On Fandom

I just watched the Bronies documentary on Netflix...and I *may* have gotten a little emotional.

I'm not a Brony (or Pegasister, or whatever), although I did watch the show and I did enjoy it...but the feelings of acceptance and community that a devoted fandom provides is the same across the different realms or things nerdy.

Embracing my own fandom and letting it show through cosplay (and now nerdlesque) and going to conventions is what pulled me out of depression and into an place of happiness and serenity that I haven't felt since high school drama club. When I was little, I was unpopular. I hid myself away in books and tried desperately to be normal, which just made me miserable. When I hit high school and joined drama, I was part of a community where I could be myself, even if only for a couple afternoons a week. My castmates were my friends, and we could all be weird and wonderful together.

But as I got older, I felt pressured more and more to be "normal" again. You know, like a grown up should be.

I'm starting to see a trend: Leah trying to be "normal" = Leah feels sad and lonesome.

Trying to date just made me feel worse, because there was even MORE pressure to be "normal" because boys I was convinced that boys don't like weird girls.

Then I briefly dated a fellow nerd, and it was pretty much the best thing ever.

And now, I'm a proud Browncoat, Whovian, Gater, and Disney Princess with passable knowledge of tons of other fandoms throughout sci-fi, fantasy, and anime. And even if I'm not a particularly social person, I know that a couple times per year, I can spend a weekend with people who understand me and who get my nerdy jokes and references. I may panic at the idea of a simple party among peers, but wild horses couldn't drag me away from Ottawa Comiccon.

If you have the chance to check out "Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony" on Netflix, please do! It's great insight, not only into the world of Brony culture, but I think that it mirrors adult fandoms in general. It's a really amazing phenomenon that I'm so grateful has changed my own life.