#also i think i should be doing more mlp fanart

[cityoftheangelllls]

Spike The Dragon Palette 78.

To quote Star Catcher, consider it done!

Commissions info

[anonymousmothman]

I love star trek fanart so much because people will put tails on any species that isn't human . Cardassian? Understandable, they're straight up reptiles. Weyoun? I get it... it's a little critter. Andorian? Vulcan? Bajoran? I love it so much. Even if it "doesn't make sense in canon" it's so real to me. I think everyone deserves to have a tail because tails are cool as shit.

[hiwelcometothemonstersancturary]

You know, you talking about a SC AU makes me think a bit. In Poppy Worldwide you said that there is, in fact, a Smiling Critters fandom and the BBI Critters know about it/are a part of it. Do you think people in-universe would make AUs of the Smiling Critters? Would the Critters know about them and gush about them? Would the Critters themselves make their own AUs?

I like to think that someone made an in-universe version of Eggritos' AMAZING Frowning Critters AU, and the crew decided that they should all cosplay it. The BBI critters would love all the AUs! I can imagine Crafty in Angel's chunky computer they bought in 2002 seeing an AU for the first time and going "wait, I never saw this before! Did they do more stuff for the show?", and then discovering what AUs and OCs are.

Crafty wants to tell the group, but doesn't know if they would be weirded out by it. She sure loves what she saw, and the concept of fanfiction, fanart and doing whatever SHE wants to do with the show amazes her. She's in a 4-hour long deepdive into Smiling Critters OCs in 2005 DeviantArt when Bobby asks her what she's doing, and she tells her about it. Bobby is amazed by the idea! It's like an evolution of what the kids at Playcare did! She then tells Hoppy, who at that time was still confined in her bed, who calls for Kickin and Dogday to come in, catching the attention of Bubba. Crafty shyly explains to them what she found, and then everyone in the tiny house is now staring at the computer screen and seeing what people have to offer. Catnap at that time was still hesitant to talk to the group, but he watched from afar, also very amused.

The group tells Angel about this, who's just "oh, makes sense!", and then Crafty dives head-first into drawing their cartoon selves to resemble their BBI bodies more. She shows Catnap her drawing, hesitant that he would hate it, but Catnap is just "you drew me???? But you only draw the people you like!!!", and Crafty tells him that she knows he's trying to be better, so why not give him that chance? And that's how they start talking to each other again.

The BBI critters all love the AUs they find! They also made some of their own: A horror one to cope with the trauma, one based in the second more "edgy" reboot where it's more of a silly rewrite (they made DayNap canon on that one), another that's a parody of the telenovelas they watch with Angel while learning pt-br, and a MLP x Smiling Critters crossover made by Crafty. They also cosplay the AUs they like the most!

[starsifter]

I've been considering uploading my fics to fimfiction but the dislike rating system stops me and the negative comments and things, and the 1000 word minimum, so honestly I think I'll be sticking to ao3. Not anything truly against fimfiction, it's just got that pretentious brony vibe to it. That antithesis to everything that is fandom that the mlp fandom has sometimes and I don't know why. Guys, fandom and fanart and fanworks are meant to be for your personal enjoyment. Your skill level doesn't matter, your abilities don't matter, it's about doing something that's fun and sharing it with other people who also think it's fun. Back in the day, when I first started writing fanfic, I wrote for this community that like- 2 people cared about, and I wrote a 20,000 something word fic for it, it was bad and self-indulgent, and probably lost to the depths of ao3 because I orphaned it a long time ago, but goddamnit it was fun. And on ao3 the people who liked it, liked it, and the people who hated it just filtered out the tags they didn't like and never saw it. Or they just looked at it and decided it wasn't to their tastes and left. And that's how I think it should be. If you don't like the fan content, fine, make your own, go find some more, why bother commenting on it? We're all supposed to be here to have fun. Like yeah, maybe my fanfic sucks, maybe my fanart sucks, by like- professional standards or whatever, but it's for fun. It's supposed to be fun. Like "oh your oc is a mary sue" "this fanfic is terrible" "the anatomy on this fanart is bad" WHO CARES. WHO GIVES A FUCK. In summation, just start having fun again, and if you don't like a particular piece of fanwork, maybe just keep that to yourself. Obviously I'm not talking about when the fanwork in question is objectively harmful.

[ketherane-molybdate]

Feel like it's about time I should make at least some kinda pinned post so uh Hello! I mainly use this blog to share fandom stuff, memes, & lesbianism, but I will semi-frequently share more serious content e.g. politics & fundraisers. For this you should be aware that this is a Marxist-Leninist blog with some focus on feminism & anti-imperialism when I do talk about it, as such I don't take kindly to zionists, NATO apologists, (ukro-)fascists, sinophobes, transphobes, patriarchy simps, ableists, or any other milieu of bigots & liberals

But anyways, here's a brief rundown of my interest tagging system & some of my most used tags/special interests (things I consider sub-tags listed in parentheses):

fanart (deltarune fanart, toh fanart)

fan theory

folklore lore - just a silly tag for internet hcs about folklore & myth

deltarune (kris dreemurr, ralsei, kralsei, suselle)

disco elysium

ena

hnk - Houseki no Kuni/Land of the Lustrous

rgu - Revolutionary Girl: Utena

bes - Blue-Eyed Samurai

evangelion

dungeon meshi

splatoon (pearlina, acht mizuta)

toh (lumity) - the Owl House

steven universe

adventure time

mlp*

apex legends

dr who

star wars

good omens*

house* - the TV show House MD (not really a special interest, just talk about it some)

anthropology

birdposting

guns

ellie talks - that's me, mostly just for text posts/me rambling

communism memes - again, memes regarding communism, not mocking it

This list is probably subject to expansion, but this is all I can think of for now. I'll also definitely tag things as nsfw if I feel like they even slightly need it, but even tho I'm asexual, not everything's gonna be squeaky clean just fyi

If you made it this far, you are my de facto moot now and I love you 😙 Have a nice day!

