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Just a discussion thread. How has the brony subculture affected the site of KYM, and in a positive or negative way? Is it even a subculture in our opinion, or is it still just within the boundaries of meme status? What is your personal opinion about bronies, and MLP:FIM in general? Just a simple discussion thread. About bronies. How original.

It's created a cult-mindset among lesser-known members, generated much frustration, and has created irreparable rifts between specific members.

I don't quite understand why you used the term "doctrine" in the title. It's not really relevant.

I have a very strong reason to side with the bronies. Through-out high school I was the school pacifist. Thus, they knew I wouldn’t fight back against being punched, spat on, and getting my stuff stolen (often using my atheism as an excuse for their behavior, like that makes it better somehow). What I did was I sat down one of the aggressors to talk, he told me about his abusive older brother- how he was treated like dirt for a good portion of his life. I hugged him. Do I forgive him? No, not really. He has seems to at least be trying to get better over time, and has made some actual friends. I’m proud of him.

What does this have to do with anything?

We live in a world where people steel their emotions toward others and toward the future. Where fists are given more reverence the words. I fear for the future. The brony community, on the other hand, has been the kindest and most accepting group of individuals I’ve ever met.

If there is hope, it lies with the bronies.

That is a perfectly legitimate opinion, good sir.

Fandom can be a dangerous thing, indeed.

I am fine with people liking the show. Granted, it has a major amount of effort put into it, something rare amongst modern cartoons.

However, I am disturbed by the sheer amount of obsession put into the series. Really… really disturbed…
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Also I think the people in Pony General should COME OUTSIDE AND SAY HI TO THE REST OF THE FORUMS!!

You make a good point, but the fact you generalize and say all bronies are like that is where you're wrong. I think it's annoying when some bronies give it to much praise and talk shit on everything else, but every fandom has that problem. I like mlp, but I recognize that other shows are superior and I'd hardly call it the best. Is it wrong to think its the best? No, but as long as you don't try to say its the best and everything else pales in comparison, which unfortunately some do. Like I said though, this is hardly exclusive to the brony fandom.

The Pokemon Doctrine.

The game has brainwashed people into thinking that it's the only game that matters, and they are a force that must be stopped.

Loving Pokemon but hating bronyism is extremely hypocritical, and I'm surprised you haven't realised that yet. Let's break it down, shall we?

• Both Pokemon and MLP are intended for young children, around 8-12.
• Both Pokemon and MLP have large 20-30 demographics.
• Both Pokemon (the shows) and MLP have sub-par animation, with the latter having arguably better animation than the former.
• Both Pokemon (the shows) and MLP preach simple values for children (Which should be expected of them, since they're both meant for children) or don't have very good/have no adult themes (see previous parentheses).
• Both Pokemon and MLP revolve around fictional creatures with powers.
• Both Pokemon and MLP have generic character archetypes.
• Both Pokemon and MLP have a percentage of fans that will protect the game/show with annoying rhetoric ("You didn't play Pokemon as a kid? YOU DON'T HAVE A CHILDHOOD!" "You've never watched MLP? FIRE THE LOVE AND TOLERANCE CANNON LOLOLO).

Seriously Adam, you've brought this up, and have been shown how hypocritical your arguments are, many times now. Your assertions aren't going to become more correct every time you post them.

@russian fedora

I do disagree that the animation is subpar though. Id say mlp is up there with the new looney tunes show in terms of use of flash. I will admit however that the lack of different shapes in the ponies do hinder it quite a bit. I mean everyone has the exact same body type pretty much.

Oh god you can actually write well

No seriously, that was an excellent post. That should shut him up for a while.

Oh, hey, people are talking about a fandom as if it affects the personality of the person gravely and is the sole reason they act the way they do.

If that guy is acting like an asshole, he'd be acting like an asshole whether he was a weaboo, a brony, both, or neither. If that guy is acting kind and tolerant, he would whether he was a CoDfag, a brony, a pokefag, or any other -fag.

Saying a fandom is bad is like saying a community is bad based on the actions of one fucking person. If I did that, I would have slit my wrists years ago for the retards that come out of Texas. Same deal with bronies, TF2, etc.

If you really feel the need to judge an entire fandom based on anything, take a second to realize how fucking retarded you are, and then try again. If you try again, take another second to realize how fucking retarded you are, and then go take a nap. Seriously, I'm not joking, and I'm coming from experience. I used to be a dick to a lot of different 'fandoms' (CoDfags and shit like that), but then I realized I was being a dick and cut it out, because idiots are idiots regardless of what they like.

So, before you hate, don't hate, because it makes you look like an ass-hat that doesn't know that generalizations make you look like an ass-hat.

