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Dark Qiviut

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  1. Dark Qiviut
    Author's Note: Initially, this was just a ranking for the first half of Season 4. But as of March 3, it's a personal ranking for Season 4 at large. With Twilight's Kingdom now officially aired, I compiled my final rankings and will link this list back to a review of the entire season.
     
    ———
     
    Like my MLP Micro-Series ranking, I'm ranking the Season 4 episodes as we go along. Here, I'm ranking them from most favorite to least favorite. Unlike my mega-sandwiches, these aren't critiqued objectively and observed with more of a subjective eye. (I, however, will call out quality flaws and strengths for my thoughts, but how much they'll influence me is personal.)
     
    Unlike the Micro-Series, I categorized the episode list to six sections: "love it," "like it," "meh," "dislike it," "hate it," and "unknown" (as in not finding a spot yet and will have to think where).
     
    Let's begin!
     

    Love it:


    1. Testing Testing 1, 2, 3: Originally, this was fifth on my list, but after a rewatch, it climbed up. After watching the episode more and more, it really climbed up in my favorite rankings. As of today, it's my all-time favorite episode! Of the episodes to be featured this season, this one is by far one of the most mature in terms of morals and theme. "No method of learning is better than another. What works for one may not work for another" is something you don't normally see in any media; it takes guts, and did AKR brilliantly execute it. First, the characters are very in character and three-dimensional; Twilight Sparkle actually showed some character for the first time since Twilight Time, and she was the one to write the lesson in the journal, a brilliant twist to the lessons post-Season 1. The worldbuilding was excellent, including plugging in Faust's most favorite pony, Firefly, into the plot as a Wonderbolt. While sometimes the setting tends to be an arbitrary gimmick to the moral (thus making it pointless), the setting and moral communicate with each other. In addition, the episode contains an incredible balance of humor and drama without making either overbearing. Not to mention the foreshadowing early was very subtle, yet noticeable. Pinkie Pride is one of the best episodes this season, if not the best, but you can argue that TT123 is just as good if not a little better than PP.
     
    2. Pinkie Pride: What else to describe it? This is easily not just one of my most favorite episodes this season, but also among the best of the series. (In fact, it's in my top 5, fourth place behind Sleepless in Ponyville, Magic Duel, and Testing, to be exact.) Pinkie is Pinkie Pie instead of an out-of-character idiot who blubbers randomness all the time for no good reason. This episode did what MMDon't: write a musical in twenty minutes without sacrificing quality. Cheese Sandwich is a wacky name, but fits Weird Al so well, and he was AMAZING. So far, it's the only episode this season where I watched it more than ten times. There are some logical flaws (including a script/storyboarding error in Spike being dropped from the episode during Act 3), but they're so small, they don't detract from the experience. Easily the best episode this season and will stay that way until something grander comes along.
     
    3. Pinkie Apple Pie: Part of the five-episode stretch where three great episodes came out of it. For one of the few times this season prior to Pinkie Pride, Pinkie Pie was very in character. There's a completely big difference between being offbeat (which is a unique style of humor with substance in mind) and random. Pinkie's the former, not the latter; in PAP, she's the former. Excellently portrayed with great humor for the right reasons. the core four Apples are very realistic with their fighting and constant screw-ups, but PP did care because she thought she found family close by and wanted to know the ins and outs. Apples to the Core is a musical masterpiece (although I like the background clapping a tad more, but that's just my preference). While the plot comes out of thin air and Pinkie's status of being an Apple or not is hidden by exposition, it's hidden very plausibly because the characterization, journey, personal reasons for each character, and humor are superb.
     
    4. For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils: Initially, I said RTM was Polsky's best episode. FWtSBT more than likely eclipsed it. The conflict was very believable. Just through the tension, even without SB blurting out the "fifth birthday" comparison, Sweetie Belle had obviously lived under her bigger sister's shadow for some time and was getting tired of it. When the play she worked hard on got overshadowed by Rarity's fantastic dresses, it was as if her work became null. So it made plenty of sense for Sweetie to ignore the consequences of her actions and destroy the headdress. But the consequences she received (the nightmare) was delicious and one of the best examples of "show, don't tell" in the series. Instead of being told the consequences, she was shown, not just through Luna, but also her own angry mind. It's a Christmas Carol reference done beautifully well. Although the ending followed a rather typical cartoon gag of twirling the windows and the cat-and-mouse chase, it all paid off well at the end.
     
    5. Rarity Takes Manehattan: For the first time since Sisterhooves Social, a good Rarity episode. While the song tells too much and puts her generosity front and center, its reprise is fantastic and delivers fresh consequences for her behavior the night before. But her not being so generous to the Remane Five had an extremely fantastic reason. Rarity's generosity was once taken advantage in Suited for Success, but Suri is the first to vindictively do so by plagiarizing Rarity's clothing. As a creator, when your hard work is stolen so cruelly, then it hurts you at the very core and questions your worth creatively and emotionally. It isn't pretty and can get you into a fit of rage. I don't blame Rarity for this. The moral itself is fantastically woven in and deep. It's also a different type of episode for Polsky, as it's more down to earth compared to his original concepts. Good thing, too, because it really helped him create a great episode that paid attention to a fantastic concept and ended with a very relatable moral. To see a longer review, click here.
     
    6. Twilight Time: This is one that caught me by surprise in a very good way, and I'd argue this is the most underrated episode this season. There is humor, but like RTM, the slapstick is rather toned down (except the final scene where the apple exploded). As far as the CMC are concerned, the approach to the conflict was simple but realistic. DT and SS received the attention, and the CMC want it. Any criticism of SB being an incompetent airhead is just, but she felt jealous, collected, and immediately regretted it when things got out of her own control. Each of the CMCs shared tendencies from their sisters/protégés, but weren't identical of them, still being individual yet showing the audience how much they're growing up. Ironically, SS and DT were antagonistic (but unlike One Bad Apple and Flight to the Finish, they were individual characters with separate personalities who didn't go for the typical one-dimensional low blow that marginalized Scootaloo's disability), but it was the CMC who brought the conflict upon themselves. It was also much better to see the Disasterly Duo and the rest of the fillies getting caught in the act. Even better, Twilight demonstrated serious growth without breaking her character. She was geeky, but not so extensively to regress her character, and the continuity from Games Ponies Play wasn't distracting. It was easily her best role in an episode since Magic Duel. The only real hangups are the timing of the fanaticism (if this were like the fourth episode, I'd buy it), DT/SS suddenly worshiping Twilicorn despite her living there for at least a year, Pipsqueak expositing the CMCs' plan, Spike being reduced to Spikabuse (writers, we're tired of this shit! ), and how the week-long progress was reduced to a couple of scenes. That aside, it's simple, but mostly effective and definitely one of the genuinely good episodes of the season. To see my longer observations, head here.
     

    Like it:


    7. Castle Mane-ia: As contrived as the traps and gags are, there is so much grand humor to go by. On a personal level, my most favorite thing is how the Sidekick Five (including Pinkie, by association) suffered some hilarious consequences for trespassing the old fortress. One of my biggest pet peeves in the entire series lately is how when a character does some stupid stunt, bullies, or some crime of friendship, it isn't surprising for the character to sometimes not only get away scot-free (Babs Seed in One Bad Apple; the Remane Five in Mare-Do-Well), but also rewarded (Rarity in Sweet & Elite; the Mane Six in Games Ponies Play). The five ponies infiltrated the fortress without prior knowledge from Luna and Celestia and suffered all those booby traps and dark humor as damning punishment for their idiocy. As stupid as the Spikabuse was near the end, this gave the building much more depth. How well it'll hold up remains to be seen.
     
    8. Three's a Crowd: One word: Discord. Without question, the best part. Hilarious and subtly menacing by tricking Twi and Cadance into getting a flower that could've gotten them killed. He may be somewhat of a prankster now, but the charisma and neutral attributions to his character make him a treat to watch, especially when he rubs everyone the wrong way. And Glass of Water ain't exactly a good song, the visuals and franctic pace reinforce his character and disguise de Lancie's lack of singing talent well. Unfortunately, the plot is way too slow. Pinkie's a flanderized airhead. Twi and Cadance were easily convinced by a character they (especially Twi) know she shouldn't trust him. Some — if not all — of the pop culture references during the song are very blatant, giving the scenes great risk of becoming very dated in the future. And the vocabulary is way too repetitive given the franchise's base market (six and up). An above-average episode, but Discord's breathtaking comedy is worth it.
     
    9. Twilight's Kingdom: This is an episode where so much was on the line, as it should. Tirek was ruthless, manipulative, and tyrannical. He wouldn't let anyone interfere in his conquest. The fight between Tirek and Twilight is easily the most action-packed and violent fight in the show; even in its current state, the fact that FIM still retained the TV-Y rating surprised me. And the whole Discord arc arrives full circle, now a part of the family with him gaining Twilight's trust and friendship. When it got epic, it really got epic! That said, the plot is marred by stupidity, poor dialogue, mechanical lyrics from You'll Play Your Part, poor pacing, and unpleasant graphic design featured in the final act in Part 2. I like it, and it's very satisfactorily, but objectively, an above-average finale. You can read my whole review here.
     
    10. Inspiration Manifestation: A bit of a surprise for me. Only the second Spike episode I like nowadays (Secret of My Excess the other). Spike had some nice characterization early on. Inspiration Manifestion (the book) brought some really great moments with Rarity going crazy in her creativity, from doing things small to becoming addicted and imposing her corrupted will on everyone in Ponyville. The yellow-brick-road reference was very clever and contributed to the anticlimax. That said, some big problems. Rarity's overdramatic whining was out of place and flanderized her. The "who" joke never got funny. And the biggest issue: the conflict went too long: By basically tagging along Rarity and glowing praise during Acts 1 and 2, the conflict started to plod on his side. As for Spike himself, there's a line between being naive and being stupid. As he continued to blindly support Rarity, he crossed it, even during his dilemma before the last commercial hit. If he realized it much sooner (maybe midway in Act 2), then you could do something about it. Overall, above-average.
     
    11. Daring Don't: From a quality perspective, it sucks. It's easily one of the worst episodes this season (either third- or fourth-worst in my calculations). Continuity from Read It and Weep (Daring Do being a Dash recolor so Dash can connect to her and become her fantastically) was swiped away. The pacing was all over the place and had absolutely no flow, ruining the foreshadowing. Rainbow Dash's characterization and growth are put into serious question. The fan/creator relationship (even from a meta level) wasn't told well at all. Almost all of the M6 minus Dash and Twi are background ponies. There were plenty of really stupid moments (the M6 watching the fighting scene instead of helping Daring Do, Dash being a bumbling idiot while tag-teaming with Do in Act 2). But I simply can't help but like it. Maybe because of the charm that's there, some of the comedy, foreshadowing, and potential in the worldbuilding. If it weren't for Rainbow Falls, Equestria Games, Somepony…, and It Ain't Easy Bein' Breezies, this would be the worst episode this season.

    Meh:


    12. Power Ponies: This episode is, well…conflicting. At one point, I was very excited to see how Spike's role as a secondary butt of jokes was going to be stabbed at. While it's done hilariously, it was very poorly paced. The way that can be noticed is by all the info-dumping, especially the repetitiveness of it. When you have to cram this point in the script every few minutes, it becomes moot, and I tell the screen, "Get on with it already!" It also doesn't help when Fluttershy decided to abandon her friends during the middle of an important fight. (As a FS fan, the flanderization here is plain dumb!) But some things were done right: the humor, the henchponies keeping the M6 frozen after every few minutes, the cheesy "mane" puns from Mane-iac, and how Spike was the one saving the day in a self-contained episode. So, personally, average, but a bad performance.
     
    13. Maud Pie: For a couple of days, I had no idea where to place the latest episode, but I do now. Maud Pie is a very interesting and relatable character with a tremendous amount of passion despite showing very little enthusiasm in her voice. The storytelling isn't all that clumsy, and it doesn't rely exclusively on exposition, instead showing the conflicts and consequences. And the fact that Pinkie really desires to have her friends be friends with her sister enforces Pinkie's biggest quality: being happy as the result of the others being happy. The way the social awkwardness (particularly the expectation Pinkie laid out for them) made it all pretty plausible, and I can appreciate them trying to get along better with Maud without trying to look incompetent and stupid. Unlike several other episodes this season (a.k.a., Daring Don't), the Remane Five were there for a good reason and shared plenty of screentime.
     
