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What does it mean to be a brony?


SomeCoffee

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This is something I've never questioned myself and hope to get answers to. I actually never liked the word "brony", not because it associates with MLP,  but because I don't like it when fandoms create a word to stand out more. I have no problem calling myself a fan of the series though.

 

In all honesty, between the 4 years or so being interested in MLP, I can safetly say I haven't watched more than 25 episodes, and those are scattered about the seasons. The last I saw was the season 6 finale, and another thing, I CANNOT stand the songs. I cringe at the reality of my situation when one comes on, and alway skip them. But the weird thing is, every time I've watched an episode I got VERY happy and gittery. I don't know why. I still don't know why. I've read maybe 5-15 IDW comics.

 

Yet despite this, I'm still excited for the new season. The movie not so much, but l still hope it does well. I still have a massive fanfic in my head, I'm still trying to draw as much ponies as I can in my spare time. I have a pony folder of over 1200 pics, and for whatever reason I get obsessed when characters get involved in romance in anything official(I can't wait for the one announced in S7!) Come to think of it, I might just enjoy the characters.

 

Anyhow, what makes a brony anyway? Am I still one?

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(edited)
24 minutes ago, SomeCoffee said:

I still have a massive fanfic in my head, I'm still trying to draw as much ponies as I can in my spare time. I have a pony folder of over 1200 pics, and for whatever reason I get obsessed when characters get involved in romance in anything official(I can't wait for the one announced in S7!) Come to think of it, I might just enjoy the characters.

^You are definitely a brony, my good sir.

You can watch every single episode of the show multiple times and not qualify as a brony. Bronies are really more the fans that thrive off of the consumption and/or creation of fandom-generated content. In other words, fanfics, pictures, and shipping lol. 

In the most basic terms possible: 

  • Brony: Fandom > Source material
  • Non-Brony: Source material > Fandom

(there IS a name for these "non-bronies" who are still rabid FiM fans, but whenever I mention the name I get chastised by moderation -.- lol)

 

Edited by K.Rool Addict
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My thoughts on the matter are if you like the show and want to call yourself a brony, than you are a brony.

If you don't want to call yourself a brony, even if you do like the show, than you shouldn't have to call yourself one.

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5 minutes ago, cmarston1 said:

My thoughts on the matter are if you like the show and want to call yourself a brony, than you are a brony.

If you don't want to call yourself a brony, even if you do like the show, than you shouldn't have to call yourself one.

Yeah, in my opinion you don't really have to be a hardcore fan - if you haven't watched the show in a while but still like the fandom  (like me), that's cool. :)

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48 minutes ago, K.Rool Addict said:

In the most basic terms possible: 

  • Brony: Fandom > Source material
  • Non-Brony: Source material > Fandom

(there IS a name for these "non-bronies" who are still rabid FiM fans, but whenever I mention the name I get chastised by moderation -.- lol)

So I'm not really a brony? I watch the series, which I think is the most important thing, but I watch everyday pictures and follow the fandom. Am I a brony? :blink:

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Just now, Hierok said:

So I'm not really a brony? I watch the series, which I think is the most important thing, but I watch everyday pictures and follow the fandom. Am I a brony? :blink:

You say you "follow" the fandom; I require a bit more elaboration on that.

I will try to clarify a bit on my part too. You can be a brony and love the show itself, but the main factor keeping you watching is the fandom. So basically it's like, if it wasn't for the massive online communities dedicated to FiM, you would likely not have stuck with the show.

Slightly different topic, but bronies also often prefer the fan made songs to the actual songs from the show. Bronies will generally be more into stuff like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaojFmFnNKE , as opposed to stuff like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjtnYHp1p7M . Remixes don't exactly count as "fandom created", instead a more apt classification would be "fandom augmented".  The comparison COULD also be made directly with the song straight outta the show too, but I wanted to emphasis the delineation between remix and original brony music.

 

 

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12 minutes ago, Hierok said:

So I'm not really a brony? I watch the series, which I think is the most important thing, but I watch everyday pictures and follow the fandom. Am I a brony? :blink:

Honestly, yeah, I don't get K.Rool's definition. I thought fandom was enjoying the source, and the fandom, not one or the other. Replied too late.

But what worries me, is that if you uniquely enjoy the show, haven't watched it in a while and don't really follow the fandom much to this point (but have some on and off). Does that make me a non-brony? If so, I probably shouldn't be staff here and not post here. But that's just what I think. :P

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14 hours ago, K.Rool Addict said:

You say you "follow" the fandom; I require a bit more elaboration on that.

I will try to clarify a bit on my part too. You can be a brony and love the show itself, but the main factor keeping you watching is the fandom. So basically it's like, if it wasn't for the massive online communities dedicated to FiM, you would likely not have stuck with the show.

Slightly different topic, but bronies also often prefer the fan made songs to the actual songs from the show. Bronies will generally be more into stuff like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaojFmFnNKE , as opposed to stuff like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjtnYHp1p7M . Remixes don't exactly count as "fandom created", instead a more apt classification would be "fandom augmented".  The comparison COULD also be made directly with the song straight outta the show too, but I wanted to emphasis the delineation between remix and original brony music.

