I do not want to be called a Brony.

[Sunset]

As someone who liked MLP before bronies i never had any desire to suddenly call myself a brony.
I love ponies of all gens so i don't think the brony community would ever work for me anyways.
Too much old gen hate. I know some may disagree but i believe there is a big difference between the collector and brony community. The problem is that everyone will assume you are a brony these days.

My thoughts exactly.

[Sarahlacewing]

I am with you too! I like all the gens in varying degrees so I prefer to just be called a collector or as pony person or something along those lines.  I like it better because we are all fans/collectors so I feel more like I am including everyone in the same category and avoiding some of the labeling that comes between collectors of different gens.  i'll call anyone what they enjoy to be called but I myself am just a collector.

[Vulpy]

TBH, I don't know what to call myself. I'm still trying to figure out who I truly am, after years of pretending to be something I'm not. :/ Am I a brony? Dunno. Am I a furry? Dunno.

I must admit, I draw dark and bloody MLP art. Please don't hate me for it. ^^' My art normally ends up being gory, and I think it's because of the way past events in my life have affected me. I can't draw happiness without feeling jealous of the happy characters. I don't kill characters because I hate them. I just draw whatever I'm feeling. :/

[Saiko]

I'd just like to add that there are 'extremists' in every fandom, and they are a minority; they just happen to also be the loudest and most obnoxious about their fandom. The minority of extreme bronies are ruining it for the moderate ones, imo.

I met all my closest friends due to G4, they're all bronies, male and female, and they would all feel the same as you about that commission. They don't like the darker side of the fandom, they're in it for the creativity and the joy.
Although I liked MLP before G4, I never liked it as much as I like FIM now, and I think that's partly down to the fandom. I've been to a brony convention, where I met some great, friendly people, bought some lovely art, and heard live musicians play creative songs. I did not see anything, or any attitudes that would look out of place at a G1 collecting convention. So I'm happy being called  brony.

[brightberry]

I agree with Saiko to the extent that not all Bronies are the same.  I have friends that I knew before they became Bronies.  They're great people.  It was just a natural thing for them to like as they were already PowerPuff fans and TV fantasy show fanatics in general.

But I don't follow the fandom like they do.  Have no idea what's going on or the interest in background ponies.  I just can't call myself a Brony without feeling like I should care more about that stuff.

[Ice Crystal]

I'm not a fan of the label and never was, even before all of the negative connotations. I guess it doesn't help that I ID as a guy and got into MLP by way of the cartoon so by all accounts I fit the description of a brony, but I prefer pony fan or collector, because that's what I am. I love and collect all gens, even if G4 is still my favourite for personal reasons. I don't mind labels, they can be quite helpful and safe-feeling depending on the type of person you are, just don't want to be a brony.

[achab1984]

I am a collector for sure!!! Will always be

[June]

It's okay for you to feel this way because fans (of any fandom) like that can sometimes be really annoying. Like some others pointed out, extreme or rabid bronies are minority, but they draw much more attention to themselves than "normal" fans. It's like when people think that all furries are perverts.

I personally consider myself a mixture of both collector and brony because I was into MLP over a decade before FiM which reminded me that I still like ponies. I like the show because it reminds me of my childhood, because it's innocent and because of the values it promotes. I also like some of the fan-made stuff. However, I joined collectors' community here on the Arena before I got into fandom. Now I do have some brony friends, but they can be a bit annoying with overused fandom jokes and stuff I don't really care about and their making fun of older gens and non canon toys (minority). The thing I hate the most on the internet is hate towards other gens and constant complaining about Hasbro (not)doing this or that.

I sometimes feel torn between the two sides 

[Sarah Jo]

You're not alone and it's totally okay to not want the label, but just because someone is called a brony doesn't mean they automatically like the darker fandom efforts. All fandoms have their loud and super crazies. I totally agree with what Saiko said.. a lot of proud bronies would feel the way you do about the art request.

Personally I don't really refer to myself as a brony just because it doesn't seem to fit me. Even though I really love FiM and all.

