[GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
SilentCarto wrote:Uh, what? The Dealer couldn't have been more against Splendid.Icy Shake wrote:I do wonder who Blackjack's going to give the crown to, but my bits are on Splendid, given the chat with Dealer. And if nothing else, he's probably the one under whom the Society is least likely to collapse rapidly.
"Is that pacified Wasteland worth living in without freedom? Is your goal to turn the Wasteland into one enormous Stable 99?"
To be honest, I had at that point forgotten that Deus was in play, and basically figured that she might go for him because in a few months/whenever, it would be easier to displace him than to rebuild the agricultural base they had there, and of the options he was the one least likely to be picked off by internal problems. But no, you're probably right about that.
SilentCarto wrote:Switching up the order here
P.S. I kinda like "BlackLance". Um, despite the potential, ah, connotations.
or maybe because of them
As an aside, the Ace of Spades is famously known as the "death card", though it's generally downplayed as general misfortune or upheaval. The Queen of Spades is generally said to represent a widow or divorcée. ...Hey, wait, I think we know one of those!
So, you bringing that up and the cutie mark discussion made me think. . .the suit of spades was once swords, so working from Blackjack's cutie mark, they could be the sword and the lance. . .Huh. I suppose I wasn't really going anywhere with that.
O. Hinds wrote:Urrrrrrgh… Okay, so do we need to change it again? It's still not clear enough? I'm sorry, but given how much work we've already done on it, I'm currently leaning towards "if the readers don't figure it out, it's their problem".
Sigged for greatness (I mean, if that's all right with you.)
- It makes me think of this:
- Spoiler:
- Sindri wrote: I rubbed my head. “Scotch. She’s all yours. Don’t kill her. She might come to her senses. And don’t let yourself be taken hostage by her again. Otherwise, I’m letting P-21 handle it. Understood?”
...don’t you think he’s going to want to “handle” this one, too?
I figured she meant that she would have her father punish her for letting herself get kidnapped.
Is there any one us that isn’t emotionally screwed up?
"any one of us"
Last edited by Icy Shake on Tue Jun 25, 2013 10:02 pm; edited 2 times in total
Icy Shake- Alicorn
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
I really don't think you need to, Hinds, though I thought it was fine in the first place anyways.O. Hinds wrote:Urrrrrrgh… Okay, so do we need to change it again? It's still not clear enough? I'm sorry, but given how much work we've already done on it, I'm currently leaning towards "if the readers don't figure it out, it's their problem".
WavemasterRyx- Hydra
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
@Swicked
Nice reacti-view! I laughed.
Nice reacti-view! I laughed.
Guest- Guest
Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
Another amusing review, Swicked.
RoboRed- Royal Alicorn
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
That is a totally valid interpretation, but it still doesn't address the issue of BJ being apparently ignorant of her own talent.Luminous Lead wrote:Well, Blackjack really seems to have the luck of the draw. It could have been her that went through that door that day, but she got lucky and lived on instead. In fact, she gets put into so many situations where she should rightly die, except things fall into place at just the time so that she can survive. Even dying doesn't kill her. Twice, even!
That does make sense. Cheerilee knew exactly what her smiling flowers meant, despite it having no overt connection to teaching.Harmony Ltd. wrote:This begs the question :
A cutie mark is, at its root, a graphic symbol. A symbol has only the meaning people see in it. If we go with the hypothesis that the cutie mark when it appears take its imprint from the subconscious of the pony, this mean that the elements that gives the mark its significance need to be present in the mind of said pony.
Put another way, if the symbolism of BJ's cutie mark has something to do with the queen of spades' significance as a "tarot" combination, she must have known, at least subconsciously, said significance prior to obtaining her cutie mark.
I don't know if I'm clear ?
That said, the full significance may not necessarily be clear to the pony, lacking context. They know what it means to them, but not what it might say about their destiny.
Warning: So much headcanon ahead.
- Here's my sole example from the show:
Twilight's cutie mark, right? And just like her friends, her Element shaped itself to match.
Or did it? Check out its dormant form, when all the others were marked with geometric shapes.
And what is Celestia wearing in the storybook, before the Elements were ever recovered?
To Twilight, it was just a burst of magic. But to those with the wisdom to recognize just exactly what her cutie mark depicts, her destiny as the Spirit of Magic couldn't be more clear.
SilentCarto- Alicorn
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
Nice review, Swicked. :)swicked wrote:
Greetings minions! This is Trixie!
Now, it has come to Trixie’s attention that her reviews have come to be considered “expected” or “typical” and thus far from “great and entertaining”.
This is highly upsetting for Trixie, as she puts a lot of time and effort into her reviews!
For this reason, Trixie will be doing her very best to figure out how to make her reviews better. Funnier, more engaging, perhaps even more dual commentaries, although preferably with characters from within the MLP multiverse.
*shrug* Trixie is brainstorming, but that is for later. More to the point, it has been quite some time since the last chapter update, so...
- Press A to continue...:
LAST TIME ON TRIXIEBALL Z
Blackjack and King Awesome JOINED FORCES in that he died and gave her his stuff.
Following the collective gasps from everypony and their servants, lil’ miss “kill all societites” appeared to be upset that her favorite murderin’ machine was now her surrogate father-mother, as were the rest, Trixie expects.
Blackjack: So, I’m the head of the family now, eh? Don’t worry, children, I’ll take good care of you.
Grace: I’m a year older than you.
Blackjack: And PARTICULARLY good care of you... *wink*
Splendid: I have never been so disturbed by the attentions of a mare.
Charm: Really? Not even when Aunt Rut got drunk last fall and-
Splendid: Okay, yes, other than that.
All the while P-21 went around trying to find a way to justify freeing all the ponies via a violent uprising, Rampage did her Rampage things, Glory did Blackjack and Scotch probably fixed a few more toilets.
All in an afternoon’s work for our heroes.
But hey, now it’s party time, amtrixierite?
Okay, now, the only thing spoiled for Trixie for this read, so far, is that Lancer shows up at some point. Here’s hoping he’s her one-eyed date.
Oh, and Trixie will go back to using first person after this since Trixie expects she is becoming more annoying than funny at this point.I don’t deserve this!” I said...uh, was Blackjack really saying this was a good thing? I would have expected her to realize this was no blessing, since I’ve no doubt she really, really doesn’t want to have to run the Society. She doesn’t even like being leader of her own group.Glory said, trotting up beside me and hugging me with a blue wing. “It’ll help Blackjack get past the ‘I don’t deserve good things’ shock if you tell her how this will bite her in the tail later on.”
Blackjack: But guys, seriously, you’re all smarter than me. All of you. All I know how to do is shoot... even Rampage’s has got that social-worker thing going on.
Rampage: Oh, that reminds me, I have a client in twenty, so if we could wrap this up...
Glory: You just don’t understand, Blackjack... we don’t follow you for your intelligence. I certainly didn’t fall in love with you for it. No, we follow you for your example!
Blackjack: My example?
