Learning and Lore · 9:48am Apr 22nd, 2023
It's been an interesting time as of late.
As mentioned in the prior blog, I've been hammering out my entrant to Eileen's Spring Fling entry and finally wrestled the beast into submission on the 20th. It was in its rawest form, still needing basic word substitution before I even got to the more arduous grammar checking. If you follow me you're aware of my tribulations regarding grammar, my education was a tad spotty at times despite an inherent love of reading. So on the 21'st I said to myself, "Moharmoney, you should relax today. You've work, no need to edit after the 5+ hours you spent getting your Spring Fling fic ready."
So, like the genius I am, I smashed out a 1000 word entrant to Mockingbirb's Arboreal Yearnings contest instead.
Yeah, very relaxing. Hah.
This one i'm a tad nervy about in all honesty. I didn't have a pre-reader or an editor. Instead, I challenged myself to try and edit the whole thing single-handedly. More to test my notes and skill than anything else, even the final Grammarly run was more just to reflect on any possible thing I could have missed, and that was mercifully small. I'm hopeful it's 'ok', at least when it comes to the aforementioned grammar.
As a Reflection-Verse story, it reminded me that there are a few lore nuggets I thought readers might enjoy. These things will never be expanded on within the story, so I feel no issue explaining them a bit more.
Firstly, Twilight's formal introduction in Three Step's Back second chapter? For those savvy to the bizarre world of American Debutantes, yes, that was a 'Texas Dip'. I was looking for the most extravagant, ostentatious, and above all else impractical form of polite introduction. In universe, it evolved from the sisters. When dealing with reluctant or fractious nobility in the early days of tribal unity it was important to keep everyone on side, having two demi-gods with incredible power rule over you can be... daunting, to say the least. The two would perform a similar act as a form of humility and implied subservience. By lowering their heads into prime positions for an executioner's strike, they show themselves as the 'weaker' of the two groups. It eventually lost all meaning, mutating as these things do over the years, with nobles adopting it as a fashionable act used by the royals.
As noted in Branch Shaking, Cutie Marks are explicitly tied to the soul. They're a reflection of you're whole being, and any tampering is considered taboo at the least and a very serious offence at worse. Using a potion or spell as Twilight and Applebloom did in 'Cutie Pox' is a big no-no for example. Twilight herself, being a Diamond Dog, lacks a Cutie Mark and isn't as familiar with them as canon pony Twilight. Her focus is science, magic is relegated to a more general study other than her geomantic's. Pony Twilight for example would have immediately known trying what Diamond Dog Twi did in this story was a foolish idea, shooting it down and buying her some animal combs instead.
Shaking Branches takes place sometime in between 'Dragon Shy' and 'Look Before You Sleep', canon wise.
I liked it.
It was a nice light story that I didn't have to think too much about, but grew this Twilight and Applejack as characters.
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Thank yoh, and its lightness was my intention.
I'm not a huge fan of writing AJ. Between accent shenanigans and her dry role as "The sensible one" she can be a bit of a drag. So it was more experimental here to see if I could "get" her, so to speak. Twi being a bundle of nerves after screwing up is also fun.
The only character I dread writing more is Pinkie Pie, because she's incredibly easy to write poorly or flanderise.
Do you do commissions? If so, how much is it?
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I don't do commissions currently, but I'm open to the idea. I'll PM you and we can chat.
If you had a Reflection-Verse group or something like that I could join to get notifications specifically of new "Reflection-Verse" stories, I would definitely do that. It seems like they've always been interesting.
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Good point.
I've been out of pony stuff for a bit, but Reflections is one of my prouder moments. I really need to get back to it.