The Thread About Ponies, Logistics and General Weirdness (And Gilda)TV

[Wiegert]

^Love it! Good work 👍

Spoiler

What about Spitfire? I only ask because that is the one that basically ruined my entire day. Everything about it bothered me. And made me legitimately cry, as loathe as I am to admit it.

Spoiler

I'll admit that Spitfire's death was quite upsetting for me as well, but the scene with Rarity just got me for some reason, and she didn't even die. I guess my emotional response to each scene was affected by the mood I was in at the time, I dunno.

 

[Minty]

Love the drawing, unit-one. And if it werent for my amazing Nyan cat live wallpaper I would actually use that on my phone.
Cant comment on the spoiler stuff right now since im on my phone, but in about 3 hours I'll be home.

 

[Tornado]

I simply love it when stories are written well enough that I can try to guess what the author is trying to do with them.




In other news, is this not the most adorable thing you've ever seen?:


Though putting it near a fridge just seems like tempting fate.

 

[MercilessOne]

Dude, **** that thing.

 

[unit-one]

That parasprite is cute... when it's not moving.
--------------------

EDIT: Oh, hey! Someone uploaded my picture to Ponibooru.





!Thank you everyone for the positive feedback!!

 

[Minty]

Spoiler

What about Spitfire? I only ask because that is the one that basically ruined my entire day. Everything about it bothered me. And made me legitimately cry, as loathe as I am to admit it.

Spoiler

I actually would have said something about her, but I already got lost in the typing and was already a little late in leaving for work. I just figured I would mention the 3 developed character's deaths.
But while I'm on it, that just didn't hit me as hard as the others. When I focus on it, it makes me sad, but when I first read it I was so unsure of whether I read it right that I had to re-read that paragraph 4 times before I was positive she had died, but with the commotion of everythign else that was happening, the sadness I had felt was just overwhelmed by all of the other feelings of anger, frustration, and disappointment I had for the ponies of New Ponyville, and Soaren himself.

Spoiler

Spike's death had no effect on me, actually, because I was reasonably sure that it was a fake out at the time that it happened. And when I was made aware that I was wrong about that on the comments page, it still didn't really bother me. Never been able to understand why, either.

Spoiler

I can actually understand that. I almost thought that same thing, but no matter what I tried to do to explain why he didn't come back, I couldn't think of anything that made sense. I was thinking things like 'He might have run off into the woods, but he would have returned by now'. I think maybe the internal arguing with myself trying to explain how he could still be alive actually made me feel even worse when I realized that it was the only logical conclusion.

Spoiler

Soaren's death itself didn't have as much of an effect on me as the scenes leading up to it. I took greater impact from him coming to the realization of his actions and thoughts than I did from the actual deed itself. The tragic irony of it all is what got to me.
Though I will admit that the scene where Rarity became aware of just what happened and her role in it shook me a bit.

This I pretty much agree with this. Even on the part about Rarity finding out being worse than reading about it as it happened.

Spoiler

That isn't to say that I wasn't worried for Rarity, because when Super Bitch started describing her plan as "I’ve just effectively removed the strongest defenses of New Ponyville, as well as their leadership," my blood turned to ice.
But as soon as it became clear that Rarity was being attacked some how, I immediately came to the conclusion that all unicorns in the village were being attacked rather than just her (because the effects were similar to what was happening to Super Bitch and her squad). And for some reason, the realization that Twilight was also going through the same thing made me stop worrying about the possibility that Rarity was going to die.

[/spoiler]

Your ability to pick up on these things is astounding.
I didn't even make that connection after the fact.





Also, this is easily the most complex post I've ever made in terms of tags.

 

[MercilessOne]

Kinky Fluttershy. Discuss.

 

[Minty]

^

Also,

I 🤬 love this song.

And this video only serves to make me love it more.

I actually knew this a while ago, but I never really payed any attention to it, but in this song.....Pinkie Pie is a prostitute.
After this realization, I lol'ed, a lot, especially considering how well her movement matched the theme of the song.

 

[unit-one]

Also, this is easily the most complex post I've ever made in terms of tags.

I Congratulate MintBerryCrunch on his 666 th post!

 

[Minty]

Done, finally...
My first TNTNE fan art.

I forgot to say this a while ago, but now that I'm home I decided I would get a better look at this.

Spoiler

And I just realized their hairstyles match their actual characters.

Figured I would put that in spoiler tags because just based on that comment you can figure out who they are.
Really nice job on that.


