4 Year FimFictionVersery Q&A Followup · 4:55pm Apr 8th, 2016
Well, it's been a week, so it's time to answer the questions left by my faithful followers. I should warn you in advance that some questions or responses might make some of you uncomfortable.
First up are Matt11's questions:
Will you ever be changing your avatar? you've had that one for quite some time.
This avatar was given to me from a now defunctant pony O.C. creator. If anyone knows of any artists willing to draw O.C.s for free (padded or not), feel free to link me to them. Otherwise, I probably won't be switching out this avatar anytime soon.
When are you planning to do the sequel to Fluttershy and Rainbow's little foal?
I haven't completely ruled the possibility of a sequel to that fanfic, but right now I'm juggling between too many ideas for it, so it probably won't be out until sometime next year at the earliest and that's not nowhere close to being set in stone. I have plenty of other ideas for padded pony works I intend to pursue first, including another bonus chapter to "Act The Foal, Become The Foal", a padded crime drama based on a prompt from a collab, and attempting to salvage "CMC Pottytrainers" as "Scootaloo v.s. The Toilet" set in the same A.U. as "Rainbow Dash v.s. The Toilet".
Next, we have Jesse Coffey's questions:
What is your present opinion on Babs Seed?
I quite like her, and find her pretty adorable with her Brooklyn accent, I'm really looking forward to her return this season. I still don't think Hasbro should've dropped the bridge on her in "Bloom and Gloom", or at the very least they should've said that she was willingly stepping down from the Manehattan branch of the CMC, as opposed to making it seem like getting a cutie mark meant she couldn't be a Cutie Mark Crusader anymore. Depending on how her return goes, she may or may not retake the top spot in the CMC ranking (even if Diamond Tiara becomes a permanent CMC member, I can't see her taking the number one spot.)
Do you sing?
Yes, quite often.
If so, or even if not, do you make broadcast recordings?
I wish I could, but I only have a laptop webcam to record content and the sound quality is alright at best. I don't really have any other recording technology at the moment, perhaps in another year or two I might try to see if I can a good quality mic and camera that is webtop compatable (or can store video on a flash drive).
Given all that hullabaloo over some of Thom Hartmann's blogs being posted onto EWG (which caused a ban on political posts on EWG), how would you evaluate his work?
Thom Hartmann, from what I can gather, is a self labeled progressive. In the end, all I can say is that it's fine if he wants to spread his political message, but he shouldn't be doing it on websites that want nothing to do with politics.
What are your views on the presidential campaign currently?
Right now, there are five candidates left in the running, but only four stand a reasonable chance of capturing the nomination. Hillary Clinton's lead over Bernie Sanders is starting to erode, as he gains momentum in the liberal states of the northeast and northwest, and you can tell she's pulling out all the stops to bury him. If she loses New York (which could become a possibility if Sanders defies expectations again), even by a slim margin, her campaign will be in serious trouble as that will leave many senior party officals worried she might not be the best choice. However, it all comes down to New Jersey and California's primaries, Sanders has to win those states in order to win the nomination. California is hugely liberal, but also hugely minority, so the more momentum he can gain going into those contests the better. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, Donald Trump is betting on a homefield advantage to win New York and he probably will if he doesn't have another disastorus week like he did leading up to Wisconsin, and with Chris Christie on his side Trump has a good chance of capturing New Jersey. It's California that will hold the key to deciding whether Trump wins the nomination, or the Republican party faces a brokered convention. The only alternatives to Trump right now are Ted Cruz who might have support with the crumbling religious right, and Mitch McConnell, but he's hardly the favorite of the establishment. John Kasich is a geuine longshot, and he's likely only staying in the contest because he knows he increases the chances of preventing Trump from getting the majority needed to clinch the nomination. Kasich probably would be the best shot for the Republicans (though him admitting he realizes climate change is a threat, yet not willing to do anything to stop it might erode enough of his support to give the Democrats the victory), but he can't possibly hope to win at this point. If a brokered convention does happen, the Republican party is screwed, and even if Trump ends up the nominee they'll have a tough time winning in November if they continue to fight amongst themselves. With Mitch McConnell saying Republican congressmen can run ads against Trump while also running for re-election, and Trump threatening demonstrations if he is not elected, there is no candidate left who can please the warring factions. I am personally rooting for Bernie Sanders, because he has the chance to become the first liberal president since Harry Truman (Kennedy was a conservative Democrat, as was Johnson despite his "Great Society", Carter was a moderate, and Clinton and Obama are centerist with the former leaning to the right and the latter currently leaning to the left), and because I believe that if we're going to get America back on track, Citizens United must be overturned, and Wall Street needs to reigned in and regulated so that it doesn't get a stranglehold on the economy. I'm not advocating a return to the regulations of the 60's and 70's, those regulations choked economic growth, but no regulation is just as bad as too much regulation. However, I am not a full fledged Sanders supporter, because there are some policies of his that I can't get behind. Raising the minimum wage to $15 would be doing too much in some places, and not enough in others, and I fear that making college completely debt free will lead many people to blow off their time and stay there forever (I know not everyone would be like that, but until Sanders ellaborates more, there doesn't seem to be any sort of system in place to prevent abuse). As for Trump, I certainly wouldn't support him in a general election, because he is highly unqualified (for as much of a flipflop and embarassment Hillary is, at least she has experience) and he draws too many uncomfortable parallels with fear mongering candidates like George Wallace and Joseph McCarthy. But at the same time, I know that intentionally denying him the nomination even if he is the clear front runner going into the convention, would be political suicide. It's a shame really, but baring a sudden revelation I think the Republican party will self destruct come July when they will either be forced to go with Trump against their will, or anger Trump and his supporters into leaving by picking Cruz, Kasich, or even some compromise candidate like Rubio or Bush. If it did come down to a Hillary v.s. Trump election, I would reluctantly hold my nose and vote for Hillary, because at least I believe she wouldn't drive the Musulim community into the hands of ISIS or anger our allies by withdrawing from the climate change agreement we signed in Paris.