    On the flipside, there are many issues to cover. Firstly, the climax was contrived: You could've had Dash race to rescue Pinkie while Maud jackhammers through the rock. Its pacing was very wonky, starting from slow and then speeding up to the end. Surprisingly, the animation isn't all that polished, either, as in-betweens and keyframes are much more visible to the naked eye. Spike wasn't written in at all, making his association with the Mane 6 becoming more and more of an afterthought. Although this episode is as much a character study as a comedy, Maud's other interests revolve around rocks, which makes her look very two-dimensional as a first impression; if you varied it and introduced something new that have her focused on other interests, then you could've kept her introverted personality yet make her more interesting upon seeing her for the first time. To make it worse, her introverted passion and overall dryness of the humor are overplayed, risking a severe detachment of her character to many viewers and making her boring; don't beat a dead horse. Also, there's way too much exposition among the Mane Six, forcing the scenes to suddenly pause or end. Because MP tells too much, the morals and overall theme lack focus, going from one to another without any time to delve into them. Lastly, the episode — inadvertently or otherwise — wants you to laugh at how uncomfortable the Remane Five are in response to Maud, but then suddenly criticizes the audience for laughing in the first place. Dry humor has an appeal, but it got too dry sometimes, and it would've been far better if some of the scenes and responses weren't played for laughs.
     
    Compared to IAEBB and StWOM, MP has many good qualities, and there's enough to call it decent, if not good, from an objective quality perspective. On the other hand, because there are many issues that hold MP back and don't fulfill its potential. I don't like it, but I don't dislike it, either. It's a shame, because I was really looking forward to it, and I really wanted to like it. Maybe I will sometime in the future, maybe I won't. That'll depend on my future feelings with MP.
     
    14. Filli Vanilli: I think all of you here know why, but I'll do it, anyway. Fluttershy's stage fright was explored, this time when exposing her singing talent. Big Mac gets a role beyond saying "Eeyup!" all the time. The many continuity nods don't ram you on the head (Flutterguy, Rarity learning from Green Isn't Your Color, Fluttershy the one responsible for spreading the Ponytones's popularity in Ponyville).
     
    But a few problems exist. The Remane Five stared in disbelief over her beautiful singing voice (as if Find a Pet and her other songs don't matter ); sure, you get a subtle clue, but it's too subtle to be noticed immediately, causing the continuity from several episodes (including Hearth's Warming Eve) to overlap. Zecora was Miss Plot Device again. Continuity from Hearth's Warming Eve wasn't fully paid attention to (from that episode, Fluttershy was on stage as a side character instead of a lead role, but she was very important; it would've been better if that was addressed somehow). Lastly, Pinkie Pie was not just an out of character idiot, but an insufferable asshole that the audience was supposed to laugh at and find it okay! Pinkie's behavior wasn't okay in the slightest, and the fact that it was written to be a good thing is inexcusable. And not just breaking character to Fluttershy (disregarding her morals in Griffon the Brush Off and the lessons she learned up to this point), but also to Big Mac by rubbing her victory in knowing that he was sick. In short, what would be loved and good is marred by Pinkie's offensive behavior.
     
    15. Leap of Faith: One of Haber's biggest weaknesses is how he tends to follow the cliché down to a "T" without really altering anything to make it refreshing, a similar problem with CM-ia and Simple Ways. Here, one of AJ's strengths is her characterization to a certain degree. The Flim Flam brothers are still very funny. The moral — telling the truth may be hard and hurt others, but lying hurts even more — is mature. But it's marred by a few things, starting with the formulaic "placebo effect" cliché and lack of subtlety in its subtext. Secondly, Silver Shill doesn't have a strong personality; although he learns his lesson, his realization is weak and relies on formulaic dialogue. Finally, the plan was very obvious from the start and had to rely on stupidity just to fool everyone. By far, season four's most average episode.

    Dislike it:


    16. Simple Ways: While Trenderhoof isn't a jerk, he's an extremely flat character who served one purpose: to force the plot along. Plot-induced stupidity and incompetence doesn't a good plot make and, after enough viewings, changes the viewing experience from fun to cringeworthy and obnoxious. This is the main issue here — how Rarity and TH turned into incompetent idiots and couldn't really do their job right. While Rarity was funny initially, her forced Southern accent and stereotyping became a chore to watch, while AJ's accent and sensual behavior (even if "accidental") remained a laugh riot. It also doesn't help by how the moral was exposited and rushed, making it all anticlimactic. On the flipside, Spike's character is who he should be: sarcastic, deadpanning, but caring and didn't have his crush on her holding him back. Plus, so much crap went past the radar, I'm surprised it still holds the TV-Y rating. That said, it doesn't save SW from competing with Sweet and Elite as the worst Rarity episode.
     
    17. Bats!: Some things hold up: the M6 suffering bad consequences for forcibly altering the ecosystem, the song itself (Williams's second song this series), some of the humor with Pinkie ('cept her yelling and drilling into the ground ), Flutterbat, and the awesome visuals. Also, this is the first episode this season with a very solid pace from start to finish.
     
    Unfortunately, the fact that AJ and crew were villainized despite having a plausible worry of the bats chewing up the crops and Dash simply thinking of the cider don't help. In itself, the entire conflict was broken in favor of supporting Fluttershy's implausible, idealistic opinions. Moreover, the conflict between animal rights and protecting the farm was a stepping stone for the moral, marginalizing a really sensitive political issue into a hapless gimmick (something this show NEVER gets right!). I once liked it, but the issues bug me more and more, and the way the politics were poorly written hurt this episode (in both quality and enjoyment) tremendously.
     
    18. Princess Twilight Sparkle: Mechanical dialogue really stifles the flow. Then there's Pinkie being flanderized here and there. *glares at her tumbling down the stairs* Twilight, who was able to fly in MMC, was suddenly incompetent; the contrivance kept going for far too long. Zecora and the Alicorn potion is both a Deus Ex Machina as well as a cheap gimmick to push the script along. The pace was inconsistent, namely the second part and very quick flashbacks. The flashbacks and Tree itself hone in the idea that ponies' futures, specifically Twilight's, are predestined, the glaring plot hole that helped make Magical Mystery Cure the worst season finale thus far. The timeline was poorly constructed: While I'm sure McCarthy was trying to say that some time has passed since the pilot, the wording and importance of the event made it feel like only a year passed. Discord's appearance and antics, the action, animation, want to contribute and not screw up, and excellent solution to the Elements of Harmony concept helped prevented the premiere from being a dud. That said, it's still rather weak and possibly the worst two-part opener outside of the pilot.
     
    19. It Ain't Easy Being Breezies: Fluttershy's key episode, and so much doesn't add up. But first, Seabreeze is a jerk, but has a very good reason: He wants to get home before the portal closes, and he's the only one who seems to care about not just where he lives, but also his family. He's the only breezie with a sense of perspective. Secondly, the breezies are cute and don't rip off the G3 ponies. Thirdly, the main moral is very deep. Fluttershy learned that sometimes being kind and keeping someone complacent despite knowing they'd be in grave danger does more harm than good, and being firm is the kindest method. But there are several problems.
    The breezies are really cute and decently designed, but they're there for no other reason than to sell toys (both the M6 breezies and the others). Yeah, FIM may be a commercial, but it's a good commercial that usually disguises it. When you disguise it as poorly as Equestria Girls, you're doing it wrong.
    There's so much exposition, robbing the episode of any deep conflict and symbolizing the poor pacing throughout.
    Plenty of the humor fell flat. Dash's lines are bleh. Rarity's vanity made her look like an idiot. Just poor comedic timing. The only moment was the reversal of Sonic Rainboom in the prologue.
    The ending is dumb for a few reasons.
     
    a. It's a DEM.
     
    b. It showed the audience that the episode was almost over and makes this episode a chore to finish and later rewatch.
     
    c. Twilight was a background pony up to this point. Having her barge and memorize a spell we had no idea existed in a few hours is out of place.
     
    d. You question Twilight's character and how the writers resolve conflicts whenever she participates now. you risk making her an extreme know-it-all-type character that the writers can pluck out and solve conflicts five minutes in unless you dial back her IQ. You risk cheapening her other roles simply by having her do these powerful tricks. In other words, a character with a role equivalent to Celestia or Zecora (without the cryptic rhyming).
     
    e. Possible the biggest flaw: It marginalizes Fluttershy's epiphany by pushing her importance to the background.

    This episode feel flat from beginning to end and felt a lot like something out of G3. The lack of investment, blatant infomercial that'd give EQG a run for its money, and sloppy writing hurt IAEBB's credibility. Easily the fifth-worst episode in season four.
     
    Conversely, Levinger deserves some credit for doing whatever she can to hide the toyetic being. Rainbow Falls was lazy; Breezies actually had some effort to integrate the breezies, but the overbearing exposition told the audience she was trying too hard to hide the promotions, thus making the plugin more glaring.
     
    20. Trade Ya!: Three words describe TY!: messy, predictable, stupid. For a bit, this was an episode I hated, but not anymore. The plot is very formulaic, falling for every single cliché in their books and filling in . But the biggest problem is the horrendous characterization of the Mane Six. Not only are they out of character. They're also very stupid and incompetent! To quote my comment from its "Pick a Flaw" thread:
     

    Hate it:


    21. Flight to the Finish: How far it's fallen, from the low "like it" list to now one of four I hate. Which is a shame because Hearts Strong as Horses took some getting used to, but I've warmed up to it, and I now really like it, especially when Sweetie Belle's singing it. Although Dash doesn't show the professionalism till later, she retained the character growth, especially maturity, from seasons past, including Daring Don't. And Scootaloo's inability to fly was a very daring concept to focus on, and you can definitely relate to her. How Valentine approached Scootaloo's possible disability was really sweet and helped her grow as an individual.
     
    One big problem: DT and SS are flat antagonists again — carbon copies of each other. Because they were flat and were only there to antagonize Scootaloo via the lowest common denominator, they had no purpose to be there. In fact, their presence and low blow underminded the entire conflict. If Scootaloo came to this realization in some other way rather than having an underhanded and predictable bully gimmick intruding FttF, the conflict would've had more weight. As a result, I take this a bit more personally than Simple Ways's stupidity, PTS's sloppy gimmicks, and Breezie's shortcuts. Is it one of the worst episodes this season? Not even close. But I really can't help but feel really stung by it because the Disasterly Duo are catalysts for the main plot.
     
    22. Somepony to Watch Over Me: On the positive side, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are in character. The interruption of the song was absolutely hilarious. None of the Mane Six outside of AJ show up. Some of AJ's actions were funny. In the third act, the visuals, action scene, and chimera's design kick ass.
     
    On the flipside, Good God Almighty, the rest of the episode's a complete train wreck. Acts 1 and 2 revolve around AJ suddenly pampering Apple Bloom when it wasn't needed. When AB read the list aloud, the portrayal was suddenly going to hurt badly. When AJ completely ignored AB and instead replaced her rational, proud, well-thinking brain with the Piñata of Idiocy, she was turned into a complete caricature of herself. If this was a season one episode following Call of the Cutie, it would've worked in nicely and possibly resolve the continuity and characterization issues surrounding Bridle Gossip. It's extremely out of place now and COMPLETELY out of character of Applejack. She may be my least-favorite of the M6, but I like and respect her for being full of personality. That character was sacrificed for contrived stupidity that has no business being here.
     
    If that wasn't bad, the method the moral was approached was destructive. "Apple Bloom made a small mess, resulting in Applejack becoming Applestalker. But the fact that Bloom disobeyed AJ and nearly got herself killed is enough to become independent"? Without a doubt, the worst Applejack episode and third-worst episode in season four. I took the episode apart here.
     
    23. Equestria Games: The second-worst episode of the season and my second-most hated episode overall behind Rainbow Falls. Of the four episodes centering the Games, three of them emphasized it to a degree of major importance. Because of the way seasons three and four (and the web advertisements) hyped the arc, there was a level of anticipation for an event that was consider grander and more important than the Grand Galloping Gala. Instead, it was a pointless backdrop for Spike, concluding an arc that doesn't deserve its disrespect. Add contrived plot points and poor characterization of Spike from the halfway point onward, you got a disaster. Refer to my review for my ripping.
     
    24. Rainbow Falls: Derpy, the griffons, and the scenery were the only bright spots throughout. The rest of it was a bunch of sloppy, lazy bullshit. Objectively the worst episode in season four and my most hated episode of this series so far. Read my review to see how much I tore it.
     
    Unknown:
    N/A
  2. Dark Qiviut
    Doctor XFizzle's "Pick a Flaw" series has underwent an extension, from the middle of season 4 to exploring seasons 1 and 2. Multiple people (including myself, ChikoritaBrony, Captchet, etc.) have published various threads and expanded the series for FIM's other seasons.
     
