Current Events > Bronycon ending after 9 years

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https://www.npr.org/2019/08/14/750595032/the-friends-we-made-along-the-way-after-9-years-bronycon-calls-it-quits

On a sweltering Saturday in Baltimore, 11,000 bronies have claimed downtown. These are the fans of the TV show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, their name a mashup of "bro" and "pony" because many of the show's earliest and unanticipated adherents were young men.

For nine years they've evangelized the show, and for nine years they've been targets of scorn. But they've come here for BronyCon the biggest My Little Pony convention in the world heedless of what that world may think of them.

That's what brought me here, too. I've dodged the brony label for years, but I can't deny my love for the show. It's helped me out in dark times, and I wasn't about to pass up my last chance to join fans at BronyCon. Friendship may be magic, but the magic is fading; the show has entered its ninth and final season, and after several years of dwindling attendance, the convention's organizers decided it was time for a last hurrah.

Revell isn't the only person who met a life partner through pony fandom. Jayson Thiessen, chief director for many seasons of the show and for My Little Pony: The Movie, says that's part of its lasting impact: "People have come together and formed relationships and got married and had kids during the course of the show, because of the show ... and we were wondering, how many kids owe their existence to this show? And it's just kind of amazing."

That old magic was heady stuff for me. My hours at BronyCon threw me back to an earlier self, when the show hit me like a bolt from the blue. I was studying at Brigham Young University, returned from a Mormon proselytizing mission cut short by a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Shattered and lonely, I felt bereft of a life I thought I had figured out: no longer the ambitious student, the unshakable older brother, the model Latter-day Saint. Then came a show about candy-colored ponies learning to accept themselves and each other one song and smile at a time. I hadn't watched an episode in years, but BronyCon reminded me how much I needed My Little Pony back then, and how it strikes a chord in me still. In fact, until I sat down to write this essay I didn't realize how much of my current life I owe to the show it even, indirectly, led to me meeting my own wife.

darkphoenix181 posted...

That old magic was heady stuff for me. My hours at BronyCon threw me back to an earlier self, when the show hit me like a bolt from the blue. I was studying at Brigham Young University, returned from a Mormon proselytizing mission cut short by a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Shattered and lonely, I felt bereft of a life I thought I had figured out: no longer the ambitious student, the unshakable older brother, the model Latter-day Saint. Then came a show about candy-colored ponies learning to accept themselves and each other one song and smile at a time. I hadn't watched an episode in years, but BronyCon reminded me how much I needed My Little Pony back then, and how it strikes a chord in me still. In fact, until I sat down to write this essay I didn't realize how much of my current life I owe to the show it even, indirectly, led to me meeting my own wife.

This is modern "internet culture" in a nutshell.
A cartoon about small pastel horses can become a de facto religion somehow.

I'm kind of amazed that an adult can be inspired by a cartoon marketed towards 8 year old girls.
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PoopPotato posted...

I'm kind of amazed that an adult can be inspired by a cartoon marketed towards 8 year old girls.

You mean like Disney cartoons?

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PoopPotato posted...

I'm kind of amazed that an adult can be inspired by a cartoon marketed towards 8 year old girls.

Toy story

And basically every pixar movie

I remember the cute rollerskating girl from the first one
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I'm not talking about enjoying something made for kids, I'm talking about being able to come out of depression from watching one. It's not a knock the the guy.
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Feel like a lot of people bought into the cartoon heavily when it first came out so as to be contrary online and just couldn't admit this in later years so kept it up to save face
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I didn't even know the show was ongoing. I thought it ended years ago.
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I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. Why this show? Of all the God awful cartoons marketed towards little girls, why did they choose this one to base a subculture around?
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Thank God it's finally over.
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Zodd3224 posted...

Why this show?

Memes, and then the weird cognitive dissonance of a "buy all our playsets and toys" cartoon actually being decently written somehow.

Yea i will never understand this "movement"....Its my understanding that the cartoon was created by a well known animator or creator so some people watched it unironically and then it just became a religion for socially awkward dorks somehow?

...how?

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I forgot bronies existed
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ThyCorndog posted...

I forgot bronies existed

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/400-current-events/77892807
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I have socials filtered
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gonna make it harder for Feds to track them
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NinjaBreakfast posted...

Feel like a lot of people bought into the cartoon heavily when it first came out so as to be contrary online and just couldn't admit this in later years so kept it up to save face

I still think this is the reason for its popularity. I believe it just started out as a meme of men ironically being like "let's watch MLP everypony lololo" and just stuck around because they grew to like it. I eventually watched it due to curiosity, and it's actually not bad.

Kind of like when someone "pretends" to listen to a silly catchy pop song they say they hate, and eventually become an actual fan of it.
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BettyB0op08 posted...

and a strong feminist.

Is this something that draws Bronies?

BettyB0op08 posted...

Zodd3224 posted...

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. Why this show? Of all the God awful cartoons marketed towards little girls, why did they choose this one to base a subculture around?

Its relatively one of the better written and well animated cartoons of the decade, created with a family friendly audience in mind by a veteran of the industry and a strong feminist.
Why do you think its a god awful cartoon? Just because its marketed towards little girls?

LOL at thinking MLP is well-written.
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Hayame Zero posted...

NinjaBreakfast posted...

Feel like a lot of people bought into the cartoon heavily when it first came out so as to be contrary online and just couldn't admit this in later years so kept it up to save face

I still think this is the reason for its popularity. I believe it just started out as a meme of men ironically being like "let's watch MLP everypony lololo" and just stuck around because they grew to like it. I eventually watched it due to curiosity, and it's actually not bad.

