Dunes

Oh man, how the heck did I forget Airplane? One of the funniest movies I've seen. STORY TIME. My parents watched this movie all the time while I was growing up. And apparently, as a wee young thing, I walked up to one of my granddad's employees - a short, white, middle-aged woman - and said, "I know you! You're Kareem Abdul Jabbar! You play basketball for the Los Angeles Lakers!" She apparently found it pretty entertaining, thankfully. Small children make no sense.

Princess Mononoke is pretty much perfect, to me. It is everything I love, and both the adaptive script and dub were done really well. Bladerunner is one I have to be in a very specific mood to watch, and I only watch it once every few years or so, but every time the credits roll I feel I've taken a little bit of the film's atmosphere with me for a while. On a similar(ish) note, The Fifth Element, which is pretty much Bladerunner's complete opposite tone-wise (super green fun). It's interesting to watch them relatively close together and look at differing outlooks on our future. Blazing Saddles is a wonderful piece of satire. Quoting this movie consists of a good 10% of how my family communicates. Imagine Me & You is one of the few female/female romance films I've seen that did not make me constantly, painfully aware of how niche and underfunded its kind of movie usually is. It was sweet and believable, as well as managing to be a good movie with gay characters and not killing anyone off. (Do you know how rare that is, seriously.) The Sky Is Falling is a ridiculously hard-to-find, quirky little indie flick about a struggling writer's life as she contemplates more and more elaborate ways to end it all, yet somehow manages a hopeful tone throughout the movie. When I'm feeling down, I watch it, cry my eyes out, and end up feeling a jillion times better. The Lion King gets major nostalgia points, and even though Timon and Pumbaa aren't as entertaining to watch now as an adult, it's still a really enjoyable flick. I also think How to Train Your Dragon is my favorite 3D animated movie. Wall-E comes close, but, c'mon. Dragons. (They are super touching and I love them both, though.) I also probably rewatch Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World far more than any adult person reasonably should.

Applejack is my homegirl, y'all. Picking a favorite pony is a little like picking a favorite child, but, as soon as I saw Applebuck Season I was sold. Hard-working, principled, and proud (often to a fault). I dunno, it's a combination of traits that appeals to me in a character. (It may or may not also have to do with the fact that watching her interact with Pinkie Pie is like looking at a brightly-coloured, cartoon portrait of me and one of my BFFs.)

I had a pretty thoroughly awful evening and figured if I drew any of the characters on my request list, they would all end up looking super angry or like bears and/or debt collectors were chasing them, whether I intended it or not. So I updated my newish Tumblr thing, because that character pretty much always looks either angry and/or worried, so it works. He's a former guard turned... homeless sad-sack, for now. (Pssst, I'd love to get a few more questions on it, if any of you are so inclined! ) Also, here, have a nice-ish picture I drew of him as some kind of reference thingy for myself, because I am fantastic at forgetting details if I'm not looking at them. Mostly I like that banner on the left. Maybe I will add more pony drawings later! MAYBE IT WILL BE DINOSAURS. What you don't know could be awesome. Or stupid. There's a distinct possibility it'll be stupid.

HEY GUESS WHO'S ALIVE. Since it's been a super-long time, I'm seein' if folks who were on my list are still interested (I assume so) and if they want a different character or what. So if you had a character on the list and you'd still like that character drawn, lemme know! If you had one on the list and you don't use that character anymore / just want a different one... also lemme know!

DANCE PARTY

Hello! I mostly stopped in to compliment your excellent choice of avatar. You are clearly a refined person of taste! Welcome.

Hello, I see you also like the best lady ever! LET US BE FRIENDS. For Snaplock, former royal guard turned worn-out, disabled job-seeker trying to find her new lot in life. (Spiritual successor to another OC I had, who was a straight-up soldier that went into teaching, before I finished scraping through student teaching myself and realized I didn't enjoy the profession and didn't want to write about it anymore. But she was just as butch-looking too, haha.) (I was tempted to say because it has a homeless guy in the video, buuuut...)

Depends. If my family, my dog, and my girlfriend were walking right in front of me and I could push 'em in with me, mmmaybe. >.> If they weren't, but I could be a pegasus... I probably still wouldn't, but it'd be a very near thing. I love flight, being around it, the physics of it... I used to just sit in my car near the airport and watch the planes go out, before I realized that'd probably land me on a watchlist. My medical history is likely going to keep me out of the air force (stupid once-in-a-blue-moon migraines, wish I'd never gone for a prescription) so being able to just fly? It would be tempting. Very tempting.

My first nickname (not counting "Boo Bear", which I'm pretty sure doesn't count because my parents gave it to me) was "Ruggy". I still have a couple friends who call me Ruggy. I used to go by the handle "Wolfdog" as a wee thing, when I was really into Balto. Somehow it mutated from Wolfdog, to Wolfrug, to Ruggy. It's lasted... at least 12 years. "Kilan" was one I picked up in high school. My name is Kirah. I got a piece of mail once addressed to "Kilan", and my best friend found it hilarious. "Dunes" is a shortening of "Dunesfara", the first WoW character I had. I'd just finished reading, wait for it, Dune by Frank Herbert and I was in a duney mood. But I made a bunch of friends through WoW, and even after we all met up for ribs and beer, they still call me Dunes. It's okay by me.

Heeeey guys. I think I am back now! I just spent the last month recovering from surgery, and the month before that getting ready for it. (All is well, but I did a lot of sleepin'.) I miss chatting about ponies and I miss you guys! But, I don't think I will be RP-ing anymore. I like coming up with characters 'n all, but even after a long break, I still don't feel that much interest in it. I'm not great at the round-robin format. :< And I'm totally going to go through the requests in my old request thread once work is finished!

Nyaargh I'm sorry for slowness. This and last week have, for some reason, been the Week of Inexplicable Panic Attacks. :I I should get out of this snit soon, like I always do, but I feel like I'm going to dieeee. I'm getting help for these, but, some weeks are still rougher than others.

The mare in the mirror was unremarkable. A few strands of blue hair sprung out the back of a kerchief tied around her head. Her tail was a common, uniform shade of purple, which was still dripping purple on the hotel carpet. There was no eyeshadow, mascara, or hoof polish in sight. She wore no outfit but the kerchief, and she looked… Not terribly sensational. Sapphire Shores smiled, pleased with the look. This would do. Grabbing her bag, she slipped out of her room. She was giddy. Nopony in the lobby cast a second glance at her. Anonymous. Good. She strode out into the street. The crowd of ponies went about their business. Each pony had their own destination, their own dreams and talents -- their own story. Sapphire Shores wanted to know them all. They might make a good song, after all. Plus, she was bored. She trotted a few blocks away from her hotel. Turning around, she checked on her tail, which was still a bit wet and dripping dye. She shrugged. Patience was not a burden she was saddled with. She set down her bag, which was filled with a few bits. One stallion rolled his eyes at her; busking was laughably commonplace in the city. She dipped her nose into the bits, pulling one out with her mouth and tossing it up in the air. It landed on her nose. She took a deep breath, and started to sing a robust, off-kilter tune. [colour=#000080]“Tell me a tale for a penny! One that I cannot hear anywhere else, not anywhere else! Spin me a yarn for a bit, would it not be a shame for you to deny yourseeeelves a cent?”[/colour] Reverse busking. Had Manehattan ever seen its like? Sapphire didn’t know, but she was proud of herself for the idea. She hummed the tune as she waited for her first taker. [colour=#696969]((yes I'm ripping off Devil's Carnival; i like that song))[/colour]

Crystal's muscles were trembling with exhaustion, or the last traces of adrenaline burning away. Her eyelids started to droop. A scrap of Manehattan pride reared its head. Crystal opened one eye and stuck out her tongue. “[colour=#4b0082]'Ey, shaddap, you.[/colour]” It was the most appropriate response she could think of. She chuckled a little without knowing why. Crystal barely had time to register Milky's response before there was a sleeping pegasus resting on her shoulders. She blinked blearily at her. Crystal blinked hard to fight sleep, but there was not much use resisting the onset of that warm, soft cloud of unconsciousness. Telki spoke, jarring her out of her fog. “[colour=#4b0082]It's... it's hard not to. I spent all of my money on that cabin, and the land, and getting here, and...[/colour]” she trailed off. She swallowed, trying to find her voice again. It took her a minute. “[colour=#4b0082]Still. I'm not dead.[/colour]” A wave of sleep washed over her, tugging her consciousness under the current. She raised out of it long enough to add, “[colour=#4b0082]Somethin' to be said for that.[/colour]” With that, sleep dragged her under, and she sank gently to the ground, under the sleeping pegasus.

I watched A Beautiful Mind once in my teens, and loved how it managed to blow my mind and make me very sad at the same time. Probably wouldn't watch it again, because I'd know what's happening from the start. (Listened to the soundtrack a bunch though. Lovely music!) It's a similar situation for The Sixth Sense; glad I saw it, but it's on my "Extra Super Duper Never Watch Again" list because of the bit with the ghost of the girl whose mum slowly poisoned her. That bit made me lose sleep for months. Never again. And American Psycho. Before I saw it, I was interested in watching it because of all the GIFs and references to it I'd seen on the internet, and I was curious. I am... satisfied that I finally watched it, I guess, but when the credits started rolling I felt mad at myself for sitting through the whole thing. I would probably sit and watch Sixth Sense or Beautiful Mind again if someone asked to watch it with me (though it would not be my first choice); I would never watch American Psycho again.

D: Stay safe, Mojo!

