[GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion

I hope that you have fun at the con, Somber!

@WavemasterRyx:
I'm neutral on Caprice, but it's a good picture.

@Ryx
This and the Chrys one are both lovely! :3

@Somber
Have fun! I'm not gonna be in the area, sadly, barring strange circumstances.

@Kim
:( That sucks; it usually doesn't last too long IIRC, but take care of yourself, and I hope you feel better soon.

Ironmonger wrote:I like Caprice. :v

I'd invite you to the Caprice Fan Club. If I had one.

Harmony Ltd. wrote:Well I do. I've never been able to hate her, and for a simple reason : For everything she has done, she has had to pay the price.
I see her more as a tragic figure, deep down wanting to do good but lacking direction and letting her greed having the better of her, rather than as a real antagonist.

Ah, a very good point. She had always stuck me as a pony that wanted to protect others, but just kept making the wrong decisions. Definitely a tragic figure.

Somber wrote:In other news, I finally decided to put in the personal days and go to Unicon in Las Pega...er... Vegas in Febuary. If other folks can go, I'd love to meet you. Just be prepared to be underwhelmed... >.>

I do hope you enjoy the event, sir. I dearly wish I could go to the con to meet you too, but I don't think it's even a possibility for me.

O. Hinds wrote:I'm neutral on Caprice, but it's a good picture.

Thank you, sir.

Overlong Analysis Cobalt wrote:This and the Chrys one are both lovely! :3

*hugs* Thank you, OAC, I'm glad you like them. I am actually pretty happy with how they turned out.

Somber wrote:/me hugs Kat. Good luck with that.

In other news, I finally decided to put in the personal days and go to Unicon in Las Pega...er... Vegas in Febuary. If other folks can go, I'd love to meet you. Just be prepared to be underwhelmed... >.>

Have fun! Wish I could go.

Somber wrote:/me hugs Kat. Good luck with that.

In other news, I finally decided to put in the personal days and go to Unicon in Las Pega...er... Vegas in Febuary. If other folks can go, I'd love to meet you. Just be prepared to be underwhelmed... >.>

Have fun, Somber! I wish I could join you.

Take the ugliest person you can imagine. Give them a bulbous belly, skinny noodle like arms and legs. A great growth of a nose. Brownish black teeth that smell like fish. Curly nose hair. Ear wax creeping down the sides of their neck. Tiny dim eyes devoid of any intelligence or charisma. A hunched back. Pasty skin with odd, poorly identifiable growths poking out of it. And a voice that sounds like a pedophile offering a young girl some candy. Take that horrible image and really cement it in your mind...

I'm worse than that.

Somber wrote:Take the ugliest person you can imagine. Give them a bulbous belly, skinny noodle like arms and legs. A great growth of a nose. Brownish black teeth that smell like fish. Curly nose hair. Ear wax creeping down the sides of their neck. Tiny dim eyes devoid of any intelligence or charisma. A hunched back. Pasty skin with odd, poorly identifiable growths poking out of it. And a voice that sounds like a pedophile offering a young girl some candy. Take that horrible image and really cement it in your mind...

I'm worse than that.

I refuse to believe you could be any worse than I am.
You're just hating on yourself because you have low self confidence and all that.
My bet is that if someone who looks up to you were to see you, even if you aren't the best looking of people, they'd never see you as something like that.

If that's what the kids at your old school made you think of yourself, do remember that they did accuse you of shit you never did just to get rid of you and aren't a reliable source of information on this.
Kids never are.

So yeah, I think you're just being harsh on yourself again.

Wait, a bunch of bastards accused Somber of doing something?

Yes, though it's not my place to go into detail.
Long story short, he used to be a supply teacher but got kicked out when someone said something about him.

If I were to ever meet those particular people... well, not even the police aiming at me with guns would be enough to convince me that smashing their faces into the concrete below isn't worth it.

That feel when you know what they mean.

... No matter what, still prettier than Jean-Paul Sartre! And he was an asshole, too, so you've also got personality up on him. Now all you need to do is turn down a Nobel Prize on principle and you're set to go down in history (and invent existentialism or something, I guess)! In any case, I'd still like to meet you, given the chance; you're a bleedin' idol of mine, after all!

...how the hell did you get such an accurate description of high school age me?

Really though, I'm willing to bet c-bills that Somber's actually pretty cute, despite protestations to the contrary.

WavemasterRyx wrote:

Harmony Ltd. wrote:Well I do. I've never been able to hate her, and for a simple reason : For everything she has done, she has had to pay the price.
I see her more as a tragic figure, deep down wanting to do good but lacking direction and letting her greed having the better of her, rather than as a real antagonist.

