400 Followers! A Finale Review! And A Question! · 12:55am Nov 30th, 2015
First thing's first. Thank you all very much for the follows! By this point, I'm actually starting to believe half of you might be real and not just several accounts set up by my mom to make me feel better. 
Only kidding, of course. My mom's been stuck in a coma for years.
Before I get blabbing, here's my question:
Any particular reason you decided to give me a follow? A particular story, perhaps? A certain style of writing that you enjoyed? Or do you just follow me because I exist and you want to add me to your collection?
Follow up question: anything you'd like to see more of? A continuation to a particular story? More one-shots? More long stories? More dark stuff? More comedies? More... okay, I guess that's all I really do. 
All right. Moving on...
Well, what about that season finale? Truthfully, I'm not one to comment too heavily on episodes. For starters, I've already missed half the season and, for another thing, I really don't have a lot of insightful criticism to offer. Then again, Sombra was in it. So I'd better say something.
Things that were great:
1. A whole two minutes worth of Sombra. He even did something. Sort of.
Things that weren't so great:
1. The other forty two Sombra-free minutes. It was terrible. The entire time, I was like "Where'd he go? Did we cut away from him right before he was about to give an epic speech? Yeah. That's probably it."
All right, all Sombra jokes aside, I thought the episode delivered. Starlight Glimmer's perfectly smarmy expression as she lounges around Twilight's table/map/display was rather nice. So were the amounts of action and thought put into the differing timelines -- costumes, haircuts, leaders. Biased opinions aside, I thought Sombra's wasteland to be the best. Also, Rainbow Dash's metal wing.
If you were to include her haircut in the Nightmare Moon timeline, would that basically turn her into Imperator Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road?
On second thought, this whole thing was very Mad Max inspired, wasn't it?
I thought the fight between Twilight and Glimmer was pretty nice -- those laser blasts actually looked like they could do some damage. Even when Glimmer dropped them from the sky in a rock, I thought that was nicely cruel.
The past villains were handled nicely. (Most of them...) Each of them laughed for no apparent reason and just tickled me pink. Sombra erected a mountain? Time to laugh! Chrysalis found the resistance group? Time to laugh! Nightmare Moon sat on a chair? Oh, you better believe it's time to laugh! I even have a little more respect for Nightmare Moon after seeing how she was handled, especially the way she blasted that Timberwolf away without a second thought. Although when Twilight screwed her over not a second later while she just stood there and said, "Nooooooooooooooo!" 
Criticism? Not much. Perhaps the ending was a little rushed. Perhaps I would've liked a three-part episode, if only to better explore the various timelines. I mean, there was a Discord one and we hardly got to see it? And Starlight Glimmer's defeat using the power of words was kinda meh. But I think I've come to expect that from the show by now. It's still a show for kids, so Twilight's not about to break her neck and ram her horn through her heart... sadly.
The connecting story line from the opening is also welcome. They could've just as easily made up a new villain that wanted to torment Twilight for some reason, but they choose to use one already established and continued to build on her. It made it a nice revenge story. Twilight ruined Glimmer's life by doing what she thought was right and now Glimmer wants to return the favor. That line of thinking is definitely directed more at the older crowd, I think. I could imagine a lot of tikes on Saturday morning, asking their parents, "Why does that pony hate Twilight so much?" "She was from over twenty episodes ago, so you might not remember her." "Daddy, who's that strange man watching TV with us?" "That's naturalbornderpy and he doesn't have a TV, sweetpea, so we're letting him use ours."
Final verdict? One Sombra out of Ten Twilight Sparkles. That means 10/10!
I followed you because you're crazy-insane and I love Sombra. You can do both Dark, and Comedy, and Dark Comedy, it's always good. What would I like to see more of? Stories. Just write more stories!
A few comments:
Firstly, I followed you because you write well, and I like comedy/dark comedy done well.
Secondly, (you mentioned you haven't watched about half of the season) Starlight Glimmer has actually been following Twilight/the mane 6 around for quite some time. She has made appearances (background though they were) in 4-5 episodes.
