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  1. - Top - End - #601
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    Tectonic Robot's Avatar

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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Aotrs Commander View Post
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    Got the eyes much better this time, then, that effect is working exactly as intended, at least!

    Not much I can do about the "chubbyness", unfortunately; I'm already pushing the material limitations. That, with whatever else, I'm just going to have to live with... (Believe it or not, it's actually square in cross-section.)



    Okay, well, anyway, I think I have about reached the limitations of what I can think of to try on you blind, so now I'll do some explaining and see if the arty among you can make some suggestions. (I might even take this to the arts & crafts thread eventually).

    The orange bit at the bottom is a "mouth" of sorts (by this point, I was aiming for a fish-jaw, a sort of foward gape. Whether it actually opens or not, I'm not yet sure...) You were pretty close with "angry shark" which was roughly the sort of thing I was going for; a sort of predatory head, as sleek as the design limitations would let me go (it's only 1mm wide and tall...)

    What it belongs to (nominally) is this:

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    Which converts to this, for moving around:



    The engine below lifts it off, the head and turret lock 90º up, and the legs invert and lock to flight positions.

    (This is a work in progress, and is going to be detailed a bit more in due course. Mostly, this was a first pass to see if I could do this, given the material limitations, and to fit the leg joints and such. I nominally plan to mayeb revise it to have something more like "feet", that would fold into weapons in flight mode.)

    The whole thing fits with 1cm cube at 144 scale, and within a 2cm one at 72nd scale (i.e roughly D&D figure size).


    It is the first part of Secret Project - secret to all my wargaming companions, that us - which is for me do design an entire army that can be scaled to use at 12mm (1:144th scale) and also at 25mm(28mm) (1:72nd or D&D figure scale), which is why it's so horribly overdetailed for the size.

    This is the smallest unit (about human-ish sized), the "infantry" so to speak, of it's race, who are an evil technological-lifeform crowd.

    Now, usually alien robots races are all "male" (e.g. Daleks, Cybermen, old Cylons, the Cybertanks - even the Borg sound male - etc etc etc - the Movellians of Doctor Who are about the only exception). Anyway, this crowd, are for novety, supposed to be "female". So what I was really trying to aim for - and utterly failing! - was to try a model that in a non-cartoonish way. (I realise that I could just do anything and just say it's nominally female, but I wanted to see if I could be cleverer than that. Apparently not!)

    So, armed with some context, does anybody have a clue how I could improve to try and make it more "feminine" - at least nominally in suggestion, given the rather steep size limitations?

    (I know this is a sodding hard thing to try to do, but I want to at least give it a shot before admitting defeat!)
    I don't know much about art, but the face seems kind of too chubby to be feminine to me. Maybe remove some of those bumps?

    Oh! Oh wait! I don't mean to imply that being fat isn't feminine! I just mean that physical size is more often (but not always!) associated with members of species having an xy configuration of the chromosomes.

  2. - Top - End - #602
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Diego Havoc View Post
    While it doesn't surprise me that there is AB/Zecora stuff out there... is there really that much of it?
    No, I was playing it up--they were all tongue in cheek. Searching Google images for <applebloom zecora> will give you that, what I posted, and the avatars of everyone who's ever posted in this thread.

    Quote Originally Posted by Strife Warzeal View Post
    I actually do love that blog, but think of the real demographic of the show, the one that is composed of preteen girls. Now imagine them looking through art of Pinkie Pie doing... well we all know what happens. Now imagine the hours of therapy these young girls now need.
    They'll live. I was... nine? I think, when I saw The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the first time, and I turned out alright. I don't think little girls are that much more fragile than little boys.

    Quote Originally Posted by Trixie View Post
    Hmmm, maybe I should make a list of Ask Ponies sites. If not for general usage, then at least for my own ^^"
    I think MCerberus is following all of them.
    ... I came to appreciate that mountains make poor receptacles for dreams.

  3. - Top - End - #603
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Trixie View Post
    Hmmm, maybe I should make a list of Ask Ponies sites. If not for general usage, then at least for my own ^^"
    Fortunately, somepony's already got that handled. I think it's pretty well-maintained.

    Ask a Pony blog list.
    I'm developing a game. Let's see what happens! Complex.

  4. - Top - End - #604
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    Aotrs Commander's Avatar

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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Beeskee View Post
    Ugh, this is going to sound sexist no matter how I write it... Try smoother curves and a less phallic weapon.

    Edit: See the "female" robots from WALL-E for reference.
    Can't put many more curves in (given size and program limitations) believe or not, that is about as curvy as it can afford to get. (Too many facets causes problems in converting the file for printing.)

    And guns are guns. I'm not even going to try on that regard; functionality - and model practically - take presedence over artistry. (There's not a lot of room for manouvre with the guns, either for that matter; though I might add a bit more detail to that one.)

    Quote Originally Posted by Tectonic Robot View Post
    I don't know much about art, but the face seems kind of too chubby to be feminine to me. Maybe remove some of those bumps?
    Unfortunately, I can't, as those bumps are the only thing keeping the head in the printable size (0.7mm), or I'd have sleeked them down much earlier. I will probably slant the "cheekbones" of a bit when I do a 25mm scale one though.

    Quote Originally Posted by Tectonic Robot
    I just mean that physical size is more often (but not always!) associated with members of species having an xy configuration of the chromosomes.
    Not really; it's usually the case with mammels; in reptiles and birds - and spiders for that matter, which are a far better analogue - females are generally bigger and meaner, if there's any sexual dimorphism to speak of. (Vastly so in the case of spiders!)
    Last edited by Aotrs Commander; 2011-10-06 at 06:33 PM.

  5. - Top - End - #605
    Orc in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Trixie View Post
    Hmmm, maybe I should make a list of Ask Ponies sites. If not for general usage, then at least for my own ^^"
    I found a few pony tumblrs, and ended up getting a tumblr account and following a ton of them. (Mine is "beeskeepony" with no content itself.)




    Oh cool I'll have to check out the blog list. Thanks, TheAmishPirate!
    Happy Trixie Appreciation Day!

    PonyFort: IC and OOC threads.

  6. - Top - End - #606
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Ask Surprise is the best.
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    ... I came to appreciate that mountains make poor receptacles for dreams.

  7. - Top - End - #607
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Wheels are turning in my head. No, that's not quite right, they're churning. Turning can merely be plotting, scheming, but churning implies a disquiet, a disturbance and an inspection of the wheels themselves if you don't want the whole factory to shake apart.

    (Warning: may be slightly NSFW, in that it discusses NSFW-ness.)

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    So. I don't even remember now how I found myself there, but I found myself looking at a tumblr blog entitled Are You Serious, Brony? I do not provide a link because it is rather unsafe for work, due to the work it showcases and rips apart: the dark underside of our fandom.

    I laughed, I'll admit. Not at the blog author, but with him. I know another guy like him from a different fandom, on a different site, who has Standards and isn't afraid to be known for them, but who caustically cuts apart this kind of material instead of turning upon his fellow fandom members. I loved his sardonic sarcasm at some of the worst that our fandom has to offer.

    And then I started thinking about why I'm in a fandom that tolerates this kind of stuff. That produces it in such droves. For every piece of beautiful art on Ponibooru, I guess that there's a piece of pornographic waste - as I don't browse Pb with a login, it's all hidden away. But I know it's there, and it spreads, and for every adult fan who's completely fine with it, there's a kid with an internet connection who doesn't know what the Pinkamina Diane Pie tumblr is like or comes across Naughty Naughty Luna!(tm) fanarts. And that concerns me, because I have the power to change that one bit at a time - I can't force artists to take back what they've drawn, but I can act upon my fellow fans in tiny, almost imperceptible ways. Or, perhaps, in larger ways. I am a writer, after all.

    Then I read an essay that the blog author linked, written by a mother who was creeped out by the 'bronie' phenomenon. The replies started out promising, and then descended into the vicious defense that any negative Pony article gets, to the point where the original author locked the comment section because of all the insults that were being hurled her way, proving her view that bronies were borderline molesters.

    And I thought some more. At first I thought, surely, surely I can say I'm clean, surely I can say I'm free of any blame, I'm not like them, the kind of bronies who sexualize this kind of thing to an abhorrent degree. And then I thought some more. Oh, wait, who was the brony who made the Haremizer Cannon in RP and had roleplayed out an attraction to an OC pony? Hint: that was me. Who was the brony that accidentally kickstarted the whole bondage craze and is currently writing a story that incorporates it in its themes, even if it is being deconstructed to an extent in said story? Hint: even more me. Who once wrote a naughty Lix/Trixie ship that he now regrets ever trying, as his first and only foray into anything even tangential to clopfic? Oh, wait, that was ME.

    Do you think that any unbiased observer would believe that I don't find bondage or harems sexual, after how often they've come up in the forum RP, with me in the midst of it? (Dark secret: I like the stereotypical harem outfit, not the actual concept of a harem. And I mean like as in "I am intrigued by its aesthetics".) It's not bleeding likely. Stars and stones, do you think that any mother who stumbled across the GiantITP pony fandom, just out of the blue, would believe that the brony subculture isn't sexualized? I'm starting to have doubts.

    You know how, a few pages back, we were talking about characters and how successful RP characters often come from seeds of your personality? Well, Shallow and Thoughtless Human as a title sums up part of my personality pretty well. I'll do something, and then never think about the consequences. I'll say something, and never imagine that I might regret it later. I don't see. I don't consider. If I could go back and tell myself, hey, Raz, don't write that fic for Trix'n'Lix, you'll regret it and feel as if you've failed yourself soon enough, I would, but I didn't even think about it. And I'm sure that, right this moment, there's something that I'm missing, something that will make me miss a step and tumble down the stairs painfully. It's already happened to me enough for a year in the past month or so, and I'm looking down at more stairs. It's stairs, all the way down. And the step I'm taking right now is going to make me scrape open my knee a few steps down the line, I just know it. Shallow and Thoughtless Human. Sums me up pretty well, don't you think?

    But, then again, I also believe that a man has power enough to choose. He may, no, he will need help. He'll struggle. He'll fall on the way and be helped back up to his feet. But a man can change who he is, if he looks in the mirror and doesn't like what he sees staring back at him. He can comb his metaphorical hair. He can brush the yellow off his teeth. And perhaps he can't scrub that stain out of his white shirt, but he can remember, next time, that he shouldn't go for the ketchup with that metaphorical burger. And he can rally his thoughts, and give them marching orders, and focus - though it's boring, though it's hard - enough to change their course. He doesn't just have to go with the flow and take the easy course. Taking the easy course is always harder in the end. The hard course takes you straight through the briars and the brambles, but the easy course drops you down into them with no machete to cut your way out.

    I'm not going to tell you all that you should stop looking at Molestia fanart or feel guilty for shipping. I'm not going to say that bronydom has been ruined for me forever. But I think it's time that the Pure and Honest Fox Raz can actually call himself that honestly, don't you think?

    I think so.

    And that's one step away from being the Shallow and Thoughtless Human. And if I speechify about it at length, that's even better, because speaking, well, writing, I think of this as being sort of like speaking, I take a conversational tone as if I was standing in front of you all gut-afraid but still speaking anyway, and now we're off-topic- anyway, if I write about it, I can rally up the troops, all those impulses and unconscious thoughts, and say to them, boyos, there's going to be a bit of a change around here. We're clearing house, doing autumn wrap-up and burning the rubbish, and then we can actually say about ourselves, we're pure and honest, because I'm tired as anything of being a liar about myself, to myself, to anyone who asks me, "So, Raz, are you pure and honest?" I'll smile, and say of course, and I want to be able to mean it, consarn it.

    And when people ask me, "So, these Bronies, are they all sexually attracted to ponies and creepy?" I want to be able to say, with fervor and dignity, "No. No, they're not. They - well, the fans I know, at least, on my little corner of the Internet - are all amazing blokes. And I'm the most amazing one of all!" Okay, maybe not that last bit. But I probably will say it, anyway, even though I don't really mean it, because the Mountebank is a part of me, too, and he learned from Wile E. Coyote and the Doctor how to brag like a jester.

    So the wheels aren't churning, anymore. They're turning, and they are groaning with the effort of making the engines run, but there's a bit of peace to me. Or, rather, all that energy, all that momentum as Thanqol says, is focused on something now. And, funnily enough, the momentum is moving me in a direction that I was already going, I've just stopped digging my heels in and resisting the motion now. I'm running. And I'll probably, in a half-mile, slow down and start panting like a dog in the Sahara, and hold my ribs and groan at the effort. But I've got friends here - real, actual friends - who I know will slap me on the back hard enough to leave five red fingers there, and tell me, "Hey, Raz, do you remember that you're running? Because you are. And it's easier to go from 60 to 80 than it is to go from 0 to 60. Keep that momentum up."

