The advice thread

[The Jack]

This thread is exactly what it says on the tin; just a place for anyone to come and ask small questions they would like advice for.

I'll start out;

First of all, I would like to know if anyone has a good mane colour that fits with a brown coat and blue eyes. The pony in question is female, and it can't be black. Anyone?

Secondly... I'm wondering what gender I'll have my main character. Originally, I have planned it to be a her, but now I'm not sure anymore.... Mostly because my brain has already decided to name her/him "Gears", which I'm okay with. The problem is, that is in my mind a male name.
Of course, this isn't neccesarely a bad thing either; all the heroes I have read about so far are all female. LittlePip, Blackjack, Puppysmiles... Having a male hero would be a nice change.
Luckily, the gender isn't really a problem when it comes to the romance I'm planning to introduce; the love interest will be female in either case, and (s)he will be just as clueless. xD
So I'd like to ask you your opinion; male or female?


Feel free to ask your own questions too! It's unneccesary to clutter the forum with a new thread for each and every such small question, so stuffing them all in here is the most efficient way =D

[Damhoof]

I would like to know if anyone has a good mane colour that fits with a brown coat and blue eyes.

Blonde.

... I'm wondering what gender I'll have my main character. Originally, I have planned it to be a her, but now I'm not sure anymore.... Mostly because my brain has already decided to name her/him "Gears", which I'm okay with. The problem is, that is in my mind a male name.
Of course, this isn't neccesarely a bad thing either; all the heroes I have read about so far are all female. LittlePip, Blackjack, Puppysmiles... Having a male hero would be a nice change.
Luckily, the gender isn't really a problem when it comes to the romance I'm planning to introduce; the love interest will be female in either case, and (s)he will be just as clueless. xD
So I'd like to ask you your opinion; male or female?

if its a mans name its a mans body. Personally I wouldnt mind either but it depends on the name. Some names are just not given to mares, and straight shipping is in decline.

My question time.

What are your thoughts about the stars in relation to the black book and Nightmare moon within the fallout equestria universe?

[The Jack]

My question time.

What are your thoughts about the stars in relation to the black book and Nightmare moon within the fallout equestria universe?

That question warrants more a discussion instead of advice, so I'm not sure what to do with it. Personally, I have no real thoughts about these stars, except maybe thinking that it's probably some religious stuff which isn't really true. My physicist-side is winning; the stars are just giant balls of gass undergoing nuclear fusion.

Though, that book obviously does SOMETHING, so I'm guessing it's a type of zebra magic or something. *shrug*
As for Nightmare Moon? I'm going with the canon explanation for that one.

[Damhoof]

boring answer. ;3

but you should also ask after anwering.

I did not want to discuss it really. Just wanted to know your thoughts.

advice. hmm, lets have your advice about shipping. So long as it furthers the plot its ok? Fade to black appreciated ?

[Artemiev]

My question time.

What are your thoughts about the stars in relation to the black book and Nightmare moon within the fallout equestria universe?

Well you already know my theory about the "stars" =P...
But seriously, either the Stars are space faring energy entities, or they are a malevolent technology-centric alien race (Homage's blaster proves the latter).

[Kashin]

First of all, I would like to know if anyone has a good mane colour that fits with a brown coat and blue eyes. The pony in question is female, and it can't be black. Anyone?

with blue and brown I would go with an earth tone (brown or green) or anything along the gray scale as they go with everything.
if you have a graphics program I would advise fiddling around with... you know what hold on.

Here are a few recolors of a stock pony I have. Pick one (I can make more in less than a minuet if you don't like any of these).

[Kashin]

Secondly... I'm wondering what gender I'll have my main character. Originally, I have planned it to be a her, but now I'm not sure anymore.... Mostly because my brain has already decided to name her/him "Gears", which I'm okay with. The problem is, that is in my mind a male name.
Of course, this isn't neccesarely a bad thing either; all the heroes I have read about so far are all female. LittlePip, Blackjack, Puppysmiles... Having a male hero would be a nice change.
Luckily, the gender isn't really a problem when it comes to the romance I'm planning to introduce; the love interest will be female in either case, and (s)he will be just as clueless. xD
So I'd like to ask you your opinion; male or female?

Six of one, half dozen of the other. Since MPL seems to follow real horse gender ratios of 10:1 a female is more probable due to sheer volume, but that is far from a requirement. My advice would be to think on how you want your character to fit in society's power structure. Remember that FOE actually has a moderate degree of sexism (Littlepip was appalled to see a male dominated society, the position of Stable leader is female exclusive, ect.). Also a name should always serve the character, never the other way around.

advice. hmm, lets have your advice about shipping. So long as it furthers the plot its ok? Fade to black appreciated ?

So few people appreciate a good boot scene anymore. Unless something that occurs during the sexual scene is important to the story or character development a before and after is an elegant and effective method.

What are your thoughts about the stars in relation to the black book and Nightmare moon within the fallout equestria universe?

I still whole heartily support Flutter-Nigroth. All hail the great buttery one!
Though in all seriousness, I see the stars as astral entities charged with the control of there own worlds. Equestria's star spawn was Discord and when the Princesses usurped him some of the others saw Equestria as unclaimed ground. The combination of needing to pay attention to their own domains and the fact that equestrians had managed to fell one of their ilk has limited them to passive interference.
I see these creatures ranging from the DS9 Profits (uninterested in mortal life unless it affects them directly.) to Q/Discord (Dangerous, but without evil intent as they see mortal life as so far beneath them) to The Great Old Ones (have nothing, but destructive and malicious intent for all life) and may haps a few along the lines of Babalon 5's Vorlons and Shadows (We will do what is best for you whether you like it or not).

