Random Ramblings CCLVIII

IN WHICH I POINT OUT REFERENCES
Okay. Who today? I'm in a wiped-out mood, so y'all get this:

When I was in marching band, one of the songs we played my junior or senior year had a "Turkey in the Straw" interlude. Anyway, on to stuff:

This time I'll talk about my writing first and then move onto personal shit. You'll probably prefer that, yes? SO, I haven't made much progress on any story because I was very busy this past weekend (I'll get to that) and probably won't be able to get much done in the near-future because of preparing for my vacation next week. However, I want to write what I can.

Actually, I'm paranoid as hell and plan to send links to several of my gdocs to one poor schmuck with instructions to publish them in case anything happens to me on the road. SRA is completed save for editing the last two stories; so is my long-in-production Equestrian History story (again, except for rewriting its first chapter). I should probably concentrate on those tonight instead of Sci-Twi's Burrito fic.

But why am I writing this blog now? Because I am still very disappointed that ATGE has so few views. Since no one seemed to care, I'm going to make a list of every single outside reference in the story...

• "Somewhere off in the distance, a dog barks" is a line that has appeared in many of my stories; it is a reference to groundbreaking comic The Far Side
• Albert the Cactus is a reference to Red Dwarf and Dave Lister's moldy cup; he was trying to grow the mold four feet high because it would drive his bunkmate Arnold Rimmer nuts, which kept Lister going
• Many references to canon moments (e.g. the 'eyyy' Sunny does in her mirror) of episodes that will never occur in SRA's continuity
• Sunset drinks hot Earl Grey tea just like Captain Picard
• Sunset watches televangelists based on Joel Osteen and his ilk (*barf*)
• "Cantercast Cable" is a very obvious reference to Comcast, a.k.a one of the most-hated companies in the world
• The weatherman is Al Roker, from NBC's The Today Show
• Oblique reference to the song "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" that I'm pretty sure I've made in a previous story too
• "always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom" is a reference to The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror VII" (don't blame me; I voted for Kodos)
• The "little girls who sing hard rock" are referencing, of course, Babymetal
• Sunset musing about being hit by a bus was my thinking about the scene in Mean Girls where that very thing happens to alpha-bitch Regina George (*sigh* Remember when Lindsay Lohan was genuinely smoking hot and not just a punchline?)
• Sunset's irregular writing gig, mentioned in several SRA fics now, at the CUWD is a reference to a similar iconoclastic paper from the Lupin the 3rd manga called the Tokyo Underground Daily Daily
• Canterlot is not only a model -- it's a reference to Terry Gilliam's hilarious aside from Monty Python & the Holy Grail
• Sunset's aversion to therapy is in part a shout-out to Krickis's wonderful fic Looking Glass, where Little!Sunny does see a shrink… who concludes she's crazy
• Blood tastes like centibux (i.e. pennies)… is a reference to Sailor Moon Abridged (where Serena pats Darien on the back, gets his blood on her hand, and assumes it's ketchup)
• Magic transmogrification having no effect on gold is something I've seen in many stories, but the actual wording is in reference to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) arc where Shredder collects the Eye of Sarnoff [sp?] and loses despite it because he tried to use its power on a gold-plated dome
• The blue-&-white gazebo (and Riverside Park in general) references a real park in Little Rock, Arkansas -- no I do not live in LR and never have, though many in my family are/were from there and I used to work there in a former life
• The festival Sunset encounters is based on the one in my hometown, which incidentally I attended this past weekend (more on it below)
• Finally, "Is that guitarist one of Pinkie's sisters?" Ask my friend and occasional prereader CoffeeMinion, because I once again referenced his story Heavy Rock; I just love the idea of Limestone playing guitar as her hobby

In addition to all that, I've now set in motion almost everything that is to come in both the final two SRA stories and the Anon-A-Miss AU arc which will follow it. The Sci-Twi Burritoverse story will queue up the rest.

Notice also (I've mentioned this before) that Sunset always refers to Princess Celestia using capitalized pronouns. It is completely intentional and shows the level of respect Sunset still carries for her former mentor to this day. Just like naming specific inanimate objects, this is something only Sunset does. If you imagine Rebecca Shoichet's voice saying these lines, think of it like Sunset placing an unusual emphasis on Celestial pronouns.

Yes, I am aware that Sunset and Celestia did finally meet again in-canon. However, I refuse to watch it because I've had my own vision of how their reunion will go since 2015 and I'm not about to change my plans or let the series's actual writers influence me, even if my story in question was always intended to be tagged AU.

With all that out of the way, time for the personal stuff.

