My Little Pony XXXV: The Thread Everypony Should Know

[otakuryoga]

well...Hub showed Best Pet today...thats 2 pancreas deaths this morning and it aint even noon yet


I am sitting in a hatchback in a Jack in the box drive thru.

I miss Jack in the Box....more specifically i miss their commercials...always had some great ones

[Deadly]

Mare in the Mirror chapter 12 (http://adcoon.deviantart.com/art/Mare-in-the-Mirror-12-277951549), for those who read it. Still not much response, but maybe once it's finished... shouldn't be too many chapters left.

[Soras Teva Gee]

Incidentally ponythread new Friendship is Witchcraft is out.

Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1uUa8lUIJE)

Sweetiebot melts my heart.

[legomaster00156]

Incidentally ponythread new Friendship is Witchcraft is out.

Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1uUa8lUIJE)

Sweetiebot melts my heart.
Already watched it.

Pinkie's screwed up reality so hard that she gave a robot a soul. That's really kind of awesome. Also, I liked Sweetie's Big Race.

[otakuryoga]

yes...but now we must wait a year for another eclipse and the ressurection of Lord Smooze :smallfrown: :smallfrown:

[Eakin]

"My primary function is failure" was an unexpected tug at the ol' heartstrings. Basically everything else from Sweetie-bot was comedy gold though.

Also Sweetie's "I Love You" drawing is adorable whether the medium is sapphires or raccoon blood

"Post traumatic dress disorder" I might have to steal for use in real life.

I didn't think that the race song was as good as Pinkie's Brew. I think that says more about how good Brew is than how bad this one was. I'm a sucker for food, time travel, and wordplay so that song was pretty much the perfect trifecta. I guess "kitch-en time saves nine" wasn't just a throwaway pun. Wonder who the other four parents are going to be? My guess is that they'll use two of them on Twilight's parents when they get around to the scene covering her magic school entrance exam.

And I'm pretty sure they won't be used to bring back Pinkie's parents, poor dear.

[otakuryoga]

darn it!!! im gonna have to go harvest some more Pancreas's
...just lost a 3rd one for today
http://askfluttershyandpinkiepie.tumblr.com/

Fluttershy with Bunny Ear headphones...
darn you Speccsy...darn you to heck!

[Noctemwolf]

I Thought I might share a Drawing I'm working on with Ponythread...

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/380468_324265217595288_100000354385117_1103477_492 43901_n.jpg

[maximus25]

New episode tomorrow! So excited. :D :D :D

[Gamerlord]

I'm not sure if this has been posted yet, but the TF2 Sniper's VA read aloud a letter to Princess Celestia. It is glorious. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vhNWzK_yGA&feature=player_embedded)

[Lix Lorn]

Of course. But then you're not just merely dead, but really most sincerely dead.
Your friend; he is only MOSTLY dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive!

[Soras Teva Gee]

Discussion Topic Everypony:

So since we haven't been able to celebrate new pony this year I was wondering has anyone come to any revelations about ponies thanks to the separation of the holidays.

I for example recently realized that I could actually rank season 2 now. Because while of course its all ponies and all good as a result I realized that certain episodes have simply stuck in my head more. Namely the first four episodes stand out above the rest of the season in more or less reverse order. I love Luna, Crazy Twi, and DisQord and while the episodes following have left their marks I find myself not going back to them in my head as much.

Has anyone else found something like this going on, that with more distance you've found viewpoints chaning

[Beacon of Chaos]

The Party Cannon is now real. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5ctAtsd6Hs)

[SiuiS]

Life is full of lessons. Like, when you can't sleep in a wonky airline seat, do something else! So I did. I doodled.

I'm glad, too - my discomfort means nothing, compared to Thistle getting a nice enough facelift she is ok being seen in public. I'm actually pretty excited about that! Once the lines for the mane came together, EVERYTHING else clicked into place; her face, eye shape, beak shape, body proportions, body language, mannerisms. She's not quite as depressive as when first envisioned, but that's probably because she has friends now, and feels errrr about herself.

Heck, I'd feel better with that kind of sexy haircut!

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/personalprojects/Midnight/d1c53422.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/personalprojects/Midnight/a7934394.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/personalprojects/Midnight/7e0cc00d.jpg


And once I've had a spot I practice...

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/personalprojects/Midnight/9795bcb8.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/personalprojects/Midnight/087fa951.jpg


Oh yeah, much more expressive now...

Her age throws me though. She seems both younger, and yet more vibrant. Where before, she had a sort of timeless angsty quality to her. She has definitely developed as a character as well. I kinda miss the original stroke; my very very first concept was something I would like to explore. But hey, you know what they say about milk spills and crying. This new direction works, so let's run with it. As soon as I have A) stable net access and B) some sleep under my belt, I'll look into mane designs. She really wants to have her momma fluttershy put her hair up for formal wear, it seems.

Oh, nuts, I also have to draw fluttershy.... Hm...

Oh, and hey Druid Droid; update #1, the Day Before. I got up at 1pm, went to work, got off at midnight, packed, got in a car, went to the airport, got on a plane, drew while flying, ate Chinese food in Texas, got on another plane, couldn't sleep because I kept getting assaulted by sensory input (and biting my tongue), and have been awake for the last... *mental math* ...26 hours, where I am now having a staring contest with a tiger across from mark twain's house. Weeeeee~

The good news is, between Jade, Braz, and whoever else, they clan carry my dead weight like a sack of potatoes of Hypnos comes to claim his due. XD

[Orzel]

Tomorrow..

I meet Andrea Libman (Voice of Pinkie Pie & Fluttershy), Nicole Oliver (Voice of Princess Celestia & Cheerilee), and Ashleigh Ball (Voice of Rainbow Dash & Applejack). And they will sign my ponies.:smallcool:

*hop*

*hop*

*hop*

[Thanqol]

Speaking of character designs...I also sometimes struggle with getting enough to get started or to build on, but not being able to flesh out the character in my head. Possibly it's because I'm afraid I'll make a bunch of inconsistent choices, but I don't know. Any suggestions for pushing the characterization deeper? I know you mentioned Virtues and Vices and even Elements, but I have trouble getting to a place where I feel like I'm not just arbitrarily choosing them...

Ahh, this is a complicated question. I'll try to explain how I do it.

Step one, as you're no doubt aware, is the concept stage. This stage never works out for me and my end result never resembles the concept stage in the slightest. No, really, Jayden was originally a time travelling Nazi. I've still got the character sheet. It's eerily similar.

The standard concept-flesh-construct-detail approach was very much my old pattern of doing things, an approach I no longer use. Why? Because it gives pictures and catchphrases instead of characters.

My new method skips all that jazz and goes directly to figuring out how the character thinks. Sowing the seed of a personality, disconnected from any setting or system. Starting with a thought pattern, as it were, getting a personality in abstract. And then, once that's done, the character will build herself. You won't have to agonise over where to put dots, or work out details, or spend time thinking about her favourite colour or natural vice - she'll do it all for you.

And, if you do it wrong, the character will argue with you. I recently designed a Seer of the Throne for a Mage tabletop, name of Cyprus. Originally my concept had her as a tortured prophet, but just by exploring the thought pattern I'd created I had to put that aside and redefine her as a hunter of Mages. And that wasn't a redefinition of character role; that was balance asserting itself, the correct choice forcing itself to the fore and not letting me pick sub-optimal alternatives.

And moreover, this personality fragment you've created will be able to be put into any setting, any system, and naturally build a functional character around themselves.

Starting a personality seed is a little complicated, and the process is a little harder to explain. I do it as recreation, but I've got a few crutches for when you want to force the process. Number one is the Ideal Self/Flawed Self. That's where you work out a piece of philosophy that represents the character's ultimate enlightenment, and then you mar it and use that flawed version as a starting point.

Examples:
Metal Mask:
Enlightenment: "Sometimes you wear the Mask"
Flawed: "Sometimes the Mask wears you."

Jayden Mavel:
Enlightenment: "Nothing ever dies"
Flawed: "I am invincible"

Etcetera. The other is word spheres. Pick out five words that mean something to the character, and then pick five words detailing each of those five words. And then use this as inspiration and structure for a thought process; what's important and what's not.

But the end point is that once you've got that core, that fundamental idea that defines their soul, then you've got a thought. And then you can start building the character as normal, but that thought pattern will linger in the background. And as you explore it, explore the mechanics of the system or details of the setting you intend to put the pattern in, the character will naturally form her own opinions and start responding to things.

And then you've got a character, a character that can answer any stupid question offhand without thinking.

Jayden would say that the question of favourite colours is stupid, but she likes brown. Her favourite food is burnt toast, mostly because it's convenient. Her computer password is the name of the high school science teacher she really liked, expanded to include half a dozen special characters and numbers once she started to become tech savvy. She loves twitch gaming and thinks puzzle games are boring even though (because) she's really good at them. Her favourite European country in 1399 is the Ottoman Empire. She thinks modern India is the future. She likes technology big and bulky and detests the entire school of thought behind the iPhone. She doesn't like movies, at all - she doesn't like having to sit still for long period, plus her mother likes movies.

Any more?

And so on; I can just answer these questions without having to think. When you start with a thought pattern, they'll think for you.


Mare in the Mirror chapter 12 (http://adcoon.deviantart.com/art/Mare-in-the-Mirror-12-277951549), for those who read it. Still not much response, but maybe once it's finished... shouldn't be too many chapters left.

This is actually on my to-read list, and I'll get started at the very beginning soonish!

EDIT: Oh my, it's a sequel to a seven parter. This may be a while.


Incidentally ponythread new Friendship is Witchcraft is out.

Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1uUa8lUIJE)

Sweetiebot melts my heart.

I'm still not sure how I feel about this series. It feels like one enormous in-joke. But it's a professionally done injoke, so I'm torn.


Life is full of lessons. Like, when you can't sleep in a wonky airline seat, do something else! So I did. I doodled.

I'm glad, too - my discomfort means nothing, compared to Thistle getting a nice enough facelift she is ok being seen in public. I'm actually pretty excited about that! Once the lines for the mane came together, EVERYTHING else clicked into place; her face, eye shape, beak shape, body proportions, body language, mannerisms. She's not quite as depressive as when first envisioned, but that's probably because she has friends now, and feels errrr about herself.

I am totally colouring that sad Thistle once I arrive back with my tablet. Have you thought through an adjusted colour pallet?

[the_druid_droid]

I Thought I might share a Drawing I'm working on with Ponythread...

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/380468_324265217595288_100000354385117_1103477_492 43901_n.jpg

I really like the curve you've got going on the rear legs and the way you did the perspective. The pony looks a little long, but it's an elegant long, rather than a mis-proportioned long, I think.


Oh, and hey Druid Droid; update #1, the Day Before. I got up at 1pm, went to work, got off at midnight, packed, got in a car, went to the airport, got on a plane, drew while flying, ate Chinese food in Texas, got on another plane, couldn't sleep because I kept getting assaulted by sensory input (and biting my tongue), and have been awake for the last... *mental math* ...26 hours, where I am now having a staring contest with a tiger across from mark twain's house. Weeeeee~

The good news is, between Jade, Braz, and whoever else, they clan carry my dead weight like a sack of potatoes of Hypnos comes to claim his due. XD

Yay! Vicarious fun!

(Actually, I'm going on a trip myself on Monday - and to a convention no less - but it's for work/research...still a niche interest, I think, but fewer pastel equines lurking around :smallfrown:)


The standard concept-flesh-construct-detail approach was very much my old pattern of doing things, an approach I no longer use. Why? Because it gives pictures and catchphrases instead of characters.


Yeah, I think I know exactly what you mean...


Starting a personality seed is a little complicated, and the process is a little harder to explain. I do it as recreation, but I've got a few crutches for when you want to force the process. Number one is the Ideal Self/Flawed Self. That's where you work out a piece of philosophy that represents the character's ultimate enlightenment, and then you mar it and use that flawed version as a starting point.

Examples:
Metal Mask:
Enlightenment: "Sometimes you wear the Mask"
Flawed: "Sometimes the Mask wears you."

Jayden Mavel:
Enlightenment: "Nothing ever dies"
Flawed: "I am invincible"

Etcetera. The other is word spheres. Pick out five words that mean something to the character, and then pick five words detailing each of those five words. And then use this as inspiration and structure for a thought process; what's important and what's not.


Ok, I can sink my teeth into this...


And so on; I can just answer these questions without having to think. When you start with a thought pattern, they'll think for you.


I really want to be able to do this! Time to do some thinking...right after I finish this conference poster :smallsigh:

[Deadly]

This is actually on my to-read list, and I'll get started at the very beginning soonish!

EDIT: Oh my, it's a sequel to a seven parter. This may be a while.

Would love any feedback once/if you get around to reading it. I got a lot of comments on it, mostly positive but rarely all that in depth. I'd love a more in depth review.

I have a lot of concerns about it myself, but I won't taint your reading of it with my own views :)

Edit: I should mention it's tagged as Grimdark and Shipping, just in case I guess

[TheAmishPirate]

Ahh, this is a complicated question. I'll try to explain how I do it.

*snip*

Starting a personality seed is a little complicated, and the process is a little harder to explain. I do it as recreation, but I've got a few crutches for when you want to force the process. Number one is the Ideal Self/Flawed Self. That's where you work out a piece of philosophy that represents the character's ultimate enlightenment, and then you mar it and use that flawed version as a starting point.

I feel like I'm opening up a whole other can of worms here, but how do you define an Ideal Self? Is it the character at the point where they cannot grow? Where their major flaws are gone? Where a certain set of flaws are gone? Where a major life question is answered?

I'm just having trouble visualizing what qualifies as an Ideal Self. I can see the progression from Ideal to Flawed, but I need a little help getting started.And sweet pony princesses, the philosophical discussion is getting me too. Certainly took its sweet time.

[AlterForm]

Life is full of lessons. Like, when you can't sleep in a wonky airline seat, do something else! So I did. I doodled.

I'm glad, too - my discomfort means nothing, compared to Thistle getting a nice enough facelift she is ok being seen in public. I'm actually pretty excited about that! Once the lines for the mane came together, EVERYTHING else clicked into place; her face, eye shape, beak shape, body proportions, body language, mannerisms. She's not quite as depressive as when first envisioned, but that's probably because she has friends now, and feels errrr about herself.

Heck, I'd feel better with that kind of sexy haircut!

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/personalprojects/Midnight/d1c53422.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/personalprojects/Midnight/a7934394.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/personalprojects/Midnight/7e0cc00d.jpg


And once I've had a spot I practice...

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/personalprojects/Midnight/9795bcb8.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/personalprojects/Midnight/087fa951.jpg


Oh yeah, much more expressive now...

Her age throws me though. She seems both younger, and yet more vibrant. Where before, she had a sort of timeless angsty quality to her. She has definitely developed as a character as well. I kinda miss the original stroke; my very very first concept was something I would like to explore. But hey, you know what they say about milk spills and crying. This new direction works, so let's run with it. As soon as I have A) stable net access and B) some sleep under my belt, I'll look into mane designs. She really wants to have her momma fluttershy put her hair up for formal wear, it seems.

I'm guessing I missed something whilst I was skimming/lurking ponythread? From whence does this Thistle come? I really dig her design.

[Thanqol]

I feel like I'm opening up a whole other can of worms here, but how do you define an Ideal Self? Is it the character at the point where they cannot grow? Where their major flaws are gone? Where a certain set of flaws are gone? Where a major life question is answered?

I'm just having trouble visualizing what qualifies as an Ideal Self. I can see the progression from Ideal to Flawed, but I need a little help getting started.And sweet pony princesses, the philosophical discussion is getting me too. Certainly took its sweet time.

Ooo, there's an interesting question. For a little while, I was thinking of it in terms of Wisdom, but then I designed an iteration of Mask for a Mage game that fell through, and realised something quite different.

An Ideal Self is where the mind has reached it's own personal version of Enlightenment. When a being is at peace with itself; when they've achieved a certain amount of balance in their lives. In terms of the quotes I provide here, it's something that is True; a single piece of the Truth that defines and inspires. Admittedly, this is heavily couched in Mage philosophy, but I find it generally works.

"All should be judged", for instance, is an Ideal. Or "I can do anything". Or "I want to save everyone". It's an Ideal that a character can carry, that is fundamentally important to them and how they view the world. And they want to express it, even if they're expressing it wrong. My prime example of this in practise is the marvellous character study of Emiya Shirou in Fate: Stay Night - particularly Unlimited Blade Works.


I really want to be able to do this! Time to do some thinking...right after I finish this conference poster :smallsigh:

It's one of my favourite skills to have, and my personal core competency. It applies to much more than just writing.


I'm guessing I missed something whilst I was skimming/lurking ponythread? From whence does this Thistle come? I really dig her design.

Rainbow Dash and Gilda's speculative kid, by SiuiS.


Would love any feedback once/if you get around to reading it. I got a lot of comments on it, mostly positive but rarely all that in depth. I'd love a more in depth review.

I have a lot of concerns about it myself, but I won't taint your reading of it with my own views :)

Edit: I should mention it's tagged as Grimdark and Shipping, just in case I guess

Fillystata:

First off, your tenses are a little messed up. Try to keep it consistent



The smell and taste of apples, cinnamon and the sweetest crust, combined in perfect harmony, still clung to Twilight's nose and mouth, becoming less pleasant over time.

Ick, weak opening line. Try reworking that sentence; the sentiment has potential to be snappy but you've meandered around it and used very passive words.

Reading on, this is rather consistent. You've got a tendency, towards long sentences, with lots of, commas, I have to observe this about you. Visualise your descriptions like a sword stroke. Every word has a place, every word in it's place. Try to get the perfect number of words.

Voice and dialogue is generally quite good, though not perfect.


Using her mighty magic, she lifted off the elements from the pedestals, while keeping the mare unaware of what was transpiring behind her. A mere second later, as the elements flew through the air, the Great and Powerful Trixie showed her hoof. Leaping into the air, she grabbed the elements and their awesome power surged through her."

I tried reading that out loud and it came out as a 'bleh' about halfway through. This is in part, due to your excess, of, commas and too-long sentences. If there's a bad habit you need to work on, it's that.


The puppet part was nicely chilling. That's the point where I actually sat up and became interested rather than idle scrolling. The blood actually establishes a very menacing tone without being overdone.

And, in general, the rest of p1 continues quite strongly from that. The mood is suddenly chilled, mysterious, dark. I hope you've managed to keep that consistent throughout.

Overall thoughts on p1: Minor writing and format gripes, but thus far everypony seems in character and a sudden infusion of a very dark atmosphere - I'm liking where this is going.

[Deadly]

Fillystata:

First off, your tenses are a little messed up. Try to keep it consistent

If you mean the difference between prologue and the rest, then that was completely intentional and on purpose. I do it again in the epilogue. It's intended to hint at the prologue happening at a different time and place.

Otherwise I hope it hasn't slipped too often in between.



Ick, weak opening line. Try reworking that sentence; the sentiment has potential to be snappy but you've meandered around it and used very passive words.

Reading on, this is rather consistent. You've got a tendency, towards long sentences, with lots of, commas, I have to observe this about you. Visualise your descriptions like a sword stroke. Every word has a place, every word in it's place. Try to get the perfect number of words.

Voice and dialogue is generally quite good, though not perfect.

Commas are definitely not following any hard rule, I admit. I've always placed commas mostly according to where I feel there should be a slight pause for breath.

I'm not sure what you don't like about the opening. I do put a lot of effort into getting the right sounds and the right words and feel from each sentence. It gets very hard in places, but I think Fillystata is generally successful there.

I'll admit I often like long sentences, though :smallredface:


I tried reading that out loud and it came out as a 'bleh' about halfway through. This is in part, due to your excess, of, commas and too-long sentences. If there's a bad habit you need to work on, it's that.

I was never very happy with Trixie's performance there, it really didn't want to work right for me, so I'll have to agree it could have been stronger.


The puppet part was nicely chilling. That's the point where I actually sat up and became interested rather than idle scrolling. The blood actually establishes a very menacing tone without being overdone.

And, in general, the rest of p1 continues quite strongly from that. The mood is suddenly chilled, mysterious, dark. I hope you've managed to keep that consistent throughout.

Overall thoughts on p1: Minor writing and format gripes, but thus far everypony seems in character and a sudden infusion of a very dark atmosphere - I'm liking where this is going.


I hope so too :)

[Topaz]

Ason, to add to what MLPSilverbolt posted, there's a story in between Moonlight Over Midnight and Midnight and Shimmer's Guide to Dating that EqD doesn't know what to do with but I love to bits: Midnight Nightmare (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VYw0aPkj2zyqa8C_qQrchkBe3vBT7hxWbbI604AhnSA/edit?hl=en_US). I loved it enough that it inspired me to write a sequel (under my Google name, Alerhys), which EsperDerek kindly approved of: Fighting Evil By Moonlight (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a1574-LItIVEXqOm_9jtZA7bkJ7BDG-FYaO4JV8jEPc/edit).


I Thought I might share a Drawing I'm working on with Ponythread...
Ooh, long-legged unicorn. Is this an OC?


I'm glad, too - my discomfort means nothing, compared to Thistle getting a nice enough facelift she is ok being seen in public. I'm actually pretty excited about that! Once the lines for the mane came together, EVERYTHING else clicked into place; her face, eye shape, beak shape, body proportions, body language, mannerisms. She's not quite as depressive as when first envisioned, but that's probably because she has friends now, and feels errrr about herself.
Thistle is best hippogriff.

[Lix Lorn]

Starting a personality seed is a little complicated, and the process is a little harder to explain. I do it as recreation, but I've got a few crutches for when you want to force the process. Number one is the Ideal Self/Flawed Self. That's where you work out a piece of philosophy that represents the character's ultimate enlightenment, and then you mar it and use that flawed version as a starting point.

Examples:
Metal Mask:
Enlightenment: "Sometimes you wear the Mask"
Flawed: "Sometimes the Mask wears you."

Jayden Mavel:
Enlightenment: "Nothing ever dies"
Flawed: "I am invincible"

Etcetera. The other is word spheres. Pick out five words that mean something to the character, and then pick five words detailing each of those five words. And then use this as inspiration and structure for a thought process; what's important and what's not.
...alright. You've got me curious now.

Scarlet Flair
Enlightenment: "It is what we choose that defines us."
Flawed: "Nothing lasts, nothing matters."

Five words: Choice, Flame, Flight, Fashion, Beauty
Choice: Destiny, Willpower, Uniqueness, Self, Fame
Flame: Passion, Emotion, Freedom, Fury, Vengeance
Flight: Freedom, Victory, Transcendence, Joy, Choice
Fashion: Success, Stardom, Family, Joy, Sameness
Beauty: Love, Desire, Glamour, Effort, Family

Sweet Dreams
Enlightenment: "Power is useless without purpose."
Flawed: "It is better to do nothing with what you have than to lose it."

Five words: Loneliness, Night, Stars, Home, Royalty
Loneliness: Desire, Boredom, Friendship, Love, Sadness
Night: Quiet, Cool, Beauty, Secrets, Fun
Stars: Guide, Companions, Future, Warmth, Happiness
Home: Warmth, Friendship, Togetherness, Plenty, Honesty
Royalty: Loneliness, Obligation, Power, Family, Protection

Joyful Skies
Enlightenment: "Some things should be left to happen naturally.'
Flawed: "I have all the answers, I should give them."

Five words: Love, Friendship, Family, Flight, Joy
Love: Happiness, Belonging, Comfort, Passion, Protectiveness
Friendship: Love, Protectiveness, Reliance, Happiness, Freedom
Family: Belonging, Love, Protectiveness, Forgiveness, Comfort
Flight: Happiness, Freedom, Limitless, Beauty, Glamour
Joy: Love, Friendship, Family, Chaos, Adventure
Wow. She is a VERY narrow character.

Faithful Song/Lixie/Me
Enlightenment: "Spreading joy is the only valid purpose."
Flawed: "Obtaining joy is the only valid purpose."

Five words: Love, Loneliness, Creativity, Freedom, Right
Love: Belonging, Bonding, Joy, Passion, Protectiveness
Loneliness: Silence, Pain, Tears, Failure, Coping
Creativity: Spark, Uniqueness, Intelligence, Freedom, Compelling
Freedom: Right, Joy, Escape, Fairness, Finality
Right: Freedom, Morality, Known, Felt, Disliked
I think that's pretty accurate?

[Roninhirox]

Well, Raz found out about this the other day, so it would probably be wise to just put this out in the thread so that word can spread more easily.As you know, life recently sent Raz_Fox a tragedy. While we can in no way fix what happened, we, as a community, are trying to let him know that he is loved and cared for.

To this end, we are attempting to assemble a package of gifts for him and his family, but there's quite a bit of organization that needs to come together on this. Additionally, this isn't all that much of a community care package, unless the community is involved.

We're still at the point where we need ideas. If you can help brainstorm, please, come take a look at the brainstorming (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TLBKNumCC63oC7vpuvbkHNTlfY19IcilQY6Sdlo3m8U/edit) we've got going on.

We also need to get things a bit more organized, so we've just created a signup sheet (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Nj-ZlKuKyBpQMKfAgxVrE-seyzaj1UQHg4UCPrEkQvg/edit?hl=en_US) so that we can do our best to make sure that nothing slips through the cracks.

If you can help with organizing this whole thing, that's another area where we need help.

I am all for doing whatever I can to help just let me know what I can do. Contact me here via pm or at my e-mail. After I get back from BroNYcon I may be less brain dead and more able to help with brain storming ideas or getting stuff done but ya for now just tell me how I can help.




Oh cool! Well, I know who to look for, but in case your eyes are better than mine, keep a watch for this goober;


http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/04dbf6ef.jpg


With the hot fillyfriend right, real world, having a filly would be weird. Hot girlfriend.



I will be on the look out for you guys and whom ever else is going. Might make a small sign or something to wave around to try and find other forum goers cause the con sounds like it will be hoppin'.

[TheAmishPirate]

Ooo, there's an interesting question. For a little while, I was thinking of it in terms of Wisdom, but then I designed an iteration of Mask for a Mage game that fell through, and realised something quite different.

An Ideal Self is where the mind has reached it's own personal version of Enlightenment. When a being is at peace with itself; when they've achieved a certain amount of balance in their lives. In terms of the quotes I provide here, it's something that is True; a single piece of the Truth that defines and inspires. Admittedly, this is heavily couched in Mage philosophy, but I find it generally works.

"All should be judged", for instance, is an Ideal. Or "I can do anything". Or "I want to save everyone". It's an Ideal that a character can carry, that is fundamentally important to them and how they view the world. And they want to express it, even if they're expressing it wrong. My prime example of this in practise is the marvellous character study of Emiya Shirou in Fate: Stay Night - particularly Unlimited Blade Works.

I see...that about clears it up. This'll be interesting to come up with from scratch; I tend to think of things in a very black-and-white way. Things like "a certain amount" or "just the right amount of" typically frustrate me. But hey, no sense in staying in my comfort zone. I'm particularly interested in how the "expressing it wrong" can come out in a character.

I'll put up some of my previous characters for practice later. For now, it is family hangouts time.

[SiuiS]

I am totally colouring that sad Thistle once I arrive back with my tablet. Have you thought through an adjusted colour pallet?

Aaalmost. I have the general concept, and my other, no-longer-working-right phone has the human rainbow dash with the base colors I was going to base it on. She seems burned, like rainbows gone through the heart of a lightning storm, Burnt to ash and then drenched. Deep, charred blue with flashes of green, red and yellow. Sadly, the flashes most closely resemble construction paper turkey feathers.

For the body she's a browner Gilda, but again, it hasn't been solidified. I was going to play with color today specifically, but I'm a nation away from my references and can't find me again for download.


I'm guessing I missed something whilst I was skimming/lurking ponythread? From whence does this Thistle come? I really dig her design.

Thistle Ponisdottr was designed when, sleepy and loopy, and a griffon's head popped up on Rainbow Dash's stoop; it looked all the world to me like Pinkie walked into a sitcom where the surprise ladyfriend who is wearing nothing but Dash's flannel shirt.

And until today, her imago was incomplete. I couldn't get her mane to work, it was too fluid. She showed up as a sort of mellow Eeyore type character, and slowly morphed into an emo fluttershy. I'll look for the original posts in a bit.



I will be on the look out for you guys and whom ever else is going. Might make a small sign or something to wave around to try and find other forum goers cause the con sounds like it will be hoppin'.

No worries! We'll be on the lookout for you and Orzel. I think we're on our way to get to Kyouhen now, then go pass out.

Ssssoooooo many ponies!

[Thanqol]

...alright. You've got me curious now.

Ooo, ace. These are exactly what I had in mind. I just went though one of these processes with Blastech in person, and demonstrated how that if you started with the ideal and nothing else the character would just write itself. Blastech, back me up.

I now feel like I know a lot about each of the characters you just suggested. I feel like I know them better than some characters I've seen entire books written about. They don't need context any more; they're people.


I'm particularly interested in how the "expressing it wrong" can come out in a character.

"I want to save everyone" easily becomes "I must matyr myself even for people who don't need it".

[Pokonic]

So little time spent here, going to try to post more after the next weekly dose of ponies.:smalltongue:

[Thanqol]

Fillystata review: Continued

Must... not... imagine Luna speaking in Capslock.


You don't know how it is, how it is... to have no friends in the world!"

I feel that this is too on the nose. Better left to implication. Being able to articulate something like that gives her power over it, and I don't think she should have power over this.

That's my gripe with the rest of this scene. These are powerful, subliminal emotions - enjoying torturing somepony to death? When you're seeking forgiveness, you don't start confessing to things like that. You cower, hide, throw up defences and the best possible side, especially when being shouted at.

I don't dislike it as a scene, but I think it could have been a bit more subtle and indirect.

