My Little Pony LII: 525.600 Ponies!

[Heliomance]

Personally I've never noticed any Flutterdash hints. *shrug*

[Kindablue]

On a related note, I'd actually like to see queer relationships in the show, as long as they treat it in the same way they would treat a heterosexual relationship, like Adventure Time did. Rather then "ERMAHGERD A GAY COUPLE. WE MUST TREAT THEM EQUALLY. DEHR PRINCESS CELESTA, I LERN GAYS R PPL TOO."

And that's fine. :P

Far above all my other hopes for season three flies the mist veiled appearance of gersberms pony. And no, Twist does not count. Twist is worst pony.

[Soras Teva Gee]

Which is to say, if that is the case here, it's not so much that they would be leaving it open to interpretation as simply not confirming it. That way people like Hasbro or critics and pressure groups don't get involved, whilst it being relatively obvious to the fans who have no problem with the idea. Like how Applejack's parents are almost certainly dead, but it will never be confirmed either way (though they clearly are). Because if they don't try to write in specific mention of it, the higher ups aren't likely to make them contradict it.

I should point out this example has subtle factual inaccuracies:

Q: Where are Applejack's parents?

To put it bluntly, we just never figured it out. I just liked the feeling of them living with their Granny, but keeping the family dynamic tight and small. To be honest, I would like to simply say that they passed away somehow, but it's just it would have likely been deemed too sad for a kids' show and I don't think it would have ever been approved. There was brief discussion of them being traveling salesponies or explorers, but since we never needed the information in an episode, nothing was ever made official. So it will have to remain a mystery until someone decides to define it.

In effect she never asked or came up with an answer that merely not being communicated. Whether this is the same thing is somewhat interpretative.



And now for something comepletely different and silly



Click It (What's that of course I'm stealing Seth's trick)

[thubby]

Personally I've never noticed any Flutterdash hints. *shrug*

well there's a clear relationship independent of the others that exists between them.

[Pokonic]

well there's a clear relationship independent of the others that exists between them.

Presumably, it's because they probably knew eachother a bit before meeting the other four, being pegusi from Cloudsdale and all that.

[Kindablue]

Presumably, it's because they probably knew eachother a bit before meeting the other four, being pegusi from Cloudsdale and all that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7L4D...eature=related

[Lix Lorn]

Psh. I bet only on things I myself can influence. And there isn't a force alive that can dirrect you crazy people.

(HUGS)

Someday all will be one with the Herdmind.

SO ZETTA SLOW.

Why are there no Dungeonkeeper ponies?!

On an entirely random whim this morning, I checked.

There are no Dungeonkeeper ponies!

How can Second Best Game not have been ponified yet?!

Because people are silly D=

Also, hi.

(grabsteal)

[Forum Explorer]

To elaborate, even though you clearly get what I'm talking about;

The specifics of the Mystique/Destiny thing in X-Men was that of course they were an item, and they were always meant to be. They just couldn't actually say it, because those higher up and the comics code or whatever would have had issue (whereas the audience almost certainly wouldn't and apparently didn't).

Which is to say, if that is the case here, it's not so much that they would be leaving it open to interpretation as simply not confirming it. That way people like Hasbro or critics and pressure groups don't get involved, whilst it being relatively obvious to the fans who have no problem with the idea. Like how Applejack's parents are almost certainly dead, but it will never be confirmed either way (though they clearly are). Because if they don't try to write in specific mention of it, the higher ups aren't likely to make them contradict it.

But weren't zombies mentioned at some point in the show? Which would mean that the concept wouldn't be impossible in the setting, (even if there are no actual zombies in the setting).

Like I said this is what I think has already pretty much happened.

Zombies were mentioned and I believe immediately rebutted with "Zombies aren't real!" So I imagine Zombies exist like they do in our world.

Presumably, it's because they probably knew eachother a bit before meeting the other four, being pegusi from Cloudsdale and all that.

Plus they were in the same class, and Rainbow Dash protected Fluttershy from bullies.

[Pokonic]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7L4D...eature=related

Presumably, certently, it's all the same when you are half awake.

[Deadly]

Prereaders

Chapter 2 of II is nearly done, it's fairly short. I'm going to do final edits and then publish it tomorrow, once I've had some sleep, but I'd love some second thoughts before then. Anything, even if it's just 'it was good'. I'm sure there's plenty that could be improved, though.

