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Grey Rants: Furries who dislike bronies, comparing fandoms
14 years ago
General
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dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip - Waiting for the Beat to Kick In
Even the nicest of guys have some nasty within' 'em
You don't have to be backlit to be the villain
Whether it's greed, lust or plain vindictiveness
There's a level of malevolence inside of all of us
Fun fact: I have a lot of long, drawn-out complaints in my head. I've just never written them down out of respect for people with opposing views.
But hell, I thought I'd write this one.
Dear furries who dislike fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic:
What the hell is wrong with you?!
You, as a person who spends some amount of your life in a fandom that is based around anthropomorphic cartoon animals, are hating on people who spend some amount of their lives in a fandom based around anthropomorphic cartoon animals.
You can see how there are a lot of furries that are also bronies. You know, because they're exactly the same.
As a person who has spent some significant amount of time engaging in both the furry and pony fandoms, I can tell you that they are immensely similar. Yes there are differences, but that is bound to happen - as much as the two have in common, there are some inherent differences.
THINGS THAT ARE VERY DIFFERENT
#1: The very focus
The furry fandom is strange. Strange in a way you've probably never noticed. It's not really a fandom. Fandoms tend to be focused around one specific group of media; trekkies are the Star Trek fandom, whovians are the Doctor Who fandom, bronies are the MLP fandom, etcetera.
But what are furries a fan of? Well, anthropomorphic animals in general! But that means we have a much wider scope, covering all manner of media and topics. That's great! It allows us to prosper by not being tied into a TV show or book that could come to an end or be lost to the ages (you don't hear from the Time Squad fandom much nowadays!) but it also means we lack focus - and it is this that is the primary focus of other differences between the two.
#2: Original characters
It's hard to be in the furry fandom without a fursona; it is a de facto standard to have an original character to use for roleplay and artistic pursuits. In the MLP fandom this is much less common; the media has been provided, there are other characters to write about and draw, an established canon to work with and theories to pursue - there is much less need to create an original character, unless one wishes to insert themselves into the established canon, ala fanfiction style.
#3: Porn
Well of course there's pornography of ponies, rule 34 and all that, but in the MLP fandom it's just not so obvious. It is after all a children's cartoon, and many people actively object to sexualising characters and situations - something I experienced first-hand when I jokingly made a mature joke on the r/mylittlepony subreddit.
#4: Fucking drama
"Love and tolerate" is the brony creed, and by-and-large this seems to have been completely accurate. Drama in the brony fandom is, if anything, completely nonexistent - except for the drama in fanfiction anyway. Bronies love dramatic fanfics (I'm currently reading one where Pinkie Pie dies of diabetes, it's so heart-wrenching!)
The fact I'm even writing this journal shows the same hasn't happened in the furry fandom.
THINGS THAT ARE EXACTLY THE SAME
#1: Creepers
There is a video floating around somewhere on the Internet of a brony meet where people were loud, rude and generally obnoxious in a public place. Sound familiar? Well of course it should, that's what happens at most furmeets.
Mention that video in an MLP chatroom and you'll be met with several exasperated sighs and groans at having to remember it. It is an embarrassing thing to be associated with, as it should be.
#2: Creativity
Furries are a creative bunch. And guess what? Bronies are too! Who'da thunk it?
#3: Costumes
There are MLP cosplayers who attend comic, anime and even furry conventions. The ponies are arguably better looking.
#4: Conventions
Just as there are furmeets, there are brony meets. Just as their are furry conventions, there are brony conventions. They differ in practically no way whatsoever.
#5: Communities
You thought furries, with their own bespoke galleries and social networks were bad? There are brony news sites and Twitter clones.
There is however a shade of difference here. MLP-centric art sites seem rare, if non-existent. I theorize that the subject is mainstream enough to just take place on sites like deviantART - where there are many, many, many pony groups - helped along by the lack of focus on pornographic media (which you furry historians would know was why Fur Affinity was created in the first place.)
#6: Charity
In 2010, 22 furry conventions from around the world collected a recorded $126,499 for charity, primarily from art auctions, but also from charities officially affiliated with the convention and all-out fundraisers (notably Mephit Furmeet, which raised money for Hurricane Katrina victims in 2005).
I know a lot of you people are gamers, and you've probably heard of the Humble Indie Bundle - a collection of games from independent studios, with some proceeds from sale going to charity. If you ever looked at the sales stats on their website you'd have seen that the Humble Brony Bundle - a charitable pot of bronies - are far and away the biggest donators for every single bundle.
