Friendship is Card Games: The Break Up Break Down · 11:53am May 20th, 2018
Appropriately enough for an episode with a B plot, this week is an FiCG double feature! Click here for the previous installment, a card blog featuring concepts from the Triptych Continuum. Or read on for further exploration of the SS Sugarmac
Once again, we look at Big Macintosh on Hearts & Hooves Day. Makes me wonder how Cheerilee’s doing today.
(Perusing Derpibooru showed that she may have found someone… but he found someone else.)
I suppose Spike isn’t willing to risk burning this pie with his breath.
I do enjoy how Discord resents being asked to use his mastery of chaos for such mundane chores. He’s not a genie. I also appreciate how Captain Wuzz still has that parsnip claw.
Equestria has a greeting card industry? I’m going to pin that on Discord being Discord.
This is a seriously last-minute pie. I assume Mac’s been too busy with the farm to bake it until now.
Hmm. On the one hand, wrapping the invitation in something waterproof would probably ruin the flavor of the pie. On the other, I’m surprised it’s even intact after swimming in hot pie filling, much less legible.
The rebus tag is cute, but raises a lot of questions. Why not use Sugar Belle’s cutie mark? Or actually write out her name? Or just use her address? Given the size of the Equestrian postal system, you’d think they’d have street numbers.
“For a formerly friendless immortal despot, you’re pretty cynical.” I would think that sort of description would imply cynicism. Also, now I really want to see more of Discord and Cadence interacting. I would think the Princess of Love would have something to say about her domain not existing.
(There’s also the issue of an avatar of chaos being a despot, but that could just be Spike’s view on Discord unruling Equestria.)
I do appreciate the amount of Best Pony we got this episode. Though that is not how to handle a packaged pie.
The Crusaders really are growing up. Looks like it’s that time when a young filly’s fancy turns to thoughts of love.
Nice bit with how Discord’s hyperfocused on the things he actually enjoys and utterly bored with everything else. And how he’s done a complete 180 on Ogres & Oubliettes. IT makes sense; he’s found a socially acceptable way to bring his fantasies to life.
I figured this was an elaborate, sitcom-esque misunderstanding. I was doing something similar to Spike, trying to figure out how they were going to explain this.
Hmm. Mac’s drowning his sorrows with cider. Not sure if that’s a point towards it being alcoholic or if it’s just the Apple family answer to eating a pint of ice cream.
As with “Ponyville Confidential,” Mac’s more talkative when he’s upset.
I love Discord trying to be supportive. Emphasis on the word “trying.”
Heh. Wonderful little acknowledgement of Sweetiemash.
The Squizard says he’ll help you get through college, but then it turns out that he expects a decade of postmortem servitude for every semester he paid for.
Aww, Big Mac likes scrunchy faces. That’s actually adorable.
I’m not sure what I love more, the obvious Lyrabon or Maud and Mudbriar shipping their pets.
Oh my goodness, that’s an actual pairing chart. That is fantastic.
I do like the “Where the Apple Lies” callback. It feels like Big Mac’s finally achieving the balance between running his mouth off and communicating in Boolean that he’s lacked for so much of his life.
I’m really not sure how to feel about the resolution to the miscommunication. Lampshading the contrivance doesn’t make it any less contrived. (Also, apprenticing seems like a step down from Sugar Belle running her own bakery… but the Cakes have won a national dessert competition.) And there’s the matter of the whole “We’re finished” thing that’s never really explained. At least they emphasize how no one in real life should ever let this sort of thing happen.
So… how exactly did Big Mac fix the broken axel? Given how Discord broke the cart, I suppose he had a talon in repairing it, but Mac seemed to think that just pounding the wood back together without any kind of adhesive would suffice.
Sugar Belle’s snorts are awfully cute.
The Crusaders’ declaration of best friendship comes across as less innocent than it could, between their feeling the pressure of Singles Awareness Day and the Lyrabon moment.
Given Spike asking after Skeleanor, has he accepted that he doesn’t have a chance with Rarity, or is he just working his way up to her?
