This episode confirms that they have cutie marks on both sides? What about Rarity's overhead shot in Suited for Success back in the first season?
Andrew
How does Only Sane Man apply? Most of the characters just aren't following most of the action, and the other ponies certainly notice Twilight's acting odd (which is the closest thing to a crazy thing going on as required in the trope definition), even if they don't handle it right.
And while we're at it, Ungrateful Bastard? Twilight was grateful at the end. And Spike's rant was just silly boasting.
I understand these may be someone's reactions, but the question is whether the tropes apply, objectively and by their stated definitions, and the answer to that is "no" as far as I can see.
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To be more explicit: Only Sane Man says "something absolutely insane is going on, but only one person notices (or cares)." There is no dynamic here of everyone else being oblivious and only one character seeing what's going on. The other ponies do think Twilight is being crazy even if they don't take it seriously enough.
Could it be that when it snowballs that eventually their "isolation" of Twilight by dismissing her concerns only makes them realize their friend on a verge of a nervous breakdown is about to be forced by the Princess to be recalled to Canterlot for good? And they have a semi-Heel Realization as they should have been a little more caring about Twilight's emotional implosion?
It leads the others sans Spike (who was afraid Twilight might do something to hurt herself in her hyper-anxiety state and brought Celestia to try to talk some sense to Twilight since only SHE might be able to calm the pony then) to admit their "failing" as friends to embrace her concerns, and begging Celestia to let Twilight stay with them.
For a darker take, there was one episode of "Teen Titans," "Haunted," where Robin thought he was fighting a supposedly dead Slade in darkness nobody else could see. Robin was getting wounded and argued he couldn't be self-inducing this. It was only when Raven went into Robin's mind and indeed saw Slade fighting him that they realize that Slade brought the fight to where Robin couldn't call on the other Titans: to a place where only Robin could sense him even if from beyond the Dead. The stress from having to fight Slade would kill Robin—but it seems Slade vanishes when a light comes on. When Slade charges for a killing blow, Robin turns on a light—and Slade vanishes for good. It turns out it was part of a Batman Gambit where one of Slade's Masks had chemicals that made Robin hallucinate when there was no light, but the sinister addition? The chemicals were activated by someone outside the Tower...
Likewise, the expectations of herself imposed by Twilight might be also this being that is taking a toll on her mind, and only when her friends are willing to do anything to keep Twilight with them despite their previous dismissal of a not-so-trivial-for-Twilight concern is THAT being able to be deal with for good.
When Twilight reveals she might because of all this be sent back to Canterlot for good, the other Mane Cast could have a "My God Why Didn't We See it was THIS BAD?!?" moment vs. just a plain "My God What Have We Done?" It wasn't just that Twilight was worried over what they thought was nothing, but that worry brought Princess Celestia over. Meaning it was a LOT worse than they wanted to have believed—and "With Friends Like Us, Did Twilight Need Enemies this time" becomes a real fear of their own. By forcing her to go it alone, could it have been bad as when Discord turned them all against Twilight just one episode earlier? Or worse, given Twilight's on the verge of a nervous breakdown?
how about something like "Twilight has Serious OCD" as laconic?
Edited by locuas Hide / Show Replies
I like "Twilight snaps: The Episode" myself.
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Given she and the others just fought Discord in a two-parter before this, she could have post-traumatic stress disorder on top of her OCD as well. No lessons today? What if this was a set-up for a bigger thing to come down the pike later? Or a lull that might make Celestia think all was well in Ponyville enough to call Twilight home for good?
Is Twilight having a "Blue Screen of Death" kind of thing?
(Yeah, I normally shouldn't be with this, but I have a young niece, Avvie— and she often asks Uncle to help her try to understand why her favorite pony was like this or that in the episodes she streams with her parents.)
The others have a better snapback than Twilight, so when they realize their friend had it much worse than they were willing to believe it, it leads to them realize they had 5 Idiot Balls and possibly 5 Villain Balls for not caring about their friend on that slippery slope. It's only when they admit they failed her and beg for Celestia not to take Twlight from them that Celestia lets them help with the load she'd initially put on Twilight alone.