My opinion on bronies: Some of the nicest, funniest, overall good people in the world. (Minus the ten year olds who shove the show up people's asses to annoy them.)

My opinion on haters: You can hate if you have legitimate reasons, other than that, grow the hell up and let bronies be bronies. If you feel like they're invading the internet, then leave.

I have the simplest viewpoint of all: It's there, its funny and entertaining. I make the most of it.

If people have an issue with it, that's their problem.

Other than a population distribution of -Other Members | Bronies- being largely upset causing the MLP image section to be full of images being uploaded each day, probably about 50 more than any other popular entry average? Not forgetting when you upload something that mentions MLP in any way it could be either seriously criticised or loved.

According to the bronies who touched the thumbs up/down buttons, that is; The other users probably would either not be looking at the image, or be a lesser percentage of the users who did and/or voted.

If you go to most popular images (i.e. Most liked or Favourited) I could probably guarantee you -without looking- that it will come up with a lot of MLP related images.

Likewise, if you go least liked, it's likely (of course you'll get bad stuff there) that you probably get a MLP related disturbing picture of some sort. I'm not saying that will happen, I'm guessing, even though, of course, I could check right now. But what I could possibly guarantee is you will find MLP hate images with a serious net total sunk into the negative.

/verbose

First to answer the OP's question:

For all accounts, it seems that bronies and MLP attract the largest number of new members, a community like KYM can not thrive without new members, you always need new people to prevent a community from getting stale, anyone denying that has a severe case of elitist oldfag, and judging by the MLP Image Gallery's daily views alone they also seem to provide a steady ad-based income for KYM, and if people don't like that they can just use the "less Ponies" button, it was the easiest compromise to please the non-bronies without denying KYM of the extra needed money.

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Now for the "only show that matters" unbased argument:

Check the Homestuck general, 50% of the regular posters there watch MLP. (Jackal Lantern, Gamzee, BSoD, Fridge Logic, DPF and others)
In the Legend of Korra thread that percentage is actually higher, and it includes Platus (KYM's resident ponyologist).
And it's bronies that told me to watch Gravity Falls, telling me it's an awesome series (and it is, so very much).
I don't know which thread do you frequent Adam, but I'd like you to link me to a show's thread that has a brony trolling it and saying that MLP is the best shit ever, and even if such a thing did happen, it's probably a troll utilizing MLP's ability to cause the most massive amounts of rage to get a reaction out of you.
Even when Fifths critiqued LoK on its thread he left MLP out of it, and just discussed the show and compared it to its previous installment.

And no Adam, I'm not attacking you, just your argument.
The OP's question is about the changes the KYM's bronies have done, it's NOT a place for you to randomly rage about bronies and threaten to "stop" them. People who rage about ponies/bronies at any mention are as obnoxious as those who think any horse ever is an MLP reference.

But in-case your argument WAS intended for the bronies at this site, then I'm sorry and I apologize, the lack of evidence simply made me think that you meant that against bronies all over the internet.

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Natsuru Springfield wrote:

However, I am disturbed by the sheer amount of obsession put into the series. Really… really disturbed…

As a person who once took part of the Touhou fandom, I have to say that Bronies got nothing on the obsession of touhou fans.

In my (enjoyable) time that I spent in the fandom, I've seen touhou crossed with everything from tanks to batman, I've seen fan made anime-episodes that border on official quality, I've seen endless remixes from club music to traditional Japanese music, I've seen countless doujins ranging from Work-safe to Not-safe-for-sanity and new doujinshis are still the main focus of most Comickets.

All that is for an indie Bullet-Hell game.

And yes at some time during this site's lifetime, touhou fans did form a "cult of lesser known members", and to this day it still kinda does (E.G: I doubt Cirno the Strongest would have received the same warm welcome here, were he/she not named like that)

And I kind of understood people being disturbed seeing that most of these works feature 8-year old girls or Lolis (Yes I know that Onis/Vampires/Kitsune are several thousand years old, and that most of them are NOT that young), sometimes people even escalated to calling Touhou fans pedophiles, which is definitely not true.

So as a touhou fan I have to say, "Disturbed" is a strong word, you're overreacting and kinda being hypocritical.

Also you too didn't answer the OP's question completely, namely the part that speaks of the changes bronies brought to this site (actually almost anyone that isn't Kaisrkae didn't answer the first part and just used this thread as a soapbox to voice their opinions/rage on the fandom), you are one of my favorite posters here, so I was just curious about your opinion.

As for the Get Out of the Pony General thing, It's their choice, we aren't forming a secret cult, they aren't forcing you to post in the PG thread (though you are more than welcome to), so I don't think it's right to FORCE them to post outside it.

