i’m sick of defending bronies
i tried
i really did
but they just kept fucking up. i tried to sit in denial but really this branch of the mlp fandom is more like a barrel of bad apples with some good ones interspersed. people try to rationlize it lately by saying “oh it’s just one or two bronies, only a small part of the fandom.”
nope sorry try again
and no I’m not talking casual mlp fim fans or someone who has sweetie belle as their tumblr icon or even people who watch the show and draw fanart and go to cons and are just good ol people about it
i’m talking the hardcore bronies. i have a problem with them. the ones who think it’s an outrage that their parents might not like a little girl (see: target audience) seeing their cartoon gore on google image search
the people who get pissed off that they can’t sell their cartoon horse ponography in broad daylight at their cons because (gasp) some KIDS like this show and their parents might not want to expose them to CARTOON HORSE PORNAGRAPHY (scandalous)
the people who think it’s okay to attempt to harm someone for a brony joke, make rape jokes at an 11 year old girl because they “clop” to her character, the ones who will threaten to stab a trans member of the fanbase for being trans and scare them away from ever going to meetups
those assholes.
I was a part of the fandom for almost a year and that behavior was rampant.
“why is twilight a n—-ger”
“um none of these ponies are ugly fat bitches”
“someday, [child voice actor], someday…”
“hey, female cosplayers, make a sexual pose for me so I can put it on the internet. You don’t want to? Let me keep asking until you do it!”
I was ostracized and treated like a special snowflake for being a female in this fandom. I felt unnerved by groups of men who felt like mlp was THEIR property, THEIR thing, and that people who didn’t agree or women who tried to call themselves “pegasisters” (I wasn’t one of these, but not the point) or people who tried to draw Twilight as dark skinned or rainbow dash as trans or fluttershy as having “manly” features or people who are POC and cosplay were not welcome here.
I’m sick of looking at screenshots from ponibooru of black cosplayers and seeing the fucking n word tossed around like a damn hot potato
I’m sick of hearing about people in violent altercations because their precious fucking ponies were threatened
I’m sick of the misogyny and rape glorification.
I’m sick of the foaming at the mouth over the top outrage at anyone with a contrary opinion
I’m sick of trying to defend bronies. I was one of you once. I’m tired of the work it takes to be treated like a decent human being in this fandom.
No, they are not all bad. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying my little pony. There never was. If you enjoy the show, don’t be ashamed.
But don’t be an asshole.
This. God damn it, guys.
I used to tell people how awesome bronies were. Cause at first? THEY WERE. They were nice people, some of whom reached out to me when I was in a bit of a depressive state. They made nice art, helped me and encouraged me when I began to create pieces of my own. Said ‘You’ll get better, just keep trying!’ when I whined that my eyes on my customs just weren’t turning out.
I used to think that the “brony thing” was one of the best things to happen to the franchise. I loved seeing people falling in love with those little plastic horses that I’ve loved since I was little.
Then…
I don’t even know what happened.
I think it was a number of things. Taking a good long step back away from Ponychan cleared my mind. A number of happenings on the LJ community I help to run, and also being allowed to join the feminist friendly counterpart certainly helped to open my eyes.
But then… still, I attempted to defend. I don’t know how often the phrase “Well, they’re not ALL like that…” came up. How much it still sometimes comes out of my mouth, almost like rote, force of habit.
I’m starting to wonder how true that phrase really is.
First it was the Bubblecup issue and the impending kerfuffle (to put it mildly). Watching someone get death threats over a cute little cartoon horse hurt my heart. Though I have an occassionally gruff exterior, and can curse so much I’ve made military men blush and racecar drivers take two steps back, at heart I am truly a pacifist. I try hard not to hate anybody, but watching people make death threats at someone over a grey cartoon horse with wings was definitely a moment that pushed my trying to it’s very limits.
There’ve been other moments that have made me roll my eyes and borrow from my friend and say “WHO ELSE BUT BRONY?!” but nothing, and I do mean nothing, made my heart hurt as much as the reports from Everfree. From the slurs and violence, to the rape jokes made at an eleven-year-old girl, this time, it’s gone too far.
No fandom, no matter which one you are, has an obligation to tolerate vile, disgusting behavior. In fact, you have an obligation to nip that shit in the bud as soon as you possibly can.
The staff of EFNW failed in that regard.
The brony community has failed in that regard. But then, they’ve been failing at so much as of late that I guess it’s become the norm.
What happened? What happened to those amazingly nice folks I met when this whole thing started?
Some of them, I still have, the ones I adore and will always hold close to my heart. You know who you are. And I love you buns and tuckets.
The rest of you…
I didn’t come into your fandom. You came into mine. The one I’ve loved since I was a little girl with pigtails with her first Firefly toy.
And I am praying and lighting candles in hope for the day that you leave.
And this right here is why I have never and will never call myself a brony. I’m a fan of My Little Pony. I have been since I played with my Pony Petites. Not this horribly offensive cult of pony that bronies have become. Bronies ruin everything.