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Everyone has a story about how they came into the fandom, everyone has a different idea of what the idea of being a "Brony" means to them, and everyone has their own reasons why MLP is special to them This is mine I am going to skip the story of how I became a brony, it's a tale for another time! This is to specifically focus on what Brony means to me. I hear others going now "But Lime you ARN'T a Brony you are a Pegasis!" Nope, I am a BRONY To me a Brony is a older viewer of the show, a Brony isn't a fan, they are a little something more, they are part of a community . The Brony community is amazing! We take anyone, be it a furry, anime fans, Homestuck fans, all come together and unite over the love of this one little show, this one little gem among a sea of mindless entertainment that floats around us, this one little isolated instance of magic. I love this fandom! I love wearing my Rainbow Dash hoodie, and having people come up to me and say that they are also a fan, I love that it is inclusive and it won't push you away no matter what else you like! It is truly a tie that binds us together and that is a wonderful thing! Anything that unites people, brings them together, makes them put aside other differences and coexist together in such a way is truly a wonder! To me being a brony is about unity, it's about togetherness, and friends, it's about being creative with your writing, expanding yourself to new people and new ideas! The Show was merely a key to a door, and once you'v opened the door it's hard to ever want to leave! The Show was also there for me when I was feeling sad, or lonely, I'd have something bright but not condescendingly cheerful to make my day feel a little bit more uplifted! It gave me something to look forward to! Partially to see the episode, but mostly to discuss things with other bronies! My people! The most important treasure I'v gotten from this show are some wonderful friends! StarSwirl is a fantastic friend I never would have met otherwise! He is so smart, and kind, and even when we butt heads I still can look past that and enjoy his friendship because [colour=#0000ff]friends don't have to agree on everything :[/colour]) Bellosh is a great person, I love talking to them, planning with them, and they overall are a fantastic guy! I didn't like them at first due to kicking my flank at Babs Seed but dang I am glad I got over that or I would seriously have missed out on it! Holding Grudges gets you nowhere and prevents you from seeing the potential! Phil and Rosie have been there for me through a lot of turmoil as a RPH! Taking me under their wings, guiding me along my way and teaching me how to be a better person every single day! This job is a constant learning experience, and I feel happy and have a burning desire to do the best possible job I can, because I have such supportive and encouraging teachers. I can't really mention what Brony means to me without mentioning Robbi either! Robbi was the first friend I made here, he has been there through EVERYTHING! He's who I go to when I feel Sad,when I feel happy, when I am insecure, and when I am on the highest point of cloud nine! He's seen me fall on my flank and has helped me get back up, he's always encouraging, and supportive, and isn't afraid to smack me when I'm being a brat that needs a good smack! Jane and Elder are new in my life but I am already so glad they are there Jane helps me with my creativity and Elder is just a ray of sunshine! I honestly could gush about a few other people, Dio and Corsair, ManeStream herself, Jen and FlutterScotch (I'll always miss her) I could gush about LoopEnd who's been a great friend! I could gush about Steel Eagle, I could just gush and gush and GUSH about these people because at this point in my life they mean so much to me and I wouldn't have them at all if it wern't for MLP! It reaches a point where it's not just about pretty pastel coloured ponies anymore, it becomes something more.. It starts friendships, it encourages creativity, it values expression, it pushes you to try harder! It's a unrelenting force that has you when you fall, but isn't afraid to kick you in the butt to get you back up! It's helped people who are depressed feel better, It's helped those who are sick feel better! It's Tara Strong comforting a little girl who is slowly fading right in front of her. It's A fundraiser to save a real life pony from a life of hardship and being taken care of It's connections, it's fellowship It's a Magic on earth that is irreplaceable And though some of my brony friends hang up their wings and horns, turn in their cutie marks, and go their separate ways from the fandom, I still get to keep them! Because it's not just about the ponies anymore! It's about friendship! It's about support, it's about togetherness, and it's about passion. It is so much more than just ponies and magic. It's about love. I love you guys from the very bottom of my heart, even if the internet is the wall that divides us, MLP is the tie that binds us I am truly grateful for all of you

The Brony fandom is /NOT/ dying unless you want it to die, those who whine, bellyache and bemoan and grieve the 'Loss of the brony fandom" are the ones that want out of it . Once Upon a Time there was a show called My Little Pony Tales This show had it's fan, this show was recreated MANY times and still had fans, A lot of those older fans are fans of FIM. Those fans did not stop being fans when their shows ended, they didn't spurn or ignore the new generation (at least not all of them) Fandoms don't die once they stop, a series doesn't end after one character finishes their story, and a Community doesn't die just because the show ends. The Brony Community is not my first one, but it's very dear to my heart, I have met several wonderful friends here I otherwise never would, I have been more creative, write better, and overall am a better person because of this community, NOT because of the Pastel ponies. FIM is the thing that brought us together, we talk about it, we roleplay it, we write fan songs about it, fan fiction about it and we draw it, however if suddenly today FIM ended and was all said and done the ponies would be gone but WE'D still be here! We'd talk to each other we'd continue our rps, and we'd make up our own stories to fill the void. A fandom dies when all of the people that care about it forget it even existed, a fandom dies when people stop caring... and a story ends when the last words are on the page and ended with a "The End" We've got a season coming up, a Movie in the works, and the Canterot Staff are working diligently to keep the forums alive and active and fun, we are not dying, we are still here, so long as there are still even a hand full of Bronies we'll still be here, this community will keep going forward. If you feel that the show ended the day Twilight became an Alicorn then I respect your opinion, however MLP is NOT just about Twilight There's Rarity, Rainbow Dash, AppleJack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie still, there are still countless characters that have their own stories (granted ones the fandom will probably have to tell) We are not at the end of the book, we are at the end of the chapter, we are not dead. We are not gone. We are not over. We are still here.

Hello all! Welcome once again to my blog! I apologize for not posting an article for so long but Rph duties do come first nowadays! The subject of today's entry is about a trope that I am sure MOST of us have seen (and rolled our eyes at) in the Application Forum! I personally call it a symptom of Special SnowflakeItus (Note to self write blog about SnowFlakes later) Yes you know them, you hate them! It's the Tragedy and ANGST characters! Walking a lonely isolated road paved with dead parents, bullying, and generally are "outcasts" That's not to say that these traits can't be used in an app! But the problem comes when people use them as a substitute for the real character depth and development. (Basically in the eyes of Rosie, Angst and Tragedy are like cake mix, a cheap and unequal substitute for a real homemade from scratch cake) So I am going to list the most common angsty, depressing, and tragic tropes that plague the application forum and then talk more about depth and development. [colour=#ff0000]MY PARENTS ARE DEAAAADDD![/colour] Your Oc is /NOT/ Batman! It's perfectly okay to have a parent that has passed on, but more often than not a pony (or Griffon/Dragon/Seasnake) has it so that their parents were tragically killed in an accident. (Fire/dragon attack/ banishment to the moon) It's overdone, not clever, and honestly it's just plain lazy! Stop doing it srsly I mean it! [colour=#ff0000]I AM AN OUTCAST AND AM BULLIED BECAUSE OF MY PHYSICAL APPEARANCE![/colour] Shush! No you are not Silly Filly! We know for a fact that ponies do not act like this, having your character discarded, rejected, shunned or "Bullied" due to their appearance, talent, or species is not how reality works in Canterlot! You won't be chased out of town for being a unicorn with a single mother , for having strange coloured eyes (considering the variety in ponies eyecolour that's just silly sir) or for being a pegasus that can't quite fly yet! I can already hear you now "BUT LIIIME DIAMOND TIARA AND SILVER SPOON ARE BULLIES! THERE ARE BULLIES IN EQUESTRIA!" Yes, yes they are! I will not deny that sometimes ponies are flat out not nice, but two fillies that make fun of a blank flank does NOT justify your character being bullied (and sometimes beat up) just for the sake of making us feel sorry for them! This is lazy writing, and it doesn't make your character appear tragic, misunderstood, or whatever other purple proise you want to use to justify it. [colour=#ff0000]I AM A MISUNDERSTOOD SOCIAL OUTCAST THAT MUST WANDER EQUESTRIA IN SOLITUDE![/colour] -Rubs temples with hooves- Ghn this trope is the biggest pain in the FLANK to interact with! "Outcast" characters are normally spurned and rejected, often times for something they have no control of and live like hermits in deep forests, dark caves, or high mountains away from ponies. But Roleplaying is a COLLABORATION! It takes more than one person to rp and when your character is so angst filled that they cannot talk to another character without feeling ungodly angst? Then we have a problem [colour=#ff0000]I AM PHYSICALLY DISABLED THEREFORE I AM FOCUSED PRIMARILY ON MY DISABILITY![/colour] No no no no no no! This is not only overdone to death but it's also REALLY REALLY insulting to people who/have/ this disability in real life when you portray a character that is blind as helpless, insecure, and rejected for their lack of sight (-glares bitterly at the Animated Fan Animation known as "SnowDrop". Blind characters are the most common, and it's pretty hard to pull one off well (Starswirl the Bearded does a great job of using blindness correctly in his Zebra Application) A character with a disability is MORE than their disability, and it's insulting to make this issue the very center of their character, it doesn't make them deep, interesting, or even decently written, it's just a cop out to tug heartstrings and to gain sympathy. Those are the most common overdone traits, and they really need to stop being used! I understand the desire to write a deep, meaningful character that has a piece of your soul, that moves others, and is popular! But Angst and Tragedy really do not make up for Depth and Development! Think on it Would you rather read an application about a feeble blind pony that struggled with her horrid blindness, bullies, and rejection only to be embraced for her super awesome blindness? Or would you rather hear about a Zebra that while she was born blind never let it slow her down and learned to read and understand the world around her, whom is a valuable asset to her tribe, a playful and flirty soul, and compassionate and even a bit of a trickster if it serves her right? Characters are more than the sum of their parts, they need real soul injected in them while you write, you need to be able to make a character interesting just as they are! If you spend too much time focusing on the bad in your characters life that we can't even grasp the first thing about them as a pony(or person) then that stuff needs to be taken /out/ Ask yourself this "Is what I'm writing relevant to this character? Or am I doing it because it sounds cool/angsty?" "Is this characters disability a crutch, or a centerpiece focus for their entire life?" If the answer is "Yes" Go back to the drawing board and start again, because a shallow character with a tragic and dark past is nowhere near the same level as a happy character with maybe hints of sadness but tons of personality that lets us fully grasp who they are This has been the Queen of Ravens Until next time!

There are some guidelines to how one should go about requesting something! Art is no different! Art takes a lot of time, effort, drive, and passion to do and a gift of art is a wonderful thing! I am going to give you some rules on how one should properly request art. (Note these are not official site rules, but my own personal ones) Get to know the community first! Don't be that one jerk that JUST joined, has 4 posts, and instantly comes to the request area to get free art, be it of your cutie mark or your character; You should spend time to get to know the people around you. Be POLITE. Ask nicely in your thread, say please, and if someone fulfills your request THANK THEM! They took time out of their day to make you something for FREE so show some appreciation for that work. Be REASONABLE! Don't request a two+ character drawing with a background AND color for free, This takes time and TIME is money. Don't think that just because they are drawing it on a computer it's a quick thing they can bang out in an hour. Describe what you want FULLY in your first post, do not request something and then start tackling requests onto your original request. Do NOT be greedy! If an artist gives you a gift of art you say thanks, you do NOT instantly ask them for another piece, wait a while, and in fact maybe do something nice for them as a thank you Keep in mind the work, effort, and passion that goes into an art piece, think about how you would feel if someone asked you to make something for them, you made it, and then they instantly demanded more without so much as a thanks. Remember there is a HUMAN behind the screen doing something kind Don't beg, don't be rude, and be grateful

Hi there! I'm Rosie, one of Canterlot.com's Moderators, and a Senior Role Play Helper. My job is to make sure everyone has a fun time and follows our site policies. Canterlot.com is a unique site. We are not a "brony" site. We're an all-ages pony fan site. "All-ages" means that anything you post should be readable by everyone, including young children. Think Disney. We have kids and parents that use our site services, and we take great pride in providing an environment that is suitable to be enjoyed by all. Often we have new users that breeze in and attract the wrong kind of attention because they click through the rules without reading them, post things that would be acceptable elsewhere -- but not here -- and generally make a mess of things. You're a guest on our site, so please act like one. If you follow these three simple directions, you'll avoid frustration and Moderator attention: Read the rules. Seriously. They're very short and tell you exactly what not to do. Don't abuse our site. We're not an advertising service, or a place for you to dump stolen artwork in our gallery. Ask a Moderator first if you're not sure about posting something. Observe our roleplay areas and ask questions before diving in. We have several areas to play that serve different functions. One requires you to write an application that is styled specifically for Friendship is Magic play (World of Equestria), which is often confused as being the "best" roleplay. We get a lot of weird characters we can't approve for there because they aren't designed like they would be from Friendship is Magic. You'll save yourself time and grief if you explore our areas a little and look at other applications before writing your own. That's it! Go have fun!

Well, if you follow this blog, you may find out a little bit about what I do. That question could probably be summarized in a post, but this isn't it. This is just the Introduction, because I feel like there should be a set beginning to this blog. So hit the follow button, sit back, and watch me tangle with difficult people, misplaced topics, and a slew of characters. You may learn a thing or two.

Hello one and all! Today I am going to talk about a aspect of WOE rp that most probably don't realize is a part of it! Just as much as character development, appearance, and species! That would be of course the Roleplay HelpStaff! Both us RPH and the Senior Rph! Now I know the frustration of finishing an application and sitting there, waiting, itching to dive nose first into the WOE boards and rp my heart out! It is aggravating to just sit and wait and wait! I fully understand this as I had to deal with that sort of thing as well (Back when I first apped QuickLime it took a MONTH just to get her through!) The thing that needs to be realized is that there is more to being RPH than scanning your app, deciding it's good, and stamping it! Bada bish! There is a whole process involved that involves asking for feedback, checking with higher ups, and making sure everything in the application is up to the WOE standard. It's a bit of a process but doing so ensures that we have the most show quality , safe, and fun place for our users to interact and play! A lot of us however are more than Rph, we are users as well, we have more we have to do than just sit and work on applications for several solid hours, SteelEagle has a child he's raising, as well as being both AppleBloom and Twilight Sparkle, so he has threads and obligations to meet, Starswirl the Bearded just recently went through a process of moving, and Bellosh has school, not to mention is the player of our very own Derpy Hooves, AND Babs Seed! We have Rps, discussions, IRL obligations, work, family ect. Sometimes we just want to come online, not even look at the application forum, and have fun rping in our threads. Other days we roll up our sleeves and crack down to work and blaze through applications with ease! The point is that we are HUMAN, we're not superheros, we're not even payed employees! We do what we do because we love this site, we love the users, and because we love the admins and wish to make both of them happy and proud of the website they'v invested a LOT of time and a LOT of money into So I understand your frustrations on having to wait on your application being approved, and I understand the desire to dive in! Your feelings are valid! And your concern is heard We're doing the best we can! So we'll be doing our best to keep the quality of our game up to par, and do our absolute hardest to make sure the application process flows smoothly, all I ask though is for a little understanding, a little patience, and a little faith Thank you for listening! And a big thank you to our Mods that work so hard to keep the forums clean and fun too! From the bottoms of my heart and with love The Queen of Ravens signing off!