    Rather than merely repeating the same extension into my OP's, I'll be plugging in this portal, which will show all of FIM's "Pick a Flaw" threads and be bumped every now and then, and link the other PaF threads in the bottom of the OP (usually contained in a "spoiler"). Each time one gets submitted, it'll be linked back to this portal.
     
    All of the threads are found below the horizontal rule.
     

     
    Season 1:
    Friendship Is Magic, Parts 1 & 2
    The Ticket Master
    Applebuck Season
    Griffon the Brush Off
    Boast Busters
    Dragonshy
    Look Before You Sleep
    Bridle Gossip
    Swarm of the Century
    Winter Wrap Up
    Owl's Well that Ends Well

    Season 2:
    The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000
    Putting Your Hoof Down
    Dragon Quest

    Season 3:
    Spike at Your Service

    Season 4:
    Rainbow Falls
    Simple Ways
    Filli Vanilli
    Twilight Time
    It Ain't Easy Bein' Breezies
    Somepony to Watch Over Me
    Maud Pie
    For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils
    Leap of Faith
    Testing Testing 1, 2, 3
    Trade Ya!
    Inspiration Manifestation
    Equestria Games
    Twilight's Kingdom

    Other:
    The Micro-Series, Part 1 - Mane Six
    The Micro-Series, Part 2 - The Other Cast & Overall Series

  3. Dark Qiviut
    So here we are. After over a year of in-canon hype, Equestria Games finally airs. It's a self-contained episode written by Dave Polsky (who previously wrote Daring Don't, Rarity Takes Manehattan, Twilight Time, and For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils), who wrote one Equestria Games-centered episode once prior in Games Ponies Play. The ponified version of the Olympics offers a ton of creativity and interaction among different cultures, traditions, and characters. With plenty to experience and build, the logical part was to explore various aspects of it, right?
     
    No.
     
    Instead, Spike was the focus with the Games relegated to the background, resulting in missed opportunities, a broken promise, and a broken conflict that had no business taking place at the Games.
     
    Strengths:
    For the most part, the Mane Six are relatively in character. Whatever they said, did, and behaved were very appropo to their respective personalities and development up to this point. Admittingly, Snowflake and Fluttershy were still out of character, but that's because Rainbow Falls royally screwed up the continuity, and Polsky was stuck with the crap RF left behind.
     
    And on the side, it's downright refreshing to see an array of characters beyond just the typical we normally witness. It gives the Equestria Games a subtle parallel to the international mosaic of the real-life Olympics. In particular the royalty suite, where the nobles, ambassadors, and leaders from other cities or countries. More of that…if you guys at Hasbro and DHX have the wherewithal to thrust the opportunities forward.
    Whichever competitions were shown (ice archery, aerial relay), they were unique and fit the lore of Equestria.
    On its own, the moral itself — sometimes the one who's most hard on is yourself; take pride in the hard work you endured — is very relatable and mature. You have so many people young and old who feel exactly the same as Spike did in EG.
    The visuals are quite beautiful (if ignoring the fadeaway dots in the crowd). There's nice detail with great usage of perspective, and the Crystal Empire itself doesn't let up on the high-quality layouts. Despite The Crystal Empire being a weakly told two-parter, the visuals never cease to impress.
    Some of the comedy works. The hammerspace gag is perfect for the climax, along with others like Dash's "casual" pose as Spike sulks by or Twilight's "Equestria, we have a problem."
     
    (Pinkie's "NAILED IT!", though, is very forced.)
    One of the common problems that's been noticeable lately is the continuing of a flanderized portion of Spike being clumsy or just plain stupid. In one moment, this clumsiness was justified by having him light up the torch. It's one thing to light or burn something on your own or a small group. it's another before a stadium containing anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 spectators.
    The abundance of Derpy. Need I say more?

    Weaknesses (and I have a ton to write about):
    It's a very common sin, one that Tommy Oliver and other reviewers have called out quite a bit this season: the arbitrary exposition. Instead of establishing the conflict early through organic storytelling, the dialogue tells you exactly what the conflict will be before the first act heads to commercial. By telling right off the bat, you take the fun out of the journey, make the conclusion extremely predictable, and immediately suck investment out from the audience. It was one of Rainbow Falls's quietest yet biggest issues, one that's occurred repeatedly this season. Equestria Games falls for that same trap when Spike tells the Cutie Mark Crusaders he takes a few breaths to calm himself (something he was unable to do for understandable reasons).
     
    For extra exposition, there was the medal count Pinkie revealed later in the episode. Instead of showing the medal count, Pinkie told the audience who had the most medals up to the final event. The problem with it is twofold.
     
    a. It was told for the reasons already given.
     
    b. It became a sudden moment of tension between the Mane Six. A sudden, unnecessary secondhand conflict that was resolved as quickly as revealed. If medal-watching was supposed to be important, then it should've been there rather early rather than be a clumsy twist.
    The climax is very contrived. Unicorns are forced to pass through a security system that temporarily disables their magic "to prevent cheating." An Earth pony suddenly trips over his own arrows and accidentally shoots an arrow into the sky, freezing a cloud that somehow hung over the stadium. Because of the security system in check, no unicorn or alicorn is capable of using their magic to dispel the frozen cloud. That leaves Spike to be the one to save the day.
     
    Okaaaaayyy…
     
    a. So why didn't anyone keep the sky clear during the Equestria Games? That way, that botched shot wouldn't touch the cloud and condense it with ice. Also, just in case something like this does happen, wouldn't some kind of magic shield, force field, or spell dispel any magic that touched anything stray other than the target itself? That way, you continue the competition safely.
     
    b. Although Luna and Celestia flew to the frozen cloud to stop it from falling, certainly there was one unicorn or alicorn allowed as security to prevent life-or-death situations like these. If not, then that's very poor security.
     
    c. As what @ said recently, the climax is given to him. He didn't have to work hard; he was there by chance and took advantage. This isn't like For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils, where the Cutie Mark Crusaders play a game of cat and mouse to fix the headdress or TT123 where Twilight used Dash's ability to concentrate while flying to help her study. Through EG's process, the climax is anticlimactic.
     
    d. Instead of Act 2, why not have unicorns and alicorns pass through the security screening early in Equestria Games and show an olympic competition with at least one unicorn? When you add ponies with horns into the competition and take care of it early, it adds credibility to the security system and settles the plot point more organically into the story.
     
    (Then again, this would more than likely nullify Spike's sudden stage fright midway in Act 1 and kill Spike's conflict altogether.)
    There's a difference between having Spike being naïve, nervous, and an idiot. Spike not being able to light up the torch and believing he let everyone down was very in character. The fact that he felt down after bumbling the Cloudesdale anthem was in character…until you look at what happened earlier.
     
    a. Spike said aloud that he can conjure fire with his mind?
     

     
    Granted, it was reinforced through one instance in Owl's Well (because Spikabuse is SOOOOOOOOOOOO hilarious!), but Spike actually believed he could light up fire for some time? C'mon, man! You just crossed that line from making Spike nervous for a good reason into flanderizing his failures and making him an idiot!
     
    b. Speaking of making Spike an idiot, why the HELL would he even want to sing the Cloudesdale anthem when he obviously had no idea what the lyrics were despite claiming he did? Just by the first screwup alone and overall episode pattern, he was obviously going to screw up even bigger than last time. Through the sequences, it merely sets up more fervent embarrassment he had to endure. And worse, his out-of-character actions were written partially for laughs and partially to make you feel bad for him. That scene is called cringe comedy, but done out of the expense of Spike's characterization. Out-of-character comedy isn't good comedy, especially when the comedy is done to undeservingly abuse a child character!
     
    (That's one thing Power Ponies deserves credit. At least Spike was treated with some level of respect, as the taunting he received was frowned upon in story.)
    The moral itself is fine, but there are plenty of problems.
     
    a. It was told to Spike in the last two minutes. Spike didn't figure it out himself. While it isn't a copy of the morals being executed in Bridle Gossip, Mare Do Well, Spike at Your Service, or Somepony to Watch Over Me (all bad episodes; don't kid yourself otherwise), EG still follows the same method in context.
     
    b. It was shoehorned. While you can relate to him (when bypassing his flanderization mid-episode), the moral itself was very blunt and didn't fit the context of the conflict.
     
    c. Like Feeling Pinkie Keen, the moral was poorly worded.
     
    Don't know what I mean? Here's the moral:
     It's so convoluted, it flows through one ear and out the other, seemingly to fill in script space. If it was something like this:Or this:…then you make the moral a bit clearer. (The third needs a bit more editing to make it more optimistic.)
    At the beginning, several ponies were exercising and lifting weights a few hours before the Equestria Games. This is something you may overlook, but exercising strenuously on the day of the event (particularly a few hours before it starts) can leave you very vulnerable to injury, because your muscles need time to recover.
    The episode not only breaks the promise of expectations for the Equestria Games, but also doesn't hide it. You want to know what I mean? Focus on the title:
     
    Equestria Games.
     
    The purpose of titles is to inform people of not just the setting, but also what the plot will be about. For example:
     
    a. Wonderbolts Academy, Magic Duel, Maud Pie, Apple Family Reunion, Applebuck Season, The Crystal Empire, A Canterlot Wedding, Winter Wrap Up, The Mysterious Mare Do Well: Self-explanatory.
     
    b. Bats!: The plot revolved on the conflict of bats. The exclamation point indicates surprise and how urgent the situation with the bats is.
     
    c. Lesson Zero: Twilight needs a lesson of friendship to write to Celestia, yet doesn't have one.
     
    d. Hurricane Fluttershy: Focuses on Fluttershy, a weather-centered conflict, and a metaphor of Fluttershy's fragile psyche.
     
    e. Green Isn't Your Color: Referencing "green with envy" and the struggle with jealousy.
     
    f. Too Many Pinkie Pies: Pinkie Pie along with "too many," a negative phrase.
     
    g. Rainbow Falls: Two references: the setting and Rainbow Dash's external conflict.
     
    Equestria Games translates to a primary focus on the Games, especially to those who don't review the synopsis or previews. Plenty of bronies watch the episodes blind, and the title indicates a primary focus on the ponified Olympics.
     
    And how can you blame them? For fifteen months and through parts of two seasons, the Equestria Games built up hype and expectations. FOUR episodes prior were heavily dedicated to hyping the Equestria Games. Grandiose, athletic, and full of life. Not everyone watches the Olympics (including me personally), but it doesn't alter the fact how important it really is. The Games are symbolic with people coming from all walks of life; they're important to athletes worldwide because they represent the best in their countries. The Equestria Games was a parody of this and built itself up as something more important and grander than the Grand Galloping Gala.
     
    How? Again, four episodes focused on the preparation for the Equestria Games. Sure, none of them were good (Flight to the Finish the best one; Rainbow Falls easily the worst), but it still doesn't affect the event's importance. DHX and Hasbro promised to the audience that the Equestria Games (one of three overarching plots this season) was worth watching. Not just through web promotions, but also the episodes themselves (as they each held a very heavy focus).
     
    Instead? The overarching plot is a half-assed gimmick for an unnecessary main conflict. This has been a gigantic problem all season: premise over story. CloudCookooCountry's very negative review of EG (and also season 4 collectively) explains this perfectly. EG is shoved in as the premise to create Spike's story, conflict, and moral. You could've used ANY piece of the Games for Spike's story, and it wouldn't change. Hell, Spike's confidence problems could take place ANYWHERE in the canon, and it wouldn't change the story.
     
    Just like several other bad episodes this season like Daring Don't, Power Ponies, Bats!, Rainbow Falls, It Ain't Easy Bein' Breezies, and Trade Ya!, it's as if DHX is focused more on the setting or the premise over the story, characters, and overall conflict. When they have the setting prepared, they have plenty of difficulty what to do with the setting and just plug in the overall narrative with hopes of making it work. Why that's the case, I don't know. Either the writers are experimenting and hoping to succeed, Hasbro is mandating them to introduce wilder and clunkier premises to pander to its older audience, a combination of both, or none of the above.
     
    In what was the series and web promotions hyped for a grand payoff, the conclusion to this arc contributed nothing to the series. It was a trap simply to sucker the audience and achieve high rankings. We won't know the official results until later this week, but just by the weak writing and unfulfillment of expectations, EG feels like an obvious rating's trap. To echo Tommy Oliver: DHX, why the fuck would you hype up the ponified Olympics and spend more quantity of time on it over the Grand Galloping Gala if the Equestria Games DOES — NOTHING?!
     