I loved this. The fact the guy labels where the audio came from in the bottom right is awesome too.
Language Warning

 

[AOS-]

I Congratulate MintBerryCrunch on his 666 th post!

It's currently 669... bbq... mmmm BBQ!

 

[unit-one]

Spoiler

I forgot to say this a while ago, but now that I'm home I decided I would get a better look at this.
And I just realized their hairstyles match their actual characters.
Really nice job on that.

That was the plan 👍

 

[Terronium-12]

Ah, my bronies.

I miss this thread.

 

[Minty]

^It has been a while.
I was beginning to think you forgot about us.

Aside from that, I just found something interesting.
TIME Magazine reports on Bronies
We now have the attention of the big ones.


And I just now realized that link is on ED. As well as this video;



Every day, this just get's more and more popular. I'm not sure if it will ever stop growing. The strength of this fanbase is becoming so emense it's actually kind of scary.

Soon.....everything will be pony.

 

[Jim Prower]

Okay, screw Rarity, I wanna drive Karts like THIS in GT5! 4 wheel drifts, done 20(0)% cooler.

 

[Coxis]

The way I see it, the core meme will never die down or do so extremely slowly, just like every other big meme out there. The fanbase may stop growing if the writers of the show start doing a lousy job...

Nothing ever lasts forever. But yes, they're quite a social phenomenom, your ponies.

 

[Terronium-12]

Hasbro removed the videos? Really?

I mean it really shouldn't matter at this point as everyone who cares, such as myself, would have already gotten all 25 episodes in HD by now.

 

[BronyCray]

Done, finally...
My first TNTNE fan art.

Spoiler

...The captain glared the lieutenant down, but couldn’t contain a small guffaw. After a moment both ponies broke into a fit of laughter, the captain placing a wing around her friend. “Lieutenant, you’ve been my second in command for nearly a year now, I hardly consider you as being under my orders even when we are on duty. Come on, I’ll help you set up the damn tents.”

I'm always blown away when I see things like this. Talented people making art out of the story I started because I had free time at the end of the school year...sometimes I think of how different the last couple months would be for me if I listened to that little voice that said "Fanfiction? For My Little Pony? Are you kidding me?" and never started writing.

The picture is amazing and flattering. To everyone who's read TNTNE or made fanart of it or even just shared you thoughts, thank you for everything. Seriously. Thank you.

 

[Minty]

Hasbro removed the videos? Really?

What videos did they remove?
I can still get all of the episodes on YouTube.

I'm always blown away when I see things like this. Talented people making art out of the story I started because I had free time at the end of the school year...sometimes I think of how different the last couple months would be for me if I listened to that little voice that said "Fanfiction? For My Little Pony? Are you kidding me?" and never started writing.

The picture is amazing and flattering. To everyone who's read TNTNE or made fanart of it or even just shared you thoughts, thank you for everything. Seriously. Thank you.

And thank you for writing something that's so great that we can have a serious in depth discussion about it. Without people like you this fandom would never have reached the point it's at. It's people like you who write these fan-fics, and people like unit-one who draw the fan art, that make me proud to be a Brony.

I would still probably hide my love for this show from friends if it weren't for members of the community like yourself.

The way I see it, the core meme will never die down or do so extremely slowly, just like every other big meme out there. The fanbase may stop growing if the writers of the show start doing a lousy job...

Nothing ever lasts forever. But yes, they're quite a social phenomenom, your ponies.

I wouldn't say it'll last forever, but I believe it will last a very, very long time because of people like BronyCray and unit-one.

It will stop growing at some point, because of people like White&Nerdy, who refuses to accept it, and people who genuinely don't enjoy the show, but I think there will be a respectably large fan-base for this show as long as the internet exists.
Remember, this is no longer just any other meme, but a subculture that began as a meme.

Hell, there's still a massive following for the old Transformers series, so who's to say this won't be around for just as long, if not longer.

 

[MercilessOne]

What videos did they remove?
I can still get all of the episodes on YouTube.

Youtube. Never fails (sometimes).


It doesn't matter. I've seen all the episodes, multiple times. And my cable provider has The Hub.

 

[Minty]

So I just posted this on my Facebook. I'm working on converting my entire friends list. Including my parents.




You should all know most of those links, but the last one is this picture;

EDIT: Reading TBoTS Part 6.
So Fluttershy won a drinking contest, AND Big Macintosh was involved? That is just too damn good.


EDIT: Reading part 7, just got to the point where it gets back to Twilight and AJ. I have to say one thing, Rarity is hilariously awesome in this story.

