Inktober day 27: Spark

a little scene redraw,, the way i spent hours on just the tiny details <//3 pls zoom in and appreciate them i beg

tattoo pony and toola roola!

So this is just a PSA, y'all should never sign a contract until you read it. I’m talking in rl right now. I just got through reading my employee handbook/service contract and my bosses slipped in a lot of bullshit like telling me I can’t complain about my job on social media, demanding I work off the clock in the name of good service, expects me to show up on time during inclimate weather, and considered disability or religious accommodation a direct threat to the company.

These are all things I took issue with and brought to my employer for further discussion before signing the contract. Most of my coworkers signed without reading, treating it like an internet terms of service contract.

Tl;dr real life is serious shit, lawyers write contracts to protect your employer FROM YOU, read contracts before you sign them - fucking ARGUE about contracts before you sign them

Mlp x HB comic

All the Luna! My Princess Luna collection!

man i was a lot more pumped to get back into this the other night than i am now but

hiatus was due to lack of interest (we’re in a dead transitional period with nothing getting released) and me getting tired of ppl sending me messages from a fim-only view when im a toy collector. example: “you said g4 was bad but g4 is good g4 is the best cartoon ever!” things like this are talking about *fim* ONLY

there’s a difference between G4, the entire fourth generation of mlp which includes animated media, printed media, merchandise, and toys, and FIM, cartoon. if you’re into mlp only bc of the 2010 cartoon (and perhaps other related media such as the comics) and for no other reason, you’re going to perceive the franchise completely differently than someone (me) who’s into mlp for its entire history, has been collecting the physical toys and merchandise for 20+ years, someone who’s going to stick with mlp even for its future generations

fim = a cartoon

G4 = EVERYTHING related to my little pony from 2010-2020

when i say “g4 was bad” i’m not talking about fim. i’m talking about the low quality, lack of variety, and the overpricing of the g4 toys. know when i’m talking about mlp, it’s in its entirety. a generation of pony is more than just the cartoon. it’s about the toys. it’s about the marketing. it’s about the media beyond animated shows and movies. every generation has its ups and downs and pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses, whatever. my little pony is more than just cartoons. i have my gripes with fim for sure but fim is not bad (it got extremely boring imo but objectively speaking fim as a whole is not a bad show). g4 has cute art, a high-quality tv show and movie, “okay” merch, and godawful toys. g4 is a gen of wasted potential. that’s my opinion and i stand by that.

i have to make this distinction very clear bc i’d say like 60-70% of all fim fans (this extends to br*nies) have probably never touched a g4 toy or own very little merchandise. i wanted to be very generous with that number but maybe even less people own merchandise, like 70-80%…? what i’m getting at with this is people perceive mlp as more of a cartoon nowadays rather than a toy line. which you know, it is?

on another note, there are collectors who will stick with what they like and will snub anything that isn’t “their” gen, particularly genwunners with non-g1 gens, and g4 collectors with PL/g4.5 and potentially g5.

i have my criticisms of each gen but i’m not going to pretend an entire gen doesn’t exist. also, there’s a difference between not having interest in a gen, and saying a gen is the worst thing ever and should have never happened. there really are collectors who think g4 poisoned their water supply, burned their crops, and delivered a plague unto their houses. i am not like that. i’m an all-gen collector, i like every gen for one reason or another, and i’m open to give every gen a try. g3.5 and g4.5 actually have their merits! i feel like people could brush me off as a “g4 hater” but that’s not the case at all. if i actually was, i wouldn’t own so many…

the focus of this blog has also shifted from my collecting blog to one where i just meme and talk about mlp, again, in its entirety, from a collector’s point of view. not as someone who only watches the animated media. so if you’re more into photos of physical pony toys and art, that is the focus of my other blog, @celebrationcastle. no memes, just images of ponies and reviews of new releases.

i feel a bit guilty having started this blog as a “wholesome” (ugh i hate that word) blogger with an emphasis on aesthetic and nostalgia, and turning into a place where i meme about horses. you’re free to unfollow if you don’t like the direction; if you still want my art and pony photos check out my other blog instead

tl;dr: this is a my little pony (franchise, 1982-onward) blog where i talk about mlp however i want

MLP Theory- Why doesn’t Vinyl Scratch speak?

