doodles, doodles, get em while they're hot

1.) "Ah, yer Highness, but you've left out a key piece of Frost's intention in 'Dust of Snow' -- the ending reconciliation with the narrator's understanding of life and death," Trouble pointed out, almost off-handedly. "The snow an' the hemlock tree are meant to be 'bout death, sure, but that some part of the rued day bein' saved by th' beauty of nature, and the natural way that death shines light onto the beautiful qualities of life." He finished easily, only to look over and shift uncomfortably at the gobsmacked expression Twilight was sending him.

"...What? Aw, shucks, did I mess up again?"

"Wha-" Twilight sputtered, nearly dropping her own collection of Frost's poetry and prose in her shock. "No! No, not at all!" She assured the stallion in front of her, before sheepishly admitting, "I suppose I just... wasn't expecting that."

Troubleshoes gave a weary smile that seemed a bit too heavy to truly be a smile at all. 'Oh, no worries, Princess," he assured her quietly. ".....No one ever expects much outta me nohow."

Twilight frowned.

Quickly shaking the flustered pink from her cheeks, she quickly donned her very best prim-and-official-Princess-Of-Friendship grin. She seized Trouble's massive hoof with her own tiny ones. "Well, Mister Troubleshoes Clyde-" She started, "That's not a mistake I plan on making twice."

Trouble glanced down at their joined hooves, then at the alicorn's determined face- and felt a warm, funny feeling bubbling up within, not unlike the time he'd left porridge boiling on the stove top and come back to find his house had burned down. It was approximately as terrifying, anyway.

"I.....uh.....I-I had some more thoughts on Frost's other works.....if yer keen on discussin’, Princess.”

