Ex-Bronydom

[ManaAdvent]

Another pony thread, well somewhat, but for those who used to be bronies or fans of MLP:Friendship is Magic.

What made you leave the fandom and/or stop watching the show altogether? Was it the fanbase or certain parts? Were certain or plenty of episodes that didn't make it for you or that the episodes were mediocre? Did you find the previous season was better than the recent because it didn't "pander" to bronies, making the show feel like it lost charm? Did you just lose interest and move on to bigger and better things?

Your thoughts?

 

[itsthesheppy]

Is liking a show something you can "leave"?

 

[A Satanic Panda]

in b4 ToastiestZombie tells us the fandom is still as pure as it was from conception (on 4chan.)

I haven't left the fandom yet. I found a nice little ring of people on Deviant Art that mix Ace Combat and general war/apocalypse scenarios with MLP. They and the show itself are the only reason I call myself a brony, other then that I am at a complete disconnect from what the fandom does. And from what I hear from Caramel Frappe that's a good thing too.

What ever happened to love and tolerate, no exceptions?

 

[A Satanic Panda]

What ever happened to love and tolerate, no exceptions?

*Looks at your avatar*

*Looks at your post*

Love and tolerance, huh?

im so lijit, u dont evn no.

*Sees name*

*Remembers posts you've made*

Ha, irony.

 

[Fappy]

What ever happened to love and tolerate, no exceptions?

*Looks at your avatar*

*Looks at your post*

Love and tolerance, huh?

im so lijit, u dont evn no.

*Sees name*

*Remembers posts you've made*

Ha, irony.

This, this this.

Holy shit it's Goose Man! When did you join the Escapist!?

 

[Pinkamena]

Is liking a show something you can "leave"?

You can like the show, but still not want to be a part of the fandom.

I haven't left the fandom yet. I found a nice little ring of people on Deviant Art that mix Ace Combat and general war/apocalypse scenarios with MLP.

I agree. If it weren't for the community here on the Escapist, I would likely have left a fair bit ago. So finding a small group of people seems better than trying to be a part of the entire fandom.

 

[chstens]

People talk about this like it's a huge deal. It really, really isn't.

 

[Amgeo]

Is liking a show something you can "leave"?

Well, you can choose whether or not you identify as a member of that community. It's easier to make that decision when the community has a name, like "bronies."


As for me, I think I'm starting to outgrow the show. I know, it's weird, but I feel like the more I see of it the more I notice the flaws.

 

[EnlightendDead]

Holy shit it's Goose Man! When did you join the Escapist!?

Actually a while ago, I just lurk.

 

[natster43]

Well I was never really a big part of the fandom, and I still really like the show, but I have only really heard bad things about the main community in recent times. So I continue to stay away from the major community stuff.

 

[xplosive59]

Never was part of the fandom, I like the show but I like to distance myself from the fandom, alot of Bronies are overly friendly to the point of creepiness when you say you like the show which immediately turned me off. So I am the opposite of most people.

 

[Shadowstar38]

On the whole, the MLP community is the largest collection of positivity on the internet. But unfortunately, bronies are still people, and people can be assholes.

I've noticed this with the MLP group here. It first everything was all smiles and sunshine. Then over the year, it became more and more impossible to go a week without someone getting pissed off. It's actually driven some of the more positive members away.

And then there's how EqD runs there site. But thats a whole mess of other problems on it's own.

And think I've become disillusioned with the who thing. I'll put out some content now and again, and talk to the fans I have other common interests with. Other than that though, I'm getting kind of tired of it.

 

[Alterego-X]

MLP fans who are not bronies, are the silliest thing since Trekkers who are not Trekkies.

 

[Flippincrazy]

In my opinion, the so-called 'Brony Community' just got large enough for the minority of overtly-passionate/ opinionated people to become noticeable - a bit inevitable really. Approach it with the right frame of mind, as with any other fandom, and it's still a good laugh.

Quite frankly, I found the initial year of everyone spurting 'Love and Tolerate' and the likes a tad bit creepy...

Anywho, in response to the OP, whilst I would still consider myself a 'brony', my interest has waned somewhat simply due to time and real-life focus. I won't 'leave' the fandom until I lose complete interest in the fictional universe itself or lose contact with the people I've met through the fandom.

Until then I'm sure it'll remain a fun little distraction.

 

[DEAD34345]

What ever happened to love and tolerate, no exceptions?

That never existed...

The whole pony thing is no different from any other fandom apart from in sheer size (considering what it's about). They always preach tolerance and acceptance, while ostracising those of their own group they disagree with. At the end of the day, they're all still people, so to expect things to be different is foolhardy. No cartoon is going to change basic human nature.

