Where is the Love, Brony?

This is pretty sad, seeing one of our fellow bronies leave because he has been convinced that we are not abiding to the known saying we are known so famously for. "Love and tolerance" just seems to be tossed around these days, and mostly to the dismay of others voicing their honest opinions about us. Consequently, this gives us a bad name, not to the "haters" but to those who obviously don't know about this very forum.

I agree with you, if the community had not spread like it has, I would not have met all you wonderful, wonderful people. Like we've all said time and time again, we are one big family. I hope his faith in bronies is restored.

 

I see what he's saying...and unfortunately he's probably right. I've met far more people in my life who did a lot more preaching, and not so much practicing. It isn't because they're hypocrites either, it's simply human. It's because we know the difference between right and wrong. We know that we shouldn't throw that snowball, or tag that building, or steal that dvd, or toss that trash out the window. But most of the time we do it anyway, because when you weigh the facts, doing what you know is wrong usually has more benefits than downsides, unless you get caught. Because when you get right down to it, the satisfaction of knowing you did the right thing isn't as satisfying as fulfilling a need, bad or not.

That brings me to my next point. I just read a very interesting article, called The Theology of Calvin and Hobbes, Part 1, Chapter 3: "A Vindictive, Twisted Elf" which talks about this very subject. Specifically, it talks about Calvin's internal moral struggle between being bad or being good. Most of the time, the bad choice wins out, and he ends up doing something bad. However, there are times when the good wins, and it usually only happens for one of two reasons.
1. It serves his self-interest. 2. Love.

People will do good things if they believe they will get something out of it or if they think they will be punished if they don't do good things. They may do it resentfully, begrudgingly and unwillingly...but they do it. Does it still count? That's another question entirely, and one only you can answer. Then of course, there is love. In my experience people only truly do good deeds out of the kindness of their heart (with nothing to be gained or lost) when it's for someone or something that they love. Say what you will, but I do believe it's the only reason people ever do anything good without expecting anything (not so much as a thank you) in return.


We don't always practice what we preach. We don't always do our best to be moral and just and good all of the time. We are only human after all.
But as long as we try, then I think there is something to that.

 

I frequently say that I spend time on the wrong parts of the internet. On one hand, this makes me somewhat different. On the other, this makes me stronger of will and mind, if only by attrition.

Same goes for bronydom.

If you can make a name for yourself, and be know for who you are, not who you are with, then you have succeeded.
If you can practice what you preach, if you can truly love and tolerate indiscriminately, then you have succeeded.

Until then, you are but a sliver of your true potential.
That is my creed. That is my destiny. To be what I am, not what others think me to be.

 

Not to sound like a hipster, but when bronyism became "officially a meme" so to speak, many people jumped on to join in on the meme (more then the original).
When the influx of these "meme tourists" came many people who use the name "brony" but don't act themselves the part.

This must be what dubstep artists felt like after the influx of brostep :/

 

I personally hold that MLP became a subculture a while ago. It is more than a meme. Those who do not act their part as bronies are the people who think this to be a meme, a fleeting device of trolling so to speak.

 

Oh I don't consider bronyism a meme, even if liking ponies is sort of one, but when "bronies" became a meme to pretty much everyone else, many people joined just to get in on it since it's the big popular thing on the internet without learning a thing about what bronies are actually about

 

It's true that "bronies" get a bad reputation from all sorts of things. The accusations are sometimes justified, but usually blown way out of proportion by the most ridiculous claims I've ever heard.

I don't like the term brony, and only use it specifically for the purposes of discovering new fans. Beyond that, I just say "fans of [the show]."

 

Okay, I really want to share my opinion on this, because it's something that really grinds me.

