Bronies Have Become Fuel For Slop Content

Whenever I draw, or do anything really, I love to listen to essay videos or deepdives about things I'm interested in. This isn't unheard of as many people do this, however I have begun to notice a significant increase in MyLittlePony deepdives, retrospectives, and analysis videos on YouTube. More specifically, about Bronies. 

I would like to quickly get this out of the way before I get to my main point of my discussion: I am indifferent about Bronies. I do not care for them, I do not think they're evil or have "collectively groomed an entire fandom" (yes, people have said that) I simply do not care. However that doesn't mean I necessarily like them, though that's more so related to the fact I'm an 18 year old girl and most Bronies are adult men within the mid twenties to early thirties age bracket. As for why I'm even mentioning this, I don't want this to come across as me attacking Bronies. I would like to preface that before anyone misconstrues this blog as me being hateful, when that isn't my intention at all.

Given the fact I was under the age of ten during the height of the Brony community, I love looking back on old content from that period that I used to look at or watch as a kid. Animations, songs, artwork, videos, but I also love listening to recounts of events and incidents that took place during that time. The unfortunate part is that not a lot of them are exactly good. Bronies have an awful reputation, and that's not just personal opinion. Each time the topic of Bronies comes up in any online discussion everyone suddenly gets a sour taste in their mouth. Bronies aren't a stranger to predatory behavior, and the ludicrously large quantities of pornographic content that is impossible to escape if you so much as google MyLittlePony doesn't help either. To individuals outside of the community, as well as inside, this is seen as distasteful and to some even outright repulsive, but for content creators this is seen as a gold mine.

Discussions about the Brony community isn't unheard of. The first video I was introduced to was Jenny Nicholson's (which is a great video by the way, I highly recommend you all watch it) but then as time went on I began to see more and more. All of which were essentially about the same thing. Regurgitating the same information. Talking about the same incidents. Bringing up the same points. It's repeat after repeat of the exact same thing over and over again. We get it, Bronies are weird. There was one particular video that caught my attention however. While I was scrolling through my YouTube feed to find a video to watch, I saw a 20-30 minute long video about the fanfiction Sweet Apple Massacre. I found it hard to believe that there was anything worth discussing about a fanfiction, filled with excessive gore and porn put there for the sake of being shocking and to bait the reader into giving it negative attention, to warrant an almost thirty minute long YouTube video. They had done it because they knew it would get clicks and views. These videos aren't being made by people within the MLP community to provide insight and perspective, they are being made by people, who aren't even in the community, who want to milk the topic of Bronies as much as they possibly can until there isn't a single dollar left to be made. 

I also find it outright laughable when they bring up the counts of inappropriate and predatory behavior, specifically towards kids and teens, as a way to grab the viewers attention because of how shocking it is. Not because it's a serious issue that needs to be brought to light and worked on. They love to highlight this point especially to further enforce just how disgusting Bronies are, but that's just it. They never address or highlight the victims involved, they don't show sympathy or respect, they don't put in the effort to try and include some sources or links for young people who may be in a similar situation. it's just used as a leverage to give them an excuse to hate men who enjoy a franchise made for young girls. Not because they actually care.

I know this blog might come off as a little strong to a lot of people, but this is something I've been wanting to discuss for a long while. This has been bothering me a lot and I'm really glad to finally be able to get it off my chest. This is of course open to discussion and I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with me. Everyone's input matters. Have you guys noticed this as well? If yes, then do you also find it annoying or do you simply not care for it? Which MLP essay, analysis, retrospective, or iceberg video is your favourite? Mine personally is Stardust42's iceberg video on MLP.