Parent & Friend Reactions to your Bronyness: Before & After

[Super Derpy 535]

 My story is pretty lame as only two people know I like MLP and they are my dad who thought it was really weird but got over it and my brother who is also a brony. My friends don't know even though I quote the show sometimes and my Skype picture is Vinyl Scratch and his bass cannon

 

(I has made edited version of this later in thread. Forgot I posted dis sorry! )

Edited August 22, 2013 by Super Derpy

[MrHaru 217]

>eventually tell my mother about the fact I'm possibly into a show which is the newest generation of MLP

>briefly go over the fact it's mostly just a really good show that shockingly hooked me...and that doing this doesn't make me gay all of the sudden (cuz I'm hetero: I had to put it out there since I didn't know how she'd react)

>She's barely even phased but just for kicks, asks me "Well you still like boobs, right?"
>"Oh pft, of course"

>"Then I've got nothing to worry about :)"

 

This was over a Facebook PM and I laugh about it thinking back. Since then she's liked the pony posts I've shared on my FB from time to time and...yeah. Rest is history.

[Thunderchild 875]

The reactions range from 'why?' to 'Oh yeah? That's nice.' It doesn't really come up much in conversation-however if I think someone might be a Brony I'll slip something in that only we would get, like 20% cooler, or the Fluttershy stare.

 

I don't put it in people's faces, but I don't care if they know. 

[Blue Moon 6,336]

My parents honestly could care less and my friends the same. I come from a community of very accepting and understanding people.

[Sketchi Inktip Quillwing 97]

In terms of friends; most accepted but didn't watch it, and there was yet one who called Bronies grown up retards.

 

My parents? Both accept. More so "tolerate." At first they were a bit scared that I liked a girl show, but I choose who I want to be, nobody else.

Edited May 17, 2013 by Sketchi Inktip Quillwing

[NightOwl 911]

My friends were cool about it and my sister seemed pretty cool about it too. I honestly don't think my parents would care if I told them  

[MMPony 13]

My mom just thinks its funny but doesn't mind, I know my dad would despise my existence if he found out, and my friends just make fun of me constantly for it (they were especially doing so when they found my Fluttershy earbuds lol). There is someone who I know is a brony at my school that I want to talk to sete, but we're in different classes so I haven't been able to meet him.

 

My mom just thinks its funny but doesn't mind, I know my dad would despise my existence if he found out, and my friends just make fun of me constantly for it (they were especially doing so when they found my Fluttershy earbuds lol). There is someone who I know is a brony at my school that I want to talk to sete, but we're in different classes so I haven't been able to meet him.

"Sete" is supposed to be "sometime." I hate my phone. And I also forgot that I have two good friends who don't go to my school who are the reason I became a brony in the first place lol (except they're even more knowledgeable about the show than me lol).

[Mint_Melody 91]

Sadly, I don't think anyone was really surprised. Not just because I liked it when I was a kid... but because they all know I'm kind of an odd ball. My mom still jokes about it though, she'll rib me about it sarcastically if I'm watching in the living room. We do this about absolutely everything so it doesn't bother me. Besides, I play MLP music so much in my room it often gets stuck in her head even if she doesn't know the words  . It gets on my fathers nerves.

[BronyBob55 31]

They were shocked of course. All I did was act cool and act like it was nothing new. My parents have agreed to not make fun of it if I don't talk about it to them.

[Stoney Pony 100]

I was just wondering how many Closet Bronies There are And if you did come out of the stable, How did you do it? Me im pretty open in general so i figured id tell my friends and if they stopped hanging out with me they were not my true friend's. I told my Friends they laughed at me then let it go and it never came up again. But i did have one friend who was already a brony who hung out and was also friend's with my circle of friends so that probably helped to have two bronies in my group of friends that i see on a regular basis.

[Onylex 2,836]

Well, I was never really a closet brony but, I also dont run around announcing it to people. If it comes up I simply explain it to them in a very casual way. I find that when you tell people real casual like instead of telling them like you were trying to hide it or doge the question, people generally just go with the flow. 

 

I dont see to many reasons that people would hide from the fact that they watch the show. I mean its just a TV show nothing more what is there to hide? Its also due to the fact that people are ether uniformed or misinformed about bronies, the show and the interactions be between the two. People seem to get a lot of their information about us form haters or people who are just ignorant to bronies over all. Give them a well informed and clear explanation about what actually is and, I doubt you'll have to much of a problem.

