On Current Developments · 9:40pm Jun 5th, 2020
I was happier being blissfully unaware this site, and fandom, had Nazis in it. But it's better to know, I guess. Allow me (or Valerio) to say a few words:
It was a shock to the system to learn that the experiences I've had since joining the fandom, and this site, weren't universal. That is to say, being as how I got here having watched the show with my children, and being as how the vast majority of bronies I've met have ranged from "fundamentally decent people" to "outstandingly awesome humans"... to then learn that this fandom which may have saved my life, and indeed this very website which has brought me so much joy, nonetheless has an undercurrent of "alt-right" dipshits festering on it? Well, that hurt. I wouldn't for one second rate that hurt on any kind of scale with the actual human suffering going on out there, but it was a nasty surprise all the same.
And it really was a surprise - for someone who got their start on this site writing fetish pornography about cartoon horses, that may sound hopelessly naive, but it's true all the same, I really did think we were all here in a spirit of love and tolerance, the odd easily-ignored hint of fandom drama or military obsession or Aryanne reference aside. The reaction (or, really, the reaction to the reaction) to a certain Applejack picture a couple of months ago threw me, but I still kind of chalked that up to "well, that's 4chan for you". (A site I've never visited, but from everything I've heard and read second-hand... I've said this before, it feels like the entire place could be sucked into the Sun, with no resulting net loss to humanity.) In light of Recent Events, the information from many very good blogs has been impossible to shrug off in the same way; I'd be irresponsible, if not complicit. I thank all the bloggers who've shone a light into this dark cupboard; I really didn't know just how bad the infestation was. And now I do.
Still, it's been heartening to see the response, which confirms my (probably still naive) feeling that things here really aren't as bad as I'd feared. The ratio of decent people to dipshits in the comments sections of these blogs has been very reassuring indeed, some people have made some excellent points, and - personally - it's been highly gratifying to see someone either actually writing one of the aforementioned blogs (lots are listed in Impossible Numbers' post linked above, and there are more), or just saying something I agree with in the comments, and I'll think "this person seems sensible and worth a follow".... and then discover I'm already following them. (Or, in simpler terms, people I already respected have pretty much universally shown why I respect them.)
Conversely, I haven't yet had the surely gut-wrenching experience of seeing someone I previously admired reveal themselves to be a fascist bellend. Which is nice. And if you are actually a fascist bellend - a racist, a homophobe, a transphobe, or whatever other flavour of dipshittery you personally go in for - and have somehow managed to persist as a self-professed fan of a show that is really, really not subtle in its stance on such matters, and you've somehow found me, well... I think the above video sums up my thoughts pretty accurately.
Apparently, I'm now off with some friends to a pony convention in Second Life. I'll let you know if I meet any Nazis.
It truly baffles the mind, not just because the fandom was supposed to have been built on love and tolerance, but also because being part of the fandom was a risk for some of us. Thanks to some alt right shows, bronies were labeled as some pretty bad things, and we had our own issues. I will not dare compare our plight to the plight of an entire races of people, because joining the fandom is a choice that we had, not one that was made for us. I don’t know, I just... don’t understand some people.
You’re brave for speaking out against the bad, and I commend you for it, as do many others, I’m sure.