#High Roller Pony Con

[elfbingo]

Just in case any of you are in Las Vegas May 31st - June 2nd. Feel free to come bother me :D

[tangerineblasttheintern]

A website for all your convention needs! Do you like to go to Pony Conventions? Do you like learning about them in one place? Now there’s a place for you!

Go, find the knowledge.

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E64 (May 28, 2019)

Another week, another adventure into the the wild and dangerous minds of BWF and his wacky sidekicks. I have to say, the quality of Critical Recap has increased dramatically since it first started. Awesome job, Dani! Tonight’s preroll is the celebration of the birthdays of Laura & Liam, which is today, May 28. For those who don’t know, this shared birthday is why they decided to create twins in the first campaign.

Tonight’s guests: Taliesin Jaffe & Matt Mercer.

Tonight’s announcements: Next Monday, June 3, the episode with Ashley Johnson of Between the Sheets will finally air at 7PM Pacific. Brian says she hates talking about herself, but he got her to open it up. They’re already filming season 3 of Between the Sheets, and that will drop monthly episodes once it begins airing. The My Little Pony oneshot, led by Mark Hulmes from High Rollers, will air this Friday night, May 31, at 7PM Pacific. Roger Craig Smith will be one of the special guest stars on that episode. Tales of Equestria will be loaded to YT on Sunday. Denver Pop Culture Con will be this coming weekend. Limited photo and autograph tickets are still available.

Episode 64: A Dangerous Chase

CR Stats: The phrase “end of the day” was used 11 times this episode. 5 things were invented: “don’t shoot the messenger,” “don’t beat a dead horse,” “par for the course,” the game of golf, and ravioli. Laura held Jester’s astonished look for 15 seconds. CR has now aired over 800 hours in total.

DMing for Colbert was surreal for Matt. It was a week one pipe dream for Matt, which means he was a little afraid it would be a letdown. As soon as they began talking about Stephen’s history, he started feeling more comfortable, but it wasn’t until he saw the first cut the next day where he realized how great it had been. He hopes it isn’t the last opportunity they have to play together. They managed to raise over $100,000 for Red Nose Day.

Caduceus is taking a Mary Poppins approach to talking to people as a way of teaching by example. He hopes people will realize that you don’t have to always use violence to get the information you want. Taliesin, on the other hand, realizes that will never happen. Matt talks about how much he really likes the the impact Caduceus has had on the game, and both Tal & Matt talk about the 3-4 day planning session they had on what high wisdom/low int looks like. “That’s rough, buddy.” “Ahh, that’s exactly what that looks like.”

The M9′s deception during Speak with Dead was a little better than Matt had anticipated, so he gave away a little more information than he’d originally intended. Tal talks about how this must have been something Clay watched happen many times growing up in a funeral home, seeing his family Speak with Dead in order to give peace to a grieving family. It’s an interesting juxtaposition of seeing something his family used a bunch of times growing up being used in a very different way now.

The Charis DC was just because it was a very very high DC--but not impossible. There are people in the world who know about it, but they wouldn’t have reason to cross paths with the M9. It would be like an archaeologist.

The stern Cad during the interrogation was partly an act, because he was trying to perform, but also because there’s a bit of Cad we haven’t seen yet. They all agree that in the cast of CR Ashley is the most actual zen. Everyone agrees Travis isn’t even in the running.

Cosplay of the Week: @graviteacosplay with this nifty Nott cosplay.

Matt was a little surprised they took a path just straight through the Barbed Fields instead of taking a more circuitous, safer route. He expected the rest of the group to protest and was more surprised when they didn’t. They talk a bit about Fjord as an agent of both order and chaos and about how he’s trying to find his place in the world.

The near-death experience has left Cad in a place where he’s not making the best decisions right now. He knows this is dangerous, but he knows they need to check it out, and since they’re “on a mission from God,” everything they do is right. “His risk assessment is a little off right now.” Matt is delighted remembering Sam’s face; BWF points out it’s rare we get one on Sam like that.

The Sorrowsworn are scary because they’re entirely based on emotion. To further develop them, Matt likes looking at their abilities and basing their movement in a horror-film way off that. He knew he would get Travis; he wasn’t expecting to get the rest of the table. “I was very proud.”

Tal has no idea how Cad will process these horror creatures. He wasn’t frightened or freaked out by the grotesque, but he wasn’t really prepared for it, and having Caleb go unconscious was a bit of a fright.

Brian mentions for probably the third time in this show that the next season of Blindspot will be the last one. I’m getting the feeling he’s very ready for it to be done.

When Matt was developing Xhorhas, he wanted to develop all these other societies without the ties to the dark gods. How would they develop with their clan ties? What about as people were assimilated into the clans? What tropes has he seen in other media that he needs to avoid? He talks about how when you build independent areas of your world, it’s a helpful thought experiment to imagine what would happen if they collided. He developed a lot of Xhorhas in pockets and then put it all together.

Tal asks Matt if he was surprised they’d picked up the dodeca. He wasn’t exactly surprised--he’d planned for pretty much all the outcomes of that particular early encounter. He’d meant it more as an exploration of the intro to the Xhorhas world and the Krynn dynasty.

Tal laughs about his very visible reaction to Laura’s Vex voice coming out of Jester this episode. It had nothing to do with his efforts at diplomacy later; he just realized he hadn’t been paying enough attention and had no idea what part of Jester this was supposed to be coming out of.

Fanart of the Week: Just a couple of bugs flyin around, by @_sunsetdragon.

In talking about Clay’s pranks on his siblings, he thinks at some point they at the very least took the bed of an errant sibling out while they were sleeping and put it in a tree overnight.

