Now, Beloved Children, Pay Attention. · 3:24pm Dec 25th, 2012
Now, beloved children, pay attention. I am the voice from the pillow, and I have brought you something. Have brought you a wish for Merry Christmas.
So, what's Jericho been up to? Well, in light of naming issues, the new chapter is to be called “Nemawashi”. Why that? Well, Nemawashi (根回し) in Japanese means an informal process of quietly laying the foundation for some proposed change or project, by talking to the people concerned, gathering support and feedback, and so forth. It is considered an important element in any major change, before any formal steps are taken, and successful nemawashi enables changes to be carried out with the consent of all sides. Nemawashi literally translates as “going around the roots”, from 根 (ne, root) and 回す (mawasu, to go around [something]). Its original meaning was literal: digging around the roots of a tree, to prepare it for a transplant. In Jericho, however, I've bastardized it into a Perditian loanword, now spelt “Nemawaschi” because the C needs to be there for reasons of German grammar, and forced it into being a verb by spelling it “Nemawaschien” (Ich nemawaschie, du nemawaschist, er/es/sie nemawaschit, and so on).
Now, what the hay's gone through my mind to put Japanese, of all things, in a story with emphasis on pseudo-German culture clashing with an Anglo-American-like culture? Why, because I didn't think there was a better world to describe what this chapter does: lays the groundwork for the real meat of the story's plot. Here, we see Jericho is perhaps less-than sane and sees a certain bald biped, we get a glimpse trouble of the frontier (with a deeper cause, eh, Mephistopheles) and why Luna goes to where she'll be and why, and we hear rumors of a mythical Steel Leviathan prowling the Equestrian shelf. There's also a between-the-lines mini story of events going on between Lyra and Bonbon. So, fun! Jericho himself, though, only has one “funny” line in particular, and apparently it's so strange that when my editor read it, he paused, paused some more, then repeated it to me before going back to editor-ing. And it was Jericho's more psychopathic side slipping through the cracks of his annoyance. Oh yeah, and this chapter's utterly different from how it ever was, so that new read ought be worth it; for instance, it begins with Jericho getting into another fight with Dash, wherein he spouts said baffling line.
The chapter is currently “done”, and so I'm going through editing hoops where I hand it to my editor while I obsessively recheck it for errors but never find them all because I'm blind or something. You know, the more and more I work with this new Jericho (the pony, that is, who is the guy from the new drafts), the more and more of a complete lunatic he seems to get, but only when he's annoyed. I'm convinced he's going to snap at some point. Probably in Canterlot. With Celestia. Using carrier pigeons. Or Vinci repeaters. Do you recall how he got arrested last time in Canterlot? Because that's totally not what's going to happen this time around. Two words: Frère Jacques.
But in the mean time, who's up for Jericho meeting Lightning Dust? I might not be a very good writer (mediocre at best), but I'll do what can! And as always, your thoughts and opinions are highly valued. Any questions or concerns, too, I'd be happy to respond to. After all, I can't improve without being told what I'm doing wrong! Y'all take care, now, ya hear?
I kind of like the Germanization of the Japanese word. It seems like something Jericho might do if only to show off some more about how he knows so much more than the rest of the group. In the meantime, I'll look forward to the rest of the new chapter revisions. I'm anticipating the the awesomeness will be doubled, as Princess Luna would put it. Good luck!
Oh, and for the record, I absolutely approve of Jericho meeting Lightning Dust! She's the best new character of the third season, in my opinion.