Many within the g4 pony community have oft wondered by Vinyl Scratch (DJ Pon-3) hasn’t spoken a single word since her initial appearance. Curious minds have led to wonder if she is, in fact mute- whether by accident or by choice. She is seen having a preference to communicate through body language, if anything.

I think this is a rather interesting development and poorly represented form of communication in media, as not everyone is either adept or willing to communicate through words.

And I think that in Vinyl’s case, it could be explained as the latter, and by doing so, could paint her as a most powerful character. How could this be so? Well, Let’s try taking a look at what a spell” is.

The root “spellam” originally meant story, saying, tale, history, narrative, fable and then the term ‘spell’ started to take on the meaning of a charm or magical incantation in the Middle Ages.

In the Indo-European tradition, words were always viewed as having magical abilities, or possessing a dangerous magic. For example, the daughter languages of Proto Indo-European arrange the consonants in the root for the animal “wolf “ in bizarre ways. This is probably because the original speakers (before 3000 BC) feared that if they said the actual word for ‘wolf’ it would magically cause the animal to appear. It’s the origin of ‘curse words’ — the belief that the usage of particular words had powerful negative effects — the ability to curse yourself or others.

Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it. – Albus Dumbledore. So what does all this magic talk really mean? Well, for writers, it means we’re magicians; we’re powerful. We can cast spells over the world by spelling words into existence and we can change the way people think, feel, and act. That’s our ability as writers, speakers, and storytellers, that’s our gift — to influence others, to create the unexpected, to change the way people see and understand the world, to put on a show.

Still don’t believe in the power of words? Finish this sentence:

“What if…”

Oh, the endless places those simple words, those six letters, can take you. The sparks of imagination burning in your brain this very moment. Your imagination, like a child’s, explodes with unrestrained possibility. What if you could use that very power of inspiration, creation, and connection with everyone you meet? Answer: you can.

We wielders of words, we sorcerers, charmers, creative conjurers, magical beasts, we are free to spell words into existence at will — writing that’s crafted to convince, to change, to instill a sense, a feeling in someone beyond their control. There’s real power there. We are undoubtedly unstoppable.

Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little. – Tom Stoppard For non-writers, take note: that power is not held by writers alone. We’re ultimately talking about the brain — our endless canvas, where words live and breathe — and it’s open to all. Artists, designers, strategists, thinkers, and any sort of creator in this world: you’ve made it this far, so I have a gift for you: you, as well, are magical. You too have the power to create thoughts, feelings, and imagery in people’s minds in your own way. You speak, you write, you think, you are unstoppable, as well.

How? By using your passions and craft to tell stories. You are human and therefore you are a natural storyteller. It’s built into you. You can control minds. You do it for yourself without realizing. Every night your stories give you an escape, letting you play in fantasy worlds. You go to bed and your brain sits up telling itself wonderful stories, both memorable and mundane.

Mankind has spent thousands upon thousands of years developing the magic of communication and stories. How dare you not believe in it. Words are mankind’s greatest creation; capable of transcending time and space; capable of controlling the human mind; capable of anything. We see this mirrored also in how Twilight rewrites one of the greatest magicians known to ponykind’s spells- Starswirl the Bearded, in Magical Mystery Cure.

While we may look at Twilight Sparkle as a pony with an inexhaustible well of magical ability and spells through her bibliomaniacal tendencies, accesses, and lineage (Taking into account the profession of an author (and also spell crafter) her mother, Twilight Velvet has), then perhaps we can look at Vinyl as one who willingly rejects the amount of influence words , and thus, spells, might have on the world around her.   She constantly surrounds herself with the art form of music, rather than that of written word and influence.   Perhaps this can be seen as a Personal influence, as music can alter the listeners own mood and emotions.

I suspect that Vinyl may have a far greater degree of control in the field of magical manipulation than Twilight herself- not only by refraining from crafting written and spoken spells, but also by showing that with great power can come greater responsibility, she indeed conducts herself far more responsibly by comparison. Vinyl has all the power in the world to influence others around her with a single word, a single spell. But I think she is willingly choosing not to. And THAT, is why she remains mute.

What the hell, these are cute

since I’ve drawing a lot of glowy magic/fire things lately,,,,here’s a tutorial with brush settings!! :0

Pony dance party!

