[Gaming/Minecraft] a few ideas for new enchantments in 1.8/1.9

Don't like fan ideas? Don't read ahead. This is a post about my ideas of some enchantments that could be added to Minecraft. I feel these enchantments could increase the fun of the enchanting system and add more variety to PvP servers. My enchanting ideas focus mainly on combat, but there are a few items that are non-combat oriented. I also introduce the idea of negative enchantments that, while they weaken your item, also increase the amount and quality of good enchantments.

KEY:
Enchantment Name
Obtainable on
max level with anvil (max level with enchantment table)
rarity (common(sharpness, efficiency, protection), rare(thorns, unbreaking), highly rare(infinity, silk touch))
Effect
Mutual Exclusivities (enchantments that can not legitimately combine with this one. i.e. sharpnesss/smite/bane)

Pierce
Sword / Bow
4(3)
rare
Each level adds 15% chance to ignore half the target's armour. A successful use will consume 2 durability.
(will only be successful against an armoured target) has blue particle effect.
- Absorption

Absorption
Sword / Bow
4(3)
rare
Each level adds 15% chance to heal user by 1 heart (2hp). A successful use will consume 2 durability.
(will not be successful when user is at full health) has yellow particle effect.
- Pierce

Steady
Chestplate
2
common
reduces knockback by 30% per enchantment level
- Thorns
- Aura

Aura
Chestplate
5(4)
rare
reduces incoming damage by 0.5(1/4 heart) per level. applies before armour and protection but after resistance.
each use has (15*enchantment level)% chance to reduce damage of item by 1. if damage is reduced to 0, the attack and all
its effects (enchamtnets, knockback, damaging of armor) are cancelled. has purple particle effect.
- Thorns
- Steady
- Shadow Guard

Shadow Guard
Chestplate
2
highly rare
nullifies all attacks with damage of the enchantment level or less. (before armour and protection, after resistance)
has black particle effect
- Aura

Warrior
Sword
3(2)
highly rare
increases melee damage against players by 1.75*enchantment level
- Honour

Honour
Sword
1
highly rare
increase melee damage by (100 - health*5)%
- Warrior

Lethal
Sword
5(4)
highly rare
each level adds 1.5% chance to instantly kill the target. successful use will consume 15% of the tool's maximum durability.
(durability loss is unaffected by Unbreaking) Unique death message: "<victim> was assassinated by <killer>"
does not work on withers/enderdragons. has red particle effect.

dual
Sword
5(4)
highly rare
each level adds 5% chance to execute 2 simultaneous attacks on the target. all enchantment effects will apply twice and
are calculated separately for each hit. tool damage is also calculated separately per hit, but is tripled on both uses averaging
6x durability consumed. has green particle effect.

Flame Touch
Pickaxe/Axe/Shovel
1
highly rare
most mined items will drop what they are when smelted instead of their normal drops (i.e. logs drop charcoal, iron/gold ore
drops ingots, sand drops glass, cobble drops stone etc.)
- Silk Touch
- Fortune

Reflect
Sword
5(4)
highly rare
each level adds 7% chance that, when blocking, an enemy's attack will be reflected back at them.
delivers "was killed trying to hurt" death message. has white particle effect.

Charge
Bow
5(4)
rare
increases arrow damage by 3% * number of seconds a bow is kept at max charge before firing. caps at 5% times enchantment level.
damage increase applies after Power.

Sacred
Any
3(2)
highly rare
increases base activation rates of percentage chance enchantments by 2% per enchantment level. (0.5% for Lethal)
affects: Reflect, Dual, Mirror, Absorption, Pierce, Fortune
i.e. Sacred 3 + Lethal 5 gives Lethal a 15% activation rate. (normal: 7.5%)
Sacred 3 + Absorption 4 gives Absorption a 84% activation rate (normal: 60%)
Sacred 3 + Reflect 5 gives Reflect a 65% activation rate (normal: 35%)

>> Negative enchantments:
a negative enchantment weakens the item it is enchanted on, but will be accompanied by more/better/higher level enchantments
when obtained legit on an enchanting table. negative enchantments will also reduce combine/repair costs. max of 1 negative
enchantment when using enchantment table. combine like normal on an anvil.

Dullness
Sword
3
common
reduces melee damage by 0.75 per level
- Sharpness

Softness
Bow
3
common
reduces arrow damage by 20% of original damage per level
- Power

Brittle
Any
3
common
each level adds 20% chance that a use will consume double durability
- Unbreaking

Inefficiency
Pickaxe/Axe/Shovel
3
common
each level reduces mining speed by 10% of tool's original speed
- Efficiency

Break Touch
Pickaxe/Axe/Shovel
1
rare
mined items will not create drops. (containers will still drop their contents)
- Silk Touch
- Flame Touch

[MLP] The Comic Book Series

The comic book series is unique. It tells the stories that don't get told in the show. I don't know many people who actually read them, though I do believe they are a worthy read for all fans of the show. I'm going to dive into each of the various series and explain each, I won't go in depth and will try to avoid major spoilers, but regardless, read ahead at your own risk.

Our first 4-book story arc follows the changelings after they got blasted out of Canterlot Team Rocket style. Luckily for them, they land in a world of cute little creatures overflowing with love. After absorbing their love, they return to ponyville and basically zombify everypony except the mane 6 and fillyknap the CMC.

