'If you think the pastel coloured horses are just for little girls, you are wrong. Worldwide there are millions of adult fans: Bronies.'
Even after nearly 8 whole years you can still find media outlets and the occasional show, podcast, or in this case, magazine, mentioning Bronies!
This time said article hails all the way from the Netherlands in the women's magazine 'Linda'. It has been kindly translated to English by Stjonal for those of us unable to understand Dutch. Overall it seems to paint a fairly positive image of Bronies and the community.
‘the Brony-convention ended with lots of booze’
DAVID (22) is currently studying chemistry and has been a brony for seven years.
“To me, for some time, it hasn’t been about the pony show, as I ironically call it. When I joined the group myself I was a fifteen year old teen who thought the show was fun. I went to meets and I picked out some friends over the years. I am easy-going, so that made a difference. And I love to arrange and organize. So as soon as I could I applied for a place with “the Orga” and I helped since 2012 to organize meets throughout the country. Fun, but the absolute highlight I experienced this year: Hearths Warmin’ Con. The first big pony-convention I’ve co-organised. We had performances, panels, masterclasses, a cider tasting, a museum, all kinds of things. But one of the most fun things was that we had two voice-actors flown in from America to the Netherlands. Out of the blue I walked with them through Haarlem. Yeah, I’ve experienced a lot. A Brony-convention in san Francisco ending in a water balloon fight and the most epic hotel room party with the international drinking sociation BerryTube. I am a part of that as well now. Us bronies are just chill and open people from a different subculture, like fans of Star Wars or Anime. That's how its at.”
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TOM TEN BERGE (30) is working as a draftsmen in installationtechnics and has been a brony for four years.
“It was on the 3rd of January 2014. Yes, of course I remember the date. My life consisted of gaming, working and sleeping. I had no friends. Everything felt hopeless. I was lonely and so depressed that I had decided to end it all. That night in January I was browsing Netflix, when I found a documentary called: Bronies, the highly unexpected adult fans of My Little Pony. But I was intrigued as well: what kind of show is My Little Pony? I immediately watched the first episode. Fun. It seemed to be a two-parter, so I watched the next one. Before I knew it I’d seen them all. And that is when the realization came to me: I am a Brony as well! I discovered the forum on bronies.nl. There I made my first contacts, and later I felt strong enough for my first Brony-convention: Hearts Warmin’ Con. The first of my best friends I’ve met in the que for the entrance. The second of my best friends on the way out. ‘I don’t feel like going home’, I said as he exited the train. We were not done talking for quite some time. “Well, come crash at my place,” he said. In the Brony-community we look out for each other. Always. And we have so much fun. I’ve never been lonely or depressed since. It was even noticeable at work. I was more cheerful and I was more productive. ‘What has changed?’ someone asked. ‘One word,’ I said. ‘Ponies.’ They’ve saved my life. jas ADODAS by HUDSON’S BAY
‘I watch every episode, like, three times’
KOEN KIST (18) is enrolled in special higher education and has been a brony since last year.
“One day I was browsing on The Mysterious Mr. Enter’s YouTube channel. He posts reviews of animation-series. I was My Little Pony among them and thought: hé, gorgeous animations. I’ve started watching immediately. The stories were funny, smart and not at all childish. I identified with certain characters. Pinky Pie, for instance, is very jumpy, like me. And Rainbow Dash has a strong sense of loyalty. I was a fan almost immediately and I went investigating. The first thing I stumbled upon was the Brony-forum. It was big, over 2500 members. ‘Hello, I’m Koen and I’m new here’, I typed. I got nice reactions immediately. On my first meet I went bowling in Utrecht, with, like, ten people I’ve never met before. Quite exciting. But it was loads of fun. Most of the Bronies have some type of autism, me included. But because we share interest in the same subjects we make contact easily. The fandom has given me self confidence. I’ve discovered I’m a good Brony Analyst: every episode I watch up to three times, and I take notes on how exactly the story plays out. Besides that I try my hardest at school to work in IT later. In the series the ponies get their cutie marks when they’ve discovered their talent. I’m getting my cutie mark myself now. That is how it feels.”
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‘hard to tell my parents’
FRANK HOOGEVEEN (21) is an IT specialist and has been a brony for six years.
“I get the fact that people think My Little Pony is a show just for children. But if you take a closer look, you will see that there is more to it regarding the humor and depth. Most noticeably in the later seasons. That is because of the Bronies, I’m sure. We are worldwide with so many that the creators of the show listen to us with glee. When I met two voice-actors at Hearts Warmin’ Con they felt like heroes at first, but after some time they felt more like colleagues. They were keeping a close watch on our creative expressions. Not without reason. We make fanfiction, fanart and even fanmade music. On a regular basis I purchase some merch from others: posters, plushies or even a CD. And piles of T-shirts, of course. And yea, I wear them to work as well. The first few years I’ve kept this to myself, but nowadays I leave my home wearing them without care. At the start of it I was teased because of it at work. Two days in that stopped. It was a lot harder telling my parents. It is in my character to expect the worst. Luckily they didn’t mind all that much. ‘Are you going to the ponyclub?’, my father asks from time to time. Yes, if it were up to me for quite a long time to come. I find nothing better then to embrace my friends when I see them again at a meet. After that it’s all about one thing: having fun. No drugs, but high on ponies.”
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