>>18118 The site doesn't have the numbers to sustain much these days. It's nice to have, but even /mlp/ seems to have less activity than it used to even a year and a half back. So it's only natural for sites like this to sustain by a few posts. Me personally, I've been getting back into ponies after a stint back in the Pokemon fandom. After I am done with my latest Pokechapter, I'm gonna see if I can dust off that old project of mine and get *something* out of it. Hard part was getting filtered by the research and ambitions of the project. But I think second go around I might have something decent. >>18496 Just post what you have, Anon. Might be able to provide some feedback for you to work off on.

>>18528 On a semi-related note, I did conjure a response for a thread asking what one's personal G6 would be like. It had gryphons feature somewhat decently in it, so I might as well copy it here. - >Characters So to start off the Mane 6, the first would be an adventurous earth pony stallion taking up the lead role. Adopted at an early age by a family of gryphon nobles/royalty of a small kingdom and raised on tales of glorious heroics and the like, the young stallion sets off to make his mark off in the world as a knight errant, going about solving the problems of his kingdom and those of others. Mentored by the court's druid well versed in the ways of nature, this earth pony has the ability to manifest vines from a laurel wreath for finer manipulation of things like with a polearm or staff. If I had to give him an element, it would be that of courage. Earth Stallion: Courage Gryphon Sister: Loyalty Unicorn Mare At Arms: Honesty Unicorn Jester: Laughter Pegasus Inventor: Generosity Earth Pony or Zerba Potion Maker: (Magic?) Following right behind him would be his sister, a more warrior inclined daughter of the family in question far below in the line of proper succession. Thus, she follows to both protect her brother from his foolhardy nature, and to make her own mark in the world in turn. Hers would be that of Loyalty. Next would be a pegasus tinkerer, one who managed to forge himself a prosthetic wing after losing one of them from either birth or an accident. Always looking for something to make his family's life easier, he joins in in hopes of finding the final piece that would complete his wing and allow him to fly for real so he can become a proper pegasus. Not sure what his would be, but I am am partial to either generosity or kindness. As for the two unicorns, I am undecided. One I am thinking would be a disgraced jester representing laughter, finding themselves out of a job after hitting a bit too close to home for their liege's liking. This unicorn would be well adept at utilizing their magics for the unorthodox and trickery, weaving illusions to entertain and dazzle, whilst also having other utilities such as tricking the enemy in some manner. As for the last unicorn, I am partial to having a mare at arms representing honesty to fill in the last slot for the M6. With them I am thinking they would have a similar dynamic with the gryphon as Applejack and Rainbow did in the show, having a sort of rivalry with each other due to their origins of being a noble/royalty and commoner respectively. But likewise, both being proper warriors with a grudging respect of each others abilities and wits. As for the final character, I was thinking of them being some potion mixer ala another earth pony or a zebra. Either being from a local in town ran out after being sabotaged from a rival which leads to their reputation being in tatters, or the latter with some foreigner traveling abroad after having their own vision quest lead them to this strange kingdom of bird lions and equines, seeing to complete their own enlightenment and the like. Either way, they'd provided the means to enhance the other in the party and heal them when needed.

>>18529 The druid mentioned prior would fill in the role of something like Master Splinter from TMNT, guiding them in their times of need while being a potent warrior in their own right, weaving the nature around him to fell his foes or aid his allies. I was thinking that he could be a potential backstabber of sorts, being the one responsible for the problems that plague the kingdom and orchestrating the fall of the Royal/Noble family. But the more I think on him, the less certain I am for him being a bad guy. I do know he would dote on the stallion like his own son, so that would have a possible dynamic for drama if that were the case. Could be a possible antagonist, but I am undecided at the moment. Maybe someone else in the Royal Family screwing his visions to userp the rightful throne or something to that effect, or the druid having been the family victimized decades/centuries past, planning all this time to gain his own revenge. Needs improvement. So you would have two earth ponies/or one zebra, a gryphon and pegasus, and two unicorns. It's fairly even in terms of the ground pounders, the flyers, and the magic users proper while bit somewhat unorthodox compared to the original Mane 6. It isn't anywhere near refined as character casts go, but I think there's promise if forged properly. >S1 storyline Now as for the S1 story, the focus character would be the stallion in question going out to help the kingdom. Sent out by his father on the advice of his court's druid after hearing some rumor that something terrible imperils the kingdom, the stallion takes this chance to prove himself and pay back his family for their generosity. Worrying for his safety, his mother dispatches one of his sisters to aid him in these trying times. Seeing nothing is better within her future and concerned for the safety for her brother, she takes to the task with gutso and follows along. The two proceed to go on a quest, finding the other Mane 6 as they unravel the problems plaguing the kingdom, coming closer and closer to some form of answer. The early episodes would introduce each of the other Mane 6 one by one, solving some initial problem of theirs that in turn leads them to being recruited in to the adventurer's party, which would then lay down further plotlines to be solved for their character arcs later on in the season or in another to come. Later down the line, the stallion discovers much to his horror and heartbreak that his beloved mentor is the one behind the terrible things happening, leading to a confrontation between master and student. The former prevails, but his connection with his student causes him to stay his talons. Unable to carry out what needs to be done, the season then progresses in the Hero's Journey, the young stallion still seeing the good within his mentor and seeks to bring him back into the light as it were. The big monster that is summoned is still defeated by the hero with the help of his friends, but things are left uncertain for the young would be hero. In a sense, it would be an imitation of the Hero's Journey for Luke Skywalker as seem in Episodes IV and V, the hero having been bested and now having to rely on his friends for mutual support.

