Bioluminescence? :smalltongue:
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New episode spoiler:SpoilerOkay, that scene had me giggling. That's the Fun Twilight I like; the know it all who's enthusiastic, and has no ability to focus when it comes to a new discovery. I also like the Snark Twilight. I'm not a fan of the freak out Twilight. I predict we'll see some Freak Out Twilight this time, but that scene itself was amusing, just because I wasn't expecting that flavor of Future Twilight.
One thing I noticed: did Twilight's voice sound subtly different? Like, due to not doing the voice for a while, when she came back to do it, it sounded a little... off? Off is the wrong word, because that implies it was bad voice acting. Just a little different.
Also, theory on what Twilight has to prevent:
1) Serious theory: grandfather paradox where the time travel creates the problem she's trying to avoid. The eyepatch thing is either due to getting a case of Lazy Eye or just getting it poked by a unicorn horn.
2) Alternate serious theory: "Whatever you do, don't do that OTHER spell in the archives!" This would be more creative; she'd go to the archives looking for the time travel spell she told herself about, see another disastrous spell and try that, with the time travel spell being the actual solution to the problem. So, like the first, only in a more creative, roundabout way.
30 "Whatever you do, DON'T LET YOUR BROTHER GET MARRIED."
"But future me, that wedding isn't for months and months."
"Yes, but I realized Monday night that she's all wrong for him! Princess Celestia says SHE DOESN'T LIKE BOOKS!"
In which the video preview of this Saturday's episode is discussed:
SpoilerFuture Twilight looks badass. Also, Star Swirl mentioned again, good, I like continuity. That (present) Twilight will end up causing trouble trying to prevent whatever is going to happen is practically guaranteed.
I'd say that all unicorns can use some magic beyond TK, though its generally specialized enough that they just use TK outside of work. They can learn a small number of spells naturally (like Rarity's Gem-Finder), and they can study other spells depending on their cutie marks.
For example, a unicorn miner might naturally know a spell that reinforces tunnels automatically. Gem-finding is related pretty strongly to mining, so if Rarity managed to get over her aversion to all things dirty, she could probably teach him the Gem-Finder spell relatively quickly. Conversely, turning mice into terrifying abominations has nothing at all to do with mining, so it would take a prohibitively long time Twilight to teach him that spell she used in "Best Night Ever." Twilight and Trixie, of course, can learn any spell at the "perfectly matches the cutie mark" level.
As for the magic books: I'd imagine there are a number of spellbooks out there teaching a variety of spells in a related field for practical reference by unicorns whose talents lie in that field. Twilight, however, is probably studying historical examples of spells in the past or worked examples of magical theories. I'd guess most spellbooks are collaborative works or compilations of writings by a number of unicorns ("Boast Busters" implies that unicorns with a "magic in general" talent are pretty rare). Most spells probably arose naturally as young unicorns spontaneously manifested them; that being said, I do like to think that unicorns who study magical theory can develop spells of their own (if only because the thought of a young filly waking up to find "unicorn destiny magic" forcing her to cast the Want-It-Need-It spell is too horrifying to contemplate).
Season finale speculation:
SpoilerSo, Shining Armor is CaptainAmericaEquestria? :smalltongue:
I can't watch this week's episode sneak-preview clip yet, so no comments from me on that. :smallfrown:
Next ep clip:
SpoilerI like 'Escape from Manehatten" style Twilight, also adorkable Twilight. Maybe Twi can make up all the points she's been losing to Rarity and move back into second.
Also, tangent on paradoxes:
SpoilerI don't think the universe particularly hates a paradox. Stuff happens, you go to the future where you may not exist. If you do, congrats you just semi-cloned yourself.
I mean to do this you've already smashed the law of conservation to tiny tiny pieces, so why would the universe care
Tangent so that we can talk about something without spoiler boxes!
GEEK PARTY PRIMARY 2012:
THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE and ironically that particular franchise isn't represented.
Also seriously lacking in Trek. I mean, come on.
1) What's a Browncoat?
2) The only vote I can give is Imperialist.
