A special talent
“Berry, girl, you look like somepony drowned you in sorrow then wrung you out. Get in here.”
The plum-colored mare stepped just inside the doorway. Her mane and tail drooped in bunches as if it had been raining. The zebra mare who’d opened the door pushed it shut behind her.
Berry raised her eyes to meet Happy's. Her lips shivered, then buckled. “I, I, I've made a big mistake, Happy.”
“Anything to do with that greasy green stallion you been hanging out with?”
“...maybe.”
Happy clicked her tongue and nodded slowly. “Mmm-hmm. Well. Take a load off. I’ve got coffee on the stove.” She pointed with her muzzle towards two wicker chairs that faced each other. A white milk-crate bookshelf hunched over the chairs, looking ready to topple on them at any minute.
Berry took a seat while Happy disappeared into the kitchen. The scent rolling out of it was layered: black coffee flavored with wood smoke, all over a heady foundation of oil paint. Tall, black-framed, black-and-white partial photos of ponies taken from odd angles hung on the white stucco walls between square pine beams. The books in each crate were piled haphazardly. All their titles were in Equestrian.
Happy came back carrying a pot with wooden cups hanging from its sides, the kind earth ponies and pegasi use. “I hope you like black, ‘coz that’s what we got.”
Berry nodded thankfully and took a cup. She sipped the hot brew slowly, then set the cup down on the chair’s arm.
“I just thought,” she said, “you’re, you know about—”
Berry stopped speaking and stared at Happy's cutie mark: a lopsided white circle, drawn hastily, so that the two ends didn't quite meet.
"Mistakes?"
Berry nodded.
“Guess I do, at that. How big a mistake are we talkin’ bout?”
Berry looked down at herself. “It’s the kind that starts small, but gets bigger.”
“I think I get the picture,” Happy said. “Though I don’t see how my cutie mark is gonna help.”
“I thought maybe you…” Berry shrugged.
Happy narrowed her eyes. “Thought I’d have experience? Because I make mistakes? Girl, I am not putting you down, but this mark on my ass don’t mean I make every mistake."
Berry waved a hoof. “No, I didn’t mean that. I meant… I thought maybe your talent was…”
Happy waited.
“...fixing mistakes.” Berry smiled awkwardly, “I know, it’s silly, but I just… it was the first thing that popped into my head when I found out.”
Happy’s face was stone serious, the stripes straight around her mouth. “Oh, Berry, honey. Is that what you’re thinking about?” She set her coffee down. “Come into my workshop. I'll show you mistakes.”
The workshop smelled of turpentine. Stacks of mounted but unframed paintings leaned against one wall. There was a wooden table in one corner, covered with paint splashes of every size and color, and an empty easel against another wall, in the sunlight from the open window.
Happy hoofed through a stack of canvases, lifted one out. “This guy here.” She jabbed at the figure. “What's he feeling?"
By NarbeVoguel; lo-res version with some added background
A stallion, dressed in formal evening wear, sat at a piano, hooves up and ready to play yet lifeless and inert as clay. His eyes stared, empty.
"Not much, I'd say."
"You're right. But also wrong. He just lost his marefriend. Or maybe a chance with one. I never decided. But I wanted him sad. Does he look sad?"
Berry stepped closer to peer at the painting.
"No," Happy went on. "No, he doesn't. Look how stiff his back is, how straight he sits. I copied that from a sketch of a player at the High Tails. But sad ponies don't sit like that."
"But he is sad."
"Who's the artist here? He ain't sad. He's somewhere out beyond sad. He’s stuffed the sadness up inside him so he can keep playing happy music for the happy ponies. I was ready to paint him out and redo him, slumped forward. Then I saw what I’d got was more awful than I could plan. So I kept it. Added those flat dead eyes."
Happy rifled through the canvases and pulled out a second one. A mare of some kind—maybe a vibria or drakaina; she looked draconic—leaned forward to look at herself in a mirror. Her head was tilted appraisingly. Her eyes, reflected in the mirror, gleamed with self-satisfaction. But her half-smile had a strange twist.
"Now this one."
“Are there ponies—people like that in Zebrica?”
“Wouldn’t know. Never been. So what’s she thinking?”
Berry studied this one longer before venturing, "She's pretty pleased with herself."
Happy curled one lip in a half-smile. "Pretty pleased. Not completely pleased. Look at that smile trail off. My brush slipped. Now she's thinking, I'm good, but I can do better. Instead of just a smug bitch, now she's a strong bitchy mare who's worked for what she's got. See?"