Rest of this part: Good enough to not wear the editor hat

P3:


I wish people would look at me like they look at you."

Pony grammar fail, immersion broken.

Otherwise, I'm actually hooked. I read this entire part without being shaken out of the mood. I'm actually fascinated and looking forwards to reading more.

P4:

Hm. I was genuinely fascinated right up until the romance scene, which happened much too fast for my tastes. I was hoping you'd tease it out more. Neglect to make out scene was a bit much hoof-face turn.

The atmosphere makes a solid return soon after, though, and I'm back to being hooked. I've been missing out by not reading this.

[BlasTech]

. Blastech, back me up.


Wow you were fast to post this. I'm still on my way home!

Oh right, backup. Yes, Thanqol is right. :smallbiggrin:

Part of it does come from asking the right questions, which I'll admit I probably couldn't do alone. At least not yet.

More on this when I get back.

[Geno9999]

I finished up Part 5 (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hmfs91in0qTZ_HtK57RsOtiLpk4By4_4UsdXICUsZ4Q/edit) of The Great and Powerful Unicorn of Oz, in which Scarecrow shouts at a raven.
As always, I would like some feedback and advice.

[Thanqol]

Fillystata review further continued:

p5:


A tense second of staring, then the figure turned and fled among the trees like a shadow with a chilling laughter.

This sentence is bad and needs rephrasing.

Interest continues unabated.

p6:


Trixie gave the place a glance and felt a slight shiver. "It looks creepy, is what it does. I can't imagine why Twilight would live here, if that is what she does."

Another awkward sentence with the double 'does' ending. Repeated a third time in the next line.


"The Neighcronomicon

I'm sorry. The fic is dark and atmospheric and all that but there is no way to make that word sound even vaguely intimidating.

And perhaps because of that, I went right back to imagining Luna Royal Canterlot Voicing everything, which made the following dialogue hysterical.


She freaked out and jumped up,

"Freaked out" is not a good descriptive term.


P6 thoughts: You are spinning out this mystery marvellously. I regret not reading this sooner.

P7:



The stairs ended in a long tunnel. Luna paused at the last step and glanced down the pitch black corridor. Hesitantly she summoned a faint light, shining ahead of her as she walked.

I find it implausible that the Princess of the Night can't see in the dark.


Final thoughts:

... Well, my first reaction was that I made a good choice with my Changeling recruitment.

This was very good, across the board. My minor dissonances with language cleared up as the atmosphere became stronger. You did grimdark without being gratuitous, and you maintained a sense of mystery even though an objective mind could infer the entire plot from the pre-fic description - that's hard to do. I always mark it as the sign of good writing that you can reveal the twist at the start and still have it be worth reading through to the end.

My only dilemma was the shipping. It opened up a lot of powerful scenes and let you play off a lot of powerful moments, but the romance itself was far less interesting than the implications you pulled out of that romance. You did some good stuff on a relatively flimsy premise. Likewise, I felt like the ship at the end came out of nowhere; if it was hinted at before, I didn't catch on. I tend to be really picky about my shipping, though - I'm less concerned about the pairing than the application

I would also like to apologise for not reading any of this earlier. I've been unforgivably remiss. While I still feel like there's room for improvement, it's the kind of improvement that'll come through time and experience rather than specific editing, and in the interm this story has certainly earned my 5 stars. I'm looking forwards to getting started on the sequel, but I'll give it a few days.



TLDR: Read Fillystata, Deadly is a legit author.

[TheAmishPirate]

TLDR: Read Fillystata, Deadly is a legit author.

To both Deadly and whoever else has read it: How dark is it? I have trouble stomaching pony works that are too dark, which is the primary reason I haven't taken a look at this so far. I could read Semper Fidelis with no trouble, so that may be good comparison?

I whipped up a character thought analysis for one of my longstanding RP characters. Hope I'm doing it right:

Enlightened: “Do the good you can.”
Flawed: “If I cannot do good, then I have failed.”
Five Words: Authority, Friendship, Work, Self, Destiny
Authority: Servant, Devoted, Responsible, Unrelateable, Reliant
Friends: Subservient, Protective, Quality, Happiness, Activity
Work: Satisfaction, Zen, Meaning, Passion, Serving
Self: Unimportant, Tool, Persevering, Lacking, Adaptable
Destiny: Motivation, Unknowable, Effort, Inevitable, Insecure

[Rebelhero]

I am sitting in a hatchback in a Jack in the box drive thru. Between me and Brazen is a rolled up pink blanket with Pricness Celestia and Twilight Sparkle on it. We are heading to SFO. We are getting on a airplane to Texas. We will, from there, te on another plane to somewhere in/near new York.

I'm vaguely worried. Saying goodbye to my cats was kinda tear jerking - I had to crawl under the bed to say goodbye to Buttermilk, because our ride scared him. I don't think I'll ever get used to leaving my kids behind on vacation...

But in about 18 or so hours... Pony.

THis makes me wish i had postponed my wisdom teeth removal. im like an hour outside NYC by train. must...meet...thread..ponies...


ALSO: i bring word from SWTOR.
I made a Twi'lek jedi coulnslar named "twilightsparkle" (currently yellow lightsaber, as purple isnt in game that i know of) Shortly after starting i ran into "pinkieshy" a jedi knight i believe, who didnt have very many brony friends, i refered him to this place, but unless he is lurking it seems he hasnt shown up.
No one else has caught the reference yet. i WAS asked if i was a gay vampire though.
i should have someone make a sith...(uhhh sage is it?)... named GreatTrixie so we can battle it out XD

[BlasTech]

ALSO: i bring word from SWTOR.
I made a Twi'lek jedi coulnslar named "twilightsparkle" (currently yellow lightsaber, as purple isnt in game that i know of) Shortly after starting i ran into "pinkieshy" a jedi knight i believe, who didnt have very many brony friends, i refered him to this place, but unless he is lurking it seems he hasnt shown up.
No one else has caught the reference yet. i WAS asked if i was a gay vampire though.
i should have someone make a sith...(uhhh sage is it?)... named GreatTrixie so we can battle it out XD

Give me a server name :)

I named my trooper Applejack ^^ But haven't found any ponies yet :(

[Thanqol]

To both Deadly and whoever else has read it: How dark is it? I have trouble stomaching pony works that are too dark, which is the primary reason I haven't taken a look at this so far. I could read Semper Fidelis with no trouble, so that may be good comparison?

It's pretty dark. There is blood and there is death. I would not recommend to the squeamish.


I whipped up a character thought analysis for one of my longstanding RP characters. Hope I'm doing it right:

Enlightened: “Do the good you can.”
Flawed: “If I cannot do good, then I have failed.”
Five Words: Authority, Friendship, Work, Self, Destiny
Authority: Servant, Devoted, Responsible, Unrelateable, Reliant
Friends: Subservient, Protective, Quality, Happiness, Activity
Work: Satisfaction, Zen, Meaning, Passion, Serving
Self: Unimportant, Tool, Persevering, Lacking, Adaptable
Destiny: Motivation, Unknowable, Effort, Inevitable, Insecure

Did it teach you something about the character? Then you did it right.

The endgame with these concepts is that they can become disconnected from any series of mechanics, illusions or preconceived notions you've got in place regarding these characters. When you're asked to make choices, you've got a conceptual framework in place behind you to make and justify those choices. Continuously explore each word and association and what it means for the character.

Jayden Mavel's keywords are Echoes, Music, Pride, Momentum, Isolation. Because I know those and understand those I was able to design ten detailed alternate reality versions of her on the drop of a hat. Each of those versions are utterly different characters with different skillsets, beliefs, and temperaments - but I can consider them all the same person.


Try it. Once you've done one of your characters in this format, try working out what their Discorded version looks like, or their evil opposite, or a parallel reality version of them where they're an orphan. The path of Scourging does have something to teach us - you've created a seed, and it will grow no matter what soil you plant it in.

That, to me, is the sign of a good character concept.

[TheAmishPirate]

It's pretty dark. There is blood and there is death. I would not recommend to the squeamish.

Yeah, no offense Deadly, but I think I'm going to pass. It's nothing against you as a writer, it's just what I'm capable of reading comfortably.



Did it teach you something about the character? Then you did it right.

The endgame with these concepts is that they can become disconnected from any series of mechanics, illusions or preconceived notions you've got in place regarding these characters. When you're asked to make choices, you've got a conceptual framework in place behind you to make and justify those choices. Continuously explore each word and association and what it means for the character.

Jayden Mavel's keywords are Echoes, Music, Pride, Momentum, Isolation. Because I know those and understand those I was able to design ten detailed alternate reality versions of her on the drop of a hat. Each of those versions are utterly different characters with different skillsets, beliefs, and temperaments - but I can consider them all the same person.


Try it. Once you've done one of your characters in this format, try working out what their Discorded version looks like, or their evil opposite, or a parallel reality version of them where they're an orphan. The path of Scourging does have something to teach us - you've created a seed, and it will grow no matter what soil you plant it in.

That, to me, is the sign of a good character concept.

It's certainly taught me that temperament and vocal pattern != character. Rather, the temperament evolves from the character concept, not the other way around. And yes, it did teach me more about the character I was writing about, even though he was conceived and developed months ago. Interestingly enough, I already have two versions of him for two different RPs. And the thought pattern fits both of them. This warrants further hypothetical settings/evil twins, see what happens.

Oh, and since I forgot to say it last couple of posts, Long Distance:
Still loving it. The last letter in the last posted draft had me laughing like crazy, right after a previous letter nearly made me cry. Your talent for the bittersweet is astounding. Once it's done, I'm going to do my grammar and proofreading sweep of doom.

Alright, ponies have nommed up enough of my sleep for one night. Time for bed.

[the_druid_droid]

Hmm, might as well get in on this character development stuff now that the poster's done...

Tarin
Enlightenment: "The truth will make you free"
Flawed: "Truth is, we're all monsters, and I'm the biggest monster of them all"

Words: Power, Truth, Secrets, Loyalty, Violence

Power - Strength, Important, Control, Wealth, Servants
Truth - Difficult, Uncertain, Valuable, Dangerous, Powerful
Secrets - Necessary, Inconvenient, Family, Delicate, Business
Loyalty - Temporary, Means, Servitude, Fear, Limitation
Violence - Innate, Necessary, Enjoyable, Misunderstood, Tool

Edamar
Enlightenment: "Everything in its season"
Flawed: "I'll take back what you stole!"

Words: Nature, Balance, Money, Jet, Family

Nature - Strong, Beautiful, Balanced, Guide, Home
Balance - Central, Delicate, Order, Time, Degree
Money - Greed, Sorrow, Violence, Past, Civilization
Jet - Friend, Protector, Reminder, Office, Charge
Family - Old, Dear, Mistaken, Pain, Memory

Louis
Enlightenment: "We define ourselves by what we do"
Flawed: "I'll do what I want when I want to"

Words: Rogue, Orphan, Guns, Streets, Romance

Rogue - Charming, Dangerous, Adaptable, Tricks, Gambler
Orphan - Mother, Anger, Running, Poor, Home
Guns - Tools, Toys, Dependable, Strength, Solution
Streets - Childhood, Tough, Clever, Changeable, Dangerous
Romance - Fast, Fleeting, Game, Distraction, Goal

Hmm, that was fairly enlightening...now to apply it more often...

[Thanqol]

It's certainly taught me that temperament and vocal pattern != character. Rather, the temperament evolves from the character concept, not the other way around. And yes, it did teach me more about the character I was writing about, even though he was conceived and developed months ago. Interestingly enough, I already have two versions of him for two different RPs. And the thought pattern fits both of them. This warrants further hypothetical settings/evil twins, see what happens.

Marvellous, that's a very important insight and one I'm very glad to have communicated. Temperament and vocal pattern are very much artifacts of the old system, the one that starts at 'concept' and produces pictures and catchphrases rather than characters.

'Canon' Jayden is angry and terse. This isn't because I've decided to play an angry, terse character, but because it's her natural reaction to Isolation. When I originally designed her she was meek and demure, but the Truth found it's way to the fore.


Oh, and since I forgot to say it last couple of posts, Long Distance:
Still loving it. The last letter in the last posted draft had me laughing like crazy, right after a previous letter nearly made me cry. Your talent for the bittersweet is astounding. Once it's done, I'm going to do my grammar and proofreading sweep of doom.

Alright, ponies have nommed up enough of my sleep for one night. Time for bed.

Thank you for this. Comments like this keep me going.

[otakuryoga]

just over 6 hours til new pony FINALLY...damn withdrawl sucks

guess its time for some sleep

[kpenguin]

ALSO: i bring word from SWTOR.
I made a Twi'lek jedi coulnslar named "twilightsparkle" (currently yellow lightsaber, as purple isnt in game that i know of) Shortly after starting i ran into "pinkieshy" a jedi knight i believe, who didnt have very many brony friends, i refered him to this place, but unless he is lurking it seems he hasnt shown up.
No one else has caught the reference yet. i WAS asked if i was a gay vampire though.
i should have someone make a sith...(uhhh sage is it?)... named GreatTrixie so we can battle it out XD

WHAT. But... but... Mace Windu :smallfrown:

[Thanqol]

And then Voltaire (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ujbq5yrvEwE/Twe50aEBqEI/AAAAAAAAAM8/mMorNRzptdA/s1600/voltaireshare.png)was a brony.

The first song I ever listened to on a computer, the first song that was ever 'mine', was Nostalgia, by Yanni. The third was 'When You're Evil' by Voltaire. That song informed a lot of my early philosophy and was part of the reason why I chose a failed villain for my screen name, so seeing him join the herd is pretty cool.

[Grif]

Ahh, this is a complicated question. I'll try to explain how I do it.

Step one, as you're no doubt aware, is the concept stage. This stage never works out for me and my end result never resembles the concept stage in the slightest. No, really, Jayden was originally a time travelling Nazi. I've still got the character sheet. It's eerily similar.

The standard concept-flesh-construct-detail approach was very much my old pattern of doing things, an approach I no longer use. Why? Because it gives pictures and catchphrases instead of characters.

My new method skips all that jazz and goes directly to figuring out how the character thinks. Sowing the seed of a personality, disconnected from any setting or system. Starting with a thought pattern, as it were, getting a personality in abstract. And then, once that's done, the character will build herself. You won't have to agonise over where to put dots, or work out details, or spend time thinking about her favourite colour or natural vice - she'll do it all for you.

And, if you do it wrong, the character will argue with you. I recently designed a Seer of the Throne for a Mage tabletop, name of Cyprus. Originally my concept had her as a tortured prophet, but just by exploring the thought pattern I'd created I had to put that aside and redefine her as a hunter of Mages. And that wasn't a redefinition of character role; that was balance asserting itself, the correct choice forcing itself to the fore and not letting me pick sub-optimal alternatives.

And moreover, this personality fragment you've created will be able to be put into any setting, any system, and naturally build a functional character around themselves.

Starting a personality seed is a little complicated, and the process is a little harder to explain. I do it as recreation, but I've got a few crutches for when you want to force the process. Number one is the Ideal Self/Flawed Self. That's where you work out a piece of philosophy that represents the character's ultimate enlightenment, and then you mar it and use that flawed version as a starting point.

Examples:
Metal Mask:
Enlightenment: "Sometimes you wear the Mask"
Flawed: "Sometimes the Mask wears you."

Jayden Mavel:
Enlightenment: "Nothing ever dies"
Flawed: "I am invincible"

Etcetera. The other is word spheres. Pick out five words that mean something to the character, and then pick five words detailing each of those five words. And then use this as inspiration and structure for a thought process; what's important and what's not.

But the end point is that once you've got that core, that fundamental idea that defines their soul, then you've got a thought. And then you can start building the character as normal, but that thought pattern will linger in the background. And as you explore it, explore the mechanics of the system or details of the setting you intend to put the pattern in, the character will naturally form her own opinions and start responding to things.

And then you've got a character, a character that can answer any stupid question offhand without thinking.

Jayden would say that the question of favourite colours is stupid, but she likes brown. Her favourite food is burnt toast, mostly because it's convenient. Her computer password is the name of the high school science teacher she really liked, expanded to include half a dozen special characters and numbers once she started to become tech savvy. She loves twitch gaming and thinks puzzle games are boring even though (because) she's really good at them. Her favourite European country in 1399 is the Ottoman Empire. She thinks modern India is the future. She likes technology big and bulky and detests the entire school of thought behind the iPhone. She doesn't like movies, at all - she doesn't like having to sit still for long period, plus her mother likes movies.

Any more?

And so on; I can just answer these questions without having to think. When you start with a thought pattern, they'll think for you.



This is actually on my to-read list, and I'll get started at the very beginning soonish!

EDIT: Oh my, it's a sequel to a seven parter. This may be a while.



I'm still not sure how I feel about this series. It feels like one enormous in-joke. But it's a professionally done injoke, so I'm torn.



I am totally colouring that sad Thistle once I arrive back with my tablet. Have you thought through an adjusted colour pallet?

Very interesting. I'm glad to stop by while I was free. This may actually get my own stalled fic going since my main trouble (apart from sloth) was that I was beginning to have divergent characters and I was having trouble writing them as it is.

You sir, are a godsend.

For practice I have my own RP character up for analysis later. Now I need to eat dinner and ruminate about this.

[Thanqol]

Very interesting. I'm glad to stop by while I was free. This may actually get my own stalled fic going since my main trouble (apart from sloth) was that I was beginning to have divergent characters and I was having trouble writing them as it is.

You sir, are a godsend.

For practice I have my own RP character up for analysis later. Now I need to eat dinner and ruminate about this.

Excellent, I'm really glad this is helping people as much as it's helped me! :smallbiggrin:

[Strife Warzeal]

Just figured I'd point out that EsperDerek's older stuff hasn't gotten the author tag applied to it yet, so Out in the Cold (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/03/story-out-in-cold.html) and Letters, Letters, Letters (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/04/story-letters-letters-letters.html) won't show up on that page. I definitely recommend reading Out in the Cold before embarking on any of its sequels/spin-offs (Phoe's "Shades of Midnight," Sunset Rose's "Cries in the Autumn Wind," The Mysterious Pony's "Mark of the Magician," and EsperDerek's own "Dreams of Midnight," "Moonlight Over Midnight," and "Midnight and Shimmer's Guide to Dating.").

EDIT: Oh, right, since I'm recommending OITC and its assorted sequels, I should probably put the timeline here. They're scattered across several pages and in some cases grouped together in a way that doesn't entirely make sense...

Order of Publication:
Out in the Cold
Shades of Midnight
Cries in the Autumn Wind
Mark of the Magician
Moonlight Over Midnight
Midnight and Shimmer's Guide to Dating
Dreams of Midnight

Order of Events:
Out in the Cold
Dreams of Midnight
Mark of the Magician (framing story; most of the story itself is a flashback to Trixie's childhood)
Cries in the Autumn Wind
Shades of Midnight (framing story; most of the story is a series of vignettes set at various stages of Midnight's life, from right after her birth all the way up to starting college, and other stories take place within that framework)
Moonlight Over Midnight
Midnight and Shimmer's Guide to Dating


Ason, to add to what MLPSilverbolt posted, there's a story in between Moonlight Over Midnight and Midnight and Shimmer's Guide to Dating that EqD doesn't know what to do with but I love to bits: Midnight Nightmare (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VYw0aPkj2zyqa8C_qQrchkBe3vBT7hxWbbI604AhnSA/edit?hl=en_US). I loved it enough that it inspired me to write a sequel (under my Google name, Alerhys), which EsperDerek kindly approved of: Fighting Evil By Moonlight (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a1574-LItIVEXqOm_9jtZA7bkJ7BDG-FYaO4JV8jEPc/edit).

To add one more to these, Rarity's Night (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I4L3oZEeoVkDdurJnGiPtFOO6V8QdJag3yna3NJYRi4/edit?hl=en_US). A semi-canon story of Midnight and Rarity. Still technically in a state of unfinishedness.

Wow... we really have quite a bit going on in the Out in the Cold universe as far as story content goes, don't we?

[Aotrs Commander]

To add one more to these, Rarity's Night (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I4L3oZEeoVkDdurJnGiPtFOO6V8QdJag3yna3NJYRi4/edit?hl=en_US). A semi-canon story of Midnight and Rarity. Still technically in a state of unfinishedness.

Hey, yeah, wasn't Titanium of Esper going to finish/write that up or something at one stage? I didn't get around reading it (I wasn't really paying much attention until by the time they were most of the way through), and then someone said they were going to write it up, so I did my usual job of waiting for the finished result and then forgot about it...

*prod* *prod*

[Deadly]

Fillystata review: Continued

Must... not... imagine Luna speaking in Capslock.

The problem with old-ish fanfics and new canon... not much to do but shrug :)


I feel that this is too on the nose. Better left to implication. Being able to articulate something like that gives her power over it, and I don't think she should have power over this.

That's my gripe with the rest of this scene. These are powerful, subliminal emotions - enjoying torturing somepony to death? When you're seeking forgiveness, you don't start confessing to things like that. You cower, hide, throw up defences and the best possible side, especially when being shouted at.

I don't dislike it as a scene, but I think it could have been a bit more subtle and indirect.

Rest of this part: Good enough to not wear the editor hat

Hmm... good point. I'm not sure how I'd change it. The part about her enjoying it seemed important to me, but maybe I could have left it in her head and not had her speak it out loud. Something to ponder for the future at least.


Pony grammar fail, immersion broken.

Dear Celestia, there was a slip? :smallfrown: I swear I spent so much effort hunting down those things, even used search and replace to make sure everything was properly ponyfied (I've fallen behind on that practice, I now shamefully have to admit :smallfrown:).

Ah well, thanks for catching that little bugger :smallcool:


Hm. I was genuinely fascinated right up until the romance scene, which happened much too fast for my tastes. I was hoping you'd tease it out more. Neglect to make out scene was a bit much hoof-face turn.

The atmosphere makes a solid return soon after, though, and I'm back to being hooked. I've been missing out by not reading this.


The romance has probably been the one criticism that's come up the most. Many seem to find it rushed, so I guess there must be something to it. I didn't find it all that rushed myself, but I can see the point being made and maybe if I was a reader and not the author of the story I'd find it rushed too. It's very different to be the author, I've found.

One thing I've noticed while re-reading it myself, and which I've thought about a bit, is that it may be the mix of grimdark and shipping which is hard to pull off. I essentially have two storylines going at once, the shipping and the horror. If I extended the shipping and delved into that for too long or too often, I would run the risk of breaking the suspense. Finding a way to blend them enough... that's probably the real challenge.


Fillystata review further continued:

p5:



This sentence is bad and needs rephrasing.

Interest continues unabated.

p6:



Another awkward sentence with the double 'does' ending. Repeated a third time in the next line.

I can see what you mean about the double does... yeah, that's a bit ugly. Not sure what the exact problem is with the other sentence.


I'm sorry. The fic is dark and atmospheric and all that but there is no way to make that word sound even vaguely intimidating.

Yeah... it really doesn't work. Maybe it's just an unavoidable consequence of ponyfying the name, should I have stuck with Necronomicon? Or would a different name be better? Something about that scene always did bother me, and I don't think it's just the awful name.


"Freaked out" is not a good descriptive term.

Hmm... perhaps, though upon re-reading I'm personally much more concerned about the "jumped up" part. Could be better over all.


I find it implausible that the Princess of the Night can't see in the dark.

My reasoning about that was that she could see in the dark, like a cat or an owl, probably even better, but everything has a limit. In the animal world even the best night eyes have a limit, and below that they have to resort to other means of navigating because there's simply just no light to catch no matter how big or focused the lenses of your eyes are. You could invoke magic, I suppose, but I'd rather not do so here.

Luna can see clearly at night, in starlight, like other ponies can see clearly during the day. But in some dark tunnel below the ground with not even a single star in the background, she's as blind as any.

I do admit she probably didn't need the light right there, at the top of the stairs. Later on however I think it would make sense.


Final thoughts:

... Well, my first reaction was that I made a good choice with my Changeling recruitment.

This was very good, across the board. My minor dissonances with language cleared up as the atmosphere became stronger. You did grimdark without being gratuitous, and you maintained a sense of mystery even though an objective mind could infer the entire plot from the pre-fic description - that's hard to do. I always mark it as the sign of good writing that you can reveal the twist at the start and still have it be worth reading through to the end.

My only dilemma was the shipping. It opened up a lot of powerful scenes and let you play off a lot of powerful moments, but the romance itself was far less interesting than the implications you pulled out of that romance. You did some good stuff on a relatively flimsy premise. Likewise, I felt like the ship at the end came out of nowhere; if it was hinted at before, I didn't catch on. I tend to be really picky about my shipping, though - I'm less concerned about the pairing than the application

I would also like to apologise for not reading any of this earlier. I've been unforgivably remiss. While I still feel like there's room for improvement, it's the kind of improvement that'll come through time and experience rather than specific editing, and in the interm this story has certainly earned my 5 stars. I'm looking forwards to getting started on the sequel, but I'll give it a few days.



TLDR: Read Fillystata, Deadly is a legit author.

Yay! :smallbiggrin:

I'm glad you liked it, despite the minor concerns that cropped up along the way. I took the opportunity to re-read the whole thing myself last night, and I'm generally pleased with it myself. There is room for improvement, maybe in particular with the romancing, but I'm quite happy with the outcome. Especially seeing how concerned I recall being while writing it. It seemed so terribly flawed back then, but now it doesn't seem so bad.

And that gives me hope, because right now I'm feeling really seriously concerned about the sequel, probably even more than I ever did with Fillystata. Somehow I get the feeling that it's not on par with Fillystata, which is sad because it should go the other way... my writing should improve, not get worse. Maybe it's just my inner critic getting out of control, though.

I've been meaning to go back and re-read Mare in the Mirror in its entirety too, and now seems as good a time as ever. If nothing else so I know if it's as bad as I think. While I won't do any major rewriting at this point (as a reader I hated when Past Sins did that), I feel almost certain it could use some tweaking here and there.

Anyway, I really appreciate the thoughtful critique, and I'm glad you enjoyed the story.


Yeah, no offense Deadly, but I think I'm going to pass. It's nothing against you as a writer, it's just what I'm capable of reading comfortably.

Hey, no need to apologize for that. If I had wanted to write for everypony, I wouldn't have written a grimdark story, or a shipping story even :smallsmile:

[Gamerlord]

A possible episode 16 synopsis has been uncovered *AS ALWAYS, SPOILERS*:
Season 2 Episode 16: Read It and Weep
Summary: Rainbow Dash secretly discovers the joys of reading when she's laid up in the hospital.
Air Date: February 4, 2012

If they don't reference Reading Rainbow, I will be disappoint.

Also, there will be a valentines day episode. (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/01/we-ponies-my-little-pony-friendship-is.html) I see the potential for a massive fandom freakout if one of the mane cast gets a boyfriend.

[Deadly]

A possible episode 16 synopsis has been uncovered *AS ALWAYS, SPOILERS*:
Season 2 Episode 16: Read It and Weep
Summary: Rainbow Dash secretly discovers the joys of reading when she's laid up in the hospital.
Air Date: February 4, 2012

Also, there will be a valentines day episode. (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/01/we-ponies-my-little-pony-friendship-is.html)

Episode 16, my very first thoughts:
Rainbow Dash becomes a fanfic writer! :smallbiggrin:

Or just a reader of fanfics... maybe.

Or maybe not, sounds like tons of fun either way :smallcool: I look forward to that one, that's for certain.

Valentines episode... does that mean we'll see some actual romancing? I just hope it won't be RarityxSpike (or at least that they keep it to the childish, innocent, not-really-serious way it has been so far).

[Grif]

Excellent, I'm really glad this is helping people as much as it's helped me! :smallbiggrin:

Here's my own RP character, Icy Touch, from the Bridle Shores RP. (Also exists in two flavours, much like Amish's character.)

Ideal: Be strong, be independent.
Flawed: I don't need to rely on others.
Five Words: Power, Honour, Pride, Family, Logic
Power: Ruthless, Strong, Ethical, Finesse, Pursuit
Honour: Unyielding, Duty, Responsibility, Protective, Shield
Pride: Dignity, Independence, Loneliness, Self-reliant, Stubborn
Family: Love, Care, Affection, Revenge, Desire
Logic: Cold, Detached, Rational, Calculative,

Hm, seems a little self-conflicting though. But excellent food for thought.

[Thanqol]

The problem with old-ish fanfics and new canon... not much to do but shrug :)

Oh, don't shrug. Unintentional hilarity is a feature, not a bug, of Capslock Luna.


Hmm... good point. I'm not sure how I'd change it. The part about her enjoying it seemed important to me, but maybe I could have left it in her head and not had her speak it out loud. Something to ponder for the future at least.

A confession like that needs to be worked up to. Deep breaths and then blurted out. Secrets are powerful, and if you've Made Up Your Mind to make a confession like that, you don't include it in part of a rushed torrent of other information. If it's important to you, you make sure you communicate it with the gravitas it deserves, otherwise other people assume that you think it's unimportant.


Dear Celestia, there was a slip? :smallfrown: I swear I spent so much effort hunting down those things, even used search and replace to make sure everything was properly ponyfied (I've fallen behind on that practice, I now shamefully have to admit :smallfrown:).

Ah well, thanks for catching that little bugger :smallcool:

I've actually mastered the duality, and virtually never slip either way. I do miss being able to use 'people' in ponyfics, that's a good word with a lot of application. "She's good people" sounds better than "She's good pony" (what)


The romance has probably been the one criticism that's come up the most. Many seem to find it rushed, so I guess there must be something to it. I didn't find it all that rushed myself, but I can see the point being made and maybe if I was a reader and not the author of the story I'd find it rushed too. It's very different to be the author, I've found.