Browncoats are fans of the science fiction TV show Firefly, by Joss Whedon, creator of shows like Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse. It only got 14 episodes before Fox canned it, though it became very popular among geekdom (Though pretty much anything he made is.) Also got a movie.
I'd have to vote Pony this year with my geek card. Mostly since the IN FALSE-DEPTH 3D!!!! *shudder*
Although I am in full support of The Old Republic - Pony crossover's. Especially with Darth Pinkie
That's cool, mate. It happens. No worries! Just jump back in or catch up as the mood suits you.
All my approval!
I love you guys.
Pfffft. prove it. Can you even tell me what a marriage is? Kinda hard to set limits when you might not even be arguin the same things.
Robogiggity? And not all of them!Quote:
Son, the real reason my daughters ain't marrying no robots is 'cause my daughters are crazy and more often than not have freaky lightning powers.
*imagines mask on a shag rug* never mind.
War in Equestria has happened; the buffalo soldiers versus the mild west towns-folk.
It took the form of pies.
As for OCs...
Midnight and Lixie would win, as the only acceptable method o warfare between all parties would be Hug-offs. While everyone is distracted, Bleakbane moves in and claims victory, saying Equestria is now his. His orders; keep doin' wot ya doin'. Everypony obeys explicitly (or ignores him, probably the first one though). Lix claims double victory as an ally of thr AOTRS. Raz, myself and Thanqomponents continue causing small amounts of strife because our convoluted schemes lead to hilarity as we fail, with the occasional heartwarming moment to explain why we haven't become moon colonizers. Lix adds triple victory as she is also sided with us, as guild-members and ne'er-do-wells. Thanqol claims quadruple victory because Lix is Thanqol, and they both pull off masks ScoobyDoo style. Several bystanders then pitch in to develop algorithms to see if the Thanqol-Lix-everypony feedback loop ever reaches some form of conclusion or plateau.
And then ponies.
Well, it--
Stupid Thanqol, beating me to these points, and more eloquently to boot!
The place is internally consistent, it just has weird internals.
I disagree and feel the writers do care, but that their understanding o the back end is different from our understanding of the end product. But the undercurrents are similar enough that icould say season 1 was farther than the intended 'artist's vision' than season 2 is.
And that wouldn't necessarily work. I remember people and events that never happened all the time!
...
Oh, hi there Ennui. Been a while.
I have avoided using the word risible because I dot know how to pronounce it. Stupid reading things I've never heard spoken...
Ate, people cross their own purposes all the time. I'm a huge example of that. So I'm generally more forgiving. Still, my complaint is not that Fluttershy is out of character, but that her character is not what I would like it to be. People hat nice, are always manipulative, and generally passive aggressive and liars as well. it took until a month or two after season 1 ended for me to be able to give Fluttershy a chance, as I couldn't accept that she was genuinely nice. Now that I've accepted that, and begun to understand exactly how wonderful her characterization is, it's changed and I'm wrong.Quote:
*ahem* Right, the world-building. I hope I haven't contributed to this problem. Although I complained earlier that the writers have made some errors in world-building, I don't think they've done a terrible job. Actually, I think season 2 has done a good job of being relatively restrained. Season 1 established Ponyville, Canterlot, Cloudsdale, Appleloosa, Manehattan, the Everfree forest, froggy-bottom bog and probably more that I'm forgetting. Those were all new locations and, frankly, if season 2 had kept throwing out locales at that rate, it would have become too large and unwieldy. Instead, season 2 has spent its time fleshing out these various locales, mostly done well, but with a few mistakes.
The other thing to keep in mind is that we don't have a fight between two extremes here. The choice is not Thanqol's dream world idea vs. a perfectly consistent 100% accurate physical location that always obeys its own rules. Rather, the setting exists on a continuum somewhere in the middle. If I had to place it, I think it's actually pretty close to Simpsons version of Springfield right now. That is, there is a basic layout of consistent areas such as Twilight's home, Sugarcube corner, and Sweet Apple Acres. Then laid over this consistent setting are new areas as the plot demands, which can fade out of existence just as easily as the Springfield monorail or burlesque house.