If there's one thing I dislike about this community, it's the perception that it's something it's not. As a fan of a show about ponies, that does not instill a responsibility to upkeep some 'sacred code' that we all follow like this is some sort of religion. I'm sorry, but morals like respect, tolerance and acceptance should be things people adhere to regardless of their opinions on pastel coloured talking ponies. I find it ridiculous that we're genuinely display cult like behaviour at times, and if I can be brutally honest, it makes me ashamed to be a part of the fandom when I see that. I don't call myself a brony because it sounds like a label to something that's a part of my life, as if it's who I am or a big enough part of me to make me want to express it all the time. Truth is, I don't.

It's so hypocritical when those who constantly bring up the point of it being ridiculous to judge someone on a show preference, then turn around and talk about it being who they are and what not. It is consistenly the same people as well. I'm not saying it's wrong to be deeply embedded in the fandom. Hell, I am deeply embedded in the fandom. I draw fanart, I discuss the inner workings of the show, I've got over 1,600 posts on a forum about ponies, I am a part of the fandom. But at the end of the day, when I turn off my computer or close my sketchbook, I forget about ponies and focus on the other parts of my life. You know, the important bits. I don't bring what's important into ponies and I don't bring ponies into what's important.

Prison completely overreacted here. All this talk of people not adhering to 'what bronydom is' is laughable. As a community, I'm proud to be here and know some fantastic people who have actually helped my as I have helped them in areas important to my life. However I'm talking about this forum and radio, not every single fan of My Little Pony. Just because you like the same show as me, it doesn't mean I'm going to like you just because of it, just as I'm not going to dislike someone because of not liking it. All this talk of good bronies and bad bronies, they don't exist. A brony is a moniker given to male fans of the show. There's no levels of 'bronyness', you either are or you aren't, and it's really not important which. You get good people and bad people, that's what.

Things like this honestly just play right into the hands of haters of this fandom. How much more can you give them to work with? If you don't care about them then that's great, but don't then turn around and complain when they actually have a point.

 

I really have to sayv what this says to me is that anyone who isn't a brony is a bad person. That's a massive degree of generalisation and is exactly what haters do.

"Oh those bronies are all *squee!*s, with their ponies and having no lives."

"Oh those haters are all stupid, with their trolling and having no lives."

I have a lot of friends in real life, I mean a lot. While my best friend is a part of this fandom, none of the others are. They're nice people, although I will be honest, a lot of them have the mentality of not wanting to watch the show simply because of what it is. Granted that's not the right way to go about things but Christ not all of us are deep philosophical thinkers with the time to weigh up these things in life. In short, nobody is perfect. I can't believe I just saw someone say that people who turn the show off straight away because they think it's too girly believe gays should be stoned. I don't want to say that's not the case because I think it's evident enough to go without saying.

I will concede, happily at that, that many members of this fandom are open minded and respectful towards others. However I'm not stating an opinion but a fact when I say not all are like this. Just because this show is broadcast with lessons of friendship and tolerance, people feel that if they preach those words, they're immune to being a dick. It's like they need to be reminded that the morals of the show, not the show itself but the lessons, are supposed to be picked up by litte girls. Regardless if you pick up on them or not, these are basic things you should know already.

There is a difference between the community making you feel comfortable with yourself due to being surounded by similar minded yet more open people and having to be told by Twilight freaking Sparkle that it's wrong to be racist or whatever. As I said, simple things. Ponies are irrelevant in this.

Dude I like you as a friend and that's not going to change any time soon. However I'm going to tell you now that's straight up ignorant. Dismissing everyone who doesn't like ponies, or involved in any of the activities you mentioned is wrong, that's just wrong. These haters, what do they do wrong? Judge people based on whether or not they like ponies. It works both ways dude, you have to respect some people don't like any of the things you mentioned. I myself only tick 2 of the boxes, and it could have been only 1.

There's never a valid reason for instantly turning off ponies without at least giving it a chance or thinking it's too girly or just frankly being a douche about it. However there's two sides to every story. Maybe they've got sexuality problems that they're not willing to face. Yes it's something they should confront instead of distancing themselves from but that's not up to us to decide or judge.