One thing I've noticed while re-reading it myself, and which I've thought about a bit, is that it may be the mix of grimdark and shipping which is hard to pull off. I essentially have two storylines going at once, the shipping and the horror. If I extended the shipping and delved into that for too long or too often, I would run the risk of breaking the suspense. Finding a way to blend them enough... that's probably the real challenge.

I agree entirely, the horror side of the story does stand a lot stronger. And that's because you were capable of putting an excellently creepy edge on a lot of the romance scenes, such as Twilight's overindulgence. There is a balance to be sought in this, but the protagonists are ultimately motivated by Twilight so if you don't carry through on that end, the entire story loses some of it's direction.

I actually think the solution in this case is less shipping.

I can't believe I said those words, I need a minute.

But really; the ship story moved too far, too fast. Both Luna and Trixie were crushing on Twilight, but Twilight chose Trixie - and did that really change the actions of either character? If Twilight played both of them along a little longer and didn't make a firm decision, both would of acted according to the same motivation. And Twilight could have hinted at wanting more, or wanted to make a commitment, but by then it would have been too late. The story was about seeking a beloved pony lost in darkness, and reciprocation was not actually necessary to tell that story.

And then you could have played with the implications. Twilight gave Trixie her magic at the end - and ah! She had no words, but that would be the closest she could come to saying them, and she gave her everything she had. The pain of finding love and losing it in the same instant - sublime. And breaking three hearts in one moment is so much more powerful than breaking one.

...

I may be a bit of a tragedy addict.


I can see what you mean about the double does... yeah, that's a bit ugly. Not sure what the exact problem is with the other sentence.

"Like a shadow with chilling laughter" is a really poor metaphor.


Yeah... it really doesn't work. Maybe it's just an unavoidable consequence of ponyfying the name, should I have stuck with Necronomicon? Or would a different name be better? Something about that scene always did bother me, and I don't think it's just the awful name.

The Necronomicon hardly fit with the story at all, punned or not. I would have come up with something else entirely. Something in theme, but with more menace.

In fact, I don't think I can recall that book being mentioned again later in the story. Perhaps that might be a problem with the scene, and the book as an antagonist. If the principle is to establish that Twilight is meddling with things best left unknown, I think there's no more powerful symbol than the room full of research notes pinned to the walls.


My reasoning about that was that she could see in the dark, like a cat or an owl, probably even better, but everything has a limit. In the animal world even the best night eyes have a limit, and below that they have to resort to other means of navigating because there's simply just no light to catch no matter how big or focused the lenses of your eyes are. You could invoke magic, I suppose, but I'd rather not do so here.

Luna can see clearly at night, in starlight, like other ponies can see clearly during the day. But in some dark tunnel below the ground with not even a single star in the background, she's as blind as any.

I do admit she probably didn't need the light right there, at the top of the stairs. Later on however I think it would make sense.

I again contest that the magical pony princess of the darkness and night wouldn't be able to see in the dark or at least cast a darkvision spell. Batman can see in the dark, or has gadgets for it, and he's not a magical pony princess. Batman doesn't bust out his flashlight when he goes down to the batcave.


Yay! :smallbiggrin:

I'm glad you liked it, despite the minor concerns that cropped up along the way. I took the opportunity to re-read the whole thing myself last night, and I'm generally pleased with it myself. There is room for improvement, maybe in particular with the romancing, but I'm quite happy with the outcome. Especially seeing how concerned I recall being while writing it. It seemed so terribly flawed back then, but now it doesn't seem so bad.

And that gives me hope, because right now I'm feeling really seriously concerned about the sequel, probably even more than I ever did with Fillystata. Somehow I get the feeling that it's not on par with Fillystata, which is sad because it should go the other way... my writing should improve, not get worse. Maybe it's just my inner critic getting out of control, though.

Urgh, I know that feel. Sequelphobia. Am I going to retroactively ruin everything I did? Have I declined? Am I not living up to my own potential? Are people going to say I jumped the shark? No cure for that. I'll give you my honest opinion once I read it.


I've been meaning to go back and re-read Mare in the Mirror in its entirety too, and now seems as good a time as ever. If nothing else so I know if it's as bad as I think. While I won't do any major rewriting at this point (as a reader I hated when Past Sins did that), I feel almost certain it could use some tweaking here and there.

Anyway, I really appreciate the thoughtful critique, and I'm glad you enjoyed the story.

Losing the ability to make major rewrites is the price you pay for instant feedback. I'd say that posting an incomplete story really limits the ultimate potential of that story. What you get in instant feedback, ongoing encouragement you lose in ability to foreshadow, adapt and edit.

And I'm glad to assist; I may call in the favour someday :smallwink: I look forwards to the Mare in the Mirror!

[Deadly]

I've actually mastered the duality, and virtually never slip either way. I do miss being able to use 'people' in ponyfics, that's a good word with a lot of application. "She's good people" sounds better than "She's good pony" (what)

I've become fairly good at it in general too, when I pay attention to it that is. Which is probably why I've gotten into the bad habit of not checking as thoroughly as I once did. Because slips will always happen at some point.

Also, at some point while writing Mare in the Mirror I came to the conclusion that when someone like Spike is included in the group, perhaps things like "everyone" isn't inappropriate. That complicates matters. I didn't have that problem in Fillystata.

It's not the only problem I didn't have, Mare in the Mirror has taught me a lot, I think. It's been a very different beast to handle.


I agree entirely, the horror side of the story does stand a lot stronger. And that's because you were capable of putting an excellently creepy edge on a lot of the romance scenes, such as Twilight's overindulgence. There is a balance to be sought in this, but the protagonists are ultimately motivated by Twilight so if you don't carry through on that end, the entire story loses some of it's direction.

I actually think the solution in this case is less shipping.

I can't believe I said those words, I need a minute.

But really; the ship story moved too far, too fast. Both Luna and Trixie were crushing on Twilight, but Twilight chose Trixie - and did that really change the actions of either character? If Twilight played both of them along a little longer and didn't make a firm decision, both would of acted according to the same motivation. And Twilight could have hinted at wanting more, or wanted to make a commitment, but by then it would have been too late. The story was about seeking a beloved pony lost in darkness, and reciprocation was not actually necessary to tell that story.

And then you could have played with the implications. Twilight gave Trixie her magic at the end - and ah! She had no words, but that would be the closest she could come to saying them, and she gave her everything she had. The pain of finding love and losing it in the same instant - sublime. And breaking three hearts in one moment is so much more powerful than breaking one.

...

I may be a bit of a tragedy addict.

I agree that less shipping would have been easier to pull of, and probably better as a result. Not thereby saying it couldn't work with more shipping, it'd just be harder to balance the two conflicting sides of the story.

Your thought about the potential end is interesting. I love tragedy, in a strange way where I both love and hate to read it.


"Like a shadow with chilling laughter" is a really poor metaphor.

Oh, it wasn't meant as a metaphor... sentence structure failure :smallfrown:


The Necronomicon hardly fit with the story at all, punned or not. I would have come up with something else entirely. Something in theme, but with more menace.

In fact, I don't think I can recall that book being mentioned again later in the story. Perhaps that might be a problem with the scene, and the book as an antagonist. If the principle is to establish that Twilight is meddling with things best left unknown, I think there's no more powerful symbol than the room full of research notes pinned to the walls.

Its absence is mentioned later, but beyond that it doesn't serve a purpose beyond hinting at the dark stuff Twilight has been dealing with. I agree something else would have worked better.


I again contest that the magical pony princess of the darkness and night wouldn't be able to see in the dark or at least cast a darkvision spell. Batman can see in the dark, or has gadgets for it, and he's not a magical pony princess. Batman doesn't bust out his flashlight when he goes down to the batcave.

Good point. She certainly could have been more stealthy... Luna is difficult in that way. She's all too easy to make so competent and powerful that you just can't challenge her with mundane things. That's been a struggle all along. Unicorns are tricky, alicorns doubly so.


Urgh, I know that feel. Sequelphobia. Am I going to retroactively ruin everything I did? Have I declined? Am I not living up to my own potential? Are people going to say I jumped the shark? No cure for that. I'll give you my honest opinion once I read it.

I hope you'll wait a bit, because I'm certain there are some actual errors and I don't want to have you drowned by minor problems. I'm sure you'll find plenty of those anyway, no need to give you more. If you can wait, I'd like to do a little polishing of it first. I've been meaning to do so for a long time anyway, might as well do it now. It'll probably help with the next chapter too.


Losing the ability to make major rewrites is the price you pay for instant feedback. I'd say that posting an incomplete story really limits the ultimate potential of that story. What you get in instant feedback, ongoing encouragement you lose in ability to foreshadow, adapt and edit.

And I'm glad to assist; I may call in the favour someday :smallwink: I look forwards to the Mare in the Mirror!

Yes, it's quite different from writing something which is only published once completely finished. This is essentially a first draft, and that's how most fanfics work. It's not necessarily a bad thing, as you say.

And I'm not sure how good I am at reviewing, but I'll do my best :) I've been wanting to read more, there's just so much out there.

[Thanqol]

I agree that less shipping would have been easier to pull of, and probably better as a result. Not thereby saying it couldn't work with more shipping, it'd just be harder to balance the two conflicting sides of the story.

Your thought about the potential end is interesting. I love tragedy, in a strange way where I both love and hate to read it.

That is the very nature of tragedy. Love it and hate it at the same time, so long as it's done well. Being cruel but not too cruel - a delicate act.

I'm fine with tragedy, as long as it's not pointless tragedy; there has to be hope. Pain that people can move through and emerge stronger.


Its absence is mentioned later, but beyond that it doesn't serve a purpose beyond hinting at the dark stuff Twilight has been dealing with. I agree something else would have worked better.

I'm actually becoming an increasing fan of sources of arcane knowledge that aren't books. For instance, the ivy that covers the building - every leaf has a word written in the veins, and assembling them can produce a powerful spell.

Other mediums for knowledge, stranger ones. Spells in spider webs. Mediums that are also the message.


Good point. She certainly could have been more stealthy... Luna is difficult in that way. She's all too easy to make so competent and powerful that you just can't challenge her with mundane things. That's been a struggle all along. Unicorns are tricky, alicorns doubly so.

Just figure out her Kryptonite. Have her be hyper-competent in the darkness and shadows but then Twilight slams her with a magical spotlight, or have her power lessened in direct sunlight. I figure it's the best way to handle a character like that - she deserves to overshadow everypony else, but they have to be able to do things she can't.


I hope you'll wait a bit, because I'm certain there are some actual errors and I don't want to have you drowned by minor problems. I'm sure you'll find plenty of those anyway, no need to give you more. If you can wait, I'd like to do a little polishing of it first. I've been meaning to do so for a long time anyway, might as well do it now. It'll probably help with the next chapter too.

Will do, tell me when you're ready.


Yes, it's quite different from writing something which is only published once completely finished. This is essentially a first draft, and that's how most fanfics work. It's not necessarily a bad thing, as you say.

And I'm not sure how good I am at reviewing, but I'll do my best :) I've been wanting to read more, there's just so much out there.

As long as you're aware of the limitations of the medium and they don't translate into broader limitations that apply to all you do.

And I know that feel. I've been way behind in my own reading. I'm glad I've had the chance to get caught up recently.

[Athaniar]

Thanqol, your character personality thing looks interesting. Let's try it on Mtangulizi, my main RP character in the IRC:
Enlightenment: Peace and harmony for everyone.
Flawed: Peace and harmony by any means necessary.
Five Words: Love, Kindness, Willpower, Harmony, Suffering

Love: Closeness, Happiness, Devotion, Passion, Family
Kindness: Caring, Healing, Forgiveness, Helping, Benevolence
Willpower: Duty, Fearlessness, Determination, Loyalty, Hope
Harmony: Peace, Tranquility, Friendship, Acceptance, Unity
Suffering: Hardship, Endurance, Martyrdom, Atonement, Regret
How does that look?

[Dexam]

Sure. I'm in a fanfiction reviewing mood recently, partially because I want to build up review karma as Long Distance develops.



First of all, thanks for the review. :smallsmile:
Justifications, explanations, and/or excuses follow...



Initial thought about description:

Ah, I know this feel. This is the "This is how I would do it" feel. The description in the first part has energy and flow, it's broadly solid, but I have small, hard-to-articulate issues with the precise nature of it. We're well into hand-wavey feel-ie territory here.

You're using elements from the show, quotations and images, but I feel it's almost too on the nose in this regard. You're using everypony's exact words without the entire sentiment behind them that created those words. Your descriptions are solid, but almost a little rigid - a touch too formal.


I'm not entirely sure how I can "fix" this. The opening gambit is intended to read as entirely "episode-like" as possible; hence the use of (overly?) familiar situations, speech, and behaviour. So if it's "almost too on the nose"... um, mission accomplished? :smallconfused:

The only thing I can think of to change it up a little is to have a prelude paragraph with RD already in Death's Country, with the intro written as a flashback. Is that too trite?

As for the rigidity - once again, I blame lack of practice.




This, for example, feels weirdly out of place. It's something Rainbow might do, but I'm not convinced she'd do it here. My own instinctive response to Rainbow being teleported to a diamond desert dimension would be:

- Asks who's there. Instant flip to aggression.
- Begins flying rapidly, looking for a threat. She'd be mad because she'd assume this was a joke and go into defensive mode, looking for a physical confrontation.
- After satisfying herself that she's not restrained, and that nopony was watching her, Rainbow would slowly start to relax. She'd still reflexively try to play it cool for a while, taking a 'yeah, whatever' approach towards the riches.
- Eventually might briefly indulge in some girlish and silly behaviour tossing diamonds around.
- Would quickly get bored, and then afraid.

Yeah, I was really unhappy about this bit. And this was the second draft of this section. :smallsigh:

The original idea was to go into much more detail regarding Rainbow's initial reactions and explorations of Death's country; but I was getting stalled on this bit, I felt that it was already dragging on, and in the end I just wanted to skip over it to get to the interaction with Death - but without losing it entirely. As such, it ended up being rather messier than intended. This is what writing from 1:00 AM looks like when you've been awake since 7:00 AM, but don't want to got to bed because you know your child is going to wake up in half an hour for a change and feed; and if you don't do some writing now it's going to be another day gone with no writing done at, and you're not sure if you'll be able to write at all tomorrow today.

That said, thanks to your feedback, I will probably revisit and rewrite this section when I'm in a better frame of mind for writing.



What I don't see is Rainbow Dash comprehending the idea of scarcity being the foundation of monetary policy and deciding that because diamonds were common they were worthless. Rainbow Dash is totally the kind to counter financial problems by printing more money.

Admittedly, this was inspired by a single line from the "At the Gala" song in Best Night Ever: "We'll perform for crowds of thousands / They'll shower us with diamonds" - which I interpreted as meaning that diamonds are a rare and valuable gem in Equestria (hence Rarity and the triple diamond cutie mark); and that fortune as well as fame is a driving motivation for Rainbow Dash, though a much lesser one. Reading too much into it? Maybe. That's fandoms for you. :smallwink:


Neither do I see Rainbow admitting that she's lost, at least until she's walked around for a few hours, found nothing, and is starting to face a breakdown.

Neither do I. I had considered writing Rainbow having a minor breakdown, but since Death is observing her at all times, I decided that she would sense that observation long before she reached that point.


And this is the main problem I have with this fic; the reactions aren't quite right, the mindset isn't right, the responses are out of order and I don't find them natural. You're citing from the show more than you're communicating what drives the characters.

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. Try taking us through those steps instead; I wager you'll find the progression a lot more natural. Indeed, I'd suggest that structuring the entire story around those five stations would be very powerful; even as chapter headings.

Once again, I'll trot out the usual excuses: lack of practice and writing when I wasn't in the mood but now was the only time I had available to do it. The responses are out of order, because this was written in dribs and drabs, and clearly you've picked up on the changes in my mood in the writing. They probably don't feel natural because there's no flow.


Now, that all said, the conversation with Death was actually a lot stronger than the rest. I think I recognized a few Pratchett lines, particularly dark outrunning light. The ending was marvellous and I completely did not see it coming.

The Death conversation was largely written in one sitting when I was actually in the mood to write and I had the time to do so. It shows, doesn't it?

As for the Pratchett line - imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; though I think the original inspiration I had for the speed of dark being faster than the speed of light came from "The Never Ending Story II". :smallsmile:

As mentioned to another reviewer - the ending (and story) was seeded by two concepts: "Rainbow Dash ships with everypony" and "Rainbow Dash flirts with death". And I'd been re-reading a fair bit of Discworld when I had the initial idea.



And if I've been quite critical, don't get the wrong idea. This fic passes a lot of my baseline tests; I don't feel the need to go through it line by line and point out inconsistencies, it's very readable and doing well on the first draft scale. The problems I do have with it are unfortunately the wrongthink variety, which necessitates rewrites, rather than the small correction variety. This is a powerful concept you're working with here - I can sense that if you do this right it could be an absolutely fantastic story. I'm going to be unfortunately picky in my attempts to ensure that it works out as fantastic as the concept deserves.

Thank you for your feedback - it's greatly appreciated and it has helped cement in my mind where I want to take this story, which was originally planned as a one-shot, but now I know what direction it is going in. I just hope I find the time and energy to do the concept justice. Sadly, those two resources are going to become even more limited as I return to work on Monday.


Oh, and protip from somepony who spent two years roleplaying Death in a freeform - the font you want is Copperplate Gothic Light :smallwink: So much more classy than allcaps.



Once again, the tip is appreciated. I know it's all in the presentation, but formatting was a secondary consideration to actually getting text down in a document. Hopefully I'll be able to return the favour.

[otakuryoga]

Get off my lawn you whippersnappers its time for Pony!

why...back in my day we had to make do with 22 minute toy commercials featuring HippoPonies instead of the fine show you youngin's get to enjoy

[Anarion]

Good morning everypony. New episode is under way. The long, pony-less drought has passed.

In two seconds, we apparently found out that timberwolves are canon.

After the first segment, I have no sympathy for Apple Bloom. I know people get embarrassed about their family's weirdness, but Granny Smith is old and interesting, and frankly the only reason the teasing has any effect at all is because Apple Bloom acts embarrassed when Diamond Tiara makes fun of her.


Edit: Full Episode initial thoughts
Timber wolves actually made out of timber. I love the everfree forest. :smallbiggrin:

Unsurprisingly, Granny Smith was awesome. Surprisingly, they actually gave Diamond Tiara some comeuppance and forced her to wear bunny ears at the end. Sadly, real life so rarely works that way, but it's nice to know that poetic justice is strong in Equestria.

I think the history lesson itself wrapped up pretty neatly. It gives a clear timeframe for the founding of Ponyville, although it's not super specific since we don't know the average lifespan of a pony.

One oddity is that the steam train apparently was around quite a long time ago. Perhaps the Appleloosans needed a pony-draw train because there wasn't access to a good source of fuel where they were or perhaps the pony drawn train still goes a bit faster when you really want speed?

[Kairaven]

new eps

well, that was unexpected. I don't mean the general plot, that was predictable. But I really wasn't expecting ponyville history. Also confirmed that Granny Smith is from the "Smith" Family, therefore is the Apple family's maternal granny. Most interesting is the interpretation of "Timberwolves". New monsters to add for pony adventures!

edit: Also it seems Equestran physics indicates that all form of energy seem to eventually result in somesort of rainbow hued effect.

[Castel]

Anyone else heard that?

It was as if thousands of fanons cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

Also, it was combined with the sound of depression hitting all the Applejack fans expecting an episode for her, and getting another Applebloom episode instead. :smallamused:

About the episode itself:
Eh, the first one of the second season that I didn't really care for.

[Nameless]

New Episode:

Eeeee! T'was awesome!

But... Doesn't this back story kind of contradict Hearth's Warming Eve? :smallconfused:

[vegetalss4]

New Episode thoughts

First of this one was really good, even by pony standards.

Granny Smith is awesome, her memory issues are funny as are her antics and seeing her love for life is great. I would have been terrified of those bees and she just acted like it was nothing.

Filthy Rich prefers Mr. Rich over Mr. Filthy, I must say I understand him. Also he seems nice, there's hope for his daughter still.

Those magic trees are quite something. Makes it more understandable why Fluttershy wan't to be a tree. Thimberwolves are cool too.

Nice flashback scene, liked the helpful Celestia especially.

Also the entire thing was full of small good moments, such as her "that's there is a broom" and the military glass treatment, how long do you guys think it'll take before someone sets Meet the soldier to it. Also nice that Big Mac said something other than Eyup if only a little bit.

All in all one of my favorite episodes.

[vegetalss4]

New Episode:

Eeeee! T'was awesome!

But... Doesn't this back story kind of contradict Hearth's Warming Eve? :smallconfused:

Not really Hearth's Warming Eve happened far far in the past, around the pre-classical era possibly at the shift to the classical one, before the rise of the Sisters. This backstory happened in Grannys youth at least a 1000 years later, probably far later than even that.

[Athaniar]

Random New Episode Thoughts
It was good. The flashback was really nice. Farming is weird. Timber wolves are awesome. There really should be a MLP Monster Manual.

[Pokonic]

New Episode:

Eeeee! T'was awesome!

But... Doesn't this back story kind of contradict Hearth's Warming Eve? :smallconfused:

Nah. Thats just where everything settled at first. A country does expand, after all.Ponyville can hardly be called the center of the universe, after all.

Episode proper

Granny Smiths story was interesting. Conferms that the Everfree was even worse back then, and that Celestia has not aged a bit.
Also, having Tiras dad not being a utter bully, and him actualy getting his little princess to get into the bunny outfit was a nice end, albet unrealistic. Funny, could have sworn to have seen a fanfic around that had the Tiaras and the Apples effectivily having split founding over Ponyville. Turns out that is somewhat true.

Also, Timberwolves: yet another creature that I wish I made up myself.:smalltongue:

[Beacon of Chaos]

Episode... uh... what number are we on? 12?
The episode started pretty well, kinda dragged on for the middle, then became AMAZING.

Random thoughts:

Diamond Tiara's father being a big business man. Knew it. He seems a lot nicer than her, probably because he actually knows the value of a bit. Interesting that at the end, Silver Spoon applauded, but Diamond Tiara was just too stubborn, and got her comeuppance for it. With adorable bunny ears. Obviously there's hope for Spoony yet.

The history lesson was great, especially with the sepia tone style. Filly Granny Smith was so cute! Timber wolves are a cool moster, despite being, well, wolves made of wood.

I like how they described the Zap Apple Jam creation method basically as "It's magic. It doesn't have to make sense" :P I bet those apples were made by Discord. Think about it.

Edit:
Also, no letter to Celestia this week! Is that a first?

[Pokonic]

Episode... uh... what number are we on? 12?
The episode started pretty well, kinda dragged on for the middle, then became AMAZING.

Random thoughts:

Diamond Tiara's father being a big business man. Knew it. He seems a lot nicer than her, probably because he actually knows the value of a bit. Interesting that at the end, Silver Spoon applauded, but Diamond Tiara was just too stubborn, and got her comeuppance for it. With adorable bunny ears. Obviously there's hope for Spoony yet.


Silver Spoon seems to be more of the type to follow the big filly in charge. Better to be on the good side of the bully than to be the bullied.

[vegetalss4]

Silver Spoon seems to be more of the type to follow the big filly in charge. Better to be on the good side of the bully than to be the bullied.

My impression is that she is a good deal more secure than Diamond Tiara is. Remember how when they was introduced and the guest chose Appleblooms side on the "blank flank" thing Spoon was like "whatever, lets do our thing" while Diamond got all down in the dumps.

[Soras Teva Gee]

New Episode is AMAZING. I'm glad we kicked of the year with strong episode.

[Pokonic]

My impression is that she is a good deal more secure than Diamond Tiara is. Remember how when they was introduced and the guest chose Appleblooms side on the "blank flank" thing Spoon was like "whatever, lets do our thing" while Diamond got all down in the dumps.

Yeah, in this case, making fun of Apple bloom is not her first priority. Its to be happy, and perhapes stay on Tiaras good side. Tiara, on the other hand, needed to amuse herself by being meanie to poor widdle Apple bloom.


New Episode is AMAZING. I'm glad we kicked of the year with strong episode.

Its the best one that has the CMC in it by far.

[otakuryoga]

--zap apples? buckets under dead trees?
(ahhhh, explained)

--Y we no see these dead lookin trees before when they are right there next to the farmhouse?

-- Diamond Tiara parent....Filthy Rich

--Diamond Tiara..speculated on, now confirmed..her special talent is being a stuck up *itch

--new lookout tower on the CMC clubhouse

--they had a train IN Ponyville when Granny was young...and one now...but not in season 1??

--TimberWolves...wolves made of living wood...of course

--i already liked Silver Spoon...and she earns more points being the 1st to clap even though she knows DT's motive behind suggesting Granny speak

--new colt in the class....my he is a pudgy one..more than snips even

[Deadly]

New episode
Timber wolves, of course :smallbiggrin:

Not sure what to say about the episode as a whole, but there were some nice, and odd bits. Don't think it'll be on my top list of episodes, but it wasn't bad. Nice, good episode.

Those zap apple trees... that sure was different. I kept getting strange associations with Friendship is Witchcraft all the way through, every time there was one of them there "signs".

Scootaloo in that outfit... and Scootabunny... Scootaloo in general. Adorably awesome. Why does Applebloom and Sweetie Belle get all the episodes? Scoots need at least three now to make up for that! I. Want. Scoota. Loo!

Granny's story was a nice touch. She sure was cute when she was young.

I like that Silver Spoon was first to clap. I'm really starting to like Silver Spoon, I think without Diamond Tiara's influence she'd be a right nice pony. Also she's just adorable with those glasses ^^

Granny licking the blackboard at the end... that was a little too strange for me. I mean, yeah, she's an old, charmingly eccentric lady, but... really, no, that didn't work for me.

No friendship report, despite an obvious lesson? I mean, they don't have to learn a lesson every time I'm sure, but when they do shouldn't they at least write to Celestia? That was a little disappointing maybe.

[Beacon of Chaos]

More new episode
Did anyone else laugh out loud at the world's greatest scrunchy face?
http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/7d3ef31192f94aad16ed93f0b0f915e6/108919%20-%20apple_bloom%20Diamond_Tiara%20family_appreciati on_day%20most_epic_scrunchy_face%20Scrunchy_Face.P NG

[Pokonic]

New episode
Timber wolves, of course :smallbiggrin:

Not sure what to say about the episode as a whole, but there were some nice, and odd bits. Don't think it'll be on my top list of episodes, but it wasn't bad. Nice, good episode.

Those zap apple trees... that sure was different. I kept getting strange associations with Friendship is Witchcraft all the way through, every time there was one of them there "signs".

Scootaloo in that outfit... and Scootabunny... Scootaloo in general. Adorably awesome. Why does Applebloom and Sweetie Belle get all the episodes? Scoots need at least three now to make up for that! I. Want. Scoota. Loo!

Granny's story was a nice touch. She sure was cute when she was young.

I like that Silver Spoon was first to clap. I'm really starting to like Silver Spoon, I think without Diamond Tiara's influence she'd be a right nice pony. Also she's just adorable with those glasses ^^

Granny licking the blackboard at the end... that was a little too strange for me. I mean, yeah, she's an old, charmingly eccentric lady, but... really, no, that didn't work for me.

No friendship report, despite an obvious lesson? I mean, they don't have to learn a lesson every time I'm sure, but when they do shouldn't they at least write to Celestia? That was a little disappointing maybe.


Well, some ponys do not think that they have to tell there living god every time they learn something.:smalltongue:

Notably, this was not so much a freindship lesson as a life lesson, if that eases your fears of going off-track.


More new episode
Did anyone else laugh out loud at the world's greatest scrunchy face?
http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/7d3ef31192f94aad16ed93f0b0f915e6/108919%20-%20apple_bloom%20Diamond_Tiara%20family_appreciati on_day%20most_epic_scrunchy_face%20Scrunchy_Face.P NG

They are both epic and adorable at the same time.

[otakuryoga]

Scootaloo in that outfit... and Scootabunny... Scootaloo in general. Adorably awesome. Why does Applebloom and Sweetie Belle get all the episodes? Scoots need at least three now to make up for that! I. Want. Scoota. Loo!



i heartily endorse the need for an episode/more screen time in general for 2nd best Pegasus(best pegasus being Fluttershy of course)

[Deadly]

Well, some ponys do not think that they have to tell there living god every time they learn something.:smalltongue:

Notably, this was not so much a freindship lesson as a life lesson, if that eases your fears of going off-track.

I suppose one could see it like that. I'm not too worried about it or anything, just something I noticed. I do like those friendship reports at the end, though, and I certainly hope they're not going to make them too rare. I also liked having Twilight be the focus of them, but oh well.

[TheCountAlucard]

Excuse me, for fear of opening an entire page's worth of spoilered posts, can anyone just link me to the episode?

[Dexam]

Excuse me, for fear of opening an entire page's worth of spoilered posts, can anyone just link me to the episode?

Forum rules prevent us from directly linking to the episodes, but if you check out Equestria Daily (http://www.equestriadaily.com/), you should be able to find a link there.

[Selrahc]

Classic Trollestia.
Ponies are looking for a place to live.
Send them to a creepy forest full of monsters.

[Pendulous]

Ok, so new episode had one pony from the mane cast, and really featured only one from the mane extended cast (Applebloom). AND, on top of that, new plot synopsis reveals yet another Rainbow Dash episode soon. I'm disappointed so far, and they better pick up the pace.

[tyciol]

I love it when there's continuous eps and they get linked in the edit-updated first post :)

[Nameless]

Not really Hearth's Warming Eve happened far far in the past, around the pre-classical era possibly at the shift to the classical one, before the rise of the Sisters. This backstory happened in Grannys youth at least a 1000 years later, probably far later than even that.

