Preppers make memes, too. (Photo: PrepperCentral)

In the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy, reports emerged that Nancy Lanza, the mother of gunman Adam Lanza, was a member of the "prepper" community, a group of people who stock food, water and supplies in preparation for an impending apocalypse. Many collect weapons and medical supplies, fearing that socioeconomic collapse or deadly pandemics are imminent. Mrs. Lanza, some outlets reported, collected guns because she was a survivalist who was well-acquainted with the prepper movement.

Many of these reports were thinly-sourced, based primarily an an account from her ex-sister-in-law who said the two had discussed prepping.

As it turns out, real preppers are none too happy with the way the media has portrayed them in the wake of the shooting. One, named Daisy Luther, took to the blog Prepper Central to lament the "psychological warfare" media organizations have unleashed on the prepper community. Those of us with more mainstream beliefs find it threatening, Ms. Luther argues, that preppers do not blindly swallow what the media feeds them or rely on government safety nets:

The propaganda machine is not only going after guns in the wake of the terrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School – this has become a two-for-the-price-of-one crisis, allowing the government and media to yet again, demonize preppers...Preppers have been cast in an ugly light for quite some time.  We are painted as camo-clad survivalists, clenching a knife in our teeth while unloading an automatic weapon into some real or imagined threat.

She has a point!

Preppers have already been immortalized in the Discovery Channel show Doomsday Preppers, which, like every reality show, finds the most extreme possible example of the subculture and edits it to make them look as insane as possible. Though, to be fair, it's probably not very difficult to make preppers look rather out there. (Here is a post about how you should be prepared to use deadly force to protect your loved ones this holiday season.)

Of course, if the apocalypse does begin tomorrow as the Mayans supposedly predicted, we're probably going to all wish we, too, had a mountain of water bottles in our basement.

(h/t Christopher Mims)

(Photo: Equestria Daily)

Yesterday Walmart announced that it is beginning to test same-day delivery, much to the chagrin of its former partner Amazon. But you know what you can now get delivered from Walmart, hopefully same-day? Brony-themed t-shirts!

According to Equestria Daily, the #1 news source for all things brony, Walmart has begun to sell women's t-shirts with "I love Bronies" emblazoned on the front. The only trouble with this, as the Daily Dot points out, is that Walmart has used the image for the old vintage 1980's My Little Pony cartoon instead of the modern day update, which most bronies far prefer.

"This is the biggest fail in history," wrote one brony, who does not possess historical perspective.

"Going to Walmart to buy these...then burn them," wrote another.

A spokesperson for Walmart refuted the bronies' claims that the company was just trying to troll their subculture. She told the Daily Dot that they chose the old school '80s show "since that is what our customers respond to."

The Daily Dot also reports that the shirts are already in 1,000 stores and will soon spread nationwide. Who wants to make a trip to Secaucus?

(Photo: Mamapop.com)

It's a question that has plagued us during many sleepless nights: What is a brony, really? We already know that fans of the rainbow-ridden My Little Pony series enjoy attending conventions and having public cybersex on Twitter, but little else has been scientifically revealed about the psychology behind the mystical brony culture...until now. (Cue Law and Order cut music.)

The Daily Dot pointed us to a study done by two researchers named Dr. Patrick Edwards and Dr. Marsha Redden, who conducted a survey in an attempt to classify the personality traits of bronies. Their findings may shock you.

Just kidding, they're pretty much exactly what you'd expect.

According to the study, the average profile of a brony is a 21-year-old male student who is heterosexual and single. Compared to non-bronies, bronies are more introverted, agreeable and tend to get "lost" in experiences--like a My Little Pony subculture, for instance!

"Given the MLP theme of “Love and Tolerance” it is not surprising that the Bronies scored significantly higher on the measure of Agreeableness," notes the study.

The study also broke down bronies into several different types:

• The Social Brony (29 percent): "Are dedicated and engaged fans and are publically open about their “Bronyhood."
• Secret Brony (28 percent): "Are dedicated and engaged fans, however, they do not share their “Bronyhood” with family."
• Independent Brony (7 percent): "Do not display dedicated and engaged fan behaviors (not seeking positive social interactions with other Bronies)."
• Hidden Brony (8 percent): "Do not display dedicated and engaged fan behaviors (few outward signs). They are unable or unwilling to share their “Bronyhood” with family and friends and tend to discovered MLP by accident."
• Mixed Brony (28 percent): "The hardest to pin point, they represents a blend or mixture of two or more of the other types."

Judging from these findings, it seems like bronies would make awesome boyfriends/friends, but terrible party hosts.

[shakes mane] [hooves you a bowl of guac and a beer]