Re: [Official!] Project Horizons Comment Crew Chat thread.

[Frost]

@Steak

Funnily enough, despite fanfics' love of showing ponies' horrified reactions to carnivores/omnivores' dietary habits, IRL horses are known to exhibit omnivorous tendencies given the chance

[OneMoreDaySK]

@Filly Flasher Discussion
Wasn't it that Blackjack thought that the filly flasher she talked to was painting a rosy picture of the Flashers? So it could be that some were victims, but the higher ups, at least the ones we've seen, are the bad apples?

[O. Hinds]

Chapter 42.
BJ meets a flasher who commiserates about being raped.
"Ploughed hard or beaten, or both. It happens. If they don't want it to happen again, they join the Flashers."

All flashers are rape victims.

If some people start banking with a certain company because their previous bank mistreated them and the new bank advertises strongly that it doesn't do that, does that mean that everyone who banks with the new company was previously mistreated?

Oh, and they don't rape anyone, apparently.

Turnip was a pretty plain looking earth pony buck: tan with a brown mane. He gave a small grin. “Well... you don’t have to... I’m fine here.”
P-21 sighed, covering his face with his hooves before he said, “I’m your replacement. She’s throwing you to the rest of the Fillies, then you’ll be dusted.” His face added an unspoken ‘idiot’.

“Why do people keep spreading those stupid sex slave stories? Honestly!” Dazzle huffed. “We don’t. We keep a few males around that we know won’t hurt us. A few others we take for a fling and let them go. A few years back we had a stomp with the Long Saddles. Absorbed most of their mares, and, as a joke, enslaved their stallions for a few weeks.”
“And then gelded some of them afterwards.” Busted Heart kept his eyes on the holes in the roof, but Dazzle flushed. “Sold the rest to the Society.”
“Yeah, well, some of them deserved it. Anyway, we got rid of most of the males. Lot of them joined the Burners, and there’s been bad blood ever since.” Dazzle looked at the Halfheart. “Anyway, I wouldn’t say Flashers would never ride a buck, but we don’t plough ‘em like they did us. We’re the best chance for a mare on her own.” True, Turnip hadn’t exactly been a bloody and bruised mess when we’d saved him... but the rest of what I’d seen and heard at Flash Industries made me think that Dazzle’s description might be a bit more rosy than the truth.

I do agree with Kattlarv here that female rapists are still significantly underrepresented, though.

[Admiral Stoic Rum]

@Admiral

Well, performance/trick skills like that don't necessarily translate into a fighting skill. Sure, a trick shooter can hit outrageous shots with a grouping 1/10 the size of a Marine or Soldier's, but I'll take the Marine or Soldier on my side any day of the week, because they're trained to act under pressure and in a combat zone, unlike the trick shooter, for whom a food fight back in middle school was the closest they've ever been to a firefight.

Similarly, if you offer me the chance to go in a no-holds barred street fight against either a championship boxer or an experienced brawler, I'll pick the boxer, who is, by force of habit, going to show restraint and follow rules that the brawler absolutely will not

the zombies will be shooting back?

[Frost]

@Admiral

Well, performance/trick skills like that don't necessarily translate into a fighting skill. Sure, a trick shooter can hit outrageous shots with a grouping 1/10 the size of a Marine or Soldier's, but I'll take the Marine or Soldier on my side any day of the week, because they're trained to act under pressure and in a combat zone, unlike the trick shooter, for whom a food fight back in middle school was the closest they've ever been to a firefight.

Similarly, if you offer me the chance to go in a no-holds barred street fight against either a championship boxer or an experienced brawler, I'll pick the boxer, who is, by force of habit, going to show restraint and follow rules that the brawler absolutely will not

the zombies will be shooting back?

No, but they will be coming at you from all sides, moaning, moving, presenting a danger, and adding stress to the equation, all of which you'll note are things a trick shooter rarely has to face.

[Admiral Stoic Rum]

everyone is menatlly prepared for zombies, now the real worry is if they shamble or run...

then you have to think about if he is actually surrounded which would be a stupid posistion to be in or if hes just trying to carefully move from point a to b since the bow makes little noise it would be the best weapon for the job

[Frost]

Of course, given that the practical conversion rate, after you factor in infections that end in death (zombies don't brush often. their mouths are likely packed with bacteria.) then a large number of survivors that fared better than expected due to personal armament and/or improvisation and/or just fucking running away, would be closer to maybe 1 out of 250 humans converted.

Of course, if you want to look deeper than that, you see a bunch of people putting serious thought into the rise of fictional monsters.