Sweet baby girl, Potion Nova celebrates her long awaited Pony Life episode debut with a popcorn party with Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity...and Spike!

Then it’s a pool party with Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Banana Fluff, Sea Poppy, and Fluttershy!

Followed by a yummy, out of this world pizza party with Milky Way, Starsong, Star Dreams, Princess Luna, and Princess Twilight Sparkle!

Potion Nova bust a move with a dance party with DJ Pon-3, Songbird Serenade, Twilight and Luna!

And finally, the fun was wrapped up with Potion Nova sharing a quiet moment and some dessert with Strawberry Sunrise, Diamond Mint, and Junebug!

Coronavirus Advice from Respiratory Therapist

BEST PROCEDURES TO STAY OUT OF THE HOSPITAL!!!

They are calling on Respiratory therapists to help fight the Coronavirus, and I am a retired one, too old to work in a hospital setting. So I’m going to share some commonsense wisdom with those that have the virus and are trying to stay home. If my advice is followed as given, you will improve your chances of not ending up in the hospital on a ventilator. This applies to the otherwise generally healthy population, so use discretion.

1. Only high temperatures kill a virus, so let your fever run high. Tylenol, Advil. Motrin, Ibuprofen etc. will bring your fever down allowing the virus to live longer. They are saying that ibuprofen, Advil etc. will exacerbate the virus. Use common sense and don’t let fever go over 103 or 104 if you got the guts. If it gets higher than that take your Tylenol, not ibuprofen or Advil to keep it regulated. It helps to keep house warm and cover up with blankets, so body does not have to work so hard to generate the heat. It usually takes about 3 days of this to break the fever. 2. The body is going to dehydrate with the elevated temperature so you must rehydrate yourself regularly, whether you like it or not. Gatorade with real sugar, or Pedialyte with real sugar for kids, works well. Why the sugar? Sugar will give your body back the energy it is using up to create the fever. The electrolytes and fluid you are losing will also be replenished by the Gatorade. If you don’t do this and end up in the hospital, they will start an IV and give you D5W (sugar water) and Normal Saline to replenish electrolytes. Gatorade is much cheaper, pain free, and comes in an assortment of flavors  

3. You must keep your lungs moist. Best done by taking long steamy showers on a regular basis. If you’re wheezing or congested use a real minty toothpaste and brush your teeth while taking the steamy shower and deep breathe through your mouth. This will provide some bronchial dilation and help loosen the phlegm. Force yourself to cough into a wet washcloth pressed firmly over your mouth and nose, which will cause greater pressure in your lungs forcing them to expand more and break loose more of the congestion.   4. Eat healthy and regularly. Got to keep your strength up.   5. Once the fever breaks, start moving around to get the body back in shape and blood circulating.   6. Deep breathe on a regular basis, even when it hurts. If you don’t it becomes easy to develop pneumonia. Pursed lip breathing really helps. That’s breathing in deep and slow, then exhaling through tight lips as if your blowing out a candle. Blow until you have completely emptied your lungs and you will be able to breathe in an even deeper breath. This helps keep lungs expanded as well as increase your oxygen level.   7. Remember that every medication you take is merely relieving the symptoms, not making you well.   8. If you’re still dying, go to ER! I’ve been doing these things for myself and my family for over 40 years and kept them out of the hospital, all are healthy and still living today. Thank you all for sharing. We’ve got to help one another. Declan Stokes Retired respiratory therapist

