# Fluttercry
Fluttercry, also known as Characters Watching TV, is a two-panel reaction image featuring a teary-eyed Fluttershy from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic holding a tiny television set, with the lower panel revealing something sad on the screen. The still frame comes from the April 2011 episode 'A Bird in the Hoof,' where Fluttershy watches Princess Celestia's pet phoenix burst into flame. By mid-2011, pony fans on Ponychan were placing the shot above depressing clips from films, games, and TV shows.
## Origin
Fluttercry originates from Episode 22 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, titled 'A Bird in the Hoof,' which first aired on April 8, 2011[2]. In the episode, Fluttershy quietly takes home Princess Celestia's sick pet bird to care for it, not realizing it is a phoenix near the end of its life cycle. When the bird bursts into flame and crumbles to ash in her hooves, Fluttershy breaks down crying, believing she killed it[2].
Fans on Ponychan grabbed the still frame of the crying Fluttershy and turned it into a two-panel exploitable template within weeks of the broadcast[2]. The nickname 'Fluttercry' stuck because it follows the 'Flutter + word' naming pattern the fandom already used for her.
- **Platform:** Ponychan (format creation) / Reddit, Tumblr (viral spread)
- **Creator:** Unknown
- **Date:** 2011
## Overview
Each Fluttercry post is a stacked two-panel image. The top panel shows a teary-eyed Fluttershy clutching a small television set, and the lower panel contains whatever gut-punch scene she is supposedly watching, usually a sad moment from a movie, show, or video game[1]. The reveal does the comedic or genuinely sad work, with the crying pony acting as a stand-in for the viewer's own reaction.
Fluttercry edits range from sincere entries about actual tearjerkers to joke posts where the content on the TV is something absurd or petty. Later derivatives put other My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic characters in the same crying pose, which widened the format into the broader 'Characters Watching TV' tag[2]. The isolated crying still also circulates on its own as a plain reaction image on pony threads and image boards.
## How to Use
A typical Fluttercry edit is a vertical two-panel image. The crying Fluttershy shot sits on top, often cropped so the mini TV she is holding lines up with the second panel underneath, which shows a sad scene from a film, show, or game[1]. Pony-focused variants often substitute another My Little Pony character for Fluttershy and sometimes replace the television with an object that character would plausibly hold.
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Fluttercry?
Fluttercry is a two-panel reaction image that pairs a crying still of Fluttershy holding a mini television with a sad scene appearing on the screen below[1].
### Where did Fluttercry come from?
The still frame is taken from the April 2011 episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic titled 'A Bird in the Hoof,' in which Fluttershy mistakenly thinks she killed Princess Celestia's phoenix[2].
### What does Fluttercry mean?
The nickname combines 'Fluttershy' with 'cry' and refers both to the tearful still frame and to the two-panel format fans assembled from it[1].
### How do you use Fluttercry?
Place the crying Fluttershy shot on top and a sad movie, show, or game clip underneath so the image reads as if she is reacting to the content on the mini TV she is holding[1].
### Is Fluttercry still popular?
The format is a classic brony-era exploitable with most activity in 2011 and 2012; the crying image is still used as a reaction on pony boards, though the two-panel template is no longer heavily shared[1].
## References
1. [https://www.reddit.com/r/mylittlepony/comments/gn1kl/fluttercry/]()
2. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/fluttercry-characters-watching-tv]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/fluttercry-characters-watching-tv
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