Has the general reputation of Bronies gotten worse or is it just me?

[Meatspinner]

If I had to guess it's because only the "hardcore" haters are the one still bothering to hate MLP. The rest of us have moved onto the next flavor of the month hate train. Thus you are only left with the most vicious ones spewing bile over you

That's my guess at least

 

[Risingblade]

I've completely forgotten they existed. There hasn't been much pony spam here lately so better I guess?

 

[xPixelatedx]

Like everything, once the fanbase grows it accumulates more and more potential crazies and morons. Just look what happened to Naruto once it hit TV in the US. Hell, look at gaming. I would argue the reputation of gamers was MUCH better before XBL appeared.

 

[Loop Stricken]

I dunno. Was the fanbase ever good?

What fanbvases are ever good? You onyl hear of the vocal majority who are distilled arseholes.;

 

[Quadocky]

This is confusing.
Are you saying that Bronies can't be conservatives? Why is that? Are you trying to suggest that the general message of "Be nice to each other" is a strictly liberal thing?

Its not that I am saying they can't be conservative or that only liberals can watch the shows, its that THEIR OWN ideas are completely antithetical to whatever ideas are espoused by the show in question that makes it absolutely mind boggling. Political language can be very hard to dissect, sorry for the confusion.

I used the phrase 'conservative talking points' because some comments I've seen are similar to them, especially in relation to homophobic attitudes.

EDIT: As an authors note, I tend to be very critical of all fandoms as I find them problematic in so many ways, but at the same time I recognize the creative capacity of fandoms.

 

[Charli]

The nice ones tend to keep to themselves. So... yeah same with anything.

The loudest and most obnoxious only tend to generate exasperation from anyone non-brony or at the very least has no iota of what they're banging on about.

Don't let it bother you.

Stay comforted in the knowledge that every fanbase goes through this on some scale or another. There is no 'pure' fanbase.

Anywhere. At all. EVER.

 

[Soviet Steve]

My introduction to it was rule 34 and fat guys parading to pizzahut singing winter wrap up or somesuch. It's a bit hard to sink from the Mariana trench.

 

[Pinkamena]

I feel as if the fandom itself has descended into mediocrity, and is lacking much of the drive and enthusiasm it had during its peak in season 2. I don't know if we've gotten a better reputation outside the fandom though, but it definitely appears that either people have stopped caring, or the bronies have stopped being so fucking obnoxious as they used to.

 

[Cette]

I just think its odd when fans of the show with pony avatars spout off conservative talking points right and left. That alone seem enough to leave me absolutely infuriated with any notion of 'bronies' because they obviously don't pay very much attention to the content in the show. That and the creepy pornification I've seen of the characters have left me feeling creeped out obviously.

Personally I'm more worried about their creepy ponification of porn.


But yeah I'm wary of anyone who goes around that heavily defining themselves to the public by what they're a fan of. You don't see me going off on a tear plastering Babylon 5 shit everywhere

 

[Raikas]

I've completely forgotten they existed. There hasn't been much pony spam here lately so better I guess?

This. There was a time when way too many threads (on too many forums) were constantly being filled with pony pictures. It's much more rare now, so I'd think that that could only improve the fan's reputation. I've never seen the show, so I have zero opinion on its quality, and I don't care what franchises people are fans of, but it's tiring to have it thrown at you constantly, so I'm just glad that's come to an end.

I'm still a little baffled at why it's such an identity thing for some people, but hey - whatever makes you happy.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I love how the backlash to many of the bronies is solely based on "it's a kid's show". Not "your show is bad" or "it was made by a notoriously money-grubbing creator" or "the voice acting bad" or "the animation is bad" or "the episodes are short and poorly made" or "it endorses poor morals like faking your personality" or anything else. Just. "It looks girly."

I don't think it's changed that much. Generally the fandom gets pretty tame when a season is ongoing (shit, is a season still running? I don't know). Really, I ignore everyone's stereotypes on the bronies because it's really just insulting people for the sake of insulting people.

 

[00slash00]

people have always seemed to hate bronies. the only way i think its gotten worse is that people used to hate us because they felt we were immature and tried to force my little pony down their throat. that hasnt changed but now they also seem to think we're perverts who masturbate to pony porn

 

[Loop Stricken]

... but now they also seem to think we're perverts who masturbate to pony porn

Some of us do. Chrysalis is a damn fine piece of ass.

 

[Ishal]

I don't know. I only became a "brony" in November, but I can say I'm happy to be a part of the fandom. Its done a lot of good to go along with its more... questionable activities. Its raised a ton of money in charity and inspired lots of people to go out and do good.

I'm still awed by just how creative the fandom is, I just watched Snowdrop, a short fan animation based in the MLP universe and I loved it. I never imagined I'd be reading fan fiction (of any kind) but here I am enjoying a lot of it. There are some pretty good writers and some hilarious stuff out there. Thats the thing for me, the fandom is SO big that there is just so much art/music/animations/comics to choose from, so I don't care if there is bad/distasteful stuff out there. I can just ignore it and choose what I want to enjoy.

On the topic of the obnoxious things bronies used to do, I wasn't here 2 years ago or even aware of MLP and a fandom. But I suspect that many trolls and troublemakers just grabbed themselves a pony avatar to create drama and cause problems on youtube or the other sites.

 

[00slash00]

... but now they also seem to think we're perverts who masturbate to pony porn

Some of us do. Chrysalis is a damn fine piece of ass.

hey well different strokes for different folks (pun extremely intended), but i feel like thats a stereotype applied to all bronies and i dont think that was the case when i start watching the show in 2011

 

[Evil Smurf]

I've completely forgotten they existed. There hasn't been much pony spam here lately so better I guess?

Lucky you, I went out with a brony, who was also a furry and she occasionally sends me clop :/

Despite that we are still friends. Weird is'n't it?

 

[Skeggers]

I'm surprised that the whole 'brony' phenomenon has lasted as long as it has, to be honest. I'm not surprised that people still watch the show, but that people still have pony pictures as their avatars and discuss it on such a regular basis all over the web. They're still everywhere you go, which just strikes me as bizarre.

I think if the reputation of the fanbase has declined at all as of late, it's because to those who were only in it for the initial novelty or sense of irony, it's worn off by this point and only the die hard MLP fans are still hanging around.

Personally, I'd be happy if the whole craze died tomorrow, but that's been my opinion since the very beginning and seeing as that's not likely, I've come to peace with the whole crazy ordeal.

 

[Right Hook]

Still, i feel like most people think of Bronies as childish and socially awkward at best and obsessive and delusional at worst.

I seem to remember a member on here, can't remember who, having the text under their name read "I want to cum inside rainbow dash."

Now, I've been a fan of several things in my time, even shows with animal-like creatures in them but have never, for instance, wanted to cum inside Cheetor from Beast Wars.