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Ashbad

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Blog Entries posted by Ashbad

  1. Ashbad

    Goodbye, All

    By Ashbad,

    Well, I have been gone from the site for a month or so now, so I'd might as well confirm it: I've basically left the community. Fun time while it lasted, now it's time to move on. Good luck to all that remain. You can keep in touch with me on https://twitter.com/TheAshbad and https://www.facebook.com/theashbad .
  4. Ashbad
    Oh, you seriously just clicked this to find out how to get more of these valuable "brohooves"? They mean that much to you? Why do they, exactly?
     
    Perhaps you think you'll been seen as a cooler person if you get more. Perhaps you think there's a magic ratio that once you overcome it ( 1:1.5 posts:brohooves, for example) that you'll become a moderator or get a "special" forums rank. Perhaps your goal is to become a top-20 poster and make page one of this list: http://mlpforums.com/members/page__sort_key__posts__sort_order__desc__max_results__20
     
    Well, as someone with both a high ratio that is above 1:1.5, a modest amount of posts, and a staff position, I'm here to tell you that in my opinion, you're going about things in a very wrong way. But how?
     
    First of all, brohoof ratio means nothing. Zip. Nada. It's the amount of times that people thought you were a cool person, and that's virtually as far as it extends. It doesn't mean you're a better person, it doesn't mean you're going to get a staff rank (as far as I can say from basic observation), and it doesn't mean you're superior to others with a lower ratio.
     
    Secondly, post count means little as well. It's the amount of times you typed text into a text input box, and pressed a button called "post". Becoming a top poster just means you're good with typing and pressing buttons. It doesn't mean you're more committed to the forums than others, it doesn't mean you're a more respectable person than others, and it MOST DEFINITELY does not mean that you post quality information.
     
    So, of course, human nature is to set silly achievements such as "I want to have at least this much of a ratio", and it's hard to pretend that's a completely dismissed thought. It's admittedly fun to see that people laughed or agreed with what you said, but once you realize that it means little more than that, you'll start spending less time obsessing over your ratio. How can you make it a fun side-effect to the MLPForums experience, rather than the experience itself?
     
    Post quality posts. Don't post for the point of increasing your post count for the day, nor to whore around and get brohoofs. Post when you really have something to contribute to the thread. Were 50% of the forums' members to do this, there would be far less bans, significantly less drama, and a jolt in productivity. I like to point out who I see as "quality posters" all the time, and my normal example is Scootacool. Yeah, I'll use him for an example again. He doesn't post 20 times a day, but when he posts, you can expect a quality post! Some may snicker and call these quality posts "TL;DR, WALL OF TEXT", but these posts are the very lifeblood of the community!
     
    I hope those who read this will consider in the future to NOT post-whore or brohoof-whore, but post quality content. Brohooves and popularity surely follow.
  5. Ashbad

    Forums Drama Pokey!

    By Ashbad,

    It's like the pony pokey, except, not as fun.
     
    You put opinions in,
    You take your anger out,
    You put your rage back in,
    And you post a couple flames!
    You do the drama pokey and you tantrum and you pout,
    That's what it's all about!
     
    You put some hatemail in,
    You take some warnings out,
    You put a leave thread up,
    And you make a couple threats!
    You do the drama pokey and you give a little shout!
    That's what it's all about!
     
    You make a comment here,
    You make a bad post there,
    You mock a user here,
    And act like a rabid bear!
    You make an angry status and fight mods for a bout!
    That's what it's all about!
     
     
    I should go back to studying for my AP Chemistry test.
  7. Ashbad
    So, I've been working on a clopfic. Okay, I spent 45 minutes shoving one together. An unfavorable topic I was dared to write for: a Twilight x Shining Armor clopship. I thought I was in for a very awkward first fanfic -- yeah, this is my first time writing fanfiction, or really any fiction outside of English class.
     
    Two hours after it hit the front page of FimFiction: 78 thumbs up, 3 thumbs down. For a TwixShining ship. One of the most despised ones in existence. 110 faves. Obviously I'm doing something right, where over 95% of people enjoy my fantasies set between two siblings, very taboo (and I'm not even very into this ship myself, honestly.)
     
    I probably can't link it ('dem rules), but on FimFiction, it's called "My Big Brother, Blood Ties Forever". My handle is the same there as here. If you go looking for it, tell me if you enjoy it or not!
  8. Ashbad
    Still juggling the TF2 server, my own hobbies, tons of schoolwork and studying, and working out the details for a new feature of MLPForums, but... Fanfiction writers who enjoyed the MLPForums 500 Word Fanfic Challenge, you might be squealing for joy soon over more contests. No information to be given yet, but by October things should be settled.
  10. Ashbad

    A Focus on Imagery

    By Ashbad,

    I've been working on Chapter 3 of BBBTF, and I've decided to ramp up my linguistics a bit to make it stand out as an improvement. Over 200 people have now favorites the story, and the like/dislike ratio is at 134:6. I want to give people a justification for their generous ratings and genuine interest. Have a snippet of Ch.3.
     
    Morning drifted in, replacing the beauty of the night with the brilliantly orange-hued skies of dawn.  Twilight awoke; the sun had penetrated the glass of her windows, blaring its intense beams over her sleeping figure.  She slothfully raised her dry hoof over her face, denying the rays an offensive against her eyes.  
     
    Twilight trudged towards the door, entering the hallway.  A lovely shade of pink flushed her cheeks as her hooves confronted a sticky liquid; her evidence of the previous night's sin.  She plodded down the stairwell and into the kitchen, tracking her iniquitous fluids across the carpet the entire journey.  She grated her hind hooves on the welcome mat, pulled out a chair at the nearby kitchen table, and sat down to eat the meal her mother had prepared for her.  She gawked at it lazily: a daisy salad paired with a side of honey-smothered hay.
     
    Still working out kinks, but I hope my effort with more advanced imagery usage is seen as an improvement.
  11. Ashbad
    Of course, please first read my blog post over at FimFiction: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/63077
     
    Then do a little jig or something, I dunno. Just read what I posted there, and then possibly speculate about why Twilight is best pony and if I should devote myself to said fanfic over the next year in the comments below.
  12. Ashbad
    Crosspost from my FimFiction blog: http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Ashbad
     
     
     
     
    Well, seems my very first fanfic is actually doing well. Well, as in, by the time I finish it it'll probably end up as a featured story. Who would've ever known a ClopShipping between Twilight and Shining Armor could ever do so well, or even do well at all? The most encouraging part of it all is that Chapter 1 attracted 100 favorites overnight (literally), yet it was done in 45 minutes or so with little revision. Chapter 2 had an hour or two more spent on it, but that's admittedly still just carrots and peas when it comes to time spent writing something successful.
     
    In all honesty, I want this fic done and out of the way by this weekend; I'm far less than enjoying writing it. Some would disagree, but I don't feel that clop is my strong area. Were I giving BBBTF more thought than I am right now, I could've developed it into a far more heated, stickier romance story. Alas, I can't drive myself to do this. I feel guilty writing it. I can't force myself to write it anytime before midnight or after I wake up, when hormones are running rampant. It just doesn't sit well with me. Were it less popular, I'd drop it now. However, the hardness of many "stallionhoods" are in limbo, and I can't simply dissolve the erotic suspense I've built up on a whim.
     
    Expect Chapter 3 to be done sometime early tomorrow, noon at the latest. I'm debating whether the story will have 4 or 5 chapters; I'll write a large blob of text after Chapter 3, and if I feel the need to split off a chunk at the end, post the former part as Ch.4, and expand the last bit to be Ch.5, I'll do it. Otherwise, it'll likely be only 4 chapters.
     
    Once this is done, I'm going to start on my far more serious planned story, one I've been thinking over for a while now. Not clop, but will contain a few love elements. Mostly adventure. Starring some adolescent mares and stallions. Self-discovery ensues.
     
    Yeah, it's going to be a serious story, but I'm not in the mood to write out a 1000+ word plan of what the storyline will contain -- that's a surprise! If you enjoyed Big Brother, Blood Ties Forever for its writing style, you're going to love this story; instead of 1000 word chapters with ~2 hours behind each one, there will be a dozen or so (obviously, I can't sanely calculate a chapter count just yet) 5000+ word chapters with at least two dozen hours' worth of work and revision behind each.
     
    Far less concise, more imagery, better characterization, and most importantly: I'll thoroughly enjoy writing it, so you'll see a lot more of my heart and soul dumped into it than with BBBTF
     
    Cheers, to my plans and shit like that!
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