Pony Fanfiction Thread

Oh right, that. Imma get on computer.

Fanfiction I hate.

The Call of C'Durhwu.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Your point here could be summed up as "I don't like it, so neither should anyone else!"

And it's these same rich and famous people who are paying for the whole thing. Who's losing here?

edited 30th Aug '14 5:27:57 PM by Unknownlight

First, more like "yeah the mane 6 screwed up, but it's hardly that big a lose."

Second, assuming it is them paying for it, and given the location in the castle and how large it is, it's not the bill isn't footed by the government at least in part. Anyone who could better benefit from all the resources wasted on something that snobbishly useless?

Yeah I'm fully on board with Tia wanting to liven the place up.

Oh or, could make the argument, it's mostly a bunch of 'elite' snobs that got inconvenienced, what's the big lose?

Who's losing here? The economy. The total pony-power hours that are expended in the preparations, running, and aftermath of the events, from doing the guests' pedicures and new dresses to cleaning up the confetti to possible hospital bills for ethilic coma, could have been saved. What a senseless waste of equine lifetime.

If only they could have been spent into a lab somewhere, crunching numbers and equations, taking notes...

edited 30th Aug '14 5:34:57 PM by TheHandle

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Those ponies still got payed for doing the hooficures, so only the people that got them wasted time. Would have been clean up anyway, granted not that much. And hey, at least the ponies that do the repairs will be getting payed for it, some actual good will come out of it.

"All those pony hours wasted." Could say the same for all the ponyhours/money wasted setting up those types of things in the first place.

Yeah things got out of hoof, but it's not like any of the mane 6 TRIED to destroy the thing.

edited 30th Aug '14 5:38:58 PM by Seraphem

Indeed, everyone's time is wasted.

That's why income inequality, priviledge, and an overdeveloped service industry is an economical disaster. A society may spend millions upon millions of its ponypower on having shiny hair and impeccable nails, and have nothing to show for it but said shiny hair etc.

I'd rather the irretrievable lifetime was expended on something long-lasting, like a pyramid.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Granted it's not AS bad in Equestria, and do love the theory that Tia more less uses Canterlot's image of being THE place for the "elite of the Elite" to be to keep all those useless idiots corralled where she can keep an eye on them and mitigate heir idiocy, rather then letting it spread over Equestria.

My assumption is that the Gala works the same way everything else works, including "royal parties" throughout history. The host—Celestia/the government—pays for the party, but they make their money back plus a profit from expensive ticket sales. The host can, of course, invite guests who don't have to pay, like Twilight and her friends. If anything, it's the Mane 6 who are the burdens on society.

Other then, you know, saving it every few months.

Making whole the fabric of society...

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

I'm going to liken this to an event closer to most of our own hearts.

In game design, conferences are held in various locations at various times. they range from small, devs-interested-in-development only affair, up to middle-sized-advertising-venues, to grandiose exhibits of gaming culture as a whole.

The smallest of those would be comparable in size to the GGG. A decently sized venue is rented, events are schedules, there are special guests and event hosts, etc. In a way, develop conferences could be said to exist as an excuse for devs to get together and do nothing but be devvy and creative at one another.(Note I am losing subtlety as the metaphor continues). Gamers, typically, are not invited. They can attend by buying tickets, but they tend to be pretty expensive to pay for the venue.

Now, in spite of all this; in spite of the fact that gamers do not typically interact with, and therefor benefit from these events in any way, they're still incredibly important. Why? Because they produce relationships among the developers. Devs can share tips and tricks with one another. Someone could form a contact that will get them their next job. Entire studios can be formed based on people meeting at those events.

Now, why do I bring this up? Because rich people tend to be rich for a reason. They tend to be in control of vast resources or possessing of significant cultural influence. Put a bunch of rich, affluent people in a room together, encourage them to talk freely and mingle with light music, a bit of alcohol, and tasty snacks, and what do you get? Relationships formed between these large parties. Economic moving and shaking. Political maneuvering. Maybe no signing of papers goes on at the gala, but the shaking of hooves certainly does.

So that alone should cover the 'expenses' of the gala, assuming there are any - and that they outweigh the destruction the Mane Six yes, inadvertently caused(Who will pay for a ig, for the poor sculptor who ripped out his hair when the grand statues he carved was smashed? Or the bonus for the architect who designed a building that could be held up without the pillars that were knocked down?) - and bring us back to the original point: That was their party, and they arranged it as they saw fit. It's not their fault that the Mane six split up as opposed to staying with friends, and taking the evening to enjoy the atmosphere and the food.

