So that I don’t get off on the wrong hoof (sorry), I have never watched an episode of Friendship is Magic. My biggest encounter with it was writing a rap lyric over whiskey that went “Father of the game, my little homies.” However, I’m talking about the fandom, not the quality of the show.
Hay (sorry) readers! I’m pleased to announce that I’m trying a new subject for the Short Circuits column.
Rather than focus entirely on individual lolcows, I’ve decided to occasionally explore larger fandoms. These will be approached in a similar fashion to my articles on lolcows.
I debated for a while on which one to study for my first article. Homestuck, Sonic, and the wrinkly, alcoholic godmother of all fandoms – Harry Potter – were all considered.
After my last article’s focus on a pedophile, however, I decided I should start this new sub-chapter of Short Circuits with something cheerful. Colorful ponies and friendship soon came to mind.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is probably very familiar to many citizens of the internet. It’s a children’s cartoon show shown on The Hub, a premium cable network. A continuation of Hasbro’s My Little Pony toy and media empire, the show was created by Lauren Faust, who worked on other classic children’s cartoons The Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends.
What sets this show apart from her previous works is its explosive popularity online, particularly among twentysomething nerds (hello, readers!). This unlikely audience has surprised the show’s creators. It has its own *chan, Wiki, multiple conventions, and news website.
The older fans of the show have adopted the term “brony” to describe themselves, and use their own vocabulary such as “everypony” in conversation. There’s also the term “clopping,” which we’ll…get to later.
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| Your reaction when you discover what “clopping” is. |
Naturally, the idea of adults caring about characters named Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie is a bit odd. Of course, I write for a site called Forces of Geek and have a few brony friends, so I can’t really sit on a high horse (sorry.) However, the fandom’s particular abundance of weirdos sets it apart. It’s a good example of how every group of people always has those guys, and how the internet only makes them stranger.
The Milk
Bronies are extremely passionate, and they produce a lot of MLP-related content.
What frustrates a lot of people outside of the fandom is how impossible it is to escape ponies on the internet. There are Skyrim mods, over 500,000 DeviantArt postings, and roleplaying tumblrs like this one. They’ve also got weird taste. For example, someone thought it was a great idea to mix ponies with the Fallout video game and make it a fanfic novel. Apparently it was popular enough to receive its own wiki.
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| Not pictured: actual horses. |
Bronies themselves are also kind of humorous. Take the picture above, for example. While not indicative of all fans, it’s easy to laugh at their appearance and questionable wardrobe choices. Many of us probably chuckle because we see a bit of ourselves in these guys, with their Kingdom Hearts t-shirts and fedoras.
Bronies also have a tendency to form the classic lolcow persecution complex. Check the comments for the video I posted above and you’ll see plenty of upset bronies. A troll even created an entire website dedicated to awkward brony-related videos. Clearly, despite the usual proud attitude of the community, bronies do know that their interests are weird, and surely admitting that to themselves can be a bit difficult.
So some of them dress poorly and enjoy popular activities that they combine with their fandom. Big deal, right? Right. With all fandoms, you have to dig deeper to find the weird stuff, and it’s the same with FiM.
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| Imagine waking up next to this. |
“Clopping” is the brony term for masturbation. Oftentimes it refers to masturbating to pictures of ponies. While all fandoms have porn – see Rule 34 of the Internet – pony porn is somewhat unsettling because, well, it’s a bunch of pictures of cartoon ponies boning each other. Then you’ve got variations of that: transsexual ponies, gay ponies, incest ponies, the whole gamut. This is a running thing in all fandoms: their devotees become so involved that the fandom reaches into all aspects of their lives, including their sexuality.
MLP: FiM also has a strong “shipping” community, particularly on tumblr. Shippers are fans who are extremely preoccupied with romantic relationships of a fandom’s characters. Like many other fandoms, popular pairings make absolutely no narrative sense.
Check out this poster’s desire to see two female ponies – on a children’s show – make out.
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| The Phantom Kiss is the name of my newest fantasy-romance novel. |
Speaking of tumblr, I found…this…on a Pony Clopping Confessions blog.
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| NO I DO NOT WANT TO TASTE THE MAGIC ANYMORE |
The Big Picture
Bronies are an interesting group of people. Despite the fact that they’re easy to laugh at and misunderstand, there is a strong sense of pride in their community. It’s a mechanism the weird or disenfranchised often employ to harness their persecution. It is similar to the “die cis scum” slogan often said by transgender people. Their struggle is obviously more profound than brony acceptance, but the principle is the same: if people don’t understand you, then fuck them.
And for that, I think bronies are admirable.
There’s an art in not giving a damn what people think. There’s a science in following your heart versus your head, especially when your head tells you that cartoon ponies are for little girls, or that you probably shouldn’t masturbate to pictures of them.
Bronies also say a lot about what nerd culture has become: a fashion statement.
While I’m sure there are many people who genuinely love MLP:FiM, it’s entirely possible that many people sign on to the fandom as a sort of counterculture symbol. It’s weird to like ponies, so it’s definitely a ticket to being edgy and different. Much like how the ponies have taken over meme culture, love for FiM is now itself a meme.
The show would never have this kind of audience had ponies not gone viral. It might have not even gotten a second and third season.
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| Back in my day, nerds argued about Final Fantasy weapons! Get off my lawn! |
For a veteran nerd, it can be tough to see our culture hijacked in this way, used as a badge rather than existing as a facet of a person. But at the same time, it’s cool that people are unafraid to be themselves. That even though “the cake is a lie” stopped being funny back in 2008, someone still says it with an “xD!!!!” attached to the end. That somewhere out there, someone is playing DnD with a pirated episode of FiM on and feeling pretty damn good about it.
So next time you see a brony, don’t say neigh (sorry.) Because even if you look stupid, being yourself is still something to be proud of.
