Does the community hate itself?

[applejock 358]

Ok, im 30. I get it ive been a Brony/Pegasister since 89, im old. But all I see is this constant "Self Hate" via the forums.

 

Sometimes I feel like I am still playing WoW and logging into Trolls and jerks.

 

I get it we are all adults or Teens, its fine. We all have our opinions.

 

But to get DAILY, messages, (via the web forum mail) based around " YOUR WRONG" or "OMG GET OUT OF THIS FANDOM" is really, ironic.

 

I go to work every-single day, with Three buttons on my work hat, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk, my Cell Phone case has three Rarity pins, and my neck has two Rarity Tattoos (her Cutie Mark and her name, via each side). Why do i bring this up, NO ONE JUDGES ME, they listen to my Pony Remix Dubstepand nod there heads, they laugh at my "pony up son" jokes.

 

Yet I come to the brony inspired forums, and get nothing but rebuke. 

 

Do we, as a fan base, hate ourselves, while those OUTSIDE of that base, accept us....its really odd..

 

Hell, even the Mods of THIS FORUM, see it upoun themselves to judge.

 

Why am I as a Brony, getting more love from non-bronys then us...odd

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,894]

Get any group large and diverse enough and eventually internal conflict arises. Seems to happen with any massive group of people. I think it is just human nature as weird as that might sound. Opinions clash and people become divided. Such a simple yet negative impact.

[Crypty Scribbles 5,457]

Cool down, bro.
I never got messages, like you described.
Even on other (non pony) forums I'm participating in conflicts extremely rare.

 

Anyway, I think, many of us in difficult age now and could be agressive or have depressive mood sometimes.

You are really older, than most of us and I think, wiser. That's will be awesome, if you will help them overcome it.

 

Also, maybe, you are in difficult age now. I mean that age when you could think: "Stupid little newfags have no idea how to be a brony!".

In this case I can advise you nothing.

Just be cooler, you know.

[applejock 358]

Tsk, shame all I heard is "your old."

 

Story of my life, Bronydom is about friendship at least, imo. That being said, im really tired of the hate when i post a pic of my "Rarity" tattoo and only getting comments like "dude, you ruined your own body over a tv show, wtf!" ON the Brony forum.

 

:shrug:

 

I mean its cool, i get it, we all got our own opinions, and personas and blah blah blah..whatever, but really, on the BRONY FORUM, hate on ANOTHER BRONY...DAMN...

[Sekhayet 253]

Ok, im 30. I get it ive been a Brony/Pegasister since 89, im old. But all I see is this constant "Self Hate" via the forums.

 

Sometimes I feel like I am still playing WoW and logging into Trolls and jerks.

 

I get it we are all adults or Teens, its fine. We all have our opinions.

 

But to get DAILY, messages, (via the web forum mail) based around " YOUR WRONG" or "OMG GET OUT OF THIS FANDOM" is really, ironic.

 

I go to work every-single day, with Three buttons on my work hat, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk, my Cell Phone case has three Rarity pins, and my neck has two Rarity Tattoos (her Cutie Mark and her name, via each side). Why do i bring this up, NO ONE JUDGES ME, they listen to my Pony Remix Dubstepand nod there heads, they laugh at my "pony up son" jokes.

 

Yet I come to the brony inspired forums, and get nothing but rebuke. 

 

Do we, as a fan base, hate ourselves, while those OUTSIDE of that base, accept us....its really odd..

 

Hell, even the Mods of THIS FORUM, see it upoun themselves to judge.

 

Why am I as a Brony, getting more love from non-bronys then us...odd

 

Bro... I don't even need to visit your profile, look up previous posts, or try to stalk you. I already know you're fucking awesome. I love you if no one else does. I personally can't stand any of the bronies I know offline so... I guess... yeah, there's something wrong with the fans in this fandom but who cares. You like MLP, you ain't here for them.

 

Just give them this here stamp:

 

 

And you'll be K.

 

PS: Can I see a picture of the tattoos?

