NoGiantRobots1983

Claustrophobic Ponies FTW. Seriously, I never thought they'd do a pony with a serious phobia, and I just loved her. In fact, everything about this episode just freaking rocked. Rainbow Dash's passion (And habit of picking up random fillies, it seems), their desire to succeed, their cheerleading routine (which apparently they fixed on the spot to work with only five ponies when they rehearsed with six), Cadence's mane (d'aaaawwwwww), the poor mistreated Games Inspector, Shining Armor being a... coach? (Hey, wait... is he still captain of the guards at Canterlot? Or did he get someone to replace him?) And yes, the tiebacks with last week's episode were all really well done. I only had one criticism, and its a really petty one. Pinkie sliding on her knees. Pony. Knees. Don't. Bend. That. Way. To be fair, this is pretty much just a pet peeve of mine... I just don't like it when the ponies perform actions that would make more sense for a human than a pony. But oh well, it only happened twice. Good episode all around.

Believe it or not, I actually didn't play Contra as a kid. I discovered it thru emulation and bought an actual cartridge sometime last year. R-Type I discovered thru the compilation on the PSOne. I'd have to rack my brains to find games that are actually nostalgic for me. One I can name right now: Secret of Mana. That game gives me such warm fuzzy feels. @ Poster immediately above me -- I know your feel. Pwn those naysayers who diss your playstyle!

I recently discovered the PS2 game Siren (aka Forbidden Siren). Think of a cross between Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid, except that instead of a radar, you have the ability to see through the monster's eyes, and instead of a long, linear narrative, you have short "missions" that involve multiple characters and which jumps around in the timeline. Despite literally just finding it, I found it to be a fun and addictive game--the kind of game where I didn't stop playing until I looked out my window and realized the sun had risen. Oddly, I find it a very empowering game as well, despite it being, well, a horror game that's meant to scare you--there's just a special sense you get when you manage to find a quirk in a monster routine that allows you to take a path that would normally be deadly, or take down an enemy who by all rights should waste you. This is certainly a game I would recommend to everyone. If you see it for sale anywhere, you buy it IMMEDIATELY--doubly so if you're a horror buff of any sort.

Look-- The truth is, I don't understand what you're even driving at, at all. First you say the show feels "darker" and like its "leading up to something." Okay, given the foreshadowing in Crystal Empire, the latter is undeniable, but "darker?" Discord got reformed and the most recent episode was about Spike animal-sitting. What's "dark" here? What also confuses me is this seeming assertion of yours that Lauren Faust had all three seasons completely planned out from the beginning, even though we know from her own words that this isn't true and, anyway, what kind of television writer would plan three seasons in advance? Keep in mind especially that when she first did work on FIM, she had no idea it that it would be such a phenomenon. Even shows like X-Files and Lost, which are acclaimed for their mythology arcs, are actually made up season-by-season and often have to change plans or come up with new angles because of stuff they didn't plan on. And to be honest, I'm not even sure why we're debating about whether the show was planned in advance or not anyway--its irrelevent, it proves nothing one way or the other. You seem to have read my comments about "it's a kids show, keep it in perspective" and seem to have taken that as being a knock against MLP. Frankly I've never understood why some fans have to convince themselves that the things they like are absolute works of art that have absolutely no flaw or tarnish and need to absolutely prove that its the greatest thing ever. Just because a thing is what it is doesn't mean you're not allowed to love it. Right, Pinkie Pie? *Reaches over and scruffles Pinkie's mane*

I see two possibilities. One (the depressing possibility): Once the show gets cancelled (or plays one bad episode too many) fans will start to think it was all just a flavour-of-the-month thing and get sick of it, abandoning the show and all things Pony in favour of, I dunno, more episodes of Family Guy or something. Two (the hopeful possibility): The show will end, but that will somehow make the community stronger, the community will outlast the show that spawned it, and keep it alive in fanworks. I think two is very likely. Shows this influential don't die. Think of any old cartoon, look on the internet and chances are, there's a hefty fanbase for it. I don't see why MLP would be any different.

Old fogie gamers forever! Those of us who remember Contra, R-Type, Raiden, Final Fantasy before the PS1, Burger Time, Double Dragon... who remember the meaning of "now you're playing with power"... let us cling together, and show these youngsters the power of oldschool gaming! (By doing what, exactly? I'm... still working on that)

The difference is, Celestia, Luna and Cadence aren't insane. Twilight is. Crazy people are more powerful than sane people. This are fact.

Right, but sometimes it helps to take a step back and make sure you're putting everything in perspective. Fans especially have a way of seeing more meaning/significance than there actually is. It's like seeing shapes in the clouds. It COULD be some higher power trying to communicate with you... or it could be just a bunch of white fluff that kinda-sorta resembles something. In a sense, yes. Or rather, in a meta-perspective, I think this is simply to give a cartoon a premise, some sort of thread so the writers have something to work with. Just like why Inspector Gadget battles Dr. Claw, why Chip and Dale formed the Rescue Rangers, why the Spirit of the Earth called on five random teens to stop pollution, etc. It was something we were supposed to accept. Think about it: if Twilight learning was foreshadowing something, why did "Lesson Zero" go and say that now EVERYONE is learning and reporting? Do they ALL have a special destiny now? I recall reading somewhere that, that particular development happened so they wouldn't have to shoehorn Twi into every story... which sure as shootin' doesn't sound like they planned for her to be in any way special. These are examples of the writers going above and beyond the call of duty. They are not examples of any three-year master plan. I find that hard to believe. I'm feeling some defensiveness here. All I'm saying is, "keep it in perspective." Faust wanted MLP to actually be good and intelligent, yes. But there's different types of "good and intelligent." A good orange isn't the same as a good apple. Faust wanted the show to be good, but I also think she knew her limits. I always felt she was more like a Stan Lee or Jack Kirby, rather than being like Tolkien or Hideo Kojima.

