First Reaction?

[Wolfey180]

What was your first reaction to My Little Pony Friendship is Magic?

[Angie Cakes]

when I first found out about MLP on youtube, I assumed that it was a group of preteen girls who watched it and it was just an extesion of the furry/fanime community that I hadn't seen yet. I decided to look up clips and episodes the day I found it because there wasn't anything better to do at the time.

the first episode I watched was episode one. the begining sequence when they tell the tale of nightmare moon seemed really cool to me, so I started to understand why people liked it. then it switched to Twilight reading the story out loud, and that seemed sorta cheesey to me. then the opening theme was sooo girly, but it quickly picked up after a few seconds. overall, the first episode wasn't very impressive, but I know never to judge a show by the first episode since it's usually not very good (because they need to introduce all the characters and stuff).

I watched a few more episodes out of boredom since there were only 16, and each one got better than the last. after about four episodes, I understood why people liked it, but it wasn't for another two or three months that I realized that the people who were watching it weren't all preteen girls XD it also wasn't until after season one that I started watching it for fun instead of out of boredom.

[Wolfey180]

when I first found out about MLP on youtube, I assumed that it was a group of preteen girls who watched it and it was just an extesion of the furry/fanime community that I hadn't seen yet. I decided to look up clips and episodes the day I found it because there wasn't anything better to do at the time.

the first episode I watched was episode one. the begining sequence when they tell the tale of nightmare moon seemed really cool to me, so I started to understand why people liked it. then it switched to Twilight reading the story out loud, and that seemed sorta cheesey to me. then the opening theme was sooo girly, but it quickly picked up after a few seconds. overall, the first episode wasn't very impressive, but I know never to judge a show by the first episode since it's usually not very good (because they need to introduce all the characters and stuff).

I watched a few more episodes out of boredom since there were only 16, and each one got better than the last. after about four episodes, I understood why people liked it, but it wasn't for another two or three months that I realized that the people who were watching it weren't all preteen girls XD it also wasn't until after season one that I started watching it for fun instead of out of boredom.

I kinda started like that too, I started on Halloween with "Luna Eclipsed" I thought it was cute, funny, and amazingly animated. I started watching it out of sheer curiosity and giving the show a fair shot after hearing about the male fan base. I'm not gonna lie, I thought it was sad that guys watched this at first.

[Ashton]

My first reaction was to dismiss it as I did with MLP Gen 1-3.5, I assumed it was the same empty shallow series aimed at girls where, as Faust herself put it "Ponies have endless teaparties and defeat enimies by crying"

After seeing a reference on TV Tropes I got more interested and did a little research but was hesitant because I still thought it was a 'kiddy show' that was going to be anvelicious and immature.

I finally watched it after my ex told me to watch it (not that she liked it - rather she said if it was a series I thought I'd like, I should watch it even if it is a 'kiddy show')

When I opened up 101 (yes, I *ALWAYS* start at the beginning) I first thought "yep same kiddy crap" when it was going over the 'storybook' opening, though I knew it was an "intro" so I continued, once it switched to Twilight I thought "ok it's a good show but it's still probably anvelicious and childish" my thoughts went downhill from there when celestia told twilight her new quest was "make some friends!" and it hit the lowest point when she first met AJ and the earth-pony said "We sho' do like making new friends!" I almost turned it off there, but seeing Twilight was still so reluctant I decided to keep watching, then came the storm of puns (which I love), and I thought "ok, maybe it's worth watching for the humor, it's still childish and meh" ...but then I met Rainbow Dash... I just couldnt stop then (even from that little blurb I think I subconsiously saw something I could strongly relate to in Dash, which now I know is one of the reasons I love the rainbow pony so much - minus the atheletics (which I *wish* I were good at) I can relate to her extremely deeply) Though honestly I didnt start identifying as a Brony till Winter Wrap Up, when that song came on in it's full glory, I was 100% converted and FREAKING LOVED the series (I'm a sucker for musicals)

As a perspective, my father watched it (after I told him a little about it and played the song "Winter Wrap Up" for him - he's BIG on music) and he thought it was rediculously silly, but a good, well-planned, and deep series (deep as in how many levels it was written on) though the silliness was too much for him to really love it, if it had been more serious I think he would have converted to a Brony too (though imo the silliness is part of what makes it great)

[Wolfey180]

My first reaction was to dismiss it as I did with MLP Gen 1-3.5, I assumed it was the same empty shallow series aimed at girls where, as Faust herself put it "Ponies have endless teaparties and defeat enimies by crying"

After seeing a reference on TV Tropes I got more interested and did a little research but was hesitant because I still thought it was a 'kiddy show' that was going to be anvelicious and immature.

