Jump to content
Banner by ~ Ice Princess Silky

Time Shield

User
 View Profile  See their content

  • Posts

    604

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Time Shield

  1. Time Shield
    Before I address this, let me be on the record that I am intrigued by the thought of finding a way to uplift the intelligence of some animals to the point where we could fully understand each other. (I'd particularly like to know what my cat is thinking.) However, just to be clear about it: in doing so, we wouldn't be understanding the animals anymore; we would be understanding the new animals we created that are more intelligent than the original animals. The mystery of how the original animals think would remain such. Also, we probably wouldn't want to do that on too wide a scale. Uplifting the intelligence of cows, for example, would pretty much guarantee the end of being able to eat beef, and I like beef. Unfortunately, that also means some people would do this specifically to stop others from eating meat anymore.
  2. Time Shield
    We have no idea what Luna did prior to the flashback we saw. She may have caused a lot of suffering in some shape or form before she was confronted by Celestia and turned into Nightmare Moon. This could only make Luna feel more guilty, since it was technically before her full transformation.
  3. Time Shield
    I can't be the only one that couldn't help but snicker at Luna saying, "There is nothing my sister can do." Period. End of sentence. She could easily have added "...to help us," but she didn't. :comeatus:
  4. Time Shield
    I actually liked the name "Time Turner" when I first heard it, although I can see how it's possible that they just couldn't use it since it's something from Harry Potter (it's kind of like how you probably couldn't have a pony named Light Saber either).
  5. Time Shield
    I haven't posted about this in a while, mostly because I haven't really worked on it in a while. I'd still like to though, but I haven't been able to find anyone who can help me with the pony models and animations I need. Alternatively, if anyone knows where I can find animated pony models that work in Unity, I'd really appreciate it if you could let me know. Thanks!
  6. Time Shield
    Read up about 3 posts above yours for my explanation of Moondancer's hair.
  7. Time Shield
    Oh, one other question I had: How many people, after watching this episode, felt a sudden desire to get in contact with old friends?
  8. Time Shield
    I haven't changed any of my favorite characters, because I wasn't around when they were foals. Plus, that's their parents' jobs anyway.
  9. Time Shield
    I'd like to point out a few things for people who were complaining about Moondancer being a "recolor" of Twilight. I have a better explanation that also serves to make the conflict more believable as well. Moondancer was clearly an introvert like Twilight, as shown in the flashback when they were younger. This means that while the others were her friends too, she probably felt closer to Twilight than anyone else. But it goes a little further than that; I think Moondancer actually looked up to Twilight. This is also supported by the book she gave her, thanking her for "introducing [her] to the classics", which implies that Twilight was helping with Moondancer's own studies. So with this in mind, whenever you look up to someone, there's a tendency to emulate them in some way, so it's not a stretch to believe that she began wearing her hair like Twilight as a sign of admiration and respect. She wore her hair this way at least up until the party she threw, per Twilight imagining what happened at her party (she wouldn't imagine Moondancer's hair like that if she wasn't wearing it like that at the time). Now, consider that when we saw her in the present, she wore her hair differently. This is no minor change; this is meant to show us the fact that she no longer looked up to Twilight. After the pony she looked up to most didn't show up for what was the friendliest thing she tried to do, it crushed her, and she didn't want to emulate Twilight anymore. (At least not in appearance; returning to her introverted self was similar to how Twilight used to act, but not directly meant as emulation.) This also explains how come her other friends showing up to her party didn't prevent this change; she was most hopeful for Twilight to show, being the one she identified with the most. Finally, in the very brief scene we see at the end, her hair is back to looking like Twilight's. This, along with everything else I listed above, pretty much cinches it as a symbol of her respect, and a sign that their friendship had indeed returned. tl;dr: Moondancer is not a recolor; she was just trying to emulate the pony she most respected.
  10. Time Shield
    Arguments against it: Obviously there's the fact that they refer to each other as friends several times. However, some see this as just being coy so that they don't draw attention to it. That leads into my second point. They were alone in that scene. What is the purpose of being coy and calling each other just "friends"? But even accepting that that's how they would normally act to each other, that leads into my third point. The scene was calling into question their friendship. Lyra was being faced with the possibility that it was all a lie, which is a seriously emotional moment. Yet, she still calls it a "friendship" herself instead of a more appropriate word like "relationship". There's even less reason for her to be coy in a situation like that. This also relates to my fourth point. Along the same lines, BonBon/Sweetie Drops reassures her by saying, "You're my very best friend". That's the equivalent of saying, "I don't love you, but we can still be friends." I don't know about the rest of you, but if I had serious questions over whether or not my wife/girlfriend actually loved me, having them reassure me by saying that would make me more upset, not reassured, and definitely would not result in the picture we see above. Has no one ever actually had a close friend before? I've known many friends who hug and act close to each other, and I can guarantee you in all situations involved that they were not in a romantic relationship. What you see in the above picture is nothing out of the ordinary between friends who are close to each other. I feel bad for anyone who suggests that you can't be that close without being romantically involved.
  11. Time Shield
    The sword is positioned perfectly to intersect the approaching phantom cat, but just before it strikes, it becomes intangible like the rest, passing through it and landing unhurt on the forest ground. Time Shield notices this and frowns, saying, "This is hardly fair... Any ideas?" Alex, in the meantime, watches the cats carefully from her position in the air; something about the way they're acting is familiar somehow, but she can't quite place it...
  12. Time Shield
    I always figured that they skipped 9 to avoid numbering confusion with 95 and 98.
  13. Time Shield
    I have it added as a tile to my Windows 8 start menu. That's just as instant access as 7. I'll never understand why people are so afraid of the tiles.
  14. Time Shield
    I didn't say they're exactly the same. The similarities they do share serve as a good analogy though, which is all I was trying to do.
  15. Time Shield
    Sure I can. Instincts are the operating system, habits and behaviors are the programming, memory is self-explanatory. The brain even defragments itself while asleep. It works a LOT like a hard drive. So by that definition, if someone were to lose connection with their senses (for example, a brain being separated from the body and being kept alive in a jar), it would cease to become sentient? Besides, with practice, the host can give access to the body's senses to the tulpa, meaning that it CAN be made to feel sensations.
  16. Time Shield
    Hopefully it should. Unity's been pretty good about running on weaker systems in the past.
  17. Time Shield
    I'm aware there are problems with it, hence the "semi-gray areas" I mentioned. I'm no biologist, so I can't give it a proper analysis anyway.
  18. Time Shield
    Maybe it would also help if I address the biological definition of life, basically the elements required for something to be considered 'life': Homeostasis: Regulation of the internal environment to maintain a constant state. This is a difficult one to address because the brain cells that 'host' the tulpa don't require much in the way of regulation. So this one's kind of up in the air. Organization: Being structurally composed of one or more cells. Brain cells, naturally. Metabolism: Transformation of energy by converting chemicals and energy into cellular components and decomposing organic matter. The brain cells still do all this, though not on the same scale as the rest of the body. Growth: Maintenance of a higher rate of anabolism than catabolism. This relates to the last point of Metabolism, but as a kind of parallel, the development of a tulpa undoubtedly causes more brain cells over time to be repurposed to the tulpa until it is fully formed, which is a kind of growth (and actually, a kind of metabolism too). Adaption: The ability to change over time in response to the environment. Tulpas have been known to be nothing if not adaptable, changing frequently over time either by suggestion from the host or its own decision. Response to stimuli: It goes without saying that a fully-formed tulpa can answer a question posed to it, which is a form of stimulus-response. Reproduction: The ability to produce new individual organisms. This is the only one I would have had an issue with, since the host is typically the one responsible for tulpa generation, not the tulpa; however, I do know of at least one instance where a tulpa has created another tulpa on its own, without the host helping (someone else on these forums, actually). They are VERY close to fitting the description of life. There are a few semi-gray areas though.
  19. Time Shield