    Normally, you'd set aside audience expectations and review the quality of the writing itself. But because the build up to the Games's conclusion and expectations are interconnected, it'd be insulting to separate the two. What Equestria Games does is a really big crime in storytelling: build expectations and not capitalize on them. What makes this anomaly stand out more is how these expectations are spat at, as if they mean nothing. That's low. At this point, there are two people to vote "I hated it!" for Equestrian Games; one of them is mine.
     
    And it's a shame, too, because the Games offer SO MUCH to explore. You have various ethnicities, the spirit of friendly rivalry, how sportsmanship affects people in other cultures around Equestria and other countries, the styles of events to parallel the Olympics while blending with the lore of the canon simultaneously, the griffons, the security system beyond being a transparent Chekhov's Gun, and interactions in the stands. All of these are much more interesting than the crap featured in this episode. And as fun as fanfic is, it shouldn't be relied on to fill in the gaps. As cool as Spike is, his conflict and bastardization in the second half are out of place, especially one to last for the entire episode.
     
    And I know a few people will recognize how plenty saw the previews along with the synopses. That still doesn't nullify the lies Equestria Games exhausts.

    There are three overarching plots this season: the six keys/Chest of Harmony, the Castle of the Royal Sisters, and the Equestria Games. The Equestria Games is the focus, and Equestria Games is the self-contained finale of the arc. After fifteen long months, the Games take place…only to have it be a backdrop for Spike. The young dragon's conflict had no business lasting this long, if not at all. At most, it should've lasted before the first act concluded. But it lasted way too long, and the Games were rushed through to reach the contrived climax and poorly executed moral. After enormous build-up through parts of two seasons and heavy promotion, Broken Promise: The Episode is a glaring rating's trap to inorganically shove Spike in the spotlight in an unnecessary setting. You could've had Spike be placed anywhere, and you still would've had the same story. It's an underwhelming conclusion with blatant deception, culminating in an overarching plot that doesn't need to exist. Overall, a terrible episode.
     

     
    Source: S04:E24 - Equestria Games
  4. Dark Qiviut
    I wrote this last year and beat the dead horse in my status, topics, and EQD's comment boards. But because far too many people continue to make this mistake, it's time to reiterate.
     
    As far as the animation and IDW comics are concerned, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic's market audience/target market is all ages. They're all-ages, gender-neutral, and family-friendly pieces of entertainment. Its base demographic is five-year-old kids regardless of gender, but its overall market includes older kids, teens, and adults. It's the same market audience as pre-Tales G1, Pixar, many of Disney's classics, The Railway Series, classic and the last two seasons of Thomas & Friends, Mario's main series, Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, and pre-1993 WWE.
     
    But unlike G1, FIM's market audience for its first-party toys is different. Instead of all-ages and gender-neutral, it's marketed to young girls. It's one of the few products of the first-party market to cater that demographic singularly.
     
    Also, unlike FIM, Equestria Girls's market audience is tween girls. EQG's base demographic is older than FIM's, but its overall target market is much narrower than the main series.
     
    But there's a difference between market audience and target audience. Market audience is defined as to attract certain demographics, but it doesn't mean they're going to buy something. The target audience is who you're going to sell to.
     
    What do I mean by that? Contrary to what everyone thinks, kids — and little/tween girls — are NOT FIM's target audience. In fact, kids are NEVER a target audience. Why? Because kids aren't the ones who'll buy the products or record the shows most of the time. Those who hold onto the income (and therefore buy/record them) are their guardians, the true target audience of FIM and EQG.
     
    Since FIM debuted in 2010, the claim that FIM's target audience is "little girls" has been false. Don't kid yourself into thinking otherwise.
  5. Dark Qiviut
    In other words, the most exciting playoffs of the four major sports is back!
     
    From 1994 to last year, the NHL playoff format was one through eight. Very often, you can see a Quarterfinal upset or even a lower-seeded team reach the Stanley Cup Finals. Two years ago, the LA Kings became the first non-division champion in the West (and lowest seed: eighth) to win the Cup.
     
    This year, it's a little bit different. Instead of three divisions per conference, it's two: Pacific and Central in the West, Atlantic and Metropolitan in the East. Three teams in each division qualify for the postseason, along with two Wild Cards (either one per division, or two from one), totaling up to eight each. The teams to qualify are:
     
    Eastern Conference:
    Atlantic:
    Boston Bruins (Presidents' Trophy winner [best record in NHL])
    Tampa Bay Lightning
    Montreal Canadiens
    Detroit Red Wings (Wild Card #2)

    Metropolitan:
    Pittsburgh Penguins
    New York Rangers
    Philadelphia Flyers
    Columbus Blue Jackets (Wild Card #1)

     
    Western Conference:
    Pacific:
    Anaheim Ducks (Best record in West)
    San Jose Sharks
    Los Angeles Kings

    Central:
    Colorado Avalanche
    St. Louis Blues
    Chicago Blackhawks
    Minnesota Wild (Wild Card #1)
    Dallas Stars (Wild Card #2)

     
    Instead of #1 vs. #8 and so on, the playoffs are split into #1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3 per division.
     
    The division winners face the Wild Cards. The team with best record face the Wild Card with the least amount of points, while the other division winner faces the Wild Card with the most amount of points. Here's how this year's playoffs are stacked.
     
    Eastern Conference:
    Boston Bruins (A1) vs Detroit Red Wings (WC2)
    Tampa Bay Lightning (A2) vs. Montreal Canadiens (A3)


    Pittsburgh Penguins (M1) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (WC1)
    New York Rangers (M2) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (M3)

    Western Conference:
    Anaheim Ducks (P1) vs Dallas Stars (WC2)
    San Jose Sharks (P2) vs. Los Angeles Kings (P3)


    Colorado Avalanche (C1) vs. Minnesota Wild (WC1)
    St. Louis Blues (C2) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (C3)

    The new SCP format is similar to the NBA's and NCAA Basketball Tournaments. You must advance through your own "division" before reaching the Conference Finals and then Stanley Cup Finals. Previously, there was no hard bracket to determine where teams advance, meaning you could have the #8 seed wait for #2 vs. #7 matchup and either face the #2 seed or another team in another Quarterfinal matchup. The new format removes this confusion.
     

    So, my quarterfinal predictions? Time to get on with it already!
     
    Predictions:
    Detroit Red Wings in seven.
    Montreal Canadiens in six. With the Canadiens being the only playoff team in Canada, I think MTL will use it to its advantage. (I don't expect many fans from the other Canadian fanbases to follow suit, though. )
    Pittsburgh Penguins in seven. I expect Marc-Andre Fleury to perform after two horrid playoffs.
    Philadelphia Flyers in six.
    Stars in seven.
    Sharks in six.
    Avalanche in six.
    Blackhawks in five.

  6. Dark Qiviut
    Back when the brony community was still relatively new and still growing into one of the bigger creative powerhouses, one of the growing areas was the brony musicians. Slowly but surely, many of them were getting their names known, sending a message to unknown passersby that their dedication to My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic was genuine. Creativity is one of the clearest and best examples to show why, and music was one of them. But it was relatively slow back them. The one who really sent those shockwaves was The Living Tombstone and his remix of OdysseyEurobeat's Discord.
     
    And for good reason. Discord is a genuinely amazing song, and I say this as one who isn't a fan of electronic or dubstep music. The beats and pace of the music captures a sense of anger, frustration, and urgency. For further depth, the tone in the lyrics display confusion and frustration, such as this question during this chorus:

    "Discord, whatever did we do



    To make you take our world away?"


    In addition to the tone of the lyrics, its pace correlates with the frantic beat and captures it with the audience tremendously. You can feel the emotion throughout, from the beginning beats to the sudden ending to the exclamation in the second part of the chorus. The Living Tombstone's voice (including its echo) highlight Discord's desire for chaos well.
     
    Its second-biggest strength is its respect for OdysseyEurobeat's original version. Compared to the original, The Living Tombstone's version is quicker, more frantic, and more electronic. However, just because the genres are different doesn't mean it disrespects the original song. Instead, it treats the original with a lot of care meanwhile remixing it to tell people that it's also his own work. There is plenty of heart in the rhythm, tone, and overall execution of the remix.
     
    The Living Tombstone's remix of OdysseyEurobeat's Discord takes the original and recreates it to show his own talent in the music department of the brony fandom. Back when the fandom was still trying to mold itself, Discord's overall brilliance in the entire song exemplifies the heart and dedication the fandom generally has. It has garnered so much praise due to its great execution of the music, voice, and overall tone. But it isn't only the brony fandom who has complimented this song. Even general articles such as Rolling Stone have done so, too, and justifiably so. Without it, it is highly possible that the brony music would be a very niche corner in the fandom for a much longer time. But thanks to the amazing Discord, the brony musicians quickly became one of the most powerful voices this community has and shows everyone, brony or not, how powerful and dedicated this fandom is.
  7. Dark Qiviut
    Author's Note: Just like my Friendship Is Magic episode reviews, I'll begin writing them for Thomas & Friends, starting with the season debut, Thomas the Quarry Engine. This one and four other episodes are released for the U.S. DVD, Trouble on the Tracks, on April 8, 2014.
     
    Review bumped April 9 to feature the episode and cleanup.
     


    As a longtime Thomas fan who stuck with the original seven series and eventually lost plenty of interest because of the really bad storytelling during the HiT Era, Series 17 revived my interest to sky-high limits by being the first good season since Series 7. Great characterization. Lively interaction. More attention to railway realism. And BETTER STORIES AND STORYTELLING. After Mattel acquired HiT Entertainment, the writing team (led by Sharon Miller) was gutted in favor of those experienced with the series before, with new head writer, Andrew Brenner. Bill or Ben? was the best Thomas story not just last season, but the whole CGI Era, too. Thomas the Quarry Engine — written by head writer Andrew Brenner, who also wrote Bill or Ben? — not just rivals Bill or Ben? as the best Thomas episode in the CGI Era, but it's objectively the best season opener since Cranky Bugs.
     
    Strengths:
    Last year, Arc Productions replaced Nitrogen Studios as Thomas's primary CGI animation company, and it provided not just great camera angles, but also plenty of extra details on the characters and scenery. In Bill or Ben?, the red paintwork on their bufferbeam was slowly crumbling away, displaying their hard work and energy they endured over the years. Overall, Arc had a trial year last season; despite its lack of refinery, it was spectacular. Kudos to David Baas (the director of the animation last year and this) for giving the CGI a fresh experience.
     
    Arc Productions stepped that up further here: On the HD version, you can see so many tinier details in the rocks, rails, wood, and paintwork of every single engine. And it isn't a gimmick; it enhances the story. On top of that, it's also extremely refined, which was last season's biggest flaw from objective quality standards.
    Major props to Arc and Brenner for adding Henrietta into the episode and giving her her first speaking role since Daisy in 1986. If you saw my journal, Henrietta has a face now, but it's no longer so shocking. Her characterization was mostly focused on the narrator instead of dialogue, and her dialogue was mostly plain. Maggie Ollerenshaw gave her that wisdom oozing from her voice. It fits the oldie-but-goldie aura both Toby and Henrietta share nicely.
    Excellent use of Railway Series material by having Toby pick up the quarrymen so they can go home. Good to see the original source not being ignored.
     
    On the meanwhile, there's great usage of references from the classics and older Railway Series:
     
    a. Diesel calling himself and Mavis "revolutionary."
     
    b. Thomas being shoved down the hill and crashing into the buffers beside the station, ala Trouble for Thomas/Thomas & the Trucks.
     
    c. Mention of the quarry located at the end of Thomas's branch line.
     
    d. Mavis being allowed to extend her work to Brendam Docks every now and then.
    Great characters VERY IN character. Diesel, Mavis, Thomas, Toby, Henrietta, the Troublesome Trucks, Salty, Cranky, Porter, Hiro, and the Fat Controller are all in top form. None of their lines were out of place, empty, or forced. They had attitude. Personality.
     
    In the previous series under Sharon Miller, the voice actors tried to have them in character, but the scripted dialogue was so bad, it only worsened the characterization. Since Series 17, you can tell how much the voice actors really love their jobs; when you write great characterization, you make the jobs much easier and apparently much more fun. Brenner, Arc, and crew took close advantage of it.
     
    And even better is Mavis's much needed character development. For a long time, her mentor role has been more or less stuck to one level. This episode advanced her character for the first time since Toby's Tightrope, where she grew from the immature, hypocritical fusspot into a mature female diesel.
    The little musical number — based word for word off from 1909 — is a very nice twist to the Thomas formula, and with the solid pacing TtQE had, it really belonged here and gave it a solid conclusion. Reminds me a bit like the musical numbers from Friendship Is Magic, only to end the episode rather than in the middle and not be confined to a modernized form of a genre.
     
