Canterlot Criticisms
One can't help but wonder if they are trying to make some sort of political point. The personal student of the Princess herself out of the blue deciding to marry this creature? For love, of all things? Nothing like that just happens. – Argilos Spanoi
Far be it from me to confess any personal association with the alien, nevertheless several close friends insist that he is rather adept at reaching those particular spots one so often has trouble finding treatment for. – Lady Petunia D'Enchanté
We have little to say on the matter. He is a citizen of our land and our Sister has welcomed him without reserve. What more is necessary? – Princess Luna
If nothing else, his desire for clothing in every situation has sparked a trend that the canny couturier would be wise to pursue. Never before has fashion been such a growth industry as it is today. – Full Bolt, Editor of Fashion Weekly
Ponyville itself seems to be a source of many of our nation's ills. He is merely the latest expression. – Lord Sir Reed Leg-Branch
My dearest Rarity has found him both a fascinating conversationalist and a lucrative business opportunity. Having met him myself, I would not wish to contradict her in the slightest. – Fancy Pants
Bone structure is everything. – Lord Ungul Font de Verita
It is the express desire of their Highnesses that the citizens of Equestria would understand this human poses no threat to their safety. Indeed he has demonstrated considerable loyalty to the nation already in small ways, particularly through his decision to accede to our culture and adapt to our way of life. – Crown Secretary Solemn Course
If he had the horn, I wouldn't say no. – Prince Blueblood
I wondered what all the fuss was about so I booked an appointment – two months I had to wait! Celestia's mane but those hands of his are sent from the powers themselves. I've used griffons and minotaurs before but they're nothing in comparison. All claws and weird knobbly bits, and frankly that minotaur smelled funny. – Dame Moondancer de la Val de Somnes
Harmony is balance. Balance necessarily requires unity. Unity is singularity. To be harmonious therefore, each of us must be one alone. He becomes now the model of our Way in his solitude. – Grand Master Lettuce Stem
Trololol...
New chapter
But I have no idea what Grand Master Lettuce said.
Well that was fun
After seeing this, I got this strangest urge to rewrite and ponify every single blurb in Alpha Centauri.
I'm guessing that name has something to do with bones?
...Must...resist...urge to...comment...too easy...Gahhh!
2389346
Hey, he's royalty, he can do whatever he wants.
Okay, I laughed.
And Moondancer is some sort of ditzy noblemare? Explains a lot, actually...
2389359
Completely missed the point.
Short, but sweet.
Sweet's not the right word, but whatchagonnado?
2389330 It's mostly a zen riddle, speaking of how harmony is the perfect blend of being with others while still being alone.
Grand Master Lettuce Stem is forming a cult around him?
2389330
It's a reference to Lyra's fascination with his balance. Seems it's not a unique opinion.
2389403 Yup, that what is not too hard to see.
2389397 Eyuup, I had to read it three times to find out ;D If English was my language, not a foreign one this should be no problem :P
General opinion about male humans:
fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/258/4/e/lyra_love_hands_by_warden006-d49yotm.png
i.imgur.com/vDiUp.gif
Well, those were some interesting names.
Suddenly, possibly gay Blueblood. Me gusta.
Dear Mr. Leg-Branch.
Up yours.
Sincerely, fans of Lero's adventures.
2389434
It's all about the hands baby!
Sadly, no one ever likes the toes. Like the red-headed stepchild of human anatomy...
Sometimes I wonder what the ponies would do if a, er, good version of a tentacle monster showed up and wanted to live in Ponyville? If you desperately need a source, let's just say Squishy (Yeah, I claim that nickname here because it's real name can drive non-darkverse spawn insane for a little while) is a refuge from the lowest levels of Tartarus. Surely if two "soft" human hands are good, then a dozen strong tentacles (sans the a-typical slime) should be flippin' awesome. Don't even have to segue into clop about it either, although you can most assuredly prance around the subject, heh heh.
