S05E05: Tanks For The Memories

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Re: S05E05: Tanks For The Memories

Postby Mir (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 3:09 pm

Another layer to that "Who's on first" routine is that not only do ponies actually have names like that, but they tend to gravitate towards careers where this sort of thing can happen.
:gotcha:

At any given point, in any episode, at least half the background ponies you see are having similar conversations. You just can't hear them.
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Postby Durandal (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 3:10 pm

!saak wrote:This episode didn't gel with me yesterday and that was because of the odd tone that Op Farce and Durandal mentioned, but I saw it again just now and... this is nigh peak pony :allears:


I also felt this way after rewatching. I see this scene again and

Image

Ahhhhh, this episode was amazing :hilarious:

Also, Fluttershy

Image

"Psh, you call that crying?"
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Postby PonyHag714 (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 3:16 pm

Image Ms. Dash, I understand you tampered with the operation of Cloudsdale with the express purpose of forestalling winter...highly unprofessional.

:rainbert: What would you know...you've probably never had a pet in your life.

Image On the contrary...I have a pet gerbil that I am most fond of.

:allears: What's his name?

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Postby Octavia (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 4:10 pm

MurdER_weapOn '78 wrote:Was this the first time we've seen Rainbow Dash crying? I don't remember seeing it before.

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Postby ROBOT B9 (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 4:17 pm

What episode is that from? A part of me wants to say its from Return of Harmony. :ponder:
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Postby Octavia (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 4:21 pm

ROBOT B9 wrote:What episode is that from? A part of me wants to say its from Return of Harmony. :ponder:

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Postby Just Scuds (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 4:22 pm

Last Roundup, but this is the first time we see actual grief from her.

Rarity on the other hand ...

:ohboy: :"Wolf! Wolf!"
:rariwhat: :"Why do you keep saying that?"

Mir wrote:
At any given point, in any episode, at least half the background ponies you see are having similar conversations. You just can't hear them.


Background Ponies: There's a whole lot of them, and they might have teaming multitudes, but they make it up in volume! :crack:


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Postby PictishBeast (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 5:31 pm

Durandal wrote:Also, Fluttershy

Image

"Psh, you call that crying?"


Fluts being the one to tell Dash "cut the shit" was the BEST. Usually their roles are reversed like in Hurricane Fluttershy.

And, those two have known each other since they were kids. None of the other ponies share that bond. So while the rest of them are standing around not knowing what to do with a tough character in tears (seriously that's an awful situation to face), Fluttershy steps in to deliver a good hoof upside the head. :allears:
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Postby Frosthawk (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 6:27 pm

PictishBeast wrote:
Fluts being the one to tell Dash "cut the shit" was the BEST. Usually their roles are reversed like in Hurricane Fluttershy.

And, those two have known each other since they were kids. None of the other ponies share that bond. So while the rest of them are standing around not knowing what to do with a tough character in tears (seriously that's an awful situation to face), Fluttershy steps in to deliver a good hoof upside the head. :allears:


Easily the aspect of the episode I liked the best. And really, Fluttershy has shown a lot of growth as a character all across the board so far this season, too.
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Postby PictishBeast (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 6:47 pm

When all five of them walked into Dash's room (instead of just Fluttershy, or Fluttershy and Twilight since at least they can fly up there) my reaction was "oh god here we go again, why do they always feel like they have to shoehorn in all the characters into every scene even when they're not needed."

But I was wrong and it ended up being great. :conftoot:
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Postby SlateSlabrock (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 7:02 pm

MurdER_weapOn '78 wrote:Regarding the vandalization of Cloudsdale, I think the Mane 6 can basically do what they like with total impunity, unless there's a future episode with a plot point that requires one of them to be sent to prison.

I know they kinda left that idea hanging, and lots of people got upset over it, but sometimes I guess we just have to assume that fixing a weather machine or unleashing a plague of locusts on a town or turning the whole city into gems isn't a big enough repair job to press charges over. :pinkieshrug:

edit: Or enslaving Ponyville and establishing an independent dictatorship.

Jill wrote:I've also never heard of someone's pet needing to go into hibernation to begin with, which I assume is because pets generally have a warm place to stay and eat year-round which kinda defeats the purpose??? And in the event I'm wrong about that, I still have to wonder why Angel wasn't at least mentioned at any point. (unless I missed something???)