I finally watched it after my ex told me to watch it (not that she liked it - rather she said if it was a series I thought I'd like, I should watch it even if it is a 'kiddy show')

When I opened up 101 (yes, I *ALWAYS* start at the beginning) I first thought "yep same kiddy crap" when it was going over the 'storybook' opening, though I knew it was an "intro" so I continued, once it switched to Twilight I thought "ok it's a good show but it's still probably anvelicious and childish" my thoughts went downhill from there when celestia told twilight her new quest was "make some friends!" and it hit the lowest point when she first met AJ and the earth-pony said "We sho' do like making new friends!" I almost turned it off there, but seeing Twilight was still so reluctant I decided to keep watching, then came the storm of puns (which I love), and I thought "ok, maybe it's worth watching for the humor, it's still childish and meh" ...but then I met Rainbow Dash... I just couldnt stop then (even from that little blurb I think I subconsiously saw something I could strongly relate to in Dash, which now I know is one of the reasons I love the rainbow pony so much - minus the atheletics (which I *wish* I were good at) I can relate to her extremely deeply) Though honestly I didnt start identifying as a Brony till Winter Wrap Up, when that song came on in it's full glory, I was 100% converted and FREAKING LOVED the series (I'm a sucker for musicals)

As a perspective, my father watched it (after I told him a little about it and played the song "Winter Wrap Up" for him - he's BIG on music) and he thought it was rediculously silly, but a good, well-planned, and deep series (deep as in how many levels it was written on) though the silliness was too much for him to really love it, if it had been more serious I think he would have converted to a Brony too (though imo the silliness is part of what makes it great)

haha! I can play "Winter Wrap Up" on my trumpet! I LOVE the song! And I LOVE your story!

[Rosewind]

I was the same way -- I dismissed it. A friend kept telling me to watch at least one episode, and explained why: It's gaining a following because the animation is amazing, there is a lot of thought and care put into the story and characters, and it had an "X factor" he couldn't describe. I watched Stare Master and was hooked.

[Wolfey180]

I was the same way -- I dismissed it. A friend kept telling me to watch at least one episode, and explained why: It's gaining a following because the animation is amazing, there is a lot of thought and care put into the story and characters, and it had an "X factor" he couldn't describe. I watched Stare Master and was hooked.

I convinced myself to watch the show, I didn't want to make fun of bronies without giving it a fair shot.

[Bronynumber299]

Okay so if youve ever heard of my little brony it started there.My little brony is a site with pony memes.So I decided to look at that and found it awesome but I didnt get any of the references so I decided to watch the first episode.After that Im like this is zawesome.Actully I was the first person in my friends group that immedited that he or she was a brony.i first told my male friend and he watched the first episode and told my female friend.I forget when I counted myself as a brony but now Im 20% cooler.

[Wolfey180]

Okay so if youve ever heard of my little brony it started there.My little brony is a site with pony memes.So I decided to look at that and found it awesome but I didnt get any of the references so I decided to watch the first episode.After that Im like this is zawesome.Actully I was the first person in my friends group that immedited that he or she was a brony.i first told my male friend and he watched the first episode and told my female friend.I forget when I counted myself as a brony but now Im 20% cooler.

I'm on my little brony every day! And I made a girl into a brony xD

[SeanMirrsen]

I've been running the second iteration of my Multiworlds RTD game, when a certain branch of discussion on universe mechanics caused me to mention, in passing, that I was considering a game where players would be adapted to the universe they enter, so that they'd become ship crew in an Star Trek verse, or ponies in an MLP-verse. I'd simply heard of the show's existence by that point, I knew that it was about ponies and that was about it. About that time I've noticed that a lot of forum avatars seem to be taken from a show about ponies. Making a mental connection, I decided to see if I could actually run something in an MLP-verse, and whether the setting could offer anything salvageable. I've watched the pilot episodes, took in all the worldbuilding, the characters...

My initial reaction was "If I ever try to run a game with this, I'll never be able to do it justice."

And, well, here I stayed. I really like the setting and the characters, and I like the humor and quality animation of the show itself. Of course, lately the show creators took the whole worldbuilding aspect and flipped it over sideways, and the characters are starting to feel a little flanderized (exaggerated), but I guess the mighty glory of the first season will be enough to carry the show through the second. After that, who knows? But whatever happens then, the first season of Friendship is Magic will, to me at least, remain one of the best things ever made. Yes, things, not just animated shows or television shows. Probably right up there with the Internet itself.