I would love to respond to Hipster-mode: Activate *Witchy*'s post too, but this post is getting kind of long…..

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:Quantum Meme: wrote:

/verbose

Get on my level, noob.
God I miss MDFification….. GET BACK ALREADY DAMMIT I NEED YOU!

INB4 TL;DR, didn't read lol, you wrote so much text… etc. etc.

Taking a moment to voice my own opinion, I've got no problem with MLP or Bronies (I used to be one *WONK), but I feel like this site, and the Internet in general, takes the whole situation far too seriously. It isn't a cancer spreading, it's not a Cult, it isn't even gender Confusion.

It's people watching a Cartoon and liking it.

Srsly.

I disagree with the thought that the brony fandom is the most loving and tolerating fandom. I don't think they are bad by any means, but I don't see any differance between the brony fandom or say the Avatar fandom. Bodybuilding.com has one of the most supportive and helpfull communities I seen for example as long as you stay away from misc and behave. When I group of people like the same thing, it creates a comradery and anyone who joins will be welcomed with open arms. To someone who's never felt like they belong, it might seem like bronies are the most welcoming, but I've seen enough comments on various websites to see that bronies are just a regular fandom. The thought that bronies are any different than any other fandom on both sides ( non-brony, brony) is what makes it so contraversial.

Theres a brony doctrine? Im a brainwashed zombie?

Wow, and here i just thought the show made me laugh. Thank you for opening my eyes to the My Little Pony regimes horrendous acts of inhumanism and terror.

This is pretty much the effect on the site in a nutshell
For some reason, liking a goddamn show has torn a lot of people apart, made users want to tear their hair out, and the comments section is basically a giant secret society. PG posters might not visit the rest of the forums, but commentators rarely leave the damn MLP page. They even refuse to use the thread for what its supposed to be used for :
Getting the damn article off the trending bar.
The comments are for things such as research on the article itself, not a forum thread.
I wasn't here for the start of the article, or the massive flood of bronies to the site. I wasn't here to see bods destroyed or the userbase torn apart. I missed everything up until somewhere around mid-September.
But I can see the scars left behind. The shattered remains of what it used to be.
And I loathe myself for not getting here sooner so I could see what it was like before. I'm left with the fallout of MLP's initial documentation. I will never see what everyone used to be like before. I just wish that we could all get along, and accept the damn opinions of others.
Tl;Dr, I'm a fucking idiot

Uh….that's still being hypocritical. Look at Pyro, opspe, and Verbose. All three are bronies, none of them have a pony avatar, and all of them are interested in things other than ponies. opspe in chemistry, Pyro in TF2 and Transformers, and Verbose in sports. MLP is nothing but something they enjoy alongside many other activities and media. Yes, there are some bronies who think MLP is the only thing that matters. But those are just a part of the fandom. Do not judge the many on the actions of the few.

Ah yes. The Loud Minority Issue. Hate that.

Thank you, X-singular. I was going to say that OP's question wasn't directly being answered by many people.
 

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As for OP:

• How has the brony subculture affected the site of KYM, and in a positive or negative way?

There are a few ways to go about this question (Oh, what fun!)

Since I've started posting (about March of last year), the rise and development of the brony subculture seems to have had a bigger effect on KYM than any other memetic content, by far.

Positively, I think it's brought a ton of people to the site. Great for revenue, but great for the site's community at large as well. For example, whether or not I'm an asset to the forum community is up to your own opinion, but I began to post after having an account for about two years only because of my initial interest in the brony community (and subsequently, the show itself.) I posted solely in the comments of the FiM article, and the structure of the site and those who enforced it at the time directed me and others to Pony General.

When a thread (similar to this one,) presented itself, I thought to join in. My first time posting outside of the thread. I enjoyed the conversation there, so when threads about other topics in which I had interest started up (including those with a user named ChipBeat and with Brucker,) I felt more comfortable with participating in them.
 
In part, because I wasn't fully aware of the animosity towards the brony community at the time. This is where the negatives come in. While I was posting in the comments area, I knew nothing of the forum. During that time and before that, pony threads were apparently rampant. That brought up the need for The Pony General, now of various incarnations.

Even within the comments, people complained (some with good arguments for it,) about how the MLP:FiM article was always trending. There are some ubiquitous memetic content that I would get tired of, so I could imagine someone getting annoyed with seeing the same stylized ponies anywhere for a memetic focus that has been huge on the Internet for what is approaching two years.

