Okay, this is my first attempt to ever document my journey into a fandom step-by-step, because frankly this is one of the few times I've ever set out to intentionally become a member of a community at the drop of a dime like this. To be honest, if you had told me this morning that I would be taking the first steps toward becoming a brony, I would have told you to go boil your head in a tub of acid. I have been adamantly against bronies since I first learned about them a couple of years back, and after today, I am truly sorry for that.
Let me start from the beginning. A couple of years ago (if you were to ask me the exact date, or even the exact year, I could not tell you) I learned about this group of fans known as bronies. Teenagers, college students, men with families who are fans of My Little Pony. I thought it was one of the stupidest things I'd ever heard of. Despite my oft repeated claims that I do not judge people and am cool with everyone as long as they are causing no harm, this was exactly opposite of what was true in this case. I'm not sure what it was, but the idea of men watching something so traditionally feminine was off-putting for me. I fell into the same trap as most men on this planet and labelled them freaks and weirdos and whatnot.
But I have never been more wrong. My partner and I were talking about bronies today, and I made the off-handed remark that if he was a brony, he should tell me. I was joking, but he replied that though he was not a brony, he was considering looking into it, because of a documentary on brony culture that he'd seen called Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony. I was blown away by what I saw. Here are people who are so obviously not freaks and weirdos. These are people who care about each other, people who express themselves through fiction and artwork and music (and even laser shows!).
These are people who look out for each other, who help not only each other, but their communities and the world in general. They've raised so much money to help people in need. One story that got my attention in particular was this little boy who had gotten a brain tumor. The brony community raised thousands of dollars to help him and his family, and one of the stars of the show actually came to his house! I've seen acts of amazing kindness, community and camaraderie among people who are complete strangers, friendship, generosity. These people are brought together by their love of a show, and have taken the lessons on treating each other with kindness to heart.
So wouldn't a community of people such a this be worth supporting? I very much think so-- and not just supporting it, but joining it as well. I have had a keen interest in fanfiction for many years and have searched for a long time for a group of people who would actually appreciate the time and effort that goes into being creative. I believe that the bronies are such a group.
As I go along my journey, I will document it here. As I watch new episodes and begin exploring the fandom, I will post my thoughts, and these will be the thoughts of someone experiencing the series for the first time, hearing the music for the first time, seeing the artwork for the first time. This will very much be inexperienced, virgin eyes (as far as MLP goes). I hope you will take it with me. I hope some people from the community find this blog and are willing to give me pointers and suggestions. More importantly, I hope you all realize how deeply sorry I am for being such a douche for so long. Hopefully, we will all become great friends one day.
After all, that's what this whole thing is about, isn't it? Friendship?
Till next time, friends.
-MD
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