May the muffins be forever in your favour.A Depressing Move: The End of "The Brony Network" and How Our Future Shouldn't Look Like · 5:02am Sep 8th, 2018
A Little Foreword: I am still writing ponyfics and have never stopped doing so. I know this account seems like I have shifted to do other things with it lately, but it has not become a review and blog account and will never become one. Ponyfiction is still a priority here, I just find myself very slow with writing because of a recent wave of new depressions, and the reviews and blog entries about the future of the show that I started to publish this season are just an addition to my ponyfics, not a replacement.
I work as fast as I can on getting the first chapter of the last fic from my Upcoming Stories list up, before I continue with other fic projects I have planned. As soon as I have a proper release date and update schedule for this story, I will inform you immediately.
Now, on to what this blog entry is about.....
This blog entry is a follow-up to: The Meaning Behind Season 8's New Opening Animation
Here are some thoughts of mine about something that I saw today..... As you probably heard already, BN King decided to end The Brony Network as a brand name. It doesn't mean that he isn't streaming new episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic anymore, but abandoning this brand name still carries a rather unfortunate message and today, I found some thoughts about this:
Seeing this change, I could just say "Goodbye, Brony Network, and Thank You for the good times!" here, but on my mind is actually something else..... According to BN King, the main motivator behind ending "The Brony Network" as a brand is because the inclusion of so many other shows and stream content that has nothing to do with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic attracted so many people who are into these things, but not MLP: FiM, and who aren't bronies, making him think it's necessary to let go of the brony branding.
There's a specific reason why this isn't right to do. The Brony Network was created by bronies for bronies to give them a place where they can reliably watch the show and other things related to MLP: FiM. It was created out of a love for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Equestria.
By doing this step, it means that BN King allows The Brony Network to become overtaken by other shows and non-bronies who don't care about MLP: FiM or our fandom. Which is something that reinforces the view I already had, that a pony streaming channel (and any pony site, really) should stay MLP:FiM-exclusive and only stream other content unrelated to it as a rare exception, not the rule, or if it somehow adds something to the pony experience by making a relevant connection to the show (for example, showing a non-pony movie that an episode of MLP: FiM referenced, as a tie-in). With what is happening to The Brony Network right now, it shows to what it will lead if a pony stream becomes too off-topic.
And right now, with the possibility of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ending with Season 9 next year and with G5 being a reboot of the franchise that abandons Equestria and the ponies we came to love, everyone should make sure to stick to MLP: FiM by letting the places it created live and strive, instead of altering them and converting them into non-pony or general entertainment sites. Doing this would be a step back, it would be like turning back time to what was before My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic came to be..... Doing so isn't right and I find myself very disappointed that BN King lets The Brony Network end like this, rebranding it into a general entertainment stream as opposed to the dedicated MLP: FiM stream it used to be until now, instead of letting it live as a MLP: FiM stream by finding ways to adapt to the future without G4 that we might be facing soon in a way that doesn't alter what The Brony Network is at its core, a pony streaming site.
In doing so, it feels like The Brony Network is losing all the progress it made as a pony streaming site ever since it started to stream My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
At first glance, this might not seem like a big issue because The Brony Network is still streaming the new episode every week and probably doing the occasional restream of an older episode too, but "The Brony Network" is a name that stands for what made us come together as a fandom, for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, so giving up this name also means that BN King is giving up the identity of The Brony Network. This isn't a good thing to do and I'm using this decision by BN King here as an example for how we should NOT go into the future.
In case that Season 9 is really going to be the last season and that G5 is a reboot and that we won't see Equestria again because of that (at least not for the foreseeable future and the next couple of years, as G6 could bring it back to us), everyone of us should prepare for the future. But it should be done in ways that sustain our fandom and pony culture and that embrace MLP: FiM, not in ways that contribute to an end of our fandom and that erase what MLP: FiM has built up in the brony fandom since 2010.
We as a fandom have formed a culture around My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and just because the show ends, this isn't a reason to become inactive, to become hopeless and to quit everything. It is a reason to keep going, because once the show will be over, it is all the more important for us to stay active if we want to keep what we have.