Matt talks about how if there’s nothing in the books that suits the monster he needs, he just creates one. Tal & Matt start talking about a monster he made for an old campaign called a Dragon Engine; it was designed to build a disease that turned all dragons in a world to crystal, which in turn slowly destabilized the world/planes. Matt took a Dollar Store doll head and covered it in Saran Wrap & hot glue with wings & tentacle bits in odd places. His inspiration was a fetus god boss from the Dark Stalker series. Tal remembers being so annoyed he made this amazing, horrifying creation out of four dollars’ worth of miscellanea. Matt talks about how you can do a lot of amazing things with a bit of hot glue (veins, paint, skinless surfaces).

Cad is aware that the the Xhorhouse is a stationary point in his quest; he is not measuring his quest via distance. He feels okay being stationary right now.

Dunamancy had nothing to do with Caleb; Matt had that inspiration on his own as he was developing the Krynn dynasty. It just ended up working very very well with Caleb’s backstory. He talks about how when he reads theories on Reddit about things linking up, 60-70% of them are actually complete coincidence.

Caduceus has zero interest in the war. At best he doesn’t really like the Empire, but Tal doesn’t think he has the intelligence to formulate a more complex opinion on the war. He has no stake in or understanding of the war in any deeper capacity.

Shakaste’s current location was made up on the spot. Everyone thinks about who Shakaste would main in Overwatch. Matt pulls out the McCree voice. Bastion’s short is Matt’s favorite. BWF loves Reinhardt’s. All three of them start talking about John Wick 3 which I HAVEN’T SEEN YET, GDI, if they spoil that I’m going to weep bitter tears of bitterness. Okay, good, we get out alive.

And we’re done and done! We linger on a shot of Matt & Tal trying to figure out why Episode #69 is funny... (nice).

[vmheadquarters]

Fifteen years ago, our favorite female sleuth made her first appearance on UPN (later turned CW) in Veronica Mars. Three television seasons, a Kickstarter-backed film, and two books later, Veronica Mars is being revived thanks to the beloved streaming platform Hulu.

From the get go, Veronica Mars has sparked the conversation on many ‘controversial’ topics – well ahead of its time – that were handled so well and subtly, you never felt like you were being lectured to. Within the first season, writer-creator Rob Thomas tackled topics like rape, slut-shaming, transphobia, racial stereotypes, and the most prevalent theme at hand is the war and divide between “the have and the have-nots”.

Kristen Bell’s portrayal of Veronica Mars and V’s sassy, yet endearing, personality has taken the marshmallow community by storm. The character is one that is efficacious and sharp, but is not without flaws. Veronica allows each of us to resonate with her as a person, with her struggles, with her traumas; she is and remains a grounded, human character.

The Murder Mystery

Set five years after the Veronica Mars Kickstarter film, three young spring breakers and a motel manager are dead after a bomb explodes in the office of the Neptune Sea Sprite Motel. This is the first of more to come, all of which are hurting the Spring Break destination and beachfront businesses. Hired by the Maloof’s, a wealthy and politically rich family of one of the injured victims, Mars Investigations is on the case to figure out who this serial bomber could be.

Meanwhile, Veronica finally gets a Pony, Logan (Jason Dohring) – a navy intelligence officer – returns home into the arms of Veronica, Papa Mars (Enrico Colantoni) is physically recovering from the car accident that occured in the film and reeling through the emotions of a potentially serious medical issue, Wallace (Percy Daggs III) seems to be happily solidified in his married life and career as a teacher at Neptune High, and Weevil (Francis Capra) must face the formidable consequences that occurred between the film and present-day. Max Greenfield reprises his role as Leo D’Amato, except this time as an FBI agent working with Veronica on the case. Even if you’re a LoVer, Leo’s presence back on the screen is one that deliberately toys with our emotions, but leaves us with a happy sensation coursing through our veins.

The plot has a heavy focus on the main mystery in a serialized fashion, so that any newbie can come fresh into this season without even the basic concept and still be able to follow along. The characters are introduced in a manner that subtly recaps their backstory without being overly explanatory, which allows the new faces to scoop in, but gives enough of the nostalgic factors to cater to those long-term marshmallows. Book readers might notice some similarities between this story line and the content of the books, and while some of it seems to be derived from them, this is not an exclusive adaptation.

There is a noticeable lack of mini-mysteries in each episode set within the confines of the larger, long-con mystery that the previous seasons managed to execute so well. A bit of a letdown since those episodic stories also helped provide teachable moments, and without them we’re almost without the moral compass that creator Rob Thomas has perfected in years past. But when you see how twisted this bombing story turns out to be, in hindsight it’s understandable.

The Nostalgia Doesn’t Outweigh the Modernization

Longtime fans are already on the edge of their seats waiting for this revival and eager to figure out what is so “controversial” about it that warrants Bell’s contemplation of falling off of social media during its release (per an interview with E! News). While they will eat up every moment of the new series, Bell is not wrong in that this is arguably the most controversial season of Veronica Mars simply for the arcs in the storyline. With fellow critics having early-screening access and all eight episodes dropping on day one, caution is advised on social media and within articles, as this season is one you do not want to be spoiled on.

Albeit some pandering to LoVe-rs (the acronym for fans who ship Logan and Veronica), which I am all on board for, Veronica Mars isn’t willing to sacrifice its authenticity and realness simply to keep solidified fans happy. Veronica and Logan have been together for a solid five years now and with a particular state of affairs that arise, Veronica must fight a battle within herself and decide what’s more important: the love of her life or protecting herself from her fears? This is not a plot device created in order to cultivate some rundown teenage emotions, but rather to reflect on the characters we have come to know and love.

