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On MLP, Anti-Pony, and the Thin Line of "Hate"
13 years ago
General
I honestly did not think I'd find myself joining the ranks of 
antipony but here I am. If you are offended by that fact, feel free to unwatch me, block me, whatever. I ask that you hear me out first, as the constant, gross exaggeration of both my point of view and the intent of the Anti-Pony group has become very annoying, and its about time its been told, simply, what is really going on.
MY POINT OF VIEW
Let me be very, very, VERY clear with all of you. I do not hate the cartoon MLP:FiM, its creators and producers, or the calm fans (commonly known as "bronies") who enjoy the show. Furthermore, I do not hate anything associated with the show. There is no hate involved here. There is, however, annoyance. I am annoyed at one, and ONLY one aspect of the brony fandom: the rabid, fanatical, obsessive fans. The "rabid bronies."
Rabid bronies are guilty of the following:
-Spamming ponies and pony memes everywhere, regardless of relevance
-Emulating/roleplaying aspects of the MLP canon (such as attitude, pony words, etc.) regardless of the conversational situation
-Obsess over MLP with an almost cult-like passion
-Claim to "love and tolerate," yet act hypocritically to those who express a dissenting opinion against MLP and/or the brony fandom
-Cry foal when horrible/sick things are done to the MLP characters unless they--as bronies--do the exact same thing.
-Insist on ponifying EVERYTHING and EVERYONE
I am tired of these kind of fans. And trust me, its not just bronies that do this. However, it appears as of now, the vocal minority of the brony fandom--the rabid bronies--are the most annoying of them all. "But Askir!" you say...
"Furries are guilty of similar rabidness, too!"
S'not just furries or bronies, darling. Every fandom has that god awful "vocal minority" that takes the fandom way too far, and thus ruins it for the rest of the fandom and those viewing the fandom from the outside. Here's the stickler though: at the current moment, bronies are currently the worst offenders in the rabid department. After only ~1.5 years, the vocal minority of the brony fandom has managed to annoy a large portion of the Internet moreso than furries and otakus, both of whom are considered infamous for their rabid behavior as well.
"[insert "don't be a dick song" here]"
Great sentiment, but ulitmately a cop-out. Having a dissenting opinion does not automatically make anyone a "dick." And as I said, its a cop-out. If you don't have anything to actually debate whatever the dissenting opinion is trying to argue, then just ignore it and move one. This applies to other cop-outs like "love and tolerate."
"This is so totally hate against something I like!"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hate
Given just that definition, hate implies I so extremely dislike MLP:FiM and the brony fandom that I am actively attempting to remove both from existence, using malice and threats to do so. That couldn't be farther from the truth. I'm annoyed and tired with the extreme, rabid brony fans. I'd rather they begone so that MLP can simply be enjoyed by those who enjoy it. However, I'm not going to rudely and spitefully try to force them out of existence. Interestingly enough, this allows me to bring up my next major point...
THE ANTI-PONY FA GROUP
The title is quite awful as, at face value, it does not truly express the group's purpose. antipony is not a hate group that targets bronies and MLP. Anti-Pony is a group that speaks out against the rabid bronies. Like myself, most members of Anti-Pony are annoyed with the spammy, obnoxious MLP fans who try to cram their interests down everyone's throats. The group is primarily designed for discussion and--to be honest--a place to vent. There are rules in place that denies harassment of bronies and any attempt to single out certain users. "But Askir!" you once again say...
"Members of the group do harass!"
As with any gathering on a website that promotes anonymity through fictional personas, the group can not regulate who joins. We cannot weed out the "bad seeds" before they come. However, any members who have harassed users, repeatedly misinterpreted the group's purpose, and otherwise circumvent civilty while members have been blocked from the group and (in some cases) even reported. We do not tolerate any disregard of the group's rules or the site's rules.
"What about those awful pictures depicting cruel actions against [character]? That's hate art!"
I want you to tell me who, in IRL, those MLP characters (as in, those part of the canon) represent. No one. Why? Because they are fictional characters. What does that mean? It means, by killing or doing whatever action against them, we aren't actually targeting real people. Think on that: what if we faved or created pics of use targeting the pony personas of certain bronies? Then we would be directly targeting--and directly harassing--that particular brony! Whereas with the characters of the show (or even just generic ponies), who don't represent anyone real, we aren't maliciously attacking an actual, real life person. Plus, most of that "hate art" is just artists venting their annoyance towards the rabid fans, instead of keeping those feelings haphazardly bottled up. They're channeling their stress into something vastly more positive then an eventual emotional explosion. Furthermore, the only bronies that usually express distate towards such images are the rabid bronies to begin with. Most of the time, bronies are either giggling alongside us or ignoring them and moving on.
"So, I can draw similar vent art towards [fictional character, race, etc.] and it not be considered 'hate'?"