If you don't like people of a certain subculture or a certain content, then you can usually avoid them IRL. Many of us certainly do. But since this community revolved around memes and subcultures that are the origins of their own memetic content, it's not something you can easily remove yourself from. And since Pony is the biggest thing in Web Culture that I can remember, it's not something that you could avoid…without leaving Web Culture. And the broader Web Culture is a place where many people find refuge from their bland, unappealing, or otherwise unfulfilling IRL lives. It must be frustrating to find that refuge to be filled with another culture that you don't care for.

Also, specific to KYM, there is an annoying animosity between those who only interact with other bronies and those who do not interact in those realms. Users such as BSoD, burning_phoneix, and others probably aren't hated for being involved with the brony community. But like Natsuru has brought up, I don't think non-brony users like the brony users who don't have an interest in other parts of the site.

If they've given other parts of the site/forum a shot and decided that they didn't like it, then I don't have a problem with them wanting to stick to brony-specific "areas." That's much like real life. If you don't like the people or the focus of a culture, then you leave it be. Why spend your time with something you don't like?
 
 
So more simply, it's good in that it's bringing new people to the site who haven't been represented before. It's bad in that there's an ever-present animosity among members. I really wish it would go away, because I don't think that bronies are doing anything wrong anymore. I no longer see the need for it.

• Is it even a subculture in our opinion, or is it still just within the boundaries of meme status?

Maybe it's because I follow and am involved with the community, but I don't even think that it's a question at this point.

I can't think of a subculture here that may actually fit the definition of subculture as I have learned it (including the attributes of shared understandings and shared values) better than bronydom. Not all bronies subscribe to the "love and tolerate" doctrine (some don't care for it and some fail to adhere to it,) but the doctrine is there. Pretty much every brony knows about it and knows how it suffuses many of the larger sites regarding the fandom. Even though there are shared understandings revolving around the focus on entertainment for other fandoms (and forgive me if there are,) but I can't think of a set of beliefs that are so prevalent in macros and art as they are in Pony fanart.

• What is your personal opinion about bronies, and MLP:FIM in general?

I'm certainly a brony. There's no real, hard definition of "brony," but I think anyone knowing my interactions and activities online would say that I am a brony.

However, there are different people within the fandom that I like and that I dislike. There are certain bronies on KYM that I like and dislike. On the whole, I can't make many generalizations about all bronies. But I will say that the tenets of not being a jerk are appealing for anyone. Even though people don't always like the turn-the-other-cheek, "doormat" approach to dealing with people who mean you no good, I think that nearly all bronies have the focal point of ponies talking about being friends and being friendly. If you're discussing the show, then you're always discussing friendship and what it means to be friendly. It sorta sneaks into the tone of the conversation when you're having a debate about what cutie marks the Cutie Mark Crusaders going by the names of Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom will have or even if you're arguing why Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are a more interesting shipping pari than Rarity and Applejack (which isn't in bold, because Applejack isn't that fruity* of a name.)

*It's funny, because her name is Applejack, and an apple is a fruit, and it's in her name. Give me money.

• Just a simple discussion thread. About bronies. How original.

Some people on the site simply won't get it. Adam seems to be one of those people, but I think that civil discussion about the fandom specific to KYM is the only way that any lingering angst will dissipate between the "two" parties.

I feel like they're taking all the spotlight away from shows that need fans.
I know they like other things, but sometimes it feels to me like they don't like them enough.
There could be a TV show out there about to face cancellation, while your show is getting 15 more seasons.

@Moon

Look at Pyro, opspe, and Verbose…

…And Dac, and Phoneix and Myself. We don't have Pony Avatars either. We didn't post PMV's or music from MLP in the music threads. Not only are we active outside of PG, we are also active on other "Generals". Dac's in Korra, Phoneix in World of Tanks and myself in Homestuck.

We all like MLP but none of us say its better than the rest. I put MLP next to Samurai jack and Dexters Lab, but it's still behind Batman of the Future for me.

Just expanding on your point

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@Pyro

And I loathe myself for not getting here sooner so I could see what it was like before. I’m left with the fallout of MLP’s initial documentation.

The old forum records are still there if you want to browse through them. But you might find that the Brony community hasn't changed massively aside from alterations in attitudes towards it on this particular forum.

Back when I lurked KYM I watched the rise of ponies here so while I wasn't involved, I saw what it was like.

I think this forum had a stage of massive anti-pony backlash at one point, but gradually became more accepting. But the Bronies of the past still had their shitstorms and jubilations. R34 and shipping was posted back then just as much as it is now and people had shitstorms over it just like they do now. Trolls attacked the article back then just as much as they do now. People posted images/video's and had fun just as much as they do now. Same kind of stuff too.