I have noticed in the CanterChat that we sometimes get people who are new to rping(RolePlaying) and have no idea how to start! WELP let me help you with that ;D First lemmi explain what Rping IS and then we'll move onto the lesson! Roleplaying is collaborating with one or more people to write a story or adventure, it is a great writing exercise and is also a wonderful way to expand your vocabulary! The benefits to rping are as followed1: It keeps your imagination healthy by causing you to use it more! There is nothing more awesome than a creative and imaginative Rper! Provided you don't go into Snowflake Territory 2:It helps you develop your writing skills. 3:It builds great bonds with people, as well as being a great way to pass the time ​There are many do's and don'ts to Roleplaying, and ofcourse a few terms of the trade, here are a few terms and what they mean Gmod= God Moding, it's when you control a character that is owned by someone ELSE, This is a VERY bad thing to do as it shows that you are uncreative, it can also be seen as lazy. PowerPlay= Power play is when your character is the best, smartest, strongest, fastest ect ect ect it's a very rookie mistake and while you may think it makes your character "cool" or "Badflank" it's not, it's just boring , done to death, and just down right DULL Mary/Gary Stu= A perfect character, flawless in appearance, always the most talented, richest, most perfect and beautiful creature in existence, these are bad and you should FEEL bad >( Nobody likes these. ​The best form of Rping in my opinion is third person, an example of it is"Rarity walked to the store and sighed, she was just too fabulous today! Nopony would give her any space!" It lets you get more detail in, there are many forms of rp but the most common for newbies(that should be avoided) are *Runs over and does a dance* and*Shegorath runs over and headbutts you* ^ Don't do those Consider rping as a form of art, describe the scene around you, describe your characters thoughts and feelings, but don't rush through all the interactions! The point of rping is to build off of the post before, it's like writing one epic story with lots of writers, it can be tricky to get the hang of but when you do it sticks to you pretty good! Next time we are going to talk about Etiquette in RolePlaying, and what you can do to be a considerate and well liked rper. As always let me remind you I am NOT Rph, my word is NOT law, it is merely my opinion

I know I mentioned a "Pimp my Oc" Episode but I never got any pms so that segment is canceled! Today we will instead be talking about how to make a good Oc in both appearance and personality! To once again make clear, I am NOT RPHS, none of this will guarantee your app will get approved, but I like to think that it helps Lets start off with the outside and work our way in!Lets go bit by bit of the pony and explain those various parts and how to improve them! 1: Eyes The eyes are the window to the soul however Oc's have done some overdone tropes with them so lets get a few don'ts out of the way! As said feel free to disreguard this advice, but this is my personal do nots list! 1: Red eyes! Overdone to death! They don't make your Oc look intense, or scary for that matter, they just make you look like you need clear-eyes 2: Heterochromia, That thing where your ponies eyes are two different colours? Yeah that's really becoming over done and often a mark of "SSSP" (Super Special Snowflake Pony), if you must do it, don't make it over the top, like making one eye GLOWING RED, and the other CELESTIAL BLUE! to symbolize some weirdness..eyes shouldn't symbolize anything with their colour, they should just accent your ponies colour. 3: JET BLACK EYES! Yeah again like the red eyes? These tend to be a badge of overdone and unoriginal, not to mention a warning sign that your pony just might be a SSSP..It's okay to have dark eyes, but having your entire eye be black is beyond weird and not something you should strive for in World of Equestria Rp. 4: Describing the eyes as "sparkling, radiating, flawless," ect You need to be modest, you can say that your ponies eyes are her best feature, or that "they are constantly sparked with passion" but DON'T make it seem like they could melt you with one batt of their eyelashes 5: Solid white eyes/Blindness: Solid white eyes are a no, you can have pale coloured eyes, and you can have blindness! But there is a difference between accenting and hindering! Protip with any form of disability with your pony you need to ask yourself "Is this a huge part of her or do I just want to make her seem "interesting" by having it?" If you answer yes to either of those? Remove the blindness! A pony should never have the entire app focused on a disability such as blindness, you can have a blind pony but don't make his or her world revolve around it. That should cover it for the eyes! I'll add in anything that I mighta forgotten later :3 Now ONTO THE MANES! A mane is a important part of any pony, and you should strive to make it unique yet not crazy, some things to avoid are. 1: Claiming it is styled like the Mane 6 -shakes head- Be more creative! Rping is a written form of art and you need to paint a picture...For example Mane:Styled like Fluttershy's but is blue= NOT okay Mane: Hangs long and wavy, lightly covering her face and is light blue, curling slightly at the ends= Okay! See the difference? You should never reffer to another character in your app to describe any part of them 2:Claiming your mane is so bizarre that other ponies shun you because of it. Ponies have shown they don't care much about mane colour, pelt colour, or other such appearances so don't try to make it seem like your pony is an outcast because their mane is magenta. 3: Stay away from making your mane too Xtreme! Like shaving all your mane off and replacing it with plates of metal held on by piercings..be reasonable and try to stay with the flavor of the show 4: Rainbow Manes are rare, if you must do it, try to be creative with it Onto the Coats! A pony's coat should be a nice complimentary colour to their mane, and you should get any ideas out of your head now of Pony coat segregation. Your pony will not be seen as "evil" or "Pure" if you have a jet black pelt, or a pure white one Your jet black stallion with his glowing red eyes will not be seen as evil, and your pure white pony with her soft blue eyes isn't going to be mistaken for royalty. 1: If you are a PONY it makes no sense for you to have stripes unless one of your parents is a zebra, or has zebra in your family...However if you are an eccentric pony then feel free to say that your pony dyes the stripes on 2: Tattoo's aren't possible on pony coats, however you can dye patterns onto your coats like mentioned above for a unique look! 3: If your pony has nicks and cuts from their work they really won't be visible unless it's a deep gash, and you really should refrain from mutilating your pony at any rate ^^; having a piece of the ear missing is often fine if not over done. 4: Don't try to get weird/ugly with your colours! Try to be logical with your colours and don't make your pony hard to look at, like making them the brightest pink possible and then splotching rainbow colours all over. Now we will do the tail, though the tail is similar to the manes, my only added thoughts on it is that your pony should have one! Unless you have one hay of a reason to not have a tail, a tail is important to a pony, for emoting and for balance, so don't disregard it. Lets go over species! And what each species brings to the party And to talk about some do's or don'ts of your selected pony. Earth Ponies: They are pretty basic, they tend to be strong, fast, and have a way with the ground, mostly planting, building, and other such activities! This doesn't mean your earth pony has to be a farmer, or that they have to be stuck in a job they hate, nor does it mean you should have your earth pony despise their position either ^^; Pegasus Ponies: Mostly deal with the weather, racing, and other extreme things, but we've seen Pegasi as all sorts of things! With a Pegasus please refrain from making them unable to fly! That's unneeded drama and angst to cast your pony with, if you are a filly or colt Pegasus that can't fly yet that is perfectly fine however as it takes a while to develop the wing strength and size to do so. Unicorns: Do NOT BREAK THEIR HORNS! I don't care how essential to your character this is! DON'T DO IT! Your unicorn can not be magic-less, you can have a unicorn that likes to farm, and you can have a unicorn that likes to fly, but DON'T make a unicorn that is powerless! We've seen Unicorns be everything from Dress makers to bakers! So be creative! Have your pony like one type of magic that is their special talent, but don't rob them of what makes a unicorn unique, and that is their magic. Finally let's talk about Cutie marks and names! A cutie mark should be a symbol of what is important to your pony! What makes them special and different than anypony else in the world! Your pony should never despise their cutie mark, or hate their talent, since a cutie mark is supposed to be something that means something to YOU. If you are a filly or a colt, feel free to make a blank flank! However if you are a mare or a stallion? You /NEED/ a cutie mark! You can't be talentless and claim to be a late bloomer, this is essentially pony puberty! It is a milestone you need to cross before you are a mare or a stallion A cutie mark shouldn't be overly complex, but it can't be too simple..like for instance "My cutie mark is a rock, it shows that I like rocks" Isn't okay hah hah! Unless you are Tom, which you arn't Now for your ponies name you need to think of the names on the show! They tend to be in two parts, or just one part and have to do with nature, animals, gems, ect! Like Twilight Sparkle is two words, and Fluttershy is 1! Ponies don't have last names but they have families, like the apple family, however not every apple family member has apple in their name! See for example Babseed! Also your ponies name does /not/ have to match his talent! Your ponies parents weren't born with the ability to see the future! They could name them anything! As a baby your pony was a blank canvas! My Pony was named Ginger Kick due to her gingery colouring and her plucky personality that gave her a bit of a kick, she wasn't named "Creme Light" due to her special talent for making light coffee And if you ever need help naming your pony or coming up with cutie mark ideas? Feel free to shoot me a pm about it! I'v done a ton of pony names and am pretty good at it by now. That covers all of their outer appearance! Now lets work on the inside, the personality! This will be broken in some suggestions and some do nots! You should focus on your pony's personality long before you think of anything else! What do they do? where do they want to go with their lives? You should strive for creativity, but not introvering! It's fine to have a pony that is not super social, it's NOT fine to make a pony that flat out avoids other ponies! If you are so focused on making your character dead set against meeting other ponies then why are you rping at all? The point of rping is to INTERACT with others and collaberate to write something facinating and interesting! Try to describe their personality creativly! Don't say "Shy like fluttershy" or "Smart like Twilight" You can say instead "She's very quiet and tends to be more withdrawn untill she gets to know you, then she opens up like a daisy!" or "She's very bookish and quiet and loves her alone time but that doesn't mean she doesn't enjoy a good party!" In the end you should try to make a character that is both unique, interesting, and fun to be around! If you try too hard to make them super duper unique then you are going to FAIL and fail hard...Try to make your pony matter to YOU, and then try to make us care about how they interact with the World of Equestrian And overall write cleanly, write clearly and have fun, relying on your OWN words instead of leaning heavily on the mane 6 This is QuickLime Signing off for now!

[colour=#000080]PRINCESS LUNA: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour] Hello, and welcome to another edition of “Canterlot RP Spotlight”. This week, I’ve taken the liberty of covering one of our site’s most beloved cast characters. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Her Highness, the Princess of the Moon & Night: WARNING: HERE BE RP SPOILERS. I don’t think anyone here needs to be told who Princess Luna is. You know, the younger sister of Princess Celestia who got banished to the Moon for a thousand years, terrorized a town with antiquated ROYAL CANTERLOT TRADITIONS, and plays games of Inception with Equestria’s foals. For a character who only has a major appearance once per season, Luna has received quite a nifty character arc for herself. It’s not very hard to see why she’s become so popular with the MLP fandom. Over here at Canterlot, Princess Luna has been portrayed by MyLittlePonyTales since almost the beginning of the forum’s existence. Just like with the show, Tales’s Luna underwent a character arc of her own. Behaving early on as the shy remorseful princess that many fans took Luna for back in the old days, the princess in Mane RP learned how to take names and regain her alicorn powers. Nowadays Luna enjoys seeking out the company of other ponies, although her royal status ensures that she gets surrounded by folks wherever she goes. Having already been spotted in such places as Sweet Apple Acres, a Canterlot coffee shop, and even a shop next to a junkyard, who knows where we’ll see Luna next? Before we go forward, here’s a blast from a past for all of you fine people: the original Season One-era version of Tales’s character profile for Princess Luna: ----------------------- [colour=#000080]The Castle Garden[/colour][colour=#000080] / [/colour][colour=#000080]Night Walk[/colour][colour=#000080] / [/colour][colour=#000080]Recuperation in... Paradise?[/colour][colour=#000080] / [/colour][colour=#000080]Good Morning, Skyeshine[/colour][colour=#000080]:[/colour] Forming a four-part series, these RPs will give readers a glimpse into the really old days of Canterlot RP, when Princess Luna hadn’t yet became her Season Two self and when members could RP as OC relatives of the Royal Princesses themselves. The story begins in the castle garden, with the angsty Luna running away from Princess Celestia, played back then by MudBug, after telling her sister about a moon celebration she was contemplating. Heading off into the Whitetail Wood at night, Luna finds a new friend in the form of Skye, a long-lived peryton portrayed by the RPer of the same name. Along with finding someone new to bond with, Luna also begins the process of patching things up with her older sister... all after a brief scare with a ferocious bear first! As readers can see, Tales’s Luna has come a long way since early 2011. Leaving off after the “Elements of Harmony” pilot episodes, Her Highness’s powers still hadn’t returned to her at the time, leaving her to mope about her uselessness. More importantly perhaps, the princess was too afraid seek out other ponies during the early days of Canterlot RP, thinking that everypony still hated her due to turning into Nightmare Moon. With all those chips on her shoulder, it’s thus a major accomplishment for Her Highness to make a friend in modern-day Equestria. Of course though, Luna would still have miles to go before she truly “returned to form”..... ----------------------- [colour=#000080]One is the Loneliest Number:[/colour] In due time, Princess Luna summons the willpower to show her face in Canterlot. Filled with anxiety, she braves the city streets and quickly finds herself surrounded by ponies. Her earlier fears that her subjects would cower in fear due to her dark past proved to be unfounded... somewhat. When overzealous guards arrive on the scene to drive onlookers back, one young mare is left in hysterics over her persumed arrest. Luna however authoritavely sends the guards off and successfully calms down the mare, Riverhippo's OC Granola Gracie. And so Miss Gracie winds up as the first pony in Mane RP whom the princess personally wins over. All and all, things went rather well for Her Highness. Aside from seeing once and for all that her subjects did not fear her one bit, Luna for the first time made use of her royal authority for one of the very first times post-NMM. Not only that, but the princess even learned of "night clubs" for the first time. Yet it would take another RP for Luna to eventually unlock her innate powers..... ----------------------- [colour=#000080]An Eccentric Trespasser:[/colour] What started with the “Skye Quadrilogy” comes full circle with this RP, as we finally see how Princess Luna completes her transformation into the alicorn that we now know and love. When Luna and Celestia stumble upon the strange Doctor Whooves, still played to this day by Bramble Rose, the Royal Pony sisters get more than they bargained for when they follow the Doctor into the underbelly of Canterlot Castle. To their horror they find the lower levels infested with manasprites, parasprite-like bugs that feed off magic and have cocooned a number of guards. It is left to Luna to distract the main swarm while Celestia and Doctor Whooves confront the Manasprite Queen. As one might expect, the trio end up eradicating the bugs and saving the day. For Princess Luna however, the adventure also awakened her dormant alicorn powers and restored her to her true stary-maned self. With the life of her subjects and her sister on the line, we also see the princess finally shake off her self-doubt and confidently step up to fulfill her role as bait. Gone forever is the old Luna who lamented her worthlessness and past history; in her place is a princess that we see in Mane RP today. Taking place over the course of a year in real-time and going through two Celestia-RPers in the process, “An Eccentric Trespasser” should be read by all Canterlot members interested in adventure RPs. Aside from seeing the princesses work together as a team, Doctor Whooves's oddball personality provides a humorous foil to the down-to-business royal alicorns. In many respects, the story feels like something that came from an actual Doctor Who episode. Before moving on, I just wanted to add this quote from the Doctor concerning her potential: ----------------------- [colour=#000080]A Night Under the Stars:[/colour] Now confident in her mantle as Princess of the Night, Luna is much more willing to wander out of the castle and make the acquaintance of her subjects. She encounters on one of her nocturnal expeditions the unicorns Ice Storm and Fire Heart, OCs used by IceStormx and Lux respectively who control their namesake elements. Later on, the trio also meets another night lover named Moondancer (one of my OCs as a matter of fact) while bonding at a deserted coffee shop. In this thread, Luna is shown to be quite well adjusted to contemporary Equestria... at least more so than her immediate post-NMM self. Her Highness still finds it a bit odd that her night has become more appreciated nowadays, but you won’t see her angst over how she doesn’t deserve any sort of praise whatsoever. As a sign of her newfound maturity however, Luna additionally proves herself more comfortable with providing guidance and inspiration to her fellow ponies. In short, “A Night Under the Stars” is a neat glimpse into how Luna performs in an intimate RP setting. ----------------------- [colour=#000080]1[/colour][colour=#000080]00 Country Kisses:[/colour] If the previous RP could be considered “cozy”, this thread would be the exact opposite. Craving the taste of fresh apples, Princess Luna inadvertently winds up as one of many ponies who descend upon Sweet Apple Acres on the day of a special promotion; buy a bushel of apples, and get a kiss from Applejack (as played by Riverhippo). Using her royal prestige to cut to the front of the line, Luna proves herself to be a rather fussy customer. Not only was she dissatisfied with her apples, but she even demanded a redo of the kiss AJ provided. At least it made for a good picture though: (Image drawn by BrainedBySaucepans) If anything, “100 Country Kisses” shows what happens whenever Princess Luna is inserted into a thread with a crowd of other characters in an Open RP. Namely, ponies lose their minds as they either rush to bow to one of their rulers or otherwise seek out her attention. Thanks to such crowds, it can be rather hard for characters to have some proper one-on-one moments with the princess. This brings us to our last spotlighted thread for the day..... ----------------------- [colour=#000080]AMA: Princess Edition:[/colour] As part of a month-long stunt by the Canterlot Royal Public Relations departments, all three of Equestria’s princesses solicit letters from their subjects and respond to them as they see fit. As one of the three princesses, Luna gets bombarded with a whole slew of letters. Those who have engaged in written back-and-forth correspondence with her so far included an adorable filly, a pirate, a sleep-deprived weather pony, and more. If you want your character to interact with Luna without dealing with pesky crowds, then this thread is absolutely for you. Heck, who knows what will come with your OC's correspondence with the Night Mare? So don’t delay; post today!!! ----------------------- And now, here’s an interview of the ever-amazing MyLittlePonyTales where the secrets of RPing as Luna are revealed to all: ----------------------- And that’s a wrap. As usual, I hope everyone here enjoyed this latest read. Come back next week when I go ahead and spotlight another one of our site’s great RP threads. PS: Enjoy the new year, everybody!