Amazing how a good massage can make even the most alien of beings into an indispensable fixture of the noble lifestyle. Hooray for hands!
G1 reference?
The implications of Blueblood being gay are strong in this one.
Not that I blame him, this is Lero we're talking about.
I've seen straight men swoon over the fellow, and being bi, I'm no different.
Also, it must take a long time to come up with all these OC names.
And they're pretty creative too, I must admit.
Just try to keep the updates more frequent than one chapter every few months, okay?
This story - if it can even be called one - is probably one of the most disbelief-suspension-ing pieces of fan literature I've ever read. These preambles and introductions and social examinations feel real, as if I have the pages of their books between my fingers. Well done!
Even better, I can't help but think of the reactions to chapter 20, and others, should they be introduced into our world.
As humanity is almost universally monogamous, even in collective societies, there would be a considerable amount of conflict between us...
"Ponies are all sexual deviants forming orgies!"
"Humans are all selfish brutes fighting over who has the bigger cock!"
It would be hilarious. And awkward. But mostly hilarious.
But... but I thought this was supposed to be the Martial Arts chapter
Is that… Is that actually an option? Searching around isn't making me hopeful on that front.
Wonderful to see this update, though, even if it's just a short, silly one.
It's the Lettuce Queen! All bow before Her Leafiness!
I'll bet his bone structure got in ALL the right places...
Lero is reading all this with a bemused expression wondering if all these silly ponies are serious.
favorite line
2389330
And now he gets to end the chapter being all vague and mystical. Like a grandmaster should.
2389330 It also refers to the fact that he is the lone human in Equestria. He's saying each of us has to be ourselves. Lero can't really be anyone else.
Is he implying what I think he is?
2390700
I think he is pretty blatant about it, if you ask me.
Grandmaster Lettuce Stem?
I love that you added
I assume from the first episode.
...George, would you mind fielding this one about Blueblood?
[youtube=6nSKkwzwdW4]
Thanks George, now that I've had that out of the way...
Great chapter, and it's good to see so much interest in this series still! Love it to pieces myself!
Still...Blueblood...not sure if Gusta...or not Gusta...help?
2391805 Definitely gusta. Definitely.
2391408 2389614 2389365 Yes, yes, and yes.
2390328 Ever should it be so.
2389336 Perfect.
2390265 And then he'd realise that yes, yes they are and would facepalm so very hard.
2389568 You gotta hand it to em...
Farbeit? Is that an acceptable form of that phrase?
Also:
That really smacks of cultural assimilation (though only one man). Still, are the ponies so imperial as that? Fits the 'era' that my head canon stuck them in.
2392171 2389814 Welp. It is fixed now.
2392171 It's more of an acknowledgment that Lero is making an effort to adapt to the society of his new home, rather than simply trying to change it or divorce himself from because it doesn't suit the way he was brought up in his. To be imperialist, Luna would have to be implying that Lero's culture is inferior (which she isn't). Rather, she is commenting on how he has decided to live in Equestria as a citizen of Equestria and has adjusted his behavior accordingly.
2392221
Given the small size of the quotes here, I can see that. However, it still smacks of a bit of assumed cultural superiority to me. Could be just the way I was reading it or the remnants of an argument that I had recently. But it seems to imply that cultural assimilation is necessary for loyalty to the nation/crown.
Or something - make it less an act of necessary 'loyalty' (and safety from a fearful flash mob) and more one of voluntary 'friendship.' I guess. I unno, could be me.
2392289 To the extent that a single individual can be a culture. This is a unique situation because Lero is the first and only human ever to come to Equestria, with little (and very little at that) to no likelihood of further contact between humanity and Equestria. It isn't about assuming Lero's culture is inferior and more about him no longer having a culture at all because, in order to have a culture, you have to have a society.
Lets look at your quote again:
The words "indeed" and "even" in this context are used to indicate that Lero's decision to befriend ponies and even adopt their cultural norms were above and beyond what he needed to do to in order to prove his loyalty/friendship. In Xenophillia itself, the only thing he ever really had to prove to Princess Celestia was that he wasn't a threat.
