100 things Mr. OC is no longer allowed to do in Mane RP

[Bramble Rose]

This is mainly for fun, but also to give future applicants an idea of what way too many OCs have tried to do before them. As people give suggestions, I'll keep adding to the list. The main list, I intend to keep as a relatively serious-ish list of things we have seen too much of in applications ... but I invite comments to get as silly as you like. This is NOT an official set of rules of what is not allowed in applications - just overused themes that new players should try to stay away from.

This is also only appropriate towards *Mane RP*. A lot of the things on this list are just fine- even highly appropriate - for fanfics and short stories, or one-off RPs, or crossover RPs, but just don't translate well to sharing the story-creation process with a bunch of other ponies in the setting of Mane RP.

100 things Mr. OC is no longer allowed to do in Mane RP

1. You are not a unique and special snowflake.
   
2. Your parents are alive. Get over it.
   
3. You did not get your cutie mark by fighting monsters.
   
4. Your parents also love you very much and don't hate you.
   
5. You did not survive the Everfree Forest alone as a foal.
   
6. Nor do your parents fight.
   
7. You are not an assassin.
   
8. Your parents were also not assassins.
   
9. You cannot be a secret assassin, either.
   
10. Your parents did not beat you when they drink.
    
11. You were not in a war.
    
12. In fact, your parents did not have a drinking problem at all.
    
13. You are not a robot.
    
14. Your parents did not give you up for adoption.
    
15. You did not get your cutie mark by defeating an adult at a contest.
    
16. In fact, you did not get your cutie mark by winning a contest, period.
    
17. Your cutie mark story is not a story of magically being good at something without having ever practiced or trained in it.
    
18. You cannot prove that science is more powerful than magic. Magic *is* science in Equestria.
    
19. You do not worship Celestia, Luna, Discord, or any other historical figure.
    
20. You did not slay dragons as a foal.
    
21. You did not stay a blank flank until you were an adult.
    
22. You do not know Rainbow Dash.
    
23. You are not secretly a changeling.
    
24. We have a thriving DJ culture. Your DJ did not find it hard to meet other DJs. In fact, there's a surplus of DJs. The market is rather saturated with them.
    
25. You did not get your cutie mark by being the first to do something ever.
    
26. In fact, you probably aren't the first ever to do something.
    
27. Blindness is nonexistant.
    
28. No videogame cutie marks.
    
29. Daring Do is not real.
    
30. Your OC will NOT develop a romantic relationship with a mane cast member you also play 'during RP'.
    
31. Nor a minor cast member.
    
32. Just don't RP romance with yourself, OK?
    

[QueenChrysalis747]

31) You don't have special wings, just normal wings

(yeah I found that our when I was coming up with the idea for my charrie NightGhost, who I am still developing, yeah only normal Pegasus wings, not ghost wings)

[SilverSwirl]

33. You are not a god!

34. You are not a zompony, they don't exist! (Or do they?)

[Snowshoe]

In fact, your parents did not have a drinking problem at all.

Blindness is nonexistant.

1. Unless it's a drinking problem like

.

2. I dunno, some blind characters might be played rather well.

Also no contributions to this list. Y'all's good so far.

[Lux]

35. Your magic/ talent cannot be used to harm or kill another pony.

36. You cannot be a loner pony who shuns any other pony (kind of hard to RP if your character doesn't want want to talk to anypony.)

37. You cannot have a pont that can control other ponies through hypnosis or mind control.

38. You cannot be a pony of all magic like Twilight Sparkle.

39. No time travel or reality bending magic.

[Kirby Krackle]

What if the blindness is a completely legitimate birth defect and isn't played for sympathy or for "I took a level in badass"? He's just like everypony else, except he walks with a cane (with magic or something, I dunno) and has to be paid in singles Ray Charles style?

[Noctriix]

40: You're magical abilities cannot rival Twilight Sparkle's in anyway, even if it's only in one particular field.

[BaconofChaos]

Hmm. Based on the legendary list of things Mr. Welsh cannot do in an RP? Or perhaps the list of things the worst party in Eberron are prohibited from doing?

This should be fun.

In fact, you did not get your cutie mark by winning a contest, period.

This seems a little harsh. May I ask why not?

42. No. There are no guns in Equestria.

43. Ponies do not refer to their rumps as "plots". That's a brony thing.

44. Yes, your OC can know about a cast member if they are somewhat famous. No, they are not your best friend. Nor an old childhood friend. You want to be friends? RP it!

45. Your OC cannot be any colour that includes the word "neon" or "glowing" in its name. No, not even then.

45b. Blood red or pitch black should also be avoided.

46. Cutie marks are simple and take up a small amount of space on a pony's flanks. They are not intricate flowing designs that run all along the flanks and over their legs. They are not tattoos.

[brianblackberry]

What if the blindness is a completely legitimate birth defect and isn't played for sympathy or for "I took a level in badass"? He's just like everypony else, except he walks with a cane (with magic or something, I dunno) and has to be paid in singles Ray Charles style?

In fact, you did not get your cutie mark by winning a contest, period.

This seems a little harsh. May I ask why not?

Not a real lisssssssst.

[BaconofChaos]

Not a real lisssssssst.

The main list, I intend to keep as a relatively serious-ish list of things we have seen too much of in applications ...

[brianblackberry]

The main list, I intend to keep as a relatively serious-ish list of things we have seen too much of in applications.

Emphsis mine.

He is not saying you cannot have them (although that is true for some of them), he is saying these are common tropes that have become overused or inappropiate.

Its supposed to be fun and silly.

[FermataTheBasse]

From experience:

47. You cannot parody real life people. Overtly. Covertly, on the other hoof...

[PIJIN]

1. Blindness is nonexistent.
   
2. No videogame cutie marks.
   

In response to:

1. That's cold and hurtful to my poor Blank Canvas. Albeit, I never played him. He's blind, and deaf, and I'm pretty sure it's only nonexistent at the moment. Also, if ponies can wear glasses then why can't there be blind ponies? (Of course they wouldn't have blind ponies in the show, for obvious reasons.)

2. There was that one pony...in that one episode... Also, my Folarin has an Atari 2600 controller cutie mark But he' not Mane RP so, he doth not count.

Edit: I'm surprised there's nothing about Alicorns on here.

Edited September 14, 2012 by LovinMoonlight

[Bramble Rose]

1. Unless it's a drinking problem like

.

*laughs merrily* PERFECT!

2. I dunno, some blind characters might be played rather well.

Also no contributions to this list. Y'all's good so far.

What if the blindness is a completely legitimate birth defect and isn't played for sympathy or for "I took a level in badass"? He's just like everypony else, except he walks with a cane (with magic or something, I dunno) and has to be paid in singles Ray Charles style?

It's a list of overused tropes. we've seen lots and lots of blind ponies come through. Especially unicorns who then use their magic to make up for being blind.

Hmm. Based on the legendary list of things Mr. Welsh cannot do in an RP?

But of course!

This seems a little harsh. May I ask why not?

well, 'harsh' is an odd word considering this isn't exactly a set of rules - but the reason why is because we keep seeing pony after pony come through who 'got their cutie mark from winning a contest' ... but their cutie mark has nothing to do with competition or winning, but just with some particular skill that they're good at.

A cutie mark isn't about a skill or talent. It's about an aspect of a pony's personality. That's the whole reason the CMC aren't finding their cutie marks - they keep looking for special talents, because they think that's what will 'make them unique'. It's not about what's outside, it's about what's inside. About knowing themselves.

2. There was that one pony...in that one episode... Also, my Folarin has an Atari 2600 controller cutie mark But he' not Mane RP so, he doth not count.

I find Folarin cute, and I like ponies with controller cutie marks, personally. But as you say - this is for Mane RP. And Mane RP has only had one throwaway joke with an arcade console - no home machines, or even TVs.

[Snowshoe]

*laughs merrily* PERFECT!

And now you know why Airplane! is one of my all time favourite films

[ONWARDconwardicus]

Apparently I am breaking rules two, sixteen and seventeen for my current OC. Do i have to change it?

[Snowshoe]

Naw. These are facetious exaggerations of common tropes used in character creations, particularly Mary Sues. You know, the whole "I'm a unicorn who's stronger than Celestia with a perfect raven-coloured mane and ice blue eyes and both my parents are dead" etc.

They're not official, just jokes.

[Kirby Krackle]

It's a list of overused tropes. we've seen lots and lots of blind ponies come through. Especially unicorns who then use their magic to make up for being blind.

