Which kinda sorta rhymes woo. Anyway, I've been idly musing on how I relate to the MLP fandom these days. I think it would be silly to pretend that I have the intensely excited relationship with it that I did a decade ago. The fact that there are no longer any new episodes of Friendship is Magic has a fair bit to do with that, plus of course it's inevitably no longer fresh and new.
That said, my interest in Pony hasn't faded as much as it clearly has for some people. I'm still maintaining Louder Yay, after all! I'm still reading a ton of fanfic. I'm even (dun dun dun) writing ponyfic again, though so far at least nothing more than a couple of silly small one-shots that aren't likely to blow anyone away. And I'd still call MLP my number one fandom, even now.
What I think I may be starting to cool on, just very slightly, is going to conventions like UKPC. They're getting more and more expensive (and maybe just a little samey¹) and I'm starting to reflect on what else I could be spending with the same money. Set against that, I get to see friends I don't meet any other time. But that's above it being because these are Pony events specifically.
¹ Apparently a Briticism. I had no idea!
However, that does not mean that the MLP angle is no longer a big deal for me in the social fandom. For meets, even though they're vastly less expensive, it still really matters to me that they're Pony-centric. I'd still go to some if they'd turned into just a bunch of friends talking generally, but I seriously doubt I'd attend as many as I do at the moment. So yeah, Pony still matters a lot there.
So... yeah, I wouldn't deny that I've cooled on My Little Pony since 2013 or so. But I was starting from such a high temperature, so to speak, that I'm still a long way above lukewarm. I think I'll consider myself an MLP fan, and quite a serious one, for a very long time yet – quite possibly forever. It just doesn't entirely dominate my online life the way it did a decade ago, that's all.
Damn, this is a thought-provoking post...
ReplyDelete"samey¹"
"¹ Apparently a Briticism. I had no idea!"
Wait, is it? I didn't even think it was a dictionary word. Just checking on Google... Well, I'll be damned!
"So... yeah, I wouldn't deny that I've cooled on My Little Pony since 2013 or so. But I was starting from such a high temperature, so to speak, that I'm still a long way above lukewarm. I think I'll consider myself an MLP fan, and quite a serious one, for a very long time yet – quite possibly forever. It just doesn't entirely dominate my online life the way it did a decade ago, that's all."
Sounds about what I'd have guessed. The most exciting time's passed, but it left a solid enough legacy. (Fingers crossed for Pony Renaissance v2.0? Personally, I'd love it if G6 came along and proved enough of a radical statement to usher in new glory days, but I'm getting ahead of myself).
I never went to conventions in the first place, simply because I'm such a tight-fisted penny-pincher, so their settling down over time never affected my experience personally.
It's funny to read this OP, in a way, because my experience isn't nearly so straightforward. The irony in my case is that - despite my appreciation for the show sinking after S5 (Season Five) - my interest in pony actually increased after the show had finally ended with S9, and has been slowly growing since.
During the controversial second half, my engagement with the show - and, by extension, the fandom - struggled. Whilst my most productive year was 2018, for various reasons I don't think I really had a "grasp" on the show as a whole by then, which might partly explain why my output declined after that.
By the time COVID flared up, though, and with fewer fears of being "jossed" by an ongoing series (which admittedly disappointed me a bit when it turned out G5 was explicitly continuing continuity rather than starting afresh), I started feeling bolder about settling down, coming to terms with what was there, and coming up with ideas and planning stories more robustly. I figured out how to deal with stuff I didn't like or approve of, and overall I slowly felt more "reconnected", in a sense. While I have yet to hit the peak I did back in 2018, behind the scenes here I can tell you things have only gathered momentum.
For one example, despite using Sunset's character for a few AU fics prior (based on wiki research), I didn't even give the EqG franchise a look-in until late 2019. But once I binged the first three movies, I became much more receptive to the whole thing over time and started taking more of an interest in the elements it brought to the table. So that added fuel to the fire as a personal bit of discovered novelty, which kept me going after the show was over.
Not sure how all that'll shape up over the next few years, but basically my enjoyment has been more "prematurely declined, then actually gradually increased". Helps that other factors outside of the fandom have been lining up for me more and more lately. Regardless of what the broader fandom may be doing (the maverick in me, I guess?), I'm feeling more and more inspired.
I actually wouldn't mind seeing if I can best 2018 for most productive fanfic year someday. Pressure's gotta come to a boil sooner or later, ya?
Oh, that would be excellent. For a start, it would give me plenty more fics to read, and since I generally like yours -- sometimes a lot -- that would be very welcome. (Actually one of your stories is coming up for a review soon.)
DeleteI think what you say about EqG must be the reason I was surprised recently when you said you'd look forward to my forthcoming Legend of Everfree rewatch. I was probably remembering pre-2019 times when you hadn't actually watched those films.
"briticism" - Here in the USA I've seen it spelled as "Britishism". Perhaps spelling it "Briticism" is perhaps a "Britishism" in itself!
ReplyDeleteIt's a deliberate choice on my part, because I was amused at the rhyme with "criticism" and "witticism" (okay, more likely in my case "half-witticism").
DeleteHm, we use samey over here too. I guess I don't know how widespread it is, but it's not unusual in my sphere.
ReplyDeleteHmm, interesting. Not all of them, but a slight majority of the online dictionaries I checked marked it "British" or the like. I've never had an American say it wasn't clear to them, though, or even mention it in passing the way they might if I used "pyjamas" or (as I remember remarking upon here years ago) "furore".
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