II.2 - Breathless (draft)

[thubby]

breathless 2

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i would expect RD to be more unnerved by the "ghosts".

"He walked up to the table and picked up some bandages and a long"

“Now just lie still while I bind up that leg so it grows back straight.”
i would think "heals properly" sounds better. "grows back" makes me think of a lizard regenerating its tail or something.
also earlier, wounds are generally "cleaned" not "washed"
*has horrible mental image of someone taking a scrub brush to a wound*
("cleaned and dressed" is an option)

Rainbow wasn't sure why she lay down again, but part of her wanted to stay here with him.
this might be "laid", not entirely sure.

so there are 2 RD's running around? one with no heart, the other no breathing?
i get that this is supposed to be keeping us off balance, but the disconnect from last chapter is so huge i literally had to check that I was reading the same story from last chapter.

[Gamerlord]

Prereaders

Chapter 2 of II is nearly done, it's fairly short. I'm going to do final edits and then publish it tomorrow, once I've had some sleep, but I'd love some second thoughts before then. Anything, even if it's just 'it was good'. I'm sure there's plenty that could be improved, though.

II.2 - Breathless (draft)

Seems good, the only issue I have is that I'm confused if this is actually happening or some sort of dream sequence, but I suspect that is on purpose. Ah, it's actually happening.

[Deadly]

breathless 2

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i would expect RD to be more unnerved by the "ghosts".

"He walked up to the table and picked up some bandages and a long"

“Now just lie still while I bind up that leg so it grows back straight.”
i would think "heals properly" sounds better. "grows back" makes me think of a lizard regenerating its tail or something.
also earlier, wounds are generally "cleaned" not "washed"
*has horrible mental image of someone taking a scrub brush to a wound*
("cleaned and dressed" is an option)

Rainbow wasn't sure why she lay down again, but part of her wanted to stay here with him.
this might be "laid", not entirely sure.

Good catches. Thanks.

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so there are 2 RD's running around? one with no heart, the other no breathing?
i get that this is supposed to be keeping us off balance, but the disconnect from last chapter is so huge i literally had to check that I was reading the same story from last chapter.

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Yup, that's the gist of it. You didn't suspect this from chapter 1? If so I can imagine that made this chapter a little harder to catch up on than otherwise. It is a little tricky, but I expect now that you know there are two perspectives going on it's going to be easier. The sooner people catch up on that, the better.

There's going to be some amount of switching back and forth, mostly here at the beginning I expect.

[Deadly]

Seems good, the only issue I have is that I'm confused if this is actually happening or some sort of dream sequence, but I suspect that is on purpose. Ah, it's actually happening.

What exactly is happening is, intentionally, still up in the air. Next chapter will help with some of the most pressing questions, but until then it's my hope that you're left wondering about it Of course I hope it's not impossible to follow, and it is admittedly a bit tricky.

[thubby]

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Yup, that's the gist of it. You didn't suspect this from chapter 1? If so I can imagine that made this chapter a little harder to catch up on than otherwise. It is a little tricky, but I expect now that you know there are two perspectives going on it's going to be easier. The sooner people catch up on that, the better.

There's going to be some amount of switching back and forth, mostly here at the beginning I expect.

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i didnt catch a "not breathing" reference in ch1. my first thought was that they did something to her (which is why she wasnt hurt), then put her back. of course dreams and other shenanigans crossed my mind, but not some kind of split/clone/thing.

not that it's a problem, makes sense in retrospect. it's just that since i didnt know that when i started the chapter, i was confused as hell.

[Forum Explorer]

Terror Attack-3

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Dear Twilight,

Tonight we were sent in to protect a city named Delhi. The aliens had launched an attack so we headed off as soon as we could since we were the closer squad. Unfortantly we arrived at night. It was a horrible mess. We could barely see and the town was so crowded and smelt so bad. The humans were screaming in terror and pain as we moved through.

We moved slowly to avoid ambushes and when we spotted a cyberdisc tank we shot at it. Next thing we know the whole building explodes in a gigantic fireball! Needless to say the tank was utterly destroyed. Later we noticed some aliens hiding in a similar building so we blew that one up too! Honestly what kind of civilization designs it's buildings to explode?