    What was a little surprising is how good the singing was.

    Weaknesses:
    Thomas stopped dead when he hit the buffers. The buffers can't withstand such weight; they'd collapse pretty quickly and be crushed by the train's weight.
    Mavis and Diesel were able to get Thomas's train back on the line without a breakdown train. It would've been better if Mavis or Diesel fetched Rocky or Harvey so they can get the train ready for delivery.
    Diesel didn't have some on-screen punishment for his misdeed. While Thomas was in the wrong for taking the long, heavy train alone, his actions were justifiable because Diesel purposefully disrupted the flow of the work from Ffarquhar Quarry, and Thomas had to deliver the load of stone before a specific time. After Thomas was scolded for taking the train alone, Diesel wasn't seen for the rest of the episode.

    But those three obvious flaws don't deter the high quality of Thomas the Quarry Engine. In eight minutes and forty-five seconds, Brenner hones in a high-quality script filled to the brim of attitude, history, and research. Arc Productions's intricate care to the refinement of its Computer-Generated Imagery is treated as an important ingredient to the story, never leaving anything so stilted. Combined with great characterization, solid pacing, and a creative ending, TtQE will leave Thomas fans young, old, past, and present with a strong impression that Series 17 is no fluke. In all, a fantastic episode.
  8. Dark Qiviut
    These are only some of them. I can put in so many WMXXX moments, but I can only put in so much.
    The Streak being beat. At 49 years old, The Undertaker isn't as agile as he used to be. Because he's taken so many bumps, bladings, and nasty chairshots to the skull over his thirty-plus-year career, the aches and pains are catching up to him, the main reason he only wrestles once annually. If you watched last night's match closely, he was sluggish and somewhat frail. (And he apparently suffered a concussion from a botched suplex early in the match, so his career's in very serious jeopardy.) That said, the match usually ends with Undertaker conquering the foe and extending his streak. To see the streak finally be busted will be the most memorable thing to happen last night. Twenty-one consecutive matches won at WrestleMania snapped by a very formidable foe.
    Daniel Bryan conquering The Authority!
     

     
    Since winning the title cleanly at Summerslam, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and the rest of The Authority made Bryan's quest back to the top and life a living hell. It was so bad, Triple H and Steph were the victims of an uncensored "ASSHOLE!" chant when Raw visited Chicago. Since he started wrestling in the independent leagues, Bryan's always had the charisma both in and out of the ring, making him very popular. After that squash match in WM28, the "YES!" movement was unofficially born, and his popularity in the WWE, face or heel, climbed tremendously.
     
    And he did it in such fantastic fashion, putting up two fantastic, match-of-the-year clinics to win the World HeavyWeight Championship! "YES!", indeed!
    The initial promo with The Rock, Stone Cold, and Hulk Hogan. Three of the greatest WWE superstars of all-time joining together in a grand promo to kick of WMXXX. The pops were fantastic, and you can tell they were so into it. They have the passion, energy, and heart.
     
    Oh, and the "Silverdome" gaffe made the promo better. Hogan will never live that one down.
    In the triple-threat match, Bryan was the victim of a Batista Bomb AND RKO through the Spanish Announce Table (nostalgic WWE fans will remember the abuse that table's suffered over the years ). Well, what makes this memorable is the bump during the RKO.
     
    Watch Orton execute his RKO to see what I mean:
     

     
    Two mark-out moments during the Battle Royal (which was much better than I thought it'd be):
     
    a. Kofi Kingston being launched over the top rope, but his feet only landed on the stairs. In battle royal rules, an eliminated wrestler must be thrown over the top rope and have both feet hit the floor. Neither foot hit the floor, and it's such a difficult maneuver to book correctly. Credits to the writers for having the balls to plan this.
     
    b. Cesaro lifting Big Show off his feet to eliminate him. Hopefully, this will launch his career, as he's raw talent and deserves a push.

  9. Dark Qiviut
    Author's Note: This is a revised review for Sleepless in Ponyville. You can find the original here.
     

    Have you ever told campfire stories? What campfire stories scared you the most? At some point in your life, did you ever get a nightmare so crippling, it affected your every move? Scootaloo knows that feeling, and Sleepless in Ponyville explores this. As Corey Powell's debut episode, she explores Scootaloo's perspective in twenty minutes full great characterization, a lot of humor, a well-done moral, and a world of well-deserved feels.
     

    Strengths:
    The characterization is extremely well-done. None of them were flanderized, flat, or out of character. Each line dripped with personality that fit everyone. To get it out of the way:
     
    Rarity: This was easily her best role last season in one where full-fledged, good-quality characterization from her was a rarity. As she's exuberant and sassy, her vanity and care for younger Sweetie Belle complimented nicely. On one hand, she played tit for tat with Sweetie Belle by having her temporarily drag her luggage to the camp sites. On the other, the growth from Look Before You Sleep, Suited for Success, Sisterhooves Social, and Sweet & Elite aren't forgotten at all. Despite her vanity, she still really cared for Sweetie Belle and comforted her whenever a story or spark scared the daylights outta her.
     
    In a way, however, her character was a reversal of Look Before You Sleep; albeit growing, it had to happen via childish, gross immaturity at her and Applejack's expense. It took twenty whole minutes for her and Applejack (and Twilight, by extension) to stop being dumbasses and grow some brains.
     
    Speaking of Applejack…
     
    Applejack: The cordial friendship that got them to finally look past their differences and grow closer was recognized previously in Sisterhooves Social and continued on through here. Like most of season three, AJ's characterization shone brightly like polished brass. The calm, cool, and collected of the six, she knew her equipment and was definitely prepared for the camp and journey to Winsome Falls, as she should (i.e., using the bow drill to start the campfire). Just like Rarity with Sweetie Belle, she and Apple Bloom share a beautiful sisterly relationship. Although we saw nothing truly new about it, it was still solid, warm, and funny.
     
    Unlike some other crappy episode that arrived more than a year later…
     
    Most importantly, she's the only one to recognize Scootaloo's jumpiness and fright, and keeps questioning her in response. The others don't.
     
    Apple Bloom: Just like what I said about Applejack, Apple Bloom is the little sister characterized as such, although with plenty of spunk and sass coming from her Southern accent. Again, there's nothing new, but with her conversations and relationship with Applejack, it's reinforces how close they are, meanwhile proving that Apple Bloom's slowly growing up.
     
    Sweetie Belle: The cute, hilarious charm forges on. Like Rarity, she holds that same pizzazz with the ability to persuade others.
     
    Her voice? Funny.
     
    Singing 99 Buckets of Oats — an obvious reference to 99 Bottles — very late in the night? Nothing short of hilarious and surprisingly in character. (If she was fully awake and during the day, then it would've been out of character.)
     
    This?
     
      
     
    Scootaloo: She was in several episodes up to this, but never got an episode in her point of view. SiP is her first, and she was masterful. Prior, she was the least developed of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and SiP changed that instantaneously. Not only was she in character, but the conflict she encountered was very real. While it may not cripple an adult, kids are much more sensitive to scary stories and nightmares. For Scootaloo, who wants to look her best in front of Dash (who she idolizes so much), it's very believable. Even beyond it is her jubilation and love for adventure, as backed up by zipping through Ponyville while riding her scooter (referencing The Show Stoppers).
     
    More about her later.
     
    Rainbow Dash: Up to around The Last Roundup, her characterization between it and Lesson Zero was pretty inconsistent, ranging from mere flanderization to out-of-characterization. Sometimes she became the butt of some mean-spirited jokes (i.e., the cider gag in he Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000). But following TLR, her characterization slowly improved with occasional bumps like in Read It and Weep (suddenly becoming an avid reader, but that's since ironed out) or Act 1 in Dragon Quest (mocking Spike's apron). Hurricane Fluttershy introduced her in easily her best role since Sonic Rainboom, and SiP improved that.
     
    How? Despite being oblivious to various social cues, she retains her sense of importance, but is extremely energetic and fun-loving. She's sure of herself and still rather cocky, but it's very tame and she isn't flanderized. Up to this point, she was given the best balance: brash, yet caring and loyal to her friends and morals.
     
    That is until the ending, which I'll get to.
     
    Princess Luna: After Luna Eclipsed, she all but stayed in the background, appearing in A Canterlot Wedding and The Crystal Empire. Her appearance in SiP really brought forth some needed expansion of her character, acting as a guide to others who feel lost and hurt if needed. Her role will be dissected into later.
    There was plenty of worldbuilding, expanding Equestria beyond simply Canterlot, Everfree Forest, and Ponyville. The forest near Ponyville is quiet and, once Scootaloo's fears kick in, menacing. Winsome Falls is absolutely beautiful, and the animation allows the graphics to portray the waterfalls plausibly, but with the right colors and atmosphere to create mystique — a sense of purpose for wanting to be there, much less trek.
     
    And this leads to the animation, whichis completely breathtaking. Throughout last season, at least one episode focused on the background animation and effects. Sleepless in Ponyville EXCELLED in this category. The dream sequences are wacky and spooky: Each shape, shade, and color truly made them nightmares for the young filly. In Equestrian life, the forest itself (namely the sharp perspective of the trees and evil yellow eyes) is very graphic and belongs in a family-friendly Nightmare Night.
     
    But the best animation?
     
    This:
     

     
    Need I say more?
    In twenty minutes, Scootallo's characterization was thoroughly explored: We witnessed her athleticism, desire to be Rainbow Dash's protégé, overgrowing fear and will to look impressive in Dash's tomcoltish eyes, and development. Obviously, she idolizes Rainbow Dash due to little sprinkles of Dash's core personality: a will to be cool, daring, and proud. But Scoots's pride was also her greatest flaw: As she desired to have Dash take her under her wing, she didn't want to look weak, for her ever growing façade that eventually blew into paranoia for her safety!
    As for the gags, they're very effective in their own unique ways. Some include:
     
    a. Sweetie Belle pulling the cart: A very tit-for-tat moment from Rarity after Sweetie baited her into agreeing to go. It works because it counterbalances with Rarity's care for SB, and Sweetie never truly struggles to the point of feeling pain. To keep it fresh, Sweetie doesn't pull it entirely, as Scootaloo pulls it at one point.
     
    (BTW, Rarity was not flanderized nor out of character for making Sweetie pull. It teeters the line, but because it counterbalances her caring side, it doesn't cross it. To claim she was is just plain hyperbole.)
     
    b. 99 Bottles on the WAAALLLLL! Next! XD
     
    c. Scootaloo telling the scariest story in FIM history:
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STLdC0cEvzM
     
    d. Rainbow Dash's snoring gags, as they helped continue the plot and show how calm and relaxed she can be when asleep albeit asking Scoot if she doesn't snore.
     
    e. Rarity's makeshift tent in Act 1: Extravagant and very in character. Hey, she's a character with plenty of style.
    The pace is very well-done. For all of last season, if there was one evident flaw, the quality of the flow was very poor. In The Crystal Empire, it was too slow. Too Many Pinkie Pies, One Bad Apple, Keep Calm and Flutter On, Spike at Your Service, Games Ponies Play, and Magical Mystery Cure were all fast, either a little or so much that it needed to be two parts just to make the flow satisfying. Sleepless in Ponyville had no such problems. Each gag never overstayed its welcome. Every main scene never lasted any more than needed. The climax was bold but never elongated. The resolution was quick enough to satisfyingly conclude it, yet slow enough to make it memorable and have the event stick in the audience's mind.
    Like Polsky's For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils this year, Sleepless in Ponyville doesn't attempt to hide the graphic nature of the nightmares (and for this episode, the climax). Because Scootaloo is experiencing nightmares that psychologically damn him, it's Powell's job to make sure the nightmares hit her in the gut and scare the royal shit out of her. This is completely unlike Toils, where Luna uses Sweetie's selfishness against her and makes Rarity's supposed future graphic to teach her an important lesson in not being jumping to conclusions so selfishly.
     
    Also, Scootaloo continually punishes herself during the course of the episode. All of the little bits of animation, sound, and frightened response to the dark forest scare her, as her mind plays tricks on her throughout.
    The climax is extremely exciting and full of marvelous tension with a great twist. Typically, characters who hold on over the ledge just hang on to there until the hero comes along to save him or her. Instead, Powell and crew push the boundaries further by having Scoots fall into the raging river and going over the fall.
     