Also the charitable organisation Bronies For Good. And, of course, making everyone's lives better.
#7: And, err, demographics
Practically every survey and study of the furry fandom made in the last decade has found a ratio of 4:1 males and females. This is the same in the brony fandom.
An average age from the early-teens to the mid-20s? Eeeyup, that's the same too. (In fact, bronies trend further towards the older end of the spectrum than furries do.)
By-and-large, the two fandoms are demographically the same, not surprising as they're about the same talking cartoon animals.
IN CONCLUSION
I am personally very proud of the My Little Pony fandom. In the space of just over a year it has grown into a fandom of comparable merit to the furry fandom, whilst at the same time shedding undesirable aspects (porn, drama) and promoting positive ones (tolerance). The My Little Pony fandom has proved itself much more mature, and thus much more accessible to the public at large as a result.
Personally, I actually find bronies a much more pleasant crowd to associate with.
But hell, I thought I'd write this one.
Dear furries who dislike fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic:
What the hell is wrong with you?!
You, as a person who spends some amount of your life in a fandom that is based around anthropomorphic cartoon animals, are hating on people who spend some amount of their lives in a fandom based around anthropomorphic cartoon animals.
You can see how there are a lot of furries that are also bronies. You know, because they're exactly the same.
As a person who has spent some significant amount of time engaging in both the furry and pony fandoms, I can tell you that they are immensely similar. Yes there are differences, but that is bound to happen - as much as the two have in common, there are some inherent differences.
THINGS THAT ARE VERY DIFFERENT
#1: The very focus
The furry fandom is strange. Strange in a way you've probably never noticed. It's not really a fandom. Fandoms tend to be focused around one specific group of media; trekkies are the Star Trek fandom, whovians are the Doctor Who fandom, bronies are the MLP fandom, etcetera.
But what are furries a fan of? Well, anthropomorphic animals in general! But that means we have a much wider scope, covering all manner of media and topics. That's great! It allows us to prosper by not being tied into a TV show or book that could come to an end or be lost to the ages (you don't hear from the Time Squad fandom much nowadays!) but it also means we lack focus - and it is this that is the primary focus of other differences between the two.
#2: Original characters
It's hard to be in the furry fandom without a fursona; it is a de facto standard to have an original character to use for roleplay and artistic pursuits. In the MLP fandom this is much less common; the media has been provided, there are other characters to write about and draw, an established canon to work with and theories to pursue - there is much less need to create an original character, unless one wishes to insert themselves into the established canon, ala fanfiction style.
#3: Porn
Well of course there's pornography of ponies, rule 34 and all that, but in the MLP fandom it's just not so obvious. It is after all a children's cartoon, and many people actively object to sexualising characters and situations - something I experienced first-hand when I jokingly made a mature joke on the r/mylittlepony subreddit.
#4: Fucking drama
"Love and tolerate" is the brony creed, and by-and-large this seems to have been completely accurate. Drama in the brony fandom is, if anything, completely nonexistent - except for the drama in fanfiction anyway. Bronies love dramatic fanfics (I'm currently reading one where Pinkie Pie dies of diabetes, it's so heart-wrenching!)
The fact I'm even writing this journal shows the same hasn't happened in the furry fandom.
THINGS THAT ARE EXACTLY THE SAME
#1: Creepers
There is a video floating around somewhere on the Internet of a brony meet where people were loud, rude and generally obnoxious in a public place. Sound familiar? Well of course it should, that's what happens at most furmeets.
Mention that video in an MLP chatroom and you'll be met with several exasperated sighs and groans at having to remember it. It is an embarrassing thing to be associated with, as it should be.
#2: Creativity
Furries are a creative bunch. And guess what? Bronies are too! Who'da thunk it?
#3: Costumes
There are MLP cosplayers who attend comic, anime and even furry conventions. The ponies are arguably better looking.
#4: Conventions
Just as there are furmeets, there are brony meets. Just as their are furry conventions, there are brony conventions. They differ in practically no way whatsoever.
#5: Communities
You thought furries, with their own bespoke galleries and social networks were bad? There are brony news sites and Twitter clones.
There is however a shade of difference here. MLP-centric art sites seem rare, if non-existent. I theorize that the subject is mainstream enough to just take place on sites like deviantART - where there are many, many, many pony groups - helped along by the lack of focus on pornographic media (which you furry historians would know was why Fur Affinity was created in the first place.)