Exactly. Didn't the Earth ponies set up a village in that area a thousand years before this back story?

[Orzel]

I have to wait until 3pm eastern to see the episode.
:smallfrown:

Andrea Libman inspired me to finish both my RPG and Board game. And to return to pony thread. Because her speaking voice is SO CUTEAWESOME.

[Gamerlord]

*New episode*
So, Granny was there at the founding of Ponyville....but didn't Twi say in Winter Wrap Up Ponyville has been around for hundreds of years? Ponies must be very long lived.

[Kairaven]

*New episode*
So, Granny was there at the founding of Ponyville....but didn't Twi say in Winter Wrap Up Ponyville has been around for hundreds of years? Ponies must be very long lived.



well, the quote

"No Spike, Ponyville was started by Earth ponies, so for hundreds of years they've never used magic to clean up winter. It's traditional."

could mean that all earth pony settlement for hundreds of years never use magic to clear winter.

episode speculation
so, let's say that Granny Smith was a filly of oh, let's say 14 (pony age) old enough for a cutie mark and relatively physically mature. and that she is on the old end of pony age, say currently 110? So Ponyville is roughly founded around ~90 years ago.

In ~90 years ponies manage to technologically advance from what seems like US mid 1800's to what now appears to be late 1900's so it seems pony advancement is slightly faster then human advancements, though not by much.

this also explain why Appleloosa appears slightly antiquidated

[Bayonet Priest]

Exactly. Didn't the Earth ponies set up a village in that area a thousand years before this back story?

I don't remember it saying they set up Ponyville. They just settled in what became Equestria. They called it Dirt.

Episode thoughts
I thought it was a decent episode. Nothing too spectacular until Granny Smith's story, that really made the entire episode. Timberwolves are awesome, I may steal that for DnD game it's so awesome. The horrible pun would probably get me punched though. :smalltongue:

And Diamond Tiara's Dad's name is Filthy Rich :smallbiggrin: That's hilarious. The kids falling asleep during his presentation was great too, especially Sweetie Bell.

[Nameless]

I don't remember it saying they set up Ponyville. They just settled in what became Equestria. They called it Dirt.

Episode thoughts
I thought it was a decent episode. Nothing too spectacular until Granny Smith's story, that really made the entire episode. Timberwolves are awesome, I may steal that for DnD game it's so awesome. The horrible pun would probably get me punched though. :smalltongue:

And Diamond Tiara's Dad's name is Filthy Rich :smallbiggrin: That's hilarious. The kids falling asleep during his presentation was great too, especially Sweetie Bell.


I'm not saying that it had to be Ponyville, I'm saying that Hearth's Warming Eve episode showed (or at the very least, insinuated) that the Unicorns set up a town/city/some sort of living area where Canterlot is, the Pegasi set up in the clouds to the west of that area and the Earth Ponies set themselves up in the area where Ponyville is. Yet in this episode, that area was completely empty. What happened to all those Earth Ponies? :smalleek:

[Cen]

Uhm... anyone seen Derpy in new episode?

[legomaster00156]

New episode thoughts, as I think of them.

- Granny Smith is unusually spry in this episode.
- Wait, Scootaloo already did Family Appreciation Day? WHY COULDN'T WE SEE IT???
- Applebloom built an ATTIC in the clubhouse?
- Well, they're pretty different from normal apple trees, apparently. :smalltongue:
- Why is the pig slop green?
- Wait, Cheerilee is supposed to be smart. Is she really not seeing the strings, or is she just playing along with the CMC?
- Whoa. Zapapple ripening looks awesome.
- Granny just leaped into the air several feet, fell, and got right back on her hooves. Go, Granny!
- Whoa, she is OLD. She's been around for the settling of Ponyville.
- And her family has given the land of Sweet Apple Acres by Celestia herself?
- Granny went into the Everfree Forest as a filly, despit being warned. And, obviously, she came out of it. WHOA.
- She found the first Zapapples...
- Run, Granny, run! :smalleek:
- She scared off a pack of Everfree Forest beasts just by clanging metal. That makes the first scene make so much more sense!
- The Zapapples pretty much founded Ponyville...
- The most amazing pony in Ponyville? Yes, yes she is.

That's it. Granny Smith is a badass. I never thought I would ever say that.

[Zevox]

Episode 12:
Well, this was probably the best Cutie Mark Crusaders episode ever. Still not a personal favorite or anything, but much more entertaining than their usual fare. I think it's largely because it didn't center on them doing stupid things in pursuit of cutie marks, only to learn a lesson that they'll forget in two minutes. Though the effort to harvest the apples early was getting into annoyingly stupid territory, that at least didn't last long.

Also, Granny Smith's backstory to Ponyville was nice. And the Zap Apples are cool.
Zevox

[Aotrs Commander]

New episode:
As usual, my first impressions before catching up to the thread...

Interesting... Not one of the highlights of the season, I fear (I smiled but didn't really laugh), but it was interesting it's own right.

Granny Smith is clearly older than we thought - she referred to Diamond Tiara's great-grandfather (and I went and double-checked that) as a contemporay, so is it possible she's not Applebloom and Applejacks' grandmother, but great-grandmother? (and "Granny" is probably her name, not her title, as we've sometimes wondered.) It also suggests Ponyville dates back a good four generations.

However, I don't think they once again gave us a "x years ago", so it's not made it any easily infer pony-life span except in that Granny Smith clearly aged very well.

And the Apple family clearly are very important to Ponyville, and, if we extrapolate from Appaloosa, the clan could collectively be behind more than one settlement, placing them as quite important in the scheme of things. (Then again, we know that the Oranges are well-in with high society, so perhaps that isn't so surprising.)

Also, nice to see some more magic unique to Equestria again.

Oh, and Timber Wolves... *eyeglow roll*

On the other claw, I keep telling people vegetation is evil, maybe now they'll believe me!

[Athaniar]

Lauren Faust confirmed for next BroNYcon (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/01/lauren-faust-confirmed-for-next.html), for those interested.

[Pokonic]

I'm not saying that it had to be Ponyville, I'm saying that Hearth's Warming Eve episode showed (or at the very least, insinuated) that the Unicorns set up a town/city/some sort of living area where Canterlot is, the Pegasi set up in the clouds to the west of that area and the Earth Ponies set themselves up in the area where Ponyville is. Yet in this episode, that area was completely empty. What happened to all those Earth Ponies? :smalleek:

Hint: look at the area underground in the episode with the dimond dogs. Your welcome.

On the other hand, it seems like the everfree has actualy become less deadly over the years. Guess who had to find that out?

[Aotrs Commander]

New espisode:
What, I was the only one to catch the great-grandfather thing?



Exactly. Didn't the Earth ponies set up a village in that area a thousand years before this back story?



Very few settlements last thousnads of years, and those that do thend to be capital cities of places of great importance.

Remember that the Castle of the Two sister was in ruins in Everfree, and Canterlot has apparently only been in prominance since then.

A thousand years is a LOOOOONG time, and Hearthwarming dates back to even earlier than that.

It would have been massively unrealistic for Ponyville to have been founded then and still be the same size as it is now. (However, the possibility remains that Canterlot may have been the settlement originally, probably before several name changes (London has gone through a few, for one); that, I would believe, is big enough to have been around in one form or another for some centuries is more.)




episode speculation
so, let's say that Granny Smith was a filly of oh, let's say 14 (pony age) old enough for a cutie mark and relatively physically mature. and that she is on the old end of pony age, say currently 110? So Ponyville is roughly founded around ~90 years ago.

In ~90 years ponies manage to technologically advance from what seems like US mid 1800's to what now appears to be late 1900's so it seems pony advancement is slightly faster then human advancements, though not by much.

this also explain why Appleloosa appears slightly antiquidated

Much as I would like to agree with you, the trouble is the numbers are still a bit arbitary.

Even if you assume ponies only live roughly as long as real-world ponies, as, say, Deadly does (though I don't, as I've said), the lack of Granny saying "x years ago, when I was a filly" (which I was hoping we'd get in somewhere!) doesn't necessarily preclude that. We can only say that four generations have passed since the founding of Ponyville, but how long a generation is is a good question.

The fact there was a train - not overly different from the current ponyville trains - doesn't really help us much, since they can go back two hundred years or so, and Equestrian technology is fairly unobtrusive at the best of times.

So one might place Equestria as somewhere only up to maybe in the roughly mid-twentieth century technology, from what we've seen. Assuming a similar level of technological progression to Earth, you could fit it in something like only fifty years or so, which would still be viable for four generations of ponies at real-world equine aging rates.

Conversely, bookending the other end, if you take the present Equestria to be equated to the early 2000s, you could also go back as far as the late nineteeth century (which was the age of steam at it's height, really), so Granny Smith could be as old as Wolverine! Indicating that ponies can potentially live longer than humans.

Or they could be roughly the same, in which case, Granny could have been born in the Equestrian-equivalent of the 1920s or a bit earlier. (Remember that, even well into the middle of the twentieth century, things were not nearly as industrailised as now - industrialisation has exploded dramatically in the last fifty years, and is still on a fairly steep advancement curve. Look at just mobiles and computers, for instance.)

And again, all that is assuming a roughly equivalent rate of technological porogression, which may of course vary wildly. So, while it ansered some questions, it still didn't help us a lot with a time-line, at least unless there's some more information that I'm missing.

[Mando Knight]

Two comments on the episode:
Granny Smith is Genie's mama (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdeyxEL3T8s&t=40s)? :smalltongue:

Also, although I thought the Timber Wolves were neat, they weren't what I first thought of, but this.
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/8/8a/Madcat_PPC_fire.jpg

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Wahaha, I'm back!

Feeling a bit discorded today, but I will simply cut out any excuses I might have given for not posting in two weeks (don't worry, there are!) and make an image dump that was a week overdue when I first stopped posting Christmas Eve:

Warning: there's like a billion pictures in here. I'm serious. Have a couple of spare organs ready.

Last chance to get out while you still can!
Secret Santa Present!
http://d.facdn.net/art/roninhirox/1324786720.roninhirox_derpychristmascard.png
Thank you so much roninhirox! I love it I live it http://i.imgur.com/Dy4NS.png

http://th07.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2011/353/7/f/i__ll_fly_higher_by_dorumon4x-d4jjt5v.jpg
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http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/215/689/the_whooves___tpp_by_creshosk-d46t7j5.gif
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/214/895/95815%20-%20dat_mustache%20fancypants%20Fancy_Pants%20shoul d_not_want_but_want%20wet_mane%20wet_mane_all_the_ ponies.png
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/214/387/95508%20-%20artist%253AJessy%20fluttershy.png
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/214/240/95329%20-%20cute%20d%2527aww%20fillly%20screwball.png
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/213/838/94269%20-%20animated%20artist%253ATex%20ask%20ask_big_mcint osh%20big_macintosh%20crossover%20Guybrush_Threepw ood%20monkey_island%20Stan%20tumblr.gif
http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/213/713/94410%20-%20ask_my_little_chubbies%20blob%20blobs%20derpy_h ooves%20muffin%20my_little_chubbies.png
http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/213/658/94756%20-%20animated%20artist%253Apoperok%20flip_out%20pink ie_pie.gif
http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/213/249/mlp_fim_meet_the_gang_by_smittyg-d4ginqi.png
http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/212/881/naps_by_ponymonster-d4bf1to.png
Spoilered for long:
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/212/872/adorable.png
Spoilered for long:
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/212/397/93889%20-%20celestia%20Discord%20Galla%20luna%20Nightmare_M oon%20pinkie%20pinkie_pie%20rainbow_dash%20rarity% 20twilight_sparkle.jpg
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/212/007/93525%20-%20artist%253Asemehammer%20humanized%20pinkie_pie% 20smile.jpg
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/211/977/93265+-+artist+rollingrabbit+beret+plot+rarity+sweater.pn g
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/211/737/93184%20-%20artist%253AEgophiliac%20fleur-de-lis.png
http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/211/727/ellispony.jpg
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/211/716/93164%20-%20absurd_res%20beatnik%20beret%20highres%20recolo r%20sweater%20twilight_sparkle%20vector.png
http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/211/626/87792%20-%20artist-yikomega%20chibi%20filly%20happy%20twilight_sparkl e.jpg
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/211/617/93110%20-%20blob%20chubby%20rarity.png
http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/211/615/93108%20-%20Fancy_Pants%20Know_Your_Pants%20Squilliam.JPG
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/211/399/Card%20Derpy.jpg
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/211/352/92663%20-%20captain_falcon%20mare_do_well%20Mare_do_well_un masked%20rainbow_dash%20unmask.jpg
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/222/324/102877%20-%20box%20derpy_hooves%20ponies_in_real_life.JPG
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/221/605/102450%20-%20artist%253Atenchisamoshi%20box%20derpy_hooves%2 0muffins.png
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/221/489/102353+-+artist+furrydinner+derpy_hooves.png
http://i.imgur.com/2Qj2o.jpg
http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/1834/atthegrandgallopinggala.png
http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/355/b/2/pony_noir_by_tygerbug-d4js4ge.jpg
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/355/2/1/gummy_is_best_plane_by_mixermike622-d4jts7l.png
http://th07.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2011/360/5/4/group_filly_picture_by_smittyg-d4kbrge.png
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/358/3/4/at_the_gala_by_rakuyou-d4k3n5w.jpg
http://th09.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2011/361/0/7/the_fun_have_been_bubbled_by_saturnspace-d4kdb75.png
http://th09.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2011/360/2/2/the_colt_by_white_pwny-d4k9p30.png
http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/362/6/5/vinyl_xmas_by_hashbro-d4kgjaz.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/fOPOG.png
http://th08.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2011/359/a/f/well_your_present_was_muffins____by_egophiliac-d4k8e9o.png
http://iambrony.jsmart.web.id/gif/files/fluttershyandfluttershy.gif
http://i.imgur.com/uPhDV.gif
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/329/f/1/the_adventure_of_twilink_by_schizopie-d4hbfdo.png
http://th08.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2011/362/c/d/cloudy_with_a_chance_of_hugs_by_zicygomar-d4kjqvi.png
http://th04.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2011/362/3/9/gray_wastes_of_soul_by_grayma1k-d4kk2dy.png
http://th09.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2011/361/7/0/dem_tavi_smooches_by_kirotalon-d4kgdub.png
Spoilered for long:
http://th09.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2011/363/0/0/007bc7cf8d10a38786e9336f20ff6cd6-d4klhsn.png
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwunhhYH8e1r3s33oo2_500.png
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/001/b/d/scootaloo___gala_dress_by_miesmauz-d4kykut.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/dRQYV.jpg
http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/001/3/e/more_holiday_ponies_by_chibi_jen_hen-d4kz79a.jpg
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/001/3/f/01_01_1012_by_johnjoseco-d4l0qt0.png
http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwzuqlmbuA1r3f4uoo2_500.gif
Spoilered for organization: this next bit's a 5-part minicomic
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/365/e/c/to_applebloom__from_santa_hooves_page_1_by_wizardw annabe-d4kummx.png
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/365/3/f/to_applebloom__from_santa_hooves_page_2_by_wizardw annabe-d4kumv6.png
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/365/e/a/to_applebloom__from_santa_hooves_page_3_by_wizardw annabe-d4kun43.png
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/004/7/7/to_applebloom__from_santa_hooves_page_4_by_wizardw annabe-d4kund9.png
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/004/d/1/to_applebloom__from_santa_hooves_page_5_by_wizardw annabe-d4kunps.png

http://i.imgur.com/UacMw.gif
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/186/e/6/gummy_by_zicygomar-d3l4kws.png
http://i.imgur.com/DxxuV.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/FdCsVh.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/2URLJh.png
http://i.imgur.com/aqp5vh.png
http://i.imgur.com/YrdUj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/1cQaE.png
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/198/a/d/four_stars_by_palestorm-d3zimpl.png
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/365/7/9/comming_home_by_sakuyamon-d4ktkht.png
http://h11.abload.de/img/i60781_secretsantagifa1j5u.gif
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/333/2/d/2d823b87bdb3514d13413f85b6325c7d-d4hor8o.png
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/002/d/8/bubbly_by_mn27-d4l1oo1.png
http://i.imgur.com/89dQ7.gif
http://i.imgur.com/i9cXN.jpg
http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/004/7/5/doodling_is_magic_by_karzahnii-d4l9yz2.png
http://i.imgur.com/MELDr.jpg
Spoilered for ragecomic:
http://i.imgur.com/QSjmO.jpg
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/004/7/2/our_final_battle_gif_by_subjectnumber2394-d4l9ywx.gif
http://i.imgur.com/Uy79H.png
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/005/c/f/sweetest_thing_ever_by_mn27-d4lczr0.png
http://i.imgur.com/snDnV.png
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/005/a/a/naptime_2_by_koeks_bienchen-d4ldqwc.png
http://i.imgur.com/bUFAN.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/heN1o.png
http://th02.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2012/006/3/2/i_met_you_on_a_snowy_day____by_solar_slash-d4lh9uw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/sTJdh.jpg
http://th01.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2012/006/d/0/mrs__faust__s_ponies_by_wolfjedisamuel-d4lglhy.jpg
http://th07.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2011/204/1/1/flootershy_by_leighanna-d41gftu.png
http://th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2012/006/6/4/blue_rave_sound_by_solar_slash-d4lh9r8.jpg
http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/260/1/1/here_we_go_everypony_by_platina_jolteon-d4a53gl.png
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/006/8/9/midnight_rose_by_solar_slash-d4ljs9e.png
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/005/e/1/princesses_of_equestria_sketch_by_bronyfang-d4lfueu.jpg
http://th02.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/006/7/7/filly_pinkie_by_jinyaranda-d4ljwa8.jpg



Also here is a massive cache of gifs that I found in my travels! (http://imgur.com/a/0tACd)

Also here is Winter Wrap Up played on a bunch of hard drives. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HhoIku_-yM)

Okay, that's all I got for today. Time to let my poor poor firefox rest, and then slowly get myself back into the swing of things. Maybe earn my hat back. Who knows, anything can happen :smallsmile:

You're all awesome, btw. Just had to get that out there.

[Pendulous]

New episode thoughts, as I think of them.

-
- Applebloom built an ATTIC in the clubhouse?



Further cements what we speculate what will be her cutie mark, I guess.

Speaking of, did anyone else expect her to get her cutie mark at the end when Scootaloo mentioned her batch was the best ever?

[legomaster00156]

Further cements what we speculate what will be her cutie mark, I guess.

Speaking of, did anyone else expect her to get her cutie mark at the end when Scootaloo mentioned her batch was the best ever?
No, but I did expect her to check her flank.

[Lix Lorn]

And then Voltaire (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ujbq5yrvEwE/Twe50aEBqEI/AAAAAAAAAM8/mMorNRzptdA/s1600/voltaireshare.png)was a brony.
Best thing.


Lauren Faust confirmed for next BroNYcon (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/01/lauren-faust-confirmed-for-next.html), for those interested.
SO JEALOUS.

[Orzel]

The voice actress of Celestia and Cheerilee, Nicole, wants to see more art of Rarity designing dresses.

YOU HAVE YOUR ORDERS!

[Beacon of Chaos]

Further cements what we speculate what will be her cutie mark, I guess.

Speaking of, did anyone else expect her to get her cutie mark at the end when Scootaloo mentioned her batch was the best ever?

Kinda, yeah. I did think it was odd that she didn't check. Maybe it would have ruined the moment.

A rainbow apple cutie mark would be kinda cool though.

Anyway, here's a pic I did. Loosely based on today's ep, though there are no spoilers in it.
http://www.canterlot.com/uploads/gallery/album_36/gallery_299_36_438945.jpg

"'at are 'ou 'oing 'ilver 'oon!?"

"You need to, like, lighten up, Diamond Tiara!"

[grimbold]

No, but I did expect her to check her flank.

same
this was the first ever CCC episode with no discussion of cutie marks...

[MLPSilverbolt]

Ason, to add to what MLPSilverbolt posted, there's a story in between Moonlight Over Midnight and Midnight and Shimmer's Guide to Dating that EqD doesn't know what to do with but I love to bits: Midnight Nightmare (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VYw0aPkj2zyqa8C_qQrchkBe3vBT7hxWbbI604AhnSA/edit?hl=en_US). I loved it enough that it inspired me to write a sequel (under my Google name, Alerhys), which EsperDerek kindly approved of: Fighting Evil By Moonlight (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a1574-LItIVEXqOm_9jtZA7bkJ7BDG-FYaO4JV8jEPc/edit).

I keep prodding Derek to poke Phoe until it's posted, he says she told him it was approved, but it isn't there yet. :/

EDIT: Forgot to mention, I believe that Midnight Nightmare actually takes place after Guide to Dating, though it was written before it. There's even a scene or two in Guide that nicely foreshadow Nightmare if you know what to look for...

[Weimann]

Thoughts on S2E12.Okay, there's one big problem with this episode: I can't hear what the buck Granny Smith is saying. Between the squeaky voice and the accent, some places are just impossible to make out. Otherwise, yeah... it was all right. The CMC parts were some of the weaker yet, in my mind, but Granny's story and the inclusion of the Zap-Apples and Timberwolves lifted it again. I'd put it at slightly above average.

[Draconi Redfir]

so was derpy in this one?

[the_druid_droid]

So, new episode time:
Welp, Granny Smith for new best pony.

Anyway, in something like order:

- Hmm, Granny Smith's antics are actually kind of fun, and for the most part don't get overly cringe-y
- Man, DT and SS teasing Applebloom about something she doesn't feel embarrassed about to begin with hits kind of close to home...the joys of public school...
- "I prefer 'Rich'", gee, wonder why?
- Did anyone else think of ...And Apple Accessories when the Family Appreciation Day stuff came up?
- Why is Sweetie leaving with the witchy twins?
- Love the sight gag of the CMC's lantern as Scoot's idea lightbulb!
- Dat spherical abberation
- EEEEEEE! Scootamessenger!
- Young Granny is a cute pony!
- Revelation time about Ponyville!
- Ohhhh...timberwolves
- Ohgod Scootabunny...I think my heart just burst...

All in all, I really liked this episode. It had a bit of a different feel for me, but it also hit close to home in some ways and touched on lessons I'm still struggling to apply...Good work all around, I'd say.



Further cements what we speculate what will be her cutie mark, I guess.

Speaking of, did anyone else expect her to get her cutie mark at the end when Scootaloo mentioned her batch was the best ever?

Ep:
I also thought that, and I'm glad she didn't get it or check, because I think it would have ruined the moment with her family.

[Lord Raziere]

On Season 2, Episode 12
The title is "Family Appreciation Day"…..ugh. I'm going to be annoyed at this episode, aren't I?

My first thought on Filthy Rich: WHO NAMES THEIR CHILD THAT!? No wonder he turned out to be a businessman with what seems to be bags under his eyes from too much work and a daughter who seems to be set on embarrassing and mocking one of her classmates. Whoever named him must've been a bad parent themselves….

Hrm. special rules for special plants. makes sense. that and I always like history….

I like how this entire episode is self-consistent and makes sense when all the pieces come together.

[Anarion]

I'm not saying that it had to be Ponyville, I'm saying that Hearth's Warming Eve episode showed (or at the very least, insinuated) that the Unicorns set up a town/city/some sort of living area where Canterlot is, the Pegasi set up in the clouds to the west of that area and the Earth Ponies set themselves up in the area where Ponyville is. Yet in this episode, that area was completely empty. What happened to all those Earth Ponies? :smalleek:

Given the shifting geography of the pony world, I would guess that one of the larger cities, such as Manehattan or Phillydelphia stands at the site where the earth ponies founded their settlement. Or, if that would be too far away, perhaps they founded the original settlement and migrated later for some reason, still leading to the founding of one of the larger cities.



Much as I would like to agree with you, the trouble is the numbers are still a bit arbitary.

Even if you assume ponies only live roughly as long as real-world ponies, as, say, Deadly does (though I don't, as I've said), the lack of Granny saying "x years ago, when I was a filly" (which I was hoping we'd get in somewhere!) doesn't necessarily preclude that. We can only say that four generations have passed since the founding of Ponyville, but how long a generation is is a good question.

The fact there was a train - not overly different from the current ponyville trains - doesn't really help us much, since they can go back two hundred years or so, and Equestrian technology is fairly unobtrusive at the best of times.

So one might place Equestria as somewhere only up to maybe in the roughly mid-twentieth century technology, from what we've seen. Assuming a similar level of technological progression to Earth, you could fit it in something like only fifty years or so, which would still be viable for four generations of ponies at real-world equine aging rates.

Conversely, bookending the other end, if you take the present Equestria to be equated to the early 2000s, you could also go back as far as the late nineteeth century (which was the age of steam at it's height, really), so Granny Smith could be as old as Wolverine! Indicating that ponies can potentially live longer than humans.

Or they could be roughly the same, in which case, Granny could have been born in the Equestrian-equivalent of the 1920s or a bit earlier. (Remember that, even well into the middle of the twentieth century, things were not nearly as industrailised as now - industrialisation has exploded dramatically in the last fifty years, and is still on a fairly steep advancement curve. Look at just mobiles and computers, for instance.)

And again, all that is assuming a roughly equivalent rate of technological porogression, which may of course vary wildly. So, while it ansered some questions, it still didn't help us a lot with a time-line, at least unless there's some more information that I'm missing.


I agree that for the moment we can only speak in pony generations and pony lifespans, without setting hard numbers to that. There, were, however, a few things in this episode that provided time info. First, Applebloom states that it's a Sunday. So we at least know that the ponies use days of the week and the real world name might even imply an identical 7-day week and perhaps the use of the Gregorian calendar as well, with holidays obviously modified into pony versions.

Second, we know there were trains in Granny Smith's youth, so it can't have been that long ago. Ponies having a 200+ year lifespan seems highly unlikely, aside from Celestia of course.

Also, this may just be style, but Granny Smith wearing a bonnet as compared with Applejack wearing her cowboy hat made me think that pony fashions had changed significantly, since I naturally compared that to how long ago women wore those kind of bonnets in the real world. So, for some reason that detail makes me think that ponies have a longer lifespan than real world ponies.

Other episode thing that's not a response to any one person
Regarding the discussion about no friendship report to Celestia. I thought that was actually a good catch on the part of the writers. There are six ponies that are involved with writing to Celestia, and they have varying levels of studiousness. Having Twilight think to write about the CMC in their earlier episodes makes sense because she's always in study mode. But having Applejack think to write a letter after only a short interaction with Applebloom would have struck me as odd.

[Welf]

Well, I've haven't had much time the last day, so I wasn't very active. I think I just post my Rarity favourites I collected over the last months from my dA account here:


http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/197/d/6/rarity_by_vintagewolf-d3wgg2d.png
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/197/b/7/bathtime_with_opal_by_tess_27-d3wq07s.png
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/188/3/a/rarity_and_sweetie_belle_by_rebeccahull45-d3l9w10.png
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/145/a/9/rarity_and_sweetie_belle_by_arteenesben-d3h3giq.png
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/204/d/9/d9cafaf77ba4a27bbfb3e627fcbc8422-d40v7vd.png
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/158/2/d/artist_training_ground_day_12_by_egophiliac-d3ibrck.jpg
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/072/2/d/the_truth_of_the_matter_by_mirelmture-d3bkdnh.png
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/208/6/d/i_thought_you_wanted_whining_by_menageries-d41w3vj.jpg


And new pony episode online. Where can I get my fix without ponyarchive now? http://i.imgur.com/twJKI.png


As a management student,

Wait, I thought you're a philosophy student?

[legomaster00156]

Alright, everyone. For the Doctor Whooves fans out there, I am concocting a fanfiction centered on the antics of... his assistants! If all goes according to plan, it should last 3 chapters. And, for once, I have a semi-solid plan for the fanfiction from start to finish.
This fanfiction will host an abundance of OC's, and I am always willing to introduce more. Of course, I will need permission to use them, as well as some form of picture and a rundown of their personality.
The first chapter for the fanfiction has already been posted on deviantArt. Here it is.

The Fall of Cloudsdale (http://legomaster00156.deviantart.com/art/The-Fall-of-Cloudsdale-Chapter-1-278202321)

[PhantomFox]

Episode discussion:
I liked it a good deal. I wasn't expecting a history lesson on Ponyville, but I certainly enjoyed it. I liked it how all of Granny's wackyness was perfectly reasonable. The middle where AB was trying to get out of it was okay, but needed more gags. I must admit that I like the subtle gags mentioned such as Scootaloo's 'light bulb', Spoon's being the first to clap, and of course groan inducing puns such as Timber Wolves.

Who wrote this one? Cindy Morrow. Lesse...
Griffon the Brush Off
Winter Wrap Up
Show Stoppers
Owl's Well that Ends Well
Sisterhoof Social

Somewhat inconsistent, but getting better with more hits than misses now.

[legomaster00156]

Repost because (once again) my post got stuck at the end of a page, and it's unlikely that a lot of people saw it.


Alright, everyone. For the Doctor Whooves fans out there, I am concocting a fanfiction centered on the antics of... his assistants! If all goes according to plan, it should last 3 chapters. And, for once, I have a semi-solid plan for the fanfiction from start to finish.
This fanfiction will host an abundance of OC's, and I am always willing to introduce more. Of course, I will need permission to use them, as well as some form of picture and a rundown of their personality.
The first chapter for the fanfiction has already been posted on deviantArt. Here it is.

The Fall of Cloudsdale (http://legomaster00156.deviantart.com/art/The-Fall-of-Cloudsdale-Chapter-1-278202321)

[SiuiS]

23:43 - old man in a wheel chair begins yelling at me in quite the unpony fashion on the way to the hotel. As a group we all just sort of smile at each other and try to avoid him. But cities, they take all types.

