The Last BronyCOrN
July 22, 2020 1:46 PM Subscribe
The Last Bronycon: a fandom autopsy. Jenny Nicholson dissects the Brony Fandom in an easily digestible list, as she is known to do. She tracks the beginnings of Bronydom on 4chan as ironic fandom and its evolution into a community of genuine fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic that are mostly male.
Jenny uses her visit to the last Bronycon that happened in 2019 as an opportunity to reflect on the phenomenon of Bronies and her own involvement in the MLP fandom. She gained some amount of "horse fame" with fanedits of MLP and shares her experiences of the good and bad sides of her interactions with Bronies. E.g. bronies trying to gatekeep her about a show aimed at little girls (because of course), but also all the good experiences at Bronycon over the years and how open and accepting the fandom could be.
This is a really informative and funny retrospective of Bronies.
Previously on MF:
Brony fancontent
Bronycon 2014
First BronyCon thread
Brony Thread from 2011
Jenny Nicholson 1 2
Jenny uses her visit to the last Bronycon that happened in 2019 as an opportunity to reflect on the phenomenon of Bronies and her own involvement in the MLP fandom. She gained some amount of "horse fame" with fanedits of MLP and shares her experiences of the good and bad sides of her interactions with Bronies. E.g. bronies trying to gatekeep her about a show aimed at little girls (because of course), but also all the good experiences at Bronycon over the years and how open and accepting the fandom could be.
This is a really informative and funny retrospective of Bronies.
Previously on MF:
Brony fancontent
Bronycon 2014
First BronyCon thread
Brony Thread from 2011
Jenny Nicholson 1 2
Yep, it's really good.
posted by idb at 2:29 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by idb at 2:29 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
I didn't watch this one but I highly recommend this woman's YouTube, she is pretty on the money, funny, and I'm always amazed at how much fan merch she has in the background for each topic. I haven't even seen this movie but definitely check out Suicide Squad Sales Pitch if you like her other stuff! Still laughing over that one.
posted by tiny frying pan at 2:30 PM on July 22, 2020 [14 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 2:30 PM on July 22, 2020 [14 favorites]
The 4chan thing wasn't as an organic thing as she makes it out to be. At the start Bronies were like an in-joke. It was a couple of people who posted a thing for little girls as a joke just to get a rise out of everyone. Then, because this is what people on the Internet do, hangers on took it too far and basically killed it within days. Except for one group who actually took the joke so seriously they turned it into a fandom (the ironic fandom). It also never reached any sort of popularity within the greater group consensus like most things on 4chan. It was heavily quarantined within /mlp/ because of that and the propensity of the Bronies to smear their fandom into every available nook and cranny they could.
I'm not really about the enforcement of gender roles and the derision of cringe culture and what not. People should do whatever the hell makes them happy. Back in the 198x I was a young boy who watched MLP because we only had one TV/VCR and when it was my sister's turn to play something it was either that or... I could go out and play in 40C heat because we effectively lived in a desert of rust. So I watched MLP/Care Bears/Rainbow Brite/Pound Puppies/whatever because it was better than nothing.
That being the case, I still get a really icky feeling when I think about the clash of socially awkward 20-something perma-adolescents mixing with entirely too young girls in a fandom.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 2:41 PM on July 22, 2020 [11 favorites]
I'm not really about the enforcement of gender roles and the derision of cringe culture and what not. People should do whatever the hell makes them happy. Back in the 198x I was a young boy who watched MLP because we only had one TV/VCR and when it was my sister's turn to play something it was either that or... I could go out and play in 40C heat because we effectively lived in a desert of rust. So I watched MLP/Care Bears/Rainbow Brite/Pound Puppies/whatever because it was better than nothing.
That being the case, I still get a really icky feeling when I think about the clash of socially awkward 20-something perma-adolescents mixing with entirely too young girls in a fandom.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 2:41 PM on July 22, 2020 [11 favorites]
I watched this last night. In terms of "serious" content, it might be the best thing she's ever done.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 2:42 PM on July 22, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 2:42 PM on July 22, 2020 [6 favorites]
I am no 4chan historian, but her origin story of bronies tracks with what I saw back then on 4chan. There were definitely large parts of 4chan that didnt like mlp and were annoyed by it.
most channers werent bronies, but most bronies were on 4chan in the beginning.
posted by Megustalations at 2:59 PM on July 22, 2020 [9 favorites]
most channers werent bronies, but most bronies were on 4chan in the beginning.
posted by Megustalations at 2:59 PM on July 22, 2020 [9 favorites]
Yup, can recommend Jenny's YouTube channel in general and this video in particular. If you ever wanted to learn way more about bronies than you wanted, this is the video to watch.
posted by Room 101 at 3:05 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Room 101 at 3:05 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Your Childhood Pet Rock: The 4chan thing wasn't as an organic thing as she makes it out to be. At the start Bronies were like an in-joke.
