• Member Since 26th Sep, 2011
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FanOfMostEverything


Forget not that I am a derp.

More Blog Posts1330

  • Sunday
    Friendship is Card Games: Mane Event

    So, as I have come to understand, the main G5 IDW line has been replaced by/subsumed into a series of mini-series and one-shots that feels like the equivalent of a network trying to kill a show by bouncing it around the schedule. Hopefully I’m being paranoid there.

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    8 comments · 158 views
  • 1 week
    Rumor Gathering

    While diminished from its peak, the Writeoff is still very much an ongoing concern. Regrettably, while I actually had an idea for the most recent prompt, my Saturdays are packed to the gills and thus I didn't have time to compose it before the submission deadline. As such, I have employed Dueling

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    2 comments · 140 views
  • 1 week
    Friendship is Card Games: Wondercolts Forever: The Diary of Celestia and Luna

    The next entry on the schedule was issues #21 and 22 of the G5 mainline, but those have failed to manifest, making me wonder if that line’s actually been ended in favor of the various mini-series currently in progress. And among them, I only have one released issue unaccounted for. As such, it’s time to turn to the next pony novel… which does not contain ponies.

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    6 comments · 168 views
  • 2 weeks
    Incident of Examination

    There's a Crystal Prep-themed Sunset shipping contest on at the moment, and one castoff idea I had got me wondering about Sunset attending CPA... and running against a logical issue. At least I got

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    0 comments · 194 views
  • 2 weeks
    Friendship is Card Games: Tell Your Tale, Season 2, Part 2

    Looks like that Leap Day hypothesis carried some weight. The long-form episodes should be interesting in their own right, but we’re not looking at one this week. Let’s see what there is to see.

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    5 comments · 184 views
Mar
7th
2021

Friendship is Card Games and Witchcraft: Spike's Big Day & Neigh, Soul Sister · 12:48pm Mar 7th, 2021

We’re back to Friendship is Witchcraft for another few weeks, and this week is… kind of a double feature. I’ll explain after the break.

Spike’s Big Day

This came out before our feature presentation, but it’s literally less than a minute long. Still, keeping it in for the sake of completeness.

Five years to write a trilogy… that’s actually pretty quick, all things considered. Though I have to wonder if this Spike is less young and more horribly mistreated. Almost definitely the case. Being FiW Spike is suffering.

On the other hand, he does call it his life’s work. Which is arguably even worse. As I’ve seen and experienced, nothing kills your motivation like having to rewrite a past work, especially a lengthy one. Back up your drafts, folks.

Also, Twilight indirectly ruining Spike’s life this time. If she hadn’t bombarded Celestia with friendship reports for decades, Sunhorse might have actually read one of these scrolls.

Now, let’s talk about the bulk of today’s eye candy:

Neigh, Soul Sister

Rarity as a shellshocked veteran does put a lot of scenes into an interesting perspective.

And then there’s Sweetie Belle. As long as the blue smoke doesn’t get out, she should be fine.

A kitch-in time saves nine. Here we have three and four.

I can understand that Rarity’s parents try not to question things, but you’d think a woman would remember how many children she’s given birth to.

Ah. The stars will be right. Well, a star and a moon. Though it does lead into the question of eclipses in a world ruled by two celestial mechanics.

Given the hammer, I fear to see what else is in Sweetie’s $objects_of_fun array.

Well, that was quick. Just because your deaths got retconned by the local pastry chef doesn’t mean you’re immortal going forward. Valuable life lesson there.

We actually see Rarity’s canon post-traumatic dress disorder with stress couture.

Nice bit of foreshadowing with the acting workshop. And I do appreciate how Rarity just treats the end of days as one more thing on her calendar. Dear, if you’re planning anything after bringing about the end of the world, then you’re not really planning the end of the world.

I do love the added servo noises, especially with the Sweepy Belle moment. Also, nice splice of “The Show Stoppers.”

:applecry: “My compass always points to Sweetie Belle.”
I suppose if she has an on-board generator rather than just batteries, she would be quite magnetic. Though I’d expect more things to stick to her.

I know what they meant, but I do like “faboratory” as a portmanteau of “fabrication laboratory.”