OT: I was never part of the community to begin with, but there was a time during the late-middle section of season 2 I nearly stopped watching the show altogether. I found lots of those episodes to be really... mediocre for some reason. Not awful, but not enough for me to actually seek it out and watch it either. Luckily it picked up again towards the end, so hopefully the next season will continue that trend. Plus I think I heard someone mention The Great and Powerful Trixie could be making a return, and there's no way I'd miss that.

 

[Melon Hunter]

Is liking a show something you can "leave"?

You can like the show, but still not want to be a part of the fandom.

I haven't left the fandom yet. I found a nice little ring of people on Deviant Art that mix Ace Combat and general war/apocalypse scenarios with MLP.

I agree. If it weren't for the community here on the Escapist, I would likely have left a fair bit ago. So finding a small group of people seems better than trying to be a part of the entire fandom.

That bit, right there. I've made a good few friends through the little sub-community that sprung up around Fallout: Equestria. We may disagree over some things, but no-one's ever actually had a falling out.

Personally, I think 'leaving' the fandom like Caramel Frappe detailed is rather... weak, and foolhardy. If your skin is so thin that you can't ignore some assholes trying to project their opinions onto others, that's really not a good sign. You've let someone else indirectly dictate what you like. Furthermore, the implication that by leaving the fandom you're somehow a better person, morally superior even, to the ones who persist is incredibly irritating.

The fandom is far too large for it not to sub-divide into camps with different opinions, and I for one don't allow the squabbles that inevitably take place faze me. I tolerate the opinions different to mine, disregard the troublemakers and enjoy what I want to enjoy. Something I think more than a few people in this thread need to learn.

 

[Sir Shockwave]

OT: I was never part of the community to begin with, but there was a time during the late-middle section of season 2 I nearly stopped watching the show altogether. I found lots of those episodes to be really... mediocre for some reason. Not awful, but not enough for me to actually seek it out and watch it either. Luckily it picked up again towards the end, so hopefully the next season will continue that trend. Plus I think I heard someone mention The Great and Powerful Trixie could be making a return, and there's no way I'd miss that.

This, though for me it goes a bit deeper.

*Obligatory Inception BWONG Sound goes here*

To use a (slightly edited) quote - ?As a person with Asperger syndrome, I learned more about theory of mind, friendships and social interactions from this season [of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic] than I had in the previous 21 years of life.?

Why do I bring this up? Well for me, I have the aforementioned condition above. Ontop of all this, I'm not a very...social person. MLP gave me a way to interact and express how I felt with others - before long, I was writing a FanFic and doing Pony Art. Heck, the connection with Ponies has literally evolved to the point where I have the uncanny ability to think how Twilight thinks - I have no idea how it works, secret talent or raving insanity? You decide.

Then came Second Season. Hoo boy, Second Season.

Putting asides a rather underwhelming two parter (which mostly felt like a rehash of last season's opener), things went downhill as soon as "Lesson Zero". I didn't see it at first, but I noticed more and more on rewatches during downtime periods (usually during the three to four month gaps between new episodes of Transformers Prime)...and while things didn't get worse than that episode (though "A Friend in Deed", "Dragon Quest" and "The Last Roundup" come close in the badness department). The reason I put "Lesson Zero" above all of those however (especially "Dragon Quest", the most widely open to interpretation episode to date), "Lesson Zero" is a Microcosm of everything wrong with the Second Season - all it needs is an agonizing musical number and it would hands down be so bad it falls off the very scale of all things bad.

And of course, the Bronies loved it. I felt very isolated and alone. So I did the first thing I could think of - talk about it openly on a Brony Forum.

The levels of Hatred that I had dared to voice my honest opinion of Season 2 would make even a member of The Escapist blush. I had a severe traumatic emotional meltdown which almost made me leave Ponies entirely. The key word being almost.

At this current point, I no longer consider myself a Brony - even then, a Friend of mine kindly pointed out that most Bronies were infact members of the /b/ and /co/ subsections of 4Chan, meaning a lot of Trolls got mingled in there.

But to summarise and expand - I at this point do not consider myself a Brony, I still enjoy and work with Ponies and my reaction to Season 3 thus far has been "Oh shit, this is GONNA SUUUUCK!". So while most "Bronies" are going to be watching Season 3, I think I'll stick with watching what's left of Season 2 of Transformers Prime (which has so far been a vast improvement on the first season, something FiM got very wrong), thank you very much.

There, ramble over, even if (as usual) I made absolutely no sense. I await the people who are going to quote this for hatemail purposes, or simply reply "Wat O.O" and ask for clarification.

 

[Worgen]

I've found bronies as a community as probably the most welcoming and friendly one around. I can kinda understand why they would be a bit hard on the rule 34 artists. They really don't want to be associated with furries, who are for some reason the most hated internet group around.

 

[Judgement101]

What made me despise the fanbase was their constant posting of irrelevant pictures on every post. I'm fine if you like the show and want to talk about it. I'm not fine when you spam stuff about it an assume it doesn't bother anyone.