[mihai-florescu]

I was reflecting on my early 2010s internet days and man... i sometimes worry that my obsessions now are performative, i Am doing fanarts in hopes of likes, i Am making posts in hopes of conversations etc, i worry that i only do things for engagement. But then i look back at my adventure time days. I would spend hours drawing fanarts, making fancomics, writing down my favorite song lyrics, browsing wikis, hand drawings character refs and then putting it all together in a big binder that i considered my bible. I had no social media, no friends who cared (those who did were casual watchers on tv because we were 9. I learned english to watch episodes in advance online). All i had was the power of undiagnosed autism. And i must admit an embarassing secret, dear readers. I didnt like bubbline (i only knew that was a ship through youtube comments and amvs) because 1. I was 9 and didnt know 2 girls could date, and 2. I wanted marceline for myself. Looking back it's really funny, the track record was that all my crushes in elenentary school were fictional girls but i just assumed thats normal. I remember when the first fionna and cake episode came out and people were going crazy for matshal lee, i thought he was fine, fun, but i was also mentally rolling my eyes because he's not as cool as marceline. I dont even know why i was a hater there i think i just was too much of a marceline fan to accept what i perceived as people hyping up this guy more than her? Once again i was in elementary school. I had no connection to other Actual people in a fandom setting. And thats how things should be at that age... once i hit middle school my pokemon hyperfixation came back and i also discovered what reddit was... i wasnt posting myself as far as i remember but still. I think it wasnt until my superwholock phase, youtubers phase, and early anime phase in middle school when i started posting online. Wait i just remembered another core memory of the late elementary school days. All the rule 34 that was just free floating on google images when you searched for a character. I was also a mlp girl, so, you know. I like to think im truly and properly desensitized to any and every thing the internet can offer.

[spicycowboyhole]

2/2 12:17AM (transcribed)

In three days I will be a different person.

Im God

Im Kanye Something about comparing a person to the impression is left by that person like when Kanye said something that I cant remember but reminded me of people mentioned in the Bible and their doings are remembered and idolized. But it doesnt really matter if you know their names because the message is most important. I think great artists share this sentiment of creating something so revolutionary that even after theyre gone and forgotten, their work will have left an impact on humanity. It seems selfish, like they think they deserve to be as iconic as Jesus, so well known that they're taken for granted. But actually they mean they hope to still leave an impression/impact on people through their music even if they can't put a face to it. [classic composers through music for babies, nirvana tshirts] This is something Labi Siffre says, that "there's too much personality in music" "I don't believe in giving the audience what they want anyway, I believe in giving the audience my best and making them like it." Jeff Buckley says it too, "I'd rather the people not think about me as a face, or a name, or a body and just come and listen, really" Here's a really long quote watch out!! "Everybody knows what its like to create an artistic moment. so-called "artistic moment" because it's really just heightened humanism, it's just a heightened human language. if youve spent a night making love you know exactly what it means to strip your ego down where you are there expressing yourself, wordlessly, collaborating on a moment. that has an energy about it that is replenishing, completely inspirational in a way you could never imagine. thats the way art REALLY is." Kanye says the same thing but no one gets it because they think he's egotistical and stuff and crazy. Its like how all the religions all point to the same directions. What's an ego anyway? Should I care if he thinks about or remembers me as a person or is the impression I leave more important? "There are cathedrals everywhere for those who have the eyes to see" We idolize those we agree with and tear down the statues of those we dont. Destroy Trump statue or donate Markiplier MLP fanart Tshirt, Jeff doesnt want me to remember him but i just put a big ass poster of him on my wall because of the pure emotion he was able to transmit through music that I felt so hard it was like a spiritual awakening and instant connection with him personally. He's my Jesus. BEAR WITH ME NOW. If Jeff Buckley is Jesus, than Labi SIffre and Kanye are also Jesus too. Id Jesus is "God in human form" then that means Jeff, Labi, and Kanye are also God. (Just like Lil B) But if I'm also God then are we all God? What is an "artistic moment"? What is music? Why do crazy people always resort to religion? I have NOT read the bible. By that logic, I guess I'm more polytheistic leaning. I'd say Im religious in a sense that I believe in people but I think thats my human programming that wants me to like people so we can survive and continue reproducing. My 12 year old self will tell you thats what "love" is. Thats so sad omg but if thats the case then is "God" whatever is causing that reaction?Is God just the will to live? Is the meaning of life just life itself? "all music is a religion, it's the best one" - jeff Hey guys if anyone knows what the fuck im talking about can u help me if Bible were to replaces references to God, Jesus, or ANY person as the same entity, would it make sense? Is that something we cant see like a 5th dimension or a "biblically accurate angel"? Religion is just human reproduction propaganda. Im basically just writing my own bible. Is this really what having a crush on someone feels like? 2:13AM

[ouchmaster6000]

Just to clarify a few things:

I didn't mean men prefer writing original fiction more than women, so much as you see a lot more men writing original fiction than you see them writing fanfiction (Or at the very least, the gender disparity between men & women writing fanfics vs men & women writing OG fiction seems a lot more extreme.) Hence why when you do see men making creative works in fandoms, I think a lot of fandoms that focus more on larger settings where you can make your own characters of certain species and factions tend to attract men vs. fandoms of series with a narrower focus that are more about the interpersonal drama of specific pre-existing characters (Warhammer 40k is a perfect example of the former, as are number of big video game franchises)

I didn't mean the increase in women authors being published is due to DEI / bias, just the fact that it's gotten to the point they are outnumbering men to such an extreme. I think without that bias, we'd be seeing a fairly equal number of male and female writers being hired by publishing companies, rather than it going back to mostly male authors when the bias was leaning in the other direction.

I should also probably point out that a lot of the examples of stuff intended for "all audiences" that you mentioned are also targeted mostly towards dudes, just not to the same extreme as MGE.

BNHA, for example, was printed in Shonen Jump, a magazine for young boys. Shonen literally means "Boy". Its why characters like Mineta exist in the story, despite many western women hating the character. Momo, Mt. Lady and Midnight were the characters the writer intended the audience lust over, not Bakugo, Kirishima and Todoroki. Just because something has a lot of female fans doesn't make someone the target audience. By that logic the existence of Bronies means MLP isn't targeted at little girls.

Marvel comics (and superhero comics in general) have also been historically targeted at males: Young boys in the early years, and older male nerds in the 80's-early 2000s. It's really only after the explosive popularity of the MCU caused it to go mainstream (and be bought by Disney) that Marvel started to try to deliberately take women and girls into account in their marketing. But pretty much all those characters - Iron Man, Spider-Man, the Hulk etc. - Were originally designed and conceptualized with a male audience in mind.

