Bronies/pega sisters who take the fandom too far

I may get some flak posting this on a brony forum, but something about the brony fandom attracts the most classless, tasteless, egotistical, and sometimes even the most sociopathic people I have ever seen, and I say this having been a part of various competitive FPS scenes. It doesn't help that many of those people end up having some pull in the brony fandom by being well-known artists or heading up some of the most popular sites.

Most bronies I've met in real life so far are some of the most socially inept people I've ever met. I've said this before; BronyCon has enough spaghetti to end world hunger.

Thankfully, my roomates are the raddest bronies I know, and I've met plenty of bronies in certain Internet circles that don't adhere to the common brony stereotypes. And they're a constant reminder that the stereotypes, while generally accurate to some extent when applied to the fandom as a whole, are definitely not true for everyone.

/controversialview

 

First off, there's nothing wrong with a little naughtiness. It's human nature, and no one should tell you it's wrong.

Second, I have run into many a brony/pegasister/other superfluous title that have made the entire fandom look bad, and even made me agree with some of the haters. it's not the brony fandom as a whole, though. All fandoms have those nuts that make you feel uncomfortable, or the egotistical asshats that completely turn you in the other direction. I just try to ignore those people, and only hang around the few genuinely cool bronies that don't take the show so seriously, and just enjoy it for what it is. A good cartoon. Nothing more, nothing less.

I've learned as of late that hanging around with a large group of bronies is practically social suicide. You'll run into so much convoluted, plaguy crap, that it's just not worth it. I think I'll settling with talking to a few bronies outside of gatherings such as forums, online groups and other such things.

 

Truthfully, this fandom is just like any other - no better, no worse. Quite naively, I used to think it was better. Perhaps in some small sense it is, considering intolerance towards transgendered, autistic, and other poorly understood groups seems lower among bronies than I've seen it elsewhere. But it's still not nearly as devoid of the typical facepalm-worthy ignorance, elitism and insatiable lust for popularity as one would hope. I used to think the various anime fandoms out there were the absolute worst in terms of crazies who take things to extremes, but I've frequented enough brony 'dens' online to know that our crazies are just as bad as their crazies.

Of course, the whole thing about us being pedophiles and other such sex offenders is absolutely untrue horsesh** propagated by raging hatemongers who probably play CoD 12 hours per day in their mothers' basements, but as far as the 'obese neckbeards with fedoras' image our fandom has gained...well, while it's most likely not even close to being universally true, I have been to a brony con, and I can honestly say there were quite a few stereotypes walking around. But then again, go to any anime, comic, video game, Star Trek/Wars (etc.) con, and you're likely to find much the same. So really, it's not so much bronies specifically who fit that image, but a good portion of nerddom in general.

But hey - if any of that is somehow a bad thing, then I'd love to see evidence of a nerd demographic out there that's somehow comprised solely of people who look like they stepped straight out of an Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue.

 

Not at MAGFest. But I get what you're saying.

 

Man, you have no idea how much I agree with you.

What I think about the people who take the fandom to far. Well, I will tell you with a wall of text.

My views on the people who take the fandom too far are people who marry fictional ponies, use pony body pillows, have um... well explict dolls, and people who have as DusK said have there pockets full of spaghetti. I made a rant on a post like this before about how much of cesspool the brony fandom can be. Example: Look up Discord (Living Tombstone Remix) on YouTube and you will find yourself the most disappointing and jaw-dropping comments you can find on a pony video. It just amazes that some of these people around are just baffling. Also, surprisingly some of the Stereotypes do live up to there name, which kinds of scares me being only 15 and not doing what these people will do. An example of this is when I got called out on 4chan and the result of that being $200 of pizza to my doorstep. Now, let me focus on what things bronies do good for the world and fandom. Charities, Fundraisers, and Public events could be seen as helpful to the community and the world itself.

 

So I'll just give a point by point response. Each point will address an issue stated. After the point by point I'll give my overall opinion on the matter and my thoughts on the fandom in general.

1. The Dark Side- It's no big secret that there are those out there who take something as sweet and innocent as MLP and turn it into something more ... well, you know. Though as a fandom that's just a given to have people like that. Look at every fandom and tell me that you won't find at least one story, picture, or general interest in that side of things. I'm not hating on it -to each their own- but it shouldn't be held against the fandom as a whole seeing as this is a common occurrence with every fandom out there.

2. The Stereotypes- That's all they are, stereotypes. If you wouldn't classify yourself under those stereotypes then you've nothing to fear. It's quite hard to stereotype you as an overweight individual living in your parents basement while wearing fedoras all day if you live in your own house, are actually fit or average in weight, and have an average to excellent taste in fashion (nothing against fedoras, those are just appropriate only in the right situation). Basically if you don't match those stereotypes then they can't match you.

3. The Crazies- Yes this fandom does indeed attract a lot strange individuals. There's not much difference here as there is in any other fandom. There's always going to be that person who decides to take things too far. That shouldn't have any impact on the fandom as a whole. The only reason this fandom in particular invites people like that is because watching the show is a form of escapism in which people with psychological problems may find comfort or solace in. I won't argue that this fandom doesn't have people like that in it -because it does- but I would argue that it isn't appropriate to say that the stereotypes are generally accurate to the fandom as a whole rather than generally accurate to a portion of the fandom. You've basically said that, "All the stereotypes apply to the majority of the fandom but there are a few who aren't like that." It should have been the flip flop, "All the stereotypes apply to a few in the fandom but the majority aren't like that."