Depends on your intent. If you draw said art towards a general idea or a character in a franchise of what your venting against, by all means do so. But if you target a specific person either through their actual self or their persona, then you have delved into actual "hate" by expressing malicious intent towards that person. Otherwise, if your vent art is met with negativity, it will most likely be the rabid fans of whatever thing you vented against anyway.
"I still don't like your group, regardless if its hate-filled or not."
That's fine! All I'm doing (and the group as a whole) is trying to help others understand we aren't a hate group. We get it if it isn't your cup of tea. Plus, we welcome coherent debate. Its ultimately your call with what you do with us, but please try not to see us as a hate group. We honestly are not.
Now, I have one final thing to get to. Due to the nature of its subject, I will not include the "common FAQ" spiel I've been doing thus far. If you want to question/debate anything I say next, do so in the comments. And now...
MY LITTLE PONY AND WHAT IT IS
There is something rabid fans do that warps and contorts there view on whatever it is they are obsessing over. The cartoon of MLP is no exception. Sorry rabid bronies (and maybe even some of you regular bronies), but I'm going to have to break your heart with what I'm about to say. For instance...
The show is designed for young girls, and made for young girls.
Specifically adolescent/prepubescent girls. This is the shows target demographic (TD), and the structure of each episode is designed with that demographic in mind. Despite what creators or even the corporate tell fans, rarely anyone outside the TD is ever factored in to the overall structure and intent of the show. But wait, there are references only older people would get in some of the episodes! Yeah, so? Those mature references are common in all cartoons designed for a younger audience, and most are born of either in-jokes in the producing staff or as a simple means to give parents some slight entertainment to derive from a show not otherwise intended for them.
There is no plot continuity to the episodes.
Given the TD, the overall intent of MLP is to teach young girls the importance of such qualities as friendship, generosity, loyalty, etc. Each episode follows the same formula to deliver its intent; a character is doing something, a problem arises, the problem starts to adversely affect the character, and then the character learns an important lesson that allows them to solve the problem. With the exception of the two-parters in the series, there is not plot thread connecting any of the episodes in MLP, and even then, the two-parters follow the same formula, but just in a larger and more impacting time frame.
The show and canon are innocent.
This sounds cheesy, but the reason I bring this up is because of two major, disgusting issues seeded in the brony fandom and propagated by the rabid bronies: Rule 34 and grimdark. The show intent, the characters, even the animation style are all as they are because they are innocent. The show is about a group of friends who, while flawed and different in personality, are able to overcome their flaws and learn important lessons. So then, where do they become in any way, shape, or form SEXUAL? What is so sexually appealing about cartoon characters designed to be enjoyed by young children? Why is it interesting to through these cute and innocent characters into very dark and disturbing situations? I honestly cannot understand it at all.
A franchise owned by Hasbro, not the fans.
This is not to say fans cannot create fanwork of the series. It is to point out that seeing as how Hasbro owns MLP, they can do what they want with it. They can produce toys that do not actually look like their cartoon counterparts. They can decide how characters are portrayed (yes, I am talking about the "Derpy Hooves" fiasco) in the series. While giving constructive criticism is always fine, a sense of entitlement over MLP by the fans is unacceptable and fruitless since the fans don't own the show, regardless of how popular they made it. An analogy: MLP is Hasbro's closed-source firmware, not an open-source freeware created by Lauren Faust.
Yeah, this is incredibly TL;DR. But I implore you to give it a read. I tried to remain neutral toned, so if I sounded otherwise in any part of this, please tell me! I really, really, REALLY TRULY do not hate you for your interest in MLP if you are a brony or fan. I'm just tired of the rabid bronies who spam it like nobody's business. I am full aware that the brony fandom is not the only fandom guilty of containing such people as well, but as of this time, the rabid bronies have become the most annoying. I just want them to simmer down, as I'm sure many of you (brony or not) do as well. Thank you for your time. Askir out.
antipony but here I am. If you are offended by that fact, feel free to unwatch me, block me, whatever. I ask that you hear me out first, as the constant, gross exaggeration of both my point of view and the intent of the Anti-Pony group has become very annoying, and its about time its been told, simply, what is really going on.
MY POINT OF VIEW
Let me be very, very, VERY clear with all of you. I do not hate the cartoon MLP:FiM, its creators and producers, or the calm fans (commonly known as "bronies") who enjoy the show. Furthermore, I do not hate anything associated with the show. There is no hate involved here. There is, however, annoyance. I am annoyed at one, and ONLY one aspect of the brony fandom: the rabid, fanatical, obsessive fans. The "rabid bronies."
