Is the fanbase taking it too far?

[SrFrog 927]

Unless someone belongs to a certain fandom community, one will never truly understand it. Truly, can you expect more from the internet than that? There is no purity left there so crying foul is like spitting against the wind.

[GrooveBroove 680]

You know I don't really see the problem here.

Now yes I can understand people's dislike for certain things fans would do, but that's the thing this happens with every fandom.

You have people who want to take it to that extreme. I say hell let them, if that's how they want to be a fan so be it.

 

It isn't directly me affectly or the way I like the to show my fandom.

 

Hell to me sometimes the most fun for fandom's is taking them out of their elements.

A lot of people here roleplay which is sort of the same basic idea. It's always interesting to see how something would be if it was a tad bit (or radically) different.

[Nothing392 61]

There obviously seem to be sides to either argument. Making these gory suggestive parodies really are disgusting, but the people posting them are a small majority and have the right to create these. Personally I go with the realization that no matter if you like it or not, people cant be stopped from making these. So I chose to ignore the gory and suggestive content, but I tolerate their creators, for isnt that what we as Bronies should do?

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

obnoxious crap post

 

No, I'm simply making valid points about the community. I'm not assuming anything.

and frankly it seems that when I suggest that the community is not perfect everyone reacts like this...

 

 

[Captain Marvelous 544]

I find it meh

[GrooveBroove 680]

No, I'm simply making valid points about the community. I'm not assuming anything.

and frankly it seems that when I suggest that the community is not perfect everyone reacts like this...

 

 

 

But that's the things no fanbase is perfect.

Hell quite a lot was shown with the Derpy Change Up.

On EQD a lot of people showed their true colors in the commetns or on some deviant art pages.

[Cynic 336]

Geez, I didn't realize Shed.MOV was so controversial. That was my favourite of the .MOVs, and sure it had a lot of dark humour, but it was still entertaining. Did ANYBODY else like it?

[cuteycindyhoney 13,307]

Anything that becomes popular gets the same treatment. Ever look at any "Youtube Poops"? This is nothing new, and there's no way to stop it short of letting the government seize control of the internet. That, my friends, would effectively END the internet!

 

Here's a radical idea. Instead of saying "Oh-oh, we need to prevent this stuff from being put where kids can see it!" What's wrong with parents actively taking part, and NOT LETTING their children see it?

[Marcato 2,143]

But that's the things no fanbase is perfect.

Hell quite a lot was shown with the Derpy Change Up.

On EQD a lot of people showed their true colors in the commetns or on some deviant art pages.

 

Very true. While most people that are MLP fans are ceem friendly, the way some reacted to derpy was quite, well... unnecessary.

 

LRP has a point. There is a lot of overreacting in general all around MLP, be it a slight different in opinion, or a simple comment or joke about something.

[Starshine 16,333]

Shoot. It's not like this fandom is consists entirely of saints and monks. We're bound to have a jerk here and there and maybe a flaring psychotic saiyan around some places.

 

But the fact that some people loves to blame a small portion's guilt pleasure to all of us just drive me crazy

[cuteycindyhoney 13,307]

Geez, I didn't realize Shed.MOV was so controversial. That was my favourite of the .MOVs, and sure it had a lot of dark humour, but it was still entertaining. Did ANYBODY else like it?

 

Yes, I loved it! It is in no way suitable for children, but it was wickedly funny!

[GrooveBroove 680]

Shoot. It's not like this fandom is consists entirely of saints and monks. We're bound to have a jerk here and there and maybe a flaring psychotic saiyan around some places.

 

But the fact that some people loves to blame a small portion's guilt pleasure to all of us just drive me crazy

 

(I just had to)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itXrBM-b7o8

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

Do you want the show to become popular because someone enjoyed watching the lively and innocent ponies in the show or do you want the show to become popular because someone enjoyed watching a chainsaw slide through the head of a character from the show?

 

Once again, I guess there was no way of stopping this from happening, nor is there a way to fix it now that it's happened.