And that's where the point by point stops because I either agree with the rest of the posts or feel I've covered the things I disagree with. Now onto my overall evaluation of the fandom and its extremists.

I am a huge brony, been one since late 2012. I love this fandom and the community that comprises it. I love the show, I love all the things about the show. There is a reason why I am a huge brony troller, and that's because of people who take things to the extreme. I have been known to troll bronies, a lot. If I get the sense that you're one of those bronies then I've just gone from possible friendship status to you're not walking away less than furious. The way I see it you just need to relax and kick back. If I don't see you making a pony reference every five seconds and defending your reasoning to watch the show without provocation then we're cool. It's just the extremists bring the fandom a whole lot more flack than it needs. You're actually hurting the fandom you're a part of when you're that into something.

So the way I see it it's okay to like the show and be a part of the fandom, don't habitually ensure everyone knows you're a part of that fandom every few seconds. Don't take things too far.

 

It really doesn't seem like this to me. Maybe I'm speaking anecdotally, but experience and observation has convinced me that the brony stereotype definitely exists largely because of the prevalence of the people that fit it in various ways. I don't think that most bronies are "the complete package" of fat, neckbearded, mouth-breathing, fedora-capped, socially-inept man-children, but most bronies do openly bear more than one of the negative traits that create that stereotype, and contribute in a big way to how both non-bronies and bronies view the fandom.

Sometimes I like to think that maybe, by chance, I've just been observing and interacting with the bronies that contribute to that stereotype. But after dealing with the most popular brony blog and the most populated brony forum, I have a hard time believing that most bronies aren't like "that".

 

Oh, my apologies I misread your post. I thought you were inferring that all bronies met all the stereotypes. Sorry. No, I agree. That is to say that don't most people meet at least one of those stereotypes in or outside of the fandom? Therefore I don't see why it should have such a negative impact on the fandom as a whole. If you're overweight then you're overweight, brony or not. If you're a socially-inept man/woman-child then you're that, brony or not. All these stereotypes impact against the fandom simply as fuel for trollers, haters, or ... what do you call people who don't understand something and just look for ways to allow themselves belief that it is wrong ... Well, anyway, yes I'm sure a large majority of the fandom meets at least one of those criteria as does a majority of the planet who are not a part of the fandom.

I'm just trying to say that your experiences have caused you to associate these stereotypes to the fandom because you happened to know that he/she was a brony/pegasister. Had they been Doctor Who fans then you probably would've thought less of whovians. The faults of the many outweigh the faults of the few. Hopefully I explained that the right way. It sounded easier to explain in my head.

 

My biggest problem is with the Bronies that try to use the fandom as a way to get themselves noticed.
Between the self-righteous SJW's, the Cause-of-the-Week bandwagon jumpers, and the artists that care more about selling commissions than anything else, it's sometimes hard to remember that most Bronies are just people that love a cartoon about magical talking horses.

 

In my defense, I live with my mom because it's just easier in this economy and I pay the bills. Also, I don't have a fedora, I have a top hat, but only because I look classy as hell while I wear it. Also, lastly, I'm fat because...umm, well, I have no excuse for that, I just like food.
But anyway, I agree with you on many points. People have a view of what our fandom is, when all they are seeing is the dark seedy underbelly that makes us all ashamed. Course since I'm in many fandoms, including being a Trekkie since I was 4yrs old. I understand what it's like to be part of a misunderstood fandom so I'm sort of use to it. Also, most people usually think of Trekkies as losers anyway, so the sort of reaction I get when people find out I'm a brony, as opposed to admitting I'm a trekkie; is actually a step up for me.
What everyone needs to remember about fandoms is that the most annoying, weird, obnoxious and frustrating people usually get the most attention from the public. So when we see some fedora wearing, obese, neck beard, "friend zone", "nice guys finish last" *******, and people think that's the average fan, when we're all collectively screaming 'No, we hate that guy too!'. I think being a new fandom we're just going to have to learn like the other more older fandoms not to give a **** what the public thinks. No one will ever takes us seriously because we're fans, and we're fans of ponies. So people aren't going to get it. But I don't think that should stop us from putting out our art, music and doing all the fantastic charity work we've done. We'll just keep on being awesome and eventually, hopefully, the world will realize we aren't those basement dwelling, furry loving, pedophile monsters, that uninformed people assume we are.
On another note, I agree with Ridley about people just trying to sell commissions. I'll admit we have some pretty fantastic creatives in our fandom. But I get really tired of someone asking for a buck at every turn for a mediocre sketch. It's good to realize your worth, but it's also important to be creative and original and not depend on your fanart to carry you as an artist all the time (the same applies to fanfiction writers).

 

I don't doubt that that stuff is... pathetic, but what people do on their own time and in their own bedroom has no effect on anyone else. I'm sure we've all had crushes on fictional characters, and I'm sure we've all... enjoyed ourselves to explicit content relating to those characters. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's just really not something you should be sharing with the public...