If anything, I think these stats go to show that a lot of women seem to have a compulsive need to rewrite male targeted media to suit their tastes (and in the cases of really toxic fandoms like BNHA, I've noticed many seem feel entitled to said media and demand the creators change it).

By comparison, you really don't see many men writing Yuri fanfiction for stuff like Twilight or Ouran Host Club. Granted, I have seen a lot of sexy fanart of female characters from Sailor Moon and Steven Universe, but there doesn't seem to be many straight male targeted fanfics. My Little Pony seems to kinda be the one exception here, what with published crossover fanfiction like Fallout: Equestria.

As for how many people on ao3 identify as lgbt.... That actually is pretty shocking. I'm honestly curious as to why that is.

To be fair, I'm not sure why and am curious to know why women seem to write more fanfiction than men ,too.

I just don't find the disparity between male and female fanfic writers nearly as shocking since there are just as many women out there as there are men, but lgbt make up such a tiny fraction of the population, seeing them make up 81.4% of Ao3 is frankly bizarre.

I'm also curious though, what these demographics would look like if you included all the other sites scattered around the internet. For example, though I've only visited there a few times, I know Spacebattles.com is a creative writing forum with a fairly decently sized user base (Though not nearly as big as Ao3) that seems to be mostly dudes. It's also not unheard of for guys to post fics on certain boards on 4chan and 8chan too. (Though those unfortunately disappear and get lost pretty easily.)

I feel like the lust if story is the reason for the harem elements in whdaa

I don’t think so, honestly. “MC gets a harem of beautiful women” is such a common, popular trope in anime (and ESPECIALLY in Isekai) that it’s often difficult to find stories in this medium that DON’T include it, and the only real surprise that came with it appearing in Ao3 fics was that…well, it’s a pretty aggressively heterosexual trope, and I honestly thought that straight people were more of a minority on that site than they apparently actually are, lol. (No hate to the author — I can respect that they stuck to their guns, and are even managing to get back into writing their story a couple years after taking a break, and even REWROTE most of it because of how they had improved over time — but my GOD is that trope straight lmao)

Lust:IF was less a story in its own right and more Tappei making a joke about a popular Isekai fantasy because he was too uncomfortable writing sexual content to make a serious IF Route dedicated to the sin (which honestly? I can respect that he went and just said so instead of trying to force himself to write something he wouldn’t have enjoyed) (very much implies something about Subaru’s character though, doesn’t it? That his affinity for lust is apparently so small that it didn’t even get a serious IF route. …It also matches how he’s consistently more fixated on women’s clothes than women’s bodies, too, ngl—). And he was able to make that joke because pretty much everyone who would be in a position to read Re:Zero and its IF routes would know enough about the genre to get the punchline. Thus, I think crediting it for the existence of a harem in WHDAAA is a little much, because the trope ALREADY existed and the joke was already being made, long before Lust:IF had actually come out.

[colorful-horses]

I just wanna say i think your art is really pretty and it makes me unreasonably happy every time i see it. The way you just unabashedly love cute things and doll hair and toys while making such wonderful and professional art is really special. As an adult, seeing you makes me feel better about my more childish interests and tendencies, so i wanted to come here and say you are a talented artist, a lovely person, and an ABSOLUTE vibe. It is a delight to have you on my dash.

Oh, and if youre still doing the fandom ask thing, how about 11, 12, and 17?

I hope you have a good 2022 :)

This is possibly the nicest ask I've ever gotten oml, thank you so much ;-;

You should never feel bad for liking 'childish' things! I used to be EXTREMELY embarrassed by the media I liked (I've ALWAYS been a fan of mlp, but I dropped it when I was in middle school because I didnt want to be seen as embarrassing, and only recently picked it back up again in highschool), but it's honestly gotten to the point where I flat out have no shame anymore lol. Some people may think it's weird, but if collecting toys or watching cartoons makes you happy, then you should fully embrace that; its extremely freeing!

Here's some art just for you!:

Answers for the fandom asks under the cut!

11. Any fanart you especially like from My Little Pony? Include artist!!

I especially like this drawing by @horseblob. I love the colors and the shading on the hair so much! (also i think its hilarious lol)

12. Have you read any fics from My Little Pony?

I honestly rarely read fanfiction (especially MLP related fanfiction), but I felt bad for not having an answer to this one, so I went out of my way to find one to recommend:

"How Many Princesses Does It Take" is a fic about the sun suddenly vanishing, and so Twilight and her friends head to Canterlot to investigate. I thought it was a funny one!! (Though I'll be honest, I did search FIMFiction for the most popular stories, so it's possible this one is actually really well known and I'm just out of the loop. Sorry if thats the case! I just thought it was a silly read, lol)

17. Favorite opening/ closing song from My Little Pony?

My favorite opening song is the one for Legend of Everfree, and my favorite ending song is Shine Like Rainbows from Rainbow Rocks!

--

send me fandom asks

[hxdrostorm]

@masterofthehighgroud​ has sent: Questions Often Left Unanswered: Mun Edition 1 | 2 | 6 | 12

Questions Often Left Unanswered: Mun Edition [Accepting]

1. Are there any characters in your fandom or faceclaims you refuse to RP with? Who and why?

// My rules has a section showing the fandoms/communities I don’t want to interact or rp with! Here’s a reminder to it:

MLP, Homestuck, Undertale, Fnaf, League of Legends (Arcane won’t get a pass), Genshin Impact, Fnf, Disney and MCU (I’m debating on whether or not, I’ll give the comics a pass tho...)

Star wars stuff in specific.  I’m intimidated and iffy about Legends characters, simply because I’m still not 100% knowledgeable about it (I’m learning more and more about it). Kotor/jedi fallen order/any of the SW games... I’m also not well versed in them, so I’ll also be hesitant to interact with them. With all of these things said, here are my straight ‘no’s. Unless I’m well acquaintanced with the mun behind the muse, I’ll not write with any of the sequels era characters (As stated in my muses directory. Although I’ve watched the trilogy, I’m not entirely familiar with it, which contributes to my overall lack of interest in interacting with it). Then there are the Starcruiser hotel, and the theme park attractions which are at the very bottom of everything thus getting the biggest no (I don’t think I have to talk about how the vibes between those things, don’t fall in line with anything else within the SW universe, right? Nah man, y’all can keep and try to excuse the +6k dollar LARP mess [which I heard that Disney is looking to double the prices so Y I K E S])

And as I’m writing this: I also won’t RP with Andor muses, until the serie is over.