In all, as I said earlier, this was a stock sitcom plot and felt like it. Discord livened things up to a delightful degree and the drama wasn’t dragged out any longer than it needed to, but this still hinged on a contrived miscommunication, and that makes any story lose points out of the gate with me. Plus, we never really get any insight as to why Big Macintosh and Sugar Belle love each other. Still, the B plot with the Crusaders does do a good job of threading back to the A plot in a way to keep everything flowing organically. In all, this had a lot of fun moments, useful components, and intriguing plot hooks, but it didn’t really hold together for me as a story. I liked it, but I didn’t like it like it.
Still, what say we put those useful components to work?
Cynical Outlook W
Instant
Destroy target enchantment. If that enchantment has indestructible, exile it.
”How can you put so much faith in something that tears apart at the slightest touch?”
—Discord
Stoic Front 1W
Instant
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to target creature you control this turn. It gains hexproof from the color of your choice until end of turn. (It can’t be the target of spells or abilities of that color your opponents control.)
Pain can’t touch those who refuse to acknowledge it.
Heartfelt Message 1U
Sorcery
Draw two cards. Then you may reveal a card with soulbond from your hand. If you don’t, discard a card.
Diamond rings slipped into sparkling wine only work for unicorns. The other tribes employ more creative measures.
Tweeze the Lawn 1U
Instant
Look at the top five card of your library. Exile any number of them and put the rest back on top of your library in any order.
”Don’t worry. It shouldn’t take more than a few eons.”
—Discord
Commercialized Ruse 2U
Instant
Tap up to two target creatures. Create a colorless Treasure artifact token with “T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.”
”What’s wrong with bread and circuses? Especially if you can upgrade to cake?”
—Pinkie Pie, Bearer of Laughter
Back and Forth 3U
Instant
Exile two target creatures. Return them to the battlefield under their owners’ control at the beginning of the next end step.
Perplexed Mailmare 4UU
Creature — Pegasus Citizen
Flash
Flying
When Perplexed Mailmare enters the battlefield, if an opponent would draw a card this turn, instead that player skips that draw and you draw a card.
3/2
Drown Your Sorrows BBB
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast this spell, pay twice X life.
Draw X cards.
Cider doesn’t fill the void left by love, but it helps.
Skeleanor, the Flenser 3BB
Legendary Creature — Skeleton Warrior
Menace
Whenever a creature dealt damage by Skeleanor, the Flenser this turn dies, create a 1/1 black Skeleton creature token with “B: Regenerate this creature.”
1B: Regenerate Skeleanor.
Every new recruit shaves a year off her servitude.
4/2
Soul Shatter 4B
Instant
Destroy target creature. Soul Shatter deals 2 damage to that creature’s controller.
Some deathly incantations contain words not meant for mortal tongues, but few are as terrible as “We need to talk.”
Undying Debt 4B
Sorcery
Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield with a gold counter on it. It gains extort. (Whenever you cast a spell while that creature is on the battlefield, you may pay (wb). If you do, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain that much life.)
Chimeric Clown 1RR
Creature — Chimera Rogue
Flash
When Chimeric Clown enters the battlefield, you may choose new targets for target spell.
”You should see what I can do with a bottle of seltzer.”
2/2
Hurtful Words 2R
Instant
Hurtful Words deals damage to each player equal to the number of cards in that player’s hand.
The more you keep your thoughts to yourself, the more you regret it.
Shoulder Draconequus 2R
Creature — Chimera Advisor
At the beginning of your upkeep, discard a card. If you do, draw a card.
”It’s your devil’s day off. Now, about that ‘sanity’ thing you’re so attached to…”
2/1
Seek a Suitor 1G
Sorcery
Search your library for a creature card, reveal it, and shuffle your library. If that card has soulbond, put it into your hand. Otherwise, put it on top of your library.
”Anypony else got a feeling of deja vu?”
—Apple Bloom
Fedorize 3G
Instant
Distribute three +1/+1 counters among one, two, or three target creatures.
”You can never have enough hats.”
—Rarity, Bearer of Generosity
Cardboard Spyglass 2
Artifact
1, T: Look at target player’s hand.
3, T: Draw a card. Activate this ability only if an opponent has more cards in hand than you.
Discord’s magic turns corrugation into revelation.
Ring of Imperceptibility 2
Artifact — Equipment
Equipped creature has hexproof and can’t be blocked except by Walls.
