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Current issues, because the war between trolls and bronies is a current issue, it is specifically for an opinion paper on any subject.
I might write one on this and another on a more serious topic (Internet censorship).

@Stargazer

Hnnnnggg…!

Connor wrote:

I think I’m going to be doing a presentation on bronies and FiM today in one of my classes. I think I’m going to lean on the fact that wasn’t made with just little girls in mind (also that the mane 6 defeated a genocidal maniac in the first two episodes). I’ll also point to the sheer volume of fanfics and fan art as examples of abundant creativity.
I’ll also have to give the opposite side if the issue (why people would dislike the fandom), I’ll say about grimdark and R34 and how not every brony is “bad” and that we all shouldn’t be generalized into the same group.
Luck, you should wish it to me (I’ll also be wearing my brony shirt).

I don't know how you guys find the guts to do this sort of thing. I won't even tell my closest friends, so I could never stand up and proclaim my bronyism to a bunch of random classmates. You deserve points for bravery, but minus points for recklessness. I think #citationneeded and SinisterSnuggles both got themselves in trouble for being too open around people they thought they could trust, so just try to be careful and don't overdo it.
(Correct me if I'm wrong about Citation and Sinister, it's hard keeping track of everything around here)

So…what class would this presentation be for?

Current issues, because the war between trolls and bronies is a current issue, it is specifically for an opinion paper on any subject.
I might write one on this and another on a more serious topic (Internet censorship).

Sorry to be a killjoy, but internet censorship sounds like a much more appropriate topic than the 'war' between bronies and haters. You'll find internet fights in any fandom, and it rarely affects anyone outside those fandoms, so it seems a bit of a stretch to call it a 'current issue'. Even within the brony fandom it isn't a very big deal. I mean, when was the last time we saw a genuine troll attempt in these forums? I think FridgesRants was the last real hater to attack the thread, and we all know how that went.

Algernon wrote:

I don’t know how you guys find the guts to do this sort of thing. I won’t even tell my closest friends, so I could never stand up and proclaim my bronyism to a bunch of random classmates. You deserve points for bravery, but minus points for recklessness.

I think context and what you have to gain/lose from publicly identifying as a brony is the difference among most of our situations. I would hypothesize that those who have the most to lose from presenting yourself as a fan of FiM would be least likely to be open about it (Algernon).

Then there are a lot of people who don't really identify with mainstream, "normal" people, so they actually gain something from identifying with a group that offers support and a sense of belonging that the mainstream does not offer (Ideological).
 
 
Personally, I'm somewhere in the middle. I generally get along pretty well in the mainstream, but I don't have much to lose when presenting weird activities (e.g, FiM, Pokèmon, different taste in music) with my close friends.
 
But that's just me being blessed to have understanding friends who aren't so shallow in that aspect. Also, when you start to get older and when you move to areas that are more liberal, people stop caring so much about those things.
 

 
However, Connor, don't run yourself into a wall of ridicule if you don't have to. Again, I had a great time of high school, but it can suck if you don't play your cards right. So it's up to you if you think the presentation is worth what your classmates might give in return.

i became an open brony at the beginning of the week. worst idea ever.
i started with pony art in class (the people who sit around me are furries, so i didnt think it would be bad). i ended up showing it to some friends, both girls and one a lifelong pony fan. they freaked out, and requested one each. i didnt want to photocopy the drawing (it's a pencil sketch of luna in a santa hat btw), so i made a r.d. one. then a fluttershy. then twilight sparkle. an befoer i knew it, i had 8 (now 9). it had somehow been spread through the campus that i "draw ponies". now, i went from getting along with mainstream, to being hated and rejected. i have few friends, and luckily none of them abandoned me, but it had almost destroyed me socially.

and by the way, im gonna upload the pony art to deviant art one of these days, so if you want to see, i will post when i get them scanned and uploaded.

i think im the only one in all of the internet using the username "bijutdo", so when i post that there up there, just google me, and scroll down a little. it'll be there.

different taste in music

Oh I remember dealing with that one in high school. Back then, if you listened to anything but hip hop, you were instantly branded as gay. Which was funny, seeing as I went to one of the whitest schools in one of the whitest cities in the US.

And as to the current issue, I think coming out of the stable is entirely situational. As Verbose and bijutdo said, it can destroy you in high school. Algy is having similar problems in Uni. So look at your situation and your friends carefully, and try to gauge how the announcement will be received.

As for me, I wouldn't actively go an announce it to my friends, but if they found out I wouldn't really care either. They'd probably laugh at me for a while, but in the end we'd still be friends. You get to a certain point in life when you realize that everyone is weird in their own ways. And cue the life lesson imparted from the show: real friendship is stronger than that.

But high school is shallow. And Uni can be too sometimes. So like I said, look carefully at what might happen if you were to come out of the stable in front of your entire class.

Well, back into my Fortress of Solitude Studying.

My friends recently found out that I'm a brony. Well.. sort of. They knew i watched it, but they thought I just watched it to make fun of it or some shit. They recently found my brother's (Lolstaz's) youtube channel. One of my friends immediately deemed me and all my brony friends gay. He's kind of like that, always making fun of me. The other thought the songs were cool but refuses to give the show a try.