Hello and welcome to the first ever Guide to Rping and Character Creation post! Now I bet you are wondering. "Gee QuickLime what gives you the authority to pass yourself as some all knowing Rp guru ?" First off, that's rude and your mother would be ashamed! Second off, I will state right now that I have ZERO Authority on anything, that lies with the Canterlot RPHS (Roleplay Helpstaff) and that if you have any serious rp issues you should contact them SO let's roll up our sleeves and belly flop right into this shall we? So you've grown bored of all the alicorns and lack of real canon structure in FFA and are wanting to dip your hooves in the scary waters that is the Canterlot World of Equestria Rp, though intimidating at first you shouldn't be afraid to take that plundge! I assure you the World of Equestria Rp is enriching, and very fulfilling with many interesting ponies, places, and plots! (Not that kind-slap-) To start you off on the right guide let's give you a few tools Da Rules Read every section of this BEFORE you even start writing, so you understand how World of Equestria Rp works, this is FULL of good things like what playable species are allowed, where you can live, and just in general canon rules for the World of Equestria Rp. I know it's a bit to read but I assure you it is worth it Rarity's Simply Fabulous Roleplay Application Guide! THIS is a key step in joining World of Equestria Rp! Without this there is no forward! Only back! This Guide was written by the fabulous Phil the TimeWizard and you should read this , and use it as a guide to write your applications! While it is not official it is still in my opinion a key component in making a good application Roleplay related questions, don't know where to get the answers? The answer of course is THE RPHELPSTAFF! The Senior RPHS List RPHelpers List But you might be wondering "Lime why are there TWO lists!? I CAN'T COMPREHEND TWO LISTS!" For one, calm the buck down child and shh let Momma Lime explain! The Seniors are the ones that have a bit more OOMPH to their word, they are the ones that stamp applications and pass them through, the Regular RPHS are there to guide you through the rocky waters so that you get passed up to a Senior Helpstaffer and get your app stamped Do not fall into the same cliche's that have been done BEFORE YOU. So you've finally read everything, took Phil's app and filled it out ! You also went to the Ponymaker and made yourself a niceee Pony Image to demonstrate what your character looks like! Now lets talk about cliche's and what you shouldn't do! 1: Make your pony an orphan! This is overdone and really REALLY annoying to ME and the people that have to read this uncreative trope again and again and again! Your parents aren't dead, don't try to give your character a sad, sobby dead parent backstory riddled with angst and sorrow. 2: Don't overplay their disabilities/short comings! If your pony is blind, deaf, missing a leg, ect DO NOT MAKE THIS THE FOCUS OF YOUR APP! Don't try to go for the pity card, or the over done "My character seems weak but THEIR NOT!" trope either! It's uncreative! There are many good Oc's that have limbs missing/ blindness without it being the focus of their application. 3: Do NOT try to insist that your character is an outcast among ponies! Don't try to make it seem like your character was victimized due to their eye or coat colour, it's been proven ponies don't care about that sorta stuff. Another thing to avoid is to claim they were horribly bullied for being different, especially if it's for like "She can't cast magic" or "He can't fly" when your characters are young foals since this is very common. 4:Make them a battle torn wanderer tough guy that shuts everyone out, this is not in the spirit of the show so don't do it D: Also for the sake of it NO MORE DEAD PARENTS! To keep up with the latest Rp news and such go to here Codexia Equestria! For all your Rp related news! Overall stick to the guides and if you need any questions feel free to shoot a pm to a RPHS member that is online! And come back next time for the next installment of this blog "I'v been accepted into World of Equestria Rp..Now what !?" This is QuickLime signing off!

The recent slew of Godmoding in NMN has really brought this issue to my attention! So tonight folks we are going to talk about Godmoding/OPing and why you shouldn't do it . It's /RUDE/! Who do you think you are by deciding someone isn't doing an action you want them to, and then forcing them to do it instead? No, don't do it, not even for the sake of "The story" unless you get PERMISSION. Example: "HEY COME HERE!" I called at Fluttershy, and then Fluttershy came over blushing" No, if it is not your character you get NO CONTROL over them/period It shows you don't know how to rp particularly well, and it's obvious that you are trying to FORCE an event to come along, if you want the story to go a specific way COMMUNICATE THAT with the person you are roleplaying with, don't try to MAKE it happen It shows that you have no respect for the person you are rping with and don't think they know how to respond appropriately, show respect for your partner, don't manipulate or control their character without their consent! It's just not okay, and it's a very basic roleplaying rule. NOW let's talk about being too Over Powered or "Op" as the term is normally called This is when your character suddenly has amazing strength, ability, and magic than they would EVER have outside of this scenario. Suddenly becoming a master of magic and combat just because there's a fight is being OP Moving to break everyone free is being OP Trying to be the biggest, strongest, bravest hero is being OP I know what you are thinking "But QL I want my character to be super awesome and the hero!" Well/DON'T/ IT'S BORING! Have your character use their wits, skills they already have! Don't pull made up horseapples out of your hat and slap it onto them. Remember that Roleplaying is a constant exercise in teamwork People coming together to tell a story, and it's not fair if you yank the pen out of your friends hand and write their part, or utterly end the story without letting them have any fun! Show RESPECT for your rp partner, show respect for yourself Communicate, work together, and have fun. Sincerely : The Queen of Ravens

I am apparently not a unique individual. I do not go exclusively to independent coffee shops I don't listen souly to music made by independent musicians that work from the bottom and climb to the top I don't only watch hand made animated works that were made by one guy on YouTube. I will go into a Starbucks, get one of their "girly frappe not coffee at all" drinks and sit on my laptop and enjoy myself. I will hear a song on the internet, in the store, whatever and get it on my Ipod despite who the singer is, what the opinion of them is, or if they are "Mainstream" or not. I will quite happily watch any copy paste "Disney Garbage" that shows in theaters, and I will be a mindless sheep that watches "mainstream" programming, buy their merchandise and wear it unironically and look like the worlds biggest corporate tool, swallowing any half attempted garbage they churn out. I'll go play my uncreative un indie games like Skyrim, and I'll occasionally quote a popular meme (Well I did! but then I took an arrow to the knee!) I am apparently the definition of a soulless , creativity lacking, media sheep. And I don't care. Letting people tell you that if you like a certain thing, enjoy a certain restaurant, or play games, listen to music, and enjoy things that a lot of other people do makes you uncreative, stupid, and a sheep? Is just as bad as swallowing everything just because it's popular. People are always unique in their own ways, I for one am a writer, a roleplayer, and I am pretty good at what I do, nobody else will think, write, or express themselves the same way I do. THAT makes me a individual. Not what I drink Not what I listen to Not what I wear and not what I watch. I am an individual because I exist, I will listen to what/I/ want, Drink what /I/ Want Play what /I/ want READ what/I/ want And it's not your place, job, or call to tell me I am a mindless sheep because I choose to do what I like, instead of what you think I should:) So I watch a show that is overhyped garbage that is just boring, produces boring sayings, and I wear their stuff, go to their conventions, or make references to the series that has "a bad reputation" So what? Ima do my thing, you do yours. Deal?

[colour=#0000ff]ICE STORM: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour] Welcome to another installment of the Canterlot RP Spotlight. As you may know, we’re still stuck in the thralls of winter over here in the northern hemisphere, so today I’ll be covering a character that quite fits the theme of the ongoing (but almost-ended) winter season..... (Pic gifted to IceStormx) So now we have here one of Canterlot’s most storied OCs, RPed by no other than... IceStormx. In case anybody couldn’t tell just by looking at her name, Ice Storm’s specialty is ice magic, and it comes quite in handy for running a ice cream stand in Ponyville. This unicorn had done rather well in her new hometown, making friends with individuals such as Rarity (fabulously portrayed by the fabulous Phil the Time Wizard) and meeting the love of her life in the form of Dunder Blust (played by you guessed it, Dunder). But things weren’t always so rosy for Miss Storm. As a filly, she didn’t have a good relationship with her parents in Fillydelphia, and so she ran away from home and moved to Canterlot. Ice’s life in Canterlot was not much better, with her attempts at wooing the Canterlot elite with her special talents falling on deaf ears. It took a change of scenery via relocation to the quaint town of Ponyville until the mare’s life finally turned around. Nowadays, those who display haughtiness and contempt towards the mare will only receive haughtiness and contempt in return. On the other hand, ponies who’ve earned Ice Storm’s trust will find in her a loyal and caring friend. If your OC proves to be a caring individual, Ice will gladly return the favour... and then some! ----------------------- [colour=#0000ff]Moving In[/colour][colour=#0000ff], [/colour][colour=#0000ff]Shopping at the Boutique[/colour][colour=#0000ff], + [/colour][colour=#0000ff]Ponyville Party[/colour][colour=#0000ff]:[/colour] In Ice Storm’s debut RPs, we find that she has just arrived from Canterlot having finally gotten sick of the capital city. In her rush to move out, the mare has no place to stay and has hardly any possessions on her. Fortunately the first pony she encounters is Dunder, a kindly pegasus stallion who not only treats her to lunch but provides her with some bits to help her get established in the town. In short order, Ice finds also finds herself invited to a party that night for a wedding anniversary. Ice Storm is thus now in immediate need of an affordable dress. To prepare, she takes Dunder’s advice and requests the services of the dressmaker Rarity, who graciously sells her a pretty gown for way below its actual value. In euphoria, Ice marks Rarity as another good friend and asks to go out for lunch. Rarity agrees, and thus another friendship is forged that day that has persisted through multiple RP threads. The night comes, and Ice Storm actually has a blast. The unicorn notes she that has made more friends in Ponyville in a day than in all her years at magic school in Canterlot. Despite not having a suitable residence yet, the mare’s dead set on staying in the town she relishes calling her new home. However, Ice hasn’t seen the last of Canterlot just yet..... ----------------------- [colour=#0000ff]A Night Under the Stars[/colour][colour=#0000ff]:[/colour] A few months later, it’s clear that Ice Storm’s gamble in moving to Ponyville has paid off. Her Frozen Delights ice cream stand has taken off, and her friendships have continued to flourish. Yet she hesitates to return to Canterlot until she receives an invitation to participate in the Not-Quite-as-Grand Galloping Gala; a knockoff of the more famous GGG. Encouraged by Dunder and Rarity to give Canterlot a second chance, Ice Storm discovers by meeting the actress Fleur de Lis (played by Pony) that not all the Canterlot elite are stuck up as she had previously assumed. Yet perhaps the most meaningful moments of Ice Storm’s night don’t occur until after the gala concludes, where the nightlover finally meets the one pony that any self-respecting nightlover would idolize; Princess Luna (I’ve written plenty about her use in Mane RP before). In fact, Ice loves the cool and starry nights so much that she sleeps outdoors whenever given the opportunity. Most importantly of all, the mare reveals to Luna how observing the night sky reminded her of how the princess persevered through her own problems, thus providing Miss Storm with a source of inspiration throughout her darker years (pun very much intended; never believe anyone if they claim otherwise). (Pic drawn by BrainedBySaucepans) The other ponies Ice encounters are Fire Heart, a fire elemental mare portrayed by Lux, and Ice Storm’s sole pre-Ponyville friend Moondancer played by, well... me. Taking refuge in a deserted coffee shop, all four ponies use this chance not only to merely badger Luna with questions, but to act as a mutual support group for one another. In particular, the Princess of the Night inspires Ice to make an effort to relocate her estranged parents and reconcile with them. This RP has not yet concluded, thus it remains to be seen how the band of four nocturnal ponies continue to bond with one another. Plans are in motion though to arrange a nighttime tea party one day night. In the meantime, readers can marvel at the astonishing four-way conversation that this RP brilliantly pulls off..... ----------------------- [colour=#0000ff]Nighttime Tomfoolery[/colour][colour=#0000ff]:[/colour] In the past, an embarrassing issue of Ice Storm’s had kept her from being able to attend the slumber parties hosted by Moondancer back in magic school. However, the ice elemental finally gained the nerve to go upon reuniting with her friend back in the previously-described RP thread. While this story has only just begun, it promises to be a fun night that Ice will never forget, as she further bonds with Moondancer and another of the partylover's friends, Phil's Dazzle Dawn..... ----------------------- [colour=#0000ff]A Ponyville Wedding[/colour][colour=#0000ff]:[/colour] In the meantime in Ponyville, Ice Storm became romantically attracted to Dunder and the two begun a relationship. Despite some drama, their connection remained strong and the two eventually decided to marry one another. For their wedding, Ice and Dunder each invite their closest friends to attend; in Ice’s case, they include Rarity, Princess Luna, and Moondancer. This RP is also still-in-progress, but it’ll provide a chance for all of Ice’s various friends to get a chance to know one another..... ----------------------- And it’s interview time! This is one of the most comprehensive ones you’ll read yet... ----------------------- Next week will probably be one of my “break” weeks again. But after that though, maybe I’ll finally cover a RP thread again. We’ll see though; we’ll see. Until next time ladies and gentlemen... stay frosty.

[colour=#006400]PATHFINDER: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour] Howdy-do, Canterloters! I'll still write about my own RP characters every once in a while, but now I'll be introducing a new series of articles. Starting today, I plan each week or so to do a spotlight feature on other RPer's characters and threads. With this new series, I wish to provide a way to cover the happenings of Canterlot's RP section in an in-depth manner. Note: any RP thread and character I review will be done so with the permission of the OP/RPer, and you'll won't find any sort of drama in these posts. So without further ado, let' get this show on the road! [colour=#006400]BELLOSH101 PRESENTS:[/colour] WARNING: HERE BE RP SPOILERS. If adventure had an old name, it would have been Indiana Jones. Well, not anymore it ain’t; it can be safely said that the crown of adventuring now belongs to the one of Canterlot’s most popular original characters, Pathfinder. For those of you not in the loop, Pathfinder is the Mane RP’s resident Daring Do fanatic; a pegasus mare heck-bent on imitating her cherished idol down to every letter. Created and role-played by SteelEagle, this pony fills every thread she appears in with the energy and fanaticism that only a die-hard, half-insane master explorer can provide. To briefly summarize her life story so far, Pathfinder is the orphaned daughter of a husband-and-wife duo of stunt-flying performers who mysteriously vanished. Left to cope in the Cloudsdale orphanage system, the young filly found a source of strength in the Daring Do books, whose heroine reminded the orphan of her parents. Pathfinder became a huge fan of Daring Do, and her love for the books empowered her to thrive on and become an adventurer when she grew up. Pathfinder thus spends most of her time roaming the land, on a seemingly never-ending journey to find exotic locales teeming with dangerous booby traps and frightening monsters. The Daring Do impersonator lives for almost nothing else; she sees no current reason to find conventional jobs or worry about the opinions of others who don’t share her devotion to adventuring. Whenever she ventures into civilization for reason unrelated to questing, you can be sure that it’s because Pathfinder’s hunting down the latest Daring Do book or gracing a fan convention with her overzealous presence. The following four RP threads may not be the only stories that Pathfinder has appeared in, but they exemplify why she belongs in the Luna-tier of Canterlot OCs. Should a character find themselves unprepared, they’ll end up overwhelmed by the sheer awesomeness/insanity that is Pathfinder. However for those few who let themselves become captivated by the thrills of outsmarting traps and conquering the ruins of ancient civilizations, the living embodiment of Daring Do may just become one of their most treasured companions. ----------------------- [colour=#006400]The Heart of an Adventurer:[/colour] While this RP isn’t the first thread to feature the half-crazed adventurer, it is the chronological beginning of one of Pathfinder’s most important character arcs. It is this thread where the Daring Do fanatic meets her fillyfriend Snowfall, the Northern Storm Industries CEO played by Phil the Time Wizard. Paired up by a matchmaking service, the two are sent on a blind date to an obstacle course nestled in a desert town; a rather ideal date spot for a master explorer like Pathfinder! Over the course of the story, Pathfinder and Snowfall connect with one another quite handedly; by the end of the date, the two pegasi are convinced that the other is their special somepony. As shown in this thread, Pathfinder can barely go a moment without recollecting past escapades and generating excitement in the heat of the present moment. Yet even with Pathfinder’s everlasting obsession with Daring Do, this RP demonstrates that even someone like this pegasus has basic emotional needs to fulfill, like companionship. We also see that the touchy-feely adventurer who says whatever’s on her mind without any reserve actually has some sort of plan for the future; to start-up a survival gear business that’d naturally go bankrupt from bankrolling an expedition. While it would seem that a nearly-broke vagabond would be extremely hard-pressed to relate to a wealthy business owner, it turns out that matching Pathfinder and Snowfall together was a stroke of genius. For Snowfall (herself a Daring Do fan in her youth), the adventurer provides the CEO a sense of raw fun and nostalgia that she hasn’t been to experience for a long count of time. Meanwhile, Pathfinder sees in the businessmare someone with the willpower and confidence to potentially serve as an amazing (and not to mention beautiful) companion on voyages. Of course, both mares also share the sorrowful common ground of losing parents to the Badlands. It retrospect, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Pathfinder and Snowfall become a couple. Commenting on the premise of the thread itself, an action date consisting of an obstacle course littered with loops and tourist-friendly booby traps serves as a very original concept for a romance RP. In fact, it really helps drown out the clichés that befall most romantic-based well... anything in general. Many writers would do good to take a look at “The Heart of an Adventurer” to gain insight into how to avoid a by-the-books date story involving bog-standard fancy restaurants, walks in the park, and all that jazz. ----------------------- [colour=#006400]Daringcon General:[/colour] After the events of “The Heart of an Adventurer”, we find Pathfinder attending a Daring Do convention held not too far away from Ponyville. The fanatic is not alone though; it turns out that Snowfall (meticulously dressed-up as the character Princess Veil) is in attendance too, having rekindled her old foalhood love for the franchise. The stage is thus set for numerous con hijinks, such as failing miserably to let con goers sneak inside the sold-out con and having a brief run-in with a biased news reporter. And to think Pathfinder hasn’t found out yet that one of her closest acquaintances is selling off most of her beloved Daring Do merchandise at the con itself! “Daringcon General” is a perfect example of how poorly Pathfinder fits into normal society. The pegasus frequently regards rules as mere annoyances meant to be broken, an attitude readily on display as she carved out badges to help unfortunate fans sneak inside the con. As it turns out, Daringcon itself wouldn’t have taken place at all without the extremist fan first sabotaging a rival convention. Equestria is thus fortunate that Pathfinder is only just a half-insane fanfilly at heart. Any RPer looking for a slice-of-life thread to interact with Pathfinder in her element should definitely consider participating in this thread. In addition, this is the perfect place to act out any sort of con-based scenario in Mane RP. The thread has recently gained a griffon vendor to sell merchandise; hopefully, other types of OCs like artists will join him shortly. Come here if you want to check out the OOC thread first. ----------------------- [colour=#006400]Pathfinder and the City of the Griffons:[/colour] Now we get to one of Pathfinder’s most larger-than-life adventures. Set in the Aquellian capital city of Talonpolis, this story revolves around the madmare’s mission to recover the Helm of Commander Hurricane, a relic seized by the griffons long ago. By happenstance Pathfinder stumbles upon Gilda, the ex-friend of Rainbow Dash (and also brilliantly played by Phil the Time Wizard). Joining forces, the rabid adventurer and the roguish griffon commence a spree of robberies, each one failing to turn up the Helm. On one such break-in gone wrong, Gilda gets captured by the griffons and is given the choice of either assisting in apprehending of Pathfinder or face punishment. Gilda agrees to help the Aquellian military in order to save her own skin, but she experiences conflicting feelings over betraying her new-found friend. In due time Pathfinder’s luck runs out too, as the exhausted mare fails to escape from a griffon trap. Both Gilda and Pathfinder are thus banished to the Pit; the dreaded prison inhabited by Aquellia’s most dangerous criminals. At the time of this blog post, the two partners are resolved to escape from their Tartarus-on-Earth and recover the Helm of Commander Hurricane. If there’s one thing that “City of the Griffons” makes clear, it’s that Pathfinder is an absolute determinator. No matter what impossible odds she faces, she’ll charge at them head-on no matter the consequences. Unfortunately the pegasus ain’t that bright too, as it’s eventually revealed that the object of her desire was actually stashed away in a totally different city altogether. Of course no mention of “City of the Griffons” is complete without discussing Gilda, who despite her antihero demeanor not only comes to admire Pathfinder but even learns to like the Daring Do books (which the pegasus somehow keeps on her person at all times). For a griffon who came off as somewhat one-dimensional in her sole-appearance in the show, here she’s given honorable qualities by Phil in a believable way without sacrificing her less-than-stellar downfalls in the process. If anyone wants to read through an exceptional character study of Gilda, look no further than “City of the Griffons”. Obviously, this thread is also one of the best adventure RPs one can read at Canterlot, especially since it makes exceptional use of the Talonpolis setting. If you haven’t done so, you should read it now! ----------------------- [colour=#006400]From Stormy Skies to Roaring Waters:[/colour] The first thread in the Staff of Fate adventure series, expect to see great things from Pathfinder as she pursues an epic quest to recover a series of powerful artifacts before they fall into the wrong hooves. Joining with the likes of Twilight Sparkle, Trixie Lulamoon, Dr. Spin Tale, and Rain Leaf (played by Helix, Brianblackberry, myself, and Doc Hoof MD respectively), expect chaos and hilarity to ensure as the band of five struggle to work coherently as a group… let alone cooperate with a rival team. Anyone wishing to RP in Staff of Fate should feel free to sign up in the OOC thread. While the positions for the main and support characters for Teams 1 and 2 are currently filled up, location-based characters are always welcome. No adventure-RPer should pass up on the opportunity to have their OCs interact with Pathfinder, Twilight, or even Doctor Whooves! ----------------------- For additional insight into Pathfinder, below in the spoiler box is an interview with SteelEagle where he elaborates on how he came up with his character and how he plans to use Pathfinder in the future: ----------------------- I hope everyone who views my exposé on Pathfinder finds it a very enlightening read, especially if you didn’t know much about her up until now. If you’d like to have me spotlight one of your characters or RP threads, feel free to give me a shout either through the comments below or through PM. If you’re interested, we can arrange a time where I can interview you about your OC or RP. Depending on the feedback I get, I just might very well make this a weekly series.