Then again, Rainbow lives hundreds of feet above ground in a cloud. :v:

Also, I don't think we've seen Angel during "winter."
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Postby ROBOT B9 (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 7:31 pm

Does this mean Angel won't be in the show for a while? I can deal with that. :v:
:plonk: Image :)
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Postby Fizzbuzz (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 7:53 pm

Something I considered just now is the outfits of the Mane Six in the last scene of this episode.
Image

Now, remember Twilight's winter outfit from Winter Wrap Up, the one she was so meticulous about putting on during the intro?
Image

I think this is a decent demonstration of both how the show's found more time for incidental art like this and also how it's let its characters act more human in some aspects. While she still has boots and a scarf, Twilight seems to have lost the saddle, and while in her case it was likely for practical reasons (she did grow wings in the year or two between then and now, after all), none of the others are wearing anything as distinctly horselike as that either. In fact, the jackets and sweater worn by Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy feel downright reminiscent of a bunch of anthro and humanized pics I've seen of them (especially Fluttershy; I can't count how many humanized pics I've seen of her where she's wearing a pale yellow turtleneck). I ain't saying the animators took inspiration from fanart for this, but I do think it's a good sign of how they let go of a lot of the horsiness that S1 pushed.
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Postby The Doctor (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 8:14 pm

:fluttersmith: But without saddles how do they keep their backs warm?
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Postby Throbulator (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 8:23 pm

The saddle thing was the cutest fucking thing in that entire episode and they should bring it back. :rainbert:
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Postby Factory Factory (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 8:25 pm

Maybe Spike doesn't need as many horsie rides nowadays. :pinkieshrug:
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Postby Aramek (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 8:26 pm

Twi's the only one that'll let him ride her, because he's got the bad habit of kicking.
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Postby Perrydotto (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 8:42 pm

Wow, that was one fantastic horse episode. Tons of adorableness, tons of sweet horsie moments, a very good song, and a very good story that brought the best out in Rainbow Dash - Her loyalty and care for her friends as well as her emotional insecurity. Man, towards the end, even I got a little twinkle in my eye. What also came across is the important lesson of not putting your feelings above your pet's needs, and that seperation is tough but necessary sometimes. Really great episode, man.

EDIT: Oh, I loved the new background pony designs they tossed in, and the little conversation they had. And those Rainbow Dash slippers ohjesuschristitssocuteIwannapuke
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Postby PictishBeast (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 9:45 pm

Fizzbuzz wrote:but I do think it's a good sign of how they let go of a lot of the horsiness that S1 pushed.


Counterpoint: ponies holding things with their mouths :allears:

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Postby stonecutter (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 9:52 pm

ROBOT B9 wrote:It's obvious. Twilight will have to get a scapegoat for Rainbow Dash to get off the hook. :v:

"Fortunately Ponyville has the conveniently named 'Scapegoat' to pass the blame onto." :wingsright:
"But I have an alibi! There's no way I could've gotten to Cloudsville on my own; I'm an earth pony!!" :byodood:
"So you're saying there were others involved." :twismug:
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Postby Durandal (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 9:57 pm

Fizzbuzz wrote:Something I considered just now is the outfits of the Mane Six in the last scene of this episode.
Image


My wife mentioned that Rainbow's outfit looked like her dad's colors, which is a bit of a stretch but still a pretty cool idea

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Postby PonyHag714 (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 9:58 pm

Image

:glare: On June 24th, 2015, a trial was held in Cloudsdale Superior Court, in and for the city of Cloudsdale.

In a moment, the results of that trial. :awkward:
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Postby WandereringPony (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 10:03 pm

Fizzbuzz wrote:Something I considered just now is the outfits of the Mane Six in the last scene of this episode.

Now, remember Twilight's winter outfit from Winter Wrap Up, the one she was so meticulous about putting on during the intro?