Once the show ends, be it next year with Season 9 or only in a few years if Hasbro does decide for more seasons, don't follow the steps that BN King did with The Brony Network, but find creative ways of still contributing to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and of supporting it further, whether you are a pony streamer, ponyfic writer, pony artist or doing anything else that is inspired by My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
As every group that centered around a certain object of fascination, admiration and passion, we have an established culture that deserves to be kept up and continued, just like very old fandoms like "Star Trek" or "Doctor Who" have continued to stay active despite decades without new content for their favourite shows.
Just like these fandoms managed to stay alive and to keep the legacy of their shows alive, we can do this, as well. If we stay productive and creative, we can make My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic live on just as long or even forever. It is something we have in us, so use your creative power and your passion for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic to keep it alive whenever the Long Winter starts for it.
As long as we don't let it happen, Equestria will never leave us and our pony culture will never die.
Sorry, but I'm gonna have to disagree. When your audience and leadership increases well beyond the subculture that first inhabited it, it is necessary to adapt. That's why this site Wil eventually become genfic and BronyNetwork is becoming a general streaming site. G4 us ending, it bad a good run, Bronies are finishing up the fandom life cycle just as Trekies and Star Wars games did. It is time to let non-Bronies get involved. Otherwise, sites like this and Brony Network will stagnate and die.
Thats the right attitude. Frankly, i'm a Bit Scared if this Page will Stay After g4 ends and if it stays if g4 Stories will still be allowed. I just Made some Good Friends here i don't want to lose.
I feel the Subculture would have to be needed to be kept in check to deter future Toon Copycats. And, I feel there'd have to be a rational gameplan to have realistic merchandising plans and not just one line schlock moves. But, I feel like we'd need certain leadership to make future lean days survivable and Toys R Us ending is another Mr. G Parts Issue for us, and being close to 35 or 5, the loss cuts us raw.
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I'm not sure if I understood your comment right, but I think what you want to say is, that we should be careful with focusing on other fandoms and subcultures other than the MLP: FiM fandom too much.
In which case, I explained just that to Hellblazer in a lengthy response above this comment.
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You and me both. My concern is that, once FIMFiction.net has gotten its identity by having become turned into a general fiction site, that the ponyfic community will water down, instead of continuing to prosper and grow. I fear that ponyfics will have a hard time to get recognized when the site gets swamped with an endless march of anime fanfiction and all sorts of other fics unrelated to MLP: FiM.
It's the one problem I don't know how to solve yet. Other than convincing knighty of not doing it and of making Genfic a second site that is independent and completely separated from FIMFiction.net. But doing that, is something that is next to impossible.
The only other idea that crossed my mind would be to start crowdfunding a lot of money and to buy FIMFiction.net from knighty, then put a new admin into place. But it's still questionable if knighty would agree to sell FIMFiction.net.
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Once the audience already increased, like it did in The Brony Network's case, you might be right. However, what I actually criticize here about BN King's decision, is not just the rebranding of The Brony Network that he does. Much more importantly than that, what I criticize is that he let in members of other subcultures to that massive extent in the first place.
As I already said here in my blog entry, non-pony content on pony streams/sites doesn't have to be avoided completely. But if non-pony content is included, then it should be done in a way that benefits My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, like in the example I've given, but not in a way that hinders it.
If the inclusion of non-pony content invites members of other fandoms into the streams who have the opportunity to watch MLP: FiM alongside of their favourite shows there and they become fans of MLP: FiM, as well, then this is a good way to keep the brony fandom alive and occupied, or maybe even let its numbers increase still.
However, if the focus on non-pony content is too big, so that the pony character of pony sites and streams gets washy, then My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic will ultimately get drowned out by other shows and fandoms and become a mere, tiny fragment of a larger cartoon/nerd subculture.
Of course, to some extent, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was always part of this subculture. But it has a strong identity that lets it stick out in the sea of all the other shows. But if it gets weaved into this larger subculture too much and mixed with too many other shows and fandoms, then it will be just one show among many and lose its identity that makes it so unique and that is why we all centered around it in the first place.
That is why non-pony content on pony sites and streams must be handled carefully. It can be beneficial, but it can also cause harm if it's overdone.