"I guess."
"Well I'm telling you. I'm a strong bitchy mare and I draw strong bitchy mares, so you best believe me."
Happy leaned the painting against the stack and looked Berry in the eye. "Now you understand what my special talent is?"
Berry shifted her weight from left, to right, to left. "It’s not fixing mistakes?"
Happy rolled her eyes. "No, honey. I know which mistakes to keep."
"Oh... Oh!"
"Now maybe this is just an artistic concept and no help to you. But that's what I know about mistakes."
Berry looked back and forth between the two paintings.
She took a deep breath. "It’s something to think about."
"Look out, world, Berry Punch is thinking!"
Berry giggled.
They looked at a few more paintings together, and Happy talked about her ideas for the ones she was planning. They went back to the front room and finished their coffee, and then Berry got up to go.
At the front door, Happy turned serious again. “Now don't strain your brain over all the whys and wherefores. Look until you think you see both sides clear, then go with your gut.”
Berry inhaled, bit her lip, and nodded.
Happy put one hoof on Berry's shoulder. “I know you got a strong bitchy mare inside you, Berry Punch.”
Berry snorted, then smiled. "Don't you forget it, Happy Mistake."
Berry walked away down the path. Happy's ears rose as she watched the angle of Berry's neck, the shifting of her hindquarters, the lift and sway of her tail. Happy hurried into her workroom, opened her sketchpad, grabbed a charcoal pencil in one hoof, and began to draw.
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I feel a great kinship for Happy Mistake. I swear, half the things I write end up just like her paintings. And, no, I'm never telling which bits were, ah, happy mistakes. My battle-cry is, after all, "I meant to do that!"
I like the style of it, the bits about the paintings especially. I dislike the use of 'bitch.' It's a personal thing. The equivalent word in my native language is... considerably less polite. Possibly the associations bleed through.
I am intrigued by how... American the story is, too. Especially in dealing with its subject matter. Curious.
Missing a 'you' in there.
I don't really have much to say. The message is straight forward and still not preachy. It doesn't feel like your best work though.
I take it this is the relevant quote?
I can't help but feel that the zebra should be named "Happy Accident." On the other hand, her current name may well be mistake worth keeping. Curious...
In any case, this was a great character piece. I hope you use Happy in the future, because I'd love to see her again.
Message received: loud, clear, and appreciated.
This is a piece that really deserves the [Slice of Life] tag
Quite interesting. Subtle without being cryptic, and using the paintings to paint both the talent and personality of Happy, clearly showing but allowing the reader to finish figuring things out; I also liked how the images are used to reinforce, but the story can still stand with them removed.
4388651
I can relate. Back when I was a child learning English as my second language I was told to never use that word, and that it was the slang for a lady of ill repute. It took a few years, in a quite literal sense, before I both learned of the non-slandering uses of that word and could read a passage that used it in a positive way without cringing.
4388651 4390691
Ah, yes, sometimes translated swears loose their bite, or gain significantly. The English "God Damn it" has the French equivalent of "calisse de tabarnak" which literally translates as "Chalice of the tabernacle". It's a very grave swear in French, while English's "God Damn it" is sometimes regarded as a casual sentence enhancer.
Additionally, in Spanish "Madre de Dios!" means "Mother of God" translated literally, but serves as a closer equivalent to "Son of a bitch!" in English.
Interesting. Quite a pretty story.
4388651 You mention the story is American in how it deals with its subject matter. Could you please elaborate a little? I think I know what the story's about, but I fail to see exactly how the story is typically American in dealing with it.
4388651
I think part of this comes from the fact that in English, the word "bitch" has multiple meanings.
It can mean:
Obviously #1 isn't obscene at all.
Definition 2a is highly derogatory and offensive. Definition 2b can be highly derogatory or offensive, but when used in its diminutive form (bitchy) is considerably less so. Not that it isn't still a curse word, but bitchy is a vastly more mild curse word than "bitch". It also can be used as an affectionate insult, which is just confusing to people - rather like nigger, except friends calling each other bitches tends to be much less offensive to random bystanders.
#3 is mostly an indication of severity - saying "this is going to be a bitch" or "that was a bitch" is saying exactly what it sounds like. It is a curse, but it is a fairly mild one and people seldom will take offense at it because it isn't directed at anyone, and is usually a mark of frustration or difficulty. Kind of like when you stub your toe and yell "God damn it!"
