The Future of the Fandom: Where are We Going? · 11:06pm Jul 23rd, 2014
Well...yesterday marked the departure of another member of this fandom. Some of you may know her and some of you may not. For those of you who don't know, let me introduce you to Bad_Seed_72. She's an excellent writer who has written several fantastic stories. Her most famous ones being her Tangled Roots trilogy, which are easily three of my favorite MLP fanfics of all time. Recently, she had been increasingly negative and a bit depressing in her blog posts; and, in all honestly, I don't blame her. She was one of many who were fooled by the user on this site (whose name I shall not say here out of total disgust) who put on an elaborate charade of suffering from a severe case of cancer and having only a few months left to live; and, being an open lesbian, she was pretty miffed about the fact that a certain infamous homophobic writer on this site has well over 1000 followers. Anyway, yesterday, she uploaded this blog post basically detailing her departure from the fandom and her lost interest in MLP.
Now, I'm not here to cry and complain about her choice or say that she's in the wrong or anything like that. I fully respect her decision and I can understand her reasons behind it. But, still, it's depressing to see someone as wonderful as her say goodbye. Anyway, the reason I started off this blog post talking about this matter is because this was the tipping point for me to discuss this. This is a topic I've been wanting to discuss for a while but just never got around to doing it. I guess now's as good of a time as any other.
The future is an uncertain thing in any way you look at it. The future of a country. The future of a series. The future of a fandom. The future of our lives. It's both a road filled with opportunities and a path where anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
The MLP fandom has always had a rocky element to it. From its early days in the forums of 4chan to today with the nitpicking extremists and clashing opinions. From the never-ending immature battles with Anti-Bronies in the Youtube comment sections to the Rule 34 to the Amy Keating Rogers death threat debacle. In the end I have to ask: where is our fandom going? What lies in its future? As time goes on, the idiots of the fandom grow more apparent and the good members seem to progressively lose interest in both the show and the fandom.
Bad_Seed_72 is one example of someone who just progressively lost interest; but it's apparent that her loss of interest was also pushed along a bit by her disgust over the despicable jerks she kept coming across. CR is an example of someone leaving an atomic explosion of drama in their wake with their departure. In real life, I've had two friends lose interest in the show. One of them simply placed their attention on different things while the other hasn't completely lost interest in it but has rather shoved the show into their long list of shows they wish to catch up on at some point. While I respect their decisions and understand their situations, it still depressed me a bit as I don't know that many people in real life who are fans of the show like me.
I guess what I'm getting at is that I see so many people leaving the fandom or beginning to lose interest that I'm beginning to wonder what state the fandom's going to be in within a few years. What's going to happen when My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic inevitably airs its final episode? Will people continue to celebrate the show? Will they continue to create fan art, write fanfics, read fanfics, and discuss the show for years to come? Or will the fandom simply fade away until it's remembered as that funny point in history where adults watched a show about technicolor ponies?
But, as of now, I hope that I will always remain a fan of this show and I long to continue writing stories about it. I hope I never fall into the same situation as Bad_Seed_72. I never want to lose interest in MLP (as long as it remains good, that is) and I want to remain of fan. And while a part of me fears that the fandom will fade away once the show has its final finale, another part of me remembers all of the other fandoms that continue to thrive long after their respective series's conclusions. Harry Potter is a good example. Years after the release of the final book and the final movie, fans everywhere continue to discuss the series and celebrate it (myself included). Doctor Who was celebrated by its fans throughout the wilderness years of 1989-2005. Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans still seem to go back, rewatch, and enjoy the series. And I'm sure no Pixar fan will ever forget the glorious Toy Story trilogy. Besides, when Friendship is Magic ends, I have a feeling we won't have to wait too long before the next incarnation comes around. It's thanks to this fandom that MLP has been pushed into the same type of situation as that of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Scooby-Doo, and the various superhero cartoons from Marvel and DC. There will always be a new incarnation of TMNT, Scooby-Doo, Spider-Man, Batman, and whathaveyou making an appearance in the future and MLP is no different. I have a feeling that MLP and the fandom will continue to thrive well into the future.
And in the worst case scenario where I do lose interest in MLP, I will always find happiness in remembering the time where My Little Pony entertained me and made me happy; as I hope is the case with many of the good fans who have left in the past couple years. And, as was the case in my comment on Bad_Seed_72's farewell blog post, I'm going to end this blog with a quote that I feel is pretty fitting to this situation.