    And maybe I've got your wheels churning. If you've got the time, and no siblings or children around your computer, and you're definitely not at work, take a look at that tumblr and tell me what you think. Because I think we Playgrounders are more influential on the fandom than we might think, and giving people a place to point to when they need to explain how bronies are just honest folks without any weird sexualizations is a good thing.

    Gosh, I just can't end, can I? I feel like I've been sitting here for an hour, though truthfully it's just been half of one, but half is still a bit much for me right now. And I'm still rambling on, just cut it short, Raz-
    freedom in the flame

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    Quote Originally Posted by PhoeKun View Post
    Raz, you scoundrel! You planned this!
    Quote Originally Posted by BladeofObliviom View Post
    Great, and now I'm imagining what Raz's profile on a dating site would look like. "Must be okay with veils."
    Quote Originally Posted by Kasanip View Post
    I don't think there is such a time to have veils that it is not the fault of Raz_Fox.
    Quote Originally Posted by Dervag View Post
    It's a freaking Romulan dump truck. The Romulans are no more likely to build an unarmed warp-capable ship than they are to become a hippy commune.

  8. - Top - End - #608
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    Tectonic Robot's Avatar

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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Aotrs Commander View Post
    Not really; it's usually the case with mammels; in reptiles and birds - and spiders for that matter, which are a far better analogue - females are generally bigger and meaner, if there's any sexual dimorphism to speak of. (Vastly so in the case of spiders!)
    Well, I assume the majority of the people your working with aren't spiders. :/

    But your almost certainly better qualified then me to decide this.



    Err, guys, could I be the element of noir?

  9. - Top - End - #609
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!


    Quote Originally Posted by Noctemwolf View Post
    0_0** Wow, this thing manages to go on forever. How do you guys keep it up? I'm jealous.
    Insanity.

    No, really. My worldview is defined by pony. Well, sort of. It's more that my GUI is pony-based, as are the terms of my OS.

    I guess I'm running the ol' P1TP Brony v.3 mod for HEATHEN, my base OS. Name choice is somewhat arbitrary.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kurgan View Post
    Someone new (I think)! *Grab him!
    But seriously, picture you are hanging out with a bunch of friends. *It doesn't matter if you have had the same exact conversation a year back, you can have it again, even referencing the old one, and still have fun. *That is the basic magic of how this thread keeps running. *That and the fact that along with the repeat stuff, people bring in new ideas and topics every day.
    Eyup. Always fun digging up old stuff, actually.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gamerlord View Post
    What about those of us under the drinking age? That don't drink coffee?
    Fun fact; drinking age is somewhat lax in the home. You can, for example, be given wine at Easter as early as 12, so long as you don't go running outside screaming to the world.

    Then again, they have to care if they notice you, so maybe I only asked really cynical cops.

    Quote Originally Posted by EsperDerek View Post
    Tsk, even underage, I still was able to drink, it helps being a 6 foot tall teenager, nopony cards you.

    Of course, I've been legal for over a decade now...
    They had ID cards back then, Gama Midni?

    Quote Originally Posted by Kindablue View Post
    Just never sleep or stop drinking then.
    Of course it's so simple!

    Quote Originally Posted by Kris Strife View Post
    Leo hands out drinks to everypony.

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    That's so gross XD
    bacon is fine and dandy, friend, but the sludge looks... Ugh. Beer is gross and bready, cheese would be too much, pancakes maybe *scribbles on list* aye, actually I think I could stomach bacon-wrapped pancakes. Pun unintentional but snrk-worthy.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kris Strife View Post
    Why are they called girly drinks when they usually have a higher alchohol content than non-girly drinks? I've never understood that one.
    Envy.

    Quote Originally Posted by Strife Warzeal View Post
    Generally because "girly" drinks are fruity and flavored, not that I would know I can't drink... for... another... five years (legally that is). Actually it's four years since my birthday's in a month.
    Quote Originally Posted by Roninhirox View Post
    Never really figured that one out, but its occasionally fun to walk upto the bar in a suit and ask the bartender for the girliest drink in the house and get something that taste like fruit and candy but is flammable.
    I found a FiM-chan picture thread yesterday 3 days ago. Now flavored, fruity and flammable make me think of Caramel and Braeburn.

    Quote Originally Posted by Zevox View Post
    Well, that certainly explains some things.

    (Just for the record, I don't drink. The strongest beverages I've ever had are sodas. Though I do drink more of those than I probably should.)

    Zevox
    Good show. Strongest bloke in the room is the one who isn't put out by refusing drinks.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kindablue View Post
    Um, thanks! But I'm, uh, vegetarian. Yeah, vegetarian! That's it. So I'm just going to set this down right here and go outside to vomi--find my car keys. Which I left outside, behind those bushes.

    Wait a minute...

    If he were a vegetarian, he would have stuck with 'vomit'! He's hiding something! Get him!

    If I don't shave for a few days I can get away with that, too. I've never gotten beards to work on me, though, so I don't do it often. And most places card you now even if you look like Hugh Hefner, on the off-chance that you're a nine year old with progeria and a taste for cheap vodka.
    It's those Benjamin Buttons who are ruining it for the rest of us slow aging elf-folk, I tell ya. Shaved and got stopped at the movie theatre for being out after curfew.
    At 24.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kris Strife View Post
    What? It's just beer in a bacon mug.
    That poor bacon mug. It almost did something useful with it's life.

    Quote Originally Posted by Soras Teva Gee View Post
    Because you don't chug them, they're smaller for that content, and they take longer to make (generally) then opening a beer or pouring a shot.

    And y'know the fruit and sweet flavor. If it isn't beer and doesn't clear the sinuses it isn't manly.
    You don't chug girly drinks? I thought being palatable enough to breathe in fish-style was what girly drinks were for.
    Ugh, I should know this stuff! I am a relatively horrible Irishman.

    Quote Originally Posted by erikun View Post
    Yeah, him! *Only it's like a female him, and he's married to her.
    And she likes ponies.
    This will, somehow and some way, go into my signature.

    Quote Originally Posted by the_druid_droid View Post
    Hello ponythread,
    Today was miserable, and I would like nothing more than to go whimper in a corner until I don't feel like the world and the future hate me. That said, would you perhaps have some nice pony-themed pictures to cheer me up? I'm kinda down...
    I love ya mate, but I cannot make the pony pictures work right now... I'll try and remember for when I can get my systems in order. And when I'm under the character limit ^^;

    Quote Originally Posted by Noctemwolf View Post
    0_0* Thank you?
    I may just start watching and pop in every once and a while I suppose.
    Haha! Nopony expects the three day-late welcome wagon!


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    Man, DBC was on to something. Dat Scootaloo! Two barrels of Scootalove to the face. Gets em every time...

    Edit: And white text says... WAIT WHAT? 0_0*
    Hm. You're one of those. I suppose we'll have to set you up a meeting with the Allfeather. He's the falcon with a monocle and kaiser helm, who thwarts our outlandishly outrageous attempts at World Domination through bondage.

    Quote Originally Posted by the_druid_droid View Post
    Thanks everypony!
    I actually do feel better; finally getting home and focusing on adorable things rather than work helped a lot!
    It's remarkably cathartic. Ponythread existing has gotten me through some bad times, I tell you what.

    Quote Originally Posted by Roninhirox View Post
    Have some more for good measure

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    and then human luna



    That is just what happened to be open in my browser at the moment.
    Neat. Never seen that one before. I'll have to check out the artist.

    Quote Originally Posted by Topaz View Post
    Ah, a sentiment with which I am intimately familiar.

    For the record, it was superb. Your story does for Blueblood what Heart of Gold, Feathers of Steel did for Gilda, and that's an accomplishment.

    I really recommend cleaning it up and submitting it to Equestria Daily.
    Aw man! This is a common sensation and you guys write anyway?

    Quote Originally Posted by TheAmishPirate View Post
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    It was rough. I caught a mess of spelling errors. And there were times when I was horribly confused.

    But you know what?

    You thought of a way to portray Blueblood in an entirely positive light. And that, my good sir, is a good thought indeed. You gave me a good read before bedtime, and certainly an interesting spin on the series as a whole. Certainly worth a few more rounds of editing, and I thank you for taking the time to experiment outside your comfort zone. I certainly enjoyed it.
    Aye. I'm pretty sure there was a process Luna in there (wouldn't green is ponies!) and that's just what my foggy eyes could see.

    A query though. What confused you? I'm in the unfortunate position of being omniscient, which means stuff is obvious to me even before it occurs. Really hard to generate a frame of reference so others can understand.

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    *Clicks SiuiS' spoiler box expecting an imagedump or something

    Gets something legit cool instead*
    My image dumps aren't Legit? I mean sure, I'm no Welf, but I

    Oh who am I kidding. It's too late in the morning to even fake puppydog eyes.

    Damn son! The premise is inherently a bit of a stretch, but the execution was surprisingly well done. You've certainly disproved your own 'I can't write' maxim if nothing else.
    Best/worst part was finding out that writing an "emotionally charged" story requires me to be emotionally charged. Think I can utilize this for DMing.

    Quite a bit of a stretch, but it's simple and sticks to premise. Blueblood is not a bad guy. Blueblood feels like crap after what he did. Mixing the two gets you what I seem to orbit around; tragedy.

    Damn, Bleakbane. At first I thought the only thing you'd regret turning me into would be a vampire, but... Did you make me an author!? I may be cross with you...

    Quote Originally Posted by Neoseanster View Post
    I've listened to this as I fell asleep every night for the past week. :(

    Whyyyyyyy ponythread, what have you done to meeeeeeee. *And I still can't keep up with you! *That's why I mostly just lurk. ;-;
    Nopony can keep up, really. Don't worry, we won't hold it against you. Just jump in when you can, and leave when you need to! It's like a 25/8 pool party.

    Quote Originally Posted by Vorpalbob View Post
    I think it's time I came out of the closet.
    Brony, eh? I think the term suits me.

    I just spent the last three days watching the entirety of the first season. And then I marveled in the sheer AWESOMENESS that is John De Lancie as Q- I mean Discord.

    Now I have no idea what to do with myself.*
    I wonder how my girlfriend will react...
    Hopefully her reaction will be "you're into ponies!? Oh thank heavens, now I don't have to hide it anymore!"

    It is kind of like coming out though, isn't it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Titanium Fox View Post
    I am questioning it! I AM QUESTIONING IT!
    NO you foal!

    Quote Originally Posted by otakuryoga View Post
    i was thinking more that derpy gave the princesses some muffins with an added "special" ingredient...next thing they know they are waking up in that pic
    Deeerrrrrrrrppyyyyyy

    Those muffins were to be delivered to Lyra!
    Now she's going to get caught and call in my debt AGAIN dice the narcomuffins didn't come through.

    Ugh.

    Quote Originally Posted by Beeskee View Post
    I lol'd at that one. *Derpy blowing bubbles is just the icing on the muffin. Which would make it a cupcake, but I didn't want to go there. Except I just did. Oops.
    I actually think there is a batter difference between cupcakes and muffins. Muffins are breadier and cupcakes are cakier.

    *reads the other comments* *Oh gods Derpy roofied Celestia and Luna?
    Oh, my! No! No no no.
    Wherever did you get that idea?

    No.

    She bed-ied Celestia and Luna.

    Through The Eyes of Another Pony

    I feel obligated to point this one out a lot because even though it seems to have every element which should make it a horrible Mary Sue fanfic, it isn't one. It's like the opposite of that actually.

    It could also use some ratings, so if you like it please vote for it. Some folks voted low without even reading it.
    Quoted for future reference maybe. And yeah, apparently there are people who one-star stuff with tags they don't like. Presumably to haze and drive away authors who don't obey their whims.

    I am not a happy pony when hearing this.


    I got hired today! YAY! I'm terrible at job hunting, and even worse at interviews.
    Woohoo! Go Go Gadget Employment!

    Quote Originally Posted by Kris Strife View Post
    Well, my psychology class gives us information and asks us to write up a response to it. This week's bit opens up with this sentence:

    So, scientific proof that watching ponies helps make you a better person?
    Excuse me for a moment while I rant.

    Spoiler
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    This is dumb and patently absurd.
    Thinking uses chemical transmission as well as electrical.
    Thinking is brain Chemistry.
    Brain chemistry is thinking.

    DO YOU REALLY THINK IT'S NOVEL TO TELL ME CHANGING WHAT I THINK CHANGES WHAT I THINK?!

    I mean seriously! Science, I'm sorry I have to be the one to tell you this, but get over yourself. The maxim of exploring everything means investigate and report, sure. That doesn't mean you have to assume everyone who ever came before you was an idiot, a charletan, and couldn't wipe themselves if you didn't have a chart, diagram and full text explaining it.

