Random Ramblings CDXVIII

IN WHICH I SPITBALL IDEAS
On Nine-Eleven, I tried to write a Sunset story, but it got bogged down in crap partway through. Enjoy music.

Hey, at least it's not an Otter video. Otters are awesome. More past the jump.

So. 9/11 is the day after my birthday. When the WTC & Pentagon were attacked, I was in my senior year of high school. As an unapologetic left-winger (moderate at the time, I'd argue still so now except more jaded after what I've seen my friends go through after 40 years of Reaganomics) in a far-right little town, my immediate thought as toxic smoke engulfed Lower Manhattan was that Bush The Younger would start a war and I wanted nothing to do with it. I was, of course, correct. Some of my friends and acquaintances chose to fight for our country and serve in those wars. I took part in protests against said wars because I knew people in the service.

I remember the racism, the rah-rah patriotism, the stupidity -- who else is old enough to remember "Freedom Fries" and dumping of French wine into sewer drains? As a history-buff and political scientist, what happened in 2002-3 was a lot like what happened during World War I except Bush The Younger (thankfully) was no Woodrow Wilson. If FDR had lived, would he have regretted the Japanese internment camps? I think he would have. Wilson, despite being of my own political party, was from an ancient wing that no longer exists -- a deeply racist man whose actions singlehandedly caused a LOT of problems decades later. He refused to grant an audience to Ho Chi Minh (a man at the time who had read the writings of America's Founders and believed their ideals) in 1919, which resulted in Dr Ho cozying up to Stalin instead.

Yes. Woodrow Wilson, the Saviour of Europe, who died not long after leaving office in 1921, caused the Vietnam War.

And General Douglas MacArthur, who I'm sad to say is from my home state, did way more harm than good. Eisenhower hated him and basically called him a drama queen. Motherfucker deserved to be fired by Truman after deliberately disobeying a direct order that ended up fucking up Korea forever until we can convince the UK, France, & Israel to join us in nuking Pyongyang.

We have too many people in the world. So I've been doing a careful study of who's worth saving. White Americans are killing themselves through their refusal to get vaccinated for Covid and I lost all sympathy for them weeks ago.

I'm sorry I have yet to finish the story arc of Orangeglow -- a.k.a. Trump-pony -- Justice moves slowly. Indictments are being handed down as I type this. His downfall IS happening, but not as fast as I would like. I need to get off my fat ass and just figure out how Discord and Celestia are going to box Orangeglow in. Probably his inciting a rebellion and attempting a coup. Just like in the EQG-world, I should probably just kill Orangeglow off. Only instead of him dying in a freak accident, he'll be executed by Luna.

Antonovka is still my best story in terms of world-building. I don't usually think about the trash I write after I've posted it, but I'm still very pleased at how that turned out once I was able to give Granny Annie her due. I LOVED laying out the ancient city from the very first episode of G4. Yes, I did have Skyrim partly in mind when I described it.

This is also true in my 9/11 Sunset story I didn't finish in time. For that, I also borrowed architectural ideas from Skyrim.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to square real-life locations (like Yakutsk) for how I envision Sunny-sun's hometown Stalliongrad. The real "Stalingrad" (orig. "Tsarytsin", now "Volgograd") has a much warmer climate than I expected and winters aren't as harsh as you'd expect -- WW2 years were abnormally cold. So I just have to make shit up. Stalliongrad is a shithole that gets maybe 2-3 months of growing season. Sunset was the only unicorn amongst a bunch of Earth-Pony brothers. She's not a pureblood like Twilight. That the Unicorn DNA from her mother's side reasserted itself so strongly despite being so diluted is a quirk of Pony genetics.

It's not terribly different, I suppose, than the "Half-Blood Prince", who had incredible power yet wasn't pure enough for the purists. In a stuck-up enclave like Canterlot, it's only natural Sunnybuns would have a chip on her shoulder if she was rejected at the outset for not being 100% Unicorn. That's my headcanon and I'm sticking to it.

I don't know what's going to happen in G5 and I really don't care. I'll wait for the reviews to come in first. At least the animation looks halfway decent and there may be an interesting story about why the racial equality Celestia fought for for so long broke down once she ascended to a higher plane of existence or whatever. Y'all know me -- I'm gonna blame Twilight. Because she never earned the right to take over for the Diarchy even though that was Lauren's intent from Day 1.

SO. Nine-Eleven. I know it's too late to do a 9/11 story but I may just do it anyway without mentioning any specific date.

Oh, I also was never happy with the name "Canterville" (and I've made it clear carrying "Canterlot" over to a humanoid universe was stupid). So I'm trying to come up with yet another name for the humanoid universe. I think I've settled on "Canterton". If I'm not too lazy, I'll re-edit all my stories to reflect this. Just like how I changed "Prime Minister" to "Chancellor" even before the show itself did the same thing.

Have I mentioned my end-goal is for Apple Bloom to fall in love with Sunset? But it's never requited because Sunny ends up forced to return to the pony-verse and never returns because she has to cross dimensions to solve the murder of her friend. Trump was involved, of course, but not in the way you'd expect. I laid the groundwork for this long ago.

You'll probably never see it because this site is dead and even though I want to finish what I started, if no one is left to read it there's no point in my going on.

I couldn't even get a fucking 9/11 story finished on 9/11, and I tried. It's supposed to have Sunset envy the youth who don't remember 9/11 -- either in EQG-world or what she remembers: a gryphon attack on Stalliongrad in which she witness her town destroyed and locals she knew brutally murdered and eaten. Sure, she hated those ponies, but it's still a shitty thing to see when you're 6. Celestia wouldn't find Sunny until a couple years later at the earliest.

All these ideas -- plus some that are way less safe-for-work -- rattle around in my mind, have for literally years, and I just don't have the energy or talent to commit it all to digital paper. Pathetic.

Meanwhile, I go on trial one week from today for a bullshit assault I didn't commit over a year ago. I'm terrified the plan my attorney cooked up isn't going to work and I'll be on the hook for a crime I didn't commit (because I was attacked first and then deliberately triggered into a panic-attack).

Let me tell y'all: Jail is not fun. When you game the system like I did and insist on solitary to avoid prison-rape, it's very very boring. And the food is terrible. Like, school lunches are gourmet cuisine compared to prison food.

Screw it. Will I even be alive in a week? I don't fucking know. Two lawsuits -- one criminal (if low-level), one civil -- hanging over my head, both for things I didn't do …or did do but not in an illegal way, have really worn me down this year.

But it's down to my own laziness that I broke the one promise I ever made to y'all -- that I'd finish what I started. I hate it. I hate myself. All I do these days is hang out on reddit, watch otter videos, and ******* to young (but not that young) Japanese girls because I see no other purpose in life since I might be going to prison anyway. Sunset banished herself. If I get banished, even if only for a few days -- it is a misdemeanor crime -- it'll be by the State.

One thing I will say about lockup, though… you get a LOT of time to think during the 22-23 hours per day you're in that cell. Just like when I was in In-School Suspension (ISS), I finished my work within an hour or less and spent the rest of the day drawing comics or whatever.

I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry.

Peace out.