Wasn't it specifically because Lauren Faust went on 4chan (or was it SomethingAwful?) and joined in discussions there? I think the initial brony fandom was really invested in the idea that she was One Of Them and was hiding all kinds of secret nods to their community in the show. Bah, I'm committing the cardinal sin of commenting without watching the video in the FPP (WTFV?) but I don't want to watch the video if it's yet another analysis that fails to mention Faust's role as community builder and all the work she put in.
posted by capricorn at 3:25 PM on July 22, 2020
Wasn't it specifically because Lauren Faust went on 4chan (or was it SomethingAwful?) and joined in discussions there? I think the initial brony fandom was really invested in the idea that she was One Of Them and was hiding all kinds of secret nods to their community in the show. Bah, I'm committing the cardinal sin of commenting without watching the video in the FPP (WTFV?) but I don't want to watch the video if it's yet another analysis that fails to mention Faust's role as community builder and all the work she put in.
posted by capricorn at 3:25 PM on July 22, 2020
Wasn't it specifically because Lauren Faust went on 4chan (or was it SomethingAwful?) and joined in discussions there?
I don't believe that to be so but I'm willing to be corrected.
4chan was completely anonymous besides IDs which showed up every so often and tripcodes so it's not like she would have been well known on it. At least not to the casual observer. The fandom might have had a tripcode or something but I never ventured into /mlp/ because it was a giant ball of no.
SA took about a month to gas every Brony thread that showed up. The Bronies there were absolutely insane and would buy avatars and titles for haters (which then cost more money to change back to something the person wanted). Once that happened Bronies were permabanned on sight.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 3:42 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
I don't believe that to be so but I'm willing to be corrected.
4chan was completely anonymous besides IDs which showed up every so often and tripcodes so it's not like she would have been well known on it. At least not to the casual observer. The fandom might have had a tripcode or something but I never ventured into /mlp/ because it was a giant ball of no.
SA took about a month to gas every Brony thread that showed up. The Bronies there were absolutely insane and would buy avatars and titles for haters (which then cost more money to change back to something the person wanted). Once that happened Bronies were permabanned on sight.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 3:42 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
I know far more about the personalities of the ponies than I would if not for the bronies spilling over into the furry porn scene.
posted by egypturnash at 3:46 PM on July 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by egypturnash at 3:46 PM on July 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
I’m only halfway through this and don’t know much about MLP, but I can confirm that Jenny Nicholson is a treasure and I’ll watch anything she does.
posted by schoolgirl report at 4:19 PM on July 22, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by schoolgirl report at 4:19 PM on July 22, 2020 [7 favorites]
I watched MLPFIM unironically with my 7-yo son back in the day. It was a good show. Never got into any kind of fandom, bronies, etc, but we did play MLP:Fighting is Magic.
posted by signal at 4:33 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by signal at 4:33 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
You...are aware that the final version of that game has come out? Hasbro denied the license, but Lauren Faust still did custom character design. previously
posted by persona at 4:43 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by persona at 4:43 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
It's always weird when people fixate so heavily on the 4chan thing, because it played (plays?) so little role in anything after the first few months or so. MLP:FiM fandom moved to its own sites (plus tumblr) very quickly and has lived there ever since, focusing mostly on the show's themes of friendship, navigating interpersonal differences, and fantasy adventure.
posted by one for the books at 5:26 PM on July 22, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by one for the books at 5:26 PM on July 22, 2020 [3 favorites]
You can also find innumerable things on YouTube; fanimation, music video dubs, extended pieces ruminating on the "meaning" of various barely-noticed quirks in various episodes, and so on. For example, is Pinkie also a spirit of Chaos? If so, why does Discord like Fluttershy? Do Discord and Pinkie have a secret rivalry? And what of Bulk Bicep?
My niece watches MLP, and during the Plague Year I've occasionally taken on duties to spare her parents. As a consequence I have watched far far far too much ponies over the past months.
posted by aramaic at 5:31 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
My niece watches MLP, and during the Plague Year I've occasionally taken on duties to spare her parents. As a consequence I have watched far far far too much ponies over the past months.
posted by aramaic at 5:31 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Actually, I'll write something more. I wouldn't say I was ever famous in the MLP web world, but I made various things that had their positive receptions. Not saying what, obviously, because this is supposed to be an anonymous account and metafilter has zero security against harassment. Anytime anyone tries to bring up MLP, people immediately start derailing the conversation by agitating about 4chan, or 4-year-olds, or porn, or whatever, and it gets so exhausting because that was never the point! (Did you know there was a brony effort to remove pony porn from innocuous google image searches by reporting images over and over until google finally noticed? There was!)
