Happy New Year! Have 50 questions aka some story time with me.

Happy New Year to everyone. I have seen a number of people that I like do this. I think it is only fair that I do it myself to start off the new year because why not? It will also allow me to share a bit more about myself, if anyone cares that is.

1. What is your first name?
Richard

2. How old are you?
32

3. What country are you from?
USA

4. What do you look like?
Like I need a haircut. Seriously, I haven't had one in over a year and my hair is below my shoulders. I don't have pictures of myself as I hate pictures of me so I don't have any way to show you what I look like.

5. What do you wish you looked like?
I don't know. An odd answer but an honest one.

6. How did you come across MLP:FIM?
I've said this in a past blog of mine. Through fan-made music. Specifically Aviator's music. I'll share with you the story. I first heard One Last Letter VIP remix several years ago in a video. The video linked Aviator's music page in the description. I went to his page and saved it to go through the music at a later date. Me being me, I forgot to go through it. Fast forward some time and I watch that video again, really liked the song again, and go to his page again to find that it had been saved. The timing this time was rather critical as I had very recently decided, for my own mental health, to distance myself from some of the music that I had liked and was looking for new music. Due to this, I dove right into his music and started listening. I fell in love with his music and was curious about the inspiration for some of it. The first song I decided to look up the inspiration for was Heaven Knows, which was inspired by All But Two by Caisius. The second was Open Your Eyes acoustic. The inspiration for that song was as an alternate take of I've Got To Find A Way. Yes, this means that Magical Mystery Cure was the first episode that I watched. From that, Celestia's Ballad had a few moments that I wanted to see the origins of so I started to watch the rest of the show, starting at the beginning, and never stopped until the show ended.

7. What is your favorite ship?
Any that is made believable. The better the writer does the more I like what they are selling with the ship. Beyond that, I don't have a personal favorite.

8. What is your least favorite ship?
Ones that aren't done well.

9. Have you told anyone outside the fandom that you like MLP?
Yes. It was another blog post here that I used to finally open up about my depression to a friend.

10. Were they a family member?
No. I have trust issues with my immediate family stemming from their ties to my depression issues. I don't hold it against them in general but it makes it really hard for me to talk to them about many things.

11. Favorite MLP episode?
Picking a favorite is really hard for me in general. In this case, it is because there are a number of episodes that I really like for various reasons. Hurricane Fluttershy, Magical Mystery Cure, and Luna Eclipsed to name a few.

12. Who is your favorite superhero?
As in the likes of Marvel or other such superheroes? None. I have never really liked any of the comic-based superheroes. I have a really hard time with the willing suspension of disbelief when it comes to fictional things in a real-world setting. Something like MLP:FIM, and even it's spin-off of Equestria Girls, I don't have issues with because of clearly established differences that make it clear that it isn't a real-world setting. Outside of that, you are going to have to establish what qualifies as a superhero. Does Jean-Luc Picard qualify? Hazel from Watership Down? What about Horatio Hornblower? If some kind of superpower is a requirement do the Mane 6 qualify? What about Sunset Shimmer? How you qualify what a superhero is is going to determine what my answer is, if I even have one at all.

13. Favorite Anti-hero?
A favorite is hard to pick. Han Solo is a good one but I don't particularly love the character. Same with James Bond. Riddick is an example of one I like more but, like another example in Sherlock Holmes, I don't love the character so much as I admire the skills they employ and how they employ them. Jack Sparrow and Malcolm Reynolds are better still in my opinion but two stand above the rest for me. The Doctor from Doctor Who and Dr. Gregory House from House. An honorary mention goes to the entirety of the Stargate SG-1 team.

14. Favorite supervillain?
This is hard for me due to the fact that supervillains lack the attributes that I admire from a character by default. I guess I have to turn to which supervillain did I like the writing for the best? Here is an answer that might be out of left field. Q as played by John de Lancie. As much as I dislike Q there is also something about that character that I think I would actually like and enjoy. While Q did what they did for their own pleasure there was still a great opportunity to learn about yourself, show your better self, and test the best of who you are character-wise. While maybe not a true supervillain, Q is likely the closest character to one that I could say that I like.

15. Favorite anti-villain?
Raymond Reddington, Yellow 13, and Mr. House are definitely up there.

16. What was the last book you read?
Divergence by RQK. No, seriously. You can get it, and the entire series, in book form. I genuinely love the series. I ended last year reading a lot of pony stories. Most of it on this site but the last book I read was that book as I went through the entire series in book form.

17. What is the last movie you watched?
Oh, geez. I haven't watched a movie in well over a year. The most recent time I watched a movie was in early to mid-2018. It is most likely MLP the movie. I don't enjoy watching movies anywhere near as much as I enjoy reading.

18. Favorite song at the moment?
I'll just go with the song stuck in my head at the moment as that might as well be what this question is asking. The Grey by Annelle Staal.

19. What song do you always come back to?
The answer is heavily dependent upon my mood and how I feel. The song I come back to when I am happy is drastically different than the one I go to when I am dealing with depression or when I just feel content.

20. What is your current job?
UPS preload.

21. What job do you want in the future?
Pfft. No idea.

22. Dream job?
Somewhere where I can learn new things on a regular basis and maybe even help teach what I have learned? I have this constant yearning of wanting to learn more about things. What those things are change almost on a whim. One day I could be fascinated by some particular detail in pottery making and the next something else like the history and details of something like a gun. The next it could go to something in the field of science and the next it could go to something fantasy. A job that pays me to actually get into all of that would be my dream job.