#4 is somewhere between mildly denigrating (everyone bitched and moaned about it) to pretty dismissive of someone (she spent the last hour bitching at me over it) to very degrading (calling someone a whiny little bitch is a big insult). Unlike 2b, being a bitch of definition #4 is always demeaning.
So, bitch... is a complicated word.
I worried that would be confusing. Happy's cutie mark is supposed to signify a mistake, and Berry went to her because she thought Happy must have some expertise in mistakes in general, not because she was a zebra. Yes, that does sound silly.
If it comes across as "zebras must know how to deal with this", I could just rewrite it so she isn't a zebra. She wasn't in the write-off version. I like the "you must know potions" interpretation, if I made it explicit. You racist bastard. But then it would overshadow the emphasis on "mistake", which is the common thread thru the story.
You mean you missed the hidden link to the dragon-babe porn?
Bravo. The message is loud and clear don't worry here.
Oh, Bad Horse, you utter bastard. How could you be so heartless as to make them open a joint savings account together?
In all seriousness, this feels more complete than the one in the writeoff. Though it may have been the discussion in comments here. I made the mistake of reading them before reading the story. But now that I know what the unsaid thing is, it feels like you're leaving just the right amount unsaid.
4391468
You've obviously missed the point of the story entirely.
Berry is clearly referring to her penicillin culture.
Doesn't sound silly to me. The fannon image of Berry that you've used (to a degree, at least) and the situation she's found herself in really lent themselves well to Berry's seeking out advice from someone who is a "Happy Mistake". Those things alone also tell me which choice Berry is likely to make.
Also, FWIW the 'bitchy' thing didn't bother me at all.
I sense a kindling of cautious optimism here, one I'm glad to see because it's not used too often. Even through our mistakes, we can make ourselves stronger through the ashes. Happy isn't condemning Berry Punch for doing something "wrong" - she's offering her kinship and helping her think forward and beyond the act itself. I'm glad to see a wise portrayal of sound advice, rather than irrelevant soapboxing.
I get it and I like it.
You've been on a roll lately, you know? Gotta keep fillin' up your tank with that Bordeaux.
4391468 This version has more clues than the write-off version. The vagueness in the original was not a happy mistake.
4390613 That's one important clue, yes.
Ooh, I've been looking forward to this! See you ran with the whole "sassy black woman" thing and made Happy a zebra. The pictures were a great touch, though the descriptions feel a bit redundant now
I kinda miss some parts of the original; "... I saw they could be more awful than what I'd aimed for" is a much better line, if you ask me. Maybe you could change it to "Then I saw what I’d got was awfuller than anything I could plan." I dunno, "awful" just seems to have more impact
I also experienced some dissonance between how this played out in my head with how it was written. "Look out, world, Berry Punch is thinking" seems like it should end with an exclamation mark, otherwise it's too subdued and Berry's giggle doesn't feel like a natural response
4392257
So I have you to thank for BH's current spree of magnificence? By all means, sir, keep plying him with wine.
4390775
4390691
Indeed. It's hard to rid yourself of certain associations words have. Especially if you are dealing with more than one language.
4391136
Well the debate about it is still raging in America, yes? In Europe, certain parts of it, at any rate, it's settled and has been settled for a while. And the story's (quite expertly done) subtle, elliptical way of talking about it brings to mind someone gingerly handling the subject matter, cognizant of the amount of emotional energy invested in it.
4391142
Thanks for the detailed reply. I should point out that I am aware of its multiple meanings and I even acknowledge them (schizophrenically) when judging when 'bitch' is okay. Saying 'son of a bitch' or 'that was a bitch of a problem' or, say, 'quit your bitching' sounds okay to me. Slightly impolite, but given that I am, by and large, in favor of swearing, just fine.
It's specifically using it for a person—2a and 2b, basically—that gets translated in my head and that provokes an unfriendly response.
4392919 4390579 Noted and changed.
I liked "more awful" better too, but I got so much criticism from people saying her voice was inconsistent that I changed it. There were only a few words that I could see as possibly being out of keeping with the rest, and that was one of them.
4390775
The first time Applejack said "What in tarnation" it sent me scampering for a dictionary, to see if it meant what I thought it meant (it did). Let's just say that the equivalent in my native language isn't child-safe by any stretch of imagination...
