Bronies

[TeensyBoo]

For me...I was so young when the ponies first came out, I don't think I could ever think of them in adult situation. They're so connected with my childhood innocence that I want them to stay innocent. That said, I would never try and stop anyone form their fanfic or from daydreaming about their favorite "Ships".

It might also be that I see my 5 year old in Pinky Pie and I couldn't bare to see her adultified.

 

[FalloutPony]

The only bronies I know in real life are my boyfriend and two friends of his. The two friends are level-headed, sensible fans... but my boyfriend is like, crazy obsessed. Like...he eats, sleeps, and breathes MLP: FiM.

 

[Margos]

"Pega-Sister?" I don't know... it's cute, but I don't see why we have to have these silly gender differences anyway. I much prefer to be a "brony."

And as far as shipping goes, yes, it's all pretty much just fanon (except ButtonsxSlugger and some of the ships in MLP Tales). But people get their ideas for ships based on in-show evidence, at least when it's done right. As an example, I'll give my rationale for FizzyxWW:

(From the movie)
Fizzy: (to Wind Whistler) I LOVE it when you talk!

She's saying what we're all thinking. The thing is, I've seen bubbly, cloud-cukoo-land characters like her say things exactly like this on other shows/movies... when they're on dates with people that they know are way smarter than them and love anyway. In addition:

In "Mish-Mash-Melee," WW nuzzles Fizzy affectionately and praises her for being the one to set the balance in order again.

This is exceptionally odd behavior for WW. She is known for being highly logical and surpressing her emotions but, at this exact moment, she actually opens up and does something that she herself would probably normally deem "silly" or "overly-romantic." I don't think it's off-character, though... I think it's cute when paired with how Fizzy acted around her in the Movie.

Am I saying that the show deliberately places them in these two situations to make them appear to be a couple? No, not at all. I'm merely demonstrating that the best fan-made ships must be backed up with evidence to make it seem, if not probable, then at least possible.

(Wow, sounded like Wind Whistler a bit there, myself, LOL).

 

[zephyra]

"Pega-Sister?" I don't know... it's cute, but I don't see why we have to have these silly gender differences anyway. I much prefer to be a "brony."

And as far as shipping goes, yes, it's all pretty much just fanon (except ButtonsxSlugger and some of the ships in MLP Tales). But people get their ideas for ships based on in-show evidence, at least when it's done right. As an example, I'll give my rationale for FizzyxWW:

(From the movie)
Fizzy: (to Wind Whistler) I LOVE it when you talk!

She's saying what we're all thinking. The thing is, I've seen bubbly, cloud-cukoo-land characters like her say things exactly like this on other shows/movies... when they're on dates with people that they know are way smarter than them and love anyway. In addition:

In "Mish-Mash-Melee," WW nuzzles Fizzy affectionately and praises her for being the one to set the balance in order again.

This is exceptionally odd behavior for WW. She is known for being highly logical and surpressing her emotions but, at this exact moment, she actually opens up and does something that she herself would probably normally deem "silly" or "overly-romantic." I don't think it's off-character, though... I think it's cute when paired with how Fizzy acted around her in the Movie.

Am I saying that the show deliberately places them in these two situations to make them appear to be a couple? No, not at all. I'm merely demonstrating that the best fan-made ships must be backed up with evidence to make it seem, if not probable, then at least possible.

(Wow, sounded like Wind Whistler a bit there, myself, LOL).

....wow, I think you've converted me.

 

[Dialga-Brite]

Am I saying that the show deliberately places them in these two situations to make them appear to be a couple? No, not at all. I'm merely demonstrating that the best fan-made ships must be backed up with evidence to make it seem, if not probable, then at least possible.

You make a lotta sense!

(Wow, sounded like Wind Whistler a bit there, myself, LOL).

lol

 

[Reaperfox]

One of the WHOLE POINTS to fandom is exploring how pre-established characters (in this case, the MLP characters) react n different situations, which is why you get fanfic as extreme as featuring main characters dying and showing how their friends deal with that situation, through to of course, shipping from pairings that are not canon within the show (Doctor/Master, Kirk/Spock, Starsky/Hutch (though god knows they basically WERE ¬_¬)

Of COURSE it's not canonical. The point is to take what you can, be creative enough to explore it in a way that wasn't thrown in our faces during the show. Harry/Draco of COURSE never existed in the books and movies, but the exploration of these two characters whose interractions canonically are limited to utter hatred/disregard takes great knowledge of their personalities and a creative ability to interpret them to suit a shipper's needs.