I think this is a decent demonstration of both how the show's found more time for incidental art like this and also how it's let its characters act more human in some aspects. While she still has boots and a scarf, Twilight seems to have lost the saddle, and while in her case it was likely for practical reasons (she did grow wings in the year or two between then and now, after all), none of the others are wearing anything as distinctly horselike as that either. In fact, the jackets and sweater worn by Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy feel downright reminiscent of a bunch of anthro and humanized pics I've seen of them (especially Fluttershy; I can't count how many humanized pics I've seen of her where she's wearing a pale yellow turtleneck). I ain't saying the animators took inspiration from fanart for this, but I do think it's a good sign of how they let go of a lot of the horsiness that S1 pushed.


Then again, Twilight does have those huge ol' wings for insulation. She's actually wearing less clothing than anyone else at this point in the literal depths of winter.

On the other hand, Rainbow Dash wearing something that keeps her wings cramped like that, just so she can carry Tank? That says volumes without saying a word.
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Postby Bremen (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 10:50 pm

WandereringPony wrote:
Then again, Twilight does have those huge ol' wings for insulation. She's actually wearing less clothing than anyone else at this point in the literal depths of winter.

On the other hand, Rainbow Dash wearing something that keeps her wings cramped like that, just so she can carry Tank? That says volumes without saying a word.


It's one of those "take from this what you will" things, but in Hearth's Warming Eve Spike narrates "The Earth Ponies were freezing. The home of the pegasi faired no better; the pegasi were hungry. And the unicorns were freezing and hungry." The animation kind of bears this out; the Earth ponies and Unicorns are both shown to be shivering in the snow, but the Pegasi are shown walking around outside without any winter clothing and not seeming to be bothered. Some fans who read way too much into the setting (like me!) have taken this to mean that cold resistance is one of the Pegasi racial traits (which makes sense for a high altitude flyer). If so, Twilight's alicorn status might mean the cold doesn't bother her much.
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Postby SlateSlabrock (?) » Sun Apr 26, 2015 11:10 pm

She's the Princess of Friendship, so the fire of friendship burns in her heart.

That's also why she needs so many burgers. :sheepish:
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Postby Factory Factory (?) » Mon Apr 27, 2015 12:29 am

To maintain her heartburn. :ponder:
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Postby Headless Horse (?) » Mon Apr 27, 2015 1:48 am

Some things I particularly appreciated, in illustrated form:

Image

:modesty: weeeensy

Image

:vogue: Oh, nothing. Just wrapping up fall.

:-I You didn't need context on any of this, did you? Nope, didn't think so.

Image

Look how Pinkie is holding Twilight like a big stuffed animal :lol:

Image

Pfff :gotcha: Oh, and nice Celestia-logo towel. They know which side their bread's buttered :prettywings:

Image

Ya think this was inspired by that scene in Dr. No, or has it basically become a ubiquitous meme in and of itself by this point?

Image

Peak Rainbow Dash right here. :jingo:

Image

Take a good look at these tubes; they may become important to us in the near future :ponder:

Image

Lotta kicking going on in this episode. In this whole season, for that matter.

Image

Hey don't strain yourself patting yourself on the back there, RD. (MMDW callback, really?)

Image

Her shriek here is the most feminine-sounding thing I've ever heard come out of Rainbow Dash's mouth.

Image

And the sobbing here is amazing. Top-notch voice work. It's both heartwrenching and hilarious at the same time.

Image

Applejack sucks so bad at being empathetic. :lol: Her robotic "helping" voice is incredible.

Image

:notthisshitagain: There there.

Image

This line hasn't gotten enough love. "You think she's done, or just getting a third wind?" God, this repartee, this behind-the back ribbing they all give each other, I love it so much :awesomedash:

Image

Ladies and gentlemen, the friendship lesson/Dear Princess Celestia letter—delivered in the form of a couple of facial expressions and some body language. The show's grown up along with its audience.
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Postby Fizzbuzz (?) » Mon Apr 27, 2015 1:54 am

Bremen wrote:It's one of those "take from this what you will" things, but in Hearth's Warming Eve Spike narrates "The Earth Ponies were freezing. The home of the pegasi faired no better; the pegasi were hungry. And the unicorns were freezing and hungry." The animation kind of bears this out; the Earth ponies and Unicorns are both shown to be shivering in the snow, but the Pegasi are shown walking around outside without any winter clothing and not seeming to be bothered. Some fans who read way too much into the setting (like me!) have taken this to mean that cold resistance is one of the Pegasi racial traits (which makes sense for a high altitude flyer). If so, Twilight's alicorn status might mean the cold doesn't bother her much.