    (And if you pay attention to the scene after where Luna tells Scootaloo to face her real fears, notice how the moon is behind Dash. This should give you a clue how Dash was able to realize Scoots was in trouble.)
    Without a shadow of a doubt, the resolution itself is easily the best moment of the season and solidifies the episode from top to bottom. The emotion and chemistry brewing in the night scene is raw, and it makes the viewer want to cheer them on and embrace their newly created chemistry.
     
    Until this point, Dash's characterization was easily on the upswing, just approaching a moment just like this. When she admitted the campfire stories once scared her as a filly, it illustrated raw characterization and growth that breaks through the tomcolt façade she's built over the course of the series as well as her lifetime. While that's obviously never going away (or not completely anytime soon), that scene proves her growth since the pilot.
     
    (Of course, one episode later, Dash is featured in Wonderbolts Academy, quite possibly her best episode yet.)
     
    Meanwhile, it also completes one of Scootaloo's biggest missions: to be Rainbow Dash's protégé. Since the beginning, she has the competitive edge and tomcoltish characterization along with the desire to be like Dash. It took nearly two full seasons (including one crappy episode early in season two ), but the ending brings her first journey full circle, as it should be.

    Weaknesses:
    Two key areas in this episode lack clarity.
     
    a. The extent of Luna's powers of exploring in ponies' dreams. In the very beginning, there was no such discussion of her even having the idea of such powers. Then, in SiP, she uses it seamlessly, as if she always had them. There's no explanation where she got them, how she got them, and how far she can use them. Even with For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils granting her a larger extent of her powers, the questions offered weren't answered here and haven't since. There's a very good chance the questions will be ignored, and her powers will be used as a trump card for the writers.
     
    b. How Rainbow Dash knew Scootaloo was in danger. Sure, the animation hints this, and you can suggest this as a possibility, but it's way too subtle. In a way, it behaves like a deus ex machina. If the relationship here was given more clarity, then it'd be more believable.
    The usage of the bow drill was used incorrectly. In both scenes, Applejack used the drill over a small pile of sticks to immediately start a fire. In real life, the sticks wouldn't be sufficient enough to start a campfire.
     
    Here is a step-by-step vlog on how to start a fire with the bow drill:
     

    I don't camp, but I know one thing. Applejack, sleeping in an unsupervised cave for the night in the wild is normally a REALLY stupid idea!


    On December 8, 2012, Sleepless in Ponyville airs for the first time and introduces Corey Powell into the world of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. In the first episode without Twilight since Putting Your Hoof Down (One Bad Apple included her as a cameo), only seven characters (minus The Olden Pony in Scoot's first nightmare and final dream) spoke, and Powell used their slots wisely. Every character was in character with extra dimension. Combined with some nice comedic moments and fantastic animation, the pace flowed smoothly with little to no obvious hiccups (along with a tense action scene). Albeit a couple of questionable logic choices and lack of clarity in specific scenes, Sleepless in Ponyville is unquestionably one of the best episodes in the series and easily the BEST season-three episode.
  10. Dark Qiviut
    # = First Wild Card
    # = Second Wild Card
    (1) = Best Record in League
    (2) = Second-Best Record in League
    (3) = Third-Best Record in League
     

     

    AMERICAN LEAGUE


     
    East
    Boston Red Sox(1)
    New York Yankees#
    Tampa Bay Rays
    Baltimore Orioles
    Toronto Blue Jays

    Central
    Kansas City Royals(2)
    Cleveland Indians#
    Detroit Tigers
    Chicago White Sox
    Minnesota Twins

    West
    Texas Rangers(3)
    Oakland Athletics
    Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
    Houston Astros
    Seattle Mariners


     

    NATIONAL LEAGUE


     
    East
    Washington Nationals(2)
    Atlanta Braves#
    New York Mets
    Miami Marlins
    Philadelphia Phillies

    Central
    St. Louis Cardinals(1)
    Pittsburgh Pirates#
    Chicago Cubs
    Cincinnati Reds
    Milwaukee Brewers

    West
    Los Angeles Dodgers(3)
    San Francisco Giants
    Arizona Diamondbacks
    Colorado Rockies
    San Diego Padres


     
    All-Star Game (in Minnesota): AL over NL.
     
    Wild Card Round: Indians over Yankees. Pirates over Braves.
     
    Division Series: Indians over Red Sox; Royals over Rangers. Pirates over Cardinals; Nationals over Dodgers.
     
    Championship Series: Royals over Indians. Pirates over Nationals.
     
    World Series: Royals over Pirates in 7.
     

     
    Comeback Player of the Year: Derek Jeter or Manny Machado; Starlin Castro.
     
    Manager of the Year: Ned Yost; Matt Williams.
     
    Rookie of the Year: Xander Bogearts; Billy Hamilton.
     
    Cy Young: Max Scherzer; Jose Fernandez or Michael Wacha.
     
    MVP: Carlos Beltran or Prince Fielder; Freddie Freeman or Bryce Harper.
  11. Dark Qiviut
    At the time, four new writers were introduced to Friendship Is Magic: Josh Haber, Ed Valentine, Betsy McGowen, and Natasha Levinger. For better or worse, they perform effectively enough to be mainstays in the franchise. (How many episodes McGowen will write, including one on her own, I don’t know.) Come Somepony to Watch Over Me, Scott Sonneborn — a writer with an extensive résumé, from Beevis and Butt-Head to Angela Anaconda to Celebrity Deathmatch to amateur porn — makes his FIM debut. Applejack becomes overprotective of Apple Bloom in a plot full of contrivances, poor characterization, and negative implications surrounding the moral.
     
    Strengths:
    Throughout the season, the animation has made huge strides to take advantage of as many unique tools as possible; DHX/Top Draw fulfilled that again via making the chimera menacing, the background of Hollow Shades, and the bayou tribute.
     
    Firstly, everything about the chimera is absolutely terrifying, as it should be. When he first arrived, he was a lion silhouette. Then, three pairs of eyes slither onto the screen in front of angry pools of lava. Finally, each of their voices fit their characters: hungry, sly, menacing, egotistical, cocky, and angry. You can tell the chimera not lives in the territory, but conquers it. He blends in the dark shadows and uses it to his advantage, scaring Apple Bloom witless the second she witnesses his prowl towards her.
     
    While the lava pits are scary enough, you need the atmosphere to match the foreground in order to show how creepy Hollow Shades is. That’s the purpose of the background, special effects, and limited color palette. Hollow Shades is monochromatic, relying on tints, hues, and shades of red, yellow, orange, and brown with black as a sharp accent to enhance the mood. There aren’t many bright colors minus the flames, but they don’t need to. Except the bluish-gray leaves, every tree is black and shaped in a way to creep out to the viewer (with success) while dripping dirty green moss off their branches.
     
    The bayou isn’t menacing, but the color composition and rendering of the houses parallel to Hollow Shades well. No bright colors from the sky clue how Applejack and Apple Bloom are forced to navigate back through just to return home. Personally, the most interesting part is the layout of the wooden cabins. As a big fan of those, they each carry plenty of personality and share stories. The most commonplace for each are the tapered roofs: By how warped they are, the cabins look old and weathered; and the environment feels very humid. By this, you can guess that this honors the humid areas of the South during the turn of the Twentieth Century.
    A very hilarious joke pokes fun at how often the show breaks into songs at the drop of a hat. What’s better is how bad the lyrics are before Scoots stops them. Basically, it’s part of The Show Stoppers (one of season one’s worst) done right.
    As it should be, the fight scene is very intense. You can feel the tension dripping out of you as Apple Bloom is running for her life. The music in the background intensifies the life-and-death predicament even further, especially as she’s being chased or when Applejack jumps to her defense.
    The Cutie Mark Crusaders are in character. Apple Bloom grows distressed and angry at how annoying and creepy Applejack behaves, as she should be. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo don’t speak a lot, but still maintain their ambitious, childlike personalities reinforced in previous episodes, including Twilight Time.
     
    On the flipside, seeing Scootaloo as the one to screw up fits her perfectly, and not merely from a humorous angle, either.
    Like Apple Bloom, the tiger head also has a connection with his goat sister. In StWOM, AJ looks over her shoulder constantly. The chimera suffers the same annoyance, only it’s permanent.
     
    Unfortunately, there isn’t much to their own conflict after that, so it becomes filler.
    “Saltwater casserole.” Yeah, not all that appetizing.

    But after this does the episode really fall apart.
    Applejack is very out of character. Too often already, there are numerous excuses for her actions, from being protective of Apple Bloom (or others) in the past, to using past events as hidden clues like her shortsightedness in Apple Family Reunion.
     
    But there are many big differences.
     
    AJ defended Apple Bloom in Bridle Gossip because she didn't trust Zecora's attitude and cryptic rhyming. Her appearance and poison joke’s aftereffects didn’t improve her impression in the slightest. Nevertheless, AJ was just as out of character as the others (including Apple Bloom for leaving her for dead in the middle of the Everfree Forest), Zecora and Spike exempt. Her rationality and stubbornness were replaced by irrational assumptions, mean-spirited unlikeability, incompetence, and stupidity. She was just as stupid there as Look Before You Sleep (which made her behave childishly for no good reason). As her inexcusable actions and characterization are contrived just to hone in a story for one of the worst episodes in the series (personally, I rank it second-worst behind One Bad Apple), what she did there doesn’t deserve a defense. I don’t.
     
    In Call of the Cutie and The Cutie Pox, Applejack had a good reason to be worried. The former had Apple Bloom being obsessed with getting her cutie mark, and she was being bullied for being a “blank flank.” Conversely, The Cutie Pox revolved around her getting too many cutie marks, and she was feeling sick.
     
    Apple Family Reunion was about preparing for a grand reunion. What she did wasn't stubbornness, pampering, or overboard stupidity. She planned a layout WAY too grand for everyone’s liking, and her plans and excitement clouded her judgment. In fact, when she saw everyone feeling very exhausted and cramped from his or her activities, she decided to hitch a ride along the west orchard. When she realized she royally screwed up, she learned her lesson and had a memorable time, after all.
     
    As far as StWOM is concerned, three important details are exposited during the story, each of them overlooked way too much.
     
    a. In Act 1, AJ presents her with a scroll with a long set of chores and reminders. Apple Bloom completes everything. She doesn't have to fully monitor Sweet Apple Acres, as they’re already done by the time the others departed. Even if something bad happens, she has lived with them for so long that she should know what to do in case of an emergency.
     
    b. Once the chores are done, Apple Bloom doesn't have to stay at Sweet Apple Acres. She can do whatever she wishes, such as explore Ponyville, eat some lunch, play with SB and Scootaloo, and even visit some of her older friends like Rarity and Twilight.
     
    c. Big Mac and AJ aren't going to be gone for very long. At the very beginning, because of the difficult trek to deliver the pies, Granny Smith says she’s allowed to live at home alone through the afternoon. That means anywhere between six to ten hours depending on the route, conflict, time of delivery, and so on. AJ and Big Mac are prepared for their traveling in case of an emergency, hence the equipment featured in Act 3. They won’t leave unless they know what they’re doing. They will be returning by a little past nightfall.
     
    Applejack’s known AB since the day she was born. AJ knows AB has been without a guardian for stretches of time for a while. Bridle Gossip, The Cutie Mark Chronicles, Family Appreciation Day, Ponyville Confidential, One Bad Apple, Twilight Time, etc. Up to this point, she’s been with other fillies or by herself several times, and the Bearer of Honesty comprehends this.
     
    Also, Apple Bloom isn’t a newborn foal in preschool. AJ trusts AB; AB trusts AJ. AJ and AB can cooperate very well. She KNOWS AB is pretty mature for her age, can care for herself, and shouldn't fret, if their in-character relationship in Sisterhooves Social holds any water. Some of the reminders and chores on the lists (or supposed to be) are so mundane, she’s obviously going to be out of character from the start. (As they trek in Act 1, AJ wanted to put on the list a reminder that in order to get a spoon out of the drawer, Apple Bloom needs to open the drawer first.)
     
    To worsen the matters, AJ's out-of-characterization is reinforced by a combination of extreme incompetence and stupidity, an ingredient that doesn't a high-quality story make. Sonneborn was trying to write Applejack as being very worried for her sister, who’s living alone at home for the first time. But AJ’s telling the audience she’s worried. Instead, she’s showing the audience how much of an idiot she thinks Apple Bloom is. As a result, Applejack is the idiot, as well as incompetent.
     
    Plus, it doesn’t make any sense for Applejack to suddenly abandon her duties as a farm owner on the flip of a dime. Because she is partially responsible for running the farm, the pies are a delivery with the purpose of being brought over, preferably on time. If she’s that concerned for Apple Bloom’s well-being, then they could’ve done two things.
     
    a. Alternate the delivery. Have Big Mac deliver the pies first. Once he returns, then Applejack delivers.
     