 

No, but they are what they are: parodies. Whether or not it helps increase MLP's popularity isn't forged in stone, and neither the producers nor us can magically predict the outcome of all this.

 

It honestly sounds like you're heavily biased towards getting rid of the rather, dark ponycontent found on the internet. Perhaps people would get disgusted by all of it, but then again, isn't a show's goal supposed to be highly successful that many people from different age groups watch it around the world? And by doing so, people are able to come up with many ideas of their own and implement them onto the show for other peoples' amusement? With that said, the parodies are nothing more than a big joke...

 

I do believe you underestimate the show's charm. As I've already said/implied, the videos aren't canon. If you truly believe that MLP will degrade just because of a few dark tales found on the internet, which happen to be rather popular, you might want to rethink why MLP itself is so popular. We all love it because it's just a joy to watch. The dialogue is funny, characters are deep, and the stories are well written. It appeals to all audiences, and nothing is going to change that because canonically, MLP is too friendly of a cartoon for it to get a bad name (not including random pony haters).

 

I'll say this. The characters are so dynamic that you can take one character's traits and expand upon them, if you will. This makes for an amazing template if you want to write a fanfic, or a parody, so to say. For example, Cupcakes was written because Pinkie Pie has a rather exuberant personality. The author expanded on this and turned her into a psychotic. Is it disturbing? Yes, I suppose it is. However, when it comes to writing fanfics, this is a rather excellent idea, because after all, who would think that Pinkie Pie's most positive trait could be used as something so sinister, that her positive trait becomes a negative trait?

 

As a final note, I don't know about the "kids" tag the show is labeled with. It seems highly overrated at this point considering the population of the fanbase has jumped considerably. I prefer the term "family show". Of course, when it first aired, it was immediately given the kiddie tag, but hey, who would have thought that bronies would be on the rise starting from 2010?

Edited March 6, 2012 by Devin McCourty

[FLARE 952]

Every fan base has this, its just because we are a massive fan base you find out about this stuff.

Also because we are bigger we also get more of it.

Edited March 6, 2012 by Flare

[Fizz. 1,078]

No, I'm simply making valid points about the community. I'm not assuming anything.

and frankly it seems that when I suggest that the community is not perfect everyone reacts like this...

 

 

 

Well, you have to ask yourself: What are ya gonna do? You won't watch them, sure, but this is the internet: there are two people who like any given thing.

 

So, it's a repetetive and useless thing to complain about. I don't like gore or porn, but I choose not to view it. Problem solved. Stay off Youtube if you can't handle seeing the thumbnail for a possibly gory video in the related videos. The ONLY video I can understand being disturbed about is "Hush Now Quiet Now", but even that is easy enough to ignore.

[Colon Leftbracket 971]

I tend to be a fan of grimdarks and such (I actually just recently read Rainbow Factory... meh).

They tend to be awfully written but I find their concepts to be hilarious.

I guess the same could be said for clopfics.

 

But you are right that there is just a limit to this kind of material.

To have the Brony fanbase as a whole be represented by Cupcakes is really sad. The fandom should be about celebration of the show's glory and how it we tend to change eachother's lives for the better.

The grimdark/clopfic stuff can stay, but it needs to be more of a behind closed doors type of thing. Certainly they will still have tons of fans, but those fans shouldn't be the ones to represent the Bronies to the outside world and especially young children.

 

It's a kid's show for Celestia's sake! We can all have our gory/cloppy fun time, but please not in the open where the children can see it!

[MrAnthology 11]

I don't see a problem with the .MOV series, or any other gory fanwork this community creates. I haven't seen it hurt the fandom in anyway way at all; Bronies will be bronies, and haters will still be haters. What I think is "going too far" is the radical liberal side of the arguments on gore and porn and the likes, when the people involved say that creating stuff like that is morally wrong and it shouldn't be done. Honestly it's not that hard to just ignore it, and that's what I do when I see something I don't like. Morals are individual; what's considered wrong by one person might be considered completely fine by another.

