F A I T H; T R U S T

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... I think I need to re-watch the My Little Pony: FiM season finale again. I watched it Saturday when I was exhausted and moody and because of that I'm not sure I enjoyed it as much as I could have.

I did like it, not as much as the season premiere though. Partially, I was annoyed with the finale's shift in focus to romantic love as the "ultimate power" rather than friendship, which is something FiM had (refreshingly) avoided up until then. It was the first time the series did so, but it still didn't jive with me. I'm not going to hold that too much against it, however, because the rest of the show has always been friendship- and family-focused. The writers probably wanted to do something different (for FiM, at least) and that's fine. I can deal for two episodes.

What really bothered me was the finale of the finale, where all I could think was "what the hell are all the royal guards and Princess Celestia doing while this villain prances around revealing her evil plot? THE ROOM IS FULL OF PONIES, WHY IS NO ONE ATTACKING HER?!" Then Celestia finally says something and starts to fight, and I'm thinking, "Awwwh yeah, finally...! But where the fuck is Luna? Are the writers suggesting she's not there because it's daytime and she's asleep? She wouldn't wake up with all this commotion going on? Someone wouldn't at least go wake her up?" (at the end of the episode, it was confirmed that yes, she was asleep the whole time -__-)

Then just as Celestia seems like she's going to destroy the villain, she EPIC FAILS, collapses in a heap, and weakly tells the mane six to go get the elements of harmony... again :/ That left me thinking, "is Celestia just a totally useless figurehead, and her security all for show? Why aren't the mane six running Equestria? They seem to be the only ponies capable of defeating major villains, and every time a new one rears its head, Celestia turns to them...." And then the whole scene that followed with the mane six fighting, well. It was awesome, but again. THEY WERE THE ONLY ONES FIGHTING. None of the royal guards, none of the other ponies, no Luna getting her ass out of bed... just the mane six vs. the villains' hundreds of minions.

I guess I'm just used to more, ah, epic fight scenes in my fiction, animation or otherwise. If characters are present, they fight, especially if they're soldiers, leaders, or have some special ability (say, magic or flight). It was kind of ridiculous that even though so many of Equestria's ponies were in Canterlot at the time for the royal wedding, and that "extra security" was put in place to deal with a threat made against the city mentioned earlier in the episode, and that Canterlot is the city where the powerful demi-godesses of Equestria both live, none of these ponies attempted to fight back aside from Celestia (who was defeated in no time) and the mane six. In fact, even as the majority of the battle was taking place, there weren't even civilians running about until the very end. Canterlot was shown empty aside from, again, the changeling minions and the mane six. I was like... "well, where the hell is everypony?"

So that whole aspect kind of ruined it for me. There was just a whole lot left unexplained, too. Why wasn't Twilight's brother ever mentioned before if he was her only friend her entire life before coming to Ponyville? Why was Twilight so hurt that he hadn't contacted her about his wedding when she seemingly hadn't contacted him since she originally left Canterlot? I thought he would confront her anger with anger about that, but that didn't happen at all. Also, where did Princess Cadance even come from? If she was a princess, why was she Twilight's babysitter in the past? Okay, so this episode did imply that Twilight's family is part of the Canterlot aristocracy (Twilight's room as a foal was ridiculously opulent), or at least has a lot of money and a strong history with royalty. But still... I can't see a young princess babysitting for anyone but (possibly) their own family members. Twilight's parents could have been very close with Cadance's family, but Twilight didn't even know Cadance's full name... so again, I am doubtful.

OTHERWISE. I loved the music in this episode, as well as the new characters in a general sense and especially the new villain's character design. The story/plot itself was enjoyable, with several unexpected twists. Twilight's relationship with her brother, though it came out of nowhere, was adorable. The humor was entertaining, especially the gags involving Pinkie Pie, and I appreciated all the background pony cameos (though again... I wondered why Cadance's bridesmaids, and thus assumed closest friends, were everyday residents of Ponyville and not Canterlot royalty/aristocracy like herself... though I admit, that is getting nit-picky x'3 Heh).

But yeah, I think a second watch-through is in order, at least now that I know what to expect.

Regardless of my opinion on the finale (which was, overall, pretty good! Just dotted with annoyance by plot holes), I enjoyed season 2 very much as a whole and look forward to season 3. Season 1 is still my favorite though :3

MY PAID ACCOUNT EXPIRED

EXTREME WOE

Next Friday... I get paid... so I guess I can survive a week w/o a paid account :'( ONLY 15 ICONS, WHAT EVER SHALL I DOOOOOOOO.

In other news, I'm in the process of spiffing up my casual!Sora cosplay! Got yellow boots for it, and going to (attempt) make his crown necklace thingy so I look more like Sora n' all. Am I the only one who puts so much effort into closet cosplay? CUZ I KINDA FEEL LIKE IT....

Also got hairspray and stuff for styling the wig. I have never styled a wig as extreme as this will be, and haven't cut/syled a wig at all in like six-seven years. SO WISH ME LUCK EL-JAY.

Hopefully I don't totally butcher the thing

So I guess there’s a con at the UCF student union tomorrow that only costs $5, so uhh… IMPROMPTU CON-GOING COMMENCE???