Finally, I want to point out that complaints about character personality don't go in the same category as world-building. If you want to point out that during Season 1, the window of Twilight's library moved into 3+ different locations, that's an example of inconsistent architecture (that apparently bothers nopony). But if you want to say Applejack or Fluttershy acted out of character at some point, that's much more subjective. Especially since real people act out of character all the time. Sometimes we don't really know someone's character, or we know her character, but her mind classifies activities in a way that differs from ours so that consistent for her is not consistent for us.
In sum, if you catch a mistake or don't like how something was done, you can certainly point that out. But I think we're premature to argue that all consistency, continuity and world-building have been thrown out of the series for some variation of the plane of Limbo.
Once bitten, twice fluttershy, y'know? Except instead of shy I'm antagonistic.
*salutes* enjoy slogging through the acid mines! Lemme know f my initials are still there. I had to care them with my horn, and it was excruciating! Stupid nail-on-chalkboard noise...
Also, hullo! Welcome! Stay a while, andlistenPony!
Re: Unicorn Magic
We do know thatProfessor XavierPrincess Celestia has a school dedicated to exceptionally talented magic users. Although Twilight is apparently the cream of the crop, its existence would imply that there are other unicorns with abilities that are somewhere in an order of magnitude or so of hers, and that broad magical ability isn't completely unheard-of. Also, if Twi's comment about "magic kindergarden" is to be believed, there appears to be some sort of basic magical education system for unicorns, even if it's only in Canterlot.
I think in my own head, I'd put the number of relatively talented magic users in Equestria at somewhere around the same percentage as say the analogous academics in our world.
I think that Unicorns can basically learn nearly any spell as long as they can connect to it. As in feel that it relates to their cuties mark in some way. However they tend to have much less power and it will still be on a small scale.
so Trixie can basically learn any spell out there since it deals with magic. However she can't cast every spell or only with extreme effort.
While Twilight can cast any spell and only the most difficult would be tiring. So Trixie could teleport but it's likely more tiring then walking (and not as good for your muscles!) while Twilight can spam it.
Starswirl, presumably, is the local equivulent of a Athenian philosopher, and pretty much made it into the institution it is today. From the basic teliport to the ever-lovely hair-growing spell, he pretty much standerdised magic by writing the steps down, refining them, and them mass-producing the documents. Hence, the time where a unicorn would only have the chance to learn only a few spells over his lifetime was over, and there came the time of true unicorn wizerds. Hence, Twilight's slightly fangirlish additude about him is like a Hollywood scientist obsessing over Einstein.
For Unicorn Magic, I'd say that we don't have enough to go on, and what we have to go on is made up as they go along and can be contradicted as needed without consequence. After all if, as Thanqol eloquently put it, the show has a negative continuity that only exists when the writers need it to exist, a unicorn can do anything they need to in order for the plot to move forward.
To the kind pony who thanked me for the quote wall; you're welcome! My only regret is that I burned out for a bit. Oddly, now it's harder for me to do these frequent posts...
Canon-get!
I must admit, Cuddly like a fox would probably shut me out of argument mode. AND INTO SCIENCE MODE *does science to Mask and Raz*
I actually think this is one of the subplots in Mass Effect 3.Quote:
Ooh ooh I have one
SpoilerPrincess Cadence is actually Prince Cadence!
...and the wedding goes off without a hitch! :smalltongue:
Hehe. Subplot.
Aye, this would be easier if I knew more than two lines of the song by heart >>;
What is this place
Filled with so many spoilers,
Churning and gushing like big venting boilers?
eBay full of plushies, and tales sand and funny...
So why won't Hasbro just accept my darn money,
Mooooneeeeey~
Oh~ what a maddening place,
Where I can see ponies kissing with a plot for a face!
If I knew Equestria Daily had so much up its sleeve
I'd have dodge the spoilers, and gone to leave.
Yes, I
Know
Everything!
I'm terrible Bard. *turns in his harp, harmonica, and didgeridoo*
If you are over a barrel, you are in the same physical position as if someone took you over their knee to spank you.Quote:
Random discussion!