[Champion RD92 8,658]

I HATE Shed.mov

 

I never plan on reading Cupcakes based on the little bit I read of it...It's disgusting.

[Dany Heatley 160]

I love the .mov series; although they are really milking it for all they got because they are popular. I can't wait for witchcraft.mov,though. And I don't know how cupcakes got so popular. It is pretty shi**y

Edited March 6, 2012 by Dany Heatley

[Vicke 3,189]

I dont mind any gory things, and especialy not Shed.Mov.

They are good and deserve the views/credits it get.

 

And when it comes to other random cupcakes video they are usually blocked from accounts with under the age of 18.

And if some kid puts that they are like 35 years old i guess they have to deal with it.

And if they dont like it i guess they have to learn what the internet is the hard way!

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

To everyone:

I am well aware that I can easily overlook such content and move on. 

Some of you honestly look like you're just telling me to stop talking about it because it can be overlooked.

This thread is about the "issue", so I am going to discuss it whether you think my opinion is worth spit and/or it has been said a million times before.

 

My posts here are not to "save the community" or to "improve it", I'm simply trying to point out what some may be oblivious of...no offense.

 

From a money standpoint, I'm sure Hasbros is leaping for joy at the fact they have a huge community buying their products and watching their show(s).

From a creator standpoint I'm sure Lauren Faust is disgusted at how the innocent show she created is being used to create porn and gore stories.

 

 

Heh, to be honest I don't think the community is what everyone tries to make it sound like.

I'm referring to the whole community, not the mlpforums. 

 

A majority of the fanbase is entertained by watching a character be mutilated. That should be expected from a fanbase made out of mostly teens...

While that is the reasoning behind why the fanbase is how it is, that's not really an excuse to justify such a fanbase.

 

>well larp who's trying to justify? we're just telling you that that's the way it is and that's the way it's gonna be!

 

Well, everyone seems to have a mindset of "ignore and move on". Maybe I don't want to just ignore the issues, maybe I don't want to be associated with a community of horny teens who turn an innocent show into sexual pleaure and whatever the hell you call pleasure from gore.

 

>But Larp! The community is wide and people vary, are you saying you have a problem with people who put a twist on the show to appeal to a certain group of people?

 

No I'm not saying I have a problem with them. I think such uses of assets of the show should be done privately.

Problem is...it will never be done privately.

 

>Larp, some of us being into that stuff doesn't mean we're all like that. And if you are aware of that then why judge us like this?

 

I'm not judging, I'm analysing the community and pointing out certain aspects of it. 

Mind you I am very much aware that the community has great innocent fan made works and people who are fans only of the show and not the controversial parodies that come of it.

I am not disregarding these works and people, I am simply not mentioning them because that is not what the topic is about.

 

I'm also not gonna sugar coat this.

We have numerous threads about the great aspects of the community, it's time we delve into the darker side of the community.

 

>Larp are you saying these works are morally wrong and should not be made? Your view of morals is not the same as everyone else's, some believe these works to be ok.

 

No I'm not saying that.

In fact I have enjoyed my fare share of controversial videos.

But let's face it...morals aside...these kind of works just don't belong with such a show.

People will continue to make and enjoy them but they will never belong with such a show.

 

>Ignore them! Why aren't you just ignoring them!

 

Like I said, this thread is about discussing them. If I were to ignore everything then there would be no discussion.

Also, don't misunderstand. I do ignore them, nothing forces me to click that link I know will result in a gore video. For the sake of a good discussion on the topic I am bringing up the things I normally ignore.

 

>Ok you've made your point loud and clear, what do you suggest we do about it Larp?

 

I think we should take the .movs...AND PUSH THEM SOMEWHERE ELSE.

 

But seriously...Nothing! Like I said I'm not writing this to change anything, I'm just giving valid points for you to see and understand.

If you have taken in any of my points, then my work with you is done!

 

 

 

I just notice a lot of "omg the brony community is so good and saintly" opinions.