1: Luna Angst Seriously, stop this 2: Angst for the sake of angst This too! 3: Derpy hooves PICK A NEW CHARACTER FOR CELESTIA'S SAKE 4: Mental/physical disabilities make me different and that's bad BLIND AND OUTCAST! COUNTER CLOCKWISE HORN OUTCAST OUTCAST AND DIFFERENT WEH! 5: LUNA REBELLION !!111 ENOUGH WITH THIS PLZ

It was really, really scary! Some person, came on here and signed up using not only an old username of mine from MLPForums, but the photos I posted on MLPForums, had most of my information correct, they just tweaked the age on the profile by 2 years and the location. I already had a really bad day and this just pushed me over the limit/edge. I was lucky that my old friend SymphonicFire was able to PM an administrator and the identity thief/stalker got banned pretty quickly. It is still pretty scary, because this happend pretty shortly after I made and posted an OC called Mirror Image. It is good to know that the moderation of this site is still done with fairness and swiftly.

[colour=#FF0000]ON SWORDPONIES & SPELLPONIES: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour] Welcome back to another installment of my blog! For those not keeping track of what gets posted here, Diomedes posted an excellent write-up earlier this week about what to keep in mind when writing an application for a guardpony OC. This article means to serve as a follow-up, but instead focus on wannabe action heroes, either skilled in sword fighting or spell casting, who are not in the service of the Royal Equestrian Army. Those familiar enough with the World of Equestria RP know that while it can support adventure RPs just fine, every OC involved ought to be well suited for slice of life scenarios too. Unfortunately, there are quite a number of Canterlot members who don’t understand this when they first try to create a WoE OC. Going in with the mindset that they’re in a violence-enabled setting, they create characters that just aren’t suitable in a show-friendly environment. While indeed there are some characters of this sort that we’ve previously permitted to be used in WoE, understand that this is so only because they were approved at a time when standards were much more lax. WoE is no longer a place where users can app characters that feel like they’ve come from D&D or an action anime. To be fair, there is nothing technically wrong with a pony being skilled with a useful magic spell or with a sword; after all, we know that fencing canonically exists in Equestria. However, things go so horribly wrong when it’s evident that the person apping such characters only cares about these aspects of the character to the exclusion of everything else. I want to share a few tips today to tell you all how to avoid the pitfalls found a lot with these sword and spellponies. First off, Equestria is not a place where ponies go on dungeon crawling quests on a routine basis. They cherish friendship and fulfilling their basic day-to-day destinies above all else. Therefore, it doesn’t jive well with WoE’s setting if a character’s purpose seems to be only to wander alone to seek out monsters and defeat them. That... just isn’t what FiM is about; the show instead shows how friendship and love can be used to overcome any possible obstacle, from the plain ole’ mundane to the more fantastical. Unfortunately, that basic fact seems to be forgotten when swordponies and spellponies get created. All too often, apps of these characters dwell so much about how awesome their blade-wielding skills are or how special their overpowered magic talent is that we have no good idea on what their personality really is, and how they can use their productive talents and specialized social skills to support a group of friends. Nope; the focus always seems to end up on how amazing, brave or GREAT AND POWERFUL a magician or swordpony is. While modern culture as a whole seems enamored with the concept of elite warriors, part of what gives FiM its appeal is how it avoids excessive glamorization of combat prowess and violence. This leads me to my final point; that violence and angst-producing events like massacres, exile, and other tragedies make up a good portion of a swordpony’s backstory. Instead of actually giving their avatar of awesomeness a well-crafted personality, users replace with the most edgy backstory they can conjure up. If a personality actually is present, it is not likely to consist of nothing else but infinite brooding, a generic willingness to protect the weak, and avoiding emotional attachments due from past generic drama. Again, WoE doesn’t aim to be that sort of environment. WoE is a place where people can roleplay the most purest form of MLP possible; a realm where pastel-coloured ponies embracing the magic of love and friendship thrive throughout the land. If you want to app a sword-wielding pony who isn’t a REA member, your character shouldn’t be just about roaming the wild in search of dungeons. Give your OC an occupation, cutie mark, and amusing quirks that don’t center on their skill with a blade. In the case of fencing practitioners, they should treat their talent as a sport which doesn’t translate into combat ability. As for magic users, avoid the temptation to make them outcasts because of their misunderstood or faulty spells. Also make sure their magic talent has a mundane day-to-day use rather than something clearly meant to nullify obstacles on dangerous quests. Everyone who takes my advice to heart will ensure that they have OCs suited for the setting depicted in WoE. As always, comment below if you have any additional insights. ^_^

These are my personal thoughts on cast characters here at Canterlot, and in no way reflect the stance of staff or administration. So, you play cast or want to play cast, eh? Can't blame you, it's a lot of fun! It's also a heavy responsibility in many aspects. You are the beacon that shines the brightest to attract those with the willingness to RP. Original Characters are the lifeblood of the Roleplay, but those charged with playing cast are what gets the ball rolling. When someone looks for a Pony roleplay, they look to who plays what character, how well that character is played, and how active that character is. When all works out, you have people excited by the prospects of playing with their favorite ponies. And once they get in and discover that, heck, THEY could play as their favorite ponies? Their tiny little hearts practically explode in their beating breasts. Then they read the rules and app guidelines and their excitement, fueled initially by cast, helps them get over the hurdle that getting into the World of Equestria RP is a process with some heartache to it. Is Cast the only reason? Heck no. But it is a big part of the appeal, that we have active, high quality, high access cast. You'd be shocked how many people know Canterlot for that reason. It's rarer than you'd think! So, playing cast is a big honor. However, as you could guess, there is a responsibility. Guests look at your posts and use that, among others, as a barometer for the forum. In other words, cast characters are a form of advertisement and your role is important. With that established, consider the following if you play cast or want to play cast(also, none of the following are rules, so follow them as well): 1- Play characters you think you can play well- This should go without saying, but you shouldn't try to play characters that you don't have much of an idea for. This is often taken as meaning don't go out of your comfort zone, but it isn't. Take that leap, but take that leap with a solid idea of how you want to play the character. This will come through in the highest quality posts you can put out and as interesting a character as you can manage. If you don't do this, characters come across as slap-dash and uninteresting, or rule-breaking and weird. 2- Play characters for the right reasons. Make sure you play characters because you love the character or the idea you have the character, you want to see them shine in the RP, and you want to use our setting to see them develop accordingly. Don't play a character because you like the name, colour combination, want to hoard, or want to save a character from others ad that is your main drive. Your motivation comes across in your posts and when there is a lack of motivation or drive, posts seem hollow. If you play for the right reasons, the motivation comes across just as well and posts seem to take on a certain energy all their own. 3- Play characters you can keep active and engaged Along with motivation and quality, activity is vital. So vital that we have rules governing cast activity. Yet just because you pass by the rules doesn't mean your activity and engagement are a bonus to the RP. Active and engaged characters that keep the RP world a thumpin' are the lifeblood of the RP. Slow or inactive characters can kill threads and turn off swathes of roleplayers more effectively than poor quality ever could. Being able to look for a character and see that he or he is active and able to be found reasonably in the RP world is a huge bonus for us. Being unable to do so hurts us. So, should you keep your characters/apply for one? Ask yourself the following: 1- Do I really want to play this character? Different from, "Do I like this character?" as playing entails taking a significant amount of energy and devotion and putting it into a single character. Playing isn't always easy but part of the cast responsibility is that even when your energy is low, your creative mind floundering, tired and a cat is biting your ear, you have to push through eventually and get it done. It isn't always easy. 2- Do I have the time? Whether it is real life or you have a thousand characters already, this is a vital question. If you don't have the time to get a character involved in the RP, then you really shouldn't try applying or keep playing that character. Not only does it just stress you out, but it hurts the RP and the site's advertisement. So, the end is this: Are you willing to accept the responsibility of cast, not just per the rules, but the duty it implies for you as a member of the forum? I hope so. (Note- Some things have been left out, either for use in a future blog or because I'm tired.)

Hello everypony! It's been a while hasn't it? As you may or may not know I have officially stepped down from Roleplay Helpstaff for now, I might very well come back someday if allowed, but for now I figure I can now really focus on connecting with the community again! Now I feel I need to remind you that I am NOT Rph and therefore nothing I say is site law! However it is my personal experience, thoughts, and advice! So use as your own discretion! As always if you need aid with a character I'll be happy to do so, my love for helping has not diminished with my status and I'm still gonna help as much as I can NOW our topic today is a common Canterlot first timer notion! The one where they think that their pony or other species of critter will get discriminated against due to being a certain color, a certain race, or having certain eye colors. This is not true! World of Equestria Roleplay does not function like the real world! Your character is never going to be bullied because they were born with a pure white coat and blood red eyes. Your character is not going to be snubbed because they are a gryphon, or even mocked because they are a pegasus that can't fly, or a unicorn that's magic isn't developed yet, this is not how Equestria is! Unlike reality Ponies tend to focus on the inside way more than the outside. I feel most people use things like having their character be mocked or ridiculed for their appearance are assuming that ponies are nasty, vengeful, and spiteful little creatures at heart, we have seen this not be true! Despite Gilda's personality the ponies still welcome her, despite being unable to Fly Scootaloo is treated like an equal (Diamond Tiara doesn't count) This is Canterlot.com NOT Snowdrop (Ick ) A character will not be shunned because they are blind, a character will not be disregarded as evil because they have red eyes, a Character will NOT be labeled stupid because they have a lazy eye. Remember this when you make an Oc, a disability, or strange appearance is fine (though not mental disabilities, they are against WOE rules) BUT don't make it an obsession for your character, don't make it something you fixate on. Your character is more than a appearance or a disability, so show it! This is the Queen of Ravens signing out

BECOMING POPULAR IN CANTERLOT RP: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101 Hello, citizens of Canterlot. This used to be the part where I apologized for the long delay between each blog post of mine. However, it seems every time I do say sorry, the delays only get longer and longer and longer. So forget all that; let’s get straight to the point. Today, I want to do another one of my advanced RP guides. The topic: how to increase the likelihood of users wanting to have their characters interact with yours. I’m going to make the assumption that you’ve already read all the blogs QuickLime writes; give them a read if you’re still trying to get the basics of structured RP. But if you already have a strong grasp of the fundamentals, read on for tips to increase the impact you can make in World of Equestria and Canterlot Chronicles! FOCUS ON A CORE CHARACTER OR TWO: First thing to keep in mind is that not all characters you apply for are created equal. For any amount of reasons, not all original or cast characters have the innate ability to become popular. Some ponies just can’t be realistically inserted into the majority of threads. Others don’t really have much of a personal journey that needs much exploration. And then a few characters who’ll be left out to dry simply because you gravitate towards other ponies on your roster.Thing is, don’t expect that all your ponies in that roster of yours are capable of all receiving the same amount of love, either from other players or yourself. To make the most out of WoE/CC, you’ll have to accept that some ponies of yours simply aren’t worth the time and effort to insert them everywhere, in the hopes that they’ll all make a big impact. The truth is, you’re better off focusing your love on a select group of ponies, or even just one. Feel free to leave some ponies covered in cobwebs; the less characters you promote, the mode individual attention you can give each of them. And the more attention a character has, the more likely someone either wants to respond to your pony in a thread, or even start a new RP with them. ​ CONSTANTLY ADVERTISE YOUR CHARACTER: By now, you probably got it drilled into your head that your RP posts are better if they are of high quality. But there’s another old saying: “Quantity has a quality all its own.” Of course, that doesn’t mean you should be pumping out RP posts when you’ve got other commitments to uphold, because real-life always comes first. If you got enough free time to participate in our community however, note that without a consistent rate of RP posts from you, your OCs will get less attention. Even worse, users might be scared off from replying to your posts if they have little faith that you’ll respond in a predictable timeframe.Yet there’s more to advertising your characters other than keeping them active in RP threads. If possible, insert your core characters into as much RPs as reasonably possible. If you’re in a chat group with Canterlot buds that permits occasional IM RP, dive into it with your ponies, no matter how silly or short the RPing actually is. If your RP buddies don’t do IM RP, simple playful glorification your cast or OC fulfills this purpose in moderation and when appropriate (social calibration is required for this technique). And if you got either artistic skill or deep pockets, conjure up artwork of your ponies. Anything that advertises the existence of your characters without creating a nuisance is fair game. ​ SPICE UP YOUR THREADS: For RP scenarios requiring little effort to justify, social functions and stores serve that purpose very well. The fun thing with those types of threads is that they could evolve in potentially any sort of direction. Sadly, they can also be crapshoots as far as attracting users. There’s no guarantee that someone will be inclined to jump into your character’s shop or party. This is especially true for threads set anywhere away from Ponyville or Canterlot, which hog most of the WoE/CC spotlight.To attract users to your open threads where you can spotlight your ponies, you’re going to need to think of creative gimmicks. Throwing a party? Find a way to make it as inclusive as possible, or maybe have it cater to a group of character types that normally don’t congregate together in regular RP. If you think of a RP idea or scenario that you don’t see being utilized, go for it! Do the unexpected, and make people remember your pony as a result! Remember though that no matter how innovate your thread is, it will turn into a ghost town if you don’t put the effort into keeping it active. I’ve seen many active threads die because the OP stopped posting to move the action along. ​ PROVOKE OTHER CHARACTERS: Even if you can insert your OCs into a whole bunch of threads, it won’t serve any purpose if there’s nothing worth responding to. Even if you got a pony saying a blanket greeting or other statement aimed at no one specific, users might very well ignore the post if they don’t feel a particular need to write a reply back. This isn’t because users are mean, but rather they want to save themselves effort to give proper attention to whoever they’re already interacting with.So the next time you enter a thread with a pony, make sure a user or more has a reason to respond. One simple way of doing this is greeting a specific character, but there’s still always a chance that the other user will feel that interaction to be too dull to reply to. For guaranteed results, look up the app of the target character, figure out what makes them tick, and use that info as you deem sensible. There’s no question that the other user will both appreciate you taking time to read their app and enjoy a scenario more inspired than a typical meet-and-greet. ​ MAKE FRIENDS: Perhaps the best way of making a meaningful presence in WoE/CC is to make friends. If you don’t already consider someone on our forums as at least an acquaintance, you really oughta' drop into our IRC room now. See who you happen to mesh with the best, and strive to keep your partnerships on very good terms. When you have confidence that you know someone or two who’d be up to enter your thread, sometimes it doesn’t really matter how many random people are interested in your RP or not. You’ve got friends; friends whom you can talk about ANYTHING to and find amusement with, because that’s what friends are for! ​I wonder if I should do a write-up about a character of mine again. Gosh, I’m so far behind on that...