It's not new to FiM - as Margos said, shipping (and deathfic, and darkfic, and every other sort of fic you care to throw at it) has been in MLP fandom since the dawn of time. One of the first fanfics I EVER read was the Paradise Estate Soap Opera series - is ANYONE here old enough to remember that? It was a typical dramatic American soap saga involving the old ponies and the only scene I remember clearly featured some pony accusing Slugger of fooling around with some other pony "right here on the floor!"

How is writing about two ponies falling for each other any different to the constant "show your pony couples!" photothreads we have here and on the Arena? Not very. And if your only bone to pick with it is that it puts ponies into 'adult' situations - not every shippy fic has an explicit nature and it only goes to show a lot of people YET AGAIN jumping on the "auuughh Bronies Are Ruining This Sweet Innocent Thing For Us Waaaaa" mentality that I, as an OLDschool collector AND a FiM fandom fan, am getting soooo tired of.

 

[Willow]

I love how off track this thread is now.

 

[SoSoftClaire]

The point is to take what you can, be creative enough to explore it in a way that wasn't thrown in our faces during the show.

...

the "auuughh Bronies Are Ruining This Sweet Innocent Thing For Us Waaaaa" mentality that I, as an OLDschool collector AND a FiM fandom fan, am getting soooo tired of.

I have got to say that I agree with Reaperfox and some others here.

Bronies are awesome- have you noticed how much CREATIVE CONTENT is out there right now involving ponies? There hasn't been this much in such a short amoutn of time ... probably ever in the history of MLP. This, my friends, is awesome. They have created art, comics, songs, videos, stories, merchandise, discussions, a multitude of things.

And honestly, I can't help but think that if it were not for the bronies making FiM so popular, we might not have gotten a second season. There's no way of knowing, but just think about it.

And yeah, it stinks when you're doing a harmless search on Google for ponies and come up with some adult-themed stuff, but just try to ignore it. When you don't like something, you just don't look at it. Does turning on Google Safe Search filter out that stuff, by the way? I haven't tried.

Yeah, and I want to say more but I'm having a hard time organizing my thoughts right now. I basically want to say I'm kind of sick of seeing the "them" vs. "us". I know they are different from us in the ways that they celebrate MLP, but I get the feeling that it's more than just a distinction in the way that the term is used, and that's what bugs me.

 

[LadyM]

It's not new to FiM - as Margos said, shipping (and deathfic, and darkfic, and every other sort of fic you care to throw at it) has been in MLP fandom since the dawn of time. One of the first fanfics I EVER read was the Paradise Estate Soap Opera series - is ANYONE here old enough to remember that? It was a typical dramatic American soap saga involving the old ponies and the only scene I remember clearly featured some pony accusing Slugger of fooling around with some other pony "right here on the floor!"

Oh my God, someone else who remembers the PE Soap Opera!!! Once again you make me cry tears of joy, Reaper! Yes, I distinctly remember one of the Big Brothers accidentally getting locked in a broom closet with a mare and telling her, "You know, Caramel Crunch, I always did like you best out of all your sisters." You can guess what happened next.

How is writing about two ponies falling for each other any different to the constant "show your pony couples!" photothreads we have here and on the Arena? Not very. And if your only bone to pick with it is that it puts ponies into 'adult' situations - not every shippy fic has an explicit nature and it only goes to show a lot of people YET AGAIN jumping on the "auuughh Bronies Are Ruining This Sweet Innocent Thing For Us Waaaaa" mentality that I, as an OLDschool collector AND a FiM fandom fan, am getting soooo tired of.

Amen, sister.

I have read some absolutely adorable shipping fics, including one that actually made Fluttershy / Rainbow Dash plausible for me, which is something I usually have grave reservations about.

