SunsetSombra

Big Mac watched as the youngster bit into the bread smothered with the viscous colourful substance, the delicious miracle that was the apple family specialty Zapp Apple Jam - and as he did so, Macintosh couldn't deny that the sight of a young'un experiencing the intense deliciousness for the first time...it took him back to his childhood when his own tastebuds practically burst with delight as he took a tentative lick of Granny Smiths ladleful of freshly made jam, straight from a jar.

" Heh - ya'all remind me of mah own first bite! " Mac muses, looking over at Purple with a small chuckle, taking a small bite of the bread he himself had picked out - the interesting combination of carrot-tang and Fizzy, sweet and unique deliciousness of zapp apple jam blended together to create the most interesting sweet and sour yet overly delightful flavours...he'd had no idea how a simple piece of carrot bread could add such a different level of texture and taste to the already hugely flavorful zapp apple jam.

Taking a moment to savour the last moments of flavor on his palette, Mac then looks over towards Carrot after hearing him say something about to intrude, which wasa silly notion to the red stallion, as he and AJ had literally offered a welcoming hoof to the silly pony - his shy and withdrawn nature seemed to be even stronger than Macs stoic and reflective side...which kinda tickled him a little, as there really seemed to be no reason why a pony such as Carrot needed to act in such a way.

Just as he was pondering on saying something to help try and lift the Carrot pony's spirits, it seemed as though Applebloom had already taken such a step and boldly proclaimed a toast, to which mac wholeheartedly went along with - raising his own half-full glass. " Eeeeyup - T'alla us hard workin' farmin' ponies! " - It was a rare privilege for the apples to share a moment with a different farm family, given that he couldn't think of many of them off the top of his head...and as such, a moment like this where it was all about the concept of family, and the free exchange of good times, food and ingredients.

Even if it was only to last for a little while, it almost felt like an extended family coming together and sharing a good time...something that reminded Big Mac of the recent apple reunion, which gave him a warm internal smile as he simply watched the other ponies make their own toasts, quietly enjoying this warm little moment.

[Post under moderate editing - shall repost once done.]

Mac was a little taken aback to find himself being so boldly challenged to a contest by his l'il cousin, Lady - although she always had been somewhat of a plucky sort, which was certainly a pretty admirable trait for a pony who just about came up to his midriff, heightwise.

" Well ah'll be! " mac says with a snerk, looking down at his cousin with a playful smile creeping onto his features - he wasn't about to turn her challenge down, she had the most adorably defiant look on her face which the red stallion found almost endearing. " How could ah refuse, when ya'all look at me like that...reminds me o'Applebloom when she gets pouty! "

Now all that needed for him to address would be the matter of the challenge itself, which was a little something that he'd take care of right now!

" Now if ya'all wanna be tryin' to take a crack at applebuckin' wit me, ah don't see why not - but ah can't see ya winnin'... " he says with a raised eyebrow, a smirk forming on his muzzle - whilst he wasn't often one to instigate challenges, he was never one to turn them down. " but by all means, L'il Lady, ah've got no problems seein' you try! "

Vinyl grins, nodding slightly at the owner as she settled into the surroundings, taking in the lights and scenery of the new place with an air of approval - sure it wasn't yet quite as lively as she knew a place like this could get, but the DJ Unicorn knew that generating attention via word of mouth and by simply offering a friendly, approachable and desirable atmosphere, you could pretty much make anyplace a success in no time at all.

Of course, it was still going to take a little bit of work and dedicated marketing, but HardCore looked capable enough - although it seemed as though the colt currently behind the decks didn't seem to share her sentiment, as the White Unicorn mare caught a glimps of his rather chilly glare...not missing the fact that he'd made quite the 'statement' at her by taking an opportunity to add something of an ill-timed and deliberately loud personal touch to a rather fond favourite of Vinyls older works.

