I think this is the best group to post this on. I know that a lot of you would be wondering, why are you even Fimfiction in the first place? Well I was used to be into MLP FIM and I joined this website to read stories, post blogs and post threads like this. But lately I am not into MLP as much anymore and I don’t really feel like a part of the Brony fandom. It’s not because the fandom is toxic. Basically all fandoms/hatedoms have toxicity in them.

It’s mainly because MLP Friendship is Magic is overrated, gets too much praise and that it went downhill after the season 5 finale. Then turned outright bad when season 8 appeared. The season 10 comics even if I never seen them, just know what they are about sound dreadfully bad. I will give pointers as to why I think this way.

-Has a lot of bad episodes, this includes the first 5 seasons which I’m actually a fan of. They include Dragon Quest, Spike at your Service, Rainbow Falls, Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep, What About Discord, etc. More bad episodes in seasons 6 to 7. They include No Second Prances, Newbie Dash, Parental Glidaence, Fame and Misfortune, etc. As well as seasons 8 and 9 having the most bad episodes. They include Non-Complete Clause, A Matter of Principals, Yakity-Sax, A Rockhoof and a Hard Place, The Last Crusade, A Trivial Pursuit, Daring Doubt, etc. This is also including episodes I hate but everyone else loves like The Ending of the End both parts.
-The show has a lot of wasted characters these include the Diamond Dogs, Diamond Tiara after her redemption (Hasbro themselves didn’t want more stories from her), Silver Spoon, Gilda after her redemption, Babs Seed, etc.
-A whole ton of bad writing like Starlight’s backstory (seriously she is evil because her friend left her). Making the main characters unlikeable in episodes for example: Twilight Sparkle (A Trivial Pursuit), Rainbow Dash and Applejack (Non Complete Clausse). The School of Friendship. Deciding that a child is irredeemable and having her turned to stone for eternity. Discord being Grogar which made me realize Discord is an overrated and terrible character. A lot more.
-Tons of awful characters I’m only including the badly written characters: like Rainbow Dash’s and Scootaloo’s parents, Starlight’s dad, Sunburt’s mom, Mudbrair, Chancellor Neighsay, Cozy Glow, Sludge, etc. As well a Celestial, Luna and Discord who I think got worse in the later seasons.
-Other problems like fan pandering, treating friendship as a religion, the weird faces that make me cringe like this one: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s9e16.jpeg

This is not meant to bash bronies. But a lot of people over praise it, unless it’s an episode that is widely hated. People who think it’s underrated and that it’s going to be forgotten, what kind of rock have you been living under.
-MLP Friendship Is Magic has its own fandom and analysis group that’s separate from the rest of the cartoon community.
-Has its own fanfiction website; which stuff even Star Wars, Harry Potter, Sonic, etc don’t have (I searched online).
-Bronycon, a Equestria Daily, and even a dating website (BronyMate, why?).

Lastly I think they are a lot more cartoons that are better then MLP FIM, that includes young kid shows. These cartoons are:
-Avatar the Last Airbender
-Gravity Falls
-The Owl House
-Regular Show
-Spongebob Squarepants (not including seasons 6-8)
-Samurai Jack
-Courage the Cowardly Dog
-Futurama
… a whole lot more.

So in conclusion, a lot of people will be angry for this. MLP Friendship is Magic is overrated for bad episodes, wasted characters, bad writing, badly written characters, fan pandering, it’s fandom being separated from other cartoon fandoms and separate websites. Typing this out was long and tiring.

7742877
Most shows have flaws.

It's up to you to decide whether the parts you liked are worth remembering or not.

In MLP's case, they are for me.

7742877
I agree the show is average, but the Fandom is why anyone stays.
Lots of great stuff on this site.

7742877
Fair, it has flaws, but all shows do. Eh, I do get the whole "friendship as religion thing." but arguably its a good message, IE friendship and harmony and all that. I liked Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep. Also while Cozy got a rough sentence, she DID refuse redemption and such, so possibly she could be freed eventually

7742877
You're about the flaws and bad episodes. Also about Friendship is acting like a religion is true. I mean its spreading like its mandatory for others to learn it and believe in it, I can see a cult form from it.

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It took a really long time to type this and was tired afterwards.

For good or bad, it's there to like or not like. Like any show with many writers, it has its ups and downs. But on a whole, I'd still take it over most of what I've seen online and through streaming services. Everyone has the power in their hands to make the ultimate decision about weather a show is good or bad for them; just don't watch it if you're not into it.

I'm sorry you lost your love for the show. There are lots of ways I'd like it to have been better as well, but I prefer to focus on the positives rather than the negatives - even if my interest has faded a little since the show ended and G5 came along.