On a sidenote, IMO there IS one canon female/female pony pair . . . In "The Best Night Ever" ponies are lining up to meet Princess and are basically lined up in girl-boy order. Since there is normally a waaay smaller boy:girl ratio than that, I assume that means they're couples; they are all standing side by side like couples. But amongst them is a filly-filly pair . . .

They walk up to Celestia, side by side, and she says, "Ladies! So lovely to see you again."

Sure, they could just be sisters or something, but IMO that would be like assuming all the male-female ponies in line are brother-and-sister pairs. It doesn't seem very likely.

(Wow, Celestia, you are looking a little derpy there.)

 

[DialgaBritesMom]

I have got to say that I agree with Reaperfox and some others here.

Bronies are awesome- have you noticed how much CREATIVE CONTENT is out there right now involving ponies? There hasn't been this much in such a short amoutn of time ... probably ever in the history of MLP. This, my friends, is awesome. They have created art, comics, songs, videos, stories, merchandise, discussions, a multitude of things.

And honestly, I can't help but think that if it were not for the bronies making FiM so popular, we might not have gotten a second season. There's no way of knowing, but just think about it.

And yeah, it stinks when you're doing a harmless search on Google for ponies and come up with some adult-themed stuff, but just try to ignore it. When you don't like something, you just don't look at it. Does turning on Google Safe Search filter out that stuff, by the way? I haven't tried.

Yeah, and I want to say more but I'm having a hard time organizing my thoughts right now. I basically want to say I'm kind of sick of seeing the "them" vs. "us". I know they are different from us in the ways that they celebrate MLP, but I get the feeling that it's more than just a distinction in the way that the term is used, and that's what bugs me.

*This*. All of it.

 

[DialgaBritesMom]

I love how off track this thread is now.

Echoing life... *sigh*

 

[Dialga-Brite]

They have created art, comics, songs, videos, stories, merchandise, discussions, a multitude of things.

Don't forget video games! Pony video games are awesome.

 

[Archer06]

One thing i have to admit i find throughly odd about collectors responses to bronies is the disdain some collectors are showing them because they only have an interest in the G4's. I find this utterly bizarre, purely because it has never seemed to matter in the past whether a new fan to MLP liked just one generation. I've seen intro posts where people are like 'hi i only collect G1's' or 'Just started collecting the G3's. Not really a fan of the earlier ponies etc'. And nobody cared, everyone was just as welcoming. But now it seems that as soon as someone new signs up to a pony board with the line, 'Hi i only like G4's' they're instantly labelled as 'just a brony' and valued less than actual collectors. I mean i've recently seen a collector rant about how annoying bronies are because they don't like the earlier gens. To me that makes absolutely no sense for the exact reasons i've just stated.

Plus like reaper said, because of bronies we now actually have a serious fandom surrounding MLP with some amazing stuff being made

 

[Willow]

I find this utterly bizarre, purely because it has never seemed to matter in the past whether a new fan to MLP liked just one generation.

k: That is an excellent point!

 

[Dialga-Brite]

One thing i have to admit i find throughly odd about collectors responses to bronies is the disdain some collectors are showing them because they only have an interest in the G4's. I find this utterly bizarre, purely because it has never seemed to matter in the past whether a new fan to MLP liked just one generation. I've seen intro posts where people are like 'hi i only collect G1's' or 'Just started collecting the G3's. Not really a fan of the earlier ponies etc'. And nobody cared, everyone was just as welcoming. But now it seems that as soon as someone new signs up to a pony board with the line, 'Hi i only like G4's' they're instantly labelled as 'just a brony' and valued less than actual collectors. I mean i've recently seen a collector rant about how annoying bronies are because they don't like the earlier gens. To me that makes absolutely no sense for the exact reasons i've just stated.

Plus like reaper said, because of bronies we now actually have a serious fandom surrounding MLP with some amazing stuff being made

I dont care if someone likes only one generation. it does kinda annoy me though in a way because it seems like some of them dont like G1s only because they dont give them a chance. Perhaps some see all "old ponies" as being just as dumbed down as the G3 show was, because theyve never seen the G1 show and the G3s are all they know of. I be sure to tell bronies about the villains that were in the G1 show whenever I get the opportunity. Many of them have given me open minded responses.

