Ooh, I think I've found my calendar for next year!

 

Reviewing the 2016 "World of The Hunger Games" calendar: ****/5

It's always a tough pick, so I'll still want to choose at least one other for another room...but yeah. This is good. At first I was disappointed by the other Hunger Games calendar--which featured pretty much just D13 propaganda posters of the most popular members of Squad 451. This is MUCH closer to what I'd been hoping for.

The BrownTrout name means quality, especially with regard to the paper stock, printing, and date box sizes. The design is awesome. Most entertainment-category calendars don't seem to have much thought put into them. Each month gets a big stock photo of one or two characters, or a random still slapped onto it, and that's about it; they tend to look a bit cheap. The only one I recall using is my Kill Bill one. But this collage style is eye-pleasing and far more artistic than average. I like the backgrounds--part flames, part honeycomb grid (like the arena domes...getting consumed.) The whole thing has a really slick, coordinated, deluxe look to it.

Had I designed this, I might have balanced each image set by placing two more small circular ones in the other corners (hey, the more pics, the better, right?!) Or, if there wasn't room for that, maybe alternatingly place one in the upper right/lower left and upper left/lower right, instead of all the right-hand sides? I might also have tried to use images from all the films in chronological order, or even matched them to the months as much as possible (Snow/snow and Effie's "Snow Queen" dress in the winter? The butterflies or woodsy shots in the spring? Flaming outfits in summer? Etc.?) Okay, maybe the latter is a little cutesy and wouldn't always be necessarily appropriate, but it's a thought. The pictures aren't all scattered randomly; there's some logical sense to parts of the arrangement. The REAL issue I have here is the lack of certain people.

I mean, to look at it, you immediately think, "Wow! Everybody must be in there!" But upon closer inspection, you find that a few major people are strangely and notably missing. How in the world do Finnick and Johanna not appear once? I get that Katniss and Peeta are the main characters, but do they need to be there 18 and 10 times respectively while Finn, Jo, Cinna, and Rue couldn't be sneaked in at all? Everybody's favorite love-triangle trio is still actually the main focus--it's rather Gale-heavy with 6 counts of him.
I'm grateful for two shots of Haymitch two months in a row (though they're in the smallest circles), since he and Effie are my favorites, and he's frequently and unfairly overlooked. (*cough cough Funko with the four Katnisses and leaving out a member of the team cough!!!*) If he'd been omitted, I would have raged--all the more given some of the other people included. I'd gladly take more than three Effie-inclusive pics, likewise, but I guess that's not TOO shabby. 'Specially since two are the big center images for the months, & all three come from different films. Hell, you could do a whole calendar of Hayffie moments & every Effie ensemble/look...there are at least 15 of the latter for ya, plus all the Haymitch...x~D In the past I've noted that November and December tend to get the best calendar images, but not this time. ;3
Prim, Plutarch, Caesar, Beetee, Boggs, Cressida, Pollux, Jackson, Coin, & Snow round it out with one or two inserts apiece. Basically...needs more Finnick & Johanna and possibly others; a little too Katniss/Peeta/Gale-heavy. It's definitely diverse, but could stand to be even more so. 

They did a pretty good job of selecting images from all four films (well, as many as they could from MJ2 considering how early it was completed.) Truthfully, from movies so LOADED UP with gorgeous and iconic scenes and costumes, you could've grabbed out a bunch of random handfuls and been able to assemble a nice calendar. So they worked in lots of key people and important events, and as many more as they could've potentially chosen, it came out looking pretty great. Well done.

I also appreciate the new "World of" title they're now applying to everything--virtually promising us that although Part 2 will conclude the series as it's written so far, we can certainly expect more out of Panem in the future. ;) 
Most of the time I go with dog breed calendars, but I've had many of my favorites by now, and apparently they're never going to give me a Saluki one...so maybe I'll just pick up one of the doggy page-a-days and get 365 for the price of 12. This year it's Lisa Frank; most other times it'll be something nature- or travel- or vintage-themed, art/architecture, sea life, demotivational posters, etc. Next year? Going to Panem!

Edit: Just got it. The layout of the pics makes more sense now--they cycle through each of the four films three times, taking 3 shots/stills from each per month. :) [THG>CF>MJ1>MJ2, x3]
Review: "Where's Finnick? Odair he...wait, no..." 
Review #2 
Review of "Yearbook Dogs" 
"Yearbook Dogs" #2 

An Artistic Celebration of Hayffie/Effie/Haymitch

Because they are life.

hayffie.weebly.com | hayffie da | thg da | hayffie pinterest | thg pinterest

[ und zis ja ]

"My ABC's" & 10-Question Survey...'cause why not?