Veronica desires chaos because that is all she has known; she has found comfort in it and the only way she has learned to cope with life is by fighting that chaos. ‘Classic Logan’ is in reservation as he’s been working with a therapist, but that doesn’t mean we don’t see those sparks inside of him. For what it’s worth, this is the most likeable and stable Logan has ever been. The chemistry between Bell and Dohring on-screen is on fire more than ever before, and they’re much more compelling now that they’re adults with real issues to discuss.

Hulu doesn’t try to recapture the exact essence of the original three seasons and film, which may be somewhat jarring to old fans. This is new, this is different, and this is an emotional roller coaster you need to prepare yourself for in a completely different way. Thomas and Ruggiero-Wright have managed to take the crux of Veronica Mars & Co., encapsulating who she is and what built her to this phase in life, and expand upon it.

We’re no longer looking at a teenage girl whose life is constantly at battles with every rich kid who wants to dual it out, but we still have good ‘ole Veronica Mars. She’s the same in the way that she still has a hard time letting her guard down – both physically and emotionally – and will smack you in the face with her brutal honesty like a baseball coming out of left field. But Veronica is grown up and we needed this version of her. Sure, they could recycle the same character and we’d still love it, but Veronica aging and growing with her original viewers is a great way to give a nod to those fans and simultaneously grow the show.

New Players Pull Up Their Sleeves and the Old Ones Need More Face Time

When Veronica Mars originally aired, there was an overwhelming number of guest stars on the show that later became top notch actors/actresses. Season four’s casting announcements have generated huge buzz, from big names like J.K. Simmons to Patton Oswalt, and Kirby Howell-Baptiste to Clifton Collins Jr as guest stars.

Simmons plays Clyde Pickett, an ex-con who works for Richard Casablancas a.k.a. “Big Dick (David Starzyk) after meeting during their incarceration in Chino. The two are an entertaining pair who receive a huge chunk of screentime but in relevancy to the over-arching story. You know they’re good when they can fit naturally into the Mars world and hold a light to the insanely talented OG casting. A handful of other guest appearances from the original to tease the fandom will leave you with your hands in the air cheering and send your heart racing (good and bad).

Other criminal syndicates include the fantastic addition of Alonzo (Clifton Collins Jr.), who manages to bring laughter and fun to a character that is a literal drug cartel hitman for El Despiadado.

Alonzo and his new partner are in Neptune looking for the at-fault bomber that killed his boss’s nephew. Unfortunately, the El Despiadado storyline is pretty minute and would be a fun side-story to pursue in the next season. If you’ve seen Collins’ other work, you know just how talented he is, and his persona here is no exception. The vicious and brutal pair might give you a chuckle but you know they mean business.

Two other characters that definitely received their fair amount of attention is Patton Oswalt’s Penn Epner and Kirby Howell-Baptiste’s Nicole. Oswalt is a Cho’s Pizza delivery driver (yes, THAT Cho’s), a true crime obsessee and “murder-head” participant. He’s the kind of pain in the arse we love to have around.

But Nicole. What a character. She’s a strong-willed (and seemingly strong-fisted) business owner of the local spring breaker bar, making waves calling out Big Dick and punching douchebag guys in her establishment. Big Dick is advocating for a movement (N.U.T.S) which seeks to remove the spring-breakers and their trash behavior from Neptune, but he also wants to buy up the real estate on the boardwalk, including that of Matty Ross (Izabela Vidovic).

Matty is the deceased motel manager’s daughter and now property owner of Sea Sprite Motel (somehow, even though she’s still in high school). As V’s new protege, Matty seems to have the same lived experiences as Veronica, leading her to the same determined and resiliant personality that Veronica most definitely can resonate with. She’s an entertaining watch when she gets her screen time, but with as much is packed in to this 8 episode mini-series, there just doesn’t seem to be enough time for the characters growing on us and those we remember with a fondness – like Weevil and Wallace.

Wallace is living his best life – married with a son (who happens to be played by Percy’s ACTUAL daughter) – and working at Neptune High. The absolute disappointment here is that we just don’t get enough of him. We spend so much time focusing on the case at hand and the LoVe relationship, it’s like Wallace was cast to the side a bit. While we can all certainly relate to getting older and losing touch with our close friends, it seems odd that Wallace wouldn’t want to extend his help with this case or that Veronica wouldn’t want to rely on him for some advice. This is the biggest letdown in the revival.

And then there’s Weevil (Francis Capra). Why is he one of the most underrated and incredible castings on the show? Probably because he has a deep heart of gold, he’s beyond loyal to Veronica, and Capra knows how to steal the show with a powerful performance. But again, this is another character we needed more of. One of the most beloved in the show and a character that’s still integral to this storyline, Weevil feels underserved and underutilized.

A Girl Needs Closure

There’s no doubt that this is top-tier content from within the Veronica Mars world, a needed step up from season 3 and the film. But if you’re a marshmallow Weevil’s been loving long time, you’ll need to accept what the writers are doing here and understand why.

It’s not sunshine and rainbows. Rob Thomas always desired Veronica Mars be a dark noir and season four absolutely delivers on this principle. It’s a worthwhile investment that most definitely has a clear conclusion, but with enough content and characters that if Hulu were to appease us, a fifth season is a must.

The shocking ending will leave you speechless and have you wondering how Veronica could possibly recover, taking us back to the roots of what makes Ms. Mars the person she is. As V herself said in season one, “Tragedy blows through your life like a tornado, uprooting everything, creating chaos. You wait for the dust to settle, and then you choose. You can live in the wreckage and pretend it’s still the mansion you remember. Or you can crawl from the rubble and slowly rebuild. Because after disaster strikes, the important thing is that you move on. But if you’re like me, you just keep chasing the storm. The problem with chasing the storm is that it wears you down, breaks your spirit. Even the experts agree, a girl needs closure.”