That's about what I have always thought too, that pegasi are a lot more tolerant of cold weather than the other races. I imagine that anyone who grew up in Cloudsdale, like Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy did, would also be more accustomed to cold weather than even pegasi who grew up in a terrestrial city.
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Postby PictishBeast (?) » Mon Apr 27, 2015 2:01 am

Headless Horse wrote:Image

Her shriek here is the most feminine-sounding thing I've ever heard come out of Rainbow Dash's mouth.


I really liked that shriek. Felt genuine like "ohmygod I'm going to die" but also super cute because ponies.

Though I would also nominate this:

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Postby Wayoshi (?) » Mon Apr 27, 2015 2:36 am

Headless Horse wrote:Image

Ladies and gentlemen, the friendship lesson/Dear Princess Celestia letter—delivered in the form of a couple of facial expressions and some body language. The show's grown up along with its audience.

And still growing. :jingo:
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Postby Mr. Big (?) » Mon Apr 27, 2015 2:40 am

Just wondering if anyone noticed that M.A. Larson was the story editor for this episode (which I admittingly expected, since he said he added the "winter is coming" line).

I guess he's going to story edit every other episode or something.
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Postby The Doctor (?) » Mon Apr 27, 2015 2:42 am

Bakertoons wrote:Just wondering if anyone noticed that M.A. Larson was the story editor for this episode (which I admittingly expected, since he said he added the "winter is coming" line).

I guess he's going to story edit every other episode or something.


I'm betting there's not going to be a pattern to it. Just he got some and Meghan got some.

I wonder if they know the airing order when they write them outside ongoing story episodes or things like ep. 100.
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Postby Fizzbuzz (?) » Mon Apr 27, 2015 2:51 am

From what I've heard, they can't be 100% sure of the airing order outside of stuff like premieres and finales. That's why the key episodes in S4 couldn't really reference each other, since Meghan and the gang couldn't be assured that they would air in the same order in which they were produced. Of course, this might not necessarily be the case anymore, but I don't know for sure.
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Postby PictishBeast (?) » Mon Apr 27, 2015 3:00 am

Headless Horse wrote:Applejack sucks so bad at being empathetic.


She really does. :awesomedash:

And I'm repeating myself but I love love love when the show acknowledges the characters' flaws and uses the flaws to do funny stuff or plot stuff.

Stuff like Dash being absolutely horrible to everybody when they're talking about hibernation because she's so pissed off and she can't even articulate why she's pissed off...that's gold, Jerry.

And don't get me started on Twilight. She's might be a princess now but she's still a nerd with a really shitty EQ. Here, she sees a problem that needs solving. So she looks for the pony she's determined is usually good at problem solving (Applejack!) and she delegates:

Image

And it fails hilariously because Twilight is a big dork who picks somebody practical (like her) to solve a non-practical, messy, emotional problem.

And she knows she's not good at this stuff, so when Pinkie calls her out on it she gets defensive.

Image

:-/ "Me?! What about Applejack?"
:notthisshitagain: ...

So far this is my :ponydrugs: episode of S5. Ranks with Testing 1 2 3 and Filli Vanilli from last season.
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Postby Headless Horse (?) » Mon Apr 27, 2015 3:20 am

Cindy Morrow continues to be one of my favorite Pony writers, and one who seems to like adding the most texture (as opposed to straight-up worldbuilding and epicness). Even though some of the stuff about hibernation seemed like an edu-tainment WWU redux, it had the effect of feeling like a straight sequel to those parts of S1 that established the context that allowed the stuff we saw here to make sense.

One area where things weren't quite as smooth, and in a way that's also authentically "S1", was the song. Lyrics have never been the strongest suit of pony songs; with a few exceptions, the lyrics have often felt clumsy to me, or ill-fitted to the music, or generally clearly the work of a writer who's more at home working with dialogue and stage directions than with rhyme and meter. Ever since Daniel Ingram has taken on more of the credited work for both the music and the lyrics of the songs, things have seemed to go a lot better—lyrics are much better suited to the music they fit into, and are often quite poetic and clever to boot. The Cutie Map = perfect example.