So… who are those socks for? They have heels and toes, after all.

:raritydespair: “Great. Now who shall hug me?”

:unsuresweetie: “Sweetie Belle!”
The timing there is fantastic.

And when Sweetie’s bored, we go from simple motor noises to full-on Space Cadet Pinball.

Honestly, Rarity, you can get more dead raccoons.

“More self-aware of your surroundings”
Not sure if this is prodding at the soullessness of robots, but it feels awkward nonetheless.

Monsters aren’t born, they’re made. Well, the ones that aren’t thirty feet tall and barely aware of the towns they crush. The point is, treat people well or you may not like the results.

The weekly Elmer’s bath. Because blood is so passé. And apparently wasn’t hard enough to get out of one’s coat.

I have to wonder precisely what Fluttershy did for Rarity. The cult may have offered solace given her PTSD… or she may just be thoroughly programmed at this point. And not in the same sense as Sweetie Belle.

Eclipses are an annual event in this world? … Huh. Unexpected parallels with the Triptych Continuum.

Ah. Apple Bloom really does have a paper-eating habit.

I do have to appreciate the event cards made by The Artrix. Especially not one, but two events designed specifically for ensouled, biological life.

Which, of course, leads to Sweetie accusing Rarity of being a robot. Ah, irony.

:duck: “If I wanted to be a loser, I’d just join Twilight’s softball team.”
There’s a lot to unpack in that statement.

Just going to highlight this fantastic recursive fan animation.

I love how Applejack doesn’t even deny her status as a war criminal. She just points out that Rarity’s in the same boat.

I can’t help but smile at the Apple sisters’ cheerfully unhealthy relationship. One of FiW’s greatest strengths is mood dissonance for humorous effect.

So how do the fashion police differ from the robot police? How many specialized law enforcement divisions does this Equestria even have?

:unsuresweetie: “Why have I seen these creatures in my dreams?”
I do love a good Philip K. Dick reference.

Be careful what you wish for, Rarity.
(Also, Fluttershy’s father is noted as “3/9,” which implies that either Rarity’s parents are further down the list, or that they were revived through completely unrelated means.)

Rarity, anypony initiated into the mysteries of the Smooze can warp space like that, biological or synthetic.

“I am uninstalling you from my heart drive” is simultaneously stupid and incredibly harsh.

Somehow, Applejack’s apple pie metaphor works better with the rattlesnake.

Discussing Granny Smith’s death while Applejack wears a neckerchief. Wow, that did not age well.

Had to look up the Jean-Paul Sartre quote. In greater context, it’s, “One is still what one is going to cease to be and already what one is going to become. One lives one's death, one dies one's life.” Wasn’t expecting to delve this deep into uncomfortable philosophical avenues.

:unsuresweetie: “Oh look, our characters are so malevolent and heartless! Maybe next we’ll hear a new cheap catchphrase.”
:applejackconfused: “… Moonshine gravy!”
Heh. Sweetie’s self-aware in more ways than one.

And another great song. My personal favorite take is the Jcarlson04 cover.

“One egg per sentient lifeform.”
Oh, that’s how they got away with supporting one egg between the two of them. Though one could argue that Sweetie’s the sentient one.

“For whatever reason, Celestia wants us to send letters now.”
Given this Twilight, the canon Smarty Pants Incident would barely be a drop in the bucket. Maybe Celestia just decided that if she can’t get Twilight to stop, she may as well get some variety out of the deluge.

I do wonder what happened at the Brohoof Bash. Not least because it would’ve been nice to set up Shining before his wedding, but that’s an old gripe.

And this world apparently has Disney movies. Mulan at the very least.

I have to appreciate how Hondo and Cookie are billed as Daddity and Mommity. Not like we ever got any names for them from the show itself.

There’s a reason why Sweetie Bot is so enmeshed in the fan consciousness, and this episode is it. Genuine heartfelt moments mixed in with FiW’s usual refuge in audacity. Lovely stuff. Let’s see how I can translate it to what is effectively a human-parsable programming language:

Fabulous Baton W
Artifact — Equipment
Equipped creature gets +1/+1.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a creature, destroy up to one target permanent attached to that creature.
Equip 1

Scan for Fabulosity W
Sorcery
Look at the top five card of your library. You may reveal an artifact or enchantment card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. If you didn’t put a card into your hand this way, draw a card.