Question: does Spike's interruptions of Twilight's imagine spots qualify as a full 4th wall break? I'm pretty sure it only qualifies as Painting, not Breaking, but I'm not sure enough to change the article yet
I think there's a plot hole: In Elements of Harmony, Princess Celestia doesn't specify that Twilight has to send her letters every week.
Yep, Twilight's "Every WEEK" deadline seems to have been entirely self-imposed. For being so literal-minded and by-the-book-y, she took it much more seriously than one would think.
Looks more like a (rather violent...) sort of massage than chiropractic to me: FS specifically refers to tension in the bear's (Harry's?) shoulder, and chiropractic really shouldn't touch the neck (god, that twist.) Fairly YMMV, I guess.
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Um, chiropractic is all about the neck, and the spine. In fact, one chiropractor I went to only believed in manipulating the neck area, feeling that anything further down would be influenced by those manipulations of the neck.
The chiropractor I visit now actually does neck twists like that (allowing for cartoonish exaggeration in the show of course) on me—taking hold of my head and giving a sharp twist until I feel a *pop* as the bones adopt a new position. A little disturbing to be on the receiving end, but it's amazing how much tension and pain it relieves.
Edited by Robotech_Master
Spine: sure. Neck: personally I wouldn't, given Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst's advice as reported at http://skepdic.com/chiro.html
. The Jarvis quote there is interesting too, regarding disagreements which end is supposed to be thrown around(!) Looks like neck manipulations have the nastiest risks associated with them: http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/chirostroke.html
But anyway. Ponies! Far nicer than risky vitalistic pseudosciency stuff. I need to do some music figuring out. (Oh but, oh Celestia! *Horrible* headcanon now: Fluttershy's absence from the (at least) 3 episodes following can be explained by her arrest and banishment for putting Harry the Bear in a wheelchair... nooo! Must think nice, pastel thoughts.)
Edited by EpikuriousOranj
Do you think it's about time we gave this episode its own Nightmare Fuel page?
Okay, something else than pointing out incorrect use for once... Since I see there are often/sometimes separate entries for Continuity Nod and Call-Back on these episode pages, can someone here tell me what the difference is between the two? As far as I can see, there isn't any, except for the Continuity Nod page incorrectly implying Call-Back has to drive plot development.
Edited by VVK Hide / Show Replies
Well, going with the Laconic versions...
Continuity Nod: A reference to a previous installment in one work's continuity.
Call-Back: A Shout-Out to previous episodes in a series.
...Yeah, I'm confused too.
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i think a continuity Nod is a reference, meanwhile a Call-Back is more like a joke.
That would make Call-Back a subtrope, but it's not really supported by the trope description(s), and also it would be confusing and vague even if it was meant that way.
Edited by VVK
Test
I request that we remove the link to the Molestia picture in the Shout-out part. I don't think it's a Shout-Out, and I don't think it's the kind of thing we want to link to anyway.
Am I the only one who thinks this page's picture would do better as the pic for the Nightmare Fuel page? Just saying it's a LOT scarier than freaked out Pinkie Pie.
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Yeah, I mean, the Pinkie picture is kinda funny. Twilight, well, she scared the kids I was babysittin'.
Yeah...could we have picked a more disturbing image?
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Well, at least the scene in this episode isn't as disturbing. Pinkie's breakdown was masterful, this isn't nearly as well thought out.
Test
Could Twilight be considered to be carrying the Idiot Ball? I don't think so, because she's been shown to overeact before, but I thought I'd at least bring it up.
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Can individual episodes have their own YMMV pages? Because that would probably be the place for this one.
I was under the impression that YMMV tropes were allowed on Recap pages.
I really think it's within Twilight's character to horribly overreact to something like this. If there is an Idiot Ball, it's intentional; Spike even points out that Twilight is massively overreacting.
Reaction Image Repository
YMMV exist on several of the episode pages for this show. Don't know if it "acceptable" or not, but it has been around long enough I would THINK someone would have fixed it by now if it weren't.
