I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
hey, a season opener that wasn't centered on something meant to sell toys or some piece of worldbuilding that's supposed to be important but will fall by the wayside! been a while
Seriously though Season 5 was really good once you got past the first few episodes. The latter half of the season had some of the strongest episodes in the series IMO.
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
Did anyone else think "Equestria Games" was kinda fucked up?
Like, let's drop this massive responsibility on Spike at the very last moment and then act shocked that the child who's had no time to prepare chokes in front of a crowd of thousands. I can understand Twilight being that dense, but surely one of the other Princesses should have said "maybe this is a bad idea"?
Rereading the "Equestria Games" transcript, I just noticed something I completely forgot about. After they nominate Spike to light the giant ceremonial torch, Spike himself volunteers to do it with his dragon fire. Which implies that the original plan was for Spike to just use a normal torch. A normal torch that presumably wouldn't magically sputter out if Spike got stage fright. So in a sense, Spike was the author of his own misfortune, even though the choices leading up to that misfortune were neutral ones.
Much like the later, even more awkward scene where Spike insists on singing the city anthem... without first verifying which anthem was going to play.
At what point is Spike accountable for his own actions? He seems to resent it when the ponies treat him like a child, so I can't imagine he would take it well if the Princesses were like, "No, Spike, you can't help with the ceremony. You helped Twilight Sparkle find the Crystal Heart, but getting on stage in front of thousands of ponies is way too much responsibility for you."
"I can handle being on stage! I was the narrator for the Hearth's Warming Eve Play in Canterlot, that one time!"
"Shut up. You can't do it, and that's final."
And it suddenly occurs to me just how relevant "All of My Friends Were There" is:
Shiny is pretty flat I'll admit. They do try to round him out a bit in S5, but it's still pretty sparse. And I can never take him seriously with that surfer bro voice.
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
I watched the Season 5 opener.
Starlight Glimmer has serious mental health issues.
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
I wrote a shortfic about Starlight Glimmer and her issues. But it has spoilers for another season 5 episode, so don't read it if you haven't finished season 5.
I really loved that, in the season opener, a bunch of ponies we've never met before were the ones who saved the day.
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
As soon as they said Double Diamond's name, I knew his special talent would be skiing.
It's a difficulty rating of different ski slopes, usually by approximating the steepest grade on the run. From easiest to hardest,
Green Circle, < 25%
Blue Square, 25-40%
Black Diamond, > 40%
There are also double and triple diamond courses, which usually means stuff like significant terrain hazard or dropoffs. For what it's worth, I've run a diamond course before, and they're typically steep but "safe" in that they're (usually) still groomed and you have plenty of room to maneuver or crash safely if you screw up -- though you do have to know how to crash safely instead of just faceplanting downhill ass over teakettle. Double diamond is where you start getting into stuff that can potentially kill you if you don't know exactly what you're doing, and triple diamond usually means through forest, open cliffs, or worse (yes, there is worse than open cliffs).
There's also an Orange Rectangle, which is for manmade obstacles like halfpipes and stuff.
I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
I really don't like how "The Cutie Map" and especially "Bloom & Gloom" conflate cutie marks with special talents to the point that a pony completely loses a certain ability without one
"The Cutie Map" demonstrated that much less haphazardly than "Bloom & Gloom", though Apple Bloom was dreaming at that time so maybe her subconscious was wrong? (I haven't watched anything past that one yet)
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
I was thinking about it, and maybe we're seeing the cause and effect backwards.
Like, the way it's presented, it seemed like Starlight was removing their cuties marks and that caused them to lose their special talents.
But if your special talent is what gives you your cutie mark in the first place, perhaps Starlight was taking away their special talents and they lost their cutie marks as a result of that.
As for "Bloom & Gloom", I think we can chalk that up to Apple Bloom's dreams amplifying her insecurities, the way dreams so often do.
If Starlight is able to rip a physical and innately magical manifestation of destiny off of someone's ass, it's probably safe to say all bets are off as to the side effects.
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
You know, upon further thought, I like "Bloom & Gloom" more than I did on an initial watch.
Because it all seems kinda dumb, but, well, that's the point: it so perfectly encapsulates the way your dreams can take whatever issue you're troubling over at the moment and exaggerate it into some nightmare scenario. It feels very real and relatable in that sense.
I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
I liked "Tanks for the Memories" but feel weird about how we're supposed to buy Rainbow Dash's strong attachment to Tank despite him showing up in like half a dozen episodes before this
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
It's funny, because like, it seemed like they were building up to a moral of "sometimes you have to let your friends take care of themselves even when it's inconvenient for you", but, like
Rainbow Dash never had to face any consequences for intentionally destroying all that weather equipment
So it almost felt like they were presenting it as if her actions were reasonable
I liked "Tanks for the Memories" but feel weird about how we're supposed to buy Rainbow Dash's strong attachment to Tank despite him showing up in like half a dozen episodes before this
I almost wonder if Dash is some kind of spoiled rich girl who's never had a personal tragedy of any sort in her life. So she overreacts to losing a pet—for just a few months, at that—because she has absolutely zero prior experience with this.
It would also explain why she has such a nice cloud house.
Comments
Like, let's drop this massive responsibility on Spike at the very last moment and then act shocked that the child who's had no time to prepare chokes in front of a crowd of thousands. I can understand Twilight being that dense, but surely one of the other Princesses should have said "maybe this is a bad idea"?
That's kinda bleakly amusing, actually.
Also, I really don't like Shining Armor or Cadance
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead