Silver Spanner, Journeymare story notes · 1:37am Mar 25th, 2015
First of all, a huge thanks to my pre-readers: metallusionismagic, MSPiper, and AShadowOfCygnus.
Of the construction ponies, Ambrosia, Silver Spanner, and Rough Tumble are canon background ponies.
Ambrosia
Silver Spanner
Rough Tumble
Hydro Jet, the senior plumber, was Silver Spanner's master.
Riven Oaks, the foremare, is named after a type of shingle.
Square Cut, the trimmer, is named for the cuts she hopefully makes.
Hazel Broach, the thatcher, is named after a type of tool used in thatching a roof.
Tilly Lamp is named after a type of pressure lamp. Even discounting the magical crystal lamps, there were many types of mundane lamps in houses before electricity—oil lamps, pressure lamps, gaslights, candles, and so on.
Bathrooms off kitchens—a lot of old homes have a bathroom right off the kitchen, because that's where the plumbing is. I lived in a house where the downstairs bathroom was an addition off the kitchen, because that was the most logical place to put it.
Even in a modern house, bathrooms and such are often arranged to minimize plumbing runs, although having the bathroom door open directly into the kitchen is probably not an arrangement most people would like these days.
Lath is the backing to which plaster is applied. It's basically thin strips of wood arranged with a slight gap between them, to give the plaster something to hold on to. It's generally not very good quality wood, since when the plastering's complete, you won't ever see it again.
Hooves aren't very good at getting things out of eyes is a reference to Luna Vs The Threesome, a Friendly Uncle fic. It's one of those lines that's amused me ever since I read it.
And a scratched cornea,” said Luna, “from where I tried to get it out. Did you know hooves aren’t very good for getting things out of your eye? They’re not.”
One of the guys I used to work with in Lansing had the worst luck—the kind of thing that you can't believe ever happened to anybody, ever. One day, he was late for work because he hit a flock of birds with his truck. Another time, his windshield got broken when something blew out of a boat being towed down the highway. Anybody else told you a story like that, you'd laugh and figure they were pulling your leg. In his case . . . that was just the kind of luck he had.
I don't know why I didn't know this was a thing until just recently (Saturday, in fact), but there are horse pulls. They're like tractor pulls,except with horses.
In certain trades, having a formal education is a disadvantage.
I know that sounds stupid, but hear me out. There are jobs where a formal education is less-important than hands-on experience. Certainly, sports are that way—you'll get better practicing football than you will reading about football.
There are still some trades which are largely apprenticeships, although recently vocational education has stepped in as well.
In such a system, anything that takes you away from the craft you're learning puts you at a disadvantage. And I think it's reasonable to assume that the ponies largely still have an apprentice/master type of system.
Many of them, of course, would learn from their parents. I think this would especially hold true for Earth ponies. For those who wind up getting a mark outside their families' area of expertise, they would probably find some older pony to teach them.
A stone boat is a type of sledge which was used to transport stones out of a field. It had two advantages over a wagon: the broad skids kept it from sinking into the field when it was carrying a heavy load, and you didn't have to lift the stones too far to get them on the boat.
The Spiral Tower is a tower in Ponyville, not to be confused with the rotunda/town hall.
I found that on this helpful map, which you can find full-sized and annotated versions of HERE.
The story of how Silver Spanner Gets Her Cutie Mark is an interesting story.
Who'd have thought somebody made a plushie of her?
Well I see story notes, but a lack of story so far.
I guess you're being a little pre-emptive.
I can't seem to find it... I guess I'll have to wait until I get back from work.
2907573
2907599
I like to put a link in the story to the notes. It's no real problem for multi-chapter fics, since it only takes a moment to publish the blog post and then put that link at the end of the chapter.
With new fics, though, it's a crapshoot how long it will take before the story is approved. I try to reach a happy medium by submitting somewhat before the blog entry is done, and then adding in the author's note later, but in some cases that backfires (Snails Aren't Bugs got approved fast).
The only other solution I've come up with is putting it as an unpublished chapter on the fic I'm submitting, but sometimes that asks for a password (even if I haven't set one), or just frequently refreshing the page, until I get the PM that it's approved or rejected.
2907577
Maybe the midwife dropped him right after he was born.
Some kinds of ponies really are less suited for construction. It's not so much a matter of fine hoof control, though, as... other things.
i.4cdn.org/mlp/1427238650112.png
I'm not surprised she's got a plushie. People will make plushies for anything and everyone.
2907732
Yeah. I think 'aptitude' might be the word.
2907756
I know, but she's so obscure. It's hard to find art of her--the plushie was a real shock.
Pony pulls are a thing too!
Hehehe. Tis true, m'lord.
So the formal education itself isn't a disadvantage, just the side effects of obtaining it are. I suppose I won't have to burn you at the stake, then; was worried for a minute there....
By the by, did you know plastering of the old-fangled variety is done in (at least) two separate coats? The first thick layer is applied, it's a very rough plaster (which I believe old folks call it just 'cement' [though I think the technical term is 'plaster cement']) and it has horse hair mixed into it. Hehe, ain't that funny? Cuz, you know, ponies? The hair acts like rebar would in concrete, providing reinforcement. The second finishing layer is done in gypsum plaster, and is usually a very thin layer. Granted, patchwork would probably skip the first course layer.