YOUR OC IS NOT A PLAYER AVATAR: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101 Well folks, it’s been a long while since my last proper blog entry. I suppose that with all these new members signing onto our forums, now is as good a time as any to start writing again. This time though, I’m focusing on specific subjects pertaining to WoE RP; mainly intended to be read by those already familiar with WoE’s basics but want more out of it. What I’ve got to write about it something that’s been on my mind for sometime, and maybe if other people like my musings, I’ll write more of these. Anywho, I’ve evaluated a lot of character apps in the few months that I’ve been on the RP Helper Team. I’ve seen my share of every sort of original character: from ones that really felt wonderfully-designed enough that I could see them as characters in FiM to those that deviated wildly from what we expect from the show. And then... there have been a fair number of OC applications that while they met WoE’s standards quite easily... they also didn’t feel like they have clearly-designated roles as pertaining to the expanded universe established by WoE. The trend I talk about is the tendency of a number of users, especially first-timer applicants, who conceive their OC as more as an avatar than a fully-characterized character. Inevitably with these sorts of characters, you’ll see a vast in-depth history for the OC while the character summary is only a mere 1-2 paragraphs. Oftentimes, these OCs are engaged in creative occupations like art, playing music, and DJing without going too-much into specifics on what they do uniquely. Worst of all though, I can’t even make judgments on how they actually play out in WoE because so many of these blank slate apps either get abandoned before they get finished or are just not seen at all in WoE... at least in the threads I participate in. Ultimately though, there is nothing wrong with making your pony a mere avatar devoid of unique personality attributes other than basic things like “she is kind to friendly ponies and grumpy towards bullies”. Provided a RPer is skilled enough, they can definitely create a fun time for other players (and crafting fun for others should always be a RPer’s highest priority) even though they use a character with only a minimum amount of pre-existing characterization. However, it is my sincere belief that the OCs that RPers find themselves invested in the most are those with well, actual roles to play. Should you want to make a character engrossing enough that other people eagerly want to play with, the single-most absolutely important thing you need to do is make sure your OCs role fills an unfulfilled niche in the grand scheme of WoE things. By this, I don’t mean having your OC be an entrepreneur running a business which no other user has thought of yet... no, it goes much deeper than that. The average OC (including a number of mine, to be honest)... they’ll basically muddle through a thread, do basic slice-of-life stuff that anypony else can do no matter their official occupation, and go on their happy merry way when finished. Whoever roleplays these OCs may be very skilled indeed, but chances are these ponies won’t forge lasting impressions. On the other hoof, the most memorable OCs on Canterlot will be those that serve an unique storytelling purpose or have a place in society much different from those around them (ie. other ponies in the same thread). I really, really hate to do this, but I’ll have to use Steel Eagle’s Pathfinder to illustrate my point. Anyone who’s been with WoE long enough will know her as a demented adventuring fanfilly, the number one pony to call upon when an adventure thread is established. And by demented, she’s really cracked; cracked enough that she entertains most of us Canterlot members, who clearly understand how the cosplaying pegasus relates to other characters according to the “big picture”. And the thing is, no other pony can provide the same service as Pathfinder does. In other words, Pathfinder fills a special role in WoE. If you have issues in transitioning from using blank-slate avatar ponies into creating OCs with memorable roles, I’d suggest thinking of what sorts of storylines you want to act out with others and creating characters that play specific parts in these storylines. Having a long-term character arc in mind will also work wonders in making both yourself and others invested in your OC. To put it simply, you’re less likely to merely meander through WoE threads and accomplishing nothing of significance if you’re writing with a clear purpose in mind, and that passion you share for your character’s development will show and attract other RPers. Going back to the Pathfinder saga for a moment, two of my very own OCs, Merlot and Colonel Pummel, began life as mere NPCs created as antagonists for Pathfinder to face. I eventually realized though how much they stood out from everypony else and what unique roles they can fulfill in WoE threads that nopony else could fulfill; Merlot being a cultured upper-class jerk, and Pummel acting as a high-ranking tough-as-nails REA officer. In fact, I grew so attached to them that I’ve apped them as WoE characters successfully; now Merlot and Pummel are two of my favorite characters to RP as, and I dare say that I feel immerse pride whenever users come to me stating how much they hate Merlot’s guts. Hopefully, those who read my editorial will have their horizons broadened when it comes to creating new characters. If only one person claims this entry helped them create a better character, then I feel I’ve done my job. Just remember: every OC has the potential to be much more than a simple avatar designed for a game player to transverse a virtual Equestria with. Your OC can also be your means to help craft an engrossing character-driven story that delights everyone at Canterlot. As always, feel free to like and comment! ^_^

When I first came to this site I created my first pony character! Her name was QuickLime and she looked like this.. This was made shortly after I saw my first season of MLP XD However after spending some time on it her appearance slightly shifted... Giving her face more expression! But for the longest time she was a blank flank, then Angie Cakes saved the day wiiiith THIS! Causing another change to occur Pony Creator restrictions aside over the years I'v gotten great art telling me how other people see QL We have the adorable The playful! The tough! The Surly The Artistic The Quick Johnson! The Wet Mane And the most recent The Blogger I have been so blessed over the years by having amazingly artistic friends that bless me with their Talents! Thank you all from the bottom of my heart from showing me what you see through your eyes<3 Thank you so much!

Alright I just want to make my stance on the whole "Artists" Debackle, this is not going to single anyone out, and is just more of a response to a growing attitude problem I see on Tumblr, and sometimes even here, and it kinda really needs to stop, and this is for ALLLL forms of Artists, Graphic Artists, web designers, digital artists, if your job is to make something look beautiful, that requires time, effort and a lot of practice and talent? It's about that. Point blank, when you pay an artist for a request, you are not just buying a drawing or doodle they threw together, you are buying their TIME, their effort, and reimbursing them for the wear and tear on their tools. (Even digital art). It's not just "a silly drawing" It's not something they should just "Do for fun" and they deserve to get paid for. Many wonderful artists have given me artwork without charge, and I thank each and every one of them for their time and effort, however I would NEVER offer to "Show off their work" as "Payment" because that's stupid, it's like ordering a burger and saying "Oh It's just a burger, I'm not going to pay for it, but I'll tell EVERYONE how GOOD your burger is, if you give me one for free!" Point blank, if you beg for free stuff, and then offer to pay in "exposure" especially to someone who makes their daily income OFF COMMISSIONS, then you're a jerk, If you hire a free-lance web designer and try to pay them in "exposure" for making your web site, you're a JERK. If you are a business that only offers to give the artist CREDIT for designing your new logo, and no monetary compensation? You're a /jerk/. Artists are doing WORK for you, you PAY people for doing work, don't tell them things like "If you really loved art, you'd do it for the creative process/ self expression/ passion!" Or whatever dumb excuse you want to use that basically boils down to "I want something from you,but I shouldn't have to pay you to do it!" If you go "Oh but ANYONE could draw that!" You're a jerk, you aren't drawing it, and you need someone to be WILLING to draw that for you. So the next time you want some art, actually look at the artists prices, (never tell them they are too expensive or not good enough for cash, that makes you a JERK) and respect them. They are hard working, creative people, that deserve monetary recognition for their effort. Respect the artists, LOVE the artists. PAY THE ARTISTS!

(A long time ago I mentioned I wanted to rewrite the story of SnowDrop so it was less pity party-ish and bland so here's my take! I'll upload chapters on ocassion! Without further ado this is SnowDrop Remastered!) Chapter One: The Light Fades Once Upon a time, a long time ago, long before the Celestial sisters had their altercation, long before The Elements of Harmony found new Bearers, and even longer before they gave those powers back up, so long ago that it is regarded as myth today there was a tiny filly named SnowDrop. SnowDrop was born in Cloudsdale, in one of the cooler sections of the city, the one where snow was made, and how she loved it! Back then snowflakes were thin disks without any designs, but that didn’t matter to her! SnowDrop was a Pegasus with a soft blue coat, snappy sapphire eyes, and a white and blue mane that curled around her face, her wings weren’t very strong yet, but she could use them to leap across wide gaps in the clouds and hover a little! Overall she was a hyperactive, and happy child but that all changed during one winter when she was just a little thing. SnowDrop had been out in the snow again, a little too long and came home looking sickly, this quickly worried her mother, who all but dragged her to bed! Quickly tucking her in and taking her temperature. SnowDrop had a fever but it wasn’t too much, So her mother figured she was in the clear really, just having gotten a bit of a cold from frollicking in the clouds in this freezing cold weather and drifting snow! “Silly Filly” Her mother whispered to her, petting her mane softly, before making sure she was warm, and went to brew her a bit of chamomile tea to help her sleep “Your fever should break by tomorrow, so thankfully you won’t miss any school” “Aw Pinfeathers” SnowDrop said with a light pout, she was probably the whole filly in the entire EQUESTRIA NATION! That got sick but didn’t have to miss school! She took her tea with both hooves and sipped it, feeling sleepy, setting the cup down on the nightstand and rubbed her eyes, with a yawn she drifted off to sleep, dreaming of playing in the snow. Unfortunately in the night her fever got even worse! Her mother woke to the sound of her little filly crying out for water, because instead of being cold, she was burning hot, and couldn’t seem to cool down, even when a cool cloth was pressed to her face! Her Father quickly put on a scarf, and flew off to find a doctor that was open this late! The doctor wasn’t there until the next morning and SnowDrop hadn’t gotten any sleep, she said she felt a pressure in her head, and the room was foggy! And no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t get to sleep. These symptoms, as well as the high fever slightly worried the doctor, especially the bit about pressure in her head, it took a little bit of examining, before the doctor informed them he believed that the filly had Mareningitis and there was nothing he really could do but suggest they keep her comfortable and try to bring her fever down. “It will pass in a week hopefully..” He assured both parents, and promised to stay in the guest house and keep an eye on the poor filly for now. The week was a horrible one for SnowDrop! She didn’t even know how she got sick, though the doctor supposed she got bit by a insect that was carrying it… The days were a blur of burning heat, soothing tea, and the rooms becoming dimmer, and dimmer, the pressure in her head eventually eased, and the fever broke. Two weeks later The Doctor woefully informed the parents that though SnowDrop had made a full recovery, her vision had suffered, and she’d lost her sight...This was a great cause of grief to both parents, and it was so hard for SnowDrop to get used to now living in permanent darkness. SnowDrop at first, spent a lot of time just sitting at the window, listening to the snowfall, her other senses making up for her lack of sight, but yet she still sat there, day after day, engulfed in self pity and sorrow….Her parents let her indulge in this behavior for a little while, but her Papa soon got fed up, not because she didn’t deserve to be sad, but because he didn’t want his child feeling like her young life was over! “SnowDrop...sweetheart” The stallion said, sitting by her in his own chair, hoof moving to rest gently on her shoulder “I want you to listen to me okay?” SnowDrop sniffed lightly and turned her head towards him, she could hear where he was at, and able to gauge where his face was by where his voice was at. “You have every right to be sad, and I am sure it is scary waking up in the dark...but sweetie you can’t just sit here by the window” “But I can’t do anything else! I can’t see where I’m goi-” “None of that! Ofcourse you can do other things! Honey you lost your eyesight, but you still have those sharp little ears, and that even sharper mind! I've not given up on you, and you shouldn’t give up on yourself either, I believe you are still filled with potential, and that potential didn’t go out with your eyes...okay?” “....” SnowDrop bit her lip before she glanced at her Daddy and nodded “Okay…” “Good, tomorrow we’re having a Teacher from Canterlot come and teach you how to read and write in Braille “ “What’s that?” She asked, since she didn’t see how she could read anything now… and she had had a hard time beforehoof. “It’s a special language for ponies that can’t read and write normally, It’s like secret code” He whispered the last part. “Ooooh!”

I've often spoke out about who is the best princess (vs favorite princess). This isn't going to be about who is my favorite princess (but it isn't wholly unrelated), but rather whom I feel is the best overall princess and why. I'm going to take into account everything I've read and seen across all media for this. Starting from the bottom... Princess Luna, probably the most popular princess, is also, in all likelihood, the worst princess. To start with she is overly tied to emotions. While this makes for a very engaging character, it makes for a poor leader. It has caused her issues in the past and present. Her emotions are what lead her to be taken by the nightmare force, and try to kill her sister. Furthermore, she nearly cancelled a popular holiday merely because she disliked it. Yes, she helps individual ponies with nightmares, but that does not help the overall masses. She also lacks the experience her sister has (though that is mostly the fault of being banished which was her fault for letting her emotions get in the way of doing her duty for the ponies she guards) Cadence would probably be next, but it is rather close with Twilight, but that is mainly due to lack of information, so a lot of this will be conjecture. Even in the book explaining her ascension to princesshood, we really don't have much to go on. That said, she has been shown to be at least a somewhat effective leader in the Crystal Empire, putting the well being of her subjects before her own. In fact she nearly passed out trying to protect them from Sombra. While she hasn't had much screen time it is clear she places great value on those around her and will do anything to help, whether it is individual or group. Twilight would be after... While her time as princess is short, we have seen her attributes countless times over the course of the series. From each of the main big bads from season openers and closers to times like the Winter Wrap Up. She has shown that not only can she lead but she's willing to when it is required of her. Naturally though she is reluctant, and we have yet to see where the "Princess of Friendship" path will go, and we likely won't until Season 5. But still, she has shown that she is a true leader and will put the well being of others before herself. The only reason she exceeds Cadence is due to the plethora of information as the lead character. And at the very top is Celestia. This isn't even really a contest. From the start she was exalted above all others as a great ruler, all the way back in the first episode. But let's forget hearsay and focus on what we actually know of her. First is that she thinks of everyone, even when it is painful to her. She continued the Summer Sun Celebration as if nothing was wrong despite it being greatly painful for her as it was a reminder that she had to banish her sister. It can be postulated that she had similar feelings about Nightmare Night. Though Nightmare Moon was just a character to many ponies from an old ponytale, to Celestia it was always her sister that went astray. She kept peace and prosperity, alone, for around 1000 years, and was in a position of power long before that in all likelihood. She is also the princess most likely to make decisions and stick by those decisions even among other princesses, even if that decision is tough or possibly controversial (eg Having Discord face off against Tirek, knowing full well that sending anyone else would have likely lead to disaster, despite it being a decision that did not sit well with the other princesses). She may not be seen doing much anymore in the way of actively protecting ponies, but it is clear that she acts as an ambassador personally to other lands, having gone to Saddle Arabia and likely heading the talks with Maredonia. In short Celestia is an actual leader. If something happens in Equestria she is the one everypony runs to, including Luna, Cadence and Twilight. She has the experience, poise, and most importantly she has all the qualities of a great leader, including ability to inspire, confidence, commitment and a positive attitude (not to mention that she has a sense of humor). While it is easy to see why others prefer one princess over another as a favorite being characters, however the question of best princess is a simple answer. Celestia is clearly the leader of Equestria, other princesses defer to her, her subjects are most likely to come to her for issues concerning Equestria. While it can be argued that the other princesses may be better characters, or at the very least better developed (most of Celestia's characterization is from hearsay rather than from what we actually have seen), it cannot be argued that she is not the true ruler of Equestria, and therefore the best princess.

