I have a story recommendation for you folks today!

Are you fond of dragons?  Mystical entities?

Broken Wings, Scattered Dust (Click Me!) is my recommendation.
There's so much more there than just what I have said.

Written by Melionos (AKA Bluesparks), the same author behind the story 'Black and White' (find that > here <)!

It doesn't look that bad from the trailer.
I'm not going to link it here.

I don't have super high hopes but I won't count Equestria Girls out.

"Hey Valcron how about those commissions"
OHJEEZE I NEED TO GO DO LOTS OF LAUNDRY ON THE PHONE.  ON THE PHONE RIGHT NOW BRB.

THEY'RE NOT OPEN.
YET.

Long story short:  I'm piss poor right now.  I recently afforded a new phone from a new service in an effort to save myself money in the long run.
IN THE SHORT RUN it kind of emptied my bank account to very dangerously low levels.
I haven't had this low of money in forever.

I have a current project I'm working on for a local friend.  After that?  I may open commissions again.  I need some funds and I am not gonna ask for them.  I'll work for them, happily!
Admittingly I have had the worst of times as of late coming up with things to draw.
I have a idea for three posters I want to do and have available as prints for TrotCon, but they may have to wait.  Time is ticking.
Perhaps that means I'll be able to actually focus on commissions and get more done.

I will update someday when I know for sure if/when I want to open commissions.  I'll probably be a bit more lax with what I will/will not accept.  It all depends on the sales pitch.  I may not care as much about the sales pitch either due to needing funds.

Get your ideas ready.
But not too ready.
Get them slightly ready.

As an aside if you're in the US and need a new phone/new plan that doesn't have a contract for $23 bucks a month for unlimited everything (talk, text, and data!), lemme know.  I can hook you up.  Possibly.

Okay guys and girls and porcupines.  Get your conspiracy caps on because it's THEORY TIME.

WHAT TIME IS IT?
9:14 P.M.

THE BASIC THEORY IS: a pretty standard one.
CELESTIA IS AN 'EVIL' MASTERMIND WHO WANTS TO KEEP EQUESTRIA UNDER HER RULE FOREVERR.
(Holy crap I can bold things by hitting ctrl+B.  DeviantArt, you're amazing!)

SO THE THEORY finally came after I was listening to this song: [link]

It got me thinking about season 3's finale and Celestia.

The spell Starswirl started on ... One that seemingly mixed up cutie marks/destinies ...
Seems awful convenient as a spell to stop anyone who might try to abuse the power of the Elements of Harmony right?
A simple mix up would completely eradicate the usefulness of the EoH's current owner(s).
Any new owners that came about could easily be cursed with the same spell.  It was something only very powerful magical creatures could cast, so it was safe from the every day unicorn.

What if Celestia actually is a tyrant?  Someone who has been doing everything in her power to STAY in power for all these years?

Starswirl knew power could go to a ruler's head.  Having the EoH as a personal weapon could only make it worse.  This spell he created was meant to disrupt that power in the event of abuse.

Celestia did everything in her power to create a counter spell once she learned of Starswirl's spell.  Nothing worked.  She needed someone with an outside perspective that could work on the spell with more dedication since Celestia was simultaneously trying to run a kingdom.
(It is also worthy to note that her inability to create a counter spell likely was solidified once she lost control over the EoH after the defeat of Nightmare Moon.  She had a chance when her and Luna were both in harmony.  That chance was lost once Celestia's own harmony was disrupted with the banishment of her sister.)

It took 1000 years of searching; but finally one pony came along that Celestia felt could help her.
Twilight became a pawn in all of this.  Celestia saw that spark in Twilight's eye: the spark of magic.  That spark could reignite the power of the EoH and bring it back into her hooves as a personal weapon.  It was a worthy gamble when Twilight and co. awakened the EoH after the EoH's great slumber.

It then simply became a process of molding Twilight, teaching, and guiding her in one direction: create a counter spell to Starswirl's spell.
Now that a counter spell exists, there's very little that can challenge Celestia's rule.

Her sister is under control.  The EoH's holders are among her most loyal subjects.  Three great 'evils' have been defeated/converted (To her side, I might add) thanks to said subjects.  What then can shake the iron hoof Celestia has on Equestria?

Here's a picture of my current project for reading all this!  Please don't comment on the image in this journal.
[link]

ASSUMPTIONS:
-This theory can assume Luna is in on the iron rule or has no idea.
   1.  If Luna is in on this; then the events of Nightmare Moon were fabricated to cover up Luna's attempt to gain power on her own.  Luna now knows better and stays silent beside Celestia.
   2.  If Luna isn't in on this; then the events of Nightmare Moon were REAL and Luna can be really scary.  She is now under Celestia's control and unwittingly follows her sister in the rule over Equestria.
-This theory assumes the EoH are not conscious of their holder(s).  The EoH are able to sense the harmony of one's soul; not its intent.
-This theory assumes Celestia is still very kind at heart.  She just likes to be in -absolute control-.  Nothing wrong with that, right?
-This theory assumes it is not a taco and therefore cannot be eaten.
-This theory assumes that this assumption will be meta in the assertion that the comments will talk about this assumption and the one prior to it.

Thoughts?  Opinions?  Counter arguments?  Doctored photos?

I FORGOT IT WAS COMING OH NO.
I HAVE A TABLE OH NO.
EVERYONE PANIC.

Actually don't panic; just keep an eye on this journal.  I'll be updating it when I get off work in a few hours.

Watch this while you wait:  [link]

_______________________________________

Update!

I'm going to TrotCon!  I have a table and want to sell prints that the people want.
THE THING IS I have no clue what prints to bring.  That's where you, the player, comes in!  I want you to snoop around my gallery and pick out stuff you would like to see available as prints, and post a list HERE on THIS JOURNAL.
       -You don't have to do this but it would make it easier on me to know a better idea of what some of you would like to see available.
         I will also be trying to produce some other cool stuff before the cons and have them available as possible prints.
       -You are in no way obliged to do this.  It just helps me out a bit.
       -The previous journal I asked this same question in:  [link]
       -I'm going to ask this question more frequently as we get closer to June, and will be finalizing choices probably two weeks before TrotCon itself.
       -If there's something that catches your eye and you want a print from the con itself: LET ME KNOW.  THAT'S AN ORDER.

On an unrelated note: DEVIANTART HAS AN UPDATED JOURNAL WRITER AND IT'S GREAT. 
[link]

Edit:  I gave this journal a new title because the last one sounded too old fashioned.

Some updates.  TL;DR mode engaged at the bottom but only if you know the password.

I'm currently in hermit mode.  Imagine me, but then imagine me in a giant shell.
(It's a lot more complicated than that.)
Long story short I'm not communicating much.  I have started to develop this form of ... Online anxiety where I find myself shirking away from social platforms (Skype, Twitter, and Facebook for examples) and just not talking.  I think it's perhaps that I want to talk with some people IRL more than online.  It is a strange feeling to tell the truth.  One I never thought I would ever experience.

Regarding ponies: my inspiration for them is falling flat.  I have nothing.  I'm going to venture back out into the world and draw ... NON PONY.  Seriously I have been drawing near straight pony for the last near two years.  I need a break and desperately need to catch back up drawing other things.  You guys will see what I've been working on soon.
(Also I'm starting to fall back on the problem of my portfolio not having anything but pony pieces in it.  There's a good chance 99.9% of the art jobs out there won't accept pure pony in a portfolio.)
I'll likely start drawing more pony pieces when Season 4 hits.

-On this note.  Twilight and Smarty is again lacking updates.  This time it isn't necessarily because of lack of comic ideas or writing problems but more that I literally forgot about the Tumblr.  I only remembered it earlier this week.  I can't promise a fix will happen soon but I will say the Tumblr will not die.
--On that note.  I thought a bit about maintaining a Tumblr like that.  The overall idea is to eventually achieve a level of quality that rivals Bill Watterson in quality (Both art and writing wise) but I have realized that that is a lot of work for a parody Tumblr.  Random Corgi for reading all this: [link].  Doing all that work for the Tumblr also does not pay my bills.  I hate to bring the problem down to that but while I have love and passion for doing such comics; I don't have financial backing to keep doing it all the time.