I remember redoing my current kitchen, which had plaster and lath. If I recall correctly, once everything was off the studs, there were wood strips on the bottom and top of the wall, which, I imagine, wouldv'e been used as rails to slide a wood board across, in order to screed the plaster into shape. Could be wrong about that one, but that's sure what it looked like.
My new house was built in '48, when I imagine building supplies (like lath) were in short supply. Post-war housing boom, and all that. Anyway, they had apparently invented drywall but didn't know how to use it like we do now lol. They basically used a 3/8" drywall AS lath, and plastered over that in the traditional method from there on. This has the downside of having 1 inch thick plaster that weighs a ton. The upside, it's rock hard and so thick (huehuehue) you probably couldn't hear what's going on in the next room. (HUEHUEHUE)
2907624 U was literally putting pants on for work when you posted this I couldn't have read it either way. but now the question is read it now despite being awake for 32 hours or wait until I wake up?
2908198
Damn, that's a lot of weight for two little ponies to be pulling!
2908451
Yes. The loss of time on the job and experience can be problematic when it comes to certain jobs. That having been said, a formal education almost always provides a net benefit, especially if you have to change careers.
Trust me, I'm not advocating for people to drop out of school. Learning is never wasted.
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I did. There's a pretty long drying time between coats, too, IIRC. Days, I think; more if it's humid.
Well, they've got an ample supply. Heck, that's probably why they still use quills, too. They can get all they need from Cloudsdale.
There are other things which use horsehair, too.
I don't think they would--IIRC, if you put on the plaster too thick, it cracks when it dries. Not a problem if it's in the first layer, of course, since it'll be covered.
My first guess would be that it was there to attach the trim to. If the house has eight foot tall walls, I'd think it would be a real challenge to run a screed over that. But, I could be completely wrong. I know practically nothing about plastering.
Back then, they might not have intended for the drywall to be the finished coat. Certainly, it would be quicker to put up a drywall underlayment, than have to deal with the lath and the base coat. If you wet it down, I think the finish coat would bond to it, possibly even through the paper on the face--but again, I might be talking out my plot.
2911081
Hehehe yeah.
I'm sure they didn't. Although it's funny, because I think none of the electricians got that memo. All of the electrical box rings are for 3/8" thick wall-ing. And it does still have the cement-and-hair basecoat, with a finish coat over that. Apparently, back in the day, there were several types of (what we now call) drywall. Some had finger-sized holes in them for the plaster to ooze through (like the spaces between lath), and were all generally meant to be a lath substitute. Mine, though, just look like normal drywall (albeit in 2' x 8' sized panels). And in fact, the plaster cement sticks to it so well, I have not seen one instance of it separating during demolition. Funny, because I've seen plaster crumble off of lath so many times, even when not being destroyed. (But to be fair, there's at least a 20 year age gap between the two.)
Oh yeah, funny story. Because of termite-eaten wall studs, there have already been a couple of walls in my house that I have quite literally removed one side's plastering, and removed all the studs of the section of wall, leaving the plaster on the other side just floating there, with nothing holding it up but hopes and dreams, while I framed a new wall to nail it to. lol
That's still one of my favourites, lol
That's the same map I use.
3001890
This story was the first time I saw it. It would be funny if it were the same map the animators used.
First of all, what is thatching?
And second of all, where do you learn all this stuff?! I was impressed about your familiarity with the tax collecting systems but in addition you are also knowledgeable in construction!
I'm impressed,
I love reading about all the knowledge packed in your stories in this kind of blog posts, but how exactly you incorporate it in your writing process?
Do you do research and then write the story, or you just use your own knowledge and then explain things in your blog posts?
Maybe you wrote the story and then added such thing to make it more realistic, or do you mix it up and do things differently for each of your stories?
~Leonzilla
Paying attention to everything I see (the tax stuff mostly came from the local treasurer's office, along with listening to what the treasurer said, how the people objected), and doing research to fill in the blanks. Lots of different job occupations when I was younger, lots and lots of reading, and relentless curiosity. A collection of books on how things were done, Wikipedia, and interviews with people who know stuff about the subject. I've asked pointed questions to bald people, pilots, forensic scientists, veterinarians, etc. Then when I find someone in the comments who knows more about a subject than I do, I begin to press them for answers.
Both. In some cases, it's stuff I knew already (Highway 502 is largely written from life; I've been a wrecker driver and a mechanic [current occupation]), in other cases, it's specific research on a certain topic which gives me a large part of the story: Sea Swirl's Dive was begun as a basic plot, and the research was the primary driver for the entire story.
Usually I have a rough idea what I'm going to do going in, and add the specific details to flesh out the scene. Some stories wind up getting written after the fact due to research I had to do for something else: I only briefly touched on shoeing in Onto the Pony Planet, but there will be a side story which goes more in-depth, since I did a lot of research into shoeing before writing that scene.