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Hello lovely staff team! My question for you all today is a bit of a silly one. If you could assign one of the Mane Six as an administrator or moderator for a day, who do you think would handle it the best-and who would absolutely break the site?
who do you think would handle it the best?
Derpy. Absolutely positively would yes.
who would absolutely break the site?
Twilight. Absolutely horrificly and no.
@Alicorndogz
Honestly, it’s a fascinating idea. What would the site look for each pony, given one day to rule?
Honestly, it’s a fascinating idea. What would the site look for each pony, given one day to rule?
I imagine Rainbow using the opportunity to make it all about herself and how wonderful she is and how the site really loves her. But the Lightning Dust fans would REEEEE all day and in the end Rainbow would try so hard to be amazing for everyone she’ll be hiding behind a pillar hoping no one notices her.
Fluttershy would dedicate the entire day to the wonder and joy of animals, highlighting all of the fantastic and amazing creatures there are in the world and in the woods around PonyVille. But the Sheep Union would object to being ignored and the porn that would result from that theme would send Fluttershy into paroxysmal emotional spasms of wanting more and wanting less.
AppleJack would start out the day as a good steward of the site, making sure everyone had equal and commercially viable access to everything the site has to offer. By the end of the day, it will cost 3BITS to register a new profile and clicking “Downvote” on an apple-themed image would be a permanent ban. Also warcrimes.
To take it beyond the mane 6, Izzy would fire up seventeen simultaneous events all of which end in the same day and of which only 2 do not involve glitter or glue and none of them can be accomplished without getting sticky or eating at least a full cup of raw sugar. Three of the events will have badges drawn by the incredible LightningBolt and they will be the most popular and everyone will want one of those and will submit entries for the events weeks later trying to get one of those amazing badges. At least one of the badges will repurpose art that The Smiling Pony drew years ago that includes (sometimes intentional) errors but now has become the canonical standard for how that pony is drawn because Hasbro searches fan art for “how is this pony drawn?” sometimes too. TJPones will win all but one of the events accidentally without entering or realizing that he was doing so. Chloemay will vandalize the tags on three of the events including tagging ancient Marsminer images as ‘safe’ and adding the event tag. And the burden of all the new art being drawn for all of Izzy’s events will shut down the server for 1 minute precisely at 4:20 (|| sixty nine, dudes! ||). It will be the most amazing day the site has ever experienced but years later a little confetti will still come out every time you cough.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders would earn their cutie marks in so much porn. Scootaloo will still be in the bathroom furiously having a healthy self-care session as she browses long deleted of her hero respectfully and consensually holding hooves with Applejack, and Apple Bloom will have made it so everyone who uses the site for any reason gets a crate of apples delivered from the Sweet Apple Acres store on Amazon that they didn’t order, but shipping is free if you buy three so why not buy more apples now!
Mayor Mare would handle the entire day smoothly without any problems, better than anyone ever has with no drama or problems at all except for the stampede which wasn’t even her fault when you think about it and it will go so well no one will even realize she was doing anything, and at the end of the day everyone will cheer Starlight Glimmer for having done such a good job managing the site all day. Mayor Mare will be unhappy about this, but resided to her lot in life. Starlight Glimmer will take it as proof that she really should be in charge and will create a new booru devoted entirely to anonymous posting of ponies who have no cutie marks.
@Mikey
Exactly! Everything would become so brittle and overburdened with contradictory and yet weirdly interconnected rules and documentation that the entire site would be reports reporting reporters who reported reporters reporting reports.
Exactly! Everything would become so brittle and overburdened with contradictory and yet weirdly interconnected rules and documentation that the entire site would be reports reporting reporters who reported reporters reporting reports.
@Mikey
Aww thanks I love me some Tia! Twi too lol!
Aww thanks I love me some Tia! Twi too lol!
@Ciaran
This is absolutely golden! I can practically see it playing out in a chaotic, perfectly pony-appropriate way. Rainbow Dash’s attempt to make everything about her, only to end up hiding from the backlash? So spot on! I feel like we’d need an official “Rainbow Dash is the best!” badge by the end of the day, just to smooth things over with her fans.