[Stringtheory]

Of course, if you want to look deeper than that, you see a bunch of people putting serious thought into the rise of fictional monsters.

you're saying this to the group of people who had a serious (and IIRC, pretty lengthy) discussion on the train gauge of a fictional civilization of mutated magical equines...
god I love the internet

[Admiral Stoic Rum]

Of course, given that the practical conversion rate, after you factor in infections that end in death (zombies don't brush often. their mouths are likely packed with bacteria.) then a large number of survivors that fared better than expected due to personal armament and/or improvisation and/or just fucking running away, would be closer to maybe 1 out of 250 humans converted.

Of course, if you want to look deeper than that, you see a bunch of people putting serious thought into the rise of fictional monsters.

of course he is a chubby asian guy and judging by the written languae and the narrators he could be either japanese or korean (I would have sworn iit was korean text) he must obviously be of the nerd stereo-type and be aware of the resutls of this epedimic and realize it was his wyrd to become an archer zombie slayer. It is why he developed these skills, but never did he develop them consciously towards fighting zombies, it was just something that called to him and he learned that answer when the zombies attacked

[Admiral Stoic Rum]

Of course, if you want to look deeper than that, you see a bunch of people putting serious thought into the rise of fictional monsters.

you're saying this to the group of people who had a serious (and IIRC, pretty lengthy) discussion on the train gauge of a fictional civilization of mutated magical equines...
god I love the internet

I might not ahve been part of the discussion, but i did infact debate over certain aspect recently

[Caoimhe]

I do agree with Kattlarv here that female rapists are still significantly underrepresented, though.

I sorta disagree, in PH at least, considering 99 and P-21. It doesn't have to be thrown in the face of the reader but it's there.

I'm kinda of the opinion that rape never really needs to be mentioned as it's extremely difficult to write and deal with the aftermath.

[Caoimhe]

Also hungover Berrypunch is best pon.

[O. Hinds]

I do agree with Kattlarv here that female rapists are still significantly underrepresented, though.

I sorta disagree, in PH at least, considering 99 and P-21. It doesn't have to be thrown in the face of the reader but it's there.

I'm kinda of the opinion that rape never really needs to be mentioned as it's extremely difficult to write and deal with the aftermath.

PH has it existing, yes, but the mentions seem disproportionate to those of male rapists. ...Eh, maybe this is an extension of my perfectionism. Actually, yeah, it's probably that.

[Frost]

I'm kinda of the opinion that rape never really needs to be mentioned as it's extremely difficult to write and deal with the aftermath.

I don't know who it was, but I believe it was someone on this forum that said "if you can avoid putting rape in the story, avoid it".

From a characterization and setting standpoint, that makes sense. By featuring rape in any large amount, most authors are rather taking a shortcut through the story. Instead of having to show the gradual breakdown from happy pony to that ever-so-drama-creating trauma, they decide to have it happen all at once. Instead of having them witness or do something horrible, they take a shortcut and say "eh, fuck it. Rape."

For characterization of the perpetrator, rape is supposed to be shorthand for "irredeemably evil." Of course, nine times out of ten, the characterization goes overboard and you get a character that's almost cartoonishly evil and you've got something that's blackly hilarious instead of menacing.

If you want to show "evil", such that it could be said to truly exist and not be attributed to mental sickness or point-of-view, a better route would be the opposite one- a villain who is so cold-blooded and ruthless they won't hesitate to gun down a whole family, but not for "fun" or "for teh evulz", but because it was practical and convenient. Nothing contrasts the idealistic human (or pony) spirit authors seek to portray in their stories than someone who seems so cold as to lack a soul. At least, that's my take on things.

[Cptadder]

Similarly, if you offer me the chance to go in a no-holds barred street fight against either a championship boxer or an experienced brawler, I'll pick the boxer, who is, by force of habit, going to show restraint and follow rules that the brawler absolutely will not

You need to catch up on your professional boxers these days. Most street brawlers are not so jacked up on horse testosterone and the finest science money can buy who if you take off the gloves will literally murder you with a single punch.

More many championship boxers started as brawlers, so it's like having a brawler on steriods who might stop after he's broke your face.

Also hungover Berrypunch is best pon.

Best drinking buddy maybe.

[CamoBadger]

I'm kinda of the opinion that rape never really needs to be mentioned as it's extremely difficult to write and deal with the aftermath.

[Admiral Stoic Rum]

rape isn't real when it it written

[Stringtheory]

We interup this serious discussion for this bit of randomness:


I'm sorry, I just had to post this...

[Caoimhe]

rape isn't real when it it written

Neither is murder but the reaction of murder has been written about since the dawn of time. Rape, as strange as it may seem, is a relatively "new" thing to talk about and mention in media and has a slew of emotions and reactions that some people have a very difficult time interpreting and writing about. It's also gender-focused so that makes it more difficult to extrapolate, especially when the author is of a different gender.

For instance it's easy to imagine a character feeling "I just took another life" more so than "I've just been personally violated in the worst way possible." Sexual violence is 90% more complex and emotional than anyone can imagine.

