What's it like being a brony?

[honk friend 1,978]

i feel like i "outgrew" being a brony/pegasister

like i grew increasingly detached from the fandom, maybe because of my cynical perspective

when season 2 came about i only really stayed for the community and i guess the whole thing started feeling off to me

[ChikaChan 7,324]

Not much sadly  the only thing is,trying to avoid people who hated mlp sooooo.....yep x~x

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

    1) what has been your personal experience as a brony?

Pretty much the same as my experience with anything else I have had an interest in in life. Some people get it, some don't... and since I barely pay attention to what anyone else thinks, very little of those opinions phase me whatsoever. Except for when people go on and on needlessly about how much the show sucks or how it is only aimed at little girls and the like, without having any true knowledge whatsoever about what they are talking about. I mean I am fine with someone hating something... but blind hatred disgusts me and is just a form of sheep mentality that I find abhorrent.


    2) What do you like about the show and the fandom?

I just like the show period. The characters are interesting and it is very easy to get caught up in several of them and their personalities and their individual struggles and accomplishments and start to view them as real characters and not just animations on a screen. The stories are a great mix of fantasy, slice of life, adventure and whimsy and don't just always repeat the same old daily formula some shows do. The world itself is the most fascinating though, I am the most happy when the characters are venturing to new places and seeing new things. I have nothing against Ponyville or Canterlot, but I love seeing them head to different cities, towns and even other lands. I love all of the episode styles in some form or another, but my absolute favorites are those involving their travels and adventures to unfamiliar places. As for the fandom itself... I don't actually know anyone in RL interested in the fandom so can't really speak to it in that regard.... as for online... it is just a melting pot of varying personalities you see pretty much anywhere else. So I would say you have some great people and you have some real slimeballs. Nothing really all that unusual to be honest.

    3) How open are you about your dedication to the fandom IRL?

I dunno.. open I guess. I mean I don't run screaming it from the rooftops or dress up in a spike costume in public or anything, but I also don't hide it or avoid it either. I will wear a shirt if I like it enough, have posters and artwork made up, stand and shop product in the store or flip through the comic in the shop. I suppose I just don't see it the way some do, as something to either be proud of or to be embarressed by. I went through a huge furry phase in the past and pretty much saw it the same way. To me it is just like any other hobby or fandom, and since I don't owe anyone anything, I really am not required to justify, explain myself or rationalize anything to anyone. It is a simple fun hobby that I take pleasure in... I am not looking for vindication or approval. If someone becomes uncomfortable... well... tough I suppose.

    4) What drew you to MLP and got you involved as a brony?

I saw the snippets and adverts for quite a long time on television, but being aware of what MLP was in the past, I just had no interest in checking it out. I was biased and figured it was just a cartoon aimed at small children with simple childish stories aimed to appeal to them and most likely bore the hell out of me. But I ended up ill and watching part of an episode just to verify my thinking  and being completely proven wrong. I ended up watching several more episodes and then watching the entire show in order. Then I bought a few figurines and started plunking down serious money on stuff I just had to have. I also had some shirts made and some artwork done. If that makes me a brony so be it... I just see it as being dedicated to something I enjoy.

[Bazz 57]

To be honest, it helped me reveal my true self. I was feeling like I was going up to expectations of others, and not myself - like I couldn't reveal things about me I was scared to admit, because I felt alone. However, when I started liking MLP, I let go of all those thoughts (including my negative thoughts of the brony community) and started going towards how I feel about myself, making me feel happier and less depressed. I revealed things about myself (that I am bisexual, am agnostic and so on) and I felt comfortable with that knowing that there are people all around like that, and the brony fandom helped me realize that.

 

I guess what I'm saying is, it helped me be less afraid to show the true me, because despite what people think of you, there's many people out there who have similarities to you, like people who watch MLP!

[IsraelYabuki 446]

Well if you're in my shoes, it tends to be difficult when you prefer to keep it a secret from most people that you don't know. But I do enjoy creating O.Cs as well as this series me and my friend are making. I don't really like talking about it in public, so I'm a secret fan. So far my friend and I are trying to get more voice actors (most should be female) as well as a few animators

[Techno Universal 2,575]

Well I've had to keep it secret for over 2 years now simply because I can't trust my parents as they tell everyone everything about me. There is a friend of mine at school that is a brony and I am currently thinking of sharing my thoughts about the show to him. But the only issue is that he gets bulled quite commonly by this one buff older kid. So I'm not really keen of doing it. But the most interesting thing is that It has completely changed my way of thinking about everything and even about who I am. Well for some reason I always have the feeling that I created the ponies from MLP to save humanity which is really strange...

Even now I'm able to view everything as commands like in a computer. I think I'm getting extremely close to cracking my true form! Even I was my OC in dreams that took place as early as 2056!!

Edited October 10, 2016 by Techno Universal