These were goin' around, so...

A-Age: 28 (going on 12)
-
B-Biggest Fear: Needles
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C-Current Time: 8:43 p.m.
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D-Drink you last had: Water
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E-Easiest person to talk to: Myself
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F-Favorite Song: Let It Go ^w^
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G-Grossest Memory: Several incidents involving my brother & vomit >____<
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H-Hometown: Clark, NJ
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I-In love with: Hayffie more than anything/one else atm XD
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K-Killed Someone: Many times (mentally at least)
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L-Longest Relationship: Like...a year-ish?
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M-Middle Name(s): Kathleen Theodora
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N-Number of Siblings: 2 (younger bros)
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O-One wish: To live in a parallel universe with all of my favorite character-people...oh wait, I already do. And spend more time there than in this world. ;-p
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Person you last called: My grandma, a week & a 1/2 ago
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Q-Question You're Always Asked: "Is your hair naturally that red/curly?" (Answer: Yes.)
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S-Song You Last Sang: One of Ownage Pranks' songified pranks XD
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T-Time You Woke Up: 6 am thanks to the low-battery fire alarm going off
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U-Underwear Color: Red right now
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V-Vacation Destination: Next? Not sure. But I ultimately want to go all over the rest of the US/Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, & other islands...we'll see where else after all that. ;]
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W-Worst Habit: Scratching off scabs and picking my nails short x-p
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X-X-Rays You've Had: Dental & left foot after motorcycle accident
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Y-Your Favorite Food: Who could pick one thing? *-* Many fruits, pasta, Belgian waffles, cereal, pretzels, hummus, various veggies, macarons & meringues & gummies & ices & looooads of other sweets/candy/pastries...
-
Z-Zodiac Sign: Cancer & Fire Rabbit/Cat "Looking at the Moon"; third decanate, Taurus moon, Leo rising, Cancer/Leo cusp; Dragon ascendant, Sheep love sign


1. Nickname: Red, Shell/y, Kat, Sissy, Mike, Michelin, Michelob, Myshylee...etc.
2. Eye color: Green
3. Hair color: Red
4. Random fact: I'm a huge toy collector (G4 My Little Pony, plush/plastic dogs & other animals, Disney/Pixar stuff, Lisa Frank...I have TONS of collections.)
5. Favorite color: Rainbow. (Cheating? Okay, chartreuse...)
6. Favorite place: My mind and My World, which includes all of the greatest places in the entire universe
7. Favorite celebrity: I have rather large lists of actors & musicians...but then, I have long lists of EVERYTHING
8. Favorite animal: Dogs, then fishes (and some marine invertebrates)
9. Favorite song: Since I have thousands on Spotify, I'm basically going with Let It Go as #1 now ;)
10. Favorite book: Are you even serious with the asking me this right now? UMM. Let's just say the whole Baby-Sitters Club, Boxcar Children, Sweet Valley, & Goosebumps series, because all of those together? Fuggeddaboutit. Amazing. Cemented a lifelong love of reading. ;3 

yt~personal vidz 
yt~unlisted 

Blindmowing! 8'''-O (MJ2 Trailer Discussion)

Just the sight of hovercrafts touching down gives me a chill. Watched on normal-speed first, then on 0.25. ;}
This time, the arena's in the Capitol. 8-0

Those SUMBISH lizard mutts--Cheesus Christ on a cracker. Okay, honestly, I was pretty much picturing bipedal, overgrown iguanas. Not these nekkidly nightmarish, horrifying-beyond-belief, slippery-slimy-looking eyeless man-beasts. *-* (Were we all silly to envision green gator-like things? Did we project our assumptions onto the text in spite of it, because what do you want when you're talking about reptilian monsters that live in a sewer? What we see in the trailer may be closer to the actual description of the mutts than what's been living in our heads...!)

OhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgod, the parachute scene. They look like bubbles gently floating down, descending upon the crowd of children...`,-,`

Coin's fresh, upgraded "Paneman Presidential" look...hah. Did she get a makeover from Effie? xD That must've been fun. (Girl time! Sleepover!)

