When and why did you become a furry/Brony

Hopefully I am not posting a topic that was already made. I am so used to the other forums I am on having a search engine built in. Linux and programmers forums have this feature so a topic does not get repeated a hundred times.  
.  
What got you into cartoonish characters and or otherwise anthro morph illustrations?  
.  
My input  
I began as a tech enthusiast who got board of the pure scifi stuff. I first read Eragon and loved it. Read that thing probably a thousand times. My first tulpae was based off Saphira. Her name is Seria (See air ah). Eventually I had a weird dream that oddly enough was over MLP sometime the end of 2007 or early 2008. I ended up getting into MLP only because it caused me severe anxiety if I were to see it. Don’t ask me why. I can only say its got something to do with my OCD and Aspergers Syndrome. I ended up finding I absolutely loved it. Eventually I did get into anthro with my art. Getting into trouble in High School for an obsession really sucked let me tell ya. I was always told by some of my teachers that I was the reason I got made fun of. As if I was into MLP only for the attention. I guess I don’t have to tell ya that is not accurate. Actually its the inverse. I find MLP brought me peace of mind to my OCD and it did not matter one bit what people thought. Love me hate me I no longer cared.

@LP2Lily  
Wouldn’t do that if I were you.
 
As for me (I am the same person who posted back in your first forum post), I got into MLP because I love seeing female characters shining in their light (having great character development shining) than males, also I need some friendship lessons never found in other medias. Also help me cope with some anxiety because I dislike traditional gender norms.
 
I kept my taste of MLP mostly a secret, as revealing it to anyone in my country can be risky. My country is not yet that Asperger friendly as well. I only reveal it to whom I can deeply trust.

@furred_researcher  

 
Don’t do what? Kind of confused

@LP2Lily  
Don’t reveal your taste of likeness of MLP too openly or recklessly, I mean.
 
Only reveal to people who you can see fit (this can be tough), unless they openly revealed and stay sane.  
This depends on where you are and which country are you from. Is the country are you from has a fair amount of bronies?
 
But in here, it is safe to open. :)
 
I won’t go into too much details about it, people don’t like hearing too much details unless they show interests in them. In short, people mostly like short, and effective meaning messages.

@furred_researcher  
Dammit, I should stay anonymous.
 
(it is still me, fursearch, I like staying anonymous.)

@furred_researcher  

 
.  
Thanks for clarifying. I thought you were referring to my tulpas. Being able to talk to my imagination helps with my autism. As for MLP its not really in the realm of possibility to hide it. I can’t hide my fascination with age regression either. The books I am writing focuses on removing the negative stigma to coping strategies of all types. I might as well add that half my shirts are MLP related. I do appreciate your concern. My calling in this endeavor is too great. Mental health should have just as much importance as physical health.

Oh gosh such a question. I became a furry before I even watched MLP, so like 2012 or even 2011, but I didn’t have any fursona at the time. I just enjoyed the art and fandom and didn’t get too deep into it. Then MLP happened and I got into ponies, but I still visited furry sites to watch artists I liked and see their furry stuff.
 
Ironically, I found out about furry stuff initially by being interested in the porn. Yep. Puberty wasn’t pretty.

Same here, @Luna. I became a brony just because watching MLP videos from YouTube. Mostly parodies (yea also Cupcakes.HD) and episodes shorts.

Before I knew what furry was I already drew them without realizing it. Then when I delved deeper into my interest in Youtube, Animal Jam, and Deviantart I discovered what I did had a name, furry. I just associated with it and eventually discovered suits, cons, and music. My brony self came later on when MLP was first put on Netflix. I listened to brony music and watched a lot of brony YouTubers and Bronies react. So now I draw ponies and anthro characters.

@JasonTheRat
 
Thats pretty awesome. Let me tell ya. Sounds similar to me and tulpamancy/age-reg. I was desperate for finding a way out of my life emotions and problems. Mind you parts of this did start out of my teenage puberty. My Little Pony was not really a fetish for me, but certian parts of age-reg was. Kind of like what Luna said above. I persionally not too proud of it, but I suppose everyone has faced some odd things through their age-of-puberty. Persionally I try to avoid that part of my self at all costs. The farther I can push it away the more stable I am with my emotions. My life problems are a lot easier to solve when I am the innocent small, wingless, furcovered, dragon. I suppose if I put them in order it was Tulpamancy, My little Pony, Age Regression, and furry last after I made the decission not to allow my inner demon-sexuality control me. To each their own. Not everyone has problems like mine.