" Yeah, I can see this is gonna prove to be quite a night! " the DJ mare says to herself, blowing a few strands of mane from behind her shades as she headed slowly to the bar to pick up something light and bubbly to enjoy. Perhaps she'd take up showing the colt a thing or two later on, but right now she didn't feel immediately inclined to steal his thunder - she knew better than to stir the pot so early into a promisingly interesting time out!

Well, danke Mojo - I follow my creed of 'No submit until perfect' relatively seriously, and this application has been in development now for a good while as a result...and yes, you are indeed correct that the family inventions were originally vague because at the time I didn't quite know which way I wanted the inventing side to work, which is a reason it was delayed.

I'll see what kind of useful and not-so-useful ideas I can generate to reflect the differences between Family Stark, and Stark himself as far as designing goes...there's a whole fleet of ideas that are entirely useable for an application like this given the technical allowances of steam and clockwork, and I feel confident that I can give assemble some examples for each!

This Application shall see an accepted stamp yet!

Names and timestamps have been edited to protect identities.

Actually, No they weren't - just have to point that out here.

Contrary to belief, There's no reccomended uniform method on how to post a welcoming post, so there really is NO reason to be pushing this issue as hard as you appear to be.

Whilst it's genuinely appreciated that you're concerned, you're coming off more aggressive about it overall than you actually need to be - sure this isn't exactly rocket science, but telling others that they simply aren't 'doing good enough' as a welcoming post and that you personally 'expect' more than they may realistically want to give is in itself NOT really much of a 'welcoming' method, nor are you truly forwarding the cause you intend.

As Tales says above - most folks don't even post more than 2 times in their thread anyway, so you may just be overthinking it a little too much.

I RECOGNISE NOT THAT STAMP AS LEGITIMATE...although it IS kinda awesome!

Thaaaaaaaanks...I love you too, Rosey!

All I'm gonna say is it takes some desperate wishful thinking to want to stop a whole internet fandom from having fun with something. XD

Ultimately, this isn't really an all-types RP site, and it won't really be one anytime soon - Series and character crossover RP's are fine, however, if that's compromise enough!

Your input is most valuable and duly noted, oh wise and silly scotchy!

well, discussed the name conventions with the guys earlier, but should any actual issues crop up, I may use Spark as a last name - conditions willing. xD

Application for: Mane Equestria RP

Name: Poni Stark { He deliberately spells it with an i, but most just call him Stark - rather, he usually prefers it that way! }

Age: Colt (Middle years)

Type: Earth Pony

Eye Color: Aqua Blue

Coat Color: Red

Tail color: Black with Red tints at the end

Mane: Black with light Grey streaks {Natural}

Physique: sturdy, healthy colt - no distinguishing marks

Cutiemark: Crossed hammers (representing invention prowess) superimposed over an atomic structure (His desire for knowledge) within a gear.

Origin/Residence: Manehattan

Occupation: Currently running Stark Inventions and Innovations - Inventor.

Motivation: To aid and assist ponies all over Equestria!

Likes: Unique ideas, solving pony troubles via his work, socialising, attention

Dislikes: being rushed, negativity, those who fail to understand progress

Background:

A resident Manehattan inventor - he habitually tends to wind up being a tad too self-involved in his projects, which leads to occasional short-sighted hiccups and problems occurring from time to time. He inherited the stark family invention business and has been busy trying to sell and develop various products, but can never seem to find one that takes off and makes all of pony life better. Some say he tends to look more for trouble than a solution to the common strife of pony kind, but he argues that without trouble, solutions are never going to be found...a philosophy that is specked with moments either sheer brilliance, or utter stupidity - although it usually can be said to be more common to see both occur at once.

He, like anypony, has a number of known vices - chiefly his oversized ego, and an occasionally wandering eye for the Mares, amongst others - however, he does claim to be on top of such things whenever questioned about them. whilst his products don't always bring in heavy amounts of bits, he isn't exactly in need of donations and is living comfortably from the existing family fortunes, which were acquired during the prior family company boom in primarily Agricultural research and developmental products for common farming and the hard working earth pony. Stark eventually wanted to expand the company beyond these meagre means, and has been hard at work trying to develop products that would benefit ponies all over equestria - sometimes succeeding, sometimes not.

