[MLP/REVIEW/S4E25&26] Twilight's Kingdom

sorry in advance for the lack of images, what are you gonna do when writing this

fourteen minutes after the episode airing...

Hello everypony and welcome to my review of the latest episode of Dragon Ball Z! ... Wait... WHAT? Twilight basically just went total super saiyan on Tirek there in part 2! This is literally the most violent episode in the history of Frienship is Magic! Before we get to that though... lets start at the beginning. Get ready because this is the big one!

So first we have some personal issues with Twi being unsure of her role as a princess. (that was only overdue for the last 24 episodes + movie that I know some of you would rather forget) I like that we FINALLY address this issue... I mean, up until now we've never even hinted at this, let alone deal with it. (unfortunately the livestream i was watching decided that the princess's song was the perfect time to air a commercial... thanks... thanks a lot...) After we get was seemed like a great song... (i only heard 1/4 of it...) we then meet our villain for this episode: Tirek! If you don't know, Tirek was originally from the very first episode of the original 80's My Little Pony. (brief overview here) So he escaped during It's About Time way back from the tail end of season 2? It took him two seasons then to regain his power... I guess that's reasonable, I mean, he's been in prison since gen 1, that's before even Celestia and Luna were in power which means he's been imprisoned for more than a thousand years at the very least.

Honestly, not much happens in the first part. It seems to be the weakness of every two-parter we've ever gotten: almost everything important happens in the second part, and the first is basically unmemorable. I do like that Discord FINALLY got something important to do! (showing up to ruin Twi and Cadence's day off in Three's a Crowd doesn't count!) I like that he ends up saying what everyone knew from Keep Calm and Flutter On: that he's not exactly very close with anypony except Fluttershy... Probably part of the reason why even a character as useless as Spike gets a chair in Twi's new castle before Discord... On that note, interestingly enough, my first thought when I saw the castle pop up where the tree-house used to be was that property values in ponyville are gonna be going up.

Discord betrays his friends for his freedom and then we get the most brilliant idea ever! The best way to stop tirek is to give up all your power! ... WHAT? Oh wait, they don't mean give it up, they mean hide it within Twilight. Well... seems kinda risky, but certainly better then just tossing your magic into oblivion. It was fun to see Twilight have to lower the moon and raise the sun! A nice little peek into the duties of the princess sisters' daily lives.

The conversations between Discord and Tirek are certainly interesting, villain to villain chats like this are things we usually don't get in mlp so it felt really nice and refreshing. And sure, we all saw Tirek's betrayal of Discord and the pendant being the final key coming form a mile away, but it still wasn't all that bad. And then... and then... Twi goes super saiyan! This is literally the most intense scene ever from fim (maybe even from all of mlp, but I never watched the previous gens, so I won't pretend to have knowledge I don't). If any of your friends still think MLP is for babies... just show them this and watch in wonder as their jaw drops!

It was also kind of obvious that Twi would give up the princess' power and come back even stronger with... with whatever was in the box... I mean, besides an entire castle. (yay, everypony's going super saiyan!) Who else is just waiting for new toys to appear of the ponies in their super forms? If there's a chance to make money, Hasbro will go for it. I'm calling it: Super Saiyan Mane 6 on sale soon! And thus, our new Deus ex Machina of the series! (I so totally called it well okay, so maybe I was wrong about almost everything, but I really don't care.) So... now what? I'm guessing this means that the elements are basically within the mane 6 now and they don't need any magical gems to go rainbow power anymore... Not that I'm complaining. The opposite really. I'd much rather have the power present within the mane 6 rather than just sapping off some unexplained artifacts. It really feels like it has much more meaning when it's under their own power then just using the elements again. And what power it is, Tirek basically sapped the energy from thousands of ponies including four princess's power and Discord's, so basically this guy is over 9000 at this point. (Yes, I know, that was REALLY bad, but c'mon, I had to put it somewhere...) All that just to be instantly obliterated by these new super forms, you have to wonder just how much power they have. For all of this though, we literally get ZERO answers about the box's origin... S5E1&2 anyone? I sure hope so...

I didn't get the answers I was hoping for, but this was still the most epic episode ever, so I think i'll let it fly with an 8.5/10. Sure it could've been better, but I think they did a pretty good job wrapping up this season.

With that, we begin the long wait until season 5, in the mean time, expect lots of non-pony posts and also some downtime for me while I catch up on a lot of schoolwork. So, until next time, this is Luca, signing off for the season!