[OneMoreDaySK]

@rape discussion
Urgh! I remember this being discussed in an old Atop the Fourth Wall video, with some sort of link to another person's blog that discussed it, but it's been a year since I've watched anything from that site. >.> Bah! <a href="http://fugitivus.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/another-post-about-rape-3/">Here's one to mull over instead.</a>

@Brim
That's an interesting perspective. Methinks the only reason he cared for Murky initially was because Murk can do things that Blitz knows he can't with just brute force, like get RadPurge. Then since his mare pretty much adopted him, then his care gets extended from her. He continues to believe that he can't be saved, but maybe sometime down the road he might start to crack?

[OneMoreDaySK]

@rape discussion
Urgh! I remember this being discussed in an old Atop the Fourth Wall video, with some sort of link to another person's blog that discussed it, but it's been a year since I've watched anything from that site. >.>

@Brim
That's an interesting perspective. Methinks the only reason he cared for Murky initially was because Murk can do things that Blitz knows he can't with just brute force, like get RadPurge. Then since his mare pretty much adopted him, then his care gets extended from her. He continues to believe that he can't be saved, but maybe sometime down the road he might start to crack?

Brim is a dog and will be put down before he finds any real redemption. At least, I hope so. I'd like to see Glitter break over it, particularly if he does so trying to help her and Murky by doing something unspeakably horrible and seeing nothing wrong with it. Brim is Glitter's redemption right now, too. She's trying to help him. I can't wait for her to see she can't.

Edit:
Of course, this is how I see them now. They could always develop more as characters and make this prediction moot.

At this point if they manage to get out without any repercussions I expect some other hero to off Brim because he's "a bad guy" and acted hostile on the EFS.

[Admiral Stoic Rum]

It's funny how family can grow to resent one another for ridiculous things. I am going through trials with my mother now. She's hurt confused and lashing out at things, small things. She tried to give away some of my own things, things that she gave to me, but have not been hers for over 8 years. She did not ask, and when I confronted her about trying to give away my things she exploded in my face. I moved in with her to help her out, help her keep a roof over her and my brother and sister. This is sacrifice on my part and I did not have to, I am sure there was another way. I Still feel like I am being taken advantage of. this is our first time living with each other in six years. I am wondering if I am going to regret it. I know I shouldn't, but

[Ironmonger]

[Valikdu]

I thought about things to post.
I came up with nothing.

So here's a picture of Twilight turning into an alicorn.

[Frost]

...and yet I don't see cold practicality as being necessarily evil.

Well, yes. Many people in real life, including myself, are prone to doing and saying things that shock their friends and family because of their apparent heartlessness, while still being fundamentally good people who made a pragmatic decision.

I'm referring to the sort of guy who'll, say, calculate that he has a better chance of killing the hero with a chlorine bomb than a sniper, and so deploy said chlorine bomb against the hero even in the middle of a crowded mall. Someone who is completely without limitations, fear, or remorse. They have their goal--it can even be an objectively good goal-- but they pursue it so relentlessly they don't care about how many people die in the process.

[Frost]

It'd be more evil, yes.... Almost cartoonishly so. The villain at that point is certifiably, absolutely horrible--as many people in real life are-- but he somehow can still run an organization and all of his minions haven't abandoned him. That's the Catch-22: make him too evil without reason, and people start wondering why his associates, apparently motivated by money or paranoia or patriotism, would still associate with him

[Frost]

Well, most in Germany, the Wehrmacht included, didn't even know about the Nazis' most evil actions like the death camps. Even Hitler and the SS officers actually running the camps, evil though they where, weren't doing so because of any sick pleasure you describe (though the Sanford Prison Experiment shows that those placed in the "Guard" role tended to exhibit sadistic tendencies unless regulated as they are in a modern prison) they did so because they considered the Jews, Roma, Homosexuals, Disabled, Ect ect as Sub-Human filth. They weren't doing it because they enjoyed hurting other human beings, they did it because they didn't consider the prisoners human beings.

[Frost]

Yeah, I'm not sure where we're going with this.

Suffice it to say Evil Villain is Evil and we skip merrily on our way.



Random topic: for whatever reason, when reading pony stuff, I often end up mentally humanizing the scene just to get a better understanding of what's going on. It's wierd

[Harmony Ltd.]

This tie back into the rapist mentality where the act is performed not for itself, but to prove to the victim(s) that they are powerless to stop it and are at the mercy of the one torturing them, who take a form of sadistic pleasure from this display as well as the reassurance of their sentiment of self-superiority.

The logical end of bullying.

Something in our primates' brains that push us to prove our dominance over the weakest members of the group.

[Harmony Ltd.]

Random topic: for whatever reason, when reading pony stuff, I often end up mentally humanizing the scene just to get a better understanding of what's going on. It's wierd

I often have to remind myself they're ponies and not humans while reading.

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