You're reading the trope wrong. A yes or no question is asked, and the response is then interpreted to fit the format. Spike directly responds No, but it's interpreted as yes. It's a subversion if nothing else, especially as Rainbow Dash says, "I'm going to take that as a...", which is pretty much the key part of this trope.
A couple of the Continuity Nod examples seem a little iffy to me.
Does merely having Applejack buck a projectile count as a "reference" to earlier episodes? It doesn't really stand out to me; it just seems like a typical occurrence.
Should the fact that Rainbow Dash's friends can all visit her at her home go under Call-Back instead? It seems plot-relevant in the sense that it makes the conversation there possible at all.
Hide / Show Replies
I too think the cloud-walking spell is plot-relevant...and before anyone else suggests otherwise, I think the fact that the spell isn't mentioned is irrelevant.
Edited by pvsage
Not that a Call-Back, beyond the criteria of being plot-relevant, also primarily apply when used in dialogue — i.e. the characters talk about previous events.
Thanks for the clarification. Pretty much over whether anything is a Call-Back or Continuity Nod anyway; to me, it's enough that it is recognized as continuity.
Rainbow Dash may be acting recklessly in this episode, but I don't think that makes her a villain overall. Tropes like Anti-Villain apply to characters as a whole, not events.
Ferot_Dreadnaught seems to have suggested Temporarily a Villain as an alternative. I would tentatively say that that would be a better fit.
Hide / Show Replies
EDIT: Nevermind about my previous objection; the new Temporarily a Villain entry explains everything just as well.
Edited by Peridonyx
Just to fully lay this to rest, I asked about this in Trope Talk (here
), and a mod agreed that tropes like Anti-Villain aren't meant to apply temporarily. Thus, I removed the Anti-Villain pothole from the Temporarily a Villain writeup, and that should be all.
"Yes"/"No" Answer Interpretation: I realize the trope page itself says Tropes Are Flexible in the second paragraph, but it specifically requires an answer other than "yes" or "no" to interpret as one or the other.
Isn't that passage adequately covered by I Reject Your Reality?
Hide / Show Replies