Edited March 5, 2015 by Sekhayet

[flutterdango117 154]

umm i may be stepping on the wrong hoof or so but i dont get any of those kinda messages either :/ i mean every big fandom ive been to has dispise part of the fandom in itself one way or another. being a mare of different fandoms i have noticed this again and again so its all normal but it will hopeflly simmer down with time and patience

[applejock 358]

If your a Brony/Pegasister, then be that!

 

You wish to snub another of the fandom over "who is best pony" and argue while drinking a beer or watching the latest episode only to go out and order a new Etsy order for your latest Waifu button..fine.

 

BUT..do not, and i REPEAT..do NOT hate on those who would take a hoof in the face for you. We are all here, from age 10 to 80, to love candy colored ponies...respect that.

 

Honesetly, I am tired of the self hate. Just tonight, i went to my D&d ring, a pegasister among them, she and I ranted for nearly an hour (waiting for the others to show up for our game night) about Rainbow Rocks, she hates Adagio to the point she wishs she was OUT of the Cannon..I love her, that said I was super Grump over this and we didnt speak till post-game and only after a few drinks did we make up.

 

I get passion, i do, really, but...why cant all of us just be FRIENDS!

[Jeric 46,866]

We, as humans, tends to focus on the outliers and give them more credence than needed. It's like hearing about one or two really bad events or accidents that grow to become the perceived face of a subject or topic. You read about a story where a mother leaves their infant in the middle of the road and the worst happens. You natural think, 'What is this world coming to'?

 

Yet you never read about the millions of mothers who live their babies as they should be. This negativity bias is natural and permeates all aspects of the social experience that we call life. What is the cure?

 

Imagine people complexly.

[The Shadow Stallion 127]

Yes..... my plot to cause World War 5 is near completion... I mean er what, oh this isn't the plot to cause world wars thread? o.o

 

Jokes aside, I have seen some self hate but not as much as you've described. Personally I go out of my way to find the people that don't do all that crap and just like the show like me : D Then I have instant almost permanent friends. I stick with them.

 

Every Sweet Apple Acres harvest has some bad apples, don't let em spoil the bunch. Just find the good bunches of apples and take a bite (but not literally because thats cannibalism, thats against the law.... for now -coughs- I mean what)

 

I salute all my brony friends and show them respect that I would show myself, and Im narcissistic XD. That should tell you how much respect I show my friends.

[Crypty Scribbles 5,457]

Tsk, shame all I heard is "your old."

Nope. Just "too angry.".

Love and tolerate, bro. Love and tolerate.

 

...on the BRONY FORUM, hate on ANOTHER BRONY...DAMN...

Nope. Hate is a myth.

[Justin_Case001 4,907]

My experience with the community and this forum has been overwhelmingly positive, but it's not like this is an exclusive club comprised of only people of a certain sex, religion, ethnicity, age, etc.  It's a diverse public group, so naturally there will be some clashing opinions, volatile at times, and there's always going to be the rare case of hate within the community.  Hate is kind of a strong word, though.  I think that most of the time it's more butthurt than anything else.  But I try to focus on the good, because I think there's a whole lot more of that than the bad.

 

 

We, as humans, tends to focus on the outliers and give them more credence than needed. It's like hearing about one or two really bad events or accidents that grow to become the perceived face of a subject or topic. You read about a story where a mother leaves their infant in the middle of the road and the worst happens. You natural think, 'What is this world coming to'?

Yet you never read about the millions of mothers who live their babies as they should be. This negativity bias is natural and permeates all aspects of the social experience that we call life. What is the cure?

Imagine people complexly.

I actually have a bad habit of doing exactly that--focusing on the bad until I lead myself to believe it's the norm, or at least more prevalent than it really is.  I find that imagining people complexly is actually the perfect cure.  That advice is spot on.  When I catch myself getting depressed over something bad, some hateful comment I read, I have to conciously remind myself to focus on the good, and to also remember how complex people are, and it usually helps.