Tigris looks even cooler than I imagined, with that super-elaborate tattooing and whiskers and everything. From the little bit we can see of her shop and its basement, I don't think the shop is what I picture, but it looks pretty awesome anyway. Just...brighter, with nicer (Asian-inspired?) wallpaper. 8) Spotted a box in the cellar marked "glamour sample," hehe.

Shit. I'm not ready. I'll never be ready. I can't be ready. There is no ready. But I don't give a shit 'cause I neeeeeeeeeeed it now. x,_,x

Also: Ginormous greenhouse in a scene that reminds me of Winterfell, where Coriolanus Snow knows nothing?? >3<

Still no spoilers of any kind (if you've read), so that's good. I really didn't want any of those. Weeellll, unless you're counting the kiss. Folks might have a point that it'd be a better idea to show more of Peeta acting "mutt-like" rather than hugging & kissing Katniss in the trailers, but hey--they're still selling the love story! ;P
And okay, I suppose there MIGHT be a couple other very quick shots of scenes that'd be rather spoilery to show, but they kept it so that even readers can't be sure enough of what they're seeing to know that anything major is being "spoiled"/shown. To the non-reader who's not squinting and looking for particular details to identify a shot, it must simply look like an "awesome" action/war flick. ;p There are teasing bits to make you wonder about what's going on, but only readers know. The trailer contained nothing that I, personally, was surprised to see; it's the manner in which some of the scenes have been visually realized that's so amazing.
It's all still misleading for the film-only fans...right up to the end; I like that.
The wedding remains, predictably, the most lighthearted part by far.

Now, on my precious Hayffie front: I knew with near-certainty that there wouldn't be much new footage of either of them, which is disappointing, yet...the rest of it might just be TOO fantastically phenomenal and spoilerish to reveal ahead of time! It did include the Papa-Haymitch nod/grin/knee-touch, and the emotional Mama-Effie quick mirror shot & smile toward Katniss. Plus, of course, the all-encompassing wedding-dance shot.

No Beetee, I just realized. Figures, the resident geek gets relegated to the background...

What's next, I wonder? There are just under four months to get through now...will there be another trailer? More stills and/or posters? Will August, September, and October each hold some major reveal? I don't know how much more they can give us, but...well, no, I take that back. Running through the plot in my head, there are definitely things that could be shared without it being "too much."

In regard to another discussion:

-YES--I enjoy how MJ deals with the usage of propaganda in wartime, the cost of war, the distrust of revolutionary leaders ("new boss, same as the old"), and so on.

-Peeta's line about killing Snow & how that would give meaning to the other deaths: Some thought it was OOC for Peeta to say that one death would make another "mean something" because he's a pacifist. Well, I mean, obviously he's not a *complete* pacifist (who would refuse to use violence or kill anyone for any reason), but he is among the people closest to being one. I think, for one thing, he's trying to make Katniss feel better about the fact that her attempted "solo assassination mission" failed and resulted in the seemingly meaningless deaths of several people. Because by this point Katniss feels that her personal body count is way up in the thousands. Finnick is already lizard chow. ;___; The only thing that'll make her feel shittier is Prim's explosion. One can't be sure that Peeta's as fully convinced of the rightness of all this as, say, Gale is...he might be beginning to see it differently, especially in light of the fact that he was brainwashed into a weapon to kill his long-time love. Personally, I sympathize with him immensely, but would see the killing of Snow as necessary. Charity, really. xp Katniss was going after him out of pure, blind hatred, seeking revenge. Her method turned out to be a pretty reckless, half-cocked failure.

     His execution should be performed in the name of everyone who's ever been hurt or killed by him and the violent system over which he presides.Not that killing him is all it takes to "end all this" and change things for the better, but by this point it's fairly clear that ousting him is the ever-so-crucial first step. He's ruthless; no one and nothing is safe from his wrath. (And what would really be the point of capturing him to let him live out the rest of his life?)
Prim's death (along with all the other kids') is what makes Katniss see how imperative it is to eliminate Coin before she can continue on with her new-old system of injustice, totalitarianism, and unbridled killing. Katniss stood to lose her precious little sister no matter which "supreme commander" (aka giant refrigerator, aka hearing aid ;) was pulling the strings...and she chooses to kill the one ultimately responsible for her death. Kat and Haymitch don't really want more Hunger Games; they just wanted to put themselves on Coin's good side temporarily.

REACTING TO 'MOCKINGJAY: PART II' TEASER TRAILER!