Edited August 18, 2013 by Onylex

[Batbrony 15,994]

Is that what we're calling it now?  Seriously, "coming out of the stable"?!?     OH MY GOSH, THAT'S BUCKING HILARIOUS!!!     It's so terrible, but at the same time it's so deliciously campy and brilliant in its campiness that I can't help but love it! 

 

 

Anyways, back on topic, I'm kind of a mix.  I'm pretty open about my bronyhood to close friends and some of my family, but I don't go around broadcasting it to just anyone.  My grandparents, and most of my family besides my mom and sister don't know, and I don't intend on telling anyone else in my family any time soon just cause I don't really feel the need to, and most of my friends besides some fellow bronies, coworkers, or college buddies don't know, but it's not like it's because I'm afraid they'd ostracize me for it or anything, again, I just don't really think that it's necessary to tell 'em is all.

 

But seriously, "coming out of the stable", I just... boy oh boy, that just made my day. 

Edited August 17, 2013 by Batbrony

[Celtore 2,769]

I would do it passively when the time arrives. You really don't have to confess to your friends or family out of the blue that you're a brony, if they asked me about it, then I would say something. Its as if I suddenly told my friends completely out of the blue that I like digimon, they would look at me oddly.

 

Just go about your day normally and explain if anyone says anything.

[Mr F 1,521]

When people ask me, I ansver casually. Noone takes me serious on that and just carries on. I have no plan to really exsplain it so I just ansver casually and carry on. Though my closest friends just ansvers:"everyone likes cute ponies".

[Scootalove 10,684]

I'm usually able to come out of the stable, so I guess it is possible for closet bronies to come out of their shell. So, it can happen.

[FancyPhoenix 197]

Well I'm pretty open about myself being a brony. I don't rub it on anyone (or at least I try not to...) but I don't hide it either. I used to hide my brony...hood? ness? whatever... and argue against people who said I watched the show, but that really got me nowhere. I just got teased more about it. So nowadays if someone asks me if I'm a brony, I just tell them I am.

I did tell my parents about it by my own initiative, but that was just because I felt that it'd be the hardest for them to understand. One of my siblings also knows, but I don't think my three other siblings know, or at least they haven't mentioned it to me. Pretty much all of my friends also know about it, and while they're not exactly "okay" with it, they don't give too much of a fuzz. I've even managed to get one friend of mine to promise he'd watch an episode with me sometime
 

Now how did I tell my parents? Well that's simple I sat them down one night asking if they'd want to watch a documentary with me. Then I put on the brony documentary and about halfway through my dad asked me something like "Are you trying to tell us you want to join this pony-thing?" to which I answered "Well... I've kinda been a part of it for almost a year now" They were okay with it, which really made my day 

Edited August 17, 2013 by Jamza

[Rainblow H. Ash 5,090]

Well, I have two different stories I guess, since about two weeks ago my parents finally found out after more than a year of me being a Brony. Regardless, I'll start with friends and my brothers and then move onto my parents.

 

When I first got into the show, I really, really didn't plan on telling anyone about it. Mostly because I did have one real life friend that was a Brony and he caught a lot of flak from my other friends for being into the show. I remember the day he walked into our Networking class with a Fluttershy shirt on... I didn't see him at first, but I turned around after hearing a few of my friends going "Really? Really?" When I saw the shirt I was a little surprised but I didn't make fun of him; after all, I did have a lot of Internet friends who were Bronies and I am not really a hateful person. But my other friends did intend on giving him a hard time, and I don't think they ever really stopped.

 

Regardless, I became a Brony about six or seven months after this incident. I didn't want to reveal it to anyone, not even my Brony friend, because I feared what others might say to me. Eventually people did start to find out, starting with my brothers. Turns out one of them was already a Brony and he was hiding it too, which is pretty awesome. My other brother makes fun of us all the time, but in the end he's told me on multiple occasions he really doesn't care that much and has even looked at some pony art with me before. So in short, my brothers were cool with it.

 

My friends found out one by one as well. It's funny because my Brony friend wasn't the first to find out, it was actually another one of my friends who had a dim view of the show. Regardless, he shrugged and said he didn't really care that much, and then proceeded to reveal that he had watched the show before and, while he didn't love it, he said it was okay. I remember him even making jokes about the Wonderbolts, Luna, and Rainbow Dash, which is awesome. When my Brony friend found out, he didn't believe me at first; he thought I was about to make fun of him or something when I told him I loved the show to death and was obsessed with it. So I song "Evil Enchantress" from the show for him and he freaked out and was super happy that one of his friends also loved the show.