Rabid bronies are guilty of the following:
-Spamming ponies and pony memes everywhere, regardless of relevance
-Emulating/roleplaying aspects of the MLP canon (such as attitude, pony words, etc.) regardless of the conversational situation
-Obsess over MLP with an almost cult-like passion
-Claim to "love and tolerate," yet act hypocritically to those who express a dissenting opinion against MLP and/or the brony fandom
-Cry foal when horrible/sick things are done to the MLP characters unless they--as bronies--do the exact same thing.
-Insist on ponifying EVERYTHING and EVERYONE
I am tired of these kind of fans. And trust me, its not just bronies that do this. However, it appears as of now, the vocal minority of the brony fandom--the rabid bronies--are the most annoying of them all. "But Askir!" you say...
"Furries are guilty of similar rabidness, too!"
S'not just furries or bronies, darling. Every fandom has that god awful "vocal minority" that takes the fandom way too far, and thus ruins it for the rest of the fandom and those viewing the fandom from the outside. Here's the stickler though: at the current moment, bronies are currently the worst offenders in the rabid department. After only ~1.5 years, the vocal minority of the brony fandom has managed to annoy a large portion of the Internet moreso than furries and otakus, both of whom are considered infamous for their rabid behavior as well.
"[insert "don't be a dick song" here]"
Great sentiment, but ulitmately a cop-out. Having a dissenting opinion does not automatically make anyone a "dick." And as I said, its a cop-out. If you don't have anything to actually debate whatever the dissenting opinion is trying to argue, then just ignore it and move one. This applies to other cop-outs like "love and tolerate."
"This is so totally hate against something I like!"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hate
Given just that definition, hate implies I so extremely dislike MLP:FiM and the brony fandom that I am actively attempting to remove both from existence, using malice and threats to do so. That couldn't be farther from the truth. I'm annoyed and tired with the extreme, rabid brony fans. I'd rather they begone so that MLP can simply be enjoyed by those who enjoy it. However, I'm not going to rudely and spitefully try to force them out of existence. Interestingly enough, this allows me to bring up my next major point...
THE ANTI-PONY FA GROUP
The title is quite awful as, at face value, it does not truly express the group's purpose.
antipony is not a hate group that targets bronies and MLP. Anti-Pony is a group that speaks out against the rabid bronies. Like myself, most members of Anti-Pony are annoyed with the spammy, obnoxious MLP fans who try to cram their interests down everyone's throats. The group is primarily designed for discussion and--to be honest--a place to vent. There are rules in place that denies harassment of bronies and any attempt to single out certain users. "But Askir!" you once again say..."Members of the group do harass!"
As with any gathering on a website that promotes anonymity through fictional personas, the group can not regulate who joins. We cannot weed out the "bad seeds" before they come. However, any members who have harassed users, repeatedly misinterpreted the group's purpose, and otherwise circumvent civilty while members have been blocked from the group and (in some cases) even reported. We do not tolerate any disregard of the group's rules or the site's rules.
"What about those awful pictures depicting cruel actions against [character]? That's hate art!"
I want you to tell me who, in IRL, those MLP characters (as in, those part of the canon) represent. No one. Why? Because they are fictional characters. What does that mean? It means, by killing or doing whatever action against them, we aren't actually targeting real people. Think on that: what if we faved or created pics of use targeting the pony personas of certain bronies? Then we would be directly targeting--and directly harassing--that particular brony! Whereas with the characters of the show (or even just generic ponies), who don't represent anyone real, we aren't maliciously attacking an actual, real life person. Plus, most of that "hate art" is just artists venting their annoyance towards the rabid fans, instead of keeping those feelings haphazardly bottled up. They're channeling their stress into something vastly more positive then an eventual emotional explosion. Furthermore, the only bronies that usually express distate towards such images are the rabid bronies to begin with. Most of the time, bronies are either giggling alongside us or ignoring them and moving on.
"So, I can draw similar vent art towards [fictional character, race, etc.] and it not be considered 'hate'?"
Depends on your intent. If you draw said art towards a general idea or a character in a franchise of what your venting against, by all means do so. But if you target a specific person either through their actual self or their persona, then you have delved into actual "hate" by expressing malicious intent towards that person. Otherwise, if your vent art is met with negativity, it will most likely be the rabid fans of whatever thing you vented against anyway.
"I still don't like your group, regardless if its hate-filled or not."
That's fine! All I'm doing (and the group as a whole) is trying to help others understand we aren't a hate group. We get it if it isn't your cup of tea. Plus, we welcome coherent debate. Its ultimately your call with what you do with us, but please try not to see us as a hate group. We honestly are not.
Now, I have one final thing to get to. Due to the nature of its subject, I will not include the "common FAQ" spiel I've been doing thus far. If you want to question/debate anything I say next, do so in the comments. And now...