And in the tradition of classic pony songs, this one's big showpiece feels big and epic and awesome and everything, but something about the word choice and imagery really feels like it's wearing clown shoes or something. I think it's the "I'll be the one who doesn't have to say goodbye" thing. It's just a really weird construction. Why not just "I won't have to say goodbye"? Why does there have to be "the one" who is so exempt? I think it's just because Morrow, like many of the other writers, is much less at home writing songs than writing the rest of what goes into a script, and this line was sort of a space-filling cop-out. Shame, because it's the refrain, and it's supposed to be a really clever and poignant turn of phrase.

Which really does hold true for pretty much the whole rest of the song, though. I love how shamelessly it owns being a "villain song"—yet still cloaks itself with the major-chord trappings of awesomeness and the protagonist's viewpoint. Rainbow Dash sings triumphantly about sabotaging the weather ponies and destroying the seasons of Ponyville, and we're supposed to root for her. And all the while we keep getting intercut shots of how futile her efforts are, with Tank constantly snoring and dozing off; if you read it with the "hibernation as a stand-in for death" filter in place, it becomes kind of like someone so forcibly in denial about a loved one's impending fate that they start carting their wheelchair all over creation and doing ever-increasingly flamboyant bucket-list stunts like skydiving and going over Niagara Falls in a barrel all set to a Smash Mouth soundtrack. "I'll Fly" is an inspirational, rousing anthem that has a fake waxy grin plastered on it and that carries a subversive, dissonant subtext throughout, just like the one in Castle Sweet Castle, and with the same pause after the final chord for a beat before we realize that um, maybe we shouldn't have been taking any of it at face value at all.

Things are getting very interestingly multilayered here in the fifth season of horse cartoon. :ponder:
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Postby Headless Horse (?) » Mon Apr 27, 2015 3:40 am

Know what else that song reminded me of?



:smirk:
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Postby Wayoshi (?) » Mon Apr 27, 2015 3:45 am

I'll Fly can definitely be read as preemptively going into the Depression stage as Bargaining is clearly failing (with RD's last-ditch attempt being the factory itself).

I feel like the outline of this episode had to be based around "RD goes through the 5 stages of grief", although the pitch was probably more about Tank / pet loss/death and that story framing came later. It really is amazing to see RD go through each stage, being straight up contrarian with Spike in Denial in particular.
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Postby Headless Horse (?) » Mon Apr 27, 2015 3:48 am

:v: "I'll take that as a yes" is right up there with "20% cooler" frankly.
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Postby Daring Do (?) » Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:23 am

Fizzbuzz wrote:Something I considered just now is the outfits of the Mane Six in the last scene of this episode.
Image

Now, remember Twilight's winter outfit from Winter Wrap Up, the one she was so meticulous about putting on during the intro?
Image

I think this is a decent demonstration of both how the show's found more time for incidental art like this and also how it's let its characters act more human in some aspects. While she still has boots and a scarf, Twilight seems to have lost the saddle, and while in her case it was likely for practical reasons (she did grow wings in the year or two between then and now, after all), none of the others are wearing anything as distinctly horselike as that either. In fact, the jackets and sweater worn by Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy feel downright reminiscent of a bunch of anthro and humanized pics I've seen of them (especially Fluttershy; I can't count how many humanized pics I've seen of her where she's wearing a pale yellow turtleneck). I ain't saying the animators took inspiration from fanart for this, but I do think it's a good sign of how they let go of a lot of the horsiness that S1 pushed.


Now, I don't know about you, but personally, I don't see that as being a good thing. The horsiness was what Faust wanted - and I sure as hay am not some kind of blind Faust purist, but I don't see why we shouldn't go with that particular aspect of the whole thing.

("am not" looks so awkward to my eyes, but "ain't" is bad grammar. Guh.)
Last edited by Daring Do on Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Factory Factory (?) » Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:28 am

Yeah but saddles aren't "horsiness," they're "horses as work animals for humans." Even if you want to go 100% word-of-Faust, the saddles were always a weird element that maybe shouldn't be there.
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