Do you think this is just a phase?

[Gearbox10mm 794]

They said the same thing about Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and well...........

Funny you should mention that. When I was little I was big into the original Power Rangers but I did eventually grow out of it. I'll still play PR on Sega Genesis once in a blue moon out of nostalgia but my PR phase is long over. 

 

Now other things, like the first 2 generations of Pokemon, I never did grow out of and still enjoy to this day. Although my passion is nowhere near what it once was, I still have all the games and cards that I acquired during that time and for the most part am still interested in the show and movies. I think MLP falls into this same category for me. Time will march on and the show/gen4 will end but It has made such a lasting impression on me that I doubt I'll ever give it up completely.  

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

"In our time, my wife has lived with five different men, and each of them was me."

 

No one stays the same forever. Interest will wax and wane with time, as it will with anything.

[AlbaTross 1,586]

It's possible. Obsessions can come and go, and maybe I will move onto something else in the future. On the other hand, I didn't get into this series till after my quarter life crisis phase (I think that's the internet term for an otherwise unnamed phenomenon), and I have to give the show and its related media props for reviving parody in a clever enough way that I could enjoy it again, while still resting on its own merits. That and it's easy to get lost in the characters, lore and other aspects of the series. I hope I stay a fan of this series for at least a while. I've spent too much on DVDs, Blurays, comics and books to up and abandon it now, not to mention all the other merch I acquired at BronyCAN. Plus I did promise CorkTop and his brother that I would see them again at next year's BronyCAN, and that would be quite awkward if I were to no longer be a fan of FiM at that point.

[Br O N Y 382]

Yes, I think for me, it is just a phase, because I can't imagine being obsessed with just ONE show over years, but I think I will still be in this fandome for a few month.

Thats also a reason why I don't buy much stuff, because I will give it to someone else or throw it away anyways.

And to prevent me from maybe hating this show in the future, I try to don't obsess to much with it and also do other things, that are absolutly not related with this, for example, I really like chemistry, and you can see it on my profile picture, I also like Braking Bad.

[GuyNamedEarl 1,332]

I'll probably always be a brony.

[joe mama 60]

I'll probably always be a brony.

Hey Earl. (You're gonna say "Hey Crab Man" aren't you?) lol

Yes, I think for me, it is just a phase, because I can't imagine being obsessed with just ONE show over years, but I think I will still be in this fandome for a few month.

Thats also a reason why I don't buy much stuff, because I will give it to someone else or throw it away anyways.

And to prevent me from maybe hating this show in the future, I try to don't obsess to much with it and also do other things, that are absolutly not related with this, for example, I really like chemistry, and you can see it on my profile picture, I also like Braking Bad.

I don't think it's a phase, You can like more than one thing at a time you know. I like MLP but I also love the show "Person Of Interest" and a bunch of other shows and games.

 

I'll be a brony forever or at least for a long long time.

[Envy 6,156]

I do think that this fandom is the definition of a phase - I mean at first I thought it was all just a meme.

 

That doesn't mean that it will disappear off of the face of the planet. Even after the fad phases out, communities like this may remain, but they will be a skeleton of their former self, hardly anyone ever posting.

 

When you have a fandom that was built on putting down the older generations just to propel this one up as the only good one, you can bet that the love for the franchise is short-lived. Even if they still try to pander to Bronies with G5, they will somehow fall short of the expectations. When FiM ends this fandom will either change or fade away. Probably a combination of both, as that's always how I've seen this kind of thing go.

[Concerned Bystander 2,902]

It's an interesting question, with as many different answers are there are Bronies.

 

A lot of people have thrown themselves body and soul into this fandom, and a lot just hover around the periphery of it.  Some have been a Brony but left it all behind and moved on, some have moved on but have incorporated things from their time as a Brony that will remain with them forever.

 

The true test for the fandom as whole will be to look at it five years, or ten years after the show itself has ended.  I have no doubt there will still be people making their own animations, and doodling ponies on the corner of their notebooks during boring staff meetings.  But how big it will be then, and how big a cultural legacy it leaves is yet to be seen.

 

As for myself personally?  I have no idea.  But I'm sure that my ponies will always have a place on my altar of geekdom alongside toys from Transformers, Star Trek (and Wars) and whatever else I choose to add to it over time.

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,984]

I'm not sure if it is. But if it's a phase, then it's currently my longest lasting phase that began in mid-2011 and definitely phase in which I made most amount of contributions to. I've had periods of general decreased interest in MLPFIM but it never disappeared fully. However, I will admit that I would consider perhaps my first half-year of bronydom most exciting for me because everything was new to me at the time (fandom itself also being fairly new at the time).

Edited September 10, 2015 by Luna the Great

[Steve Piranha 29,420]

Basically, has anyone here ever stopped to think about whether or not this brony stuff is just a phase?

 

Like, right now, I'm not only a major brony, but I'm also a major pony-shipper. A male, teen brony, who ships ponies and listens to EDM. Sounds like perfect phase-material, unfortunately.

 

I'm just hoping none of this is a phase. I know this sounds cliche, but I feel like I'm at the best point of my life right now. I've learned to be more tolerant, I got back into EDM, and I've even started to screw around with making it (been doing it for almost 6 months now) and I plan on being a producer when I grow up. All because of ponies.

 

Yet, what if one day I grow out of it? That has to be my biggest fear, honestly, is outgrowing this. Hell I remember one time someone kept trying to tell me my love of Daft Punk's music was just a phase.

Well, in your case that you're still a teen, it's more likely for you to become a phase than for me for being an adult. Either way, if ponies affected you so possitively, you'll remember this fandom very fondly, and that's good enough in my book

[Sunset's Shimmer 394]

:grin2:  I personally have replied to these sort of threads, by comparing them to the trekkie fandom.

 

 At its peak in the late 80's and most of the 90's, the fandom was huge, and there were dozens of trek cons.

 

 Now, I feel the fandom is still there, but it's much more relaxed,  BECAUSE the people who it was just a phase for, had moved on to other things. It left those left who were faithful to the series, and trolling the show became almost non-existant.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,377]

For some, it might very well be a phase. I have met some bronies that were really into the show and loved it, then a year later, they had sold off all of their pony merch because they lost interest. I don't understand how that happens honestly. Truly though, if you absolutely love the show and the fandom, then I don't think it will be a phase. ^.^ Just continue embracing what you enjoy without that sort of worry. I have been a brony for 3 years now and I see no signs of slowing down.

[Blaze Bronson 343]

Why are you afraid that this might be a phase?

If you grow out of it, it will feel great to move away from it.

 

I'm pretty self reflecting, and I can tell I'll grow out of it someday.

If you have ever meet someone who is stuck in the past... You don't want to be that guy.

 

Live and learn, don't stop quite yet.

[chirox the pony 1,336]

Not what I would think of as a phase. I mean I'm sure there will be a time when MLP is simply a nostalgic memory. But I don't see that happening until Hasbro ruin, or end the franchise. But that may not happen for many years.