 

[Tornado]

Let me preface this by reiterating how uncomfortable I am explaining the thought processes that make me come to these conclusions when the author of the story is combing the thread for feedback. I know this is irrational, because I didn't have a problem doing it before he was a member when I knew he was skimming the thread anyways (or posting some of my thoughts in the comments area), but not everything can make sense.

But whatevs. Imma do it anyways (And Firefox crashed while I was doing it the first time, so Imma do it again).

Spoiler

I actually would have said something about her, but I already got lost in the typing and was already a little late in leaving for work. I just figured I would mention the 3 developed character's deaths.
But while I'm on it, that just didn't hit me as hard as the others. When I focus on it, it makes me sad, but when I first read it I was so unsure of whether I read it right that I had to re-read that paragraph 4 times before I was positive she had died, but with the commotion of everythign else that was happening, the sadness I had felt was just overwhelmed by all of the other feelings of anger, frustration, and disappointment I had for the ponies of New Ponyville, and Soaren himself.

Spoiler

Back in Chapter 6 (or maybe 7? I'm not sure), when everyone in New Ponyville was trying to figure out what was going on, I saw the signs. The entire town was out for blood over what was sorta an accident, and they didn't even care that it might have been an accident. I knew when Soaren came out publicly in favor of the execution that it was going to happen. Rarity was basically a doormat, and Applejack (who is basically second in command to Rarity) was hugely in favor of it; so I knew nothing Twilight or Dash would say would make any difference.
At this point, I already basically knew that the Captain was Dark Dash, so I wasn't really worried about her (boy, I might as well put "Tempting Fate" in Size-7 italics). I was still working out who the Lieutenant was (I had a suspicion that it was Spitfire, but I didn't have any proof). Because I didn't yet know who she was, I was fairly sure that she was going to be a goner.

As I came to this conclusion, the wheels started turning in my mind about who the Lieutenant could be. And when Soaren was confronted by Dash about his decision, and I heard his back story, it clicked. He said Spitfire died in the riots and that is why he went on to fight for New Ponyville, and I knew. The tragic irony of the whole situation was simply too much to let it go to waste by making it be anyone else.

And then Chapter 8 came around. Spitfire and Captain Dash started talking to each other about Spitfire's role in the Shadowbolts. And I got this stupid, dumbass idea in my mind that it was going to be alright in the end. Something was going to happen that would reveal her identity to Soaren. Maybe her calling out to him to apologize, or him getting pissed and trying to find out who she was out of contempt. And the problem is, I convinced myself that it would be what would happen. I saw the warning signs. I knew it would be a cop out for it to be all happy. I knew I wouldn't write it that way if I was the author. And yet I still believed. Up until the last paragraph, I fully believed that something, anything, would intervene in the situation.


And then it didn't.

And then I laid down in my bed and cried for a while (as embarrassing as that is to admit). Some of you may remember the post that I made right after I finished Chapter 8, and I can tell you that I could barely see the screen on my computer when I typed it. I even had trouble sleeping that night. Hell, I'm tearing up now just from recapping my thought process. Its like I'm a little girl or something. And yet...





In hindsight, I can recognize how stupid it was for my mind to go down that path. None of what I was thinking made sense if I had stopped to think about it from a literary perspective rather than an emotional one. The terrible irony of Soaren's role in the proceedings alone (nevermind the irony of the Lieutenant's discussion about why she joined the Shadowbolts) should have told me it wasn't going to work out. And I still set myself up.

That is why it bothered me so much. Because I was too stupid to follow my initial suspicion to the more logical conclusion.

Spoiler

I can actually understand that. I almost thought that same thing, but no matter what I tried to do to explain why he didn't come back, I couldn't think of anything that made sense. I was thinking things like 'He might have run off into the woods, but he would have returned by now'. I think maybe the internal arguing with myself trying to explain how he could still be alive actually made me feel even worse when I realized that it was the only logical conclusion.

It wasn't really anything like that for me. For me it was simply looking for something that wasn't there.

Spoiler

I just never believed he was actually dead. Not because I didn't want to believe it, but simply because I thought him being alive would be more effective for the story and it was written in a way that made it seem perfectly plausible. I figured, if Spike dying was a bad thing, Spike not dying and everyone acting like he did would be even worse.

Specifically, I figured Spike being alive would just add even more tragedy to the situation. I took the way the story was presented (with no one being sure of what happened to Spike when the two stories were recapped until they connected the two stories together) to mean that no one had actually bothered to check in the confusion.

