s4e23 let's blog while watching

I first put this up on a forum with references so I'll have to alter it as I go so it makes sense

finally got it up, hopefully it'll go all the way (it's a 2 parter and I couldn't see a link for part 2 yet so hopefully I get both parts).

So, basic premise is pretty quick, one of Rarity's... er, things... didn't please the customer. Kind of a callback to... what was that episode's name, been a long time since I last saw.. eh, the one where she makes 6 dresses for herself and her friends and they don't like them so she makes 6 more absolute disasters. The customer may be always right, but sometimes they're also just plain stupid.

Spike is actually counting the number of times he's repeating "puppet-theater". That's... it's almost like breaking the 4th wall, but the fact that it's so fast and subtle and NOT even breaking it is what makes it cool.

The ice cream thing was a little forced IMO, using it during the conversation. If there was a brief pause where Spike said something and Rarity had brought it over while she wasn't talking, maybe with another break later so she eats while he says something, that'd have gone down smoother.

So... if time is of the essence, how the heck did he get all the way to the old castle without breaking the deadline,it IS in the EFF after all, not exactly a walk in the park you know and... ah forget about it, with how many times they've been in there, they've either got enough skills that most stuff runs away from them now or they just know how to avoid most stuff in there.

"She said 'I'm her favorite dragon'"... this has all sorts of "Owl's well that ends well" (which did not end well BTW) overtones to it. Praise Spike and he'll go overboard trying to be worthy of the praise. What did Twilight DO to him to make him so dependent on being praiseworthy?

Spike shows a level of fire-competence heretofore unseen in the series.

And is it just me, or is Owlicious getting a little more expressive in his hooting? Like, too expressive, tone it down a slight notch and it'll appear concern behind the mask instead of shattering the mask entirely.

In a world of magic the phrase "instantly brings ideas to life" is either "Cthulhu" level wrong, or a "Sarlacc pit" signpost level shmuck bait.

I have a (not serious) headcanon concerning ponies' digestive abilities, bags of holding are made from the lining of their stomachs. HOLY CRAP THAT'S A LOT OF ICECREAM!... is it industrial strength ice cream?

"This can!" (and Spike shoves a book of spikes into her face). You know, you'd think a book with a bunch of spikes on it would be a bit of a giveaway, then again, we've got tons of unicorns who never look where the heck they're putting their horns, I think an eye-regeneration/healing spell was amongst the first things most young unicorns learn.

The book's possession scene carries undertones of Harry Potter 2 and Cutie Pox combined. I LOVE IT! At least, the build up, we'll see how it keeps going.

The new cart, the wheels should be at the front, toward's the audience. The weight thing makes it so that the "saddle" end should lift up when it is being carried, they've got the wheel/physics right, but it'd have made more sense if the legs were at the back and could be folded up on demand.

Sooooo, now that they've completely solved the initial problem, they can go back to the way things were and forget this ever happened... right? Yeah, didn't think so. I'm thinking that Rarity got possessed by the book and they've got to find a way to bring her back... or else.

MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

See, this is what I was talking about, a few seconds of saying NOTHING and Owlicious manages to say all so much.

"Up all night" to a student of abnormal psychology (and horror videogame genres in general), that has bad undertones. One can develop a form of temporary schizophrenia (seeing/perceiving things that aren't there) if the dopamine levels aren't allowed to go back down during REM sleep. This can happen as soon as about noon the next day. In other words, she's hallucinating while designing!

And as a (attempted) artist, I know that if you give someone unlimited capacity to recreate something... it will NEVER be perfect enough for them, this has bad idea written all over it. Ironically enough, if it were given to say Applejack or... um, or... Maybe Twilight... but she's a little OCP about... well, no, there really is no pony that could safely be given this kind of power.

You know, I've gotta wonder, is this the first time we've seen Rarity abusing Spike's affections for her? I mean, yeah, she got that fire-ruby from him and dragged him into that diamond-dog thing (where did they disappear to anyway?) but, I don't think we've ever seen anything quite this... dark, with her. Greedy yes, but dark? No.

I love the humor in Fluttershy's bird mansion scene.

And the owl is STILL more expressive when he's silent. And still trying to tell Spike to leave well enough alone and do things right (for once).

A thought occurs, Rarity is going around, basically imposing her will upon the town. There is another town that is basically a weird (twisted) reflection of the main character's mind... Silent Hill.

Excuse me a moment, the writers/animators blew my mind for a bit...

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT! Did they just deck Spike out in Crystal armor?! As in Reality Check's own fanfiction CRYSTAL EMPIRE CRYSTAL ARMOR?!

Okay probably not, but still, that was my first reaction.

So, did he just 'eat' the armor or something or what?

Gold road, reminds me of DMFA when they talked about an entire city being turned to glass, it's not cursed or anything, just a horrible blind hazard.

I love it when Rarity growls, it's so cute, like a chihuahua wanting some rawhide, from a T-rex.

That utter "church bell" series where we see the utter descent into complete climatic madness was perfect, WANT!

So, spike solves his problems by eating them... That confirms it, he's not a dragon, he's a yoshi.

I was wondering what happened to all that magic gone awry. But it seems they've got it cleaned up at the end.

Ya know, Spike's not (much of) a punching bag in this one, gets a decent sized speaking role (main character for an episode) and yet, his problem isn't selfishness or greed or anything else, if anything it's growing pains while he's growing into a better friend and person. Ultimately it's a pretty good episode IMO.