Wow. I needed a little while to get a hold of myself after seeing that; it blew me away. I'd been trying to be realistic and saying, "Don't get your hopes TOO high. It may just be a propaganda piece, or only focus on one or two simple scenes...and it'll probably only be about a minute, and not show everyone." Needless to say, that was way more than I was really anticipating. Time to scour each individual frame and notate the minutia!!!

Katniss' speech is givin' me chills. "We all have one enemy. He corrupts everything and everyone. He turns the best of us against each other. Tonight, turn your weapons--to the Capitol!"
Snow is so totally Satan. And I couldn't miss Brie--I mean, Lyme! (But danged if she doesn't still look just like Brienne there, lol.)

I guess the Everlark embrace is kind of a spoiler for non-reader fans, but I enjoy it. :'3 The trailer didn't give away anything that readers don't already know is coming.

FINNIIIIIIIIICK. ;_______; PRIIIIIIIIM. ;0; PLUTAAAAAARCH...not because he dies or anything, but just because of Philip. :'[

Now, Effie & Haymitch are my favorites, so I was praying to see them. Nothing spoilery, of course, but the shots we got are thrilling! Firstly: I'm betting--for now, anyways--on that being Eff's natural hair. 8D Light blonde, as I presumed (and as you could veeeery slightly glimpse poking out in Pt. I.; possibly a little yellowy-looking.) And teased up with mad hairspray and gel, apparently, so it looks more wig-like, but still real--actually growing from her head. It's in an almost Bride-of-Frankenstein-esque shape at the wedding, but I like it. What an upstanding hairdo.
(Though it could possibly be another wig, especially if the Capitol did remove her hair like Johanna's...)
Then the fringed, large-collared grey dress in the mirror shot--that's proooobably the scene straight from the book, near the end, prepping for the execution. :X Interesting outfit. Monochromatic, yet still Capitol-style... Somebody pointed out that the collar and fabric are reminiscent of Finnick's wedding clothes.**   *is totally dead*

Awwww...Effie smiling at Katniss, and beanie-less Haymitch smiling & touching her knee...;w; They're like her fairly odd parents!

I think my favorite clips are of the wedding (in which Effie may've had a hand in the planning...!) The dancing! The blown kiss! The beauty! The camera crew--recording it, I suppose? Naturally. And OMGGGG, Haymitch & Effie standing together!*** Right behind Coin & Plutarch. Oh, my darlins are so high-ranking. ^w^ (And there's Johanna behind Effie!!)

Now for Effie's wedding ensemble, because as usual she stands out--the pink flamingo in a gaggle of grey geese. ("Why am I the only guest dressed for the occasion...?" ;p Yeah, way to underdress, everybody else! And Coin, why you no let her give you makeover?! XD) [[Although it later appears that Johanna, at least, is in the D13 jumpsuit version of a dress!]] That pink getup must incorporate the garment Effie had on her table at the start of MJ1--what she must have been wearing when she arrived. No idea where she came by the rest of the outfit...and what're the odds that she'd just happen to have brought all the perfect accessories for this particular event with her? ;p Maybe they were able to stop somewhere and pick up such things, at some point.

Adorably, she appears to have chosen a coastal theme for her look to honor the happy couple and their district! The flowers, the bracelet colored like sea glass...the, possibly seashell or something earrings? It isn't clear enough to make out the shapes, but for some reason that was my first thought. And the necklace...ooh. A NECKLACE OF ROPE. Wardrobe symbolism strikes yet again. So glad she decided to go with that outfit for the wedding; c'est parfait. :']

Man. Haymitch, you had BETTER tell her that you like her dress, and her hair, and love everything about her. Call her "Sweetheart." Tell her she's beautiful. *Yzma voice* I need to hear these words. (And to see you two dance, and then eventually proclaim your love in some dramatic fashion, hold your own wedding, and make your own babies. It's tough to tell what exactly is going on in that huge wide shot of the dancing, but you can definitely spot Effie, and I'll go with "THEY'RE DANCING" because that so obviously must take place during the wedding...yarr.)

I...just...am hoping for/counting on SO MUCH from this movie, and I have no idea how many more times I'll lose my mind between now & November.

Aaaaand, I said more stuff: Disqus.com/by/ElsaStormborn 
I think I'm-a cry & die, though not necessarily in that order... 

***IG discussion of the possibility of it not being her real hair in the "mirror scene" with Katniss:
"Yeah, Idk, it does look pretty yellow there, as opposed to natural light blonde (could be the lighting?? Or that she colored it?)...even though it does look as if it's growing from her scalp...could've possibly been colored (or a wig) b/c she was all Capitol-dolled-up again for that bit. Even though this fringed grey ensemble is still more monochromatic and almost sort of "fancied-up 13"-looking than what we might've expected for the occasion. 
The hair also seems...well, fairly damaged...possibly from things she's done to try and alter it, and/or simply being covered up so much, which has to be rather suffocating.
I'm hoping to and counting on seeing her REAL hair (not even teased/gelled up, just au naturale) & some more casual clothes, but assuming they wouldn't show THAT ahead of time b/c they wanna keep all the big reveals and Hayffie-type goodness a surprise. *fingers & everything else crossed*"


***

"Make New Friends But Keep Discord"

Another definite new favorite episode of the season so far! Very weird, and I'd expect no less from a Discord-centric one. Reading the description, I thought, "How interesting it'll be if this is a male friend of whom Discord is jealous..." xD But needless to say, this is going to fuel Fluttercord shipping regardless. A new male friend would've perhaps been too blatant...
          I've got to say, there are a lot of common MLP ships with some merit. I mean, Fluttercord's beyond obvious now, though I had also enjoyed the thought of Dislestia or "Discord Pie." Or him with any of the mane six, really. Then you've got Fluttermac, which hypothetically makes a lot of sense, despite us seeing extremely little interaction between those two. But Big Mac could also still wind up pairing with Cheerilee, or any of the mane six aside from Applejack (you just don't wanna go on that adventure. Not with these ponies.) There are few for which you can derive much actual support from the show, of course. The only canon couples are...well, the few who actually are! Parents, mostly. But, enough about that stuff; back to the episode.

Okay, first of all: NEW FAVORITE CHARACTER. Treehugger is amazing. I love her tomato-colored dreadlocked/corded hair, and her epic eyebrows and voice and the things she says. I always love the "hippie-dippie" characters (just started watching Grace & Frankie on Netflix, and Frankie's the best! XD) Absolutely, Treehugger & Maud & Flax Seed & the other hippie ponies from the comics need to be BFFs. Treesie and Maud are both so eminently chillaxed. And speaking of Maud, she attended the gala this year! In a sparkly blue dress! Wondrousness!! 8DDD

So Treehugger's an earth pony with a cutie mark that looked like a heart balloon, or a heart on a stick or something? I dunno, I felt as if that could've been a little better thought-out. Doesn't have to be a tie-dyed peace sign with daisies around it or anything, but it looked a tad bit uninspired for such an awesometastic pone. But then, she'd probably be all cool about the whole thing and feel cosmically blessed by any cutie mark that turned up, interpreting it as being one way or another fully in tune with her aura and life force. -u-

Interesting how Discord brought the Smooze back--but instead of being a many-faced ocean of purple goo under the command of a witchy trio, it seems he summoned a smaller quantity of green JELL-O (like B.O.B., or the jelly monster from the beginning of Monsters, Inc.) with a mouth. Plus a tophat, bow tie, and dumb but lovable personality. Smoozie is still capable of consuming anything/everything/anypony/anyone, but also easily distracted by disco balls, and placated by Treehugger's patented, harmonic, mellowing, lip-rippling Sonic Bliss(R). 
Unnnhhhhhh, I wanna see Treehugger, Treeflower, Candy Warren, "Beret Girl," Sunshine, etc., get together for a love-in...8)

That was a nice view of Discord's house and home dimension. He's got a cool floor-ceiling and dish-dirtying detergent. And there are flying badgers there, apparently.
For a few minutes there I thought he might be about to force poor Post Haste to be his plus-one! For sure he's made big strides, but is still his old self; FULL reform may be too much to ask, and where's the fun in that, anyhow? ;]

Flutters used "anypony" in reference to that teacup-munching Draconequus--curious. Typically the word is only applied to ponies. :p Maybe they're such close chums now that she's starting to think of him as one.
    Must be pretty creepy to have him slither out from under your blanket in the middle of the night and demand all up in your face to know where Twilight is.

So fittingly, Twilight's graduated from Assistant Hoofshaker to Assistant Gala Planner/Organizer. (Yet Celestia still finds jokes about her flying skills amusing. x3) She really has a great time at these unconventional Gross Gruesome Galas, man. This one was even funner than the last, what with that portal to another dimension of strange 'live-action' sock puppet beings opening up, and a guest nearly getting tossed through it and all. The 'Zoe Trent' in Lestie's voice becomes more noticeable when she gets all excited.
And where the hay was Luna?

