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FanOfMostEverything


Forget not that I am a derp.

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  • 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    So, as I have come to understand, the main G5 IDW line has been replaced by/subsumed into a series of mini-series and one-shots that feels like the equivalent of a network trying to kill a show by bouncing it around the schedule.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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    7 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
Jul
17th
2022

Friendship is Card Games: The Tax Breaks (Twilight) · 11:48am Jul 17th, 2022

15.ai is both a triumph of machine learning and a power too great for mortal men. With just a few minutes of sampled audio, it can produce fairly convincing sentences in that voice. And part of its training data was Friendship is Magic.

Yes, with Rainbow Dash Presents exhausted, we turn to a much more recent fan episode, one voiced synthetically. Let’s see how it turns out.

Ah, seems this one’s based on a Blueshift story. Fine choice. And a good way to transition from RDP.

I was wondering how they’d handle the animation for this. It’s pretty good, all things considered. Nice bit of Paper Mario charm to it. The music is on point as well.

I don’t watch much TV anymore, pony included. Seeing and hearing the theme song again is a bit of a trip at this point. Especially the pre-Season 4 version.

The marshmallow cereal having a Rarimallow on the box is a lovely touch.

I’m kind of sad they cut Dash’s “I didn’t know there was a nine AM.” I quite like that line.

:facehoof: Oh, Dash. Not exactly the strongest sense of romance in the main cast.

The divine choir and sunbeam on Twilight’s tax return are lovely touches.

You’d think living in a cloud house would put some kind of limit on Dash’s spending. On the other hand, all those rainbow fountains probably aren’t cheap, to say nothing of the maintenance that may be involved.

It wasn’t until I heard Dash say “twenty percent” that the value of that particular incentive clicked for me.

Hmm. What would Equestria do with those who can’t afford their taxes? Lunar banishment and debtor’s prison both feel wrong, but it’s not like we’ve seen much of the local criminal system. Mostly extrajudicial rulings from alicorns and some of the worst plotlines from the comics.

“Thank Celestia” is normally just a nicely nonspecific bit of divine invocation, but she may literally be the one to thank for tax breaks for married couples.

Yeah, even putting aside Twilight’s rigorously by-the-book nature, I can’t imagine a mare who grew up with Cadence for a foalsitter would approve of using marriage solely for financial benefits.

Reducing the bouquet of roses to ash feels a bit like overkill.

I do love how this lays bare the contrast between Sweet Apple Acres’ production how the Apples are constantly strapped for cash. Personally, I think Applejack just doesn’t have a head for numbers (which is why she isn’t in charge of the finances) but deliberately underreporting their income also works.

Filthy Rich isn’t available in 15.ai, so they had to make do with what was available. Personally, I’d have gone with the TF2 Engineer.

Given what we’ve seen of Equestrian literacy, a sad Applejack face and X-ed out moneybag could well be the official terminology for her bankruptcy claims.

Here Applejack illustrates an important point: Honesty isn’t truth, it’s only what you believe to be true. And she sincerely believes that she shouldn’t owe one yellow cent to the mare in the gilded marble castle.

I do love the angry horse noise acting as a capstone to Applejack’s rant.

The beat as Carrot Top explains her offshore accounts is perfectly spaced. And the fact that that loophole still exists raises some questions about what Equestria’s legislative body is doing with their money.

Dash’s proposal to Derpy is a delightful background gag.

Even with limited animation resources, Rarity’s smirk as Twilight tries to hold her up as an example of integrity is also delightful. Likewise her growing sense of confusion and dread. And her intonation as she justifies her little hobby is outstanding; 15.ai is very hard to wrangle well enough to get that level of nuance.

I do like seeing Cherry Berry and Berry Punch spending time together given the common fanonical idea that they’re sisters.

Twilight’s twitching. That’s never a good sign. Rarity’s one-legged shrug and looking askance at the camera, however, is A+ resource reuse.

“Perhaps Fluttershy would’ve been more agreeable…” Ugh. That was originally in the story’s narration. Hearing Dash say something like that just feels wrong. That said, her nonverbal sounds of frustration and desperation are quite good. I have to wonder if they’ve been sampled from the show itself.

Hmm. Not the voice I pictured for Past Dues—honestly, I heard Ben Stein reading his lines—but Sunburst certainly works.

Oh dear. Twilight’s trying to have a rational argument with Pinkie. She’s clearly too angry to think straight.
Also, Applejack surrounded by bits is a lovely touch. Really underscoring how much her business is “struggling.”