With edgier and more adult content, Veronica Mars is cussin’ back with Mr. Sparky (her taser) in her hand and dusting the wreckage off her shoulders. The private eye achieves her closure, and we are left with enough hope that Mars Investigations will soon be back in business.

[eliniei]

Those Hard Days - Chapter 4

Summary: Rae’s brother always made sure she was tough as nails. But when her father flips her world upside down, will she find that there’s a limit on how strong she can be?

Warnings: Rape/Non-con (non-graphic, fade-to-black), child abuse, underage drinking, underage smoking, drug use, violence, major character death 

AO3: here Fanfiction.net:

Masterlist

Previous Chapter |  Next Chapter

Chapter 4 - Disappear

Dally walked Rae back to the Curtis house after he’d forced her to eat some fries. Eating made her stomach churn- but she didn’t have the strength to be stubborn. She watched the run-down sidewalk go by under her feet as he talked.

“He disappeared,” Dally explained, sucking on his cigarette. He exhaled the smoke over his shoulder so it wouldn’t be in her face. “Buck and I went all over town lookin’. Prob’ly layin’ low with one of his dealers in case we went to the cops.” She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket and nodded. “He can’t have gone too far. We’ll get him soon. Ya know that, right?”

“‘Yeah,” she answered him, but she knew the disappointment was spelled out on her face.

“Hey, kid,” her brother started, flicking his smoke out into the road. “It’s okay.” He reached out and patted her back, then rested his arm across her shoulders. “I...I know it’s been shit, but it’s gonna turn out fine. Would I lie to you?” The edges of her lips tugged upwards a little, and he nodded approvingly, even if his eyes seemed downcast. “That’s it. Now, get inside,” he ordered, squeezing her with the arm draped around her and then shoved her inside the gate.

Rae watched him walk away from her again, torn. She wanted him to catch their father and put the fear of Christ in him, for sure. But, she also really wished he’d just stay put for a while. The edges of her mouth drooped back down. The turmoil she’d felt the night before started rising up again and she tried to push it back down. Or maybe it was the fries. When she came back to reality, she was white-knuckling the links of the fence. After releasing the metal and shaking her cramped hands out, Rae closed the gate and turned to go up the worn-down wooden steps but the screen door slammed shut and Two-Bit appeared in her way, slinging her backpack over his shoulder. The sight of him helped turn her mood a little.

"We're gonna drop your stuff at my place and then go do somethin’," he said, skipping down the steps. He threaded his arm through hers as he passed, forcing her to turn with him, and headed down the sidewalk.

“What?”

“Oh, hell, I dunno. Somethin’ fun?”

“Knowin’ you, Two-Bit, ‘fun’ is walking around a store for an hour just so you can lift somethin’.”

“It was two hours and it was damn well worth it,” he replied, patting the pocket he kept his prized blade in.

They walked in silence for a few minutes.

"Ya know, I can carry my own bag," she said, and tried reaching for it.

"Nope," he simply said, and switched it to the other shoulder. Rae wanted to argue, but she let him do as he pleased.

When the pair reached Two-Bit's house, she took in the sight of his large room.

"You never did tell me how you managed to steal the biggest room in the house," Rae mused as he tossed her backpack onto his unmade bed and grabbed some money from the top drawer of his dresser.

"My mom said she didn't need such a big room when my dad ran out, so she gave it to me. I think she just didn’t want to be reminded of him. Suzie was awfully jealous.” He paused for a moment and looked around at his little collections. “Shit, even with the couch and the king-sized in here, I still can't seem to fill it.”

"Surprising, considerin’ all the stuff you steal," Rae said with a snort. She followed him out of his room and to the front door.

"It’s mostly small shit," he said, with a laugh, as they made their way back outside. “Hard to loot large stuff.”

“So, where we goin’?”

"Hadn’t really thought about it, to be honest. Where do you wanna go? Nothin’ wild. You heard Dally." Rae thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"I dunno. When you said we were goin’ out, I assumed you already had somethin’ in mind." They started walking in a random direction, both silently thinking. "How about the roller rink?" she suggested. "Haven't been there in ages."

"You sure? It’s a pretty big Soc hangout," Two-Bit reminded her.

“Mm…” She bit her lip in thought and put her hands in her pockets.

“And you’re feelin’ up to it?”

“Well, I’m a little sore, I guess, but I should be okay.”

“Not-uh-not really what I meant.”

“I know what ya meant.”

"Alright,” he relented. “Let's go. But we’re gonna get the boys to come so we won’t be amongst the bless-ed elite by ourselves.” They headed back towards the house again. “If it’s too much, you let me know and we’ll go right away,” he stressed.

Once back at Two-Bit’s, they called up the Curtis's house to see if the brothers wanted to come. Johnny was already there, doing his homework with Ponyboy. Steve was getting ready to head home, but Darry said he’d send them and Soda over. Darry himself had a rough day at work and didn’t feel up to showing.

At her friend’s urging, Rae also dialed up the Shepard’s. Just like Dally and Tim, she and Curly were friends, although they didn’t get their kicks by punching each other’s lights out. He was one of the first few people she’d fallen in with when they came from New York, aside from the Curtis outfit. His younger sister, Angela, answered the phone and let them know, in a very long and rambling way, that Curly was currently indisposed- sleeping off a fight and a hangover. She sounded a little off her rocker- high as a damn kite.

Rae shook her head, and hung up the phone. If that girl wasn’t careful, she’d find herself back in a rehab center soon enough. She and Two-Bit left to drive his beat-up, old car to the rink. They paid to get in, rented skates, and decided to have a few go-arounds while they waited for their group to show. The Socs that were there kept a right close eye on them but didn’t give them shit.