My rationale was that Spike therefore hadn't died, and would show up after the execution alive and well just to make everything even worse. They not only sentenced two Ponies to death almost immediately without any chance of defense for being sorta-responsible for an accidental death, but they cared so little about actually achieving justice that they never even bothered to check whether the death actually happened. And at the time, it seemed like a perfectly logical thing to think.

I actually think that the stuff dealing with the above is the weakest part of the story, because it seems like it was written to be ambiguous on purpose, and then it is revealed later that it wasn't supposed to be ambiguous at all. Of course, me reading the story like I have to write a book report on it probably breaks it somewhat, so it is likely mostly my fault.


I actually had the same problem when I read Sunset, and I know already that I'm going to have the same problem with The Sun is Tired.
It tends to ruin some plot points (and when I do it wrong, it does what Chapter 8 of TNTNE did to me), but I find it more fun to try to get inside the author's mind and pick apart the story in terms of what would be the most effective way to write it based on what I think the author is trying to accomplish. Makes it kinda like a game, and it only works with stories that are carefully written.





And now for something more upbeat.

Your ability to pick up on these things is astounding.
I didn't even make that connection after the fact.

Thank you, thank you.

*bows*

EDIT: Reading part 7, just got to the point where it gets back to Twilight and AJ. I have to say one thing, Rarity is hilariously awesome in this story.

Best. Perp. Ever.

 

[Wiegert]

EDIT: Oh, hey! Someone uploaded my picture to Ponibooru.

If only the person who created the tags for that image on Ponibooru hadn't gone and ruined the plot for some of the people who are reading the story:

Spoiler

by adding the tags 'dash', 'rainbow' and 'spitfire'.

Anyway, I seem to have been putting this off for the past two days, but I'm going to read part 8 of TBoTS now while I have some time.

 

[AOS-]

There's a Ponibooru?! Since when?

 

[Minty]

Spoiler

Wow, now that part with Spitfire makes me cry too. I just...never thought about it that way...but...damn.
I also had myself convinced everything was going to work out well, but for some reason, even after I realized just how wrong I was, I just couldn't get past how pissed off I was at the way everypony handled the situation. But the more I think about it, the sadder I get.

After reading what you posted about Spitfire, I just went back through everything that happened in my head, and I actually had to sit back in my chair and just try to regain my composure, I actually had to wipe the tears from my eyes before typing this.
What happened with Rarity was a frightening kind of sad, but the more I think about what happened with Spitfire, the more I feel like that was the saddest moment. It just took me until now to get past the anger. Maybe on some subconscious level I was forcing the anger to the top to hide how sad I really was.

I'm just visualizing being Soaren at this point, watching as...it happened. I can't even type it out right now. Just feeling like I caused something like that to happen is just too damn much.

I was considering reading the next chapter of TBoTS to cheer myself up again, but I feel like I should just go ahead and sit back and think about this for a while.


EDIT: I took about 15 minutes to seriously consider everything about my new feelings about that moment in the story, and then I felt like I should just stop for a while and do something else, so I went downstairs to watch TV with my parents. The whole time I was just staring into the wall next to the TV. I couldn't stop thinking about the whole thing with about SF. I'm not completely depressed anymore, but I just can't stop thinking about it now.

 

[Terronium-12]

How AWESOME is this?

 

[Wiegert]

^Those eyes are creepy, seriously It's awesome none the less though.

There's a Ponibooru?! Since when?

Well the first image was posted there 7 months ago, so it looks like it's been around since October/November.


Anyway, in regards to TBoTS part 8:

Spoiler

Oh Celestia! RD and Trixie drunk off their flanks, Fluttershy seemingly sober after more than 15 shots of "Friendship Lubricant", plus the fact that they thought Trixie wanted to put Twilight in her bed for reasons other that sleeping, "Wh-... whuh.. THAT IS NOT WHAT TRIXIE MEANT." I'm laughing pretty hard right now after reading this part.

It's a shame that I can't read part 9 right now, but hopefully I'll have time to read it tomorrow. I might even fit part 10 in as well if possible.

 

[Minty]

^That is amazing.


Also;

And Awwww.

Nothing like adorable pony pictures to cheer me up.

 

[Terronium-12]

Twitchy, twitchy, twitch...

Adding these to the gallery but wanted to post this one.

Working up an improved avatar; Webber is getting some company.

 

[nk4e]

there's a ponibooru?! Since when?

4ever!