I like this group and its exclusive focus on young romance, but I noticed there seems to be some confusion in the rules here.

The group is dedicated to the romantic side of young love, not foalcon.

Foalcon is analogous to lolicon or shotacon in anime which does actually include at least some content featuring non-sexual romance between two younger characters. It seems many are ignorant of the anime origin and broader uses of the term "foalcon." Not many know, for instance that "a foalcon" is anybody with an attraction to young or prepubescent ponies. (E.g. "S/he's a foalcon.")

Similarly, stories involving underage characters paired with an adult or significantly older partner are prohibited.

Again, I like that there's a group devoted to this, but the implication that young X young fics are not foalcon material is mistaken. It is true that loli/shota/foalcon individuals are implicitly older, otherwise the origin of the second part of the word, "complex," wouldn't fit as well. A young filly romantically interested in a same-age colt is unlikely to experience a psychological complex about him or other colts generally. That's not to say she couldn't develop an infatuation that becomes a core emotional and perceptual pattern, pervasive and deeply influential in her young life. (If she did develop such a complex so young she would then be both a filly and a foalcon.)

However, whether a story features a foalcon character is beside the point since foalcon content merely needs to (intentionally or sometimes unintentionally) bring forward the attractive qualities (either sexual or purely romantic) of the foal character(s) for foalcon readers. I assume this is why there's a foal x foal folder in both of Fimfiction's foalcon groups.

Granted, the Japanese terms have come to be heavily sexualized in the English language and, consequently, so has "foalcon," so I completely understand wanting to avoid identification as a foalcon group, but you'll still be found and identified as such by some foalcon members, and they won't be wrong to do so according to the origin and broader meaning of the term.

Thanks to those who took < 5 minutes to read my rant! Sometimes the urge just hits.

5207919 I getcha.

I used the term "foalcon" since it's become most associated with the kinds of fics this group prohibits, not because of a definition. Although there's a dictionary definition, as you pointed out, how it's actually used varies from person to person. If someone wants to use foalcon as any young romance, then that's fine. My own view is reflective of the group rules.

Nonetheless, thanks for the info.