Is anyone else on the brink of losing total interest in G4?

[lostpony]

OP, by no means did I mean to imply that you are off topic.  I believe you addressed issues that were brought up by others that I think are valid and I for one certainly enjoy your passion as to those issues and I think you did as good a job as can be done to discuss them.  My confusion has a lot to do with being new, so i missed all that old stuff for example what was just posted about "what happened to the arena afterwards".

I don't know much about it but I know that is a real sore subject so I will steer clear of it, except I will say that I am astounded as to the lack of welcome and unity between fans of My Little Pony.  If I understood any of the lessons in any My Little Pony shows at all, it is that we are supposed to get along as best we can with each other even sometimes including those who turn Ponyland to glass or travel through time to crush friendships before they begin.  But what seems clear in the present and especially in that time described above as "what happened to the arena afterwards" is that we pony fans have as much factionalism and difficulty getting along with each other as Donald Trump and well, anybody really except maybe Putin, which is probably a really bad analogy because it detracts from my point which is that as a whole, our ability to follow the ideals of My Little Pony amongst even ourselves is heartbreakingly disappointing, and that makes me very sad.

Back on G4, while still a little off topic I agree the first Nightmare Night episode was a little bit awkward but I really enjoyed it, in particular Pip who was thoroughly lovable and if he was a last minute write-in I think the job that was done of it was exceptional because I really felt for him.  Also I was mortified for poor Luna under the relentless and merciless pressure of Pinky the Chicken, like the general situation wasn't enough for her to deal with.

[Al-1701]

Not to sound petty, but bronies started it.  I for one was initially happy that the new show had gained such a following.  Then I started to see the face of this following and immediately drew back.  When G1 videos were plentiful on Youtube, their comment sections were flooded by bronies bashing G1 and those who liked it (and G3 got it even worse).  I've discussed the opening to the brony documentary to death so don't get me started on that.  They act like they're their own thing with almost connection to the greater My Little Pony fan community which has existed longer than many of them have been alive.

Yet, long time fans have to contend with their stench.  Despite not joining the larger community, they've become the face of it.  To much of the outside public, brony is a term for any fan of MLP and their less than stellar reputation has been attached to all of us.  It's especially bad for males like myself who grew up a fan of G1 and want nothing to do with these people.

Getting all of the bad and none of the good tends to sour your view on something.

[Shaiyeh]

I've been reading this pst over the past few days but staying out of commenting, but I feel like I want to put in my 2 cents as well.

Considering my post history, looks like g4 and what happened to the forum after is what made me quit collecting five years ago.

Not to sound petty, but bronies started it.  I for one was initially happy that the new show had gained such a following.  Then I started to see the face of this following and immediately drew back.  When G1 videos were plentiful on Youtube, their comment sections were flooded by bronies bashing G1 and those who liked it (and G3 got it even worse).  I've discussed the opening to the brony documentary to death so don't get me started on that.  They act like they're their own thing with almost connection to the greater My Little Pony fan community which has existed longer than many of them have been alive.

Yet, long time fans have to contend with their stench.  Despite not joining the larger community, they've become the face of it.  To much of the outside public, brony is a term for any fan of MLP and their less than stellar reputation has been attached to all of us.  It's especially bad for males like myself who grew up a fan of G1 and want nothing to do with these people.

Getting all of the bad and none of the good tends to sour your view on something.

This is sort of what happened to me, too, and sums my thoughts up pretty well. I'm adding more of my thoughts tho:
I really liked the new toys when they came out, and I, to be completely honest, actually enjoy the show. (well, partly. My hubby and I watched all of it, I enjoy the amount of fun pop culture references, but them catering to bronies etc as has been already mentioned (the references I mean I don't connect to that?)... and especially the sheer amount of booty angles. It increased a lot over the seasons IMO, and I can't help but think it's an "I watch it for the plot" thing... and straight-up fanservice of the sort I never thought I'd see in MLP. Which, to me, is a bit disturbing as they're ponies. Please tell me I'm not the only one noticing this?

At first I, too, was really happy to see so many new pony peeps, but IMO it quickly went out of hand with explicit fanfics, fanart etc.
 (and this is a pet peeve of mine. Really, no offense to anyone who does (non-explicit or not) fanart like this but when everyone's art looks spot on like in the shows, looks basically traced...? I never got the thing. Again, no offense, but that put me off going on devArt, and making my own pony art to post in the groups there. I remember one picture I drew, with the mane 6, and I got such amounts of critique because they 'didnt look like in the show'. like, I KNOW? I deliberately drew them in my own style, because... STYLE? )