What I hadn't seen is induvidual people having massive dramatic temperamental episodes on the forum over things like karma or differing perspectives. I didn't lurk the forum so I missed that part. I don't know if that's changed.

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@Meow

I feel like they’re taking all the spotlight away from shows that need fans.

I find that to be a rather unfair assertion. Is it our responsibility to give other TV shows equally as much attention as we give MLP? You make it sound like fan support is a commodity that must be equally and fairly distributed among the media (which is not possible)

It's not our fault if other shows don't catch our attention as much as MLP does.

If other TV shows are worthy of our praise then they get that praise. Korra received this from Bronies, so has Pokemon. We have fans of those shows too. As for everything else; it's all a matter of subjective opinion and personal taste.

If other shows/fandoms don't appeal then they don't appeal. You can't blame us for that.

@BlueScreen
I was refering to what the userbase was like before all the tension, but I do suppose its my fault for not specifiying.

Sorry for double posting, but I feel like the first post may be pushing the character limit.

As for the show itself, I love it. I don't care if it's not objectively the best show ever. It's not even close to being considered for that "title." But in my opinion, it doesn't have to be.

Even though the initial feeling has gone away, watching the actual show as portrayed by DHX, just makes me feel good. There are a ton of other shows that are targeting young girls or young children, but those are just annoying to me. Adventure Time and Regular Show are awesome shows too, but there's no hook to make me want to watch it on a regular basis (and most certainly not on Saturday mornings where I'd normally sleep in.)

I think the combination of Lauren Faust's concept of the universe, her design on the ponies, the animation (even in using Flash,) the writing of the scripts, the music, and, of course, the voice acting makes the show unique. And I think that it's appealing to many people within Web Culture.

I would love to see it reach more audiences in mainstream culture, because I think that Lauren Faust and DHX accidentally hit on a show that appeals to something innate. I doubt it's a need, because I was getting along fine without the show (although my mood has certainly gotten better in the past year and a half for reasons including my involvement with the show and the fandom.) But just like objective or cultural beauty (inb4 eye of the beholder, because I can debunk that) there are certain aspects of the show that I think appeals to many audiences. I wonder if that's specific to geeks like us, or if it would appeal to most humans.

And what is it about FiM that has had not only a broad impact in Web Culture, but such as profound impact on its individuals. I mean, this show is helping to bring people out of depression and is getting kids to stop (or start…) masturbating.

When people start changing their sexual habits based on the influence of ANYTHING, something is up.

WHAT DID YOU DO, LAUREN FAUST.

That was pretty enjoyable to read, Verbose. And, X…

Too long, way too long; read some.

@Pyro

Oh okay. I guess I cannot help you there as I only lurked. I never got to know anybody. The least you can do is ask someone who was there, probably by looking up the first PG thread and seeing what regulars used to post in it. I think Verbose and Algernon are among those who witnessed the early days of Ponies on this forum.

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@Verbose

Pretty much everything you said. Also don't worry about double posting, enough posters ninja'd you between posts to break them up

@bsod

Actually, pheonix has a pheonix from mlp as his avatar, but everything else you said was spot on.

Quality thread right here. If you haven't read every last post, please do so now.

And I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with a pony avatar. It's no different than dac's Tarrlok from Korra, or Natsuru's Reimu from Touhou or Kaisrkae's Rachel from The Amazing World of Gumball. It's just something we like and use to represent ourselves. It doesn't define us in any shape or form, it's just there above our names to look nice.

Oh look the time-bomb thread didn't go off. Nice.

Now that we seem to have settled into srs discussion… I will answer questions to the best of my short ability.

"How has the subculture affected KYM?"
Many many new members and MLP expanding like the Big Bang, from what I can tell.

"Is it a subculture, or a meme?"
It was always a subculture once it hit the critical mass needed. Ponies themselves are not memes, just as TF2 itself isn't a meme, and Avatar is not a meme.

"What is your opinion on the fanbase?"
They're fucked up, mostly in the good way but partly in the bad way. They've got a reputation as the Canadians of the internet, and though it's overstating it, they tend to be nicer people overall (I think the show might attract nice people, instead of making them nice, though the latter still happens). But overall they're a fanbase, so realistically an opinion on them is going to be generalizing.

"Just a simple discussion thread. About bronies."
Trufax: for a few hours after you posted it I was scared out of my mind that this was a timebomb lying in a pile of atomic weapons inside a bunker made of thermite buried under a planet made entirely of C4. But the only reason I'm posting here seems to be that exploding has been averted, which pleasantly surprised me. So good on you KYM.