Cutie Mark story:

As a young foal, Stark took much interest in his fathers work, helping out around the workshop and reading the many books and manuscripts his father kept as notes and bases for ideas. His father, although sometimes annoyed by his inquisitive foals efforts to get involved, took it upon himself to show the youngster how to handle some limited tools, let him occasionally try his hoof at simple tasks like hammering nearly finished creations, screwing things together or helping him clean the work area. It was a particular day that Stark had made his way into his fathers work area unsupervised - the curious foal finding an item for repair that his father had put aside to work on another day. It was a clock - a fairly simple device, and Stark almost would have left it alone, had he not suddenly had the idea to not smply repair it, but to improve upon it. The clock, he felt, was too large a design....and although he was merely a foal in most respects, he had observed his fathers skills often enough to get a firm grasp of how clockwork and gears functioned.

Rifling through his fathers drawers in a fit of inspired design, he turned up a suitable container, some bands, and various tools and knicknacks in order to satisfy his sudden moment of inspiration. It took him all of the night, but as he tirelessly worked on not just recreating the mechanics of this device, but essentially 'shrinking' them down into a much more portable form, he realised that he had indeed managed it all from just observation and , he realised, a natural affinity for inventing and improving upon designs. It was in the morning that his father found him curled up with what appeared to be a functional clockwork hoofwatch - whilst the invention was more or less common in it's own right, the youngster wouldn't have been aware of this. The proud stallion awoke his son with a poke to the flank, which now had emblazened upon it his cutiemark, which essentially represented not only his drive for inventing, but his passion for finding solutions and Aptitude to apply them both, often in unique ways.

Personality - including strengths/weaknesses

Tends to be a little overconfident, maybe a little cocky even - tends to not see problems, but solutions in the making - his tendency to want to create awesome things, however, can be outweighed by the problems and consequences they themselves create. Entirely too much of a 'playpony' at times for his own good and likes to show off not just his abilities, but anything he thinks he may be better at than anypony else. Otherwise, though, He's a nice enough pony at heart though, and will always come to the aid of those he believes may need help if he's friends or associated with them in any way.

note: further edits to be finalised when keyboard is replaced!

It seemed as though the mood was starting to get a mix between hungry and lively, now that it seemed that work for the most part was being put aside for the ponies to take time for themselves, preparing to go get some lunch. Macintosh watched the scene amongst AppleJack, Klondike and Mojo with a slightly amused raised eyebrow - seemed like they were all getting on well enough, albeit in weird ways.

Klondike was currently rambling to himself about various things, whilst Mojo was currently trying to do whatever it was that he could do to apologise to Applejack for whatever perceived slights he'd made against the apple family mare. Of course, now that the subject of lunch had actually come up, it seemed as though Mojo had switched gears and suggested that the idea of guitar playing through lunchy, which Mac couldn't argue against...perhaps the mood would even inspire a little light conversation amongst all of them before resuming anything afterwards - afterall, if Mac knew one thing, it was that work was a lot easier when you had a proper comaradarie amongst those you were working with!

" Sounds like a good idea t'me. " he speaks up, looking over at Mojo for a moment.

" can't say there's a great deal of anythin' that works better with an apple family lunch than some good music, if ya'all ask me! "

Mac was quietly enjoying his own side of the meal - seeing as everyone was already quite engaged enough with conversation, it gave him a chance to simply relax and enjoy what was in front of him...taking a few carrots, dipping them a little in the pool of ZapJam on his plate and giving a rather satisfied 'Mmmm' and a smack of the lips...yes, it did still hit him even now just how great granny smiths Jam was, and just how lucky the apples really were to have the things that they did.

He paused, looking around at the group for a moment as they were all also tucking in to the delicious food before them, he cleared his throat a little...deciding to wash it down with a swig of juice before speaking out loud - afterall, seeing as how what he'd just struck upon hadn't really been brought up this whole trip, he felt it was something that might just have been wort mentioning.