Christian Furry Brony D&D gamemaster & homebrewer
It's flanderization, or rather, hopefully the merely temporary counterpart to that trope. So I think it counts for Idiot Ball as well. It doesn't just follow naturally from what has gone on before.
Lights Out!
Does anyone else think that the Smarty Pants doll was meant to be a Shout-Out (Shout In?) to the MLP merchandise? You know, with this "She comes with her own notebook and quill for when you want to pretend she's doing her homework!" Also, since Big Macintosh snatches it when no one is looking (ahem).
EDIT: Ok, seems like someone found a suitable trope.
Edited by StyxD The state of TV Tropes.
Took a Level in Badass is when a character (it also says a weak one) has permanently become more Bad Ass. It keeps appearing (I don't know if by a single editor) in the context of this show to describe single moments.
Anywho, I'm going to remove it from this episode as soon as I can. Fluttershy has not become able to beat up bears, she's actually just doing her usual thing, and Rainbow Dash was already the way she is, even if she hasn't done this particular trick before. Besides, this trope would be something hard to judge from a single episode. But very likely, it's not being meant the way it's supposed to be used.
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Is Mrs. Cake mentioning a baker's dozen really not a pun? She's a baker. Using that term to describe thirteen units of something gives it a double meaning, doesn't it?
If anything, I wonder if it's stealthy enough to be a Stealth Pun.
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Definitely not a pun, IMO. It's exactly the meaning of a baker's dozen, and even explained within the show.
Bach. Sci. Mechanical Engineering
Not sure if talking to other people(rather than repeating it to yourself) and only asking each of them once (well, once in the exact same words), counts as a "Madness Mantra". If I am correct then both the main trope listing on this page, and the linking in the caption need to be changed.
Christian Furry Brony D&D gamemaster & homebrewer
So, Twilight attempting to create a problem just so she can be the one to solve it-do we have something for this? The closest thing I can find is Monster Protection Racket, or possibly False Flag Operation, but those don't really fit.
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If so, then it might also need to be added to the recap for The Best Night Ever for Rainbow Dash's later attempts to re-attract the attention of the Wonderbolts.
Edited by DracoDei Christian Furry Brony D&D gamemaster & homebrewer
The page is checked out right now, so I'm adding a note here that there's a third continuity nod.
In season 1, Applejack mentions that she wants to fix up the barn because of how run down it is. Apparently, she decided to just rebuild from scratch instead.
Also, is there a trope for Big Macintosh taking the Smartypants doll at the end?
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Well, it looked smaller than the main barn, which was skeletonized by parasprites in "Swarm of the Century". I suppose they could have done cheap "make do" repairs at that time if they were still similarly short of money, and/or not wanting to put good boards on bad structural members(and couldn't afford new structural members).
Christian Furry Brony D&D gamemaster & homebrewer
Also, while it IS a continuity nod, I am not sure that Rainbow Dash actually Sonic Rainboomed the barn. The ring shaped burst is similar/identical, but it happens at the BOTTOM, rather than higher up. So if she Rainboomed, she only broke the sound-barrier AFTER she had passed through the roof of the barn.
Christian Furry Brony D&D gamemaster & homebrewer
Bach. Sci. Mechanical Engineering
"Herd Hitting Attack" seems barely applicable, especially since everyone in the pile are mutual enemies at that point. Seems like there should be something more specific for bursting out of a pile of foes... maybe I should hunt down the "You know that thing where?"
Christian Furry Brony D&D gamemaster & homebrewer Hide / Show Replies
Ok, found it... "Dog-Pile of Doom"... which I now notice is already on the page... right...
Christian Furry Brony D&D gamemaster & homebrewer
Fun and Perky
under "Continuity Nod" we have (...)
- "The first season had a running theme of the Mane Cast freaking out when their individual special talents failed them."
Can someone explain how this is true? In season one, the only episode I can think of for the which is true is perhaps Applebuck Season... Christian, gamer, programmer, brony, and quadriplegic (paralyzed mid-thorax down). I am filled with determination...