So yeah, I was quickly put off anything pony due to this (and at the same time for personal reasons, my ex hated them etc) and I've only sporadically been visiting the arena since, except for the past few months where I've been trying to stick around. Looks like it's going to be easier now since I'm not the only one who feels like this, and because we've all gotten a chance at airing our thoughts and feelings xD
It makes me sad because I loved doing pony art, and I loved hanging out here like I did every day back then. And perhaps most of all, collecting. I've added what, 10-13 ponies to my collection in 4 years. I *want* to collect more, but all these feelings have been putting a damper on the fun.
 I remember the days where a lot of older-gen hate was going around even here in the Corrall, and us old-gen collectors were called 'oldie moldies'. And the very heated discussions(borderline flame wars) of 'moldies' vs bronies. So happy we have awesome mods here who keep things in line, and fast. I'm surprised this thread has grown to 10 pages without any drama. Gotta love the Arena peeps!

I am a little bit excited to see the g4.5 ponies come out. I think they're adorable, and I'll probably pick up some of the sea ponies if they make it to Europe. But I have 0 hype for the movie, and tbh, I'm pretty much done.

Sorry if anything was harsh or over the top. tell me and I'll edit. I really should stop bottling up my feelings, this turned into a massive post, sorry xD

[Shabi]

Booty angles?.. I sure am spoiled but even I didn't notice that 

[Shaiyeh]

I don't know if appropriate so putting in a spoiler (it's just screenshots from the show), but there's a LOT of this. last few episodes me and my hubby wtached we were both like 'come on. that's a fair few too many pony rumps.' IMO it's literally everywhere. :/

Spoiler

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And to add: I'm not looking for flaws in the series, but to me, it seems these have increased in number over the seasons. it bugs me, because "plot" has been a thing with the bronies (at least THAT part of the brony comm) since s1, and fanart with this is plentiful. So, to me, it looks like fanservice.

[Minty_Magic]

I have to agree with a lot of what's being said above. I'm actually not too tired of the toy line itself, I'm excited about the new reboot molds and the GoH line. I think I've actually been buying more of the toys than I have in a long time.

But I'm really growing tired of the cartoon and brony culture. This is coming from someone who was 100% behind bronies and the new fans from the start. I wasn't super active on here when bronies first started showing up, but I know the few times I would come see what was going on it was really tense and hostile and I just gave up all together for a few years and stuck mostly to mlp news sites and ignored any discussion.

At first I, too, was really happy to see so many new pony peeps, but IMO it quickly went out of hand with explicit fanfics, fanart etc.
 (and this is a pet peeve of mine. Really, no offense to anyone who does (non-explicit or not) fanart like this but when everyone's art looks spot on like in the shows, looks basically traced...? I never got the thing. Again, no offense, but that put me off going on devArt, and making my own pony art to post in the groups there. I remember one picture I drew, with the mane 6, and I got such amounts of critique because they 'didnt look like in the show'. like, I KNOW? I deliberately drew them in my own style, because... STYLE? )

I agree that this is a HUGE problem in the brony community, it's really rare that artwork that isn't in a perfect show style or overly cutesy anime style is recieved well by the fans. I think that was a big turning point for me personally, I remember a few years back when I was trying to learn to draw in the G4 style some picture I drew ended up on some mlp imageboard (without my permission). Initially I was touched it was there at all but then I saw the only two comments  it had were really negative with no valid critique or anything. I was really proud of it at the time so it really hurt to see it get shut down like that. That had never been my experience sharing mlp art in the past.

Yet, long time fans have to contend with their stench.  Despite not joining the larger community, they've become the face of it.  To much of the outside public, brony is a term for any fan of MLP and their less than stellar reputation has been attached to all of us

This is really the main reason I've kind of distanced myself from mlp. I still enjoy collecting but I'm just not as open with people about it as I used to be. Before FiM people used to be pretty cool with my collection. Sure maybe they thought it was a little weird but overall people thought it was unique and they were supportive. Now if I tell people I like mlp I definitely get looks from a fair amount people. I've gotten asked about the really seedy parts of the fandom and if I'm into it. I hate that lewd mlp content is so commonplace now that people who aren't even into mlp have been forced to see it. I can't even search the mlp tag on tumblr without turning on safe search theses days, every other picture is something I don't want to see!

[Rainbowrific Renia]

I'm kinda over the show. It's going on 7 seasons now and I just don't care as much anymore. Some animated shows can still feel fresh after this long... FiM is not one of those shows.

As far as the toys go, I still collect them but not to extent that I was a few years ago. I like the GOH line, mostly for the "statue" figures like Nightmare Moon, Celestia and Queen Chrysalis. Other than that, I'll pick up a toy if it really sticks out to me as something I'd like to have in my collection. Speaking of which, I'm a lot more private about my collection now. I've basically abandoned my toy collection IG account because I began to feel like no one really cared about the G4 toys anymore, so there was no point in me publicly posting about my newest additions. I don't spend much time in my pony room anymore...it makes me sad, but I just don't get that much joy out of the toys anymore. I'm hoping that maybe my love for G4 will be rekindled again at some point, or else the pony room is going to be turned into my general collection room and I'll just display toys and figures from my other collections.