Rae stayed close to Two-Bit as they went out and rolled around a bit, grabbing on to each other as they slid around the arena. After a few minutes of fumbling around, they let go of each other, but he was still having some issues with balance.

"Just skate around edges til ya get used to it," she urged, watching him with an amused smile. She did another turn around the rink with Two-Bit holding her arm for balance. “Shouldn’t they be here by now? It ain’t that far of a walk.”

"Speak of the devil," her friend said, nodding towards the entrance. The gang stood there, handing over their loose change to the guy behind the counter. Rae's eyes lit up when she saw them, and grabbed Two-Bit's wrist to pull him off the floor. She stopped directly in front of the others in one fluid motion, but her friend nearly ran into her back.

"Hey, guys" Rae greeted them. She heard various greetings come back her way. “Why don’t ya meet us on the floor when ya got your skates on?” She turned to go back onto the skate floor, Two-Bit in tow.

“Hey, Rae-wait-” Before she could stop, she crashed into a passerby who also had on a pair on skates. They both lost their balance slid to the floor. Her elbow hit the tile pretty hard as she landed on her side. Steve immediately bent down and grabbed her arm to hoist her back up.

“Gotta careful, kid.” She hissed at the pain in her arm, but it didn’t seem broken. Definitely bruised.

With the help of his friend, the person she’d run into was also back on his feet. They were both tall with dark hair, wearing the clothes that Rae and her friends would usually mock. Two girls came to a halt behind the boys. All of them were Socs and that just spelled trouble.

"You okay, man?"

"Of course I'm not. I just got knocked down by this bitch!" he said, darkly, as wave his hands in her direction. His eyes narrowed in on her. "Maybe we should teach her a lesson, yeah?" She glared back at him, anger simmering under the surface of her skin. Her hands balled into fists, but before she could have a go at him, Soda stepped in between them, holding her back with his arm.

“Lay off, pal. It was an accident,” he interjected. An electric tension passed between them as they stared each other down.

“Is it ever an accident with you, hoods?” The kid smirked at them. Rae pushed forward, sorely wanting to punch that smug face of his, but Soda’s arm in front of her was like steel. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Two-Bit’s hand slide into his pocket, slowly reaching for his switchblade.

“Bob, can we not, tonight?” the pretty red-head behind him spoke up, probably sensing the wrongness in the air. Two-Bit paused. “You promised us a good night. It’s no fun to watch you get into a stupid fight.” He continued glaring daggers at Rae, but finally thought better of it and eased down.

"Fine. I guess you're right," he said to his girl, heaving an overly dramatic sigh. “I guess tou’re off the hook for tonight, grease.” As they started to skate away, the two boys shoved Soda and Rae out of their way, almost knocking her over again, and went for the other side of the rink. The two girls followed them, the red-head shooting Rae a glance with a sad smile, an apology in her eyes.

The boys glared after them, but finally sat down to put their skates on. Rae slid into the chair next to Ponyboy while she waited. She looked at the people around them. Some were still watching their group, as if they were the troublemakers. What else was new?

"How ya doin', Rae?" Ponyboy asked. She went to inspecting her elbow. It was red, but thankfully not swollen.

"Ya know, Pone, I-I don’t really know,," she replied as he bent down to tie his skates. "I sure wish Dally was here, though," she admitted, under her breath. Her brother would’ve beat the tar outta that stupid kid, Soda be damned. Pony stood up and balanced for a few seconds, then offered her his hand.

"Would ya?" he asked. Rae smiled softly and took his hand. He sure was a sweet kid. He easily pulled her to her feet and led her out onto the skate floor. When they’d done a few laps, the pair noticed that the rest of their outfit sat on the walls bordering the rink, making stupid faces and waving at them as they passed. Rae rolled her eyes.

"They're so embarrassing," she pointed out as she flipped them the bird. Soda pointed at her and said something to Steve, who started laughing. Ponyboy chuckled and nodded.

"No kidding," he agreed with a shake of his head.

“Hey, why don’t ya’ll stop standin’ around and get your hides out here with us?” she called as they went by again.

"Ya know, Rae, you're good at this."

"Thanks," she said with half a smile. To show off a little, she flipped around and skated backwards. Pony laughed again, but a silence stretched between them. She sensed what was coming. She flipped herself back around and prepared for his questions. He was young and curious. And he had always come to her with questions on delicate subjects he didn’t understand. Subjects he wasn’t sure how to ask Darry about.

“Hey, Rae?”

“Hmm?”

"How-how can people do things like that to others?" he asked. Rae gave him a sad smile. She wasn’t sure she had a good answer for him when she didn’t even know herself. “Why did he do it?”

"I don't really know, Pony," she started, throwing her arm around his shoulders.

God, he was growing. Soon he’d be taller than her and she wouldn’t be able to do this anymore.

He looked at her like she was the wisest person in the world, waiting for an answer.

“Someday, I think I’d like to know, too. But for now...”

“For now?”

“For now, we deal with what we got… And hopefully when it’s all over, I’ll come out okay.”

“Are you sure?” She removed her arm and linked it through his. Rae could feel the turmoil bubbling inside of her gut. No, she wasn’t sure, but it would have to be good enough to wish.

“I sure hope so. Havin’ the boys around, though- that sure helps a ton.” Ponyboy nodded but looked towards the floor, watching his feet move, his mind clearly still heavy.  

They skated the rest of the turns in silence and when the song ended, they joined the others again for food. After swallowing a few potato chips and a couple sips of Coke that Soda had shoved her way (probably ordered by Darry), Rae still couldn’t shake the feeling, so she wandered off to the bathroom to hide from her crowd of friends for a while.