Ah, a very good point. She had always stuck me as a pony that wanted to protect others, but just kept making the wrong decisions. Definitely a tragic figure.

Hm; I hadn't thought of it quite that way before, but it seems to make sense.

Quotidian wrote:...how the hell did you get such an accurate description of high school age me?

Really though, I'm willing to bet c-bills that Somber's actually pretty cute, despite protestations to the contrary.

Well, if his appraisal of his appearance is anything like his appraisal of his writing...

Somber wrote:/me hugs Kat. Good luck with that.

In other news, I finally decided to put in the personal days and go to Unicon in Las Pega...er... Vegas in Febuary. If other folks can go, I'd love to meet you. Just be prepared to be underwhelmed... >.>

Somber I wish I could go to vegas again, cause I completely destroy the house whenever I play poker. I mean it, everybody I know refuses to play with me any more cause I can win the shirt right off their back.

RE Caprice : on the other hand, IRL I forgive rather easily, and I truly believe that deep down everyone wants to do good ; the "bad" people being either directionless and defaulting to egoism, misguided, or suffering from mental illness such as psychopathy / sociopathy.

So this may color my view of Caprice.

Somber wrote:Take the ugliest person you can imagine. Give them a bulbous belly, skinny noodle like arms and legs. A great growth of a nose. Brownish black teeth that smell like fish. Curly nose hair. Ear wax creeping down the sides of their neck. Tiny dim eyes devoid of any intelligence or charisma. A hunched back. Pasty skin with odd, poorly identifiable growths poking out of it. And a voice that sounds like a pedophile offering a young girl some candy. Take that horrible image and really cement it in your mind...

I'm worse than that.

Haircut + grooming + dressing well + faking confidence will make up for a tremendous amount of problems, and I've seen countless examples of this. Faking confidence can be a bitch, but if you can joke about yourself, that's a decent start. There have been times I've looked like a fat hobo and times after that where I've been hit on by cute hipster girls that were totally my type (which frankly I had no idea how to respond to but still) and the difference was maybe 15 lbs. lost weight and a makeover. You obviously suffer from horrible self-esteem issues, which is quite normal for people with your sort of artistic skill (artists tend to be more creative when they torture themselves).

So like, all I'm saying is things may not be as bad as they sound, and if you feel you've got problems with your appearance and the way you project yourself in person, there's plenty of room for creativity.

This just makes me think some folks really need to do a Queer Eye For The Straight Pony thing with you. Okay so I have no idea about the sexual orientation of the pony in your head, nor is giving fashion advice linked to a particular type of sexuality, but you know what I'm saying.

I can vouch for the whole confidence and grooming thing. I have high natural charisma but low confidence. So I faked it and faked it until I was no longer faking it but BEING it.
grooming yourself properly makes a lot bigger a difference than your weight, too.
a clean, confident looking and acting guy is a lot more attractive than a messy guy who is skinny, for sure.

you've got a lot to be proud about, Somber. Turn that pride to confidence in yourself and try to realise just how truly amazung you really are.
a lot of people idolise you, myself included. And hell, come feb or march i'll be marking my skin permamently in YOUR honour.

Somber wrote:Take the ugliest person you can imagine. Give them a bulbous belly, skinny noodle like arms and legs. A great growth of a nose. Brownish black teeth that smell like fish. Curly nose hair. Ear wax creeping down the sides of their neck. Tiny dim eyes devoid of any intelligence or charisma. A hunched back. Pasty skin with odd, poorly identifiable growths poking out of it. And a voice that sounds like a pedophile offering a young girl some candy. Take that horrible image and really cement it in your mind...

I'm worse than that.

I agree with kipper. The majority of reality is perception and what others percieve of you isn't always appearance. A good chunk of it is derived from your bearing, demeanor, attitude, and a straight back. Even An ugly person is fine if they can look forward. Smiles help too.

Goddess this is painful... won't go into unneeded detail, but generally not eating much, combined with suddenly being unable to eat hurts. A lot. Combined with erratic sleep schedule makes a quite unpleasant mix. Heh... can't help but be reminded of the time BJ got rad sick. Think she didn't have a spine problem, but I recall a stomach one, so close enough.
Anyhow, have to try and ignore it, need to finish two flash things before the holidays. And erf... I wana pet my gecko...

@Somber: Huh... that was unexpected... in either case, hope that con turns out well.