[Wolfey180]

I've been running the second iteration of my Multiworlds RTD game, when a certain branch of discussion on universe mechanics caused me to mention, in passing, that I was considering a game where players would be adapted to the universe they enter, so that they'd become ship crew in an Star Trek verse, or ponies in an MLP-verse. I'd simply heard of the show's existence by that point, I knew that it was about ponies and that was about it. About that time I've noticed that a lot of forum avatars seem to be taken from a show about ponies. Making a mental connection, I decided to see if I could actually run something in an MLP-verse, and whether the setting could offer anything salvageable. I've watched the pilot episodes, took in all the worldbuilding, the characters...

My initial reaction was "If I ever try to run a game with this, I'll never be able to do it justice."

And, well, here I stayed. I really like the setting and the characters, and I like the humor and quality animation of the show itself. Of course, lately the show creators took the whole worldbuilding aspect and flipped it over sideways, and the characters are starting to feel a little flanderized (exaggerated), but I guess the mighty glory of the first season will be enough to carry the show through the second. After that, who knows? But whatever happens then, the first season of Friendship is Magic will, to me at least, remain one of the best things ever made. Yes, things, not just animated shows or television shows. Probably right up there with the Internet itself.

That sounds like an interesting game...

[weesh]

I think I have a unique one. I was looking for someone to respond to, but it was not easy to choose.

One of my first exposures to MLP was Bill Clinton correctly answering 3 questions on the series on the show "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me". I was amused, but I reserved judgement and reaction. After hearing about it a few more times, I still had no reaction, but my curiosity was piqued. I got on youtube to watch the first episode, and most of the way though was still in "I will give it a fair shot" mode. As the screen showed "to be continued", two thoughts crossed my mind: "whoa" and "where is the next one?". At that time I did not realize I would watch them all, but I knew I had to see the conclusion to the first ep.

[DoctorWilliam]

My first exposure to Gen 3 MLP was when I was a bigoted 7 year old child, and obviously, my initial response was hatred. However, my first exposure to Gen 4 MLP was way more mature, as I was twice that age upon first seeing a bit of it in November of 2010. I unfortunately dismissed it at the time. However, it wasn't because of it being a girl targetted to little girls. It was more because of how little information of it was given to me. You see, my first exposure of it was when I grew curious about the new Hub channel, and decided to check it out. When I first went to it, I was met with a little intro of the Hub after a show coincidentally ended. The intro consisted of mainly the Hub logo flying around, and passing by the cartoon characters that were featured in their programming.

One of the programming being My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. The first two ponies I saw from that intro was Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy. From what I remember, the Hub logo flew past Fluttershy, startling her, and then hid itself behind Twilight Sparkle so she didn't see what had startled her. It was an act of mischief.

It wasn't until nearly 3 months later on January 24th, 2011 did I first watch the show, and I loved it.

[Wolfey180]

My first exposure to Gen 3 MLP was when I was a bigoted 7 year old child, and obviously, my initial response was hatred. However, my first exposure to Gen 4 MLP was way more mature, as I was twice that age upon first seeing a bit of it in November of 2010. I unfortunately dismissed it at the time. However, it wasn't because of it being a girl targetted to little girls. It was more because of how little information of it was given to me. You see, my first exposure of it was when I grew curious about the new Hub channel, and decided to check it out. When I first went to it, I was met with a little intro of the Hub after a show ended. The intro consisted of mainly the Hub logo flying around, and passing by the cartoon characters that were featured in their programming.

One of the programming being My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. The first two ponies I saw from that intro was Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy. From what I remember, the Hub logo flew past Fluttershy, startling her, and then hid itself behind Twilight Sparkle so she didn't see what had startled her. It was an act of mischief.

It wasn't until nearly 3 months later on January 24th, 2011 did I first watch the show, and I loved it.

hmm...All theses interesting stories!

[RarityDash]

First reaction to hearing about it or first reaction to seeing it for the first time?

In the first case, the first time I heard about it was very early in, before the fandom had really exploded out much. I thought the characters looked cute, but I couldn't see myself ever watching it. Then come May of last year, I noticed a lot of people getting into it, including a good friend of mine. He posted some artwork which I thought was nice and I read more about bronies and everything and decided to give it a chance.

As for when I first watched it, I'd say it was pretty immediate. Didn't really have that many reservations about getting into a My Little Pony show; didn't honestly seem that strange to me. The animation immediately caught my attention and the characters just seemed so fun from the first episode.

[Wolfey180]

First reaction to hearing about it or first reaction to seeing it for the first time?