00:06 - get to the hotel! Stand in line time. We spot a larger herd via Twilight Plushie. Integration of the groups begin when a random member from the other herd runs over to hug everypony.

02:00 - go to bed. Lay there giggling for the next three hours.

??:?? - Wake up. Realize it's ??:??, go back to bed. Four times.

10:43 - wake up suddenly as room mate (Jade) enters room. Get Braz to roll her eyes because she's been trying to get me up for about 20 minutes. (sorry hon! Paranoia = instant wake-up!)

11:11 - Finally get everything together, head for the line! Which should take us like two hours to get in... Yay pre-reg!

11:41 - still in line behind Fluttershy. Thanqol may be here. If so, he's a spy!

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/broNYCon/16466221.jpghttp://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/broNYCon/97a6139c.jpg


12:15 - maximum capacity confirmed: 650+ preregistered + 100 or so walk-ins for a ball room listed at 450 persons. Line hits a stand-still! The con is going to be cleared at 15:00, and the line will engage again at that point.

I'm not upset, and am actually convincing folks in the stairwell to calm down (we're here for each other, aye? Merch and VAs can wait, right?) but Jade has the room key, so I can't go get my sketchbooks. Sad face.

12:20 - it's a RoninHiroX! And a Droplot!

12:30 - preregistered? Then you're goin' in! Get ready, folks. We had 400 walk-ups though, and they got let in concurrently with pre-regs, so we hit about a thousand bronies :smalleek:

12:33 - vinyl scratch is now best pony.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/broNYCon/77f04d1a.jpg

Ever been in a stairwell that became a subwoofer? I have, and it was awesome. Ponies can't get to party? Bring party to ponies.
What, you disagree?
http://s3.amazonaws.com/kym-assets/photos/images/newsfeed/000/175/014/Come%20at%20me%20bro%203.gif?1316288381


13:12 - I'm about to go through the door. Good thing this was the most fun I've ever had in a stairwell ... XD
8% battery, sorry DD. I can only do so much, ya know?

Until I steal Braz's phone, that is...

14:06 - sitting to wait for the Fighting is Magic panel to start. That's gonna be fun! Place is packed, though. Prooobably gonna switch over to Brazen's hardware.

victors get to play a couple rounds and then the winner fights one of the designers. The battle twixt Pinkie and Twilight, one sided. Pinkie can't get the needed movement to execute a strong move. Twilight on the other hand, is just ripping into the Premiere Party Pony.

Aaaaand Pinkie is slain by the super Saiyan. C'est la vis. Looks like the episode is up next! I don't have to miss out, awesome. I'll try not to fall asleep... Stupid crazy con schedule. Looks like I've burnt through Braz's battery, too. I'll have to trot off for a nap and a charge, soon, then some more life's bloodCoffee to sustain my equine obsession.

15:11 - mail delivered by a full-suit derpy hooves. Episode begins, Yay~!

17:30 - wake up from nap, panic, go back down (up?) to con.

17:31 - no, really, we dont want room service, that's why the DO NOT DISTURB sign, I promise. No, we don't need you going through all I our poorly supervised merchandise while we're gone.

17:45 - panel crash! Apparently we have all been misled. There is no "good" version of the CMC talent show song. They recorded a bad version, and the studio asked them to make it even worse. The god version we've. Been hearing about is just the less terrible version. Though Ingram wants to get the VAs together I he ever gets official ok for a soundtrack to fix that.

Surprise sing along! Ingram consented to play Giggle at the Ghosty, and we lose signal for a bit. luckily, a room of 400 can manage to sound like we know what we're doing until he hooks back*In.

18:14 - Ingram tribute gets started! Fluttershy is too quiet, oddly. Applejack, is good, and apparently Rarity (Siobhan) is an opera singer. Nice. And Sweet Celestia, Dat Pinkie Pie! Nailed it almost perfectly; Sounded like an alternate take D8

18:35 - coffee break with Hiro, Jade, Braz, meself, And a friend of Jade's.

[otakuryoga]

I agree that for the moment we can only speak in pony generations and pony lifespans, without setting hard numbers to that. There, were, however, a few things in this episode that provided time info. First, Applebloom states that it's a Sunday. So we at least know that the ponies use days of the week and the real world name might even imply an identical 7-day week and perhaps the use of the Gregorian calendar as well, with holidays obviously modified into pony versions.


i worked out a calendar for a future fiction effort
12 months of 30 days...360 days to a year (easily divisible by 4)
but i do have them using 7 day weeks(for easy relate-ability)
rationale i used for 7 days? one day for each hoof..one day for tail/horn/wing

[Lix Lorn]

Episode:
Started out alright, was disappointing in the middle, then got very good at the end.
Zapapples are AWESOME. Granny Smith's story was awesome. I too expected a rainbow apple cutie mark.

[vegetalss4]

I'm not saying that it had to be Ponyville, I'm saying that Hearth's Warming Eve episode showed (or at the very least, insinuated) that the Unicorns set up a town/city/some sort of living area where Canterlot is, the Pegasi set up in the clouds to the west of that area and the Earth Ponies set themselves up in the area where Ponyville is. Yet in this episode, that area was completely empty. What happened to all those Earth Ponies? :smalleek:

I doubt that a historical play is the best source for accurate geographical information, but even then as far as I remember, the earth pony settlement was built far closer to the mountain than ponyville would be, and to a different side at that.

Siuis, you are one lucky potato, there's no pony conventions anywhere I could go. I am going to consciously chose to be happy for you instead of jealous.

[Falconer]

Unrelated to anything that is currently being discussed, here's something I discovered on behalf of my fellow bronies/metalheads:

Pinkie Pie's Parasprite Polka: METAL VERSION! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4ahEitkU-Y&feature=related)

[Aotrs Commander]

I was going to save the following non-pony thingy as an addendum to my next post, but time is moving on...

And thus, to not be completely randomly off-topic, but instead to be completely randomly on topic, I present:

Two completely random images of Spike in a hat.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWqNJxv3QV0/TdIgH4f0M8I/AAAAAAAAEk8/SqRID-YrarQ/s1600/13755+-+Owlicious+spike+spikely_whiplash.jpg

http://s3.amazonaws.com/bronibooru/038470a41fc052fa1cd88572957d4e1e.png



And on to the non-pony starship related dohickey...
Question, ponythread...

Given that the following happened (more or less word-for-word):

The PC Jedi is meditating an trying to attune to an ancient alien spire with some residual psionic tendancies. He gets a psionic image of the future; a sudden burst of feeling that something terrible is about to happen, something very, very evil and dreadfully powerful. There is a brief impression of a ship, in blue space, all dark spines and blades and sharpness, and soft voice whispering sadly: “They are coming. The Fall begins.” before it suddenly vanishes. The PC gets a strong feeling there was more, but like a dream fading in the morning, he cannot remember it. When he tried to tell the others what hey saw, the first time he tried to repeat the spoken words, they didn’t come out in English, but in a language he didn’t understand or recognise. The PC found himself thoroughly shaken by the experience.

Would the following seem to passably fit said description? (Roughly, bearing in mind the PC may not have seen this class of ship specifically. And that said ship is still currently a work in progress...)

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/AotrsCommander/secretproj4.png

[Gaelbert]

Yeah! Bring out the Bacardi, Twilight Sparkle’s up in the party!
So. I’m back. Here’s the thing. In my time off, I became particularly loquacious. Not quite SiuS levels, but getting up there. Couple questions. I have a lot of things to say, a lot of things to post. Is there a character limit? And should I spread it out over a few posts, or do one massive post? What do you all want?

Also, a quick note to any Bay Area or Northern California brony able to make it into San Francisco this Friday: Brony Beach Bonfire! (http://www.meetup.com/Bronies-of-Northern-California/events/44920712/?value=SF+Ocean+Beach+bonfire) I’ll be there, and I’d love to meet some of you.

Breaking news! Canon confirms Rarity as best pony. Details at EqD. (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/01/for-all-of-you-who-were-listening-to.html#more)
Not that there was ever any doubt.

[SiuiS]

EDIT: hey Gael! I'll see if we can make it. I'm probably working, but meh.

Character limit is 50,000 including tags and punctuation. Copy/pasta tends to add extraneous asterisks, as a relic of the different code for text. From memory, you're better off separating questions from the discussion you'll have about the points you wan to discuss. Generally, questions at the end, not before the preamble or you'll taint the sample group, as it were.


I doubt that a historical play is the best source for accurate geographical information, but even then as far as I remember, the earth pony settlement was built far closer to the mountain than ponyville would be, and to a different side at that.

Siuis, you are one lucky potato, there's no pony conventions anywhere I could go. I am going to consciously chose to be happy for you instead of jealous.

What general chunk of the nation are you in? I vaguely recall you're a US pony.


I was going to save the following non-pony thingy as an addendum to my next post, but time is moving on...

And thus, to not be completely randomly off-topic, but instead to be completely randomly on topic, I present:

Two completely random images of Spike in a hat.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWqNJxv3QV0/TdIgH4f0M8I/AAAAAAAAEk8/SqRID-YrarQ/s1600/13755+-+Owlicious+spike+spikely_whiplash.jpg

http://s3.amazonaws.com/bronibooru/038470a41fc052fa1cd88572957d4e1e.png



And on to the non-pony starship related dohickey...
Question, ponythread...

Given that the following happened (more or less word-for-word):

The PC Jedi is meditating an trying to attune to an ancient alien spire with some residual psionic tendancies. He gets a psionic image of the future; a sudden burst of feeling that something terrible is about to happen, something very, very evil and dreadfully powerful. There is a brief impression of a ship, in blue space, all dark spines and blades and sharpness, and soft voice whispering sadly: “They are coming. The Fall begins.” before it suddenly vanishes. The PC gets a strong feeling there was more, but like a dream fading in the morning, he cannot remember it. When he tried to tell the others what hey saw, the first time he tried to repeat the spoken words, they didn’t come out in English, but in a language he didn’t understand or recognise. The PC found himself thoroughly shaken by the experience.

Would the following seem to passably fit said description? (Roughly, bearing in mind the PC may not have seen this class of ship specifically. And that said ship is still currently a work in progress...)

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/AotrsCommander/secretproj4.png

it's too Euclidean. I saw a ship, vaguely theshape of a star destroyer which just so happene to have four main spires like an X at about the area of the bridge, and just a pin cushion of spikes all over.

Are you trying to make a model for the game, or a render for showing them? The extent of my advice should be limited by the medium. Your ship works, but it could be better. You know?

[Rebelhero]

I was going to save the following non-pony thingy as an addendum to my next post, but time is moving on...

And thus, to not be completely randomly off-topic, but instead to be completely randomly on topic, I present:

Two completely random images of Spike in a hat.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWqNJxv3QV0/TdIgH4f0M8I/AAAAAAAAEk8/SqRID-YrarQ/s1600/13755+-+Owlicious+spike+spikely_whiplash.jpg

http://s3.amazonaws.com/bronibooru/038470a41fc052fa1cd88572957d4e1e.png



And on to the non-pony starship related dohickey...
Question, ponythread...

Given that the following happened (more or less word-for-word):

The PC Jedi is meditating an trying to attune to an ancient alien spire with some residual psionic tendancies. He gets a psionic image of the future; a sudden burst of feeling that something terrible is about to happen, something very, very evil and dreadfully powerful. There is a brief impression of a ship, in blue space, all dark spines and blades and sharpness, and soft voice whispering sadly: “They are coming. The Fall begins.” before it suddenly vanishes. The PC gets a strong feeling there was more, but like a dream fading in the morning, he cannot remember it. When he tried to tell the others what hey saw, the first time he tried to repeat the spoken words, they didn’t come out in English, but in a language he didn’t understand or recognise. The PC found himself thoroughly shaken by the experience.

Would the following seem to passably fit said description? (Roughly, bearing in mind the PC may not have seen this class of ship specifically. And that said ship is still currently a work in progress...)

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/AotrsCommander/secretproj4.png



Im not quite sure what is going on here, but that craft certainly looks ominous. (holy carp i spelled that right!)

Also new episode! though i dont feeling liek reading 2 pages of spoilers....
The new episode was awesome. thats really all there is to say, i love learning the history of the pony world. but the episode wasnt what was really interesting me. there was a lot of things hidden that caught my attention.
Such as the illuminati symbols in canterlot.
and sweetie bell's horror face during Filthy rich's speech.
and sex in the clouds lol just kidding. old lion king myth anyone?

[Thanqol]

New Episode

Today we learned that farming is only lame if you harvest lame things. When plants are awesome, being a farmer gets a lot more awesome.

Scootaloo is the most adorable thing.


Thanqol, your character personality thing looks interesting. Let's try it on Mtangulizi, my main RP character in the IRC:
Enlightenment: Peace and harmony for everyone.
Flawed: Peace and harmony by any means necessary.
Five Words: Love, Kindness, Willpower, Harmony, Suffering

Love: Closeness, Happiness, Devotion, Passion, Family
Kindness: Caring, Healing, Forgiveness, Helping, Benevolence
Willpower: Duty, Fearlessness, Determination, Loyalty, Hope
Harmony: Peace, Tranquility, Friendship, Acceptance, Unity
Suffering: Hardship, Endurance, Martyrdom, Atonement, Regret
How does that look?

Question is, and always is with these, how does it look to you? This process is meant to help you figure out how the character thinks, disconnected from appearance, skills, or anything else. It's designed to change the type of question you ask when making characters. Did you learn something? If so, then it looks good.


I'm not entirely sure how I can "fix" this. The opening gambit is intended to read as entirely "episode-like" as possible; hence the use of (overly?) familiar situations, speech, and behaviour. So if it's "almost too on the nose"... um, mission accomplished? :smallconfused:

The only thing I can think of to change it up a little is to have a prelude paragraph with RD already in Death's Country, with the intro written as a flashback. Is that too trite?

As for the rigidity - once again, I blame lack of practice.

Problem is, the opening's your sales pitch to get the reader to keep reading the story, it needs to be putting your best hoof forwards so they don't put the book back on the shelf. And if your opening feels like a rehash of jokes that have already been told then you're walking an uncomfortable line. The entire scene and dynamic works, but the specific words and phrases don't quite work with it. Switch it up a bit, come up with your own take on the situation, subvert an expectation or two.

I wouldn't start with a flashback, though. Or - hm. Maybe I would. Unfortunately, that's one that makes or breaks on execution, and flashbacks are kind of tricky to do right. A strong way to do it would be for Rainbow Dash to trigger the flashback herself by recreating the last few minutes that she remembered to trigger the memory of the lightning. But that's kinda weird to explain.



Yeah, I was really unhappy about this bit. And this was the second draft of this section. :smallsigh:

The original idea was to go into much more detail regarding Rainbow's initial reactions and explorations of Death's country; but I was getting stalled on this bit, I felt that it was already dragging on, and in the end I just wanted to skip over it to get to the interaction with Death - but without losing it entirely. As such, it ended up being rather messier than intended. This is what writing from 1:00 AM looks like when you've been awake since 7:00 AM, but don't want to got to bed because you know your child is going to wake up in half an hour for a change and feed; and if you don't do some writing now it's going to be another day gone with no writing done at, and you're not sure if you'll be able to write at all tomorrow today.

That said, thanks to your feedback, I will probably revisit and rewrite this section when I'm in a better frame of mind for writing.


I don't actually need excuses; I'm aware of your situation :smallwink: . Reflecting on the circumstances surrounding writing isn't particularly productive unless you're capable of taking steps to change those circumstances. And one of my deeply held beliefs is that it's better to write bad then not write at all.


Admittedly, this was inspired by a single line from the "At the Gala" song in Best Night Ever: "We'll perform for crowds of thousands / They'll shower us with diamonds" - which I interpreted as meaning that diamonds are a rare and valuable gem in Equestria (hence Rarity and the triple diamond cutie mark); and that fortune as well as fame is a driving motivation for Rainbow Dash, though a much lesser one. Reading too much into it? Maybe. That's fandoms for you. :smallwink:

Oh, I agree with that. I don't agree with Rainbow Dash saying 'Because there's millions of diamonds, diamonds are worthless'. She'd say 'Because there's millions of diamonds, I AM RICH!'. She would simply not understand scarcity as a source of value.


Thank you for your feedback - it's greatly appreciated and it has helped cement in my mind where I want to take this story, which was originally planned as a one-shot, but now I know what direction it is going in. I just hope I find the time and energy to do the concept justice. Sadly, those two resources are going to become even more limited as I return to work on Monday.

Always welcome, good luck with it! :smallsmile:



Classic Trollestia.
Ponies are looking for a place to live.
Send them to a creepy forest full of monsters.

Ahahahahahahahaha


Wait, I thought you're a philosophy student?

Combined degree, Arts/Commerce. The Arts is to expand my mind, broaden my horizons and help be be a bestselling author. The Commerce is so that I'll have a real job in case that falls through. I hear being a starving artist is overrated.

[the_druid_droid]

*epic Con summary snip!*


SiuiS is best pony! I really do appreciate the play-by-play, and it's neat to imagine so many ponythreaders together in one place!


I was going to save the following non-pony thingy as an addendum to my next post, but time is moving on...

And thus, to not be completely randomly off-topic, but instead to be completely randomly on topic, I present:

Two completely random images of Spike in a hat.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWqNJxv3QV0/TdIgH4f0M8I/AAAAAAAAEk8/SqRID-YrarQ/s1600/13755+-+Owlicious+spike+spikely_whiplash.jpg

http://s3.amazonaws.com/bronibooru/038470a41fc052fa1cd88572957d4e1e.png



And on to the non-pony starship related dohickey...
Question, ponythread...

Given that the following happened (more or less word-for-word):

The PC Jedi is meditating an trying to attune to an ancient alien spire with some residual psionic tendancies. He gets a psionic image of the future; a sudden burst of feeling that something terrible is about to happen, something very, very evil and dreadfully powerful. There is a brief impression of a ship, in blue space, all dark spines and blades and sharpness, and soft voice whispering sadly: “They are coming. The Fall begins.” before it suddenly vanishes. The PC gets a strong feeling there was more, but like a dream fading in the morning, he cannot remember it. When he tried to tell the others what hey saw, the first time he tried to repeat the spoken words, they didn’t come out in English, but in a language he didn’t understand or recognise. The PC found himself thoroughly shaken by the experience.

Would the following seem to passably fit said description? (Roughly, bearing in mind the PC may not have seen this class of ship specifically. And that said ship is still currently a work in progress...)

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/AotrsCommander/secretproj4.png

Is that a Spike-themed ship I spy? Because I think you know how I feel about pony (and dragon) themed ships...

Hint: It's awesome, awesome is how I feel about these things


Yeah! Bring out the Bacardi, Twilight Sparkle’s up in the party!
So. I’m back. Here’s the thing. In my time off, I became particularly loquacious. Not quite SiuS levels, but getting up there. Couple questions. I have a lot of things to say, a lot of things to post. Is there a character limit? And should I spread it out over a few posts, or do one massive post? What do you all want?

Also, a quick note to any Bay Area or Northern California brony able to make it into San Francisco this Friday: Brony Beach Bonfire! (http://www.meetup.com/Bronies-of-Northern-California/events/44920712/?value=SF+Ocean+Beach+bonfire) I’ll be there, and I’d love to meet some of you.

Breaking news! Canon confirms Rarity as best pony. Details at EqD. (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/01/for-all-of-you-who-were-listening-to.html#more)
Not that there was ever any doubt.

Welcome back, Gaelbert! It's good to see you around again!

SiuiS seems to have covered the post questions pretty well, and he is quotepost-pony, so I'd heed his advice.


New Episode

Today we learned that farming is only lame if you harvest lame things. When plants are awesome, being a farmer gets a lot more awesome.

Scootaloo is the most adorable thing.


I am aching for there to be a Scoots-centric CMC episode...she's like the AJ of the group as far as focus episodes go at this point :smallfrown:

[SiuiS]

SiuiS is best pony! I really do appreciate the play-by-play, and it's neat to imagine so many ponythreaders together in one place!

That's also pretty much the entirety of stuff that was worth play-by-play. There was an auction, Where bronies made me wonder on whether we are really cool or really stupid (seriously, this available for $5 outside, why is the bidding at $100+ ?), and now we're gonna listen to musics but no dance floor I'm afraid... There were also logistical issues, where they were expecting 250 like last year, instead of the 750 they booked or the 1,000 who pressed in. And the hotel is a piece of work that requires it's own thread to touch on. Like when part of the open hole in the ceiling dropped onto Soarin'. Or the rooms were improperly booked so we were short two beds. Or that when we finally got a room we couldn't open the bedroom door after closing it...

[Topaz]

Random new episode comments:
While Ponyville history was involved, I don't think the episode did as much damage to fanon as some; even Granny Smith's young adult years are still pretty open. I'm also happy that my fanfic survived intact. :smallbiggrin:

So Diamond Tiara's dad is basically Equestria's Sam Walton and she's the Walton kids. Makes sense. I noticed that we don't see her mom, leaving the Screwball Theory intact.

Even if you take the less extreme interpretation of Twilight's Winter Wrap Up line, Granny Smith is pretty old as ponies go. I guess she must have gotten that hip replacement.

I also loved the Zap Apples and the Timber Wolves. I wonder if the Zap Apples are one of the reasons that Ponyvillians live so long (the retirement home in MMDW seemed very well populated for a small town)?

[otakuryoga]

Scootaloo is the most adorable thing.



this is true...this is why Scootaloo is #2 Pegasus behind Fluttershy.

[Zevox]

New episode image:
http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/774f43f0fab269728e02effa537dc327/109350%20-%20FaceBook%20school%20scootaloo%20sleeping.png
http://i.imgur.com/gMCGS.png *snerk*
Zevox

[Callos_DeTerran]

I am aching for there to be a Scoots-centric CMC episode...she's like the AJ of the group as far as focus episodes go at this point :smallfrown:

I can't verify the information considering that I found it on TvTropes, but under Scootaloo's profile on there, it mentioned that someone who worked on the show said there was a Scootaloo focused episode coming down the pipe in Season 2. And with The Last Roundup and The Super Cider etc. etc., episode later on, that means at least one Applejack episode and another one about the Apple family (but probably focusing on them as a whole, rather then just Applejack). So...you know, high hopes! Also hoping for Big Mac to do more and for more CMC, cause I don't find them annoying at all...And cause each CMC episode means more Sweetie Belle which increases the chance of another Sweetie Belle song and thus the chances of a Sweetie Belle/Rarity duet.

Also, just for discussions sake, I heard it mentioned that Lauren Faust said she never planned out an episode where the CMC got their cutie marks but that she would like to do it. What does everyone think are the chances of such an episode actually happening?

[Dexam]

The following image is tangentially pony related. :smallsmile:


http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c224/Dexam/Baby%20photos/DSCF8998.jpg

The hatchling got a (non-MLP) pony plushie as one of his Christmas presents, and today we were horsing around a little bit. :smallbiggrin:

[Excession]

The following image is tangentially pony related. :smallsmile:


http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c224/Dexam/Baby%20photos/DSCF8998.jpg

The hatchling got a (non-MLP) pony plushie as one of his Christmas presents, and today we were horsing around a little bit. :smallbiggrin:


Well, it's more accurate to the show than the Hasbro plushies :smallwink:

[vegetalss4]

What general chunk of the nation are you in? I vaguely recall you're a US pony.


Nope. I'm European, Danish to be exact.:smallsmile:

[Deadly]

Unrelated to anything that is currently being discussed, here's something I discovered on behalf of my fellow bronies/metalheads:

Pinkie Pie's Parasprite Polka: METAL VERSION! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4ahEitkU-Y&feature=related)

Awesome :smallbiggrin: Needs more instruments, though :smalltongue:


Nope. I'm European, Danish to be exact.:smallsmile:

Wait, there's another Dane in ponythread? :smalleek:

[Thanqol]

I got some time. Anypony got any sort of fanfic they'd like me to review?

[SiuiS]

Nope. I'm European, Danish to be exact.:smallsmile:

Ah, well, guess I was pretty far off. Sorry ><"



Wait, there's another Dane in ponythread? :smalleek:

Deadly's a Dane?
Delicious!

[Deadly]

Deadly's a Dane?
Delicious!

Deliciously Deadly Dane :smallbiggrin:

[Aotrs Commander]

it's too Euclidean. I saw a ship, vaguely theshape of a star destroyer which just so happene to have four main spires like an X at about the area of the bridge, and just a pin cushion of spikes all over.

Well, considering I have to build 'em from solid shapes; I.e. extrusions, lofts, revolves and sweeps, that's perhaps not too surprising! (Doing something as "complex" as those skulls I did a while back is several orders of magnitude more complicated!)


Are you trying to make a model for the game, or a render for showing them? The extent of my advice should be limited by the medium. Your ship works, but it could be better. You know?[/color]

The former, naturally! What, you think I actually come up with stuff for my RPGs that either doesn't already exist as a fleet or that doesn't make it onto the tabletop?

When I wrote the description, I was very vague, as I'd got no real ideas as to what the ships would look like. I did consider doing something that looks like a nudibranch flying backwards:

http://www.seaslugforum.net/images/033871.jpg

but decided that would be a) too difficult to manage with the material constraints and b) like the Shadow Battlecrabs in B5, might look cool with one or two designs, but wouldn't be very visually interesting as a diverse fleet.

Still playing with the ideas, at the moment - I was doing some yesterday and Friday because I went out to lunch with my Mum and grandparents (I'd gone with Mum to help try and sort Nanny's computer again...!) and I saw a stylised angelfish carving (the ones that sort of look like a deep arrowhead), and had already been playing with the idea of something vaguely fish/shark-ish already, and this was the result.


Is that a Spike-themed ship I spy? Because I think you know how I feel about pony (and dragon) themed ships...

Hint: It's awesome, awesome is how I feel about these things

Beleive it or not, actually no. Though now I do tend to look to thing for colour scheme inspiration (my Tarrainian Federation fleet is my "Harlequin shrimp" fleet, the ESU is based on another fish which is red with bright blue spots, and the as yet unofficially titled United Bureau of Administrated Space/Time Armed Rapid Deployment Squadron is appropriately based largely around the colour scheme of Fate Tesstarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.

But not this time! The basic colour choice was purple because it needed to be a dark colour, and black is a real bugger to paint (as is white and yellow, incidently), I don't like brown and I have a lot of blue fleets (but only too others that are purple) and don't get me started on the number of grey purmutations! The detail colours then, were simply picked as complementary. I don't want to use so much yellow (and both Stone Portals and Raarg'Ssth fleets use a lot of yellow/gold as their details), so I just toyed with the other until I had something I liked (I find I generally have a preference for cold colours, which is why I went with ice-clue and green, not, say orange and red). I wasn't until I was looking for those Spike pictures it occurred to me that I'd inadvertently copied Spike's colour scheme.


The following image is tangentially pony related. :smallsmile:


http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c224/Dexam/Baby%20photos/DSCF8998.jpg

The hatchling got a (non-MLP) pony plushie as one of his Christmas presents, and today we were horsing around a little bit. :smallbiggrin:


From experience with little sister, the earlier you start corrupting 'em, the better...


I got some time. Anypony got any sort of fanfic they'd like me to review?

How bored are you? I mean, if you're really stumped, I don't have any fanfic, (or anything pony-related) but somewhere around, there is my History of the Dark Wars Part I, which is just some (extensive!) campaign fluff I wrote up a while back...

[Nameless]

Nameless just bought a pony. http://i.imgur.com/Dy4NS.png

[Thanqol]

Nameless just bought a pony. http://i.imgur.com/Dy4NS.png

That's a statement that covers everything from a real life horse to a brushable to slave trafficking. We'll need you to clarify the size and nature of this pony, also, pictures.

[otakuryoga]

Well, it's more accurate to the show than the Hasbro plushies :smallwink:

this is a true and very very sad statement

[legomaster00156]

I got some time. Anypony got any sort of fanfic they'd like me to review?
Yes. Very much so. (http://legomaster00156.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4lmua9)

[Pendulous]

BronyCon VA interview is on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Aqd1_eA7xo

Sectioned out, here's the first one. Kinda disappointed in the crowd questions at the end.

[Tectonic Robot]

Episode:
Suddenly Granny Smith is best pony.

And I wouldn't worry too much about those timberwolves. Their 'bark' is worse than their 'bite'.

Heeheehee.

[Orzel]

BronyCon VA interview is on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Aqd1_eA7xo

Sectioned out, here's the first one. Kinda disappointed in the crowd questions at the end.

Yeah Con goers are crazy. Got a front row seat though, literal in front of the desk. Perks of a Gold Sponsor.

I'm so jelly of the guy who got a hug from Nicole Oliver. But She signed my Pinklestia. I also got a photo with Asleigh Ball and Andrea Libman said my OC was cool.

I'm still high on the experience and am now having my first meal in 24 hours.

[Lix Lorn]

And on to the non-pony starship related dohickey...
Question, ponythread...

Given that the following happened (more or less word-for-word):

The PC Jedi is meditating an trying to attune to an ancient alien spire with some residual psionic tendancies. He gets a psionic image of the future; a sudden burst of feeling that something terrible is about to happen, something very, very evil and dreadfully powerful. There is a brief impression of a ship, in blue space, all dark spines and blades and sharpness, and soft voice whispering sadly: “They are coming. The Fall begins.” before it suddenly vanishes. The PC gets a strong feeling there was more, but like a dream fading in the morning, he cannot remember it. When he tried to tell the others what hey saw, the first time he tried to repeat the spoken words, they didn’t come out in English, but in a language he didn’t understand or recognise. The PC found himself thoroughly shaken by the experience.

Would the following seem to passably fit said description? (Roughly, bearing in mind the PC may not have seen this class of ship specifically. And that said ship is still currently a work in progress...)