P-21: *rolls eyes* Yeah, we all want to get ourselves killed doing something stupid, too.
Glare: *glare*
P-21: Oh, um... I mean, something not morbid, but encouraging. Yes. Go team, woo...
...ANYONE from Tenpony Tower, Hoity? The DJ? Red Eye? These are some really loose standards Awesome had, here. Hoity’s the equal of most that reside in Tenpony Tower, so they should really have tried to make him the ruler.Nevermind, he’s clearly the one in charge, so whoever was picked would be a figurehead?“Tut tut! No time for that now,” Hoity said impatiently. “I need you to go downstairs and find out what the Oranges think of this recent development. And see if you can find what Charm is saying to the Trotters. Also, find out how Grace is taking this. Oh, and if you can mention to Splendid that Blackjack seems quite composed, that’d work wonderfully.”
Not sure how that works with the Society family about, but the powerful pony (which I really think shouldn’t include just anyone that happens to live at Tenpony) is just supposed to keep Society’s presence strong and keep Hoity’s rule from being questioned.
Edit from the future: This made so much sense at the time. Splendid still seemed like an idiot, Grace was all but entirely ineffective and Charm wasn’t anything resembling a leader. Hoity, by comparison, can bark out orders and maintains a very strong head. Even now, I wouldn’t mind him ruling... I just don’t think he’d be given the chance to.Then you should have gone with Stocking or Garter belt, you old fool!Not as skilled as Pantie was...
Okay, so... Society is The White Glove Society.
Although, technically, I was told that in a chat......strangely obsessed with tubs of jelly...“Oooh!” Rampage grinned broadly at me. “Is that on the table? Tell me it’s still on the table. I will sex you right now if we can smash them all into jelly!”
Anyway, I’m headcanoning that she was entirely serious.
Blackjack: Well, okay!
Rampage: Awesome! *tackles Blackjack and begins... stuff*
Hoity: O_O
Glory: Blackjack! I’m right here!
Blackjack: Okay! *pulls her in*
P-21: *looks to Hoity* Ah, I know that look. Horrified beyond all reason, huh?
Hoity: *nods woodenly*
P-21: The key is to die inside, fully and completely, forever... *begins leading Hoity off* Come on, Scotch, get Boo so we can leave the mares do their mare-ing.
Scotch: *looks impassively at the squirming marepile* Yeah, okay.
Lacunae: *just stands there, dumbly, for a few minutes before Rampage pulls her in, too*
I swear, similar to the Wild Wasteland trait, there should be an Amatory Apocalypse trait, wherein sexual situations and innuendoes would pop up out of nowhere for absolutely no reason (as opposed to Black Widow and etc., where the choices tend to make some sort of sense), people would “work out their frustrations”, then the game would proceed as if nothing had happened... it’d be hilarious.
Literally, you’d get a quest from an NCR ranger, like:
Ranger: Okay, go down there and give it to those Legion bastards.
Courier: [Amatory Apocalypse] Oh yeah, you want me to “give it to them”, huh? You sure you don’t want a little of it, first?
Ranger: Well, since you’re offering...
*screen fades black while some jazzy music plays, then comes back up with the Ranger now in his skivvies*
Ranger: So yeah, take those guys out.
Courier: No problem.Oh look, Nanny Neighsayer is going to speak.Glory sniffed disdainfully at Rampage’s glee.
Everypony, prepare your groans.Technically, the plan for anyone being on the throne was “kill them”. This is why Blackjack’s the only reasonable choice of the “powerful ponies” suggested. Blackjack’s pretty much immune to anything short of a balefire egg.Then he snapped the fan closed and pointed it at me. “But there were no plans in place for you being given the throne.”
The others, with the exception of Littlepip, would also likely be incapable of emptying the town following such an attempt.
I love that Hoity has a scale of “being used”.
“I understand if it is upsetting, but if you think it through, I think you’ll see things aren’t so bad.”
He then proceeds to explain how it’s unlikely anyone will try to kill her in the short-term. I kinda expected him to try and make any of this sound worthwhile to Blackjack, but no, this is solidly for Society’s own sake XDIf P-21 wasn’t whipped, I can imagine him punching/kicking her right in the face for that.“Good! Now you can pick somepony who can make things better for the serfs here,” P-21 said with the first real smile I’d seen since we’d arrived.
It was short-lived as Glory countered, “Now wait a minute, P-21. The serfs already live much better lives than almost everypony in the Hoof. Think of the good the Society can do for the entire region!”
...that or it’s just really good self-control. In fact, I’ll go with that, just to be nice.
He’s already pointed out signs of corruption, of overseers taking advantage of their position. He’s already been hurt trying to protect serfs.
He doesn’t want to destroy the Society, but free the serfs and make things better for them. Make this a real civilization un-reliant on slavery, because it can’t be necessary for slavery to exist for them to survive. Some form of compromise must be made. The very idea that everything is “good enough” as it is in Glory’s incredibly uninformed opinion should be absolutely rage-inducing to P-21.
More to the point, though, I see exactly three (real) opinions and exactly potential three heirs (goddess doesn’t count, for obvious reasons). The older sister believing they could all do better and more than willing to root out any corruption, the older brother wanting things to remain the same, and the younger sister overtly wanting the Society to be dissolved (what she really wants, though, is to be seen... though it’s probably just to hog all the power for herself).What in Tartarus is Glory going on about..? The few being the Society, the many being the wasteland? Is she arguing that a heir that keeps things the way they are will really be able to expand the Society substantially beyond what it already is and, somehow, save the wasteland? They have limited facilities within which to grow food. They’re about as big as they can get.Glory said sharply, “Blackjack, tell him that it’s better to help the many rather than a few who are already better off!”
Hello, Vault City.*just prior to Blackjack yelling*I wanted to shake, but my synthetic body wouldn’t! I wanted to breathe hard, but my body couldn’t. All I could do was twist up tighter and tighter within myself. I trotted away from the others. “Quiet,” I ordered. They didn’t notice as they continued to shout and jabber louder and louder. The Goddess was a thudding headache bashing at my brain. I grit my teeth as I stared at the throne at the far side of the ballroom, a goddesses-awful eyesore of gilt metal. I didn’t know if it was the Goddess or my own frustration and anger. “Everypony! Shut! Up!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Scotch: Would they really be like jelly, though? Not clumpier like, I dunno, oatmeal or something?
Rampage: Psychoshy asked me that once and you know what I said? First, I gave her my best mad-horse grin...
Blackjack: Everypony! Shut! Up!
Rampage: ...and then I said “Oatmeal? Are you crazy?!”
Blackjack just teleported? And she didn’t come out the other end singed? Weird.Oooooooooo....Then Psalm crested the ridge and stopped at the lip of the valley, and I saw it: a massive hulking block of a building beside a luminescent hole full of chaotic, flickering light. Glowing fissures radiated out of it, and a malevolent polychromatic glare filled the valley beyond. Things… glowing, protoplasmic things… crept along those deep ravines. Scattered amongst them was a patchwork of sundered foundations, the outbuildings of the base itself ripped to shreds. From the buckling in the roads, it looked as if the entire area had been shaken like a bedsheet and left rumpled.
