Dowlphin

Lately I was reminded of this old episode that conveys in a gentle, subtle, humorous way how this debate about whether it's a turtle or a tortoise is somewhat futile since different countries do it differently, and the various other, supposedly more scientific terms are based on the same meanings, too, so any name you could be using for refering to the whole range of those animals that share the same traits are also based on the common terms for supposedly specific types. Sounds confusing? Exactly. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle#Turtle,_tortoise,_or_terrapin P.S.: The weird fact that in the thumbnail scene Tank's head came out of his butt was too tempting to pass up for an edit.

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After a long wait I finally got VDSL and a proper render PC and settled on playing in 1080 when streaming so that I can read chat without having to buy a separate display. If you sign up and follow me on Twitch, you can get notified when I'm playing something live and chat about it. My style is typically relaxed and thoughtful, experimental-unconventional-playful and philosophical-critical-informative.

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== Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == I only got a couple brief thoughts about this episode. Don't wanna pick it apart too much. How did Sludge manage to turn HIMSELF into a fireball? Why did no one even ask why he came to Ponyville before the extensive wellness spa treatment was done? It announced itself quite early that he's just an exploitative, convenient phony. What also announced itself very early is that it would be another episode about Spike trying to find out what being a dragon is like, and since we kinda know the writers by now, that the chance was high for a story concept reboot, i.e. Spike would once again return to being content just being himself. This episode had lots of screen time with Smolder, almost right from the opening even, so how can it possibly be that Spike didn't learn everything he needs to know from him? This was the weakest point in the story. That scam shouldn't have worked at all. Spike should already know everything Smolder would know at that age, having grown up with his dragon parents. Spike was like 'Finally another dragon!', as if Smolder didn't exist. Here we see another instance of the weird supposed joke like with Rainbow Dash pulling the blanket from Fluttershy, which I actually find kinda lame, because it adds to the demagicalization() of Equestria actually being a pony society and not just a human world with equestrified() characters. - Yeah, Sludge is actually at all clothed here, unlike usually. - It's an immersion breaker! BURN IT! For a moment I thought that this is not anatomically correct, since horses have their heart in the chest and not the neck, but I can easily accept that due to their unusual shape their internal organs would also be arranged a bit differently than in our kind. I am so glad Pinkie was part of this episode. Her just being herself is always an enrichment, and I loved every moment. And she has a way with lizards, heh. (Cupcake on a stick is so much superior to carrot on a stick and has actually been used for a long time now, without anyone noticing. ) This reminded me of the dream scene where she was surfing on a giant Gummy. (I also liked seeing her with shades, heh. ) Fitting that I watched this episode on Pinkie Pie Day, I guess. Funnily (haha?) I actually learned only now that is a thing. I guess because I am not that active in the fandom. Can't even find an info why it's on October 7th. Do you know how it came about? I find it weird. Isn't every day Pinkie Pie Day?

== Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == What an amazing episode, very dear to me, beginning with the title, a nod to The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel(, a very poetical song about a frustrating superficiality in society preventing deep and meaningful communication), that is one of my favorites. I wrote this shortly before watching the episode: Loving people, sharing their flight from darkness. See the light. Walk alone. Footsteps like silent raindrops. I often feel like deep and meaningful relations are difficult when people let unpleasant things about others weigh ten times as heavy as pleasant ones. Almost like it's a seller's market with quantity over quality emphasis, always easy to walk away and pick other options, which is horrible to perceive, because that kind of pragmatism devalues human potential and cannot build a better world. Without idealism we are doomed. (Are you still reading, or skipped on to more pleasant things?) I cannot just succumb to that and deny half of what I am. That is no life. The episode also conveyed the poetical beauty of rainbows that I occasionally express (https://dowlphinblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/30/rainbows-are-life-writing-poetry/): A rainbow is a symbol of encouragement and hope; When the light stands its ground against gloom, when you have the contrast that makes you appreciate both, you experience the full spectrum in all its beauty. Balance brings health, and when light and dark are in balance, you are not tempted to perceive either one as an enemy. (People utterly consumed by darkness will regard the light as an enemy, and people who fled to the light in self-entrapping denial cannot handle to even look at the darkness.) https://www.deviantart.com/dowlphin/art/Hiding-In-Plain-Sight-712449414 The more you flee towards the light, The more darkness you leave behind. Deny it with growing might And the night will turn you blind. Stand tall Twiley did a rhymey! Soft, gentle character development ... kinda nice (Well, she could do that since the first episodes, but here she subverted a trope. And who doesn't love trope subversion? Right? ) Gu-huuys! Can we please just be frickin' amazing for a moment? Sticks and stones are hard on bones. Aimed with angry art, words can sting like anything. But silence breaks the heart. - Phyllis McGinley