Equip 4
Calico the Brindled’s first big score soon made him the greatest thief in all of Spiketopia.
Riding Mower 3
Artifact — Vehicle
Whenever Riding Mower deals combat damage to a player, that player puts that many cards from the top of their library into their graveyard.
Crew 1 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 1 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
3/4
Slow-Bake 1(br)
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Wither (This deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters.)
When Slow-Bake enters the battlefield or at the beginning of your upkeep, Slow-Bake deals 1 damage to enchanted creature.
Discord, Immortal Despot 2BR
Legendary Planeswalker — Discord
+1: Until your next turn, whenever a source deals damage to Discord, Immortal Despot, that source’s controller sacrifices a permanent.
-2: Return a creature card at random from your graveyard to the battlefield.
-8: Untap and gain control of all creatures you don’t control. They gain haste. Sacrifice them at the beginning of the next end step.
4
Huh. I can recognize that the plot of this one hinged on a simple misunderstanding, but I thought it was otherwise pretty hilarious. Maybe I was rendered a little lightheaded by fumes from all the shipping fuel being pumped around, though. The overt fanservice (Muffins! SweetieMash!) was also quite enjoyable. And I lost track of how many episode callbacks there were, but I loved how pieces of Mac development from Where The Apple Lies meshed together with the O&O stuff, against the backdrop of SugarMac...
CONTINUITY!
4864967 Gotta agree with this. Yeah the plot was contrived, basic, and cliched, but they managed to make it entertaining throughout, mostly by not really focusing on that aspect, and just letting the characters play off each other to hilarious results.
NO
NO IT WAS NOT
Given that his speech seems a little slurred in that scene, I'm leaning towards alcoholic.
Also, I'm really not sure what to think of the fact that Spike is seemingly attracted to a piece of cardboard with a skeleton painted on it. Then again, wouldn't be the weirdest thing Spike's been shipped with I'm sure.
Of course Discord was a despot! Despots are rulers without sanction of law - sultans, Greek tyrants, etc. They rule by whim and personal dominance, not law and statute. Yesterday's whim was enforced with an iron hoof; today it is forgotten for whatever occurs to them this very moment. It is the very essence of Chaos, capital 'C'.
4864972
I, for one, welcome the inevitable raft of Spikeanor shipfics. I think there's room to do some deep things with the concept beyond just "hurr hurr, Spike does it with a piece of cardboard, hurr hurr."
He might end up mailing it to Celestia by mistake, and wouldn't that be awkward?
I just assumed it meant they were finished with the conversation. They had something to talk about, they did, and now it's settled.
I gotta agree with 4864967. The plot may be cliched and very well-treaded, but the actual character interaction -- and the focus on secondary characters that don't always get a lot -- helped keep it fun and enjoyable for me. I generally tend to believe that even the most ridiculous or overdone concept can be rescued with good enough writing -- that the quality of the writing is more important than the quality of the concept, in a sense -- and I think this episode's a decent enough example of that.
4865002
Oh I'm sure people are going to have a ball and write all sorts of fun things with that. It's just a very strange thing.
4865002
They could bone...
Heh. Now I want to see more of Skelenor. She seems like she could be more than just a one-dimensional cardboard-cutout.
Wouldn't it be interesting if Discord forgot to "close the door" on the Ogers & Oubliettes realm, and some particularly brave cardboard ventured forth where no cardboard had gone before?
Pretty sure that was some trademark Spike sarcasm.
"One hundred years before the mast, Skeleanor! That's the debt you owe me."
-
Davy JonesThe SquizardSkeleanor's got a typo: The rules text misspelled "Flenser" as "Flesner."
Something I found mildly amusing is the specific inclusion of Button Mash in the search for Sweetie's nonexistent secret admirer.
Big Mac confirmed as illiterate. In fact, that the post office accepts a rebus as an address without fuss indicates that illiteracy is fairly common in Equestria. Is this a dumb way to run the postal service? Yep... but then they also drop pianos and anvils on ponies, so a one-in-ten chance of a letter making it to the intended destination is probably okay with them.
Fun fact: street numbers are a fairly recent invention, and in rural England (possibly even today) many places were known simply by name. (E.g. a legitimate address could be Cold Comfort Farm, Howling, Sussex.) And not too long ago, General Delivery was a thing. You didn't provide an address at all, just a name and town. The letter was held at the post office until someone of that name showed up to claim it.