Going to attempt to style my Sora wig and be casual!Sora for the day, it’ll be in the 80s tomorrow so like hell I’m wearing Edward and I just got my hair cut so Toboe is a no, too…

Gonna re-live me some JACON ‘00 - ‘04 memories, oh yeahhhh

THIS IS GONNA BE AWESOME

So yeah, obligatory Friendship is Magic post! Hearts and Hooves Day was pretty adorbs; I had been looking forward to this episode since the teaser clip was posted online. I think it’s pretty obvious by now that Sweetie Belle's cutie mark is going to be related to singing. That filly has a voice on her!

Also, any ep that features Big Mac behaving like a lovestruck teenaged girl is worth watching. Some of his lines and facial expressions were just too damn cute. Cheerilee finally getting an episode was nice, too. We finally got to see a lot more of her personality. Though I've got to wonder, what were the other mane six doing on Hearts and Hooves day? Twilight was shown for maybe a minute and she was reading, but that doesn't mean she spent the whole day doing so.

I'm sorta glad the episode didn't show the mane six with dates (shipping is safe!), but the Cutie Mark Crusaders reacted to Cheerilee not having a "special somepony" for the day as if it was shocking, and spent the whole episode trying to hook her up. I dunno if that just says they were surprised that Cheerilee specifically didn't have a "special somepony" because they expected she would, or if it implied that all the other adult mares they know (mane six included) had dates of their own that we just didn't get to see. I thought that was interesting.

I watched the episode Saturday, just hadn't gotten around to writing about it yet.

It's called "poop or chocolate" and you've probably played it many times before; you just didn't know it was a game.

The object is to see something brown and not easily identifiable, and to decide or confirm if it is poop or chocolate. You can do this by getting a closer look, smelling it, or the MOST EXTREME FORM OF PLAYING... tasting.

This game was originally invented as strictly taste-based game where you lick a brown substance to see if it's poop or chocolate. This was thought up as a joke between a friend and I when we saw what was probably cat poop crust on his carpet, but we weren't entirely sure. It was never actually played, but as the years went by and I told more people about poop or chocolate it kinda evolved to mean any situation where you wonder if something is poop or chocolate, even if you choose not to investigate.

SO NOW THE INTERNET KNOWS

p.s. "is it brown?" is also a poop-related in-joke I have w/ certain friends. This is used as a response to suggest that something unidentifiable (usually a stain) is poop.

It was such a hectic weekend that I couldn’t talk about Saturday's episode of FiM, which was pretty damn good.

Any episode that makes me d'aww at Rainbow Dash has accomplished great things, and this episode did just that. It was sorely needed. In fact, I had just been discussing that with darkangel_wings, though I still think there needs to be an ep where we really get to see Dash’s vulnerable side. I know it's in there somewhere!

Also, Indiana Jones references ftw! I dunno if Daring-Do was an archaeologist, but if so, I feel well-represented :3

(Though I do hope she was stealing the statue because the dog-creature thingy had stolen it first from its rightful temple, or whatever. Otherwise she’s just fucking up context and that ain’t cool... but lol, yeah, KIDS SHOW)

Hey LJ

What are some good anime recs for a neighbor of mine who is 11 and always wants to borrow my stuff. I obviously have no idea what is age appropriate for him, since I already loaned him .hack//SIGN and Saiyuki and he came back five minutes later saying his parents wouldn't let him watch Saiyuki. I re-read the description on the back of the DVD (which includes graphics of blood spatters and a pic of Sanzo pointing a gun I hadn't noticed) and immediately realized why... it concluded with "Enter the world of Saiyuki.... a land where four reluctant heroes are just as interested in having a good time, a stiff drink, and a beautiful woman as they are about saving the world." LOL I WONDER /facepalm

His parents must be thinking "what the hell is this creeper trying to impose upon my innocent child" :|

So uh... any ideas? I was already 15 when I became an anime fan, so I have no point of reference myself. He likes Naruto and Bleach and other stereotypical shounen-y stuff... hence why I thought Saiyuki would be just swell. DERP, apparently.

Had a pretty good Friday with Kailey and Ren this week, and also got a new job Thursday! Nothing awesome, and not as reliable and steady as I'd like, but... hey it's money, and money is something I need!

BUT I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT PONIES INSTEAD CUS... just 'cus.

MAINLY BECAUSE THIS SONG, OMG, FROM SATURDAY'S EPISODE:



SO CATCHYYY <3 & I love the Flim Flam brothers, I just wanna take 'em home and squeeze the sleaze out of 'em. They're probably my fave boy ponies after Big Mac now!

But yeah, something is definitely in that Cider :| I mean, THE WHOLE TOWN lining up EVERY DAY to drink some? And they always sell out?? Also yeah Berry Punch's face when she gets her first mug of the stuff and she's infamous in the fandom for being a drunk... I think that had to be a lil nod to that fanon aspect of her on the creators' parts lol.

Also nice to see Rainbow Dash being portrayed as a sympathetic character again. She really needs an ep that shows she has a vulnerable side, 'cus for the most part she's just kind of unlikable to me. I get her personality and that she definitely has shown she has redeeming qualities (I like her playful, prankster side the most, and of course her drive and determination and her element, loyalty), buuuut for the most part her behavior is really off-putting. Even Rarity is more down-to-earth. I know there's gotta be more to Dash, we just haven't seen it yet, but I hope we see it soon.

ON THE OTHER HOOF, AJ is becoming my third fave pony (after Twilight and Pinkie) quite fast <3

ANY THOUGHTS ON THIS, FELLOW BRONIES??

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

HAH...

... hah.

;-; TOO MUCH