>>5469 so now, you have the explanation to why this fandom might behave differently from its peers. It accepts all kinds of content inside the MLP tag, you can post a Pokemon image in the MLP fan sites but you cannot do it in reverse so easily (unless there is a specific thread in those forums for the show).
Even when you ponify a Pokemon or any character from any cartoon, it will automatically fall as MLP content despite its origins. Same happens to music or fanfics, you can create a metal, pop or rock song that might have a lot of talent behind but if it has ponies in it, you limit yourself automatically to the fanbase because outsiders will have that stigma in mind. Sure, some people could check it out on youtube casually but getting rid of those prejudices will cost you a lot of views for that content, meaning that the only source that person has is the community itself (or at least in a very high percentage) in order to thrive.
Even those who become popular and get professional jobs (here it comes the saddest part)...will delete their past MLP creations/videos because it could harm their public image, meaning that despite making use of MLP in the past, they delete that content as if nothing happened during those years just because the stigma is still strong and could end up as an obstacle for thriving as an artist/content creator. Outsiders won´t tell you about this phenomenon and I have witnessed a few cases in the last couple of years.
Even Filly Funtasia and movies like The Last Unicorn or Ico are kind of cursed because of the brony phenomenon. So if a Filly Funtasia fanbase managed to happen, its origins would come from a part of the brony fanbase because those are the only ones who support openly these animations related to their main interest.
The community doesn´t have as many little children as one would expect because after 9 years, a kid wouldn´t follow so much the franchise and even would lose track on it. Besides, those who were 8-10 year olds at the time are now grown ups that could perfectly post on 4chan or consume porn without problems.
And let me tell you, this franchise wouldn´t have gone all that far without the community because the target audience (initially) would get easily lost on the continuity and lore that gen 4 has. The fans grew up over the years but so did FiM. If it hadn´t been because of the fans and the internet, MLP would have aired the planned 65 episodes without pity nor glory. It would have been seen as a good show by cartoon youtubers but nothing else. However, Hasbro and DHX saw a lot of unexpected profit with the adult audience and while staying in the same tone, the show stopped sending letters to Celestia in the last two minutes just to show off the main message of the episode and went to subtler route, open to interpretations and getting into more complicated/realistic conflicts in its standards. You have the show discussion threads from this place just to prove how difficult it was to judge a few episodes and even fans were mixed and misunderstood among others. So, for little girls, it cannot be all that much if fans struggle with episodes meant for "kids", right?
