The pony fandom is at its brilliant best when it's wildly creative, inclusive, loving - not when it's being represented by a bunch of tedious racists who apparently missed every message the show ever conveyed.
sunset
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@ZebraNorth Yeah, it fucking sucks. And like, I knew there was that segment of the fandom, but I thought it was mostly contained and declining, and I didn't think nearly as many reputable people would want to make excuses for this crap.
I still love the fandom - but I definitely don't love that part of it or the people that give it cover.
Being part of the MLP fandom has changed - and saved - my life. I love it. I've made lifelong friends through it.
But stuff like BABScon having a table at MareFair, while MareFair has things like the attached image on their schedule, undermines BABScon's inclusive history - and sends the message the fandom finds this okay.
(And no, "it's just the name of a kids' book! There's no other meaning!" doesn't excuse it. The /mlp/ gang have been throwing around that word to apply to zebras - who are, in the show, African-coded - for years.)
It's not okay. It's not what the fandom should be about. And when we say "eh, it's just /mlp/ being /mlp/" that enables it.
The fact that the pony fandom is still not fully separated from 4chan /mlp/ is not great.
Yes, the fandom has its earliest roots there, but that doesn't mean we need to love and tolerate people who think that adding a "Z" to the n-word is hilarious. "It's just a joke" doesn't cut it.
I'm a pegasister for life, but for fuck's sake, that's not okay.
@ElusivePurple Right - the words are just a side effect, it's the empathy and understanding that matter.
Same goes for all the stupid "LLMs will replace teachers" and "LLMs will replace doctors" hot takes.
I will never understand these "as long as the output is the same, what does it matter??" takes. Bizarre and anti-human nihilistic crap.
Human interactions are about empathy and communication. Ability to make fluent words doesn't, on its own, demonstrate empathy or communication, and humans can tell the difference. #AI
@hawthornbunny The gist of it is, it's a con for the somewhat unpleasant 4chan wing of the fandom.
If you go to Mare Fair, and *especially* if you vend at it or perform at it, you're part of the reason the MLP fandom has the reputation it does.
@whirlwind_drums Hope you have a great time!
Right on.
Human community is built on creativity. If we outsource that to machines, our future is empty.