MY LITTLE PONY AND WHAT IT IS
There is something rabid fans do that warps and contorts there view on whatever it is they are obsessing over. The cartoon of MLP is no exception. Sorry rabid bronies (and maybe even some of you regular bronies), but I'm going to have to break your heart with what I'm about to say. For instance...
The show is designed for young girls, and made for young girls.
Specifically adolescent/prepubescent girls. This is the shows target demographic (TD), and the structure of each episode is designed with that demographic in mind. Despite what creators or even the corporate tell fans, rarely anyone outside the TD is ever factored in to the overall structure and intent of the show. But wait, there are references only older people would get in some of the episodes! Yeah, so? Those mature references are common in all cartoons designed for a younger audience, and most are born of either in-jokes in the producing staff or as a simple means to give parents some slight entertainment to derive from a show not otherwise intended for them.
There is no plot continuity to the episodes.
Given the TD, the overall intent of MLP is to teach young girls the importance of such qualities as friendship, generosity, loyalty, etc. Each episode follows the same formula to deliver its intent; a character is doing something, a problem arises, the problem starts to adversely affect the character, and then the character learns an important lesson that allows them to solve the problem. With the exception of the two-parters in the series, there is not plot thread connecting any of the episodes in MLP, and even then, the two-parters follow the same formula, but just in a larger and more impacting time frame.
The show and canon are innocent.
This sounds cheesy, but the reason I bring this up is because of two major, disgusting issues seeded in the brony fandom and propagated by the rabid bronies: Rule 34 and grimdark. The show intent, the characters, even the animation style are all as they are because they are innocent. The show is about a group of friends who, while flawed and different in personality, are able to overcome their flaws and learn important lessons. So then, where do they become in any way, shape, or form SEXUAL? What is so sexually appealing about cartoon characters designed to be enjoyed by young children? Why is it interesting to through these cute and innocent characters into very dark and disturbing situations? I honestly cannot understand it at all.
A franchise owned by Hasbro, not the fans.
This is not to say fans cannot create fanwork of the series. It is to point out that seeing as how Hasbro owns MLP, they can do what they want with it. They can produce toys that do not actually look like their cartoon counterparts. They can decide how characters are portrayed (yes, I am talking about the "Derpy Hooves" fiasco) in the series. While giving constructive criticism is always fine, a sense of entitlement over MLP by the fans is unacceptable and fruitless since the fans don't own the show, regardless of how popular they made it. An analogy: MLP is Hasbro's closed-source firmware, not an open-source freeware created by Lauren Faust.
Yeah, this is incredibly TL;DR. But I implore you to give it a read. I tried to remain neutral toned, so if I sounded otherwise in any part of this, please tell me! I really, really, REALLY TRULY do not hate you for your interest in MLP if you are a brony or fan. I'm just tired of the rabid bronies who spam it like nobody's business. I am full aware that the brony fandom is not the only fandom guilty of containing such people as well, but as of this time, the rabid bronies have become the most annoying. I just want them to simmer down, as I'm sure many of you (brony or not) do as well. Thank you for your time. Askir out.
spammy, obnoxious furrys fans who try to cram their interests down everyone's throats.
like porn vore yiff we are same too we spam porn allot
I'm not denying rabid furries exist, or that they aren't terrible, because they are.
The show itself is rather brilliant, teaching kids lessons of life while entertaining them; I wont ever say otherwise.
But the fandom, rather the adults that enjoy it a bit too much.. They really need to be checked out imho >.< I just don't see how they enjoy a little kids show so much. Dem furries I guess...
Seems this needs to be posted here, much love and respect sir.
And yeah, with what's been happening at
Well, except for one thing...
"There is no plot to the episodes." While this may be true, that each individual episode is devoid of plot, your explanation suggests that a more accurate wording would be "There is no plot continuity connecting the episodes." That is, each episode or two-parter is a standalone.
This is just a very minor point relative to the rest of the journal.
And, I love the hexacosichoron avatar! (I prefer its dual though.)
And hah, I hope to do something relative to my icon in college at some point, even if I ultimately take the class as a "core elective." The fourth dimension is interesting, to be sure. And I suppose the 120-cell is less painful to look at, hehe.
Actually the 600-cell is comprised of 600 tetrahedra; its dual (the hecatonicosachoron) is 120 dodecahedra; their 3-dimensional analogues are the icosahedron and the dodecahedron. It is also the highest-dimension regular polytope based upon pentagons. For 5th-dimension and higher, the only regular polytopes are the simplices, orthotopes, and cross-polytopes.
This is also a weird place to discuss all this, but I don't care, this is very cool stuff regardless.
I honestly think that the LoK fans have become worse then the bronies at this point.
But well written journal, with valid points, good job
Also, LoK? Tried looking that up, but got a ton of different versions.
And yeah, you never get on skype so bleh
And I don't use Skype anymore! I'm all MSN. D: