February 15
Ugh. Mondays are the worst, especially after a long weekend of fun. I think I'm starting to change to the human schedule of staying up late and sleeping in.
Maybe that's why the one airplane director always sounds so grumpy. Maybe he doesn't like mornings.
I didn't have time for both a flight and a jog, and I figured that since I was walking around all weekend, it would be more appropriate to have a flight.
When I flew over the downtown, my focus was a little bit on the hotel and what Peggy had said about looking over the town, unseen by anyone. I could zip by the hotel and see if anybody else had that kind of thought in mind . . . but that would be impolite.
I did make a broad circle of it, but I didn't get close enough to be spying.
After my shower and breakfast, I dragged my tired tail into climate science class. Crystal pulled out her telephone and asked me if I knew I was trending on YouTube again. I didn't know what it meant to be trending—she said that meant that the movie of me was really popular.
I was curious what it had looked like to have the girl riding my back, so I asked her if she had the movie on her telephone and she nodded.
Luke wanted to see, too, so she leaned up against me and held the telephone out so that we could all see it together.
It was pretty funny. The girl had the most gleeful expression on her face, and Aric hadn't started filming until after I got over my initial confusion, so I didn't look completely bewildered by the situation. Determined, perhaps.
In philosophy class, we started on Kant. He said that God might not exist at all, since He couldn't be proven to exist. That was a strange departure from what Aquinas and Descartes had based their philosophy on, and I wondered why the change. The Greek philosophers hadn't known about Him, and then all of a sudden He was the foundation of philosophies and just as soon He was gone again, replaced with reason and deduction.
It was very confusing, and if things kept going on like this, I was going to get totally lost, so after class I asked my philosophy teacher if I could meet with her.
She said that she was free tomorrow (why is it always tomorrow?) so instead of having the whole afternoon free, I'll be meeting with her.
Still, it will be good to get some understanding of where these philosophers are coming from.
I thought about eating lunch in the dark room to spend some more time with everyone who had been at Val Day, but then I thought that Christine might miss me, so I sat down at my usual table and talked to her and Sean. I asked them what they'd done for Valentine's Day, and Sean's face got red. Christine muttered that they hadn't really done much of anything, that it had been pretty low-key.
For all the gossiping they do about other people's love-lives, humans don't seem to like to talk too much about their own. That's kind of strange. Most of the mares on my weather team would be more than happy to go into detail about what they'd done and with who. That was a good way to share ideas, and find out who was interested in what.
I wasn't feeling any more awake in Equestrian class. The teacher wanted to do a brief practice session with public transportation, and she showed the students a copy of an Equestrian train schedule. None of them had ever seen anything like it, which I couldn't understand. They had trains—how did they use them? Didn't they publish timetables so you'd know when your train was coming and when it was gonna get where it was going?
There were buses, too: I'd seen them throughout town. Buses ran on similar schedules to trains, didn't they? Did no one in class use a bus, either?
I asked Meghan, and she said that there wasn't any point with Uber. Instead of having to wait for a bus she could just push a button on her portable telephone and a car would come and get her.
So then I asked what about long distances, and she said that they could just use the internet to get an airplane or a train and that nobody actually used printed schedules any more.
That made a bit of sense to me. The internet is handy for lots of things, and maybe we should have learned more about it before we came to Earth, but there isn't an internet in Equestria and Miss Chestnut's explanations about it hadn't made a whole lot of sense to me back then.
I did eat dinner in the dark room. Once again, I got told that I was trending on YouTube, and a couple of people—Nancy and James—both told me that I was internet famous. That made me puff out my chest a bit, and I asked if anyone wanted my autograph, which made a lot of people laugh.
I started reading through Leviticus after dinner. There are a lot of rules to follow, and some of them were pretty confusing. Most of them involved either shunning or outright killing rulebreakers, and I didn't like that one bit, 'cause maybe you should try to see if they would stop breaking the rules first. Plus I remembered in Exodus that there had been ten commandments, and one of them had been 'Thou Shalt Not Kill,' so I wondered what had changed so quickly. I really needed to have another meeting with Pastor Liz. Maybe I could do that this weekend.
When I'd made it through Leviticus, I set the Bible aside and happened to look over at the two letters neatly tucked away on my desk that I still hadn't read. I'm such a bad pony!
Of course, just then my telephone rang and it was Aric and he was on his way to pick me up for Durak.
I went three games without losing, which made me really happy, and then he kept his promise and took me home with him afterwards.
I thought about what Peggy had said about us talking and figuring out what we wanted, and I probably should have right then and there, but we went right to bed and he was running his hands through my mane and it felt so nice that I didn't want to interrupt him. Then by the time he stopped fondling my mane and running his hands along my back (and I was nuzzling his chest and giving him little kisses) I was too sleepy to have a serious conversation. As I was drifting off, I thought to myself that maybe I'd do that tomorrow, and then I chuckled, since I'd been angry that my philosophy teacher wanted to put off that conversation until tomorrow and here I was doing the same thing.
FIRST.
I don't know about Silver, but this is a bit of a culture shock to me!
Nothing changed, Silver. That's just a mistranslation. It would be more accurate to say "Thou Shalt Not Murder." Regrettable though it might be, there are times when killing someone is simply unavoidable. During a time of war, for example, or to save the lives of others. Murder for personal gain, or done out of simple rage, isn't the same thing.
Silver wouldn't happen to know a mare named Cloud Kicker by any chance, would she?
7115794 Welp, you beat me to it. In other news, I wonder how her philosophy teacher will explain it. This could easily be as bad as we thought the talk with Liz would go.
I also have a quick question, Admiral. I remember reading that you had show "proof" that ponies weigh about as much as humans. Could you explain how you determined that?
7115830
Here's the blog; the answer is in the comments because I suck at math.
If your ponies are larger or smaller than the size I estimated, it should be a fairly simple matter to adjust their mass accordingly.
Uber has a bad rep here in San Antonio. The cab drivers are practically frothing at the mouth. They (Yellow taxi) contend that Uber drivers set their own rates and have little to no regulations to follow (the background checks and fees). But then again this is Texas I'm talking about. When they are not whining about big government regulation they're dreaming of secession.
7114900
Now you got me wondering what an all out Equestrian battle would look like. Pegasi could not only hide in the clouds, but also bring in rain- and hailstorms, supersaturated clouds to snap-freeze enemy troops, lightning strikes and whatnot. After that, mop them up in close combat.
An earthpony charge would likely do a little more than just 'shake the ground under the hooves of the cavalry'. Hundreds of charging earthponies might very well be able to use the very ground and every rock in their way as a weapon.
As far as I've seen in the show (if I remember correctly), unicorns excel at shield spells. They probably also had spells to turn clouds into superheated steam and to burn the feathers off the fliers.
In any case, a battle like this would leave only a wasteland. "The Windigoes did it! Honestly"
7114033
7114103
i.redditmedia.com/MyqepmlFzCgzUkYXU0Rexx2UstKwp8mxG1Q5rBTm924.jpg?w=981&s=90b370ff30693196963edd9a5843e92b
7114264
I've always wondered how that pitiful excuse for a breakfast ever acquired the name 'continental'. For one, I've never ever found a muffin with my breakfast, not even a really bad one. Hmm. Muffin for breakfast. Maybe you're onto something after all.
7114770 Now I imagine Aric and Silver Glow going for a walk and passing a shop for riding equipment. SG., grinning and nudging Aric: "Ooh... kinky."
7115770 I had reason to use the bus last weekend, and let me tell you, Google Maps was better at telling me where to go and when than the bus service's own website, let alone their printed schedules.
Love how she circled the hotel with totally no intent of maybe catching a glimpse.
And the famous "I'l do it tomorrow." I really hope it works out for them, but I have my doubts.
The tidbit about how humans and equestrians discuss their love-life spells an interesting conversation ahead at least.
Another great chapter!
7115766
This amused me enough to search for all MtG pegasus cards... none of them would be particularly appealing to Silver I guess. But yeah, Sacred Mesa. Heh.
Ah, Leviticus, Chapter 11. The section of the bible where Silver Glow finds out she's edible. She must have skimmed over 18:23, or some significant questions would have popped up about her male human friend's snuggles. (snerk!)
I hope Liz suggests that Silver Glow try reading some of the New Testament. The Old Testament has some exciting stories but also some very long boring parts. (I'm impressed that she made it through Leviticus!)
I think the most rewarding book for her time might be the book of Luke; it was written for an outsider and transitions neatly into the book of Acts. IMHO, if she wants to learn about God and his influence on modern society, reading the life of Jesus will achieve that more readily than reading the history of Israel.
7115919
Didn't Leviticus 11 specify that edible creatures have cloven hooves and eat cud? I don't think Silver has/does either, so it would be unclean to eat her. (Aric beware! )
Honestly, I bet the ponies have similar moral guides about having sex with animals, and similar designations for "animal" and "not animal." Silver and Aric are clearly "not animals," after all, so they're good!
7115876
I've always liked the idea that Earth Pony resilience could apply to magic. Cast fireball at a trained Earth Pony, he braces himself, and the spell washes over him harmlessly.
"Is that all you got, unicorn?"
Now imagine a massed charge of magic-resistant Earth Ponies.
Speaking as someone who commutes to school and has a printed schedule in his backpack, I can confirm that some people do still use ground-based mass transit.
Definitely looking forward to Silver trying to get a firm philosophical foundation. And to seeing if she ever does read those letters or talk to Aric. Procrastination may be the death of her yet.
7115886
I could see her liking Storm Herd. She might like Cavalry Pegasus as a sign of pony-human cooperation, though the idea of one pegasus airlifting an entire human army would likely strike her as more than a little ludicrous. Also, Rainbow Dash is apparently famous enough to get her own card.
And then there are the changelings, which are very different from the ones Silver knows...
Er, sorry. Kind of took this idea and ran with it. (Still, far from the first time these comments have gotten off-track.)
7116139
Here I thought that was the whole point.
Agree with the Storm Herd, might remind her of her persona. And I thought the same at 'Loyal Pegasus'.
7116075 Yup.
This pony definitely has my admiration.
I think the book of Romans might also be good; I believe it has a very concise overview of general Christian theology.
I still do!
And I use printed map too!
Does it make me old?
7115849 Here in Montreal it ended with a few physical altercation
7115794 She is refering to killing as a punishment, out of revenge, not out of need.
7116123 Interesting idea. That would mean the unicorns would need some kind of accelerator-spell for physical projectiles. Maybe also archers. You know, pitting the three tribes against each other is complicated enough on paper. Keeping the actual battle from descending into complete and utter chaos would require some extremely skilled commanders and incredibly disciplined soldiers. Somebody write this.
7116139
I use the buses too--I just use google maps to plan out which transfers I need to take and when. It probably doesn't work for every city.
---
This chapter got me thinking on two fronts: if mares are typically so causal with their sex lives, I can't help but wonder if there's going to be a time in the Equestrian Class where the 'topic' of the day is 'friendly conversation with a friend or coworker' and Silver Glow starts going on about her sex life as an example.
Secondly: How many classes is Silver Glow actually taking, and what exactly is she studying? I can't remember it ever being stated anywhere.
Does Silver understand the time skipt between Aquina and Kant? One cannot truly understand a particular philosophy, without examining the cultural background of the philosopher.
7116264
"...so, yeah, I've been trying, but now I'm so hung up on whether lifting my tail for Aric is going to get him in trouble. It seems silly that it would, but still... So I've been trying to stay patient, but it's sooooo hard. I mean, I really just want to push him over and crawl up on him and plant my haunches where it matters so he knows what I want, you know? And with spring just around the corner... Ummm... What?"
Rest of class:
7116212 Yeah, she's not treating the cultural exchange program as a sightseeing trip--she's actually working pretty hard at understanding human culture. Good pony!
She might get a lot out of Romans--or not, I dunno. As you say, it's a concise introduction to Christian theology, but as someone who has a little bit of theological training I think people should only get as much theology as they really need. It's easy to use theology to distract oneself from the core of Jesus' message, which is to love God and the people around you with everything you've got.
Silver likes poetry. After she finishes Luke, if it were my choice, I'd recommend 1st Corinthians 13 and then the Psalms.
7116267 It seems that it is the major limiting factor, both in her reading of the Bible and her lessons on philosophy; a lack of emphasis on cultural background. It's probably one of the single largest problems faced by the educational system, especially since so many impressionable young people are quick to latch onto philosophies that actually work completely differently than they think.
Still looking good man!
7110221 On a different thing, the pony typewriter with two keys. I came up with a design that works.
Each 'key' is actually a mechanical version of a navigation pad on a controller. It can be tilted in say 12 directions, each triggering a different character armature. Two keys gives us a 24 character set straight up. Make it able to twist 10 degrees each way and control different armatures in each position, and you get a 72 character set. Add the ability to push it down to access a second set of armatures, and you have 144 characters. Sounds complicated, but have you seen real mechanical typewriters? Those things are crazy!
Its going to be interesting when Silver finally comes around to have that talk with Aric. At that point they will both come to a clear point as to where they stand in the relationship. I'm sure things will turn out all right though so I'm not too worried.
A few random thoughts
The Alphabet
IIRC, you had a 14 character alphabet. To some extent, this makes sense for non unicorns. Writing is hard, a few basic shapes may be all the others were willing to tolerate. But, griffons & dragons have hands & can also do better, maybe their alphabet has more letters. Maybe Unicorns do as well.
But, this also veers into language. When people talk about things, they get words to describe what they mean. Either new words or new uses for old. For instance, CD, DVD, bit, bite all from computers. As to ponies, there is probably a core language & tribal dialects. Pegasi talk about flying a lot, Unicorns about magic. I remember one of the 1st season shows (Apple Buck Season?), Pinkie is trying to tell Twilight about some stunts Dash did & all she can say is "Zoom" & "Whoosh". Maybe she just didn't have the right words. Epiglottis is technically English but I'd bet a lot of folks had to look it up.
As to tech level in EQ... all I can say is something REALLY weird is going on there. I mean, Manehatten looks at least 1950s, Ponyville pre WWI, Appleoosa mid to late 19th century. But, it is like when you are in one you forget the others exist.
I'd agree that education levels in most of EQ are early 20th century. During WWII, about 2/3 US soldiers didn't have a high school diploma & I'd say EQ is about that. You get most of your training on the job. I point to Dash (Testing, 1,2,3) & she is in charge of the Ponyville weather team. Silver is unusual, she must be aiming for upper management.
As to how much an EQ bit is worth. Tough to say. EQ probably exports raw materials (especially food & despite what you pay in stores, wholesale food prices are down 10-15% over the last 5 years) & imports manufactured goods, so low value. However, if the coins are gold... Well, it has been a while since I checked & it was +$1200 an ounce then. +It makes a difference if EQ has a national debt. If not, their money would be more valuable.
Finally, with what a college education in the USA costs these days, no way she can afford this without significant outside help.
7115794 Exactly. The original Hebrew means "Thou shalt not murder." Every modern translations I've seen renders it that way - frankly, I don't have the least idea which translation Liz could've given her that says "Thou shalt not kill." (Unless it's King James, which would... have other problems too, to a pony who's still getting used to English.)
And I, too, think Liz should recommend she skip to the New Testament.
Ditto that on King James version of the Bible. I was once stuck somewhere for 2 days with nothing to do but sit on the floor & read the New Testament, so I read the new testament. In one place Jesus told his followers to give away everything "then come and sue me." & I'm "wait a minute". When I got where I could reach a dictionary I looked it up & found out that "sue" used to mean "follow". Reading Patrick O'Brian, "shy" used to mean "scared" & so it goes.
But, reading the Bible, the Song of Solomon (The one that starts "I am black & beautiful" ) is a pretty good verse.
2 other minor points. 1) Wide disagreement on exactly what the forbidden fruit was, but most agree it probably wasn't an apple.
2) Trying to deduce the location of the Garden of Eden, based on clues like rivers & gold deposits. Some one said ICR where in Florida was the only place on Earth that fit.
Silver might draw comparisons between King David & Commander Hurricane. (Both flawed heroes?)
7118296
It should remind you of Thud! Terry Pratchett actually designed it based on the Viking Game.
7115752 *throws a blue shell*
It's a Common Misconception & Oversimplification that the 10 Commandments say "Killing". What it actually says is "MURDER". The problem in today's society is we often times think of it as 1 and the same.
Killing is Lawful, whereas Murder is UNlawful. Like if you are a soldier killing an enemy soldier on command, that is "Killing". A cop killing a Armed Gunman at a School Shooting is Killing. Same as if you shot a gun into the air, and the bullet comes down and kills someone.
MURDER is different. Murder would be like if you killed civilians WITHOUT MILITARY ORDERS. Killing is also typically more premeditative. Like you found out a guy is sleeping with your wife, so you plot how to kill him and try to cover it up. Littleton was MURDER. Theater & School Shootings are MURDER.
Much like with Noah's Ark they have 2 UNCLEAN animals and 7 CLEAN animals (Food).
The Bible NEVER says what The Forbidden Fruit is. It could be a Date. It could be a Passion Fruit. It could be a Pineapple. It could be something we don't have a word for. Furthermore, when you look carefully, Adam & Even is NOT about being Kicked Out & Punished for eating The Forbidden Fruit. It's about Hiding Your Sin "Let's hide from God and hide our Nakedness". Then it's about Lying "We totally didn't do anything wrong". This was quickly followed by BLAMESHIFTING. "Okay, I DID do something wrong, but it was NOT my fault. It was THEIR Fault. You can NOT hold me Accountible for MY ACTIONS." This is backed up with God "Searching for Adam & Eve", followed by "Playing Dumb" by Interrogating them, ended by Punishment when they claimed "Not At Fault".
7115770
Last time I went to Chicago, I knew that there was plenty of mass transit available to take me to Navy Pier, but I couldn't figure out how it worked, so I just drove there and paid an exorbitant parking fee.
7115794
True, however it's worth mentioning that many versions do say specifically, with no qualifications, "Thou Shalt Not KIll."
7115827
Nope.
7115849
I've got mixed feelings. I've never used the service, and one of my friends is an Uber driver. But when I drove wrecker, since I did it for monetary gain, I was required to get a special driver's license and take a special test. The truck I drove was required to carry a USDOT number, and have more insurance than an ordinary automobile would have.
There's a reason for those requirements, and I personally think that Uber and other services like that are exploiting a loophole in the regulations.
7115876
Now you got me wondering what an all out Equestrian battle would look like.
Well, I touched on that in War Were Declared (comedy, but I bet there's at least one thing in there you hadn't thought of).
Daetrin covers some of it HERE (you should really read the whole series of blog posts; they're excellent). I think there's a bit of how they'd fight in the blog post on pony psychology, as well. Suffice it to say that when they go to war, they're all in.
7115919
No she's not. She doesn't have cloven hooves and she doesn't chew the cud.
(Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.)
[Well, technically, she is edible, but as a prey animal she already knows that quite well.]
I don't think she would consider herself an animal.
7116075
I'm really not sure what the best way for a complete outsider to read through the Bible would be, to be honest. There's some really good stuff in the OT (I'm particularly fond of Esther), but a lot of it's long and boring, too.
7116123
If you've read It's a Dangerous Business, Earth Ponies can 'stand fast,' and when they do, nothing can move them.
Also we've seen what kind of problems plants can cause . . . and we know earth ponies can grow them pretty quick when they want to.
7116212
If my memory serves, I believe you're right.
7116214
Yes, or a luddite. But that's okay; I still use printed maps on occasion, and can read train schedules.
7116264
She's taking three and student-teaching a fourth, which is beyond a full class-load at K college. She's basically taking classes outside of her Equestrian major, since Kalamazoo College doesn't offer college-level weather classes (not in the pony sense of what that means).
Kalamazoo College had a quarter system, so each class term was ten weeks long. Three classes was a full load, but it was expected that you'd also be doing other things. So my actual class schedule might be that I'm taking Poetry, Western Philosophy, and Lighting Design, but I was also taking Band, Handbells, Horseback Riding, Fencing, and doing all the lighting for the Dalton theatre. Most classes also required a fair bit of work outside of the class environment.
7116371
That would be the best class session ever.
7116267
In the sense that x years passed, yes. In the sense of how much the world changed in that time, no.
7116440
That, right there is what I believe the essence of Christianity is. Too bad too many people forget that part.
Liz ought to give her a plaque with 1 Corinthians 13:13 on it.
She'd love Psalms. Are there any good poetic translations, do you know? Poetry often loses a lot when it's translated into a different language. I've got two copies of Canterbury Tales: one's a literal, word for word translation, and the other is a fairly close translation put in meter. Guess which one I prefer to read?
7116767
In her case, of course, it's that it's a completely foreign culture that she has no real understanding of. But I do agree that in our educational system, that's a problem. Everyone was a product of their times, and what they wrote and believed reflected that, and that's important to know when you want to understand why they thought like they did.
7117454
I have, in fact, seen a real mechanical typewriter. In fact, through high school, I frequently used one (we finally got a computer when I was a junior in high school). I've still got a mechanical Smith Corona next to my desk in case of power outage or zombie apocolypse.
I think the rotating pads would make it hellishly complex. I'm not saying it can't be done; IBM's Selectric typewriters had a 'wheel' rather than piano-style keys.
codex99.com/design/images/secretary/selectric_lg.jpg
7118353
Yes, unicorns have more characters in their alphabet (I think I decided on 48). The spoken language is the same for both, but the non-unicorn language has more ambiguity. Also they use symbols a lot (and we've seen that in the show, too). Other races presumably have their own language with their own sets of letters.
Oh yeah, there'd be slang that was unique to each tribe. Probably some of it bleeds through to the others in mixed communities. Also technical words: there's probably an earth pony word for making a plant grow faster, perhaps several such words.
Magic screws things up and makes it harder to tell. Locally available materials, local style preferences, etc, would all influence how they did things.
Yes, she is.
I think the way they're doing it right now is that the host school is paying all costs. That makes things simpler. It's not a good system if you've got a lot of exchange students, but if you've only got one, it's manageable.
7118616
RSV says "kill." Not sure how modern that one is, though. I think that's what we had in church when I was a kid.
7124051
Although many somewhat modern translations do specifically say 'kill' rather than 'murder.' I personally prefer 'kill,' because that puts the onus on the person who's sanctioning the killing to prove that it's just, rather than to just have the lazy fallback of 'well, I'm not profiting personally from it, so it's not murder.' But that's just my two cents.
Maybe it's a Zap Apple.
That's a good point. I think that nuance would be lost on Silver, though.
7129720 unfortunately yeah there are still a number of English translations that I think still use 'thou shall not kill' and it is what I hear most often quoted. It's been said a lot but here's a little more on the original word there I haven't seen in the comments so far and also leads into some of your reply there. The most straight up literal translation of the Hebrew word used there I've seen meens 'kill unjustly' leading to the more complete English translation of murder. But yeah the 'kill' translation is one of the worst English translation mistakes in bible translation I've come across for just the reason highlighted in Silver's thinking.
As others have said I really like how you have Silver really throwing herself into trying to understand things instead of just treating it as a fun trip to a new place.
7118616 eh skipping to the New Testament might solve some issues but it would also lead to other issues as well. The bible is a whole, and the NT really cannot be wholly understood or explained fully without the old as a foundation.
4/10
7129720
Exactly. It is ridiculously hypocritical to say "Thou shalt not murder" rather than "Thou shalt not kill." I'm surprised any Christian actually thinks that changing the word makes killing another human being a-okay under certain circumstances. Circumstances as defined by whom? You?
So you can't murder but you can "kill justly". So that guy there fixing his pipes on a Sunday. I can justly kill him. The more accurate translation of God's Word says so.
When you allow such arbitrary standards, how can you then condemn another culture's men for killing women who eloped, or who were raped and therefore "dishonored the family"?
It surprises me that Miss Silver Glow has not figured out that the Bible is the work of murderous barbarians.
7413993
Hey now, that's an insult to the barbarians! Apologize, they have no right to be compared to the Christians, at least the barbs have standards lol.
Next time SC finds out Peggy is going to that hotel, she needs to subtly find out which room---then be hovering right outside in the morning with the biggest creepiest grin she can muster when Peg throws open the curtains.
7146159
Maybe the Pope? The truth is I don't know. Certainly, to read the Old Testament, there were times when God wanted the Israelites to go to war, so I guess if He says so it's okay. I'd be kind of interested to see what theologians think about it.
And this kind of thinking leads to groups of murdering fanatics . . . but it's a good point. Although IIRC, the New Testament struck down a lot of the Old Testament punishments, so killing people who work on the Sabbath is out.
7413993
What would the ponies do if Princess Celestia told them to go kill all the griffons?
7645997
That's one way to antagonize her roommate Although Peggy probably wouldn't be too surprised. Her boyfriend might, though.
Leviticus, by it's nature, is about as interesting as a book on criminal and civil law and only deeply fascinating to those interested in such things. Which makes sense as it is a book of criminal, ritual and civil law from about three and a half millennia ago.
7893533
It is an interesting insight into what the ancient Israelites thought was important and what wasn't. Now that I'm thinking about it, though, I wonder if conservative Jews won't wear mixed fabric (i.e., cotton/polyester blends or the like)? Because IIRC, Leviticus says no.