The mission finished up when we spotted a pair of disc tanks close together behind the ruins of one of the exploding buildings. Everypony shot at them but they managed to destroy our tank first. Spike Spruce and I moved in and finished them off with a pair of grenades.

In other news the human's took away Spitfire's autocannon. With how broken up she seemed it was like they told her she could never fly again! Honestly I'm glad. Spitfire can barely move at all lugging that giant thing around and even though she got a few good shots off it really does belong with a stronger pony. Also I hear word that our two bases will be trading some ponies soon. Something about making sure each base had a high ranking officer.

Sincerely,

Rarity Unicorn

I hate night missions. Had to do so many resets due to the stupid deaths I'd get since I couldn't see the aliens. Also I'm finding it pretty funny that Rarity can't seem to complete a mission without losing a tank.

[TheAmishPirate]

SO ZETTA SLOW.

I get it!

I...I got that reference!


To add some pony to the mix, I found both an adorable ask blog, and Baldumborat doing a dub for said adorable ask blog.

[CrnivorousMeece]

I'm with Grif on this one. If they do give Dash a girlfriend, which I'm not against in the slightest, then it'll probably be the whole Derpy fiasco all over again. Only this time it'll be 10K x worse, & they may be forced to edit/cancel a good episode. If somepony gets really pissed, the entire show may be cancelled.

Yeah I'd have to agree with you on that one we don't want anything anywhere close to that happening again. I would love to Dash show a little lesbianism though.

Why can't the world just love and tolerate. Oh well, as much as we'd all love to see our shippings and fanfics come true it's probably never going to happen.

This. So much this.

Even if Hasbro and the writers steer away from giving the Mane 6 boyfriend/girlfriends, nodding to some of the background ponies relationships would be nice. Maybe an episode where Bon Bon is looking for the perfect anniversary present for Lyra [the answer is pants], where the focus is less on "look, they are lesbians woo!" and more on "these two ponies love each other and have a strong healthy relationship, albeit they happen to be both female."

Well, maybe they could do it in the final season, when it's already been decided to not continue the series. Not bloody likely, of course.

I guess I'd just love to see the world go up in flames like that, it would be awesome. People need controversy, a good kick in the values every now and then. And I don't think the show would have to shut down, actually. It'd lose some, but also gain some. It wouldn't be win-win, but it would definitely gain respect and publicity.

Of course, again, Hasbro has no interest in that sort of publicity, I'm sure.

Perhaps.

[Strife Warzeal]

Terror Attack-3

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Dear Twilight,

Tonight we were sent in to protect a city named Delhi. The aliens had launched an attack so we headed off as soon as we could since we were the closer squad. Unfortantly we arrived at night. It was a horrible mess. We could barely see and the town was so crowded and smelt so bad. The humans were screaming in terror and pain as we moved through.

We moved slowly to avoid ambushes and when we spotted a cyberdisc tank we shot at it. Next thing we know the whole building explodes in a gigantic fireball! Needless to say the tank was utterly destroyed. Later we noticed some aliens hiding in a similar building so we blew that one up too! Honestly what kind of civilization designs it's buildings to explode?

The mission finished up when we spotted a pair of disc tanks close together behind the ruins of one of the exploding buildings. Everypony shot at them but they managed to destroy our tank first. Spike Spruce and I moved in and finished them off with a pair of grenades.

In other news the human's took away Spitfire's autocannon. With how broken up she seemed it was like they told her she could never fly again! Honestly I'm glad. Spitfire can barely move at all lugging that giant thing around and even though she got a few good shots off it really does belong with a stronger pony. Also I hear word that our two bases will be trading some ponies soon. Something about making sure each base had a high ranking officer.

Sincerely,

Rarity Unicorn

I hate night missions. Had to do so many resets due to the stupid deaths I'd get since I couldn't see the aliens. Also I'm finding it pretty funny that Rarity can't seem to complete a mission without losing a tank.

Pick up some Electro-flares(I suggest 2 per unit) if you haven't already, it makes night missions a tad more bearable.

Poor tanks. Then again, better a tank than a pony.

[Anarion]

(HUGS)
SO ZETTA SLOW.

...
*Hugs Lixie*

Seriously, best game. I even visited Shibuya for the first time ever this summer and it was pretty neat.