@X-Singular:

I hoped onto the Touhou Fanwagon just as it's popularity was going downhill, so I never knew of the times when the fandom was like that. I can find plenty of evidence to support that it was a crazy ass fandom like any, but I can't see any evidence showing that it's obsession was never nearly as great as the Pony Fandom had.

In the English Web anyways.

However… disturbed is the best word I could make up for how I feel. Indeed, it's a bit harsh but it's just part of what I feel. I also feel sad that so many people are too afraid/disturbingly obsessed to leave their secret cult to interact with the community I am a part of…

Granted, it has been getting better as several of the Pony General users have started using more of the forums, but that is still how I feel.

@Natsuru
Secret cult? It's not exactly secret when anyone can go into Pony General and see exactly what is going on at any given moment in time. You're making this sound like some sort of brony conspiracy. There are a few posters that only post in Pony General, yes, but those people are few and far between.

You're excuse that Touhou is not nearly as large as Ponies is not a valid argument. You're still part of a fandom that is, in many respects, similar to the current one found in MLP. I sort of agree with you on the disturbed thing, as some people do take it way to seriously and obsessively, but you can't generalize it to say that the entire fandom acts like that.

I've only been here for a month, so I can't really explain. I can say that it was an incident (youtube comment war with a brony on the "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" official music video page) with a brony that eventually led to me to visiting KYM to get the full information on this brony subculture (I'd had previously checked the site casually when I wanted to get some information on memes once in a while…watched several episodes too).

From what I've seen after 2-3 months, it's a few things. First, there is the dark side of the subculture, which involve cloppers, mass trips to McDonalds to ransack MLP Happy Meals, their shopping trips, and acting too cult like (remember at the earlier bronycon when someone yelled "You are the champion!" to Asheleigh Bell after she spoke a line from the .MOV series in Applejack's voice).

Then there was the light side of the subculture, which I've seen here. Thanks to Saberspark's Ballad of the Brony documentary, I kind of understood that the fanbase I saw before was not the full majority, and there were actually a ton of people who put in hard work into something they like. The guy who runs Equestria Daily literally had to drop out of school just to keep the website running in it's early stages. That's what I call dedication and sacrifice. It actually changed my ways on how I viewed other fanbases after awhile. I realized my mindless bashing of Call of Duty was stupid and immature and slowly stopped making anti-COD comments everywhere.

As for the TV show, it's audience I feel grew larger because of several things:
*Easy to find on the Internet
*Cartoon kind of reminded them of older cartoons
*The way it spread

Also, someone said something about taking audiences away from TV Shows that are facing cancellation. That claim is kind of iffy. Right now, broadcast TV is terrible, just a few good shows currently, and some are on their last legs. CBS has nothing but crime shows these days, ABC and Fox are kind of mixed bag, and NBC literally has nothing (the shows that get praised on the internet are actually the ones that have issues with ratings). And not everyone gets premium cable (they're extra pay channels) so it's gonna be difficult to watch some of the even big name shows.

And cartoons, they literally are tough to find these days. In the 80s and 90s, a lot of the top cartoons were possible due to Saturday morning cartoons and weekday slots, but those choices have been reduced since last decade. Even though cable channels are more accessible these days, the options are very limited. Besides, some channels keep cash cowing their top franchises even when they suck, or try ideas that are so stupid it discourages viewers away.

Like I said, I'm neutral to the brony culture (especially after that incident) and I won't choose sides. And if I hate something, I never ever visit those areas and just focus on finding stuff I like.

"My behavior defines the behavior of every pokemon fan on the planet. If I don't think that Pokemon is the only game that matters, no one does."

Adam, do you ever feel like you're living in a Charlie Chaplin movie? Because your eyes seem to be tinted black and white.

Though I did have the ultimate badass Ed Harris as an avatar for the longest time. I better go back to him one day.

I was gonna have something to say but this thread has several excellent tl;drs on this subject.

KYM COMMUNITY. AM PROUD

i sided with bronies because:
I quote Gandhi, You cannot shake hands with a fist. People can really become a better person from it, but I do believe some have over indulged in the show. having this "waifu" pony non-sense. I hear people saying they'd tap a pony, but I think they are talking about a human type version, anything other would be going too far.

If you hate them, remember one thing. At least they are not fandom-izing over something that could cause anyone to become aggressive and evil. I Believe people watching the show are using it as a way to channel themselves.

I've been here for three years, and let me tell you, this fandom hasn't changed shit. Creepy, obsessive people were eerily fixated on something else before pony came along. Loudmouth, whiny people were every bit as bitchy and obnoxious. Before MLP, we were all stuck on TF2, Touhou, Pokemon, or some other shit. The only real difference is the size of this fandom. This has become such a huge phenomenon in internet culture. That's why it seems different. In reality, it's the same shit with more people. More creeps. More haters. And it just seems like a big deal when there are so many dumb people spreading so many dumb opinions on both sides. But, like Kaisrkae said, it's just loud minorities.

they are a force that must be stopped.