I guess I'm just bored with G4 in general. I used to plug my ears and go "la la la" whenever people would bring up wanting G5 to be a thing, but I'm finding that I'm there with them now. It would be nice to have something new and refreshing to get me back into ponies again.

[lostpony]

Well, once the mods get a good look at this thread the word "plot" might get added to the Grumpy Cat list and we'll have trouble discussing the concept of a storyline by that word.

There are definitely a lot of "booty angles" in G4 but there are a lot of much more exaggerated butts in a lot of other kid's cartoons especially on Cartoon Network some years back....I have no idea what tripe they are pushing now, but the shiny red butt on several of their characters really creeped me out as a product for kids.  I saw some bronies discussing the pony rumps and one of them was dismissing it as "anatomical".  It's true, I don't see how you can draw ponies in the G4 shape without those anatomical angles.  I think G4 pony butts are cute so I kinda like it, but...it is surprising how many, um, "enhanced" (inappropriate) shots show up in a Google search.   

I think fans of MLP are treated harshly in a lot of places thanks to the behavior described above.  Worse, that's probably not going to go away when Hasbro moves on to another generation.

It sounds like it was pretty awful when the seedier side of FiM fans showed up here and I can see why feelings would still be a bit hurt.

As to the art, I personally love art that deviates from the show-accurate.  My best attempt is the pic I am usually using for my avatar here, and I was told I need to study G1 anatomy better....I think I did OK on that, but....other comments included "get me the thing that throws fire on it" and when I questioned that person he said it was just because it was G1.  I think a lot of people enjoy all the art in G1 and not show-accurate G4 but the haters are a very vocal minority and that does deter a lot of good artists and I just want to be clear here that many who do not make comments are enjoying your work and please don't be discouraged.

[Wardah]

I have to agree with a lot of what's being said above. I'm actually not too tired of the toy line itself, I'm excited about the new reboot molds and the GoH line. I think I've actually been buying more of the toys than I have in a long time.

But I'm really growing tired of the cartoon and brony culture. This is coming from someone who was 100% behind bronies and the new fans from the start. I wasn't super active on here when bronies first started showing up, but I know the few times I would come see what was going on it was really tense and hostile and I just gave up all together for a few years and stuck mostly to mlp news sites and ignored any discussion.

I feel mostly the same way. When FIM first became a thing there were a lot of great artists who did mostly SFW art and it was exciting seeing so much new art. But then the more toxic entitled bonies ruined everything and pretty much drove almost every decent artist out of the community. They have since gone on to do other things like Steven Universe, or anime or Pokémon but I really miss their MLP stuff.

[Majesty]

Not to sound petty, but bronies started it.  I for one was initially happy that the new show had gained such a following.  Then I started to see the face of this following and immediately drew back.  When G1 videos were plentiful on Youtube, their comment sections were flooded by bronies bashing G1 and those who liked it (and G3 got it even worse).  I've discussed the opening to the brony documentary to death so don't get me started on that.  They act like they're their own thing with almost connection to the greater My Little Pony fan community which has existed longer than many of them have been alive.

Yet, long time fans have to contend with their stench.  Despite not joining the larger community, they've become the face of it.  To much of the outside public, brony is a term for any fan of MLP and their less than stellar reputation has been attached to all of us.  It's especially bad for males like myself who grew up a fan of G1 and want nothing to do with these people.

Getting all of the bad and none of the good tends to sour your view on something.

I have to agree.  I'm not trying to extend the "us versus them" thing but I will try to be peaceful about it in extending my reasoning as to why I agree....   So, when bronies first hatched I had no problem with boys or men coming out and having their new category for my little pony lovers.  I don't necessarily mean "coming out" in the way most people think, I just meant that since bronies became a term more male my little pony fans started realize they can be male and like my little pony and embrace it.

Then, the mean bronies who hate anything before G4 came out and saying previous generations are ugly and what not.  As someone had stated, G4 wouldn't exist without previous generations and G1's especially are the core foundation for my little pony and how it extended and became what it is.

So, moving onto G4.5 I am pretty sure I'm done with any interest in buying G4's.  I don't really have many though.  The most I have are of the funko vinyls actually.  I mean, I'll probably still watch the show and look forward to new episodes like I always did but I think the last figure I bought which was the Nightmare Moon Friendship of Harmony or whatever that line is was the last one I bought and that's it for G4 for me.

[Ponyfan]

It's really hard not to run in to inappropriate  G4 fan art or fan fiction even when looking up something completely innocent. I don't understand why there is so much on DA and to me it spoils the fun that MLP is supposed to be. I did notice in the Quibble Pants episode there is a rump close up that lasts for several seconds.