2392351
The bolded words were ones I changed to indicate how I would have worded that quote. Perhaps I should have indicated that, I'm sorry.
I also disagree that Lero cannot be a culture unto-himself. He is an isolated human, true, but he was raised a particular way with particular views on right and wrong and with a particular way-of-life. Thus, he is his own culture, so to speak. He acts distinctive from ponies - or he would had he not embraced wholesale their way of life - and thus, that makes him uniquely his own 'culture' so long as we use the word to express the same idea.
At first I was like "Aww, short chapter", but then I was like "Awww yeah!" That was surprisingly satisfying.
2392557
First point: Oops I need to pay more atttention.
Second point: Saying Lero is a culture in and of himself is largely a pointless statement. The main issue isn't that the Princesses are suggesting his culture is inferior, but rather that the concept of superiority or inferiority can't really be applied because this is not Lero's world. The culture he came from was from a completely different world that operates on a completely different set of rules from Equestria. While I can't really speak for ponies at large (as some of them clearly hold the idea that they are superior to whatever they percieve Lero's culture to be; but you can find those types in any society, not just imperialist ones) but the Princesses perceive Lero's adoption of Equestrian cultural traits as a positive because they see it as an acknowledgment on Lero's part that the rules of his world do not apply to Equestria. They can't really, particularly if the "culture" in question is in the form of a single person.
2389330
That's perfectly understandable, seeing as how she didn't really say anything.
2393371
Soooooo, a Tau Cetian and an Earthling can't have the implication of superiority or inferiority applied betwixt their cultures because they're from different worlds? Or a North American and a European because they are on different continents? What's the minimum safe distance for this to happen? I'll agree that the here of Equestria operates very differently from the there of Earth and the cultures present are very different ... but that doesn't mean one side or the other can imply, regard or otherwise believe their particular brand of life is better than another.
It's the specific wording that implies an almost-forced assimilation. The wording implies that loyalty to the government is only assured (and loyalty thus returned) when your way of life matches the majority. That's like saying, for a real world example, you cannot be an American unless you are also a Protestant Christian, a monogamist and a capitalist. And that this culture-shift is a 'small' show of loyalty at that. Multiculturalism doesn't exist on Equestria, da?
I don't think that a human culture is prohibited from being valid simply because it's a new universe. How is it rendered invalid? Hmm, we might be using 'culture' to mean different things. I mean his value-system and his way of thought primarily. He has mostly abandoned his value-system in favor of the pony's. They match up fairly well in most respects, of course, but not all. Was he really given an honest choice to adopt the pony values or not?
Then again, in certain situations, humans aren't on Earth and I'm not against it - for some very limited situations. But those revolve around 'choice,' 'force,' 'coercion' and the like. Which is me applying my own value-system on another human without their wish, despite them applying theirs on another through force. So am I really any better than the ponies in this world?
Again, not only am I nitpicking a single word in a paragraph, I'm also jumping to vast conclusions. This is never spelled out anywhere. But let's not forget Lero himself - he's pretty well and good accepted the pony culture as his own and he has made his choice. So really, all of this is pointless. If the author wanted to have a stronger human in this role, I can see things being different - I could see the guy (or gal) not accepting portions of the pony culture. I could see more tension between the characters and in the setting. But really, Lero isn't that person. Lero is a pony in all but form. So he made his choice.
And! This entire conversation is pretty much rendered entirely moot if I'm using 'culture' the wrong way. Which is entirely possible.
2389614 If that was the case it would be Val des Songes non?
2389562
There's a teeny tiny short by Gatorbait on pastebin. It's greentext, and short- have I mentioned short yet?- however, it's relevant to this discussion: It's titled "Toelight Sparkle".
2393950 Assuming that they aren't using a bastard combantion of romance languages and Latin...
Blueblood, I say!