Hello everyone! I'm going to be starting a weekly rant blog because I care about ll the problems here. Okay, fine, I started it because when my friends are on vacation, I have no one to lecture. Anyways, while considering this idea I thought to myself, "Hey! Instead of warily wading into the waters of weekly rants, let's dive right off the deep end into the most controversial topic here and on many places: Bronies." If such a topic makes you prone to uncontrollable rages, stop reading here. So, disclaimer aside, here we go.

First off, my stance. Yes, I'm a brony. "But Swarmer," you say, ", this will make you biased!" Well, yes and no. While I try to keep all points of my argument fair, some of my preferences will get through. Also, I will have you know that at one point I was a hater. But, If they could convert me, a very stubborn person, to a brony myself, there has to be some good reasoning on their side.

The show is great. I love the way they did it, and when you dissect it, there are many good reasons to like it. It has so many things right with it that it's hard to hate it. BULLET TIME:

• It's animated with flash. Flash on cartoons usually signals that the show has a low budget, and also a program that has trouble expressing ideas. A perfect example is Johnny Test. A long running flash cartoon, but the characters were unbelievably two-dimensional, figuratively (We'll get to that later) but mostly physically. They looked flat and had trouble expressing emotions. It took forever to define the difference between anger and sadness, usually resulting in a few confusing moments. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic uses a good mix between flash's rigs and custom animations to make it interesting to watch while giving a good graphic style.
  
• It has great people behind it. Lauren Faust, the leading figure behind the Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. In all honesty, I hate Powerpuff Girls, But I have to admit, I was dome beautifully. Foster's on the other hand, is my favorite cartoon of all time. Again, done with flash. When coming to My Little Pony, Lauren brought a bunch of her old friends with her, brewing the perfect storm. Lauren, a great figure herself, did more than her share in the first season of the show. She was the creator, developer, executive producer, writer, storyboard artist, character designer, and creative director. She and her team did a great job presenting the show.
  
• It has great music. Daniel Ingram is an amazing composer. His tunes are very adaptable and catchy. You never know when you will find yourself singing them. My experience proves it. I have learned one of the musical numbers, This Day Aria, on piano, and with in a week of me learning it and playing it, everyone in my household was sing it the melody, but not knowing where they picked it up or what it was from. Now, I play it whenever I have a private recital, always getting complements.
  
• It has great characters. This was a big piece. In the show, there are six main(mane) characters who each have a very different personality. Lauren Faust said that she modeled the characters to be unique, and when a conflict arises, you have a legitimate way to see each characters point. She also wanted these characters to engage the parent's thoughts, but we all now know it attracted more than just parents. The six have personalities that mesh in some ways, but deflect each other in different ways. The characters also have flaws , from paranoia to anxiety to self-centeredness, It adds another layer to make it more enjoyable.
  
• It is backed by a good company. While some argue that Hasbro does nothing good for the show and it's older fans, I think they seem to embrace it. They've done many supporting things. They've created ads referencing bronies and even named official merch and characters after fan names, examples being Dr. Whooves and Octavia. And let none of us forget Derpy, the animation glitch gone canon, where Hasbro encouraged it, making it a where's waldo for the bronies.
  
• It is innocent. Not an ignorant innocent, but a true innocent. So often today, even in children's programming, media and just the general public is filled with sick things. Disgusting things permeate everywhere, so having an escape into a clean show shouldn't be bad. Which would you rather have, a young generation swearing, getting hyped up on COD and watching Saw, or a generation that is taking in a show with positive traits? The answer should be obvious.
  
  

Alright. That's my argument about the show. We still have the fandom to cover, and I think that might have to warrant a return to BULLET TIME.

• Bronies are collectively positive. Watching a show meant to give friendly and beneficial traits. While not everyone follows those traits, the vast majority of us do. All of that is reflected by our motto, "Love and tolerate." That means we are willing to love and tolerate those who disagree or hate us. When I was a hater, realizing that I couldn't get a reaction from a lot of bronies discouraged me, and then a classmate of mine showed me good reasons to join, so I converted. I'm so glad I did. Even though members of my family now hate me for that decision. Also, tolerating and not retaliating can set a good example, even outside of the fandom, further expressing.
  
  
• Bronies are creative. I used to think of them as people that just watched the show. That's just a small fraction of what they do. They have an UNBELIEVABLE drive to create anything. Art is a great example. There are thousands of pages of art, many of them are expertly drawn. This and that are few examples. Music is a prime example too. I am a musician, so music hits it big with me. Professional production quality and just many collabs make it all worth it. Some of my favorites here, here, here, and right here. And as you can see if you checked the links, many styles like acoustic, club, and even eurobeat are executed perfectly. Writing is popular too. The fandom's most prominent piece of literature is Fallout: Equestria. While it may be a designed for older audiences, it is still beautifully written, and when printed as novels (Which is happening now) it is about 5 books long.
  
• Bronies are communally helpful. Bronies always support each other when in bad times. I've seen many testimonials from bronies and even their family members about how the fandom changed their or their loved one's life. I've seen a testimonial by a couple that said how the brony community saved their teenage son from commiting suicide. My friend, the one who introduced me to the show, had attempted suicide before. He failed that time, and his parents transferred him to my school. Somewhere during that time he picked up on bronies, and when I first met him, I hated him for it. He explained afterwards how the community saved him from himself and his thoughts, and that reason touched me. Here I am today ranting for it. They are also very generous on a compassionate note. If you've been following the humble bundle, you've seen that one one bundles, they donated more than notch, taking first place with a grand sum of over $12,000. There are many other funds too, like the Brony Thank You Fund, which donates a lot of money too.
  

Kudos to you for reading this far. Overall, these are just some of my reasons. This show and community can change people for the better. I believe a bright future full of people, be creative no matter what society tells them. Anyways, I'm gonna keep writing this bi-weekly rant, no matter the reception, so expect more. If you disagree, anyone in the comments can put up their argument, and I'll be happy to read it and put my thoughts on it. So, seeya in two weeks <3 -Swarmer