Pokemon fans don’t think it’s the only thing that matters.

People that don't even like ponies are telling you that your arguments are bad. Please, put a little more thought into your arguments. Sure, some people like this show. Some people think it's the best. That's fine. People are allowed to have opinions. Some people treat it like it's the best thing ever, and diss everyone who doesn't agree. That's bad. However, the only person in this thread doing that is you. Pony General regulars straight-up said they don't think it's the best show, and yet you just bitch about how Pokemon is better, and the pokemon fandom is better because they like stuff other than pokemon… and then you just keep talking about pokemon. Your hypocritical behavior is greatly disappointing, and you need to learn to stop projecting your flaws onto everyone else.

And by the way, I like Venture Brothers, Homestuck, and Borderlands every bit as much as MLP. I just don't talk about them because there's no Venture general, Thomas Nair was the only person that talked to me in Borderlands general so we took the discussion to our walls, and I do occasionally post in Homestuck general. That's why I "obsess" over MLP. Because people actually want to talk about it.

I think the people in Pony General should COME OUTSIDE AND SAY HI TO THE REST OF THE FORUMS!!

JFF isn't my thing, and general hasn't had many discussions that interest me as of late. I could start my own thread, but threads I make never last more than a page, so I just stick to other people's threads that interest me, since the conversation's more likely to continue. When I've got a good reason to come out, I will, and I do, but Pony General is just more fun for some of us.

If that guy is acting like an asshole, he’d be acting like an asshole whether he was a weaboo, a brony, both, or neither. If that guy is acting kind and tolerant, he would whether he was a CoDfag, a brony, a pokefag, or any other -fag.

I feel like this site, and the Internet in general, takes the whole situation far too seriously. It isn’t a cancer spreading, it’s not a Cult, it isn’t even gender Confusion.

QFT. Verbose also speaks the truth, but I ain't about to quote all that!

TL;DR version: my little pony is for fagets real men watch care bears get on my level fags lololol

Ok, first, you can't speak for Pokemon fans as a whole. Pokemon fans have only one thing in common, the fact that they like pokemon. The way you are says nothing about the whole. Same thing with bronies. Bronies aren't a single entity of like minded people that all act the same, they are just people that like a show. Second, posting a song from a brony artist under fav songs or having a pony avatar does not mean its the only thing that matters to you. That reasoning is just ridiculous. Could it be that mabye they just like that song? I posted a picture of amon in pony general and use avatar gifs sometimes. Does that mean i dedicate my life to it? No. Using your same logic, if your profile pics are to be believed, you only have one white shirt, a pair of sweats, and an ill fitting trench coat, oh, and you also think only Pokemon matters because you have a random Pokemon picture floating to the side. I'm sure some bronies take it too far, but that could be said about anything.
Really, you need to sit down and think " why do I consider myself better than bronies?". Russian fedora laid out the similarities in the show and fandoms and you don't strike me as a cool cat type of dude, think about it for a bit.

@pheonix

I was gonna say that, you should use him again, but use a pic from him in The Rock.

I think that may be part of the issue here. Granted, the structure of the forums and the site make the delineation of "brony" and "non-brony" very easy to draw, but any dichotomous, off/on, yes/no grouping creates a very simple "us vs. them" mentality. There shouldn't be sides, just like there aren't sides for some other fandoms (I do think that furries have that sort of animosity going against them though.)

There is also the logical nature of the focal point of the fandom. Not everyone likes the show or the content from the fandom, so many people who don't like the show won't go into those areas, because:

1. If they aren't known by the comments area or Pony General and they say something that's anything more negative than neutral, then they'll get buried in negakrama.
2. They don't like the content or the show, and they'll be likely to see a ton of the content.
3. They've been told by plenty of others, bronies are non-bronies alike, to not go into those areas if they don't have anything to contribute to the conversation.

Which is understandable, but if you're on the extremes of hating bronies or not wanting to leave Pony areas of the site, then there's no way you can get to know users inside/outside of those areas. It only helps to reinforce an "other" perception of those that they don't interact with regularly.

So what you end up with is a classic case of informal segregation. And segregation tends to lead people to stereotypes of another group, because you don't know of the individuals. And there is no space for people to get to know each other.
 
…
 
I propose a Pony General/FiM Comments article/I-have-business-elsewhere-on-KYM meet and greet thread.