Terror Attack-3

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Dear Twilight,

Tonight we were sent in to protect a city named Delhi. The aliens had launched an attack so we headed off as soon as we could since we were the closer squad. Unfortantly we arrived at night. It was a horrible mess. We could barely see and the town was so crowded and smelt so bad. The humans were screaming in terror and pain as we moved through.

We moved slowly to avoid ambushes and when we spotted a cyberdisc tank we shot at it. Next thing we know the whole building explodes in a gigantic fireball! Needless to say the tank was utterly destroyed. Later we noticed some aliens hiding in a similar building so we blew that one up too! Honestly what kind of civilization designs it's buildings to explode?

The mission finished up when we spotted a pair of disc tanks close together behind the ruins of one of the exploding buildings. Everypony shot at them but they managed to destroy our tank first. Spike Spruce and I moved in and finished them off with a pair of grenades.

In other news the human's took away Spitfire's autocannon. With how broken up she seemed it was like they told her she could never fly again! Honestly I'm glad. Spitfire can barely move at all lugging that giant thing around and even though she got a few good shots off it really does belong with a stronger pony. Also I hear word that our two bases will be trading some ponies soon. Something about making sure each base had a high ranking officer.

Sincerely,

Rarity Unicorn

I hate night missions. Had to do so many resets due to the stupid deaths I'd get since I couldn't see the aliens. Also I'm finding it pretty funny that Rarity can't seem to complete a mission without losing a tank.

Okay yeah, I'm totally going to buy this as soon as I finish the clerical stuff I have to do for job-related stuff this week.

[Forum Explorer]

Pick up some Electro-flares(I suggest 2 per unit) if you haven't already, it makes night missions a tad more bearable.

Poor tanks. Then again, better a tank than a pony.

Already do that. They do help a little but it's still really annoying.



On that note

Rainbow Dash Presents UFO-22

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Hey Twilight, Princess Celestia. How are you guys doing?

Twilight where did that paper and quill come from? D-did you create a summon quill spell? Bwhahahaha! Oh you are too much fun Twilight Sparkle. So you want to hear how the mission went?

It was easy! Flew in, kicked some flank, looted the bodies and done! No challenge at all.

What you want more details?

Ugh, fine. Me and Pinkie and Fluttershy followed our tank and cleaned up the aliens that the tank spotted. Well Fluttershy of course didn't shoot. She refuses to, though it was nice to have her there.

Sectoids? You mean those grey guys? Nah, these were these crazy snake aliens. I call them Snakemen! Yeah that's right. I just named an entirely new alien species. I'm awesome.

I guess you've heard that Scoots and Applebloom snuck along? No big deal really. We just had Cadance guard them in the ship. Fight was so easy they were hardly in any real danger. Though these Snakemen were packing some serious heat. Luckily they can't seem to aim! Ha!

Anyways glad to see the two of you are feeling better.

See ya later!

[Lix Lorn]

I get it!

I...I got that reference!

...
*Hugs Lixie*

Seriously, best game. I even visited Shibuya for the first time ever this summer and it was pretty neat.

>_>
(hasn't actually played it)

[Maxtronaut]

Umm... Guys?

Veggie's... leaving...

[Anarion]

>_>
(hasn't actually played it)

Well, what are you standing around here for? You've got pins to earn and reapers whose butts need kicking! Also, you'll need to decide on your feelings about the Neku-Shiki pairing.

Seriously though, The World Ends With You is really good and basically unique.

Umm... Guys?

Veggie's... leaving...

Sad. He was one of the best comics artists in terms of doing vectors, although I agree with his farewell post that his stuff has always been on the weird side.

[SiuiS]

I'd be interested in those arguments.

And I really hope they give her a girlfriend at some point, because they could do so much good with a strong gay character example for the target audience.

Well, hm. Let's see if I can be both brief and convincing then.

Rainbow Dash demonstrates enthusiasm for stereotypically 'girly' behaviors in every situation where she wouldn't expect rebuke for it. She squees, she fangirls, she considers playing dress up and having a fashion show a fun thing he loves to do.

She enjoys being athletic, but mostly she enjoys winning. Rather than actual, athletic training like one would expect for a sport, she does tricks until she is tire or bored. This resembles skateboarding (a gender neutral sport) more than racing, or any other track-and-field style sport, which is typically more male-oriented.