      
     
    b. As they prepare to leave (maybe the night before), Applejack goes to her friends and asks them to look out for her sister while she’s gone. One pony doesn’t have to watch her all day. Merely have the Remane Five at random watch over AB in the background for about five to ten minutes per hour (or two) and then mail a letter to AJ’s destination for updates.
     
    If you're going to dial up a trait, you need to do three things. Make sure it's established. Back it up with a very good reason. Don't make the affected character look like an incompetent idiot.
     
    If Applejack saw Apple Bloom do something that could've gotten her badly injured or killed if she didn't save her, you’d give her some incentive for her over-pampering. If this closely followed Call of the Cutie, then you can reinforce Bridle Gossip and fix this issue of logic and characterization. But many instances of AJ's protection occurred during seasons one and two, and she had very good reasons why. Not to mention, up until somewhere like Dragonshy or even the end of the pilot, many of these characters were somewhat blank slates. We're now in season four; these characters are established and have grown tremendously since the pilot. You can't just create a new light switch or outlet without knowing how to correctly handle the circuit.
     
    As an Applejack fan myself, Applejack in Somepony to Watch Over Me isn't Applejack. It's Twilight in season one with extreme stupidity, incompetence, and no objectively good reason to write her behavior off like this.
    This episode’s intention was to make Applejack look and act morally in the right for pampering Apple Bloom and treating her like an idiot. Instead, by stalking her around, completely ignoring her cries, and babying her, AJ comes off as a major creep. Laugh all you want, it doesn’t change how creepy Stalkerjack is.
     
    To make things worse, the entire plot is supposed to be rather serious. But when you add in stupid humor, it becomes distracting, and the episode’s focus really loses consistency. It’s very difficult to make low-level humor blend in a serious plot, and it fails here.
    While the visuals are fantastic (especially the sharp angle), the surprise cheer from the Cutie Mark Crusaders in the opener lacks the subtlety. Once the shadows appear, the surprise turns into a sudden “3…2…1” countdown. In other words, the timing is rather off. If the shadows don’t appear at all, then the comedic timing would’ve been much sharper.
    The moral’s execution is extremely broken.
     
    a. It’s extremely contradictory. Firstly, she doesn’t realize that she’s frenetically watching Apple Bloom’s move every five seconds. But then at the bayou, Applejack needed Apple Bloom’s pie delivery to be reminded of how she didn’t need to watch over her little sister. Basically, AB’s actions made her realize how stupid she was behaving. AJ was taught the lesson because she was way too stupid to figure it out herself.
     
    Any other factually bad episodes that did a similar method?
     
    i. Bridle Gossip — Zecora warns the Mane Six not to judge the book by its cover although the episode offers no subtlety.
     
    ii. The Mysterious Mare Do Well — The Remane Five tell Rainbow Dash not to brag after not offering her any clue and being passive-aggressive, hypocritical assholes being her back.
     
    iii. Spike at Your Service — After having a whole episode where Spike does a 180 in characterization, both he and Applejack agree that the next time someone saves another’s life, there’s no “servant for life” bullshit. Basically, it’s something they should’ve figured out at the very beginning if they weren’t so stupid.
     
    iv. Simple Ways — Trenderhoof racially patronizes Applejack and the entire Earth pony race with his one-note, stereotypical ego. Even though Applejack wants nothing to do with him, he still does it, only to stop when Rarity tells him not to change who you are to impress someone else to his face.
     
    b. “She caused the jam and soup to spill? Twenty-four hours of supervising a Cutie Mark Crusader who can easily fend for herself in the Everfree Forest and do dangerous tricks simply to get her cutie mark!”
     
    “Deliver pies on a journey that nearly got her killed? Apple Bloom can fend for herself and not have Applejack stalk her every move.”
     
    Well, wouldn’t AB nearly getting herself killed by a chimera be a better reason for Applejack to pamper her and baby-proof the household?

    This is the fourth season-four episode featuring Applejack as a central or important secondary character.
     
    Applejack in Bats! wants the vampire fruit bats to be rounded up before they destroy the orchard and chew up the food supply. But despite having a good reason to act immediately, she’s vilified and forced to choose the unrealistic and wrong solution for the bats, causing the episode’s quality to significantly drop.
     
    Contrarily, Pinkie Apple Pie pairs Pinkie with the Core Four, and Applejack is the one front and center. Her expectations and wishes to keep the family impressed for Pinkie make the conflict funny, but real. The story concept is weak and full of exposition; but the characterization, humor, interconnection of the humor, song, and pacing more than make up for it.
     
    In Simple Ways, Applejack is the most in character besides Spike, because she wants nothing to do with the love triangle and is focused on doing her job. But to snap out of it, she acts as Rarity in the form of Applejewel, and she’s easily the funniest of the bunch. Unfortunately, Applejack’s humor, Spike’s fantastic characterization, and two hilarious “Getting-Crap-Past-the-Radar” moments don’t save it from being both by-the-letter and stupid.
     
    Speaking of “stupid,” that’s the best word to describe Applejack’s incessant creepiness throughout Somepony to Watch Over Me. While the opening is nicely animated with good tension and decent humor quality, the potential is chucked out the window after Applejack’s unnecessary nervousness kicks in. By having her characterization derailed, the humor transitions from possibly being funny to creepy and stupid, as Applejack stalks Apple Bloom to the point of making Twilight Sparkle from Lesson Zero look sane. At least Twilight had a good excuse backed up by in-character continuity. This orange background pony has no excuse and learns her lesson the hard way because she was too stupid to figure it out herself. On the other hand, the moral’s implications break the whole ending and make the conflict look ridiculous and worthless. Overall, my second-most hated episode this season so far (behind Rainbow Falls) and a poorly written performance in what is hands down the worst Applejack episode to date.
  12. Dark Qiviut
    As a long-time Thomas & Friends fan, there are a barrage of great characters, some of whom haven't been explored so much.
     
    It looks like one classic character will get some screentime: Toby's coach, Henrietta.
     
    So what will take some getting used to? Click the spoiler.
     
     
     
     
    And have a look at a Series 18 clip, the episode being "Not So Slow Coaches."
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7b4OFJxi34
  13. Dark Qiviut
    Unlike just about every review I wrote, these are micro reviews, and they're going to be listed from most favorite to least favorite in a subjective perspective. This isn't a long, journalistic sandwich where I'm critiquing it from an objective perspective.
     
    ———
     
    1. Cutie Mark Crusaders (tie)
     
    Pluses:
    The manga-style artwork fits in the franchise with a great contrast of light and dark. Plus, with the comic centering fillies, it has a very juvenile, upbeat feeling that would've looked disastrous if it weren't for the style.
    The CMCs are in character and individual.
    There are some very funny moments.
    Nicely done display of comic-centric continuity, yet not hammered over the head to make it so obvious. The best one was the CMC being frightened of the thought of IMP being a changeling (a reference to the first four-chaptered FIM comic).
    Its moral is extremely mature and shown throughout. It isn't told like in Bridle Gossip, Spike at Your Service, or Mysterious Mare-Do-Well.
    The character in the story, Imp, is incredible. Even with no dialogue, you can tell how Imp feels just by her eyes, shapeshifting, and actions. A great method of "show, don't tell."
    The jokes don't constantly repeat, keeping each panel and page nice and fresh.
    Very clever pop culture references that don't hammer the audience (the MST3K reference was extremely clever!).
    Rarity and Spike had small moments, but were hilarious as ever and played off each other well. XD
     
    (Thank God Spike wasn't forgotten.)

    Minuses:
    During the scene where the CMCs search for the runaway Imp, the pace was too quick and too wonky. Extra four pages would've done the trick.
    The dialogue between the CMC was a little too samey and had to rely on accent for separation.
    Twilight was there simply for exposition. In other words, a shoehorn.
    Some of the character humor fell through like a bounced check.
    As far as new readers are concerned, they're going to need to research the characters before diving into here. The continuity references and characters will get them lost.

    ———
     
    1. Pinkie Pie (tie)
     
    Pluses:
    Pinkie's random and slapsticky with a purpose. She isn't some random idiot without a brain, but rather a really complex, multi-layered character. DHX, if you want to write a great Pinkie Pie, watch Party of One, Pinkie Apple Pie, EQG, and read this comic.
    The song is to Ponyacci and is very well-done.
    Exposition is kept to a minimum. Much more showing instead of telling.
    A huge array of faces keeps the panels fresh.
    The humor is very in character of Pinkie and Ponyacci.
    Ponyacci is someone I just rave over. A brilliant character with intelligence, competence, and relatability. Cranky Doodle Donkey's antithesis.
    Great backstory of Ponyacci…and Pinkie, by association.
    Twilight wasn't shoehorned. She was a great foil to Pinkie and contributed to the plot.
    Twilight, Pinkie, Ponyacci, and Spike are intelligent and competent.
    An excellent balance of humor, sentimentality, and drama. The genre changes flowed swimmingly and weren't out of place once.
    Very beautiful art style. It's bright without distracting the eye with a sense of movement and depth. It's its own art style and doesn't copy the animation.
    The ending is fantastic, and the plot twist makes so much sense. The retirement, Pinkie's desire to keep him in the business, and Ponyacci's concrit built up to Pinkie's suggestion to build a clown school. It retains Ponyacci's legacy while treating the characters with intelligence.
    By association, this comic gave the Fluttershy micro comic a well-deserving kick in the plot!

    Minuses:
    The anatomy and coloring need some cleaning up hear and there.
    Some of the panels lack organization and proper visual hierarchy.
    It feels just a little bit too quick, but not so distractingly quick that it hurts it.
    Some panels lack shadowing, making the characters appear like they're floating.
    "Trollo Lollo"? No!

    ———
     
    3. Twilight Sparkle
     
    Pluses:
    About halfway through, the story really picks up and becomes rather heartwarming. One big reason why I like this comic a lot.
    Summer Mane (the real-life identity being Jade Singer) is grumpy, yet not stereotypical. She's full of dimension.
    Twilight, Summer, Celestia, and Spike are treated competently.
    Summer/Jade can be a lot like Twilight as she gets older, just without the Fredrickson-esque attitude and secrecy.
    The chemistry between them is great. If it weren't a test and instead voluntary, it would've looked not so contrived.

    Minuses:
    Very unrefined art style. Thom Zahler tries to replicate the style from the animated series, only to make the characters look ugly and anatomically incorrect too often.
    The speech bubbles rely way too much on emphasis. Less is more.
    The pop culture references and ponifications are way too in your face. It's basically Double Rainboom in professionally published form.
    The "humor" is masked by pop culture gags and jabs. If you want to laugh from intelligent humor, this isn't your comic.
    It's a story that's basically told one too many times in the canon, including "A Friend in Deed" and "The Crystal Empire" (without the adventure and peril).
    Despite a different setting, Jade's story is extremely repetitive.
    The moral is samey and retreads the main theme of this generation.

    ———
     
    4. Princess Celestia
     
    Pluses:
    Inkwell Gazette is a marvelous character with a marvelous backstory.
    The graphics are very clean and sharp.
    Celestia is shown with wisdom, confidence, and competence.
    The Gordon Ramsay ponification was hilarious. Fits his TV character tremendously.
    The High Tea ceremony is great worldbuilding, fits the Victorian/medieval setting, and tributes the well-known British tradition. (Personally, I'd rather have it called "Afternoon Tea" instead of "High Tea," but that's being nitpicky.
    Giddilee is very cute, open, and warm. A nice little break from the typical snooty characterization of Canterlot citizens.
    I really enjoy Inkwell's background, from her eye injury (well-shown, I might add) to her close relationship with Celestia.

    Minuses:
    The Honey Boo Boo reference, not for it being there, but the fact that she was mocked and passively exploited via the walleyes and derogatory "special snowflake" phrase. Very disrespectful of Derpy and HBB!
    Many of Canterlot's citizens fall victim to the "rich, snobby, and full of sheep" stereotype that sucks part of the quality out of Sweet & Elite. There's more to Canterlot beyond making the adults look stuck-up and stupid.
     
    I would've liked it far more if the conflict of Inkwll's potential resignation didn't have most of Canterlot crusading against him.
     
    (Giddilee, though, is nicely done.)

