What sometimes makes pacing difficult during an in-person game is that most tabletop RPGs are complicated board games, and complicated board games have a long setup phase.
Some time ago, I and some room mates came up with the idea of all of us GMing in the same "universe" of a game, but rotate who had that power. After several little campaigns (and for me, character sheets), we had a "reunion" adventure where everyone (without telling) put forth their favorite character they've played so far. Two of the characters picked, did not leave previously on good terms.
Gerald (Human knight): ... Dragon.
Rex (Dragon born fighter): ... Human.
Gerald: Burn any more villages down?
Rex: Of course. Destroy more land to create those villages?
Gerald: You know I did.
Gerald and Rex: ...
Party: ...
Twitchy (The drunk dwarf gunslinger): Listen you two, I don't really care about whatever tension you two have between you, but if you want the rest of us to get you two a room so you can go for that lizard-tall-midget thing you two want, then so be it.
For those wondering, it did not end in any romantic way.
The party cad captured the crazy witch Miluda Zalmus and had to transport her through a dangerous city-state run by a vampire, Elena Draclau. The party could not escape customs ("do you have any alcohol, tobacco, or witches to declare?") and so Elena caught up with them.
The party has tangled with Elena before. Never actually fought her, unlike Miluda. All their encounters were political. Well, Elena shows up and the party bard introduces the team again. He adds Miluda in as a 'Passenger Escortee' of the party.
Bard: "And this is Miluda Za-" Elena: "We've. Met."
Turns out the two were once part of the same adventuring party long ago, before Elena turned vampire and Miluda crazed witch. The party actually diplomatically helped the two patch up their rocky relationship so that they could continue their quest.
Or maybe the Bard was just shipping them. Could be both.
You know that YouTube meme where someone puts their preferred franchise, gaming platform, or what have you, and then follows it up with "master race!"
Well, pretend I wrote a comment consisting of that meme, and that the preferred thing I inserted was the PNG image format, and that you don't find such base humor utterly repulsive.
Then you can pretend I posted a sarcastic Willy Wonka making a droll comment about you explaining your format's vast superiority and that it cleverly ripostes the thrust of your point.
Do you think the DM is crossing an uncomfortable line with Spike? In the show, the age difference (let alone species) puts a bit of a damper on his chances of romance. Here, you have the Dungeon Master actually acting out and insisting on Spike's behalf that he's in love with a pony much older than him who happens to be a player's character. Rarity's player may go along with it if she retires the character, but do you think the table as a whole is really comfortable with this idea? Pinkie seems to take it with good humor but Twilight is clearly showing the "yuck factor."
I don't see any difference between an NPC in love with a much older PC and a TV character in love with a much older TV character. It's always equally weird.
The age difference really isn't that big, given how young Rarity was when Spike got born. She certainly seems to have been MUCH younger than the CMC in the current time who seem elementary-school age. Rarity seems to be a young adult and Spike is only a few years younger. Spike just looks much younger than he is because he keeps his greed in check and that's how dragons work in the FiM-verse.
That makes a surprising amount of sense and completely changes how I see spike... actually Newbiespud proved that a dragons appearance doesn't reflect their age, Arelia in Fallout is Dragons looks like a teenage dragon but is less than a year old. Spike very well could be only a few years younger than Rarity in the show.
She canonically is.
Remember, RD's first Sonic Rainboom opened the geode for Filly Rarity and gave Filly Twilight the supercharge that hatched Spike. So we know canonically how many years Rarity has on Spike.
The age difference (which we don't have an exact figure for, but it's equal to Rarity's age when she got her cutie mark) is less important than their absolute ages, and we have no canonical information about how old any of the ponies are.
The same thing goes for Spike's age, for that matter; the show and the comics are all over the map about how old (or mature) he is at any given time.
All we know for certain is that there's an age difference, and that it's enough to make it unusual, but not enough to make it unthinkable after some amount of time passes.
It's a bit gray to because we don't know actual ages or what age constitutes "maturity" for dragons and ponies. I kind of relate pony ages to human ages for the players' benefit. Dragons are a bit harder to figure out.
Most D&D dragons have odd backgrounds that they're "Born intelligent" so do they mature much faster? There's a playable race that I believe matures to adult at age 9 so... I dunno. Whatever the players and GM are comfortable with.
There's some kind of disdain in "Finally achieved middle manager status?" that makes it so horrendously insulting that it trumps ANYTHING real insult that could actually be thrown. It's the type of coup d' grace that can only be delivered by former friends and allies who intimately know each other...
If only I had all the recordings from my first 4e Shadowrun campaign. My players and I have said some really dark and dirty humor and racy lines. something we only said because we knew each other well enough to be comfortable and not take anything personally.
An outsider listening in though... heh it would have been interesting to see their reaction.
I only just now noticed that Luna is being played by Rarity's player, because she was delivering so much exposition (and so straight) that I just assumed she was the DM despite the text box color. Only the interaction in the last panel made me realize she wasn't.
... I only get the impression that this is just, one of those days, where it really doesn't go for you.
...
As for the comic, if all of these spectral whatever things were here the whole time, what was Luna/Nightmare Moon doing with them the 1,000 years she was there, tag?
Gerald (Human knight): ... Dragon.
Rex (Dragon born fighter): ... Human.
Gerald: Burn any more villages down?
Rex: Of course. Destroy more land to create those villages?
Gerald: You know I did.
Gerald and Rex: ...
Party: ...
Twitchy (The drunk dwarf gunslinger): Listen you two, I don't really care about whatever tension you two have between you, but if you want the rest of us to get you two a room so you can go for that lizard-tall-midget thing you two want, then so be it.
For those wondering, it did not end in any romantic way.
The party has tangled with Elena before. Never actually fought her, unlike Miluda. All their encounters were political. Well, Elena shows up and the party bard introduces the team again. He adds Miluda in as a 'Passenger Escortee' of the party.
Bard: "And this is Miluda Za-"
Elena: "We've. Met."
Turns out the two were once part of the same adventuring party long ago, before Elena turned vampire and Miluda crazed witch. The party actually diplomatically helped the two patch up their rocky relationship so that they could continue their quest.
Or maybe the Bard was just shipping them. Could be both.
And right in the middle of an adventure!
(Probably going to claim it signifies transition from Earth to Moon
like Oz is in color and Kansas is not)
Well, pretend I wrote a comment consisting of that meme, and that the preferred thing I inserted was the PNG image format, and that you don't find such base humor utterly repulsive.
Remember, RD's first Sonic Rainboom opened the geode for Filly Rarity and gave Filly Twilight the supercharge that hatched Spike. So we know canonically how many years Rarity has on Spike.
The same thing goes for Spike's age, for that matter; the show and the comics are all over the map about how old (or mature) he is at any given time.
All we know for certain is that there's an age difference, and that it's enough to make it unusual, but not enough to make it unthinkable after some amount of time passes.
Most D&D dragons have odd backgrounds that they're "Born intelligent" so do they mature much faster? There's a playable race that I believe matures to adult at age 9 so... I dunno. Whatever the players and GM are comfortable with.
An outsider listening in though... heh it would have been interesting to see their reaction.
Super Saiyan Applejack.
...
As for the comic, if all of these spectral whatever things were here the whole time, what was Luna/Nightmare Moon doing with them the 1,000 years she was there, tag?