SilverMint

Aw... Finally, a chance for Jupiter Nexus to make an appearance! He'd have to ride in on the train from Hoofington, but I'd love it if he could be a part of this!

I sent in an email, but I'd like further details as soon as possible, so I'll ask here as well: For VA's, expecially men in the baritone-bass range, are you looking for narrators, character voices, anything else? I'm sure any potential VA's would like to know what the cast list is before they submit an application/audition demo!

Silver Mint Silver Mint gave an audible "Whoop!" as the calvary arrived in the form of three Pegasus ponies who attacked the manticore in turn. One of them dove in with what appeared to be a very thin sword, whipping the manticore right on the snout. The second became a flying battering-ram and slammed into the beast, causing it to slide further towards the center. The third caught the beast's attention, luring it closer to the the middle of the resevoir. The manticore roared in rage and pain, obviously confused and disoriented. The ice under its feet was starting to give way, the cracks in the ice were entirely visible now, and cold water was seeping up from underneath. "Perfect! Keep it up, everypony!" he called out encouragingly. The beast was out of range of his feeble snowballs, but he could make sure everyone stayed motivated! The surface of the entire resevoir was cracking under the weight of the massive creature, just a bit more!!!

Silver Mint is definitely friendly enough to make friends with shy ponies. However, he won't force his friendship on a pony who wants to keep themselves to themselves. I think if something were to happen at the library that put a certain group of ponies into an adventure, he'd do his best to make sure all ponies got along to get through the adventure alive and well!

Well, Silver Mint would be in Canterlot either to audition for something, visit his sister, or maybe stop by the library to pick up some plays to read. Maybe there's something more to the Canterlot Library than meets the eye?

Sure thing! I have Silver Mint, an Earth pony who's originally from Canterlot, lives in Fillydelphia, but travels a lot, so I'm sure we can find a way to have him and Midnight Read meet up somewhere. Or heck, since they lived in the same place growing up, they may already know each other?

Silver Mint Silver Mint sighed as he trudged along the road. He had failed his audition up in Canterlot and was heading back home to Fillydelphia. His stomach muttered in discontent; he had eaten the last of his food that morning, and his empty saddle bag flopped lamely on his flank with every grudging step. Things wouldn't even be so bad if he didn't have all of this SNOW to trudge through. Honestly, it was almost spring-time, what kind of lazy ponies would leave all of the weather-work until the last minute? Silver Mint shook his head as he though to himself. It wasn't his place to judge. He caught sight of a sign by the road that made him smile. "Welcome to Ponyville!" was spelled out in large, friendly letters. If this was a town, there was work to be done, bits to be made, food to be bought-- and eaten! Silver Mint winced as his stomach gave out a particularly loud roar of hunger. It took him a moment to realize, though, that it wasn't his stomach making that noise, it came from some distance away, near a large body of water. There were also the voices of startled ponies carried to his ears on the wind... Without even thinking twice, Silver Mint dashed off towards the commotion. Not two minutes later, he found himself gawking at the scene he was looking over. A group of hodge-podge ponies wearing matching vests were struggling to fend of a rather large, and angry manticore. What was a manticore doing this far from the Everfree Forest??? There was no time to think. Silver Mint reached into his saddle bag for something to throw at the beast, before remembering that it was empty. As he did so, a stocky, green-coated pony with some obvious musculature rammed the manticore head-on. The beast was thrown off-balance, and stumbled onto the ice of the still-frozen resevoir. There was a loud "CRACK!!!" as numerous fissures appeared under the manticore's claws. Inspiration hit Silver Mint like a train, before he even knew what he was doing, he ran to the edge of the ice, and picked up a hoof-ful of some of the remaining snow. He quickly fashioned a snowball, which he threw with all of his strength at the manticore. The ball of snow and ice hit home, nailing the manticore in its lion-faced snout, it roared and recoiled a few more steps, causing the ice under its feet to splinter into many more cracks. "Hey!" Silver Mint shouted to the stocky, green pony and a rather slender, tan-coated pony nearby "Force it to the center of the ice! The ice is always the thinnest near the center!" he yelled as he whipped another snowball towards the beast.

