TailsIsNotAlone

I don't take Lyra's human obsession as canon, but I do think of her as smart and curious and very open to new experiences. She'd be all over this.

I didn't think anypony could replace Nightmare Moon as my favorite villain, but four premieres later, lo and behold...

A fanatical, unstable dictator and beautiful to boot. Madame Nhu, eat your heart out! 

I'm way behind on the comics. I just don't have the money for all of them, but I want to read them as actual comics and not on a computer screen, so that limits me to waiting and buying the volumes.

So far though, I read Volumes 1, (Chrysalis), 2 (Nightmare Rarity), and 3 (Zen/Neigh Anything). Volume 5 (Reflections) and Friends Forever #16 are in the mail. I've stuck mostly to the Katie Cook/Andy Price duo because I love the way Andy draws the ponies, and Katie's writing has been really sharp and humorous. I emailed her a few years ago and she gave me a nice reply.

Everything's been great so far except for Nightmare Rarity, so I'm surprised to hear that Katie's phoning it in...maybe I'll hold off on ordering Volume 7.

This looks like fun! Can't wait to order my copy.

Amazon and Ebay are taking preorders now for great prices, so I don't know how long they'll last. 

Looks to me like this will be about D & S trying to get one up on the CMC. Something they have always failed to do on the show...but maybe, since this is the comic and they're the stars, this time they will finally prevail! 

I wonder who the 3rd filly with the magnifying glass is. Maybe it will be a mystery as well!

It's coming. The grumpiest, bumpiest, sugar-lump-rumpiest issue of Friends Forever like, ever. Because it totally stars the two most wonderful, amazing, wealthy, stupendous, beautiful ponies in Equestrian history.

PREVIEW:

So for those of you who love being special, and know how embarrassing it would be to be not special (I don't even want to, like, THINK about it), you should totally get this comic when it comes out on May 13.

I can't wait... 

Serious and very detached. Kind of a scowl, even though I'm not angry. This is the opposite of my mother, who has a pleasant neutral expression but is usually upset about something.

I think that he is a dragon, but the question is what kind of dragon is he?  Certainly no kind of dragon that we have seen so far in Equestria.  I'll be honest, I am really confused at how his aging works.  Basically what confuses me, is the fact that in "Secret of my Excess", he grows and ages based on how greedy he gets.  My main question is how in Equestria does his aging cycle work?

You're absolutely right. How Spike ages into a full-grown dragon, and what he will look like when he does...it's all a mystery. My theory is that the writers of the show never really sat down and decided what a dragon is, how their bodies work, what their culture is all about. So what we have is a bunch of episodes with dragons that look and act totally different, and different ideas that come out of nowhere like the "Dragon Code" in Spike at Your Service. 

I am single--comfortably so. I do not think I will ever marry or have children. Taking care of myself and maintaining my sanity is, at this point, a full-time job. 

Why are you one? Are you comfortable knowing that once you die, it's over?

I know you weren't talking to me, but yes. If this is all there is, I am comfortable with that. 

There's no evidence in nature that an afterlife exists or is even necessary. Plants don't care about it, animals don't seem worried about it, dead people have never showed up at my house and offered me their thoughts on the subject. Only living people seem to care about this "life after death" and "sanctity of life" stuff. It's an expression of our survival instinct and fear of death. Comforting, yes, but hardly convincing.

At the same time though, I am not an atheist myself; I'm agnostic. I doubt the existence of an afterlife, but I don't rule it out. Nor do I rule out the possibility that a higher power exists. There may very well be some sort of god out there. But if that god is omnipotent and loves and understands all people, why should I have to pray to him? Why should I attend or donate money to his houses of worship? If he's all-knowing, he will respect and understand my reasons for not doing so. And if he doesn't understand and blindly condemns me to hell for not doing this or that, then he was unworthy of worship from the start.

Damn. Just when I almost cared about modern boxing again, Mayweather wins a snoozer. False alarm...  -_-

How do you handle a rouge unicorn?

Lots and LOTS of cold cream. 

As far as role models go, Apple Jack would probably be the best.  She has all the tedious virtues.  Twilight does an OK but not perfect job raising Spike.  Fluttershy would be excellent -if she could bring herself to punish her kids (The way Angel Bunny treats her is a sign she may not be up to it)

 

As role models, the others aren't too bad, but need some seasoning before they are ready for the big leagues.

"Tedious virtues"? I have to disagree there.The only thing tedious about Applejack is how much the fandom takes her for granted. Applejack works hard and takes care of her family without making a big deal about it. Those values make you a good person, and there's nothing tedious about that. I happen to think A.J. is the best role model on the show.

I love Pinkie Pie as a character, but I don't find her to be the strongest role model overall; her diet and her impulsive nature count against her. And if I did take her as a role model, I would be exhausted just trying to keep up with the example she sets. Constant baking, songs, and parties really aren't my style. 

Twice, on a round trip that was 2000 miles each way. I don't remember which airline I flew on, much less what kind of plane it was. I just remember how nervous I was. 

Finding my way through the airport turned out to be way scarier than the flight itself. I had no one else with me and I was afraid of getting lost and missing the plane. Everything turned out all right, but I haven't flown since then, and now that they have those body scanners I have no plans to do so. (Too great an invasion of privacy for my liking.)

So about the CMC...my answer is yes, I do want them to get their cutie marks. How much more can the show do with stories about their lack of cutie marks? (And how much more do I personally want to see?  )  Please, please let them get their cutie marks at the end of Season 5. It's perfect.

That's a real shame. She's my favorite writer and it sucks to see her go. 

I wish her the best of luck in Disney, though. They need more good, creative writers in there.

