AnthroCon and Marking A Year of Pony

[the_gneech]

Although I'd heard talk about how good MLP:FIM was and had in mind to "watch it sometime," I really didn't pay any attention to it until AnthroCon last year, where a couple of people were bopping around in a very cool matched set of AppleJack and Rainbow Dash fursuits, I got requests for pony art (which I fulfilled as best as I could by looking up refs on the internet), and folks I knew were furiously comparing and playing with blind-bag ponies.

It was cute, it was fun, and most important, it was where the creative energy was, and that's where my attention is always drawn. Better still, hantamouse and I were treated to a dazzling double rainbow on the ride home, which of course just led me to find this on YouTube and post it when we got home:

So here we are a year later, and pony is everywhere; my own feelings on it are somewhat contradictory. Pony's been good to me: as an artist, I've discovered that my least popular piece of pony art gets more views and comments than all the rest of my non-pony art combined. I've met some very cool people thanks to the ponies, and gotten to know other folks I already knew even better because of our mutual interest in the show. Heck, I've been specifically invited to BroNYCon to be on the #TwitterPonies panel, which I wouldn't have ever predicted.

On the other hand, well, there is a certain amount of pony fatigue that sets in. I actually find it quite depressing when an artist I've been following for a long time suddenly doesn't draw anything but pony any more (and this is something I've actively made a point of avoiding myself, but it's not easy). And honestly... I don't much care for the "brony" phenomenon. I don't like the way the fandom has become more important than the show, and I really don't like how the show kept veering into fanservice in the second season.

On the other hand, all of those negative feelings go away when I go back and watch the early episodes. AJ and Rarity trying not to bite each other's heads off for the sake of Twilight's adorkable "first ever slumber party?" Loved it. :) Seeing the moon visible through the head of the roaring ursa? Awesome. Rainbow Dash only able to pull off the sonic rainboom because Rarity's life was at stake? Sweet. AJ and RD and the running of the leaves? Beautiful. And so on.

And it's not like the fandom is all bad by any stretch; there's a lot of very awesome stuff being made by fans all this time (like the Low Flier animation I go so into a little while back, for starters). And let's face it, if it hadn't been for the fandom, I wouldn't have even known the show existed, so I do owe 'em that!

So what are the take-aways for me here? Well, two things. First, I need to remember that while ponies are cool, they are just one piece of a larger picture. Despite what some people may say, "pony" is a subset of "furry," and in many ways is the perfect furry TV show. But it is just one show. All the stuff I've always loved about furry is still there, just waiting to be picked up again. To that end, I will be making a point of drawing more non-pony stuff in the days ahead. (I won't stop drawing ponies all together-- they're fun and fast and get a lot of attention-- but I am going to make a point of drawing other stuff, too.)

Second, I need to remember that the fandom is not the show and vice-versa (something I wish more people would keep in mind). Eventually, for better or worse, the show will run its course and the Fickle Eye of Fandom will move on to the next big thing, which will be the end of stuff like DerpyGate and Ponyfiying ALL the Things. But even when that happens and phrases like "Love and Tolerate the @&$% Out of You" (or even better, "Twilightlicious") become so five years ago, the great bits in the show will still be there, and still be great bits... and if I'm lucky, the friendships I've made will endure, even after being "the new hotness" does not.

I dunno, does any of this make sense? Or am I just rambling again?

-The Gneech

Comments

[doodlesthegreat.livejournal.com]

I think you've summed up my own feelings on the matter as well. I get the same feelings as a general animation fan as well. Nothing lasts forever, so be grateful for the good things when you get them.

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Eeyup!

I mean sheesh, Looney Tunes aren't on Saturday mornings any more. What is THAT about? That was supposed to go on forever!

-TG

[applejinx.livejournal.com]

No, it makes perfect sense. I'm still drawing my own characters, and evolving where I'd go with them- you just don't see it because I've been woodshedding that stuff for almost two years now.

I don't know about you but pony showed some big gaps in my own art and creativity. I was leaning increasingly grimdark. I like naughty and always will, but the tone was getting darker and darker and pony brought that into context. Wasn't enough heart in what I was doing, partly because I was so very scared to be doing anything, and felt incredibly embattled.

I'm still under heavy attack from time to time, but now I know haters don't have veto power- and that some haters are just impossibly rude but you can get coherent points out of them with enough patience. There's been a lot of lessons to learn, truly.

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Pony often reminds me to be the better me. I always appreciate that.

-TG

[jamesbarrett.livejournal.com]

What? were you saying something? ;)

Seriously, while I love the MLP show, I rarely pay attention to much outside of it unless you bring it up. I will always adore the characters themselves and the little bits hidden in the show that make it so awesome.

I'm also not an artist, so what do I really know. :P

[hallan.livejournal.com]

It makes perfect sense. :)

[applejinx.livejournal.com]

And the biggest most important takeaway from MLP- is sincerity.

It makes perfect sense to me that people are tired of snarky. It takes guts to be sincere because it opens you completely to criticism in a world that is too big to ever avoid it- but it seems people crave that sincerity all the same, so you MUST be able to see through to those who love you and shrug off those on a totally different wavelength.

Pony totally lacks cynicism. It's unguarded, and that makes it heart-melting.

[maus-merryjest.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't call myself a brony, but I immensely enjoy the show and watch it when I can!

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Well there's someone I haven't heard from since forever! XD Hey there. :)

-TG

[maus-merryjest.livejournal.com]

Hey there! What's a nice cartoonist like you doing in a thread like this? XD

[eric-hinkle.livejournal.com]

I think you've summed up my own feelings on the show and fandom (though what exactly do you mean by 'fanservice' with the latest season?) pretty well. I do like the fandom myself, but some parts of it... yeesh.

But it's a good show, and it will be interesting to see what happens when the show and fandom both die down.

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Fanservice moments include the referencing of fanart with Crazy Twilight, the "Derpy" namecheck, some others that I've blocked out of my memory now but jumped out at me at the time.

-TG

[dhlawrence.livejournal.com]

The brony fandom and furry are two sides of the same coin. You can find talented artists and authors, fans who will support a great cause (Furnando's, Bronies for Good), and unheard-of interaction between fans and the subjects of their admiration.

And then you get Cupcakes and the plushie makers who incorporate strategically-placed holes in their products.

[vixent-fox.livejournal.com]

Embrace the pony for what it's worth, but yeah don't go crazy mad on us. There's still other stuff to go crazy about too.

[hossblacksilver.livejournal.com]

Well, I enjoy the show and consider myself a brony, but I was a pegasus long before Twilight and friends shows up on my screen and I'll be one after they're in the reruns.

Post-script: The same goes for my girlfriend, who while enjoys the current show, loves the G1 ponies more.