@Blissey What about me, who likes the main characters well enough, but feels that the backstory presented goes against the very fiber of almost each and every character used?

Hey guys, what's going on in this—

That had occurred to me, but it doesn't quite account for complaints about the story being dull and irritating.

There are legitimate criticisms though. Like Velvet Rememdy clearly does not have 'a little bit of magic related to her cutie mark' if you believe in that. And Pip gets Twilight tier TK despite not even studying magic. Also there's a lot of weird things that happen just because it's a game.

edited 3rd Dec '12 8:55:14 PM by storyyeller

If you want a real laugh, get the audiobook for chapter 20.5.

You don't know what comedy is until you hear a first-person lesbian sex scene dictated. By a guy.

Celestia-tier telekinesis, actually. That's one of the perks she picks up.

Subject change!

Review of the most recent episode is done, although most of it you've probably heard me say already.

YOU WILL PISS YOURSELF LAUGHING.

That subject just won't stay still! Look at it running all over the place! Frickin' subjects!

@Ed: There's a reaction image for that!

@ Stor, yes Lil'pip gets insanely powerful TK, but that is ALL she can do, she cna't do any magic except TK, so of course she's going to be good at it, and also, i beleive the more powerful TK doesn't come until she gets exposed to some doses of IMP, a potion that is designed to turn ordinary ponies into Alicorns. (the FOE equivalent of the FEV from fallout.

As to Velvet, yes if we take "A little bit of magic linked to their special talent" as being a full and complete amount info on every possible way magic can work. how often do we get into debates in this thread over how much a ponies Special talent determines their ability with spells?. FOE seems to go towards the "spells are things any pony can leanr, as long as they have the right mind set and power required to use them" type deal. in other wards the block preventing unicorns from being able to do any spell is mental, tey simply cannont understand the spell well enough to use it, or lack the power needed.

Velvet jumps through hoops trying to justify her spells, which to me seemed les like Kkat doing a Handwave, as velvet trying to get herself into the right mindset to believe she can use the spell, and so pass the mental blocks that would prevent her from doing so.

At least there's a reason for how she gets so powerful: she actually does train with a guy in New Appleloosa that helps her learn really powerful TK, like he's a trainer in the Elder Scrolls.

@Seraph I normally wouldn't have much of a problem with Velvet's magic, since it's all headcanon unless established otherwise, but the fic straight up lays out its rules on magic with Velvet herself giving the exposition on it as if to ram the fact that she's special and an exception into the reader's face. It's really a minor quibble, though, and not worth making a big deal about.

edited 3rd Dec '12 9:09:12 PM by PerpetualLurker

Well I used to think it was completely ridiculous, but Twilight's gotten a lot better since then in canon, so now it's only mostly ridiculous.

and that was just for the first upgrade to he TK skill. And yes Every time she get a new perk up grading her TK, it was after she exerted herself, pushing her TK to it's limits and a bit firther.

and they fully understand hiw magic works? nopony in the stables really would have bothered with that sort of study, all they have is two hundred year old information that probably got simplified. If it was THAT narrow, then shy are there spells? or how could any pony without a memeory special taent use the memory orb spells? there's clearly some spells that are just neutral, that any pony with enough power and skill can learn. So clearly there are more complexities to it then that.

edited 3rd Dec '12 9:15:50 PM by Seraphem

@JT: The distraction appears to be...failing.

@ED: I suppose I'll have to find something else then.

@ J teeth

regarding flutterhsy, the only hing I can think of to explain it, is that after a few days living under trixie's rule, her nerves are just totally and completely shot and she's on the edge of a total nervous breakdown just from the constant stress.

I know nothing about FOE itself, aside from what I've heard essentially secondhand, so here's my one piece to speak before I clock out for the night:

Have you realized yet that the reason you hate it is because you're judging characters in a post apocalyptic wasteland where Everything Trying to Kill You as if they weren't in a post apocalyptic wasteland where Everything Trying to Kill You?

