Hey Everypony, I am going to go buy some pony merch at the Hot Topics (At least, that's the plan) but there's a small problem: my father insists on coming with me. Not only am I a closet brony (which for some people seems like not a big deal, but where I live if you are a brony people want to burn you at the friggin stake) but my father has also expressed his... opinions on bronies. The terms "Immature manchildren, Breastfed too long, f**king stupid", and others were thrown around a lot. So, no other ponies to ask, was looking for advice here. Halp? ******************************UPDATE******************************** Well, I decided to go for it. Got a Fluttershy, Doctor Whooves, Derpy, and DJ PON3 shirt. He asked what the f*ck I was doing, so I told him. It lead to... creative debating, but after a while, things began to go my way. I showed him some videos, explained, and more or less loved and tolerated the **** out of my father, and while he isn't a big fan of the community, he is accepting the fact that I am, and I suppose that is good enough, right? Thanks to everypony that gave advice, I think it really did help the outcome.
I wonder what would happen if you tell him....... Actually,judging by his statement he might beat you.But thats only if he's a complete lunatic.Which is unlikely. You could just tell him you dont want him to come.
In moments like this it's gonna be water over the bridge or under it. If you plan on buying merchandise, he'd find out sooner or later. It might as well be sooner and it'll be better if he hears it directly from you. Just go there with him, buy whatever merchandise you want, and tell him to: Here's the fact: If you buy merchandise, you stop being a closet brony. There's no way around it.
It might not be as easy as telling him to just deal with it. Some parents, probably more than you'd think, would disown their child if they found out that they're gay, or liberal, or whatever else they deem intolerable. If he is extremely against bronies, you may be better off not buying any merch at all. It may not seem fair, but the world is not fair. Our "love and tolerate" mantra usually does not jive with most of the rest of the world's population. You know your dad better than any of us. If you think he will take it very badly, like disowning you or at the very least creating a permanent rift between the two of you, it might very well be in your best interests to keep your bronyness to yourself. Many of the open bronies will disagree with me but I know where you're coming from. My dad is old school blue collar. His outspoken opinions are usually racist, sexist and not very tolerant of much of anything. But he's actually not too bad on the inside. I think if I told him I was a brony he'd either rag on me or ignore it, but ultimately get over it because I'm family and that trumps his other opinions. Although it doesn't matter much anyway because I'm over 18, so I'm no longer under my parent's thumb. Worse comes to worse I could always move out if I had to. Your dad may be different, I dunno. Your situation may be different, you may not be able to move out if you had to, or be under 18 (which I'm guessing is the case) so if you think he's going to take it very badly, I'd suggest just keeping your MLP love to yourself.
Your choices are simple: - Buy merchandise and let the world around you know you're a brony. - Don't buy merchandise. There's simply no way to buy merchandise and keep it hidden. If you think your dad will overreact, i'd say it's best to forget about ever buying anything.
I can see why you want your pony merchandise so badly, seeing as it will eventually phase out and the things you want may not be available by the time you move out and are on your own. Why not make a joint collection with a brony that you do know in real life? That's what me and my brother have done. We just add both of our pony things to the collection, but it all stays here during the school year when his roommate is around. It makes the collection grow much faster, too. As for me, be safe and wait on telling your parents. The risk of your relationship never being the same is much greater than the risk of never getting your brony merchandise.
If you're in danger of being physically harmed I wouldn't go out and about with it. You can always order stuff online and keep an eye out for the delivery guy on the scheduled date. If you do have mechandise though your dad will surely find out what's going on eventually. I never really had to deal with much hardship. I was a closet brony for a while, but now my entire family knows, cousins and all, and they don't mind it one bit. If you're still a teenager, then I can see why your father has his doubts. It just makes it that much harder to explain to him. Perhaps showing him videos of other people's thoughts on the subject may help.(Positive material of coarse.) In my experience, the more you act like you don't care about something, the more other's will care less about how you feel about that thing. It can be hard I know, because ponies ROCK! Sometimes it's better to not try to explain something so much, but instead act like you don't care and give vague answers to any of their questions about it. For example here's a conversation I had with my brother-in-law months ago. BIL: "Is that My Little Pony on your shirt?" Me: "I think so." BIL: "Why are you wearing that?" Me: "Because I like it. Why else would I wear it?" BIL: "It just seems kind of strange." Me: "I guess. Doesn't really matter to me." It can be hard to act like something you're not. I try to defend bronies whenever I can and I do care very strongly about this fandom, but I act like it's not a big deal. If you act like you feel really sensitive about it, people will take advantage of you.
Definitely don't over-think this. I'm a bit more on the rebellious, dye-my-hair-purple-because-I-can side of the scale, so my opinion is going to be shifted in that direction. However, not everyone else is like that, as I believe Frost pointed out in his very well thought-out post. Do you want to challenge your father? If so, tell him up front and just make sure he knows it's a part of you that isn't going anywhere. There are far more difficult things to try to explain to your parents than the fact that you like ponies, take my word for it. And if he says it's not normal, so what? The greatest men and women of history weren't normal, either. Few things can become extraordinary while staying normal. Do you not wish to make a big deal out of it? If so, buy the shirt(s) in the presence of your father, but don't bring it up unless he asks. Just keep cool the whole way through, and tell him you don't think it's a big deal. It's just a shirt, and there are far worse things you could be wearing. If you're too afraid of your father's reaction, then don't buy the shirt(s). However, I recommend challenging this fear in at least some small way. While difficult, it is not the sort of challenge that is going to stick with you and your father forever. When all's said and done, this is a television program we're talking about. Any parent that thinks their child is wrong in some way because he watches a certain show clearly has some issues of their own to work out. Nobody is forcing you to buy the shirt. Remember that.
That's awesome that it worked out that well. He doesn't have to like it or understand it as long as he doesn't mind that you do. Congratulations!
thats AWESOME that you got the stuff and it went your way, CONGRATS .....now i just have to do that myself.......except that im not a closet brony, i just have trouble asking if i can get pony merch...... my dad is scary...........
