I admit, I try to avoid popular things mostly becuase I can't keep up with them so I just don't bother.  I hate becoming addicted to things, and my somewhat obsessive and totally compulsive behaviour pretty much turn me into a fan of anything; for that reason I avoided My Little Pony like the plague.  That, and I didn't want to be seen as a pedo or some creepy old dude who watches little girl shows. 

However, more and more of my friends have been trying their damndest to get me to watch the show, which only made me hate it more.  Well, You won't believe me but I'm a really openminded guy, so I thought "what could it hurt to give it a shot?"  I mean, I'm the guy who watches every Twilight movie in spite of how much I harass the shit out of anyone who likes that, so it's not like I'm closeminded or anything.  I didn't want to like it, but in the interest of fairness I gave it a shot...

At first I didn't care for it.  As a student of film and television production I respected and appreciated the objective quality of the show; I felt that the animation was superb, the timing was perfect. the voice acting was dead on, and the little in-jokes that were for the fans really spoke to me...but it didn't really entice me.  sure it was cute, the characters were well-developed, the humor was effective, the cute factor was running on full tilt, and the songs were well done, but I still didn't care for it becuase I don't like overly saccharine shows, and I've never been fond of female-centric programs (little girls are like my polar opposite, I certainly should not like it.)

Plus there's that whole "if you like My Little Pony, you're a creeper" thing which until recently I agreed with. 

I watched the entire first season at the behest of about half a dozen friends (and while literally taken as a hostage and borderline forced to watch it....was trapped in the middle of nowhere with a friend who was watching it, and he wouldn't let me leave and was pretty insistent I just give into the brony herd), and like I said, it wasn't all bad.  Thing is, I really didn't WANT to like it for the above reasons.  

so once I was done, I gave up on the Brony thing.  I deleted the files from my computer, I posted blogs condemning those who take it too far (and to this day I still think some people take that fandom WAY too far...), and generally making it known that, while I Respected it, I had no interest in it. 

But then something strange happened.  I was browsing about on Memebase.com, laughing at rage comics, kicking ass with the goddamn batman, and dropping the science all afternoon when I came across the "my little Brony" link.  I'd heard ot this, but like I Said I had no interest in it. A mixture of curiosity and a desire to find some trollbait to use to piss off the bronies ensured I clicked the link anyway, and something happened.  I looked at a page or two, thought the captions were cute....and kept reading.  After an inexplicably long night, I'd read over 30 pages of My Little Brony on Memebase, and I found myself oddly enjoying the humor.  For some odd reason, I was particularly sensitive to the Derpy Hooves issue, I found myself watching the clips and actually enjoying the musical numbers (I hate musicals), and through the collective humor and soul of the community, I started to 'understand' where bronies were coming from. 

suddenly, I got it.  I understood what made My Little Pony special.  I still couldn't bring myself to LIKE it, but I UNDERSTOOD it, and for some reason I became sympathetic.  I spent an hour looking up info on Derpy, and through doing that I came to see a closer connection the writers/animators had with the community; I saw how the incredibly cute and cheery visuals lifted your spirits, and I Saw how most Bronies really thought. I used to think it was all about sexualizing the 'underage' anthro ponies (Thanks to a lot of my 4chan-browsing friends, I have seen enough My Little Pony porn to last me a dozen lifetimes), but now I came to see that it's really not about that.  In fact, from what I saw most of the fandom finds those images to be repulsive and the very idea of corrupting these 'innocent' characters was a betrayal of what being a brony stood for.  

Again, I still didn't like the show, but I really got a feel for the community and why it was as popular as it was.  I understood how some people just need to be cheered up, and My Little Pony does it remarkably well.  While I'm still sure that the show was MEANT for little girls, I see a lot of stuff in there that can easily be enjoyed by people of all ages and both genders.  The relationship the animators have with the community and the fact that they EMBRACE things like Derpy Hooves the klutz of a pegasus at the behest of the internet fandom shows that there's something more here.  I still didn't like it, but I sympathized even though I wanted to stay FAR away from the fandom. 

That all changed about two hours ago when I sat down to edit some of my GDC reports and I had a sudden realization that I had an oddly strong desire to watch more My Little Pony.  Nobody told me to, I didn't happen to come across a cute image macro, nobody linked me to a musical number; out of nowhere I just had a strong desire to start Season 2 of the show.  

what's wrong with me?  am I becoming a brony? Does anyone take assassination contracts?  I think I may have to end it all. 

You should contact Blacksaber! (I didn't read because I am about to go to sleep)

why him? 

Look, don't feel bad. Every brony out there has gone through pretty much the same thing. You don't even have to consider yourself a brony if you like the show. But we've all gone through that. I started off watching it thinking, "Okay, this isn't bad. But it's still just a show for girls." Then I found myself watching more and started wondering, "Why am I still watching this? It isn't that good..." And... well, now I'm a fan.

You don't have to tell everyone you meet that you like it, or be one of those crazy guys who buys all of the dolls or whatever. You can just like the show. But I'd recommend at least checking out some of the stuff that the community has made (music, art, games, etc). There's a ton of it, and a surprising amount of it is good. Plus, if you like fighting games, My Little Pony: Fighting is Magic looks awesome!

Also, if you feel the need to talk about episodes and whatnot, we now have a thread on VGC here.

As to why Blacksaber... he's a brony too.

What is with these accusations here what makes you think I'm a Brony!?

*looks at my wall*

*looks at your sig*

*looks at this post*

Oh, nothing...

Cut it out

See nothing I'm not a brony! Now I'm going back to Micthemicrophones livestream of La Noire!

Quickly! kill yourself before anyone could notice.
If this disease spreads in your body any more you might even have a Bieber Fever next or even Twilight Fever
Be sure to burn your dead corpse afterwards!