But also, the attack on it missed? The hole’s coming out next to the building.
Wondering how that works.Madam, given how long you held the “Don’t think about it” decree, following your orders because they were orders, one would think you’d understand how a pony used to following orders in a bad situation would simply continue to follow orders no matter what came up.“But Luna is dead!” The blast echoed across the eerily howling valley. “This is insane!”
That one, however, would be a fool. Part of Blackjack’s charm is she can hardly relate to anypony without significant time and/or coaching <3
Nary tarry, friendly foe, the goddess hears your tale of woe!
Your memories of deities are not a kindness, so it seems...
So lonely in your twisted shell, you pray protection from your hell?
But you are one and she is all and thus you must respect her call!
And yet you wield your weapon wild, upset, deject, a spiteful child...
With Luna gone you haven’t long to kill once more as your swan song.
But you will fail, you’re doomed to rail, to cry and sigh and whine and flail...
How better to be born anew and hurt oh so as you are due?Psalm never did anything in hate, ever. I don’t understand what she is saying, here.She still does, but I gave her the hatred.
But hey, I don’t get how she ever expected Twilight to kill her, what with Psalm’s armor, weapons and training.
...nor did I ever entirely get why Psalm took out all of that hospital (the one she destroyed the generators to, killing everyone inside). Whatever her target was, that was the biggest act of collateral damage of her entire killing spree, it seems like.Didn’t Psalm lead the refugees to Luna’s school, where they were killed? She also killed Big Mac. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think she was integral to every major escalation in the war.Why don’t you take credit for the last war while you’re at it?” That made her sob even harder inside my mind.
Silly pony...Holy moley ravioli! Language, Lacunae!“Stupid cunt!Ugh... come now, you know why.“I’m sorry. I’ll help another way if I can, but I won’t help you destroy yourself.”
“Why?” she asked as she pulled away, tears on her cheeks.
I wonder if this will make a difference, though. Lacunae pulled the trigger once, she could probably do so again.
Not directly, I know, or she’d of already done it... but somehow.Huh, do they NOT look like Trixie, Twilight, etc.? Blackjack can recognize them.As we hovered there in the great black, I glanced up at a gargantuan blue head with immense blazing eyes and two green unicorn mares flanking her shoulders. Behind her, a purple-maned mare looked away, yet I could perceive the slightest peek of her eye watching us.
Additionally, for two mares that are supposedly of strong-enough will to be half the heads of unity, the green ones certainly fail to make an impression. I’ve no idea what, beyond their magic, they bring to the table.
That’s entirely on kkat, though.Lacunae literally leverages legions of lamentations.When we were out of her mind and sitting side by side in Awesome’s collection, I rested my head on her shoulder. “Is there any one us that isn’t emotionally screwed up?” I asked as I looked out the window and into the rain pouring into the reservoir. “I mean, is that just me? Or the world? Or what?”
“Boo, I think,” Lacunae replied quietly. “And it’s not just you. Everyone has their own share of pain. You’re just able to handle so much of it that it’s easier to share with you.”
Blackjack barely breaks a bushel of bitterness.
But seriously, Boo? The mare that, for the majority of her life so far, was alone in a horrible facility, running for her life from nearly everyone and everything, slowly starving to death? The one that can’t talk and is actually broken-enough to have a mindset closer to that of a dog than a pony? While I think most of her mental issues are just because she’s so new, the reality of her situation is still increadible.
...and Lacunae thinks SHE is the non-broken one?
Let’s just look at the facts.
If you ask me, Boo is screwed-up enough that everyone else seems basically normal next to her.
Scotch is the least. She lost her mom and her stable, yes, but she gained a father willing to try to live up to the dreams her mother told her he could.
Glory’s not far behind that. She’s had an identity crisis and is cut off from her family, but short of a few weeks ago she grew up in a fairly normal society, albeit without a mom.Blackjack: Okay, just MOST of it.“I don’t see why not.” Lacunae answered. “Have you decided what you’re going to do with the crown?”
“Toss it in the lakeEat it,” Igrumbledgrinned, licking my lips in anticipation, then sighed and met her amused gaze.
Lacunae: *slightly less-amused gaze*
Blackjack: ...maybe just the points, then? Crowns don’t need points, anyway, right?
Lacunae: *somewhat dower gaze*
Blackjack: How often am I going to get to eat gold? Seriously, I am eating some of that crown. Not eating it is off the table. I’ll get them a new one. A better one. One with whiskey.
Lacunae: Sigh.
Blackjack: ...but, I mean, the whiskey bottles don’t have to be full, right? No, that’d just make them heavy, so, after we raid their liquor cabinets...Lacunae: Blackjack... how, exactly, could a pony kill you?“You never know. I might get lucky and be assassinated before she has her chance,” I said with a small smile.
Blackjack: Um... maybe I could drown?
Lacunae: I’m pretty sure, with your reserve power, you could last hours to days as your healing talisman repairs the oxygen-starved parts of your brain.
Blackjack: Poison?
Lacunae: You have to drink enough to kill dozens of ponies just to get buzzed.
Blackjack: Bullets?
Lacunae: You took a high-powered rifle shot to the brain through your eye a day ago and are perfectly fine.
Blackjack: Maybe if he’d used an anti-machine rifle...
Lacunae: Not only did you evade a pony wielding two machine rifles just long enough to crawl to the upper-decks of a battleship just so that you could blow it up, you did so half-blind and with all your limbs crippled.
Blackjack: Fine, something even bigger than that, then!
Lacunae: You’ve also evaded tank shells from nearly-point-blank range.
Blackjack: Okay, fine, let’s just drop bullets and ordinance for the moment. One way or another, even if I evaded the core of the blast, I’d have to eventually bleed out if someone either blew off enough of me or could keep my wounds open long-enough.
Lacunae: Most of your vital organs have been replaced with cybernetic ones. You’d be worse-off, but I think you’d survive, even with no blood in your body.
Blackjack: Well then I don’t know, Miss Smart Pony, how would YOU kill me?
Lacunae: I’d just wipe your brain; it’s about as good.
Blackjack: o_o
Lacunae: The point is that THEY can’t, though.
Blackjack: Yeah... thank Luna for that...Which is still better than a mass-murderer.“I think… I think you would have made her a better pony.”
I snorted and smiled back at her. “Of course not. I would have gotten us both stinking drunk, tattooed like zebras, and thrown in jail.”
Blackjack’s acting a little dumber than usual, right now...Heee... I want her to call them that aloud so bad it almost hurts.The blue duoSplendid is the guy, right?Grace smiled at me in approval as Splendid seemed to work it over in her head.
