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Whatever it is you feel when you realize that you are alone in your struggles. It's not that I don't have friends, it's that they're either not available or have enough on their own plate to deal with. I have to become strong, functional and as self-sufficient as possible or I will never get anywhere.

More distracting than scary.

You're kind of a new face. Late as it may be, welcome to MLP Forums and hope you'll grow to like it here.

Colorful

Since you're talking about forums, I suppose that leaves out Twitter and Skype (both being alt accounts specifically for brony stuff). I tried that once but I haven't felt comfortable about it so I switched it back. Now I'm thinking about having a non-pony avatar here...

Ah yes, the trailer. What I'm really curious about is what Princesses Celestia and Luna have to say about this. Hard to tell whether or not the two really understand what's going on. Maybe they know what's happening and are just waiting for everyone to be on the scene before they start to explain things or maybe they have questions of their own. It's difficult to say so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZnWabFv1x8

It'd be nice if Shining Armor and Princess Cadence got some characterization but I think that might be asking for too much. We'd definitely need to see the CMC start their new journey. It'd also be nice to see how SS and DT relate to the new CMC. Starlight Glimmer... She'll be her narcissistic self. It's just that her narcissism will be aligned differently.

Very interesting point about Starlight's depiction as a narcissist. They're definitely people you want to be careful with. Those who've actually gone through abuse at the hands of a narcissist will give a very detailed account. With season 6 just on the horizon, we'll have to wait and see what becomes of her character. Given the execution of her reform in the season finale, I dare not hope this was thought out as thoroughly as it should be. On the flip side, in the season 4 premiere, Twilight's flight mastery got retconned so maybe we'll see Starlight off to a rough start. Who knows? Will be looking forward to part 2.

@@Treble Bolt, This is where we met and I'm very happy to be friends with you. It's always interesting to talk to you when we do get the chance. @@Winterbass, Even though we may not agree on some things, I still feel like I could learn a lot from you if I just listen. Not to mention, thank you for putting up with me in my low points. @@Antidaeophobia Where do I even begin with you? XD Is it okay if I keep it simple and say that you're a positive influence on me? @@The Mane-iac Just wanted to give you a shout-out. I really like having you as a friend and I wasn't going to leave you out, buddy. Not a chance. @@Wingnut I won't forget those times you lend an ear to me. Don't think I haven't noticed you being there when I wrote status updates indicating being upset. Honestly, I don't think I've given you the appreciation you deserve. @@Sugar Cube You struggle and find yourself in troubling circumstances but you press on. We may not talk much but you are one of those members I'll remember fondly whenever I think of this place.

I'm rather ambivalent to this and it's curious that the type of women that get drawn to me or that I get drawn to are usually not the type to want children. If it were purely up to me, I'd say yes IF we can afford to raise a family. If we're just going to be chronically-stressed parents for any reason whatsoever then I would advise against it. Said reasons may include our own psychology as well as our economic stability. Parents who are emotionally stressed and fragile will only pass on their misery to their children. This is how trauma is passed down from one generation to the next and that just won't do. Or my partner doesn't want kids and that'll be the end of that.

I used to blog about personal struggles and whatever interesting ideas that popped into my head and got fleshed out but stopped when I realized that nobody gave a ****.

I have put pics of myself on here but I haven't in a long time. It's probably been two years since I last did that. Most of my pics that are on the internet are from Facebook and none of them are uploaded by me. It's always the friend or the family member who took said pic.

Believing that this fandom is somehow special. Apart from ponies, I'd be hard pressed to find reasons to say that this fandom is even unique, let alone special. This has to go. Believing that this fandom is made up of good people. Absolutely not. Some of the biggest assholes I've ever met have been or are still bronies. "Love and tolerance." Four years into the brony experience has me convinced to take great care of who you call "friend." There are some very awesome people in this fandom but they are like specs of diamonds scattered across filthy tar and barren sand. Honestly, if the fandom was as "good" as was hammered into me, four years into it would not leave me this salty. So yeah, much of my gripe has to do with putting this fandom on a pedestal. I will speak very fondly of the good friends I've made from within this fandom but taken as a whole, this fandom is anything but deserving of such praise. At best one can say that this fandom is just that -- a fandom. Nothing more, nothing less, with and without the joys, the heartaches and the dangers coming with being part of any other fandom. After all, fandom are made up of people and more often than not, people suck.

