Quinch

I would have... the executioner.

Thank you for writing this. While it may not have been what you were aiming for, I image it took some bravery to put your feelings out in the open like this. In all honesty, though, I don't really think that the way you obsess over things - at least the way you describe it - is really bad, or at least harmful. You seem to go to lengths for Starlight-related things, sure, but none of them put you or others in danger. Sparkleplay1234, maybe because due to you, maybe not, might have pulled back, but not pushing them in spite of it implies a degree of respect for the person that a lot of obsessive people don't demonstrate. Overall, I wouldn't worry about kicked out of the forums. You seem nice and thoughtful, and if you are an emotional mess, I rather think you're in good company here. -winks- If you do ever need someone to talk to, let me know. I'm no good for psychological advice, but I like to think I'm an okay listener.

Overall, I think the usual error with trying to deal with the Fermi paradox isn't space - it's time. Whether planets exist that can support life in our galaxy is a non-question, answered by sheer brute force statistics. There might even be planets or satellites that support life in our immediate stellar neighborhood, if not the very solar system. There might even be planets that have life. So what? The thing is, we tend to conflate "life" with "civilization", and while you certainly can't have the latter without the former, there's a major difference between algae and spaceships. According to an admittedly lazy search, the first cells as we know them kicked off about two billion years ago. Reptiles showed up about 350 million years ago, then mammals 160 million years ago. Hominids showed up on the scene a whopping two and a half million years ago and, let's be generous, we've had civilization in some form or another for the past ten thousand years. So, if we assume a roughly same rate of evolution and development as Earth, there'd be about one in two hundred thousand chance that we'll hit upon someone at roughly same level of evolution as ourselves, and that goes the same for any alien civilization looking for someone like us. If we find a planet that has life on it, odds are that it will be nothing more than self-replicating organic soup. Maybe there'd be some simple organisms. But, speaking on that scale, the moment sentience and selection pressure through social structures thought start to develop, a species has become a civilization and will either have destroyed itself, transcended such simplistic concepts as space exploration or developed to such Lovecraftian degree that beings on our technological and biological level are not meaningfully different than the aforementioned algae and worth about the same amount of curiosity. So, in short, there is life out there and it is either uninteresting, or uninterested.

Huh, that's pretty cool. Even though it's just a work in progress, it does a pretty good job of, for lack of a better word, representing the tree, at least visually.

Would this be a bad time to say that I think that Fallout 2 is by far the worst of all the Fallouts? {except possibly Tactics, I need to get around to playing that one}

I'd go with Bioshock. After finally trying it out to see what the hype is, the biggest plot twist I was expecting was the game would turn out not to be so bland and predictable. My expectations were... Disappointed.

In all honesty, while the rhythm is good, in this form, to me the song unfortunately feels very monotonous. While your foundation is solid, because the song depends so much on the flute, it also requires a great deal more embellishment and detail in its sounds. In a lot of places, the notes of identical pitch actually blend together. I would recommend adding variations in the timing and duration of the notes, followed by embellishments in actual notes. In my experience, in any given instrumental piece, because one lacks words, with their own intonations and sub-rhythms, instruments have to be that much more expressive to carry the same level of impact.

Hey, congratulations! I don't remember if we ever talked, but from your posts you seem like a cool dude.

"Childhood." "Call Of Duty." Welp. -goes to grab his cane and rocking chair-

Hmmm, depending on who you're talking to. Rainbow would probably try to pump her for useful information. Fluttershy would probably just keep her distance at the beginning. Pinkie Pie would try to make her feel welcome because Pinkie Pie. Applejack would probably offer help with settling in, but keep on her horsetoes for shenanigans anyway. And Rarity would probably still welcome her, but might throw a fit if rebuffed by grumpiness.

All right, consider me hyped. However it turns out, it looks like you're coming out strong. PS: I'd be up for helping with voice acting, but with no experience and no high-quality mike, I'm not sure what I'd be able to contribute.

Still by far my favorite melody.

Pretty much all of Battle Bugs.

So, here's a question - if one wanted to learn another language on their own, not necessarily well enough to speak like a native, simply... "good enough", what would be the most efficient way to do it?

I like it. It's eerie and spooky, but I feel like it lacks a certain... either complexity, or simplicity, one or the other. I'm not a music expert, but that's the best I can describe it.

...is a lonely business. For anyone interested, I'll be doing a reading of Ray Bradbury's novel of the same name this Sunday evening {or thereabouts, depending on where in this nonsensical world you are}. If it goes well, I might make a weekly event of it. Here's a convenient countdown. {edit: Apparently the countdown was being a stupid, so hopefully this should work?} I'm also very much open to suggestions of actual MLP fiction - short one-shots would be preferable to start off with, but I wouldn't be averse to gradually working into longer pieces. Personal preference includes light drama and slice of life kind of stuff - maybe a bit of adventure as well, but given the time I'll be reading at, stuff that requires... excitement to convey properly might be a bit inconvenient for my household. I'm not much into violent stories or romance, so it's pretty unlikely I'd accept those. See you soon, I hope!

Hot Fuzz? "Gentlemen. You can't fight in here. This is the War Room!"

So.... be careful what permissions you grant and don't just click "yes" on everything?