2. Are there any plot tropes you are sick of/refuse to RP? If so, what are they and why?

// I’m not a fan of those fix-it AUs. No matter what it may be about. ‘No order 66 palpie chokes on a croissant & the galaxy is all fine & dandy uwu AU’, ‘clones are just one big family & jango is their dad uwu AU’. I understand the desire for those types of plots for fanarts and fanfics, but when it comes RP? Killing off the tragedy in SW is the equivalent of, burning down SW’s very essence. Also I’ve noticed that with these plots, they always end up watering down so many things about SW. The name of the series is literally Star wars, the war IS meant to be ugly, I don’t think anyone should sugarcoat that.

6. Is there a character that the rest of your fandom adores that you just don’t like/are indifferent to? Who is the character and why?

// I think that the Kenobi series hype is long dead by now, SO I can finally say this, without sb coming out of the woodworks to crucify me for it. Reva was mediocre at best (the actress put on her best, it is just that the script she was handed to was bad. The odds were against her.). She most certainly wasn’t the worst thing that came out of the show, see young Leia (wtf did they do to thIS KID?) and Tala (who? I literally forgot about her 5 secs after her death).

I just wished that Lucas arts hadn’t wasted their time with fan-baiting, hate-baiting its audience, all while using Ingram as a meat-shield for every single criticism towards the show. And instead taken their time to properly iron out this character. BC as she currently stands? It’s bad... That pitiful attempt at a redemption? Yeah, it could use some MUCH needed work, instead of just slapping it on her then calling it a day. But I’ll take what we got, over whatever the drafted one had in it (Cody’s legacy is safe... For now...).

12. What’s your biggest pet peeve when it comes to the fandom you RP in?

// What’s up with all the weird anons me and many of my mutuals have been getting? I’ve never had to deal with anything like it, in all of my RPing years. What’s up with people not knowing how to use the block function, and blacklisting feature?

I’ve received multiple anons, whining about the fact I write cloneshipping. Or even having meltdowns over some of my HCs. I want to believe this is the result of how the search function on tumblr now operates, so it searches with anything that contains the searched words, instead of the tags. So, I’m chalking it up to being just strangers, finding my blog unaware of what this blog is about. But at the same time, there is a part of me that thinks I’ve received hate from actual RPers over that. BC god forbid, blocking sb and moving on with their day, is just too simple.

There is never a bad reason to not block someone. Even if it may sound silly in your mind, just block/filter out whatever is bugging you. It’s a whole lot better than hate-reading, or exposing yourself to shit you know that causes you discomfort.

[heartfullofpony]

Not Knowing

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was constantly in the process of reinventing itself. It started out as a "Rated E for Everyone" show that had trouble getting the word "egghead" past the censors, and ultimately evolved into the kind of program where massive battle scenes felt totally in place and appropriate.

It's wild - this journey - this evolution.

I've been slowly re-watching the series, as well you know, and one thing that's lost in the experience is the sense of anticipation - the sense of not knowing where the show was heading next. That mystery was once a source of tremendous excitement.

Take Princess Luna, for example. When Season One wrapped up, a lot of us were left wondering if Princess Luna would ever return, or if her very presence had been a mere fluke of the pilot.

Why wasn't she at the Grand Galloping Gala? Why? Why? Whyyyyyyyyyyyy?!

When she finally did appear in Luna Eclipsed - a full year after the pilot had first aired - many of us reasonably speculated that the suits in charge of Studio B had deemed her too spooky to appear in anything other than a Halloween episode. After all, for months and months and months after Nightmare Night, Luna still showed no sign of being integrated organically into the MLP universe.  When Canterlot Wedding aired, we freaked out in utter delight when Princess Luna was briefly seen way off in the distance. She simply said, "as always, I will guard the night," and flew away, but to us, this was amazing.

They had that confirmed that Princess Luna legitimately had something to do!  It seems like such a small thing now - a detail that should have been taken for granted, but the show had given us very little indication up until that point that they were planning on fully incorporating Luna into the show. It wasn't until Sleepless in Ponyville that Princess Luna finally had an actual role in Equestria - the Princess of Dreams - and that was two whole years after Friendship is Magic had premiered.

Luna fans had spent every moment in between eagerly anticipating the mere possibility of her return. We filled in the blanks with memes and discussions - with songs, and stories, and comics, and works of fanart. That was our attitude toward everything - taking a not-fully-fleshed-out universe that we somehow felt a part of right from the start, and just...building.

That not knowing - that mystery. At its best, it was actually part of the magic.

At its worst, it also left folks doubting the very future of the show.

It's sort of legendary how big of a wedge Magical Mystery Cure drove into the fandom when it first alicornized Twilight Sparkle. While binge watching Seasons 1-3, it's totally easy to forget that, after MMC initially aired, we didn't have the option of skipping ahead, and seeing where they were going with this idea. It left a lot of people nervous, myself included.

Looking back, Season 3 took a lot of risks - made a lot of bold changes in a very short period of time - world-altering ideas like the reformation of Discord, and the alicornization of Twilight (that probably could have benefited from a bit more build up and development). All this happened with a new show runner in Meghan McCarthy, a thirteen episode timeline, and an overworked staff simultaneously developing Equestria Girls on the side. Season 3 always felt a little disjointed to me, even though it's got a few gems in it, and that's okay.

I don't think quite as many of us would have quit the show, left the fandom, or gotten into such heated debates over Magical Mystery Cure if we could simply have skipped ahead to binge Season 4, and seen for ourselves what a spectacular job the show was going to do of following up on the idea of Twilight Sparkle, Alicorn Princess. Also those who loved MMC from the start wouldn't have had to deal with quite so much division in the fandom.

Looking back now, I realize that such a split was inevitable. Like I said, so much of our energy as a fandom was borne of anticipation. With no clear sign of where they would be going with the concept of alicorn Twilight - a lot of us, particularly those who found Magical Mystery Cure somewhat lacking as an episode - anticipated the worst. It seems so very silly now, but like I stated earlier, the very momentum of bronydom itself came from so much not knowing.

