Friday, March 6, 2015

MLP Arena Easter Swap Wishlist

Well, it looks like I'm participating in my very first pony related swap! :) This swap is Easter themed, so I decided to go with a bit different color scheme then I normally do here. Below you will find my wishlist, a repeat of my preferences (originally posted on the MLP Arena Easter Swap Thread) and the answers to any questions that get asked throughout the swap. (They'll also be on the thread, but I'll put them here too for convenience.)

Let's get this started! :)


G1

Narrowing this down was hard...

Minty
Butterscotch
Applejack
Glory
Moondancer
Posey
Medley
Fizzy
Coco Berry
Princess Primrose
Baby Paws
Chatterbox (Sweet Talkin' Pony: Pink)

G2

I like G2 but don't know much about it...

Clever Clover
Ivy
Sundance
Sky Skimmer

G3

Like G1, narrowing this was a challenge...

Soda Float
Butter Pop
Desert Blossom
Coconut Cream
Coconut Grove
Tea Leaf
Tea Lily
Banjo Blue
Applejack
Marshmallow Coco
Morning Monarch
Silver Rain
Seascape
Flippity Flop

G4

This was actually one of the gens where I had trouble coming up with ponies!

Rarity (Any except Water Cuties & Styling Strands)
Fluttershy (Any but Breezie set & Styling Strands)
Applebloom
Sweetie Belle
Scootaloo
Sunset Shimmer
(Glittery) Wysteria
Nurse Redheart
Trixie
Photo Finish
Princess Celestia
Princess Luna


Q: Do you have any allergies?

A: No. Nothing to worry about there. :)

Q: What are your favorite fragrance and candy / sweets likes & dislikes?

A: Smells I love include: coconut, fruits & berries (watermelon, strawberry and peach are all great), vanilla, chocolate and cinnamon. I don't mind floral scents as long as they aren't incredibly strong.

As for candy and sweets: My favorite combinations are peanut butter x chocolate and hazelnut x chocolate. I adore jelly beans, m&ms, jolly ranchers, Maynard's Juicy Squirts (though they've been a pain to find recently.) and dark side skittles. My favorite Easter specific candy is Cadbury Mini Eggs, though I've meant to try a Butterfinger Egg at some point. I also adore anything with white chocolate. (I love candy. Can you tell?) 

I don't like: Anything with black licorice. I love the smell of coconut, but hate its taste and texture. Candies that involve really sticky fillings like toffee or chewy caramel are usually a pass. Anything super sour or really spicy / hot probably isn't for me, either. 

Q: What are your bobbies?

A: I am an aspiring novelist. (Fantasy & paranormal romance). I love to read and am slowly transitioning my collection from book shelves to my Kindle Paperwhite. (Then the ponies can have the shelves!) I love video games--especially RPGs. I'm subscribed to Arcade Block, a monthly service that sends out video game themed collectibles. I am an avid tea drinker who loves unique mugs. I like to color, so I'm always looking for art supplies and interesting new books to work my way through. I find it a good way to relax when I have writer's block. 

Q: Do you have any pets?

A: I have two little dogs (Coco and Maggie) and a chinchilla (Daisy). Unfortunately, Coco has many allergies and I have to be very careful what I feed him. Maggie will eat anything, though! (Sometimes that can be scary! She ate the adapter for a Wii U Gamepad once!)

Q: Do you collect anything else? 

A: Mugs, keychains, stickers, coloring books, various blind bags, dolls, and plushies. I like Disney Princesses (fav. char: Belle), Monster High (fav. char: Ghoulia), Hello Kitty, MLP (of course), Ninja Turtles, anything gaming related (especially Final Fantasy, Zelda, Pokemon (Shaymin, Pikachu, Eevee) or Mario), Sailor Moon (fav. char: Jupiter), InuYasha (fav char: Naraku), DC Comics in general (fav. char:. Poison Ivy), Marvel comics in general (fav. char: Thor) and any of the cartoons I grew up with: He-Man, She-Ra, ThunderCats and Jem. The latest things I've wanted to try / check out are Zelfs (most wanted: Catsby, Howlette, Webina, Jack Snap, L'il D) and Shopkins, but neither of these seem to want to show up here.

Q: What are your favorite colors?

A: Pink, blue, purple and green. Either bright tones or pastels work fine with these. There really isn't a color I don't like, though, unless its all muddy and washed out or something. (I loved Rarity's "camo" outfit during "Dragon Quest". I sat there thinking "Yep, that would be me.") I also love anything with animal print or glitter.

Q: Anything else that might help out your partner?

A: I think I've mostly covered it. I've tried to give both broad and specific ideas so that this can be as easy or challenging as someone wants it to be. I certainly don't wanna be that person who is impossible to shop for. :) One thing I can tell you is that I'm generally not a jewelry or hair clips kinda person. I have bad vision and limited use of my right hand which makes stuff like chokers, earrings, bracelets and brettes become items I only use on very rare occasion. 

Q: What Flaws Are / Aren't Acceptable To You?

A: For the most part, if a pony looks nice I'm going to be happy with it. I realize that these were designed and intended to be children's toys, so they aren't necessarily going to be perfect. I am in the absolute infancy of collecting ponies, so I'm certainly not trying to get them new in box. 

On the other hand, I'd rather avoid anything that has "cancer" (I've heard it can spread?), or that rattles (had a pony from a flea market that did that and I ended up sending it back in a bag with a bunch of stuff. May sound silly, but for some reason that weirded me out.) To be clear: I'm pretty sure no one would send something with either of these issues, but they're things I would rather avoid, so I listed them anyway. 

I don't mind if something has had a slight trim, or if certain hair colors are not as vibrant as they once were. (If memory serves me, pale pink is rather prone to this?) Note: I would *prefer* that Posey have pink hair, I'm not as worried about Coco Berry. The difference lies entirely in reasons I'm listing them. (Posey reminds me of Fluttershy; Coco Berry is a reference to my dog, who is a pigmented albino--white fur pink skin. So the pink to white ratio isn't *as* vital there.)

The short version: I've watched a lot of swap threads and never seen a pony arrive in a condition I would find unacceptable (unless it was bait deliberately sent for customizing). So overall, I'm not too worried here. :) 

Q: Would you be happy to receive one or two expensive items from your list, or lots of little items?

A: I will be happy either way. I'm still learning the value of all the different ponies, so I'm willing to trust that whoever gets my name will make me a nice box. Again: I haven't seen any in the threads I've looked at where they weren't well done, so I'm not even remotely worried.

Q: Would you like a custom as part of your box? 

A: There are some extremely talented people here at the Arena. If someone chooses to include something he or she made, that's wonderful. The best part of doing a swap is the fact that I get a box from someone else with things they chose for me. If someone wants to make something, I think that's incredibly thoughtful. :)


I will add Q&A for any additional questions that get asked during the swap here. Might as well keep everything in one convenient place. :) 

***

Okay! I've triple checked the names of all the ponies. I've made sure all my Q&A make sense. Time to send this off and then get it linked in my Arena sig and on the Easter Swap thread. :)