Connor wished for:

Luck, you should wish it to me (I’ll also be wearing my brony shirt).

Best of luck with your presentation dude. Show everyone who Bronies are really about. I wouldn't make it sound like there is a "war" though because some of your listeners might decide to take a side in that "war"

If you can change things completely then consider what Algernon said. You will definitely get more points for discussing an issue as serious as censorship. Plus with this website you have plenty of material and viewpoints to use for it. You could cite the comment section of the Internet Censorship article alone to prove just how influential it is.

Yea other guys in your class might be doing that subject too, but I bet you have more resources as a poster here.

If you really want to do it on Bronies, that's cool. If it were me, I'd probably talk about internet subcultures in general and how they influence people both in negative and positive ways, using the Brony fandom as an example.

opspe said:

Oh I remember dealing with that one in high school. Back then, if you listened to anything but hip hop, you were instantly branded as gay. Which was funny, seeing as I went to one of the whitest schools in one of the whitest cities in the US.

True words, even down here I got that. I think it was 2000 – 2002 where rap and hip-hop exploded in popularity and you were either a "gangsta" or a "homo" depending on which side you picked. Even I tried to join the Wigga bandwagon with my baggy jeans and thick hoodie. As a skinny nerd, you can imagine how that looked. (Interestingly enough a spike in Goth popularity immediately followed this period and Emo's were born. I wonder if that's no coincidence but I digress)

Algernon said:

I don’t know how you guys find the guts to do this sort of thing. I won’t even tell my closest friends, so I could never stand up and proclaim my bronyism to a bunch of random classmates. You deserve points for bravery, but minus points for recklessness.

My friends and family know I'm a Brony and they don't care. But that's probably just because I'm 24 and I don't have to prove myself to anyone. Plus they have always known me to be into weird shit and they themselves also don't regard themselves as ordinary.

But would I have told anyone in college? Hell no. Too many people there would have tried to use that against me.

So it depends who you hang out with. Whether they are understanding friends who are just as strange as you or college bullies will would just love to exploit the fact

Now that I think of it, I don't have a lot of friends outside of the Internet (you people have proven to me that I can consider you friends). I recently moved, didn't bother to acquire new friends. I graduated high school, and currently don't attend university, and I don't go out much, either. The few friends that I do have appreciate me for who I am; they accept my love of ponies, and a few of them are bronies themselves.

Hearing your stories, I realize that I'm truly blessed that my love for ponies does not significantly impact my social life.

Then again, I haven't got much of a social life.

And ponies can't destroy what you don't have.

Connor the 20% Cooler wrote:

Ric, you’re the one with the fic right? Remind me to read it, it need to give help if I ask for it.

Ric has/is currently in the process of writing one.
So am I…
and I linked it last page without a single reply on it…
/justsayin'

Also Connor, I read through the initial draft of your fic. It's interesting so far. I haven't read the expanded version yet, I need to sometime soon.

@Owens

Picture is relevant:

I wanna stay in this discussion but I gotta shoot of to the office now. Websites wont code themselves!

I'm still am and I have yet to get around to work on anything for chapter five because of school and some other reasons.
Good news everpony!

I think the model I'm making is gonna be epic and if you think it looks excellent then my talent or things I'm good at is making models! Or design!

I'm hoping my college friends appreciate me for who I am. If not, then I will be one miserable person. I am a proud goth (am I allowed to say that here without anypony thinking I'm pretending?) and brony and won't deal with any hate.

Hello everypony i finally uploaded my new sparta remix please tell me how good it is

Hmmmmm…….

(If this doesn't get posted, some chaotic little girl is going to the moon.)
Ha! In your face, Disaster Girl!

Well i don't care if anyone says its bad right now i only started to make them a few weeks ago

Hey, I know how you feel. You've seen my music, haven't you? It's not that great and I'm fine with that. I know I suck.

Yes i have seen your music

Replace it with Forever I think and put a spartan face on Twilight while she dances.

(Or a Pinkie Pie face).

She's scaring one of the incarnations of the Doctor. Heh heh the look on everypony's faces.

Anyone else spot the connection between Twilight's dance and this?

I have seen a version of that gif that says "White People"

A couple of people have. Wait a second…….

Something's fishy, The two dances. They are just too similar.

Seeing as how this show already referenced the Big Lebowski, Star Wars, and Chocolate Rain, I think this is no coincidence.

RAINBOW DASH ALWAYS DRESSES IN STYLE!!!!!!!1

Fanart only, of course. Next year's gala dress, hopefully. Got class.

RAINBOW DASH ALWAYS DRESSES IN STYLE!!!!!!!1

Fanart only, of course. It is 20% classier than last year's dress.

@Presenting ponies in school discussion

I don't really know anyone at my school and 90% of them aren't going to go to the same high school as me next year. So I don't very much care.
My friends have learned to tolerate it, the ones who don't like MLP just ignore me whenever I'm in a mood for talking about ponies (but then I have my brony friends for that). And one of my good friends who was shunning me for awhile got over that (it may be related to showing her SAM…).

