When you first became a brony, how did you deal with it initially?

[TyHopkinson 42]

Hello everypony! Ahh, it feels nice to pop on the forums again after a bit of a hiatus for the past few months! Anyways, i want to talk to you guys about how I dealt with being a brony initially. Lets jump back to summer of 2013. It is the end of the school year and grade 9 is finally over. I saw some pony pictures on a meme website that my friend was looking at and asked him what bronies were. He explained to me that they are fans of the new my little pony show. Then he told me that most of them are male. My jaw unhinged and hit the floor. I think the impact echoed throughout the cafeteria. Being optimistic myself, I say to him that Ill watch it and give it a chance cause there has to be a reason why everyone loves it. In the interest of time, lets just say I fell in love with the show relatively quickly. Anyways, skip forward a couple of months and I'm in that dilemma state where I don't know if i should tell people about this or not. I end up telling people and they don't really care if the 6 foot 1 guy in grade 10 watches ponies. (Thats me btw) In fact I met some other bronies and pegasisters to boot. So yeah sorry for the essay! What is your story? And how did you deal with it afterwards?

[Antismurf9001 1,271]

How I dealt with it?  Well, I was confused.  I was trying really hard to not become a brony.  I kept watching episodes, but I had a completely legitimate non-brony related reason for that (I was 'researching' for a satirical story I was writing for a friend).  I was both denying and accepting that I enjoyed watching the show, and it was rather mind-boggling to me.  Then I finished season 2, which is when all hell broke loose.  Despite the lack of new episodes, I was no finished with these adorable ponies.  For perhaps 2 weeks afterwards, all of my free time was spent watching fan-made videos on Youtube.  At this point, I decided that I was a fan of the show, but most definitely not a brony (don't ask, it just made me feel better)  Sometime during this, I caught that season 3 was starting soon.  The day for the premiere arrived, and I found myself awake on that Saturday desperately trying to figure out how I could watch the premiere online (I wasn't familiar with livestreams).  The premiere ended, and I finally accepted my fate.  I believe that it was the next day that I joined this forum.

[Zygen 6,065]

Well I basically at first just watched a couple clips, but quickly my curiosity overcame me and I ended up watching some episodes, then another then another, and eventually I realized I liked the show.

 

At first I was still a bit iffy on the whole fact I actually liked a show about ponies, but eventually after a while and even more so after coming here, I was able to eventually come to terms with it and It doesn't bother me personally really anymore, most if not all my I guess denial is gone, it does come around occasionally, but not very often ;P.

 

I am still a closet brony to, but for different reasons.

[omnusus 52]

I didn't really deal with it. I saw a few episodes, said, "This is cool." and went on my merry way. I guess this was because I didn't find it weird, so it was about as natural as watching any other awesome show fore the first time.

[Zerobot 179]

A hobby of mine is marathoning TV shows. I really enjoy watching from first to last consecutively. So it wasn't any different one night when I stumbled on episode one, and went through to the final at the time, The Best Night Ever. I really enjoyed the show, and decided I'd keep up with it if there was ever a season 2. Then I discovered there were others who enjoyed it just as much as I did, and thus I joined my first fandom. I never really had to deal with being a brony. I enjoyed the show, then I enjoyed the fandom, then I enjoyed the creations of the fandom and wanted to partake. I immediately set forth to present the show to my closest friends, because it would be amazing if they liked the show too. And then they did. And, at my school, absolutely NO ONE had heard about bronies yet. I haven't even started hearing about until this school year, and it's not even always in a negative light.

 

I feel kind of bad for never having to have gone through brony hatred and ridicule. Obviously I've had to deal with a few anti-bronies online, but since they don't actually know who I am that'll never be a problem.

[Алексей 110]

When I became a Brony towards the end of 2011, I didn't really think much of it. I really liked the show, a little bit of the fan music intrigued me, and I interacted with some Bronies online at a forum I used to go to.

 

I wasn't a closet/stable Brony, but I didn't really go flaunting it around(other than watching the show during class when I had free time, of course). To me, it was just a show I watched and happened to really like. It was the community that increased my love for all things MLP so much.

 

And, it wasn't really until I saw the Ballad of the Brony that I started getting interested in the community.

[Lost 1,409]

Ive always liked kids cartoons and animated movies, I stayed away from the girls stuff though so when I heard about bronies it sparked some interest for me, I didn't watch the show however, until after watching the "Teens react to Bronies" episode, after seeing that I watched a few episodes and fell in love, I came out as a brony the next day to my friends, but still over a year later, I am yet to tell my family :/

[FoxyCryptid 4,327]

With complete and utter joy because a part of me wanted to be one from the minute I started working up the courage to look into the show. 