In other news I have been playing Phantasy Start Online 2 as of late.
If you happen to play and want to be on my friend list then shoot an invite.
I play on ship 10, block 22 most commonly.  My character name is, "Tuff".
Here's a picture I drew of her from the other day:  [link]

Last bit of news and I actually managed to not mention this directly after it happened.  That was a mistake on my part.

A few of the MMO-Champion Bronies and I had a meetup in Illinois!  It happened on March 18th.
Twas' a good day that it was.  The start of the day felt a little awkward for me, but by the end of the day it felt super lax.  I wish I had the funds to do more meetups like that.
I don't have any pictures I am afraid.  I'm not one for cameras.
I'll see if I can find the group shot; taken by someone else, at some point in the future and show it (With everyone's consent from the picture, that is).

TL;DR:
-I'm not talking much to online people.
-I'm officially not drawing pony as my main medium anymore.  Working on non-pony for the time being.
-Twilight and Smarty isn't dead.
-Maintaining a Tumblr with high expectations of quality is hard without finances.
-I play Phantasy Star Online 2.  It's fun.
-I had a meetup with the MMO-Champion Bronies.  It was a good day.

TL;DR: TL;DR MAXIMUM EDITION

NO TALK ONLINE NOT DRAWING PONY TWILIGHT SMARTY NEED MONEY TO TUMBLR JAPANESE GAMES ONLINE BRONY MEETUP

[link]

Somewhere deep down inside a part of me wishes someone told me this years ago.

One of my good friends knows how willing I am to share my next 'great' idea.

I'm just-

THIS.

AUGH I feel INVIGORATED now.

Just you guys wait ...

READ THIS PART AFTER YOU READ THE ARTICLE
EDIT:  I do want to say that you should be careful about holding your ideas in your head.  Sometimes we as people are completely incapable of seeing glaring mistakes in our ideas.  Every now and again it may not be harmful to share certain parts of ideas with other people and have them examine the idea.  It is something I need to think on a bit further with this new revelation.

Last call for alcohol so finish your whiskey or beer.

But seriously though; update time.

Life has become very stagnant over the last couple of months.  It is affecting me worse than it really should and I need to start getting out of the house a lot more to stimulate my brain.

[link]
^ This is me right now.  I don't get it!

Inb4 lack of new pony episodes is causing my depression.

Freaking ... Pony drawing drug.  Thing.

AUGH.

Do your best to sync the audio of these two videos:

[link]
[link]

Turn the second video volume down by about 25% for optimal results.

In Canterlot Gardens news

Canterlot Gardens wants to happen this year but things are a bit different for it.  They have different backers and need a little financial help to ensure the con gets off the ground this year and simultaneously provide a better experience than last year.
Check out their kickstarter here:  [link]

I enjoyed Canterlot Gardens quite a bit this last year and would love to attend again.  I'm going to do everything I can to ensure I can appear at this one as well; maybe this one I'll attempt to hold my own table!

If you can help then I'm sure both they and I will appreciate it.

In other news

I'm still drawing but kind of going slow.  I've been struck with Cintiq envy and thinking about getting a screen tablet interferes with drawing on the computer more than I thought it would.  The idea of going that much faster is SO AMAZING TO THINK ABOUT.

Gabe over at Penny Arcade got a chance to try out Microsoft's Surface tablet, and that has me ULTRA curious about it now.
Check his impressions here:  [link]

It would be a lot more affordable than the Cintiq 22HD (Which is the tablet I would look at normally), and it's a computer as well as a tablet.  I would just need to know if I could load Windows 7 on it over 8.  I would hope that wouldn't destroy the drawing capabilities of the tablet (I wouldn't think it would, but my luck is it would knowing Microsoft).
I wouldn't mind having a replacement to my old laptop anyway.

