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Some of these stories are pretty horrible >< Snapdragon, that really sucks. I'm sorry you had to deal with that.I experienced stalking and threats from people in the G1 community back in around 2000, and it's pretty scary to have to deal with. Fortunately it never came to anything more than threats in my case, and it was only two people involved, but it was still something that lives with me and has made me much more wary of using things like social media or anything that could give away personal details.On a more recent impact note - G4 just took over Ponycon to the point there was literally nothing for any G1-3 fan other than the vendors and a couple of channels. And it felt oppressive, unwelcoming and wrong.I admit that this weekend I have wished quite a lot that FIM had never happened, because at least then Ponycon would still be Ponycon, rather than Bronycon. I think, unless there is clear change, this is going to continue to bother me. I have so many good memories of ponycon, but this genuinely left me feeling betrayed. At this rate, I would prefer it went back to the days of small pony meets, rather than seeing it get swept up in the G4 stuff like it's the only pony thing that matters any more.Yes, Taffeta is angry and bitter tonight.
Quote from: Taffeta on October 11, 2020, 05:35:31 PMSome of these stories are pretty horrible >< Snapdragon, that really sucks. I'm sorry you had to deal with that.I experienced stalking and threats from people in the G1 community back in around 2000, and it's pretty scary to have to deal with. Fortunately it never came to anything more than threats in my case, and it was only two people involved, but it was still something that lives with me and has made me much more wary of using things like social media or anything that could give away personal details.On a more recent impact note - G4 just took over Ponycon to the point there was literally nothing for any G1-3 fan other than the vendors and a couple of channels. And it felt oppressive, unwelcoming and wrong.I admit that this weekend I have wished quite a lot that FIM had never happened, because at least then Ponycon would still be Ponycon, rather than Bronycon. I think, unless there is clear change, this is going to continue to bother me. I have so many good memories of ponycon, but this genuinely left me feeling betrayed. At this rate, I would prefer it went back to the days of small pony meets, rather than seeing it get swept up in the G4 stuff like it's the only pony thing that matters any more.Yes, Taffeta is angry and bitter tonight.what the heck happened to warrant the threats?!?! It saddens me to hear that you and I’m sure some others with g4 never happened. Hundreds of friendships, weddings, hobbies, and even careers never would happened as a result of g4 coming into existence the way that it had. G4 has done a lot of good for a lot of people, and it’s easy to miss when you only look and focus on the negative aspects of the fandom that is a part of it. Maybe take a break and have a Snickers, Taff.
to be fair, I did ask for positive and negative experiences how FiM impacted people, as I realize that FIM may not have struck a positive chord with many. So let’s not discourage sharing.
Taffeta, lovesbabysquirmy, Nemesis, thank you for your replies. I still hesitate to talk about it at times, because I hate to sound 'weak' or admit just how deeply these attacks affected me. (Plus, if you know bullies, you know they get off on scaring their victims.) I'm not walking around every day in fear, but there were days I did exactly that. I guess I was a little naive in a sense, because while I'd seen harassment and stalking behaviors in the G1 fandom before, it never got to a level where I felt afraid for my physical safety. I'm sure it was there; it just didn't seem quite as prevalent. But as Taffeta shows, it was clearly already here. Quote from: Mana Minori on October 11, 2020, 08:16:10 PMQuote from: Taffeta on October 11, 2020, 05:35:31 PMSome of these stories are pretty horrible >< Snapdragon, that really sucks. I'm sorry you had to deal with that.I experienced stalking and threats from people in the G1 community back in around 2000, and it's pretty scary to have to deal with. Fortunately it never came to anything more than threats in my case, and it was only two people involved, but it was still something that lives with me and has made me much more wary of using things like social media or anything that could give away personal details.On a more recent impact note - G4 just took over Ponycon to the point there was literally nothing for any G1-3 fan other than the vendors and a couple of channels. And it felt oppressive, unwelcoming and wrong.I admit that this weekend I have wished quite a lot that FIM had never