 

Sparing everypony having to hear about each of my friends finding out, they all eventually found out and had varied reactions, but in the end didn't stop being my friends because they liked me too much. It's funny, because not a single one of them gave me a hard time like they gave my friend; there could be an entire separate conversation about this, but my brother told me the same thing with him. You see, he's still in public school,and he actually became a Brony because of one of his buddies. Well his friend got made fun of for being a Brony. When people found out my brother loved the show too, though, they didn't give him a hard time at all.

 

I guess it's just all about what type of person you are. My brother tends to not get made fun of that much because he's a cool, laid back guy like me, so I guess it all depends on your personality as to whether or not other people rag on you for it.

 

...

 

Okay, I've been spitting out paragraphs here, so let me move onto my parents, who I never thought would find out.

 

One day I decided to go pick up my brothers and my cousins so that we could all go to the mall and look at cool stuff. I wasn't really planning on buying anything. Regardless, I took us into Hot Topic, and ended up buying a metric crap ton of pony stuff, both for myself and my cousins and brother. My other brother was less than satisfied, although he said he just wished there was something in Hot Topic that he liked. Anywho, I decide to take them over my parent's house...

 

And my little cousin proceeds to tell them instantly about me taking them to Hot Topic and buying pony stuff for them, even showing them some Vinyl Scratch earbuds I bought him.

 

Now... I didn't know what to say. I mean, I didn't know how to explain it to my parents. Well, my mom just starts laughing and my dad just nods and then goes back to cooking dinner. I leave the room real quick to go grab something, just hoping that my parents would think nothing of it, and learn that my dad's calling me gay and stuff.

 

Yeah, so it didn't go great. Later I'm sitting there with my mountain of pony merchandise with my brothers and my cousins, and my mom walks in the room and starts talking about it. I show her some of the pony stuff and she says it's really cool and she asks why I love it so much. I tell her that it's a great show with awesome characters and humor, and she seems to get it. She just tells me she's super surprised because it just seems like a farcry from the stuff I usually like, like Warhammer 40K , Transformers, and other things of that nature.

 

Regardless, the next day I see my dad again and he sees this Derpy hat I bought that I'm wearing. He acts all surprised, asking me is that a pony on my hat. I'm like... yeah, dad, you just saw this the other day. He then says he thought it was all a joke or something, and said he was sorry for calling me gay and that he really didn't care. Now, that surprised me, considering how hard my dad makes fun of Bronies all the time and is quite familiar with them since he's always on the Internet.

 

So in the end... it went freaking fantastic all things considered. I never thought my parents would be so chill about it, but I guess they do understand that it's just a show, an awesome one at that, and that it really doesn't matter that I like it.

 

...

 

Now to convert them into Bronies too. MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

[Thrashy 2,799]

[snippity-snip]

 

Wow, man, that was a really great read. Totally awesome that pretty much all your friends accepted it without much resistance, and same with your brony brother and his friends. Speaking of him, it must be really awesome to have a sibling with whom you can bond with over MLP.

 

Also good that your parents and non-brony bro are accepting as well, although I must say I'm sorry you had to go through that short bit where your dad called you gay and such. Even though he flipped his stance later on, that still must've really hurt at the time. Still, I'm glad he came around - for as many parents who will venomously ridicule their own children for something like being a brony, there seem to be just as many who make fun of bronies until they discover that one of their loved ones is one, so...chalk it up to a win, I s'pose.

 

Me, I recently had one of my older sisters find out when I was strutting around the house in my Pinkie Portal shirt. Her words: "Dude, the fuck's with all the girly ponies? …Are you a fag?" I looked her dead in the eye and responded, "Yes. I am totally gay." Now, my little sister would've understood that I wasn't being serious, since she knows my personality best, but this one...well, she honestly thought I was being serious until I told her "NO, you dingbat, I'm not gay. You've always known I'm weird, how is me liking a show about ponies any different?" She said "All I know is it's a girly show, so why do all these guys like it?" I honestly didn't say much beyond "We just do." and left it at that. That put me in a pretty sour mood for the rest of that evening.

 

I could tell that it really did bother her, and when I later told my little sis about that exchange, her jaw dropped as she uttered "What the hell is her problem?" So yeah, suffice it to say, I might continue to encounter resistance from my older sis. Hopefully she'll come around, but we'll see.