Hmm, how about a short story (maybe even something shorter) of Twilight Sparkle saying goodbye to her parents before she leaves on the chariot down to Ponyville? Personally, I want to see you focus on setting the scene, capturing the emotions of a youngster leaving their parents, and characterizing Twilight Sparkle's parents, all in less than 1,500 words, just to give you a challenge. >=D Optional: Include the phrases, "aluminum siding," "jaunty pose," and "pandelerium" to earn +2 internets.

The premise seems fairly solid. However, I'm confused as to the motivations of the seven mane characters: Are they looking to overthrow Sheol? Escape Altestria? And what do they hope to achieve with the Elements of Harmony? All in all, they seem to be defined characters, but I'm also wondering if there's too much of a black-and-white/good-vs.-evil kind of deal. Will we learn Sheol's side of the story in this? How does he feel about being born out of negative feelings? Is he like Discord in that he's an insane, powerful entity who simply wants to rule for the power, or does he have an overarching plan once he takes over Altestria? I know you probably have these answers all thought-out. I was just trying to get a feel for the story's themes before I comment on subject any further.

Roleplay Type: Mane Name: Jupiter "Jynx" Nexus Sex: Male Age: Foal Species: Earth Pony Eye Color: Deep Red Coat Color: Orange Mane/Tail/Markings Color & Style: Mane and tail both red with stripes of off-white. Mane is short, but tail is long and relatively unkept. Physique: Stocky for a foal, but smaller than most foals his age. Cutie Mark: N/A Origin/Residence: Hoofington Occupation: Student Motivation: He wants to help others without getting in their way. Likes: Being Helpful, Learning, Exploring, Playing, and Spending time with his father Dislikes: When he gets in the way of others, when others are mad at him, being depended upon. Character Summary: History – Jupiter Nexus is the son of Perihelion, the noted astronomer and physicist. They live in the observatory outside of Hoofington, far from the light pollution of Manehattan and Fillydelphia. Jupiter attends the school in Hoofington, where he earned the nickname "Jynx" from the difficulty of pronouncing his full name, and his unfortunate habit of having things around him just 'go wrong.' Parents – Perihelion is Jupiter Nexus' father, and a great one at that. Even though he spends his nights charting the night sky, trying to deduce how the stars and planets affect the lives of ponies in Equestria, he still spends his mornings waking up Jupiter Nexus and walking him the few miles to school, sleeping during the daylight hours, and waking in time to pick his son up again and spend the evening with him. He's fully aware of his son's awkwardness, but believes that he will overcome it, and that any amount of bad luck can be dispelled by a positive attitude and a firm belief that things will get better. Cutie Mark Story – Jupiter Nexus isn't too concerned about his cutie mark, as he knows that he doesn't know what his special talent is yet. He is, however, very interested in the cutie marks of his peers, both in what they mean and how they got them. If he comes across a classmate who wants to discover their personal talent, he'll more than happily lend a hoof to the cause. Flaws – Jupiter Nexus... for lack of any more-accurate terms... is unlucky. However it always seems to be that his misfortunes are somewhat beneficial to those around him. For example, when searching for a lost baseball in a patch of tall grass, Jupiter Nexus found it by tripping over it. He's also very self-conscious about whether or not he's in the way, almost to the point where he'll isolate himself away from other ponies to make sure he doesn't impede anypony as they go about their business. Personality - Jupiter Nexus is a happy foal, despite his minor misfortunes. He idolizes his father as both a parent and a scientist. He also enjoys going to school, learning, and playing with other foals; though he isn't close enough to any to consider them friends, as he keeps most ponies an emotional hoof's length away. He's relatively carefree and doesn't have any real plans for his future, but has found himself interested in the stars, like his father. Of course, there are times when things get a little overwhelming for him, such as when his misfortunes come right after another, but all he really needs after a time like that is to remember that his misfortunes always have a silver lining, and that if he is inconvenienced a little, and it brings somepony else a bit of happiness, that maybe it was worth it in the end. He is an eternal optimist, and starry-eyed son. Image -