At the cusp of puberty, I would think. That'd place him at 12 years at the oldest. Presumably, the CMC weren't born yet when Spike was born and with the CMC appearing to be 8 or 9 years old, Spike being 10 or 11 sounds pretty reasonable.

I could use some assistance but must ask that this discussion be kept private. It concerns control over one's body.

Partly much the reason why I've been thinking about becoming fit, taking up martial arts and maybe even weapons training. If I am self-sufficient, I cannot feel threatened from facing being disowned because "I don't need them". It makes it much easier to consider such people as nothing but baggage and I do like to travel light. By definition you are vulnerable when you are your authentic self and eventually all of us learn that vulnerability is punished in a socially hostile or toxic environment. Lacking vulnerability and having self-sufficiency is comforting in such an environment as it gives you a sense of security and protection. Thinking about it, the vision of true social justice appears to include a world where everyone can be open and vulnerable. I really like the concept, I wish we do live in such a world and believe it is worth fighting for but again and again I am reminded that people suck. Good people are incredibly rare, like precious gems in a world of ash and sludge mixed with the plain sand and rock. I must find ways of protecting myself from those that wish to do me harm. When you live in a world with monsters, its hard not become one yourself in some shape or form.

Intermittent renewable energy combined with energy storage is something that's been on my mind a lot lately. I've already come to the conclusion that renewables are better at displacing fuel (be it fossil fuel, nuclear fuel or bio-fuels) than displacing capacity. That being the case, they seem better suited for complementing the existing electricity infrastructure rather than replacing it. I've come across startups that sell hybrid electricity systems that include wind/solar + advanced batteries + diesel such as Interpower. I'm sure I can come forth with more startups if I take the time to look for them. With such a hybrid system you get better reliability than you would with a regular diesel-only system with the added bonus of not just displacing fuel from the addition of wind or solar but also save on maintenance due to the diesel generator being set to operate only at optimum efficiency and stop once the battery is full. The lower operating times also give a nice window of time to do maintenance without having to cut the power. It's a neat system that works well and it isn't the first one I've come across. But what if this could be scaled up? Some power plants work better when they give out a steady and continuous stream of electrical power into the grid and not fluctuate much in output (particularly nuclear). These tend to give the highest fraction of energy over time that their capacity will allow but every once in a while, you need to perform maintenance on the generators and whatever's driving them. Having a large battery charged with solar or wind power could give you the option of having that battery give power in the stead of the generator that's undergoing maintenance and you're also displacing fuel in doing so -- that's two birds with one stone. Of course, you could also just unload the energy in the batteries and displace fuel so as to empty the batteries for the next batch of renewable power. Having that stored energy also comes in handy if for any reason at all one of your generators break down and need immediate repair. Of course, the million dollar question is whether or not such a set-up is economically viable. I don't know at this point.

It did for a while but that was before the fandom got to me. The show inspired me with hope and got me to give people another chance but the fandom did well to beat that into a bloody pulp just barely pulsating with what life it has left. To say that the fandom has been a letdown would be quite the understatement. People are rotten to the core but there are rare gems to be found scattered behind this heap of waste we call humanity. You must have a careful eye because making a mistake on who you call friend could cost you dearly. https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xft1/v/t1.0-9/12348057_10153843164878442_1578037397609446090_n.jpg?oh=0af68c7d4b1e142c7e7fd4edd232d2e1&oe=57466866&__gda__=1463663252_8e262229072f940627d30b7ef20ccfd0

"Conservative" and "Liberal" are very loaded terms, aren't they? Personally I would prefer the term "progressive" because there's too much about the status quo that needs changing and the only thing worse than that is going backwards. To me, "regressive" is a term used to insult someone. To me, Iceland seems like the closest thing to "utopia" on this planet. Violence is so rare that the BBC wrote an article about it. No joke. Their electricity is fossil-free thanks to their geothermal and hydro-electric resources. I've even contemplated moving there. If I had to pick my poison between the Conservative and Liberal, I would definitely pick liberal. Let's just say that conservatives have a reputation that they continue to trump.