4391142 4393532
It should be noted that the use that Titanium Dragon calls an "affectionate insult" not only tends to be absent from dictionaries, it also has a somewhat different meaning; it's more like a strong, independent woman, one that doesn't let what others think of her drag her down. I've also seen it used more than once, with a similar meaning to the above, in a context of grudging acknowledgment of the woman's prowess, where "affectionate" doesn't cut it in any shape or way.
(It's a meaning that the equivalent word in my language completely lacks, BTW. The main reason I don't cringe at it anymore is because I'm past the stage where I would have to translate words in my mind, I nowadays can think directly in English.)
4393953
I would like to point out that I know about both the 'affectionate' usage and that I don't, normally, translate things I see in English. I'd hardly be able to write stories if I had to do that. However, certain words have too much of an impact for me not to. It's not a particularly reasonable thing to do, of course, and I'm not saying BH was wrong to use the word where and how he did. I'm just describing the effect in had to me.
4394015
I didn't think, nor meant to imply, that you didn't know of the word's more obscure meanings or that you needed to translate words in your head; if what I wrote gave that impression, I'm sorry.
What I meant to say is that, in cases like this one, dictionary definitions are not always authoritative (or, in some cases, even useful), and that it took me until I learned to separate, in my mind, words like "bitch" from my native language's equivalents until I stopped cringing at their usage, a process that took me years in real life.
4394133
It's perfectly okay. No need to apologize.
And, yes, separating connotations is tricky stuff. Especially when they are really sunk-in, as it were, as is the case with emotionally charged words like curses and slurs.
I mentally substituted "strong bitchy mare" with "sassy black woman" and it made me laugh. I never even thought for a moment that Berry went to Happy because she's automagically amazing at potions because she's a zebra; her name being Happy Mistake makes it clear what Berry's final descision will be.
And it goes to show that there are people (like me) that wouldn't bat an eye about Berry eliminating her problem, and others that find this story distasteful for the same reason. To each of us, our mindsets are alien. I find that fascinating and infuriating.
A good story, Bad Horse. Made me think.
This and your last show that you've mastered both the purposes of the fabliau: artistic parody and social commentary.
4394847 Wikipedia says they are "characterized by an excessiveness of sexual and scatological obscenity." Guess I'd better write one more story.
If this comes across as pro or anti, that's a mistake, and not a happy one.
4395032
I don't think it's pro or anti on the matter in question, no. Which is why I called it "commentary"--albeit nowadays that's a euphemism for "polemic, " so I can see why I may have confused you.
I do think it's pro-talking-about-the-matter, which is a position that at this point requires both finesse and resolve--or else why are we speaking in this code?
At first I thought it was something else, but then I got it by the end. Certainly the most subtle way that I've seen of addressing it without diminishing it's importance. Bravo for being one of the few stories here that's made me think.
In regards to the authors notes: the meaning was pretty clear for me.
I liked the allusion to This Nearly Was Mine, even though I don't have strong feelings for that story.
MrNumbers doesn't get it.
He thinks about it
He reads these two lines again and
Holy shi-
He sprays his morning coffee all over his lovely computer screen as it finally clicks.
You know, what you've demonstrated you've learned here in your last three stories is what fencers used to call (and may still, for all I know) a light address.
Meaning, it's not necessary to hack and slash and bang away for the blow to tell. Just lull them into letting down their guard, time the thrust properly, bear your point deftly and subtly and on the refrain thrust home.
4398494
I don't really have any beef with this story. It's just the specific word I didn't like. And not because it is a swear, but because I read it (incorrectly) as a slur. The rest is fine. Better than fine, in fact.
And what's wrong with my OC's[1] profession? What do you have against chemists?
And lastly I didn't have beef with All The Pretty Pony Princesses for stylistic reasons (though I though it more terrifying when you have to piece together what's going on on your own), I had beef with it because I thought it indulged too much in Diabolus ex Machina. It didn't feel real to me as a result.
[1] I have quite a number of these. Presumably you mean Dotted Line.[2]
[2] You can have footnotes when you pry 'em out of my cold dead hands.
4398483
When you die, you're going to G2.
Here.
I looked for pictures that I could pretend had happy mistakes in them. That one had a long review talking about the smile, which I stole for the story.
The other picture I chose because it uses the same pose as Fluttershy in my "Fluttershy's Night Out" cover, which the original artist thought was very wrong for my remake, but I thought worked pretty well, if accidentally.
