Ask Grey Element

Hello everyone. I'm Grey Element, and I used to be an archival researcher at the University Library of Roancliffe, but I gave that up to pursue my own research. If you have any questions about me, my work, or anything, feel free to ask and I'll try and answer correctly. ((Please note that the mod is both lazy and a charlatan.))

[casualcolt]

Why hello there mares and gents. Welcome to Canterlot, the capital of the Equestrian Kingdom. The name’s Scifresh, Petty Officer of the fifth division. Have any questions? I would be more than happy to answer them.

spooky-pony , eightbithoof , askgreyelementsilentnight-pony , askdetectiveexie

[askgreyelement]

Look! A Grey, in the background, probably plotting to overthrow the government or some such with a co-conspirator!

Nah. Grey wouldn't do that, he has nowhere near enough free time.

Anyways... Much thanks to Scifresh. It was a pleasant surprise to come back to Tumblr after a week and see this after scrolling for ten minutes.

[talktoturquoise]

Thank you all for over 200 followers! :D Made everyone kitties as a tribute to Turquoise’s love of cats. Birman, Cymric, Flamepoint, Mackerel, Mainecoon, and Savannah kitties.

Featuring: 

asktwirlybug, askpeonyponi, askqueenluna, purringinsanity, askburningstream, equestriangods

asknoxthepony, ask-abject, ask-opalescent-pearl, ask-starberry, aerialaim, askborealsymphony, 

asksapphire-delusion, ask-bumble-buzz, ask-silver-pallette, askfannypack, alte-seele-mod, ask-liquid-fire

askgreyelement, askmarythepony, mild-disappointment, airrazer, junipernyx, foxfaces-world

omega-the-batpony, denazi, spirit-weaver, askug, malikoathkeeper, lifeandtimesofinlusio

Sorry some if some of them don’t look like the pony they are supposed to represent, I tried. Thank you to all of my other followers that I didn’t feature you are all amazing! thank you for being here!

[askgreyelement]

Fear me! For I have become a cat!

That said, congratulations on two hundred. At this rate, it'll be no time before you're at three hundred. I wish you the best of luck.

[clouddoodles]

( Thank  you all so MUCH for the 300+ followers! I never thought I’d even get past 50, never mind this much! But thank you all of those who’s stayed with me, even since the very beginning, I am very grateful! I love you all!

Featuring (in order)

askgreyelement askwingedcross askthesojourner askdarlingadelaide askburningstream asksongbreeze askstonehoofbastion (cloud) spirit-weaver ask-rustygears foxfaces-world satine-pony star-bright-unicorn barhandar askwiltedlily

Sorry if you were missed out in this pic, but there are a lot of you and its hard to draw so many! But thank you one and all! I hope I got all the designs right )

[askgreyelement]

Congratulations on attaining three hundred followers, you've earned each and every one of them! Here's to many more.

Thanks for including Grey in this line up of amazing and awesome ponies and pony related creatures.

[askdarlingadelaide-deactivated2]

First set of my 4 portrait winners! The next two will be up in a couple days, congrats again to the winners!! ^_^ <3 askgreyelement starr-bright (He wanted a portrait for his friend instead :3 )

[askgreyelement]

Thanks a bunch Adelaide! You're amazing and your art is amazing too! I love how vibrant you made everything, especially the eyes and mane.

[askdetectiveexie]

ONE WEEK OF WORK AND ONE COMPUTER DEATH LATER, I CAN FINALLY THANK YOU ALL PROPERLY!

Yep, I thankfully was able to get these images restored, so I won’t have to draw all these horses at once again. So, once again, thank you all so much for following me! 

I’m sorry if I didn’t include you - I either ran out of space, couldn’t find a good reference, or just couldn’t draw your character for some reason. And as for the characters that I did include;

Frame 1:      Smart Cookie - The smart yellow one with the cookies      Starhaze - The purple one who deserves hugs      Scifresh - The red one with his hat in his mouth for no reason      Satine - The brown one who’s too pretty to not be drawn daintily      Apple Fritter - The yellow one who was a twin I was too lazy to draw      Partway Mist - Yay for bisected blue horses!      Bandaid - The light yellow one who has a sassy pose for no reason      Dragon Runner - The one with the tiny computer. Because horses can use computers.

Frame 2:       Bubble Pop - EHRMEGEHRD THAT BABY HORSE IS TOO CUTE       Error Pony - The one who’s only outlines, and who was really fun to draw      Ghost Pony - The ghost who is also a pony       Little Emerald - The tiny green one with eighties hair      Wind Cheer - The fluffly green one I almost couldn’t fit into frame      Paradigm - The cuddly white changeling with Dimetrodon hair      Dinky Doo - The adventurous purple horse I couldn’t find a good reference for      Shady Knolls - HOW MANY GHOST PONIES ARE FOLLOWING ME

Frame 3:      Zephyr Wing - The grey one I drew before who’s still cute      Cloudy - HOW MANY CHILD HORSES ARE FOLLOWING ME      King Sombra - KING SOMBRA USED VINE WHIP      Blueberry Tart - HOW MANY ADORABLE STALLIONS ARE FOLLOWING ME      Violet Rain - The white one who isn’t a pegasus that I still gave wings      Serenity - WIIIIIINGS      Storybook Sonnet - The product of Vinyl/Octavia shipping      Amandeus - NEEEEECK

Frame 4:      Grey Element - The grey one who’s suddenly a lot fluffier      Prism Glider - OH WHAT A SURPRISE MORE ADORABLE HORSES      Crystal Clear - The one I gave a floaty third eye for no reason      Snowflake - Insert your own yellow snow joke here      Derpy - The one who’s too adorable to draw standing up      Sweet Paw - The brown one who gives everyone bows to make them look pretty      Icy Lavender - The one with the awesome purple and cyan mane      Devotional Pancake - THERE I DREW YOUR OC ZANDS ARE YOU HAPPY

But all joking aside, one more time, a giant thanks to each and every one of you guys!