As for my question. I want to know how far is too far (I know it varies from person to person so the more people answer the better gage I can get on the community). What act do you consider a hero’s moral event horizon? How graphic can an injury get before it goes form effectively shocking to tasteless? How vial can an enemies get before they become unenjoyable to read about? Ect.

[The Jack]

First of all, I would like to know if anyone has a good mane colour that fits with a brown coat and blue eyes. The pony in question is female, and it can't be black. Anyone?

with blue and brown I would go with an earth tone (brown or green) or anything along the gray scale as they go with everything.
if you have a graphics program I would advise fiddling around with... you know what hold on.

Here are a few recolors of a stock pony I have. Pick one (I can make more in less than a minuet if you don't like any of these).

Oooh! Nifty!
Thanks =D It really helps seeing different color schemes side by side ^^
I think Red will fit well actually. Not sure why though; it's all a part of the "feeling what's right" jig I for some reason has going when it comes to stuff like this. xD
On a sidenote; what program do you use? And is it easy to learn and free to get? (or pirate, for that matter). I don't have any programs myself right now, but I wouldn't mind having one to play around with. Especially if it's possible to draw somewhat respectably well with a mouse on it. I really want to put some ideas onto viritual paper some times xD


About the shipping thing: Shipping what? If it's OC's, I have absolutely no problem with it. Hell, the LittlePip/Homage interaction is one of the most hilarious things in Fo:E! Not to mention, a little cute and funny is desperatly needed in the grimdark that is the Wasteland.
As for actual sex; Whatever works. I prefer the fade-to-black though, unless something that happens during it is critical to the plot. You don't have to go into unneccesary detail about it though. I think there was a Kkat approved short extra about what happened during one of LittlePip and Homages little skits which was a really good piece of writing. I think it's directly underneath the main story on EqD.


@ Kashin;
Agree with you on the name. I usually spend ages coming up with the right name for a character before I settle on one. And once it's settled, it's very rarely changed.
However, the unusual part about this time is that the name got settled before I finished the character. And, it was a male name; that's highly unusual. So now my mind demand this character to be male, even though it was originally planned to be a she xD
As for the male/female sexism thing... I actually haven't thought about that. I will probably write the story as being mainly non-sexist though; it doesn't come naturally to write anything else to me. Might screw around a little bit with it though. Poke fun that so many of the heroes around are female, maybe xD
Ah, well, the majority of people around will probably be mares though. There IS a different gender ratio, after all.

As for your question... Honestly, that depends almost entirely on how well it's written, IMO. The moral event horizon can vary wildly from character to character too. I still haven't come across many (well written) fanfics where stuff is simply too gross to read about though. I remember when LittlePip came across those nasty zombie-rape things near the Maripony base... Ugh. That was seriously nasty; but I thought it was awesome to read about, because it was so well written.

[Kashin]

Oooh! Nifty!
Thanks =D It really helps seeing different color schemes side by side ^^
I think Red will fit well actually. Not sure why though; it's all a part of the "feeling what's right" jig I for some reason has going when it comes to stuff like this. xD
On a sidenote; what program do you use? And is it easy to learn and free to get? (or pirate, for that matter). I don't have any programs myself right now, but I wouldn't mind having one to play around with. Especially if it's possible to draw somewhat respectably well with a mouse on it. I really want to put some ideas onto viritual paper some times xD

Adobe Illustrator (a vector graphics program and probably what is used for the actual show). It is awkward to learn, but once you do, it and the pen tool will be your best friends for life. Though as a note, you don't so much draw in this program as set the start and end points for lines and then tweak their curves until it looks right.

As for your question... Honestly, that depends almost entirely on how well it's written, IMO. The moral event horizon can vary wildly from character to character too. I still haven't come across many (well written) fanfics where stuff is simply too gross to read about though. I remember when LittlePip came across those nasty zombie-rape things near the Maripony base... Ugh. That was seriously nasty; but I thought it was awesome to read about, because it was so well written.

I ask because I am using Dark Heresy as a template for major wounds mixed with a considerable amount of wiki research and floating in the grey on grey moral system so... ya just trying not to turn anyone off.

[The Jack]

Adobe Illustrator (a vector graphics program and probably what is used for the actual show). It is awkward to learn, but once you do, it and the pen tool will be your best friends for life. Though as a note, you don't so much draw in this program as set the start and end points for lines and then tweak their curves until it looks right.


I ask because I am using Dark Heresy as a template for major wounds mixed with a considerable amount of wiki research and floating in the grey on grey moral system so... ya just trying not to turn anyone off.

Dark Heresy... As in WH40k? Hmm. Could we have some examples on major wounds?
Though, honestly, I don't think anything can turn us off unless it's badly written and atleast moderatly realistic. Just look at all the shit that has happened to BJ and her friends. She got gutted... twice! And Glory lost her wing! Rampage got eaten! Repeatedly!
Yeah, as long as you write well I sincerely doubt you'll turn us away with gore. And, I don't think you'll be able to top that anyway.

Also, the program used for the show is Flash. An older version of it too, if I remember correctly.
I might look into that Adobe Illustrator though, depending on how much spare time I have.