their behavior which is something completely unacceptable. The fact of the matter is that they judged the entire blog on face value no deeper than the name Molestia. To be completely honest the tumblr barely pushed anything any farther than Animaniacs did and the issue of rape or molestation was basically not existent beyond the name.

    You wanna speak out against rape? Cool, go do that. You wanna validate yourself by attacking something that barely has anything to do with your point by fear mongering anyone who disagrees. Screw, you. You're not only a fanatic, you're a political terrorist.

    ReplyDelete
  29. So happy this happened, that abomination is finally down, Don't even care why.

    If Hasbro really was behind it, then kudos to them. They did good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SHUT THE FUCK UP I LIKE FAPPING TO HORSES YOU LITTLE COCKED HUMAN FAG

      Delete
    2. oooookay, you need to seek professional help for that addiction.

      I hope you don't own actual horses.

      Delete
    3. No worries, here you go.

      https://mega.co.nz/#!e1pgWDxJ!EP1QiRu5vkrggmDEtpNpLzfgu-MYZVe9oZpdtfl9W_M

      Delete
  30. Aw, I loved Molestia. She was fucking boss. Mind, it was getting pretty obvious from the dialed-in art to the shitty writing that nobody in the creative camp cared about ponies anymore. Pity. I guess they've gone back to tentacle rape hentai, which is where they belong.

    Enjoy playing your video games and doing whatever you guys do - I don't give a fucking shit and likely won't back it, but I respect you. A little.

    ReplyDelete
  31. No matter who did it... Molestia was a part of yin and yang. 1 part is gone now. Soon everypony will forget the second part - that has killed the first one. No molestia = no sense in anti-movement. Or something else

    ReplyDelete
  32. This is bullshit. I would respect John Joseco more if he would have come flat out and say, "We got a C&D over this blog" rather than just shitting it down out of the blue, no explanation to the fans, no chance to save the comics, no nothing. If someone can pass this to John Joseco himself, tell him I said he's full of shit. And the only reason I can think of him giving a bullshit explanation just pretty much boils down to YOU'RE A FUCKING COWARD! John Joseco is being a complete coward, and the people he's working with are cowards. Rather than being truthful and forward with his audience, he pulls a bullshit explanation out of his ass, saves face, and walks away with his tail between his legs! I'm done. This fucking godforsaken fandom.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bet they'd make politicians.

      Delete
  33. You know (Yes, I already commented once but a thought occurred to me.) if the C&D really happened, then it means that a copyright claim was expressly used to attack an artist and stifle creativity. Now, this is counter intuitive to what many have expressed as the purpose behind copyright laws. It's suppose to protect artists and encourage creativity, not repress it. Furthermore, at what point does the right of parody get taken into account?

    Some might think it was just a little blog about Molestia that got taken down but the thing is that it's a underlying problem that effects more than just one tumblr page. You think the community as a whole isn't being hurt by this? How many times has a C&D happened when it so clearly shouldn't have caused the community grief? Now, don't get me wrong. I don't think you should make a profit off of someone else's stuff, but... Really. This kind of comes down to fair use.

    At the end of the day there are three things you have to accept at this point, and these three things are what anyone who cheers for this take down are truly supporting.

    • Hasbro doesn't care about the creativity of the community and will use their legal leverage to oppress it whenever they feel like it.
    • Any quality content should be denied. Why would people settle for Hasbro's horrible merchandise when they could get better stuff made by fans? And really, anyone with the slightest bit of motivation or passion for MLP could do better than Hasbro.
    • Net neutrality is dead and the US and any corporation in the US can impose its will on anyone in the world so long as they are on the internet.

    So yeah, say what you want but is this really a good thing? If you have a pretty narrow view of what's going on than it's probably fantastic, but anyone who takes a step back and really sees what's happening can tell you just how bad this really is. You may not agree with what is being said, but you should still defend to the death the right of a person to say it. The guy from Duck Dynasty said horrible things and they tried to remove him. Did I agree with him? No, I'm pretty far on the gay side, in fact. I found it extremely offensive. Do I like the show? Also no. I really don't. But do I think he should be kicked off the show for saying it? No. Doing what's right and what's easy are two entirely different things. I may not like what he said or what the show is about but, like I said, I will defend to the death his right to say it. And that's what it all comes back to full circle.

    "Either everything is okay or nothing is." ~Matt Stone & Trey P.

    So before you holier than thou sorts start singing how this is a victory in the short term, really take a moment to consider we, you and I, may lose the war. No one is going to be speaking out against rape if no one is allowed to speak out at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I plan to threaten Hasbro CEO Brian Golder and force him to call off the C&D's he and Hasbro's legal team have sent out. If Hasbro doesn't rescind the C&D against John Joseco and many others, I will go to the press with various pieces of evidence that I have against Hasbro, which will result in federal jailtime for Brian Goldner and other executives of Hasbro.

      Charges including, but not limited to: Violating federal communication guidelines, violating Parody and Fair Use Laws, racketeering, bribery of a federal judge.

      Any comments or insight on this?

      Delete
  34. I think a lot of people who hated Ask Princess Molestia totally missed the point of the character. It's about someone seriously damaged still being loved. And I mean that in more than just the sexual sense. Anyway, I'll miss it.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I'm sad that Molly is gone, but I shall live. I loved the blog manely for JJ's art so instead of being sad about the loss of Molly I shall be happy and celebrate that at least GL still has her own blog!!!

    ReplyDelete
  36. This is 2014 for y'all

    ReplyDelete
  37. After the whole DWM thing became big people probably complained to Hasbro about the Blog They probably have contacted tumbler to have it shut down. And then it gets censored. This comic was no more offensive to anyone than many movies or media in existence. And it was singled out from a lot of tumblers for censorship.
    That's much more offensive than anything ever suggested in the comic and go's against the principles of free speech and parody. But since Tumbler is a private business they are entitled to do as they wish. I wish they wouldn't.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Ohh, so getting the Molestia tumblr taken down was a huge win against rape and molestation?
    Quick! We must stop terrorism by making Jeff Dunham quit using his doll "Achmed the dead terrorist"!
    After that we could always stop paedophilia by taking down the catholic church, I guess.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Love it Totally on board. IM JOKING IF NO ONE NOTICED THAT, THATS KINDA WHAT IT WAS FOR.
      Also we still have daniel tosh sooooo...This is a note for people who dont get the joking nature of this anons comment. :L

      Delete
  39. Don't worry everypony I have been learning how to enter ponies dreams at knight, I'll come visit yooooou.

    From: Molestia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sister, I have told you not to enter ponies dreams for that purpose.

      Luna.

      Delete
    2. Whhhhat im just going to visit them to say hello.

      Molestia

      Delete
    3. I know what your planning sister, I wont allow it. Starting from now you will no longer receive the lessons I have been giving you.

      Luna

      Delete
    4. I think you need a little time to think about what you just said, in the dungeon he he he.

      Molestia.

      Delete
    5. No sister please, I'm sorry I will teach you. Anything but the dungeon!

      Luna

      Delete
    6. Anything you say... :D

      Molestia.

      Delete
  40. Yes sister, even... That thing you have always wanted to do. (HELP O.O)

    Luna.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Woooo hoooo partey! Hum we are going to have so much fun Luna. Lets double the fun, ooooohh twilight.

    Molestia.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Моллестия должна переехать в Россию. Здесь она будет в безопасности.

    ReplyDelete