As far as I can tell, [Grimdark] mostly appears to be "everything's gone to the crapper, let's all wallow in... whatever ponies are supposed to wallow in". [Dark] just takes your normal pony setting and paints it in a more tragic light, but there's at least a decent chance of a thought-provoking end.

Mind you, I know both probably have their share of gems, but [Grimdark] just happens to be something I'm never in a mood to gamble on.

Oh right, I forgot that Ginger doesn't appreciate having spoilers hidden, so the pegasi closed the sky and abandonned the other ponies after Cloudsdayle was destroyed. Those that return to Equestria are considered traitors to their own kind.

Calamity is a pegasus though and he's pretty cool. And Steel Hooves is a really cool earth pony.

EDIT: Thing is Fallout Equestria has a lot to do with trying to make Equestria a better place again. Moping doesn't usually last long in my opinion.

edited 14th Feb '12 1:38:11 PM by Sereg

Evening everyone, what's up?

What chapter does Red Eye appear in.

Oh, and that better not be a cruel, sarcastic "Can't wait till you hear his backstory"

Why is that even a spoiler, I could've just assumed that.

edited 14th Feb '12 1:38:01 PM by gingerninja666

Talking about Fallout Equestria, or Daring Do.

edited 14th Feb '12 1:38:03 PM by KylerThatch

Well his backstory isn't really that tragic, Ginger. As for seeing him, not until they get to Fillydelphia. You hear about him for a good portion of the story, but you don't actually see him until you're a good ways in.

@Ginger: Sorry, but I didn't work that out. Of course, I've never played Fallout. As for Red Eye, yeah you hear about him very early, but it's only pretty late that you meet him.

Great, so I don't even get a proper villain to tide me over until then.

Tintin and Haddock◊

How to hug a pony◊

The thing that really, really always irked me about Fallout 3 (again, the only one I've played) is that it's been more than 200 years after the nuclear war, and yet the entire landscape is still this big ruined wasteland. There is no vegetation. Nothing has been rebuilt, people just squat in centuries old ruins, which, by the way, still have electric power for some reason. No one cleans up after themselves, their houses all look like landfills and nobody seems to eat anything except centuries old trash. It's utterly ridiculous. There entire society is based around cannibalizing centuries old stuff that has no business still existing. The whole thing is pretty much an Idiot Setting in my opinion (that should really be a trope).

Psst, not everything is about the villains. Sometimes a story is actually carried by its Protagonists, believe it or not.

edited 14th Feb '12 1:43:42 PM by Bluespade

I'll say it again...cool Tintin and Haddock...and I'm jealous of that pony right now.

edited 14th Feb '12 1:44:10 PM by ApplelightLimited

And now I have to go to work, so you can all ignore my crazy rant up there. Bye guys.

Nope, not sarcastic about Red Eyes at all, he's a cool villian. Can't promise you'll like him, but his core motivations touch on some of your Single Issue Wonk. Love him or hate him, I think your reaction will be pretty spectacular.

I have nothing against Grimdark in and of itself (I've read Berserk for crying out loud), I just think that combining it with ponies pretty much destroys a lot of what makes the ponies fun to watch in the first place. If I wanted to see characters get put through the wringer I'd read/watch a work that structured around that.

I've read far more then bits and pieces, it's just that I've read bits and pieces at a time.

My issues with Fallout Equestria are with it's construction, in fact with it's over all premise and execution. The greatest strengths of the show are not only in it's overtly human characters, but also their relatbility, and the over human themes and ideas that the show expresses, Grim Dark fanfiction's purpose is the explore who these same themes and concepts hold up in a less idealistic setting.

This is not what Fallout Equestria does.

FE is just what it seems to be, nothing more and nothing less, a fanboy's attempt to merge two very different fandoms together. And that on it's own is fine, and in that regard it is successful. But it's nothing more then that, the Fallout elements are not there to further the MLP themes, there is no real relateable humanity to it, it the tone and elements of Fallout slapped onto to MLP, just a little darker, it feels like stuff was added because "Hey this would be cool!" rather then "Hey this would further the story!". It losses the humanity of MLP, and instead of exploring the impact of these things on the ideas, values, and themes of the show, it just tosses them on with a bunch of flashy lights and the barest semblance of symbolism. It's like reality TV: the view is tricked into believing they are having a profound emotional reaction by the bells and whistles when in reality there is very little of substance to be had.

Combine that with it's uninspired dictation and how people are proclaiming to be on par with literary masterpieces and classics, and it's recipe of my disdain.

As a fanfiction FE is above average (there are still better ones out there) but it dosen't hold a candle to anyone's published worked.

edited 14th Feb '12 1:54:31 PM by LMage

@Blue Which person... who's nothing like me... are you talking to? I like my protagonists to have a pervasive foil.

In the great words of Moriarty: "Every story needs a good ol' fashioned villain.

I find villains fascinating, don't insult my preferences please.

@CDRW Which of my single issue wonks? I have many. List them all.

edited 14th Feb '12 1:50:32 PM by gingerninja666

Nice job on Tintin and Haddock, Mousa! I especially like the way Tintin came out, it really captures the essence of Herge's original comics!

Remember that Little Pip isn't really intersted in confronting villians at first, she's just here to find Velvet Remedy. Still, she fights her first alicorn reasonably early. (Of course, these alicorns aren't as powerful as the sisters, but they're still really powerful and at the time, working with Red Eye.)

I'm not insulting you Ginger. I just think you get too hung up on villains, and therefore would presumably completely miss out on good pieces of work that don't have much in the way of a villain, like House of Leaves or Persona3 (just two random examples).

EDIT: alright I'm gonna be late so bye for reals.

edited 14th Feb '12 1:50:52 PM by Bluespade

I like it when the protagonist is their own worst enemy.

Probably the reason I liked The Color You Bleed.

@Blue In 90% of the things I've seen, the protagonist has been my least favourite character by a CONSIDERABLE margain.

I fucking hate that!

edited 14th Feb '12 1:52:28 PM by gingerninja666

@ Ginger: Earth ponies.

edited 14th Feb '12 1:52:45 PM by CDRW

@Ginger: I think he's just going off the fact that literally every time someone suggests a story or work to you, your first question is almost always along the lines of "but does it have a cool villain?" You can't really fault him for assuming that the selling point of a story for you when it seems to be the aspect of the story that you care most about.

Sup guys. I'm back from watching Megamind again.