Sol 192
AMICITAS FLIGHT THREE – MISSION DAY 193
ARES III SOL 192
[09:31] JPL: Mark, have you, Starlight and Dragonfly had a chance to look at the engine testing procedures we just sent?
[09:56] WATNEY: We regret to inform you that the Ares III Hab is closed for business, as we are observing a Day of Mourning for Sirius Black. In the interests of efficiency we are also mourning Chuck Cunningham, James Evans Sr., and Cousin Oliver Brady. Normal business operations will resume at 08:00 local time tomorrow.
[10:22] JPL: Mark, according to Google, Oliver Brady didn’t die.
[10:47] WATNEY: That’s what we’re mourning.
[10:49] WATNEY: And Starlight just slapped me upside the head and refuses to explain why. Did you know it hurts like hell to get slapped by a hoof?
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It's short, but still funny to read.
Why did Starlight slap him?
8869542 Because he deserved it.
I would like to speak for all of your readers and tell you after 100+ days of near daily updates you are allowed to take some time off. Deal with real life, build up a week's worth of buffer, then come back rested and ready to go
We will still be here patiently
waiting
I am now curious what the ponies, changeling and dragon would turn out if they wrote a harry potter fanfic
8869560
Twilight Sparkle Complains About how That's not how Magic Actually Works.
I think I speak for all of your readers and tell you after 100+ days of near daily updates you are required to get a catheter, a bedpan, an amphetamine IV, and a live in nurse. So you can devote the rest of your life 24/7 to giving us our pony fix.
8869568
I meant the ones on mars though XD But yes I do think Twi would indeed complain
WHY CAN I ONLY LIKE THIS STORY ONCE?!?!
Heh.
Also, as others have mentioned... take a bit of a break if and as you need it. We do appreciate daily updates but we like having fic more, and if you get sick we'll be left moping for even longer periods while you recover.
8869545
Well yes, I don't doubt that. But what did Watney do this time?
Dude, if you need to take a break from this story for a couple of days to recharge, do so. You've proven you can do a daily update schedule, just don't let it burn you out.
8869603 I'm not burned out from the story. I'm exhausted from nearly eleven hours of driving, the middle part of it being through downtown Dallas. There's a difference between "I psychologically cannot do this right now" and "I physiologically cannot do this right now."
What has got you driving all over the place? You do need a break though... You deserve one
I also cast my vote, dear author, with the others here in saying that for the love of all things cute and cuddly take a break if you need it!
You're under no obligation from anyone to deliver daily updates, and it's clear that you're spread thin enough as it is.
We'll wait. Mars will wait.
So it was a short chapter,SO WHAT? It was still funny and entertaining.
8869575
These are not ment to be chapters, these are Log entries. Sometimes a daily log is short, sometimes it is verbose, sometimes several are condensed together. Criticizing short 'chapters' is missing the charm of this story.
8869547
Why would someone downvote this comment...
8869575
Your username suits you more than you think...
8867676
I just couldn't resist making a joke about Ohare.
Last time I went through there, on a 6 day vacation to Rapid City my flight got cancelled, they tried rerouting me through Denver, then to Washington then to Rapid City, taking 3 days. While there I started talking to another traveler, who had already been waiting 3 days to get to Rapid city, as they gave him a connecting flight through Denver that also got cancelled then flew him back to Ohare.. And were telling him he needed to go back to Denver....
So we talked them into giving us a flight to Sioux Falls, and just split the difference on a rental car.
Truer words have never been spoken.
8869610 My day job is being a vendor at comic, anime, etc. conventions. (No, sadly no pony cons are on my schedule at present, though I did sell at a couple in previous years.) Last weekend represented the sixth weekend in a row I've been on the road.
For those who want to calculate distances and who haven't kept track of my whinging about all the travel, start with Beaumont, TX (not where I live, but close enough).
To Memphis, and back.
To Biloxi, and back.
To Columbia, SC and back.
To Seattle, and back (by way of Sherman, TX).
To Lake Charles and back, three times. (I slept at home for that one.)
And, this past weekend, to Amarillo, and back.
And that is why I'm going to bed now, looking forward to the doctor tomorrow and two weekends of not going any goddamn where.