    Positive thoughts breed positive thoughts. People who are constantly in environments of strife and violence become violent on the pathological level. Depression is hard to break because being depressed makes it harder to get unrepressed. Like begets like.

    Every system I've ever seen since I took an interest in learning has started with the (understandable) assumption that I am not an idiot, and this principle is true. My parents told me this; grandparents, teachers, and experience.

    Why does it need to be spelled out in a scientific text?!
    Don't answer that. I understand why. I even, now that this is out of my system, endorse it. I think it was a rage against blind faith in SCIENCE! that I've had building for a while now.

    Ach. Rage depleted. Tired now. Need to get to level up, gain tireless rage.


    Quote Originally Posted by Titanium Fox View Post
    Oh my god that pony looks like a ram. The white rolly parts at the back?

    Wow, I really am slapstick tired, aren't I? I actually took about five minutes to stop laughing long enough to look straight at the screen again.
    In your defense, it did look kind of like a ram.

    Agreed. One hundred and ten percent agreed. I know they kind of took the little layer of cynicism and intolerance that was slowly starting to grow on me as I became accustomed to the post-college real world and scrubbed it clean off. They also revitalized me to be ready to tackle the horrors of the real world without having to develop a new defense mechanism that would have compromised who I was either.

    Yay pony!
    Eyup. I've been told recently that it's creepy that I'm being so nice sometimes. That it seems out of character.

    New goal? Be so much nicer that it is my perceived character. I mean really, what would. Brave pony like Rainbow Dash do? CHARGE FORWARD, FULL STEAM!

    Why would you do that to yourself?! Are you a masochist man?
    It took me a I'll twenty minutes to realize this wasn't a poorly rated fic on eqD, and you meant the Myer stories.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kris Strife View Post
    Start it, or I'll post sad pony pics.

    How's that?
    Uh... That's like "eat your broccoli or by god I will give you candy and buy you a new video game!" but your heart was in the right place :3

    Quote Originally Posted by Nameless View Post
    It's not really a "descent", it's more of a "surpression". It's as if a small part of my brain has been infected by a mental virus. The rest of my brain tries to keep said virus at bay, but it likes to come out and play sometimes. I know a good game. But it's not so bad. It's called "Pin the Tail on the Pony" I just have to work at it some more. You can be the Pony.
    ... Are you coming on to me?

    *reads chapter 1*
    *clicks on chapter 2*
    *computer restarts on it's own*
    Huh...
    *clicks on chapter 2 again*
    *computer dies*
    Y U NO WORK!?
    Man, I hate that. Hate. haaaaaaaate.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lix Lorn View Post
    (Did not see new thread link)
    *goes to check old thread* huh. No shenanigans while we were gone? You're a college age lass. I expected a least a party.

    (Didn't recognise it)
    I'm too behind to draw a slack-jawed reaction picture. This may just go in my "really wish I'd drawn this on time, let's copy/paste the joke for later" file.



    (Hugs Blueblood)
    I shall take that as approval...?

    Also: Hey, Aotrs! I just found a character sheet of a lich I made. She was NE, where by 'E' I mean 'kinda a bitch'.
    Never could tans the thought of Lichdom myself. By the time it would have mattered, there were always better options. Though I suppose one of them was a functional equivalent to Bleakbane's spirit binding. Hm.

    -

    And because I want to see Shadowy's reaction;
    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    *sets the thread on ICE!*

    HAHAHAHA!
    What now, Fluttermancer?!


    Quote Originally Posted by Roninhirox View Post
    See I thought computers ran on evil spirits which explained most of the internet in my head. *Mine is still holding up thankfully I think all the tree sap I have in there holding parts together is really what keeps it going.
    Well how do you think they get the evil spirits to stay?
    That's right.
    Magic.

    Technomancy, to be specific.

    I have been sitting on this for years, and barely remembered when I read this li'l fight. Congrats, self; this is a ten-year callback.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lix Lorn View Post
    Announcement:
    I've been listening to tetris songs ALL DAY, ponythread. This is your fault.
    YAY! victory! *dances poorly and arrhythmically*

    Quote Originally Posted by Bayonet Priest View Post
    How do you star something on Equestria Daily? I've never figured it out and I want to start rating stories that I like.
    Already been answered, but my stance is still "I can't". Darn apple OS doesn't work anymore, mobile or otherwise.

    Quote Originally Posted by Titanium Fox View Post
    So... You want to have the powers of a Goddess? Actually this doesn't surprise me. Who wouldn't?
    Hay, I would even take the powers of a god! Shapeshifting is a god power right? Hey look now I'm a goddess!

    Quote Originally Posted by Nameless View Post
    Wait... I'm still normal!*
    *holds out hands*
    AH! MY THUMBS! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY THUMBS!?
    Lyra took them. You would be so lucky, to sleep through the procedure.

    Quote Originally Posted by Capt. Ido Nos View Post
    My trick, is that while I do have a good handful of personas, they literally are all exactly me, differentiable from each other in that they are very VERY specific aspects of me and my life. I am the one who's spent the most time in my own head, heck that's where I spend MOST of my time it feels, so it's pretty natural for me to simple compartmentalize myself into the different hats that I wear on a day to day basis (which, ended up being the chief mark between myselves when I draw them). Like Ido, Ido wears his captain's hat of bemused confusion. Others, such as Zod, he's usually got his [Zod] gamertag floating above his head. Bossman took a while to find a good hat, but he eventually settled on the black and white Dr. Seuss hat he found that seemed to hold a +5 to his intimidate and serious business checks.

    Ponysona... there is an opening for the brony aspect of m'self, but I put way too much work into it for that guy to show up any time soon ^^;; *Maybe... maybe before season 3 I'll have decided on his name. Until then, I'll just look wistfully from the sidelines, and continue to let the other circles have their fun
    Well...

    In thread seven or eight we had a big thing on how to pony yourself, based partially on your name. A lot of folks read it too literally, but when they abstracted a bit it made more sense. I'll try and dig it up in the next few days.

    Quote Originally Posted by Strife Warzeal View Post
    Unrelated note, am I the only one that actually gets more sad when you see this rarity emote?
    Nope!
    Sad pony face is serious business. I try not to use it for laughs.

    Quote Originally Posted by Nameless View Post
    Man, we're gonna have to hunt a whole lot of unicorns for this...
    Can't remember context. Fear for horn. Running now?

    No excuses, mister! Hand them over!
    But... But...
    Weren't we taking your thumbs?

    But then how else would I play the MLP theme tune on my guitar?
    With your hooves. Duh~
    or lips! Such soft, expressive lips ponies have. Very mobile.

    Quote Originally Posted by Nameless View Post
    I'm sorry to have to break this to you, but in reality, you can't play the cello with hooves.
    Pics or it isn't true.
    (Jade! Get hard, hand-sized disks and put them in the socks so you have a single appendage with a hard hoof-y bottom)

    Quote Originally Posted by MCerberus View Post
    That's the tabletop method! *Unfortunately I get roped in DM so much I... well don't quite remember the last time I rolled a new character.
    You don't DM like this? Annoying voices and smugness are almost as good at getting players to make bad decisions as saying "Uh... Are you guys sure?" is. I don't DM like this either though, so...

    Quote Originally Posted by Kris Strife View Post
    I think Exalted has some good questions to ask yourself when making a character.
    Spoilered for length.
    Spoiler
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    • What was your family life like? Were you raised by both parents? Did one or both of them die? Do you have brothers or sisters? Are you married? To more than one person? Do you have any children? Is anyone else in your family one of the Chosen?
    • Where are you from? Where your character comes from will have an impact on his appearance, his native language, and many customs and attitudes.
    • When did you meet your companions? Do you get along with your companions? How long have you known them? How did you meet? Do you share any goals? Do you all work for the same city or organization? Are there rivalries among you?
    • What motivates you to be a hero? Do you seek riches or undying glory? Do you simply enjoy exercising your impressive powers? Is your agenda based on revenge, social justice or ethnic and religious loyalties?
    • Who or what do you worship? Has your Exaltation caused you to revere the Unconquered Sun? Do you still hold some previous set of beliefs, or do you believe mortals should worship your godlike power?
    • What would drive you to commit murder? Do you casually slay anyone who denies your divinity, or is life precious and yours to protect? Is killing an Exalt or a god any more or less acceptable than killing a mortal?


    Some game/setting specific stuff, but I tried to filter out what I could without butchering the grammar/point. The last question is also pretty non-pony, but it's still something to think about for general character creation.
    Quoted for going to use this in short order.

    Quote Originally Posted by tonberrian View Post
    Hate-flirting with a crazy shipping goddess is not the most sane thing I've ever done, but I admit, it does have its perks.

    It also isn't the most insane thing either, which is somewhat more troubling.
    Meh. Anything insane you survive isn't insane enough to be a problem. Until you're sucked gibbering in fear into a nether realm by lost entities, it's all just calibrating the scale.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kris Strife View Post
    Not mine, I'm a total hack.
    I am amused you think this disqualifies you

    Quote Originally Posted by Titanium Fox View Post
    Equine Shenanigans. All of them forever.
    Not all of them forever! We haven't invented some of them yet!

    Oh, but when we do we will share with ponythread. Hm.

    Yes! All of the forever equine shenanigans! Of a notably small size.

    Awww. You have a kismesis? Lucky! I only have a Morail and a... Oh **** what's the word. The quadrant humans have too.
    Hey, I have had all of them, and I'm...
    Disqualified. Nerts.

    Oh man, I hear you on the whole "oh crap so much to do" thing. I need to get a rental car back by 5 PM, I also need to make it to my second job to fix a projector, and I have to be ready for D&D by 7. Oh and the kicker? I can't start until 4 when my full time job ends.

    I am so glad my boss is a Playgrounder too, just like my co-worker and I. I can very much so get away with GitP traffic, he legitimately doesn't mind.
    Wow, that's kind of neat. Does this mean your boss is a gamer geek? Will you have sessions of gaming with the boss?

    My mind. She boggles.

    Quote Originally Posted by erikun View Post
    Also, healthy doses of bondage and ponysanity.
    I spent a bus ride today delicately balanced. We decided that there was no such thing as a healthy dose of bondage (some argued for more, others less) so we decided to double down on the insanity and be plural for a spell. Oh, but we missed a shot at ponysanity! Not a one of us at the time was a pony. Only about 63.7% of a pony was present for the arguing.

    Quote Originally Posted by Pokonic View Post
    Attention, Ponythread!*

    May I have your attention please!


    Anyway, now that I have your attention, I wish to make aware of a little thing going on a few forums down in case anyone was not aware of it.*

    We are currently doing a community game right here that involves ponies, and the creation of a little town, with a little twist. *Even if you dont wish to join in proper, you can still put in your two cents on what we have done so far. *
    A warning before clicking, tho: don't click if you dont like epic sagas or tales of friendship or magic.

    "Message ends"
    Hm. Considering looking into it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lix Lorn View Post
    Good god, are you kismesis to yourself?!
    I am!
    It's an, um, interesting road. I'm too trusting, it's so easy to sabotage myself. <<;

    I have three quadrants. ^^
    All I need is an/to be an auspistice.
    Hm. One would think that would be easiest to accomplish. I guess it fits what I know of your character though.

    Gah. Urge to read MSPA... Rising...

    Quote Originally Posted by Nameless View Post
    I thought we had something special...



    I want video evidence.
    I can't remember what this was about but I'm tempted to give you a membership card... How many kinds of knots do you know how to tie?

    Quote Originally Posted by Capt. Ido Nos View Post
    These blind bags are incredibly intriguing for me. I was such a sucker for boosterpacks back in the day when I rocked the pokemon card scene, and that 20 minute window of time when my friend tried to get me into the star trek tcg. I probably wouldn't be able to resist buying at least one blind bag if I saw it on the shelves. I've got a good enough pokerface at the checkout line I think I could pull it off
    Hm. That's a good point. If I could actually find some good pony merch, I'd be all over it. Sadly, no free time means no mall trips means no seeing if hot topic finally relented and got ponies.

    Hah! My D&D session is at 7 too. In fact, I'm just about to bum out of work for my hour long commute home to quickly level up my sheet and scramble over to the DM's house, because I can never seem to level up any sooner than exactly one hour before the session starts, ever. I'm such a good player >_>;;
    Great! Now you just need to write up those letters...

    I can't help but wonder if we should, not necessesarily as a part of the OP (because heaven konws Trixie already has enough to do, poor filly!) but maybe as a twice-threadly post we have a brief summary of what happened in the last 25 pages. Nothing big, just a rundown of the big ticket items.
    Potentially already on it.
    Also, I've been kicking around ideas for OP management for a while now. Potentially, it can be broken down into multiple posts, allowing more content and content control in each section.