In any case, I like Grace. She’s the most deluded of them all.She’s a child and the softest target of the lot of you, Grace... at least, she should seem so in your eyes. She has shown no leadership qualities in the time we’ve seen her and I’m still waiting for her to show her colors as the worst of the lot by far.“I always knew I was the weakest candidate. Charm is more… sympathetic. Her age. Her manners.Plus, he’s easily the most prepared. He had a fake assassination attempt in place almost immediately. He doesn’t know how to deal with Blackjack, but I get the feeling he can deal with Society.Or if not her, Splendid can give you far more than I can.
Honestly, though, it seems like this could be made easier by one short question and answer session. Sticking in your room and whining about your choice rather than trying to learn enough to make an informed decision seems kinda...
Oh! Right.
It’s Blackjack.Ugh, excuse me while I go throw up.I gazed at her and then threw my hooves around her. “Cousin! I have a cousin! Three cousins!”Rampage: Then I told him, if he does, there’d be more than one sack of crushed orbs to weep over, but he got away while I was laughing...She paused and added, “He also said that if you give the crown to anypony but Charm, he’ll give you a bag of crushed memory orbs.”Rampage: What, do I have something on my face? *picks up a bit of torso with her front hooves, rubbing her face and razor-tipped helm against it, before looking up... a stomach now bisected on her horn... and the intestine still dangling* Well? Did I get it off?Rampage strolled over, standing in front of him, her armor coated in blood and viscera. “Really? That’s the best you can do?” She then looked at me, a length of purple intestine dangling to the side of her face. “What? ”
Blackjack: Uh... no, not really?
Rampage: Oh? Well, silly me, this one was dirty already. Hold on a sec, I’ll get a couple fresh ones from the ballroom! *trots off merrily*
Glory: ...Blackjack.
Blackjack: Yeah, yeah, I’m going, already...
Okay, but seriously, Harbingers? No explanation? We only get an excuse from one of the guards, then everyone moves on? Lordy loo and her little dog, too...Yeah, that’s only because they don’t have adequate work managers. They need some sort of punishment/reward structure in place. If a pony will be treated the same whether they work hard or work light, they are obviously going to work light, and it’s entirely their managers’ fault. Chems are far from necessary to “encourage” them, here... unless they are willing to get the serfs hooked on something cheap that they can use to impose a punishment/reward structure...The second we provide it, they work as absolutely little as possible.
Edit from the future: I wonder, was Splendid also going to propose opening a chem lab? Chems are not a long-term solution to anything. I really think putting a worker on Dash (I assume) to get them to work twice as hard would still turn out to be less cost-effective than simply having two workers.
Plus, as I’ve stated before, they have really limited farmland... how, exactly, does he plan on expanding?Okay, who are these Reapers she’s speaking of? The Reapers organization doesn’t do anything but exist as a group of strong ponies.Rampage said with a snort. “Not even the Reapers are this messed up.”
Deus did infinitely worse than Spendid proposes, while Gorgon’s work was just about as bad. I seriously have no idea what she is talking about.
Besides, there was definitely politics, of a sort, with the Reapers. Certain reapers were backed by entire gangs, and their actions, making enemies or allies, lead their gangs to follow suit. I’d bet anything there were plenty of assassination attempts, too, given there was a set number of top Reapers at a given time.
Rampage is just making stuff up.They took Scotch Tape? Really?“They took Scotch Tape and Boo! They said if you don’t make me in charge, they’ll kill them!”
Honestly, Blackjack, don’t worry. They’re already dead.
Oh, and you’re screwed, Charm.
...kay, well, that went a little differently than I thought, though, but all’s well that ends well....don’t you think he’s going to want to “handle” this one, too?I rubbed my head. “Scotch. She’s all yours. Don’t kill her. She might come to her senses. And don’t let yourself be taken hostage by her again. Otherwise, I’m letting P-21 handle it. Understood?”Blackjack, you REALLY need to define “too badly”, here.I glanced at Rampage, “Make sure she doesn’t mess Charm up too badly, okay?”
Rampage barely understands the concept of self-control, and discipline is flat-out taboo.
Rampage: Kay, so just shatter her legs, don’t rip them off and feed them to her. Got it.I’m not entirely sure what she means by this. I understand the good guys fight the bad guys, but every bad guy she’s come across has had some good in them. Some, like the collegiate, turn out to pretty much be all good, even though they seemed bad at first. She likes some Rangers and she likes some Reapers, but the two fight against each other, so which one is good?“Why not?” I asked with a frown. “I thought good and evil cancelled each other out.”
Is this really the first time she’s seen more than two options, of which none were necessarily the “good” one? It seems like that just couldn’t be true....a bomb? Or something to kill herself with? Or...Lacunae lifted a tied up bundle off her back....what am I supposed to make of this? Is it P-21? Is this why he wasn’t rescuing his daughter?a strange black river rock with a spiral carved into the surface.
Or... no. No, this is way more like an assassination attempt, but I’ve no idea what is going on....not her mane? I think that’s new...Soon as he spoke, my back began to itch.
Anyway, batspeech talisman. Whatever.
More importantly, how did this cut off the goddess? Is it because Lacunae was rendered unconscious, too?Gurgle... prolly gonna vomit, again...“With... your body... and the thoughts you’re trying to put inside my head! Desist! Now!”...you know, that was a really long time ago. How is it we know this when she didn’t?“Sekashi’s your mother?” I asked, and then cursed myself for the slip of my tongue and tried to catch myself, “She was, wasn’t she?”Ooooo... please, for the love of Luna, let it be because it is empty...His face and body were covered in bruises and one eye was swollen completely shut.
It’s just so epic that the father would take his eye, especially after he took Blackjack’s. It’s flat-out perfect. I want that scene that’s been retconned out of existence to still be true.Okay, so... no, it’s that thing.“I... I believe so.” Her horn flickered twice, then she physically reached over and picked up the rock. “A voidstone. I never imagined I’d see one.”
Two anti-magic grenades. Just to be sure.
This is very convenient. Very, very convenient. Is Blackjack going to keep the stone on her, then?
Because Lancer just being here... I don’t really like this. Way too convenient.Insert from the future: The rant below was my immediately reactions, but upon reflection, my comment two down from this is my present stance. I’m still going to leave this stuff in, though, because it’s a reading reviewShe whined, then deflated. “He was... okay. He was gentle, but it was still... weird. Not what I was expecting for my first stallion. Definitely not as fun as with you, but it was bearable,” she finally admitted. “But I am not going for a repeat performance, thank you very much.” She chewed her lip a moment, “Probably...”
I can barely even comment on this.
Given how mad she got at Blackjack, Glory really should have tried harder. Taken a cold bath. Gotten off manually. Something.
It’s not entirely unbelievable, but that’s mostly because of my low opinion of Glory. I could equally believe P-21’s been bedded, too. His programming still runs deep and now the pheromones should be really screwing with his head. I can imagine him isolating himself over and over, trying to escape the cravings, but inevitably being drawn into it. I mean, he’s used to sex. Lots of sex. Getting off manually with the scent of a willing, wanting female in his nostrils would be difficult. He’s used to not only never refusing to have sex, but getting off far more frequently than he currently is, is the result of the unnatural selection of mares of the best breeder stallions over several generations, and just plain doesn’t have anyone else to turn to for relief like Glory has. Glory, while being actually in estrus, actually has a history of abstaining, as well as a partner to get off with.