---

Yesterday, I went back to my hometown again to visit my dad (after I bought my mother a shirt and some pecan brittle at the annual festival celebrating a native tree species that is one of the two symbols of the town; the other symbol is a Victorian-era gazebo in the middle of the park the festival sets up in -- it is simply known as "The Gazebo" and every local knows what you mean (even though there's a second less-ornate gazebo in a separate park to the southeast; the heart of my little hometown is seriously at least one-third parkland). The weather for the festival was gorgeous and the trees in question were actually flowering, a combination of events that has happened only a few times in my life -- usually it either rains at least one day (last year the entire weekend was one giant downpour), or the trees bloom out early.

Anyway, my dad seems to be getting on surprisingly well for someone who was literally at death's door just over a month ago and whose wife just left him (while he was in physical therapy rehab, I reiterate). He got his dog, a 10-month-old Golden Retriever puppy, back Sunday, which I think made him happier. I think more than anything he's glad to be home. Knowing my dad, he's probably ready to get back to work -- he worked as often as he could while going through chemo and radiation. That's just how he is; that's how his dad was -- kept working until literally the day before he died… it's not how I am, mostly because I'm too fucked up in the head to hold a job and I'm lazy. But I'm meticulous with the work I can do and would probably take a similar tack.

I feel guilty that I'm not a very fast writer. Y'all tell me "quality over quantity"... but my highest-rated stories are often the ones I spend the least time on! Almost no one read ATGE, which I worked on sporadically for months; yet Relapse, which I wrote in six hours during my own relapse, makes the Featured Box?! As I've said before, I will never understand how this site or my readers work.

I can't believe it's only six days until I'm set to leave for Kansas City to attend my first proper live indoor concert. I promised myself two years ago if Babymetal ever played in KC, I would buy tickets immediately. They are, so I did. It honestly sucks that that seems to be the only stop on their mini-tour that isn't sold out. The other of their shows I'm attending, three days later in Dallas, sold out within a day or two.

I'm getting paranoid. What if the hotels I've booked turn out to be like Dan Bell's "Horrible Hotel Rooms" series? Should I have ponied up (heh) extra cash for places a little closer to the venue? If my ex hadn't left me and I had someone to go with, I probably would have opted for somewhere nicer. How much money should I have in my account in addition to paying for hotel and gas? I don't have GPS, so I need to draw out some maps so I don't get lost (even though I've driven to downtown Dallas twice, it's still a fucking maze; and although I've been to KC many times, I've not been to this specific part of the city). I need to buy a poncho just in case I have to wait outside for hours in the rain, if it rains. Will other fans get onto me for not having any official wearable merchandise? Will I be able to get along with others? I bought balcony tickets because I didn't want to be in the mosh'sh pit; should I bring binoculars? Do I need to? Is that even allowed? Aside from my trips to/from Little Rock (about 200 miles from me) to see family, I'm not used to driving long distances alone.

So I'm worried. I always worry about everything. I fretted for four years about failing the eye exam the next time I had to re-up my driver's license (I passed it, but I may have to take that damn exam all over again to get the "enhanced ID" once that law takes effect in 2020).

Every girl I've ever fallen for has either now bettered herself enough to be out of my league, is of incompatible orientation, both, or dumped me after a time because I'm too difficult to deal with. I have a couple of disabled friends who are trying to come to terms with the likelihood that they'll die alone. I've been trying to do the same. My ex wasn't the greatest person in the world -- she is a slob and did ask way too much of me financially and did dump me because, among other things, she fell for another guy she had more in common with (two actually: one after the other) and didn't want to cheat on me -- but her leaving is still my fault because I have a penis by the time I got a lead to seek professional help for my issues, it was too late (let's not dwell on the fact that she consistently refused to seek help for her issues). If Lifetime has taught us anything, it's that it is ALWAYS the man's fault. I do believe she was my last chance at a serious relationship. Maybe I'll get lucky again, but probably not. After all, I don't frequent bars -- can't drink due to meds -- or other places where people congregate.

The Babymetal concerts are WAY outside my comfort zone and I'll probably be a basket case until the girls start singing.

Plus my mother lives with me (not the other way 'round). I'm pathetic. How do I cope? I write stories about humanized ponies going through the same issues I am and pretend it's writing. I'm too lazy and scared to rewrite some of my stories on here to remove infringing elements (One Does Not Deny A Lady is the example) and submit them to my friend at Horror Addicts.

Oh well, guess I'd better get back to work. Or watch Sakura Gakuin videos to cheer myself up.

Peace out!

Comments

[Mx Story Anomalax]

I know what it's like to be concerned things will go wrong, though I've never seen Horrible Hotel Rooms.

Sounds like you have a lot on your plate. :O I hope writing these ramblings help?