Trying to get Twilight to sign off on the various forms of tax avoidance does raise the question of just what kind of governmental power she has as Celestia’s personal student. An interesting question to consider, and one that obviously lost a lot of relevance after “Magical Mystery Cure.” Still, for pre-ascension fics, it’s still a very adjustable knob for the setting, to say nothing of Celestia taking on a new student after Twilight earns her wings.

The Spongebob “My leg!” never fails to get a chuckle out of me. Perfectly timed.

More background fun with Applejack racing home with the day’s haul as Scootaloo corners Dash. Her kicking a money bag behind one of the shrubs by Golden Oaks is a lovely follow-up, and her conspiratorial wink with Twinkleshine is the cherry on top.

Credit to the animators for the equinized backronym. Past Dues is apparently working for the Monetary And Revenue Enforcement Service.

I’m kind of amazed that Dash could adopt Scootaloo in a matter of minutes, but Rule of Funny definitely applies here. Much like Dash dropping her.

Perhaps the best part is that, after her twenty-percent discount, Dash owes… four bits. Which means that the crippling, unaffordable amount she owed before, the one she spent all day trying to reduce, was five bits. And now she has to deal with the consequences.

Twilight using a friendship letter to gloat about her greater moral integrity is honestly kind of hilarious.

:rainbowlaugh: And they took the time to make her wings cardboard. Amazing.

In all, this was delightful. A great demonstration of what’s possible with current technology. (I just wish the far more involved fan animation hadn’t come out last night. Because of how I’ve planned out my schedule, I won’t be able to get to that one until September. Well, at least I have plenty to work with for this week:

Marriage Benefits 1W
Enchantment
When Marriage Benefits enters the battlefield, put a soulbond counter on target creature you control. You may pair that creature with another creature you control. (Whenever another creature enters the battlefield, you may pair the creature with soulbond with it. They remain paired as long as you control both of them.)
Paired creatures you control get +1/+1.

Moral Exemplar 1W
Creature — Unicorn Cleric
Protection from instants
Players can’t cast spells during combat.
“We do this openly and fairly, as Celestia intended, or we don’t do it at all.”
2/2

Blessed Sunbeam 2W
Instant
Choose one or both —
• Target artifact or enchantment gains indestructible until end of turn.
• Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
Celestia decides what may face the dawn.

Canterlot Auditor 2W
Creature — Unicorn Advisor
Spells each player casts cost 1 more to cast for each spell that player has cast this turn.
“And how, exactly, is a personal storm system a business expense for a mailmare?”
2/3

Tax Season 2W
Enchantment
Tax Season enters the battlefield with six debt counters.
Spells your opponents cast cost 1 more to cast.
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, you gain 1 life and remove a debt counter from Tax Season. Then if there are no debt counters on Tax Season, sacrifice it.

Marshmallow Golem (2w)(2w)(2w)
Artifact Creature — Golem
If a nonred source would deal damage to Marshmallow Golem, prevent all but 1 of that damage.
If a red source would deal damage to Marshmallow Golem, it deals double that damage to it instead.
3/3

Tax Evasion 1U
Instant
Counter target spell that targets you or a permanent you control. Create a Treasure token. (It’s an artifact with “T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.”)
It’s not illegal if you don’t get caught.

Lucrative Hobby 2U
Enchantment
Tap two untapped nontoken artifacts you control: Create a Treasure token.
By the time her third store opened, Rarity had to admit her old tax dodge was wearing thin.

Business Losses 1B
Enchantment
Whenever an opponent sacrifices a permanent, that player loses 1 life.
Some costs are harder to pay than others.

Pragmatic Partnership 2B
Instant
Up to two target creatures each get +1/+0 and gain deathtouch until end of turn.
“We’re each the only thing that could stop the other. Together, we could take on the world. What do you say?”

Loophole Specialist 1R
Creature — Pony Advisor
You may pay 0 rather than pay ward costs.
“Ah, but thanks to this Schedule H, I can declare my furniture as dependents.”
2/2

Asset Liquidation 1RR
Enchantment
When Asset Liquidation enters the battlefield, sacrifice all lands you control, then create twice that many Treasure tokens.
Spells you cast cost 2 less to cast.
When you control three or more lands, sacrifice Asset Liquidation.

Money Runner 3R
Creature — Pony Rogue
Trample, haste
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice Money Runner.
When Money Runner dies, create two Treasure tokens.
“If anypony asks, I’m just trying to get to the bank.”
4/1

Pegasus Spendthrift 3R
Creature — Pegasus Rogue
Flying
Whenever Pegasus Spendthrift deals combat damage to a player, create that many Treasure tokens.
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a Treasure.
“A budget? Sure, I’ll take four.”
3/1

Twilit Outburst 3R
Sorcery
Each player discards their hand, then draws seven cards. Twilit Outburst deals damage to each player equal to the greatest mana value among cards that player discarded this way.
Drive Twilight crazy enough and she’ll return the favor.