happened, because at least then Ponycon would still be Ponycon, rather than Bronycon. I think, unless there is clear change, this is going to continue to bother me. I have so many good memories of ponycon, but this genuinely left me feeling betrayed. At this rate, I would prefer it went back to the days of small pony meets, rather than seeing it get swept up in the G4 stuff like it's the only pony thing that matters any more.Yes, Taffeta is angry and bitter tonight.what the heck happened to warrant the threats?!?! It saddens me to hear that you and I’m sure some others with g4 never happened. Hundreds of friendships, weddings, hobbies, and even careers never would happened as a result of g4 coming into existence the way that it had. G4 has done a lot of good for a lot of people, and it’s easy to miss when you only look and focus on the negative aspects of the fandom that is a part of it. Maybe take a break and have a Snickers, Taff. I saw your reply and had to wait a little while to respond, Mana Minori; because I'll be honest, your flippant response of 'just have a candy!' makes me think you aren't reading the replies seriously in this thread, and it's upsetting. You said earlier: Quote from: Mana Minori on October 10, 2020, 04:35:03 PMto be fair, I did ask for positive and negative experiences how FiM impacted people, as I realize that FIM may not have struck a positive chord with many. So let’s not discourage sharing. Yes, good came out of the fandom. A lot of evil came out, too. I said in my reply that a lot of what hurt me was feeling like the average Brony would hand-wave any of the negative aspects away when they were brought up; that's exactly what you are doing here. 'Oh just have a candy/but some people got married!' are dismissive of the very real hurt that Taffeta is experiencing. I also hope you aren't trying to make it some kind of 'more good than bad' because some people got married and made new friends in the fandom. Children were harmed as a direct result of the Brony fandom. It's not a balancing game, you can't add points for marriages and remove points for crimes against children. Especially when this is a fandom for a show that is directly for and about children, and not marriage-age adults. G4 has done a lot of good for people; G4 has done a lot of evil, too. You can't brush either one away with 'well no one was mean to ME' or flippant references to television advertisements. Taffeta, I must say that I agree, and I am sad to hear that about Ponycon. I know that Ponycon was very intent on meshing the two fandoms of Brony and pre-Brony (which seemed like a bad idea to me at the time, in the midst of the DWM movement and all of that ugliness directed at female fans), and it seemed like up until this year they had done a fair job at that. I'm sorry to hear the online event didn't maintain that, but it makes me feel better about missing it.
I understand that this is mlp toy collecting forum, so i see how a lot of people might resent g4 for all the attention it got, and not all of it positive, and how it very much reshaped how the "mlp fandom" operated and looked.
I genuinely wish we could have stopped at those early euphoric months, where it was very much a 'woah, we all like glittery little ponies?!' and kept that sense of innocence and wonder. That's what I enjoy about the show, not the NSFW/look-how-edgy-I-can-be stuff.
But G4 really is just another pony generation. The problem is not so much that but the fact the negative attention lumps all pony fans together, and the bad stuff means that people who in the past would talk about their collecting are now reticent to do so in case they are associated with some of these subversive things.
Although I admit that I do resent the G4ness of ponycon, and I said so, and I won't take it back. But that is because Ponycon is also an old-gen space and an all-gen con, and that is how it should always be - something for everyone. The need for G4 to take over and dominate every space online is very real, so preserving the few spaces like this one where it's ok to talk about older generations without feeling judged is important. For me Ponycon is included in those spaces.
Quote from: Taffeta on October 12, 2020, 06:53:19 AMAlthough I admit that I do resent the G4ness of ponycon, and I said so, and I won't take it back. But that is because Ponycon is also an old-gen space and an all-gen con, and that is how it should always be - something for everyone. The need for G4 to take over and dominate every space online is very real, so preserving the few spaces like this one where it's ok to talk about older generations without feeling judged is important. For me Ponycon is included in those spaces.Ponycon this year was online right? Maybe they just couldn't find much for earlier gens? Especially since it was on Discord.