Hi! I know from personal experience that sometimes you just need somepony to talk to, or vent. Well, I am NOT a licensed councilor, but I believe that my place in the world is to help ponies (and other species ^^). So, If you need a wing to cry on, an ear lended, or just sompony to talk to, I am here! Office hours: 9:00 am (PT) to 3:00 pm, Monday thru Friday. Please PM me if you want to talk, or even request my Skype!

Greetings everypony and welcome to the second installment of this blog! Today we shall be focusing on Rping in WOE Rp! I got accepted! Now what?! So you've finally powered through the application process and have broken through the other side! You've been moved to the Rp group and are ready to dive head first into the WOE rp! What fun! WHAT JOY...What now..? How does one exactly go about roleplaying here? It's so different and strange! FEAR NOT ! For I shall shine a light on this rather scary and yet exciting new place for you. This guide will be broken into three parts! Basic Rping Etiquette ,Starting a Rp and finally Joining a Rp! Basic Rping Etiquette! Lets start us off with a few rules that come with rping in general, remember as said last blog I am not RPHS so if you take issue/ need clarification feel free to ask them, these are my personal thoughts and opinions! Post length : First and foremost post length does matter! However not in the way that you think, there are posts that can go on for pages and say hardly anything at all, and smaller 3-2 paragraph posts that say everything! The balance is making sure that you treat your other rpers with respect and acknowledge them in your posts if they interact with you, and to be able to paint a good picture! A GOOD Rp post is 1: To the point and not bogged down with fluff. 2: Not self absorbed and acknowledges the others around you. 3: not just there to seek attention and be the center of focus. 4: EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND READ (This is VERY IMPORTANT!) Good Rp example: Rarity sighed as she glanced around her shop that had just been wrecked by her sister and her three crusader friends, a tired sigh passed her lips and she moved a hoof to gently rub at her temple. "Sweetie DEAR could you and your friends play/OUTSIDE!?/" She had lost her temper a little bit at the end, not EVERYPONY was perfectly poised the whole time. "And Applebloom' She caught a glance at the country filly whom was giving her the cute face.. "Be SURE to wipe your hooves next time..." Rarity's boutique now littered with muddy little hoof prints!. BAD rp example: -runs into rp an sees fluttershy who is mi gurlfriend- "Hi fluttershy is me bandit! lets hug 4 ever" The first one is easy to read, clear, and not self absorbed, it neither god modes, or power plays! The second one is just plain lazy! When you rp with someone you need to be sure to give them your best with EVERY post or simply don't post at all in my opinion. Stick with the overall theme of the rp! Don't come barging into someones rp and carry in all of YOUR drama with them, do not try to dominate or be rude, it's not fair to the OP and it's not fair to the others that rp there. Post order. Posting order ensures everybody gets a turn, but not all threads have them! If the rp you are in has one? Respect it and follow it, if you don't understand the concept of a Posting order then ask the OP to clarify it for you IN Pm Understand what "Private" Means and RESPECT it! If a rp is marked" Private/Invite Only" that means there is a ongoing story that only consists of a few ponies, it is rude to barge in where you arn't wanted or invited . However if the rp is marked "Open!" Then you can join If a rp is marked "Closed" it means it was open at one point but is now so full it needs to be closed to new joiners. Do NOT join a rp just to get as much face time with the mane cast as possible! It's disrespectful to both the person playing the character and everypony else! Do not join a thread with Twilight ONLY to shun every pony else and to only have eyes for Twilight! Interact with EVERYPONY it's just common sense! We now come to part 2 of our 3 part guide How to Create your Own Rp! So you've decided you have a great idea in your head and you want to post it and have people join!But just how exactly does one make sure others are interested in their idea? Post your idea in the Canterlot OOC to gauge interest in your idea! It's always good to brainstorm! Go to Canterlot Chat to also see if you can rally up some interest in your idea! Represent your idea clearly and easy to understand! And make sure you list any rules/guidelines you might have for your rp. Establish any rules you want to have upheld in the first post prefferibly in a spoiler box! Make your first post interesting and attention grabbing to draw in potential new posters! And a good catchy title for your rp works wonders to boot! Overall remember it is your thread! You have the power over the content so long as you remember to follow the Canterlot rules. And now we move on to our last and final section! Joining an existing Roleplay! So you've spotted an open rp you want to join! That's fantastic! Here are a few rules on how to enter yourself into them! Be sure to READ everyone elses posts before joining! ESPECIALLY the OP! This way you can seamlessly enter the story without causing a fuss/ messing up an already going on action. If the rp says Pm to join and you do so and get told "No" then don't fuss or pout! You thank them for reading your Pm and go about your buisness to find a NEW rp! It is NOT okay to pester someone to let you join! Respect the OPs rules and plot! Don't go into a thread with the soul intention of becoming the center of the universe and taking over! That's being a parasite and nopony likes it! Post your best and have fun while doing so! That should wrap up today's blog post ! Tune in next week when we talk about key components on making an interesting AND unique character in a segment I'd like to call "Pimp my OC!" And if you need any name ideas/cutie mark ideas be sure to send them in to me via a PM before the blog is posted to gurantee a mention and your question answered on the blog! This is QuickLime signing off!

Hey! I haven't done one of these in a while, I'll try and keep this thing short... Now, I'm not going to say this episode was perfect, but it is easily one of the best episodes overall of all seasons thus far. So... We open with Rarity being manipulative and Pinkie Pie being annoying. Neither of these are bad, but it is a very expected way for the episode to open... What was unexpected? Instead of making something up for a reason to head to Manehattan, they used an ACTUAL EVENT THAT EXISTS! Fashion Week is an annual event in Manhattan (and all over the world, but let's just focus on Manhattan for now). Usually it is a way for designers to launch the next year's fashions, they also have up and comers (often from notable fashion schools). And it is really an awesome week if you enjoy fashion. So at this point each of the characters are really spot on, Rarity is not only excited but really generous to her friends and her friends are grateful and looking forward to helping her. Then we make it to Manehattan, smack in the middle of Times Square. Now the choice of locales I could have preferred to see a bit more spead, since there really aren't any theater venues in that area, mostly musical... But that is really nitpicking... There are tons of hotels though, and I'm assuming that was supposed to be a Penn Station analogue that they came out of, even though it looked more similar to Grand Central Station. But I totally get that. The location was right for Penn, but Grand Central meets the design criteria better, so I cannot fault them in the slightest. That said, it is certainly smack dab in the middle of the city both real and fictional. I'll be honest... the way Rarity tips actually DOES work for those hotels. They take care of you, so good on ya Rarity. Ok... then we have the song! With the best set up in all of the set ups of MLP. It was awesome. Simply awesome. And the song that followed was equally great. One of the better MLP songs easily. Mad men reference and Grumpy Cat were awesome references. This episode showcased not only her generosity but also her faults. (Also cabdrivers driving crazy TOTALLY something Manehattan should have). Prim is great. I've met people like that in the fashion and music industry who are organizing similar events. They got the characterization spot on. Suri is a great antagonist, and Coco is not only a great foil but a fantastic character in her own right. (Though Prim should have said Brava not Bravo, again, nitpick but still... something that irks me when I hear it). Rarity's insecurities pushing her friends too hard is something not only believable but it showcases her faults fantastically, while the rest of the episode showed off her strong points. And it all works out in the end. The song reprise was great, and the fashion show was brilliant. The ending was brilliant as well with everything falling into place. This is a near perfect episode, even with my nitpicks, it just works on every level from characters to how everything works. The moral is great too. The side cast was great and strong, the showcasing of the elements was fantastic... I just don't have any REAL complaints out of nitpicks. Seriously... For this season, this is the episode that starts at a 10/10. This is the episode to beat. I can't think of anything to put it down, but even still I think overall it should be realistically a 9.5, but I can't even think of a reason to drop it down to that, but that is my gut rating. So... I'll go with that. Just great episode. (also this was totally a Raridash episode... I'm sure Raridash appreciated that)

Don't be an obnoxious buttface. That is all

[colour=#000000]When I wrote the first draft of the Army document, I didn’t realize it would garner so much attention nor have such far-reaching consequences for the rest of the site. I juggled a lot of ideas for the REA, including Soviet-era orders of battle, Roman legions, and finally the modern United States Army circa 2010. Since the REA was originally built for the Heart of Equestria RP setting, it had a lot more offensive capability and was very capable of handling warfighting. It was the fantasy army that everyone wanted it to be.[/colour] [colour=#000000]A paradigm shift occurred about a year and a half ago with the acquisition of the site by Manestream and Autumn. The creative vision for the RP was tightened up considerably and directed to the slice of life aspect of FiM. While it limited the use and scope of the REA, I believe it was overall a healthy decision for the board.[/colour] [colour=#000000]There were still a few issues with the extant REA, however. Despite the fact that it was never formally ratified as board lore, many people used the draft document as the basis for creating their characters. The current draft is slightly bloated and places too much emphasis on the specific military units and their capabilities. Eventually, I want players to be able to create their own units for their guardsponies to be proud of. The design document is meant to be a guide rather than a hard checklist.[/colour] [colour=#000000]In addition to the less-than-perfect design document, the general attitude of players regarding soldier characters seems to be based on Hollywood action films. The films focus on the violent part of being a soldier, a part which rarely ever comes into play in real life-- even less so in the FiM universe. These applications tend to focus on a soldier’s abilities to harm others and those alone.[/colour] [colour=#000000]Most of the guardspony characters came out all right, but I noticed several applications that made their REA ponies clearly combat oriented (I myself am guilty of this with my earlier characters). Their backstories often included experience in combat of some sort though there has been no war in over 1000 years in board canon.[/colour] [colour=#000000]While the ability to cause harm is necessary in the act of making war, it is very different for a Canterlot guard or an REA garrison responding to a petty crime or monster attack. Equestria on the whole is not a violent place. The willingness to protect innocents is laudable, but the willingness to harm others indiscriminately is not a normal attitude to have in either human or pony universes. Ponies as a whole are seen as a peaceful species who would not escalate to violence to solve problems. To have assassin or psychopathic murderer ponies exist in Mane RP is not only excessive but antithetical to what the FiM (and by extension WOE) stands for. Likewise, having armed ponies who brandish their weapon with little or no provocation is against the general Equestrian mindset.[/colour] [colour=#000000]This is not to say that Equestrian soldiers (or even civilian sheepdogs) should not be trained in the use of their arms and armor. It is the duty of the Royal Equestrian Army to prevent harm from coming to those they are entrusted to protect. It therefore makes perfect sense for them to wield weapons, wear armor, and practice the art of war with their comrades in arms. How then, do we qualify what is okay and what is not okay for a soldier or sheepdog?[/colour] [colour=#000000]The first qualifier is appropriateness. It must be reiterated that Equestria is not a violent place. While there may be dangerous things in the wild and creatures that could cause grievous harm to those caught unprepared, violent crimes such as assault or homicide (or the threatening thereof) are unheard of and wholly inappropriate for WOE. When creating characters for the Mane RP it is important to consider the universe in which a character is being created for. This is Equestria, land of magical, talking, pastel-coloured ponies, not a blasted post-apocalyptic wasteland or a world engulfed in the flames of war. Ponies simply do not hold murderous attitudes against each other or even other species.[/colour] [colour=#000000]The second qualifier is character. A character should not be defined by their weapon or the more violent parts of their profession. As consumers of entertainment media, we tend to have a fixation with the arms and armor of those with the soldier profession, so much so, that sometimes we forget that there is a person (or in this case pony) behind the hardware. That pony has friends and family, doubts and fears, hopes and dreams. Those personality traits should be at the forefront of the character, not their skill at arms or their capacity for slaughter.[/colour] [colour=#000000]The final qualifier is mindset. The mindset of the soldier and the sheepdog is that of readiness; of being ready to put themselves in harm’s way to protect the innocent. Protecting the innocent may be as simple as scaring off a bully or as complex as disrupting a crime in progress. It may be as mundane as giving a smile of confidence to a worried foal or as heart-wrenching as making the ultimate sacrifice so that others may live. In addition, soldiers are not trained in a vacuum. While each individual is responsible for learning their arms and armor, they are trained to take on the enemy as members of a team. There are few things that can forge stronger relationships-- that feeling of espirt de corps-- than the crucible of military training. I would expect nothing less from Equestria’s finest.[/colour] [colour=#000000]Friendship is inherently sacrificial. You give your time and efforts and open yourself to hurt in order to make your friends happy and in return be made happy by them. The vigilante, assassin, and violent soldier archetypes are selfish by nature; they appoint themselves sole executors of the law and need no one else to fulfill themselves. This goes against the core themes in FiM: the focus on morality, sticking with your friends, giving those who are different a chance, and the emphasis on nonviolent solutions to complex problems.[/colour] [colour=#000000]A soldier or sheepdog knows his or her tools and respects the great power he or she wields. Weapons are only meant to be used in the most dire of circumstances and to be frank, most WOE scenarios do not mandate their use or even their presence. I think the opening paragraph of the REA’s overview expresses this best: [/colour] [colour=#000000] The REA represents the best of Equestria, simultaneously championing Equestrian pride, sovereignty, and magnanimity.​[/colour][colour=#000000]The protectors of Equestria are exemplars; they protect Equestria not by slaying her enemies, but by being shining examples of loyalty, honor, teamwork, and the willingness to sacrifice for the well-being of others.[/colour] [colour=#000000]That is what being in the REA is about.[/colour]

Alright exciting news every pony! Since the fall of Lovinity when it came to power (in one of the role plays and from Canterlot's residence inspection), I've thought that I'd have to terminate (kill) Lovinity off for good since she's been rejected in not just here but other places on the internet. That changed. Canterlot here offered a personal trainer for Lovinity, giving her the opportunity to lose the OP, become a realistic character, and not be rejected anymore from places. Only Canterlot offered to do such thing, and so we are grateful. Shoot the coach even gave Lovinity a last name as part of her re-birth. She is now known as "Lovinity Hearts". She is now in World of Equestria since her coaching. However she hasn't role played in there just yet. She's been busy her own, setting up a role play series in Crossovers "My OC Pony: Friendships Untold". The first episode was "attempted" in Free-for-all, but got way too out-of-hand with over-powering spells and such. So that episode fell down... and we're now trying to make a second take of the episode in Crossovers... with much more strict RP rules. In fact, the same rules of World of Equestria will now apply in this Role Play, with the exception that OCs do not need an approved application to join (but to play a cast character you do need one). That is the latest and so we must head off for now. We will talk soon again.

[colour=#494949] Request Livestream: Tomorrow![/colour][colour=#6E7173] I’ll be doing a request livestreamtomorrow Tomorrow at 12:00 PM (noon) Central Standard Time the stream will begin, and will end when I either go to bed or run out of people/requests. Request rules: One Pony per person (to save time) OCs- Okay! Alicorns- No NSFW - Not today Canon Ponies - Okay! Outfits/accesories - Definately! Anthro - I can try I guess! I will begin accepting requests in stream (you have to attend). Once I accept your request, submit a single reference (if it’s an OC) to my mod blog. We’ll be starting off with my standard pandora channel, and might listen to some MLP episodes later on. Feel free to make music suggestions! Feel free (please) to reblog/spread the word! See you tomorrow! ♥Kisses!♥[/colour]

So sometimes, I think moreso recently, I've been thinking about the Brony fandom, as a whole. Not just Canterlot.com, but the entire fandom of Bronies. When I first started watching My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, I do so for nostalgia's sake. Heck, I even tried to 'convert' my friend... and I'm pretty sure that was before I had even heard of Bronies. I had just planned to watch this show alone, in my room, on YouTube. Not even watch a livestream, just wait for an episode to come out and watch it then. I may have even just watched at random whenever I remembered about the show. It was just going to be a secret hobby. I wasn't going to collect the toys. I wasn't going to wear the shirts. I was going to be just one of a few adults who watched the show. I never thought that I would find other fans. I never thought they would be guys. Last weekend, I sat in a room with around 30 guys and watched both finale episodes. I thought back on it a few days later, and was like... that is so weird. I sat on a couch in between two guys, with guys sitting in front of me on the floor, guys standing on the edges of the room... It's not that I would have been overly surprised to be sitting around with a few (girl) fans watching it... but guys? I've just been thinking recently how weird of a concept the Brony fandom actually is. I mean... it's literally like something that someone would dream, wake up and think how weird it was, then go on with life. I guess I just find it so odd that there are more guys that like it than girls. I mean, I can see a few guys getting into it. Heck, even half and half could seem normal. But majority? I'm just... like... what? And so, sometimes when I think about the Brony fandom, I feel like I should wake up, and find all the male fans just a dream. Oh internet. Oh you.