>>18530 >Overall storyline As for the overall storyline, I was thinking this would be some ploy by the stallions' family to forge a group of heroes. Plagued by a vision shared by the druid seeing the darker omens farther into the future at the moment they discover the young earth pony colt, they see him being some form of savior or hero. Out of some initial desire to preserve themselves, they grow to love him as their own. But in order to prevent this calamity from happening, they orchestrate a scheme to forge the young stallion and whatever group of friends he has into heroes the realm needs. Which when discovered, would have obvious tensions and strife that would need to be resolved. Shaken by this revelation, the young stallion goes on because it his sworn oath and duty to help those of the kingdom. Disgusted by the manipulations of her family, his sister disowns them on the spot and seeks to protect her beloved brother from any further manipulations while mitigating his martyr complex to the best of her ability. The others of the group would have their own interest entangled with them, now knowing of the threat posed by whatever it may be. Things are eventually reconciled at some point in the future, the group becoming the best they can be as they face whatever threat that seeks to bring the kingdom to an end, with various other little subplots that are solved along the way, along with a myriad of settings. >End Well, there you have it. It's one hell of a mess, but the idea of a grand adventure in some version of Equestria tantalizing me early on when I got into hints and pieces for what the world building could look like as far as FiM is concerned. Seeing as how FiM panned out, however, I figured something else like this in its own continuity independent of FiM would do nicely to fill the void whilst retaining some of the magic that made the original special. It ain't perfect, but it would be a dream to see an Equestria where there's some grand, overarching adventure done right.

>>18528 Unfortunately I can't even post on /mlp/, so my options for discussing gryphons, and pony in general, are very limited. >Just post what you have, Anon. Ugh, it was mostly just turning into unfocused whining about how the gryphons ended up as such wasted potential. I guess here's the gist, I never expanded on much of this before I stopped: I wish they hadn't bothered with the lost treasure episode as I really don't like what they did with the lore, nor did it address any of the issues that could have been brought up with griffon the brush off. I don't understand why so many people seemed to love it. I can't stand how it's treated as a "reformation" or "redemption" for Gilda either, especially given how it feels so lazily thrown in at the end. Can't escape it in fan works either, most people stick pretty closely to that lore, maybe because they like it or just because they don't want to do anything different. It feels hopeless at this point to make stuff about them. I know I'm never going to be able to get people to see them and how full of potential they used to be and love them like I do. That might be a strange sentence, but I haven't really figured out how exactly I feel about it or how to word it. Maybe my fate is to just drive myself insane over this. >>18529 Guess I'll go through those other posts while I'm at it. Strange that gryphons, especially some sort of noble, would adopt an earth pony. A pegasus I could understand more given they can fly. Kindness or generosity could both work for the pegasus assuming he plans on making his wing replacements available for others too. Not sure how to choose between those tbh, making prosthetics could really fall under either, if you wanted to go with that. Is the jester going to be a more competent and less smug Trixie then? That sounds kinda fun. If the noble/commoner thing is focused on you could also have a sort of Applejack/Rarity thing going on with them at the same time. A zebra could be interesting, you get the whole mystical foreigner thing to play with. Seems like it could make for a pretty fun show. Didn't have as much to say about it as I thought I would.