    ———
     
    5. Rarity
     
    Pluses:
    Well-done gesturing and faces. They never repeat.
    Wheat Grass is a really interesting character and is a great foil for both Rarity and Flax Seed.
    Nicely done coloring and compositioning.
    With such an abundance of info, it was very well-paced.
    When the humor was well-done, it was well-done.
    The '60s references are abundant, but they aren't intrusive and likely won't age so quickly…I hope.
    Derpy as a mailmare is now canon! ^__^
    Of the Mane Six micro comics, this one is the most unique and doesn't follow a very strict, typical template of conflicts that the other M6 editions relegate them to.

    Minuses:
    Flax Seed's "high" personality got funny at first, but then it got repetitive, turning him into a flat butt of jokes.
     
    Reminds me of a little kid dragon in the TV series… *glares at the factually bad Spike at Your Service, Just for Sidekicks, and Owl's Well that Ends Well; glares harder at the tiring Spikabuse in the TV series*
    The art style has two tones: really bright and really dark, sometimes black shadows. This sharp contrast makes the colors pop out too much and sometimes clash.
    The ending (with Spike being a gigantic asshole to Hayseed) made me headdesk. He may not be so mature, but he's much more mature than that.
    Filthy Rich was made out to be a minor antagonist by agreeing to take away the hippies' salon. He's a better businesspony than that and is shown to be compassionate, proud, and fair. Filthy Rich respectful, so show him that respect.
    Dash and Pinkie peaking into the stallions' dressing room. It's not funny for males to do it to females, and it's just as unfunny for females to do the same. Not to mention it's out of character of them both to do it.

    ———
     
    6. Spike
     
    Pluses:
    Nicely done coloring.
    Spike's naivety is aimed at again. This time, when he screws up, he's aware of it and tries whatever he can to rectify it…something Spike at Your Service conveniently ignored.
    Great reference of continuity with Pee Wee being returned to his parents. Still wished he was explored more.
    Despite his naivety, he showed to be actually intelligent and dedicated. He wanted to do his best and has limits to his patience.
    As usual, Angel Bunny was hilarious devilish.
    The Sea Beasts were cute and funny. In a way, they reminded me of the aliens from the Toy Story trilogy.

    Minuses:
    The moral was told near the end. Like Bridal Gossip and Mare-Do-Well, he didn't see the problems and learn from him on his own. By doing this, it showed that the script of the comic was cut back and there was more to cover.
    Some of the anatomy (particularly Twilight) looked awkward.
    Instead of playing to his strengths, this comic focused on his weaknesses, again. I would love to see one official Spike-centered piece of material concentrating on his qualities rather than exploiting his flaws (and fanderizing them for comedy).
    The Rule of Thirds/Three Strikes was very evident in this story and made the outcome pretty predictable.

    ———
     
    7. Applejack
     
    Pluses:
    Hilarious reference to Lesson Zero. *points at Big Mac sleeping with Smarty Pants*
    The Sass Squash squashing AJ's plans of trapping him was hilarious.
    The fact that the Apples had a good reason for harvesting the apples: It was winter, which meant no bucking and no flora-growing.
    I like how the family trapped the Sass Squash.

    Minuses:
    The "Sass Squash" is an extremely cheesy pun and will get old in a couple of years.
    It's a complete retelling of every single Apple-centric episode condensed into one. She didn't need to be taught a lesson on stubbornness again. If you don't want a comic version of Applebuck Season and The Last Roundup, skip it over.
    Big Mac continued to show low ranges of emotions in what he says. There's more to him than just his one-liners.
    The song was completely pointless and merely filled in the pages of the comic.
    When Granny Smith was missing in trapping Sass Squash, the resolution became obvious in a hurry.
     
    (The ending panel with the Sass Squash taking the pie and leaving behind a squash was heartwarming, though.)

    ———
     
    8. Rainbow Dash
     
    Pluses:
    The coloring and bubble-free compositions were okay.
    Unlike the Twilight comic, this one is much cleaner.

    Minuses:
    Although it's cleaner than Zahler's comic, the art is still very unrefined.
    The plot sticks Rainbow Dash into such an obvious setting and has Dash pull a Sonic Rainboom, a key point in three episodes in the past.
    The plotline is clunky and poorly paced.
    The plot device (the moody cloud and cloud gremlins) is extremely contrived and one-dimensional.
     
    Speaking of which, the ponification of CNN is corny and makes no sense given the primitive nature of Equestria's technology.
    Every single brony and pop culture reference is extremely in-your face and sometimes repeated. This is what brony pandering is, and it makes the comic look extremely stupid by nature.
    Every character was flanderized or out of character. (Rainbow Dash's character in EQG was shallow; THIS comic was worse in that department.)
    Continuity is completely broken.
    The moral is hammered in way too bluntly.
    Collectively, this has easily the dumbest writing in the Micro Series, but I wouldn't say the dumbest writing at all. The dialogue is corny and out of character. All of the pop culture references are more blunt than Twilight's. But the plot comes across as extremely shallow, much more so than Twilight's because it never had the Jade/Twilight friendship.

    This comic is factually terrible. You can rank this as possibly the worst of the Micro Series and one of the worst episode of the series (if it was animated). But I don't hate it as much as the next two, starting with the surprise.
     
    ———
     
    9. Luna
     
    Yes, I loathe this comic.
     
    Pluses:
    Great facial expressions and compositions.
    Nicely done and sweet backstory of Luna's pet, Tiberius.
     
    (The Star Trek reference is cleverly woven in.)
    Celestia's bed mane and "I hate Mondays" mug are priceless. XD
    The relationship and dialogue between them is very organic.
    Luna acted competent towards the end.
    Kibutz is in character of his name and hilarious. He and Luna really played off each other well.
    Most of the pop culture references aren't that intrusive.
    Tiberius is cute and funny.

    Minuses:
    Luna behaved way too juvenilely and was relegated to the "annoying younger sister" role. Until the end, Luna was extremely incompetent. If you know my complaints in the past, I'm not a fan of character incompetence that much.
    Like the Rarity comic, the contrast of light and dark is way too severe.
    The story is extremely shallow and is basically reduced to character gags that got old very quickly. As it closed, it paced a tad too quickly.
    Luna is flanderized and unrecognizable beyond her character design: Her poor characterization and incompetence is relegated to random humor. I like Luna's canon character partly because she's three-dimensional, yet has grown into a strong character. The Day Shift retcons that into an immature scatterbrain.
    I was very turned off by Celestia's lackadaisical portrayal, as well as her trick on Luna to have her work on Celly's day shift. Celly knew Luna might have a very tough time, as it's foreign to her, and Celestia takes her duty as Princess of the Day very seriously. I wasn't reading Celestia, but another character instead.

    ———
     
    10. Fluttershy
     
    My most hated comic because it's so insulting.
     
    Pluses:
    Okay art and coloring.
    The continuity of Fluttershy being a knowledgeable sewer is referenced and exploited rather than be a one-time gag in Suited for Success.
    For the most part, the background art and design of the sculpture was quite good.

    Minuses:
    Broken continuity via poor word balloon placement.
    Hell, the fact that Rarity was there for no good reason. Wouldn't she be busy working on her own craft instead?
     
    And even more broken continuity, which I'll get to in a bit.)
    Celestia was written as a DEM.
    The character anatomy was off at times.
    WAY too much info-dumping, showing how short and shallow the plot is.
    It's the same structure for every single Fluttershy episode with only the talent and idiotic moral separating them from the other episodes.
    Fluttershy is a hypocrite. She dished out criticisms of Rarity's dress in SfS when she suddenly became afraid of criticisms herself.
     
    Broken continuity, anyone?
    The whole art gallery show.
     
    a. Rarity being an art judge.
     
    b. Praiser Pan itself. Not only is he a gigantic jackass, but also a straw character (or more appropriately, a straw pony) — a character only written to be proven wrong. The fact that his criticisms are hollow and then did a 180 when P. Celly DEM'd shows exactly why.
     
    c. Fluttershy learned to not only not accept Pan's pretentious criticisms, but every — single — criticism aimed at her work. Anyone who dares to critique her work is an asshole.
     
    This is a terrible moral and an extremely offensive message to deliver to any work of art. And it looks even worse when Ponyacci's concrit of Pinkie's performance was used to help Pinkie create the idea of a clown school! Honestly, it only made the writer look like she has a major ego herself and make me skip whatever FIM issue she publishes next.

    If this were an actual episode, it would rank as one of the worst in the series because it's not just broken, but godfucking offensive. How the hell this stupid comic with a backwards moral get the green light is beyond me.
     
  14. Dark Qiviut
    'Cause somepony needs to see one of my happy kids.
     
    Mane Fandom Pen Name: Dark Qiviut. Other names: Attitude Adjustment, RTS CNG Command, Midnight Cirrus, Michael Coal
     
    I'm 26 years old, will turn 27 in a couple of months.
     
    I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in graphic design with a 3.990 GPA, but still looking for a job.
     
    My most passionate part in graphic design is logo designing/corporate identity.
     
    Beyond FIM, I'm a big fan of Sonic, Digimon (English Dub), Monster Rancher, Cardcaptor Sakura, Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?, Thomas & Friends/The Railway Series.
     
    Digimon is my most nostalgic series and was the one responsible for my eight-year love for anime. Digimon Frontier is my favorite season; Adventure 02 is my least favorite.
     
    I'm a proud 'shipper.
    My OTPs in various fandoms:
    Digimon: Daiora (Davia/Sora) and Daimi (Davis/Mimi), Cathari (Catherine/Kari), Mimari (Miki/Kari), Namato (Nami Asaji/Takato), and Yuyako (Yuri/Yolei).
    Sonic: Amlise (Amy/Elise), Christopher/Tails, Sontails (Sonic/Tails).
    FIM: Twidance, Sparity, CocoRarity, Twixie.
    CCS: Saho (Sakura/Kaho), Keroyo (Kero/Tomoyo), Tomura (Tomoyo/Sakura).

    My most favorite game show is Classic Concentration. I still remember watching it when new episodes aired.
     
    My most favorite book is Yonnondio: From the Thirties, by Tillie Olsen. Grammar errors notwithstanding, it's fantastic, and I suggest picking up a copy if you can. It's one of few pieces she ever published.
     
    My second-most favorite book is We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin. If you read Orwell's 1984, this is the book that inspired him to write it. Read it.
     
    The Hunchback of Notre Dame's my favorite animated movie. Wall-E's the closest to a perfect movie that I've seen.
     
    I'm a HUGE Joy of Painting fan!
     
    I write fanfiction part-time (both family-friendly and R34 — het, slash/femslash, gen) and have owned a Fanfiction.net account for over nine years.
     
    I have way too many fanfic plots archived in my six-year-old stash.
     
    I don't use social media beyond YouTube. Google+ I have because I was curious, but I never use it. Don't care about getting Twitter (hate it!), Facebook (double-hate it!), PinInterest, Instagram, or Tumblr (its clumsy design is far too off-putting). I rarely log on my LiveJournal account anymore.
     
    Baseball's my favorite sport, followed by ice hockey, and tennis. I've grown rather fond of curling, too.
     
    The Boston Red Sox is my favorite team.
     
    I almost never drink soda anymore because it's usually sugar-filled crap. I always have water and seltzer beside me.
     
    I don't drink, and I don't smoke.
     
    I work out five to six days per week, each for about an hour. My best workout was a two-hour cardio session (twenty minutes on the bike, one hundred on the elliptical).
     
    I'm Jewish, but I'm very loose with it. In other words, I'm anti-kosher, proud to eat pork, and don't celebrate many Jewish holidays (except Passover and Hanukkah).
     
    I love Passover, but hate reading a three-hour version of the Haggadah. Thankfully, I have a thirty-minute Haggadah, and we (family and friends) make plenty of jokes in response to some of the lines.
     
    I don't wear any shirt beyond a polo T-shirt. I don't wear any jeans; just sweatpants and sweat shorts.
     
    When I wear my pants, I prefer them a little high cut (about one to two inches above the ankle) to show sock whenever I'm walking. I don't like to wear pants to my sole.
     
    I'm a proud brony and will be till the day I die. /)
     
    I have two happy cats at home and see them as not my pets, but my children. Daddy's Little Girl, Adine, is one of them.
     
    Here's the other (Asher, a.k.a., my little scooper):

  15. Dark Qiviut
    http://vocaroo.com/i/s0QrOJqER5m7
     
    Say hello to MY voice!
     
    (I recommend lowing your speaker/earphone volume, I'm afraid. My voice can be a bit too "boom-y." ^^
     
    ———
     
    http://vocaroo.com/i/s1h12L0sYA7b Anyone want to hear my voice again, but with a slight, fake British accent? (Acting as if I was narrating Trouble for Thomas/Thomas and the Trucks.)
     
    ———
     
     
    Source: Show us your voice!
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