I remember when "Too Many Pinkie Pies" aired and one of the fake Pinkies gets bored makes her face into a G3 pony for a few seconds. There were a lot of comments from bronies about how "ugly" that face was just because it was different.

I do buy G4s that I like. I wanted to find the last wave of pearly ponies and want some of the new sea ponies. I stil watch FIM also.

Ponyfan

[Baby Sugarberry]

So, when bronies first hatched I had no problem with boys or men coming out and having their new category for my little pony lovers.

To add onto the shade pile, the fact that many bronies acted like they were the first boys ever to enjoy ponies.  Sorry, no you're not.  Lots of boys played with ponies growing up, and while a minority, they've always been present in the collector community too.  Ponies are for everyone who likes ponies.

*sigh* The situation with G4 just makes me so sad.  Even without the poor QC and other toy issues, the whole G4 line feels tainted with bad feelings in my mind. 

[Snapdragon]

So, when bronies first hatched I had no problem with boys or men coming out and having their new category for my little pony lovers.

To add onto the shade pile, the fact that many bronies acted like they were the first boys ever to enjoy ponies.  Sorry, no you're not.  Lots of boys played with ponies growing up, and while a minority, they've always been present in the collector community too.  Ponies are for everyone who likes ponies.

*sigh* The situation with G4 just makes me so sad.  Even without the poor QC and other toy issues, the whole G4 line feels tainted with bad feelings in my mind. 

I'm agreeing with everyone else here - I've had similar experiences, which I've discussed in depth in the past, so I'll just say that I have had similarly distressing events that pushed me out of that specific corner of fandom. Which was sad, because I had very high hopes for finding new pony people to geek out with! Now I'm at the point where I'm afraid to wear my MLP:FiM shirts in public lest someone associate me with the less-savory parts of the fandom. :/ I want to wear my shirts to find new fans and maybe make new friends, but then I worry, am I going to have to go through the same heartache I did in 2011 all over again?

On a more taxonomical bend, one thing I really disliked was the term 'Brony' itself; it sort of sets up the 'default' fan as male (bro + pony), which is a bit ridiculous, given that A) the majority of the fandom has always been female B) why do you need to reassure yourself of your maleness in online spaces where gender is a secondary concern? The whole thing felt very 'we're not icky girls!' which just fed into a lot of the toxicity I witnessed in the community, online and off.

Plus, outside of the community pushing me away from one of my primary interests, the toyline itself is suffering. It feels like every set of brushables we get, it's 4 of the Mane Six, and maybe one or two 'new' characters; at some point you get tired of buying the same pony, "now with hat"!

[Rainbow Dash]

Well, once the mods get a good look at this thread the word "plot" might get added to the Grumpy Cat list and we'll have trouble discussing the concept of a storyline by that word.

My problem with 'plot' is that it's an extremely misleading term.  There's no such part of an equine's anatomy.  "Hindquarters" would probably be most accurate though I'm sure "butt" and even "rump" would work just as well.

So where did something stupid like this come from?  Memes of course.  "I watch ponies for the plot" (the image seen a few posts up).  It's meant to be a play on "I read (insert adult magazine of your choice here) for the articles."  But I don't hear people referring to Pamela Anderson or Jenny McCarthy as "articles"...  "Check out the article on that hottie!"  It sounds really stupid, doesn't it?

It's a pet peeve of mine when reading it in fanfiction (especially if one of the ponies refers to it as such, for example "Ouch, I tripped and fell on my plot!").  Because so few people do any sort of research, I think a large number of bronies really believe plot is a horse anatomy term.  Because, you know, everyone else uses it. *facepalm*

As for more pony rears being shown in later episodes I hadn't really noticed, but eh.... that's not exactly a new thing.  Even in G3, when Razzaroo was flipping through the Birthday Book, there's a picture of Minty's posterior.  And while it's played for laughs (because butts are apparently funny) I find it more disturbing than the G4 rears because not only is the rear drawn a bit more accurately, it's also a picture, meaning that Razz specifically took said picture and well.... taking pics of your friend's rear end when she's not looking is kinda creepy.

Going back even further, and out of ponies, it was a thing on Nelvana's Care Bears series too.  The most blatant example being in the Wonderland movie when Swift Heart gets picked up and the camera focuses on her tush and lingers for a few seconds.  Here's something I whipped up years ago for another forum:

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But the thing to keep in mind is that all of these characters are animals, and they don't (normally) wear clothes (and even when they do, it seems pants are rarely, if ever, worn).  If you need to show a character from the back, there's most likely going to be a butt shot involved.

[HoustonCollector72]

And the Plot thickens   

LOL