Twilight smiled up at him, sweet and just a little shy- and Trouble understood that his heart, much like his porridge, was doomed.

~~~~

dialogue partly/mostly by Colbyr. As y'all known, Troubleshoes first dated Discord, then later got involved with Twilight, in a big ol' nebulous poly love herd thing. He was around for a good stint of Pandora's childhood, and to this day Panny adores her "Pa"~

:iconcolbyr: also adds: The Huge BF Cuddles temptation is just too strong to endure. Every once in a while, I imagine twi likes being the little spoon, and troubleshoes likes the fuzzy, indigestion-esque feeling he gets in his belly big-spooning twi (who's possibly big-spooning discord in turn, making it a spoon sandwich), and feeling like everything he needs to worry about, for once, is just confined to his arms/legs/hooves.)

2.) a style test for a comic project i'm working on over on my patreon (the comic will begin uploading here soon as well)

have some tuff buff ladies flirting. I mentioned before that unicorns (especially those of nobility) find rivalry really, really, reallyyyy romantic, like the pinnacle of courtship. Thus Luna was smitten with Tempest the moment Tempest dropped her ass like a sack of potatoes during the Storm King's invasion. Luna's trying to impress Tempest here....I imagine they had a long, drawn-out courtship full of banter and sparring and tension thick enough to cut with a knife

3.) Shy farmer Marble Pie never expected to hit it off with Maud's excitable gemologist colleague, Frazzle Rock! Marble remains a mare of few words, preferring to listen, but that works out cuz Frazzle can chatter on enough for both of them. Research and rock farming unfortunately keep the duo apart for much of the year, but they fill much of the time with flowing and poetic (and reportedly, very steamy) love letters. tempted to call this ship "little spouse on the prairie"

u could say they have a rock solid relationship hurr hurr pls forgive me i'm in a nyquil fog and brain not clever today

(ps. Frazzle is a bit character that appeared here, in the episode Princess Spike)

4.) There's a growing body of research in psychology that posits that our parents shape who we later find attractive. Nothing incestuous (Freud's theories have long been dismissed), the general idea is that our parents provide a unique brand of love to us as children, and we later pursue people who subconsciously remind us of our parents (appearance, senses of humor, love languages, warmth, even quirks and flaws). Basically, we seek out love that is already familiar to us.

Consider then, that Moondancer has been programmed since birth to gravitate toward trashy disaster-prone dumbasses, because his mother is Trixie. Pandora's eccentric antics are familiar and oddly comforting to him. His love for Pan is as persistent as it is vexing, Moony really wishes his heart had picked anypony else.

(Or does he?)

This is canon, btw. At least the fact that Moony is an emotionally stunted, bitterly repressed clown in love with a bigger clown

5.) hey speaking of idiots attracted to Pan

methinks that while a society of sapient cutesy prey animals would have natural fear and wariness of predator qualities (sharp teeth, claws and talons, etc), there would likely also be some individuals that would find these qualities exciting in a different way......

cupcake is a monsterfucker y'all

i imagine she was boredly squishing Pan's paw beans (as ya do) when those claws popped out, and now she's got a whole lot of confusing emotions to deal with

6.) After a long cold day, Pandora and Cupcake (mostly Cupcake) are frantically busting their butts in the kitchen to get some fresh hot soup ready for their bab.

Baby Oddball, meanwhile, seems to have just discovered his feet.

7.) patron request, teenage oddball looked awkward af

Teenage Odd was a recluse, much like his grandmother Twilight in her youth. He preferred the company of books to other living creatures, to the point where he could go days and days without speaking to another soul, or even seeing the sun. He was quite comfortable alone in his study working tirelessly into the night, often forgetting to sleep, bathe, and eat. This made him a smelly boi, and also a rail-thin, perpetually tired boi, which began to worry his mothers. Cupcake eventually found her inner drill sergeant and gently encouraged (read: forced) Odd onto a strict routine of regular meals and strength training, which (over time) bulked him out and let his antlers and coat grow in strong and glossy. Pandora preferred bribery, promising Odd trips to the Canterlot library/private study lessons with Grammie Twi if he would do things like go for a fly or take a break to nap in the sunlight.

Odd at first found all this rather irritating, but eventually came to understand that work and leisure must exist in balance, like all ecological systems. Odd has since developed a number of hobbies, including knitting, jigsaw puzzles, and cooking. He enjoys spending time with friends Wave Rider and Finn, who regularly drag him out of his lair to get ice cream, visit the beach, chase each other like foals, and generally laze about.

8.) "And then she had the audacity to call me a petty bitch! Me! So then I said, would a petty bitch push you off the side of this mountain? Anyway, uh......that's how the Canterlot Cat Burglar ended up in prison with two busted legs, just in case your agency was wondering what happened."

got a couple mild complaints about Montezuma's design being too feminine, or that he should just be a girl. i then considered drawing him all buff and manly-manly having a spar with one of his minions (or Smoky).....but eh. Femininity, masculinity.....who cares. Gender's all just a performance anyway, innit? Montezuma likes make-up and pretty things and self-care, and it's not like women own these ideas. Feminine men are still men, one's gender identity is not undone simply because a person doesn't adhere to traditional gender norms.

As a kid Monty was always well-groomed, but never allowed to be in control of his appearance. He had to be a perfect picture of a posh, civilized Equestrian youth, and that meant hair clipped short and neat, always dressed in a proper little boy's uniform. Monty hated this, hated being fussed over and paraded about, hated not even being allowed to choose the color of his bowtie. So as an adult, Monty dresses the way he wants to. Long hair and a pretty face feels like freedom, and he enjoys how his reflection no longer resembles the gloomy little boy from all those years ago. He spoils himself now, cuz hey, somebody's got to. And sometimes he can convince Smoky to do a little self-spoiling too.

yet another note by the eternally effervescent :iconcolbyr: :Phoenix tries not to let her frustration show when Smoky's skin suddenly gets clearer and smoother than hers. She doesn't really *care* about her appearance, and working in the grime and grit of a smithy isn't great for one's complexion. But it's somehow still maddening that his skin is practically *glowing* one day for no good reason. After one drunken night hanging out, Nix grabs Smoky's cheeks, squints, and demands to know how he keeps his skin so "CLEAR and SOFT, what the HELL MAN you're CONSTANTLY crawling through mud and garbage for missions" -- and Smokey gives a smirk before handing her an exfoliating mask that she REFUSES to admit works wonders on her skin. (She puts two and two together, and next time she sees Monte, she pretends she doesn't, and lets him think he snuck out of Smoky's bedroom window -- dramatic *bitch* -- without being noticed.)