Updating a headcanon [SPOILERS for "Where The Apple Lies"] · 3:11am Oct 18th, 2016
So, my headcanon from Breaking The Sound Barrier is that Mac is a stallion of few words due to a speech impediment. How does that fit in with the episode where he talks a lot? Well...
First, we have smol Mac.
Then we have Late Teen (early 20s?) Mac.
Then, we have the mullet-sporting, shy, soft-spoken stallion we all know and love.
I think this actually can mesh with my headcanon. I personally know that people who have a disadvantage that manifests early in life will often go well out of their way to take advantage of whatever help they can get... and then give it up later. My mother is deaf, and she used her hearing aids a lot when she was an insecure teenager---but then threw them in the trash once she was done experimenting with being able to hear, which she found overwhelming. I wore contacts for a few years, loving the fact that I was no longer bound to glasses---and now you'd have to pay me to pop those things back in my eyes. My cousin, who is an amputee, wore a prosthetic for awhile, but after the novelty got old she decided to go back to being her old one-armed self.
And so I think that Mac did get some speech therapy, discovered the newfound joy of being able to talk---but after awhile, he reverted to his old ways.
What do you think?
Sounds like an interesting concept. I guess the more interesting bits of that story might involve Big Mac trying to explain why he chose to go with his more soft spoken ways to the rest of his family.
Entirely possible.
Speaking as someone with an actual speech impediment, 98% of the times people go back into old habits is from slipping back, not willingly returning. For me, talking with a stutter for 20+ years of my life means it takes constant practice remember the effective training with every word I say, and even if I don't want to, it's all too easy to go back.
If Mac really does have a speech impediment, I highly doubt he'd willingly resign himself to complete silence, but letting himself slip and not finding the time to focus on recorrecting himself is all too plausible.
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That's an interesting point. I wonder how likely he'd be to slip.
You minored in psychology, right? Or at least applied deductive reasoning. Your proposal makes sense. Can't wait to see the result.
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Who me? No, I never even declared a minor
And then there's the fact that people are less likely to listen to what you have to say when you're not saying it the right way. Got a lisp? Good luck getting anyone to take you seriously.
So it would make sense if Big Mac took advantage of ponies finally listening to him!
To the point of not listening himself anymore. Once he realised that was also happening, yeah, time to think about what you've been doing and why.