I wonder if the anthro picture, or just its thumbnail looking like a grey blob, is responsible for the low viewcount on this story.
For my next act of evil, I shall get yamgoth into a comment war with Titanium Dragon.
4398796
Not to defend All The Pretty Pony Princesses overall, but I don't think Diabolus ex Machina is a thing. Deus ex Machina is unreal because random outside forces don't, typically, conspire to suddenly solve your problems. But random outside forces do suddenly give you problems, all the time.
4399170
By and large, yes. I'd agree with you. But when misery seems to be hyper-targeted it stops seeming like a careless universe and starts looking like a caring—if malicious—deity. This strikes especially hard in an established universe, I find, if the tenor of the misfortune seems uncharacteristic.
Have you ever watched the show?
4398870 wow. Thanks for sharing that personal experience. I suppose I'm a bit if an armchair philosopher, as I've never been in a situation where I would be part of making that choice. I have participated in quite a few formal debates on the issue through college and university, and, in my experience, abortion isn't something you can change someone's opinion on. (I'm talking about the most binary if choices, whether its okay in any circumstance or not. You can have plenty of change when debating under what circumstances/timeline abortion would be okay, if you allow for it at all.)
I, personally, can't understand the functional difference between a fertilized zygote and an unfertilized one, and, as I lack a belief in souls, find myself unswayed by arguments that depend on that assumption. I often question why no one seems to care about the eggs lost in menestration, as many arguments would logically conclude that they are equally deserving of protection, but I digress.
The best I can hope for is a grudging admission that what other people do isn't any business of yours. That's just me, though.
Prediction: the mistake in question has Berry pregnant. The "fixing it could be another mistake" would be getting an abortion.
Which I'd at least like to think would be really freaking dark, for Equestria.
Happy's first line read like a black stereotype. The big-hug deep-fried good-cookin' kind, to be sure, but a stereotype nonetheless. So once I reloaded my brain back to ponies, I wondered if you'd made her a zebra. Which you did.
Not that there's anyth... aw to hell with it, I do think there's something wrong with making Zebras black stereotypes. I'm not sure what, and I'm not sure I could articulate it, and I'm not sure it would stand up to scrutiny even if I could. But there it is. I do.
Right! Enough off-topic. Back to the story, I've just reached the second or third paragraph.
. . .
The use of bitch does indeed feel off. It does fit Happy's character, at least in the first
twofour instances, but the last one doesn't do it for me. I'm not sure why. (The word, or my connotations of it, also don't fit my default interpretation of the rest of the 'verse, but I don't think that's it because I'm willing to let Happy get away with it several times previously.)Grammar nitpick:
Something's wrong here. I think either the "of" shouldn't be there, or there's a word or two missing.
4398483
I'll just have you know, that word slammed into my headcanon and integrated instantly, and brought the rest of my brain to a screeching halt. Now it's stuck in there and I can't get it out, and I'm not even sure if I want to.
So since we seem to be down with swearing in this thread: You bastard.
4398494
Oh fuck. That interpretation never would have occurred to me. The deluded individual, who's so far into their delusion they forget it's a self-delusion...
I'm going to have to go read that again now.
4394676
I don't think I'd find it distasteful. Just tragic. (The story itself ends positively, so that's aside.) Like the unfortunate sap who got run over by a car.
4398494
Excuse me? You're the guy who wrote three consecutive comments on this thing, and they're some of the longest, most expressive, most articulate comments here. Hell, it looks like at least one of them might be longer than the story itself. You better be talking about speaking out loud in person, mister.
Just read the writeoff version. Happy reads better as a sassy stereotype. That version was indeed to cramped, I don't think there were any useful clues at all. (I can see what the clues would have been retrospectively but don't think I could have put it together from them.) Possibly unless the paragraph at the end was supposed to be a clue, and I don't think even then.
On the other hand, to the extent I got this at all, I called it before I even read it. So maybe this goes too far the other direction. (Maybe I read it because I called it. But.)
Y'know, when you described Happy's cutie mark I thought of the intel logo.
It would explain so much.
Oh, and I loved this. Happy's the kind of friend we all should have.
Happy mistakes might become happy endings, after all. Or at least, halfway-decent ones, which is better than BAD END.
I just figured out what this story is like.
It's like juggling sledgehammers.
Which you manage to do.
And any attempt to critique it is an attempt to juggle those same sledgehammers.