It's not real surprising. I think the series ran its course a long time ago, back around Silent Hill 4, but it's still sad news. Hail to one of the most creepy, interesting, and mindscrewy game series in history; we shall never forget thee.

I think I'll go home and replay one of those games.

I don't know, really...that episode had a good idea of Spike going on a journey and meeting other dragons, figuring out his place in the world and everything. But the execution was botched. All the dragons he met were teenagers--and jerks for that matter. No female dragons, no older dragons, no other baby dragons. They made no effort at world-building for this species; they just turned it into a peer-pressure morality tale like you would see on any kids' show. For an MLP episode, it could have been a lot better.

Honestly, the thought of the show being written to only cater to bronies is just downright frightening to me. It's bad enough that we'll be receiving one episode which is pretty much confirmed to exist only for fanservice, but the whole damn show? 

I agree. Keep it for little girls. That's what Lauren Faust's vision was and that's part of what made us all fans of the show in the first place. 

I keep seeing the argument being made that Pinkie was way out of line in Filli Vanilli, but I really don't think she was. And here's why. Looking at “Tanks for the memories” (and) “Sonic Rainboom” where Fluttershy adressed RD's fears in such a way that she's throwing them in her face and only making Rainbow worse- some would argue that Fluttershy is doing it deliberately- to allow RD to conquer her fears. But isn't doing something deliberately, not knowing whether it'll backfire or not, actually worse than if someone does something accidentally? In the case of Filli Vanilli, where people say Pinkie was in the wrong, when she does the exact same thing Fluttershy did herself, twice now, to Rainbow Dash, Pinkie goes on her tangent, throwing Fluttershy's fears in her face on accident- and unlike Fluttershy who can do what she does deleberately, and not get called our or punished for it, Pinkie does it on accident and gets the blame. This is Pinkie Pie- the pony who goes well out of her way to make ponies smile and be happy. Can we really say that SHE'S throwing Fluttershy's fears at her, on purpose? Canned Cream, in the video adresses this, in saying “when you have a character as openly bombastic as Pinky friends with another as reserved as Fluttershy (both of which who, once they start getting inside of their own heads, can be hard to pull them back out again), eventually those two personalities are going to clash, and Pinkie's more dominate one is going to trample over the other, And while Pinkie's words may have had a bad outcome, there wasn't anything vicious about her intent. Pinkie simply lost herself inside a single thought (which we've seen happen before many times, mind you.) What started off as her honestly being excited for her friend (Fluttershy) went off on a tangent, where she forgot what she was saying and WHO she was saying it to.” When Flutters starts crying, Pinkie looks genuinely confused, unaware that what she was thinking and how she was saying it didn't come off as intended. This is the complete opposite of Fluttershy's actions and intentions in both of the aforementioned episodes.

 

Tl:DR- Fluttershy did what she did on purpose and takes no heat for it. Pinkie does it on accident and gets blamed.

Not necessarily. Fluttershy did what she did to make Rainbow be honest with herself and accept an inevitable situation. If Fluttershy's actions towards Rainbow were actually malicious or had real negative consequences, then I would have a problem with her (as I did in Putting Your Hoof Down). But with Sonic Rainboom and Tanks for the Memories, it worked out. Dash's problems often stem from her struggle to hide a perceived weakness--nerves about the flying competition, how much she loves Tank and would miss him during hibernation, her enjoyment of reading, and the list goes on. Fluttershy sometimes forces her to face the truth, and things ultimately turn out for the better. Friendship is more than just being nice all the time.

The Pinkie-Fluttershy situation isn't comparable, for reasons that to me are pretty obvious. Pinkie and Shy did not know each other before Season 1 and have never been close, Pinkie's bizarre rants about stage fright were not merely exceptional but extreme and a disservice to her character, she had no good intentions or specific goal in mind, her words were far too specific and direct to be in any way accidental, and she never helped Fluttershy by saying them.

Fluttershy did the right thing for the right reason in examples of good writing; Pinkie did the wrong thing for no reason in an example of poor writing.

Also...there's already a fanfic based on Tanks For the Memories--about Applejack. It's 'Crying on the Inside' by Arwhale, and if you're an AJ fan, you want to read this.   (Episode spoilers, of course.)

Nope. There's only one woman I've ever called 'Mom'. 

Since the topic is bound to come up again after today's episode... (spoilers)

...Whereas in Filli Vanilli, Pinkie was way out of line, repeatedly tormenting Fluttershy with her deepest fears. It was not the right way to talk to her, nor was Pinkie the right pony to get the message across. More to the point, it was also completely unnecessary. That's why I consider the first scene acceptable and the second one going too far. Not because "cute characters can do no wrong." (For the record, I think Pinkie is cuter than Fluttershy.)

Just saw the episode. A lot of rave reviews for this one, huh?  That's Rainbow for you. 

I might have to have to let it grow on me, though. There's a lot to take in here. I liked the callback to the Running of the Leaves. Some of the jokes fell flat for me on first viewing (especially the 'Clear Skies' part), but the emotional scenes, wow. I knew Dash loved Tank, but not this much. She was in serious denial and seeing her (and everyone but AJ) cry at the end was a real shock. I think it would have moved me a little more if they didn't play it for laughs quite as much, though. And finally Rainbow got a real, canon song! That was cool, even if her singing voice doesn't sound exactly like her.

The biggest surprise was Fluttershy being the one to make Rainbow face the truth. She never once seemed timid or doormat-like in this episode. Applejack admitting she cries on the inside was also huge. It suggests there's a lot more to her than meets the eye.

Huh? Huh? 

Just kidding. I'd better watch the episode first.