I've also already done an assignment (autobiography monopoly board) for english where I proclaimed my love of ponies. No one I care about cares and it just makes everyone else leave me alone (I love that).

Yeah, the title of the paper would be: Brony trend good or bad for internet subculture. It would try to enumerate the good things that bronies do to contribute to the internet and show my opinion for it.

I probably will do Internet Censorship, just because I do like my serious reputation in that class. I'll probably just write an enumeration of brony pros.

So, yeah, I'm "brave" because I don't care what anyone else besides my friends (and sometimes not even them) think.

I also agree with Owens, you are real friends, even if I haven't and may never meet you. It's been a pleasure meeting and talking with you for months (and hopefully many months moar)!!!

Quiet thread is a boring thread. Have some controversy!

Yea kinda quiet today. I'm here though. Also on ponychan right now but still lurking here.

Connor the 20% Cooler wrote:

I also agree with Owens, you are real friends, even if I haven’t and may never meet you. It’s been a pleasure meeting and talking with you for months (and hopefully many months moar)!!!

I second that. And I hate most people. But I truly consider just about each and every one of you a great friend. Thank you. All of you.

At this point, I'd like to make a motion to reintroduce this classic GIF to represent the camaraderie currently being expressed.

Seriously though, you guys are awesome.

This is what Lyra is thinking, why does she want to go see RD. I think she just likes creeping around, she is green after all.

Yay, somepony on /fic/ said they'd review my story! But he says he'll be looking for plot holes…

Yep honestly you guys and this fandom is like finding a lush water hole in the dessert that we call the internet. It's a hostile environment out there but I come here for you guys to lift my self esteem (Even though I have low self esteem). You guys refresh my mood from dehydration of no happiness to having a smile and laughing like Pinkie Pie again.
It's basically like finding a medical crate and pills of ammo from a long and frustrating fire fight.

Everytime I see that Gif, my spine hurts.

Also, I don't hang out at ponychan often but…why does Raindrop Showers have a fandom too?

Connor wrote:

Quiet thread is a boring thread. Have some controversy!

You call that controversy? Meh. It's just TwiDash. I was checking out all of the Tumblrs everyone recommended yesterday (thanks again btw) and I ended up on the ask-lil-miss-rarity page (NSFW). That's some serious controversy. I was like this the entire time:

(Don't click that link if you're offended by R34, grimdark, or a combination of the two)

But he says he’ll be looking for plot holes…

Heh… plotholes. That word now has a completely different meaning to me. Blame Verbose.

@Everyone talking about friendship 'n stuff
Yeah, you guys are pretty awesome. Awesome even by the standards of the brony community, and that's setting the bar pretty damn high. Brohoofs (brohooves?) for everyone!

Never heard of 'em
Literally I never of her did till now….

Yay, we're all awesome friends!

And now cuteshippingofawesomeness!

Hello guys, what's up?

@Connor
School presentation about ponies? Nice. I've done that awhile ago too. Had to make a free presentation, and if I could, would have done that totally about ponies. But unfortunatelly, the cartoon is more than unknown here and MLP is still tagged as gay and girly by most people. So instead, I made a presentation about internet memes (no idea where the inspiration came from hehe) and at the very end made a little explanation about FiM and how quickly it spread through the net.

Thought the people watching would get more interrested, but the didn't :/ . They just ignored it, what made me dissapointed a bit. But anyways, I just wanted for once to talk about ponies out of the net and had nothing to loose either. So, I counted that as a win.

@Brony friedship in here.
Yeas, guess I can too call you my friends. IRL is really difficult for me to make some, but thank Celestia internet exists to make our lifes easier.

To all of you:

You forgot the window! jumps out

Algernon wrote:

Heh… plotholes. That word now has a completely different meaning to me. Blame Verbose.

Meh. You'll never need to keep a straight face in your literature classes anyway.

@Everyone talking about friendship ‘n stuff
Yeah, you guys are pretty awesome. Awesome even by the standards of the brony community, and that’s setting the bar pretty damn high. Brohoofs (brohooves?) for everyone!

Psh. F*ck that. Y'all is sum pvssy @ss n!ggas talkin bout frendship n sh!t. I dun need none uh y'all pink b!tch @sses…
 
 
 
 
 

…
 
 
 
 
 

(Thanks for helping me get through grad school, guys. I really appreciate it. Along with all of KYM, but I wouldn't have stayed after my failed Discussion thread if it weren't for you guys.)

But really. Enough of all that, hm? Do whatever it is you do. I have projects to work on.

What did I just read??

I see that Random put my hiccuping PInkie gif in the Pony Reactions entry. Remind me to hug him.

RandomMan, NOOOOOOOOooooo!!!!

My body is ready darling…

(I sense Fleur will set some competition for most classy pony with Rarity soon enough)

@Greg
I'm still surprised nopony has ever asked my tumblr questions about her. She's obviously Prench.