Up next, we have fluttershysone's questions:
1. If you were a being in Equestria what race would you be?
If confined to just ponies, earth pony because that species is criminally underrated. If allowed to choose any species at all, I'd probably go with dragon because being almost indestruciable and being able to breath fire would be amazing.
2. What's the best fic you've read on fimfiction?
Currently, "You Will Never Be Alone" by Matt11. It is an impressive Scootadopt story featuring Twilight, and was one of those pre-Season 5 fanfics that had Diamond Tiara being nice. It also understood Scootaloo and Twilight's characters really well.
3. Any predictions for season 06?
I'm hoping we see more of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon now that Diamond Tiara is reformed, and that they'll work to make Starlight Glimmer acceptable as the eighth ranger of the main cast. "The Crystalling" was a good start, but Starlight still needs to really work to prove that she's changed. She needs an opportunity like Discord got in "Twilight's Kingdom" where she can prove she's learned her lesson.
Who's your favorite second tier character?
Probably Princess Celestia, there is so much about her that the show and the fandom haven't explored about her yet.
Now for superfun's questions:
Favorite and least favorite episode from each season?
For Season 1, my favorite is "Party of One" because no one was expecting it and after the shabby treatment she'd been getting in some of the recent episodes, this episode was a much needed breath of fresh air that treated Pinkie Pie as the complex character she is. It also took a plot that was incredibly cliche and predictable, and put a fresh spin on it. As for least favorite, that would be "Over A Barrel" because several characters get hit with the stupid stick, Pinkie Pie especially, and the entire episode feels incredibly uncomfortable since we've already seen the "Who's the savage" plot multiple times. For Season 2, my favorite is "Lesson Zero" because it fixed what could've been a glaring flaw for the show, and surprised everyone with just how dark it could be, plus it helped make Twilight more likeable after her overexposure in Season 1. As for least favorite, that would be "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" because it does nothing right, I could go on and on about what it does wrong, but you're better off checking out my review of it. For Season 3, my favorite is "Keep Calm and Flutter On" because it stands as an example of how great a charcter Fluttershy can be when she remembers her growth as well as launching a surprisingly strong new straight ship. As for least favorite, that would be "One Bad Apple" because it tries to be a special episode about bullying, only to hit every single cliche and then have the nerve to suggest simply telling an adult will make everything okay, never mind the fact that the moral means nothing when the adult does nothing or is the one doing the bullying. For Season 4, my favorite is "Simple Ways" because it is a comedic masterpiece and it delivers a really mature moral that more shows need to teach, you should always want others to like you for who you not who you pretend to be. As for least favorite, that would be "Bats!" because it marked the start of a trend that never should've exisited, of Fluttershy forgetting her character growth because it's convinent for the sake of the plot, and because it tries to make the farmer who's protecting her way of living into a strawman that only wants to destroy wildlife. For Season 5, my favorite is "Crusaders of The Lost Mark" (which is my all time favorite episode right now), because it turned Diamond Tiara from a sterotypical mean girl into a sympathetic and complex character, as well as completing the CMC's quest for their cutie marks, ushering in a new chapter of their story. As for least favorite, that would be "What About Discord?" because the entire episode is plagued with unfunny running gags and references in an attempt to make up for a bare bones story that has the nerve to imply you're justified in feeling jealous. when you can justify jealousy it leads to a slippery slope that allows for the justification of things such as genocide, murder, and countless other atroicites.
Top 6 and bottom 6 ponies overall?
Tough call really, Top Six would be from bottom to top: Cheese Sandwich, Diamond Tiara, Princess Celestia, The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Spike, and The Mane Six. Bottom Six would be from bottom to top: Flash Sentry, Prince Blueblood, Wind Ryder, Flim and Flam, Suri Polomare, Spoiled Rich, Svengallop.
And finally, we have The Bricklayer's question:
what have you got in store for the future?
Right now, I'm working on the third volume of my "What If?" series, and if I keep up the current schedule of one rewrite a week I should be done by the middle of May. Meanwhile, I have my collab for the "Motherhood is Magical" group that is now accepting entries once again, and I'll try to keep it up through the end of Summer. Once I finish my "What If?" series, I will start work on the second bonus chapter for "Act The Foal, Become The Foal" and send it to my proofreader for inspection. And while I wait for the feedback, I will start work on my fityith fanfic, a sequel to "Pinkie Pie: The Amazing Spider Mare". After that, I will probably update my "Stallion Six" fic with the "Magical Mystery Cure" chapter as well as work on a oneshot set in that universe featuring the aftermath of "Keep Calm and Flutter On". And then I'm going to write a one-shot romantic comedy featuring Rarity and Soarin entitled "Rarity The Wonderbolt" (if you'll recall, I've already written two fanfics shipping the two).
So, there are my answers to your questions. I hope you're all satisfied, and make sure to come back tomorrow for my review of "On Your Marks".
Well, it was me posting those Hartmann blogs onto FIMFiction actually, as he does not have his own FIMFiction account (Did some of his critics know that he supports Bronies? Did you know that, in fact, he's my mum's favourite progressive radio host?). Some of the users on here do spread political messages from either of the political positions; as of now, I've been posting Hartmann's blogs exclusively in my new group, JCP News (join today!)