MLP conversion Bureau discussion.

Hm. Let me preface this by stating that I am neither a brony, nor a brony hater.

I don't hate MLP. However, I do find fans who practice behavior similar to yours to be very poor representatives of your fandom. Please note that rabid defenders like this are why many people hate MLP. Yes, it may be unfair to judge a series by it's fandom, but it certainly happens.

I simply find the rabid defensiveness and general clogging up of threads with (generally uninteresting) pony pics to be foolish. I have no problems with /interesting/ pony pics or stories stories, but most of the time it simply seems to simply be one more place where ponies are thrown in randomly. It does not help your case.

No, I have no problems with MLP. I don't even have trouble with bronies in general, or even people like yourself, Darth Shinji.

The MLP Fandom is certainly not the only fandom to do this, but it is certainly one of the most virulent. At least, currently.

On the subject of Warhammer...well, it is Spacebattles. I expect to find such things here.

While I'm only vaguely familiar with the thread you're talking about...I do believe the title was "SB Invades an Alien Planet." or some-such title. I...am completely unsurprised by the genocidal notions in that thread.

I'll conclude this little tangent by saying that I'm not actually annoyed or irritated with the MLP fandom. But this sort of behavior will drive people to hate MLP:FiM. You should not be surprised that people do.

Two things:

Item One: Lamprey annihilation. While the assorted threadgoers of SB did create, and ready, several means of xenociding the (probably) harmless aliens in SB's usual style of paranoid lunacy, none were ever used. The other alien artifacts in the system drew more attention, and ongoing diplomatic efforts were proving fruitful.

Item Two: My Warhammer 40k video. I wanted a video of a planet getting bombarded from orbit until it was a smoldering ruin and felt that the Death Star's destruction of Alderaan wasn't appropriate for my mood. That video was the first to come to mind. If there's another one that's comparable, I'll happily use it in the future. In the meantime, fuck yourself and enjoy the pretty 'splosions because I'm not apologizing for it.

So I'm not the only one who was reminded of the Draka and thought they'd be better? The Draka at least don't try to sugarcoat what they do.

WHO DARES SUMMON ME?!

*looks around*

Oh. It's Vel.

Hi, Vel! What's up?

What's going on in this thr--

Yeah, no.

The thread talked about was a fascinating and interesting group/project roleplay/quest thread... More like a collective game then a Quest or BROB, really.

It was called "Tactics: Let's Conquer an Alien Planet."

The SBers in there weren't necessarily genocidal -- they were paranoid, and seeing hints of existential risk. These hints actually had some substance to them.

See, it was a materialistic universe; foamy tried to make it as "hard" science as he could.

See, the SBers had come to the Lamprey's solar system, via STL travel. The hard way; over 40 or 50 thousand years of travel I think?

And about somehow, about 20,000 years into our journey, the Earth's Solar System just... went dark.
The laser we were using to send and recieve messages from Earth and update periodically, gave no updates. All the sattelites and space stations and stuff in the Earth's Solar System were GONE. As if everybody picked up their things, packed up, and just -left-.

When we got the Lamprey's system, we found out that one of the objects in it was too spherical, and had odd density. We nicknamed it "Not-Moon" because it was the size of a moon but clearly artificial in some way.

Then people started freaking out over Inhibitors, Reapers, or Progenitors.

However, we were never going to genocide the Lampreys. We did come up with ways to do so, but only in a "The U.S. military has plans and scenarios both for fighting alien invasions as well as a rebellion by the Girl Scouts" sort of way. It's part of military doctrine to analyze everything that exists, and ask yourself how it could try to kill you, and try to come up with ways to kill it back -- all just in case something happens. I think the U.S. also has/had some plan for invading Canada. Canada f'r christsakes.

The Lampreys did have nukes, BTW, and we only had 1 ship. We weren't that far technologically advanced beyond them, y'know. Several centuries of tech (our spaceship Audacity was launched sometime in the 22nd or 23rd century I think?), versus their 20th-21st century tech. Our main defense would have been that we were in a space ship a good deal outside where they might touch us.

We also would not have needed to come to blows over resources, because we could do spacemining. Frankly, the Lampreys were worth a lot to us, because they were the first sapient life we'd discovered, and because they were interesting because of that uniqueness.