It's like how I'm a Star Trek fan but I don't care for Deep Space Nine or Enterprise. Some Star Wars fans hate the newer 3 movies with a passion. Or how a lot of us don't care for certain gens of ponies.

[Evening_Moonstone]

I remember a guy in highschool going on about the difference between "Trekkies" and "Trekkers".  I think people involved with the thing know and care far more than outside observers.
I wouldn't be surprised if folks who know nothing about MLP start calling all pony fans "bronies" because it's become a pop culture topic lately.

[Malicieuse]

I'd just like to add that there are 'extremists' in every fandom, and they are a minority; they just happen to also be the loudest and most obnoxious about their fandom. The minority of extreme bronies are ruining it for the moderate ones, imo.

I met all my closest friends due to G4, they're all bronies, male and female, and they would all feel the same as you about that commission. They don't like the darker side of the fandom, they're in it for the creativity and the joy.
Although I liked MLP before G4, I never liked it as much as I like FIM now, and I think that's partly down to the fandom. I've been to a brony convention, where I met some great, friendly people, bought some lovely art, and heard live musicians play creative songs. I did not see anything, or any attitudes that would look out of place at a G1 collecting convention. So I'm happy being called  brony.

I wish that sane majority would call out the 'extremists' a bit more...

[Wardah]

I really sometimes wonder what to call myself. I'm a girl who is a huge fan of FIM but I like all generations despite not having a nostalgic attachment to G1 or G2 since I grew up in the original LPS era. I actually got into MLP because I was collecting G2 LPS and ended up picking up a couple of G3 ponies in a bag with some second hand pets. I found out about the earlier Gens online (as well as many other amazing toys from the same era) and started collecting those too. However I never liked the MLP cartoons before FIM. I guess I am just a toy collector who happens to be a fan of FIM (and Littlest Pet Shop cause it is awesome). I hate labels because I like too many things and the list of labels would just be too long.

[rtattles]

I had always thought "bronies" were just boys that liked MLP -  I was happy when I learned of it, because I figured it just meant that society was evolving enough such that boys would finally not be stigmatized for playing with traditionally "girly" toys- and THAT would be awesome!

I have now learned (mostly through this board) of some of the more bizarre fan groups that appear to be associated with FiM, and realize those people do also label themselves as "bronies" and can understand why you would want not to associate with the name, since it brings all new (and negative) connotations to the definition "brony." 

Ultimately, I think that "brony" means what you want it to mean, but I suspect a lot of people feel the way you do, and totally understand that you would want to distance yourself from a label that would associate you with some of the more bizarre and distasteful aspects of the fandom...

Still-  some part of me still hopes that if nothing else, be they "bronies" or not, the fact that the FiM fanbase includes so many boys- will somehow have a positive effect on Western society in that maybe families won't pick on their little boys so much when they want to play ponies or dolls with their sisters or cousins.

LOL and I would have never found out about those if it weren't for you Galactica. I had to change my userID, because one of the words in it got associated with the Bronies and oh you guys won't want to find out what it entails.

I'm a guy collector and I was happy when the Bronies first got some attention because boys + ponies weren't weird anymore, but I was dead wrong. It's worse off than before imo. Being someone who was keeping ponies since 1995, I'm happy to call myself a MLP collector, nothing more. I try to avoid the word "fan" because it gives people the idea that you will set yourself on fire. I want to be friendly and amiable, not scary and flammable.

[Brandi]

I feel the same way you do about this. I never have and never will call myself a Brony. I consider to call and classify myself as a pony collector.

[StarlightGaze]

I feel the same way. I feel that how most Bronies enjoy FiM is different than how I enjoy it. I love the cute innocence of MLP, the strong female influences, and collecting toys. But I do not enjoy the fanon, grimdark, clop, shipping, and crossovers/ponifying of everything with FiM that a lot of Bronies tend to enjoy.

I get slapped with the furry label a lot too because I draw a lot of anthro characters, but it's usually in a very alienating way and it upsets me a lot.