 

...I only wonder if my eldest sis will take it any better. She is quite a pothead, after all, so I'm sure she'd dig it, but...I dunno, man, I really wasn't expecting so negative a reaction as what I got. :/

Edited August 19, 2013 by Lowline Thrash

[FiretailFriesian 9]

I'm not a brony per-se, but i do love the show and the characters are cute.  My friends were ok with it because we're all fans of stuff considered out of norm apparently (EX. pokemon)

my parents were all "ok whatever"

my dad thought it would bring me closer to my halfsister, and my mother just didnt care (i didnt even tell them they just saw me watching the show)

 

before is basically my parents all the time: my dad doesnt care about anything anymore so he's just like "ok like whatever you like" and rarely think of some things as weird, well, for me.  my stepmother laughed about it once but didnt care

 

my mom thinks a lot of things are weird and stupid, but the show is harmless and not a big deal so she doesnt care.  and im not "hardcore" about ponies either so it's just kinda ok

My brother thinksn everythign i do and like is weird so he'll poke fun

i dont see my stepsisters a lot but they were just like "ok" or didnt say much

 

i dont tell anyone other than that tho bc people in school would be hella brutal (idk why but yeah)

or maybe not people just dont mess with me in school because i never back down in arguments and apparently since i am a woman that is too aggressive and they just dont want to walk that road
altho some people are bronies in school i think and idk how badly they could be ridiculed (if at all really) maybe just some namecalling but nothing more than verbal stuff

 

i dont think the term "coming out" applies here because wow i mean it's not something huge like a part of who you are for the rest of your life that you cant change or whatever, like sexuality

i think you should like what you like

Edited August 19, 2013 by FiretailFriesian

[Rainblow H. Ash 5,090]

Wow, man, that was a really great read. Totally awesome that pretty much all your friends accepted it without much resistance, and same with your brony brother and his friends. Speaking of him, it must be really awesome to have a sibling with whom you can bond with over MLP.

 

Also good that your parents and non-brony bro are accepting as well, although I must say I'm sorry you had to go through that short bit where your dad called you gay and such. Even though he flipped his stance later on, that still must've really hurt at the time. Still, I'm glad he came around - for as many parents who will venomously ridicule their own children for something like being a brony, there seem to be just as many who make fun of bronies until they discover that one of their loved ones is one, so...chalk it up to a win, I s'pose.

 

Me, I recently had one of my older sisters find out when I was strutting around the house in my Pinkie Portal shirt. Her words: "Dude, the fuck's with all the girly ponies? …Are you a fag?" I looked her dead in the eye and responded, "Yes. I am totally gay." Now, my little sister would've understood that I wasn't being serious, since she knows my personality best, but this one...well, she honestly thought I was being serious until I told her "NO, you dingbat, I'm not gay. You've always known I'm weird, how is me liking a show about ponies any different?" She said "All I know is it's a girly show, so why do all these guys like it?" I honestly didn't say much beyond "We just do." and left it at that. That put me in a pretty sour mood for the rest of that evening.

 

I could tell that it really did bother her, and when I later told my little sis about that exchange, her jaw dropped as she uttered "What the hell is her problem?" So yeah, suffice it to say, I might continue to encounter resistance from my older sis. Hopefully she'll come around, but we'll see.

 

...I only wonder if my eldest sis will take it any better. She is quite a pothead, after all, so I'm sure she'd dig it, but...I dunno, man, I really wasn't expecting so negative a reaction as what I got. :/

 

Heck to the yes it is awesome to have someone as close as my brother to bond with! Not to mention I recently got two of my cousins into it, so it's freaking awesome to have a brother and friends to talk about it with. I mean, sure, I have you awesome peeps on this website, but nothing beats having physical people in your life to talk about ponies with.

 

Yeah, I'm going to be honest, I expected that from my dad and it did hurt the night he said that stuff about me and the show. But afterwards, he hasn't even barely mentioned it except in passing, so I guess it's all good now. I'm a pretty forgiving guy so I can look past it and move on. Like I said, I expected it from him just because that's the type of guy he is.

 

You know, I do have a few friends that don't know about it yet, and I can totally see them having the same reaction to it as your sister did. Then again, I have honestly been surprised by everyone's reaction to my Bronyness so far, so maybe I'm the one who's blowing it out of proportions...