((Totally! Man, December and January have been absolutely nuts.)) Sapphire grinned expectantly at Enos. Singing! Singing was the best ever. Sharing that seemed like it ought to be even better. Maybe this whole teaching thing was easy! She studied her companion as he tried to hit the note, noting the shape of his mouth and the position of his head. Not bad, she thought, but she noted a few suggestions for better tone. Perhaps she’d best wait until he was done to actually speak. Or, possibly, until he could hit the note. How much was information overload for other ponies? Sapphire vaguely understood the concept, but information overload almost always turned into energy overflow for her. A lot of ponies seemed really tired around her after a while. Maybe other ponies just didn't get enough sleep. And he hit the note! Mostly. Good enough for somepony who hadn't sung much. Sapphire clapped excitedly. “[colour=#000080]That’s a good start![/colour]” Any reservations about interacting with this introverted pony completely dropped out of her mind. Music was involved now, and music was totally awesome and Sapphire was absolutely sure everypony agreed. Who didn’t like music? “[colour=#000080]Okay, next is probably a whole scale… Or arpeggios? Ah.[/colour]” She thought, tapping the corner of her mouth with a hoof. How exactly did she learn to sing? It had pretty much been by caterwauling until she knew how to make it sound good. “[colour=#000080]Or maybe we could just sing a song. That’s probably a lot more fun than scales.[/colour]” She paused long enough to scarf down another pastry. “[colour=#000080]Do you know any already?[/colour]”

Sorry for extended absence, guys. I had a bad, baaad reaction to some medicine I was on and spent some time in the ER and recovering. I'm feeling better now, and should be back on all thrusters today or tomorrow!

My dog is totally my small, furry child. I saved him from the pound, and he's saved me from myself a few times. On my rough anxiety days, he keeps me going. His name is Wesley! He's a probably-3-years-old miniature poodle. (Don't worry, he's had his claws trimmed since this picture.) Don't know for sure how old he is or where he came from; the animal control officer found him hiding under a car. Considering how hot it was, how long his hair was, and, as I've come to learn, how stupid he is around moving vehicles, it's miraculous he hadn't died. Between the two of us, I'm still not sure who's luckier. (I'm all sentimental right now because last night was really rough, and he kept coming over to sit next to me and lick my hand. Dogs. )

Oh, I get as excited for new episodes as a little girl, but then again, my roommates and I all bond by watching new episodes together and talking about them. (The reason I came to this forum in the first place was being so excited about this cool show I liked and absolutely needing to talk to someone about it before I drove our former roommates crazy.) Getting involved with the fan-made stuff also fosters a sense of community. The brony community buzzes with creativity! Awesome as the show is, watching it by yourself doesn't give you a sense of being in a group, and while it's the basis of all these fan interpretations, it is kind of closed off. I mean, it has to be. You can't exactly talk with the writers directly about what they're doing with the story and ask for insights as easily as, say, the author of a pony blog or a fanfic you like. And if you write or draw, all it takes is doing some of that and you're interacting with the community. You're participating. You can't participate in the show itself, though. Enjoying a show becomes a social activity. Sometimes the social activity can end up being your primary focus, and that's just dandy. So long as you are having fun. This may have been incoherent. I am up far too late for my own good.

((Sorry for the delay! I got hit with a series of respiratory plagues, before, during, and after the holidays. )) The baker pony handed Sapphire her food, and Enos his. Sapphire handed over a few bits, beaming. She liked to buy things for ponies! Her schedule didn’t lend itself well to spending long stretches of time with anypony, except her backup dancers and the crew. But she met so many nice ponies, all over Equestria! She couldn’t possibly hope to hang out with all of them for very long. She felt a little bad about that, so her response was to throw money at the problem. It worked okay. If nothing else, ponies got breakfast. She trotted over to a wooden table, hopped up on the bench, and motioned to the other seat. She happily munched on her fritter, enjoying the gooey appleness. Was ‘appleness’ a word? She didn’t know. If pop taught you anything, it’s that language has a lot of wiggle room. She licked some fritter off of her hoof. It tasted a bit like dirt; she’d forgotten to wipe them off first. Oops. She made a face. What he had said was, "[colour=#696969]I may very well have to take that offer seriously, you know. Certainly something to consider.[/colour]" And Sapphire heard, “[colour=#696969]Let’s do this thing![/colour]” “[colour=#000080]Well[/colour],” she said, “[colour=#000080]songs are made up of notes, which you seem to know already, with the horn violinin’ you do. So, we can start by singin’ a note! Basic stuff.[/colour]” She cleared her throat, and sang, “[colour=#000080]Do-o-o-o-oh![/colour]” It was a middle C. “[colour=#000080]And yes I did just sing do like dough. You try! Don’t worry about sounding super; just try to hit the pitch.[/colour]”

I'm aliiiive! I'll be around for the next few days. I am going out of town from Thursday to Sunday for a work-related conference, so I won't be able to get my pony on then.

Yep, I am indeedy in the Dallas area. And I thought it was a sinus infection at first, but no. Sinus-infection-throat I'm used to, and sucks, but this. This feels like I have swallowed sandpaper. My throat's so swollen it whistles when I breathe, and it feels like fiery death every time I cough myself dizzy. :I So uh I may still need a day or two.