Blind isn't overused. Overcompensation for blindness is. Though, "Overcompensating" can be an interesting character flaw, but that's besides the point. Can you imagine the strain it would put on a Unicorn to use magic for spacial awareness all the freaking time? Even if it's just a ten foot span with pony at the middle. To have that on all the time would be far too taxing to be practical.

What I'm talking about is the following: Blind. If they're a Unicorn, they can waggle a can in front of them as we would normally see. If not, they better have a good friend or family member with them at all times. No fingers means no braille, so blind ponies are by definition illiterate. They have not honed their senses to Daredevil level. They cannot "sense" something else to substitute for sight like Toph. They don't have sight under the right conditions like Dr. Mid-Nite. They are just unable to see, and are treated as the disabled typically would, with all the good and bad that go with it.

Any trope can be misused, not just blindness. But as such, they can add great flavor to a character. From the anime Baccano, the character Nice (pronounced Niece) is an explosives expert. At a young age, while mixing chemicals, she slips up and blasts half her face off, leaving what is an otherwise pretty lady with Harvey Dent syndrome (sans the MPD). That includes losing an eye. And she struggles with it. But she never lost interest in her hobby and, as an added appropriate level of awesome, keeps a tiny emergency grenade in her empty eye socket. Yeah. It's not blindness, but it's sight related and if properly played, we could see some interesting character development.

Because you're an RP buddy, Bramble, you know who Curtain Call is. I know full well how many tropes he is. But I try to avert or twist or otherwise play around with them to make him a pony that's interesting to be around.

http://tvtropes.org/...asterOfDisguise

http://tvtropes.org/.../ConsummateLiar

http://tvtropes.org/...ightInSourArmor

http://tvtropes.org/.../WickedCultured

Keep in mind. I said 'try'.

Also, did I derail this thread? I'm sorry if I did. But the delicate line between "trope" and "cliche" is... ever-present, especially in fanfiction and roleplay.

[QueenChrysalis747]

Yah know there are like 2 maybe 3 that have effected me.

1) My original OC Moonlite Frost was originally not accepted because she had heard of Rarity and wanted to make a dress like that.

2) My new OC Darkness Eclipsed, is shunned by his parents cuz he was a Pegasus in a Unicorn village

3) Again Darkness Eclipse I believe I said he was Pitch Black fur.

Anyway they were all accepted after much alteration, above arent changed minus 1, but I just wanted to mention this.

(I forgot the next number) ) No 18+ charries, ie no stripper pony, even if that sounds funny, just I think that's a bit too adult

[brianblackberry]

Yah know there are like 2 maybe 3 that have effected me.

1) My original OC Moonlite Frost was originally not accepted because she had heard of Rarity and wanted to make a dress like that.

The rule is OCs cannot personally know cast, although it is alright to have heard of cast and know them by reputation.

[ONWARDconwardicus]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. It means a lot.

And on the subject, mabye, I always thought it would be cool for a pony to be blind and have a cane they wiggle around. I have been wanting to make one for a while, but was always worried what the reaction would be. Now I sort of see that if she doesn't have super senses, she could possibly be accepted.

But could she have a slightly improved different sense? It has been shown in people that losing sight can improve other senses, because the body can spread its resources differently. Could it be the same with ponies?

[tacobob]

1. You are not one of mane cast's long lost twin brother (or sister).

2. You do not have a "secondary form", ala SUPER SAIYAN!

3. Princess Celestia did not raise you as a foal.

4. Twilight Sparkle does not love you! (She LOVES ME! ONLY ME! MWAH-HA-HA-HAAA!)

[Bramble Rose]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. It means a lot.

And on the subject, mabye, I always thought it would be cool for a pony to be blind and have a cane they wiggle around. I have been wanting to make one for a while, but was always worried what the reaction would be. Now I sort of see that if she doesn't have super senses, she could possibly be accepted.

But could she have a slightly improved different sense? It has been shown in people that losing sight can improve other senses, because the body can spread its resources differently. Could it be the same with ponies?

Oh, absolutely. There's a number of these 'rules' that I'd love to break, myself, just because they'd make for interesting RP. But there's a number of things that get us to go, "Ah, another one" when we see an app for it. That doesn't mean it can't be done well! But it's worth a joke.

[ONWARDconwardicus]

Why thank you kind replier. You deserve a cup of tea.

Go google a picture of it because I am terrible at image uploading.

[Apolline Allura]

45b. Blood red or pitch black should also be avoided.

As should pearl white. Or any other color for that matter. :3