/rant/

Alright... I don't do this very often. But with recent events transpiring how they have, I feel that some things need to be said. First off I'm gonna state that this is all my own personal opinions, feelings, or whatever garbage you wanna call it. Now, don't look at this like I'm the author of MLD, look at this if I were a normal brony.

This entire journal is, in ways, a response to the recent postings on EqD about the youtube take downs, the pony archive destruction, and other related situations. Seth has been very professional on those postings, as well as others including Pixel Kitties who have done very good at setting a lot of bronies straight, and for reasons I'm not sure, I just felt like adding my own few cents into this mix. We need more bronies like them, who actually take time to think things over and look at the problem from the other side. I like to say I do also, but this isn't about me so I'll cut that crap. Hasbro, for over a year now, has been just amazing to us all. Allowing the youtube videos, fan art, music, and just anything else we've made up. And for that, we all should be overly grateful. Every time we search anything of MLP, we should be saying some sort of grace to Hasbro for allowing this amazing content to exist in the first place. Lauren Faust gets credit for even starting the show, her ideas and such, but that's something completely different and not a part of this.

From what I have seen, read, and been told, as of a week(?) ago Hasbro has officially been pulling the plug on the main sources of all the episodes for either download or simple watch. First off, in all honestly, that sucks. Being a brony, of course that sucks. Does that mean they don't want us to watch and enjoy the show anymore? Hell no! Hasbro is smart, if they weren't  then this fandom would have died a long time ago. But no, they've stuck by us through all the shit we have given them. When trolls posed as Hasbro, and some nice bronies went and yelled at them for it, did they turn against us? NO!

What people are failing to see is that Hasbro has to not only cover themselves, but also cover their shows, toys, and merch. All of it is effected by how we see the show. Up until a month ago, when confirmation of the episodes out on DVD, Hasbro, I like to think anyway, had no problem with us streaming the episodes online. It drew in fans, to which we bought more merch and such. But now that they are going to release them, then what? What happens to all the free watching online? We have to do what every other normal person does with any other normal tv show: buy the damn things! Hasbro is making sure that they are not going to suffer for making these dvd's. They are covering themselves to make sure that this won't come back and hurt them. We can say "Oh we'll buy them anyway" all we want, but that's just speaking through a screen. That's not a person to person talk, spit 'n hand shake, and a final farewell with a complementary pen and a thanks for stopping by.

What it all boils down to, which to most sounds unfair, is simply put: it belongs to Hasbro, there for they can do whatever they want. Again, that sucks. So we just have to learn to deal with it. And it's not like they are completely destroying what we have. All they are doing is going after the full episodes, none of the other custom made content. And I gotta tell you, if we have to sacrifice watching all the episodes for free on youtube to keep the fan art, fiction, custom plushies, and music, then I can live with that. Even if they have to yank other things, the first I can see being the plushies, then that too is understandable for the same situations just for the toy line. It's not all because they are greedy, money hungry business people who only care about profit. If it were that, then things would be really different. They simply want to protect their investments, and I can understand that. I don't have a problem with any of it. They have the rights to do as they please, and they have been more than fair with what we have done.

So real quick, I'd like to say THANK YOU HASBRO for doing what you have, and for giving us what you have. For allowing  us to enjoy this series with very free and open minds. Thank you for allowing us creators to take this show and make it so much more in the eyes of the fans. You should be proud of yourselves for what you have given us, allowed us to do, and above all stuck with us throughout our successes and fails. Hasbro, or for that matter anyone involved with the show, if you ever read this, just don't allow some of the more... aggressive fans get to you. You must realize that not all of us are naive to realize what you go through, and you need to gain something for your efforts. You need to make money on this, you deserve to. I understand, and I hope others do to, that you can't please all of us. You can't change things in the show or marketing just for us.

This show is meant for the younger audience, the true fans of this show. Now, before you go raging on me about that, I'm gonna explain myself. Us "bronies" in my eyes aren't the true fans of this show. We are a bunch of people hoping onto a band wagon full of marshmellow ponies and sugary candy. The true fans of this show, are the targeted demographic. They don't question the few faults, and continuity errors they have. They don't go and taint the show with their grimdark fics or r34 images. All they do is sit on their couch Saturday mornings and laugh to the funny adventures of six techno-colored ponies. They are the true fans of this show, so who are we to destroy that for them? They deserve more from us. We need to calm down, think things through. Because everything that we do isn't just effecting us. No. It's effecting them too. My three nieces, ages three, five, and seven, all love this show. I showed it to them, and their mother (my sister) ordered the station special just so they could enjoy it. They don't care about all this feeble shit we worry over. All they want is the ponies. So shouldn't that be what we worry about to?

What should we do? Where should we stand in all of this. We do have rights as viewers, and Hasbro has shown us that. And all they simply ask for in return is we allow them to protect their assets, by giving us means to still enjoy the show while prompting us to show them how much we truly love the show. By spending the few bucks on the DVD's, or the itunes downloads. Sure not all of us can afford it. Well, I can't afford a lot of things. I want a lot of things. Don't we all? So what makes ponies any different than that new computer, or tv, or Springfield M1A that we may want. *ahem*

Look, I know this must be tiring to you all to read this, because it's tiring for me to write it. But this has been bugging me for way to long now. At times, seeing how some of you so called "bronies" react has made me seriously consider myself no longer one. Is that what we are? One little thing goes wrong, then we attack what we think is the cause. We bite the hand that feeds us? From what I have seen... yes. We are becoming those monsters that ruin everything, because we feel we're more important and are "entitled" to things. Bah, humbug! We're not entitled to anything. Hasbro could at any time pull the plug on this and say "To hell with you bronies." At times I can't believe they haven't. I amend them for sticking around, loving and tolerating what we do to them in return.

So, if anything you get from this, just anything, let it be this:

Think, before you act. Think, before you speak. And please, put yourselves in the other end's shoes. In this case Hasbro's, or even Studio B's, and think about what they go through and must do to appease us. Because they shouldn't have to. All they should be doing, is creating smiles on little girls faces, and allowing the parents that must sit through this task to have some laughs of their own.

Authors note I need a drink after this one. For that matter, a vacation. This fandom, as much as I want to love it... is anymore disgusting me. To you that need not apply, don't worry. I'm not mad at you. Hell, I'm not mad at anyone, at the very bottom of my "mad at" list is Hasbro. In fact, I'm happy with them. Some of you have done amazing jobs at showing what being a brony was meant to be. Others need prodding to see the light, and even then they go off and do stupid shit, giving us a bad rep. I applaud another brony, Purple Tinker, for doing so much for us to give us a good name in the world. We've been thrown around as good and bad so much... I don't know which we truly even are. For PT's sake. For Seth's, and Pixel's, and every other honest brony out there that does what they can to help others and do the right thing. The bronies that think things over and can actually understand what me and others are saying, to simply, as the fellows at Bronyville put it, "Chill out, it's just a show." To all of you... I hope that the term "Brony" can be looked at down the line as a good term. Not one filled with slander and attacking others as I've seen so much.

If you have any qualms with anything I've said, then say them here. Go for it. I don't care. This is my personal thoughts and opinions, what I've been feeling for weeks now. And if it's wrong for me to feel this way, then sue me. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to continue to prepare for BroNYcon. I'm gonna go there as a fan of the show, say hello and if possible shake some famous people's hands, and hopefully enjoy myself. I'm not gonna make a fool of myself, or draw any attention. I'm going there as a normal dude that likes a show for little girls.

Good night everypony. Sleep well. I hope you've had a very Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and I look forward to what this year brings us all. God bless, amen, and TTFN