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== Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == The story of this episode is very dear to me, so the writing quality of the story arc eased the bewilderment a bit, down to flummoxification level. So Rockhoof couldn't tell stories because he was demolishing the classroom. Not only might he have been able to curb that a little, but my first and immediate thought was that he should simply do those classes outside! Instead we get a couple of attempts at purpose-finding that, if I am trying to be fair, probably were meant to show the tragedy that he shows a severe clumsiness in anything physical or how generally the things he could do always have some downside. Basically, the classroom scene established that after the digsite scene. The firefighting scene is focusing fully on the clumsiness, because this could have happened just as easily without any purpose-giving context. But it showed how the 'modern' world is so alien to him. And at the very end of the episode he happens to stumble into doing just what was obvious in the beginning, and this is really not the first time that a story arc was resolved just like that. Although based on what was established in the episode, he could still mess his storytelling up, and the same allpies to just living in that unfamiliar world! So he basically just needed some time getting used to stuff but was too impatient because the director told him the episode play time. Conclusion: This needed more suspension of disbelief than usual. P.S.: As in previous episodes, there were memorable highlights that chased these dark clouds away a bit. P.P.S.: There were (p)ineapples and (P)inkie (s)urfing. All the good stuff. Pretty much this... and this... and these lovely pineapples kinda quilt the bad mood and stitched my attention to the plot... and all is fine when you have Pinkie and patience for frame analysis... and find her munching on a marshmallow. (Which gives me an idea for munchmallow pie.)

Sounds like your interest in the show was tied to your interest in the fandom. ... Or is it a reminder of the painful experiences? I myself have learned the hard lesson that the MLP fandom is a mixed bag like more or less any other fandom, with all the usual flaws, and while that in itself is just a setting for good real-life MLP episodes to happen, few people seem interested in being a part of one. Looking up to something and loving it so much that one lives it are two profoundly different things. Especially regarding the 'horse-famous', you often got young people, immature minds, accessing more influence than they can handle, playing with borrowed power, maybe believing it's the real thing. Many different motivations. Some devils, some saints, and everything in-between. Life presents the same basic challenges regardless of where you are, about overcoming fear and coming into love. The show teaches everything, yet not many are devoted to the lessons. Where there are ponies, there are phonies. I run my own show fandom, in my heart, where nothing but my own foalishness could corrupt it.

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== Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == Few pics this time. Didn't feel like it. The episode started so amazing. Fluttershy opening, then Pinkie. Music. I mean 'music'. Angel practicing 'creative solutions'. I suffered with Pinkie when her friends screwed up in communication once again. And I also immediately thought that this might be what it sounds like when played well. Do we know the musical taste of yaks? Her blues also showed once again just how powerful a magic Pinkie channels through her heart. Even her colors is fading, which normally takes external magical impositions. ... Well, you could say that kinda is what happened. Twilight after all did put a spell on her. But it was dark magic. Of course trying to cheer her up by distracting from the actual issue won't work. BTW, I think Mudbriar is having a bad influence on Maud. She didn't use to be that much of a bonehead with language. I am tempted to call it maudtistic, hah. When Fluttershy said they didn't even get a chance to say goodbye... well, they kinda did say goodbye. They somehow manage to confuse their lack of insight with optimism. They don't quite want to face what they did. This is so much showing the problem with intellectualizing matters of the heart. I guess this could have a tendency of happening since they are a group of friends. If five out of six screw up in a certain way, they're not likely to admit it was a majority blunder. It was kind of a rollercoaster though when even Pinkie was misled about the spirit of yak music. Makes me wonder how she got her hooves on that instrument in the first place, without getting a primer in the cultural background. ... Oh well, maybe she was just too hyper. This was mildly surprising: They made a sculpture of out pastries that were magically floating. Very Pinkie-like, I would say. MAJOR crisis: This is yellow and pink on a bedding of MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP!!! Which is my favorite! But again, I know this well. You can't just fill a hole in the heart with repair glue. But eventually, just by being 'allowed' to be in her element, she came alive again. Quick recovery, and the best and only healing really is when the actual cause is being resolved, as it was here, in two ways, so better than expected. This of hourse could all have been avoided by agreeing with her on when and where not to play. But then we wouldn't have gotten this story. And even though it was hard to watch at times, I always appreciate an epinksode.

== Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == If only the script would allow the main characters development so that they are not repeatedly being a bad example, hah. Oh well... teachers, right? ;-D Seriously though, it is so cynical, it is painful to watch. If they need worldsaving or Pinkie to stay friends, what message is that sending? Their friendship is the best, except when it's not? This is necessary to continue delivering stories, I guess, but in a way there might be more potential with some imagination. I will consider the possibility though that the fact they were being observed as examples might have influenced them in an adverse way. I love how Dashie is talking about heels on a horse and Rarity is doing a horse snort. I definitely sensed this episode is another standard formula, not playful, so you got 1) break friendship 2) clumsily failing trying to mend it and 3) a crisis to mend it. Chances for a fake crisis were high since it was an extension of Starlight Glimmer's efforts that eventually need to succeed or she would appear to be a bad guidance counselor. When Rarity asked "Which way did that sparkly thing go?", I was expecting Bufogren there to point into his mouth. That would have been fun and playful. Instead he just points to the sky where the trail continues, as if they couldn't have seen that by themselves easily. They didn't even react to the fact they missed the totally obvious. These lazy moments really make me cringe a bit. Uhm... obvious question: How do you unlock a door by turning a straight bolt in the lock?! I imagined Dashie getting some magenta glitter on her coat. (I definitely need a Pinkie episode!) I am missing the crucial part in the conclusion about how Twi and Star's "little help" has been an act of good friendship, too. And it was also maybe not so much a "reminder" as a "refresher". They just needed their dangerous quest. Very reactive. This was an extended version of a two-person relationship where each can be strong when the other is weak. Here Twi and Star were the strong part for Rashie and Darity.

== Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == Or as I like to call it: Fakebook University Flim Flam brothers - realized that from the flyer, even before seeing the two podiums. Well, who else could it have been anyway? This was a bit hard to watch because I despise this corruption so much. They take something authentic and then pervert it. And there's no hope for them at friendship school. They like what they're doing too much. And people are deceived so easily by fancy facades, because there's a core of corruption in them, too, that connects to these things. Why do the two still not have a widespread reputation though?! The moment they said accredited, I knew Neighsay was involved. And Starswirl's appearance at this place was of course announced in the intro. Neighsay would surely be informed about the scam that went on, but he won't take issue. He has a personal agenda. This might escalate during the next ten episodes or so. Twi is really bad at rhetorics, as usual. She still DOES have her difficulties with friendship though, so that might be why. She's certainly not a knight in shining armor when it comes to that. But this was basically following a standard storytelling pattern. They do not have the power to deviate from the script. ... Well, Pinkie maybe, heheh. BTW, buttwings. Uhm, the guy probably just doesn't know Twilight, or is COMPLETELY DENSE because that's obviously an ALICORN before him! Couldn't the writers/animators have put at least a little bit of believability into it? Although this would explain how so many ponies are still falling for Film-Flam scams. They must be horribly backwards there. Twi violated a most basic rule of poking around: Always have someone stand guard. Also, by now they should know how to deal with Flim and Flam - document THEIR revelation to her. But again, wait for it. This is standard formula storytelling. By the way, to make it a bit less formulaic, she could have turned their phoniness against them and point out how THEY are not practicing friendship towards her either. That would have been interesting. Oh mare, she could just incinerate the photo or something! I mean, they're already playing dirty, after all, and Twi only has some serious alicorn magic at her disposal! This is so cringey. And here we see a portrayal of special promo deals with cooperative/willing/naive celebrities. I must say, Flim-Flam episodes provide a valuable awareness-raising service to society. ... Well, if it's not just flying over people's heads like it so often does. LOL, no, you DON'T have something on her, because she was right! To the contrary, this is even more rep for her and her friendship-powered instinct, so to speak. I don't know why she still says she's OK if her rep is ruined. Standing up for what you know is true is not only tricky, but can be so much harder in real-life. ... Especially when you're not fooling yourself with that belief. Speaking truth can be a revolutionary act, and the more you're suffering for it, the more it is usually a signal you're on the right path. I say it's tricky, because you can take the Flim-Flam episode itself as an indication how people can deceive themselves in their belief about what's true, too.

== Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == I still can't get used to "everycreature" when "everybody" or "anyone" would be fine. Yeah, that looks ... well, not cool, but amazing. Kinda... heartwarming. Or heartpinking. In any case, sounds like Dashie is thawing a little, hehe. ... Well, or not. You can all fly! Why not go through the window in pursuit lke the perpetrator?! BAD example, Dash! The door might have been a decoy. You didn't actually see the cloaked one enter there. This is so forced and a painful reset of Mane 6 evolution, especially after the Chrysalis episode. And even though they later said they had a suspicion, it was still painful to watch and a suspicion - at some undetermined point - isn't enough to be this outright mean. The Changelings celebration interpretation segment was an amusing relief to the previous mood; a highlight. This was a real "WAIT, WHAT?!" moment there because she definitely did not say "Seaquestria, but "Sequestria". Griffins' blue moon festival sounds a lot like I know human Christmas, at least the preparation phase. But as the episode showed, dissonance can occur especially during holidays.

== Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == I find it puzzling how Twilight is confident Starlight will do just fine as headmare, but does she just expect her to find a bunch of replacement teachers in a jiffy?? This is likely further teasing of their similarity. Nice one, Discord. This brief scene "BE MY FRIEND!!!" reminded me so much of Fluttershy in Best Night Ever that I'm wondering whether it was an intentional reference. Did you notice? When the school fades from nighttime to daytime here, the crest above the courtyard entrance vanishes! (It is there in other daytime shots though, so the animators messed up in the one shot where it really mattered because of the direct comparison. - And this is not when the Mane 6 left, but much later.) During the daytime shot there was also Discord's weird floatey animal thingie on the upper right, but I edited it out. She only banished his body - in a way that looked quite devastating - and now his ghost is here? But a ghost is not a spirit or energy body or such. A ghost implies a dead being! Did she temporarily kill Discord?!

Saw the new EqG short, Fluttershy musical... She has shown she's quite capable of singing in front of a crowd. She just needs a villain to defeat, hah. And friendship magic helps, too, at least from my viewpoint, but yeah, some settings have enough of that certain magic, others maybe not. I can empathize with her great potential that only comes out when the stars are aligned, so to speak. Soo, being a Pinkie brain, I would have told her that there's no reason to be afraid of singing in front of crowds, because the only difference between crowds and crows is an added d, so since she is neither afraid of birds nor of the letter d, all is fine. Also, wait until she learns about the fourth wall.

I just realized: What would have made the episode so much more 'immersive' is if the clones weren't visually different. Would have put the viewer so much more into the ponies' perspective. The deliberate distinction might have been unwise extra effort. (Or maybe it was a Hasbro rule.)

I totally would expect a bit of a resolution in the next episode. They can't expect us to believe they rebuild the campsite and then don't visit the tree room and notice the six pieces of wood. That COULD lead to some interesting further story developments and provide episode content; Twilight trying to figure out what those artifacts are. ... Well, we can just wait and see and maybe get more surprises. ... Actually, this episode was a good example of how a totally predictable start can make an unpredictable ending hit so much more as a surprise. That evil-Twilight image up there, that's basically a reaction pic. It was a bit of a Magical Mystery Cure moment where we can just enjoy some pwnage instead of inflated, dragged-out drama. Interestingly, in both episodes it had the same cause/incentive for the writers: time constraints to a single episode.