This is absolutely golden! I can practically see it playing out in a chaotic, perfectly pony-appropriate way. Rainbow Dash’s attempt to make everything about her, only to end up hiding from the backlash? So spot on! I feel like we’d need an official “Rainbow Dash is the best!” badge by the end of the day, just to smooth things over with her fans.
And Fluttershy’s wholesome, animal-loving day turning into a mix of joy and unintended chaos—totally fitting. The poor Sheep Union and the resulting confusion… I can already picture Fluttershy trying to apologize while blushing furiously. The Applejack economy, complete with bans for downvoting apple content? Perfection.
Izzy’s glitter-filled festival sounds like it would be an absolute riot! The badges, the sugar rush, and of course the server going down at 4:20—that’s the kind of chaos we all secretly live for. I’d love to see how the confetti still popping out of the server years later becomes part of the site’s charm.
And oh my gosh, the CMC ending up with… those cutie marks is hilariously on point! Scootaloo’s self-care moment had me laughing out loud. Mayor Mare handling it all perfectly, only for Starlight to get the credit, is such a classic turn of events. Starlight’s new booru? I’d join that chaos just for fun!
Thanks for such an entertaining read! It’s got me thinking about what other characters would do if they got the reins for a day—there’s no shortage of potential for madness. You’ve really made my day with this!
@Ciaran
True lol
True lol
@Alicorndogz
Mhm~
Mhm~
How do you feel about G5 being canceled?
How do you guys come up with the april fools events? (Sorry if this has been asked before)
First off, thank you to all site staff for keeping Derpibooru running so smoothly – your work is really appreciated! Out of curiosity, what’s one of the most memorable or surprising moments you’ve had while moderating the site? Whether it was a funny incident, a particularly challenging situation, or something that just stood out, I’d love to hear about any stories you’re willing to share!
@moonchosen
I never feel like any of the pony series are ‘canceled’ - the toys remain available for years afterwards, and you can always draw more if you’d like. And the ponies from those series keep reappearing in interesting ways in new series and shorts.
I never feel like any of the pony series are ‘canceled’ - the toys remain available for years afterwards, and you can always draw more if you’d like. And the ponies from those series keep reappearing in interesting ways in new series and shorts.
For me, it would be like being saying that Tolkien ‘canceled’ the Lord Of The Rings.
It’s just done. There it is now - a finished product, from which subsequent products might occur, and from which characters may continue to be used in new works.
@Felixmcfurry
Imagine, if you will, a tree. A beautiful tree with amazing and tantalizing fruit on it. But the fruit only ripens once a year. No one knows which fruit will ripen, you have to just wait to see which one does. Some look like fruits from the past. Some look entirely new. But you never know which one will be the one that will ripen. Or, significantly, how many will ripen at the same time.
Imagine, if you will, a tree. A beautiful tree with amazing and tantalizing fruit on it. But the fruit only ripens once a year. No one knows which fruit will ripen, you have to just wait to see which one does. Some look like fruits from the past. Some look entirely new. But you never know which one will be the one that will ripen. Or, significantly, how many will ripen at the same time.
Then, just before April Fool’s day, a set of the fruit will ripen and fall to the ground.
Some of the fruit will splatter and smoosh when they hit the ground. Some will roll away and get lodged under roots and will be lost.
But there’s always at least one that is perfect. Ripe and delicious and filled with joy and happiness.
The best ones - the fruits that I love the most - are the ones where there’s also another tinier fruit inside it.
Like finding an unopened Christmas present behind the tree that you didn’t notice until you had already thought the holiday was over.
Of those amazing and beautiful surprises within a surprise, my favorite of all time was Dot (also known as OC:Derpi Dot
Something many may not know is that often only the people who implemented the April Fools event know what the event actually is. This lets all the other volunteers on staff experience the event just like normal users.
So event people on staff have to figure out what the secret to getting the event badge is, too ^_^
Or, like in the 2018 April Fools, even moderators and assistants had to use the site in Russian, because some absolute and delightful GENIUS in the dev team TRANSLATED THE MODERATION TOOLS INTO RUSSIAN TOO!