    But... I've been looking at the OP code every couple threads from 3 to 19, and all I can think each time is "bugger this." so I doubt it will get done XD

    Quote Originally Posted by Kurgan View Post
    Aotrs went to his wargame convention, and beat the tar out of someone whom he regards as a strategic and tactical genius. *This also involved ponies riding tank brigades to victory.
    Thread 26 is a quote goldmine.

    Quote Originally Posted by Deadly View Post
    No comments on my fiction fragment?

    Ah well, here's the finished chapter, at last: Mare in the Mirror 6

    Took way too long to write, but I think it ended up OK. If anyone follows the story, do let me know what you think. I would love the feedback.
    Sorry, missed it.
    I think I'll try and get to Mare in the Mirror soon. Wanted to have a couple more chapters so I could dive into it. Still working on Ponyard's Lament though.

    Quote Originally Posted by Eakin View Post
    You can do WAY better than the 1% a year return from a checking account, even playing conservatively. At 1% a year you're losing real wealth to inflation all the time. But I totally agree about using money to have an adventure or experience rather than just buying a thing. People who do that are happier according to my favorite scientific journal, Articles I Read Somewhere On The Internet One Time.
    True. It was conservative, and based off of what is advertised as a standard account. 1.1% is average for just plinking money in a bank, not doing anything special. The even 20k was after using the rest of the interest to handle taxes on the principal and interest XD

    I think the best I've seen was 10% annual, but you couldn't touch the money for ten years minimum (usually fifteen), and that wouldn't work very well for me.

    You're right though, and I'd not really thought about it before. I truly feel experiences are better uses of money than things though. Perhaps that's why videogames are so good- they provide a common medium for engagement.

    Quote Originally Posted by BlasTech View Post
    Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I'm starting to think I should just say the high-level planning I've done so far is good enough and start getting "into the cave" so to speak and writing up chapters. However, I did see some writing advice that stated "plan plan plan plan" is the way to go for best results, hence why I wanted to check before moving off that stage.
    Talk to Raz and Thanqol first. And Phoe and Esper if those two have the time for it. In depth. There are different levels of abstraction necessary for different stories, methods of telling, etc. Developing a feel for the science is an art. Rushing in too soon leads to crashing into a wall; too late leads to panicking when things don't go the way you expected. Balance is required.

    That said, while I think I have a handle on the "Actions/Events" cave system I have a feeling I need to take another look at the "Character Progression" layer of things and see if that makes sense. I have a feeling that will be the harder one to plot out properly, and I've always found that to be the one that makes or breaks a story.
    Interesting. I never consider character growth during writing. I always took the stance of it having to be a natural outgrowth. But then again, I'm a terrible

    Quote Originally Posted by Dexam View Post
    First of all, thanks to everypony for their best wishes, hugs, and concern.*

    Five weeks to go...
    haven't been doing any well-wishing, but this has been foremost in my mind. Five weeks. Five weeks and you're in the clear. Just keep truckin' mate.

    Spike caught a cold at the end of Winter Wrap Up, so clearly viruses exist, and are transmissible from equine to dragon.
    Doesn't work. Spike caught a cold for falling into a frozen lake. Colds are common shorthand for non-serious hypothermia. Remember, people still think you can catch colds by getting cold! It's not a valid avenue for figuring out transmission vectors; at best we can assume that disease does indeed exist, but even then it's not certain unless you take everything at face value.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kurgan View Post
    Reels?
    For what it's worth I love this name. Reels could at least be the comically inappropriate nickname. Like calling the huge guy tiny. Because reel work is like, the only thing she doesn't*
    actually do, there being no reels involved.

    Quote Originally Posted by Strife Warzeal View Post
    You are now terrified of Fluttershy:
    Spoiler
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    Or love her more if you are into that sort of thing.
    This is the third sexiest picture I have ever seen in ponythread. Cafe ole is still number one.

    Number two has me confused. I don't have a definite two, but snipershy just doesn't move up to that slot... Strange, really.

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    Rogue Trader session failed due to partial attendance. In it's place, I managed to get in a session of My Little Pony: Wannabe Heroes. Used the Heroquest system, ran character gen and a quick off-the-cuff adventure.
    Ok first; is that an actual existing system shift, or dis you just say "use these rules, but we're makin ponies"?

    They arrive in the town of Bridle Shores, which is being held hostage by Thistle who is playing the role of utterly ineffective supervillain. She does, however, have a DOOM LASER aimed at the town. The party storms her doom fortress, overcoming a terrible robot and a pit trap before confronting Thistle and beating her by hitting her in the self esteem. She tries to fire the mind control laser, the pegasus uses his armour to reflect the beam back onto her, and the party instructs her to turn herself in.
    Poor girl, hit in the insecurity...

    I just wanted Blueblood to love me! According to Ms. Sparkle's books, oppressing the ponytariat is one of his interests!

    ... Somepony confiscate her library card, please?


    Quote Originally Posted by EsperDerek View Post
    You keep away from my cutie mark too!
    Hirr Hirr Hirr.

    Hee hee, yeah, the Midnight series is one of the few fanfiction series in the MLP to have multiple authors contributing stuff, so I can see how it can be confusing. Glad you liked them, though!

    Also, Titanium, glad to see you didn't do the foalish thing and buy that.
    Midnight Continuity is the only series wherein the original author inspires fanwork, that fanwork inspires fanwork, and a later story by the original author is posted as fanwork of the fanwork. I got such a huge kick out of that.

    I seriously love what Midnight's stories have done. They are a little slice of pony heaven.

    Quote Originally Posted by Titanium Fox View Post
    So as you all know, Psychoshutin is playing a Changeling that goes by "Trixie" in my current campaign, illusion specialization. So, in keeping with my OTP, I've decided that in my next campaign after the Arena Fight, Trixie's new found fame is going to kind of go to her head (we worked this out together), and that I'm also going to introduce a woman in a yellow dress that is seen in the audience who begins whooping and cheering and jumping at Trixie's most recent feats.

    I need to come up with a human-esque variant of the name Fluttershy for this NPC. Actually... Would elf work better? No... Crap, I need a race now too.

    Romantic interest will ensue. I am shipping ponies in a D&D campaign. In a campaign where only myself and Psycho are bronies. I feel way too accomplished at this. XD:
    Spoiler
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    Racially, you want Fluttershy to be as close to standard as possible. I would suggest either avariel (winged elf variant; use the low raptoran rules to reflect her reticence to fly) or a changeling who becomes a winged elf. As a changeling, you could even have the deep psychological exploration of how the kind, dainty elf is her facade, but still she has wings- what interplay requires a demure disguise that has a stand-out feature?

    Classes. I wanted to say healer. Not combat effective, but able to soothe hurts outside of fights. Skills would be domestic; *profession (cook), heal (fun fact; healing checks can be used to enhance tissue healing by increasing the hp recovered per day. Massage is a viable technique for increasing tissue growth and promoting healthier scar tissue and avoiding reoccurring injury ), housekeeper, etc.

    Bard works best, however, and I have to defer whether I like I or not. Make her a third level bard, and skip the NPC class. Give her bardic knack and jack of all trades feat - Fluttershy now has a rank and a half in every skill. She is capable of healing stuff, but is somewhat a novice (see a bird in the hoof). She is able to do performances but isn't exactly awesome (sonic rainboom). She's not a fashionista but can roll high on dressmaking.

    Give her the obtain familiar feat, and her familiar is a bunny :3
    Now here is the fun part- a familiar is technically an NPC. Which means they can have their own skills and feats, and are intelligent. Angel Bunny needs to be better than Fluttershy at 2 skills, Bluff and Sense Motive. Sense motive is because he knows Fluttershy better than she knows herself. Bluff...

    Bluff is the skill tied to innuendo. This means Angel bunny can deliver messages without having to talk. And he has all of Fluttershy's skills, including - wait for it - perform (pantomime). So you have an intelligent white rabbit who mimes things and the party gets to roll sense motive against his bluff to see if they get the message. If they fail by enough, they get comically wrong ideas.

    Sound familiar?

    Also, DMG II pages 157-160 have unique traits to give NPCs. The first one of import is Naturebond. Free speak with animals forever, and character appropriate. The second is lifemate. I'll let you read up on that, or contact me for full details if needed.


    Quote Originally Posted by Castaras View Post
    I faint and have panic attacks when it comes to jabs. Got better recently. You have all my sympathy also. *hugs* Another thing to add though... Most good nurses and doctors will be prepared for it. It isn't uncommon to have panic attacks and fainting issues when it comes to jabs, and as long as you say to them before you go in "Idon'tlikeneedlesIfeelI'mgonnafaintorpanicandIwan tmypony!" they'll understand and at least attempt to accomodate you. At least, that's how it's happened for me.
    Wish I had doctors like that. Last needle I freaked out about had the doctor leave me waiting for half an hour (maybe less, certainly felt like it) and after I was calm he came in and freaked me out by repeating the swab and "just relax" speech.

    Oddly, my last dentist visit had him remarking on how well I took the shots. They were nothing compared to why I was at the dentist though, so maybe it's a matter of comparison.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dexam View Post
    This sounds awesome!*
    ... I really need to get in on some pony RP action.
    Hinthint Thanqol

    Naming challenge accepted!

    If you want the Elven translation of Fluttershy, it would probably be Kaurea Wilwarin (Timid Butterfly).
    I'll be honest, as soon as I heard 'elf Fluttershy' I was waiting to hear what you'd come up with
    It's a beautiful name. Fitting, methinks.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grif View Post
    Oh, and sorry for my recent inactivity. Real-life and getting caught up in writing fanfics can seriously limit one's ability to keep track of ponythread. I guess I'll continue lurking indefinitely for now.
    Aye, real life will do that ...

    Quote Originally Posted by Titanium Fox View Post
    This sounds... dirty. Confound these ponies!
    It does now. Darn it Jade!

    Quote Originally Posted by Capt. Ido Nos View Post
    I totally almost just IMed a copy+paste of an entire ponythread quotepost to a coworker instead of the code snippet I thought I had in my clipboard
    Sweet. That would have been hilarious.
    "hey, I need directions for this code"
    "sure! [random pony chaos]"
    "what the &%?@ was that!?"
    "oh Uh, sorry. Most people cant actually read code. I just type gibberish and hope they don't notice."
    "you type gibberish about ponies?"
    "*liarjack emote*"

    Quote Originally Posted by Bayonet Priest View Post
    Lol, that wouldn't have been good. Ponythread posts are strange enough in context, imagine what one might look like out of context.
    Having gone through this while half asleep, I totally know what you mean. I'll look at something and occasionally my only response is "should I feel violated?"

    Quote Originally Posted by Grif View Post
    Also, a shipping chart updated to Season 2!
    Spoiler
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    Hehe.



    Even the chart can't keep track XD

    Quote Originally Posted by Lix Lorn View Post
    Laughing rarely makes needles vanish.
    Silly Lixie, laughing makes fears go away. So you aren't afraid anymore. Laughing doesn't make threats go away. Blustery displays or excessive force make treats go away.

    I do not endorse scaring or harming your doctor however.

    Quote Originally Posted by Titanium Fox View Post
    You sure that's not still Trixie? Actually, I'd say they're both up there, so to speak.


    I'm going to go with this, here.
    Midni! Clicky the piccy. Go down about 30 or so comments, you'll see what I mean :3
    *is absurdly pleased with having a unique-ish nickname for Midnight*

    And I second the thread title and opening picture suggestion.
    Interesting. We have plenty of clocks, we should jut randomly post them as we go.

    Quote Originally Posted by tonberrian View Post
    So, uh, this thread.

    Really moves now, don't it?
    Noooooooooooo
    Don't leeeeeeeaavee uuuuuuuusssssss T^T


    Yes, it goes fast, it does, but we can make it work! tonberrian, come on, we can make it work. We can make it work!

    Quote Originally Posted by Titanium Fox View Post
    Why yes, yes it does. Although the "dead" hours are still during the times that I'm available to actually sit down and discuss... *Sad Face*
    Gimme a window in GMT-8 and I'll see what I can do. I myself am now going to bed around 01:00 to 03:00, and am thread-viable from 19:00 to 21:30 for sure.

    ...The thought of how fast this thread will move scares me. So fast that by the time I'm done posting on page 1 there will be another new thread? XD
    That almost happened to me once. I started to catch up on like, page 11, and we were at 43 when I caught up.

    Because of a three hour lull

    Quote Originally Posted by tonberrian View Post
    Luna will be in every episode from now on. Whenever the animation team needs a random pony for a scene, it will be Luna. You know that time when there were all those Derpys on the screen at once? We will get a scene that has twice as many Lunas, some talking to each other and the mane cast. Lunas everywhere.
    Och. LIX LORN! I know you at least glance at star trek. Prime directive, filly! Ponies don't need jutsu!
    If I have to rotate back the stars to fix this, that's going to be a good three weeks of reality alteration I could be spending on ponythread! Promise me you won teach any more non-OC ponies anything that isn't native to Equeatrian Cosmology, please?

