Compared to the previous topic, this is significantly less controversial in definition, but being a brony yourself isn't. As far as what a brony is, it is as simple as this: a fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Some would limit the term to nonchild fans, but they might as well be too. However, for the purpose of discussion, we will primarily focus on the aged bronies, as no one wishes to hear a rant about people watching a show in their demographic. So from this point forward, when I refer to a brony, they are not a little girl.
So, concerning bronies. Unsurprisingly, this fandom is largely composed of nerds, geeks, denizens of the Internet. Not entirely surprising, considering that all three of these groups are often social outcasts and wouldn't flinch at another instance of social deviance. There is also the factor of the high percentage of hipsters in these groups, and anything ironic is fair game for them. In fact, the brony fandom began and lives on the internet, without which it would be massively crippled. But however did MLP come to the attention of these socially awkward penguins, to reference the internet meme?
The answer is this article, the End of the Creator-Driven Era in TV Animation by Amid. It attacked modern cartoons and animation and one of the first things it mentions is this: My Little Pony. While it is mentioned only once in the article, this is where it started, though it had nothing to do with the reference of MLP. The reason the article came to prominence was because it so deeply offended many members of 4chan's cartoon board. However, the specific mentioning of MLP in the article piqued the curiosity of some of those on 4chan. They found that Amid had chosen the worst possible evidence to make his case, and the brony was born. Soon, ponies became a culture of 4chan. But, being 4chan as it is:
But the Internet was tainted with the Dark One's own touch, it's magic made foul - What Robert Jordan would say if he went to 4chan
The newly found group of bronies quickly gained the antipathy of non-bronies, with a number of components resulting in this. First, 4chan is a collective of trolls, they fight and bicker as second nature (which is why one must NEVER go to 4chan, you will never be safe from then on). Second, bronies had found a very effective way to derail threads and stop discussion (the primary pastime on 4chan) in image macros. They would spam a thread with so much ponies that normal operation was impossible. This quite reasonably brought ire upon them. Finally, there is the fact that a lot of people simply hated on it. Candy-colored ponies make easy targets for trolls (though in actuality a seasoned debater could dissolve any arguments made against it, but then again, most people aren't debaters). Here, one of the many internet wars began. Bronies spammed pages with ponies, haters spammed it with things that should not be mentioned, and the ban hammer came out. All pony-related content was finally banned from 4chan. While this era is long past, bronies now with their own board on 4chan, this period served as a trial of fire to the bronies- if they could survive this, they could survive anything. Less significantly, it created a few common phrases such as:
In their exodus from 4chan, the brony culture began to propagate and expand its boundaries. Sites such as Equestria Daily and Ponychan were created to permit the continuity of the brony cause. Likewise, people from outside 4chan (such as myself) now became aware of the phenomenon. Youtube, DeviantArt, Facebook, the bronies found new homes all across the internet, forming groups, uploading content, etc.
At this point, the brony culture is alive and kicking, enjoying popularity throughout the web, with many fairly-well known names now holding the tag of brony, such as Weird Al Yankovic and Powree of the webcomic Sandra and Woo. Bill Clinton himself was once asked questions about MLP on Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me and answered all three correctly (he may have simply deduced it, but there's a healthy chance).
One of the defining traits of this culture is its quality- of individual and content. The core of the brony fandom is the idea of love and tolerance- these are their supreme values. The brony community has repeatedly been remarked on for its extraordinary camaraderie and unity, as shown by this very scientifically accurate graph:
In fact, the community is what many find most attractive- people's lives have been absolutely reversed by joining the bronies. Suicides have been prevented, depressions ended, vices undone, friendships and even marriages made, simply because this one show has brought so many people together in a non hostile environment- something which some bronies had never known before. There are instances of bronies being kicked out of their homes and quickly finding help among the community.
WARNING: LARGE WAVE OF EVIDENCE INCOMING
Click to expand
Click Moar
Continue Clicking
No one man should have this many links
Le Click
Keep Calm and Click On
You don't have to click if your eyes are good
I felt this one deserved extra notice. Pessimism is such an easy trap to fall in.
Quite right, sir
Clicking is definitely necessary
Very scientific.
Almost done clicking.
Last Click
The short of it is: MLP has had a massive effect on its fans, improving lives, providing a general good time, and creating a fundamental and compelling advocacy for something all too rare: harmony.
What's wrong with that?
Also, my primary source on the historical bit, by Saberspark once again:
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