[applejock 358]

Humans as a race mixed with social media, are broken.

 

That is a fact. I love humans, period. I love the Mother,the Father, the Son, the Daughter.

 

But we are so Broken, we hate one another, for NO REASON...why..

 

Why..in a show, a comic, a MEME, about FRIENDSHIP...why hate, why spit, why slur..

 

Can we all not shine under Celestias Sun, Lunas Light...can we all not, just BE...

[SFyr 1,982]

Personally, I think the issue actually lies with how large the fandom has grown. There are SO many young people in this world trying to find their place, and often they tend to be the most unstable, and given towards qualities they haven't quite grown out of yet but get a little tiresome to older, more mature members. Ultimately, these youths go to places that hold their interest, and allow them to communicate and gather with others.

 

I think a reason for all the self hate in the fandom, is that with how big the MLP community has grown, it's almost become socially desired in some small ways--there's a certain pride people take in it, and the community itself iconically shells out so much love and acceptance that the social barrier to entry has fallen quite a lot as of late. It's now a welcoming ground for anyone who is alright with expressing themselves through ponies and has even a moderate interest in a show that's widely popular.

 

When the group had more of an active stigma, you had to actively go against getting positive attention overall, and even risk your image. You had to be comfortable liking something that endangers your image, your friendships, and admittedly just makes you uncool by normal standards. Now, being a brony has the internet reputation of being comfortable with yourself, and awesome for it. It's been endorsed many times by the higher-ups, and if you're a brony, there's a good chance of automatically "getting cred" from other bronies. We don't risk as nearly much now by being a fan, and we don't have to believe as strongly to want to involve ourselves.

 

The original bronies? I imagine they didn't care about social standing nearly so much as the core values of friendship and love. Teens crave acceptance and open expression, and would have to value those things so much to take the same risk of openly proclaiming their love for a little girls show.

 

 

 

 

I think MLP is a community that people often get into now simply because they like it, rather than truly BELIEVING in the core of what it has to offer, my point being. It's a public forum, and a community. It's a place to explore. ...but sadly, not always a place to share love and grow, but instead express whatever they feel moment to moment because there are plenty of people to communicate with here.

Edited March 5, 2015 by SFyr

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,695]

Self-hate? Hard to say, I can't get inside others' minds. I do think we spend way too much time talking about ourselves (as a fandom, not individuals) and complaining about people who don't like us. People here need to decide why they became bronies and stick with it. Are we in this fandom solely because we want to share our enjoyment of the show, because we felt the need to be part of a supportive group with a collective agenda, or because we had an emotional interest in standing apart and defying what we think our society expects of us?

 

For me it was always the first reason, so I don't spend time getting all angsty about stuff like "OMG there's this group of people that hate bronies" or "this or that stuff shouldn't be in the fandom." Very little of my self-esteem is tied up in this group. I represent myself and that's all. It cuts down on a lot of conflict and confusion.

[techbishop 100]

In any large group there are bound to be deviants that stray from their predetermined set of morals.  Look at any religion, fanbase, or group that shares a particular interest and you're bound to find the idiotic loudmouths as well as intelligent people that we can trust (save politicians).

 

Do we, as a fan base, hate ourselves, while those OUTSIDE of that base, accept us....its really odd..

 

Odd, I think that most of us find the opposite to be true. Take a look all the posts available on the internet that cry abuse from their affiliates because of their association with a certain show.  A significant portion of these attacks seem to come from the brony being obsessive to the point where it is annoying and has nothing to do with the non-brony's stance on the show; this is a small amount of our fanbase, but that brings me to my previous point.  

 

It is human nature to find negative things to be more memorable than positive.  A psychology paper I read claimed that "the brain handles positive and negative information in different hemispheres" and that negative thoughts require more thought than positive ones.  I can give an infinite amount of examples pertaining to this but I will end it here.

