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Been feeling very decoupled from my past. Things just wouldn't be the same if I went back. The things I've come to know are not things I wish to give up either. I'm not the same person I used to be and am not sorry for it in the least. Though if you were to send me back with all of my memories, people would get hurt. Badly. Going to the principle's office for defending against bullies used to be a very scary thing for me. Put me back in that environment with all the wickedness that developed in me as I learned to defend against vulnerability and you will see me turn into a monster.

Let's say for the sake of argument that the brony fanbase is heavily scorned and stereotyped for being sick pervs who want to have very dirty "fun" with horses, cartoon or real ones and that pretty much everyone online and real life either knows about it or at least have an idea about it. What consequences could this possibly have? Obviously the fans themselves would be affected; most notably the ones "out of the stable" which might force some to leave the fanbase altogether. Really not sure how the community as a whole would be affected and my best guess would be that it would withdraw a little further into obscurity. Could Hasbro feel the effects as well? That seems to rest on how (irrational) parents would respond to this happening.

@Modphase Well... In the end, groups; be they religious, bronies or whatever, are still made up of people. People are pretty diverse. It's natural to expect that not 100% will agree on the same thing, especially to groups with size. While there is some common ground between us as bronies, we still see conflicting opinions between bronies concerning the show itself. Now... It could be said that we should all just cope, and there are different ways to do that, with the reality that not everyone or for that matter everypony will agree with what one can be passionate about. That's another misfortune born out of diversity; not everyone has as much skill, control or common sense to do so which make some more prone to get defensive and stir up drama than the others. This is something I want the zealots to understand and I honestly see them as the bigger threat to the fanbase's reputation than the clop/grimdark/grotesque artists and those among us into those kinds of content. As much as I would like them to just drop their fanatical ways, I really don't see that happening. I'm just happy that they're a minority.

Don't know if these points have already made in the comments so I'll just respond to the blog entry itself. There's quite a lot more to reproduction than just sex and pleasure. There are various health benefits to it; physical and psychological, and it may even help to maintain cohesion within a group. Kinda why homosexuality is also seen a lot in social birds and mammals. For most social creatures, their ability to survive rest on keeping together since being isolated would simply be a death sentence. Notice how predators of herd creatures like zebra and wildebeest tend to try and separate out one individual from the herd and chase that one? If homosexuality can help a herd stick together instead of going into a brawl, then it helps them survive. Hence why I believe that sex is more about just making more individuals.

That's just one of the things that came to mind. A different point I remember bringing up is that because after all, this fandom is based around a show that is easily judged as something for little girls, we as a fanbase that is mostly made up of grown men, we have no dignity to begin with. Keeping that in mind, it becomes easy for me to ignore ridicule instead of getting defensive simply because I expect it. Though it's one thing to be looked at as ridiculous and something else completely to be looked at as disgusting. I'm sure there's quite a bit of both towards us as a whole.

Something I've been wondering about for some time now. Ever since hearing about zealot bronies attacking clop and gore artists, presumably out of fear for being asociated with the furry fanbase I guess, it got me wondering if it is of any consequence at all. When you're an anonymous brony with only close friends knowing about it, it won't really matter because they know you well enough not to make any baseless assumptions about you and those who would don't even know you are. So then I could just continue to enjoy the show, talk to my online brony friends about it and go see fanart and whatnot without anything to care about. Or so I believe. On the other hoof... Looking at myself and how I look at the furry fandom, I can say that right off the bat, I want no connection with them after being shown some pretty sick things at a time when my skin wasn't very thick. I still don't want to be considered a furry and this is what's making me think twice about my previously stated opinion because if the brony fandom does somehow reach that point then it would seriously discourage new fans from entering the community. Yet it's not so simple, is it? Because if one could be able to give it a chance and discover that it's a peaceful or sensible fanbase where all or at least most of the hate is just myth then they just might take part in it after all but just stay anonymous about it. Just brought up the furry community as an example to help me get my point across. Hope I made myself clear. So then... Is the reputation of our fandom something to be concerned or even care about?

Bronydom is certainly a controversial topic but what is it you want to convince your fellow classmates about bronydom? Perhaps go look for similarities and differences between other--perhaps more mainstream--fanbases and see if we really are anything special at all and not just another fanbase around a show.

Hm, I remember this term "being in the stable" being used instead of "in the closet" for bronies who haven't made their interests in the show public. It's actually pretty comfy in here XP I'll just enjoy the show and community in the comfort of anonymity. Even if there is nothing to worry about, I just don't feel a need to be open about it. Oh, right, with my friends... Well, the bulk of my IRL friends don't know. Don't really care about letting them know either.

Hi there. Welcome to mlp forums, o princess of tastiness! Hope you'll enjoy your stay and create some fond memories of this place with the friends you'll make.

Pretty sure I would feel a little awkward. It's difficult enough already for me to talk about the community, the show especially, to those close enough to me to know about this hobby of mine. Still, I'm optimistic that it would be an intriguing experience. I just don't want to have to explain to my parents that our common interest is a show called My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. Dad got annoying enough with me and my younger brother when we watched South Park together. Yeah, you read that right. South Park. Not sure if he'd be too ashamed to tell anyone else or talk about it to others so that he would constantly remind me of that mistake. I have very little patience for these things.

By abroad I meant outside from my home country. Still in the Caribbean, just studying on a different island from where I'm from, that's all.(yeah, haven't been very active...)

Thank you for the war welcome, everypony! Also from there. I've always lived there. Unless you're asking me from which island specifically.

I'm a little pressed for time so I'll just throw my own thoughts out there and come back another time to look into the points made here. You guys sure have loads to say! Don't get me wrong, I find this interesting. Every fanbase, be it specific parts or as a whole, has haters. People in general tend to jump to conclusions and may also be afraid of also becoming bronies themselves. Whether their reasons are silly, out of insecurity or even legitimate doesn't have relevance for me. I enjoy the show and talking to my brony friends online. Because I don't show that I'm a brony IRL, even the reputation of the community as a whole doesn't bother me since in the end, it's not going to affect me in any way.

My Favourite Mane 6 Pony: Rainbow Dash How did you find MLP Forums?: Found MLP forums through google. How you became a fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: What got me curious was when a MLP:FiM thread on an unrelated forums I visit was made. I've heard of the phenomenon before but didn't bother to check it out until that happened. After episode 4, I was hooked but it took a lot of time to get over that awkward feeling of watching what is judged as a little girl's show on a reflex. No familiar names have been spotted yet. When it comes to being a brony, I'm very secretive about it IRL, going as far as browsing for anything pony in incognito mode. Since I became a brony through a Metroid forums it's easy to say that I'm a Metroid fan. (Didn't like Other M. Sorry). Being a college student on campus studying abroad while being an introvert, I rarely do much else other than studying and ponies/bronies. While my loan may seem meager compared to the US, debt is something I take very seriously and it makes me willing to starve myself a little. On the bright side, it made me lose weight and I've even gotten more positive comments on my looks because of it XD A student in electrical engineering. I live in the Caribbean region so... argh, matey! XD PS. Did you really had to make me choose? I could never decide who the best of the mane six is