The Ups and Downs of the MLP Fan Base Part 1: The Good

Just a little warning to everyone. Today's post will be split up into several parts. As always I like to start with the positive, because once I get to the negative, it's hard to come back. So please enjoy: The Good!

So, I'm really just a baby when it comes to being a fan of FiM and will probably get a lot of grief for my opinions, but I can't help what I see. First I would like to say that I have seen the whole community do wonderful, wonderful things for people in and out of the fandom. It is, by far, one of the most inclusive fan bases I have ever been a part of. (Though, technically, I was never really part of a fandom because I'm just not very good with people. To be honest, I'm really not in this one yet.) The way the people support one another is an amazing sight and the amount of fighting seems to be contained to arguments over best pony. I've been to one of the conventions and though I was clearly not as fanatical as most of the other people there, I got a bunch of compliments about my costume and was bro-hoofed all the time. It felt really good to feel involved, even though no one knew me. Here's me at my first Everfree NW convention.

There is tons of good on the web too! I have seen the bronies, countless times, pull together to help some other pony out and it made me feel good inside that these people were truly bringing the messages and morals of the show to life: everyone is important, everyone should be proud to be different, your friends will always be there for you. These were all things I seemed to be missing from my own childhood (cause kids are freaking mean) and I was so happy to see that there was a show and a whole community of people (including parents) teaching kids today that "friendship is magic".

Even when there are disagreements, the bronies tend to be more courteous to each other than anything else. They're even nice (some of the time) to the brony haters who spend all their time calling these people perverts because "they're watching a show for little girls". It doesn't matter what brought you into the herd, every brony is happy to have you... right??

Well.... not everything has been good and it's the bad parts that seem to stump me the most.
Stay tuned for my next episode in : The Ups and Downs of the MLP Fan Base Part 2: The Bad