If it hasn't become painfully obvious, ever since I ceased my work here as RPH I'v gradually lessened and lessened my involvement with the site as a whole, a lot has happened recently and I'm not quite sure where my standings in the fandom are anymore? I'v started working, it's a temp job but it's eight hours monday through friday, and I'v been dealing with personal/relationship issues (which resulted in dating someone for 3 days then panicing and breaking it off due to not being ready) and general feelings of insecurity and inadequacy as a whole. On Canterlot, I am very well aware of how I come across, I come off as a battle axe, willing to be a blunt force when necessary, I often seem imposing and to some down right unfriendly. This isn't true ofcourse, I'm very friendly! Most people who take the time to know me will quickly discover that I'm a very eager to please sort of friend. I'm rather sad I have been finding myself falling out of love with Canterlot, since I don't play a big role here anymore on a staff level, but I want to rekindle my desire to roleplay and interact here and be here on a communal level, true most of my rp ideas still crash and burn because I used to overwhelm myself with rps and ideas, but now I sort of want to start up roleplays and characters and have all that creative fun without a crash! The most common pms I get are about characters, so I'm thinking of starting a "Help Desk" of sorts for OC construction, I'v gotten the okay from the staff for this sort of thread and I think I'll be doing it =) I also still have Rarity, as well as Fleur, Prism BUrst, Pink Lady ect as cast characters and I need to do right by them I'm going to try and give myself a shot in the arm and try to be here more often, and I sincerely apologize for my absence.

Hello and Welcome to QL'S Guide! I know I already posted earlier today on how to Register your nickname on Canterchat! Link to it is here! But for now I want to talk to you about how one should act, and roleplay in the new and improved Canterlot IRC Irc is a bit different than the old chat, this guide will be broken up into 3 parts 1: Name Etiquette 2: Chatting Etiquette 3: Roleplaying Etiquette Name Etiquette It should BE obvious but you should NEVER use a username that is not yours, and when you first enter the chat we'd like you to do so with your canterlot username so we know who you are. Never use the name of a Moderator, other user, or a RP Character that doesn't belong to you, this is stealing and also incredibly bad manners. Another thing to keep in mind is to not constantly spam the room with name changes, this is rude, distracting, and makes it incredibly hard to keep track of everyone, One name change per hour is normally acceptable provided you don't break the above rule of using a name that doesn't belong to you Chat Etiquette It is polite to try and enter a conversation, the chat is a space for everyone and nobody should dominate the conversation with their personal topic and excluding others from the conversation. If the conversation is only for you and a select group of friends feel free to make your own room by typing /join whatevernameofroomyouwant Otherwise you should try to include everyone in the conversation as nopony likes to feel left out! Another point I'd like to bring up is link spam, linking to one or two pictures is fine (marking NSFW content as nsfw if you please) but if all you do is spam pictures you'll probably be asked to stop as it clutters up the window and is kinda annoying. Language has changed here, minor swears is fine, like "**** I really hated that episode" or "I really love Cheetos **** it!" Is fine, but you should never aim a swear or curse at other users, it's not nice, flaming and abuse will not be tolerated in the chat, we want to encourage a friendly, positive atmosphere RP Etiquette Joining the Canterchat Rp is easy, you type /list into the window and it should bring up a list of the rooms In Canterchat Rp you need to only play characters you own, don't take on Ocs, or cast characters played by someone else, it's not very nice! This only counts to the public room however Be whoever you want in your own private rooms! However stuff in CanterRp is only canon with a cast character if they decide it is Some users like to do "chat style" rp in the rp room and that's fine, but you should always check with all parties involved as some of us (me in particular) prefer paragraph style similar to the boards Overall you should remember to be polite, courteous, and considerate of your fellow users, and treat them as you would like to be treated ! I hope this guide helped and I look forward to chatting with you all! Sincerely the Queen of Ravens

Art by AnaduKune As you all may not know, I do try and keep myself happy, but sometimes it's hard. I've learned to practice smiling when i'm feeling sad, you know. I know it's embarrassing to say this myself, but my friends are like my ray of light, we help each other with our problems, no matter what they might be. But I used to be upset a lot, told anyone that said cheer up, "I don't think that's gonna help this time." I was a depressed mess, I stayed at home, never making any attempt at friendships. But ever since I joined the forums last year, it's been a wonderful feeling, one I'll never forget. Friends depend on each other, but sometimes it's better to find a solution yourself than always depending on others. But now I see things in a better light, I always say to my friends when they are feeling sad, "Don't forget to smile!" it really works, I guess I have that knack for this sort of stuff. I tell myself that very same line, it reminds me that not everything is as bad as it sounds, that anyone can be a friend in need. I've had many people show me the things that make them happy, and that's what I want too. When I think about them, it just... oh what were those words again?... Oh! Now I remember, I said that everyone is special in their own right, and nobody can tell you different, it's their loss if they wish to mistreat you so badly, they're the ones missing out. Also, I sometimes regress back into depression, and become less like my usual self. But I try to pick myself back up the best I can and move on, even if it feels hopeless. I can't put myself down every time I fail, that's not who I am. Who I am is a person who looks at the brighter things in life, and takes them and makes them my own positive thoughts, negative thoughts just hold me back, and keep me from doing anything good. I just hope you all understand how I feel.

Hey everypony! Friendly neighborhood admin here! I'm going to be starting a new series of articles here called The Workbench. In it, I'll be detailing some of the board systems I'll be working on and what you guys can expect to see on Canterlot in the future. This is all in an effort to maintain transparency with the administration and good relations with the users that make this board what it is. Let's get started! We're making a concerted effort to streamline things and ensure timely evaluation of applications and rapid action of approved applications. You may have noticed a slight change in how staff members are denoted in their profiles. RP Staff and Senior RP staff now have their own user ranks, making it easier to distinguish who to go to for help with applications, RP, or board policy. There have also been some back end tweaks to staff permissions to allow them more freedom to assist users as necessary. Work on the new permission sets is still in progress. In order to prepare for deployment of donations/subscriptions, the Donators group will need to be repurposed and moved to a secondary set (ie: not displayed as a user rank). Don't worry, if you have donated to Canterlot before, we haven't forgotten you! I've got a list of all prior donors and rest assured you will be recognized when the new stuff is deployed. Until then, you will be returned to your previous member rank. Any previous board-based donor perks such as the ability to change display names will be retained if possible. And that's it! Hope you enjoyed this peek at projects on my workbench! Follow this blog for updates on my Canterlot projects!

I’m so darn particular about beginnings and endings- I have this nagging feeling that its always got to be done right. At that pace, I’ll never get this started though. So- on to the good stuff. I’ve recently been learning how to code in Python and greatly enjoying it- so much that I really want to be sure I spend some energy digging deeper and learning more than the basics. To that end, I’ve decided to build a text-adventure game! Yay, how original, and exciting. But actually, it kind of is! During my time running Canterlot, a lot of good ideas came across the drawing board- and many of them just never made it to light. One of these ideas was to take the MLP:FiM setting and turn it on its head by creating a survival-horror scenario without dipping into something as trite as zombies, vampires, etc. Granted, now that there is a fanfic for just about everything, doing anything that isn’t tired in the MLP:FiM community is a challenge in itself, but I do wholly believe that a survival-horror using canon in-world elements could be really fun as an RP for one, several, or many users. The implementations for a mass RP event on the forum were very exciting- but the bottom line was that it was too much work to make it work on that scale. So I’ve decided to make a text-adventure game based on the survival-horror setting of Heart of Equestria. I’m keeping this blog to talk about my discoveries and progress learning to code with Python, and keep myself accountable for making some kind of progress on personal goals. My current goal is to create a basic version of the game using codeskulptor. In other posts I will go into more details of the game, and share plans for character/party interaction, puzzle and problem solving, game interface, combat, and more. Ultimately, I want this project to be a survival story against terrible odds that players can plug into and experience with their own persona/character. If it goes well and I learn a few things, I may try making a DM booklet and converting the whole piece over to a group-play style game. If you are curious about updates to the Heart of Equestria project, please feel free to follow, or leave comments with your feedback or ideas. My tumblr can be found here: https://www.tumblr.c...g/inner-atelier I’m planning on posting once per week with an update on the code that I’ve made, and the overall progress of the project. We’ll see how that works out for now.

Okay, i haven't even been here a month but i am very impressed with this place and iv made so many friends here. I haven't had many problems with users, which is impressive as i have been on sites where all the users picked on the new guys, which was horrible. I want to thank you all for welcoming me with open arms into this group. I hope to be able to keep enjoying my time here. Thank you all again.

There are a great many guides and opinions that inform you of good characterization or storytelling. And I'm here to tell you that while that is of great importance, it matters little next to the power of the Golden Triangle. The greatest characters fade away when you don't understand it. The best stories die without it. The greatest of relationships with other players is meaningless if poorly utilized. The Golden Triangle is the device that lays at the heart of the roleplay mechanism that churns and keeps your threads alive and this forum vibrant. I'm not one for dragging things along without need so let me hop into it: The First Point of the Triangle: Quality It is the mechanical construction of the post including spelling, grammar, and structure. This is the easiest of all roleplay related items to work on as there are hard and fast rules. Of course, rules are often meant to be broken. You can play with these things as an aspect of the character or storytelling but it must be done very well or as a consistent part of the character or situation. Inconsistency shatters the illusion of quality and thus can quickly turn into a disaster. The second part of quality is the interest generated through your word choice or mannerisms in writing. A flat but mechanically correct post can still fail if it languishes behind creativity. There is a diagram where characterization, improvisation, and plot meet. Imagination holds all three down and an active imagination tied in with solid construction allows the post to shine. The Second Point of the Triangle: Quantity Quantity is not the amount of posts. It is the amount of content in a post. Some posts can be far too short and very rarely, if ever, does a single line roleplay post do anything for anyone. At the same time, a seventeen page missive as a roleplay post is both intimidating and often completely unrequired. There is a happy medium for everyone and it is where one must prosper. It can also be a function of the thread. Unlike quality, quantity has little hard and fast rules beyond the extremes already noted. Some threads may require twenty to thirty lines a post. Others may be better off with just ten, and if something requires just a single paragraph then so be it. The important part of quantity is realizing how much is needed where and with whom. It can therefore be a difficult animal to tame as until you settle in to a groove with others will you find the right amount and even then it can vary. That variance makes it a difficult factor to nail down. But doing so is of paramount importance. The Third Point of the Triangle: Pace Pace is the speed at which you roleplay with others as well as when and how frequently the posts come in. Once again, there are extremes. making someone wait a month or more for a post is rarely acceptable and can destroy roleplays. I have yet to see here a single roleplay with such a long absence remain viable. On the other end, posting multiple times a day may lead to much quicker burnout. These are extreme examples. The important part of pace is understanding who the other players are and what they want to do. Some prefer fast, quick posts so your pace needs to match their own. Others want to wait a week to post again and so your pace must match so you don't put the pressure on them. Once again, this is something that is up to who you are playing with and what thread it is. Which one is most important? None. They are all just as important as one another. You can have the most well written post of all time, but if it is short and took a month or four then it is a bad post. It could be the most well written post and have good length but if it took a few months it is a bad post. It could be well written, come in at a good clip, but if it is a novel or a three liner it is a bad post. The variations are endless but the point at which they converge is the same: Dominating one aspect at the exclusion of others is almost as bad as being awful as all three. Success in a roleplay environment requires you to master the concept of the Golden Triangle. I say the concept because no one has ever nor will ever master all three. It constantly shifts and is often impossible to predict long term. But if you can nail down a good quality post, be able to deliver the appropriate amount of content to your fellow players, and move well enough for your friends, then your thread stands a much better chance of success than others that do not. Could say more but won't as my daughter is trying to help us bake a cake. Golden Triangle: Master it or fail like Robi.

(This is a joke) Once upon a time, there was a band of pirates! A crazy group made from a bunch of users here. There was QuickLime, BrambleRose, Bellosh, Steeleagle, and Dio! There used to be Rosewind, but I think they locked her in a treasure chest with a bunch of really bad cupcakes that imagination made, also he was there too. Finally they all sailed aboard the S.S. Raridash, a ship with a lot of promise and with a lot of evidence to prove that it was a great thing! However the crew members had some very odd quirks. The leader of the crew, Dio, wanted to live forever. Bellosh had an odd fascination with evil, albeit fashionable, hats. QuickLime enjoyed taking these hats from Bellosh and hiding them all over the ship, for him to find three months later. Bramblerose loved to eat Imagination's cupcakes, even though everyone else thought they tasted like worms. Imagination had a back room on the ship that no one else went into. I mean I assume that's where he kept his wood working stuff because at random times in the night you could hear a chainsaw in there, then some screaming, and then silence. Steeleagle believed in spontaneous combustion because unlike those so called "scientists" Steel knew the truth. Anywho the band learned of an ancient relic known as the chest of Rosie wind, a chest full of glorious items so unique and mind blowing, your face would implode upon setting your eyes on it. So obviously the pirates went after it. They ventured all over the land looking for any sign of it, and meeting some interesting fellows. Like a robot-man who only wanted to love, a naughty Gazelle who was queen of a city for a bit, some random guy who told really weird stories, a lady with witch powers, and of course, The duke of cinnia-bon. After searching for so long, they came across a town of talking muffins, who gave them the chest, which they took back to the S.S. Raridash crew. They opened the box and what do they find? Nothing, because the destination wasn't the treasure but the journey, the people the met and helped, that was the trea- just kidding they found Rosewind in the box. They stood around, slightly confused for a second and opened the other treasure chest, and what did they find? Rosewind. So for a matter of three seconds there were two Rosewinds in the world. Then a tsunami came and the Rariddash ship sank. That was the end of the S.S. Raridash, oh and then it exploded and came back as the U.S.S Rarity. Then everyone exploded. The End.