 

[MintamenaPie]

Just reminding you guys if you wanna see real life Bronies, our map of Brony Meetups is located at Bronies.com. Some of the links go to sites that reach Pg-13, as a warning

If you're interested in the NYC Brony Cons, our Fearless Leader Purple Tinker has our own site up and running:

BroNYCon September 2011, featuring Jayson Thiessen and Sethisto!

We're having our second BroNYCon (they happen every three months) on the 24th, with special guest, Supervising Director Jayson Thiessen!

That's where all the Bronies are.

 

[starrypawz]

One thing i have to admit i find throughly odd about collectors responses to bronies is the disdain some collectors are showing them because they only have an interest in the G4's. I find this utterly bizarre, purely because it has never seemed to matter in the past whether a new fan to MLP liked just one generation. I've seen intro posts where people are like 'hi i only collect G1's' or 'Just started collecting the G3's. Not really a fan of the earlier ponies etc'. And nobody cared, everyone was just as welcoming. But now it seems that as soon as someone new signs up to a pony board with the line, 'Hi i only like G4's' they're instantly labelled as 'just a brony' and valued less than actual collectors. I mean i've recently seen a collector rant about how annoying bronies are because they don't like the earlier gens. To me that makes absolutely no sense for the exact reasons i've just stated.

Plus like reaper said, because of bronies we now actually have a serious fandom surrounding MLP with some amazing stuff being made

I think some people have got annoyed because there are some bronies out there that have a rather nasty attitude and act as if G4 is the only gen and it's the only good gen and it's the only one that matters. Although most of the ones I know seem pretty nice and are often interested in learning about where MLP came from.

 

[Archer06]

I think some people have got annoyed because there are some bronies out there that have a rather nasty attitude and act as if G4 is the only gen and it's the only good gen and it's the only one that matters. Although most of the ones I know seem pretty nice and are often interested in learning about where MLP came from.

But this is one thing i don't understand as i have met collectors who prefer one gen over the other. I have met G1 collectors who act like the G3's were a waste of time. And i know most of us out there don't like them, but there are some collectors who do like the G3.5's and have had to put up with everyone hating on them. It just seems to me like some collectors are feeling threatened by bronies for some reason and are getting their knickers in a twist over nothing.

 

[starrypawz]

But this is one thing i don't understand as i have met collectors who prefer one gen over the other. I have met G1 collectors who act like the G3's were a waste of time. And i know most of us out there don't like them, but there are some collectors who do like the G3.5's and have had to put up with everyone hating on them. It just seems to me like some collectors are feeling threatened by bronies for some reason and are getting their knickers in a twist over nothing.

True.
I guess it could be because the Brony thing was so sudden and everyone is trying to deal with this sudden influx of new fans, some of which may have a bit of an attitude on them that things are still a bit rocky. Also, it could be that the 'worst' Bronies are the ones making all the noise so some people may have formed a negative opinion due to the way those particular bronies have acted.

However, I will say that the MLP Communtiy is one of the friendliest ones on the internet and in the years I've been collecting and involved on here and the arena I've never felt more accepted online somehwere. So it's probably just a case of time and getting used to each other.

 

[Dialga-Brite]

I think some people have got annoyed because there are some bronies out there that have a rather nasty attitude and act as if G4 is the only gen and it's the only good gen and it's the only one that matters. Although most of the ones I know seem pretty nice and are often interested in learning about where MLP came from.

I would agree with this... on both the good and the bad. On youtube when people see my pony pokemon vids a lot of them said things like "old ponies! run! kill them with fire!" (or also "kill them with friendship" which I think is kinda funny) though one person did tell me he was only joking when he said "G4 or gtfo"... idk about the rest, but I imagine many are serious. Many do also say things like "but whatever, I never bothered with old mlp" in a way that I cant explain how exactly but just has a vibe of ignorance to it, like theyre just totally brushing it off and not giving it a chance. One person in a facebook group said he saw the G1 show but didnt like it, I was curious why and so I asked him, and he got all defensive like I was personally attacking him and was like "I shouldn't have to defend why I dont like G1s".

On one of the brony facebook pages though there was a discussion once where people were complaining about the lack of tolerance towards people who like older ponies...
and also on the brony facebook pages one of them suggested that fim should bring back villains like Grogar.....