>>18535 >I wish they hadn't bothered with the lost treasure episode as I really don't like what they did with the lore, nor did it address any of the issues that could have been brought up with griffon the brush off. I don't understand why so many people seemed to love it. You aren't the only one, but we are in the minority unfortunately. /mlp/ as it is now would probably not be receptive in any capacity outside of a few threads. The gryphon thread is nothing but post Griffonstone discussions and whatever else with those characters within. Same could be same for many other things the show done with its world building and characters that made it less than the sum of its parts. About the only thing you can do is keep that little dream alive in little fics, art and whatever else you can muster. Take that prompt response I wrote out as an example. I decided for the thought exercise, I would combine a number of disparate ideas bobbing inside my mind and turn it into some cohesive story. Part of the reason why I erred with an earth pony protagonist is that they stick out like a sore thumb within a gryphon kingdom. Hence, they would have an immediate conflict of sorts that they need to adapt to as part of their character development. A pegasus would make more sense in some ways, but I enjoy the challenge and novelty of making an earth pony work in such an environment. It helps that I have a couple other examples out in the wild to use as a guide in bringing about an earth pony's abilities beyond what was seen in the show. Hence, the mention of a druid mentor and the pegasus tinkerer who may or may not be able to craft some wings for the ground bound pony. Not to mention there's familial drama with his other siblings, noble intrigue, greater plot developments, fires of friendship forged in whatever conflicts they're embroiled in, stuff of that nature that lends itself to a number of shorts stories I could write. As for the Elements, there's nothing stating that they cannot embody more than one at a time, so there's something to consider. As I said, I need to finish up my Pokefic first, then I can free myself up for other projects.

>>18536 >I can't stand how it's treated as a "reformation" or "redemption" for Gilda either, especially given how it feels so lazily thrown in at the end. It's a show aimed at an audience who probably won't care one way or the other. People like us are an incidental audience. That isn't to say we cannot desire more for a show like this, or that its target audience deserves better. But ultimately the show is a vehicle for its merchandise. Nothing more, nothing less. So long as it accomplishes that, all else is secondary. All we can do is keep that dream of ours alive in fan works, one way or the other. >Can't escape it in fan works either, most people stick pretty closely to that lore, maybe because they like it or just because they don't want to do anything different. See above. At the very least, I am thankful the pre-Griffonstone stuff is more or less intact and complete. You wouldn't believe how jarring it is to see some fics retrofit themselves to force in newer canon, such as alicorn Twilight into the work midcreation. One moment you reading about old Twi, the next she's a princess in the following paragraph. I can't say I really respect those authors, unable to keep consistent and commit to one thing over another. It just renders the entire work pointless to follow, especially seeing as they'd probably wipe their own fic if something else in canon came to joss it hard. >It feels hopeless at this point to make stuff about them. I know I'm never going to be able to get people to see them and how full of potential they used to be and love them like I do. That might be a strange sentence, but I haven't really figured out how exactly I feel about it or how to word it. So it is. I don't bother with reading most newer works outside a few accidental ones I stumble across every now and then. Even so, I find myself skipping around to the parts that don't mention certain things I find undesirable. As said, we only have ourselves to carry the torch. Most of the other oldfags who disliked what happened within the show either ditched, or eventually warmed up and supplanted their own works in favor of the newer canon. What's left is a very small, disparate old guard like ourselves lingering on places like this board. Still, I enjoy what we do have for whatever that is worth, and I don't begrudge anyone coming in or otherwise who manages to enjoy the show for what it is regardless. I only wish the show went in a different direction than what we have now. Again, that's what fanfiction is for, to "fix" what we don't like and make that reality plain on digital paper. The hard part is producing something worth a damn, such as with that changeling post I made that's been sitting on my hard drive for the better part of a month and a half now. I've decided to post that in hope of getting some feedback, but that will take a while seeing how slow this site is. But it will come, sooner or later, and eventually I can post something more substantial to the main /mlp/ site. Though that being said, apparently some newer stuff from something called "Tamers" is out and about. Can't speak much about it, but it seems okay. In any case, post whatever creative gryphon stuff you have. Be it fic recommendations, fan art, your own stuff, whatever. This thread is here for that various purpose, and it isn't going to go anywhere for a while yet. So if you have it, post whatever.