@Kipper: Not to sound like that, but imo, you ought to be glad you don't live in the US. Might mainly be my disorientation talking.

@OAC: Will be trying to do just that, turned out to be harder than expected. Ah well. Still got a good ~6 days on me to recover.

Argh... that feeling when you could be honest and maybe give some good advice, but would have to ignore said advice for yourself to do so...

Okay, basically, everyone's right and lying is a huge part of good socialization, from body language on up. This is not something to be ashamed of, everyone does it, it's only polite, and you will probably find out that you're better at it than you realize. And acknowledging this tends to break the shared illusion. Blargh. (It's possible that this is just me experiencing culture weirdly, but I find that it works, so... probably take other people's advice over mine on this)

@Kim
Sorry to hear that, it sounds awful. I hear that ginger ale helps with upset stomachs! That and simple, easy to digest food. Possibly toast? Apparently, yes. List of easily digested food here! If the virus is still at its strongest, you may still not be able to keep food down, but this stuff should have the best chance of being okay, I think.

@kim
oh, I know, I know. Still, for all the issues that the U.S has (including healthcare, which has been essential in my life right from the very start having had a severe case of a cleft palate (missing the entire roof of my mouth and top lip for anyone not in the know) to things like the free fixing of my teeth via braces and even my semi recent operation (almost a year now) that fixed my downstairs issue.

the UK has its benefits for sure, but I still wish I could experience some of the things only available to those living in the US.


@rum
Yeah man, totally. Im a happy, friendly, polite and funny guy in real life. (mostly)
that's how I managed to convince anyone that spending some time with me was anything close to a good idea... Hah. In all seriousness though, that is how I managed to get into the relationships i've been in, despite being an ugly mother fucker.

@OAC: Thanks. I don't drink though. And I failed to eat both rusk and soup the other day... but seem to be able to eat food today.

@Kipper: While the US seems to have a few "good things" it seems vastly outnumbered by the bad. Might just be what I currently recall though... But yeah, from what I can recall and make out, there's not really much "good" in there. Some things yes, but so much crap...

I find it is the small good things which keep evil at bay

For me, it would be seeing the different culture of America v Britain.
I suppose it doesn't much help that while I did grow up in a decently sized town, it was only until I was 5. (protip: that town was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colchester">Colchester</a>, the oldest recorded town in Britain.)

Past that? I've always lived in "quiet" villages of a reasonable size and a small town which I currently live and have done before.

(Which again, where I live actually has quite a few historic moments of its own, both back in the dark ages and even modern times. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maldon,_Essex">Maldon.</a>

Anyway, what I mean to say is that I want to experience the American way of life, if only for a week or two even. I'd love to wake up somewhere different, try different food, hear the accents (and show off mine) and so many other things.

As well as that, America is the hub for almost all the best meet-ups that I've never had even a shred of chance in going to, and that upsets me because I wish that just once, just once there would be that time where I'd have a chance to go and meet all the people I idolise and such.

Ya know?

Kippershy wrote:For me, it would be seeing the different culture of America v Britain.
I suppose it doesn't much help that while I did grow up in a decently sized town, it was only until I was 5. (protip: that town was Colchester, the oldest recorded town in Britain.)

Past that? I've always lived in "quiet" villages of a reasonable size and a small town which I currently live and have done before.

(Which again, where I live actually has quite a few historic moments of its own, both back in the dark ages and even modern times. Maldon.

Anyway, what I mean to say is that I want to experience the American way of life, if only for a week or two even. I'd love to wake up somewhere different, try different food, hear the accents (and show off mine) and so many other things.

As well as that, America is the hub for almost all the best meet-ups that I've never had even a shred of chance in going to, and that upsets me because I wish that just once, just once there would be that time where I'd have a chance to go and meet all the people I idolise and such.

Ya know?

Maybe you should look into a study abroad program if you are/intend to be in college?

Karasu wrote:

Kippershy wrote:For me, it would be seeing the different culture of America v Britain.
I suppose it doesn't much help that while I did grow up in a decently sized town, it was only until I was 5. (protip: that town was Colchester, the oldest recorded town in Britain.)

Past that? I've always lived in "quiet" villages of a reasonable size and a small town which I currently live and have done before.

(Which again, where I live actually has quite a few historic moments of its own, both back in the dark ages and even modern times. Maldon.

Anyway, what I mean to say is that I want to experience the American way of life, if only for a week or two even. I'd love to wake up somewhere different, try different food, hear the accents (and show off mine) and so many other things.