But anyway, point was... There was suspicion and concern and worry over what was going on, both with Earth going silent, and Not-Moon, and some other signs of space stuff being on the Lamprey's planet. (Possibly some comets had crashed into their planet, and life had started in that way, from the comet. But we didn't know.)

Anyway, we were juuust getting to maybe starting an actual diplomatic exchange, but by that time the thread stalled. Several months later, there was a minor update -- and then the thread stalled again. I think TACTICS may have predated the 20-page limit of threads even back when it stalled for the second time. I think it only had gotten a 2nd thread just for it's momentary revival, so as to recapture attention and activity, rather then to meet the 20-page thread limits.

TACTICS is old and long. It was fun to read.

More months later and foamy got banned.

Tactics was well before the 20 page limit as that was confined to the later part of last year.

Can't abide the CB or any universe that shows humans as the devil incarnate and makes any other species Mahatma Gandhi by comparison

If we're shown as dicks fair enough, humans can be utter assholes at times and that's putting it lightly but I can deal with it if the other side is shown to be pretty dickish as well


I was really close to writing my own take on the Conversion Bureau:

Mine would have focused on negotiations between Celestia and the leader of the last holdout of humanity 50 or 100 or 200 years after Equestria appeared and spread across the world. Heads of government of other places would have gone through with the conversion in the hope whatever they've researched would keep their memories and personality intact, it didn't work, so the last King of the UK is now a unicorn Duke in a castle, the last President running a farm in Appleoosa, etc, etc. Their cultures are now long gone, no-one in Equestria knows what a constitution is, they just melted down a big beat up old bell to make new plough blades and Celestia got given a nice new crown some ponies found. The last place would be South America with Brazil being the strongest country left and to better negotiate with the Princess, they revive the Empire of Brazil and designate an Emperor, this last Emperor, Pedro V would be the protagonist. Celestia and Luna don't talk much and can't say much to the humans other than "we're sorry" pegging it as an accident and offering the CBs as a way for humanity to survive in some form

A few years before it was finally discovered that Celestia deliberately sped up the expansion of the barrier so a process that should've moved at the speed of a glacier took place a LOT faster. She did this due to human converts demonizing the human race and Twilight doing research proving the evil of humanity, so Celestia in a bid to protect her little ponies and thinking she knows best, sped it up. By this point it's too late for humanity to do anything, they could never crack magic with the pitiful handful of exiles who left Equestria being unable to teach the humans how one of those exiles was Twilight Sparkle who died when Pedro V was a child, having known the old mare in his final years. Nukes didn't breach the magic barrier nor did other WMDs


The fic would focus on dialogue between Pedro and Celestia who, seeing as humanity is finally nearing its extinction, decides to contact the humans for the first time since Twilight left having broken off all contact for a long time after she woulnd't come back. She makes a final plea for humans to enter the last CB and survive, Pedro retorts that will be akin to committing genocide/suicide with the last chance to save human culture gone forever. Celestia finally begins her boasts and whatnot "you humans are evil, you commit genocide, you pollute the earth, etc, etc", Pedro reveals that knows the TRUTH about why Twilgiht left. Once Celestia began expanding the barrier Twilgiht helped her research how to speed the process up, thinking humanity were on par with the Draka

Then she did more research, she reach about people like Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Raoul Wallenberg, Mbaye Digane, Romeo Dallaire, Wilhelm Canaris and Klaus von Schtaufenberg, heroes who defied brutal regimes to show the good side of humanity in the face of evil and tried to stop some of the most evil men in history. Twilight, as a very smart pony realized that humanity wasn't as evil as the converts made out and appealed to Celestia to stop the expansion of the barrier and find a way to coexist. Celestia reveals she also knows about the good, great aspects of human nature but has decided in her infinite wisdom that humans cannot coexist in the long run and that its better they convert them and get rid of them so as to avoid the threat, in her mind the good doesn't balance out the bad. Twilight can't accept this and nor do the Mane Six, after she tries to turn the Elements of Harmony on Celestia Celestia turns on her, painting her as a traitor to Equestria. Twilight flees to Earth as the only survivor after the others get their minds tweaked and tries to work with the remaining human governments to reverse the barrier from the other side. She fails and dies a broken mare, knowing the extinction of humanity is partly her fault

Celestia has come to the decision that the last humans must be converted by force and that the final expansion will overrun the rump state of humanity. Pedro implores her to spare them form the personality mod and conversion but Celestia refuses, asking instead that the humans accept the end willingly and with dignity. Pedro then says that in honor of Twilight he can't do that and Celestia makes the final push, consuming the Empire of Brazil, the last bastion of humanity, in the barrier.