    Quote Originally Posted by Capt. Ido Nos View Post
    Heh, just saw a rageguy go on at length about how much he hates people who draw Homestuck fanart, how he hates to see people "waste" their creative talents and energy on "such a cancerous fandom" who try to extend their tendrils and influence into everything.

    Wonder how he feels about bronies?
    Wonder if this guy does any art himself? You learn a lot by refining even stick figures, provided you think about it enough.*

    Quote Originally Posted by otakuryoga View Post
    it just feels slow after the total ponysanity that was the lead-up to the season opener and response to same
    Quote Originally Posted by Aotrs Commander View Post
    Okay pony thread, let's try this again!

    Hypothetical situation: you/a pony/a character you are watching on TV etc are/is walking down the street and you see the following head projecting from round a corner. It is obviously of a technologically-metal thing, but leaving that aside for the moment, based soley on it's phyical appearance, what would be your first impression of the entity to whom this head belongs (i.e. the creature behind the face) or any other initial reaction?

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    Wizard of oz has upgraded to armor rather than holograms.
    A shark, mayhap?

    I still think you could benefit from telling an artistic pony what you're going for, and having them corroborate on which designs would best convey that. You asked about what tech level it reminds me of; is it composed of metal plates riveted together? A holographic projection? Is it on par with the graphics in the newest transformers iteration?

    You're going for something too specific for us to get it dry. Your group has the advantage of knowing you, at least. Those are my impressions at least.

    Quote Originally Posted by Titanium Fox View Post
    "Oh god. Who is the evil mastermind that attempted to engineer a real life Bullet Bill?"
    Commander. Commodore. Bleakbane.

    Please attack someone at your table with a real-life bullet bill in the next few years.

    Quote Originally Posted by Aotrs Commander View Post
    ...

    *skulldesk*

    Aaaargh.

    Damn, stupid human perceptions, why does this have to be so damn hard!

    (Probably because what I'm trying is damned hard to do in the first place.)

    Back to the drawing program...
    And ooh, harsh!
    It would be better if you gave us multiple angles. 3/4, frontal, side view. Helps us generate a three dimensional mental representation.

    On a related note...

    THANQOL! Get a camera phone or digital camera, at least six mega pixels.
    Look at a room. Then hold up the camera and use it to look at the room. I did this last night by accident, and where my eyes saw a room, the phone removed the benefits of binocular vision; I was struck by this crazy diagonal, lopsided perspectivist nightmare.

    Remember somepony saying don't use pictures for drawing, use real life whenever possible? This effect is why. Seeing a 2d representation of a 3d space is entirely different on a process level from just seeing a 3d space.

    Quote Originally Posted by Aotrs Commander View Post
    Okay, how about now...

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    (This is dead useful, by the way folks - daft as this may seem!)
    Gonna reiterate shark. Or really angry bullet.

    -

    Quote Originally Posted by sleep-talking Brazen Shield
    Fifty-eight isn't in pony form so it's a little liquidy. Don't tip anything over, okay? I mean, I don't know what you're doing, but just don't tip anything over.
    My response?
    "I am so writing this down."

  10. - Top - End - #610
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Titanium Fox View Post
    OOOOOH. RAPTORAN. That's perfect. And I was planning Bard if any class levels, although her first level was going to be either Commoner or Aristocrat. I am honestly going to go with Raptoran since you mention the lack of flight thing.
    If you want flight and elf-ish-ness, perhaps an Avariel or Half-Avariel? They're basically winged elves, with less bird like appearance than the Raptoran. Images:

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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    @SiuiS: My reaction was actually impassive to that, as I had failed to set that thread on fire earlier. As a result, I was as bad a the heresies I punished and was forced to turn in my official Fluttermancer Flamethrower.

    In the bunker:
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    So, now I need to answer a few questions of Science! that have somehow appeared. I'm really hoping I'm not the one who created them, because the answer to that is either the crazy alternate personality is generating his own crazy alternate personality, or he's somehow circumvented the security systems.
    1. How were you setting things on fire without leaving your elaborate underground bunker? Answer: Robotic out-sourcing.
    2. How would you feel if the original poster, having built this bunker, managed to circumvent the coma-state you put him in and is now standing behind you, ready to make you a voice in his head like you originally were? Answer: Well, I'd feel......Wait a second.
    3. Guess. Who's. Back. Answer: *CENSORED*
    4. Where did you even learn that word. Answer: I've been busy.
    5. Bye bye! Answer: Rassafrassin' saucy monkey potato flinger!


    *Sigh*
    I actually really like to RP, but I feel nervous about joining something already established, the same about starting something new, so I'm forced into my one fall-back which is to RP against myself. How did you even escape anyway? My one excuse for this is that I came up with it first.

    And I always feel like I'm intruding on the thread when I post......

    Sorry again.
    Last edited by Shadowy; 2011-10-06 at 08:07 PM.
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    I see someone posted the Pinkamena tumblr, but nobody has bothered with the Scootaloo one. For shame my fellow ponies, for shame.

    Quote Originally Posted by Aotrs Commander View Post
    So, armed with some context, does anybody have a clue how I could improve to try and make it more "feminine" - at least nominally in suggestion, given the rather steep size limitations?

    (I know this is a sodding hard thing to try to do, but I want to at least give it a shot before admitting defeat!)
    Oh god, is it bad that my mind went instantly to slap a few breasts on to them?

    Joking aside, you have three choices:

    1) Keep them monogendered, where it wouldn't be noticeable if the robot was "male" or "female".
    2) Female is smaller and less threatening than male. In this case, keep it small and scale back its weapons/armor a bit.
    3) Female is terrifying, and will destroy the male with relative ease: add some claws and such to it.

    Also wow, looking at the thing in context now, the face of it looks a bit like the aliens from the first season of the new Dr. Who. The green guys in people suits who wanted to slag earth to sell the waste for construction material.

    Quote Originally Posted by Aotrs Commander View Post
    Can't put many more curves in (given size and program limitations) believe or not, that is about as curvy as it can afford to get. (Too many facets causes problems in converting the file for printing.)

    And guns are guns. I'm not even going to try on that regard; functionality - and model practically - take presedence over artistry. (There's not a lot of room for manouvre with the guns, either for that matter; though I might add a bit more detail to that one.)
    Could you perhaps lose the giant gun on the top and make two or three smaller guns in the torso itself, that are built inside of the machine? Perhaps without the need of a life support system, they could slide some guns into the body.
    Happy Trixie Appreciation Day!



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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Raz_Fox.

    I am of two halves of separate minds (not quite two minds, you see).

    On the one hand I agree with you, this stuff should be done in private if at all.
    On the other,
    Media Discussions Talk about books, movies, TV, or music here, safe from the judging eyes of the outside world.
    Nothing is ever secure once it hits the net. No amount of security would actually give Anypony any security to talk about stuff ever. Not online.

    But still. Fall seen times, get up eight times. A daimyo should never trust a retainer who hasn't failed him at least once. Converts are always more zealous than folks raised with a belief system.

    So I don't have a solid opinion yet. I may never; while I can certainly see your point, I'm just now finding out about myself things that never would have come to light otherwise. This risqué pony thing is so novel to me because I expected to have an entirely different, more conservative reaction. It's a struggle I'll have for a while.

    But if there is anything i can do, it's support a friend. Whether after this we mee as friends, enemies or otherwise, go with grace. I'll support you all the way, hell or high water. Now to go find this blog...

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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Kurgan View Post
    I see someone posted the Pinkamena tumblr, but nobody has bothered with the Scootaloo one. For shame my fellow ponies, for shame.
    Quote Originally Posted by darthbobcat View Post
    There are no bad ideas, just bad execution.
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    Thank you to zimmerwald1915 for the Gustave avatar.
    The full set is here.



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    A big thanks to PrinceAquilaDei for the gryphon avatar!
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by the_druid_droid View Post
    Clockwork Ponies:
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    "That is an important lesson!" The mechanical pony was quick to agree, and his eyes darted skyward, checking for signs of rain reflexively, even on this cloudless day. After he spoke, Second Hand sat quietly for a moment; there were a thousand questions he had for this unfamiliar earth pony, but something in her expression and tone seemed so determined that he was afraid of interrupting her with his own little geek-out over her curious machine.

    He might have sat there, silent and uncertain for a very long time, but luckily the clip-clop of hooves began to sound behind him, cutting through the silence before it could become too awkward. As the grey unicorn approached, the clockwork pony's head swiveled on its mountings and he eyed the newcomer with mingled interest and relief.

    After the unicorn's announcement, Second Hand was just about to reply, when Charger's answer caught him off-guard. "Well, the roads near Canterlot are pretty safe, but...oh! Oh, I don't think he means that kind of escort Miss...uh..." Suddenly the mechanical pony realized that he didn't know either of his new acquaintances' names, and he stopped speaking, thankful that his metal cheeks couldn't blush.
    Quote Originally Posted by BlasTech View Post
    Clockwork RP
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    The guardsman blinked in confusion at the replies, at a loss of how to deal with such a complicated situation on his first assignment away from the capitol.

    "I, er ... I'm not sure why she might think it funny, but my orders come from Her Royal Highness, the Light of Dawn, Princess Celestia herself!" He exclaimed, swelling with pride as did so.

    Reaching into his saddlebags, he pulled out the piece of parchment containing his instructions and held it up for the two travellers to read. In barely legigible hoofwriting, it stated;


    "Igneous, you moron.

    Get the hay out of our barracks and go bother somepony else. In fact, why don't you go latch on to the furst first poor pony you see and leave us in peace for a while. Just go guard them for a bit instead of the mess hall okay? That way we might be able to have our lunch on time for once.

    Sined

    Cerulean Skies
    HRH Princess Celestia"



    "So as you can see" he continued, stuffing the parchment back into his saddlebags before either had a chance to respond. "my orders are quite explicit. And as you are the first people I've encountered on this road today, I am therefore at your command. Sir, Milady"

    His excitement was plain on his face as he already began imagining the adventures he was going to have.

    "So, where might we be headed today?"
    Spoiler
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    Charger looked from the paper back to the guardpony, looking for any sense of irony. When it didn't present itself, she briefly looked to see if he happened to have walleyes.

    Well, there were two options - either he was that simple, or he was aware of the absurdity of the situation and deciding to go ahead with it out of duty. Either case, he could not be blamed, so she may as well be civil. "Introductions should come first; I am Charger."


    Quote Originally Posted by Kindablue View Post
    Philomena? Anyway, the joke is that she has a long name that only her parents would call her by, and I don't think it's deeper than that.

    I wonder how many little kids have googled Pinkamena Diane Pie since that Tumblr went up.
    I'm pretty sure the Internet has been lethal to childhood innocence for way longer than ponies have been around.

    Quote Originally Posted by Raz_Fox View Post
    Wheels are turning in my head. No, that's not quite right, they're churning. Turning can merely be plotting, scheming, but churning implies a disquiet, a disturbance and an inspection of the wheels themselves if you don't want the whole factory to shake apart.

    (Warning: may be slightly NSFW, in that it discusses NSFW-ness.)

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    So. I don't even remember now how I found myself there, but I found myself looking at a tumblr blog entitled Are You Serious, Brony? I do not provide a link because it is rather unsafe for work, due to the work it showcases and rips apart: the dark underside of our fandom.

    I laughed, I'll admit. Not at the blog author, but with him. I know another guy like him from a different fandom, on a different site, who has Standards and isn't afraid to be known for them, but who caustically cuts apart this kind of material instead of turning upon his fellow fandom members. I loved his sardonic sarcasm at some of the worst that our fandom has to offer.

    And then I started thinking about why I'm in a fandom that tolerates this kind of stuff. That produces it in such droves. For every piece of beautiful art on Ponibooru, I guess that there's a piece of pornographic waste - as I don't browse Pb with a login, it's all hidden away. But I know it's there, and it spreads, and for every adult fan who's completely fine with it, there's a kid with an internet connection who doesn't know what the Pinkamina Diane Pie tumblr is like or comes across Naughty Naughty Luna!(tm) fanarts. And that concerns me, because I have the power to change that one bit at a time - I can't force artists to take back what they've drawn, but I can act upon my fellow fans in tiny, almost imperceptible ways. Or, perhaps, in larger ways. I am a writer, after all.

    Then I read an essay that the blog author linked, written by a mother who was creeped out by the 'bronie' phenomenon. The replies started out promising, and then descended into the vicious defense that any negative Pony article gets, to the point where the original author locked the comment section because of all the insults that were being hurled her way, proving her view that bronies were borderline molesters.

