Love and Tolerance vs Who You Wanna Be

One of the things that has quickly become apparent as I've been on my quest to find LPS stuff for the site, is the amount of sheer overwhelming hatred that LPS has been getting. Of course as a fan of MLP, hatred for a fandom isn't something I am all that unfamiliar with. In fact there is enough hatred for MLP from the non-fans to fill one of the Great Lakes; but the thing that both surprises and appalls me, is where a large portion of this hatred is coming from.

One of the sources of this hatred is from the MLP fandom, and the Brony community. Granted, I could cough a lot of this up as simply the MLP's fandom being overly protective of their favorite show, but at the same time, I cannot help but notice a glaring contradiction in the fans that just two years ago were doing daily battle on the internet and and in real life, over the acceptance of their now immortalized fandom.

One of the biggest beefs that bronies have with non-fans is the judgmental attitudes toward something they have not watched, or refuse to watch. So many times, the fans were seen on message boards, and image boards asking as calmly as possible for people to please not judge and hate on something with out probable reason, and to at least try it before they make insulting degrading remarks about the viewers, and cough up all fans over the age of 18 as shut-in perverts.

The truth is, those early months of the fandom were pretty hate filled, and the MLP community launched back with Love and Tolerance where ever they were met with unbridled oppression. One of the defining characteristics of the fandom if you ask me. But somewhere in the past two years, the fandom seems to have quickly forgotten its own turbulent origins, and are now wearing the same shoes as those that made their lives hell just a few years ago.


Now like the haters from the early era of MLP, it seems a good portion of bronies are dropping the Love and Tolerance spiel in favor of insta-hatred for a show that has emerged from the very same company that owns and creates their beloved ponies. The irony isn't lost on me. That a group of dedicated fans that argued against disliking something based on first impressions, and here-say, are judging a series before watching it, hating it in favor of their show, wanting it cancelled because they think that it's the reason MLP season 3 only got 13 episodes instead of the usual 26, and call those that watch it almost as bad as what they were called when they started their fandom.

In a DeviantArt post, there were a lot of comments regarding this where this picture was posted (HERE), and it's interesting to see the reaction, and the comments.

Now I'm not saying that all bronies hate LPS unjustifiably, neither am I condemning anyone for not instantly watching and liking it. But I think fair is fair here people.

If we ask that non-bronies not hate on what they don't understand, without the courtesy of a passive look, then where is the reasonable obligation for the fans of MLP to live up to the standards they themselves have set regarding a new franchise that bears little similarity to their favorite show.

The truth is that Littlest Pet Shop is NOT My Little Pony. I doubt strongly that Hasbro wanted it to be. But yes, I do think that Hasbro is hoping that lightning will strike twice. That if a show (MLP) designed for little girls and children can break the gender and age barrier, then who's to say it can't happen again?

I don't believe for an instant that bronies have any justification in a fear of LPS attempting to replace My Little Pony; in fact, the glaring truth is that like My Little Pony, this show was not made for an older audience. So the idea that Hasbro made a show to hook bronies exclusively by virtue of it being similar flash animation, songs and colors, is a load of bunk.

Littlest Pet Shop's motto is "Be who you wanna be", and like "Love and Tolerance" it's a motto that speaks beyond the gender, beyond the age, and it hits home within a lot of us. Bronies have set an unprecedented example of being able to overcome a huge diversification barrier, and with only a small nudge, I am quite positive that Littlest Pet Shop can achieve good things within its own fandom, taking its cues and marks from it older wiser bigger sister series.