There's no way to recapture that experience - the good or the bad.

I'm glad I was around to watch the show evolve in real time - to get hyped - even to experience doubts. But I'm not writing this to wax nostalgic about the good old days of the fandom, (if such a thing can even be said to exist). In fact, I'm even more thrilled now that I can watch the whole darn thing from start to finish with the benefit of hindsight. Looking back, I not only love the shape that the show ended up taking, (especially in the very end), but I finally respect the struggle that it took to get there - the commitment to trying new things - the fearlessness. At the time, I didn't always like or agree with every single twist and turn, (and I admit that sometimes, not knowing got the better of me), but that journey, in its own way, is a huge part of the soul of My Little Pony - a constant evolution - a perpetual reinvention of itself.

There's nothing else quite like it, and there never will be again. Isn't it great to have been there as it happened, (even if you only joined the herd in the later seasons)? Isn't it magical? This quaint little show that become an inexplicable phenomenon.

What a long strange trip it's been. Sprocket

If you enjoy essays like these, please consider supporting my work on Patreon. You can also follow Heart Full of Pony on FimFic.

[veiraviss]

I don’t really know why I did this. One day I woke up, and somehow... everything I was doing before turned out to be completely pointless... I started listening to some music, I layed in bed for four hours just contemplating. So I thought... why not? I saw a few fanarts with them as ponies... but I would do it differently. So I did. I also came up with an AU. Where they are all slightly more peaceful and happier. Uhh... yeah. I’m thinking about a short comic around this... it kinda would give me interesting solutions that I couldn’t use in my “main” AU... I should most likely rethink this green mare’s fur color... at first it was a good idea, but then when I started learning how probably pony genetics work, and realized that the Crying Child should be either green or orange... because I didn’t want to be too repetitive with this... orange didn’t work at all, but the muted, olive green was better, but then the eyes ehh... 

The most difficult part turned out to be the design of their cutie marks. I kinda had an idea for Mike. In my headcannon he is creative and an artist, but a talented technician at the same time. This is why his cutie mark is a wrench and a paintbrush. Clara (I know not the most creative. You know... “The immortal and the Restless” being an analogy to Aftons’ life theory and all...) was quite simple on the other hand. I wanted her to be completely unrelated to this whole robotics business. She is a caretaker of her own botanic garden in Cloudsdale. That’s why her cutie mark is three tulip bulbs. That are slowly blooming, but not quite yet.

William, Henry and Charlie were the hardest. I literally spent five days on just sketching my ideas and then scratching them. I wanted to emphasize William’s genius in the field of engineering, but also his natural ability to use unicorn magic. The cogwheels were always there, in my imagination, but I didn’t really know where I should put them. At one point I started also researching symbolism of voodoo, necromancy, Celtic or Aztec symbols of rebirth or death... I could always just put there some blood and knife, but that would be stupid. Like. Imagine you live in Equestria. Everyone has that mark on their hip that says exactly their destiny, interests, job or personality, and you come across an individual who has a dagger on their hip. Yyyup. Trustworthy af. I don’t mind if your OCs have edgy cutie marks. I designed a cutie mark for my friend’s ponysona back in 2013 and it was literally a sacrificial dagger piercing a black, broken heart, and it somehow never needed to be changed. It’s your choice, just in my personal opinion this would work as a warning to everypony around and that murderer character would never be able to kill anybody. Also also I believe you are not born with evil intentions in mind. William must have got his cutie mark when he was a filly or a teenager, but he killed many years after that. I kinda wonder... if a pony can lost their cutie mark after committing such atrocity... going back to the main subject... I decided on two gears and a magic wand with a trail of purple magic. And that’s it.

Henry and Charlie took me a little less time, but still. I wanted Henry to have emphasis on creative engineering, his kindness and artistic sensitivity. There were paintbrushes, Celtic symbolism again, because I’m a very boring human being, there were hearts and quills. I almost left him with an ink heart painted with an indigo quill, but it turned out so fucking disgusting in the end, that I just deleted it from my computer entirely with no regrets. I went to eat some pancakes and then I started hearing Henry’s speech from the end of FFPS in my head and I experienced illumination. So basically my idea for Charlie’s cutie mark was a gift. Because she gives life in FNaF2 minigames. But then I decided to take this design and give it to Henry, because he is nice. He wanted to share his creation with the world to make others happy. He gave his daughter a lot of toys he made himself. His destiny is clearly giving. This is why he has three gifts on his hip. Charlie on the other hand became the protector and giver of life and second chance. Her cutie mark is a shield with an opened gift in the middle what represents giving life and protection of the innocent. The crying child and Elizabeth have no cutie marks, because they died before they had a chance of getting one, so... F in the chat for them I suppose...

So that’s the story... about how I spent way too much time on one drawing I tried to make just for fun and relax... I feel a little better mentally... I guess... when I decided to come back to being a brony after my six years of absence in the MLP fandom so yeah... long post.

[darkstarcore]

i will do 2 hyperfixationz, for mario: 📌 💕 and mlp: 🍀 💎

I will do funny plumber game first, then pastel horses! And I know how to do a read more on mobile 😎

Super Mario

📌 How did you find your hyperfixation?

For Super Mario as an entire franchise, I don’t quite remember actually. I think it was a super long time ago when I was like... six or seven. I’m gonna guess I saw a Mario game on either my babysitter’s daughter’s Wii or some ballerina’s DS (mom was a ballerina once). Bowser was my favorite character for a good while, and this is important because...

I first got Bowser’s Inside Story, my first Mario and Luigi game, after I saw kid play it at a hotel while my mom was doing a meeting in the party room. Basically tiny me went “whoa you can play as Bowser :o” so I asked my mom for the game for Christmas. Took me forever to get out of Cavi Cape but it was fun. Then a few years later I randomly looked up fanart and fanfiction for Fawful (who left a big impression on me in the past), went down the rabbit hole, and whoOPS here I am now.

💕 Tell us about one of your favorite characters and why you like them!

I think the last time I did this ask meme, I answered this question for Fawful, so...

