[News + Update] Flutterpony & Snow Bullet's ban, plus some other things · 7:27am Apr 22nd, 2016
Hey guys, Spoiler here, with a super-early-morning EST post. Just wanted to poke in and let you guys know that we're kinda-sorta still around. In fact, we've taken notice of the fact that a certain figure of the community has been... let's say, "unceremoniously and indefinitely evicted from the premises", now. This will surely come as good news to some, and horrible news to others, but the fact of the matter is -- as you can tell -- one Flutterpony has been permabanned from Fimfiction. The charge? Linking to NSFW content. A travesty, of course.
Oh, Flutterpony. You silly goose, you.
I know you all are as shocked as we are. Clearly, he will be missed. The article Minkie drafted up has more details and links and whatnot, so be sure to check it out if you're curious. Also be sure to like and subscribe, lulz There's a bit more where that came from, though, even though it will take time. Hang in there, and many thanks to those who have been sending us those reports lately.
...Oh yeah, speaking of which, someone else just got banned recently too, didn't they? Yeah, one "Snow Bullet" got hit with a three-day ban for alt account upvoting and drama-mongering. You know, Snow Bullet, the person that was reported to have been hit by a car, but then that turned out to be a hoax, and then it turned out it was all a complicated setup by just one person for some good ol' attention? That was an interesting thing to follow. Check out our post on that too, it goes into all the nitty-gritty details you guys love to read about so much.
Now! Onto other matters. If you don't care to know those, then why are you even here?
We don't like setting up excuses for our silent periods, but sometimes overwork and stress gets to us. We do, in fact, have actual lives to attend to. And sometimes, stuff we draft up just isn't up to snuff, and it gets left on the cutting room floor, never to be posted. However, Rockfarmer has recently decided to bite the bullet and post an opinion piece on a subject that would've been rather topical, five or so months ago. Long-winded and tangential as her posts always tend to be, there is in fact a point to be made hidden in there somewhere. I know, I was surprised, too. Who would've thought?
Something else that me, Minkie, and Karma have been quietly discussing amongst ourselves is a shift in focus for the site as a whole. We've tossed around all sorts of ideas, even considering some things that we posed to you, dear readers, nearly a year ago. Or maybe more than a year, I don't know, I wasn't around. While our primary focus is to deliver "drama" to our audience, all for the sake of informing the public and having a good laugh about it ourselves (to virtually no other benefit, seeing as how we don't run ads and we pay for server costs out of pocket), it occurs to us that drama isn't always going to be a thing. Sometimes drama dries up. Sometimes "drama" just isn't significant. Sometimes the potential drama we could report on is just too... old hat. Same-y. I'm sure nobody wants to hear about the twenty-third time the same nobody threatened to kill themselves and/or caused a big spat over negative criticism, right? People who seem to thrive on all the attention? Or, maybe that's just me.
What to do about this dilemma, then?
Tragically, we missed out on this year's potential April Fool's prank. But the general idea of what we had in mind for it was, in fact, the basis for the new idea we have for site content. Funny how that works out, huh? In case you want an idea of what our initial plan was, maybe the below image will give you an idea. A for-a-day logo that never quite came to pass.
Oh boy I wonder what this is possibly referencing.
In short: a shift toward something more deliberately humorous. More of a sharp, satirical edge, if you will. Even more so than usual. Beyond just drama, a focus on mundane aspects in the Fimfic environment and its userbase, and making it into a "super huge and important deal, like you have no idea, you guys". Whether made up entirely, or obvious parody of actual things. Something that people will (hopefully!) find more amusing and less... "antagonistic" in general. Not that we ever really TRY to be, or anything, but something in good honest fun and humor could be a nice addition, right?
We, uh... probably aren't going to use quite the exact same branding (I mean, I would personally LOVE to, but Karma already bought the old domain again for another year, so...), but the general idea is there. As for any worries about whether or not it will interfere with the usual focus on drama: it won't. At least, not intentionally. Drama will still be a more serious focus, even despite the added and decidedly non-serious non-drama content. Satire is something that Karma in particular has been wanting to focus more on, while Rockfarmer focuses on the more dead-serious and rant-y opinion stuff. Me and Minkie? Well, shifting roles in reporting and maybe occasionally trying our hand at some such new content of our own could happen.
Of course, the alternative is to just keep this content separately, as its own dedicated site. That way we get to keep the joke logo. Yay!
This is just planning at the moment, though. We've still got a decent bit of stuff to write up and catch up on until then. But we figured we'd let you guys in on what we've got in mind. Also, the site's usual logo got a slight overhaul, so I guess that's another thing to mention? A bit more simplistic and less cluttered than the older one. You know how branding goes.
That's all for now, readers. I didn't overdo it, did I? Oh god I totally overdid it welp this is awkward
~ Spoilerpone, F2P Reporter
Cool.
Oh, boy, new developments. The Foal Free Press will soon be upgraded, like Fimfiction.
Eventually, but still!
Now seems as good a time as any to let everyone know that I was recently hit dead-on by a freight train going at sixty miles an hour or more.
My ankle got twisted pretty bad, but the doctor says I'll be fine as long as I stay off it for a bit. No problem there, because it's really uncomfortable right now. I would, of course, greatly appreciate all sorts of support... such as money, fan art of stuff from my stories, money, ham-fisted poetry, money, threads dozens of posts long about how wonderful everyone thinks I am, or money.
Oh, and that time I talked about what a whore your mom is? That was someone hacking my account.
Considering that I was beginning to find one or two of the drama Posts... Too similar to a.... Mean-spiritied gossip rag rather than an attempt to poke humour at a difficult situation, I welcome this shift.
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It took me a while to realise that this was a joke.
Well done.
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Having only a twisted ankle after getting hit by a high-speed freight train wasn't enough of a clue?
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I thought that the train only struck your leg as you stuck it out, or something. I don't know. Events can have severe or light consequences depending on how Murphy's law is applied to all the factors in a situation.
In this case, context should have been my biggest tip-off.
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I did say I was hit dead-on...
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Sigh. Just saw that.
I'll stop now.
I can't tell you how relieved I am that FP is gone. I really, really didn't want to share this site with an unapologetic pedo. Apparently that makes me a bad person or something.