 

 

Well, then I'm no brony. I follow the fandom because of the show, but I think a few fan made songs are way better then in the show. There is just way more dept and emotional issues in the fan made ones. Like Lullaby for a princess and The moon rises. But the show is the driving part. Without the show the fandom will quit very quickly and the fandom only makes it even better.

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15 hours ago, cmarston1 said:

My thoughts on the matter are if you like the show and want to call yourself a brony, than you are a brony.

If you don't want to call yourself a brony, even if you do like the show, than you shouldn't have to call yourself one.

My thoughts exactly (I was almost going to make a post with the same words of the first sentence)! I don't like it when the term brony is used to refer to me either, but I still think I could 'count' as a brony if I wanted to use the term.

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28 minutes ago, Hierok said:

Well, then I'm no brony. I follow the fandom because of the show, but I think a few fan made songs are way better then in the show. There is just way more dept and emotional issues in the fan made ones. Like Lullaby for a princess and The moon rises. But the show is the driving part. Without the show the fandom will quit very quickly and the fandom only makes it even better.

Idk, you sound like a brony in denial to me :o

Why are you so hesitant to call yourself a brony? It's not something to be ashamed of, lmao. Practically 95% of the posters on this site are massive bronies.

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1 hour ago, K.Rool Addict said:

Idk, you sound like a brony in denial to me :o

Why are you so hesitant to call yourself a brony? It's not something to be ashamed of, lmao. Practically 95% of the posters on this site are massive bronies.

I'm not ashamed at all, but I'm not being proud over it too. I don't really care what I am, as long as everybody act happy in this forum. :smug: 

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In my opinion bronies don't just follow the fandom or the show it is an integral part of their lives basically even if you don't want to a true brony can't not think about the show or fandom and is usually active in one or more parts of the fandom even if you're not right now you eventually will be its just the mind of a brony like it or not there is no escape once the ponies have hold of you they will never let go 

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I would say you are one if you say you are. I don't think it means anything to be a brony besides what each individual fan says it means. it pretty much just means you like pony

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 4/8/2017 at 11:56 AM, Cloggedone said:

Yeah, in my opinion you don't really have to be a hardcore fan - if you haven't watched the show in a while but still like the fandom  (like me), that's cool. :)

This happened to meas well, I haven't watched it like 2 years!

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(edited)

I just spent an hour making a proper post here, and it got completely f*cked up be the spoilers.  I really don't like the way the spoiler works now.  I tried to embed a couple of youtube videos in spoilers so they wouldn't be obtrusive, then I proceeded to write my post afterwards, but the spoilers seem to suck in everything that comes after them.  My entire post ended up inside the spoiler, when I clearly put the end of the spoiler right after the videos.  When I tried to edit and fix it, it became a horrendous mess.  And now I'm really late for bed.  I can't deal with this now.  Mods, I'm sorry.  I'll try to fix this tomorrow.

 

Alright.  It's tomorrow.  I'm back.  I was going to erase that first bit and just post the original piece that I intended yesterday, however, I'm going to leave what I wrote yesterday for one specific reason: a member brohoofed it, and I want to make sure that content he brohoofed remains intact so that he isn't misrepresented in any way.  Call in journalistic integrity or something.  So, as a disclaimer, I want to make it known that @Rawzy hoofed the post I made yesterday, the above paragraph about the screwy spoiler tags, and ONLY that paragraph.  He did not hoof anything else, because the rest was not posted yet.  Let it be known that Rawzy's opinions on the rest of my post are not yet known.

And now, the real post.  (I still haven't figured out why the spoilers absorb everything that comes afterward, but it seems to be a glitch that only happens when embedding a video.  I'm determined to make this work, so I'm going to have to do this with several edits to make it come out right.)

 

So, I've been meaning to make a comprehensive post about this for awhile.

Sometimes, I kinda feel like being a brony is just like being The One:

 

 

Or, to put it more bluntly:

 

Poor quality.  Sorry.

 

So, I've read a lot of opinions, and it seems like there may not be a concrete definition that would close the issue forever, but I'll tell you what I think.  As far as I understand it, and as far as I have always understood it, the term brony/pegasister just refers to a fan of FIM outside the target demographic.  That's it.  This means that any fan, apart from young girls, is a brony, simple as that.  This means that participation in the community is not required, nor is consumption of fan-made media.  I would go even further and argue that being a brony does not require admission, consent, nor even knowledge that the fandom exists.  It's like being a pedestrian: if you are on foot, walking down a street, then you are a pedestrian, whether you know it or not, and regardless of whether you choose to call yourself one.  If you are purchasing merchandise in a store, then you are a customer, simple as that.  Being a pedestrian or customer does not require knowledge of the terms or the definitions.  Moreover, one cannot choose to arbitrarily divorce oneself from these terms just because they don't care for them, or don't want to accept the label.  If you're in a crosswalk, on foot, then you don't get to say, "I don't choose to be called a pedestrian because I don't like the label."  That move is not open to you.  By this definition, all FIM fans who are adults and/or males are bronies, whether they accept it or not, and whether they know it or not.