After learning of such, the mane 6 go after them and eventually confront Chrysalis directly. This arc is pretty straightforward and really feels like something out of a fan-fiction. Not that this is bad, but I will say that it's far from my favorite arc.

The second arc follows a slightly more interesting story and attempts to answer some mysteries surrounding Nightmare Moon. Our mane 6 have been plagued with nightmares and soon learn that it's no coincidence. With the help of princess Luna they travel to the moon to rescue their kidnapped friend Rarity who has become the new queen of the nightmare creatures, Nightmare Rarity. With some help from spike they are able to rescue her and solve the mysteries surrounding Nightmare Moon. I like this arc better then the previous one, especially since the Noghtmare Moon events and the story behind them are quite interesting to me, but it's still not my favorite.

The next arc is the first of a few 2-book arcs. This one follows a much more down-to-earth, slice-of-life type story that  the tv series is so used to. It follows Big Mac is his quest to get some nails to fix the gazebo. A simple task, were it not for the fact that ponyville is in the middle of a big celebration. Mac has to overcome Lovestruck fliers, Pyrotechnic fillies, Overenthusiastic princesses and more. Will he ever be able to get his nails? This is a fun read and while shorter than the previous two arcs, it plays to the strengths of the series and is almost my favorite arc. It would be beaten out for that position only by the next arc.

The fourth arc is another 2-book arc and is also my personal favorite. It tells the story of how Cadence and Shining armor first met. The first book tells the classic guy-side romance story. Shining Armor is about as unpopular is possible and a textbook example nerd, right down to D&D. Cadence is the most popular girl in school and, of course, a princess. It's love at first sight for Shining Armor, but he has no chance with her. To help him out, his friends concoct a crazy scheme to help him with the heart of the princess. Things, however, take a turn for the worse with Shining Armor left heartbroken.

Book 2 takes the classic story from book 1 and turns it on its head. Cadence was also in love with Shining Armor the entire time. Cadence proceeds to tell the story from her side (after correcting a few exaggerations from Shining Armor's story) and then tells how it all ends with the two of them living happily ever after.

Like the previous arc, this one plays to the slice-of-life style and really makes the most out of it, providing an engaging adventure without going over the top, the result is a very relatable story.

Our final arc (so far) is another adventure arc. This time, it's pirates. Our mane 6 become the crew for a pirate to help him find his treasure as fluttershy gets over her personal issues of letting go of her fish friend. This is a fun little story, not quite up to par with the previous arc, but still pretty good.

Expect another post eventually discussing the remaining comics. (The micro series among others)

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E21] Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

All my wut...

...

PULL YOUR PANTS UP DUDE!

All right, this is it. It is THE episode, THE episode that every teacher everywhere needs to watch. I could go into a long rant about the flaws of public schooling and why it doesn't work, but I wont. Rather, this episode states it perfectly in its moral, and manages to do so in a positive way that doesn't cast blame on anyone. But before anything else, lets talk about the episode itself.

Despite having a moral that could be predicted from even before the opening theme, this episode says what it needs to say in a way that is well done, and speaks to both the teacher and the student equally. This simple fact that so few people seem to comprehend these days, that everyone has their own method of learning that they do best in, and that no method is wrong, is brought up and handled in a very mature and vet very simple way. Even if I hadn't enjoyed the subtle commentary on the flaws of public school, I still would have enjoyed this episode, as Rainbow is a lot like me when it comes to learning. Truth be told, I don't do so great in a traditional schooling environment. Every little silly thing that Rainbow did as Twilight tried to teach her reminded me or something I had either done or thought of doing at some point during schooling. Thankfully, I have had the benefit of homeschooling, and therefore, having classes more catered to my style. I highly doubt I would be a very good student in public school.

As good as the first act of the episode is, the second part is just as great. It gives us little peeks into the learning styles of the rest of the mane cast. As much as I identified with Rainbow's dilemma, it's AJ's style that seems the most like mine. I learn well with a hands on approach, taking everything in slowly over time, and learning things because I want to, not because I have to. (case in point: I know too much about minecraft...) Probably the best single line in this episode is when Rainbow says she only has twelve hours, and AJ basically tells Rainbow that she's screwed. I did like pinkie's rap sequence, but I highly question the animators' choice to have the dude with his pants down... If you don't know, it's not just a distasteful fashion trend. It was originally used in prisons to communicate to other prisoners that you want homosexual intercourse, and later, very unfortunately so, was mimicked out on the streets. Also, side note here, Rarity looks awesome in her antiquated Wonderbolts uniform.

The interactions between Twilight and Rainbow throughout the episode are some of the best the show has seen, on the level of those from Look Before you Sleep. I also had no complaints about this episode besides the pony with his pants down, but I can ignore that for the most part since it's only in the background for a very quick moment and had nothing to do with anything else in the episode. Furthermore, this episode managed to keep me smiling and giggling throughout the entire twenty two minutes, and that plus an excellent handling of a moral that most everyone today needs to hear, means that this episode gets a solid "10/10, would watch again" from me, and takes its place alongside Rarity Takes Manehattan, Lesson Zero, and a few others as one of my personal favorites.