Basically, P-21 getting laid would work better, in my mind, than Glory simply giving up like this, particularly without her finding Blackjack to at least participate in the rutting.
...and while P-21 got freaked out a while back when Blackjack grabbed his hips, after all the experiences he’s had since then and, particularly, with his daughter to look after... I think he would be able to handle himself better. After all, not long ago, wasn’t he caught looking at mares? I remember Blackjack stating it was okay for him to be interested in both.
And besides, in PH, sex cures all mental and emotional problems, so abstaining is just hurting him in the long run.Holey moley lime cannoli, are you for real? For really real? No shizzy real?“I’m getting used to the fact that... you’re just not like me... like that.” She sighed and shook her head. “It really is just sex to you, isn’t it? Just... orgasms?”
You just bedded your first stallion for an orgasm.
Shut up immediately.
Add-in from the future:...the stallions are sent away, on long-distance patrols, just so that the mares “don’t have to think about them”.“This is when most stallions get sent on long distance patrols so mares back home don’t have to think about them. Stupid biology,” she growled and huffed.
You’d think they’d offer long-distance patrols to any mares that want to go on them if they want to avoid thinking of stallions, but no, the stallions have to be away from home for a week or so just so that the mares don’t have to exhibit any self-control.
Not to make this about religion (because it’s not, it’s about culture), but this reminds me of burqas, aka the head-to-foot covering required of muslim women in some parts of the world (not all... certainly not all where Islam is present, so again, culture) just so that the men there will not sexually desire them. The entire idea that the lack of self-control of one gender justifies dictating the life of the other. If anything, this totally justifies Glory’s behavior, since her culture allowed her to get by without any semblance of self-control. Stable 99 never encouraged self-control... you just had sex because there was nothing better to do. Despite, Blackjack fielded urges in several different directions and managed to last until she could give herself some relief. Blackjack, the one that will push any button if it’s big and red enough.
I now entirely blame the Enclave’s culture for Glory’s behavior, here. I’m typically one for individual responsibility, but given she’s rarely had to so much as look at a male during estrus, being approached and propositioned by a very, very good-looking one was way beyond her ability to resist... if Splendid even needed to make the first move at all.
And it’s over!
This was a good chapter and a fun read. I liked some parts, I hated other parts, and we made progress in both the overarching plot and the current arc. We learned some things, we were retold some things, and there was a ton of good jokes and dialogue.
A for execution, Somber, you made my day!
This ends your Trixie viewing experience. Thank you for your time; you’ve been a lovely audience!
- Spoiler:
Maripony was targeted by a planted bomb in the tunnels underneath, recall.Swicked wrote:But also, the attack on it missed? The hole’s coming out next to the building.
Wondering how that works.
Fun fact: originally, the "That made her sob even harder…" wasn't there. It was added after one of us pointed you "Hm, actually, she was involved in two extremely pivotal events that worsened the war…" :DSwicked wrote:Didn’t Psalm lead the refugees to Luna’s school, where they were killed? She also killed Big Mac. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think she was integral to every major escalation in the war.
:DSwicked wrote:Blackjack: Okay, just MOST of it.
Lacunae: *slightly less-amused gaze*
Blackjack: ...maybe just the points, then? Crowns don’t need points, anyway, right?
Lacunae: *somewhat dower gaze*
Blackjack: How often am I going to get to eat gold? Seriously, I am eating some of that crown. Not eating it is off the table. I’ll get them a new one. A better one. One with whiskey.
Lacunae: Sigh.
Blackjack: ...but, I mean, the whiskey bottles don’t have to be full, right? No, that’d just make them heavy, so, after we raid their liquor cabinets...
:)Swicked wrote:Rampage: Kay, so just shatter her legs, don’t rip them off and feed them to her. Got it.
…Hey, that makes a lot of sense! Thanks!Swicked wrote:...the stallions are sent away, on long-distance patrols, just so that the mares “don’t have to think about them”.
You’d think they’d offer long-distance patrols to any mares that want to go on them if they want to avoid thinking of stallions, but no, the stallions have to be away from home for a week or so just so that the mares don’t have to exhibit any self-control.
Not to make this about religion (because it’s not, it’s about culture), but this reminds me of burqas, aka the head-to-foot covering required of muslim women in some parts of the world (not all... certainly not all where Islam is present, so again, culture) just so that the men there will not sexually desire them. The entire idea that the lack of self-control of one gender justifies dictating the life of the other. If anything, this totally justifies Glory’s behavior, since her culture allowed her to get by without any semblance of self-control. Stable 99 never encouraged self-control... you just had sex because there was nothing better to do. Despite, Blackjack fielded urges in several different directions and managed to last until she could give herself some relief. Blackjack, the one that will push any button if it’s big and red enough.
I now entirely blame the Enclave’s culture for Glory’s behavior, here. I’m typically one for individual responsibility, but given she’s rarely had to so much as look at a male during estrus, being approached and propositioned by a very, very good-looking one was way beyond her ability to resist... if Splendid even needed to make the first move at all.
O. Hinds- Zebra Engineer
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
…Huh. Okay then.Icy Shake wrote:Sigged for greatness (I mean, if that's all right with you.)
Ah, thank you.Icy Shake wrote:Is there any one us that isn’t emotionally screwed up?
"any one of us"
Thanks.WavemasterRyx wrote:I really don't think you need to, Hinds, though I thought it was fine in the first place anyways.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
"amtrixierite" nearly killed me.swicked wrote:But hey, now it’s party time, amtrixierite?
Do keep in mind where Glory grew up. She's no stranger to oppressive police states, and she was raised to value security over freedom.swicked wrote:What in Tartarus is Glory going on about..? The few being the Society, the many being the wasteland?
Remember, the bomb was planted in one of the subterranean tunnels of Maripony. When it went off, it collapsed much of the complex into a huge sinkhole. The testing chamber was slightly beyond the radius of total destruction, and surface access was through this building, which is now perched on the edge of the sinkhole. It's presumably the same bunker Pip went into to meet with the Goddess.swicked wrote:But also, the attack on it missed? The hole’s coming out next to the building.
Wondering how that works.
Yeah, I sort of suspect they're either busy providing the telepathic substructure of the Unity, or they're more interested in communing with the melded mind of the Unity than in the physical actions of its alicorns.swicked wrote:Additionally, for two mares that are supposedly of strong-enough will to be half the heads of unity, the green ones certainly fail to make an impression. I’ve no idea what, beyond their magic, they bring to the table.
And now I'm thinking of them as 4chan mods.
Mosaic and Gestalt are asleep, think about ponies!
That depends entirely on whether you consider a tabula rasa to be "screwed up".swicked wrote:If you ask me, Boo is screwed-up enough that everyone else seems basically normal next to her.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
Having a soul doesn't make her not a blank slate. She started out with no experience outside of her little world of tunnels and fatties. No cultural mores, no morality, no understanding of anything.swicked wrote:She's not really that, though. Aren't we operating on the assumption that she has a soul?