Supportive Sibling 1W
Creature — Shapeshifter
Changeling (This card is every creature type.)
As Supportive Sibling enters the battlefield, choose a creature type.
Other creatures you control of the chosen type get +1/+1.
Family is relative.
1/2

Wall of Hay 1W
Creature — Wall
Defender
Whenever Wall of Hay blocks a creature, it gets +0/+X until end of turn, where X is that creature’s power.
“Push all you like. There’s always more hay.”
—Applejack
0/2

Sylvan Sojourn 1WW
Sorcery
Exile target creature or planeswalker. That permanent’s controller may put a land card from their hand onto the battlefield.
Sometimes a pony takes a walk and never gives it back.

Special Forces 2W
Creature — Pony Soldier
As Special Forces enters the battlefield, choose a card type.
Special Forces has protection from the chosen card type. (It can’t be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, enchanted, or equipped by anything that’s that type.)
Equestria’s police have countless specialized squads.
2/2

Cybernetic
(W) Artifact Creature — Cyborg
Vigilance
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control three or more artifacts,
Augment 3W (3W, Reveal this card from your hand: Combine it with target host. Augment only as a sorcery.)
+2/+2

Grinding Gears 1U
Enchantment
Whenever an artifact you control becomes tapped, each opponent mills a card. (Each puts the top card of their library into their graveyard.)
“Sweetie must have the worst growing pains.”
—Rarity

Lost Masterpiece 1U
Instant
Choose one —
• Counter target historic spell. (Artifacts, legendaries, and Sagas are historic.)
• Return target historic permanent to its owner’s hand.
History is read from the survivors.

Draconic Bureaucrat 3U
Creature — Dragon Advisor
When Draconic Bureaucrat enters the battlefield, exile any number of cards from your hand face down. Put that many cards from the top of your library into your hand. Then look at the exiled cards and put them on top of your library in any order.
2/2

Syntax Error XU
Instant
Improvise (Your artifacts can help cast this spell. Each artifact you tap after you’re done activating mana abilities pays for 1.)
Counter target spell unless its controller pays X.
“My primary function is failure.”
—Sweetie Belle

Self-Hugging Sweater 1B
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets -2/-2.
Fabulosity 2B (2B: If this enchantment isn’t fabulous, put a gem counter on it and it becomes fabulous.)
When Self-Hugging Sweater becomes fabulous, destroy enchanted creature.

Lunging | Rattlesnake 2B
Host Creature — Snake
When this creature enters the battlefield, target creature gains deathtouch until end of turn and must be blocked this turn if able.
2/1

Morbid Fascination 2B
Instant
You draw a card and you lose 1 life.
Gravestorm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each permanent put into a graveyard this turn.)
Death allures and repels in equal measure.

Vis Manipulator 2B
Creature — Unicorn Warlock
1B, T, Exile a creature card from your graveyard: Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
“Not enough in either of you to get you moving. We can’t waste it, now can we?”
3/1

Rippling Resurrection 4B
Enchantment
When Rippling Resurrection enters the battlefield, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, that player returns up to one target creature card of their choice from their graveyard to their hand.

“Sweetie’s Big Race” R
Enchantment — Song
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a verse counter on “Sweetie’s Big Race”.
Sacrifice “Sweetie’s Big Race’’: Target creature gets +X/+0 and gains haste and trample until end of turn, where X is the number of verse counters on “Sweetie’s Big Race”.

Wirewool Sparker 1R
Artifact Creature — Sheep
R, Sacrifice Wirewool Sparker: It deals 2 damage to any target.
Grazing is easy to program. Self-preservation less so.
2/1

Bothersome Missive 3R
Instant
Bothersome Missive deals 2 damage to target player for each card that player has drawn this turn.
It’s not that Celestia doesn’t have the heart to tell Twilight to stop. It’s that she can’t get Twilight to listen.

