Present Perfect vs. the OC Slamjam · 11:50pm May 15th, 2015
Hey, so, you guys remember when Obselescence was all, "Ooh, it's time to slam and welcome to the jam, I'm Obselescence and I'm the king of memes!" and I was all, "ogod not another contest there is no way I'm doing this" and then after that, I was all, "Bleh, I'm too cool for this OC thing, I don't have any interest in it, yawn"?
Yeah, I'm doing it. :B Because I'm a complete butt.
It launched today and I felt like celebrating (and drumming up interest; having people vote will be important! Assuming non-participants can vote), so I'm gonna go through the brackets (1 2) and rate the OC names, because me and pony names and also this post again. :B Note that I'm doing this before reading the compendium. Ratings below the break!
Vanilla Skies- Referential, but honestly a good pony name. Could be a blind bag.
Love Runner- Decent, but doesn't suggest much about what the pony might do.
Hazel Luck- Any relation to Roseluck? Questions like that shouldn't be considered good.
Heather Rose- A little too human (there are real people with this name), but it's legit enough.
Proper Prim- Kind of a bizarro, flanderized version of Prim Hemline. Could be fun. Definitely the sort of name that doubles down on the personality quirks.
Luster Lock- Not sure what this pony would do, but I like the sound of it. If I take 'lock' to be related to hair, it makes a lot more sense.
Bristle- Solid. I hope there are more single-word names like this.
Mizuko- No. This is not a pony name. Bad!
Oddluck- I like that it's one word. Slightly off-kilter for the world setting and suggests a one-note character, but it's fun.
Straitjacket- Again, I like that it's one word, but can you imagine being named this? "Oh, what's your special talent, being crazy?" I don't have high hopes for this pony.
Wispy Willow- I feel like I've seen this one before. I mean, the correlation to "will-o-wisp" is obvious, making it a little meh, and I'm also thinking Wispy Woods from Kirby. How it works will depend on what the pony's like, I guess.
Lilligold- All I can think of is Pokemon. Beyond that, this doesn't seem to fit the setting, though I won't say it's bad.
Whitewash- Solid. All kinds of ways this pony could turn out.
Copper Coin- Another good pony name.
Price Back- Walmart's OC, right? I kid. Something about this name is tantalizing, I like it. :D
Streamline- Sounds like Background Wonderbolt I Needed a Name for Quick #5.
Minié Ball- What? No.
Silver Lining- Pretty generic, all things considered, but it fits the bill.
Haystacks- More an epithet than a name. The 's' suggests a cute character, however, rather than, say, a yokel farmer, so I like it.
Candy Cane- Generic. Pretty sure this is a blind bag. Or a previous-gen toy.
Mango Leaf- Makes me wonder what mango leaves look like. Not sure what this pony would do, but it's not a bad name.
Rachis Barbule- No, no, no, no, no, no.
Obvious Question- This skirts up on being too much a mouthful, but it's also pretty hilarious. I can see his parents, before he's born, someone asks them what they're going to name the foal, one of them goes, "Well that's an obvious question," and they both look at each other, realization dawning on their faces. They're terrible parents; the foal hates them.
Summer Heat- The funny thing about this name is that it's paired up with another season. Could be Celestia in disguise. Could be a Celestia clopfic.
Spring Blaze- This is almost exactly the same as the name above, save that "Blaze" is a little too edgy. I mean, we've got Aria now, she gets a bye, you don't.
Static Shower- What does this mean? It sounds like a good name, but stop and think about it for a second, and you can only wonder what this pony is like. It seems oxymoronic somehow.
Iron Curtain- If not for the real-world history reference, this would be a good name.
Minx- Who names their kid "Minx"? Is it a nickname? That's the only way I can see this working, and even then, it's not that great.
Quick Study- Poor sap. Decent name, but it fits that "needed to name a background pony who gets two lines" category.
Booster Bones- What? What is this? Do his bones boost? Does he boost bones? What is this name trying to tell me? It sounds like a video game boss.
Mist Whisp- It's spelled without the 'h', but that doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. I suspect goth pony, however.
Lucky Stars- Pretty generic. Could be a blind bag.
Foxglove- Solid earth pony name. Using a poisonous plant is very suggestive.
Glyph Dance- Too esoteric. It's kind of a silly name.
Loud Mouth- I've read a story with a character named Loud Mouth, and he was awful. Who would curse their child with this name?
Crisp Dawn- Wha? Another name that doesn't really say much about the character.
Loam- Love it. Not only is it plain and simple, it's one syllable. How often do you see a one-syllable pony name?
Ace Artisan- Not a pony name.
Staccato Spark- This sounds like someone's username, one of those handles that seems like a pony name until you read the self-insert fic and realize how horribly it clashes with the canon setting.
Dreamer- This is really boring. I'm sorry, I've got nothing else.
Wind Whistler- Wind Whistler? Are you fucking kidding me? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO YOU ARE TALKING TO WIND WHISTLER WAS THIRD BEST PONY IN G1 >:|
Azure- This is like someone needing a name RTFN for a guard pony who gets one line.
Redwood- Okay, as plant names go. I suspect large earth pony.
Evergreen- Are redwoods evergreens? That would be funny if this was just the same as the last name. Actually, it's a little more evocative; by using a descriptor rather than a species, it opens up all kinds of possibilities for where the character could go.