Further, she shows very few, shallow, tomboy tendencies. Most of them are extrapolations from other things - if she were the same character, but without a rainbow mullet, then assertions of being a lesbian, who must also be butch because sports, who must also be a tomboy because butch lesbian would fall away. Women exist and excel in all of the sports her activities can be hearkened to, and aren't tomboys. The evidence for her being such is tenuous at best.

Rainbow Dash's most masculine traits are her angry, bored-now "gotta move!" attention span, and her desire for adulation. Being fidgety isn't exactly masculine, it's just active. She has an obvious eat, nap, be hyper cycle. Her love of adulation and her fear of reprisal are both more cultural than anything else - even her yelling at Fluttershy in DragonShy could be likened to her worrying that Fluttershy made pegasi, and her by extension, look bad. Her being so prone to yelling is supposedly proof that she is a tomboy, and "doesn't tolerate fluttershy's feminine antics", but I fin that falls apart pretty fast.

Oh, I'm fully aware of that, the characters are quite stereotypical, but in a positive sort of way. For example, Twilight is an intelligent nerd because she's an intelligent nerd. Now, If RD was a lesbian, she would be perceived by many people to be a tomboy-ish character with a rainbow mane because she was a lesbian... if that makes sense.

Yes. That is my problem with the tomboy theory. It's circular logic.

Remember that article claiming that Rainbow Dash was promoting a lesbian stereotype? Well, the problem with that article was that it was complaining about her being a lesbian stereotype when in fact, the show never even suggested that she was a lesbian. The article simply complained about her being a lesbian stereotype going on the assumption that she was a lesbian BECAUSE of her characteristics in the show. So, the writer complained about her own assumption of the character, rather then actual character.*
Now, if RD really was a Lesbian, then it might make this kind of criticism more relevant.

I don't recall the article, luv, but you yourself point out how to refute it. Rainbow Dash is perfectly capable of being a fillyfooler without being a stereotype thereof. In fact, her current characteristic of conceding to Fluttershy's whims suggests she already doesn't conform, unless there is a 'butch lesbians act manly but like Wong womanly in private" stereotype I've missed... And I'd there is it is patently stupid. It's attributing a human characteristic to someone in vacuum and pretending it is indicative of something.

On a related note, I'd actually like to see queer relationships in the show, as long as they treat it in the same way they would treat a heterosexual relationship, like Adventure Time did. Rather then "ERMAHGERD A GAY COUPLE. WE MUST TREAT THEM EQUALLY. DEHR PRINCESS CELESTA, I LERN GAYS R PPL TOO."

And that's fine. :P

That would be good.

Personally? I would like to see Rainbow Dash outed as asexual. (is outed the right word?) it's one of those things that would harm none and be beneficial, as a huge swathe of the population don't even know such things *exist.

Problem is Hasbro wants no trouble from said target audience's parents, who actually have the money to buy pony related products and some wouldn't appreciate a character that challenged their moral beliefs (or they simply don't think such a character is suitable in a show for impressionable children).

You saw the fuss raised over Derpy speaking. A gay character on a show for young children would draw out all sorts of people spewing noncense about the "moral degradation of society" and "the corruption of the youth"

True. But the fear that someone's boat would be rocked is a faulty one. That the ponies don't conform to stereotypes close enough is already a problem. They are tryin to hard to masculine! What with their success and their self respect an their never being shown in the kitchen. -_-

The fuss was also not over Derpy speaking. Or at least, there were two fusses, and Derpy speaking was the one Hasbro ignored. The real fracas came from basically calling a goofy character retarded on public television. As much as I don't see the word that way, I understand their decision to remove her name-drop. It would be akin to calling a pony who started a fire [british slang for cigarette].

I rather not have the show shut down over protests of encouraging same-sex partnership. Am I not wrong in saying that Americans are still very leery of this issue?

We are, indeed. But that doesn't make it right, necessarily.

Yes, because nobody EVER gets up in arms about endorsing heterosexual marriages. Especially not when they're only supporting one, not putting down the other. That would be dumb. cough-eatmorchikin-cough

Little too close to politics for my liking, actually. But yeah, that too is contested. Having it addressed as no big deal in a children's cartoon show would be grand. It would be one hel of a better statement than the usual one, where a girl's life is all about eventually getting married and having the best possible stereotypical cathedral wedding and that's the best day of her life and it's all downhill from there.