In case it wasn’t clear to anyone, instead of a brain, I have the Dark Star in my head always. It’s so oddly specific and yet I can’t be bothered to stop liking it. I just really like the Dark Star as a concept! Stars in Mario are supposed to be forces of good, or at least neutral. Then we have the Dark Star who was like “actually I want to be evil” and we have a canonically evil star now. It’s not like the Ztars from Mario Party either, the Dark Star is consciously aware of its actions and chooses to use its powers to cause problems on purpose.

I also have pain on my back from carrying all the wasted potential of the Dark Star on my shoulders. I just think it’s fun and sexy of me to make my own lore for it (of which I have a decent amount). I have stolen this star from AlphaDream’s cold, dead hands. What are they gonna do about it, debunk it in a new game? I’d like to see them try. 💜

Also it’s purply-blue and black and has a kickass battle theme, “Destroy the Dark Power!” is the only Mario and Luigi theme.

———

My Little Pony

🍀 Do you have any kins or comfort characters from your hyperfixation?

My heart goes to Princess Twilight Sparkle! I think it’s very cool of Hasbro to make a horse after me.

In my pre-trauma days (don’t worry it wasn’t caused by MLP, I was lucky enough as a kid to avoid the weird shit), Rainbow Dash was my favorite of the Mane 6 cause “wow she’s so cool and not girly!” But then I rewatched/caught up on MLP this year, and actually, Twilight is my new favorite Mane 6 pony. She’s actually way more relatable to me than Rainbow Dash ever was in the past.

She’s ND coded for sure, somewhat introverted, (initially) struggles to make friends, “gifted” in terms of academic achievement, gets overly stressed and panicky over “little things” going wrong or not going to plan, doesn’t know what to do with her “gifts” that represent her accomplishments, and most importantly... she’s purple.

Basically I am horse.

💎 Are there any fun facts or trivia that you would like to share?

Fun fact, everyone should unironically watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Other thing... my pony trivia isn’t as good as it used to be, but I do have something!

Sunset Shimmer’s magic color changes from green/teal in Equestria Girls (the movie) to red in Rainbow Rocks and onwards!

It’s to represent her redemption, which is good! It suits her more, plus green is usually the color of evil in Equestria Girls (the series).

[brightblueinky]

Long winded ramblings about a Bronycon video

So I’ve seen some hubbub about a YouTube essay going over the history of the Brony fandom up until the last Bronycon. (You can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fVOF2PiHnc ) I just got around to watching it today and I was...somewhat confused by some of the stronger negative takes I was seeing floating around Twitter, and I’ve been in a “fandom discourse” mood lately so, hey, I thought...why not talk about it. The first part of this was originally going to be a Twitter thread until I realized Twitter wasn’t going to let me keep going on the thread so I gave up and decided to put it here instead (lol) so it’s probably going to be a bit choppy since I was trying to keep it readable for that format.