She had real experiences in Hippocratic. Real, horrible experiences. She was all alone, starving, hiding from hulking monsters that came from ponies just like her, watching as those monsters killed other ponies just like her. Who knows how long she lived like that before Blackjack showed up?
She's still relatively new, but she can think for herself and responds to her environment. She's developing quickly, too. I'm just waiting for her to say her first word.
...so, to be honest, I don't follow what you are saying about her.
"Screwed up" implies some sort of brokenness, while Boo is more like... not assembled in the first place.
Nope.swicked wrote:Edit:Still, there appears to be a hole in the ground with cracks shooting out of it. Unless the blast was directed directly upwards, shouldn't it be more of a crater and less of a sinkhole?
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
I meant "Thank you for providing me with a new and interesting explanation of this."swicked wrote:...why thanks?O. Hinds wrote:…Hey, that makes a lot of sense! Thanks!
I mean, if you agree with me, then kay, but you didn't do that...
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
SilentCarto wrote:That is a totally valid interpretation, but it still doesn't address the issue of BJ being apparently ignorant of her own talent.Luminous Lead wrote:Well, Blackjack really seems to have the luck of the draw. It could have been her that went through that door that day, but she got lucky and lived on instead. In fact, she gets put into so many situations where she should rightly die, except things fall into place at just the time so that she can survive. Even dying doesn't kill her. Twice, even!That does make sense. Cheerilee knew exactly what her smiling flowers meant, despite it having no overt connection to teaching.Harmony Ltd. wrote:This begs the question :
A cutie mark is, at its root, a graphic symbol. A symbol has only the meaning people see in it. If we go with the hypothesis that the cutie mark when it appears take its imprint from the subconscious of the pony, this mean that the elements that gives the mark its significance need to be present in the mind of said pony.
Put another way, if the symbolism of BJ's cutie mark has something to do with the queen of spades' significance as a "tarot" combination, she must have known, at least subconsciously, said significance prior to obtaining her cutie mark.
I don't know if I'm clear ?
That said, the full significance may not necessarily be clear to the pony, lacking context. They know what it means to them, but not what it might say about their destiny.
According to wikipedia:
queen of spades - The Widow, or necromancer. This card symbolises independence, at its best. Power, intelligence, tactical thinking. The ability to streamline a problem, and find the solution without fuss. At worst, The Queen of Swords can represent isolation, depression and cruelty.
ace of spades - The Reaver. Indicates decisive ability. Cutting through confusion. Taking a radical decision or standpoint. The ability to see through deception, and expose it.
So her talent is to find simple solutions to complex problems. Kinda like she's doing now.
Technowolf- Stallion/Mare
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
@Cutie marks: There is so much headcanon and discussion about this stuff that I'm sticking to this: Until Somber clarifies exactly how cutie marks work for PH the story, it's still all up in the air.
Anyways, Guarddogjr posted this in the fanart thread, but I think it's relevant enough to post here.
Source
Anyways, Guarddogjr posted this in the fanart thread, but I think it's relevant enough to post here.
- Spoiler:
Source
Derpmind- Mindmaster Extraordinaire
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
Speaking of the whole Lancer BJ thing what do you guys think the punishment for him sleeping with her would be? I don't remember it too well but from what I could tell Xanthe was exiled for just being around her.
So I imagine sex with her must come with a pretty severe punishment. Castration seems like a possibility, execution maybe.
So I imagine sex with her must come with a pretty severe punishment. Castration seems like a possibility, execution maybe.
Guest- Guest
Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
The terminology is "feral child". There have been feral children for people before and for the most part after periods of learning about society and such the majority of them can now function in society. If boo is a "feral child" then chances are one day she will be able to somewhat speak and function normally, but that's not going to be for a couple more years. She's showing signs of rapid development, but that could have to do more with who she's a copy of. While intelligence is highly dependent on how a individual is raised, there are genetic variables as well. If the dna used for the blanks was one of the researchers for the labs, and the researcher had savant syndrome or something it would explain without a doubt her rapid development.SilentCarto wrote:Having a soul doesn't make her not a blank slate. She started out with no experience outside of her little world of tunnels and fatties. No cultural mores, no morality, no understanding of anything.swicked wrote:She's not really that, though. Aren't we operating on the assumption that she has a soul?
She had real experiences in Hippocratic. Real, horrible experiences. She was all alone, starving, hiding from hulking monsters that came from ponies just like her, watching as those monsters killed other ponies just like her. Who knows how long she lived like that before Blackjack showed up?
She's still relatively new, but she can think for herself and responds to her environment. She's developing quickly, too. I'm just waiting for her to say her first word.
...so, to be honest, I don't follow what you are saying about her.
"Screwed up" implies some sort of brokenness, while Boo is more like... not assembled in the first place
Think of it as like Einstein's children, if it weren't for one dying at birth and them developing schizophrenia they would have all turned out like his son Hans. Even though they weren't super geniuses like einstein they had a massive disposition towards intelligence.
What I mean by that is intelligence may have a ton of variables and such there are certain biological and genetic factors that can give a individual a great disposition towards intelligence.
Boo may have been a magical clone pooped out fully grown, but if the dna used as a basis to make her was from one of the ponies working on the project and that pony had a genetic predisposition towards high intelligence that would mean she's not stupid or retarded, rather her mind hasn't had enough time to develop into her body. The problem is we're thinking of her as how old her body seems, not how old her mind is. Her mind is less than a year old and even if one of the lab workers used their dna as the blank's dna base it's still going to take a couple years until Boo is mentally caught up to her body.
That's going to be cute when she starts learning to talk soon. Oh lord if the first words out of her mouth are "momma" to blackjack I am going to laugh so hard.
Also intelligence is determined relative to your age. What I mean by that is considering Boo is less than one year old she's wicked smart for her age.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
I like cb5's theory. Boo's body might be fully grown, but her mind hasn't had the chance to take in things as a normal foal would, so she's learning everything at once.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
And I will have diabeetus.cb5 wrote:That's going to be cute when she starts learning to talk soon. Oh lord if the first words out of her mouth are "momma" to blackjack I am going to laugh so hard.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
The only way I can see her rapidly growing mentally to a adult is for to do something similar to the memory orbs in murky numbers seven. The memory orbs in murky number seven that allow a unicorn to do a spell they don't know work through placing a memory of a unicorn performing a spell and placing the spell into the orb. The reason why those memory orbs were in the prototype stage was that memories don't just instantly stick. Flash memory(I forget what it's called biologically) pretty much is a extremely short term one use memory; like if a ball rolls down a hill in your eyesight, you notice it but not much else. Short term memory is for things short term, now this is what those memory orbs were; they didn't stick cause they were a one off deal. A long term memory orb for learning something would have to implant the memory several times to try and get it to stick, or implant the same memory in several memory orbs and implant them at the same time, or implant a memory of actually learning the information, or such.StoneSlinger88 wrote:I like cb5's theory. Boo's body might be fully grown, but her mind hasn't had the chance to take in things as a normal foal would, so she's learning everything at once.