#6: Charity
In 2010, 22 furry conventions from around the world collected a recorded $126,499 for charity, primarily from art auctions, but also from charities officially affiliated with the convention and all-out fundraisers (notably Mephit Furmeet, which raised money for Hurricane Katrina victims in 2005).
I know a lot of you people are gamers, and you've probably heard of the Humble Indie Bundle - a collection of games from independent studios, with some proceeds from sale going to charity. If you ever looked at the sales stats on their website you'd have seen that the Humble Brony Bundle - a charitable pot of bronies - are far and away the biggest donators for every single bundle.
Also the charitable organisation Bronies For Good. And, of course, making everyone's lives better.
#7: And, err, demographics
Practically every survey and study of the furry fandom made in the last decade has found a ratio of 4:1 males and females. This is the same in the brony fandom.
An average age from the early-teens to the mid-20s? Eeeyup, that's the same too. (In fact, bronies trend further towards the older end of the spectrum than furries do.)
By-and-large, the two fandoms are demographically the same, not surprising as they're about the same talking cartoon animals.
IN CONCLUSION
I am personally very proud of the My Little Pony fandom. In the space of just over a year it has grown into a fandom of comparable merit to the furry fandom, whilst at the same time shedding undesirable aspects (porn, drama) and promoting positive ones (tolerance). The My Little Pony fandom has proved itself much more mature, and thus much more accessible to the public at large as a result.
Personally, I actually find bronies a much more pleasant crowd to associate with.
Hello, I'm Tori Belliachi and welcome to another edition of The Furry Guru.
kill memeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
i am deadFriend said she'd strap me onto the bed and forcefeed me marshmallows if I'd watch MLP for/with her. Regardless, I'm one of those people that doesn't like to have an opinion of something until I've actually seen the thing. :3
Get off your butts and make a Journal-Faving feature.
So that I can Fav this Journal of Justice.
Folks are always going to love certain things and hate on others however. :) Folks are just like that.
In my mind, even though the two fandoms have significant cross-over, they remain remarkably distinct in their execution.
Gotta wonder how much overlap the two fandoms will have in the long run. :)
nope, still hate ponies
"THIS THREAD IS NOW 20% COOLER!!!1"
"HEY EVERYPONY BROHOOF DOCTOR WHOOVES HOOF-PUN"
"Let me overanalyze the personality and depth of a character in a cartoon for 8-year old girls, I won't look like a weirdo"
"You don't like MLP? Well it's clear that you've never EVER watched it, because it's so good, and only people who have never watched it could ever dislike it"
"Oh hello videogaming/music/windsurfing/origami/mustache-growing/gardening/whatever forum.... PONIES ARE SO COOOOOL!!!!!!1 I MADE YOUR THREAD 20% COOLER LOL!!!1 I LOVE RAINBOW DASH ^__________^ BROHOOF EVERYPONY"
"You don't like MLP? You need to watch it some more, it's impossible that anyone could hate it"
I can go into a whole other journal about why the show is notably better than it's peers.
"Hey EVERYFUR, wanna play with my MURRSUIT we can YIFF and SCRITCH and PAW OFF together!"
(It's sad the only good example of furry lexicon I could think of was a sexual situation.)
If they are that annoyingly stupid, I will hate them. No matter who, what, or what they're into.- me
Hello, I'm a brony. :3
Yeah. I know.
Proof why Grey had to have the need to talk about it in a rant here is all here, you don't have to agree with it but it's there to provide clarity as to *why* this is a bit of a stupid thing to get so ragey over. The least you could do is just understand those reasons and stop being douches over it.
Gosh, I'm not even a proper brony, I'm a casual viewer of the show who participates in brony stuff only once in a blue moon but when Grey said at the end that "Personally, I actually find bronies a much more pleasant crowd to associate with" and taking that in mind while reading the comments in this journal posted by the 5 smug, patronising, rude lowlife "I'm-better-than-you-because-I-have-an-opinion-in-something-trivial" scum of this fandom can make me feel like that's true. And to those 5 people I'm referring to and intending to reply back with a typically idiotic comment, then remember this: I'm not saying such stuff here because you dislike MLP:FiM *or* the brony fandom, you're fine to dislike such stuff, there's just no reason to be absolute IDIOTS about it! ;3
*sigh* Never mind, very good journal here, Grey. :D