 

I do apologize if you think that this was an asinine and irrelevant reply to an otherwise sincere question.  I do hope that this all works out.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Shinytyphlosion

[applejock 358]

Personally, I think the issue actually lies with how large the fandom has grown. There are SO many young people in this world trying to find their place, and often they tend to be the most unstable, and given towards qualities they haven't quite grown out of yet but get a little tiresome to older, more mature members. Ultimately, these youths go to places that hold their interest, and allow them to communicate and gather with others.

 

I think a reason for all the self hate in the fandom, is that with how big the MLP community has grown, it's almost become socially desired in some small ways--there's a certain pride people take in it, and the community itself iconically shells out so much love and acceptance that the social barrier to entry has fallen quite a lot as of late. It's now a welcoming ground for anyone who is alright with expressing themselves through ponies and has even a moderate interest in a show that's widely popular.

 

When the group had more of an active stigma, you had to actively go against getting positive attention overall, and even risk your image. You had to be comfortable liking something that endangers your image, your friendships, and admittedly just makes you uncool by normal standards. Now, being a brony has the internet reputation of being comfortable with yourself, and awesome for it. It's been endorsed many times by the higher-ups, and if you're a brony, there's a good chance of automatically "getting cred" from other bronies. We don't risk as nearly much now by being a fan, and we don't have to believe as strongly to want to involve ourselves.

 

The original bronies? I imagine they didn't care about social standing nearly so much as the core values of friendship and love. Teens crave acceptance and open expression, and would have to value those things so much to take the same risk by liking a little girls show.

 

 

 

 

I think MLP is a community that people often get into now simply because they like it, rather than truly BELIEVING in the core of what it has to offer, my point being. It's a public forum, and a community. It's a place to explore. ...but sadly, not always a place to share love and grow, but instead express whatever they feel moment to moment because there are plenty of people to communicate with here.

 

:gives a slow clap:

And as a "old man" of this fandom, i not only agree i bow to your words.

 

FRIENDSHIP-IS-FUCKING-MAGIC

 

PEEEEEEEEEEEEERIOD!

 

WHAT ELSE, name me ONE thing, one fandom, that draws those of differnt races, differnent ages, and those of the "old school" to throw up there arms, hail Celestia every morning and Bow to Luna every evening...other then MLP.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,303]

I dislike the hypocrisy that exists within the fandom.  It should be a community that understands what it's like to be ostracized.  A community that sympathizes with the ostracized.  Instead, it's a fandom that openly ostracizes its own members.

 

I dislike that so many members are "closeted."  That they are seemingly ashamed of themselves and their interest.  That they feel the need to treat said interest as some sort-of deep, dark, potentially life-destroying secret.

 

I dislike that so many members misguidedly attempt to change the perception of the show.  Seemingly in order to "butch it up" for the benefit of those who simply aren't interested in the series.  "Oh, look: The show isn't as 'girly' after all.  It's now officially cool to watch it the world over.  Everyone agrees."

 

I dislike that absolutely everything about the show is viewed underneath a hypercritical magnifying glass.  You ask whether or not the community hates itself.  I ask whether or not the community even enjoys the series anymore.  I don't want to analyze every little thing to death, and I sure as hell don't need anyone else doing that for me.

 

The community, considered as a whole, is terribly confused.  I can't say that it outright hates itself, but I think it's overly (and ironically) concerned with self-image.  Many of us are adults (numerically-speaking) who enjoy a series about colorful talking equines.  Some of us purchase items from the dreaded pink aisle.  Ooooooh!  I don't think any of us need apologize for watching MLP:FIM.  I feel as though the community shackles and limits and questions itself.

 

If you are, for some reason, here to find yourself, you first have to BE yourself.

 

The End (I wrote more than I intended to).

[Crypty Scribbles 5,457]

I got, dude. You hate hate.

Paradoxical situation.

[applejock 358]

I must post this, mods, hate me if you will for taken up your bandwith.

 

I have been to three, bronycons.

 

Each one of them I have both Bronies and Pegasisters drewling all over my Cosplay and my Tats of Rarity.

 

Then I come to social media and All i get is flakk, why?

 

If the in-person persona is welcomed, why isnt the digital.

 

I plan to join 2015 bronycon, with my AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALOOOOOOOOOOOSAAAAAAAAAA, swag in full tone...why can I not in the presence of dozens if not hundreds of my Herd IN REAL LIFE, recieve love, if not on a text and picture based formate.

 

I love Rarity.

 

I love Adagio.

 

I love MY LITTLE PONY.

 

That said, why am I, as a 30 year old brony, being spat upoun BY MY OWN HERD.

 

Is this high school, im confused. explain, and I will stop the rampent posts of nothing but QQing.

[SFyr 1,982]

@@applejock, I have to say, I've actually been losing a little faith in the fandom because a lot of the concerns you already stated, haha.   However, if it helps, I think so long as other members such as you are out there and continuing to take pride in what really is an amazing creation, a great example of friendship and innocence of heart, well, I think we'll be okay.   Though one day I may personally phase out this forum a bit for other (smaller?) brony communities. As you've half stated, certain MLP locations online seem a little... hateful.

 

I hope you don't let the darker stuff taint your love for the show and all it has to offer, regardless.  :grin2: Just listening to your enthusiasm is encouraging and restores a bit of my faith, haha~!

Massive props for incorporating characters into your gear/tattoos, too.

 

 

 

 

PS: Yes, high school is very much an influence here sometimes.   But, thankfully not always.

Edited March 5, 2015 by SFyr

[Jeric 46,866]

You know, age keeps getting brought up here. Of all the forums I've been too, this place cares the least about age. I'm 38 applejock. I have never once felt any member here treat me any differently because I'm 'old'. I repay that in kind and to those members who are younger than I, I treat them as complete equals. I only bring this up because age shouldn't matter in a fandom centered around enjoying a show that society expects to be tailored for young grade school kids. The truth is, it doesn't matter. This forum reinforces that.

 

See you at BronyCon though

[applejock 358]

I will never turn away the message of MY Little Pony, that of Love, Friendship and UNION.

 

I will die, with my HUMAN flesh, coverd in Ink spelling that out. From Raritys Cutie mark, to her very name.

 

I just wish when I post a topic like "Hey guys, Adagio Dazzle's outfit really fits her Cutie Mark" isnt responded by, "omg nerd u r so wrong :insernt text based short comes of real words:"

 

But you know what, im old, really old via fandom standards, I watch shows like the Walking Dead and, Frasier and say to myself "you know..we as a society,are fucked". And I am ok with that.

 

But MLP...and more to the POINT.."Rarity, is LIFE!" 

 

.....that said...i know what my new tattoo is gonna be...

[Fhaolan 4,484]

Yeah, I don't get any of this flak you seem to be referring to. I'm 46 at the moment, and I've been very public about my age so it's not like it's a secret.

 

And are you talking about *this* forum, or some other Brony forum? Because I don't see very many people responding to comments about Adagio's dress in the way you describe. I might have missed it, though.

[applejock 358]

Yeah, I don't get any of this flak you seem to be referring to. I'm 46 at the moment, and I've been very public about my age so it's not like it's a secret.

 

And are you talking about *this* forum, or some other Brony forum? Because I don't see very many people responding to comments about Adagio's dress in the way you describe. I might have missed it, though.

Lets face it, the inter-webs is huge. And I could spam you with a dozen links. But to be frank im speaking from PERSONAL exp.

 

So that being said, was it over a few to many beers with a Femme Pegasister, hating on Adagios hip sways?

 

Was it over a random post over the internet?

 

Does it really matter?

 

What MATTERS, is, WE, as a community should stand tall. And be strong TOGETHER..and not spittle, or slash, or stomp, upoun each other...really..that is all, and THAT is the form of this post....

 

Be strong...strong as HORSES!

[Pastel 7,630]

Because you think we should all be "Oh yes, you're right, I totally agree with you :)" all the time? What would be the point of these forums then?