Dark Qiviut

Not a good idea. Although it says "MLP Forums," this is a fan forum. We talk a lot about the show, but the MLP Forums encompasses much more than that. We have Sugarcube Corner, Cloudesdale Coliseum, the top section here, the role-play boards, convention relations, and the Poniverse forums. This forum is made with the intention of bronies to gather and discuss beyond Friendship Is Magic. "Hoof-bump" may be official, but it's not catchy. It doesn't have a smooth, organic flow in its vocality. "Brohoof"'s syllables transition far better. One ingredient that makes the MLP Forums stand out is how personalized it is. The "brohoof" has been the main handshake in the brony fandom for so long (and gives your knuckles some exercise *sweatdrop*), and "brohoof this" instead of "hoof-bump this," "like this (a default on many boards)" or "pos-rep/neg-rep (another default system)" gives the MLP Forums character and personality. Just like "brony," "brohoof" is gender-neutral, and changing it to "hoof-bump" enforces the blatantly SEXIST lie of "brony" and "brohoof" = "male FIM fans," when that's factually false.

I wrote this in another blog. Not even close. In fact, it's possibly the worst Rarity-centric episode outside of Simple Ways. At this point, her best episode is Sisterhooves Social, Rarity Takes Manehattan, or Suited for Success.

For being one of the biggest AJ fans on the forum.

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.

Yup! I C&P'd this from there to here. ^__^

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.