Link is out saving Zelda for the millionth time right now. You won't see him for awhile. But don't you get it? Twilicorn is part of the NEW WORLD ORDER'S conspiracy to ruin Dante's image and make us hate all things good! And then they'll fire a laser at us from space! IT MUST BE STOPPED! And the only man for the job is... YOU!

You know, it's funny. The Alicorn Twilight drama happened not long after the reboot of DmC: Devil May Cry was released (which was also a huge drama). Coincidence?

I'd watch a spinoff about the CMCs, at least until (or unless) it gets incredibly saccharine.

Early on I predicted MLP will last 161 episodes, two movies, and twelve OVAs. But then I realized MLP isn't as good as Ranma 1/2, so it'll probably only last four or five seasons and a movie. And live on in fanfiction.

Surprise. Or Megan. serious answer... if they had a breakup, it would probably be because one of them got romantically engaged. There's an old saying: "Only two things come between best friends: Stallions and money."

I just try to pretend the first gen consisted entirely of "Rescue at Midnight Castle." That episode, at least, was genuinely good. I liked Megan at first, when she was a tough, tomboyish farm girl with those big leather boots and brown vest and a minimum of "girlyness." But then as the show went on they made her more pink and blue and girly and... yeah. Sounds a lot like what some naysayers claim is happening with FIM.

What I was getting at was, its unlikely they're planning any big story arc because the whole idea of the show is that anything can happen at any time. If there's a story arc, then lines have to be drawn somewhere, and potential storylines might have to be rethought or scrapped entirely. Then again, the recent announcement probably blows all that out of the water, but who knows.

Stuffity stuff stuff... I probably won't like Alicorn Twilight, but to me it's probably not gonna be a "Jump the Shark" point. I've reserved that specifically for the day they canonize humans.

I would hope not, after how Darkwing Duck ended...

No offense but... I get the feeling you're reading too much into it. I've seen no "foreshadowing" and "subplotting." None of these episodes could be taken as anything more than what the show has always been--a series of cute one-off adventures. Okay, Discord becoming good MAY have meant to lead up to something, but I think it's more likely someone just thought that would be cool. I mean, think about how TV writing works. They can't think too far ahead. Too much plotting can be a straightjacket, and the show is meant for little girls, after all.

I see a lot of drama on the internet about this here thing. Personally, it reminds me of the time everyone thought the Wedding was going to be terrible, and then it turned out to be awesome, and not at all what we expected. I can't see being excited about this (I personally predict this will be a temporary thing, only lasting until the end of the episode). At the same time, I can't really understand the anxiety about it either. I mean, I see people whining that Hasbro is crippling the show's artistic integrity just to sell more toys. Where were these people when Hasbro was shoving the Friendship Express (which is a far bigger betrayal of the show's integrity than any Alicorn could ever hope to be) down our throats? Just sayin'.

*Blush* Already guilty of the latter, soon to be guilty of the former. (Could it be considered an aversion if the "gun" in question can't actually kill anything?) Guess humans just can't get away from guns, huh?

FWIW, I personally thought Fluttershy was serious. Discord may have assumed she was faking it ("well played, Fluttershy") but Fluttershy's behavior reads to me as "No, that's it, I'm done."

Speaking of the "ball of pets," was anyone else singing "na nah nah nah nah Katamari Damacy"?

Excuse me for initiating Pet Peeve time, but... A "wall of text" is a long body of text that is not separated by line breaks. In other words, an absurdly long paragraph, like an H.P. Lovecraft story taken to extremes. "Wall of Text" DOES NOT mean "a very long post." The term for that is "a very long post." Now, about the episode itself. Apple Bloom tickling Spike = BEST EPISODE EVER! I was honestly surprised I enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I normally feel like I'm not gonna like any episode that focuses on something other than the ponies, but there was enough Pony Cuteness, and the animals and Spike were genuinely entertaining and adorable. Also, Granny Smith accepting a bribe. I'm not sure if that's awesome or weird. I only had one real issue. Spike payed for everything with gems. I always got the idea previously that gems were valueless in Equestria because they're literally as common as dirt, but here they seem quite valuable, and to people other than Spike. Some of the dialogue (Twilight's line at the end, for example) makes it sound like Spike isn't the only creature who eats gems. So now, I'm confused. Better not get a Chaos Emerald anywhere near Spike...

Wait... someone started a topic about IB and nobody replied? Shame on you all. Go download Ib RIGHT NOW! (I can help you out if you find the title kinda ungoogleable...)

Assuming you can keep the gold armor, which was always a problem for me. It's nice to find someone who remembers the glory days of gaming on a forum where I honestly expected to be the resident geezer.