" Y'know...AJ, Applebloom! " he starts, giving a small coy smile before looking to the carrots whom they were currently visiting. " Ah reck'n tha' we should return 'em the favour back with a picnic on Sweet Apple Acres - they can see all 'bout how things there are, an' maybe even get granny smith t'cook one o'her famous home meals...Ah think they'd enjoy that"

He left the sentiment hanging for a moment, as he resumed eatin' whatever was on his plate...feeling accomplished for bringing up an idea that had bubbled at the back of his mind. Considering that the carrots had been so generous here, Mac felt that the sentiment was well worth returning, Apple family style!

As of 29/15/2014 - these are the active threads each of my characters is currently partaking in!

Vinyl Scratch

Spike

Big Macintosh

Berry Punch

[Character profile linking and list neatening shall be next development]

Mac continued to quietly observe the family gathering from where he stood - everypony seemed to be quite deeply engaged in their conversations, and after applejack had suggested he get more involved before heading off to tend to...well, whatever she'd gone to do, he couldn't help but feel a little unsure as to just what he should do. Afterall, he wasn't strictly unsocial, he was just a pony who tended to steer a little towards keeping things on the quiet side...it wasn't that he didn't want to relax, he was just more of an observer than a participator at times.

Still, he couldn't help but hear his name being mentioned - his eyes flicker over to the source of the conversation {or at least the parts he'd heard}, noticing Braeburn and Pink Lady along with a few others, who seemed to have been discussing something openly for a little bit. He canters over to check out the scene - heck, he hadn't really talked to Braeburn for a little while anyway, and it seemed like now was the perfect chance for the apple cousins to catch up on things, considering it had been a fair time since their last real conversation!

" Mah ears were burnin' a l'il over there... " the red stallion says with a small chuckle as he approaches the group, a brief grin appearing on his muzzle as he looks to his cousin with a raised eyebrow. " An' ah have a feelin' that the source o'that is right around these parts! "

Taking a look around the front room, Vinyl peers over the edge of her shades - it was a pretty neat place, and she certainly wasn't going to say anything different about that...although as it stood right now, she clearly had a ways to go before the place was going to be neat enough to really consider as a 'home'. One thing the white Unicorn had personal experiences with was that a house didn't really become a full, proper home until at least over 50% of what you owned was scattered chaotically all over the place and the other 50% was either lost, broken or on the side in need of a clean!

" Well Heck, maybe I should look into somethin' for ya when I get the chance, eh? " She says, waving a hoof...before her attention is caught by a large'ish solitary box nearby - it wasn't scruffy like the others, and was all on it's own. compared to all the other boxes around the area, this one seemed out of the ordinary, as it was clearly put out of the way as a 'to do later', which Vinyl found a little curious but she decided it wasn't worth prying into right now.

Turning to face the other mare, she puts all thoughts of that aside and focuses on the question. " As for what we can do now, heck we can probably take a look at some of your l'il pieces of kit! " she says with a coy grin. " I'd love t'see how you work - 'specially since last night...ya got somethin', and I'd love to hear more of it! "

Well, this certainly was a more interestin' way of getting a welcome!

" heh, thanks - nice t'be here...truth be told, just kinda heard about it an' got curious! " the DJ mare speaks as she comes on through at the invite of the other pony, nudging her shades a little as she shook down her mane preparing to gear up for party mode - this kinda place was definitely where Vinyl belonged, and the small bobbing of the head and the rhythmic tapping of a hoof to the beat of whatever was currently playing went a ways in proving that point a little.

She looks around for a moment, a lopsided grin appearing on her muzzle as she soaks up the environment - the throbbing bass, the catchy yet unpredictable music, the bright colors and the ponies gathered all around over the place, listening to the music and/or looking in her direction if they had realised who she was...

Yeah, this was looking to be one heck of a party!

Man, gotta love them bugs! XD