What we were doing was trying out ways to interact with each other and with the world. The show gave itself with utmost sincerity to the idea of learning about friendship, even after the framing device of letters to Celestia was eventually dropped, and the viewers agreed to give that a shot too. Episodes were praised or torn down based on criteria like song quality and visuals, sure, but also on how well their lessons sat with us. One earlyish episode, for example, despite containing superhero antics, was widely panned because its moral breaks down to "orchestrate elaborate lies to your friends to teach them lessons." Endless waves of fanfiction centered around investigating the main characters' personalities and confronting them with situations the show couldn't get away with, like romance... even some of the longform erotica had immensely in-depth character analysis. And because those characters were also partially archetypes, five ideals of friendship plus magic, all that thought and study inevitably translated into thinking about how to manifest those ideals, just like the show wanted.
MLP was the first major crack in my shell that helped me realize there was more to life than being a boy, a gender I indirectly-consequently no longer use; that there are better, deeper, kinder ways of talking to the people around me. It was important. It is important. For years I've carried a little Twilight Sparkle toy everywhere I go and I have no intention of stopping.
posted by one for the books at 6:38 PM on July 22, 2020 [44 favorites]
What we were doing was trying out ways to interact with each other and with the world. The show gave itself with utmost sincerity to the idea of learning about friendship, even after the framing device of letters to Celestia was eventually dropped, and the viewers agreed to give that a shot too. Episodes were praised or torn down based on criteria like song quality and visuals, sure, but also on how well their lessons sat with us. One earlyish episode, for example, despite containing superhero antics, was widely panned because its moral breaks down to "orchestrate elaborate lies to your friends to teach them lessons." Endless waves of fanfiction centered around investigating the main characters' personalities and confronting them with situations the show couldn't get away with, like romance... even some of the longform erotica had immensely in-depth character analysis. And because those characters were also partially archetypes, five ideals of friendship plus magic, all that thought and study inevitably translated into thinking about how to manifest those ideals, just like the show wanted.
MLP was the first major crack in my shell that helped me realize there was more to life than being a boy, a gender I indirectly-consequently no longer use; that there are better, deeper, kinder ways of talking to the people around me. It was important. It is important. For years I've carried a little Twilight Sparkle toy everywhere I go and I have no intention of stopping.
posted by one for the books at 6:38 PM on July 22, 2020 [44 favorites]
For years I've carried a little Twilight Sparkle toy everywhere I go and I have no intention of stopping.
Never stop being you regardless of what others might say.
posted by aramaic at 6:49 PM on July 22, 2020 [12 favorites]
Never stop being you regardless of what others might say.
posted by aramaic at 6:49 PM on July 22, 2020 [12 favorites]
Yes, I've written My Little Pony fan fiction, some of which was well received. I quite proud of it. (And, yes, it's all family-friendly.)
posted by SPrintF at 7:00 PM on July 22, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 7:00 PM on July 22, 2020 [3 favorites]
It's funny, as a furry, Bronies/the Pony Fandom felt at once like its own thing AND had noticeable overlap with the furry fandom. I watched artists I liked jump over to the Pony fandom, thinking to myself, "aw man, lost another one," as if they were going anywhere. I reacted to finding out someone was in to Ponies like there were Scientologists or something. It really did feel like there was a divide. That Nicholson says the Brony fandom was insistent that they weren't furries was noticeable when it was happening. It's a shame that there was a certain contingent of very loud, shitty people taking lording over the fandom. They certainly colored my perspective, and I'm glad to hear they've moved on (less glad to hear they're mostly Nazis now).
But at the same time, so many artists on FurAffinity posted and continue to post Pony art, and I follow at least two artists on Twitter that I know for sure got their start in Pony art, and have moved on to other topics, including merging into the furry fandom.
I actually love the point she brings up that the generic designs of the Ponies lead to easy to design fan characters and a whole world of fan fiction. And while it's fun to laugh at Fallout: Equestria, I got my start writing Sonic The Hedgehog fanfic (don't bother looking, I salted that earth long ago), and I can point to significant characters in my stories that were originally Sonic OCs (None of them were hedgehogs). Also, I once read a Sonic/Jay and Silent Bob crossover, so like, I have no ground to stand on here.
Also, Bronycon 2019 looked rad. I'm sad that their thing is going away. The smaller cons will always be there, and I'm 100% sure, as Nicholson said, they'll find a place in furry cons. Again, the overlap is there.
posted by gc at 7:15 PM on July 22, 2020 [7 favorites]
But at the same time, so many artists on FurAffinity posted and continue to post Pony art, and I follow at least two artists on Twitter that I know for sure got their start in Pony art, and have moved on to other topics, including merging into the furry fandom.