For The Brony Network, as much as I hate to say this, it is probably already too late. The stronger and stronger focus on other shows and movies, making MLP: FiM content more like the exception than the rule, has attracted other fandoms' members who expect their content on there and their number is probably so large by now, that alienating them by switching back to more pony focus and limiting other content would lead to a massive loss of The Brony Network's audience.
But other pony streamers and sites don't have to make the same mistake, there is something others can learn from what BN King did wrong with The Brony Network.
That is why I wrote this blog entry, to raise awareness for this, so that others won't make the same mistake.
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What you are saying here is, that we should let non-bronies in to prevent the fandom from dying and stagnating, so that it can continue to exist. I can see that you have understood that something must be done to keep the fandom alive once the show ends, this is something we seem to be on the same wavelength about already. However, the way you think this should be done is less than an ideal one.
As I explained above, if we start to focus on non-pony content too much, then My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and our pony culture will get watered-down.
It would not only be harmful to the culture that we built up ever since 2010, most importantly, it also isn't necessary to be as radical as this, to swamp our pony sites with non-pony content to the point that they become unrecognizeable as such.
Right now, it is impossible to predict how a potential end of the show with Season 9 will impact the amount of MLP: FiM fan creations exactly, but going forward into the future, what we need is a combination of pony content and non-pony content, to both keep fans of the show we already have here, as well as to attract people from outside who can become fans of the show and possibly start to create for G4, too.
Streams like The Brony Network have shown that it is possible to combine pony content with non-pony content. It is just that The Brony Network has overdone it with this, but with a more healthy mix, this procedure makes it possible that the fandom will still grow, or, stays stable in numbers, at least.
And it is also important to think back how the fandom started out and how the pony culture we have now originated. In the beginning, there weren't any pony sites. Early bronies talked a lot about the show on 4chan and probably some other cartoon sites and shared pictures there and from this, we grew our fandom until we were able to establish dedicated sites for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
Once the show ends, pony sites that continue to do what they do now, with the added goal of appealing to other fandoms and making their members fans, too, by showing them what MLP: FiM has to offer and how great it is, as well as advertising ourselves on sites outside of our fandom to reach a larger audience, will become very important and the necessary way to go forward if we don't want to die out.
We cannot stay secluded in our fandom corner once G4, and therefore Hasbro's official advertising for G4, ends, but we also cannot switch to non-pony content entirely or even just mostly. That would lead to the same kind of stagnation and death, just in a different way and one that would be, fatally so, caused by ourselves in an ill-fated attempt to save what we have.
But if we go for this healthy mix of pony and non-pony content and if we strategically advertise us on other sites and networks like we did when My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic had just begun and we started out, then we will not stagnate and die, neither by inactivity, nor by alienating ourselves.
Then we will be able to not only sustain ourselves, but also to stay active, so this is the step for the future we should take. It is important to protect what we have for future generations to come.
No popular and big fandom ever died. And no culture in all of history ever eradicated itself willfully, such a thing would be unprecedented.
The end of G4, if it should really come next year (or whenever it will come), does not mean we have to give up. There are ways of sustaining ourselves if we do it right. There is always a way to continue.
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Yeah. I would be okay if this size would take G4 and G5 stories after the latter starts, would be the best for new onces and classic onces, like me. I just have stiroes planned that are sequels, so I need to finish those first before uploaded said sequels.
If I may say this here, I considre you as good fiend and don't want to lose you too. Your stories with Dinky were what inspiried me a lot.
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This sounds better. It would still pose a bit of a problem, if G5 is really showing an alternate universe, but at least FIMFiction.net would still be pony-related then, so this would be a better environment for G4 ponyfics than a general fiction site.
And I will not be lost. I am worried for the general state of the ponyfic writing community if knighty goes through with his plans, but I will not be lost. I will always write ponyfics for as long as I live in this world and if the worst should happen and FIMFiction.net should fall, I will have to see about other places to put my pony stories on and to publish new ones. I will find ways.
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Good attitude. I hope if worst comes to worst that we can stay in contact somewhow.
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We absolutely can. I can give you Discord or Skype contact infos if such a moment should come. And there's my Deviantart account:
http://cmc--scootaloo.deviantart.com
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I have seen this before, your profil Pic gave you away. I actually considered joining Deviantart once but I'm not much of a artist