A soon as Spike made the bet, I said out loud, "Okay, then what does Chrysalis eat?"
I might like the episode better on a rewatch. (Oddly enough, I often do.) But since among my least favorite characters are the CMC and Discord (though Discord was not bad in this one, the CMC were in Brainless Idiot mode throughout), and I've seen enough sticoms to have watched this exact same plot half a hundred times, I did not enjoy this one very much.
4865030
Get thee to a pen and write this fic!
4865142
Your illiteracy idea there is some subtle but awesome worldbuilding.
I can also vouch for things in Europe not always having numbers in the address. I'm based out of the States but I stayed in a hotel in Ireland last year that was a bit out of the way and just had an "address" of Place, City, Ireland. Blew my mind (and my GPS's mind, more regrettably).
Discord in his current progression was at his peak. It was the perfect balance of cunning and antipathy Discord should be at now. He never seemed like a buffoon who never understood basic social interaction (like in "Make New Friends but Keep Discord)." But he didn't come off as a reigned-in sociopath constantly working to escape the confides of his parole. One of the biggest sources of laughs this episode was laughing at Big Mac's Rarity-esque meltdown, but I was also relating to (and laughing at) Discord's insistence on getting over it. I haven't consoled anyone after a break-up, but I've had to be the shoulder for friends to cry on; it's not a welcome experience, and can leave me drained and irritated.
4865142
How were the Crusaders acting like "brainless idiots? Sure their interrogations of the colts were anything but subtle, but what's wrong with assuming some shy colt with Sweetie a pie, on Hearts and Hooves of all days?
4864970
I never felt like this was running on stupidity or contrivance. Most stories like this have the speaker using phrases more vaguely or sinisterly than any normal person does, or the eavesdropper is only getting every-other word and decides to play ad-libs in the most disastrous way possible. But her words really do paint a picture of incoming bad news. The writers knew exactly how their audience would feel about this kind of plot, and shored it up. So for us jaded adults (and probably some kids), they tuned up the writing, and managed to make a red herring out of a red herring. To a certain point, I was really wondering if these two were going to break up. It's not like this relationship has seemed important to the show staff up until now, with only one establishing episode dedicated to them.
4865097
Yupp. I liked how what Scootaloo asked him was, without knowing the context, so completely nonsensical that, of course he would wander off.
I have to admit the Soul Shatter flavor text cracked me up big time. :)
4864967 4864970 4865019
This episode asks a question of its audience: "Are you willing to put up with a cliched romantic miscommunication plot?" If yes, there's a lot to enjoy. If no...
Well, some people took it a lot worse than I did.
4864971
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4864997
Entirely valid point. Thank you for it.
4865030
Spike! Why did I just have a magical duel with a squid?
Discord did it.
4865088
Honestly, the Squizard seems like he could be a very compelling villain. I still like my headcanon that's he's fascinated with bones to the point of obsession. A cuttlebone just doesn't cut it for him.
4865097
Thanks for the typo catch.
4865142
Which raises the question of the whole "public library" thing, to say nothing of "Read It and Weep."
Huh. I'd never considered that angle.
4865942
Right up there on the list of Dread Incantations with "I can explain" and "It's not what it looks like," though those tend to do more harm to the one reciting them.
4865142 4868080
Did we ever see alphabetic characters in the show, English or otherwise? I don't think so. Only pictures or those wavy lines in Twilight's letters. This can mean two things:
The second thing seems more likely to me, precisely because of Twilight's wavy lines.
4956931
We've seen no fewer than three different alphabets. One, a Wingdings-esque blend of horseheads, hoofmarks, and so forth, only appeared a few times, in some of Twilight's books and the poster for the talent show in "The Show Stoppers." Deformed letters are all over the place: Daring Do covers, Trixie's promo posters, ads for the Sisterhooves Social, newspapers, the list goes on. And there was even one case of unmistakable English. Three words:
Welcome Princess Celest
4956955
Typical. And I thought I had found something.
Alternate theory... uhm... one language with many writings? like Japanese with Kanji, hiragana etc.?
4957065
That's my current hypothesis, yes.