It seems like it has been decades since I first became a 'brony'. While I don't necessarily agree that the term 'brony' is right for me today, it was definitely much more suitable back then. People often find themselves upset at the fact that I don't agree the brony title is appropriate for me, but it just isn't.

Brony is a term reserved for someone who is in it mostly for the fandom in my eyes, and I'm just not really in it for that reason anymore. I used to spend my time trying to become more involved in the fandom; joining projects, animating, writing, and so on. None of these avenues ever provided me with what I saw as significance. I wanted to be fandom famous, and that was the wrong way to approach it. In the past, I was not nearly as reserved with my enjoyment of the show.

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It was around 2011 when I first started to learn of the fandom. At that point, I spent most of my time as an admin on a TF2 achievement server (back when those still existed). Eventually, given that this was around the time the brony uprising began, a steady flow of them managed to find their way into our humble server. I first noticed the stuff after having to remove a few inappropriate sprays and even some normal ones for being pony-related. I never really disliked bronies, but the imagery was enough to irritate me.

Eventually, it came about that one of my superiors was a brony as well. He begged me for days to check out the 16th episode of the 1st season. After constantly being pressured to watch it, I eventually caved in. It was better than I expected, and the show was actually fairly decent. From there, I watched all of both seasons (at the time, season three was not a thing). I was impressed, and at that point considered myself a brony.

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As humble a story as any, yes, but over the years my respect for the title 'brony' seemed to dissipate. I don't know whether it was age, disinterest, or what, but it just didn't feel the same to be a member of the fandom that extensively. Don't get me wrong, I still discuss things on the forums and chat about episodes with fans -- I just don't have the same desire to be involved in projects and claim to the world that I am a brony as I once did. For now, my 'bronyism' sticks entirely to watching the show and chatting with other like-minded fans.