I actually love the point she brings up that the generic designs of the Ponies lead to easy to design fan characters and a whole world of fan fiction. And while it's fun to laugh at Fallout: Equestria, I got my start writing Sonic The Hedgehog fanfic (don't bother looking, I salted that earth long ago), and I can point to significant characters in my stories that were originally Sonic OCs (None of them were hedgehogs). Also, I once read a Sonic/Jay and Silent Bob crossover, so like, I have no ground to stand on here.
Also, Bronycon 2019 looked rad. I'm sad that their thing is going away. The smaller cons will always be there, and I'm 100% sure, as Nicholson said, they'll find a place in furry cons. Again, the overlap is there.
posted by gc at 7:15 PM on July 22, 2020 [7 favorites]
Also, ironic or no, "Horse Famous" is hilarious
posted by gc at 7:15 PM on July 22, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by gc at 7:15 PM on July 22, 2020 [7 favorites]
Also, impersonators at cons?
Does this happen in fanfic culture, where authors are scared of copyright strikes?
posted by eustatic at 8:18 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Does this happen in fanfic culture, where authors are scared of copyright strikes?
posted by eustatic at 8:18 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Yes, I've written My Little Pony fan fiction, some of which was well received.
I remember that story. :)
posted by one for the books at 10:57 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
I remember that story. :)
posted by one for the books at 10:57 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
When I was a lad, parents weren't interested in cartoons, toys, or the TV shows we kids watched. I have to admit I'm not really comfortable with Bronies and other adult groups that are centered around My Little Pony and the like. But whatever floats your boat, I guess.
posted by tommasz at 7:43 AM on July 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by tommasz at 7:43 AM on July 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
I have boy/girl twins whose birthday falls close to BronyCon, and we went in 2014, for their 6th birthday. Both of them liked MLP, and I enjoyed watching the show with them. I had no reservations about anything there being inappropriate; the organizers were quite clear about it being family-friendly. The panels weren't very interesting to my kids, but they loved seeing people's costumes and makeup, buying merch, and, most importantly, they got to see that people of all ages and gender were welcome to enjoy the fun. But by the next August, they had moved on from MLP, and we started going to MineFaire.
posted by candyland at 11:23 AM on July 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by candyland at 11:23 AM on July 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
With no real connection to the fandom, I still enjoyed this. Some of it seems pretty excessive even by general fandom standards--i.e. there being "fan art" for sale of a fire in the exhibit hall ceiling by the time the exhibit hall reopened; I get the idea of con-specific inside jokes (such as the infamous ball pit at DashCon), but come on. But a lot of it just seems like a somewhat more intense and foreshortened version of any fandom. (Including, sadly, the pushing out of the previous, more-female fandom by the guys; a handy term that I picked up from Tumblr for this process was "mentrification.") Someone being able to be both nostalgic and critical of many of the aspects of the fandom simultaneously is unusual.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:28 PM on July 23, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:28 PM on July 23, 2020 [7 favorites]
I must object to the autopsy part – vivisection, if you please! While the fandom is nowhere near as big as at its peak, there is still an official animated show being produced (Pony Life – a chibi version of MLP:FiM with the characters dialled up to eleven), and the amount of high quality fan content that keep on being produced is nothing short of impressive.
My first BronyCon was in 2012, and I have since attended many MLP cons in Denmark, Finland, UK, New York, and Germany. I am these days content to frequent the excellent GalaCon, though Covid-19 sadly cancelled the event this year.
(I always lecture my students wearing a pony shirt).
posted by bouvin at 2:21 PM on July 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
My first BronyCon was in 2012, and I have since attended many MLP cons in Denmark, Finland, UK, New York, and Germany. I am these days content to frequent the excellent GalaCon, though Covid-19 sadly cancelled the event this year.
(I always lecture my students wearing a pony shirt).
posted by bouvin at 2:21 PM on July 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
A few years ago I did a megathread of PONY fanlinks. That was back when 4chan, while often terrible, was at least not a breeding ground for nazis; I probably wouldn't make that post now.
posted by JHarris at 11:20 AM on July 25, 2020
posted by JHarris at 11:20 AM on July 25, 2020
I felt stricken when she talked about Bronies mocking the original look of the ponies. As someone who was an obsessive MLP kid and who still prefers the earlier designs, I was personally attacked. I had to go comb some manes to calm down.
posted by PussKillian at 2:48 PM on July 26, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by PussKillian at 2:48 PM on July 26, 2020 [5 favorites]
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