Spirits I hate and despise that. I have never seen anything good come from having One True Love shoved down everypony's throats. Just misery and self-loathing for "missing the boat".

I'm in the let's not stirr up social issues camp.

The show has enough on its plate teaching that cartoons for little girls don't have to be frilly glittery crap. That a worthy enough endeavor for any show

Good enough is never good enough.

I'd be happy if they didnt explore significant romance at all.

Too late!

Wouldn't we all?

Not at all. In fact, I would find that to be a huge disservice.

I can count twenty personal examples of people who have had terrible lives because the notion that something is normal and natural was alien to them. Kids discover both love an sexuality at VERY young ages - dealing with masturbation is the unspoken phase of raising a two year old, for example. And yet the only media portrayals are terribly unhealthy, forcing kids to try and wedge who and what they are into a narrow, socially accepted box.

Sound familiar?

"girls don't have to be frilly, vapid and passive. They can be beautiful and active and nice, and aggressive and smart and still be girls." we already have an implicit mission statement of broadening horizons and dealing with the one thing that matters for everyone; self-judgement.

Sure it's possible to make another show to handle this, but what are the odds of such a show having the cultural traction MLP does? If it can be done without ruining the show - and all the implicit shipping material says that it can - then why not? "because let sleeping dogs lie" or "don't stir up social issues" is a terrible rational of playing it safe. If we had played it safe in the first place, we wouldn't have Friendship is Magic at all! We would have gen 3.5, and no power in the verse could make that watchable. We wouldn't have Rarity dealing with the differences between romantic fantasy and romantic reality. We wouldn't have anything that deviates from the pattern. And that is terrible.

You know that picture of AppleJack hugging Rainbow Dash? With the caption "it's okay to be you"? I refuse to accept that means 'it's okay to be you, unless you rock my boat.'

Re: Dracoliches - That seems unlikely purely because of how grim that would be.*
But weren't zombies mentioned at some point in the show? Which would mean that the concept wouldn't be impossible in the setting, (even if there are no actual zombies in the setting).

Undeath isnt all that dark unless you explore it's concepts. A zombie isn't the reanimated, defiled corpse of a love one, enslaved to fight against its former friends while it's shackled soul weeps in horror; it's a monster that's gross.

Personally I've never noticed any Flutterdash hints. *shrug*

Well, to be fair we were looking for it to fuel our crack-theories. Also

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Umm... Guys?

Veggie's... leaving...

Everything has its time.

Find good roads, friend.

[Lix Lorn]

Well, what are you standing around here for? You've got pins to earn and reapers whose butts need kicking! Also, you'll need to decide on your feelings about the Neku-Shiki pairing.

Seriously though, The World Ends With You is really good and basically unique.

It is on my list. xD

[Tvtyrant]

It is on my list. xD

I really liked TWEWY! It is stylistically awesome, and the characters are well written.

[CrnivorousMeece]

Umm... Guys?

Veggie's... leaving...

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*Salute*
You will be missed my friend *sniff* you will be missed

[Tiki Snakes]

Undeath isnt all that dark unless you explore it's concepts. A zombie isn't the reanimated, defiled corpse of a love one, enslaved to fight against its former friends while it's shackled soul weeps in horror; it's a monster that's gross.

Well, not just grim in the sense of it being undead, but it's a Dragon and a Lich. That's a pretty serious, unpleasant thing to encounter.

Dragons are already in the Run Away! catagory, making one a moving blasphemy and probably magical too just makes it worse. Add to that the thematic overtones of the whole undead thing and it just seems a bit much, really.

[SiuiS]

See, you're looking too far into it. It's seriously just a dragon skeleton.

Also, the whole "in death is an abomination" is one of those things that falls apart under scrutiny. It's an abomination against what? Nature? In a universe where it can occur naturally? It's blasphemy, against... What, exactly? You could say most burial rituals stem, specifically, from attempts to prevent undeath. So it's not like it's implicitly against any specific religious system, even in D&D games that try to make gods who dislike undeath.

If you believe in the sanctity of the natural order enough for undeath to be a problem, then well, anything that deviates from the norm is just as backwards. And while an interesting road for a fantasy game or story, I just argued against that. I require at least three pages between my hypocrisies, so it's not quite so apparent!

Actually, that would be a Pretry interesting bent. Heroes jump in and the undead are all like "hey, man! What gives?"