    And I thought some more. At first I thought, surely, surely I can say I'm clean, surely I can say I'm free of any blame, I'm not like them, the kind of bronies who sexualize this kind of thing to an abhorrent degree. And then I thought some more. Oh, wait, who was the brony who made the Haremizer Cannon in RP and had roleplayed out an attraction to an OC pony? Hint: that was me. Who was the brony that accidentally kickstarted the whole bondage craze and is currently writing a story that incorporates it in its themes, even if it is being deconstructed to an extent in said story? Hint: even more me. Who once wrote a naughty Lix/Trixie ship that he now regrets ever trying, as his first and only foray into anything even tangential to clopfic? Oh, wait, that was ME.

    Do you think that any unbiased observer would believe that I don't find bondage or harems sexual, after how often they've come up in the forum RP, with me in the midst of it? (Dark secret: I like the stereotypical harem outfit, not the actual concept of a harem. And I mean like as in "I am intrigued by its aesthetics".) It's not bleeding likely. Stars and stones, do you think that any mother who stumbled across the GiantITP pony fandom, just out of the blue, would believe that the brony subculture isn't sexualized? I'm starting to have doubts.

    You know how, a few pages back, we were talking about characters and how successful RP characters often come from seeds of your personality? Well, Shallow and Thoughtless Human as a title sums up part of my personality pretty well. I'll do something, and then never think about the consequences. I'll say something, and never imagine that I might regret it later. I don't see. I don't consider. If I could go back and tell myself, hey, Raz, don't write that fic for Trix'n'Lix, you'll regret it and feel as if you've failed yourself soon enough, I would, but I didn't even think about it. And I'm sure that, right this moment, there's something that I'm missing, something that will make me miss a step and tumble down the stairs painfully. It's already happened to me enough for a year in the past month or so, and I'm looking down at more stairs. It's stairs, all the way down. And the step I'm taking right now is going to make me scrape open my knee a few steps down the line, I just know it. Shallow and Thoughtless Human. Sums me up pretty well, don't you think?

    But, then again, I also believe that a man has power enough to choose. He may, no, he will need help. He'll struggle. He'll fall on the way and be helped back up to his feet. But a man can change who he is, if he looks in the mirror and doesn't like what he sees staring back at him. He can comb his metaphorical hair. He can brush the yellow off his teeth. And perhaps he can't scrub that stain out of his white shirt, but he can remember, next time, that he shouldn't go for the ketchup with that metaphorical burger. And he can rally his thoughts, and give them marching orders, and focus - though it's boring, though it's hard - enough to change their course. He doesn't just have to go with the flow and take the easy course. Taking the easy course is always harder in the end. The hard course takes you straight through the briars and the brambles, but the easy course drops you down into them with no machete to cut your way out.

    I'm not going to tell you all that you should stop looking at Molestia fanart or feel guilty for shipping. I'm not going to say that bronydom has been ruined for me forever. But I think it's time that the Pure and Honest Fox Raz can actually call himself that honestly, don't you think?

    I think so.

    And that's one step away from being the Shallow and Thoughtless Human. And if I speechify about it at length, that's even better, because speaking, well, writing, I think of this as being sort of like speaking, I take a conversational tone as if I was standing in front of you all gut-afraid but still speaking anyway, and now we're off-topic- anyway, if I write about it, I can rally up the troops, all those impulses and unconscious thoughts, and say to them, boyos, there's going to be a bit of a change around here. We're clearing house, doing autumn wrap-up and burning the rubbish, and then we can actually say about ourselves, we're pure and honest, because I'm tired as anything of being a liar about myself, to myself, to anyone who asks me, "So, Raz, are you pure and honest?" I'll smile, and say of course, and I want to be able to mean it, consarn it.

    And when people ask me, "So, these Bronies, are they all sexually attracted to ponies and creepy?" I want to be able to say, with fervor and dignity, "No. No, they're not. They - well, the fans I know, at least, on my little corner of the Internet - are all amazing blokes. And I'm the most amazing one of all!" Okay, maybe not that last bit. But I probably will say it, anyway, even though I don't really mean it, because the Mountebank is a part of me, too, and he learned from Wile E. Coyote and the Doctor how to brag like a jester.

    So the wheels aren't churning, anymore. They're turning, and they are groaning with the effort of making the engines run, but there's a bit of peace to me. Or, rather, all that energy, all that momentum as Thanqol says, is focused on something now. And, funnily enough, the momentum is moving me in a direction that I was already going, I've just stopped digging my heels in and resisting the motion now. I'm running. And I'll probably, in a half-mile, slow down and start panting like a dog in the Sahara, and hold my ribs and groan at the effort. But I've got friends here - real, actual friends - who I know will slap me on the back hard enough to leave five red fingers there, and tell me, "Hey, Raz, do you remember that you're running? Because you are. And it's easier to go from 60 to 80 than it is to go from 0 to 60. Keep that momentum up."

    And maybe I've got your wheels churning. If you've got the time, and no siblings or children around your computer, and you're definitely not at work, take a look at that tumblr and tell me what you think. Because I think we Playgrounders are more influential on the fandom than we might think, and giving people a place to point to when they need to explain how bronies are just honest folks without any weird sexualizations is a good thing.

    Gosh, I just can't end, can I? I feel like I've been sitting here for an hour, though truthfully it's just been half of one, but half is still a bit much for me right now. And I'm still rambling on, just cut it short, Raz-
    Spoiler
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    *Googles, finds, reads* To be completely honest, I'm looking at this and thinking this guy has lost perspective.

    Look, people, this is The Internet. That doesn't excuse what The Internet does, but the Internet's gonna bloody well do it anyway because that's what it does. It's as dumb as all hell and it's got it's habits. This has been going on for as long as there's been an internet and, yeah, sure, it's happened and is gonna keep happening to ponies. So, frankly, what?

    All through reading that post and writing this one I've been listening to what amounts to pony sex music that was cheerfully provided to me by the music shuffle button. And it's fantastic. I love it, every time I hear it it makes me grin. And the guys who made it? IBringTheLulz is a fantastic person who basically turned around the life of a fellow internet rapper and they've got an adorable bromance going on right now. TarbyRocks is one of my favourite internet musicians ever and he's covered topics from one of the most heartbreaking AppleDash ships on acoustic guitar to a downright wonderful inspiration song for Scootaloo. They're good folks and I'm an enormous fanboy for both of them.

    So basically ponies and adult themes are all tangled up in my mind and have been for a remarkably long time. And I like it that way. I'm pretty discerning when it comes to quality, but stuff that I identify as quality I tend to appreciate regardless of what it's rating is. It's easy to encounter bad stuff in the fandom and then dismiss it all as the 'dark underbelly' of the fandom, the corruption's that driving away ponies and could eventually corrupt the entire thing and ruin it for everyone. But I unironically like parts of it. I tend to keep it to myself, sure, and the stuff I produce doesn't touch on it. But I might some day chose to for whatever reason. Does that make me part of the corruption? Heck, I coloured a Lixie/Mask pic and I think it's one of the best put together pony pictures I've done.

    The way I see it, dodging the bad stuff is easy. And dodging bad links is a skill you absolutely should develop if you want to survive on the internet. Look at the broad strokes; the pony fandom came of of /b/ and the fact that the leading pony website is rated pg13, as is the vast majority of the content, is amazing when you consider what /b/ is like. Been there recently? "Candy vag" was around from episode 1. This is just what the Internet does.

    Now that I've defended the guys who rule 34 ponies (didn't think that was how I was gonna start this morning), I want to say that evidently the thought seems quite powerful to you, and the commitment and decision can be a good thing. Just be absolutely sure you're aiming at the right target before you release. Is your plan genuinely to, what, convince the GiantITP crowd to use it's influence to reject adult content, or write stories that don't use adult content? Seems kinda... impossible. Or should we build walls in our minds and never cross them for fear of what people who don't understand us would think if they knew? That's the mask wearing you.

    It's a touchy topic, yes, and one that's as weird as all hell to explain. We're in the same circles as things we may not be comfortable with. Sometimes one clicks the wrong link and has to unthink something. Sometimes we'll cross a line in our heads we didn't know was there. I think the solution is to master thyself. Not reject something comprehensively, that's not mastery, that's fear. Think it through, figure out what about the dark things bothers you. Fear of what other people will think? Fear that it might influence your own sexual identity? Fear of what that hypothetical mother who stumbles across the pony thread might think?

    I certainly advocate self improvement, and I'm sure that you're capable of seeing your resolution through and asserting discipline on your mind. It's a decision that has power and traction in your mind, and I respect that. I want to be sure you understand it, and I'm not sure you do. Not entirely.

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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    From all the ranges we go to, from debating, to NSFW pony blogs, everything and everywhere it's been.....All through a common link of liking ponies.

    Thank you all, and good night.
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Shadowy View Post
    From all the ranges we go to, from debating, to NSFW pony blogs, everything and everywhere it's been.....All through a common link of liking ponies.

    Thank you all, and good night.
    I warned you about them ponies, dog.

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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    Noooooooooooo
    Don't leeeeeeeaavee uuuuuuuusssssss T^T


    Yes, it goes fast, it does, but we can make it work! tonberrian, come on, we can make it work. We can make it work!
    There's a joke here something like the Pony thread is an old girlfriend who I keep coming back to. I'm not going to make it, but there it is.
    The name is "tonberrian", even when it begins a sentence. It's magic, I ain't gotta 'splain why.

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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Aotrs Commander View Post
    So, armed with some context, does anybody have a clue how I could improve to try and make it more "feminine" - at least nominally in suggestion, given the rather steep size limitations?
    Quote Originally Posted by Kurgan View Post
    Oh god, is it bad that my mind went instantly to slap a few breasts on to them?
    Kurgan's suggestion is the same one as mine...

    Quote Originally Posted by Aotrs Commander View Post
    And guns are guns. I'm not even going to try on that regard; functionality - and model practically - take presedence over artistry. (There's not a lot of room for manouvre with the guns, either for that matter; though I might add a bit more detail to that one.)
    You could always have the gun barrels hidden under a protective dome, only the tip sticking out. It keeps those pesky, super strong enemies from bending the barrel.

    Quote Originally Posted by Raz_Fox View Post
    Wheels are turning in my head. No, that's not quite right, they're churning. Turning can merely be plotting, scheming, but churning implies a disquiet, a disturbance and an inspection of the wheels themselves if you don't want the whole factory to shake apart.

    (Warning: may be slightly NSFW, in that it discusses NSFW-ness.)

    Spoiler
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    So. I don't even remember now how I found myself there, but I found myself looking at a tumblr blog entitled Are You Serious, Brony? I do not provide a link because it is rather unsafe for work, due to the work it showcases and rips apart: the dark underside of our fandom.

    I laughed, I'll admit. Not at the blog author, but with him. I know another guy like him from a different fandom, on a different site, who has Standards and isn't afraid to be known for them, but who caustically cuts apart this kind of material instead of turning upon his fellow fandom members. I loved his sardonic sarcasm at some of the worst that our fandom has to offer.

    And then I started thinking about why I'm in a fandom that tolerates this kind of stuff. That produces it in such droves. For every piece of beautiful art on Ponibooru, I guess that there's a piece of pornographic waste - as I don't browse Pb with a login, it's all hidden away. But I know it's there, and it spreads, and for every adult fan who's completely fine with it, there's a kid with an internet connection who doesn't know what the Pinkamina Diane Pie tumblr is like or comes across Naughty Naughty Luna!(tm) fanarts. And that concerns me, because I have the power to change that one bit at a time - I can't force artists to take back what they've drawn, but I can act upon my fellow fans in tiny, almost imperceptible ways. Or, perhaps, in larger ways. I am a writer, after all.

    Then I read an essay that the blog author linked, written by a mother who was creeped out by the 'bronie' phenomenon. The replies started out promising, and then descended into the vicious defense that any negative Pony article gets, to the point where the original author locked the comment section because of all the insults that were being hurled her way, proving her view that bronies were borderline molesters.

    And I thought some more. At first I thought, surely, surely I can say I'm clean, surely I can say I'm free of any blame, I'm not like them, the kind of bronies who sexualize this kind of thing to an abhorrent degree. And then I thought some more. Oh, wait, who was the brony who made the Haremizer Cannon in RP and had roleplayed out an attraction to an OC pony? Hint: that was me. Who was the brony that accidentally kickstarted the whole bondage craze and is currently writing a story that incorporates it in its themes, even if it is being deconstructed to an extent in said story? Hint: even more me. Who once wrote a naughty Lix/Trixie ship that he now regrets ever trying, as his first and only foray into anything even tangential to clopfic? Oh, wait, that was ME.

    Do you think that any unbiased observer would believe that I don't find bondage or harems sexual, after how often they've come up in the forum RP, with me in the midst of it? (Dark secret: I like the stereotypical harem outfit, not the actual concept of a harem. And I mean like as in "I am intrigued by its aesthetics".) It's not bleeding likely. Stars and stones, do you think that any mother who stumbled across the GiantITP pony fandom, just out of the blue, would believe that the brony subculture isn't sexualized? I'm starting to have doubts.