Then everyone will get to know who Ashbot is, who AugustDay is, and who Nathan is. And then we will hug. And everything will be OK.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

#thisisnotaverygoodidea
#everythingwontbeok
#someonehelpannieissheokareyouokannie
#THAKANGOFPOP

This could be said for some other fandoms as well such as the Trekkies and such.

As for coming out of the Pony General thread. I do, but I do only when the other topic interest me such as the Pokemon thread that Verbose put up, or the Wreck-It Ralph trailer was also put up. If the topic doesn't interest me, I have no reason to post in it. I mean, that wouldn't make sense to post in something you're not interested in, would it?

You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid is one of my favorite songs i hate that there yelling about something so stupid like that. now that just a lose lose situation right there

Pokemon fans and bronies have almost no common relations. The only thing I can think of between the two are that pokemon are loved by people of an older than predicted age group, so as MLP… But MLP was meant to be a family show, so we cannot say it is completely entitled for little girls. That isn't entitlement, that's just sexism and agism, IMO. I do not like Pokemon for the reason of it having no good support for what it is, and the gen. seems to be taken over by people who should of been done with pokemon during their childhood. it's washed up.

TL;DR MLP is a family show, Pokemon is a washed up generation. But that's just in my eyes. sorry to offend anyone who plays it.

@lolgineer
"TL;DR MLP is a family show, Pokemon is a washed up generation. But that’s just in my eyes. sorry to offend anyone who plays it."

Mlp is not a family show. It's time slot is a good indication for who it's meant for. Faust said that she made mlp the way she did so parents could watch it with their kids and enjoy it, but she didn't intend it to be a show the whole family would sit on the couch to watch.

"I do not like Pokemon for the reason of it having no good support for what it is, and the gen. seems to be taken over by people who should of been done with pokemon during their childhood. it’s washed up."

Pokemon games are good games that many people enjoy. It's not washed up even if you don't like it. Also, saying people should have been done with it when they were young is the same as saying mlp fans shouldn't be watching cartoons anymore, let alone ones for girls.

Related:

cought *cough

I used "Secret Cult" to dramatize what I see of Pony General. I have gone into that thread to see what was going on, and found at least 20 maybe 30 users who I haven't seen anywhere else on the website. So hopefully you can see why I was instantly alienated and never came back. Thus, a secret cult like-effect.
--

You must have misinterpreted my argument. I simply was stating that Touhou could not have possibly had the same impact on the (English) internet as a whole as MLP FIM. And I backed up my statement with evidence. So what if I am apart of the clearly not as popular fanbase? Yes, alienation occurs and yes everyone finds their alienation disturbing and tend to fight against it.

Also: I admitted the Impact Type was similar despite the Impact Size being drastically different. I don't know why you are trying to confront me on that. (Unless my manipulation of the English Language is failing me, though that would be a personal issue)
--

Scale and time play a huge role in how I view the two fanbases.

Again I learned about and joined the Touhou Fanbase as it's popularity began to wane. I could not have possibly known how obnoxious or disturbing the fanbase was prior to me joining. Memories of Phantasm and Ten Desires where the only events I got to experience.

On the other hand, I saw MLP:FIM take off from the ground, once again amused by it's very presence on the internet like plenty of other things, and then watch in horror as it drops a bomb on Internet City. From the sidelines I watched the millions of pictures get uploaded, the image gallery get refresh view spammed, watch as every other meme I had moderate interest in was assimilated into it like the Borg, the entire forum get flooded before the Mods had enough and threw all the Bronies into their own thread, and a sub community use that single thread so hard they had to lock the damn thing 5 times and restart. The rest was a tornado of flamewars, Trending Topic Complaints, and more Trending Topic Complaints.

Clearly I am still in shock from all that I have seen happen. If the same happened to you during the Touhou Reign of Terror I never got to see, yay for you. The chart I gave clearly shows that what you experienced in Touhou Fanbase's Birth was nowhere near as powerful as MLP.
--

TL;DR This is how I feel and why I feel that way, not how I logically perceive things. I am an "Outsider", remember? Perhaps you should be asking "Why" instead of trying to invalidate my thoughts.

And writing that much is exhausting. How the hell do you do it Verbose? Two hours later I am still an emotionally exhausted alien who probably doesn't make sense to over half the userbase. I need a hug.

Natsuru wrote:

I used “Secret Cult” to dramatize what I see of Pony General. I have gone into that thread to see what was going on, and found at least 20 maybe 30 users who I haven’t seen anywhere else on the website. So hopefully you can see why I was instantly alienated and never came back. Thus, a secret cult like-effect.

Do we even have that many people on Pony General? I mean, people come and go so it's like 20 people active at any one length of time.