    That's because there's the argument over whether or not they are actual living beings, whether or not a separate portion of your brain running a personality completely separate from your own could be considered its own separate entity. Because of the nature of it, I think it would be irresponsible to just dismiss it as a disorder before its true nature can be classified. In short, it isn't a mental disorder if the tulpa turns out to actually be 'alive'.
  20. Time Shield
    It's kind of like that, yes. The idea is that with the proper focus, it becomes sentient and can make decisions on its own. The classic test to see if it's reached this point is to tell it, "Surprise me", and if it does something you don't expect, it's a fully-formed tulpa. How this differs from a disorder such as schizophrenia or associative identity disorder is that those are not formed on purpose like a tulpa is. The tulpa only has the capability of affecting whatever you give it the ability to affect, and it can never do things against your will. Finally, unlike a disorder, you can get rid of a tulpa if you really want, by simply ignoring it until it dissipates (though due to the sentience issue, some people consider this akin to murder). I don't like people comparing it to insanity; it's not at all like that.
  21. Time Shield
    The understanding I've always had about it is that it's kind of like a hard drive on a computer being partitioned to run separate operating systems at the same time. They're running on the same hardware, but are still running independent of each other. That doesn't mean their thought processes share any of the same pathways. In fact, I think I even remember someone doing a brain activity scan while having a conversation with a tulpa, and different areas of the brain light up. My question is, how separate do they have to be in order to fit your definition of sentience? For that matter, since mankind is part of the same biological system (Earth), does that mean we don't act independently of each other either? Our actions are influenced by the actions of those around us, after all. This is essentially the same thing but on a smaller scale, isn't it? Try www.tulpa.info for a better description. No, it's not spiritual, and no, it's not at all like a mental disorder. The best way I've heard it described (which I kind of mentioned in a post a few moments ago directed at someone else) is that it's like if your brain were the hard drive of a computer, and you partitioned a portion of it to run a different program (the tulpa) separate from the main program (you). The reason they use "tulpa" is because the concept is similar to something from Buddhist faith; it's just understood now more as a psychological phenomenon instead of a spiritual one.
  22. Time Shield
    I don't want to be one of the hundreds of people that are going to try and correct you. Could you please just read up about it first before immediately dismissing it as such?
  23. Time Shield
    ((Posting for Aurora.)) Having not been able to pacify most of the phantom cats, Aurora moves quickly back away from the conflict, looking over at Alex and realizing that taking to the air as well might be a good idea. She flaps her mechanical wings and rises from the ground, although she still keeps her distance from Alex. She looked over in the direction of the cat that fled the scene moments earlier and considers following it. Time Shield is not armed either, but that doesn't stop him from taking action against the cat that had pounced at Alex. He casts a levitation spell and attempts to just lift the cat into the air to suspend it there; it works at first, but then the cat becomes intangible like the others, and drops out of his magical grasp. Having not had much sleep recently, this action quickly tires him, and he stops to catch his breath.
  24. Time Shield
    Two questions: Are they animated? Do they work in Unity? I ask because I really need some modeling assistance for my next MLP fangame. I was able to get away with having no models in Twilight Escape, but I'll need them for Fluttershift.
  25. Time Shield
    ((For the moment I'll be taking Alex's turn for her.)) Alex takes a hoofstep back away from the phantom cats, since she is not armed. She considers taking to the air if necessary but gets ready to dodge if she's attacked. This is indeed what happens in the next instant. One of the remaining four phantom cats leaps towards Beraha, who is ready with his staff. He swings it, and it would have been a successful strike had the cat not became intangible the instant before it struck. This means its pounce also carried it through Beraha harmlessly to land behind him. One of them also leaps for Alex, but she is prepared and takes to the air, just barely dodging its pounce. The cat that Hidden had attacked remains intangible and paces slowly, keeping its eyes on him. The remaining tangible cat pounces directly for Wilhelm, slashing with its claws. ((Roll Dodge; it's located in the middle of the sheet under Encumbrance, and since you are not encumbered, it should be a 7 for you.))
×
×
  • Create New...