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/AotrsCommander/secretproj4.png
The description made me think of the Shadows. Which is amusing as you mentioned them in the next post. xD


That's a statement that covers everything from a real life horse to a brushable to slave trafficking. We'll need you to clarify the size and nature of this pony, also, pictures.
And if you're managing slave trading from Equestria, your contact details. >_>


Episode:
Suddenly Granny Smith is best pony.

And I wouldn't worry too much about those timberwolves. Their 'bark' is worse than their 'bite'.

Heeheehee.
Oh my GOD. That pun.
Why Tect why

[Benson]

Yeah Con goers are crazy. Got a front row seat though, literal in front of the desk. Perks of a Gold Sponsor.

I'm so jelly of the guy who got a hug from Nicole Oliver. But She signed my Pinklestia. I also got a photo with Asleigh Ball and Andrea Libman said my OC was cool.

I'm still high on the experience and am now having my first meal in 24 hours.


So jelly right now....well pardon me while I go angst and brood over at the corner over the fact that I live waaaaay too far ever attend Bronycon.

[legomaster00156]

So jelly right now....well pardon me while I go angst and brood over at the corner over the fact that I live waaaaay too far ever attend Bronycon.
Sadness detected. Fire the Pinkie Laser. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVfQV2UgrA4&feature=related)

[Orzel]

So jelly right now....well pardon me while I go angst and brood over at the corner over the fact that I live waaaaay too far ever attend Bronycon.

Excuses.

We had people from Germany to LA.

You have almost 6 months to get ready. Meeting Lauren Faust is worth it.

[BlasTech]

Not much to add to the new ep discussion save to comment on:

The BGM, especially during Granny's Tale ... I just thought it was excellent in this ep.

That and bunny costumes (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EjEWVB9uOY8/TwkdH9__OoI/AAAAAAAACS0/MKs9Lgs5Lvs/s1600/princess_celestia_in_a_bunny_suit_by_giantmosquito-d4lnp72.png)... whoever decided to put those in there owes me a new pancreas. (I still can't figure out how Applebloom is able to use the ears so expressively while wearing it though!)



Hrmm, to add more non-spoiler pony to this post ...

Oh sod it, can't think of anything other than this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXeGjkEnSvs&feature=player_embedded)still.

[Noctemwolf]

Mare in the Mirror chapter 12 (http://adcoon.deviantart.com/art/Mare-in-the-Mirror-12-277951549), for those who read it. Still not much response, but maybe once it's finished... shouldn't be too many chapters left.

I'll start at the begining, if you don't mind, Deadly... :smalltongue:




Not much to add to the new ep discussion save to comment on:

The BGM, especially during Granny's Tale ... I just thought it was excellent in this ep.

That and bunny costumes (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EjEWVB9uOY8/TwkdH9__OoI/AAAAAAAACS0/MKs9Lgs5Lvs/s1600/princess_celestia_in_a_bunny_suit_by_giantmosquito-d4lnp72.png)... whoever decided to put those in there owes me a new pancreas. (I still can't figure out how Applebloom is able to use the ears so expressively while wearing it though!)



Hrmm, to add more non-spoiler pony to this post ...

Oh sod it, can't think of anything other than this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXeGjkEnSvs&feature=player_embedded)still.

I just watched the new episode myself, seeing as I couldn't Saturday. -_-*


It was enjoyable, most definitely. And when I saw the bunny costumes, i could not stop LAUGHING! seriously, I kept my grandfather up all night with my overly girlish giggles that caused him to doubt my sanity (Which he told me as such when he came to tell me to shut up and go to bed).


And as to your link, Blastech... Gee, thanks, now I'm gonna be stuck at the computer all day, unable to tear my eyes away from the screen. I was lucky enough to get away to write this! :smallsmile:

[SiuiS]

Well, considering I have to build 'em from solid shapes; I.e. extrusions, lofts, revolves and sweeps, that's perhaps not too surprising! (Doing something as "complex" as those skulls I did a while back is several orders of magnitude more complicated!)

The former, naturally! What, you think I actually come up with stuff for my RPGs that either doesn't already exist as a fleet or that doesn't make it onto the tabletop?

When I wrote the description, I was very vague, as I'd got no real ideas as to what the ships would look like. I did consider doing something that looks like a nudibranch flying backwards:

http://www.seaslugforum.net/images/033871.jpg

but decided that would be a) too difficult to manage with the material constraints and b) like the Shadow Battlecrabs in B5, might look cool with one or two designs, but wouldn't be very visually interesting as a diverse fleet.

Gotcha. I don't know why I didn't think you'd make it a model. I'm not too clever nowadays. And the reverse Nudibranch is exactly what I was thinking, though thicker. So at least we were on the same page there...



How bored are you? I mean, if you're really stumped, I don't have any fanfic, (or anything pony-related) but somewhere around, there is my History of the Dark Wars Part I, which is just some (extensive!) campaign fluff I wrote up a while back...

Yes please.


Yeah Con goers are crazy. Got a front row seat though, literal in front of the desk. Perks of a Gold Sponsor.

I'm so jelly of the guy who got a hug from Nicole Oliver. But She signed my Pinklestia. I also got a photo with Asleigh Ball and Andrea Libman said my OC was cool.

I'm still high on the experience and am now having my first meal in 24 hours.

Man, you are impossible to find. I think I had been seeing you the while time and just didn't know you... I was afraid to just walk up to folks and ask if they were Orzel, until after the fact Kyouhen said that's what he did the first time...

Of course, your magic stealth powers kick in there, too. "Hy Kyouhen, what's Orzel look like?"
"Well, he's kind of tall, but not really, but he's not short. And hes like, I wouldn't say skinny, but he's not not skinny. And his hair is... Yeah."
"So we're not gonna find him are we?"
"no, no I don't think so."


Excuses.

We had people from Germany to LA.

You have almost 6 months to get ready. Meeting Lauren Faust is worth it.

James was a swell bloke. He gave us cake! I think we took him out to breakfast, too. And he did singing with Jade if I recall... Though I totally didn't know he was from Germany until the very last minute of the hotel.

But seriously though! If I can get Braz to work with me, I'm going to try and save money specifically to help folks with transit. If we have a community set of hotel rooms again, we could probably pull in some eurobronies. Thought I'm being told that aussiebronies are still not cost effective... We'll see how my job opps go.

We will find a way to get the thread together if possible though. Just give us a year or two. :smallwink:

[Beacon of Chaos]

Image dumping time!

Firstly, something I drew for Raz_Fox. I don't know if you're still lurking raz, but here's some Misted Stage fanart for you:
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i93/DiegoHavoc/Pony%20Stuff/mistedstagefluttershysketch.jpg

And now another picture I did, some Pinkie Pie antics:
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i93/DiegoHavoc/Pony%20Stuff/catscradlescan.jpg

Next, to get them out of the way, new episode spoiler pictures:
http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/e48dd8ee7b56afe5896bf59589f25411/109321%20-%20artist%3Asolar-slash%20granny_smith%20young_granny_smith.png

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/cb6e62386b15f6fa22fa6d09d24c018d/109344%20-%20artist%3Acaramelflower%20young_granny_smith.png

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/f39fcd1b94bad1e2529cbd6be13db656/109469%20-%20apple_bloom%20artist%3Apeppersupreme%20celestia %20comic%20Diamond_Tiara%20no_friendship_report.jp g

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/d6cca9ed6399bbe5c14b0c566f2c2912/109016%20-%20caption%20Hubble%20screencap%20Sweetie_Belle.jp g

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/03fb873cc1d2a32befe7cb58711a9fcb/109081%20-%20granny_smith%20helmet%20soldier%20Team_Fortress _2.png

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/e123ca5c4e306d98a896a85f5e391477/108932%20-%20animated%20cheerilee%20granny_smith%20I_must_go %20i_must_go_my_planet_needs_me.gif

And some random selections:
Firstly this, linked for largeness. (http://ponibooru.413chan.net/post/view/108252)

Snailestia?

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/d0b63da887d72d973589e5f703623caa/108157%20-%20celestia%20grown_up%20motherly_love%20shipping% 20Snails.jpg

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/34c22cc7174e9596b10f6d05b20133bf/108211%20-%20apple_bloom%20artist%3AFrimps%20chef_hat%20cook ing%20pinkie_pie.png

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/1fe3d8fabaf7efe4bdcba1dbbd754f4a/108784%20-%20artist%3Ayiuokami%20fluttershy%20rarity%20Sweet ie_Belle.jpg

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/bc4d53219a25e55b03c7e36984e411d2/108521%20-%20artist%3Akiss-the-thunder%20cave%20crystal%20crystals%20rarity%20spi ke.jpg

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/4b1dd0879459df97dc1303732a6bfe29/108854%20-%20alakazam%20pokemon%20silver_spoon%20spoons%20wa t.png

Bad puns, bad puns! Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/90d88fcc74c8be599058503e2274d636/109368%20-%20artist%3Aswomswom%20Lyra.jpg

Warning: Incoming Diabeetus:

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/e1bd01271a367d0662614fa34fc42db5/109322%20-%20animated%20ask_fluttershy_and_pinkie_pie%20flut tershy%20nom%20pinkie_pie.gif

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/084976e25ce71074c755c4a1c517bcb3/109494%20-%20artist%3Asaturnspace%20derpy_hooves%20Doctor_Wh ooves%20tentacle%20tentacle_monster%20This_wont_en d_like_japan.png

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/77bc801902af2809d90cc9c86ede9ddb/109471%20-%20artist%3ALVGCombine%20comic%20derpy_hooves%20Do ctor_Whooves%20tardis.jpg

And lastly, the continuation of the "Long Hard" day of Training (http://ponibooru.413chan.net/post/list/A_Long_Hard_Day_of_Training/1) comic:
http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/de50c9dc988c5744d2b9572f65d6a307/108351%20-%20artist%3Aficficponyfic%20A_Long_Hard_Day_of_Tra ining%20big_mac%20big_macintosh%20comic%20rainbow_ dash%20rarity.png

[Aotrs Commander]

Image dumping time!
http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/bc4d53219a25e55b03c7e36984e411d2/108521%20-%20artist%3Akiss-the-thunder%20cave%20crystal%20crystals%20rarity%20spi ke.jpg

That's a nice one.




Gotcha. I don't know why I didn't think you'd make it a model. I'm not too clever nowadays. And the reverse Nudibranch is exactly what I was thinking, though thicker. So at least we were on the same page there...

I'm still ruminating on it. I decided I didn't like the little spikes after all (which is why I left it a bit, as I wasn't 100% sure when I did them.) I don't think I can reasonably get an aspect ratio narrow enough to be printable tomake them look good, so I'm going to abandon that idea. (They were intended to be sort of weapon emplacements, but I figured that if the race has advanced and compact weapons technology, most of the secondary weapon emplacements are probably not really visible (as they aren't on lot of starships, generally).

I'm now thinking of adding something like either sharpish backward-pointing fins on those faces (in pairs, slightly angled out, and parralellel to the vessel's direction of travel) or some sort of curved spike/blade thing facing forwards (again in pairs), as "funnel rippers" used as part of their version of FTL-space flight systems.

But it's goin' on the back burner for a bit again, as tomorrow I need to start painting some of the 30-50-odd starships I've got hanging around, especially since my next batch of prototypes is due this week. (Though I'm not expecting them to actually arrive this week...!)


Yes please.[/color]

As you asked, then...

History of the Dark Wars Part I (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=160127)

Note that there may be a few typoes here and there (I've read though and corrected the main document more or twice since I posted this, and it's not not editable in the archive!)

And also, since this is me, it should be remembered that the game rules - which ever set happens to be applied - is considered an inaccurate representation of the real world. So despite Dree mainly being run in 3.x (well, 3.Aotrs V.Dreemaenhyll anyway) it should not be considered as a D&D world in the same way, as say, Faerun or Golarion for Pathfinder, say. (E.g, everyone uses Mana, not memorised spells or spell slots. And the bestiary was chucked out completely and re-designed from mostly-first principles mytholgy, with only my Tolkien bias showing!)

Part II hasn't, by the way, been written yet (or even started), as I've not been on a fantasy jag for a while now, between learning to CAD starships and tanks keeping me solidly in sci-fi. (And what bits I have done on Dreemaenhyll have been on the "present" era.) And writing up the details of 80 years of historically accurately-timescaled war - which basically manes fighting the whole war - is actually damned hard!

[BlasTech]

And as to your link, Blastech... Gee, thanks, now I'm gonna be stuck at the computer all day, unable to tear my eyes away from the screen. I was lucky enough to get away to write this! :smallsmile:

No problem. :smallbiggrin:

I'm kind of hoping that it operates like the Ring video or something, in that by showing it to you I can finally get on with something productive today! :smalltongue:

[Beacon of Chaos]

24 hours after the new episode and there is now a fan animation (http://mrponiator.deviantart.com/art/Family-Snatching-Day-278311734) of it. Naturally there are spoilers.

[Orzel]

Man, you are impossible to find. I think I had been seeing you the while time and just didn't know you... I was afraid to just walk up to folks and ask if they were Orzel, until after the fact Kyouhen said that's what he did the first time...

Of course, your magic stealth powers kick in there, too. "Hy Kyouhen, what's Orzel look like?"
"Well, he's kind of tall, but not really, but he's not short. And hes like, I wouldn't say skinny, but he's not not skinny. And his hair is... Yeah."
"So we're not gonna find him are we?"
"no, no I don't think so."



James was a swell bloke. He gave us cake! I think we took him out to breakfast, too. And he did singing with Jade if I recall... Though I totally didn't know he was from Germany until the very last minute of the hotel.

But seriously though! If I can get Braz to work with me, I'm going to try and save money specifically to help folks with transit. If we have a community set of hotel rooms again, we could probably pull in some eurobronies. Thought I'm being told that aussiebronies are still not cost effective... We'll see how my job opps go.

We will find a way to get the thread together if possible though. Just give us a year or two. :smallwink:

Keep this description in mind.
Almost 6'. Black. Very short black hair. Trimmed beard and mustache. Buying and bidding on Rarity merch exclusively. Front row reserved seat in the ballroom.

A Pony Thread meetup. Interesting.

I was rea

[vegetalss4]

Awesome :smallbiggrin: Needs more instruments, though :smalltongue:



Wait, there's another Dane in ponythread? :smalleek:

Evidently, assuming you are one at least.

[Nameless]

That's a statement that covers everything from a real life horse to a brushable to slave trafficking. We'll need you to clarify the size and nature of this pony, also, pictures.

I assure you, it's just a Pinkie Pie figure. The very last figure they had, might I add. The lighting in my room suck, it's 10:30pm and all I have is a the camera on my phone. Pics tomorrow. :3
*rolls over and disappears*

[Tectonic Robot]

Oh my GOD. That pun.
Why Tect why

Lixie, Lixie, Lixie... when you're as old as I am, you'll realize that some puns just need to be made.

[Topaz]

Also, just for discussions sake, I heard it mentioned that Lauren Faust said she never planned out an episode where the CMC got their cutie marks but that she would like to do it. What does everyone think are the chances of such an episode actually happening?
If Hasbro is firm on the 65-episode limit and the FiM team keeps getting a relatively free hand I would not be surprised to see (half-)Season Three feature some episodes that tie up loose ends, like the CMC getting their cutie marks and perhaps even the return of Trixie.


Not much to add to the new ep discussion save to comment on:
That and bunny costumes (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EjEWVB9uOY8/TwkdH9__OoI/AAAAAAAACS0/MKs9Lgs5Lvs/s1600/princess_celestia_in_a_bunny_suit_by_giantmosquito-d4lnp72.png)... whoever decided to put those in there owes me a new pancreas. (I still can't figure out how Applebloom is able to use the ears so expressively while wearing it though!)
I figure Rarity made the costumes and added a bit of magic to enhance the effect ("Don't forget the magic in the dress").

[Roninhirox]

Hey ponies! Back from con and finally able to get in front of my computer.
So the con was awesome and so were all the ponies I got to meet with special notes to Siuis and Braz for putting up with my tired, head-ache filled husk following them around for most of the con. I got some cool swag, mostly for my brother who couldn't come, I got a sketch from Egophiliac for myself, an awesome cutiemark crusaders keychain from Braz and Siuis, and I got a few pictures from con which I will be posting here later, but right now I am still tired and uncoordinated so I am gonna leave off at that and go take a nap, or something like that before work.

[Lix Lorn]

Lixie, Lixie, Lixie... when you're as old as I am, you'll realize that some puns just need to be made.
...how old are you? XD

[Tectonic Robot]

...how old are you? XD

Erm... 17.

.////////////////////.

[Lix Lorn]

Erm... 17.

.////////////////////.
Pft. Youngling. :smalltongue:

[Thanqol]

And if you're managing slave trading from Equestria, your contact details. >_>

I'll be honest:

That was the entire reason I made that post.

I knew I could count on you to clarify.


Erm... 17.

.////////////////////.

I did not call that!


Yes. Very much so. (http://legomaster00156.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4lmua9)

Review will happen today.

[Tectonic Robot]

I did not call that!


How old did you think I was? And I was hoping for, 'I'm a year older then you', Lixie...

[Thanqol]

How old did you think I was? And I was hoping for, 'I'm a year older then you', Lixie...

Mid thirties for some reason.

[Tectonic Robot]

Mid thirties for some reason.

Mid... thirties...

I... I don't know how to even respond to that, mate...

[Callos_DeTerran]

If Hasbro is firm on the 65-episode limit and the FiM team keeps getting a relatively free hand I would not be surprised to see (half-)Season Three feature some episodes that tie up loose ends, like the CMC getting their cutie marks and perhaps even the return of Trixie.


I figure Rarity made the costumes and added a bit of magic to enhance the effect ("Don't forget the magic in the dress").

Wait, what? What's this about a 65-episode limit?

[Grif]

Wait, what? What's this about a 65-episode limit?

I want to know this as well.

Also, new episode.
I think it ranks just above average for me. The CMC parts really did drag it down some, though seeing Granny Smith being so spry brought a smile to my face. And her tale was the one that redeemed what I thought was merely a good episode. Who'd thought she was one of the original founder of Ponyville?

That being said, I think we can safely assume Equestrian ponies lifespan are not equivalent to their real-world counterparts. Instead, they seem to show slightly slower than human average ageing instead.

So. Are rainbows made from zap apples now? :smalltongue:

[Selrahc]

Wait, what? What's this about a 65-episode limit?

65 episodes was a thing with Disney cartoons. I'd be very surprised if it applied to Pony. Particularly since the Disney thing was aimed at hitting the bare minimum number for syndication, which has since been reduced to 52. So if anything you'd be thinking about a 52 episode limit. :smalltongue:

[Grif]

65 episodes was a thing with Disney cartoons. I'd be very surprised if it applied to Pony. Particularly since the Disney thing was aimed at hitting the bare minimum number for syndication, which has since been reduced to 52. So if anything you'd be thinking about a 52 episode limit. :smalltongue:

It'll be at least 65 episode, since Hasbro already ordered half of Season 3 as well. :smalltongue:

[Pokonic]

I want to know this as well.

Also, new episode.
I think it ranks just above average for me. The CMC parts really did drag it down some, though seeing Granny Smith being so spry brought a smile to my face. And her tale was the one that redeemed what I thought was merely a good episode. Who'd thought she was one of the original founder of Ponyville?

That being said, I think we can safely assume Equestrian ponies lifespan are not equivalent to their real-world counterparts. Instead, they seem to show slightly slower than human average ageing instead.

So. Are rainbows made from zap apples now? :smalltongue:

On ages: It could be that earth ponies live a realy, realy long time. I would guess pegusi live the shortest, considering we have yet to see a oldish pegusi, even in Cloudsdale, while older earth ponies and unicorns can be found in abundance.

Wild thunderstorms make apples grow on earth pony lands. Unicorns extract the stuff from the apple to make the liquid rainbow colors. Pegusi mixes the stuff in the factories, because it will not do it correctly unless it is in a strict altitude limit.

[Thanqol]

Mid... thirties...

I... I don't know how to even respond to that, mate...

Or possibly even older. I've got no idea why.

Anyway,

The Fall of Cloudsdale Review



"Ditzy! DITZY! Flip the switch NOW! We need to leave the Time Vortex!"
"It's stuck, Doctor!"
The two ponies, a brown Earth-pony stallion and a gray wall-eyes Pegasus mare, were shaking violently as they held onto their positions. The room they were in was shaking violently, as the TARDIS flew uncontrollably through the Time Vortex.
Sudenly, they felt themselves slow down and come to a gentle halt on the ground. A blue unicorn was leaning by the wall nearby, her horn glowing and her eyes obviously displaying annoyance.

Okay, there's a lot wrong with this. There's virtually no description, of any kind, at all. You're making a million assumptions about what we know. And if you don't bother to describe a situation, then how can we care about the situation? If a problem is minor enough to be solved in the next paragraph, then we've been faked out; there is no reason to get emotionally invested in this opening.

As a result of this media-res-into-instant-fix opening, I feel vaguely hostile towards this story and resentful towards the characters.


"Doctor, Derpy, surely you can manage better than that without my help," Colgate said, sighing. "Derpy, you were trying to flip the lever up, when it was supposed to go a notch downward. Doctor, I expect better from you: you had your hoof on two buttons at the same time. I mean, really, I shouldn't have to come save your sorry plots when you're flying your own TARDIS."

Again, no description. You assume we know everything about Colgate already; you're leaning on assumed knowledge and fanon. That's bad. Because if I've heard different fanon from you, then I'm lost and you haven't explained anything.

Also, the speech is way too specific and speech-y and mean. The character is better presented as a bored and frustrated one-upper by just walking up to the panels and making a fix by hoof rather than lecturing them about it. I don't like her already as a result.


"Well, I suppose we should see when we are, don't you think?" the Doctor said, getting back to his normal, upbeat, thrill-seeking self.

Assumed knowledge! This is the first page of the story, you can't tell and not show like this!


"Yeah, I'm Goldrings. And this is just a cloud I'm building up to shower Sweet Apple Acres. You'll notice a lack of buildings until that... thing popped in. Where have you been the past two years?"

This entire conversation is not how people talk. Magical blue teleport box appears and your reaction is WOAH WHAT THE HAY, and when your friend comes out you grab her and say WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? WE'VE BEEN SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU.

You don't stand at a 10ft distance and exchanged clipped dialogue and questions like a Bioware robot. That's not what people do.


"Derpy, you should probably know that while you've been traveling, Cloudsdale fell from the sky," Goldrings said, sitting down and glaring at the three travelers.

"Oh, hi Rose. You should probably know that while you were gone London got eaten by a Magma Kraken. Jelly baby?"


This entire conversation feels surreal and incomprehensible. A magical teleporting box appeared and out comes a long-lost friend and two aliens, and you're currently living in a post-apocalyptic future where everything you know and love has been destroyed in a mysterious calamity, and they're discussing the minutae of harvesting vapourware.


"How could you have accidentally been travelling for two whole years?" Goldrings asked incredulously. "I mean, unless it's a flapping time machine, that seems a little ridiculous!"
"It is!" the Doctor said excitedly.
"What."

I'm getting the feeling by this point that your history with writing comes from screenplays, television shows and movies. This means that you can visualise all the action really strongly in your head, and in your imagination the nuance of voice, posture and character is all as clear as day. But that's not how it works in writing. We do not know anything which is not in words; if we're operating off the same cultural context as you we might be able to make similar assumptions, but if we're not then you're speaking gibberish at us. And moreover, we don't read stories to exercise our own imaginations; we read them to enter the world you've made for us.

I, personally, don't know who Romana is; I'm vaguely aware she's another Time Lord from previous Dr Who seasons, but I've never seen her and as far as I'm aware Colgate is just being a jackass for some reason. If I had never seen David Tennant, I'd be having the same response to everything Whooves says. What's a TARDIS? What's a time machine? What's it feel like to stand on clouds, looking down at the wreckage of a shattered city? What do these ponies sound like? Who are they?

And this kind of thing,


"Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey," the Doctor said, for about the dozenth time.

I know it's a joke because I've seen the episode, but you don't explain it at all here. And having seen the episode, I'm not amused by hearing the episode's line repeated back at me. I am nonplussed; there is no plussing occurring. And if I hadn't seen the episode, you've hit me with what's essentially an in joke - I don't know what the hay you're on about.



"Well, there was The Family. And I tend to run into Daleks a lot. Oh, and the Cyberponies. Remember them, Colgate?" the Doctor said.
"Don't remind me. Horrible, horrible creatures. Almost as bad as the Daleks themselves," Colgate answered.
"I pity them, really," the Doctor said. "You should, too. You met Gold Strike before he was converted."

What the hay are you on about.



"Fixed point," the Doctor answered seriously. "Trust me, this is something that I cannot change."
"But what about 'wibbly wobbly, timey wimey'?" Goldrings asked. "If time is always, as you say 'in flux', this can't have any major repercussions."
"I can't tell you the details!" the Doctor yelled. "I won't go back, and I won't change it! Final answer!"

What the hay are you on about. To someone who hasn't seen that exact episode, this is pure nonsense and the doctor being a jerkface. And moreover, in the episode where that principle was established, the doctor rejected it, tried to change it anyway, and failed, which lead to a crack in his air of invincibility and a deep wound in his character. If this is happening after that episode, and that pain is the reason why he's being a jerkface over this, then you're basically carrying a whole bunch of character development through from a time that's not explained and we don't know about.

Also, tell, tell, tell, tell. In Fringe, Walter Bishop would constantly build silly little models using sweets and toys to demonstrate the bulldust scientific concept he was about to apply, which gave us a visual way to understand the process rather than THIS IS THE SCIENCE RULES speeches. Show us things.


She and Goldrings went outside and took to the air. Goldrings chose to lead, and he knew exactly where to take his friend. They flew to the east of Ponyville, over the orchard of Sweet Apple Acres and across an empty field close to the Everfree Forest. Or rather, it would've been empty, had it not been for a few quickly-constructed buildings on the ground. Pegasi walked through the streets (if they could be called such) of the miniature town. Rainbow Dash, of all ponies, seemed to be in charge. She was directing a a few Royal Guards about the day's defenses against anything that may creep from the forest.
"That's Cloudsdale?" Ditzy asked. Her voice conveyed hurt from the scene of her former home in such a sad state.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait.

Okay I'm not sure I can take this. A giant city built out of clouds has fallen from the sky and CRASHED DRAMATICALLY INTO THE GROUND. It was one of the greatest tragedies of living memories. Hundreds lost their homes, centuries of history have been lost, and the greatest city in Equestria met it's end.

You do not get to describe that scene with 'an empty field with a few buildings'. You do not. That is not allowed.

What about the ruins of the weather-factory, broken machinery churning out vast and terrible thunderstorms that blight the landscape, barely kept in check by teams of exhausted pegasai? What about where the rainbow stores burst, raining down prismatic hues over a huge stretch of land? What about the collapsed snowflake factory that brought down a blizzard in July, the weight of the snow causing the trees thick with leaves to snap like twigs under their own weight? This is a disaster, an unmitigated, inconceivable disaster where all the worst chaos of unregulated weather is on the loose.

You do not get to describe that scene in less than a paragraph. And a paragraph with "THINGS ARE FINE" as the basic message.

The very idea almost makes me too angry to continue reading.



"Tell me, Derpy," Goldrings said, halting in midair. "How could Cloudsdale falling, killing a dozen and wounding a hundred, possibly lead to something good?"
"I... I don't know," Ditzy admitted.
"Could stopping this event have a good outcome?" Goldrings continued.
"Maybe..." Ditzy answered.
"Ok, then. And are you aware that among the dead were three fillies and two colts?" Goldrings asked.

Oh goodie, infanticide in a pony story, with no buildup or reason in the story beyond 'establish this was bad'. :smallannoyed:

I reckon I'm done here.


Look, this story is pretty bad by any of my standards. I did not enjoy reading it at any point. I would actively advise others not to read it.

But, here's the thing, I've written things just as bad in the past and I've grown from it. There are a lot of things you can do to improve your general understanding and proficiency with writing - and the number one thing to do is to do more reading. Read the greats; Tolkien, Pratchett, Lian Hearn, Neil Gaiman. Look at how they write, how they structure sentences, paragraphs, story. Learn about dramatic weight, learn how to write descriptions, learn how to paint pictures with your words. Observe conversations, listen to how people speak. Learn what makes people likeable, figure out how people react to things. Observe the world. Look at footage from natural disasters and their consequences; look at the ruins and the aftermath.

Writing is about painting a picture, building a world, drawing us in to your own mind and showing us what it's like. It's a process you can improve at through hard work and research, dedicated observation and constant practise. Don't get discouraged and don't stop learning, but the best way to learn is to be your own worst critic, and the best way to be a better critic of yourself is to expand the number and quality of people you're comparing yourself to.

[Topaz]

Wait, what? What's this about a 65-episode limit?

Hasbro has only ordered a half-season for Season Three so far, and 13 more episodes makes 65, which is a common place for American cartoons to stop production. OTOH, do note that I said if Hasbro holds firm. No one official has made any sort of statement to the effect that 65 is all there will be.

Meanwhile, Re: Diamond Tiara, A quote from Orthodox Gozerite on Poniboruu:
Somebody has to be the villain and Diamond Tiara not only does it, she does it with style.

Imagine the day she got her cutie mark. Her special talent is to be a child of privilege, a bane to the maladjusted and outcast everywhere, the forge in which they will learn strength, friendship and self-worth. Her only reward is to be hated, humiliated and pushed into the pool at the end of every "slobs versus snobs" film ever made.

And that burden was dropped on her shoulders as a child.

Diamond Tiara's response? "Alright chums, let's do this. DIIIAAAMOOND TIAARRAAA!"