23. At this moment what is your greatest achievement?
Not completely giving into depression. I know that is likely to be seen as rather low and grim by some but from my perspective that is a great achievement digging out of that hole and it is one that I'm likely to have to go through again some time in the future. It is literally a life goal of mine to get old and die to something other than depression.

24. At this moment what is your greatest failure?
Letting depression take control of my life for years. It is something that I am still working my way out of.

25. Do you have any pets?
No.

26. What is your dream pet?
No idea. Due North had me thinking for a long time that having a Siberian Husky would be great. I've always loved the idea of one day riding on a horse would be great too but do horse owners call their horses pets?

27. Do you own any weapons?
Technically anything can be made a weapon with the application of knowledge. Even seemingly nonthreatening things like a spoon or pocket watch can become a deadly weapon. To answer the question as intended though, I own a .22 rimfire rifle. I'd also like to eventually get a few different knives. All for practical use like in the kitchen or on a workbench. Basically various utilitarian knives.

28. Is there a gun you really want?
Really want? No. The closest to really want would be a modernized level action that doesn't actually exist at the moment. The reason for it? Basically a ranch gun. Ideally, if I had it I'd never have to use it.

29. What religion are you?
At the current moment, science believes that the universe was created via the big bang. My question is what caused the big bang if science has also shown that from nothing in a vacuum comes nothing in a vacuum? If there was nothing and then a big bang created the universe then something created the universe. I have no idea what but I'd be willing to call whatever it is god. Even if it is just anti-matter exploding that created the known universe.

30. If you could hang out with one person in history, who would it be?
I hate questions like this. I hate them because I couldn't just pick one. How could I possibly narrow it down to one?

31. If you could bring one person back from the dead, who would it be?
Again, how could I possibly narrow it down to one?

32. Are you political?
Everyone is by default if they so much as have an opinion on any given topic. The better questions would be; what are your political opinions on x, y, and z matters, and how politically active are you?

33. Are you married?
No.

34. Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?
No.

35. Have a crush on anyone?
No.

36. Care to explain?
Physical beauty doesn't do much more than get me to look at you. I'm not going to get a crush off of physical beauty. What I am going to fall for is who you are and there is not a person at the moment whose personality swoons me enough for me to have a crush on them.

37. Do you consider yourself attractive?
No.

38. If you could spend a day with someone alive who would it be?
I have no idea whatsoever.

39. Who is your favorite pony?
The best I could do is narrow it down to three. Sunset Shimmer, Fluttershy, and Princess Luna. All for specific reasons.

40. Any embarrassing secrets you'd like to share?
This is rather vague and too open-ended for me to properly answer.

41. If you have done any stories/art, what is your favorite piece?
I'm stuck between Petrified and A Letter Short for stuff that I have made public in some way.

42. Are you a virgin?
Yes. When I was in middle school I heard about asexual people. I wondered what that was like for them to be sexual beings and how they handled it. Little did I know that I would, in my own way, get the answer for myself. While I am not asexual I have absolutely no interest in casual sex whatsoever. I've had many, all ladies for the record, try to woo me and I've never been interested. One was a friend of a friend. I've even had another one of them get upset at me for not sharing in their desires asking if I was gay. No, I'm not gay because I have no interest in pursuing any man at all. As I said above, it is who you are as a person that is going to get me interested, not what you physically are like. There are so few ladies that have the personality that interests me.

43. What is the craziest thing you have done in your life?
Define crazy and I will be better able to give an appropriate answer.

44. Favorite TV show besides MLP?
Cosmos ft. Neil deGrasse Tyson, Midway USA's Gun Stories, basically a bunch of educational shows. Most shows that get classified as entertainment don't interest me so I don't bother with them.

MLP:FIM and EQG are standouts because they are there for personal positivity and encouragement to continue my personal improvement. About 5 years ago had you met me in person I would have been a lot like how Fluttershy was when she first met Twilight. It was extremely common for me to even have to repeat my name to people because of how quiet I was.

45. Do you have a fetish of any kind?
Not really. It would probably be accurate to say no outright but I am leaving some room for the unknown in relation to the topic.

46. Do you regret saying this fetish?
I was unaware that not really and no were fetishes. Well, I guess consensual nonconsent could be a fetish but it isn't a fetish of mine.

47. What are some of your favorite MLP stories?
I gave one above, if you can call an entire series one. RQK's series is great, as are the rest of the stories that they have posted. I'm going to mention four more stories to make it an even five given. The Sun Also Rises by EchoWing, Slumber Of The Storm by Deathscar, Messenger by SkycatcherEQ, and The Circle Of Friends by Honey_Habanero.

The Sun Rises is the first story of EchoWing's Quiververse. It is the first series that I found on this site and I really enjoy what EchoWing has done with it. Slumber Of The Storm is the story I chose from Deathscar simply because it is the story I read every year on Christmas Day since I found it. There are a few of his stories in my original favorites for a reason. I really love some of his stories. Messenger was one of the first stories here that I fell in love with. I really love that little series by Skycatcher. The Circle Of Friends was one of the very first fan-fic stories that I ever read. I don't know when I first saw it but it wasn't on this site. It was as a link to the story as a word document. I freaked out when I found it on the site.

48. Favorite quote?
Asking for one in particular when there are so many good ones to give. I hate it. How could I narrow it down to one?

49. Did you ever hurt someone's feelings just to hurt them?
No. Have I done such a thing by accident? Way too many times. Even once is way too many. A majority, if not all, of the times I ended up feeling worse about it than the person on the receiving end.

50. Did you answer all these questions honestly?
Given that I pride myself on being as honest as possible I would certainly hope so. For the record, this also took hours to complete due to distractions.