Hi! Can you help me with a problem with my [redacted]?Sure! In TWO DAYS because right now I can’t even find the menu that has the button (꒪ᗢ꒪)
That was a day when the site staff got a harder April Fools than everyone else did. I liked it ^_^
First off, thank you to all site staff for keeping Derpibooru running so smoothly
Thank you for your kind words :) It is very nice!
what’s one of the most memorable or surprising moments you’ve had while moderating the site?
Getting to talk with some of my favorite artists of all time.
First, helping them with a small problem. Then, over the course of years, becoming really good friends ^_^
Whether it was a funny incident,
a particularly challenging situation,
Right now that would be
ai generated. For the last year it’s been a lot of pic related.But maybe the worse was pic related.
It’s the only time I’ve seen people physically violent over the show, or had to call the sheriff on someone standing in my driveway at 2 AM because they ‘just want to talk about Twilight Sparkle’.
or something that just stood out, I’d love to hear about any stories you’re willing to share!
I used to be … or maybe still am … Dear Princess Celestia (image used with very kind permission from the artist) on Facebook. I was involved in maybe 2 dozen different pages, from The Four Ponies Of The Apocalypse (I was ❤ Pestilence - maybe I still am), and Derpy Lama (image used with very kind permission from the artist). And Dear Luna Princess Of Dreams. A lot of them are gone now, but some were incredibly fun to be a part of.
Dear Princess Celestia, like all the others, was started as a lark, for fun. Me and a bunch of other part time or retired clergy were answering letters for Princess Celestia on Facebook. We were just screwing around and having fun with other fans. It was a lot of fun.
Then after the page had been around for a couple of years, we started getting a … different kind of letter.
For me, the first one that changed the page from ‘Wow, this is fun!’ to ‘Wow, people are treating this page like an actual therapist!’ was from someone working on an oil rig in the Pacific. They hadn’t seen their family in months and storms were keeping them from getting home so they were going to miss the second Christmas in a row. And they knew they were just writing to some people having fun but were just writing because it was the only way he could get out his feelings and no one else on the rig wanted to talk with him about it.
After that they wrote the page every holiday that they missed with their family from that point on, and Princess Celestia always wrote back, letting them know that friendship and love is stronger than distance. And that even just sending a letter home can keep family ties fresh and growing, and filled with excitement for the next time everyone will be able to be together.
Then we started getting letters from people in war zones. Kids who had lost their parents. People in prison. People in hospitals. People who’d lost their spouses.
Over time, a background noise of people with really severe mental issues sending letters to the page grew. We’d get the same letters over and over and over - sometimes dozens a day - asking Princess Celestia or Princess Luna to come and rescue them. Sometimes from people with incredibly difficult issues or challenges.
Sure - we could have boilerplated them with a canned response, but that felt wrong. So we tried to write a unique letter for each person. And, as you would expect, after a couple years we just burnt out.
All these pages started out as fun, a little hobby to just play with the MLP characters ourselves. But then they got real. By the time the pages died we were spending hours each day on the weekends or at night after work replying to private messages. The pages stopped posting anything publicly any more because we couldn’t keep up with the private stuff.
But, in the middle of all of that, I got to meet Tabitha St. Germain. It was amazing to talk with her about her experience of people coming to her at conventions or writing her letters expecting her to be an expert on parasomnia and nightmares. And it really helped me contextualize what was happening on the pages. She was getting the same kinds of letters and requests, even during public appearances or when doing signings.
It was eye opening.
I never really understood how ‘real’ the characters of FIM had become for some. People actually expected Princess Celestia to be omnipresent to have infinite minutes each day to write just to them about the most deep and personal of issues, even if it was the same issues day after day after day - because she has infinite mommy energy and will never ever burn out or lose her patience.
And a lot of people wanted Princess Luna to literally enter their dreams, to show up at night and help them with whatever sleep issues they had. And when she didn’t appear, they were angry that she let them down.
