Just me "rambling on..."

[DashieInTheDark]

I figured I might as well do this, as I'm in the mood for a "discussion thread" mixed with the need to write, mixed with the need to relieve some "stress" so to speak.

NOTE: As a heads up, a lot of this, most of you MIGHT not agree with. I'm always looking forward to your "opinion", but don't try to change mine. Unless, of course, I get facts wrong, and am misguided.

I will be breaking this up in to "sections" so it is easier for all of you to "discuss" without two topics accidentally linking to each other.

Part I. Bronies, and their "bad name"

So, as the days pass, I find myself getting "sick" of calling myself a brony. Maybe it's that the name has lost its' true meaning, and I feel ashamed by it. If the meaning were to be kept at a simple "Male fan of the My Little Pony series, none in particular" or similar, I would accept this. However, the more bronies "progress" the more it seems they get a bad name. There's a lot of "flaming" bronies, and a lot of "troll" bronies, using things like "umad?" and the like. I'm not saying bronies "HAVE TO LOVE AND TOLERATE" but I don't like the (internet and real life) expressions that I am given when I mention I am a brony. I find myself not using the term more and more as time goes on. There's not much, if anything, that I can do about this. I just wish that I could use the name "brony" without feeling bad about it. It's like, these "fake bronies" are giving the "real ones" a bad name, so to speak. I'm not sure, and maybe it's just me, but I just don't feel like "brony" has the same meaning to it as it used to. To US it does, but to the outside ,it does not. (This is especially apparent when attempting to "convert" someone.)

Part II. How Bronies have settled in.

This is something I realized a few days ago. I had heard Pinkie's line in "Party of One" being "Ooooh! This is my jam!" and it reminded me of "Equestria Girls." I'm not sure if you feel the same, but for me, I get a feeling of nostalgia every time I listen to it. The "phenomenon" that was bronies has really "died down", so to speak. I get the same feeling whenever I am to listen to the original starting, or Alex S's Glitch remix of it. It just reminds me of the past. This is VERY RECENT past in comparison to most of my "nostalgia" too. Like ,I became a brony in...late November? Yet I STILL get the feeling of nostalgia when listening to any of them I mentioned previously. The same can be applied to seeing the now famous "Welcome to the herd" picture of Pinkie Pie in Bridle Gossip. The person who "converted" me showed me it upon telling him I started watching it. I will always remember that picture...Anyways, on to the settling in part. If any of you noticed, theres' not a lot of "News coverage" of Bronies anymore (to be expected) and they aren't "taking over the internet" anymore. I'm sure this is common with all fandoms, I just felt like bringing it up. Sure, more and more bronies pop up nowadays, but I see a FRACTION of the "reaction" and "Caption" images as I did in October (before I was a brony, but knew about the show) I almost feel as though the fandom is slowly starting to die, even with more and more people "converting" every day. It's almost like we're naturally slowly losing interest.

Another thing is: I remember back in the Summer, I had seen a thread on a forum I frequent. "My Little Pony Friendship is Magic" was the title. I was fond of the name, because some members posted a few pics of the show. I tracked down the source, found it, and didn't care for it. Someone said "The episodes can be found on Youtube" and I was instantly intrigued. Just a heads up though, I will pretty much watch anything on Youtube if full episodes are up, and not in parts. I'll save the rest of this for the next section.

Part III. My slow conversion. (Heads up, long)

So, as with the ending of part II, I'll continue it here.