Birthright: an original web novel about Dragons, the Burdens of Leadership, and Mangoes.

So, anyone ever read The Best Of All Possible Worlds? What do you think of it interpretation of Blueblood?

In it, Blueblood's family line are purposefully dislikeable, to act like scapegoats and strawmen for Celestia.

I haven't read it, but that's an interesting notion.

A friend of mine believes that Blueblood is a pony!Batman, and his civilian person is acting on similar grounds. Nobody would expect that to be a superhero.

Myself, I'm somewhat fond of the idea that he spotted Rarity as a gold-digger who cared more about his title than personality, and trolled her. I doubt that was the writers idea, but it's a fun thought.

Birthright: an original web novel about Dragons, the Burdens of Leadership, and Mangoes.

Circular logic, repetition, and increasingly roundabout metaphors. Yep, I'm definitely in the pony fanfic thread.

"The only way to truly waste an idea is to shove it where it doesn't belong."

But the game dev thing actually produces something. Besides hot air and oddly non-odorous excrement those high Society ponies produce.

Because rich people tend to be rich for a reason. They tend to be in control of vast resources or possessing of significant cultural influence.

Or because mommy and daddy were rich and left them a bunch of money they never had to do a damn thing for. Or they screwed a bunch of innocent ponies out of their life savings and got away with it by 'donating' an overall small fraction of their wealth to those that should be tossing their asses in jail and giving the money back to those they screwed over. Or they control those resources by viciously doing anything it takes to keep anypony else from muscling in on their turf. No matter how evil, illegal, or just plain wrong.

Yes there are exceptions, like Fancy pants, that are actually decent beings.

We have no evidence that they've done those things though, so it's probably better to assume, given the scope of the event and the fact that Celestia even bothers to be there, that they're not exactly a pack of cigar-smoking, puppy-kicking fatcats people love to shake their fists at the thought of. Even if they inherited the money from 'mommy and daddy', they'll have gotten it from somewhere, and they're likely to inheret the resources as well.

And yeah, if they have resources, then they do produce something. Even if it's something we can't see or touch, the deals that get brokered there can have a lot of impact in a lot of ways.

For example, there are currently talks of Burger King acquiring Tim Hortons. If it goes through, in all likelihood nothing about the two chains will change... but Burger King will suddenly have a lot more money because they'll move to Canada to avoid business taxes, and Tim Hortons will suddenly appear in a lot more countries as they'll have avenues and resources to do so. Such a deal could likely have been brokered at such an event.

Birthright: an original web novel about Dragons, the Burdens of Leadership, and Mangoes.

So, one company gets a way to skip out of paying taxes, and another just shows up in more places, netting both more money for them to hoard. And this 'produces' what?

Secondly Equestria doesn't seem to have all that many massive corporations.

Have you ever had timmies? no, you haven't, because you're american. It's the shit. So it produces great coffee, is what.

It also produces, you know, jobs, cheap food for the unfortunate to get by on while they look for a job(Hey! Look what else it produces!) ane economic stimulus.

Birthright: an original web novel about Dragons, the Burdens of Leadership, and Mangoes.

Rambler's Law currently in full effect...

Personally, I don't like Tim Hortons' coffee. Or their food. It's cheap at the expense of being good.

edited 30th Aug '14 6:31:10 PM by Unknownlight

Jobs that don't pay the people working in them enough to actually live on. And food the is more expensive then making your own at home, and far less healthy, but that you need to use because you are so busy working to try and just live that you don't have time to cook.

edited 30th Aug '14 6:32:19 PM by Seraphem

Look, leave Seraphem alone. It's obvious what his problem is.

He's a dirty commie who doesn't appreciate the fact that good, honest people earned their fortune through sweat, blood and tears! Of other people, up to and including their ancestors.

So, on another subject, I read some of Frigid Winds Burning Hearts and boy is it BAD. Bad grammar everywhere, everybody out of character, tyrant!Celestia, the whole deal. And lots of purple prose.

"Monsters are tragic beings. They are born too tall, too strong, too heavy. They are not evil by choice. That is their tragedy."

Call that a cultural difference; In Canada minimum wage actually is enough to live on - and I should assume in Equestria it's much the same - and if you've got a full time job then it's cheaper to have real food. I meant more for like, homeless people for whom cooking is literally not an option.

edited 30th Aug '14 7:15:48 PM by kegisak

Birthright: an original web novel about Dragons, the Burdens of Leadership, and Mangoes.

Welp, glad I stopped reading that one after a chapter or two.

edited 30th Aug '14 7:19:46 PM by Pannic

Fanfiction I hate.