7743028
I still think the first 5 seasons are good at least.

7743031
You're not the only one.

7742877
Yeah, even as a brony, this show does have problems, but at least it's not as bad as RWBY. However, when you're complaining about the "friendship as religion thing", this is supposed to be a good message for kids.

7743062
I have never seen RWBY. What is wrong with it?

7742877
I have to agree with you on certain things.

But on the other hand, the show had likable (For the most part) character, good jokes and stories and a world of potential to explore and build upon...at least until the writers screwed that up in later seasons.

Besides, one can't deny all the creativity created by the fans. And not to mention all the people who became friends over this show.

So while I do agree with some of the things you said, I'm glad I became a fan. Even if the show is flawed.

7743067
I'm not gonna spoil it for you, but ever since the second half of volume 3 and after, the show only suddenly shifted from mature family-friendly to a grim adult tone for the sake of being 'dark and edgy', which ends up with terrible writing all because of the death of Monty Oum, the creator of the show.

I agree with the toxicity part. Starlight drama is so last 6 years ago.

7743115
All fandoms and hatedoms have toxicity in them. I also used to like Starlight, but now I don’t like her.

7743129
Wouldn't that make you one?

7743248
I was just expressing my opinion in one sentence. I just said I don’t like her.

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A lot of the show’s flaws hurt me liking or enjoying My Little Pony Friendship is Magic.

7742932
Yeah, but we now know that Twiggles destroyed the world only 30 years later so...

7743109
I mean, TBF, the show DID always have some dark undertones to it. Need I remind you of the fact the Grimm are constantly trying to murder people ,and uh, Adam, you know, the guy who helped turn a peaceful protest group into full blown terrorists

7743634
Wut?

7743659
The MLP comics (canon until said otherwise) show that after Twilight couldn't run Equestria properly, she decided to drain everyone's magic and stick in the three crystals to make a point....Which resulted in the destruction of Equestria.

7743658
Yeah, but not too dark.

7743728
Fair, I still like it

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I would also like to say that I was watching MLP since I was a kid. Probably starting at age 6 or 7. As well as watching Brony or fan videos since I was either 8, 9 or 10. I am now 18 years old.

7743816
That explains your immaturity

7743816
Then your perception is probably going to be a bit unique compared to those of us who started as adults, yes.

(Closer to the target audience, though - in fact, you probably were target audience for a while. So your reaction doesn't say good things about the show achieving it's goals. Still, sample of one...)

7743816
Ironic, the writers wanted children to be a target audience (even though Lauren Faust disagrees), but it didn't work out for you.

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I was a fan of MLP FIM when I was a kid and probably in my teen years. I’m a young adult now. I first joined Fimfiction when I was 16 and have been reading Fimfiction stories before that.

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To be more specific I probably started watching MLP in the earliest seasons 1, 2 and 3 when I was a kid.

It's not that rest of the show was bad, but it just felt as it overstayed its welcome at certain points. I can understand wanting to give more screentime to minor characters, but even that had its limits. Also, it always felt that when it came to the overall plot, only the episodes at the beginning and end really played a role, while the ones in between were nothing but filler. In other words, you could miss most of those episodes and not fall behind. Originally the show was supposed to be just three seasons, but only continued to nine due to its popularity, which can sometimes be its own undoing. I feel that the only reason it finally stopped, because there was only so much that could be done for this generation. Keep in mind that even FiM isn't flawless as is any other show. Overall, this is my take on it, so don't grill me for saying this.

In my opinion, friendship being as highly praised as it is makes perfect sense if you recall the wendigos. They feed off the distrusts and animosity of ponies and caused that never-ending winter seen in that holiday play. (Cant remember the episode name) Eventually, the 3 pony leaders were frozen solid where they stood.

So essentially, without the magic of Friendship, ponykind will literally freeze to death.

7742877
I joined this group just to ask if BronyMate is a real thing..please tell me no…

7755249
https://www.bronymate.com/

https://www.reddit.com/r/mylittlepony/comments/2r1c8l/has_anypony_ever_actually_used_bronymate/
Also it’s a scam.

This is far from the worst thing in the Brony community.

7757344
Is that a yes? Now I’m googling because that sounds like a pretty dumb idea

7757348
Also it’s a scam.

7757367
Lmao like that mlp dating sim.

7742877
I personally feel FiM is a good deal better than most animated media geared towards children of the same era. It's by no means perfect, and has a lot of flaws, but when compared to what companies like HiT Entertainment were putting out around the same time it's far better.

I think most of its problems come from the fact the team set off without an overall game plan. A show intended to be mainly slife of life gradually morphed into an attempt to be a Tolkienesque epic, but the attempts to keep welding new lore onto the show only resulted in the later seasons collapsing like an overloaded soufle.