She's starting to get it
Pff. Don't do that, Silver
Ah. Let's hope the teacher is wise enough to actually treat that as an alien encounter, and start from the very very basics, and add the appropriate historical background.
Then again, doesn't seem like she's really taken that into account much in her lessons so far
Yeah, she still doesn't get what kind of taboo it is in our culture. Well. Her mindset's probably more healthy
P.S.: Weathervanes?
Huh. Peculiar. I still check the printed schedules in train stations. Of course, over here trains are still pretty local transportation, since villages are so close together. In fact buses and trains often do the same routes, only trains stop once every village (the Local type ones anyway; InterCity type only stops in the larger ones) and buses stop every few streets.
Think she'd need to research some serious historical background for those. A lot of that kind of laws were apparently drawn up in times of war, where a lot of goodwill was thrown out the window in favour of survival. I know that, specifically, the anti-gay rules in Leviticus that idiots keep quoting were a result of that; they were simply so desperately in need of more population that they restricted sex to only be allowed in service of reproduction.
So no V-Day nookie for the horny pegasus, but hopefully soon.
Some things are simply universal... also, someone needs to introduce her to Garfield.
Yet another quirk humans will have to get used to, high up windows are no longer as private as you think. Plus, this gives me the mental image of a couple going at it on a roof, only to look up and see a pegasus or two hovering over them with some popcorn. "Don't stop on my account."
So, given Ponies are 1. New enough to still be a trend and popular for being new, and 2. Just so damn adorable anyway, aren't there more ponies getting put up on youtube? Not saying her stuff wouldn't end up getting a ton of hits too, but odd no one ever pulls out videos of other ponies to show her as well.
She REALLY needs someone to explain this to her.... But it is rather odd seeing this but it makes sense, it shows just how much works rely on an audience having a certain knowledge beforehand to really get it. All the unsaid in the work cultural things assumed to be known, and so ubiquitous, you'd pretty much need someone from another world like this to be so blind to them.
Also makes you think how someone who has never even heard of MLP would take this story.....
Well, good for her, finally being proactive and trying to solve these issues rather then just accept them and act like nothing is wrong.
"Only two or three different positions"
Which makes so much damn sense, and in some cases, it does happen, but the unspoken rules about when and where are so random and mutable and vague that, good luck figuring out they even exist.
Okay, Uber isn't THAT old that none of them would ever have had to look at a bus schedule before or be that lost by the very idea of it. Pushing the 'dumb millennials' thing just a bit to hard to have no one in the entire class ever having dealt with a schedule like that.
You should have learned more about a lot of things, but let's hope the description was a bit better then "A series of tubes filled with cats"
Oh you poor poor pony...........
Yeah, kind of amazing just how self contradictory that thing ends up being. I'm surprised she didn't have a reaction to their pretty much being two stories of God making things in Genesis. But, ohhh going to be interesting seeing her try to explain this... of course she's likely to use religious terms... also need someone else to explain the more real reasons of using religion for power, control, but also health and safety advisories, since a lot of the "Do not eat" stuff was more things that tended to kind of make you sick back then because they didn't know how to treat them correctly and not get sick from them.
And then the revoking all those rules in the NT was just done because the early Christians realized no one would join their new group if it had all those rules, so made up excuses to ditch them.
Well, you are trying to be, but Aric isn't taking the bait.
TIMING!
Damnit Silver, stop being a lazy pega-pony and make with the talking. Only way this is getting resolved at this point. Is odd how he seems to more then know she's into him, enjoy being close to her, snuggling in very intimate ways, doing everything but actualy making any moves... is he waiting for her to make the first move to make sure he's not misreading things?
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That, or just translation 'errors', since the words used in the oldest Hebrew versions we know of could be taken a number of ways, just any gay sex at all, specifically having it in a woman's bed, or more a submissive/dominate thing, where guys weren't supposed to do it like they did with woman with one being a 'bottom'.
Then there is the whole "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" thing, which is another translation issue, since the word used had a much more specific meaning then just 'female magic user' but specifically meant someone who used magic to hurt others. It wasn't saying magic itself was evil, just using it do do evil things was evil.
7665902 Look at her in shock, and then take a good long while to figure out what was going on, likely long enough for Twilight and the Mane 6 to get in and Orbital Friendship Canon her because a Celestia who would order that is either being mind controlled, or has been replaced.
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I have.. that was one of the few bits of worldbuilding I really liked in that thing.