But 288 deviations?  Last I checked I only submitted a little over a hundred.  DeviantArt what gives.

to come to the conclusion that I need to stop procrastinating and get things done.

I, like, go to bed at that time.

WELL GUESS I BEST STOP PROCRASTINATING AND DO STUFF *Flops onto bed and sleeps*

As an aside: I took the last few days off without warning to play a game.  I finished Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones in that time.  Generals best class 2013.  Great Knights aren't actually that great.

[link]

WATER COLORS YEAH.
*High five*

Gonna relearn how to do cool water colors.  Maybe I'll make something snazzy.  Tomorrow I'll invent those blueprints.

The hole in my window blinds was caused by my old cat who used to love to poke her head at that specific spot.  There's an identical hole in my other blinds on the other window as well.

THE MORE YOU KNOW.

This strip is pretty meh, stopped working on it now before starting inks.

[link]

It's good enough though that I feel it should at least be shown.

[link]

I want to make more bird calls about things but my mind doesn't think fast enough to do so.

Anyway just letting you guys know.  Sometimes I'll post up sketches of projects I am working on so you might get a sneak peak at the next theater box-office hit a-ma-bob!
Other times I'll post about conceptual mock-ups of a game about being a bear.

[link]

I drew this and posted it to my scraps the other day thinking it was private.  I was testing something out and forgot the scrapbook was public.

It's the base sketch for Applejack in that latest image I posted.  I drew it real fast and then colored it right afterward.  I then expanded upon the idea the next day by drawing the rest of the ponies.

THERE MYSTERY SOLVED YOU ALL CAN SATE YOUR CURIOSITY.

Kein managed to save the image too before I could take it down.  Guy is greased lightning.

If you saw it you know what I'm talking about.

If you didn't see it then move on.  This journal doesn't concern you.

BEST.  JUST SO BEST.

[link]

But this update has more Twilight than Smarty.

PANIC.

Edit:  As an aside:  Most the people who only see the Tumblr but not here won't read this likely.

I don't think there's any actual correlation between hearing classical music and one's own intellect.  That was just bull****ing mostly.  Moms do that sometimes.

year.

Stupid title limits.

I'm thinking TrotCon and that one in Nebraska.  Both are within drivable distance.

BronyCon might be a far stretch.  I suspect getting to that one would require a lot more money than I could muster in time and much better traveling powers.  My car made it to Canterlot Gardens and back but I have to say that Maryland is lands away further.

As a bonus, my dad hinted that he kind of wanted to go to one now that I went off on my own to one.  Maybe I can simultaneously get him to watch the show?  Time will tell.

ONTO BUSINESS:

I want to have a table at at least one of these two cons.  Most likely TrotCon.  I want to have prints available in a range of designer colors.  Er, wait.

-So here's the deal: I want to have around 4-8 prints available and about a-plenty of them ready.  I don't know which ones I should bring.  I'm clueless like that because reasons.
   -This is where you, the player, comes in.  I want you to snoop around my gallery and pick out stuff you would like to see available as prints, and post a list HERE on THIS JOURNAL.
       -You don't have to do this but it would make it easier on me to know a better idea of what some of you would like to see available.
         I will also be trying to produce some other cool stuff before the cons and have them available as possible prints.
       -You are in no way obliged to do this.  It just helps me out a bit.

Edit:
 -I'll also be brushing up on my speed drawing skills so I can do flash sketches for people of appropriate quality.  I've become better since Canterlot Gardens but I still can stand room for improvement.

Pending Canterlot Gardens announcement, I'll likely try to re-attend that one as well.  It was very pleasant.  I would like a table there as well but TIME WILL TELL.

Also as any veterans of my page should know: I make no promises for any of this.  I hate to say that cause' I'd LOVE to do all these things and I'm gonna try my best to do these things.

Keep an eye on this journal as it may be updated.  Also as I post images and you see something new you'd like to see as a print, definitely say something.  Or don't.  This is a journal, not a cop.

[link]

Here, for anyone who wanted a 'Lunestia', that's a concept I made of what I think she'd look like.  This is the 'fusion dance' version of a fusion between Celestia and Luna.