So first of all, my background, so I can be completely honest about where I'm coming from and try not to portray what I'm saying as like...an end-all-be-all take here, because I don't wanna do that. I was never really an MLP fan. I watched the first season of FiM and really enjoyed it, but I didn't really engage with the fandom because by that point I'd gotten to where I didn't spend much time in huge fandoms. So I can't come at this from the perspective of an MLP fan. When I’m addressing the fandom here, I’m coming at it as an outsider in the sense that I am not a MLP fan/brony. What I AM going to do is come at this from the perspective of something of a "native" to fandom. I've always been a geek. I've engaged in online fandom in some form or another since I was about 8, which was in the mid 90s. I've been around the fandom block. Actually, I can even say that I used to lurk on 4chan a lot and I saw a lot of the early Brony discussions there. I also watch @JennyENicholson's videos, and yeah, there's been times where I've been bugged because we had a disagreement of opinions and felt like it was a little harsh. She's got a dry sense of humor and sometimes it's hard to read when she's joking and when she's being genuine. So like, I wasn't surprised when I saw some hubbub from some people online about her doing the video about Bronies. Not at all. But I gotta say...I am really surprised by some of the more INTENSE takes on the video after watching it?? The LARGE majority of the video is @JennyENicholson covering this fandom from an INSIDER'S perspective. She was an MLP fan before FiM, she was active enough in the fandom to be a BNF. A huge, huge amount of the video is positive and nostalgic. In fact I now wish I HAD been in the fandom! It seems like it was a lot of fun! The only thing I felt was maybe harsh in the video is I think she gave the impression that being "furry" is exclusively a sex thing, but by the end she talks about furries being a community that's a very inclusive, kind community with a lot of queer people, so even then I think if you're really paying attention to the whole video you're not going to come away with the idea that the furry community is bad. Just maybe could've had more nuance earlier in the video?  So from glancing through mentions of her in a Twitter search (which is definitely not going to be a perfect sample) from what I can tell there's like two things that people seem to be upset about with the video: 1, the idea that the fandom is "dead" and 2...just...Body Pillows. So let's talk about the dead fandom thing first. As I mention, I have been in fandom a long, long time. Although I (usually) shy away from big active fandoms now, I started off in bigger ones--Sonic, Pokemon, Digimon, LOTR, etc. The two fandoms I currently care about the most, though, are definitely fandoms that tend to be called "dead" and were never HUGE to begin with (Princess Tutu and Chrono Crusade). I think I can count on my hands the number of ppl who actively discuss or create fanwork for CC.   So I guess what I'm trying to say is, I've been on both sides of the coin here. And let me reassure Bronies: "Dead", while maybe too strong of a label for what it actually means, does not have to be a negative thing and you don't need to defend your fandom from it, IMO. I think the "dead" label simply means that interest in the fandom has cooled, the number of active participants is significantly down from the heydays of the fandom, etc. And I don't think that's an unfair label for brony fandom from what I know.   If there was a large scale replacement for Bronycon then maybe it'd be unfair, but...yeah, if you're losing your large hubs for the fandom community, if the flow of fanwork and discussion has slowed, I think "dead", as it's used, isn't an unfair label.   But again, I don't think this is a bad thing! I'd imagine that even the current state of the brony fandom is larger and more active than the Princess Tutu fandom at its greatest heights. It's a pretty relative term. It doesn't mean nobody cares, or that you can't still enjoy it! All the "dead" label really means is acknowledging the change in a fandom. It's not a bad thing. I might be 1 of ~30 writers for Chrono Crusade on AO3 but I still have fun writing fic and I still get hits and occasional positive comments. It's not bad. Just different. Okay so now let's talk about the body pillow thing and oh man, is this going to be a minefield, lol. Let's first talk about my personal lens I'm going to come at here... I've created NSFW fanwork. Some of it taboo. I'm also (somewhat) a part of the "proship" discourse on Twitter which is basically a community of people that push back against another community of "anti"-shippers who feel that some ships are problematic (because of character age, power dynamics, etc) and shouldn't be shipped. (I think that simplifies a lot of the discussion on both sides but it’ll do for the purpose of what I’m getting at here, I think.) At its worse this debate has lead death threats and suicide attempts. I have seen people get treated abusively for fanwork (sometimes NSFW but not always). (And I also want to add that while I think the major component of the pro-ship discussions on Twitter are anti-harassment, there’s been some ‘edgy’ types who think that it’s fun to harass antis with NSFW fanwork and the like and I want to make it clear that is ALSO ABUSIVE AND NOT OKAY.) Basically, I want to say I'm sympathetic to a knee jerk defensive reaction over NSFW fanart. Okay? I can get why people might want to push against criticism of stuff they enjoy/create, and that there’s an element of possibly being harassed for fanwork you create. But the thing is, I don't think this is really the attitude Jenny is taking in the video. She lightly mocks NSFW stuff and body pillows, but often describes it as "harmless" and "fine". The only time she's critical of it is when she notes that sometimes body pillows with suggestive poses could be on display at conventions where young kids were present--at a con celebrating a show MEANT for young kids--and that probably shouldn't have been allowed. She's not saying you can't buy a body pillow, or create one. She didn't even say that while discussing body pillows of characters who were 10! She expressed personal discomfort, but the only restriction she really suggested was "keep this out of the sight of minors." And I don't know why that would be a controversial take. I read lemons when I was younger so I'm not going to sit here and act like it's going to completely ruin kids lives or anything. But I ALSO think it's appropriate to have boundaries for sexual materials for kids (or anyone who doesn't want to engage for whatever reason). I want my stuff to be clearly labeled as NSFW, with tags being clear about the content, so people know what they're getting into. I’ve grown to care about this even more as I’ve gotten older. I don’t really want to know about minors reading my nsfw fanfic or anything. I’m not going to, like, parent them and shame them if they do, but I don’t want to engage with it, I want my stuff to be labeled, and I am DEFINITELY not going to put it on public display at a place where I know kids are allowed, ESPECIALLY not when it’s work based on stuff MEANT for children! I mean, I grew up in a fundamentalist Evangelical household and I will rant at you for hours about how damaging I feel that environment was, and that I don’t think kids and teens should be completely shielded from sex, etc. But that doesn’t mean that having boundaries in place is a bad idea, especially when minors are involved. I also think that boundaries are good just for the sake of consent, too? I’m not saying that someone accidentally seeing suggestive art is the same as them being raped, please don’t conflate it like that, but if people don’t want to see it for whatever reason they should be given the opportunity to make that choice as much as possible. The stuff that Jenny mentioned brony conventions would do (requiring stuff to be sold under the table, or having late night hours for the dealer’s room where 18+ merch could be displayed and sold) seem like really good policies and pretty similar to what I’ve seen at anime conventions I’ve attended (although occasionally some stuff that was maybe a biiit more suggestive than I’d be comfortable displaying in public...but hey, my local con allows kids but also makes it clear in their rules that it’s mostly geared for 13+ attendees and that it’s up to parents to decide what’s appropriate for their kids, and I think that’s fair). And yeah, I know, nothing that Jenny showed in the video being displayed at Bronycon was 100% explicit, just suggestive. She notes this in the video herself, saying that yeah, it doesn’t show genitalia, etc...and as I’m writing this I think I’ve maybe rambled too much about NSFW fanart when most of the stuff we’re talking about here is more “suggestive” than straight-up porn, since that’s probably muddying the waters a bit. But I gotta, gotta, GOTTA address the sentiment I saw multiple times on Twitter in response to her video: “Dakimakura/body pillows aren’t sexual and to say that is orientalist.” I...what? What the fuck? Okay, again, I’m going to make it perfectly clear what my background is here so that I’m not claiming to have some expertise that I don’t have: I am white. I am VERY white. My parents did the DNA test thing and the most “exotic” thing that came up is that my dad is 3% Spanish. Not latin american, I mean from Spain spanish. I am sooooo fucking white. I’ve studied a LITTLE of Japanese culture in college classes but that wasn’t even my field of study (Communication major on a Broadcasing track, minor in Theatre) so I’m not going to tell you I’m an expert on Japanese culture. I’m just a weeby geek that grew up in anime fandoms and never really stopped consuming Japanese pop culture. I have a very limited experience with Japanese culture. I am NOT an expert on what is and isn’t orientalist. I know I’m really hammering in this point here but I think it’s really, really important that I make it clear that I shouldn’t be used as an expert on this subject. But what I DO have a background in is someone who has engaged in Western fandom of stuff from Japan from a young age, I did spend a lot of time on 4chan, this is NOT the first time that I’ve seen some form of an “this isn’t sexual at all and you’re just a PERVERT” discussion about fanservice and...okay first of all, I highly doubt anyone saying this is any more qualified to define what is and isn’t orientalist than I am. I think this is bullshit and it feels like an attempt to make your opinions more legitimate by implying people that disagree with you are some form of bigot. (And look, I was a sheltered, insecure, stuck-up teenager in fandom, part of the reason I feel like I can recognize this is I totally pulled the same shit. I am not going to act like I have never tried to pull this and that I’m a pure innocent woke intellectual who’s never said something foolish, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let it slide, either.)