*Image from MLP Wikia: original link here* Now before I start, I want to say that I actually didn't hate the movie, on the contrary it was rather entertaining. I'm going to be fair as possible in this review, because the movie is actually NOT bad in my opinion. In fact, I'd say the IMDB rating is almost spot on at it's current rating (6.5/10). So let's begin... First let's get through the technical stuff. Animation is top of the list... I'm sorry to say that I was a bit disappointed. It looked like the TV show. Not that the TV show is poorly animated or looks bad, but honestly, this is a feature length film. I'd had hoped they would have put a bit more into it to make it that extra bit special. This however was not the case. What should have looked fantastic, simply looked on par with the TV show animation. Now I know that the beginning and end were intended to be like that, to give the feeling that this was still MLP, but when they changed the setting, I felt that the style should have looked less like Monster High and more like something original that Studio B or someone they hired came up with, with a bit better animation than what they gave us. They should have done better in that regard. On the positive side, it was still like the show. They didn't cut any corners because of the extended length either. The show is always lively, something is always going on in the background, and that was retained. Then again, if they hadn't retained that liveliness I'd have looked on this movie in a much poorer light. The next technical aspect is sound engineering and SFX. Honestly, I was impressed. There were several nuanced sounds, and sound effects that were added to the mixing board along with some more classic sound effects. Everything was mixed well and put in appropriate places for comedic or whatever effect they were aiming for. It was all actually rather good. They even threw in a transformers soundboard effect for Pinkie in the very beginning. The voice acting... What can I say? The main cast is fantastic as always, as are the stand in singers. This goes doubly for Rebecca Stoichet who managed to play the villain as well as do a fantastic stand in for Twilight Sparkle as the singer. Is her voice a perfect double for Tara's singing voice? No, but I don't expect it to be, but it is close enough so that it wasn't distracting at all. However, as little of it as there was, I felt the background characters sounded weird at times. Maybe I'm just not used to the voices, but after the third viewing, those few background characters that got a throw away line, just didn't sound right. Flash Sentry was new, but his voice was great, as was Sunset Shimmer. So I know they have the voice talent to make background characters sound less awkward, but that didn't occur. But again, there were so few throw away lines for those characters that it really isn't that big of a deal, unless you count the random chatter from the corridor scenes. And last but not least music... Steffan Andrews and Daniel Ingram continue to delight. The background music by Andrews always felt right and never out of place. And Ingram managed to write another earworm that will get stuck in your head for hours if not days after watching this movie. Is the music fantastic? Debatable, but comparing to the show, it is at the very least on par. Really this entire movie felt like an episode of MLP. Again, not bad at all, and I was more expecting that than the animation being simply par. [colour=#ff0000]************SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT***************[/colour] Now onto the rest of the movie.... Plot wise, this movie was weak, and was pretty much like sliders. Many questions were never answered and there were more plot holes than I care to count. (hence what would be my lower score than I'm sure many would give it) I'm not going to go into too much detail, as much as I can, but here it goes... So in the beginning of the movie Twilight goes to the Crystal Empire for a princess summit. Understandably she is nervous and unsure of herself (this is actually the overarching theme of the movie which is actually quite good on how they deal with it, and while I hope this movie doesn't become official show canon, I do hope they'll do a similar story arch in the show). Enter Sunset Shimmer. Now I have two problems with this... While it is logical that she would know about the EoH, how did she know about Twilight's? In fact how did she know what the EoH looked like to "make the switch"? It was implied that she was in that world for more than 3 years at the very least! In fact it was loosely implied that she left Celestia's tutelage pretty early on, which would mean that Twilight hadn't been sent to Ponyville yet, which means that the Elements weren't even recovered or reactivated yet! This is the start of the great feats of suspension of disbelief (actually that is one of the lesser ones, as there are others that had me scratching my head worse)... OK so assuming that she somehow knew and left after Twilight and her friends took upon themselves the EoH representations [Which sort of does make sense as it would give her reason to drive them apart in her world], it is an OK start of a plot to enter into a different world. And they give her a time limit with a consequence. A bit cliche, but an effective tactic to create a decent climax later on in the film. Before we enter the other world we are told that it would upset the balance if all went (which makes sense... dopplegangers and all). However that too begs a question... What happened to Sunset Shimmer's human double? Is she in the city too and just would never appear at CHS? But that I'll take as it is likely a similar reason to Twilight... OK so Twilight enters and Spike follows. Good thing! She has no idea what she is! And she has no idea how to function as a bipedal organism! This of course leads to high jinks regarding not knowing how to function and a few funny moments. Not knowing what a HS is, what the display cases are, assuming that it had to do with Sunset Shimmer, all things that are likely conclusions when you don't know what is going on. Then she realizes she's wrong and bumps into Flash Sentry. Queue obligatory love interest story. Because after all, what HS movie would be without a love interest? Yeah it is forced, but this was aimed at teenage girls, and younger, so really... it is not only expected but almost a requirement for this sort of movie. And over all I've seen worse.... Queue first song! Not only first song but several first time notable character appearances! I'm pretty sure some of the other background characters were based on background ponies as well. The first song is pretty good. Nitpick? They used "nose" instead of muzzle. But that is a really small nitpick for an otherwise good song. A few funny moments too, and things that I'd believe from HS... like not helping the clumsy girl up. You also see how modern it is with cell phones and the like. Enter Fluttershy. Repeat of first episode? Pretty much, but it got a smile out of me. You really see that this is the current Twilight and how much she has evolved as a character. I'm not sure she would have acted this way in the first few episodes, especially since she was pretty awkward in the first few, and standing up to and being more forceful with Fluttershy's shyness were really welcome. Yet it pretty much ends the same way, only with Twilight actually being able to talk to Fluttershy... Principle Celestia, knowing about the crown and Twi's obvious awkwardness in these situations are both obvious and entertaining. The next part is what really annoys me... Why did she just not bring the crown that Sunset Shimmer gave her, tell her that that is the crown that was originally the school's, and show Celestia that the crown they had in their possession looked of actual gold and gem (and thus way over the school's budget). I mean, really? You don't bring the other crown to show that there are two almost identical looking crowns? Though I suppose that would have ended the movie too quickly and easily, so I'll give it a pass, and Twilight's logic in that instance is sound (Though I wonder if Principle Celestia knew about the portal like Princess Celestia did). More "I have to idea how to act like a human". But at this point they make sense and are somewhat funny! Then enter Pinkie Pie and her odd sense of knowing exactly what's going on. But... it's Pinkie Pie. I'll get into the attitude towards Fluttershy later when it is more relevant. Sunset Shimmer finally gets a decent screen time. And really throughout the entire movie I really start to appreciate her as a villain. She plans ahead and is really a good villain. She isn't exactly Discord, Sombra or Nightmare Moon, but she doesn't need to be. She just needs to be an above average school bully. And she is way above average. The Trixie scene made me laugh out loud. Seriously probably the singularly funny moment up until this point. From Twilight's position, to Trixie not really caring, and announcing herself as she always does. The next scene is probably my most hated... This is where I feel they over did the "I'm a pony and don't know how to use hands" bit. By this point she has shown that she knows her hands are the primary means of interacting with things. The computer thing particularly annoyed me, not because she didn't know how to use it and interacted with it strangely at first, but because we saw her use her fingers to interact with the keys, then a second later she uses her fists? Really movie? Be a bit consistent! There is no reason for her to know how to use a keyboard and then not know a few seconds later! CMC at this point reminiscent of show stoppers. Honestly I'd have loved to know what they would have replaced "pony" with. Really everything in this scene except the copy machine bit was a bit grating to me. She was grabbing dozens of books with her hands, then she suddenly decides to use her mouth? I mean... I know habit, but still... it seemed forced and out of place. The next scene however where we are introduced to Rarity and the following scenes, really is where I feel the movie started to redeem itself (save one major plothole). The movie was fairly entertaining up until this point, but really I feel after the plot hole issue is taken care of and they get together with the YouTube video showing Twi being a derp and/or spaz, it really starts to improve. Now let's talk about this last huge plot hole shall we? So each had an issue with another of the mane 6 counterparts. OK, fine, things happen. But really...? None of them, being friends and all, decided to APPROACH and ASK why they did what they did? If someone showed up to a silent auction with fireworks my first reaction would be to stop, and basically yell at them what they were thinking (or in Fluttershy's case probably just run off crying which should have lead to Pinkie Pie running after asking what was wrong)! Same with not showing up, and same with asking why they told me they didn't need my help (if I was really their friend). I mean, friendship 101 people! Did they just not talk? How do you go that long with those misunderstandings without finding out the truth. The softball thing especially, because surely they were annoyed and talking about it. Gossip travels fast, especially in HS. The whole reasoning why they aren't friends at this point is suspect. I know why they needed to do it, but honestly it felt halfbaked. And I love Meghan McCarthy. She has written some of my favorite episodes. But really I think she could have done better here. But this is really [almost] my last major issue (I have one small one and one large one a bit later). Finally Rainbow Dash. Hey it only took... half the movie? For your appearance! It isn't like you're an important character, right? (To be honest, I'd have laughed hysterically if AJ was the last one to be introduced given how she gets slated pretty much at every turn with merch) This was actually a pretty good scene overall, and a good entry for the character, and something that I could totally see Rainbow Dash doing. More lovey stuff, but I'm not annoyed by it! It is actually pretty underplayed compared to others. The focus of the movie is no where near that. And it isn't as forced as others, though still kinda forced. Now, I'm not the biggest Rarity fan, but... I can't help but feel she is the best character of this entire movie. She really feels the most natural of them all, and I really like her scenes the most. She isn't forced or seem too out of character like the rest. Even in that plot hole, her anger seems more genuine and more believable because of her character's inherent flaws. Where as the others, well not so much... (FS and Rarity are the only two who I believe wouldn't make the first move. Rarity because she'd feel slated and FS because she's just too shy). And the song... OH THIS SONG! This is the biggest earworm of the movie! [Consequently also the best song of the movie] I was cursing Daniel Ingram's name after this song... Seriously, it isn't a great song, but is is incredibly catchy and easy to listen to. The ultimate highlight of the movie, and probably the thing that people will remember most about this movie. Then Sunset Shimmer's plan. I suppose they don't have Photoshop... or perhaps they lack a scanner and had to copy the imposed images over the other? I don't know, but it is at least believable. Again I really have few complaints from this point on. Tell the truth, good going Spike. This is one of the more "touching" scenes, and again Rarity is the most entertaining one, she really has the best reactions. Then after that we get the second last major song. And I actually think this is the second best one, and has a pretty good message. Though it might be from my times volunteering to help clean up after Super Storm Sandy (really that is what this entire scene felt like, and really that is the feeling you get in that situation, everyone becomes equal and it really is an enormously powerful scene). Last major song, kinda feels like a variation of Gala song. Also Twilight became a character from Twilight for a second there... (sorry obligatory joke is obligatory)... Twilight of course wins the crown... And finally the wind down... Spike gets dognapped, and Sunset Shimmer threatens to destroy the portal. I have two issues with this scene. One is a nitpick... Hammer to portal... Wouldn't the hammer just... you know... go through? Twilight's reaction to not knowing what would happen is a good one though. She again really shows her growth. This movie really feels like it could be part of the MLP:FiM universe. The other issue I have is far bigger (but of course it would destroy the climax). During the scuffle over the crown... why didn't Twilight just... you know... throw the crown through the portal? That's how it got to the universe in the first place, so it could have returned the same way, foiling the plans of Sunset Shimmer pretty quickly. But instead of throwing it towards the portal Twilight throws it backwards into her hands.... Needed for the climax but totally nonsensical. The we have the horrible things and the villain showing true colours (and a design strikingly similar to the Panty and Stocking demons Scanty and Kneesocks only cleaner for kiddies and with a tail for reasons?) Then the obligatory magic of friendship thing and conclusion of the main story. Affirmation of Twilight's ability to lead, and return to Equestria, and sort of alluding to her crush on Flash Sentry... Conclusion: This was a standard HS movie with some really catchy tunes and more or less formulaic execution. None of that is bad though. This had a pretty decent entertainment value. It was certainly not as bad as I had feared based on the terrible character design choices (which did get better admittedly). Plot was loose, and could have been better, but really the target audience wouldn't care about that, and neither would many Bronies. The characters were fantastic throughout and really felt like individuals while still being based on the pony counterparts. Were there issues in execution for plot reasons? Yes, but again, kids movie, and really the plot holes... well I've seen worse. This movie was OK! Not good or great by any stretch of the words, nor was it bad or terrible. It was watchable, and really re-watchable for the purposes of this review. As a kids movie, I'd say it was probably well above average, but as a movie standing on it's own, I'd have to say it could have been much better. However considering that Meghan McCarthy and Jayson Thiesson were probably handed this by Hasbro Execs and told "make it work so we can sell Monster High-esque toys" they did a fantastic job. Would I own this? Probably not, but I really wouldn't mind owning the OST just for the music. Again, I think 6.5 is a really fair score for this movie. It is about average, maybe just above because of the characters. The jokes are overly used and constantly recycled and I really think Meghan could have put a bit more effort into thinking up some varying material, but in the end, it mostly worked.Worth watching? Yes, definitely. Worth owning? Not so much. In the end I'm happy I gave this a fair shake.

This blog is dedicated to Elderflower: may she return to Canterlot one day with bows and eternal happiness. [colour=#FF0000]DEALING WITH ROLEPLAY SETBACKS: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour] Today, I’ll be talking for a little bit about a sort of subject that’s been nagging me throughout this week. For the most part, my RPing experiences in World of Equestria (WoE) have been pleasant and very fun ones, and personally I’ve ever encountered a user who I deemed to be excessively annoying to deal with. That said; there have been a few times now when I’ve had to grapple with the specter of RP failure too, in one form or another. If you’ve been RPing on these forums long enough, then there’s a very good chance that one of the following unfortunate things has happened during the course of your RPs. Hopefully today, I can help provide you with tips on how to bounce back from such setbacks in WoE (or FFA for that matter). Your Thread Is Less Popular Than Expected: One unfortunate reality of WoE is that no thread is guaranteed to be interesting for users. Sometimes only one or two people show up in an open thread you create, or maybe nobody shows up at all. Thing is, we all can’t hit home runs every time; inevitably some RP concepts that we create will be inferior to others. The best ways I’ve found to encourage interest in a RP is to invest time and effort into the thread premise and to avoid standard meet-and-greet scenarios. Just because WoE is a slice-of-life environment doesn’t mean the only situations that can be RPed are character-to-character introductions and purchasing goods/services; think outside the box! Your Thread Fizzles Out: Even if you’ve got a good RP thread going, sometimes all of it comes crashing down through the menace of inactivity. Now, the fear of your thread dying does not give you the excuse to ceaselessly pester your fellow RPers to post; sometimes, they just may be busy with real-life or struggling with a massive backlog of other RPs they’re in. However, the occasional friendly ping (never more than once a week) just might come in handy when someone forgets it’s their turn; I myself had to be pinged in a couple instances when a thread completely slipped my mind. In the event that you’re dealing with a chronic absentee RP participant, you really don’t have much option other than moving on without them... but make sure you give their characters room to come back out of courtesy. Your Character Plans Fall Through: We all put love into the original and cast characters that we apply for, but it can be quite disheartening to see all the story ideas you planned for your pony to derail one by one. Sometimes, I think of my first OC Spin Tale as my greatest failure; a whopping six out of his ten RPs found themselves abandoned, with two of those being threads I anticipated highly. The important thing though is to never blame the character, since users wouldn’t RP with them in the first place if the character was extremely ill-conceived. In the case of cast characters, giving an unfun one up is a perfectly valid thing to do too... especially if they’re in high demand. A RP Partner Is Hard to Work With: For whatever reason, you and another RPer have totally different ideas concerning a thread’s direction, and sometimes the two of you can really find it hard to tolerate the other. While I find that whole Love & Tolerate mantra to be nothing but feel-good hooey invented so bronies can pat themselves on the back, one thing to take from it is to never let the other person get to you. If you run the thread, politely remind them of that fact; if not, respect the OP’s wishes. If necessary, feel absolutely free to have the RP Help Staff resolve the dispute. However, never feel ashamed to cut off all ties with a troublemaker should it prove necessary; no matter how saddening it may seem to you, it is a preferable state of affairs compared to letting your seething anger negatively affect your enjoyment of Canterlot. A RP Partner Leaves Canterlot: This potentially may be the saddest sort of experience on the forums; working with a user you’ve bonded with very well only to have them quit RPing for important reasons (job, school, finds absolutely enjoyment in RPing anymore, ect.). But alas, real-life is always much more important than the virtual one; even if a number of your most cherished RP threads suddenly die without your partner, you must always accept that they have to leave WoE for months or even forever. The best way to handle this situation is let your partner go while continuing to maintain off-site friendships with them. Who knows; he or she may return one day. ^_^ You’re In Too Many RP Threads: Get a life. That’s it for today. That probably isn’t a complete list, but it covers most of the basic pitfalls of RPing. I hope any disillusioned RPer who reads this blog becomes more motivated to keep on participating in our RPs.

Velvet/Berry- Merlot/Rarity- BluePie AJ > Rarity

Just jumping on the bandwagon :I EDIT: Alrightalrightalright, I'll write something else. Life will take you to strange places. Like here! I was a tri-sport athlete in High School, I go to a military school, wither myself away in front of videogames, and am going to boot in about three weeks. Yet I love colourful cartoon ponies. I roleplay as THIS for corn's sake: But I love it. Strange places indeed. But, things your a part of are mostly what you make of it. If you think something is over or beyond repair, it's probably because you don't want to be in that something anymore. I believe Lime has said that already but whatevs © Imagination lolololololololol Just remember that just because a show ends, it doesn't mean fans will end. There are shows that ended in the 80s that still have huge fanbases, even those that weren't remade. It's the memories and sense of nostalgia that's most important. Everyone has experienced this from some kind of show, or videogame, or book series. Disagree? 'Who are you, who do not know your history?' PS: FiM is ending? Since when? Season 4 was confirmed, people

Ya ever got that feeling you forgot something you REALLY wanted to do, due to being "busy"? *Looks back @ previous entry* OH CRANBERRIES, I REMEMBER! I've been yearning to use the blog system s'more, but I haven't thought of really anything worth blogging about. Babbling about colour theory and what I'm learning in beginning drawing would get boring fast. So I began pondering, where's my place at Canterlot? Being an active user on the forums is great, but I want to do something beyond the spam stables. I'd talk about the current season, but I'm saving the episodes for my trip out of the U.S. RPing just terrifies me and I just don't feel as though I've been here long enough to post new topics or attempt to help out the forum crew (in what little way I could). So what could I do to help contribute to the Canterlot community? After staring at my mess of charcoal, it finally hit me. Sooner than later, I'm going to move to the digital medium. If I'm going to be successful at graphic design and animation, I must master this plane as soon as possible. So while I'm learning the basics, why not learn how to master the stylus in the meantime? Thus, I've decided to do a test run of a request thread/blog. Why a test run? Just to work out the kinks and to see if I'll stick with it. I'm not going to lie, all I've really drawn is pony busts and primitive shapes, but don't let this dissuade you from your request! I often find that the most difficult of tasks are often the ones that you never expect, this in turn helps oneself gain more out of that experience. This may be a test run, but I'm still going to treat it as an official. If I get up to Seven successful requests, I'll create an official post. Please keep the following in mind while requesting here Refinement Complete! More examples (6+ months ago!) As you can see, I had a "MUST BE TRUE TO SHOW" setting in mind. I want to change this and create my own style, not copy someone elses! Besides, I spent 6+ days on these easily... Something I plan to no longer follow, or so help me Celestia! Note: HUGE images up ahead! Oh man, now that's a lot of text I tell you what! .... Well, what're ya waiting for? Request! Request like the wind! DA LIST: 1: Ping111 - Refinement (52%) 2: Tenkan - Concept 3: Bellosh101 - Concept 4: Open 5: Open 6: Open 7: Open

Friend of mine got interviewed on Everfree Radio Tuesday. I get a brief mention in the first nine minutes, which made me pretty darn giddy!

In a nutshell, being a Mod is like this:

We often forget how lucky to have the things we do... We take what we have for granted without noticing over half of the time. I know I've done it so many, many times. Haven't you ever taken what you have for granted? But a few moments of thought... Sure I can say that there are those better off from me because both mother and father care about them, unlike me. My mother is out of the picture and she doesn't want to know my existance. I live in a broken family. But there is another side that I often look to when I feel depressed or lonely. - I have a father who loves me with all of his heart. - I have an older brother who helps to show me the way when I've gone off course in my journey through college life. - I have grandparents who both love and cherish me. My grandma even calls me, the little girl she never had. - I have a roof to sleep under. It has clean water, electricity and warmth. - I have all of my loving pets who help to fulfill my life by just being there. - I have the clothes that I wear. - I have television, a wii, Nintendo 3DS, access to my dad's computer and a notebook. The list is endless if I go into more details... But you can see that I'll always be forever greatful for everything that I have.