[askgreyelement]

Mod: Congratulations Exie! You did an excellent job, everyone looks amazing. Except that grey Earth Pony with the book. He needs a mane cut.

[askdetectiveexie]

Thanks to each and every one of you guys for following me! I didn’t think I was going to get this many followers on an OC blog at all! So again, thank you! I drew a bunch of the users who’ve been following me for the longest time, so an extra large thank you to you all for putting up with my stupidity for so long! 

 The other ponies featured in this are:

     Wind Cheer - The snuggly green one

     Out of Work Derpy - GEE I WONDER WHERE DERPY COULD BE

     Partway Mist - The not freaky decapitated one

     Scifesh - The red one with the awesome hat

     Grey Element - The adorable purple haired one

     Shady Knolls - The totally frightening ghost. Totally, you guys.

     Zephyr Wing - The cute royal guard

     Bandaid - The one with the bandaids

[askgreyelement]

Dear gods, a ghost! I'm allergic to ectoplasm!

Mod: Congratulations Exie! And thank you so much for including Grey, he looks amazing. In fact, everyone looks amazing. I hope you get many more.

[askgreyelement]

What is you wedding going to be like? -When- is it going to be?

When I can’t answer, I don’t know when Hope will be in the country long enough.

As for what it’s going to be like, I’m thinking a simple ceremony as the sun sets, probably at the lakeside chapel not far from my parent’s house. And then probably a feast followed by dancing until the late hours. You know, typical wedding reception activities.

[talktoturquoise]

That’s right! Turquoise is passing another mile stone! :D WOOHOO

So once again I am holding another contest! This one will be very similar to the one I did for 50 followers except bigger!

There is no first, second or third but there are three big winners! Each of them will get one character of...

[ask-thaumaturge-pony]

Please read: Oh wow, thank you so much guys for 245 followers! The true purpose of this small portrait giveaway is to use the least possible amount of space on your dashboards. The winners of each category will be randomly selected on April 15th (a day the RMS Titanic remembers very well).

[askgreyelement]

I really shouldn't, but I can't help myself.

Hmm... I should do a more up to date reference. That said, Ghost Pirate sounds fun.

[askgreyelement]

When you used to work at a university, did you have pranks pulled on you at all? Get bullied or anything for being a researcher?

Not when I was working there, no. The atmosphere among the staff was pretty professional and students are rarely allowed access to the parts of the library I was working in. 

Now… When I was still a student… That was a different matter.

[askgreyelement]

What made you decide to stop working for someone else and pursue your own research?

Limited opportunities for advancement mainly and limited financial reward. I’m a terrible teacher, which cuts most avenues of advancement at the University, leaving only the coveted position of Librarian. But I don’t want to spend five years as a researcher and another thirty as an assistant librarian without a guarantee of success.

I suppose I could technically have stayed on and worked on my own studies in between my work for the University, but even though I work less now than I did then, I enjoy the freedom that comes from not being shackled to an institution.

[askgreyelement]

Have you ever outright refused to do a job? If so, why?

Numerous times. Usually because the client asked the impossible for the amount of time they were going to give me to get it done or tried to haggle down the cost of hiring me. This I can’t stand. When I say it’ll take four weeks to catalogue the cartload of books they’re dumping on my doorstep, I mean it. And when I tell them it’ll cost eleven hundred bits, I mean eleven hundred bits. It’s already less than eight bits to the hour.

There are other reasons I refuse jobs, but those vary depending on the circumstances. 

[askgreyelement]

What's the most boring, tedious thing you've ever had to research?

The writings of Black Lock of Dunbridge. That stallion could make daemonology boring, and yet I still spent five months checking for a rumoured hidden cipher in his works. Absolutely nothing, and I now know more about the digestive tracts of sea monsters than anyone could conceivably need to.

[askgreyelement]

Have you ever been injured in your line of work?

To be honest, mostly paper cuts and the occasional electric shock. But if you’re not careful, all manner of things can go wrong.

You see, a long time ago, alchemists, sorcerers and the like tended to be very paranoid, partly because they didn’t want their work stolen and partly because they feared persecution. As such, most of what they wrote is either in code or protected by wards, curses and both magical and mechanical traps. Fire is a common danger, as is blindness and poison. Fortunately however, the worst has been singed fur and getting buried under a pile of books.

[askgreyelement]

An Announcement, of sorts.

Mod: Well, here we are, a good month and a half since I managed to get my act together and update.

Alas, I'm kind of terrible at the production of art. I can do it, as this blog shows and some people even say it's not half bad, but I feel limited by my own meagre talents and the feeling that if I am to update it requires me to draw something. This is causing me undue stress and it's sapping my strength and will to continue with this, and indeed my will to continue with anything. Rather than give up completely, I'm going to announce a transition.

From now on, I'm not going to draw anything for asks, save maybe for something simple. I might draw more substantial pictures and multiple panel things from time to time.

I'm really sorry guys, but I need to do things this way from now. Please send some questions to help with the transition.

[askgreyelement]

A pony is just a horse under fourteen hands in height.

Me, five minutes ago.

[askstonehoofbastion]

Giveaway prize for Grey Element . I hope you like it!

[askgreyelement]

Mod: Here we see Grey reading a book about a mythical continent rumoured to house great treasures beyond one's wildest imaginings.

That said, much thanks to the mod of Ask Stonehoof Bastion. He is an awesome and amazing person. May fortune smile upon you Sir!