[~/XC- BRONY\~ 310]

like a lot of people, i watched one episode... then another, and then about the entire season (the best night ever is actually on my top 10 favorite episodes).

 

how i delt with it? step 1 was denial. then i accepted it but was a little bit ashamed of it, just because im frm the old school guys dont do girl stuuf type of family, now im proud to be a brony, still havent really told anyone, but i a proud to be a brony

[the_jetfighter 94]

i did not like the show, and i did not want to become a brony for quite a while, i guess one could say i discovered the "magic of friendship"  lol, i just did not care, because i did not care if people where gonna hate on me due to the show, they never really did bother me.  

[Quilava 1,290]

The initial tick that drew me into the show was the anime-esque feel and look of the show (I am a huge fan of animes). I had never even heard of MLP until YouTube decided to throw in Know Your Meme:My Little Pony into my suggestions for every video I watched. Eventually I just wanted to get rid of the video, so I watched it. When the episodes were playing in the background of the KYM vid, they instantly caught my attention. That video was really the only video about MLP I would watch (was too stubborn to even look it up). But, again, it dug at me until I watched the first few episodes...which immediately hooked me. 

   Sadly, as much as the show had a grasp on me, I decided that to stop watching around S1E15...there wasn't a real pull for me to watch. But a couple months ago I thought of digging everything back up, which has led to me being here. Even when I watched the episodes ('till around the middle of the 3rd season) I didn't even consider myself a Brony. But, as time went on, I began researching more and more about MLP and the fandom and finally came to the decision that...I was...indeed...a Brony, and the internal happiness that came with it will be hard to top.

And that's my story :3

 

TL:DR Version -> Watch Read it and Weep And the way Rainbow Dash acts, is how I was

[CloudFyre 848]

Hah, it was quite interesting, to say the least! I had always idly disliked the show, not because of anything I actually knew, but just because it was infamous for being a terribly drawn toy marketing show for 6 year old girls. (And the previous generations were.)

Having to tell myself that I actually liked something that I always assumed to be so incredibly boring threw me for a loop, and a good one at that! Once the initial shock was over, I jumped in and enjoyed the ride!

[TyHopkinson 42]

Wow thank you to everyone who has posted on this! I love reading all of your stories and i think that it is epic that some of your experiences are sort of like mine. Cheers!

[Blue Moon 6,336]

It started when my neighbor (she's 6) came over and watched netflix on tv. She had watched My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I got on Netflix later and saw MLP: FiM in the history, so I was bored and decided to watch it.

 

The first episode I ever watched (Boast Busters) was very surprising to me. I liked Spike's crush on Rarity (I find crushes adorable) and I got curious to see if there were any other episodes that mentioned or discussed that at all. So I searched for the episodes and watched Green isn't your Color and Secret of my Excess. I really liked those episodes and started to watch the series from the beginning. I wasn't proud of it at first and was a brony in denial at first, but I eventually gave in and convinced myself I was a brony after I started watching fanmade videos, listening to songs from the show, and watching an entire show in a couple of days.

 

So in short, I was a brony in denial at first.

Edited April 8, 2013 by Blue_Moon

[DJRainbowDash 723]

Initially started watching youtube poop videos and stumbled upon one of the when the MLP characters in it. So this lead to watching a few episodes, starting with Read it and Weep for some reason. Then I started with the beginning after loving that episode, and viola, I grew to love the show. 

 

As for how I dealt with it, well I mean I initially thought it was kind of odd for me to like something like My Little Pony, but realizing the existence of Bronies, I felt at ease and to this day I am very casual about the whole thing. There is a Rainbow Dash vinyl figure on our coffee table in my quad and most people know I'm a brony. But nobody judges me and I don't really care what people think now. 

[Starlight Sky 374]

Setting aside the long back story for another day, my two resolutions in life are to remain open to every possibility and to be happy.

 

Everything is neutral or higher in my eyes. I don't dislike anything- I aim to understand it. Since humans experience the full range of emotions, attempting to limit the one's you feel is a limitation of human knowledge. After what I went through, absolute freedom of thought and expression are what I value most. It's essential to the happiness I feel; something I can't live without anymore.

