WE ARE ALL BRONIES WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT

[PurpleCheeseStick]

Or at least says my fanatical classmate who is in love with Big Macintosh.

Some of you may remember I mentioned her in my "Crazy Collectors?" topic, but for those who don't, she's an insane brony who seems to have a fetish for Big Mac and constantly obsesses over him claiming him to be "her" Big Mac.  Anyone who even looks at a picture of him in her presence gets hissed and yelled at.

So long as I don't get her on the subject of said Big Mac, she can be fun to talk to about pony collecting in general. However a week or so ago she invited me to join the Montana Bronies forum which I declined because, well, I'm not a brony. Today she was sitting next to me in our new seats in class and I made a light joke that our new seats weren't so bad because we could talk about ponies- at which point she started to yell at me and say "NO I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT PONIES WITH YOU BECAUSE YOU DON'T LIKE THEM."

I challenged her on the topic and basically it boiled down to the fact that I had supposedly backstabbed the brony community by never being one. She says that all pony collectors, whether or not they watch FiM, anybody who likes My Little Pony who isn't a little five year old girl, is a brony. And I heartily disagree with her.

I've only watched a few episodes of FiM, I'm not a die hard fan, nor am I of the original 80's tv series though I did love the movie as a kid. I just collect the toys and occasionally draw art of my ponies. I don't think that classifies me as a brony at all. The whole term "brony" was coined specifically to go along with FiM and therefor covers merely generation 4 in my opinion, the same way many of us refer to the G1 and G2's symbols as "symbols" and not "cutie marks" as they are with G3 and G4. A brony to me is specifically a fan of the FiM show who watches it and participates actively in the brony community and refers to themselves as such. Also, is it so bad of me to not want to be associated with that fanbase? I know there are some perfectly wonderful bronies out there as there are in every fandom, but then again there are those who are... Not so nice. And those are the ones who are receiving the most attention from the public right now, and those are the ones who are contributing a large portion to the image of the fanbase in general. That image is not too pretty.

So I'm curious what YOU guys think of my classmate's oversensitive response to my apparent "brony status." Do you guys feel that all people who like ponies, whether they like G4s or not, are bronies? 

[Buddafly]

I just think brony is a newer generation term.

like, back in the day when you got up from lunch table to go to the bathroom, you called 'seat back'.  nowadays, no one knows what seat back is.  the new term is calling 'fives' (as in you have 5 minutes to get back to your seat before someone else can claim it).


silly comparison, but it's the easiest way I can think to explain.

[kmlv23]

Backing Buddafly. That makes more sense, and it sounds like your 'friend' needs to stop drinking the Kool-Aid and chillax a bit.

[rybett]

I third both of these ideas.

[ZettaMomo]

I think brony is just a term for the newer generations, not all. Especially since it was something that was made recently.
I don't think all "pony fans" are to be considered bronies. If I fan wishes to be called a brony then it is fine, but if a fan does not want to be called a brony, pegasister, or any other variation of that term then you shouldn't call them that.
And I know several G4 fans who do not care to be called a brony, so it doesn't mean all G4 fans are automatically a brony. 

[Spectrum]

First off, that person sounds insane.

But yea, I have never considered myself a brony, and never will, even if I occasionally watch the show. Can't you just be a fan of something without being a brony? 

[Loa]

*Starts hoarding Valium for the mods*

[Taxel]

Your friend is absolutely nuts.

Liking ponies does not make you a brony, and if anyone called me a brony I'd be pretty ticked off and possibly even offended depending on the context. I don't want to be associated with bronies as a whole either (for the same reasons as OP), and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm also just plain not a brony. I pretty much hate FiM these days, don't collect G4 anymore for many reasons, and G1 is by far my favorite. Not very brony-like anyways.

[SourdoughStomper]

*Starts hoarding Valium for the mods*

*holds out hand for some*

BTW, some hair dye too, please, cause I can feel it turning gray.

[Desert Rose]

As others already mentioned a Brony to me is someone who likes the FiM show, take part in the brony community and call themselves Bronies.

The rest of us who love MLP are collectors/MLP fans/MLP lovers - whatever we wish to call ourselves.

I have no problem with Bronies nor what they do or do not do, how they display their interest in MLP and so forth. What they do is up to them. I have accepted Bronies as a new fanbase who have a slightly different view on MLP's than I do.
 
It does however bother me abit when people seem to assume that everyone (me included) are a Brony just because we like My Little Pony. As if it's a completely new thing.
I might be abit territorial or whatever you may call it but I keep getting the feeling "Hey, we were here first, WAY before the Bronies. So who are they to tell me what is wrong and right and what right do they have to put a new label on me?"
It might be abit of a hostile view on it and fortunatly I have never experienced it first hand, but it does swiftly cross through my mind everytime the media or someone here mentions how big MLP's are all of a sudden. As if we never existed.


So long story short, even though we do like the same thing (My Little Pony) I think we have slightly different view on them - collectors and bronies. And as much as we try to respect them I hope they respect us and that we can get along since we both like the same thing.
I do not however appriciate being told what I like/don't like or what I am by others (And that goes for everything which is why I have this opinion on this. Everytime someone tells me what I like I feel ready to punch them ), and I definitly don't appriciate it when it comes from people who are "new to the scene".


Sounds like your friend has yet to learn that people have differences and everyone can't think or be what she wishes them to be just because it makes sense to her. And I don't think you're in the wrong at all here.

[kmlv23]

*Starts hoarding Valium for the mods*

Guys I really don't think this one is going to get out of hand...

[Loa]

*Starts hoarding Valium for the mods*

Guys I really don't think this one is going to get out of hand...

If I had a dollar for everytime someone said that I would have $96.22.

[Pinecone]

People worry too much. Anyone is free to enjoy the show or toyline at their own pace. Nobody has to use that name if they don't want to.

[kmlv23]

*Starts hoarding Valium for the mods*

Guys I really don't think this one is going to get out of hand...

If I had a dollar for everytime someone said that I would have $96.22.

Fair, but thus far people are calm and agreeing with the OP that her 'friend' is crazy...Can't say any of us will really deviate from that. Just my opinion though.

[Malicieuse]

I actually think some bronies simply don't know there is a different fanbase.
Hence why some think you are either a brony or don't care about MLP at all.
Though, that's not the case here. That girl just seems too obsessed.