Also:
Teleportation 2
Nightmare Moon 0
Well, my favorite story of yours is Bookworm's Delight, though plenty of the others are great. Both the funny and the bleak. My one request is that whatever you write next, keep it on the short side. I tried reading both Strings and Sombra the Highly Unmotivated, and both stories started to lose momentum for me around a third of the way in for one reason or another; couldn't bring myself to finish either as a result.
I find your stories to be well written, and I enjoy your brand of dark comedy. I also enjoy the dark and the comedy, for their individual feels that I get from your stories. They're not stupid.
As for more stories? I would say just continue the good work, though I did like the "Unmotivated" universe, especially when you did the sequel. That was pretty good.
3580140 That bonus chapter on "Unmotivated" was supposed to be just a one-time thing. But considering the positive buzz it received, it has me thinking a bit. Nothing certain, but you never know.
I sadly cave into demand quite easily. Thanks for the reply!
3580136 Damn. And here I am two chapters in to what might be the longest story of my career.
"Strings" I could understand, but "Unmotivated"? A little surprising, especially given that "Bookworm's" a little dry at some points. At least to me. 
People will like different things, though.
3580080 Thank you for saying so!
And... that actually sounds pretty damn cool about Glitter. I really should get back on the horse and finish up those episodes. Or back on the pony, rather. 
3580065 More stories? I think I can do that.
Good stories? Now you're going too far, mate. 
Hmm to paraphrase my comment when PussPuss asked the same question about his follower count...
400 Followers. How did it happen?
Possible explanations:
1. Jay has 398 alts. that plus me equals 400.
2. Every time someone creates an account, Meeester requires them to follow you automatically. (This should be a thing regardless).
3. There was nothing on TV.
4. They are all really just your parents being supportive.
5. You write immersive and well written stories. Your humor is actual humor, that can coax an actual laugh out of people instead of the usual sardonic grin. Ah, and then there's that darkness. That touch of sinful wickedness that always has the reader wondering just how far you will go THIS time. Will he pull back? Will there be a happy ending?
And if that wasn't enough, there is this tendency you have to make people actually consider Sombra as best pony... Sombra...
Dang, dat dere's sum good wordsmitin' !
6. You paid them all off. Well... except for me... I mean there wasn't a check in my mailbox. {Checks again}, eenope. No check.
Hmm... {looks over list}, gonna have to go with number 5. Wait, {checks mailbox once more}, yeah, number 5.
As for what I would like to see. Well, that's easy. I want to see you go all out. Pull out the pegs, overclock the headware, and just cut loose. Dark, comedy, whatever subject you desire. What I would like to see is NBD throwing everything he has into one no holds barred, everything including the kitchen sink, epic story.
In short, cut loose amigo, blow our minds.
3580304
Well, to be fair, for Unmotivated it was more like the plot got stupid once they went to Equestria.
*Rubs chin* Hmm...Why did I follow you? Welp can't remember guess I better unfollow
But seriously though I believe it's because you're an author that comments back when you can. And I love talking with authors for various reasons. That and I'm waiting on a particular story of yours now that if it does great I will follow religiously and comment on every damn chapter. And if it tanks I will follow it religiously and ridicule you in every damn chapter.
Why I am following you? I thought you were paying me.
Speaking of. Where's my check? It's way overdue.
I follow because you do a hilarious Sombra and a dark, hilarious Discord, and hilarious comedy in general. (Wow, just realized no Sombra in the Many Clones).
I agree with your assessment of the episode overall. I think we got enough Discord, chaos land and Celestia and Luna forced to dress as clowns pretty much says it all. Plus, every time Twilight interacts with a dictator, they try and fight her, and how is she going to get away from Discord?
We need stories about the Flim Flam timeline. Personally, I thought they actually handled Starlight's reformation really well, assuming that montage represents many weeks or a few months. I mean, its not like they shot her with a laser, changed her coloration and instantly made her half the Diararchy, right?
That said, I realize that now she has no weird socialist obsession, no more revenge, Starlight is pretty boring. I hope they ship her off to Our Town for good or marry her to Sunburst or whatever in the first episode of season 6.