Rarity was definitely the most vexing to me. She specifically said she didn't do what she had been accused of. A perfect moment for Twilight to go: "Wait a moment, what's going on here?" I guess the writers wanted to really hit home with the message how the power of their friendship is like an unstoppable force of nature at this point where they don't even have to bother investigating attempted sabotage. In principle very beautiful, just in execution clumsy, as so often. Hmm, maybe if we don't focus too much on those details, that would honor the principle? (It's actually what I love so much about the show. The nitpicking is mostly just for fun.)

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Ah! "Feature photo". Now I noticed the button. Wow, that was hiding well, haha. Thanks. (Weirdly you didn't even point to that, but I checked again and saw it.)

May I ask, what is this new blog post header image thing? Just recently I was so happy seeing how blogs are listed and now there's another view mode (looks very 'mobile'), active by default, and sorting by most recently posted again. And most have no pic. I can't figure out how to add a pic for my posts.

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== Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == == Spoiler Prevention Spacer (patent pending) == Who didn't know when reading the title that this would be an AJ-and-Dashie episode? Fluttershy being Teacher of the Month at a friendship school all the time is well-deserved. I keep emphasizing how her big heart and thus great capacity for loving and compassion makes her predestined for it, as she showed by authentically being a friend to Discord during his troubled phase. What is worth pointing out and being puzzled about though is that this is the ninth win. That means nine months have passed since the founding of the school. Why would the writers want to do such a large jump? That could become inconvenient in the future. ... Continuity and consistency were never strong points of the writing. (Noticed how during the canoe adventure Silverstream and Ocellus threw away their helmets and their safety vests vanished and when they shapeshifted back they were wearing both? OK, that's a minor, borderline thing, but it's one thing that just came to my attention.) Fluttershy suggesting AJ and Dashie do the field trip together was so along the lines of her teacher expertise. She observed quietly and then pointed out the obvious solution. It came across as an almost trolling-level idea, but was actually quite like a Salomonic judgment. She's totally pwning her colleagues. Again, deservedly Teacher of the Month. She's got it figured out. I had some tiny hope though that Twilight Sparkle expected it to go wrong when she sends AJ and Dashie on a non-competitive, teamwork-oriented mission. - Nope. "I can't believe this. You're not teaching teamwork. You're competing with each other." - She thought they were past that? What made her think that? How much time to they actually spend together off-camera? I would assume enough, considering Pinkie even pointed out to everybody that a potted plant would be better at it than those two. Let me take a jab a Twilight here and exclaim how I can't believe she lied to Celestia in the theater episode. Heh. Since they got so many different species around now, they're not saying "everypony" anymore, but "everycreature". This seems odd to me, since there are our "everybody" and "everyone". But I could assume this is with the idea that "everycreature" emerged from THEIR world and need to find a new word, and that is also maybe wants to be in-your-face about how they made a move of racial inclusion. I'm just wondering whether that's also the word that everybody used in their world when not referring to ponies. For example, what do yaks say among themselves? Everyyak? Now, the issue with AJ an Dashie was one of those things I like to briefly bring to philosophical attention, a case of a rigid mind trying to twist even the opposite of something into the same, basically showing the infinite power of self-deception. That they would eventually teach by bad example was, too, kinda announcing itself as early as reading the episode title, haha. I am just glad Twilight scheduled another test right away instead of giving them the award anyway. And after all, they have a whole month left to work on internalizing the experience and lesson. I'm just worried that month might pass like nothing. Considering how quickly the previous nine went by, hah. P.S.: Seeing the friendship school architecture from so many internal angles makes me wish I had been able to learn in such an environment. It is an amazing building. Never underestimate the impact such beautiful art can have on the heart, which lays the groundwork for the teachings.