MLP-MSP 2015 Ultimate Brony Photo Contest

I’m posing with my Twilight Sparkle collection to enter into the MLP-MSP 2015 Ultimate Brony Photo Contest.

My MLP-MSP 2015 poster, made with Comipo! manga maker.

My first attempt at an advertisement for MLP-MSP 2015!

Happy Holidays 2014!

The top photograph was taken on the DM Christmas Bungalow map by Modestyiswimpy.  The bottom photo was taken on a skywalk above Duluth Second Street looking west towards Historic Central High School.

Answering the critics of the adult pony fandom

“Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write.”

-  John Adams

Question, who are ponies for?

I wish you all a happy and safe Halloween / Nightmare Night!

Blue ribbon image created by:

http://gallery.yopriceville.com/Free-Clipart-Pictures/

Spiffy celebrates with cake and tea!

Note:  I made my title logos using “Cool Text”.

http://cooltext.com/

Spiffy returns to Canterlot!

The real Larry Hunt wrote:  ‘flyers high’... very cool.

Spiffy explores the mine!

My optimistic and cheerful attitude contributes to my ongoing success as an artist.  I've never encountered even one successful artist who has a pessimistic and cynical attitude.

Spiff’s great escape

Speaking from my own point of view as a creator and as a consumer, the stories that I write and read are better with ponies.

Spiffy held captive in a mine

One of the best ways to keep writing is to develop a sense of humor and laugh to your typos.

Spiffy trips an evil magical trap spell

Could this Princess Cadance be an evil imposter?

A prelude to “A Canterlot Wedding”

One of my more insightful readers has asked me to show them how my comic fits into the continuity of the cannon television series.  I realized this oversight was a mistake in my narrative.  For those who don’t know, chapter five is happening during the prologue of the “A Canterlot Wedding” episode.  Spiffy got his wedding invitation on the same day that Twilight and her friends got their wedding invitations.

Princess Celestia sends a letter to Ambassador Hoosier

Princess Celestia gives a trophy to Spiffy

It took me two hours to get the Sun Princess’s horn to glow as it does on the TV series.  But, the image is well worth the work I put into making it.

I make my comic with “Garry's Mod” and “ComiPo!” with imagine editing by the “PaintShop Pro” program.

Original Angry Cab Story Copyright © 2014, James Patrick Buchanan

My Little Pony:  Friendship is Magic, Copyright © Lauren Faust, DHX Media, and Hasbro Studios

Cheerilee and Spiffy talk

My University of Minnesota college creative writing professors told me that the more fantastic your story is, the more believable your character’s emotions should be.

I would add that if you are writing fantasy and science fiction, you should be able to take out all the fantasy and science fiction elements and still have an entertaining story.

The real Larry Hunt told me that he liked my new comic.

In an e-mail Larry wrote, “Very cool! I like the mixture of mystical & mundane.”

Chapter Five: Luna’s moon over Larry Hunt / Spiffy van Hoosier

I’m disappointed with my long delay between posting chapters.  I have written a long story that I hope to have published soon.  I hope you enjoy reading chapter five as much as I enjoy writing it.

Princess Twilight Sparkle cutout

I bought my Princess Twilight Sparkle cutout during MLP-MSP.  This cutout’s original price was fifty dollars.  But, at the last few hours of the last day of the convention I bought it for thirty dollars.

My friend Kathy and I had a great time at MLP-MSP.  For a first year con, it was very entertaining.  You can find out more about MLP-MSP at:

http://mlp-msp.com/

Pony Personality Test

This test can be found here:

http://www.bronyland.com/pony-personality-test/

As you can see, my test results showed me that I’m most like Twilight Sparkle!  Please take this test to find out which of the central, generation four ponies you are most similar to.

Questions for my loyal readers

Intermission

Thus, James starts his pony adventure!

My offline readers like my footnotes.  They told me to add these to the end of each following chapter.  Chapter footnotes are an effective way to give the reader information that would be difficult to include within the comic.

What is the reason why I love My Little Pony:  Friendship is Magic?  I’m drawn to stories that feature friendship, inclusion, and tolerance rather than hostility, exclusion, and prejudice.  This is why I love games like D&D that encourage players to create and then run a diversity of fictional characters who have different skills and talents.

James’s questions, Larry Hunt / Spiffy van Hoosier’s Response

The more I practice my artistic skills the better I am at creating my art.

Now, I need to find a way to make the transition from amateur artist to professional artist.

For your information, Midnight Blossom is an original character that is often a protagonist in mature pony stories.  As I’m keeping my comic family friendly, Midnight will not be doing anything not found in the cannon franchise. 