    You know how, a few pages back, we were talking about characters and how successful RP characters often come from seeds of your personality? Well, Shallow and Thoughtless Human as a title sums up part of my personality pretty well. I'll do something, and then never think about the consequences. I'll say something, and never imagine that I might regret it later. I don't see. I don't consider. If I could go back and tell myself, hey, Raz, don't write that fic for Trix'n'Lix, you'll regret it and feel as if you've failed yourself soon enough, I would, but I didn't even think about it. And I'm sure that, right this moment, there's something that I'm missing, something that will make me miss a step and tumble down the stairs painfully. It's already happened to me enough for a year in the past month or so, and I'm looking down at more stairs. It's stairs, all the way down. And the step I'm taking right now is going to make me scrape open my knee a few steps down the line, I just know it. Shallow and Thoughtless Human. Sums me up pretty well, don't you think?

    But, then again, I also believe that a man has power enough to choose. He may, no, he will need help. He'll struggle. He'll fall on the way and be helped back up to his feet. But a man can change who he is, if he looks in the mirror and doesn't like what he sees staring back at him. He can comb his metaphorical hair. He can brush the yellow off his teeth. And perhaps he can't scrub that stain out of his white shirt, but he can remember, next time, that he shouldn't go for the ketchup with that metaphorical burger. And he can rally his thoughts, and give them marching orders, and focus - though it's boring, though it's hard - enough to change their course. He doesn't just have to go with the flow and take the easy course. Taking the easy course is always harder in the end. The hard course takes you straight through the briars and the brambles, but the easy course drops you down into them with no machete to cut your way out.

    I'm not going to tell you all that you should stop looking at Molestia fanart or feel guilty for shipping. I'm not going to say that bronydom has been ruined for me forever. But I think it's time that the Pure and Honest Fox Raz can actually call himself that honestly, don't you think?

    I think so.

    And that's one step away from being the Shallow and Thoughtless Human. And if I speechify about it at length, that's even better, because speaking, well, writing, I think of this as being sort of like speaking, I take a conversational tone as if I was standing in front of you all gut-afraid but still speaking anyway, and now we're off-topic- anyway, if I write about it, I can rally up the troops, all those impulses and unconscious thoughts, and say to them, boyos, there's going to be a bit of a change around here. We're clearing house, doing autumn wrap-up and burning the rubbish, and then we can actually say about ourselves, we're pure and honest, because I'm tired as anything of being a liar about myself, to myself, to anyone who asks me, "So, Raz, are you pure and honest?" I'll smile, and say of course, and I want to be able to mean it, consarn it.

    And when people ask me, "So, these Bronies, are they all sexually attracted to ponies and creepy?" I want to be able to say, with fervor and dignity, "No. No, they're not. They - well, the fans I know, at least, on my little corner of the Internet - are all amazing blokes. And I'm the most amazing one of all!" Okay, maybe not that last bit. But I probably will say it, anyway, even though I don't really mean it, because the Mountebank is a part of me, too, and he learned from Wile E. Coyote and the Doctor how to brag like a jester.

    So the wheels aren't churning, anymore. They're turning, and they are groaning with the effort of making the engines run, but there's a bit of peace to me. Or, rather, all that energy, all that momentum as Thanqol says, is focused on something now. And, funnily enough, the momentum is moving me in a direction that I was already going, I've just stopped digging my heels in and resisting the motion now. I'm running. And I'll probably, in a half-mile, slow down and start panting like a dog in the Sahara, and hold my ribs and groan at the effort. But I've got friends here - real, actual friends - who I know will slap me on the back hard enough to leave five red fingers there, and tell me, "Hey, Raz, do you remember that you're running? Because you are. And it's easier to go from 60 to 80 than it is to go from 0 to 60. Keep that momentum up."

    And maybe I've got your wheels churning. If you've got the time, and no siblings or children around your computer, and you're definitely not at work, take a look at that tumblr and tell me what you think. Because I think we Playgrounders are more influential on the fandom than we might think, and giving people a place to point to when they need to explain how bronies are just honest folks without any weird sexualizations is a good thing.

    Gosh, I just can't end, can I? I feel like I've been sitting here for an hour, though truthfully it's just been half of one, but half is still a bit much for me right now. And I'm still rambling on, just cut it short, Raz-
    Spoiler
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    Well, I can't speak for everypony, but I think a lot of the "physical attraction" might come from their personalities, rather then their bodies. Who wouldn't want to hug Fluttershy, party with Pinkie, have Twilight for a tutor, etc? Depending on personal interests, they might be the kind of person someone would actually be interested in dating. Admittedly, it's hard to tell the difference some times, and I know there are people who are more into the physical stuff. And you know what? As long as it doesn't actively hurt anyone, I don't have a problem with it.

    The haremizer and the bondage stuff was all for laughs, as far as I could tell. Same with the whole "Ponies wearing clothes is naughty" stuff. Plus, because the characters in the show have actual personalities, I would not be surprised if there's a section of the Equestrian population, that hopefully we will never see in show, who's actually into bondage/harem outfits.

    It really doesn't matter anyways. Even in a series with characters designed to promote sexual fantasies, there would still be people who'd complain every time they saw or read something involving the characters doing sexual stuff. So don't let some in jokes with friends make you feel bad, especially since someone winding up inexplicably tangled in rope is a comedy staple.


    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    That's so gross XD
    bacon is fine and dandy, friend, but the sludge looks... Ugh. Beer is gross and bready, cheese would be too much, pancakes maybe *scribbles on list* aye, actually I think I could stomach bacon-wrapped pancakes. Pun unintentional but snrk-worthy.
    No comment on the contents possibly being gravy?

    I agree with you on the cheese, but most beer tastes terrible anyways, so making it taste bacony might be an improvement.

    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    That poor bacon mug. It almost did something useful with it's life.
    Making beer taste at least 20% better doesn't count?

    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    Excuse me for a moment while I rant.

    Spoiler
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    This is dumb and patently absurd.
    Thinking uses chemical transmission as well as electrical.
    Thinking is brain Chemistry.
    Brain chemistry is thinking.

    DO YOU REALLY THINK IT'S NOVEL TO TELL ME CHANGING WHAT I THINK CHANGES WHAT I THINK?!

    I mean seriously! Science, I'm sorry I have to be the one to tell you this, but get over yourself. The maxim of exploring everything means investigate and report, sure. That doesn't mean you have to assume everyone who ever came before you was an idiot, a charletan, and couldn't wipe themselves if you didn't have a chart, diagram and full text explaining it.

    Positive thoughts breed positive thoughts. People who are constantly in environments of strife and violence become violent on the pathological level. Depression is hard to break because being depressed makes it harder to get unrepressed. Like begets like.

    Every system I've ever seen since I took an interest in learning has started with the (understandable) assumption that I am not an idiot, and this principle is true. My parents told me this; grandparents, teachers, and experience.

    Why does it need to be spelled out in a scientific text?!
    Don't answer that. I understand why. I even, now that this is out of my system, endorse it. I think it was a rage against blind faith in SCIENCE! that I've had building for a while now.

    Ach. Rage depleted. Tired now. Need to get to level up, gain tireless rage.
    I think it was more the fact that choosing to act differently can make it so those actions become genuine. Basically the actual scientific explanation for "going native" I guess?

    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    Uh... That's like "eat your broccoli or by god I will give you candy and buy you a new video game!" but your heart was in the right place :3
    Are you saying you like seeing ponies cry?

    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    Quoted for going to use this in short order.
    Always glad to help.

    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    I am amused you think this disqualifies you
    Just giving fair warning.

    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    Promise me you won teach any more non-OC ponies anything that isn't native to Equestrian Cosmology, please?
    ...*discreetly hides the stack of fliers offering to teach Terrestrial/Celestial Martial Arts*

    Quote Originally Posted by Shadowy View Post
    *Sigh*
    I actually really like to RP, but I feel nervous about joining something already established, the same about starting something new, so I'm forced into my one fall-back which is to RP against myself. How did you even escape anyway? My one excuse for this is that I came up with it first.

    And I always feel like I'm intruding on the thread when I post......

    Sorry again.
    Non-sense! Seriously, just randomly jump in. I don't think anypony will bite you. That usually costs extra.

    But yeah, I know how you feel. Every post I make, I get a "I bet I just crammed my foot so far in my mouth I can kick myself" feel.
    Thanks to Dirty Tabs for the Travis pony.

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    Thanks to A Thousand Words for the My Little Simhata avatar, and thanks to Trixie for fixing the cropping.

    Breakdown Twilight from Pony Halloween celebration, thanks to Thanqol.


    Thanks to Akrim.Elf for the awesome Laharl pony.

  20. - Top - End - #620
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Raz_Fox View Post
    Wheels are turning in my head. No, that's not quite right, they're churning. Turning can merely be plotting, scheming, but churning implies a disquiet, a disturbance and an inspection of the wheels themselves if you don't want the whole factory to shake apart.
    I think it's a matter of going with the good and ignoring what doesn't appeal to you. There will be things anyone can find negative about any fandom. Harry Potter is technically a children's book/movie series but there's probably tons of erotic fan fiction written about the characters which parents wouldn't want their kids to read. I'm sure there's Pixar movie fanfics where innocent characters like WALL-E have all sorts of specialized attachments that I don't even want to try to imagine. Just avoid that material if it's not what you are interested in.

    I took a look at that blog you mentioned. I think that, sort of like the "bad news" channels that only tell you how many people died in the latest natural disaster, it focuses so heavily on the negative aspects of the fandom it might start to convince you that is all there is to it. There isn't.

    For every 'clopfic' there seems to be, there's a hundred well-written fan fics which don't involve sex in any way, not even the "fade to black" kind which most fics use when they do include intimacy. For every creepy picture of an over-sexualized pony, there's a hundred perfectly innocent pics. Even in the list of tumblr blogs I posted, the SFW far outnumbers the NSFW, and I follow the latter for the 'lulz' - same thing in the google doc list of tumblrs, SFW far outnumbers NSFW. Even then, the authors of the SFW tumblrs play along and do (innocent, non-sexual) RP with some of the NSFW blogs, and vice-versa, and they all get along fine. They get along MUCH better than some other communities online. Part of the magic of ponies, I guess.

    If you focus just on the bad, that's all you'll start to see. Focus on the good. On the other hoof, don't think that you have to somehow "clean up" the pony community. There's just always going to be some sexualized aspect of anything in a fan community. There's porn of WoW. (Edit: SFW link) There's porn of Spongebob. (Edit: a board I frequented got trolled with THAT gem) There's probably Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street porn out there. There's porn of everything. (Rule 34, right?) With the adult fanbase is going to come more mature material, whether it's outright porn or just 'blue' jokes. Heck, I posted about a blue joke pic earlier, a pic that showed Luna, Derpy, and Celestia in bed together presumably after something intimate had happened. I thought it was funny. I still think it is, and I think enjoying that kind of risque humor is fine for adults.


    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post

    I actually think there is a batter difference between cupcakes and muffins. Muffins are breadier and cupcakes are cakier.


    Oh, my! No! No no no.
    Wherever did you get that idea?


    Quoted for future reference maybe. And yeah, apparently there are people who one-star stuff with tags they don't like. Presumably to haze and drive away authors who don't obey their whims.

    I am not a happy pony when hearing this.


    Woohoo! Go Go Gadget Employment!
    The cupcakes thing was a reference to the cupcakes story. But you're right, cupcakes are basically frosted muffins. There's some other minor differences too but they're pretty similar. (As long as they're not made from ponies anyway.) Completely mis-read what you wrote, lolfail. Again, I chose Derpy as an icon for more than one reason.

    I think the roofie thing was a reference to something someone else said. I don't remember now, lol.

    Yeah some folks will downrate stories they haven't read. They aren't much better than folks who go "lol ponies" without ever having watched the show. If they read the story and thought it was badly written (or watched the show and thought it was horrible) then I'm fine with that, since that's an opinion actually formed by them personally as opposed to them filling in the blanks. I personally just skip stories that I don't want to read or that aren't my thing, and don't rate them up or down.

    I'm happy, I definitely don't like being unemployed, and I'm no good at jobhunting. Any taxpayers present will probably be pleased to hear that I wasn't actually on unemployment though. I just lived off my savings. Which was probably a bad idea, but oh well.
    Last edited by Beeskee; 2011-10-06 at 09:36 PM. Reason: for clarity, I used personal 'you' too much
    Happy Trixie Appreciation Day!

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  21. - Top - End - #621
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Raz_Fox View Post
    Wheels are turning in my head. No, that's not quite right, they're churning. Turning can merely be plotting, scheming, but churning implies a disquiet, a disturbance and an inspection of the wheels themselves if you don't want the whole factory to shake apart.