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E23] Inspiration Manifestation

Oh yeah... because dark magic is so totally not dangerous at all...

I liked this episode, kinda. I was pretty fun to watch all the crazy stuff that goes on, but I kinda felt it was a little too contrived... Of all things to happen, Spike just stumbles upon a dark tome with the exact ability Rarity needs at the exact time that she needs it... and the key to break the spell just happens to be the moral of the episode? Seems awfully convenient to me...

Even under the influence of the dark spell, Rarity is still Rarity... creating, imagining, and often getting a little to carried away to care about practicality. I have to wonder what the other of the mane 6 would be life under the spell's influence, and I shudder to think of the consequences if Pinkie got her hands on it... At first I thought it odd that Spike would just be so oblivious to how dangerous the book is, but then I remembered that Spike is, in the end, still just a kid, so I can let it slide.

By the way, the "who?" gag with Owlicious was kinda annoying, especially  since it's already been done multiple times before... The episode also didn't do anything particularly interesting during it's middle portion other than having Rarity spiral out of control while Spike just watches... On a positive note though, it's good that Spike didn't admit that there was a problem when Twi confronted him. Don't get me wrong, that was a really dumb thing to do, but story wise, if Twi had swooped in and made everything right as Spike's deus ex machina, that would've made for a very boring ending, so I'm glad they steered clear of that.

All in all, I can't say that this is exactly my favorite episode. There were plenty of fun moments, but nothing that really kept me invested to the episode itself. Now what I did like is how it opens up a lot more questions. MLP is a show who's world is just ambiguous enough that you can fit a lot of head-cannon into it without contradicting the main universe, but not so much so that it's essentially a blank slate. With this episode, you have to wonder what other kinds of dark magic and locked away secrets there are to uncover. Maybe that could get some answers next week, but I wouldn't know as I've avoided spoilers. This is really all self-contrived subtext though, so for this episode in itself, 7/10.

Sorry that this one is late, (like really late...) but I've been busy. Expect a thorough and ON TIME review of next week's finale!

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E24] The Equestria Games

YEAAAHHH!!!!!

OMG! This episode is about this blog! ... okay not really... But look, it's a Spike episode! Maybe we can finally get the chance for spike to be treated with some dignity! ... no? ... oh well... it was a nice thought.

Equestria Games treats us to the event that we've been building up to for nearly two seasons now ever since Games Ponies Play all the way back in season 3! Though, we don't actually get to see much action on the field... Though I admit the ice archery competition seems really cool! (pun intended) This episode overall feels like an over dramatized version of Spike at Your Service, which wasn't one of my favorites to begin with. In fact, none of the Spike episodes are my favorites. I don't care what they said in Power Ponies, Spike ALWAYS gets the short end of the stick and 95% of the time he's totally useless. No offense Spike lovers, I don't dislike Spike, I just dislike how the writers use him most of the time...

I do like all the little visual gags this episode produces, like spike clicking head back and forth like he's a cigarette lighter, and I also like the continuing story of the games in general. This show is usually so compartmentalized that most episodes don't even get so much as a mention again once it's over. The equestria games arc is different. It's builds over time (across seasons no less!) and you get to see all different parts of it throughout the various episodes, so seeing it followed through to its end was quite satisfying!

Random observation: why don't twi's friends get to sit with the princesses and not in the stands with the common folk? Haven't they literally saved the world FIVE times now?

Random observation two: I like the friendly little smile Celestia gives Twi when she cheers for her friends, it was cute.

All in all though, I couldn't really get into this episode and felt a lot of it was just too over the top... lots of good things here, but the main conflict just wasn't all that exciting... I guess I'll be a little generous then and give this episode 7/10.

(Rest assured I will review last weeks episode later today/tomorrow.  I haven't forgotten about it, I just wanted to get this out first)

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E22] Trade Ya

Welcome to Rainbow Falls! .... again... wait... what?

Here we go on a journey back to rainbow falls! This time we're not here for anything related to the equestria games (loltitledrop), however we're here for a swap meet. In this episode we're treated to three different stories that have almost nothing to do with eachother, so that's why I'll be taking each apart individually, so get ready.

#1: Applejack and Rarity

This was a fun little story, and feels like something that might've consumed the entire twenty-two minutes of the episode back in previous generations. AJ and Rarity are at eachother's throats to see who's the better friend. The only thing I didn't really like about this conflict was what brought it on... I get that their wants are supposed to be dumb, but they kinda went overboard... especially so with AJ. I mean, all your stuff just for a pie tin that cooks the pie a whole FIVE SECONDS faster? At least Rarity's want (presumably) has some innate value to it that makes it worth the trade (even if it's stupid to want it just because it's older than the exact copy of it that you have...)