While writing this I googled ‘dakimakura’ to make sure I was spelling it right and noticed that Wikipedia does note that the origins of this style of pillow are sometimes used by Japanese kids as something like a security blanket, which I’m guessing is where the justification for the argument is coming from, but let’s be intellectually honest here--body pillow covers being sold at a convention aren’t primarily meant to be a security blanket for kids. And, okay, maybe you have a body pillow cover with a character on it that isn’t exactly in a sexual pose, just laying fully clothed on what looks like a bedsheet background. But I don’t think it’s an unfair argument to say that even THEN it implies a sort of intimacy, right, possibly a desire for a romantic attachment? Like, sharing a bed with someone doesn’t have to be sexual or romantic, I used to share a bed with my brother in hotel rooms when we were kids, but I’m also not going to share a bed with my brother and then hug him closely to my body no matter how he’s posed or what he’s wearing??? And look, maybe a body pillow isn’t ALWAYS sexual but to say it’s NOT sexual, which kinda implies NEVER, is so disingenuous. The top result I got when I searched for “anime body pillow” is a shop that includes categories like “18+ body pillow” and “sexy body pillow” and also SELLS FAKE BREAST INSERTS FOR SOME OF THE PILLOWS SO YOU CAN SQUEEZE THEIR BOOBS (obviously, NSFW link: https://www.dakimakura.us/ ) Like, COME ON, I don’t think it’s orientalist to say that something is sexual when Japanese people are actually selling body pillows they label as 18+. The second result even has a second for pillows you can insert sex toys into. And yeah I saw the guy saying “masturbation isn’t sex!” and sir at BEST you have a very narrow and incorrect definition of sex as simply being intercourse and, again, at worst you’re just being straight up dishonest. In fact, I’ll straight up call myself out for this. There’s a fanart body pillow of a fictional character I’ve considered buying several times! (Not porn but still probably NSFW link: https://www.etsy.com/listing/701912275/dakimakura-hypnosismic-doppo?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=hypnosis+mic&ref=sr_gallery-1-4&organic_search_click=1 ) Is this porn? No. You can’t see much. But on one side of the pillow he’s got his shirt untucked, you can see a bit of his stomach, and his fly is undone and you can see the band of his underwear peeking out. This is sexual. I’m not wanting it to like, get off on it, exactly...honestly it’s maybe a bit ironic, and a lot of wanting a body pillow in general is I like sleeping hugging onto something but I have a different sleep schedule from my husband I find him too big to hold all night and too warm in the summer anyway. But I’m not going to tell you that me wanting this PARTICULAR pillow case isn’t at all sexual, I know what I’m doing, I like the character and think the drawing is hot. I’m not saying don’t buy body pillows, okay? I’m not saying don’t sell them. I don’t think Jenny is either (she literally OWNS ONE that she shows in the video!!!). But don’t act like there isn’t ever anything sexual about it existing to try to defend their existence, okay? You don’t need to be a fucking coward about it, and you especially don’t need to say it’s racist if people call out something as being suggestive when, well, it fucking is. And I think it’s totally 100% reasonable for someone to say “hey I don’t think it’s a good idea to display suggestive art around kids, especially if it’s depicting young characters.” TL;DR -- Chill, guys. CHILL. Your fandom is getting smaller and the term people use for this is “dead” but that’s not a bad thing, you’ve still got the fandom, you can still enjoy it, there’s definitely no need to take personal offense over it. And enjoy your body pillows, but don’t be disingenuous about the fact that they can be suggestive and try to act like anyone that calls it such is racist, that is such bullshit. Like what you like, other people’s opinions of it is not automatically a personal attack on you, there’s no need to jump to being defensive every time someone says something vaguely negative about it. Chill, fandom friends. Fandom ain’t bad but it also doesn’t need to be the center of your identity and you don’t need to lash out against people for daring to have opinions about a thing you like. You especially don’t need to act like other people are perverts for noting something being suggestive. Chiiiiiiiiiill.

[redvelvetrunaway]

Do Not Go Gentle

Hey guys, avatar here. It’s been a while. I’m sorry for drifting away yet again. Since the last news post we had a hurricane, my other dog died, I got a part-time job as a trivia host, we got a new puppy (she’s been a real handful), and just this week my father passed away. Compounding this is my general struggle with motivation and writer’s block… ironically, getting my Master’s in fiction writing has ruined me for fiction writing. And now all this shit with Tumblr. I should be fine as long as I don’t post that one piece of fanart @thedenofravenpuff made with Black Egg and White Snow, but it’s not a good feeling for this site.

I think it’s time I accept I’m not going to finish Red Velvet’s story the way I wanted to… that said, I don’t plan on leaving my remaining followers empty-handed. Over the next few days I’m going to outline the rest of Red’s story for you all, at least let you know how it ends. If I’m feeling up to it, I may do one or two proper pieces of prose at the end. I probably won’t answer any more questions, new or old; don’t get your hopes up on that front.

I’ve also drifted away from the MLP canon. Haven’t seen anything since the start of season 6, the introduction of Flurry Heart. Those of you who’ve continued watching: should I go back and finish, or skip it? Or maybe cherry-pick a few episodes to watch, or even just the movie. If so, though, which? I value your feedback on that front.

[sozdatelniza]

Moving on

Sorry for another hiatus. It wasn't as long as the previous one anyway...

Do you remember I said something about the comic I want to make? Probably not, because very few people are reading me now and also I've lost almost 30 followers. Ha ha.

Well, in this post I'll tell you about this comic more. It will be about characters you've already seen on my blog - Chili Pepper and Philip.

Since the first post after cleaning my blog from MLP stuff I started to think about its plot working on characters. I've thought about it since February or March, that's 9 or 8 months. It was too long, isn't it?

Nevertheless, I've learned during this time how to develop a story and characters. I've learned that I should write down what will happen with my characters to have a clear picture about the plot generally.

And many other things that I'll better write in another post. I know I'll still learn during drawing the comic so this post may appear again and again.

Now more about my comic which will be in webtoon format, therefore I'll call it webtoon from now. My webtoon is called "Under Prism".

Prism is that what consciousness, memory and thought algorithm of a person is called. And spirits called phantomic pembas gain energy by dwelling in a prism. And this webtoon is about several persons from any kind of worlds that have phantomic pembas in their prism.

This is how I'll describe the plot generally. I won't tell you how it'll go exactly chapter by chaper yet.

Recently I started to draw the first chapter. This means, you'll see it very soon.

Now about my blog. Now I'll really try to make as active as possible for a college student who still has a few projects to complete and yet has every day enough free time.

I'll not only develop Lexis Challenge, I'll draw some fanart. Not MLP for the first time! And some text posts because I love to write. And maybe some photos.

I hope you've read this long, long text till end. See you next time...