    (Warning: may be slightly NSFW, in that it discusses NSFW-ness.)

    Spoiler
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    So. I don't even remember now how I found myself there, but I found myself looking at a tumblr blog entitled Are You Serious, Brony? I do not provide a link because it is rather unsafe for work, due to the work it showcases and rips apart: the dark underside of our fandom.

    I laughed, I'll admit. Not at the blog author, but with him. I know another guy like him from a different fandom, on a different site, who has Standards and isn't afraid to be known for them, but who caustically cuts apart this kind of material instead of turning upon his fellow fandom members. I loved his sardonic sarcasm at some of the worst that our fandom has to offer.

    And then I started thinking about why I'm in a fandom that tolerates this kind of stuff. That produces it in such droves. For every piece of beautiful art on Ponibooru, I guess that there's a piece of pornographic waste - as I don't browse Pb with a login, it's all hidden away. But I know it's there, and it spreads, and for every adult fan who's completely fine with it, there's a kid with an internet connection who doesn't know what the Pinkamina Diane Pie tumblr is like or comes across Naughty Naughty Luna!(tm) fanarts. And that concerns me, because I have the power to change that one bit at a time - I can't force artists to take back what they've drawn, but I can act upon my fellow fans in tiny, almost imperceptible ways. Or, perhaps, in larger ways. I am a writer, after all.

    Then I read an essay that the blog author linked, written by a mother who was creeped out by the 'bronie' phenomenon. The replies started out promising, and then descended into the vicious defense that any negative Pony article gets, to the point where the original author locked the comment section because of all the insults that were being hurled her way, proving her view that bronies were borderline molesters.

    And I thought some more. At first I thought, surely, surely I can say I'm clean, surely I can say I'm free of any blame, I'm not like them, the kind of bronies who sexualize this kind of thing to an abhorrent degree. And then I thought some more. Oh, wait, who was the brony who made the Haremizer Cannon in RP and had roleplayed out an attraction to an OC pony? Hint: that was me. Who was the brony that accidentally kickstarted the whole bondage craze and is currently writing a story that incorporates it in its themes, even if it is being deconstructed to an extent in said story? Hint: even more me. Who once wrote a naughty Lix/Trixie ship that he now regrets ever trying, as his first and only foray into anything even tangential to clopfic? Oh, wait, that was ME.

    Do you think that any unbiased observer would believe that I don't find bondage or harems sexual, after how often they've come up in the forum RP, with me in the midst of it? (Dark secret: I like the stereotypical harem outfit, not the actual concept of a harem. And I mean like as in "I am intrigued by its aesthetics".) It's not bleeding likely. Stars and stones, do you think that any mother who stumbled across the GiantITP pony fandom, just out of the blue, would believe that the brony subculture isn't sexualized? I'm starting to have doubts.

    You know how, a few pages back, we were talking about characters and how successful RP characters often come from seeds of your personality? Well, Shallow and Thoughtless Human as a title sums up part of my personality pretty well. I'll do something, and then never think about the consequences. I'll say something, and never imagine that I might regret it later. I don't see. I don't consider. If I could go back and tell myself, hey, Raz, don't write that fic for Trix'n'Lix, you'll regret it and feel as if you've failed yourself soon enough, I would, but I didn't even think about it. And I'm sure that, right this moment, there's something that I'm missing, something that will make me miss a step and tumble down the stairs painfully. It's already happened to me enough for a year in the past month or so, and I'm looking down at more stairs. It's stairs, all the way down. And the step I'm taking right now is going to make me scrape open my knee a few steps down the line, I just know it. Shallow and Thoughtless Human. Sums me up pretty well, don't you think?

    But, then again, I also believe that a man has power enough to choose. He may, no, he will need help. He'll struggle. He'll fall on the way and be helped back up to his feet. But a man can change who he is, if he looks in the mirror and doesn't like what he sees staring back at him. He can comb his metaphorical hair. He can brush the yellow off his teeth. And perhaps he can't scrub that stain out of his white shirt, but he can remember, next time, that he shouldn't go for the ketchup with that metaphorical burger. And he can rally his thoughts, and give them marching orders, and focus - though it's boring, though it's hard - enough to change their course. He doesn't just have to go with the flow and take the easy course. Taking the easy course is always harder in the end. The hard course takes you straight through the briars and the brambles, but the easy course drops you down into them with no machete to cut your way out.

    I'm not going to tell you all that you should stop looking at Molestia fanart or feel guilty for shipping. I'm not going to say that bronydom has been ruined for me forever. But I think it's time that the Pure and Honest Fox Raz can actually call himself that honestly, don't you think?

    I think so.

    And that's one step away from being the Shallow and Thoughtless Human. And if I speechify about it at length, that's even better, because speaking, well, writing, I think of this as being sort of like speaking, I take a conversational tone as if I was standing in front of you all gut-afraid but still speaking anyway, and now we're off-topic- anyway, if I write about it, I can rally up the troops, all those impulses and unconscious thoughts, and say to them, boyos, there's going to be a bit of a change around here. We're clearing house, doing autumn wrap-up and burning the rubbish, and then we can actually say about ourselves, we're pure and honest, because I'm tired as anything of being a liar about myself, to myself, to anyone who asks me, "So, Raz, are you pure and honest?" I'll smile, and say of course, and I want to be able to mean it, consarn it.

    And when people ask me, "So, these Bronies, are they all sexually attracted to ponies and creepy?" I want to be able to say, with fervor and dignity, "No. No, they're not. They - well, the fans I know, at least, on my little corner of the Internet - are all amazing blokes. And I'm the most amazing one of all!" Okay, maybe not that last bit. But I probably will say it, anyway, even though I don't really mean it, because the Mountebank is a part of me, too, and he learned from Wile E. Coyote and the Doctor how to brag like a jester.

    So the wheels aren't churning, anymore. They're turning, and they are groaning with the effort of making the engines run, but there's a bit of peace to me. Or, rather, all that energy, all that momentum as Thanqol says, is focused on something now. And, funnily enough, the momentum is moving me in a direction that I was already going, I've just stopped digging my heels in and resisting the motion now. I'm running. And I'll probably, in a half-mile, slow down and start panting like a dog in the Sahara, and hold my ribs and groan at the effort. But I've got friends here - real, actual friends - who I know will slap me on the back hard enough to leave five red fingers there, and tell me, "Hey, Raz, do you remember that you're running? Because you are. And it's easier to go from 60 to 80 than it is to go from 0 to 60. Keep that momentum up."

    And maybe I've got your wheels churning. If you've got the time, and no siblings or children around your computer, and you're definitely not at work, take a look at that tumblr and tell me what you think. Because I think we Playgrounders are more influential on the fandom than we might think, and giving people a place to point to when they need to explain how bronies are just honest folks without any weird sexualizations is a good thing.

    Gosh, I just can't end, can I? I feel like I've been sitting here for an hour, though truthfully it's just been half of one, but half is still a bit much for me right now. And I'm still rambling on, just cut it short, Raz-
    Spoiler
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    Well, are you really surprised? My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic isn't that special. People will do whatever they want with whatever they want, and they'll show it to everyone else. It's like that for pokemon and kirby and sesame street and dora the freakin' explora.

    I suppose I'm ok with this due to me being a christian, and coming into the fandom with the basic belief that humanity is basically screwed up. But still, I don't think there's any reason to think deep, dark thoughts about it.

    Of course, you can if you want to, which you might, and.....

    Oh crap, I haven't offended you, have I? Sorry, sorry. I think your pretty cool, if that means anything.

  22. - Top - End - #622
    Ogre in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    Insanity.
    Tell me about it. Do you really type all that out on your phone?

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    I'm pretty sure the Internet has been lethal to childhood innocence for way longer than ponies have been around.
    Don't think I said that, did I?
    ... I came to appreciate that mountains make poor receptacles for dreams.

  23. - Top - End - #623
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    At the risk of sounding pedantic, I'd like to chime in on the "cupcakes vs. muffins" issue.

    Muffins and cupcakes are different. There's a fuzzy wuzzy line between them, to be sure, and suffice to say that there are things that could fall into either category. However, to characterize cupcakes as frosted muffins, or muffins as unfrosted cupcakes, is to disservice to both baked goods.

    Muffins are denser and more breadlike. Cupcakes are lighter and more cakelike. They're cooked at different temperatures, have different degrees of flour used in them, and are generally different in texture.

    I recall an interesting experiment conducted in which similar muffin and cupcake recipes were used to bake a batch of both. They were then given to testers, unlabeled, and the testers were then asked to decide which was a muffin and which was a cupcake.

    In one group, both the muffins and the cupcakes were frosted and while the testers were able to determine a difference between the two baked goods, they were unable to determine which was a muffin and which was a cupcake.

    In another, both muffins and cupcakes were unfrosted and the testers were able to tell right away which was a muffin and which a cupcake. The difference in textures gave it away right away.
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  24. - Top - End - #624
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Tectonic Robot View Post
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    I suppose I'm ok with this due to me being a christian, and coming into the fandom with the basic belief that humanity is basically screwed up. But still, I don't think there's any reason to think deep, dark thoughts about it.
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    And as a Unitarian Universalist, I'm fine with "odd" parts of fandoms on the policy of "live and let live, unless you are directly harming others". So funny how people get to the same end conclusion from different starting arguments.


    On an unrelated note: It is almost Friday, which means one more day to new pony.
    LGBTitP

  25. - Top - End - #625
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Rappy View Post

    On an unrelated note: It is almost Friday, which means one more day to new pony.
    Sorry to burst your bubble, but no ponies until the 15th.
    Credit for my various avatars goes to Dashwood,Cealocanth,Kwarkpudding,Randomizer,kpengu in,Alarra,Bisected8,zimmerwald1915, and Thanqol.

    Once known as "Gamerkid".

  26. - Top - End - #626
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Yep, I agree with kpenguin. There are distinct differences between cuppins and mufcakes.
    Last edited by tonberrian; 2011-10-06 at 09:26 PM.
    The name is "tonberrian", even when it begins a sentence. It's magic, I ain't gotta 'splain why.

  27. - Top - End - #627
    Colossus in the Playground
     
    Thanqol's Avatar

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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by kpenguin View Post
    At the risk of sounding pedantic, I'd like to chime in on the "cupcakes vs. muffins" issue.

    Muffins and cupcakes are different. There's a fuzzy wuzzy line between them, to be sure, and suffice to say that there are things that could fall into either category. However, to characterize cupcakes as frosted muffins, or muffins as unfrosted cupcakes, is to disservice to both baked goods.

    Muffins are denser and more breadlike. Cupcakes are lighter and more cakelike. They're cooked at different temperatures, have different degrees of flour used in them, and are generally different in texture.

    I recall an interesting experiment conducted in which similar muffin and cupcake recipes were used to bake a batch of both. They were then given to testers, unlabeled, and the testers were then asked to decide which was a muffin and which was a cupcake.

    In one group, both the muffins and the cupcakes were frosted and while the testers were able to determine a difference between the two baked goods, they were unable to determine which was a muffin and which was a cupcake.

    In another, both muffins and cupcakes were unfrosted and the testers were able to tell right away which was a muffin and which a cupcake. The difference in textures gave it away right away.
    Stop trying to blur the lines with your uncited, unscientific study! If a group of random fools was unable to determine the difference between the great and powerful muffin and a weak and inferior cupcake, then you have obviously discovered a weak and wretched sub-breed of humanity which is unfamiliar with the perfection of baked goods! Under no circumstances can your so-called test harm the unquestionable superiority of the muffin! Who are you going to believe, your lying data or your trustworthy muffin?

  28. - Top - End - #628
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Rappy's Avatar

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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Gamerlord View Post
    Sorry to burst your bubble, but no ponies until the 15th.
    Is it now? I need to keep up with scheduling.
    LGBTitP

  29. - Top - End - #629
    Orc in the Playground
     
    Beeskee's Avatar

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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Derpy: I like both, but I like muffins more.
    Happy Trixie Appreciation Day!

    PonyFort: IC and OOC threads.

  30. - Top - End - #630
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Tectonic Robot's Avatar

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    Default Re: My Little Pony XXVI: Applebloom to Zecora!

    Quote Originally Posted by Rappy View Post
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    And as a Unitarian Universalist, I'm fine with "odd" parts of fandoms on the policy of "live and let live, unless you are directly harming others". So funny how people get to the same end conclusion from different starting arguments.


    On an unrelated note: It is almost Friday, which means one more day to new pony.
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    Well, ok then. Live and let live, eh?


    I'M GOING BAAAACKPAAAACKING.

    And thus will miss the glorious new episode until Monday.

    I expect you fellows to be at thread 666 by the time I'm back, and I reserve the right to demand to know what happened while I was gone.

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