In the first case, the first time I heard about it was very early in, before the fandom had really exploded out much. I thought the characters looked cute, but I couldn't see myself ever watching it. Then come May of last year, I noticed a lot of people getting into it, including a good friend of mine. He posted some artwork which I thought was nice and I read more about bronies and everything and decided to give it a chance.

As for when I first watched it, I'd say it was pretty immediate. Didn't really have that many reservations about getting into a My Little Pony show; didn't honestly seem that strange to me. The animation immediately caught my attention and the characters just seemed so fun from the first episode.

To be honest, that was my first reaction to hearing about it kinda too.

[NuSun]

Long Story Short: heard about the show, was a hater for a while, gave it a chance around April 2011, was alright about it, watched the available episodes, liked it a lot but didn't really care for the fandom, became a brony shortly after season two came out. If you're interested in hearing all about it...

I first heard about FiM I think about two months after it initially came out when I kept seeing fan artists talk about it on websites like Deviant Art. I ignored it at first, especially after seeing a little fan art pop up here and there. But one by one, my favorite artists began doing fan art about the ponies, and when that combined with seeing ponies showing up everywhere across image sites I started having the typical anti-brony thoughts. I mean, brightly colored ponies based off of My Little Pony, what was happening to this world? I couldn't understand, didn't put any effort in trying. All I know was they were everywhere and was getting annoying to find. That's right, I had the typical anti-brony thoughts aimed towards the fans for a while.

What a fool I was.

Probably around four months after beginning my hate (oh how I hate recalling those times), I continued to see more artists and fans talk about the cartoon, so I did my own little research to find out what's so captivating about it. Articles and professional reviewers actually called the cartoon good and promising. Good, how? I ignored the reviews, but my curiosity continued to build for a whole month until I finally watched the first episode with the volume barely audible as I kind of felt shame for succumbing to something so, I guess "girly" would be the nicest term here.

I was expecting a good story line. I got that from the intro of the pilot episode with the explanation of day and night. I was thinking, "Not bad. Really different from the newer cartoons." Then the theme song came on and my finger was a small sliver away from closing the Youtube window, but I endured it. As I watched, I did agree with the animation actually being catchy, and I even chuckled at some parts due to really underestimating the comedy. Twilight getting her quest to make new friends also got me to almost close the window because of how cheesy it sounded, so I just prayed that it would get better like everyone kept imploring. Then the characters were introduced, and I was already familiar with most of them due to each review I had read including their brief synopsis of the mane 6. I found I actually enjoyed some of their individual traits just enough to keep watching. By the end of the pilot episode, Nightmare Moon appears, I found I actually liked her design, and finally, "To Be Continued."

By this point, I sort of recapped my thoughts on it. Mostly I thought the show was okay mainly because I didn't feel like I was going to like the characters (I especially did not care for Pinkie and Rarity, at the time of course). My conclusion was to finish the second episode to see what happens. The most significant reaction I had was Pinkie's "Laughter Song" because this was the closest I came to giving up on the show entirely. I am not too fond of musicals, especially if it's going to come from a show aimed towards little girls. I liked how Twilight was apprehensive about her breaking into song, but that was it. Next, the ending of this episode, which I didn't have that many problems with because I didn't expect much of a climax. Plus, it's the pilot episode.

Now, I read the youtube comments and see they're all flooded with comments like "I'm a guy and is liking My Little Pony." For some reason, I kept watching more episodes. Maybe it was because I wanted to give FiM more chances since the fans boasted it gets better. They were right, by the time Gilda makes her appearance I admitted to myself that I really enjoy this show.

Eventually, I find Rarity is not the stuck up pony I thought she'd be, I actually like her and admire her work ethics a lot, and Pinkie is the comical one of the bunch instead of the annoying airhead. Now, I follow EqD posts daily, love Pinkie's Laughter Song, and find Pinkie Pie is my second favorite pony

Sorry for the long story XD

[Pleiades]

Me? ... Okay, I'll be honest, I dismissed it myself at first.

I run some currently-defunct video game development forums. There was one guy who went through a period of almost rabid... um... "brony-ism"? Whatever works. Anyway, it got to the point where he finally managed to pique my interest. My first episode was S1E16, Sonic Rainboom. If the first episode doesn't start most bronies, I'm fairly certain that one will. It got my six-year-old cousin interested, just through the intro alone.

... Yeah, the addiction started from there for me.

[featherquill]

I heard aout the show, couldn't understand why it was so popular, but I happened to have the Hub so I figured it couldn't hurt to check it out.

The episode that happened to be on when I tried watching it was The Best Night Ever.

I wasn't too impressed at first. Some of the jokes were okay, but it seemed still like a show really just for little kids.