There was no focus on everypony's gala dresses and manestyles this year, so you had to purposely look at them, but once again they all looked fab...especially Pinkie! And Flutters' hair, with the Leia bun...and Dash, AJ, Rarity (her hairdo was swell)...and the Crusaders! Applebloom's peach-colored dress! Scoots! Twi! Celestia! 8D (Plus camera-shaking, fourth-wall-shattering Pinkie in the beginning! XD)

The conflict resolution and Discord's realization of the moral was quick, sensible, and effective. Nice indignant Flutterrage.

"You're the most basic of jokes." There are numerous Best Ponies, and Maud Pie is among them. A regular comedienne, she be.
Other favorite lines/notable moments:
The "two cakes" story.
"Blessing." "I meet a lot of different creatures--each one of them perfect and unique." (Wait, Discord & 'Treesie' have really met before?! And she didn't specifically remember him...? Or what? Does this relate at all to the comic revealing Discord's ONE other friend from the past? The "Friends Forever" one where he takes the Crusaders time-traveling?!)
"I need, like, a few minutes to clear out my chakras before I can hug you from a place of authenticity."
Nude Rarity at the gala--oh, the equinity!! Luckily it would seem that she managed to retrieve her outfit from Discord's vacuum.

-"Tough crowd"=Rodney Dangerfield impression! Same as Genie's in Aladdin when he says he can't believe he's losing to a rug. And his little video-game-style question mark announcing his teleported arrival.
-Only at Sugar Cube Corner is "most delicious" the LEAST delicious rank on the deliciousness scale!!
-Noticed that they appear to have a problem animating Pegasus wings when the ponies are clothed. The wings often wind up placed too far forward, despite the convenient holes that should eliminate that. It was especially obvious on one shot of Twilight hovering--her wings were literally attached at her shoulders.
-Cute how the Crusaders were so pumped for their first "best night ever!" (Like, "Yeah, that's what they said the last time...!!") Applejack's reaction to seeing her little sis in her dress was sweet. She cries on the outside too, sometimes--and Dash's tail pays for it! (I wonder what card game they were playing...)
-Lyrica Lilac spotted (the one who passed out), but no Purple Wave.


To conclude, a very non-basic joke:

What's the difference between a dirty bus stop and a lobster with beast implants?

One is a crusty bus station, and the other is a busty crustacean.

What's the difference between a crusty bus station and a mid-flight pause to clean off one's avian self?

One is a dirty bus stop, and the other is a birdie dust stop.

Tanks For the Memories

AKA, "Dash experiences DABDA" (the Kübler-Ross model of the five stages of grief/loss--denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.)


Okay, another new favorite episode of pony.