"We all change, when you think about it. We're all different people all through our lives. And that's okay, that's good, you've got to keep moving, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be."
-Matt Smith "The Eleventh Doctor", The Time of the Doctor
That blog and the doctors qoute. Bravo sir, bravo! But on the side of this thought, it was announced that because of the shows success, Hasbro is considering keeping it on air for another five years. That means up to season 9. But, it's a consideration, not a fact.
Well said.
Yeah, seeing Bad_Seed_72 go is quite sad. Especially for me. I've felt a lot like her little cheerleader throughout the comments of her various stories trying to save her faith in the fandom. She didn't even get to see all the stuff I had coming down the pipe.
Plus, she was like the only other person I've come across here who didn't hate "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well".
But enough about that. I know what it's like to not know people in real life who also share a fondness for MLP. My sister will have nothing to do with it and also poo-poos my fondness for other cartoons I've also developed in interest in like Transformers: Prime. (And I've been a Transformers fan since I was like 6!) I tried unsuccessfully to my two other friends into MLP. I still think I have good chances with one only because she use to watch the old school G1 MLP as a kid. Although, there is a part of me that feels that even if my friends did get into MLP, that it would be for the best if they not hang around here. I feel they wouldn't be able to handle it because she's pretty conservative if you know what I mean.
Anyway, you already know my feelings about the future of the fandom where the best and brightest end up taking part in the next generation of MLP. Like you do, I feel that the Brony community has given MLP the kind of staying power that the other fandoms you have listed have as well as many others. I think even John De Lancie compared Bronies to the Trekkie fandom, and Trekkies have been around for decades.
Additional thought.
You know what I've noticed. There are like at least two different kinds of like writers here. There's guys like you and me and countless others I've come across like Dusk Quill. We write stories that only on one occasion or so hit the Featured Box so we don't really attract that much attention so we kind of fly beneath the radar and are left in relative peace.
Then there are people Bad_Seed_72 and others that are so good and have amassed quite a following because story after story or update after update ends up in the Featured Box. They end up attracting a lot of attention, both good and bad. Some people can handle it. Some end up too overwhelmed by it. Some others can't handle and it ends up souring the whole MLP experience for them.
I do feel at times that we are as positive as we are given that we are left to do our thing in peace. I do sometimes fear what would happen if interest in what we do were to pick up significantly.
2310413
Yeah, I see what you mean. I keep imagining how nice it would be to have a large following but then I snap out of it because I'm incredibly thankful for all of the people who already follow me and read my stories, both here and on fanfiction.net.
And I can see that sometimes people push themselves too hard on this site until they're at the point where MLP becomes more of a chore than a source of entertainment. That guy "Bad" mentioned in her blog, 2D-kun, left a comment that's proof of the worst case scenario of this:
I certainly hope I never end up in that guy's situation.
For now, I think I'm happy being in my own little bubble of peace. Writing stories for my moderately-sized following and being free from the pressure of these more "famous" writers.
2310585 Amen to that.
I care not about the dispicable jerks and attention-seekers. So long as their idiocy does not actively get in my way, I can - and do - ignore the lot of them.
I can afford this stance becaue I am not popular. I am not a quality author on the front line.
My every move is not monitored and criticized.
What does concern me is the apparant degradation of the fandom.
The last great fandom I was a part of was Pokémon, back it's early days.
While I never went so far as to peruse fanfiction, there was the trading card craze. I had many, and was proud.
I began to lose intrest in it when they expanded beyond 151, but I hung on. When it expanded again, I quit. But just look at the pokémon fandom! It's tired and worn, but it's sill vast -- and has built a legacy that will last, for better or worse.
I believe the MLP fandom will endure. It may not always look the same, people will leave when the novelty wears off, and will often be replaced by others who are not quite as good at their jobs; but a hard knot will remain.
I forsee however, that this hard knot will, in years to come oft' lement the "old days".
I am preparing for this the best way I know how: collecting all the artwork of reasonable quality I can find, and making a backup of every story judged of superior quality and carefully archiving them.
It is statistically impossible for the haters to get us all. Even if there is a collective disbanding, that hard knot shall remain.
And I shall wait within.
~(OvO)~
Let me leave a song that I found fitting for the situation
*drama drama drama drama drama*
Me: There are people doing things? Eh, whatever. Oooh, new story! *clickity*