Well, I followed you because of the feeling of DISMAY I got from Please Open the Door. As I've mentioned before, I've read hundreds of stories on this site over several years, and that one is in my overall top three. And I'm not sure I could immediately name the other two. Also, you've written more than one good story, and are very versatile.
As for requests, I can never get enough sad/dark/horror/tragedy involving Luna. If you want a challenge, try writing a story that induces me to put it into the saddest category in my Sad Luna group. [The word "sad" just lost all meaning after being repeated so many times. Isn't it weird when that happens?] It would have to be deemed (by me) to be sadder
than the stories here.
I thought the same thing about RD looking like Furiosa. I'm just glad that at least one of the timelines (Nightmare Moon's) worked out well for her.
I honestly don't know why I *started* following you. Heck, I'm lucky to remember the names of my children. I know why I *keep* following you, though. Nothing I've ever read of yours has been anything less than 'Pretty good' and quite a few fall under the 'Awesome' category.
3580557 Oh. Damn. That means I can only go down from here, doesn't it?
In all seriousness, thank you very much for saying so. That means quite a bit coming from a rather well-known author here.
3580517 A sad Luna story, you say? Hmm. Don't have anything on the mind right now, and it's always best not to force it. Could I interest you in a bleak Celestia story instead?
(I actually have one in mind. I just haven't written it yet.)
3580512 Thank you!
I think that's how most people end up finding me. Sombra fans or comedy fans or mixtures of the two. Then my goal becomes to blacken their souls enough that they'll give my other stories a shot. 
3580403 You don't want my money. It's Canadian and colorful. I can offer you Tim Hortons gift cards, though. Canadian Tire money, perhaps?
3580343
You have no idea how worried I was someone would do that out of spite. 400 followers? How 'bout 399, instead? I know I'd be tempted to.
Now that's just terrifying.
Not only would you dislike my story, but you'd never stop reminding me of it. Now that takes dedication.
Must be all those "Walking Dead" fans, am I right?
No? No, I'm not?
That's definitely one of the things that I hold in high regard. That I'm not just known for a single story or for a single type of story, either. People can list their favorites of mine and some of them will wind up different. That's nice to hear. That doesn't mean that everything I write works out all that well (about half, truthfully), but at least it gives me the courage to keep on trying new things, even if they seem out of my skill set. Hell, I never would've written a single comedy unless I thought, "Why not?"
Thanks once again for being such a supportive fan, Mr. E. Very soon I'll need to test the limits of your support, as I upload wave after wave of Equestria Girls stories involving gossiping about boys while hitting the malt shop. What's that? Malt shops don't exist anymore? What's that? I wasn't even born when they were popular, making this joke feel odd and out of place? What's that? I need to go to bed already?
All right then.
In "Sombra the Highly Unmotivated" (may have botched the title) you described the strange creature as making sickening cracks as it changed shape, and the detail you put into that section really intrigued me. So, I decided to check out your other works and I liked them as well!
All in all, I suppose we've just talked often enough that I've come to like you and enjoy your sense of humor. I had fun reading your stories and I want to be sure I'll be notified if you post anything new.
3580687
Sad Celestia, you say? Count me in.
3580986 I think that's the most well-rounded response so far. "You dun good, so continue that dun-good-idness!" Thank you!
3580696 That's pretty cool. I know a lot of people follow others for a particular story sometimes, but I've never heard about following someone due to a particular scene. What was running through my head while writing that? "What's the most fucked up thing I could put here?"
Thanks for the reply!
Followed because I noticed you write good Sombra stories, and I was waiting until this moment to correct you on your math:
1 Sombra=10.141592 Twilight Sparkles, and rounding down is for suckers.
3582594 There's a Pi joke in here somewhere. I know it!
3582541
Yes, I think that sums up the sentiment there pretty well. You're welcome.
Drew me in with a few of your cute stories that made their way to the front page, once I recognized a few were written by the same author. Stuck around for love of Sombra and to see your darker works. Definitely not disappointed
3634705 Thank you!
Glad you like some of the darker material as well as the cute or comical. Your type are sadly few and far in-between. 