8869372
It's still going to be like trying to get Lego to work with K'Nex. Starlight's ability to cut precise shapes will help in no small measure but there is still welding and shaping to consider. A clamp arrangement could probably work for the hub mount but certainly not for the thrusters and plumbing fuel to them is decidedly non-trivial.
Of course, I'm wondering if the extra thrusters are actually going to be required since the MAV was already designed to get a full crew with gear and samples off-world. I might have missed something, though.
In other news, I'm curious how Dragonfly will react to spending that much time in proximity to the Box of Oblivion. I suspect Bad Thingstm.
Starlight probably slapped him because nobodies death should be wished for. Not even Olivers.
Starlight has proven she doesn't like things going that far.
She has become such a sweet pony now. I kinda want to hurt anypony that caused her the pain that caused her to go down her dark path. Kinda like I would want anyone who torments Fluttershy in any way to get a severe beating.
8869655
What do you vend?
Cheeky ^.^
Honestly, short or not, this was freaking hilarious. Thanks for the laugh, Kris
I get Sirius Black. That's a well known event in the harry potter movies. But I don't get the other names. Are they also from the Harry Potter books?
Not an active fan, so I don't know.
8869575
Your username suits you.
But medicine isn't meant to be savored. It sustains.
8869745
Chuck was a character that disappeared in Happy Days, James was a character who died in Good Times, Oliver was a character almost everyone hated in The Brady Bunch.
8869784
Ah, the 70's TV shows. I see. Thanks.
8869542
A lot of fans would suggest Starlight Glimmer is the show's Cousin Oliver. I get the joke and find it very amusing.
I think people are forgetting. We have a whole new crew on Star Tek: Discovery, to show to the ponies now.
On the one hand, I'm bummed the update was so short. But on the other hand, this was funny, and I honestly can appreciate you deserving a few short update days considering you've been updating EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. FOR 3 1/2 MONTHS.
You enjoy your break, sir, you've earned it.
8869801
Except most MLP fans love Starlight.
And she has become one of the best additions to the show and has breathed some new life into the long running MLP.
8869821
Do they? I was under the impression most fans resented her and considered her a bad Sunset Shimmer knock off. As well as a mary sue that for some reason has the innate magical power and ability to fight THE ALICORN GODDESS OF MAGIC to a draw because of course she does. Not to mention Trixie seemed like the obvious pick to be Twilight's student/successor, and Starlight seemed to exist to be a reason not to use Trixie.
I admit all of the above were my thoughts as well at first, though I've mellowed on her now. I still don't like her much, and I think her background is inane. (Waah my friend got his cutie mark and moved away so now I must destroy the space time continuum!) Honestly she got closer to destroying equestria than anyone except possibly Tirek, and rather than receive any punishment she was made the new protagonist of the series.
Apparently in Equestria threatening space/time is a slight misdemeanor, but being an arrogant showoff is a capitol crime. Yeah, I'm just slightly bitter about that.
Something to ponder: What are the odds that Princess Twilight Sparkle has started to fantasize about the sweet magical research she could do with the mystery Rich Purnell....
8869905
Best not to push that. Sunset herself can be considered a bad Trixie knock off. Plus Sunset is actually more of a Mary Sue.
It's amazing how few people actually understand what that term means.
A Mary Sue is an idealized and seemingly perfect fictional character. Often, this character is recognized as an author insert or wish fulfillment. They can usually perform better at tasks than should be possible given the amount of training or experience
Yep. Sounds more like Sunset. Starlight has really only excelled at magic. She's been struggling with everything else.
Plus Starswirl himself prooves that a unicorn can be more powerful than an alicorn. Plus Twilight is the princess of friendship, not magic.
Plus there was actual damage done and ponies hurt by Tirek and Trixie. There is no physical proof or anyone hurt from Starlight's time travel.
Plus, nobody really has the right to judge how someone should react to something. Have YOU ever lost a friend because of a cutie mark? I think not.
you can't base a cartoon show about magical talking ponies on how the real world works.
If we actually had time travel, magic, real monsters like Tirek, and cutie marks, we could very well end up doing what Starlight does. I know for a fact that we would. We are a very pathetic species.