Ginger is usually pretty against this logic, but you might be more receptive: In many of the fallout games you can get through without ever firing a gun. Indeed, one of the major points of Fallout was showing that just because society has collapsed, doesn't mean society has collapsed. That civilization didn't just come down to governments, but that people had the potential to still be peaceful even after everything had gone to shit.

Ultimately, I think the major failure of FOE is in focusing on the wrong character, because Pip, from what I've heard, isn't the hero. She isn't even A hero. She's inherently good, but at the end of the day she's unable to(Pardoning the pun) stick to her guns and really live up to the ideals she fights for. Despite being a pacifist myself, I recognize that there are some situations in which killing is really the best option. My question is, how does Pip define when killing is the best option? From what I've heard, she's very much a 'let god sort them out' type of girl.

You can argue the practicality of letting a raider go back and forth until the cows come home, but the simple fact of the matter is, does Pip try? Ever? OR does she just kill anyone who happens to cross her path because she's 'right' and they're 'wrong'. It's worth noting that the major antagonist of the series is also someone inherently good - she's not fighting evil, she's fighting a different ideal. But in the end, what proves her ideal right?

I am thoroughly distracted.

edited 3rd Dec '12 9:23:55 PM by edvedd

@Seraph If it were that obvious, then why would there be misinformation in the first place, and why would Velvet be the only exception in the entire story? The story does nothing to even suggest that she's an Unreliable Expositor, and it's such minor exposition that there's no narrative reason to mislead the reader. It's either a plot hole, or a poor writing choice. And I'm not saying that it ruins the whole story, either. What ruins it for me are completely separate subjective issues.

@ Kegi: There is one moment where she hesitates to shoot a Raider that's basically just a colt (even though he was roller-skating (yeah you read that right) towards a mare while he was holding a knife with obvious intent to kill her). Calamity's the one that ends up shooting him and both in story and here it generated quite a bit of arguing.

edited 3rd Dec '12 9:29:06 PM by theLibrarian

@ Kegi and that shows you've been getting a lot of your info from pannic, cause lil'pip is NOTHING like that

and red Eye not evil....the guy that built his empire on slave labor, stages gladiatorial matches to the death for amusement, and everytime he comes up to a new group that has something he wants, just kills any that won't join him and takes it.

Red Eye IS evil. Yes his ultimate goal isn't bad. he wants to restore Equestria, but his methods are ruthlessly evil.

@ lurker, what other pnies do we have to compare her to? We only have three unicorns that we ever go into any detail what they can do, Lil'pip who can ONLY use TK, Velevet, and Lifeline, whose special talent is basically eidetic memory letting him be able to memorize and access any spell, even if he can't cast them, he can understand them wel enough to teach a unicorn that can how to use them.

and there is a differnce between false information, and incomplete information. fo the most part what she said is true, but is it simply that nopony bothers to TRY and go outside their comfot zone thinking they can't, reinforcing he idea that they can't, and just perpetuating the thought that they can't, when they could possibly learn a few others that are close.

Velvet wants to heal ponies, and yes she also enjoys singing, the singing is what she is natually good at, but her drive to be a medic pushes her to force herself beyond the normal constraints, going further and developing mroe then other unicorns due, simply becuase the rest simply settle into their special talent and never want to do something else badly enough for them to put in the effort.

edited 3rd Dec '12 9:36:35 PM by Seraphem

@Seraphem: That's what I thought about Fluttershy at first as well, but she never so much as bats an eye at Dash's antics in "May the Best Pet Win", so it's kinda weird that she's terrified that Twilight (who's way more careful and considerate than Dash) is going to hurt the animals. But yeah, it's a minor problem.

well was more thinking when she escaped the dome and had to be dragged off. the other. Well she never actaully SAW the pets doing anything dangerous, odds are she'd never even gone into Ghastly Gorge and didn't know ust how bad it could be. which is a far cry from watching as a pony (who just a few weeks ago was zapping random critters into fruit-animal hybrid monstrosities) juggling them and dsending them flying through the air with only her magic and concentration keeping them safe.