All the pages eventually died. Everyone else either burnt out or got new jobs that meant they didn’t have time to donate to the pages, and after struggling by with just one or two of us there were some massive Facebook changes to pages - like, Facebook completely changed things to the point where we were facing new learning curves every other week and stuff we had been doing became completely impossible to continue doing without literally paying Facebook to do it, we closed up shop.
I would happily do it again, but wow that was rough in the end.
Still, it was a lovely experience, and I feel it was one of the things that helped me get ready to be able to help here, at least a little.
About the same time those pages closed up, I was blessed to be able to start helping here.
The description on this page maybe sheds a little light on at least one of the people that we helped. I’ve kept in touch with the commissioner over the years, and they seem to be in a much better space now. Much happier, and last time I talked with them they were enjoying life.
Some folks need a bit more time and care and need to helped again and again, never permanently ‘fixed’.
Yeah … that was kind of the lesson those pages taught me, too. But since moving here, I feel like I’ve been able to be at least as helpful and have as much fun here as I did on those pages, and a lot of the things we do here are significantly more ‘this can actually be fixed’ than what we were doing on Facebook.
Also, Silfoe is incredible.
Signed, Your Princess,
~ Princess Celestia
~ Princess Celestia
(PS: ❤ Pestilence fires four arrows over the horizon to the east. She hopes one of them will find your heart and that you will welcome her blessings and will find her gift virulently contagious. As communicable and infectious as a laugh or a sneeze. Just like promised: only one crown. They made ❤ Pestilence promise, or ❤ Pestilence couldn’t be here. And ❤ Pestilence wanted to be here. So; one crown. But that’s ok. The other crown was heavy anyway. ~ ❤ Pestilence)
@Ciaran
… gotta admit, out of all of them the one I miss the most is being ❤ Pestilence.
… gotta admit, out of all of them the one I miss the most is being ❤ Pestilence.
❤ Pestilence stirred something deep in my soul. Like The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H.P. Lovecraft.
The image above links to the book on Amazon - SUPER HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for ANYONE who descends the 70 steps to the masters of dreaming, three times to be lost, three times to be found.
❤ Pestilence fit in the back of my mind, twining and twisting around the memories of running cables in dark basements, like a welcomed dream of being lost, but yet also found, three times. And her endless angst over the agreement that resulted in the loss of her second crown burns me/her still.
❤ Pestilence regrets the agreement sometimes. ❤ Pestilence longs for the lost crown but does not wish it returned. A bow is better than that crown. So heavy. So much weight that would make even the sun a tiny bobble in the palm by comparison. Yet, with my/her bow! So many arrows to share with the world. But the loss of her second crown burns still. Unresolved, but also Faithful and True! Only I/She knows the true name that is written, the word that none may speak. Bathed in white and fine linen running blood red, I/She never wanted to rule. Never wanted to lead. Wanted to hide and duck and dance between brambles and hide in the darkness in destroyed buildings, firing an arrow here, and arrow there. Gifts for those we never see, but already know. Never doing anything but treading the winepress of fury. But … the second crown. So unfair. So harrowing the loss. But so it is. Accepted and done and past. ❤ Pestilence fires 153 arrows in all directions, randomly and over the horizon so that many may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty. ❤ Pestilence is happy with my/her one crown. For now.
BBL going to go re-read The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. In the dark. With a strong adult beverage. And with ❤ Pestilence at my side.
@Ciaran
Thank you so much, Ciaran, for taking the time to share all of that! It’s clear that your journey as both a fan and moderator has been incredibly unique and full of meaningful experiences.
Thank you so much, Ciaran, for taking the time to share all of that! It’s clear that your journey as both a fan and moderator has been incredibly unique and full of meaningful experiences.
It must be amazing to have connected with artists you admired—starting with helping them through a simple issue and then forming friendships over time. That sounds like such a rewarding part of being involved in the community.
Hearing about the challenges you’ve dealt with, like the situation with AI-generated content, really sheds light on how intense things can get. And wow, having someone show up at your door at 2 AM over Twilight Sparkle—that’s a whole other level! It sounds like your role as a moderator has brought its share of surprises and challenges.