Royal Splendor G
Instant
Target creature you control gains hexproof and indestructible until end of turn. If you’re the monarch, each other creature you control gains hexproof and indestructible until end of turn.
Harming Celestia is nigh-unthinkable for most ponies.

Satisfied Customer 3G
Creature — Pony Citizen
When Satisfied Customer enters the battlefield, create X Food tokens, where X is your devotion to green. (They’re artifacts with “2, T, Sacrifice this artifact: You gain 3 life.” Each G in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to green.”)
3/3

Earned Reward 4G
Instant
Put X +1/+1 counters on target creature, where X is the total combat damage dealt to and dealt by that creature this turn.
“A hard day’s work is its own reward, one nopony can take from you.”
—Applejack, Bearer of Honesty

Seapony Accountant 1(wu)(ub)
Creature — Pony Merfolk Advisor
Flash
When Seapony Accountant enters the battlefield, create X Treasure tokens, where X is the number of permanents your opponents sacrificed this turn.
Carrot Top always has a ready source of liquid assets.
2/1

Nostalgia Rush 1BR
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast this spell, exile a creature card from your graveyard.
Create a token that’s a copy of the exiled card, except it has haste. At the beginning of the next end step, sacrifice that token.
There’s no telling what might leave you blindsided by a memory.

Burn the Ledgers 1RW
Instant
Discard your hand, then draw that many cards plus one. When you do, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature for each nonland card discarded this way.
Because shredding is only doing half the job.

Bulk Order 2WU
Sorcery
Choose two or more target players. Each of those players who has fewer than seven cards in their hand draws cards equal to the difference.
Sweet Apple Acres prides itself on its ability to meet any and all customer demand.

Offshore Tax Haven
Land
T: Add C.
T: Add CC. You can’t spend this mana to pay a spell’s mana cost or an ability’s activation cost. (Additional costs aren’t part of those costs.)
Entire ecosystems thrive in the Equestrian tax code’s loopholes.

Comments ( 5 )

I came across this one two months ago, and it was delightful. There were almost no spots where the ai-generated nature of the audio actively distracted. Of course, this being a farcical comedy helps, but the 100-odd hours spent on the audio (judging by the creator's saved livestreams), probably to get just the right delivery and nuance for every line, is to credit too. I read and reviewed the fanfic a bit after, but I won't lie, I'd put this animation of it a whole rating higher, it's a much better medium for it.


I also just watched Missing Out a few hours ago. Given I only discovered the show via the Movie in late 2017, its narrative content and theme hit especially close to home. :applecry:

Also, :rainbowlaugh: – it's been in production so long Wubcake is a voice actor in it, even though she quit the fandom and Pony voice commissions nearly two years ago. Not that I didn't already know Minty Root's dedicated, but that IS dedication, slaving away at this one thing for that long. Truth be told, I usually don't find his pieces fantastic, just because the immense production work is often in service of dramatic material that's, like, y'know, fine, but lightweight choices for visuals THAT hefty. But this, it's a much better fit between narrative content and form. And I think I'd feel that even without it hitting a personal spot.

The only universal constants are death and taxes. Both of which make for excellent comedy.

Stupid Complicated Game Alert: Yes, you can force your opponent to sacrifice things. Doing this and then pinging them for the Business Losses is downright diabolical.

Stupid Complicated Game Alert: If you don't have any Treasure, Pegasus Spendthrift will be sad but nothing else will happen because the card doesn't say that anything else will happen.

Stupid Complicated Game Alert: Lethal damage acts faster than any spell. If you want your Earned Reward, you have to be at least tough enough to survive.

The video is incredibly impressive, missing supporting character voices aside. I had no idea people were still making long fan animations like that, and this is by far the best and most wholesome manner devised for using ai-generated voices.

(I'm looking at you, creepy uncanny valley Young Luke Skywalker :trixieshiftleft:)

Apparently I've read the original fic years ago but had no memory of it.

5673089

I also just watched Missing Out a few hours ago. Given I only discovered the show via the Movie in late 2017, its narrative content and theme hit especially close to home. :applecry:

I just got done with it now... freaking gorgeous. The backgrounds almost looked like models, and the message was really mature and heartfelt.:heart:

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