FoqueMe

Horse News, but ha, it's nothing like that. The incident happened between myself and someone I and two of the reporters were familiar with, from a previous meetup group who has a reputation for creeping on girls, and it really didn't get beyond warning the guy that if he tried anything else he would be kicked out of our meetup group and con security would be notified.

I. Am. Sooo jealous. I wanted one of the pricier badges, but they were sold out.

The SacAnime story is bogus on several levels, but most importantly - save for Thursday pre-reg night, when people had nothing better to do, that booth was dead. I don't even think I would have gone there if I was being stalked. Ironically enough, given the dislike for horse-news, two people working for them did help me during Babs with a legit stalker incident.

He's an Earth pony who would be an alicorn if he could for the irony.

It wasn't at Babscon, unfortunately. From what I heard, leekfish and a lot of her fans were pretty disappointed at the fact. I'm disappointed I didn't get leekfish to sign my "Fight Like a Girl" shirt. But I'm wondering if I could help her out by requesting to buy/order/etc. a print of some of her work.

Your girlfriend dumped you for being a brony? That's ridiculous. I was actually dating a guy almost a year ago, who I had to explain the whole brony thing to, and he still didn't get it, but he at least accepted it. It's not for everyone, unfortunately. I'd probably be psyched if I was dating someone and found out they were a closet brony or something, but I've found dating people with little to no mutual interests is hard, and the relationship goes stale fast. I'm sorry you had to deal with that, as I could maybe see friends being potentially put off, but if you're dating someone, you shouldn't dump them over something so frivolous. That would be like you dumping her because she liked oranges and you loved apples. I wouldn't be completely dissuaded and "dump" the fandom, though. It's something you love, and other people don't have the right or privilege to make you sacrifice the things you love because they're unwilling to accept/understand it. Perhaps as a minor solution, you could just suppress your power level with your non-brony friends and make a few that are, or at least find meetups/cons in your area, or possibly look around the anime club, if you're at school and if you have one. And if you have had any bad experiences within the fandom, they're easy to brush off. I've met so many wonderful people through MLP, and out of all of those, maybe two people have ever left bad tastes in my mouth, but I just move on from it. I'd rather brush some jerk off because I know I'll met at least ten awesome people in their stead.

There's also homophobia, transphobia and the fact that people still don't believe men can be victims of sexual assault/harassment, especially if it's by a woman, and it can be just as damaging as a woman being raped. I have at least one friend who was raped when he was younger, and I knew him for almost five years before I found out. The unfortunate thing in a man's case, I've noticed, is that if they weren't victimized by a woman, they're concerned with being seen as gay, if it's by a woman, any claim they might make is usually laughed out because men are supposedly incapable of saying no to sex. In that regard, I really do feel bad for male society, as it is the opposite of the "weak" role given to women: Men are expected to be "strong". It is also why society still looks down as a whole on boys and men taking on traditionally "feminine" hobbies and activities, which is no doubt why a lot of guys get flack for liking My Little Pony. But one of the great things about the brony subculture is that we, as a whole, have an outlet and a small group of people who can emphasize and accept it - which is why it's never a bad idea to try meetups or cons at least once. Tavishscratch also brings up a few good points, and - as unpopular as an opinion it might be - a peeve of mine regarding the hypothetical scenario of a woman consenting to sex at the time and regretting it later, as it trivializes rape and sexual assault. Nobody "deserves" to be raped, however, everyone should excercise caution and take preventive measures to prevent the situation from happening.

And it's infectious. There's already a young boy who is actually afraid of wearing a Rainbow Dash hoodie to school because he knows it's "not acceptable". It's ridiculous that innocent people are being punished while antisocial behavior is catered to, if not ignored entirely.

I'll admit, there's been a few times when I've been in uncomfortable situations because I was pretty sure people would say it was my fault for acting in a certain manner, or say, being dumb enough to give a creep and a stalker a second chance. ETA: Can I also bring up that I've seen victim blaming not only in rape/sexual assault, but in bullying, too? It's usually not as prevalent as the former, but it is there.

But to be serious, here, I hate to say it, but when I get sneaking suspicions someone might do this in the wake of outright depression (or something else crazy and irrational), I'll do my best to let them off gently into the friendzone. It does explode in my face more often than not, since redirecting someone as opposed to telling them to go away completely makes them think I can continue. Rejection is a part of life, accepting it is an unfortunate, but necessary, aspect in life.

I have to eat every thing separate, like if I'm eating a sandwich I have to deconstruct it and eat it piece by piece.