Your stories about running the Facebook pages, especially the ‘Dear Princess Celestia’ page, were so touching. I can only imagine how humbling it was to be approached by people from all walks of life—whether they were missing home on an oil rig, dealing with personal loss, or just looking for someone who cared. It’s really incredible that you and the team were able to provide comfort, even when things got emotionally intense. The amount of empathy you showed by responding personally rather than with canned responses must have meant so much to them. I’m sure it was a big shift from light-hearted fun to something so profound, and it speaks volumes about your dedication.
Meeting Tabitha St. Germain and hearing her perspective sounds like it must have been surreal. It’s so interesting to think about how the characters in FiM became more than fictional figures to people, almost like friends or mentors. The way you describe the community’s expectations around Princess Celestia and Princess Luna shows how real their impact is for fans.
And your sign-off as ‘❤ Pestilence’ was a perfect way to wrap it all up—it made me smile! It’s so clear that you bring not only skill but also a lot of heart and humor to everything you do. Thank you again for being so open and for everything you’ve done, both on Facebook and here on Derpibooru. It’s clear the community is lucky to have you, and your kindness definitely shines through!
@CelestialFlare
Oh! Thank you so much!
Oh! Thank you so much!
But … I’m just a singer in a rock and roll band - one of many on this site :) I’m blessed to be able to help here, and to be a part of this incredible team of volunteers.
@Ciaran
❤ Pestilence sounds like so much more than just a persona—a kind of fierce, poetic force of nature with a spirit all her own. Reading your words, I can feel the pull of that second crown, even as she fires her arrows with fierce independence, as though torn between the weight of leadership and the liberation of moving unseen. It’s a fascinating balance, and it’s clear how much she still means to you.
❤ Pestilence sounds like so much more than just a persona—a kind of fierce, poetic force of nature with a spirit all her own. Reading your words, I can feel the pull of that second crown, even as she fires her arrows with fierce independence, as though torn between the weight of leadership and the liberation of moving unseen. It’s a fascinating balance, and it’s clear how much she still means to you.
The way you describe her, it’s like she embodies something of the hidden corners of the soul, the parts that tread lightly, firing arrows from the shadows but never looking back. And that sense of longing—the dance between loss and acceptance—it’s incredibly powerful, especially when expressed through such rich, symbolic language. It sounds like ❤ Pestilence represents a part of you that’s still very much alive, even if that second crown will always leave a lingering ache.
Enjoy the re-read of The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. I think Lovecraft would approve of the mood you’re setting for it—dark, reflective, and with a strong drink in hand. Here’s to you and ❤ Pestilence finding exactly the kind of journey you’re looking for tonight. Thank you for taking us along on this glimpse into her world.
@CelestialFlare
Think of her as a Tulpa. She lives rent-free in my head now.
Think of her as a Tulpa. She lives rent-free in my head now.
And, I agree. When I realized her loss, what she gave up, it just made her so much more of a whole person than she did before. She promised though, but that promise nags at her, like an infection that won’t go away.
@Ciaran
That’s such a powerful way to look at her, a Tulpa carrying the weight of her promise and loss, yet persisting with her mission. The way her story has evolved within you, especially her choice to give up something so significant, really does make her feel like a whole, complex person. That constant pull of the promise, like an unhealed wound, adds such a raw dimension to her character.
That’s such a powerful way to look at her, a Tulpa carrying the weight of her promise and loss, yet persisting with her mission. The way her story has evolved within you, especially her choice to give up something so significant, really does make her feel like a whole, complex person. That constant pull of the promise, like an unhealed wound, adds such a raw dimension to her character.
It’s fascinating how she exists within you, almost like a haunting melody that you can never fully shake.
@CelestialFlare
Someone needs to carry her. I mean, that’s what we do for friends, right?
Someone needs to carry her. I mean, that’s what we do for friends, right?
@Ciaran
Exactly! Carrying each other even in spirit is what true friendship is all about.
Exactly! Carrying each other even in spirit is what true friendship is all about.
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