Later Pedros son, now ponified and a high ranking noble pony, meets with a cabal of other former humans and descendents of ponified humans. It's revealed that the mind tampering didn't take on 1 in 100 converts and over time they've formed the cabal, they decide that you can take away the human form, but that the human spirit can never be erased. They swear to overthrow her over an ancient, faded document bearing several dozen signatures, one reading: John Hancock

This sounds really good.

I would read the shit out of this.

Someone once compared the AAG universe to a "kinder, gentler CB universe." That broek mai brane.

And let me first respond by stating my belief in your objectivity while be determined by the strenght of your points and the validity of your assessments. Proclamations of neutrality have little effect on my judgement on your objectivity.

Allow me to start a hypothetical, lets assume, weather its true or not, not there are people who hate and nerdrage against MLP. As such wouldn't it be a valid tactic of them to claim the above to exuse there attacks on the fandom? Wouldn't it be logical then to demonize them at any chance in order to turn this around into an advantage.

And also another idea, fact is I'm a big fan of lots of fiction on this board, if its popular chances are I am a fan of it and I even pride myself on watching/reading/playing everything i can get my hands on. As such its probable that we are both comprise the fanbase of the same things. In facts its entirely possible if we both went to a con we might unknowingly find ourselves as fellow fans?

As such isn't judging a series or a fanbase based on my actions more than likely make it tantamount to judging yourself? Is it not tantamount to judging spacebattles itself based on my actions. That I myself are just as much a reason for people to hate you? As a fellow rapid spacebattler?

Keep in mind in this particular case its people who generally complained about the fandom that came in unasked. All I responded was too the idea that TCB was somehow an exuse for violent fantasy.

Not stastically no. In fact the only thing that seems to justifiy calling it virulent is that it flies in the face of you and other peoples expectations of what should and should not be here on spacebattles? You seem to not consider other fandoms virus like because you expect them here.

yes you expect it here but then thats about the only difference then is it not? You expect or tolerate it more so you ignore it being here more at least. And well you might not outright dislike it you do find its appearance here anolomous enough to warrant the counting of how much of it is here.

I would also point out another point. While I'll never deny my shortcomings I have also never agreed to one thing. And that is what I say is somehow incorrect and wrong. People here seem fast to hit me with blanket statements that say I'm wrong. But have never actaully debated me to the point of logically pointing out why. In fact most seem to leave responses untouched and let others state how wrong I am, and how even you even seem to use me as an example of how the MLP fandom is in the wrong and have problems.


I would feel that if I was to stoop to the level of my defractors you merely using the word "virulent" is to imply that the series or the fanbase is a virus, a foreign invader that is detrimental to Spacebattles and maybe even the internet at large. That you are in fact pretend to be unbiased to promote an attack on the fandom.

Would you dislike that? Would you feel that is avoidance of the real issues you are trying to present to me? That I'm just avoiding what you really mean to warp you into something your not? So everyone thinks you are in fact a hater and in fact just trying to demean bronies? Wouldn't you think that it would also be dishonest to any honest complaints about the fandom?

Though honestly maybe the point is that expectations are not good enough to judge what should be or shouldn't be in whatever amount someone thinks it should be? You can't just ignore viluent fandoms just because you accept they are going to be here.

Only after the GM basically stated he was going to release God's wraith if they went though with it.

If you think somehow that disproves my points I hate to disillusion you...wait a minute, no I dont!

Its a perfect example of what I was trying to say. If MLP is a virus, then Warhammer is worse than nurgle's testicle rot.

Lets put a little perspective on this whole "well we didn't kill the Lampreys".

ROTFL

It's really that good? I thought it was doing the opposite extreme and painting the ponies as OOC dicks for no good reason

That literally sounds better then any fic I have read before, plus it dosn't paint the ponies as dicks, it paints Celestia as a knight templar.