After a few minutes of sitting in a stall, staring at her feet and holding back the tears that she desperately didn’t want to cry, she went to a sink to splash cold water on her face. While she was drying her face, the red-headed Soc from earlier that night also exited a stall. Rae could feel the girl’s eyes scanning her in the mirror as she washed her hands. She was sure her eyes were red-rimmed and her nose red, but she couldn’t bring herself to look at her own face. It seemed like the girl wanted to say something, but she kept quiet, so Rae left the bathroom.

For the rest of the night, she tried to have good time, but she found herself failing. It was around nine when they decided to leave.

"See ya’ll tomorrow!" Two-Bit shouted across the parking lot as he led Rae back to his car.

"Later!" Soda called back. Rae gave a short wave to everyone, then dropped into the seat, her mind still heavy and growing tired. Two-bit jumped into the driver's side and they drove back to his house. Their journey was quiet. She imagined Two-Bit was probably exhausted as he’d been back up to his normal antics that night, picking pockets and poking fun at anyone he could find. Probably trying to get her to laugh.

"Looks like my mom ain’t home yet," he said when they pulled up to the dark house. The only light on was the porch light. They both got out of the car and went inside. Rae trudged back to Two-Bit's room and actually fell into his couch. It was really comfortable...

"Don't ya want a pillow, kid?" he asked. She was already halfway to dreamland and couldn’t find the words to answer him. She felt him shove a pillow under her head and drop a blanket over her body, and then everything went black.

[ruef]

This was @bbsartboutique and I's First ever booth at High Roller Pony Con in Las Vegas!! I literally can not wait to vend again at Trotcon, Brony con and hopefully Ciderfest! <3<3 Ahhh!!!!

We decided to include a couple of vendor friends on our banner as other characters in our “fighting game” haha. See if you can find out who’s who! :>

Please enjoy!

[twistedsketchproductions]

Working hard to get some last minute ideas done for High Roller Pony Con this weekend! These three are designed and the other 4 are in queue for today to be finished.

[jt2zemax]

*****Spoilers for this week's new Season 8 episode*****

...I return from High Roller Pony Con.... and I'm late with the episode reaction, I sowwy! :( But luckily, I decided to try something different this week: letting my lady, @midnightbluerose93 takeover the show this time ^w^

@midnightbluerose93's ACTUAL thoughts: I don't really know what to say about this one: The CMC were ok, Twiley is still best princess, and Starlight.... it still bugs me how SHE keeps somehow having the answers to all the problems. And yyyeeeeaaaahhhh.... not trusting Cozy Glow so far, something about her doesn't sit right.

Jasper's ACTUAL thoughts: ...SHIRLY TEMPLE HORSE IS EVIL!!!! EEEVIIIILLLLL!!!! I don't know, I get what she was trying to do for the CMC, but something about her motivation before then just kinda seemed... iffy (Also, note the chess piece cutie mark... tell me that's not suspicious). The episode itself was ok, a little slow in the beginning, but it picked up, and YAY the CMC are tutors! ...and once again, Starlight seems to miraculously have all the answers... though I guess it DOES kinda put to bed the myth that guidance counselors are useless, so I guess there's that ...it's just hard to see her properly fit in the role since she's somehow been needed EVERYWHERE... LITERALLY everywhere (Except the movie :P).

Screenshots on Jasper's laptop: https://derpibooru.org/1734059 and https://derpibooru.org/1735426

[mintyroot]

Project update

So the project is going well, although a bit slower than I thought.

I got the worst con crud of my life at High Roller Pony Con, which took a toll on the production of the project. It got so bad I had to take a sick day right in the middle of the day. Fortunately, I got better since.

The current challenge right now is getting used to animating characters in Toon Boom. They behave a lot more like 3D animated characters due to the way the body parts are placed on pegs that I rotate and move rather than the classic layers with tweens from Flash.

I don’t have an ETA for the project release at the moment, some elements out of my control are still not complete, so until then I can’t make a good estimate.

The project is a bit weird, I’m not bound to a strict animation timing like I was in Luna’s Determination so I can afford to tweak it according to the flow of the animation, but this also means I don’t have a solid grasp of the actual flow of the scenes until it’s animated.

I’m also currently running in parallel the outline of the script for my next project. I think I found a nice story that works well on visual storytelling rather than dialogue. 

So, one thing I want to do for the next project is to move from a PBR unbiased renderer to a realtime PBR renderer. Arnold 5 is good as a renderer, but the very long render times make it more difficult to make nice 3D elements with good lighting. I’m also looking at how to produce a more stylized look from it, rather than the photoreal lighting that Arnold has by default.

[captshowtime]

A gift for ferrousphantom :3 It was awesome meeting him at High Roller Pony Con! Art Done by me Warm Greetings belongs to ferrousphantom If you’re interested of having your OC or ponysona drawn in the style of the movie, its only $15 (If you would only like the sketch its only $7)! This includes the full body and the head shot! PM ME IF YOU’RE INTERESTED!

[britts-galaxy-brain]

I’m guessing you never went to a Brony convention before? The most recent one was High Roller Pony Con in Las Vegas. I don’t know if there are any brony conventions near where you live.