However, without an official dictionary definition, we can't exactly pin this down as fact.  Many people have differing opinions of what it means.  Many believe that being a fan of the show isn't enough, and that being in the fandom does in fact require consent and admission, and at least a certain amount of consumption of fan-made material.  I'm not sure I agree with this, but I'm willing consider all viewpoints.

K.Rool Addict is one such person:

On 4/8/2017 at 9:19 AM, K.Rool Addict said:

You can watch every single episode of the show multiple times and not qualify as a brony. Bronies are really more the fans that thrive off of the consumption and/or creation of fandom-generated content. In other words, fanfics, pictures, and shipping lol. 

In the most basic terms possible: 

  • Brony: Fandom > Source material
  • Non-Brony: Source material > Fandom

 

This is an interesting opinion, and I believe it's worth consideration.  I would not immediately dismiss this viewpoint, but without a lot more evidence, I'm inclined to believe that being a fan of the show, i.e. the source material, is the sole requirement.  Most opinions I've seen tend to lean in that direction.

But I also understand that the term and the fandom can be a bit controversial.  Claiming that being a brony is a non-negotiable fact for a fan of the show, as I did above, seems to be downright offensive to some.  I've met quite a few people who are fans of the show, and even consumers of fan-made material, but they choose not to call themselves a brony.  More to the point, they claim that they are absolutely not bronies, and that the term and the fandom are something that one chooses to adopt, and that without that consent and admission, one isn't and does not have to be a brony, regardless of being a fan of the show.  I've always respected their wishes, and since we don't have an official dictionary definition, I can't exactly use fact to refute their claims.  Perhaps they are right.  Many fans don't wish to be affiliated with our fandom for a variety of reasons, and I can respect that.  And yet, I still lean towards the term "brony" simply meaning a FIM fan outside the target demographic, and thus requiring nothing from the person.

But let's try to pin down what we do know--If you're a fan of the show, and you want to call yourself a brony, then I'd say you definitely are one.  If you're a fan of the show and the community content, and you want to call yourself a brony, then you definitely are one.  Hmm....this might be better done in the format of "You might be a redneck..."

  • If you replaced every single item in Left 4 Dead 2 with Pony workshop mods....you might be a brony.
  • If you ever heard someone say "Camelot" and thought they mispronounced it...you might be a brony.
  • If you ever told someone to "lend a hoof"....you might be a brony.
  • If you can name every single background pony...you might be a brony.
  • If you've ever written a 6000-character post on the definition of being a brony....you might be a brony.

I think you get the idea.  If someone enjoys the community aspect and the fan content, but they have never actually watched a single episode of the show, and never care to....well...I'm a little agnostic on whether that fits the definition of brony or not, but considering all of the varied opinions on this subject, I'd be willing to say "sure, why not".  If you like Pony, in whatever format, then you can call yourself a brony.  That's fine by me.

One thing is for absolute certain: being in the fandom does not require a specific amount of community participation.  Taking a break from the show or community participation does not mean that you've "quit the fandom", unless you've decided that you no longer like the show.  If you're still a fan, then you can still call yourself a brony.  I haven't watched Star Wars in years.  I'm still a fan.  I don't care if you never watch FIM for the rest of your life!  If you still love it, then you can still call yourself a brony.  You will not be expelled from the fandom due to inactivity.  We require no monthly dues.  We're just people who like Pony.

 

Okay, that was the post.  Done.  Holy crap, that spoiler stuff was a mess.  But I finally got it.  Took some roundabout trickery.  All this just so I could have a neat and tidy post that probably no one will ever read.  I'm a piece a work.  :lol:

Edited by Justin_Case001
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To me, a Brony is simply anyone that is a fan of the show. Of course that is if they want that type of title. I don't see being a Brony as some super special exclusive thing, if someone likes the show and considers themselves a Brony, then boom, case solved.

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(edited)

My take on what "makes" a brony is that it's really down to regular engagement with the fandom. I don't actually consider myself a brony even though I love the show to death (yes, including the recent stuff) and have seen nearly every single episode and own a significant amount of merchandise.

I see the bronies as being the community around the show and I haven't really communicated with other fans of the show until a few days ago (via this site) despite having been a fan for a year and a half, so I call myself a "pony fan" or perhaps a "pony enthusiast" but not a brony.

That said, maybe I am a brony. I feel that most non-bronies who know what a brony is would automatically lump me together with the bronies just for watching the show (with the merch collection being the clincher), but my perspective is, after having given it more thought than I probably should have devoted to such a topic, different.

I'll also throw in that I'm not a fan of the word "brony". I think it sounds a little ridiculous. On top of that I don't like wearing labels like that because the label ties my behavior with the behavior of everyone else who wears that label, and other peoples' behavior isn't always kosher.

Edited by J-115
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