• Member Since 23rd May, 2013
  • offline last seen Dec 12th, 2023

SpaceCommie


Writer. Editor. Spaceman.

More Blog Posts117

  • 406 weeks
    Back (In Black)

    I swear I'm not doing this on purpose, but... there will be a new chapter of Darkly tomorrow. At least 900 words, significant plot motion and character development. And it's all the product of yours truly.

    Read More

    6 comments · 557 views
  • 431 weeks
    Update on my general status

    Hi everyone. I thought I'd check in and say how things are going, including updates on where I am with various stories.

    Read More

    2 comments · 548 views
  • 434 weeks
    TAGD Emergency Announcement

    I accidentally put out a chapter before it was ready. It's down now until I fill in the gaps between it and where the story left off. So sorry.

    OTOH, if anyone wants to get a Special Sneak Peekā„¢ at the next chapter once I'm done with it, PM me or contact me on Skype ("spacecommie"), because I could use another editor.

    Thanks for reading!

    1 comments · 308 views
  • 449 weeks
    Signal Boost: Daybreak

    SpaceCommie: This story is like Lunatics' fraternal twin brother separated at birth
    Sharp Spark: Haha
    Sharp Spark: Wait, really? Howso?
    SpaceCommie: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/222206/daybreak
    SpaceCommie: Shit dude, he's even using the same chapter naming convention as I am
    Sharp Spark: Wow. That's... really long

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    6 comments · 619 views
  • 449 weeks
    There will be another update of Darkly

    I will not allow it to go a year without an update. Expect a chapter before the end of the month.

    Read More

    4 comments · 434 views
Aug
10th
2013

Luna will not destroy thou · 9:57pm Aug 10th, 2013

Mostly because that's not the right way to use "thou".

Quick history lesson before I get to the practical gist of this.

A lot of languages have two different second-person pronouns for various degrees of formality. In Spanish, "usted" is used to address strangers and superiors, whereas "tu" is used to talk to friends and equals. At one point, English had something similar: "you" was reserved for addressing superiors, whereas "thou" was used for pretty much everyone else. Eventually, egalitarianism kicked "thou" to the curb, and "you" became our only second person pronoun (not counting "y'all").

The upshot of this is that thou is weird, and not to be trifled with. But the real problems come when we bring "thee" into play.

It's really not complicated, but because of thou's relative rarity, it's frequent that people don't take the time to learn. In 99.9% of things written, that's not a problem. However, when you're writing Luna's dialogue, you have to be careful.

This is because there's a difference between "thou" and "thee". It's basically the same situation as "I" and "me". When the subject of your sentence is the "second person," you use "thou", and when it's not, the correct pronoun to use is "thee".

Here's an example.

Thou hath failed to use these pronouns correctly. For this insolence, they shall destroy thee.

Report SpaceCommie · 122 views ·
Comments ( 1 )

This is actually the subject of a blog post I made a couple weeks ago:

The Royal Canterlot Voice and You: A Quick and Dirty Guide to Speaking Far Too Loudly

Things like this seem very simple to those of us with some romance language experience, but... English is weird. I didn't learn hardly any grammar until I started studying French and Spanish. I like to tell people I learned English in French class.

I like instructive blogs like these. You just earned yourself a stalker!

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