-REFERENCES, REFERENCES! We had that distinctly Abbott-&-Costello-y bit about Clear Skies, Open Skies, Everywhere, & Fluffy Clouds (cool designs & voices for those characters, too)...Dash's Grinchy grin when she gets the wonderful, awful idea to stop winter from coming...and of COURSE, "Winter is coming." Well played, Hasbro. Way to reference GoT in a manner that should (hopefully?) sail right over the heads of any kiddies who might happen to be watching. ;-] I had said that, too, during the song--"Face facts, Dash. Winter is coming!" Just couldn't believe they did it.
-We learn more about how the change of seasons works in Equestria (from autumn to winter, anyway.) The weather is all on us Pegasi. B-) Maybe more of us should have names without any form of "sky" or "cloud" in them...
-WHAT AN EMOTIONAL EPISODE. Most of them end on an upbeat, comedic note, but this one was saddish. At first Dash just seems bound and determined to deny the obvious because she's looking forward to doing all kinds of awesomely-fun, primo wintertime stuff with Tank. But her concern for him is touching, and this was supposed to be their first winter together. Suddenly she learns that they'll never be able to enjoy her favorite season (good choice there, btw) together because he's got to go bury himself underground, and they'll be separated for months. She feels kind of betrayed, even though she knows it's not his choice to burrow in the dirt and leave her for a little while. And she thinks preventing winter will be doing him a favor. Now that is loyalty--trying to prevent the seasons from changing for your friend's sake. 8'-| Her seemingly infinite waterworks aren't too far off of what mine'd be, faced with the prospect of not seeing one of my woof-woofs for a whole season. At least in her case, Tank knows what's happening and isn't being left somewhere without understanding why. It's his instinct, and he can't ignore it. For a moment I wondered whether RD would pull a Sandy Cheeks and try to cram in as much makeshift winter fun as possible before Tank headed off.
-Rainbow Dash solo. YES. And it was beautiful. ;u; Not another "Awesome As I Wanna Be" sort of tune, although I do love that one.
-"DO I LOOK ANGRY?!?" *rageface* >8-( "No, no, of course not, not at all, Dashie!" *sweatdrop* ^.^; XD *squiggey Applejack lieface*
-"You too?!" "Nope, I'm good." "I'm mostly sad because you're not sad!" "Me?! What about Applejack?!" "APPLEJACK CRIES ON THE INSIDE, TWILIGHT!" "It's true."
-"You're using the word! Oh! She's using the word!" ^w^
-Tank's PJs and slippers, omfg. Gotta get Ulla some slippers made in my image. Plus some ingenious flight gear.
-CLOUD WALL. PINKIE PIE WALKED THROUGH DASH'S BEDROOM WALL. BROKE RIGHT THROUGH IT. While Dash was feeling so "whatever." Time to get a second, non-hibernatory pet! That scene was so good. Dash's wailing sobs would make a good .gif to express feels of extreme sorrow. I liked how Twilight pushed Applejack forward like, "Go on, Honesty." AJ clearly felt awkward. xD But as soon as Fluttershy joins in the weeping, Pinkie and Rarity can't help topping off the heap of bawling equine emotional wrecks. Then when Dashie says, "Oh, Tank...I'm sure gonna miss you," and they lean their heads together...MANLY TEARS, THEY HAVE BEEN SHED. *,-,*
-Disguising yourself as an employee and causing a chaotic catastrophe--another Lucyesque move, Dash. I applaud you. And another "What have I done?!" moment for you. However, even if you were willing to try and use that arduous method to bring about winter every year, I'm not sure you'd be able to recreate that precise series of events.
And yes, winter=water.
-Question: They do have a legit veterinarian in Ponyville, right? I mean, Fluttershy is more of a holistic animal nurturer/whisperer/daycare-type-person than anything...she isn't a licensed vet...and Spike may be an expert on BEING *a* reptile (same family, yes; very different genera & species), but...geez guys, find an actual vet. (And I could hear the Pinkie Pie in Flutters' voice on the "teensie-eentsie-weentsie" line. ;)
-Believe I spied Sprinkle Medley, Sunshower Raindrops, & possibly Strawberry Sunrise among the backgrounders.

ETA: Some reactions to the midway-point of GoT, Season 5: "Kill the Boy"...ooh, even the episode titles giva ya the chills!

Whole fam seems to agree: Daenerys>Team Stannis>Boltons >P< BLEHCK!! Especially on Ramsay, one of the most despicable sleazebag creeps right along with the late Joffrey...although the "How can you tell she's pregnant? How did you find it?" was pretty funny.
Stannis scored a couple points in my book with that "fewer" (he literally echoed me.) And "Keep reading" was good advice to Sam (<3!)  But still: GO DANY GO. <333 "If I give everyone what they deserve, I'll have no one left to rule." XD Good point. Best line!! Or one of 'em. Tyrion can always compete. (Damn, those two should be unbeatable once teamed...) 
Hoo, boy, look what's a-comin'. Stannis vs. Roose, a Meereenese wedding, Brienne & Sansa (hopefully--and also maybe some Pod-training!) 8-O
The show will go on forever at this rate, though, and I think we're already halfway through S5...XD What will come first, book #6 or Season 6?!? I keep waiting for the major, major stuff from book 5, and now we finally got Tyrion on a boat with the Stone Men attacking (the whole boat sequence in the book is rather lengthy, and involves his dwarf semi-girlfriend...is THAT coming?) What happens to Cersei should be as satisfying to watch as it was to read. But man, ever since Brienne Vs. Sandor, it's felt almost like anything goes! Because there are still two unfinished/unpublished books of source material, even the readers are liable to be surprised at any moment. I hope Varys shows up with Dany soon, because he rocks (and seems like a more fun traveling companion than Jorah. No offense, Mormont. I still like ya.) D-'8 at the ending, as usual...
Shippin' Missandei & Grey Worm! ^u^
Love Davos & Shireen together, awwww...hehee. Her mum don't know nothin' 'bout her own daughter. ;p