Then they started singing. My reaction: holy [buck] is that Sondheim?

And I was hooked.

[Wolfey180]

Long Story Short: heard about the show, was a hater for a while, gave it a chance around April 2011, was alright about it, watched the available episodes, liked it a lot but didn't really care for the fandom, became a brony shortly after season two came out. If you're interested in hearing all about it...

I first heard about FiM I think about two months after it initially came out when I kept seeing fan artists talk about it on websites like Deviant Art. I ignored it at first, especially after seeing a little fan art pop up here and there. But one by one, my favorite artists began doing fan art about the ponies, and when that combined with seeing ponies showing up everywhere across image sites I started having the typical anti-brony thoughts. I mean, brightly colored ponies based off of My Little Pony, what was happening to this world? I couldn't understand, didn't put any effort in trying. All I know was they were everywhere and was getting annoying to find. That's right, I had the typical anti-brony thoughts aimed towards the fans for a while.

What a fool I was.

Probably around four months after beginning my hate (oh how I hate recalling those times), I continued to see more artists and fans talk about the cartoon, so I did my own little research to find out what's so captivating about it. Articles and professional reviewers actually called the cartoon good and promising. Good, how? I ignored the reviews, but my curiosity continued to build for a whole month until I finally watched the first episode with the volume barely audible as I kind of felt shame for succumbing to something so, I guess "girly" would be the nicest term here.

I was expecting a good story line. I got that from the intro of the pilot episode with the explanation of day and night. I was thinking, "Not bad. Really different from the newer cartoons." Then the theme song came on and my finger was a small sliver away from closing the Youtube window, but I endured it. As I watched, I did agree with the animation actually being catchy, and I even chuckled at some parts due to really underestimating the comedy. Twilight getting her quest to make new friends also got me to almost close the window because of how cheesy it sounded, so I just prayed that it would get better like everyone kept imploring. Then the characters were introduced, and I was already familiar with most of them due to each review I had read including their brief synopsis of the mane 6. I found I actually enjoyed some of their individual traits just enough to keep watching. By the end of the pilot episode, Nightmare Moon appears, I found I actually liked her design, and finally, "To Be Continued."

By this point, I sort of recapped my thoughts on it. Mostly I thought the show was okay mainly because I didn't feel like I was going to like the characters (I especially did not care for Pinkie and Rarity, at the time of course). My conclusion was to finish the second episode to see what happens. The most significant reaction I had was Pinkie's "Laughter Song" because this was the closest I came to giving up on the show entirely. I am not too fond of musicals, especially if it's going to come from a show aimed towards little girls. I liked how Twilight was apprehensive about her breaking into song, but that was it. Next, the ending of this episode, which I didn't have that many problems with because I didn't expect much of a climax. Plus, it's the pilot episode.

Now, I read the youtube comments and see they're all flooded with comments like "I'm a guy and is liking My Little Pony." For some reason, I kept watching more episodes. Maybe it was because I wanted to give FiM more chances since the fans boasted it gets better. They were right, by the time Gilda makes her appearance I admitted to myself that I really enjoy this show.

Eventually, I find Rarity is not the stuck up pony I thought she'd be, I actually like her and admire her work ethics a lot, and Pinkie is the comical one of the bunch instead of the annoying airhead. Now, I follow EqD posts daily, love Pinkie's Laughter Song, and find Pinkie Pie is my second favorite pony

Sorry for the long story XD

It's fine, I enjoyed your story.

[SirShadowdeath]

First I was like:

Then I was like:

And Now I'm like:

[Wolfey180]

First I was like:

Then I was like:

And Now I'm like:

I had the poker face at first but i love your description.

[Ashton]

I just have to ask... is this really just curiosity or are you doing a paper? (We've had people do it before on here, so I'm curious, --- I'm not angry, quite the opposite, if your doing a paper I (and likely everyone here) have a few more tidbits that might help but aren't directly related to the initial question.

[Wolfey180]

I just have to ask... is this really just curiosity or are you doing a paper? (We've had people do it before on here, so I'm curious, --- I'm not angry, quite the opposite, if your doing a paper I (and likely everyone here) have a few more tidbits that might help but aren't directly related to the initial question.

Haha! No It's out of pure curiosity!

[Frain Breeze]

My initial thought was that the whole "brony" thing was just a short-lived meme that would die out by the end of the year. Since my friend and I were previously fans of Powerpuff Girls, getting me to watch MLP was less a matter of convincing me it's not too girly, and more a matter of prying me off of whatever game I was playing at the time XD; (the first ep he got me to watch was the one with Zecora, in case you were wondering)