Theoretically something like that could happen if a pony implanted their memories of school or such into a memory orb and implanted the memory into someone else several times. It would be extremely difficult to do and would need a pony well verse in memory orbs to do so. It would be hard to do cause you would need to only put in memories directly related to learning something and cut out all the fat and things not relevant to what you need to implant.
There is no way blackjack could do something like that cause sure some of it would stick, but knowing her she wouldn't be able to cut out the irrelevant information. You would wind up with most of the information being learned, but also a ton of irrelevant information learned as well. If someone like blackjack were to do that chances are the very first words out of Boo's mouth would be, "SWEET CELESTIA! Blackjack I didn't need to know why you like collars so much! And I really did NOT need to know you thought that about Lancer!"
Something like that would probably end badly in the single most hilarious way imaginable if Blackjack tried this.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
cb5 wrote:Boo may have been a magical clone pooped out fully grown, but if the dna used as a basis to make her was from one of the ponies working on the project and that pony had a genetic predisposition towards high intelligence that would mean she's not stupid or retarded, rather her mind hasn't had enough time to develop into her body. The problem is we're thinking of her as how old her body seems, not how old her mind is. Her mind is less than a year old and even if one of the lab workers used their dna as the blank's dna base it's still going to take a couple years until Boo is mentally caught up to her body.
I thought the reason they were "blank" was that they weren't given specific DNA or anything.
Either way, Boo seems pretty special.Goldenblood wrote:“Less than an infant. And no soul, either, or at least none we’ve ever been able to detect. A body made of pure biomagical flux.”
Also, I was just rereading chapter 39 and Blackjack was thinking interesting things.
Blackjack wrote:What in Equestria did Goldenblood need a gun like Folly for? He wasn’t a soldier. Why would he need something that could pack the punch of a megaspell?
No, not just a megaspell. A portable megaspell. A single pony megaspell, one that would kill the shooter.
[...]
Maybe he’d planned on doing something that resulted in his own death... only he’d been arrested and sentenced to execution first?
What would you need a gun like Folly for? Luna? Celestia? Discord? A dragon, maybe? Spike?
I'm wondering what would happen if someone tried to shoot the moon.
Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
Nah, a organic lifeform without dna would not be able to function biologically. No cell can fulfil all of it's biological functions without dna. It's like asking a computer to function without any os, bios or anything.Luminous Lead wrote:
I thought the reason they were "blank" was that they weren't given specific DNA or anything.
I'm wondering what would happen if someone tried to shoot the moon.
My guess is that since all the blanks look similar to each other that they used the same dna source. The question is whose dna was it they used as a source?
As for why the blanks are all completely white and such it probably has to do with how they were formed. Like Sanguine's family's blank copies looked like them cause obviously you would need the host dna and a cellular structure template for making them according to their need. What I mean by that is blanks used for organ transplant would have to have the dna of it's host to avoid rejection issues and it would be easier to use the cellular template of the host to avoid wrong sized organs. What I mean by that is if you don't have the host dna then there's rejection issues; if you don't have a medical scan of the pony then you might wind up with a lung too large to fit in the chest cavity.
Blanks weren't used for transplant and probably didn't need as much care when pooping them out. Who cared if the pony from the source of the dna's cellular structure didn't match or was from a completely different pony? No one was going to need their lungs.
However that also raises another question though, who's cellular structure was used for the blank's template? The reason why that's important is that if you stick genius A's dna into genius B's cellular structure clone then you would wind up with a clone with a massive disposition towards intelligence.
Basically the question about Boo will probably only be answered if we find out whose dna was used for her and who was used as a template for her?
If I had to take a wild guess I guess there were two lab workers used as templates for Boo. Imagine sticking genius A's dna into genius B's body. It would explain why she's developing mentally so rapidly. It'd be like sticking einstein's dna into tesla's body.
Also-
cb5- Alicorn
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
Okay, so technically speaking, the hole left by a subsurface nuclear blast is called a "subsidence crater". I think the point was that it's not a blasted-out nuclear crater like you see at Miramare or Fillydelphia; the surface just collapsed into the void created by the bomb. If you're thinking of the sort of sinkhole you get when goundwater undermines the sidewalk, then yes, you'll be disappointed.swicked wrote:...that looks far more like a depression than a hole in the ground.
Since the blanks are supposed to accept any genetic structure, I would assume the blanks are some sort of neutral, generic pony structure instead. Maybe some sort of averaged-out genome, which would explain the white-but-not-albino appearance.cb5 wrote:However that also raises another question though, who's cellular structure was used for the blank's template?
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
That would depend how deep the device was placed. I'm guessing Kkat imagined it happening more like the Battle of the Crater in the American Civil War. Union miners dug a tunnel under the Confederate lines, crammed a bunch of explosives into it, then blew a giant fucking hole in the Earth.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
Dna and cellular structures don't work like that. DNA and cellular structures have to come from somewhere if you are just cloning. Creating a entire individual's from scratch is way beyond any technology we've seen in FoE lore. We're talking like warp drive and time travel level advanced. Unless you want a clone to have a foot coming out of it's brain you would definitely need a dna host to at least for the basis of your research. The most likely scenario is that by default blanks, like boo, have a non-programmed default to use as a base, then when you need a specialized clone you insert the dna and cellular template of the pony. The reason why is that having just cells without dna would just wind up with the cells dying. If you have a base template for your cells then swipe out the template's dna for new dna that would work.SilentCarto wrote:Since the blanks are supposed to accept any genetic structure, I would assume the blanks are some sort of neutral, generic pony structure instead. Maybe some sort of averaged-out genome, which would explain the white-but-not-albino appearance.
My money is on the way the machine functioned was that they used cells from a host, grew the cells in a culture in a stem cell batch, then when a pony needed a transplant reprogram the cells into the new template.
My idea in a nutshell:
Dna in cells from donor grown in cultures reprogrammed to stem cells for basic large batch growing -> Cells have basic template of how to grow and what goes where from another host(as in heart attaches to blood vessels and not to the rib cage or lungs) -> some pony needs a transplant -> blank's dna and cellular structure reprogrammed into template -> specialized blank
What boo is probably:
Dna in cells from donor grown in cultures reprogrammed to stem cells for basic large batch growing -> Cells have basic template of how to grow and what goes where from another host(as in heart attaches to blood vessels and not to the rib cage or lungs) -> No recipient -> cells develop according to template instead of specialized blank.
Reason why there probably is a basic dna and cellular structure template:
Without it the blanks would be hideous blobs like The Choir.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
I didn't suggest they developed an entire genome from scratch. I'm suggesting that they probably took someone, or maybe several someones if they needed to splice the genes together to get the closest-to-zero traits from different individuals, and deactivated all the segments that code for hair color, eye color, build, etc. They would probably have to choose some default value for things like muscularity, yes, but that's where studying the pony population to determine the "average pony" comes in.cb5 wrote:Dna and cellular structures don't work like that. DNA and cellular structures have to come from somewhere if you are just cloning. Creating a entire individual's from scratch is way beyond any technology we've seen in FoE lore.