I've only ever gotten to go to two cons in my life, and they were both Animefest. Not sure if I want to go to a Brony con tbch. X_x

[kazzysplushemporium]

Making of High Roller Pony Con Mascot. Putting on the sparkly crystals in her mane! Purchase one of my works on my website! vvv https://kazzysplushemporium.com/ #brony #mlp #mylittlepony #Plush #plushie #plushies #embroidery #minky #soft #cuddle #cute #adorable #handmade #fanart #sewing #crafts #stuffed animal #commission #plushiesofinstagram #fabric

[ink-rose-the-hylian]

Apparently a hotel in Las Vegas decided not to hold a brony convention because the demographic because the demographic was not “conservative” enough for the image of the hotel (whatever that means) and would likely “jeopardize” their gaming license. SInce you are a brony who is politically conservative, I'm curious about your opinion on this. Link to an article about what happened (just remove spaces): equestriadaily. com/2017/11/high-roller-pony-con-changes-venues-d. html

I personally don’t think the hotel was referring to conservative in the political sense, but more like in the traditional sense. Hosting a convention filled with people dressing up as colorful cartoon ponies likely isn’t something they want on their record, and I can honestly see why. The hotel probably wants to keep up a ‘reputation.’

I like the show, and have had a lot of fun at pony cons, but let’s be honest here, they aren’t really super great for general reputation, especially in Vegas culture, I assume.

This isn’t really a big deal IMO. And I highly doubt it was done from the political definition of conservative. 

[eliniei]

Those Hard Days - Chapter 24

Summary: Rae’s brother always made sure she was tough as nails. But when her father flips her world upside down, will she find that there’s a limit on how strong she can be?

Warnings: Rape/Non-con (non-graphic, fade-to-black), child abuse, underage drinking, underage smoking, drug use, violence, major character death

A/N: This is the end of part 1!

AO3: here Fanfiction.net: here

Masterlist

Previous Chapter |  Next Chapter

Chapter 24 - Rumble

Once the weekend was up and Carrie’s parents returned from their trip, Rae took her duffle of clothes and headed back to Two-Bit’s couch. He told his mom that she’d be staying for an extended amount of time. Mrs. Mathews decided it was high-time to clean out the spare bedroom so she could use it. Together, the three of them started cleaning out the small, spare room where they stored the things left behind when Mr. Mathews left, as well as some holiday decorations.

Dally was back to staying at Buck’s, and it made her feel uneasy again- not seeing him every day, but Rae told herself she was being stupid. Of course he couldn’t just come sleep at Two-Bit’s, too. 

After a school day mid-week, she and Carrie said their goodbyes and her friend left with Steven. Two-Bit drove his car home with the promise of meeting her and Ponyboy at the Curtis’s for dinner since his mom wasn’t going to be home until late that night.

A while later, she and her friends were lounging on the couch, catching up on some Mickey when Soda and Darry walked through the door. 

“That’s great, little buddy,” the older brother remarked as he set down his work belt onto the coffee table. 

“Yeah, I’m really happy with-,” Soda started, but focused his attention on the kids sitting on the couch. “Well, well. Think we picked up a couple of bums, Darry.” He bent over and immediately went for Rae. She squealed and tried to jump out of his grasp, but he started tickling her sides, grinning that award-winning smile of his that made anyone melt. When she tried to jump over Two-Bit, he grabbed her arms and held her there until she was gasping for breath. 

The laughter didn’t last for long, though- a tightness in her throat threatened to choke her and a sense of panic twisted her stomach as her arms were clamped to her side and she wasn’t able to move- wasn’t able to get away- and suddenly, she was begging them to stop but they didn’t seem to understand and-

Soda finally retreated, but he was keeled over, hands over his stomach, a pained expression on his red, strained face. Everyone had frozen, all the sound gone from the room. Rae’s eyes widened when she realized in her moment of panic, she must have kicked him to get him to stop.

“Soda, I-I’m-” Two-Bit let go of her arms as she struggled to sit up and reach out to him. “I didn’t mean-” He inhaled a deep breath, trying to straighten himself out.

“It’s okay,” he squeaked out. “Don’t worry about it. Are you okay?”

“It’s...been a while since I felt that kind of…”

"Hey, what smells so good?" Darry yelled from his bedroom. “Did Pony cook?” Soda wheezed a laugh.

“Not likely!” he said with a shaky, but jovial voice, as his older brother walked back into the room. Pony reached out to smack him on the arm. “It was definitely Rae. If Pony had made it, it’d be burnt to a crisp by now.” Soda winked at her, all forgiven and forgotten. The egg timer in the kitchen starting ringing and Rae pulled her hair over one shoulder as she stood up, trying to hide her red face. 

"Lasagna," she said, quietly, as she passed the oldest Curtis and went to pull the pasta out of the oven. Ponyboy silently followed her to start setting the table.

“Soda, you okay?” she heard Darry ask as she slipped an oven mitt over her hand, then tuned out the rest of the conversation.

While Rae was slicing their dinner, she heard the door squeal open and various mumbled greetings followed. 

“Oh yeah, she’s in the kitchen.”

Dally came around the corner as she was setting the knife down, ready to bring the pan to the dining room. The knot in her stomach eased a bit at the sight of his face.

“Hey, Dally.”

“Hey, kid. Thought I might catch ya’ll here.”

“Stayin’ for dinner?”

“Sure, yeah.” She nodded and went to grab an extra place setting for him. 

“It’s ready!” she called out to her friends. Everyone assembled around the small table, grabbing squares of lasagna with a spatula and digging in. 

“Sweet Jesus,” Two-Bit moaned, mouth full of pasta. “This is so damn good.” 

“So,” Dally started, cutting into his food with his fork. “Ya’ll goin’ to the rumble in Brumly on Friday?”

“There’s a rumble?” Ponybody asked, hopeful, but his older brother’s voice overpowered his.

“Absolutely not,” Darry insisted. “With the state’s eye narrowin’ in on us, we’d better skip it.”

“I was thinkin’ ‘bout takin’ Rae down to-” She perked up at the thought.