Reformatted Heart Drive 3R
Sorcery
This spell costs 2 less to cast if it targets an artifact creature.
Gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn.
Kind words and sysadmin access yield the same results.

Scrap Eater 2G
Creature — Pony Druid
When Scrap Eater enters the battlefield, you may exile an artifact or land card from your graveyard. If you do, draw a card.
Druids learn the wisdom of every creature, such as not being picky about meals.
2/2

Artificial Preserver 4GG
Artifact Creature — Unicorn Druid
Nonartifact permanents you control have hexproof.
“Organic life is as fragile as it is precious and beautiful. It must be protected.”
4/4

The World Consumed BRG
Enchantment — Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — The World Consumed deals 3 damage to each creature without flying.
II — Destroy all other artifacts and enchantments
III — Create an X/X black and green Ooze creature token, where X is the greatest number of cards in a graveyard.

Free Labor 3UR
Instant
Tap all creatures target player controls. At the beginning of your next main phase, add C for each creature tapped this way.
“You’ll be paid in exposure.”
—Applejack

Soul Scan 3GU
Sorcery
Draw a card for each creature target player controls, then discard a card for each nonartifact creature that player controls.
The scan can’t do much beyond confirming a soul’s presence, yet in one’s absence, far more data becomes available.

Carousel Faboratory
Land
T: Add C.
T: Add CC. Spend this mana only to pay fabulosity costs.
Tomorrow’s fashions today.

Comments ( 13 )

I said I would so here it is: I don't personally agree with it, partly because Sherclop may have indirectly confirmed it's not what they were going for, but there is a recurring theory that states Sweetie isn't actually a robot. She's a cyborg, and the world around her isn't as clueless about her oddities as it seems. Rarity is the actual robot of the two. Like I said, not something I subscribe to, but it does work given everything in the series so I thought it might be fun to bring it up (the actual theory itself goes into more detail about specific bits, but I can't be bothered to find the full thing).

I'm actually going to stop you here about the resurrection thing to clarify it better, but skip this paragraph if you want to avoid spoilers since you should be able to figure it out yourself come next episode's post-credits scene / episode 7's dialogue: Pinkie's parents aren't actually back yet. Rarity's were technically numbers 1 and 2 of the 9. We do get up to 5 by the end of the episode.

Well, the ones that aren’t thirty feet tall and barely aware of the towns they crush.

Actually, Godzilla was also made, if a bit indirectly. Don't do your nuclear tests near a dinosaur's designated sleeping corner of the ocean, kids. Or dump scores where something might eat them, in Shin's case. Or commit war crimes and atrocities that will make the spirits of those wronged come back as Godzilla. Yes, that was a thing, and it's also considered one of the best Godzilla movies out there.

Apple Bloom's "Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!" is a callback to Applejack saying the same in Episode 2. Once again against plants. It's been an ongoing joke since episode 4, I believe, that this Equestria has an unhealthy amount of highly specific police forces. I think it's a reference to something but I can't remember what. And speaking of references, pretty sure that was a Les Mis reference with the sheep. Sherclop, like Araki, seem to have this tendency to reference that a few times.

Discussing Granny Smith’s death while Applejack wears a neckerchief. Wow, that did not age well.

I'd say it aged extremely well, actually. Depends on how you look at it I suppose.

About the song, "In the end it all comes down to just how far we can slide" is a callback to Fluttershy's line in episode 1. "When small things get kicked around / They just might destroy the town" might also be a reference to the contents of said episode.

The best part about them setting up the existence of Twilight's brother is that the season 2 finale hadn't come out yet at the time. FiW predicted the future of FiM on so many things it became a recurring meme in the community (and still held true up to the end of season 9 with the Celestia sized Twilight).

Sweetie Bot is indeed a gem. Looking forward to seeing you tackle the rest of FiW.

Also that line is amazing, shush about it being terrible.
i.imgur.com/p6ydTV3.jpg

Stupid Complicated Game Alert: Even if your Scan For Fabulosity finds something, you can ignore it and blindly draw the sixth card down if you want.

Stupid Complicated Game Alert: Gravestorm is not optional, so be careful with that Morbid Fascination. At least the number of copies is set when you cast it, so your opponents will need to send their burn facewards if they want to kill you with your own card.