Lunar Glint- Another username.
Calluna- What is this supposed to be?
Fillygree- I really dislike pun names, but "Filigree" is a good name by itself, so maybe I can let it slide.
Gross Product- You know this guy had a bad childhood.
Casey Regulator Trotterson- No. Just, no.
Melon Rind- Solid name. Kind of feel bad for this pony, though.
Firefly- GODDAMMIT HERE'S ANOTHER ONE PLEASE BE ORIGINAL NEXT TIME
Dala- This? This? This? This? On first glance, this is a bad pony name, but I think there are a couple ways it could work. Would have to see it in action to be sure.
Trinket- I love this, for reasons I cannot adequately explain.
Mild Manners- Another one that's all about the personality quirks. Feels like a background pony.
Clue Seeker- It's not bad, really, but I don't like it because it's very "HERE IS WHAT THIS PONY DOES". Leaves no room for interpretation.
Dawn Gleam- Et tu, Twilight Sparkle?
Merry Weather- This is whimsical and I like it.
Tidy Till- Another pony doomed to mediocrity. Seriously, all he's good at is not stealing money. Poor sap.
Bibidi Boo- This can only work in a goofy-ass story.
Falcata- Nice! Though I see this fitting better in a historical, military time period than modern Equestria.
Minnie Milk- What? No. Also, makes me think of Milky Way, pls stahp.
Caps Lock- Dear god why.
Loosestrife- Another solid earth pony name, like Foxglove.
Here's a filled-out bracket, based entirely on how much I like the names:
(It's kinda huge, click on the image to go to the page.)
The runners up thing I did just based on the first-round losers. The double elimination was a completely separate bracket based on a full double-elimination field. (I had to teach myself how to do it, it's complicated!) As you can see, bracket 2 did sliiiightly better.
If you're interested in seeing the full double elimination bracket, have a GDoc too bad, I removed the link!
Rachis Barbule - Barbed Spine
And this is a Calluna:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Calluna_vulgaris_007.jpg
Present, you forgot to make a completely irrational list of your top ten favorite names!
I hope more things remind you of Milky Way all the time always.
I'm also assuming this to be the case since it seems as though the votes will be open to anyone who chooses to comment on the compilation story...
Goth pony names! I mean, if you are a teenage pony you can't just call yourself Midnight Bloodshadow or Raven Trueblood. That's just slightly odd pony names. You have to get edgy and insist you are now called Jym Manhattan. With an umlaut somewhere I think. You use the y in Jym because Jim Chicago was already taken by one of your friends.
3071877
What, of all time? :V Figure it out from the chart!
Oh, cool. Mine made the Top 63.
Waitaminute. I lost in the first round?
derpicdn.net/img/2012/8/17/76338/full.png
I knew these contests were rigged. I haven't even submitted a story yet!
<continues fulminating incoherently>
I can PM you with the details of why my OC is named that, if you want. But not until after the contest.
It's my own fault:
For not following Obselescence--this is the first I'd heard about this, and it's too late to enter. Still, with the Writeoff tomorrow, maybe we should all pick a pairing and write our own stories for them!
Mike
*Cries into his coat sleeve.*
Guess tonight's a drinking night.
... Are you then going to comment on every single OC's description?
I suppose that is nothing compared to reading all the stories, though.
I took a small census. Out of 63 total entries:
EARTH PONY
Male: 13
Female: 11
PEGASUS
Male: 6
Female: 13
UNICORN
Male: 10
Female: 10
No one likes male pegasi, apparently.
If you take the first letter of each name : vlhhplbmoswlwcpsshcmrosssimqbmlfglclasdwarelcfgcmfdtmcdmtbfmcl
And turn them into numbers... 22-12-8-8-16-12-2-13-15-19-23-12-23-3-16-19-19-8-3-13-18-15-19-19-19-9-13-17-2-13-12-6-7-12-3-12-1-19-4-23-1-18-5-12-3-6-7-3-13-6-4-20-13-3-4-13-20-2-6-13-3-12
And then sum them up... 761 we discover that if we sum each number we get 14. Which summed again is 5.
Thus, the whole thing can be noted down to the letter: E.
Which is the first letter of your winner, PP.
3072561
3072282
Time to correct that oversight! :V
3072488
After spending last night until midnight in the Seattle's Angels chat watching someone rip them all apart, I don't feel like I have to. :B (Most of the descriptions are pretty bad, tho.)
3072498
Pegasi losing? INCONCEIVABLE D:
3072561
Illuminati confirmed.
3072881
BUT NOW I'LL NEVER KNOW ABOUT MINE.
3072881
Huh, I'd actually like to see what they wrote. Scathing reviews are usually interesting.
3073251
Yeah, actually, me too. 3072881, I think it's your duty to anonymously leak this information to the masses.
3074309
But everyone will know it's me now. :(
3074490
Just make a fake account called "Not Present Perfect," and you'll be fine.
3074518
oh, whew, it's so simple, why didn't I think of that
3074837
The simplest solutions are the best solutions.
I remember this... you had me ousted in round 2! I had to hold my tongue at the time!
3368418
YET EVERGREEN COULD ALMOST HAVE WON ;_;
3368811 My money was on Evergreen and Luster Lock being the finalists.
3368826
I do hope we at least find out what happened to Evergreen. :(