Exploring the slums in Midgar is an amazing videogame experience. In most RPGs I expect an urban setting to be mostly empty with a few generic, token NPCs standing around. Walking down the street in this game, there are people everywhere. They’re all wearing different clothes, different faces, working at different tasks that actually make sense in this context. They’re also chatting to one another, which I can overhear as I walk by, and sometimes making comments to me, or about me,

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I'm having some really conflicted feelings about The View Over Atlantis. I'm just about to wrap up what I think of as "Book One" of the story. After that, there should be a change in setting and tone as we get into the next phase, or the next book.

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If any of you haven't been following the revived Samurai Jack series, what the heck is wrong with you? Go watch it! It's amazing.

Last night the third episode of the new season aired, and the leader of the Daughters of Aku, Ashi, is voiced by. . . Tara Strong??

OK, I'm calling it now: At the end of the season, Jack will join forces with Ashi, the Scotsman and the White Wolf to take down Aku. Probably using some sort of friendship-powered magical superweapon. With rainbows.

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Isn't it great when you stumble on a piece of music that dovetails perfectly with your story? I tend to picture scenes in an almost cinematic way, and every good movie needs a soundtrack. When I was writing Black Angel, I was lucky to find a couple of tracks that I felt were worth references in the story itself. And just in case any of your forgot. . .

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So, now a major update and attempt to get The Golden Dawn back on track. I've added a prologue to set the stage for those unfamiliar with TCB -- and to spell out some of the details about my spin on TCB. I've added a new chapter.

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I finally got to see Zootopia yesterday. I won't be tossing out any spoilers, but I do have some observations. . .

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This is a subject that has come up in a lot of fics, and in a lot of comment sections of those fics, and has been subject to a wide range of interpretations. I'm talking about Equestria's "tech level". Just what technology do they have?

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Applejack has always been my least favorite of the main six, but it was hard to say exactly why. After a while I realized a big part of my problem with Applejack was how she talks. She sounds like a Canadian voice actress trying to mimic what she's heard on episodes of Hee Haw. Nobody talks like that. I grew up on a ranch here in Texas, and we didn't talk like that. Now, I can't rightly convey an accent in text, but I can give a few authentic suggestions for those of you wanting to write

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When I started writing the interaction between Nightmare Moon and her Nemesis, I originally planned for Nightmare to reveal her origins. However. . . I changed my mind for a few reasons:

1. If I used my own favored explanation for where Celestia and Luna came from, it would actually be a bit of a spoiler for a couple of other stories -- currently on hiatus but I do plan to get back to them.

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