Three observations

First, I would have liked to have expanded on Larry’s flight training.  But, my test static shots of fictional Larry flying in the sky with his Pegasi posse and having hard landings were neither that exciting nor informative to the reader.

If I can ever get Source Filmmaker to work on my computer, I’ll attempt making a short movie based on Larry’s flight training.  Anyone know of any public domain music that would be a good fit for this?

Second, for the top right panel shot of Larry flying alongside the mirror, I put a platform next to the mirror.  Then, I put Larry’s ragdoll on the platform, and posed it, keeping his back straight.  Keeping the ragdoll’s back straight, while in the air was next to impossible for me to do.

Then, I removed the platform with the physics gun and put the platform off camera.  I could have made it invisible with the tool gun or deleted it with the delete tool.

Third, I intend to keep my comic family friendly.  I consider it a challenge to keep my story suitable for children, while keeping adults entertained.  My Little Pony:  Friendship Is Magic writers are able to do this and I intend to do the same.

The Good, the Bad, and the Oddball

This page is a transition back to fictional Larry’s story.

Sharp-eyed readers have noticed that I've improving my figure posing, while using colored lights to set different moods.  Some readers tell me that my art style reminds them of the psychedelic posters of the 1960s.

Sometimes, some Garry's Mod maps I use don’t allow for shadows to be cast by ragdolls and map props.  I wish someone would make scalable, shadow textures in Garry's Mod similar to those found in ComiPo! and similar programs.

Level Three

Due to offline readers’ requests, I’m using these pages to explain what is happening in my fictional universe.  Granted that these explanations, such as the WASS gift shop operating within an abandoned smoking lounge, makes sense to my mind.  If you have any questions about my comic, feel free to post these as a comment.

             

In part, I’m making this comic to showcase to potential employers that I can learn how to use a number of different software programs.

I’m pleased that many people tell me that they find my comic entertaining, considering that it started out as an advertisement.

I’m still reading Fallout: Equestria - Project Horizons.

So far, my favorite character is the dark blue, winged unicorn named Lacunae.  Of all the main characters, I can most relate to Lacunae’s social awkwardness and quiet personality.  I’m hoping that a skilled 3D modeler would make a Garry's Mod ragdoll based on Lacunae, her black lace dress, and her Gatling gun weapon.

My second favorite character is Scotch Tape.  I can sympathize with her quest to find her cutie mark, her special talent.  Scotch’s fears of getting an undesirable cutie mark and her earning an awesome one instead is by itself a good reason to read this novel.

My third favorite is Pain Train, a Minotaur with an attitude.  The epic battle between Blackjack and Pain Train is fun to read.

A warning to any prospective reader:  This novel is even darker that the original Fallout: Equestria.

Base Commander Hayate Anderson needs cheering up

My character models are small to show that they are within a large structure.  Also, this page is designed for web viewing, to allow my viewers to zoom in to take a close look at the character’s expressions.

The rain cloud over Hayate’s head, the umbrella over Abigail’s head, and the musical note over Angry Cab’s head are to show their emotional states.

Moreover, I’m still learning how to show my characters interacting with each other.  Showing Hayate and Abigail holding hands is a great way for me to improve my graphic design skills.

A day in the life of Base Commander Hayate Anderson

I’m going take a break from the main story to spend some pages developing characters other than Larry.

Commander Anderson is surprised by the WASS secrets she has found with her upgraded security clearance.  WASS administrators have put much trust in Commander Anderson to keep their secrets safe.  How will she handle that additional responsibility?

An unexpected turn of events!

“There are many who are living far below their possibilities because they are constantly handing over their individualities to others.  Do you want to be a power in the world?  Then be yourself.”

-  Ralph Waldo Trine

The good news is that in the laboratory of Star Swirl the Bearded, Trixie found an ancient spell to return Larry to his human form.

The bad news is that the magic that transformed Larry into a pony needs to be transferred to a willing human so that Larry can become a human again.

Created thousands of years ago by skilled Unicorns, this spell was designed for humans (that become ponies) that were unhappy living their lives as ponies to return to being humans.  Thousands of years ago on fictional Larry’s Earth, there were many human volunteers who wanted to become magical ponies.  Thus, finding willing recruits was not a problem.

If you were Larry, would you return to being a human at the cost of another human’s humanity?

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Real Larry’s reaction to a possible Fluttershy and fictional Larry romance was this.

“Regarding Romance: love (committed love) is not "lighthearted love interest"... and needs no defensive explanation.”

“Regarding moral dilemmas and other plot lines: I enjoy a complex story that mirrors the messiness of real life.”

The real Larry had this comment about this page.

“Messy, messy, messy!  That means good.”