That aside however, it was fun to see these two bantering back and forth similar to all the was back in Look Before You Sleep. Maybe not quite as good, but still fun. The resolution may have been a bit wonky and the inciting conflict off-putting, but many fun moments and silly chatter means that this story gets an 8/10 from me.

#2: Twilight and Pinkie Pie

This one is... the oddest of the three. Twilight just wants to get rid of her old books. She doesn't give a darn what she gets in return for them, for her, it's about giving away stuff that's useless to her but might be useful for somepony else. But then... just as she's about to trade away her collection for a broken quill to a young filly... Pinkie Pie happens... Bidding up the price of the books until everyone feels it's too valuable for them to afford. So Twilight is left with a stack of worthless books thanks to Pinkie... But wait, apparently they're not so worthless after all. Each one has many fond memories attached to it!

Okay so maybe i was really put off from this conflict because I have a mind very much geared toward practicality and I couldn't care less about the memories attached to things... I may have not gone as far as to take the broken quill, but I'd probably be okay with trading them for something of a lower value, if for no other reason than to ensure the whoever I'm trading with will think it a fair deal and be willing to trade what I want in exchange. Pinkie (i think...) was well meaning in wanting to drive up the price to Twi could get some better things in exchange, but in the end, I found it very distasteful from just how dishonest and misleading it was... It didn't feel like Pinkie really... I like to thing that getting Twi to realize all the memories attached to the books was her plan from the start, but it just doesn't feel that way...

The resolution to this conflict is also odd... Twilight legitimately just wanted to get rid of the books and didn't care one bit what she got in return. Yet, somehow she now realizes that she wants to keep them? couldn't you find something less big and heavy to remind you of the good times with your friends instead of all these books? Didn't you mention you needed to get rid of these books to make room for new books (ones that would actually be worth reading) in the library? I don't know... The resolution just didn't do it for me... 6/10 for a really awkward conflict with a dumb resolution.

Before moving on to the final story, I thought I might take a break here to talk about what I (everyone) THOUGHT the episode was going to be about when we saw the opening... We bring up the concept of Twi being insecure about being a princess again, which is great. We really need to bring that up and deal with it instead of being so inconsistent... coughcoughRarityTakesManehattanVsTwilightTimecoughcough. However, as soon as we're past the opening sequence, it's basically dropped and never mentioned again... It was a real shame too because this could've been the episode to shed some light on the subject rather than just tossing it aside again... but alas, no luck.

#3: Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy

this is probably the conflict that caught most people's attention and also likely the most eyebrow-raising. The premise is simple enough, RD knows what she wants and has something to trade for it, but of course, the pony who has what she wants doesn't want was RD's giving... So you trade one thing for another, trade that, trade that, trade again, one more trade, and presto! You have what you came for... sort of...

There's not much in the way of conflict until the very end, so most of this story wasn't very exciting... (sans Discord Lamps... How many bits you wanna bet that those things will be showing up pretty soon at a future con?) But of course, the big part of this conflict, and the climax of the episode is upon us. Apparently it's legal to sell (trade) your friend into indentured servitude in equestria! And what's more is Rainbow actually agrees to it! Say wha-! I'm sure that's more than enough to get a bunch of Fluttershy fanboys to be out for Rainbow's head... In all seriousness though, despite a lapse in judgment from her prize being right before her, Rainbow still values her friend more than anything else, no matter how special. And on the bright side, Twi's the first ever princess to weigh in on the fairness of a trade! That must've been fun. Due to the highly immemorable beginning and middle and the butthurt inducing end, I'm gonna have to give this only a 6/10 in the end.

Overall:

This just feels like a random slice of life episode that really doesn't accomplish anything... and while those types of episodes aren't innately bad, none of the three individual conflicts were really all that interesting to begin with, and when mashed together, I don't know, but overall this episode just didn't do it for me. One thing I did like was the interesting transitions from scene to scene. Rather than just cutting away, there are actually nice looking and believable angles and pans that just really bring you back and forth through everything in a really smooth manner, so props to the storyboarders/animators. However, story wise, this episode was basically a mess... I'm giving it an average 7/10... not the worst, but not an episode I'll be watching again anytime soon...

[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.