I like the silver lining at the end. The spark of hope that lingers even after all other human relics have been removed, that the document symbolizing a group declaring their freedom from tyranny is now passed onto those that are worthy to bear it.

That our culture, species, and way of life being destroyed is not enough to remove what makes us human. Our indomitable spirit and unwillingness to give up even when we can't win.

That there can be hope even in the darkest of times is simply inspiring to me as a reader.

Dammit, now I'm going to have to write it...

We will fight, fight, fight for our Freedom!
We will fight, fight, fight to Defend!
We will fight, fight, fight, fight, fight to the End!

That we have no hands doesn't matter!
(Doesn't Matter!)
We will seize our Freedom by the horn!
(By The Horn!)
That we are few is not important!

We will fight, fight, fight for our Freedom!
Even if it costs us our lives!
Though our bodies may crumble to dust!
Our spirit will never die!

Unfinished. I need to complete this eventually.

At first it's like.
When freedom burns,
The final solution,
Dreams fade away and all hope turns to dust!
Then it's like
I will not bow! I will not break!
I will shut the world away!
I will not fall, I will not fade!

I have an idea, just a snippet and not good quality, but a suggestion for what I want to see.

"There had been reports of a hidden human outpost in a remote area in the Canadian forest, many locals still resisted. A non-descript Pony trotted around, "Why do we even have to hunt down these stragglers. It isn't like the humans can stop us." he said with a snort. However they had their orders and the Pony would have to follow them, "Damn humans, never know when to quit" he once again snorted as he walked through the area. Suddenly a small bunker came into view, the pony walked towards it, it looked abandoned; as if they humans there just up and vanished. The Pony felt uneasy as he approached, but he had to check it, they couldn't risk the humans fighting back.

He felt more uneasy as he approached, he could felt as if there was something speaking in his head. He was starting to get even more frightened, but something drew him closer. His companions sensed danger and reared away, something was definitely sinister. Suddenly, the bunker exploded as a large metal tentacle burst out of the ground, and then another, and another, and a metal leviathan rose out of the ground. The pony could feel the voices growing stronger, and stronger, and he collapsed, "OBEY!! OBEY!!! OBEY!!!! OBEY!!!!!!!!!!!" they went. As he looked up at the creature, he felt his mind get subsumed under its immense influence, and he turned to his companions and stared at them with his now lifeless eyes.

The thing then spoke through the assimilated pony, "Foolish Equestrians. Your actions are your undoing"

The Ponies fearfully looked at what was their companion and asked the creature what it was, it laughed a deep, malevolent laugh, "I? I..am a monument to all your sins." The creature then seemingly happy at their fear, "I am the last hope for the future, the last gasp of a dying race. I am the vanguard of your destruction, and their salvation with that destruction."

The Ponies screamed as the creature seeped into their minds and turned them into slaves as well, except for one, one to spread the word, "The Harvest has come."

Too lazy to slog through this thread.

Here's an idea.

Equestria appears on Earth, and its ecosystem and magic start to infect and take over our own, with magic proving to be a slow poison to humans. Through collaboration, some ponies and humans figure out how to make a transformative agent that makes people become ponies (mind rape optional). Some extremist elements of both Earth and Equestria start administering it en-mass.

Celestia, the Mane 6, and most of Equestria are horrified and take every action they can to stop the use of the agent and to curb the expansion of the Equestrian biosphere.

Wait you used the gravemind speech...in a positive light? I am amazed.

That just makes the ponies sound rather racist, which according to canon is still rather in character.

That is good I at least did something right, it was mostly just to put out a concept. In my opinion the Gravemind's speech was cool and raised certain questions, so I combined it with Reaper speech.

Lemme put it this way: if circumstances somehow changed at the last moment that I was RPing Zero, I'd twist the knife in deeper by actually having the abomination genuinely thank Celestia for generating so much pure suffering on a scale it had scarcely conceived as possible in all but its wildest fantasies, all for the sake of her little paradise.

I just love how the "doom to the species" species speech is used in species re-born way, though the mind control is rather weird and comes out of left field.

Some ponies.

Some ponies would go to extremist measures, as well as some humans. The majority would find the situation humanity has been put in completely and utterly terrifying and consider it their fault because it's their ecosystem poisoning Earth.