As well as that, America is the hub for almost all the best meet-ups that I've never had even a shred of chance in going to, and that upsets me because I wish that just once, just once there would be that time where I'd have a chance to go and meet all the people I idolise and such.

Ya know?

Maybe you should look into a study abroad program if you are/intend to be in college?

I'd never be able to afford that, for one. I live alone and that very fact on its own means that I've got to work full time to be able to survive and keep my place.
The other issue is I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I don't want kids for a lot of reasons and settling down with someone, while nice in a lot of ways, would only push my insecurities overboard and push them away like it has in the past, so that only nullifies kids anyway.

As for my writing, I know for a fact I'm not as good as Somber for example and that I'd never be able to make a living from it like he could if he really tried (and had some luck with getting a publisher to see the diamond he is.)

Aside from that? Nothing. I have hobbies, sure, but I really couldn't see myself ever getting a career from them.
While I could try to go through the education system again (I did decently in my school years) I just wouldn't have the personal motivation to really excel and push myself to be the best that I can be.

My life is destined to continue working at low level where further education makes no real difference. That's the fact of the matter, end of the day.



So yeah, looking to study aboard would not only leave me in debt, but it'd leave me in debt possibly with, possibly without anything to even "show" for it and even if I did get some diploma or masters or whatever, it wouldn't be my passion and thus I'd have just wasted time and money in a worthless endeavour.


/harsh self reality check.

Somber wrote:Take the ugliest person you can imagine. Give them a bulbous belly, skinny noodle like arms and legs. A great growth of a nose. Brownish black teeth that smell like fish. Curly nose hair. Ear wax creeping down the sides of their neck. Tiny dim eyes devoid of any intelligence or charisma. A hunched back. Pasty skin with odd, poorly identifiable growths poking out of it. And a voice that sounds like a pedophile offering a young girl some candy. Take that horrible image and really cement it in your mind...

I'm worse than that.

So...you're my junior english professor? He was actually pretty awesome.

So, according to the fallout equestria wiki, PH has "about 1,101k words"

>1,101k words
>1,101k
>1101
>EC-1101

Also, that means 1,101,000 (roughly) / 52 = 21,173.
So, in average, his chapters last roughly 21.2k (though some must be a lot longer and others a lot shorter. Still.)


The reason I'm bringing this up is because writing my own chapter right now and I've just touched 22k.
(My previous longest having been 13k)

...Someone go grab a few random chapters and confirm this for me?

[quote="Kippershy"]

Somber wrote:Take the ugliest person you can imagine. Give them a bulbous belly, skinny noodle like arms and legs. A great growth of a nose. Brownish black teeth that smell like fish. Curly nose hair. Ear wax creeping down the sides of their neck. Tiny dim eyes devoid of any intelligence or charisma. A hunched back. Pasty skin with odd, poorly identifiable growths poking out of it. And a voice that sounds like a pedophile offering a young girl some candy. Take that horrible image and really cement it in your mind...

I'm worse than that.

Oh Shush. All it takes is a little grooming and anyone can look good. It's bad habits that are unforgivable.

@Kim
Oh, ginger ale isn't alcoholic, it's a kind of carbonated beverage, like root beer. Hang on, might be called something else in Europe... Can't find a word. Anyway, Wikipedia says that anything but the real stuff (which I've only ever found like twice - real ginger is AMAZING, though, it burns like nobody's business) is just a placebo, so never mind about that. Glad you can keep food down today, though! :) 'Tis a good sign.

@Kipper
I dunno... this is probably hypocritical, coming from me, and it's also an utter truism, but limits should be pushed and tested, right? I don't know if you've tried this at all before, incidentally, but you might consider taking a summer course in creative writing (a workshop) if any college/university around you offers that sort of thing - it really helped me improve, I think. And my parents always used to say that, once you've got income saving up, you can either buy stuff to make home extra-nice or go visit places on vacation every once in a while. So that's a thing, too!

As regards America, personally I'm not a big city sort of person; I like the woods, which are plentiful in my neck of the country (New England). But places like Boston, New York, and Chicago are certainly fun to visit, especially if you've got a friend on hand to show you the place (a guidebook and planning ahead also are good). Don't spend too much on a hotel, since you're only going to be sleeping there, in theory, and none of them have clean sheets anyway. (Trying to think of other things my parents taught me about travel) Jackets with inner pockets for protection of valuables (passport, wallet) are good; more or less everyone in America finds British accents charming and may attempt to imitate yours, poorly.

I dunno, travel tips... we use IcelandAir a lot when heading to Europe (Norway, Great Britain, France), so they might be cheap or something.