Nu-uh, just keep in mind that most of us find enjoyment of watching a character get cut in half and/or [insert graphic sexual act description].

Not saying it's wrong to enjoy that, but just keep that in mind when you are forming a personal opinion of every aspect of the fanbase.

 

 

  

[RagingTwilight 101]

Honestly, I don't know whether we are or not with respect to society at large.

 

If the show were not as popular, it's likely many of the things you've mentioned would still exist, though would be much less popular. It seems to be getting more and more popular to be a brony, so as our populace increases, so will the variety of user-generated content.

 

So with respect to the core message and target audience of the show, I think we have taken it too far already; we've been taking it too far since almost the beginning of the community. The community went "too far" as soon as the first "clop fic," or the first non-friendly fanfiction was written, or the first youtube poop, etc. But we have to keep in mind one thing: the phenomenon is a product of the internet. Naturally, people from all walks of live can view roughly the same content online. They have different agendas, entertainment preferences, etc. It seems the show is likeable and relatable to so many different people, that people take elements from the show and "transform" or recreate these elements into their preferred form of entertainment. And it also turns out that some people on the internet don't like the entertainment preferences of others, and choose to ignore them or even berate their creators. So, the community splits itself up into several subsets of which when the union is taken between every subset, the result is the entire set - the brony community.

 

So in essence...it is unavoidable. In the end, people will see our community in different ways, no matter how many of X-type bronies we have, where X can be any type. The community has taken My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and created many different variations and derivatives of the core elements of the show, making some of the user-generated content almost completely different from the original purpose of the show. In other words, user-generated content has taken so many creative paths, that while they all share a common ancestor, some of the content hardly resembles the show at all.

 

As a community, we've picked this show up and ran with it. And we're not stopping anytime soon. So whether or not what we're creating has been taken too far with respect to society, I still don't know, but with respect to the show itself...we're miles apart on some things. If we tried to look back from these, we'd barely make out the original show that captured our hearts.

Edited March 6, 2012 by RagingTwilight

[/mlp/ 106]

I Haven't seen it actually hurt anything about the show and cupcake videos is something i can live with, but it is wrong for little kids to know/see can't argue there...i don't know how this can be helped....

[Lillia 69]

While it distresses me that every fandom eventually plays host to such a disturbed minority, it's best to think of them as Trolls. Stop paying them attention, or they just get stronger.

[Arashi Takamine 123]

To be honest I saw one of the cupcake video's and I was crying it was disgusting, it looked too much like the show and I kept mumbling: "No." Every time Pinkie Pie moved it was scarier then some horror movie's I've seen and trust me I'm that one chick who likes cute and fluffy stuff but also watches the bloodiest of anime's with not much indifference. (Once you watch The Birds your basically de-sensitized to stuff like that.) But without that I wouldn't have looked FIM up to act as a brain bleach so there wouldn't be nightmares and that night I watched nearly ten episodes and I fell asleep with a smile on my face from it. I wouldn't be in this fandom if it weren't for stumbling upon them and Epic Cupcake Time. (Which is pretty awesome.)

 

I didn't like Shed.mov but to be honest I've seen stuff like it before, OOC crap that deserves the title. I once read a Trauma Team story based on a crack comic and this person took it completely out of context to where she had an eight year old commit suicide in the story. Continuity issue's, OOC, everyone dying as a rapid chain result half being suicides which is exactly like Shed.

 

That same effed up person wrote a funny comic series herself about the three main characters of the TC series becoming bronies.

 

There's good and bad in everyone. Sometimes we find our way to the stuff we love by accident, sometimes to get rid of horrible images, or because it's just a good show that makes you smile when your sad. There's good and bad in the fandom too just like the show. You can't have Luna without Nightmare Moon and you can't have a scene with Cheerilee's classroom without bratty Diamond Tiara.

 

I'd say everyone can seriously tone it down with the Shed jokes. It's like the chicken joke with Scootaloo..It stopped being funny after the first 60 postings so let the horse die already.

Edited March 6, 2012 by Arashi Takamine