Stupid Complicated Game Alert: If Free Labor is used to ensure would-be blockers are otherwise occupied, "your next main phase" will be the postcombat main phase of the same turn. Plan accordingly.

Sweetie's Big Race is better than most songs in children's TV. The score is catchy, the lyrics are surprisingly compelling in their mix of existential self-awareness and robotic silliness, and I love some of the crashed rhymes. "We're going to win this race, BECAUSE I AM A GOOD RACER!"

And this is just awesome:
"Now we're racing towards the finish line
Nothing matters once you die, but we're along for the ride,
And you sacrifice some meaning just to have the words rhyme
In the end it all comes down to just how far we can slide!"

Honestly maybe the single biggest classic work the fandom ever produced. I just rewatched it earlier for the first time in years, I had forgotten a lot of details but the heart of it is still there.

A kitch-in time saves nine. Here we have three and four.

I haven't watch the entire Friendship Is Witchcraft series, so these are new to me, but doesn't the caption indicate that Rarity's parents are revival #2? Or, at first I thought that both parents together were revival #2. But given that Fluttershy's father is #3, Granny Smith is #4, and the bird at the end is #5, now I'm thinking that it's one living being per revival. So Rarity's mother and father were #1 and #2, and ultimately Pinkie will have failed to bring back her parents.

So… who are those socks for? They have heels and toes, after all.

Rarity has always been a proponent of impractically shaped footwear.

I do have to appreciate the event cards made by The Artrix. Especially not one, but two events designed specifically for ensouled, biological life.

Although "Sisterly Do-the-Apple-Family's-Chores-Extravaganza" is the one that made me laugh out loud.

Catchy song. For some reason, I find the robotic treatment on Sweetie's voice, both in the song and throughout the episode, strangely satisfying. Is it because it has the Auto-Tune built right in? Am I a robot?

It's been fun to see the origin of Sweetie Bot. Not sure that I exactly understand how it kept being a thing years and years later, but at least now I know where it came from.

I'm unreasonably amused by the fact that The World Consumed immediately destroys itself if you play it into an Opalescence. And no, I don't know why that's the first thing that occurred to me.

5470019
Unless, of course, something else is giving it flying. Stupid complicated game.

Which, of course, leads to Sweetie accusing Rarity of being a robot. Ah, irony.

Convincing your sister that she's crazy or paranoid is called gaslighting, and it's a dick move. But convincing her that she's a robot with artificial emotions is called bladerunning, and it's a Phillip K. Dick move.

I love how Applejack doesn’t even deny her status as a war criminal. She just points out that Rarity’s in the same boat.

Speaking of which, if you're covering the FiW shorts for FICG, I hope you'll also remember to give "How Applejack Won the War" a nod when its time comes.

Edit: It has an animated music video too.

Rarity's parents are shown as 2/9 at the beginning. Later, Fluttershy's dad is shown as 3/9. Granny is 4/9, and the birds at the end are 5/9. Gotta assume that this is some kind of time-warp thing Pinkie's doing, but what is she doing, exactly?
Also, who was 1/9? For that matter, 9 what?

5471414
Pinkie explicitly sang it. 'A kitch-in time saves nine'. Nine resurrections.

Cybernetic
(W) Artifact Creature — Cyborg
Vigilance
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control three or more artifacts,
Augment 3W (3W, Reveal this card from your hand: Combine it with target host. Augment only as a sorcery.)
+2/+2

"If you control three or more artifacts," what?

5647587
That depends on the host. Augment is a weird mechanic, which should come as no surprise given that it's from a silver-bordered set. It may help if you see an augmentation and a host for yourself. The augmentation physically attaches to the host, including the abilities. Augmenting Cybernetic onto Lunging Rattlesnake, as an example, gives you Cybernetic Rattlesnake, a 4/3 white and black Cyborg Snake artifact creature with vigilance and "At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control three or more artifacts, target creature gains deathtouch until end of turn and must be blocked this turn if able."

5647589
I see! How curious. Gives me Scribblenauts/Baba is You vibes with the mix-and-match components.

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