I'm straying from the point though, the bottom line is this is a fandom, not a religion. It's not that serious. I can't stress enough how I'm seperating the words fandom and community. Community is people. Fandom is content. Nobody should treat anything like a TV show with as much gravitas as to get that dramatic over it. The people, that's different, but these people could be from any fandom, it just happens to be ponies.

 

Setzer

You're being quite hypocritical, I hope you know that
You're quick to judge people for turning it off at the first line of the song, and yet you "turn off" anyone who gives off the impression of liking things other then you do?
That doesn't seem very loving or tolerant.

 

I'll be honest, it sounds as if you're using past experiences to form judgements on people you've never met. I know this is how the animal brain works, use experience to test the unknown, but humans aren't just animals. We live social lives, and as such we should know that this isn't the way to go around these things. It's bad what you went through and understandable why you think the way you do but that doesn't make it right.

Nobody made you hate any label other than you. Don't feel like I'm just guessing what's going through your mind because that's not the case, I know exactly what it's like. You've got to move on, be bigger than that.

For the 3rd time though this is straying from the point of a fandom being nothing more than that, and demonstrating religious adherence to a sect like code of conduct is not the way to go about anything, and is exactly what attracts half of the haters out there, by allowing them to use the fact that ponies are a large part of our lives. If you let ponies consume you, you've got to be able to deal with what that entails.

 

)= This is kind of a sad first thread to run into...

Anyway, I agree to a large extent with Luprony. Of course the real substance of people lies underneath their interests--pony specific, nerdy or otherwise.

But I also understand exactly where the ex-fan is coming from, and I think he's also right. When I joined this fandom, it wasn't because I had some special affection for My Little Pony. Don't get me wrong: I love it--just not more than I love Arthur the Aardvark, or the works of Kate DiCamillo, or Doctor Who. No, I joined because I found there were people--bronies--who were lovable and made me feel lovable because they were kind people who shared a common interest with me.

Now that could have happend with any common interest; there's nothing special about My Little Pony. But once a community like ours is formed, there is a sense a lot of people have of belonging to something organic and real. That relationship with immediate friends and the community that brought them together becomes one of those meaningful parts of life that is, in some way, beautiful.

Still, that's what makes all of this matter to me. There a million good shows, but only one MLP community. Now the less MLP acts like MLP, and the more trolls there are in ranks filled by fewer and fewer of the kind people I want to be around, the closer I come to losing that beautiful, meaningful thing. So yeah, there's no reason bronies are inherently given to acting well, but there is a reason we as bronies should strive to act with the love this show exemplifies: we have a good thing going here, and it is possible to lose it.

I said Luprony and the ex-fan both seem to be right; but in the end, I think Luprony is the most right in spite of all that argument: all we can do to perpetuate this community is to try to be the real men and women we've wanted to be all along--not just the fans we typically are. Look at it this way. If we really decide to be a community willing to treat haters with the same love and tolerance as anyone, that will really make at least our part of the fandom really unassailable. That's the irony: the community we value will be safe because our actions don't come from our membership in the community, but from who we are as people.

And um... this may be inappropriate, but I can't resist. Given the obvious religious overtones here, does this argument make me a fandom unitarian <333?

 

Whoopsie, I posted that post up there twice <3;;; Sorry.

 

This may be the best post on everypony.com

Please, everypony, I quoted it so you could read it twice. I mean, there are some points I would expand upon and perhaps contend, but that isn't for these forums.

 

Scratch the above, this may be the best post on everypony.com. Sorry Frost. Luprony for Ruler of Equestria.


Like any hobby really, the people who use it to a point of an unhealthy escape like to twist the fabric of the thing around everything they touch, giving everything they see a dramatic narrative to consume themselves with. When you question them, they say you are being intolerant, but what they mean is that you are threatening their fantasy. It is even worse when they become divisive and use the hobby's community as a weapon, and the love-and-tolerance of the MLP:FiM community is an easy to reach syringe for the passive-aggressive, emotional stroker.