Kind of like when someone "pretends" to listen to a silly catchy pop song they say they hate, and eventually become an actual fan of it.

Kinda how I got into it.
Saw a random clip on YouTube, Pinkie and Fluttershy singing Evil Enchantress.
The super deep Barry White voice made me laugh. Saw comments of guys liking it, so watched semi ironically.
First episodes were good, so kept watching.

Fanart was good. Songs catchy, fan and show alike.
Faust wrote well, and the characters were nice. Liked them all.

Bronycon was awesome.
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Pepys Monster posted...

LOL at thinking MLP is well-written.

Relative to most other "toyline" cartoons, yes.

I watched up until the 4th season ended.

Have no opinions on what came after, but there was a certain charm to it back then that made it an interesting watch.
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Questionmarktarius posted...

Pepys Monster posted...

LOL at thinking MLP is well-written.

Relative to most other "toyline" cartoons, yes.

Okay, but "toyline" cartoons are not my standard for entertainment.
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Questionmarktarius posted...

Pepys Monster posted...

LOL at thinking MLP is well-written.

Relative to most other "toyline" cartoons, yes.

That's not saying much
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Questionmarktarius posted...

Relative to most other "toyline" cartoons, yes.

You realize those are meant for kids so the writing is created with that in mind, right? lol come on now...Im not saying its not ok to like them yourself, but sitting here comparing writing standards of cartoons that aren't really meant to be written well in a sense is kind of dumb. they're cartoons. if you like it, cool, but you don't have to justify it with "well, its written better than most other cartoons...i can really relate with the characters you know!"

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Guys keep in mind, Bronycon isn't the only MLP convention, and I think this is what has the media confused. Bronycon was the largest MLP convention ever, but there are still many other conventions around the world like Everfree Northwest, TrotCon, GalaCon, Whinny City Ponycon, and Babscon. It's only the one in Baltimore that's ending.

MLP's season 9 ends in 1-2 months, then gen 5 airs next year. But the fandom isn't over, there are still plenty of conventions to go to. The next MLP convention in Maryland will be SeaquestriaFest in Ocean City.

Anyway, come to Trotcon.
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Puglia77 posted...

Anyway, come to Trotcon.

Fuck no.
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Puglia77 posted...

Anyway, come to Trotcon.

What do you do there?

Lmfao "trotcon" bet there's always some confused leftists at that
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Zodd3224 posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

Pepys Monster posted...

LOL at thinking MLP is well-written.

Relative to most other "toyline" cartoons, yes.

That's not saying much

Compared to the Strawberry Shortcake cartoon that was running around the same time, yes.
Compared to Aquabats Super Show, no.

I can understand men being fans of pokemon and disney because they grew up with it or there was something like battles or fond memories of it, I do NOT understand grown men being My Little Pony fans.

The show is clearly marketed at girls and most if not all the grown men who became bronies give off a creepy as fuck vibe.
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I still remember when the first season was airing.

I thought it was a pretty quirky and fun cartoon network like show, and I thought the memes were pretty funny.

But by the time the first season was ending, it was pretty clear the fanbase was getting extremely awk and furry and... tumblr-y?, so I ducked out asap

Tbh for me, it was no different from like catching Ed, Edd, n Eddy every week or something

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good riddance

i've never met a brony irl that wasn't a fucking weirdo or had bad social skills
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where are pedophiles going to congregate now
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Tyranthraxus posted...

PoopPotato posted...

I'm kind of amazed that an adult can be inspired by a cartoon marketed towards 8 year old girls.

You mean like Disney cartoons?

Pretty sure Disney generally targets family audiences.
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Trotcon might be the worst name for a convention I've ever heard lol
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ViewtifulGrave posted...

Pretty sure Disney generally targets family audiences.

So did My Little Pony

You don't have to take my word for it though.



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AlephZero posted...

where are pedophiles going to congregate now

They will find something else, and yes there are a lot of sick people who call themselves bronies, no normal adult man is into this fandom.
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I hope they fumigate the building to erase the stench of bronies.
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Guy_Fieri posted...

I hope they fumigate the building to erase the stench of bronies.

Just do a Smashbros tournament next week. No one will ever know.

SerperiorThanU posted...

I actually watched a bit of this show when it first aired. Its definitely better written than the Pokemon show, which many people still keep up with.

You should not make up lies, it makes you look bad.
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Eh. The show for the most part had good episode storylines and lessons. The fanbase hurts it, but its legitimately a good show. At least the seasons I saw.

The episode where Twilight ignored someones birthday party in episode 1 coming back to bite her was really good. It subverted expectations in a realistic way.

I say its like PowerPuff Girls. Yes, girls are maybe the main obvious target, but anyone can watch it.

Awkward people without friends would of course flock to a female dominated cast (anamorphic or not) about friendship and crap.
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BettyB0op08 posted...

Have you seen it? Its one of the very few episodic non superhero shows that actually retains its character development and regularly refers to events from previous episodes, seasons, and even spin-offs.

I watched the first two seasons and only laughed once. You're going to need something better than it has continuity. Dexter's Lab had continuity.

darkphoenix181 posted...

PoopPotato posted...

I'm kind of amazed that an adult can be inspired by a cartoon marketed towards 8 year old girls.

Toy story

And basically every pixar movie

Toy Story was always intended to be a family movie though, not a kids movie. There's a difference.
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Are bronies just furries that are too poor to buy a decent mascot costume?
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went on 9 years too long
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