“Do you think that’s a good idea, Dally?” Darry wiped his mouth with a paper napkin. “Those Brumly boys- they can get pretty dirty and-”

“Nah, nah,” her brother interrupted. “I made sure skin only.” Darry pursed his lips and didn’t argue, although Rae could see that he really wanted to. He sighed through his nose. “Besides- Shepard’s gang’ll be there too. If anythin’ happens to her, there’ll be three of us against whoever the hell tries to mess with a Winston.”

“I’m sittin’ right here, ya know,” Rae commented, quietly. “Why do ya’ll keep talkin’ as if I ain’t here?” Dally reached over and patted her on the back. 

“Sorry, kid. Ya wanna go, right?”

“Well, duh,” she muttered, shifting the remnants of her dinner around on her plate.

“Good kid. It’ll be good for ya, to let off all that steam sittin’ in your hot head.”

“What’s the beef, anyway?” Soda asked once he’d polished off his plate. The color of his face seemed to have goon back to normal, and he didn’t seem to be in pain anymore. Rae sighed internally, relief flooding her.

“I dunno, really,” Dally said with a shrug. “Prob’ly drugs. Them Brumly boys are hittin’ the streets pretty heavy with heroin or some other shit. Wouldn’t be surprised if they sold these rich bastards a bad batch one too many times. Tim just told me about it today- didn’t go into the details. A fight’s a fight’s a fight, am I right?”

When Friday rolled around, Dallas met her at Two-Bit’s house, pumped up and ready for some action.

"No-don’t wear a jacket. It’ll hinder your movement,” Dally ordered his sister as she went to slip into her birthday present. Rae shrugged her shoulders and dropped her jacket on to the bed. She tore the t-shirt off her back and replaced it with a long-sleeved shirt. “And pull your hair back.”

She did as she was told and tied her hair back into a high, tight bun. Didn’t want to give the Socs anything to grab on to. When she was finished, then slipped her knife in the back pocket of her jeans and pulled on her Converse, her stomach tying in nervous knots.

"It stopped rainin’. It should be nice and muddy," her brother said, looking out the window of her new bedroom. He let the sheer, wispy curtains fall back into place and sat down on her bed. “Okay, ground rules. Ya don’t leave my side- unless you’re close to Tim or Curly.”

“Right.”

“Ya better not pull that knife out unless you’re threatened with a weapon first. This ain’t supposed to be a dirty fight. But, that bein’ said, this is Brumly we’re talkin’ about and it could change at any time.”

“Okay.”

“And if ya get hurt- you call one of us and we’ll come help. Got it?”

“Got it,” she said with a nod, and then clamped her lips shut. 

"Ya sure you wanna do this?" Dally asked his little sister. “You’re green as hell. Ya ain’t gonna puke on me are ya?” Rae inhaled a deep breath through her nose and let it out, slowly, trying to ease her stomach.

"No-I’m cool," she assured him. "Just a little nervous. First rumble an’ all." He nodded and stood back up.

“Aight, we’d better get movin’ or we’ll miss it.”

They took Buck’s car over and met the other boys at the Shepard house, then headed over to Brumly territory, meeting their gang in the grassy backyard of an abandoned warehouse- a place out of view so that no one called the cops. 

A few of the boys eyed her suspiciously- girls didn’t usually participate in the big fights. Dally and Tim shook hands with a few of the boys they recognized, while Curly stuck to her side like glue, his hand resting snug around her wait.

“Don’t pay attention to them. They’ll get over it,” he insisted as they filtered in among the ranks of greasers. She even spotted a few of the harder hoods- part of the River Kings, no doubt. If she weren’t around- and if not for Mr. and Mrs. Curtis- she was sure Dally’d join up with them in a split second. Compared to them, the Curtis outfit was soft as hell.

Their siblings joined them soon after, and once the sun started setting, they heard car engines mixed with shouting approaching from the front of the building. Rae pushed herself off the side of the building she was lounging on. Tim cracked his knuckles. 

“Let’s teach these momma’s boys what’s what,” he said, trying to rally them up. Curly touched the small of her back for a moment, trying to calm her nervous shaking. 

“You’ll be great,” he whispered into her ear. She gave him a slanted, feline smile. “Atta girl.” He dropped his hand as the rich kids rounded the corner. She crossed her arms over her chest as she watched a burly kid from Brumly walk up to meet who seemed to be the leader of the Soc group.

After exchanging a few words, the first punch was thrown and everything exploded into absolute chaos. The three boys around her jumped right in, but she hung back, eyeing the few left. 

When he walked up to her, she recognized him as the kid who’d beat the living hell out of Johnny. The kid who’d wanted to fight her for running into him at the roller rink. The one who tore her dress at the dance. Bob, right? Maybe it was her lucky day. He circled her like a hawk. She could feel the confident arrogance radiating off of him.

"Don't expect me to go easy on you because you're a girl," he said, his words barely reaching her ears over the noise around them. She tilted her head to the side. 

"Never expected ya to," she replied, after backing away a few steps when he started getting close. She spit on the ground. He let out a few slow chuckles, a smirk appearing on his smug face.

"And especially don't expect me to go easy on you because your daddy raped you, little girl." Rae’s eyes widened. 

Shit.

Part I End

[dusterdawnhorse]

2018 Convention Schedule

IT WON’T FIT IN THE HEADER.

Anime LA January 25-28; Ontario, CA Attending

BABSCon March 30-April 1; Burlingame, CA Vending, Paneling pending

High Roller Pony Con May 31-June 2; Las Vegas, NV Applied for Vending and Paneling

Anime Expo July 1-4; Los Angeles, CA Attending

Bronycon July 27–29; Baltimore, MD Will apply for Vending and Paneling

[twistedsketchproductions]

APPLES! Making a few of these for High Roller Pony Con next weekend! All the mane 6 and a possible 7th character. Who should it be?