[legomaster00156]

Wow. Throughout the four or five fanfictions I've posted here in ponythread, I have managed to evade a compliment every single time. Nothing positive can be said about them, by anyone. Fine, I get the point.

[Thanqol]

Wow. Throughout the four or five fanfictions I've posted here in ponythread, I have managed to evade a compliment every single time. Nothing positive can be said about them, by anyone. Fine, I get the point.

See, right now, even though I don't like your writing, I respect you for trying to write. I see myself in these stories, and see how far I've come from them. You're at the start of a very long journey.

If you take the path of bitterness and stop writing and stop improving as a result, only then will I stop respecting you.

Do you want compliments or do you want to improve?

[the_druid_droid]

Random new episode comments:
While Ponyville history was involved, I don't think the episode did as much damage to fanon as some; even Granny Smith's young adult years are still pretty open. I'm also happy that my fanfic survived intact. :smallbiggrin:

So Diamond Tiara's dad is basically Equestria's Sam Walton and she's the Walton kids. Makes sense. I noticed that we don't see her mom, leaving the Screwball Theory intact.

Even if you take the less extreme interpretation of Twilight's Winter Wrap Up line, Granny Smith is pretty old as ponies go. I guess she must have gotten that hip replacement.

I also loved the Zap Apples and the Timber Wolves. I wonder if the Zap Apples are one of the reasons that Ponyvillians live so long (the retirement home in MMDW seemed very well populated for a small town)?

Sorta-Episode-y:
I'm glad your fanfic survived the Granny-centric episode! I also look forward to the next installment of your fic :smallbiggrin:


I can't verify the information considering that I found it on TvTropes, but under Scootaloo's profile on there, it mentioned that someone who worked on the show said there was a Scootaloo focused episode coming down the pipe in Season 2. And with The Last Roundup and The Super Cider etc. etc., episode later on, that means at least one Applejack episode and another one about the Apple family (but probably focusing on them as a whole, rather then just Applejack). So...you know, high hopes! Also hoping for Big Mac to do more and for more CMC, cause I don't find them annoying at all...And cause each CMC episode means more Sweetie Belle which increases the chance of another Sweetie Belle song and thus the chances of a Sweetie Belle/Rarity duet.

Also, just for discussions sake, I heard it mentioned that Lauren Faust said she never planned out an episode where the CMC got their cutie marks but that she would like to do it. What does everyone think are the chances of such an episode actually happening?

Oh goodness, if true this would make me quite happy! One can always hope...


The following image is tangentially pony related. :smallsmile:


http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c224/Dexam/Baby%20photos/DSCF8998.jpg

The hatchling got a (non-MLP) pony plushie as one of his Christmas presents, and today we were horsing around a little bit. :smallbiggrin:


So adorable!


Not much to add to the new ep discussion save to comment on:

The BGM, especially during Granny's Tale ... I just thought it was excellent in this ep.

That and bunny costumes (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EjEWVB9uOY8/TwkdH9__OoI/AAAAAAAACS0/MKs9Lgs5Lvs/s1600/princess_celestia_in_a_bunny_suit_by_giantmosquito-d4lnp72.png)... whoever decided to put those in there owes me a new pancreas. (I still can't figure out how Applebloom is able to use the ears so expressively while wearing it though!)



Hrmm, to add more non-spoiler pony to this post ...

Oh sod it, can't think of anything other than this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXeGjkEnSvs&feature=player_embedded)still.

Episode:
They owe you and me both, BlasTech...Scootabunny nearly killed me!


We will find a way to get the thread together if possible though. Just give us a year or two. :smallwink:

I am strongly considering if it would be possible for me to get away and come to the next con in July. Especially after all the news from this one and the promise of Lauren Faust herself showing up!


And some random selections:
Firstly this, linked for largeness. (http://ponibooru.413chan.net/post/view/108252)

Snailestia?

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/d0b63da887d72d973589e5f703623caa/108157%20-%20celestia%20grown_up%20motherly_love%20shipping% 20Snails.jpg

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/34c22cc7174e9596b10f6d05b20133bf/108211%20-%20apple_bloom%20artist%3AFrimps%20chef_hat%20cook ing%20pinkie_pie.png

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/1fe3d8fabaf7efe4bdcba1dbbd754f4a/108784%20-%20artist%3Ayiuokami%20fluttershy%20rarity%20Sweet ie_Belle.jpg

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/bc4d53219a25e55b03c7e36984e411d2/108521%20-%20artist%3Akiss-the-thunder%20cave%20crystal%20crystals%20rarity%20spi ke.jpg

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/4b1dd0879459df97dc1303732a6bfe29/108854%20-%20alakazam%20pokemon%20silver_spoon%20spoons%20wa t.png

Bad puns, bad puns! Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/90d88fcc74c8be599058503e2274d636/109368%20-%20artist%3Aswomswom%20Lyra.jpg

Warning: Incoming Diabeetus:

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/e1bd01271a367d0662614fa34fc42db5/109322%20-%20animated%20ask_fluttershy_and_pinkie_pie%20flut tershy%20nom%20pinkie_pie.gif

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/084976e25ce71074c755c4a1c517bcb3/109494%20-%20artist%3Asaturnspace%20derpy_hooves%20Doctor_Wh ooves%20tentacle%20tentacle_monster%20This_wont_en d_like_japan.png

http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/77bc801902af2809d90cc9c86ede9ddb/109471%20-%20artist%3ALVGCombine%20comic%20derpy_hooves%20Do ctor_Whooves%20tardis.jpg


There's a story in that Lyra picture, I'm convinced - a musician making beautiful music that reflects the hope of something outside a city that can only approach beauty itself at night as stars bloom on the street rather than in the sky...


Mid thirties for some reason.

Suddenly I am curious to know how old Thanqol thinks I am...although I think I've mentioned my age somewhere in a thread long past...


Meanwhile, Re: Diamond Tiara, A quote from Orthodox Gozerite on Poniboruu:
Somebody has to be the villain and Diamond Tiara not only does it, she does it with style.

Imagine the day she got her cutie mark. Her special talent is to be a child of privilege, a bane to the maladjusted and outcast everywhere, the forge in which they will learn strength, friendship and self-worth. Her only reward is to be hated, humiliated and pushed into the pool at the end of every "slobs versus snobs" film ever made.

And that burden was dropped on her shoulders as a child.

Diamond Tiara's response? "Alright chums, let's do this. DIIIAAAMOOND TIAARRAAA!"

Hmm, definitely a different take on her character...interesting too.


Wow. Throughout the four or five fanfictions I've posted here in ponythread, I have managed to evade a compliment every single time. Nothing positive can be said about them, by anyone. Fine, I get the point.

Hold up a sec. I don't think anyone is trying to trash your fics. You've requested critiques on them, and so folks have to concentrate on the weak points that are present - that's how you get better at writing (and any other skill) - you need to identify what you're doing wrong and strive to improve it. I can understand that it's hard to watch something you've worked on get pulled apart, but from what I know of the posters and writers in this thread, they're doing it to help you, not to make you feel bad or unwanted.

[legomaster00156]

See, right now, even though I don't like your writing, I respect you for trying to write. I see myself in these stories, and see how far I've come from them. You're at the start of a very long journey.

If you take the path of bitterness and stop writing and stop improving as a result, only then will I stop respecting you.

Do you want compliments or do you want to improve?

Hold up a sec. I don't think anyone is trying to trash your fics. You've requested critiques on them, and so folks have to concentrate on the weak points that are present - that's how you get better at writing (and any other skill) - you need to identify what you're doing wrong and strive to improve it. I can understand that it's hard to watch something you've worked on get pulled apart, but from what I know of the posters and writers in this thread, they're doing it to help you, not to make you feel bad or unwanted.
Stop writing? No, I don't intend to do that. I certainly like to improve, and I am thankful for the... help, but I also enjoy hearing about what I did right. I have not heard that, which leads me to assume I did nothing right. And that hurts. :smallfrown:

[Thanqol]

Stop writing? No, I don't intend to do that. I certainly like to improve, but I also enjoy hearing about what I did right. I have not heard that, which leads me to assume I did nothing right. And that hurts. :smallfrown:

Unfortunately, finding things done right is a really weird thing in writing. If any element is wrong, then that can poison a whole story. If the pacing is off then that can make good dialogue bad, if the descriptions don't work then that can make good concepts terrible, if we're not clued in at the start then we can read the entire thing in a stupor and not know anything about anything. If you get three or more structural flaws together than it's hard to pick out the good at all.

Again, I make my observation that you've got a very self-taught, TV-script approach to writing. You're starting off by trying to replicate and translate an alien medium. Adaptation is an enormously complex thing and elements that work in one media simply do not work in another. As a result, my biggest recommendation that I think will completely redefine your writing in a better direction, is to change your source material. Make your inspiration and references books and short stories and the old masters of writing rather than television shows and movies.

If I can assist you with anything at this stage, it's getting you progressing in the right direction. I believe this is the best way.

EDIT:

Here's a challenge. Read several stories by the same author, and then tell me that author's core competency - what they do best. Dialogue, pacing, broad descriptions, atmosphere, whatever it is. And then think about how they do that and how you can use that for your own writing.

[Eakin]

Hasbro has only ordered a half-season for Season Three so far, and 13 more episodes makes 65, which is a common place for American cartoons to stop production. OTOH, do note that I said if Hasbro holds firm. No one official has made any sort of statement to the effect that 65 is all there will be.


Wow, I didn't realize it but I guess that is a thing after all (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SixtyFiveEpisodeCartoon). (Danger! TvTropes link!)

Still, I'll refrain from panicking until it becomes official in any way. Do you have a link to where they announced that only half of season 3 was ordered?

[Topaz]

Image dumping time!
http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/90d88fcc74c8be599058503e2274d636/109368%20-%20artist%3Aswomswom%20Lyra.jpg
As soon as I saw the Lyra picture this started playing in my head:
What a beautiful noise (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmEXbTHQwSw)
Comin' up from the street
Got a beautiful sound
It's got a beautiful beat

It's a beautiful noise
Goin' on everywhere
Like the clickety-clack
Of a train on a track
It's got a rhythm to spare

It's a beautiful noise
And it's sound that I love
And it's fit me as well
As a hand in a glove
Yes it does, yes it does

What a beautiful noise
Comin' up from the park
It's the song of the kids
And it plays until dark

It's the song of the cars
On their furious flights
But there's even romance
In the way that they dance
To beat of the lights

It's a beautiful noise
And it's a sound that I love
And it makes me feel good
Like a hand in a glove
Yes it does, yes it does
What a beautiful noise

It's a beautiful noise
Made of joy and of strife
Like a symphony played
By a passing parade
It's the music of life

What a beautiful noise
Comin' up to my room
And it's beggin' for me
Just to give it a tune

-- Neil Diamond

EDIT:

Still, I'll refrain from panicking until it becomes official in any way. Do you have a link to where they announced that only half of season 3 was ordered?
It was around early November on EqD but I can't find the exact article; it might have been inside a daily update. I thought we discussed it at the time but I might be getting my fora crossed.

[Forum Explorer]

Stop writing? No, I don't intend to do that. I certainly like to improve, and I am thankful for the... help, but I also enjoy hearing about what I did right. I have not heard that, which leads me to assume I did nothing right. And that hurts. :smallfrown:

Well I can say from reading your fics that there isn't anything truly wrong with them. They are well written and I never feel like I have to work to read my way through unlike certain other fics. (You did write that story about Spike being passed from generation to generation and the one where DJ PON3 was deaf right?)

[legomaster00156]

Well I can say from reading your fics that there isn't anything truly wrong with them. They are well written and I never feel like I have to work to read my way through unlike certain other fics. (You did write that story about Spike being passed from generation to generation and the one where DJ PON3 was deaf right?)
Thanks. :smallsmile: Yes, those were both mine.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Still, I'll refrain from panicking until it becomes official in any way. Do you have a link to where they announced that only half of season 3 was ordered?

Likewise. They may very well have only ordered half of season three as a precaution in case the show's popularity drops, which is smart business since it means they haven't paid for episodes no one wants to watch.

[PhoeKun]

Attention, ponythread artists. (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/01/artist-training-grounds-equestria-mock.html)

Just thought you'd like to know.

[Thanqol]

Attention, ponythread artists. (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/01/artist-training-grounds-equestria-mock.html)

Just thought you'd like to know.

Oh good gracious, at least that was timed well. I get home tomorrow and from there it looks like I've got a huge backlog of drawings and paintings to work through. I'm certainly looking forwards to this.

[Draconi Redfir]

So sorry if it's been possted, i just thought you guys might be interested in Watch (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sPvt8ZYSEAc)ing These (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vhNWzK_yGA&feature=player_embedded).

Trust me. You will enjoy it.

Now if only we could get Dr. Breen to do one, sadly he is dead.

edit: And then this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12460rr3sxk&feature=related) (unrelated to above, but Luna.)

[SiuiS]

Erm... 17.

.////////////////////.

You've gotta be careful where you throw around that kind of information, mate. People might take you seriously!


Wow. Throughout the four or five fanfictions I've posted here in ponythread, I have managed to evade a compliment every single time. Nothing positive can be said about them, by anyone. Fine, I get the point.

Hey, no. It's just as Thanqol has said; we figured you were actively after critique specifically. On that note, I haven't even read any of your works; I haven't read any fanfiction in months. You're on the list, though, if that helps. Just remember; a lack of comments is not ignoring you, it's just not having anything to say at the moment.


Well I can say from reading your fics that there isn't anything truly wrong with them. They are well written and I never feel like I have to work to read my way through unlike certain other fics. (You did write that story about Spike being passed from generation to generation and the one where DJ PON3 was deaf right?)

Vinyl, deaf? That sounds like a good read actually.


Attention, ponythread artists. (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/01/artist-training-grounds-equestria-mock.html)

Just thought you'd like to know.

good timing. I guess I had better work on clearing some schedule time! Thank you, PhoeKun.

-

Blah. I am wiped. Emotionally exhausted, mentally fatigued, and generally sad I have to go home. Bronies on the east coast are warm enough to make up for the ridiculous temperatures! Which is good, because ridiculous temperatures are ridiculous.

So in 12 hours I will draw the blinds dog my own room, force, coerce or cajole my cats into snuggling, and pass out. In an attempt to develop a new sleep rhythm. And then I catch up on the last ten or so pages! Yay~

...

*collapses*

Jaaaaaaaade, how do you live like this?!

[Soras Teva Gee]

That being said, I think we can safely assume Equestrian ponies lifespan are not equivalent to their real-world counterparts. Instead, they seem to show slightly slower than human average ageing instead.

We could always safely assume that though some ponies just have silly ideas because they think it adds drama/depth/tragedy/something to everything.


It'll be at least 65 episode, since Hasbro already ordered half of Season 3 as well. :smalltongue:

Well there was that weird mention of an episode 28 in season 2....

[PhantomFox]

So I was putzing around youtube watching pony one-liners from various episodes, but there's one I want to see that I can't find. Mainly, Twilight Sparkle in the first episode making those little sarcastic noises after Spike tells her to lighten up. Any help?

[grimbold]

so i had a very silly idea after watching rocky

in brief

the ponies go to fillydelphia for a boxing tournament that Rainbow dash is involved in

the meet the Italian Stallion

madness ensues

thoughts?

(this may become a fan fic ya never know)

[Eakin]

So I was putzing around youtube watching pony one-liners from various episodes, but there's one I want to see that I can't find. Mainly, Twilight Sparkle in the first episode making those little sarcastic noises after Spike tells her to lighten up. Any help?

Well, this guy (http://www.youtube.com/user/kyrospawn/videos) has uploaded a freakin' ton of 5-second moments from pony episodes, you could start there. They should be in roughly in chronological order.

Honestly, though, if you know roughly where it is in the episode it may be quicker to download the entire first episode and chop out the parts you want.

Are you looking for the video clip or just the audio?

[Dexam]

So I was putzing around youtube watching pony one-liners from various episodes, but there's one I want to see that I can't find. Mainly, Twilight Sparkle in the first episode making those little sarcastic noises after Spike tells her to lighten up. Any help?

Hi, I'm from the Internet, and I'm here to help (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSh0FilXuB8). :smallbiggrin:

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

so i had a very silly idea after watching rocky

in brief

the ponies go to fillydelphia for a boxing tournament that Rainbow dash is involved in

the meet the Italian Stallion

madness ensues

thoughts?

(this may become a fan fic ya never know)

Going to Fillydelphia for a tournament that Rainbow Dash is in, sounds very pony, but boxing seems off to me. At least, boxing as it is as a human sport. It would need a less violent quadruped version of the sport to work, Ithink.

Hehehhee. I really like the idea of the Italian Stallion, Rocky, though. That's clever!

[otakuryoga]

and i TOTALLY see AJ as the one competing not RD

[Tiki Snakes]

and i TOTALLY see AJ as the one competing not RD

They go to support AJ. Rainbow wasn't interested (as it isn't a race) until she sees how athletic and competitive it is. Then she also joins the tournament.
They both reach the final, of course, in a friendly Forman vs Ali style showdown.

[Beacon of Chaos]

There's a story in that Lyra picture, I'm convinced - a musician making beautiful music that reflects the hope of something outside a city that can only approach beauty itself at night as stars bloom on the street rather than in the sky...


As soon as I saw the Lyra picture this started playing in my head:
What a beautiful noise (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmEXbTHQwSw)
Comin' up from the street
Got a beautiful sound
It's got a beautiful beat

It's a beautiful noise
Goin' on everywhere
Like the clickety-clack
Of a train on a track
It's got a rhythm to spare

It's a beautiful noise
And it's sound that I love
And it's fit me as well
As a hand in a glove
Yes it does, yes it does

What a beautiful noise
Comin' up from the park
It's the song of the kids
And it plays until dark

It's the song of the cars
On their furious flights
But there's even romance
In the way that they dance
To beat of the lights

It's a beautiful noise
And it's a sound that I love
And it makes me feel good
Like a hand in a glove
Yes it does, yes it does
What a beautiful noise

It's a beautiful noise
Made of joy and of strife
Like a symphony played
By a passing parade
It's the music of life

What a beautiful noise
Comin' up to my room
And it's beggin' for me
Just to give it a tune

-- Neil Diamond
That's beautiful. I suddenly have a much larger apreciation for that picture.

Before I just thought it looked nice ^^:


Attention, ponythread artists. (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/01/artist-training-grounds-equestria-mock.html)

Just thought you'd like to know.
Very good! I had no idea what to draw today. This should help motivate me! :smallbiggrin:


Hi, I'm from the Internet, and I'm here to help (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSh0FilXuB8). :smallbiggrin:
Huh. I don't even remember her doing that.

[Lix Lorn]

How old did you think I was? And I was hoping for, 'I'm a year older then you', Lixie...
Two, actually. :smalltongue:

:smalleek:
Wow I only just got it. ._.

[Rebelhero]

Ok so guys. THIS VIDEO (http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/587571) is fantastic.
The voice actors are pretty damn good.
WARNING LANGUAGE AND BACON.

[Grif]

Hi. Remember my Christmas challenge. That one?

Yeah. Here's 1/4 of it.

Jeezus but writing Spike x Spike (Rainbow Dash) is not for the faint-hearted. :smalltongue:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RPoK9cIXCl7lRmpsSl3FR6o-fWoZgU7F-ke6aznVf58/edit?hl=en_GB

EDIT: Actual shipping has not commenced and frankly I don't know whether I can pull off the shipping or not.

[Pendulous]

Fun for the whole family! (http://i.imgur.com/23GAK.jpg)

[vegetalss4]

Fun for the whole family! (http://i.imgur.com/23GAK.jpg)

That is surprisingly difficult.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Happy Monday ponythread! How is everyone today?

[vegetalss4]

Happy Monday ponythread! How is everyone today?

Personally I am feeling well.
How about yourself?

[Pendulous]

Happy Monday ponythread! How is everyone today?

Impatiently waiting for the BCS title game to start. Bored otherwise.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Personally I am feeling well.
How about yourself?
Feeling a bit jittery myself, and trying to work some focus back into my head. This is actually good, it means my caffeine tolerance is way back down to where I want it to be :) Of course now I need to be careful with it again, heh. I'm also antsy to get caught back up on the thread, I've missed about ten pages again, though it's mostly new ep spoilers, I think.


Impatiently waiting for the BCS title game to start. Bored otherwise.
Sounds like a good time! Got any good snackfoods?

[PhantomFox]

Hi, I'm from the Internet, and I'm here to help (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSh0FilXuB8). :smallbiggrin:

There we go! Thanks a lot!

[otakuryoga]

Impatiently waiting for the BCS title game to start. Bored otherwise.

well, at least you named it properly instead of trying to call it the "national championship" game

[Pokonic]

Happy Monday ponythread! How is everyone today?

Wonderful. Picking out new inbreed colorful guppies to add to the tank.:smalltongue:

[Capt. Ido Nos]

While I'm not a super huge football fan, I would be interested in seeing human sports in equestria. How would ponies play football when they can't run and throw at the same time? How would basketball work on four legs? How well does soccer translate when a third of your team can fly? If a pegasus participates in an official footrace, are their wings harnessed? What about swimming? Does crew exist as a sport? Underwater basket weaving?


Wonderful. Picking out new inbreed colorful guppies to add to the tank.:smalltongue:
Shoo be doo! What sorts of colors? :)

[Trixie]

First, an announcement, certain Birthday thread in Friendly Banter could use a bit of attention? http://i.imgur.com/N2nfK.jpg

Second...


I love it when there's continuous eps and they get linked in the edit-updated first post :)

The what? :smallconfused:

I'll humbly ask for 63rd time, if anyone wants me to add something to OP, please use AIM/Steam/Mail/Whatever, sadly, I often will miss requests made in thread :/

[Soras Teva Gee]

While I'm not a super huge football fan, I would be interested in seeing human sports in equestria. How would ponies play football when they can't run and throw at the same time? How would basketball work on four legs? How well does soccer translate when a third of your team can fly? If a pegasus participates in an official footrace, are their wings harnessed? What about swimming? Does crew exist as a sport? Underwater basket weaving?

Given what we've seen I think we can say ponies favor racing and an eclectic collection of sports.

And presumably pegasi don't participate in footraces that often unless they are more honest then Dashie and don't use their wings.

[Trixie]

And presumably pegasi don't participate in footraces that often unless they are more honest then Dashie and don't use their wings.

If races in Equestria were fair and used our horse race rules, IMHO, every single Earth pony would have had 10-25 kg weight strapped to saddle at the start, even if wings harnesses were used. For fairness.

Just saying.

[Raz_Fox]

Image dumping time!

Firstly, something I drew for Raz_Fox. I don't know if you're still lurking raz, but here's some Misted Stage fanart for you:
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i93/DiegoHavoc/Pony%20Stuff/mistedstagefluttershysketch.jpg

Ace work, Diego! You even got the silly little hat right. Thank you so very much! Immediately saved.

[Gamerlord]

Happy Monday ponythread! How is everyone today?
I'm feeling fine, My internet died yesterday but it seems to be working now.


Fun for the whole family! (http://i.imgur.com/23GAK.jpg)
I only got one of these right.

[Pokonic]

Shoo be doo! What sorts of colors? :)

Going for purples and reds, trying to inhance my normal guppies (not actualy fancy ones, just "normal" ones with a massive aray of color patterns.


If races in Equestria were fair and used our horse race rules, IMHO, every single Earth pony would have had 10-25 kg weight strapped to saddle at the start, even if wings harnesses were used. For fairness.

Just saying.

Makes me wonder if there are unicorns that can use there magic to give them super-strenght and the like.

[Soras Teva Gee]

If races in Equestria were fair and used our horse race rules, IMHO, every single Earth pony would have had 10-25 kg weight strapped to saddle at the start, even if wings harnesses were used. For fairness.

Just saying.

While given it was a casual venue Twilight's race performance against the loosely Earth pony majority would suggest that any pony can give a good accounting of themselves. And Dash without her wings was clearly on par with AJ in a race.

Mind the examples we have aren't a good gauge for Equestria as a whole. I'd be willing to hazard that an Equestrian Olympics would probably need at least six divisions per event essentially applying the prevailing logic seen in humans for much the same reasons.



Makes me wonder if there are unicorns that can use there magic to give them super-strenght and the like.

Sure its only a 2nd level spell, Twilight's already pulled higher level ones so somepony somewhere should be able to. (And then Twi can mimic that)

[the_druid_droid]

I am feeling pretty good today! In particular I am feeling San Francisco-y as that is where I am.

[Eakin]

Makes me wonder if there are unicorns that can use there magic to give them super-strenght and the like.

Don't forget that Earth ponies are stated to have just as much magic as pegasi or unicorns, just in less flashy ways. I imagine that a unicorn using magic to give itself super strength would probably just be on par with, say, Big Mac or AJ.

(I'm assuming that Big Mac is stronger than AJ just by virtue of sheer size but have we ever actually seen him do anything?)

[Trixie]

While given it was a casual venue Twilight's race performance against the loosely Earth pony majority would suggest that any pony can give a good accounting of themselves. And Dash without her wings was clearly on par with AJ in a race.

We're talking about a pegasi with major cutie mark talent in speed vs a pretty much workhorse with lifestyle favouring static strength, not running, and she tied. Although, argument can be made AJ cheated by giving RD extra uncomfortable weight to run with, it was still a close call between athlete and a farmer.


Mind the examples we have aren't a good gauge for Equestria as a whole. I'd be willing to hazard that an Equestrian Olympics would probably need at least six divisions per event essentially applying the prevailing logic seen in humans for much the same reasons.

Eh, horse races pretty much try to settle it by using weight systems. Though, professional horse racing probably has some sort of divisions, too.


Sure its only a 2nd level spell, Twilight's already pulled higher level ones so somepony somewhere should be able to. (And then Twi can mimic that)

Pony Magic doesn't work like that, I think http://i.imgur.com/N2nfK.jpg

[Forum Explorer]

Don't forget that Earth ponies are stated to have just as much magic as pegasi or unicorns, just in less flashy ways. I imagine that a unicorn using magic to give itself super strength would probably just be on par with, say, Big Mac or AJ.

(I'm assuming that Big Mac is stronger than AJ just by virtue of sheer size but have we ever actually seen him do anything?)

He tossed a mob of ponies off him matrix style.

[Deadly]

(I'm assuming that Big Mac is stronger than AJ just by virtue of sheer size but have we ever actually seen him do anything?)

In Dragonshy he struggled to lift AJ's saddle bags, while she showed no signs of having trouble jumping around with them.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Sweet Celestia it's snowing in DC my commute home is never going to happen D:

Re sports: my money is on pegasi being banned from the long jump.

[Soras Teva Gee]

We're talking about a pegasi with major cutie mark talent in speed vs a pretty much workhorse with lifestyle favouring static strength, not running, and she tied. Although, argument can be made AJ cheated by giving RD extra uncomfortable weight to run with, it was still a close call between athlete and a farmer.

AJ also does rodeo events as repeatedly alluded to and apparently about to be featured. And I think Dash on the ground alone is significantly removed enough from a Sonic Rainboom to nullify her any special talent advantage.


Eh, horse races pretty much try to settle it by using weight systems. Though, professional horse racing probably has some sort of divisions, too.


Care to explain in more detail then? I'm not knowledgeable on our own horse racing but I wasn't aware there were "fairness" regulations in something like the Kentucky Derby. Or much in sports at all, aside from maybe weight classes in wrestling/boxing/mma/etc which even then are continually abused in a pretty open manner. Honestly I can't think of why you would need to have an Earth pony carry a weight in a foot race with unicorns and pegasi in it too.

Obviously a sentient equine would have an advantage of not needing a jockey but that's going way to meta in my mind to even apply.


In Dragonshy he struggled to lift AJ's saddle bags, while she showed no signs of having trouble jumping around with them.

That's not unrealistic. I've had similar experiences with backpacks, once upon a time running down my school bus with one of those epic forty pounders full of textbooks that are ruining the spinal columns of students across the nation. But always had more trouble getting it on and off.

[Eakin]

In Dragonshy he struggled to lift AJ's saddle bags, while she showed no signs of having trouble jumping around with them.

That might just be a weight distribution/different muscles thing. It's a lot harder to hold a 30 pound dumbbell fully extended out to the side of your body then it is to carry the same weight on your hips or held tightly to your chest.


He tossed a mob of ponies off him matrix style.

Forgot about that

[Deadly]

That might just be a weight distribution/different muscles thing. It's a lot harder to hold a 30 pound dumbbell fully extended out to the side of your body then it is to carry the same weight on your hips or held tightly to your chest.

That is true. Still, I always found it interesting and while it may not be proof of anything it could be a hint

[Pendulous]

Sounds like a good time! Got any good snackfoods?

Not really, gonna watch the game at a friend's house. Will get some fast food prior most likely. Usually each year on the Iron Bowl (Alabama vs. Auburn), one of my friends will cook some stuff and another will make some kick-ass dip, but the past couple years they haven't.


well, at least you named it properly instead of trying to call it the "national championship" game


Well, the BCS is borked all to hell, and I don't think anybody with half a brain can deny that some kind of playoff would be better for the sport (not speaking money here). However, being from Alabama, I can't say I won't enjoy the game.



On the subject of Big Mac's strength, the only thing that comes to my mind immediately is a scene in Luna Eclipsed where he was pulling a cart with fillies in it. Though, Rarity pulled a cart full of gems in A Dog and Pony Show, so that doesn't really say much. One can assume that due to his size he is indeed rather strong, but without seeing him actually work on the farm (wtf) there's no telling.

[Geno9999]

throwing my two bits into Equestria sports, maybe there's some Unicorn/Pegsus/Earth pony-only games.

Though now that I think about it, all three with full access to their unique talents would make one cool/awesome/weird game of soccer/qudditch-esque game.