 

Regardless, I'm sorry that your sister reacted so harshly to it. I mean, it's completely harmless and doesn't hurt anyone, I dunno why some people have such a hard time accepting that grown people can like ponies. Hopefully your sister will come around like you said... I'll keep my fingers crossed for ya.

 

To be fair, that might make your oldest sister softer to it, but I have a friend who's quite the pothead and he straight up stopped talking to another one of my friends when he found out he was a Brony. He doesn't even realize I'm a freaking Brony and he chills with me all the time. so I dunno how he'd react if he found out I was one. 

[Nerdy Luigi 2,064]

My dad acts ridiculous and he's all like "you REALLY watch My Little Pony?"

But my friends that know are cool with it (in fact some of them are bronies)

[Thrashy 2,799]

 

 

To be fair, that might make your oldest sister softer to it, but I have a friend who's quite the pothead and he straight up stopped talking to another one of my friends when he found out he was a Brony. He doesn't even realize I'm a freaking Brony and he chills with me all the time. so I dunno how he'd react if he found out I was one.

 

Yikes. Well, now that your parents know, you have no earthly reason to hide it from anyone anymore, so I'd say just be who you wanna be, dress how you wanna dress, and leave it at that. If you happen to be wearing a pony shirt or something the next time you go to hang out with him, I wouldn't try to hide it. Of course, I wouldn't say anything about the show unless he asks - after all, one of the biggest stereotypes we're hated for is trying to shove ponies down others' throats - but ultimately, if he ends up letting something so small get in the way of friendship, then the loss is his, because you're an awesome guy.

 

...Although, you and your bro seem like you might have an aura about you that repels negativity - like you said, all your friends gave your brony friend a hard time, yet didn't think twice when you made the reveal. So hopefully, things'll turn out fine with this other friend of yours.

[Rainblow H. Ash 5,090]

Yikes. Well, now that your parents know, you have no earthly reason to hide it from anyone anymore, so I'd say just be who you wanna be, dress how you wanna dress, and leave it at that. If you happen to be wearing a pony shirt or something the next time you go to hang out with him, I wouldn't try to hide it. Of course, I wouldn't say anything about the show unless he asks - after all, one of the biggest stereotypes we're hated for is trying to shove ponies down others' throats - but ultimately, if he ends up letting something so small get in the way of friendship, then the loss is his, because you're an awesome guy.

 

...Although, you and your bro seem like you might have an aura about you that repels negativity - like you said, all your friends gave your brony friend a hard time, yet didn't think twice when you made the reveal. So hopefully, things'll turn out fine with this other friend of yours.

 

Ha ha, that's true!

 

To be honest, I already wore pony shirts and stuff when I was around my parents, but... they just didn't realize what the heck it was from. My mother saw a Trixie shirt I was wearing and thought she was from Spider-Man. Yeah, I can't explain that.

 

My dad I dunno, he actually recognizes the characters but he didn't realize that I liked the show even though I wore stuff around him. Like, he saw Fluttershy and said that she was from My Little Pony when he was playing this guessing game on his Kindle, yet when he saw my little brother with a Fluttershy necklace I gave him, he didn't recognize it.

 

Regardless, ever since my friends started finding out I don't really hide it, I just let others eventually find out, whether it's because I was wearing some pony merchandise or because they caught me looking at ponies on my computer. Perhaps you're right and I should just be chill around my friend and see how he reacts. He probably won't care.

 

Funnily enough, I know that one of the stereotypes of Bronies is that we shove it in people's faces, but it actually seems like my friends bring it up when they're around me more than I do... perhaps some of them are secretly Bronies?

 

[Creamy Arty 6,251]

Nothing ever changed between myself and my parents or my friends. Nobody was bothered by the fact I liked the show or that it had acquired such a massive following among people who were never intended to watch it. Curiosity was the only reaction I met. After explaining things to the best of my ability, they thought it was interesting and not at all disturbing. I wear also pony apparel on occasion and have pony merchandise, and nobody minds or thinks it odd.

[Dsanders 5,742]

My parents are very accepting of it surprisingly. My dad fully supports it because of how positive it is and the great morale it encompasses. He's happy that I'm into this stuff rather than drugs, sex and smoking.

 

My mother was a little more skeptical, she's made some irrational assumptions about the bronydom sometimes, as most uninformed people do, but after reassuring her and convincing her enough, she has become much more accepting of it.

 

Heck, she even helped me buy this Twilight plushy off Ebay.