Look... I don't want to say "It's just magic", but it's just magic. Directly manipulating genes is beyond their technology except when it's not -- like when they developed a method for reconfiguring normal ponies into alicorns. In any case, there's clearly something more-than-genetic going on, since you can insert a foal's sample and get a foal of the same apparent age, or give it an adult's sample and get an adult.
Do I really need to point out that Twilight does both of these things?cb5 wrote:We're talking like warp drive and time travel level advanced.
SilentCarto- Alicorn
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
Umm... you're looking at it from several thousand feet above, and this is a rather small bomb as nukes go. Images from that video were included in a DOE report dated Jan 1, 1971, (Atomic Energy Commission report TID-25708, according to WikiMedia,) so assuming it was filmed at the Nevada test range during 1970, that was likely one of the shots from Operation Mandrel or Operation Emery, which both mainly used bombs in the 3-20 kt range.swicked wrote:Basically, I don't see how the bomb in that video could result in "deep ravines". It is not much of a hole at all.SilentCarto wrote:Okay, so technically speaking, the hole left by a subsurface nuclear blast is called a "subsidence crater". I think the point was that it's not a blasted-out nuclear crater; the surface just collapsed into the void created by the bomb. If you're thinking of the sort of sinkhole you get when goundwater undermines the sidewalk, then yes, you'll be disappointed.swicked wrote:...that looks far more like a depression than a hole in the ground.
As for cracking, you can see the earth shatter before the dust cloud obscures it, and that's going to form some sizeable cracks. And remember, Maripony would subside a lot more than that because the infalling debris would be filling more than just the void excavated by the blast itself. It's a warren of tunnels down there, both pony and diamond dog, and that deeper crater would put more stress on the crater walls. And there are probably tunnels in and out, which would create their own ravines if they collapsed -- in the video, you can see the outline of the tunnel they used to plant the bomb collapsing at upper-left.
SilentCarto- Alicorn
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
Splicing together that many pony's dna may work, but it would be a long shot and would probably just wind up with a pony rapidly dying cause something went wrong genetically. You would have to be incredibly careful not to accidentally stitch in a faulty gene. Think of dna segments as popsicle sticks, mess up one of the popsicle sticks and you get this-SilentCarto wrote:I didn't suggest they developed an entire genome from scratch. I'm suggesting that they probably took someone, or maybe several someones if they needed to splice the genes together to get the closest-to-zero traits from different individuals, and deactivated all the segments that code for hair color, eye color, build, etc. They would probably have to choose some default value for things like muscularity, yes, but that's where studying the pony population to determine the "average pony" comes in.
Look... I don't want to say "It's just magic", but it's just magic. Directly manipulating genes is beyond their technology except when it's not -- like when they developed a method for reconfiguring normal ponies into alicorns. In any case, there's clearly something more-than-genetic going on, since you can insert a foal's sample and get a foal of the same apparent age, or give it an adult's sample and get an adult.Do I really need to point out that Twilight does both of these things?cb5 wrote:We're talking like warp drive and time travel level advanced.
I'm not saying that it couldn't be done, rather it would take on the order of decades of testing to make sure nothing went faulty. The reason being is that you would have to have a entire batch of blanks studied for long term to see if they show signs of illness or such. Even if it were, "It's magic", the blanks would have to be studied for decades to make sure there's nothing wrong with them before being used for transplants.
Short version; Even with magic doing it that way would require the blanks to be studied on the order of decades to make sure they are okay, otherwise you would wind up with all the organ recipients having the donated organs failing inside of them.
I'm not saying that it couldn't be done, rather if something went wrong it would go like this,
"A mysterious illness is sweeping across equestria killing ponies, we are unsure of what is causing it and the only things in common is that it's causing ponies to have their organs fail rapidly"
"Investigations are revealing no new information. The mysterious illness is spreading even further and has begun to kill ponies in the hundreds"
"The mysterious illness is spreading like wildfire in equestria. Luna is telling every pony to stay in their homes and contact quarantine officials if you are showing signs. Thousands are dead now"
"So far the disease doesn't seem to be transmitted by air or blood quarantine officials have said after lifting quarantine. However any pony showing signs of the disease are to report to a hospital immediately. Tens of thousands dead. Riots in the street have broken out by ponies unable to get medical attention."
"Riots have all but shut down Equestria. We have a new lead as all the ponies effected have a medical history of receiving a organs. All organ transplants have been permanently halted and investigations into what is causing all organ transplants have started. We are unsure of what is causing organ transplants to fail, however we are urging any pony who has received one ever to immediately seek medical attention".
So no, I'm not saying it couldn't be done, rather if it was done that way and the dna used for all the organs had a faulty gene in it then welp congratulations you just killed EVERYONE who receives a organ transplant.
It would just be so much easier to use the dna of a pony with no family history of a genetic disease or such, then reprogram the cells to the organ recipient.
To use a analogy imagine a box needs to be closed. Wanting to stitch together countless pony's dna to come up with a blank would be like wanting to come up with a sprayable cardboard liquid that come out of a can to form a seal. My idea is just use duct tape.
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
It doesn't need a comma. In this case, "royal rutting" is a compound noun, like "cooking pot" or "leather jacket". It's a wild "royal rutting", not a rutting which is both royal and wild.O. Hinds wrote:Hm… I think that it flows better without the comma, sorry.WavemasterRyx wrote:Though, should it be "wild, royal"?
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
Thank you, Dust, this is a perfect example of what I meant by being a decade out of date. My instructors never bothered covering anything like that...FeatherDust wrote:It doesn't need a comma. In this case, "royal rutting" is a compound noun, like "cooking pot" or "leather jacket". It's a wild "royal rutting", not a rutting which is both royal and wild.O. Hinds wrote:Hm… I think that it flows better without the comma, sorry.WavemasterRyx wrote:Though, should it be "wild, royal"?
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
Magic!cb5 wrote:Short version; Even with magic doing it that way would require the blanks to be studied on the order of decades to make sure they are okay, otherwise you would wind up with all the organ recipients having the donated organs failing inside of them.
Celestia's mane, I would hope they never covered that!WavemasterRyx wrote:Thank you, Dust, this is a perfect example of what I meant by being a decade out of date. My instructors never bothered covering anything like that...
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
Uhhh . . Megaspells couldn't even bring back the dead.SilentCarto wrote:Magic!cb5 wrote:Short version; Even with magic doing it that way would require the blanks to be studied on the order of decades to make sure they are okay, otherwise you would wind up with all the organ recipients having the donated organs failing inside of them.
cb5- Alicorn
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Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion
...what? Detecting genetic errors and fast-forwarding decades of development are infinitely simpler than bringing back the dead...cb5 wrote:Uhhh . . Megaspells couldn't even bring back the dead.
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