I thought I would try to develop the character of my new Potion Nova, now that she has joined my herd! Name: “Potion” Nova Dislikes: Celestia, sour and spicy foods, Favorite food: cookies Favorite drink: strawberry milk Pet: sloth Backstory: Nova is the daughter of Moondancer. Shortly after Moondancer’s vicious battle with the Dark Lord Algol, she appealed to the g1 Celestial Ponies to provide her with a means to exact her revenge on her foe. The Celestials agreed and combined their powers to create a “Starling” (a rare pony that was created by them for the purpose of acting as an envoy to interact with the earthlings in their stead). The name that was bestowed upon her was “Nova”, and the condition that Moondancer received her was under adoption. Motherhood didn’t come easy for Moondancer, but she managed to sway the elder, Milky Way, to take her daughter in as her first (and only) student. It was crucial to learn from The elder, for Nova was to eventually engage in battle with Algol. Moondancer knew that this pony’s powers far surpassed her own. But Nova wasn’t keen on taking up the challenge that had been imposed onto her. She often slept through her classes and didn’t take her lessons seriously, in spite of being given a tremendous privilege to learn from the untapped spring of the Milky Way’s well of wisdom. Even so, Milky Way didn’t give up on her. She deduced that Nova simply needed to learn her lessons the hard way, and so a trip into the dangerous Black Mountains was in order. Nova’s harsh training came from scaling the mountain, and having to keep up with the elder’s pace. But she was soon left behind and had to survive in a cave alone for three nights. Sleep was scarce, as she spent much of her time looking out for the monsters that sought to kill her. On the second day, as she was venturing out to look for food, she fell into a pit that The elder had dug as a trap, and was unable to get out on her own. When the elder returned on the third day, Nova accepted her terms which required her to take her lessons seriously, in exchange for Milky Way’s aid in exiting the hole and getting off the mountain. When Nova returned home, she was educated for years on the art of potion crafting, and she soon became known by others as “Potion Nova”, as she grew more skilled in her craft. Before long, the elder revealed that Algol would not be defeated by mere unicorn magic, but rather, through “mirrored means”. The riddle led Potion Nova to travel and search for an answer, and what she eventually found was something she never expected. Much to any unicorn’s bewilderment, the key to defeating such an ancient evil was, astonishingly, through Earth Pony magic! She learned of an ancient text from a long, forgotten civilization of the race of earth ponies, and their home rumored as Treasure Island. During her search for the island, Potion Nova met Orion, who aided her in creating a special containment field meant to imprison Algol for all time. The created space lie along the boundaries of the celestial plane and physical, and was named “Tartarus”. Once Potion Nova engaged and trapped Algol (who had then possessed the body of the King of Stellaria), she found that the battle to contain him had drained her entirely of her magic and stunted her growth). Though it was considered a small loss to her. From then onward, Nova had to rely on her potions to achieve her desired results. Only some millennia later, it is learned that Algol the Dragon King was removed from Tartarus by a pony named Celestia, who wages to reform him under an age and reformation spell, and use him as a test and a tool for one of her own most faithful students to be open to friendship. Likes: going out on adventures with Orion, harvesting botanicals from the forest with Zecora, engaging in playtime with the baby ponies (but she holds a special spot in her heart for Little Honey Pie and Baby Ember) Extra Info: she suffers from chronic nightmares of her fight with Algol (as does her mother, Moondancer) and usually always has bags under her eyes due to a combination of stress and lack of sleep. Due to this, she has a tendency to respond to irritation from anyone with snark and sarcasm. In spite of her appearance, she is much older than Celestia and Luna, due to being a Starling created by the Celestial Ponies. Similar to the nature of a star, she can achieve the state of a supernova and hypernova, under certain conditions. She created “Moons” and “Magpie” (a.k.a “Maggie”)- two faeries that serve as her bodyguards.

My Little Pony Moi meme Moitie complete

This would be the last craft that I make for 2019.

This girl is special, and the year needs to close on a good note. The reason this girl is so special, though, is because I crafted her to be a My Little Pony g1 Takara Pony (Osharena Ponii) replica of a “Super Dollfie ” x “Moi meme Moitie” 20th anniversary collaboration ball-jointed-doll!!!! So because I am quite fond of this Japanese fashion brand and BJD, I decided- what better way to have both (which i can’t ever hope to afford) than in pony form? (Actual g1 Takara ponies are impossible to own, also)

My Little Pony Moi meme Moitie WIP

I have been on a crafting binge recently, pulling all-nighters this week to make my brand mascot in g1 Takara pony form, MaMi-Chan, and g4 Marcie Pan. Well....a third pony has been added to the crafted lineup!! It couldn’t be helped! After taking many days with this one, I decided that this would be the last craft that I make for 2019.

This girl is special, and the year needs to close on a good note. The reason this girl is so special, though, is because I crafted her to be a My Little Pony g1 Takara Pony (Osharena Ponii) replica of a “Super Dollfie ” x “Moi meme Moitie” 20th anniversary collaboration ball-jointed-doll!!!! So because I am quite fond of this Japanese fashion brand and BJD, I decided- what better way to have both (which i can’t ever hope to afford) than in pony form? (Actual g1 Takara ponies are impossible to own, also)