Story Notes: 18: Public Speaking · 2:49am Jan 18th, 2019
A while back--and I can’t be bothered to check my notes or my blog posts where I might or might not have announced that this was a thing that I was going to do--I mentioned that I was catching up on some of the Prompt-A-Days that I missed back in the day.
I seem to recall someone complaining that it was going to be a second-person fic.
Deal with it, someone.
Source (Twitter link's dead, sorry)
625 of y’all may remember Hannah Hawes. And if y’all want to read that right meow, go ahead, I’ll wait.
In case you don’t, I’ll give you this link instead: Story Notes: Hannah Hawes, Shop Assistant. That way I don’t have to put any spoilers in the blog!
Also, to save those few who don’t click on either link some confusion, her code name is Banana.
Marina is an orca-pony. She’s the Everfree Northwest mascot, and at EFNW last year there was a drink named after her.
It was blue.
There have been conversations about a noun-based naming system, and the problems that might arise with such a system. The show writers even did a bit of a ‘who’s on first’ routine with pegasus names in one episode. . . .
There are several reasonable solutions to this problem. One is that the pony names are somehow different than the similar word. Much as my name means ‘friend of horses’ (Φιλιππος in the original Greek, if you’re interested), so too might pony names be different from their meaning. Maybe Applejack’s actual name is Appeldrank, for example. Rainbow Dash’s might be Regnboga þjóta. Twilight Sparkle’s could be Skimergloede. And I could spend all night translating pony names to other languages with Google Translate and honestly that would be a lot of fun. Plus, Skimergloede has a nice ring to it.
Obviously, that doesn’t work if the ponies are speaking English, so another possibility could be that there’s some way to denote it with body language, or even tone of voice. I’ve always liked the idea that the ponies use their ears in conversation--why wouldn’t they? IRL equines communicate with their ears. So that’s something to think about.
Having said all that, Daring is trolling Hannah each time she explains ear position.
The show writers did just yoink Ahuizotl from Classical Nahuatl [and modern myth], although despite what Daring says, they not only dropped the macron, but also the t in the middle. To be fair, in mythology it’s spelled both ways, and there’s a former Aztec ruler names Ahuitzotl. Did I mention that names can get confusing?
“Pain fades, glory lasts forever, and chicks dig scars” is from a human movie, specifically The Replacements, starring Gene Hackman and Keanu Reeves. The actual original quote (because I know someone is going to be pedantic about it) is: “Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory… lasts forever.”
There are of course elements of going to a con sprinkled throughout the story. I’d like to tell you it was written at a con, but it wasn’t.
[I’ve been on a couple of writing panels thus far, and I’m trying to weasel my way onto some of them at EFNW this year, because everybody needs to know what I have to say about writing.]
The one thing that annoys me about people asking questions at writing panels--and this probably happens at other panels, too--is when they give a long-winded introduction. There’s limited question time, and I feel like that time might be better spent just asking your question and moving on, rather than giving a summary of your second-person self-insert fic as a lead-in to your question.
At the same time, I do get the thrill of being able to ask a question directly to one of your idols, like Somber (notice me Senpai).
I don’t know about eating green coffee beans these days. Back in Ye Olden Times, goats ate them which is how humans discovered coffee, but that’s a story for another time. You can get chocolate-covered espresso beans for a quick pick-me-up, and I’d assume that if you didn’t mind the bitter taste, you could eat them without the chocolate covering.
I don’t know if an equine would eat a coffee bean . . .
. . . and then I did my research, and it suggests that providing an equine with an unlimited supply of caffeine is a terribleidea.
EDIT: since currently the blog has four times as many views as the actual story, I can only assume that people can’t find the actual story. So here’s the link: 18: Public Speaking
Philippos. Cool.
I have a dual-band router. One of my wireless networks is named Alexander and the other is named Bucephalus.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Gemito%2C_Vincenzo_%281852-1929%29_-_Alessandro_a_cavallo_di_Bucefalo_%281904%29.jpg
As far as critters eating coffee fruits goes, I've had Civet Coffee and it's a bit overrated. I really want to try batcoffee. https://seaislandcoffee.com/products/wild-bat-coffee-costa-rican-coffee
derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/1/16/1340598__safe_artist-colon-booker-dash-the-dash-dewitt_oc_oc+only_oc-colon-shifting+eclipse_bat+pony_coffee_commission_dialogue_lidded+eyes_pony_solo_s.jpeg
So coffee is a very, very bad idea for Pinkie Pie!
I cannot remember exactly my reaction at the time, but I am quite sure I remarked on it. And maybe I groaned too. I mean, it is 2nd person, it is distasteful.
It took me a bit to realize what you were doing with the names, so I just assumed you meant Apple Drank, like purple drank. :B
Okay, okay.... ponytail twi is best ponytail pone.
I remember back during Silver Glow's journal, someone made the suggestion that mute ponies may use ear semaphore to talk. I liked that idea, although that more simple "ear are used to give clue about tone or context" sound good too.
I mean, you could ask the same of most names. Names like John, or Elizabeth all have meanings to them, and one has to wonder how that worked in the original language. Would a priest, trying to assure someone of his intentions, say 'elizabeth' and mean 'my god is my oath' in that context? I don't know.
Time for another in depth Biscuit story I think!I doubt it's really much of an issue. Inevitably there'll be some mix-ups, but in a general spoken conversation, a name said in context would be understood as a name.
Ah the Replacements. The only sports movie I own and ever plan on owning.
I do keep meaning to write an EqG story based on that Twilight pic.
"Day 5: Still a horse. Attempts to use horn improving. Sunset continues to laugh and/or cuddle rather than explain how to unicorn."
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Maybe a short thing told with little quote from her journal, I did like the tone of that entry.
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Virtually all my drives and such are named for breakfast foods. I’ve got Blueberry Muffin, Pancakes, Toaster Strudel, Cinnamon Toast, etc.
Batcoffee sounds interesting.
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Yes, a terrible idea. Probably illegal; I’d assume that the Princesses thought of that.
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Bah, the first one won a contest. Second Person is a tool like many others, and it can be done well or it can be done poorly.
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No, I hadn’t meant that at all. Now that I’ve googled it, I’ve got the setup if I want to write a sequel to Mongolian Horse Friction.
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She is adorable, and that’s a fact.
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The first place I saw the idea was in Misunderstandings by the Rogue Wolf, and I like it. I think it’s a good idea, especially since that’s part of how IRL horses communicate.
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I don’t know. There might have been some way they were differentiated, or it could have just been clear by context.
Sadly, that’s an area outside of my expertise, and I’m not sure that I’d want to do enough research to actually find out if it would be a workable idea.
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I honestly don’t think it would be, either, although it could be possible. I suppose if there were a pony who had a name that was too close to something that they’d frequently use the noun for (i.e., Cloudy Skies, Clear Skies, etc.), they might just give them a nickname.
Related, a few of the developmentally disabled adults I work with have a speech impediment that makes them pronounce “p” as “b”; that’s sometimes a problem when I’m working with another staff named Bill.
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Necessary Roughness has some good scenes in it; might be worth at least a watch. In all of its glorious 80s-ness.
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Do eeet.