>>18537 >Most of the other oldfags who disliked what happened within the show either ditched, Ehh, I'm guilty of that, but to be fair I was already kinda unhappy with how the show was going, and all the pony related social circles I was in fell apart or disappeared during the post-S3 hiatus. I wasn't in a good headspace to push through and keep watching the show to see if it would still be worth watching at the time either. Pony was just left on the backburner for ages, occasionally checking some fanart and stuff. Not really sure what caused me to come back and start engaging with pony stuff again a few years ago, maybe that's why this stuff is still annoying and hasn't moved on to accepting it happened and just entirely doing my own thing with it. I'm probably not the best example of oldfag holdout because of that, but I've only watched to the end of season 3, and the lost treasure of griffonstone episode (which as stated I hate). I suppose to be fair, a bunch of the gryphon designs in that episode were neat, even if basically none of them got a personality. Didn't like the whole every name beginning with G thing though, that was kinda silly. The stuff it touched on that I might have liked they usually messed up. Any time I see something I might have liked that happened later on in the show I'll have to think of a way I could untangle it and reinsert it without all of the baggage I don't want, which is probably much easier done by just remaking whatever it was entirely instead of trying to warp stuff, e.g. instead of using Tempest Shadow I would have to make an OC that is pretty similar but without all the later on junk that is kinda necessary for her character to make sense. I've only seen her in fan stuff though, so she kinda feels like an OC to me. I suppose someone like Gabby could be repurposed to exist without griffonstone and just be from some gryphon town instead, but is there really any point? I'm not big on how she was supposed to be the token 'single nice gryphon' or whatever, but I haven't watched any episodes with her. >/mlp/ as it is now would probably not be receptive in any capacity outside of a few threads. The gryphon thread is nothing but post Griffonstone discussions and whatever else with those characters within. That's really disappointing. It's pretty much the one place apart from here I can think of that might still care about the early stuff. At least that s1/s2 twilight thread did okay for a while, even with the fighting and the people that kept dragging in later stuff, especially that one guy that kept bringing up season 9 stuff. Got reminded of a couple of fics I had read forever ago and want to reread some time. I should go and look at the recommendations there again. >an earth pony protagonist is that they stick out like a sore thumb within a gryphon kingdom. >I enjoy the challenge and novelty of making an earth pony work in such an environment. Ah, that makes sense. I could see earth ponies sometimes getting hired to work in mines and fields in a gryphon kingdom, especially if the gryphons don't really like being deep underground or something. Maybe not being able to fly makes them nervous A lord paying some earth ponies to keep a reliable supply of crops around could free up gryphons for other things like ranching, fishing, or hunting for meat. The earth ponies might even form small communities near those mines and farms so they don't have to travel too far to work. It would be a decent explanation for why there are any young earth ponies around at all. If a mine got attacked by diamond dogs or whatever and the colt was orphaned or ran off scared and couldn't find his way back that could lead to the adoption. Although all of that might make him stick out less and kinda ruin that point.

>>18544 >People like us are an incidental audience. Yeah, doesn't stop it being frustrating though, especially when fan content just wholesale accepts it and doesn't think twice about it. >retrofit themselves to force in newer canon, such as alicorn Twilight into the work midcreation. I guess I've been lucky not to see this happen in the middle of a fic, I can't imagine what they were thinking when they do stuff like this. I suppose at least they can't do that now since the show has been done for ages, unless the comics are still doing things. I never read those. >The hard part is producing something worth a damn Don't I know it. I unfortunately never took the time to learn any creative skills so it'll be a long time until I can make anything of worth. At the moment I've just been going through some old story and worldbuilding notes and trying to get them all sorted so it's easier to work with them and add onto them in future. There isn't a lot to them though, I never really got further than quick plot summaries for the stories. Also saw some old screenshots that I should add to the notes. I also had a small note about if Celestia and Luna symbolise the sun and moon maybe there is a gryphon that has something similar with the earth and skies? Since eagles are the king of the birds (air) and lions are the king of the beasts (land) there is probably something that could be worked with that could also act as a gryphon counterpart and counterbalance to the Sister's power and ability to control the sun and moon. I was never big on the whole "they are literally gods" thing that a bunch of people did.

Well hopefully I didn't scare anyone off with my complaining. I've been writing down the occasional idea when it pops into my head, most of them are gryphon related, usually Gilda specific. Seems like most of the ideas I come up with have been done before though, usually in fics that were kinda crap or were just unfinished. 1. I thought they might have something like pemmican though probably with a different name. Maybe they could have different names for them based on what the main ingredients are, like a pork and apple one, or fish and something, or deer and blueberry for some examples. 2. For some reason I had the idea of Princess Luna being the one to broker a treaty with the gryphons (or various clans) to ensure peace between them and ponies instead of having fights along the borders. They might have taken the whole nightmare moon pretty hard. I thought maybe the gryphons prefer living out in some really rough border regions where they are keeping particularly nasty things from going deeper into Equestria, which is why they are seen as rare. The treaty was mostly just so that ponies and gryphons don't end up fighting all the time, and if the gryphons warn ponies that they see wander into the area that it is dangerous they won't be held responsible if the wildlife goes after the pony. Not sure why it would be Luna rather than Celestia, maybe Luna just impressed them somehow, and they came to respect each other, whereas Celestia didn't particularly care for them, IDK. Guess it could be potentially useful for a different take on gryphons. 3. Are Junior Speedsters and Flight Camp the same thing or different? If they are the same shouldn't Gilda have known Fluttershy? Did she have some reason to be so hostile to Fluttershy? If they are different then what are they? No answer in the show unfortunately.