Someone mentioned in the thread that all of the current episodes could be viewed on Youtube, I instantly wanted to check them out. NOT because of ANY influence, other than being able to watch it all without weaving it in parts or torrenting it. Almost like a 20 some minute long "video" Prior to watching it, I didn't "love" Faust's work, because I didn't know she was involved with them until November. I loved them, but not because "she worked on them." So Faust had no influence on m watching it. I had a cold, and I sat down to watch some Youtube. I had a bowl of Chef Boyardee(?) Ravioli. My brothers and parents were occupied outside, and I didn't need to help, because I was sick. I, of course, would have loved to help, but I didn't have the energy. (Heavy lifting, mainly.) Initially, I started watching freddiew videos. Laughing, and enjoying the soothing relief on my throat from the Ravioli, I was ultimately having a good time. I opened another tab to the forum I frequent, and was reminded of that thread. The name hit me, and I looked it up. There it was, episode 1, 22 minutes long, 1080p. (I have a 23 inch LED, so I want all of my stuff in 1080p if possible.) At this point, all I knew was the art style of the "vectors" and that it's relatively new, and on The Hub, which I had at the time. I clicked it, and started viewing. I saw the storybook open, and started to think it would use "stories" for each episode ,and not follow consistency. I am not bothered by this, but I just assumed that's what it was. Roughly 23 seconds in, my younger brother walked in, and I closed it out. I wasn't attached, but I wanted to finish the first episode to see what it was all about. (The tf2 pictures, the images everywhere, and such) I tried to play it off cool, and try to "shoo" him away without giving any sings. Which, it worked, but then my OTHER younger (but older than him, he's Paradox on here) brother walked in, and stayed in for awhile. So I gave up for that day. My cold got better ,and life went back to normal. Plain and dull, but normal. More TF2 videos, more reaction images, and more pony. I was at this point, very intrigued, but never found a time to watch the episodes without being interrupted. It wasn't until that Fall that I was able. (Yes, that long.) It was around the 20th of October, and I set up my downloader, and downloaded all of season one in 360p, that night. The next night, I told my brother. (Who is Paradox on here) I didn't tell him anything like "The animation is fantastic, the show is good, and Lauren Faust made it" like most bronies do nowadays. I simply told him it was made in Flash, and this is the source of all the "ponies" in Team Fortress 2 videos. He agreed to watch them, or at least, accept that I will be watching at least the first few. He stayed and watched. Because of the time jump from Summer to October, I had time to see clips like "Yay!" and such, so I was sort of "waiting" to see them in the show. I set up my media player to play the first 5 episodes, and laid in bed and watched them. It was 11:30 at night when starting. I was starting to feel a "connection" to the character by the end of episode 1, and moreso throughout episode 2. Keep in mind, I was open minded, and I didn't mind the intro, nor the name "My Little Pony." and I didn't watch previous generations, or anything. Anyways, Paradox (Not his real name) goes to bed, and it is 12:30. We finished the first two episodes. But I wanted more. I kept watching ,and I REALLY enjoyed episode 3, as I was already attached and knew the characters. The same kept happening as episodes kept playing. I glanced over at the clock, saw it was 2:00 AM, and said "It's time for sleep." I shut my PC off, and went to bed. Pleased with what I just watched, and not ashamed. Unlike some of you, I didn't "need" the fandom to enjoy this show. I enjoyed it for it's qualities, not the ones of the fandom. Nights pass, and I was watching episodes (2 a night) for weeks. Sometimes repeats if I wanted to. My goal was to be caught up to s2 episode 3 before the release of "Nightmare night" which I saw posted in the thread on the forum. Which, I did not do, sadly. I didn't want to rush them, so I took a few day breaks between episode sessions. Luckily, I was all caught up on s1 before Thanksgiving. Then, enjoying season 1, I started downloading s2, in 1080p this time. I had all of the current s2 episodes downloaded, and started watching then. One a night this time. You can't fully appreciate this shows' "Animation quality" until you watch it in full HD. At this point, it's just after Thanksgiving, and I'm surfing the net. I literally fall off of my chair, and realize. "I'm a brony." something I, at the time, did NOT know the meaning of, but heard it so much. I Googled the meaning, then and there, and realized it.

And, from then on, I've slowly settled in to being a brony, and here I am now.

Part IV. Why I personally do not like "furries" as compared to "bronies"

By far the most "controversial" part of this thread. I, personally, cannot stand furries. NOT the people, either. The furries themselves. I don't mean to hate toward furries, but personally, I cannot stand even the sight of them. I don't know why, but I can't stand half-human morphs wit hanimals. No matter what it is. Even artwork of MLP with "Humanized" characters bothers me so much. Granted, furries do not overrun my life, or m viewing of the internet/ I just am getting tired of mostly seeing half-human FiM artwork. I've not much more to say, and I don't want to be negative, either. I will say one thing- Anyone that considers bronies "furries" are completely wrong in my eyes. I enjoy this show because of the good morals, the good up to date artwork, the good voice actors, some of the good stories in episodes, the clean humor, and the fact it brings back memories of older shows. Now, that means I am a fan of the show. A brony is a "male fan of the show" correct? Well I'm not in love with any of the ponies, so I'm not a furry. So I am confused as to where people think this connection is. For some, who are emotionally connected to the characters, yes, I can see that. But all bronies Are NOT furries!

/endrant

Ah, there we go .Neatly organized, and it took me a straight 55 minutes to write this. I do not mean to offend anyone, nor stir any drama.

Discuss.

Edited February 18, 2012 by Artax
removed OP's advise to break copyright law.

[Autumn]

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" ~ Mahatma Ghandi

Please make use of the blog services Canterlot.com provides, this would be better suited there.