[otakuryoga]

Well, the BCS is borked all to hell, and I don't think anybody with half a brain can deny that some kind of playoff would be better for the sport (not speaking money here). However, being from Alabama, I can't say I won't enjoy the game.


yeah thats why i refer to it as the Bull Carp(hint 2 letters are scrambled in this word(further hint: it it the 2nd and 3rd letters)) System

and i am rootin for Alabama to win in a real ugly stinker of a sloppy game so that the other poll will vote Oklahoma State as champs and we get one more stake to drive into the BCS

though i wont be watching the game
i only watch one college football game a year...the only one that means anything....Army/Navy


Though now that I think about it, all three with full access to their unique talents would make one cool/awesome/weird game of soccer/qudditch-esque game.

i could easily see an aerial soccer like game being played by Pegasus with a cloud ball(penalties for hitting the ball hard enough to make it poof apart)


----------------------------

hmmmm, so..an idea strikes from the shadows

A FMV to the Find a Pet song....with super heroes/villains in the pet spots
now, some would be easy
cute lil bunny = arthur from the tick
giant monarch butterfly = the Monarch from venture bros
falcon = the Falcon from marvel comics(i know he has been animated in various spots)
eagle = eagle pet of Harvey Birdman
dark and mysterious bat = i gotta be honest i am completely stumped..cant think of any dark mysterious bat type heroes http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/3623/applejackliar.png


some not so easy
cricket
ladybug
hot pink flamingo
squirrel----i seem to remember a SquirrelBoy from somewhere but cant remember exactly where

anyone wanna contribute some ideas? animated ones would be better than stills

[Eakin]

Pony sports: I'm picturing some kind of 3D super Rugby. Earth ponies on the ground serve as blockers/tacklers, then pass the ball up to pegasi to advance it over the opposing team's defensive line, while unicorns try to use magic to bring them back down to earth or mess with the defenders.

I would totally watch that either as part of an episode or in real life.

[Dexam]

While I'm not a super huge football fan, I would be interested in seeing human sports in equestria. How would ponies play football when they can't run and throw at the same time? How would basketball work on four legs? How well does soccer translate when a third of your team can fly? If a pegasus participates in an official footrace, are their wings harnessed? What about swimming? Does crew exist as a sport? Underwater basket weaving?


Football (Hoofball?) is easy enough (and I'm assuming you're referring to what I would call gridiron here) - they can carry and throw the ball using their mouths, or rear on hind legs and throw using fore legs.

Basketball is a bit more problematic, yet we know it exists because one of the pegasus ponies teasing Rainbow Dash in Sonic Rainboom has a three basketballs cutie mark. Pony's tails seem to be remarkably prehensile - maybe they dribble the ball using their tails, and kick/head/throw the ball through the hoop?

Soccer is easy - it just adds a third dimension to the game, with a lot more heading and kicking the ball skyward. It would be an awesome game to watch. :smallsmile:

As for footraces, I would say that they would mostly operate on an honour system for pegasi, much as many other sports would rely on unicorns to gain an unfair advantage using their horns - unless the sport had specific rules for unicorn magic.

Swimming? No problems there - nopony is at a particular advantage or disadvantage, though earth ponies would presumably be better swimmers due to usually being stronger than pegasus or unicorn ponies.

Underwater basket weaving? Advantage "unicorn", I'm afraid. :smallwink:

[Pokonic]

Swimming? No problems there - nopony is at a particular advantage or disadvantage, though earth ponies would presumably be better swimmers due to usually being stronger than pegasus or unicorn ponies.

However, if we take Derpys cutie mark in face value, we could assume that pegusi can swim, at least. Wonder if they could use there wings like flippers or fins. After all, half of the stuff pegusi can do in clouds, like diving, are basicly water-based movements. Notably, clouds are basicly water vapor. Hence, my strained theory that pegusi can swim well.:smallbiggrin:

[Eakin]

some not so easy
cricket
ladybug
hot pink flamingo
squirrel----i seem to remember a SquirrelBoy from somewhere but cant remember exactly where

Squirrel Girl is a reasonably well known Marvel character, who seems to be well known for defeating villains far more powerful than she is in fights. Using squirrel powers.

The others, well, there are a LOT of third rate comic book superheroes, I'm sure a cricket, ladybug, or flamingo themed hero has shown up at least once.

[Dexam]

hmmmm, so..an idea strikes from the shadows

A FMV to the Find a Pet song....with super heroes/villains in the pet spots
now, some would be easy
cute lil bunny = arthur from the tick
giant monarch butterfly = the Monarch from venture bros
falcon = the Falcon from marvel comics(i know he has been animated in various spots)
eagle = eagle pet of Harvey Birdman
dark and mysterious bat = i gotta be honest i am completely stumped..cant think of any dark mysterious bat type heroes http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/3623/applejackliar.png


some not so easy
cricket
ladybug
hot pink flamingo
squirrel----i seem to remember a SquirrelBoy from somewhere but cant remember exactly where

anyone wanna contribute some ideas? animated ones would be better than stills

Well, he's kind of a superhero... Captain Flamingo. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Flamingo)

http://www.tv-intros.com/c/captain%20flamingo.jpg

[Soras Teva Gee]

Squirrel Girl is a reasonably well known Marvel character, who seems to be well known for defeating villains far more powerful than she is in fights. Using squirrel powers.

The others, well, there are a LOT of third rate comic book superheroes, I'm sure a cricket, ladybug, or flamingo themed hero has shown up at least once.

Yes Squirrel Girl can beat anyone. Doctor Doom, Thanos, you name it she'll beat 'em. Nopony messes with Squirrel Girl.

Now for third rate go google Arm Fall Off Boy.

[Topaz]

While I'm not a super huge football fan, I would be interested in seeing human sports in equestria. How would ponies play football when they can't run and throw at the same time? How would basketball work on four legs? How well does soccer translate when a third of your team can fly? If a pegasus participates in an official footrace, are their wings harnessed? What about swimming? Does crew exist as a sport? Underwater basket weaving?
I expect that a lot of sporting competitions would be restricted by pony type ever overall or by role; football might use unicorn quarterbacks (like Rarity's dad!). I wonder if "no wings or horns" is known as the Discord rule?


Basketball is a bit more problematic, yet we know it exists because one of the pegasus ponies teasing Rainbow Dash in Sonic Rainboom has a three basketballs cutie mark. Pony's tails seem to be remarkably prehensile - maybe they dribble the ball using their tails, and kick/head/throw the ball through the hoop?
Or dribble with their heads and shoot with their forelegs.

Underwater basket weaving? Advantage "unicorn", I'm afraid. :smallwink:
♫ Shoo be doo, Shoop Shoop be doo ♫

[erikun]

I've heard a request for some Rarity art? While I'm not sure if these have been shown before, I'm sure I can supply a few.

Also, hello everyone. I'm still around. :smallredface:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vuhyYDq1FsY/TtAyN5H8qRI/AAAAAAAAAHs/S7EoJImSvmw/s1600/alldolledup.PNG (http://ravishingdiamonds.blogspot.com/2011/11/blessed-black-friday-everypony.html)

slightly large
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/358/4/5/mlp_human_version_ver__1_by_kreoss-d35ktcy.jpg (http://kreoss.deviantart.com/art/MLP-Human-version-ver-1-190767778)

http://th01.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2011/326/9/a/my_litter_kitties_by_bamboodog-d49v9c8.png (http://bamboodog.deviantart.com/art/My-Litter-Kitties-258439688)

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/261/9/8/new_season_by_csimadmax-d4a93ld.png (http://csimadmax.deviantart.com/art/new-season-259085425)

http://iambrony.jsmart.web.id/gif/files/131673692969.gif

http://th02.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2011/203/c/a/shirt__friendship_free_fall_by_ponyshot-d41a9jd.png (http://ponyshot.deviantart.com/art/SHIRT-Friendship-Free-Fall-244023241)

http://th06.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2011/250/6/c/sweaters_are_magic_by_pony_spiz-d495iiv.png (http://pony-spiz.deviantart.com/art/Sweaters-are-Magic-257238535)

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/288/c/d/the__worst__possible__thing__by_jiayi-d4cyqcl.png (http://jiayi.deviantart.com/art/THE-WORST-POSSIBLE-THING-263640549)

http://th08.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2011/335/6/6/66d6d54e6ae651558a0d159ab326a4c6-d4hvnps.jpg (http://raygirl.deviantart.com/art/DramaQueen-271895248)

http://th07.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2011/293/4/d/madame_rarity_by_ladyamaltea-d4dg6qk.jpg (http://ladyamaltea.deviantart.com/art/Madame-Rarity-264454940)

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/198/7/8/mlp_by_mutagorou0w0-d3zgreh.jpg (http://mutagorou0w0.deviantart.com/art/MLP-240967097)

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/242/e/a/rarity_by_strobo_pop-d48dr67.png (http://strobo-pop.deviantart.com/art/Rarity-255943375)

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/357/2/7/rarity_is_mouse_by_taskidog-d4jy3yl.png (http://taskidog.deviantart.com/art/Rarity-Is-Mouse-275368845)

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/276/2/0/suited_for_success_by_taliesin_the_dragoon-d4brcge.jpg (http://taliesin-the-dragoon.deviantart.com/art/Suited-for-success-261616334)

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/282/5/0/velvet_sky_weaving_the_rainbow_by_miradge-d4cb8ma.png (http://miradge.deviantart.com/art/Velvet-Sky-weaving-the-rainbow-262544482)

I'm not too sure if this last one is appropriate, all things considered, but I'm include it anyways for now.
http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/268/b/f/the_century_quilt_by_pashapup-d4awkmb.png (http://pashapup.deviantart.com/art/The-Century-Quilt-260180579)

[otakuryoga]

♫ Shoo be doo, Shoop Shoop be doo ♫

DON'T

EVEN

TRY

IT!

[otakuryoga]

Squirrel Girl is a reasonably well known Marvel character, who seems to be well known for defeating villains far more powerful than she is in fights. Using squirrel powers.

The others, well, there are a LOT of third rate comic book superheroes, I'm sure a cricket, ladybug, or flamingo themed hero has shown up at least once.

forgot about her...but i dont think she has ever been in any of the animated shows...and i seem to think squirrel boy was from a cartoon

but she would work

i am actually thinking the seal and otter will be hardest




Now for third rate go google Arm Fall Off Boy.

wasnt he one of the super heroes from a Whose Line is it Anyway? sketch? :smallbiggrin:


oops..meant to edit instead of double posting...oops

also...ROLL TIDE

[Soras Teva Gee]

wasnt he one of the super heroes from a Whose Line is it Anyway? sketch? :smallbiggrin:


Nope. Created and published within a DC comic book.

I thought up a tagline for him once: Arm Fall Off Boy: He's Never Unarmed!

[Kyouhen]

Back from BroNYCon! Wooo! Was super awesome meeting SiuiS, Braz, T-Fox and the one or two other thread ponies who's names currently escape me! Time for a QUOTE WALL OF DOOOOOMMM!!! I'll wait until the end to put up anything about BroNYCon as I want to see if anypony else wrote anything about it first. :smalltongue:



Besides, you know ME! What could be more awesome than that don't answer that Hopereaver if you want your inerds to stay inside!

...You still haven't reliched Hopereaver? Wouldn't she want her innards outside so she can be undead again?


Dear Bronies who are also Black Metal fans,

So, uh... I briefly mentioned once or twice that I was working on a Black Metal cover of the FiM opening theme. It's not quite done yet, but here's the instrumental version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLGfu-SltVw&context=C3ba4dd2ADOEgsToPDskKRY3xMCqMhJwZTHr-CfTEi). Low-quality distant guitars as standard. Drowned out screaming and hollowing version coming soon.
Look, I even drew a pretty picture of Fluttershy for everyone. http://i.imgur.com/ROEne.png


Quoted for later listening.



Oh my stars I've done that! I rolled charisma like eight times and one of the dice kept coming up cocked, between six and four. Like five times. On the fifth roll I said "if it does it again, I'm keeping it."

I have a Gestalt Bard/Cleric of Lastai with a 21 starting charisma who's never seen actual play. Stupid mean DMs...


I once rolled a D6 and it stopped on one of it's corners. On a flat table. Without resting against anything. Many ponies lost their sanity that day.



Ditzy Doo ad the Blustery Day
Sweet Apple Capers

(Both short, but extremely funny, though you have to be something of a Winne the Pooh fan (and I mean the books, not the daft Disney adaption to make the most out of the aforementioned.)


HA! Sweet Apple Capers! I keep recommending that one to people, and did so a lot at BroNYCon, but I couldn't remember what it was called and that was driving me insane! Thank you good lich, now excuse me while I make a few Autohypnosis rolls in an attempt to remember that.



http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/personalprojects/Midnight/d1c53422.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/personalprojects/Midnight/a7934394.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/personalprojects/Midnight/7e0cc00d.jpg


And once I've had a spot I practice...

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/personalprojects/Midnight/9795bcb8.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/WizardPony/personalprojects/Midnight/087fa951.jpg



Bugger. When I saw you doing your little sketches I probably should have asked to see anything else you had done over the weekend! http://www.fanboy-forum.com/images/smilies/uwkEw.png




-Character design stuff-


Just wanted to say reading over this stuff has been really interesting. Unfortunately I am physically incapable of explaining thought patterns and whatnot, so I won't be participating. Curse my inability to express thoughts!

Then again I'm pretty happy with the way my characters come together, and if the D&D campaigns I'm in are any indication I'm at least decent at making varied characters. And I've had times when I'll be halfway through character creation and need to start over because the character's evolved to the point where what I've done just doesn't suit them anymore. Hooray for an inability to tell my brain to stop focusing on something!



Edit: Full Episode initial thoughts
Timber wolves actually made out of timber. I love the everfree forest. :smallbiggrin:

Unsurprisingly, Granny Smith was awesome. Surprisingly, they actually gave Diamond Tiara some comeuppance and forced her to wear bunny ears at the end. Sadly, real life so rarely works that way, but it's nice to know that poetic justice is strong in Equestria.

I think the history lesson itself wrapped up pretty neatly. It gives a clear timeframe for the founding of Ponyville, although it's not super specific since we don't know the average lifespan of a pony.

One oddity is that the steam train apparently was around quite a long time ago. Perhaps the Appleloosans needed a pony-draw train because there wasn't access to a good source of fuel where they were or perhaps the pony drawn train still goes a bit faster when you really want speed?

New Ep

Yeah, I facepalm'd when they showed the timberwolves. Such a horrible pun. This show has the best original monsters. :smalltongue:



More new episode
Did anyone else laugh out loud at the world's greatest scrunchy face?
http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/7d3ef31192f94aad16ed93f0b0f915e6/108919%20-%20apple_bloom%20Diamond_Tiara%20family_appreciati on_day%20most_epic_scrunchy_face%20Scrunchy_Face.P NG

New Ep

Yes.10char Wait, this is a quote post. Why am I 10char'ing?



Well, some ponys do not think that they have to tell there living god every time they learn something.:smalltongue:

Notably, this was not so much a freindship lesson as a life lesson, if that eases your fears of going off-track.


New Ep

Also nopony told the CMC that they also had to write the friendship reports. :smalltongue:



Exactly. Didn't the Earth ponies set up a village in that area a thousand years before this back story?

New Ep

I don't think they ever actually said which village/city the earth ponies settled when they moved in. For all we know it could have been Manehattan.



I have to wait until 3pm eastern to see the episode.
:smallfrown:

Andrea Libman inspired me to finish both my RPG and Board game. And to return to pony thread. Because her speaking voice is SO CUTEAWESOME.

Agreed with the fury of a thousand Pinkieshy's!



Episode thoughts
I thought it was a decent episode. Nothing too spectacular until Granny Smith's story, that really made the entire episode. Timberwolves are awesome, I may steal that for DnD game it's so awesome. The horrible pun would probably get me punched though. :smalltongue:

And Diamond Tiara's Dad's name is Filthy Rich :smallbiggrin: That's hilarious. The kids falling asleep during his presentation was great too, especially Sweetie Bell.


New Ep

Just to let you know, someone mentioned that there's a Wood Element Creature template in the Manual of the Planes. In case you're interested. :smalltongue:





http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/218/435/tumblr_lw1u5c1yTv1r5yhbc.png



This made me lol so hard.


Kinda, yeah. I did think it was odd that she didn't check. Maybe it would have ruined the moment.

A rainbow apple cutie mark would be kinda cool though.


New Ep

It would also earn her the rage of a certain filly. :smalltongue:




12:15 - maximum capacity confirmed: 650+ preregistered + 100 or so walk-ins for a ball room listed at 450 persons. Line hits a stand-still! The con is going to be cleared at 15:00, and the line will engage again at that point.

I'm not upset, and am actually convincing folks in the stairwell to calm down (we're here for each other, aye? Merch and VAs can wait, right?) but Jade has the room key, so I can't go get my sketchbooks. Sad face.


I'm really starting to wish I had grabbed your number sometime sooner in case we needed to get in touch. I could have thrown my pencils and notebook at you to keep you amused. Or just gone and chilled with you guys. Either way. :smalltongue:




That's also pretty much the entirety of stuff that was worth play-by-play. There was an auction, Where bronies made me wonder on whether we are really cool or really stupid (seriously, this available for $5 outside, why is the bidding at $100+ ?), and now we're gonna listen to musics but no dance floor I'm afraid... There were also logistical issues, where they were expecting 250 like last year, instead of the 750 they booked or the 1,000 who pressed in. And the hotel is a piece of work that requires it's own thread to touch on. Like when part of the open hole in the ceiling dropped onto Soarin'. Or the rooms were improperly booked so we were short two beds. Or that when we finally got a room we couldn't open the bedroom door after closing it...

Don't forget the closet inside a closet!

And yeah, I'm just going to go with us being really cool. The only way I can justify to myself people paying as much as they did for some of those plushies at the auction is that they knew the money was all going to the next con. There were only a few things (ie Pinkie Cake) that I thought were really worth the money that people paid for them. (Well, maybe not worth the money, but I could at least understand why they would hit that high in an auction)



Man, you are impossible to find. I think I had been seeing you the while time and just didn't know you... I was afraid to just walk up to folks and ask if they were Orzel, until after the fact Kyouhen said that's what he did the first time...

Of course, your magic stealth powers kick in there, too. "Hy Kyouhen, what's Orzel look like?"
"Well, he's kind of tall, but not really, but he's not short. And hes like, I wouldn't say skinny, but he's not not skinny. And his hair is... Yeah."
"So we're not gonna find him are we?"
"no, no I don't think so."


In my defence I don't recall that conversation ever happening!
...Though if it did that's exactly how it would have gone... Did I mention I'm horrible at describing things? Because I am.

Though on the bright side I was able to identify Braz immediately upon seeing her, and I was also able to determine neither of the guys standing near her was you. :smalltongue: No I don't know how it works, she just looked like I would expect Braz to look. And no, I can't tell you how I had expected her to look because I'm horrible at describing things. And no, that's not the first time I've managed to do this either.



I'm still ruminating on it. I decided I didn't like the little spikes after all (which is why I left it a bit, as I wasn't 100% sure when I did them.) I don't think I can reasonably get an aspect ratio narrow enough to be printable tomake them look good, so I'm going to abandon that idea. (They were intended to be sort of weapon emplacements, but I figured that if the race has advanced and compact weapons technology, most of the secondary weapon emplacements are probably not really visible (as they aren't on lot of starships, generally).


Gotta ask, do your players actually base any of their decisions on the models they see? If they saw a model with a bunch of visible guns on it would they start targeting those guns to disable them? Because if so having a bunch of relatively weak weapons that were visible would be a great way to get them to waste time and resources, only to have them find out that the real weapons systems aren't actually visible at all. :smalltongue:


Lixie, Lixie, Lixie... when you're as old as I am, you'll realize that some puns just need to be made.

Oh Celestia you said her name three times. What have you done?



Blah. I am wiped. Emotionally exhausted, mentally fatigued, and generally sad I have to go home. Bronies on the east coast are warm enough to make up for the ridiculous temperatures! Which is good, because ridiculous temperatures are ridiculous.


Inorite? Seriously, I was walking around in a t-shirt in early January. What the hay New Yorkers?!


Going to Fillydelphia for a tournament that Rainbow Dash is in, sounds very pony, but boxing seems off to me. At least, boxing as it is as a human sport. It would need a less violent quadruped version of the sport to work, Ithink.

Hehehhee. I really like the idea of the Italian Stallion, Rocky, though. That's clever!

Not so sure boxing itself is off as we've seen Dash is willing to resort to fisticuffs (hoofticuffs?) if needed. I'm just not too sure how well ponies would be able to manage boxing. Might need to find a better way for them to beat on each other, maybe a head-butting competition?


Attention, ponythread artists. (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/01/artist-training-grounds-equestria-mock.html)

Just thought you'd like to know.

Totally looking forward to this! I think I might challenge myself to do this entirely by modifying the art on some MTG cards. Could be interesting to see how many themes I can force to fit into those little frames and find cards that fit them.


Happy Monday ponythread! How is everyone today?

Tired. Forgot how exhausting long-distance cons can be. Slept just about the entire bus ride home, then slept for a good 4 or 5 hours after. Still quite tired. But as usual was totally worth it.


Hi, I'm from the Internet, and I'm here to help (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSh0FilXuB8). :smallbiggrin:

Hehehe, I love that part. :smalltongue:


We're talking about a pegasi with major cutie mark talent in speed vs a pretty much workhorse with lifestyle favouring static strength, not running, and she tied. Although, argument can be made AJ cheated by giving RD extra uncomfortable weight to run with, it was still a close call between athlete and a farmer.


I'm going to stick Applejack as being more of an endurance athlete. Between the two Rainbow Dash is definitely faster, but how long can she maintain her speed? In a race as long as The Running of the Leaves Applejack probably has an edge because, though she isn't as fast as Dash is, she can probably maintain her higher speeds longer.

That and it's entirely possible Rainbow Dash never really bothers exercising her legs. She does seem to have a hard time keeping herself grounded.



hmmmm, so..an idea strikes from the shadows

A FMV to the Find a Pet song....with super heroes/villains in the pet spots
now, some would be easy
cute lil bunny = arthur from the tick
giant monarch butterfly = the Monarch from venture bros
falcon = the Falcon from marvel comics(i know he has been animated in various spots)
eagle = eagle pet of Harvey Birdman
dark and mysterious bat = i gotta be honest i am completely stumped..cant think of any dark mysterious bat type heroes http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/3623/applejackliar.png


some not so easy
cricket
ladybug
hot pink flamingo
squirrel----i seem to remember a SquirrelBoy from somewhere but cant remember exactly where

anyone wanna contribute some ideas? animated ones would be better than stills

...You planning on animating that? Because that's a great idea. :smalltongue:


Well, he's kind of a superhero... Captain Flamingo. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Flamingo)

http://www.tv-intros.com/c/captain%20flamingo.jpg

Oh gods, that show.

Anyway, some stuff from BroNYCon. My phone was largely dead the entire time I was there (listening to music for the entire 11-12 hours it took me to get there, then found out I hadn't packed my charger after all, then found out the next day I actually had but didn't have time to charge it) so I couldn't get any pictures. But here's pictures of things I made on my way there. I had a really long bus ride, so I brought some stuff to work on to see if I could do anything good while on the bus. This is the result:


http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/Ponigaunts.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/Applegaunt.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/Gauntershy.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/PinkieGaunt.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/RainbowGaunt.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/Rarigaunt.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/Twigaunt.png


Also SiuiS decided to test how difficult writing a friendship report with one's mouth really is.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/SiuiSReport.png


He had put down a little card on which he had sketched Starry Notions, so I decided to see how hard it would be to paint with your mouth.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/MouthStarry.png


And finally a sketch of Pinkie Pie being adorable from Ego.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/EgoPinkie.png


Overall the con was great. Opened up by wandering off to McDonald's at like 3am with three people I didn't know. Then went back to the hotel room and got some sleep in a room with 5-6 people I didn't know. Then got in line to get a ticket and played some games with people I didn't know. (I keep a small stash of quick games with me at all times for fear of death by boredom) And that's largely how the con went for me. A lot of me chilling with total strangers who were all really cool (and seriously talented) people. (Really. I swear everyone I talked to had provided something to this community I was familiar with. One of them had made some of the sprites for Desktop Ponies (ie FillyDash), another did a bunch of TF2 stuff, I even spent a good amount of time Sunday chilling with the guy who made the colouring books (Garret). Turns out he's the one working on the Recobbled edition of The Thief and the Cobbler. http://i.imgur.com/Dy4NS.jpg) I swear, I love this fandom. It was the friendliest con I've ever been to.

Oh, and also, this was in the auction.

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/007/1/3/bronycon_2012_pinkie_pie_cake_by_xhazard78x-d4lnhgk.jpg
That's a solid sugar cake.

[Thanqol]

I'm back!

And now I've got 10 days worth of music and drawfriends to get caught up on @_@

TO WORK!

[Eakin]

♫ Shoo be doo, Shoop Shoop be doo ♫

Son of a pony... now it's stuck in my head.

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? Now you all get to share my pain (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUw_ij8-xNU)

At least it inspired a pretty good Eurobrony track (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4TedkQP_hM)

[otakuryoga]

wow..cant believe no one called me on Arthur from The Tick NOT being a bunny........................

ponythread i am Disappoint http://i.imgur.com/4zrN3.jpg

[Thanqol]

Finally caught up on all the pony.

That was a lot of pony.

Also, I got a late christmas gift!

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/3679/img0004ln.jpg

This is the coolest boombox ever.

i cant stop thinking of the shipping implications of RDxRDxFluttershy

[Aotrs Commander]

♫ Shoo be doo, Shoop Shoop be doo ♫

*skulldesk*

*skulldesk*

*skulldesk*

Damn you, childhood trauma!


DON'T

EVEN

TRY

IT!

What he said.


...You still haven't reliched Hopereaver? Wouldn't she want her innards outside so she can be undead again?

Nah, when we figured out thanks to Lixi's meddling, my magical girl form has all my Lich powers, plus a few, I decided I was cool with it. (One of the other draws is this form actually being kinda Undead sorta (it's complicated)... I've noticed more than one biological functions that I don't need to worry about much anymore - heck it took me a while to realise they were even missing, having been a Lich for a while...) It's nice to have hair again, for one. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, hair was a pretty minor sacrifice for Lichdom, but if I can have my cake and eat it too...

And I look so much cuter with hair!

Pffftahahahahaha!

Ah, me, that t'were a good one, Hopereaver...

*cries waterfall tears*




Gotta ask, do your players actually base any of their decisions on the models they see? If they saw a model with a bunch of visible guns on it would they start targeting those guns to disable them? Because if so having a bunch of relatively weak weapons that were visible would be a great way to get them to waste time and resources, only to have them find out that the real weapons systems aren't actually visible at all. :smalltongue:

Nah, none of the rulesets are we use - which in this case would be Rolemaster for RPG and Accelerate & Attack - are especially designed for that sort of thing. It can happen occasionally in Rolemaster - in fact, there as a type of monster they could have aimed for a weak spot on last quest - but only when particularly specified (and probably with some prompting for me, as called shots are not generally a part of any of the rules we play.) And in RM, they are so horribly overpowered, and with a too-wide-gap between attack skill (which I'm currently working on closing) it's either not worth it or makes it too difficult.

In AccAtt, game scale - which is something in the region of about 10-20 bits (i.e. ships or fighter groups, basically "things you move") for an evening's game requires you be a bit abtract when dealing with that sort of thing. The way the damage system works is that every system (e.g. weapons, drives, crew) basically generates it's own hit point, and they all go on a damage track (where damage is marked off right-to-left). Shields basically create a pool extra hit points every round, and armour is also modelled as hit points (the different being the former two are considered to be on different layers, so having both is a good idea to prevent lucky shots (of which there is a 15% chance per D20) of punching through to the much much vulnerable hull, as some weapons do only one point to armour or shields, but D6 to the hull). You can choose to shoot specific hit slots, i.e. systems, but in order to do any damage, you still have to get through the shields and armour, so generally it's used for disabling vessels for capture, if you don't have special weapons.

That said, you sort of could do that, by slapping some weak minimum size weapons on the ship, and putting them after the armour on the track (indeed, you could argue that the Saiyvali's Class 1 Pulse weapons do exactly that, though the point of them being "weak" weapons is somewhat debatable). But generally, you don't want the enemy to be getting any hits past your shields and armour (you'd be better protected juts using the say same for more armour or shields, of bigger drives (which would give you a higher target number).




This is the result:


http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/Ponigaunts.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/Applegaunt.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/Gauntershy.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/PinkieGaunt.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/RainbowGaunt.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/Rarigaunt.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34015682/Ponies/Other%20Stuff/Twigaunt.png


That's either really cool or slightly creepy, and I'm not sure which...

Can't it be both?




I'm back!

You left?

[Thanqol]

You left?

I'm really bad at leaving :smallfrown:

[Athaniar]

The sea ponies are taking over. Eexcellent.

[Thanqol]

I had a shot at colouring that Thistle pic like I said I would. Is this a colour scheme that works for you, SiuiS?

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/010/f/f/day_238_by_thanqol-d4lwksh.jpg

[fizmat]

I had a shot at colouring that Thistle pic like I said I would. Is this a colour scheme that works for you, SiuiS?

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/010/f/f/day_238_by_thanqol-d4lwksh.jpg

What does it mean if I just want to hug her and tell her everything is gonna be all right :smallfrown:

Unrelatedly, I've decided I'm gonna participate in the the artist training grounds (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/01/artist-training-grounds-mock-war-day-1.html) despite having no education and no plan to ever become a professional. I just want a big enough excuse to try drawing ponies again.