wingbeatpony

[wingbeatpony]

I’ve made a tumblr just for the game! Be sure to check it out, guys, there’s a lot already there - Updated narration, art, rules, and a link to the game on the Steam Workshop for the digitally inclined!

[wingbeatpony]

Here’s the link I promised! Included in the zip file is instructions on how to construct the game, a PDF of the cards and marks, and a PDF of the rules. There’s also an audio recording of the narration, both with and without background sounds, and a source file just in case you wanted to see how it was all put together. If you’re at bronycon this year, you might just get a chance to play the game with me!

[wingbeatpony]

A reading of the narration for a game I made, One Night In Ponyville. I’ll eventually post a link to a zip file of the game so you can print and play it yourself. The game will be free and open source! (Also, this is not my voice. I’m a dude. Leave my inbox alone.)

[wingbeatpony]

Time travel is weird

The season 5 finale of MLP (spoiler alert) revolves around Twilight Sparkle getting caught in a time travel loop, more or less. What's interesting is she's not the only one this time - there are another three along for the ride. Yes, three. Let's get started.

To get the obvious out of the way, Spike and Twilight are caught in the loop together. We know exactly where they are in the timestream at any given time; moving on.

Starlight Glimmer raises some interesting questions. According to her, any time Twilight travels to the past, Starlight gets pulled there, too. However, Starlight is aware of how many times she's been zapped back to the past, so it's not like she's coming from Present Prime each time. We also don't see multiple copies of everyone fighting over the pegasus race, nor do we see continuity with previous muddling. That means that everypony winds up back in Past Prime, and it diverges the moment something gets changed, leading to an alternate timeline in the present.

But where is Starlight between time loops? I think she's still in a divergent past, hanging out, until *ding!* Everything resets, and she knows Twilight's coming back for another attempt. She, Spike, and Twilight all remain connected to the spell, and their personal timelines move forward in parallel - but they're not the only ones.

Now, when I first saw the episode, I didn't really buy Twilight's guess as to why the map remained in the present when everything else had changed. After all, the tree of harmony and the map (while magical and clearly capable of acting independently) couldn't possibly know that the timestream had been altered, right? Well, think about this. Starlight altered Starswirl the Bearded's time travel spell to use the map as a sort of TARDIS, and the parchment the spell was written on was turned into a portkey. (Yes, I'm mixing my fandoms. Don't judge me.) The spell remained magically connected to the map in Present Prime, like how Sunset Shimmer's book worked across dimensions despite the portal being closed. That means each time Twilight got sent through the portal to the present, it was the map in Present Prime powering the spell.

Yet Twilight did not end up in Present Prime, rather the alternate present resulting from each divergent timeline. And, of course, the map was there, too. How? Well, unbeknownst to Starlight, the map was another hitchhiker on her spell, placing itself (and its immediate surroundings) into each timeline, ensuring Twilight had the means to get back and undo the meddling in the past - and it would know exactly when, where, and which Equestria Twilight was in. But wait, you say, then how did Starlight know Twilight would be able to return at all? Well, she would've thought Twilight was using the map in Present Prime. She hadn't even considered alternate timelines a possibility; that's not how the original spell worked.

So now we've got Twilight, Spike, Starlight, and the map all bound to the same timestream by the spell. Had Starlight destroyed that spell, the connection to the map in Present Prime would be severed, and the only timeline left would be the one they were in. If that meant Starlight Glimmer got stranded in the past, she didn't seem to mind; a small price to pay for seeing the mane 6 get their comeuppance. That, and having the winning lottery numbers for the next few years.

This brings me to the end of the episode. Twilight jumps back to Past Prime one last time, dragging Starlight there, too. It's the latest point we see her jump to: the start of the race, which is happening in the background. Twilight is not giving Starlight an advantage this time. They then proceed to...not influence the race, the sonic rainboom happens, and they travel back to the present, with the badly damaged spell. Which present? Present Prime, or near as makes no difference. Either way, back to normal. Then something remarkable happens. The spell self-destructs, vanishing into its own vortex, and taking all those alternate timelines with it. Or does it? Up to this point, we'd never seen the spell itself activate on its own accord. Watch again. It's the map, keeping the portal open, and zapping the parchment with its half of the spell to send it on its way into the void! As for those alternate timelines? As far as I'm concerned, the waveform collapsed as soon as the spell was gone - it's as if they never existed in the first place.

[wingbeatpony]

I was gonna make a video analyzing the S5 finale but it’s taking too long to edit. I’ll just post the transcript I guess

[wingbeatpony]

Derpibooru admin here, the one who just dealt with your image. The reason we only just dealt with your image and not two hours ago is because no one reported the image until just now.

If we ignored earlier requests, either they weren't sent to us via "report image" or we had no way of contacting you to verify your identity, which we do through tumblr asks.

We have to verify because sometimes people who don't like something pretend to be the artist and try to get it taken down, much like flagging videos on youtube.

Your earlier post is enough to verify in this instance. Feel free to re-report older images or edits you want removed.

Huh, I once asked to get my entire artwork removed off there and they simply asked for a reason, I gave them one and they started deleting all of my work. Sorry that they don't handle you that well? :/

I’m not judging anyone here but when half a week passes and it’s still up idk what else to think. Unless something went terribly wrong. Also derpibooru is really messy I can’t navigate even if my life depended on it. I actually want all of my stuff removed since I feel like some of the users on derpibooru are quite disrespectful. 

and I’m glad they removed all of it in your case. since you asked.

[wingbeatpony]

[wingbeatpony]

Today I tried making a color palette from some BIPPIN' BOPPIN' BRIGHT COLORS and while the first result was rainbow vomit, eleventythree layers later I wound up with this scheme. Surprisingly easy on the eyes considering how saturated 99% of the colors are.

[wingbeatpony]

There's this "doing hurtful things to your waifu" meme that's going around derpibooru, and most of the responses are about as awful as you'd expect.

Well, SunnySide gave me an idea to show where behavior like this might come from… so here's a bit of a different take on it.

Abuse is no joke. There are any number of causes of domestic abuse, but if you’re ever abused, seek help immediately. Not just for yourself, but for both of you.

[wingbeatpony]

Well this was an an interesting stream. You can sort of see my descent into madness over the course of these drawings. The fifth one, I should point out, was drawn with my eyes shut. Who needs drugs when you can talk like a muppet?

[wingbeatpony]

now in avatar form!

[wingbeatpony]

Sunny's reaction to that last post.

[wingbeatpony]

Sunnyside and Firebrand (who is now mysteriously a unicorn) establishing the pecking order.

I don't question these things, I just draw them.

[wingbeatpony]

A commission for Spell Craft of his OC and Sweetie Belle brushing up on magic...

I haven't had many opportunities to draw anthro stuff - maybe people just didn't know I did any?

[wingbeatpony]

A commission (long overdue, my bad) for Ruby Render, featuring their OC holding a thermic lance.

[wingbeatpony]

Not terribly happy about this one, but have some Vinyl Scratch cuddling Octavia. Not 100% sure who requested it.