Also, random thought recently occurred to me: What does the title of Over a Barrel refer to? I'm not quite sure I understand where that comes from. Google tells me it means "being in someone's power". I'm not sure how that relates to the episode. Unless it's a pun I'm missing? Were they keeping the apples in barrels?
... Eyup.Quote:
... Eyup.
I like this. Low strata canon'd.
Did we see her put on a magical light show? It was in a boutique. She may actually own lights to that effect.
I do not think pony magic can be separated into 'spells' and 'pouring mana into it'. It's like cooking. You're always following a recipe, even if you make said recipe up as you go.
Hm. I'd Har to go for one of the last two.
But. Which. One. ?
Magic is an innate ability, ponies have altitudes rather than binary yes/no powers. What sets Dame Sparkle as unique is her bus. The amount of power she can put out at any given instant is phenomenal. But that didn't stop Celestia from undoing her spell, because that requires finesse. Similarly, Star Swirl seems to have been a contemplater, astronomer and and sage (all associated with the stars) rather than a magibattery like Twilight Sparkle.
congratulations Bobcat. You win.
There's a plot joke in there, but... I can't make it. Feels wrong.
GENTLEPONYS! BEHOLD!
I AM IN A SONG!
(My youtube name (blizrfiz) shows up at about 3:38.)
Can't really hear my own voice since it's drowned out by two hundread others, but meh.
Derpy wants everyone to smile!:smallbiggrin:
Ah, the classics. When I was a teenager, I detested archaic writing and old books. They were the result, I reasoned, of a time when the number of authors was tiny and the rules of effective storytelling were still being explored. While that perspective still holds sway in my mind, more and more I have come to find that some classics are classics for a reason. I have A Study In Rainbows to thank for this growing fascination. I find myself compelled by the middle path, the blend of old and new, and that interest has woven through all my writing recently.
I'm reading Dracula now. Did you know Dracula actually had a moustache? I've never seen any picture or film of Dracula with a moustache. Funny how that worked out, yes?
The point of this ramble, and what makes it pony related, is that Dracula actually holds a genius format. It switches between letters and diaries - ah, why didn't I think of that! - and pits doomed scientific minds against the horror of the supernatural. I'm collecting notes on Dracula, oh yes, which may see resolution in my next piece. I'm feeling optimistic, creative. I have for days. I've got inspiration in my mind. Like a thunderstorm's brewing, sculpting the conditions for lightning with hands made of wind and rain. There's a stillness, ah! A stillness in the air as mere anarchy begins to structure itself!
This is how it's always been. If Twilight was played straight in terms of effectiveness every episode she'd basically curbstomp the entire show. I'm fine with Twilight's magic being wildly erratic between writers and episodes; if her magic is consistently erratic, rising and falling from episode to episode, then I can accept that in itself as an explanation.Quote:
For Unicorn Magic, I'd say that we don't have enough to go on, and what we have to go on is made up as they go along and can be contradicted as needed without consequence. After all if, as Thanqol eloquently put it, the show has a negative continuity that only exists when the writers need it to exist, a unicorn can do anything they need to in order for the plot to move forward.
Why doesn't Rarity just ask Twilight to magic up all the gemstones rather than teaming up with Spike and digging them up for herself? Because Twilight's magic isn't reliable - sometimes she can teleport like ganon, and sometimes she destroys the entire town of Ponyville with a plague of locusts.
What's the time?Quote:
Pushed me into cuddle mode.
It's not hard to get me into cuddle mode.
What's the time?
It'sadventurecuddle time.
I was using the word cantrip a little too losely, yeah. That kind of use is basic TK as far as I'm concerned. As for the light show... wait, that was her? I thought it was just a light show she had in her boutique. Guess I'll have to rewatch Suited for Success. How terrible. I have no idea how I'll possibly manage.
Didn't notice that. Good heavens, I now have to watch not one but two Rarity episodes. Quite possibly even three. This has to be the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!
Brony. All the way. I'm indifferent to Firefly and Dr. Who, and while I like Starwars and Potter, they're merely interesting settings for me.