Plus only a very vocal minority don't like Starlight. Haters just tend to have the bigger mouths. Go figure.
8869915
I was under the impression that friendship IS magic. Kind of the theme of the show and is in the title? Therefore Twilight is Princess of Magic.
Also, I thought Twilight was a magical prodigy and pushing alicorn level magic pre-ascension. There should be no way any unicorn could match her post-ascension. Trixie needed the One Amulet of Power to take her on, but Starlight is just straight up her equal? This despite Twilight going to the best magic school in the land and learning for years under Celestia herself. I just don't buy it.
As for Sunset, i'll put her aside as she comes form a side series and as you said any anti-starlight arguments apply to her too. I'll probably never really like Starlight as a character. I'm too big a Trixie fan, and it annoys me she got everything I wanted to see Trixie get.
8869952
Um, that more or less fan speculations together with "most powerful unicorn of all times". And "Lesson Zero" pretty much shown us that she nowhere near alicorn level pre-ascension. She unable to stop her own "Want it, need it" spell that Celestia disables with a casual flicker of her horn.
With all due respect, people tend to portray Twilight a tad more powerful than she really is.
8869915
This post gave me 5 different kinds of cancer and ebola.
8869821
Proof? She is a very devisive character. Show me facts most fans like her.
8869915
You don't understand what a Sue is at all if you think Sunset is anything close to one. Her entire character is defined by over coming her past imperfections. At every turn at the start she is judged harshly for any little thing she does that could be perceived as her falling back on old habits.
By your own definition, Starlight, someone who never went through formal training for magic being able to fight the magical scholar princess of magic to a standstill is "performing better than should be possible given the amount of training and experience". Or the ability to mess with cutie marks? Remember the "Staff of Sameness" was a fake, that was just a power she just seemed to have over everyone in the history of ever. Something that was said to be impossible to even Alicorns, something she could even use on Celestia and Luna.
Mind you I don't think she's a sue either and I don't hate her but I can see where the people that do are coming from even if I don't agree. I also subscribe to the idea that she didn't know messing with time was causing so much damage and that her messing with time either only harmed Twilight and Spike cause the other timelines stopped existing or didn't even matter cause those timelines already would have existed whether she messed with time or not.
The only two things I don't like about her character is her reason for becoming a villain and how casually sociopathic she's portrayed as later on. Like yeah she justified manipulating people and dragging others down so she could be on top but magically roofie'ing all of Twilight's friends as if that's a completely normal thing for her to do? That's even more evil than what she was doing before.
8869818
Dragonfly would pick captain Killy . She is such a bundle of joy. And that's why noons considered discovery.
8869915
Wait, Sunset is perfect? Sunset 'I have a temper which usually makes problems worse before they get better' Shimmer is perfect?
This is the girl who played into the Sirens' hands because her temper flared and pushed Sci-Twi away and into Cinch's arms because she lost patience with the girl who knew nothing about what she was dealing with.
A lot can be said about Sunset, but being perfect is not one of them.
8869905
Perhaps at first during the season 5 finale and Starlight's instant-redemption, but since then we've had two seasons worth of Starlight actually redeeming herself and growing as a character. A lot of people opened up to her in that time.
Pity Mark doesnt have a GoPro to observe the engine test. Theyre usually the only things that survive.
8869769
I honestly dislike the Dihmer, as a reader, but im not going to say that on Ofolrodi's comment section in case it gives ):( ideas.
Guys. GUYS!
Calm down.
There's an easy way to solve this.
Just put them in their rank.
There are two ranks.
1: Lina Inverse, Sorceress Supreme
2: People who are not Lina Inverse.
8869622
Possibly because they do not agree.
I mean I don't agree with that statement either, but not enough to downwote the comment.
Reason: I'd rather have chapters like this than empty days, not because I would be mad if a chapter did not come one day, but because I know how awesome it is to be on a long streak. So for Kris, keeping a streak with silly chapters like this, might help him rest, not worry about buffer, and still have the satisfaction that he's able to keep daily updates for a long time. But that's just my two cents. Kris should be able to relax, but there's an alternative to skipping days, that might not take much work.