 

I've always found the notion of friendship a beautiful one. Using ponies doesn't change the value of the message (although it's certainly an aspect that I love  ). Mlp pushed me out of a long-time apathy, and the joy I felt after watching the show (and becoming a brony) is something I'll always cherish.

[DJRainbowDash 723]

Setting aside the long back story for another day, my two resolutions in life are to remain open to every possibility and to be happy.

 

Everything is neutral or higher in my eyes. I don't dislike anything- I aim to understand it. Since humans experience the full range of emotions, attempting to limit the one's you feel is a limitation of human knowledge. After what I went through, absolute freedom of thought and expression are what I value most. It's essential to the happiness I feel; something I can't live without anymore.

 

I've always found the notion of friendship a beautiful one. Using ponies doesn't change the value of the message (although it's certainly an aspect that I love  ). Mlp pushed me out of a long-time apathy, and the joy I felt after watching the show (and becoming a brony) is something I'll always cherish.

 

I had to respond to this. Your view of the world is probably the exact same philosophy of life which I have. I believe in living with an open mind, and that optimism is a wonderful thing. 

 

We need more people in the world like you, and for this, you have been friended 

[Shanks 10,811]

For a while I had some moments of "I can't believe I am watching this" but that passed. I also considered myself more of a fan rather than a full blown brony not because I had anything against them but well, I am not really sure why I eventually just came to the conclusion of "dude you think about ponies all the time, of course you are one." I also for a good while felt an indescribable desire to shout it from the rooftops a desire that prompted me to make a youtube video talking about it and finding this forum both of which got most of it out my system. Today I don't go out of my way to hide it but I don't go out of my way to tell people either I just treat it like any other interest I have.

[ToxicNinja78 148]

Pretty simple. I thought, "Why do people like this?" And then I watched it, and I was like, "Oh, I get it now." There wasn't really anything to deal with. I'm comfortable with who I am. Fuck errybody else.

[Starlight Sky 374]

I had to respond to this. Your view of the world is probably the exact same philosophy of life which I have. I believe in living with an open mind, and that optimism is a wonderful thing. 

 

We need more people in the world like you, and for this, you have been friended 

 

I'm really glad my post was well received. I stopped myself from delving too much into details as usual, but thought it may have been unclear at parts. I'm even happier to make a new friend Looking forward to talking with you.

[Diamond Treasure 118]

When i became a brony it was out of complete boredom i felt like a jerk for being a jerk to my friend who told me what a brony is months b4 i then told my friend i was a brony and apologized in the process. I still havent told my parents and dont plan too anytime soon

[Avatar tag: shipping 299]

At first I was so happy that the depression and nightmares had gone away. (My back story is on my profile page, it's too long to type out here). Once that feel wore off, another feel took its place. A WTF-am-I-watching-and-why-do-I-love-it-so-much type feel. I kept watching the show and the more I watched, another feel came up. An I... NEED... MOAR!!! feel. And I haven't looked back.

[Steel Crescent 841]

When first became a brony it a little weird at first.But after watching some of the episodes i just loved the feeling and just couldn't stop watching episodes untill i had seen them all.I'm a much happier pony since i became a brony and will never regret it.I've told my Dad and grandparents.My dad thinks it's weird and my grandma thinks it's cute.

[Apocalyptic_Unicorn 240]

Before I became a Brony, I always knew the show was quite big, and I knew Bronies existed because FiM stuff was all over the internet. I was never judgmental or anything, I just thought "Oh that's cool, it must be a good show", so I gave it a try and watched Friendship is Magic part 1 & 2. 
I thought it was good, but it wasn't really enough to get me hooked, but after hanging out online, I knew of the characters and the basic plot.
Then, right around Halloween 2012, I sat down and watched it all, and that was it, I was hooked.

I wasn't against being a Brony or anything, it just sort of happened, and then I told my friends, and got involved online, and never looked back :3
Now, my life and day to day activities revolve around FiM xD

Edited April 8, 2013 by Apocalyptic_Unicorn

[just ignore me 86]

Well before i joined the fandom i mainly poked fun here and there at a brony i knew nothing terribly mean just a little friendly ribbing. Then after a faithful encounter with apoctolyptica and 1 cello playing pony i watched the first 7 episodes on Christmas eve. I didnt think about it much during Christmas but then it hit me i had spent 3 and a half hours watching ponies online. I spent the next  month diving into crash courses on sociology and psychiatry trying to find an explanation and when i finally had one i sat down and watched the rest of the show over the course of about a week.