Angie Cakes??? What're you doing out of the basement? I already told you: You can't have anything to eat until you finish that life-sized mural of the ponyfied "Last Supper"

Hey! I've actually been looking for an original cutie mark! Pony Name: Silver Mint Pony Type: Earth Pony Pony Personality Description: Silver Mint loves performing, as it's the only place he feels truly comfortable. He's fairly reserved when not onstage, but is polite and friendly towards everyone. He can be very stubborn at times, but only when he's being pressured to do something he doesn't want to do. Detailed Cutie Mark Description: The Happy and Sad Theater Masks, only for this cutie mark, I was wondering if they could be pony-style masks rather than the human-face shaped ones. The simpler, the better in this case. I'd like it if the happy one could be white with black eyes and mouth, and if the sad one could be black with white eyes and mouth. Also, if they could have a silver outline to them, it would make the mark stand out on Silver Mint's dark-green flank. Please let me know if you need anything else, and thanks again for setting up this request thread!

Story 2: The First Performance Mr. Chalk's eyes scanned the room of young ponies. He prompted them again: "...now then, would anyone like to volunteer for Show and Tell?" he asked. Many of his students looked away from him, some of them blushing with embarrassment. He took note of the hoof waving in the back of the room, but would hold off on calling on that particular colt until he absolutely had to. Failing to make eye contact with any of his students, Mr. Chalk let out a sigh. "Alright, Silver Mint, come forward and give your presentation, but please keep it short this time." Mr. Chalk stood behind his desk as an enthusiastic set of hooves galloped their way to the front of the classroom. "Ahem!" Silver Mint said, addressing his audience, not actually clearing his voice, but he knew that was how his father gained attention whenever he wished to speak. "Now then, for my Show and Tell project, I'd like you all to meet a Pegasus who has joined me on adventures deep in the jungle, high on the mountaintops, over scorching deserts and frozen tundras... a Pegasus who has forgotten more about adventuring than Daring Do would ever know..." He gave a dramatic pause, noting the excited, expectant looks on his classmate's faces. He knew that this was the perfect moment for the reveal! He reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a rather worn and faded Pegasus plush, which he held up to give the entire class a good look. "I'd like you all to meet... Apollo Voyage!!!" With his attention focused on Apollo Voyage, Silver Mint didn't notice the exchanged looks of incredulity or the silent snickers from his classmates; who were all far too old and mature to be caught dead playing with such things. Mr. Chalk silenced the class with the glare, Silver Mint had a hard enough time in school without being laughed at during the one class activity he was actually excited to participate in. Silver Mint continued enthusiastically, oblivious to the silent ruminations in the classroom. "Just last week, Apollo and I were travelling through the jungles of Terra Misu," he explained, crawling along the floor, climbing over ferns and ducking under low-hanging branches. "We were stranded, of course, because our hot air balloon sprained a leak during a terrible storm." He shook and weaved, emulating the sounds of wind, lightning, and thunder. "So as we were looking for a source of water, or a clearing to set up camp, we heard an ominous buzzing..." Silver Mint froze, eyes wide in a slowly-mounting horror. "I thought it was bees, but Apollo knew better, he told me these weren't just any bees, that was the sound of Zom-bees! Deadly, zombified bees that, if they sting you, slowly mutate you into an ugly, lifeless, flesh-hungry zombie!!!" Silver Mint dared a glance away from his reenactment to look at his audience, they were staring intently at him with what he assumed was interest. He continued. "The only thing that can scare away Zom-bees is direct sunlight, so Apollo and I climbed the closest big tree we could find!" Silver Mint explained as he leapt from a nearby chair onto the desk of a classmate, who yelped in surprise. "We leapt from branch-to-branch, the roaring buzz of the Zom-bees right behind us!" he explained, leaping onto each of his classmate's desks in turn, before finally landing on Mr. Chalk's desk. "We made it to the canopy, just in time!" he declared, "The sun dazzled us in its brilliance," he said. So enraptured in his own story, that he thought he imagined a bright flash lighting up the classroom, "...and at that point we knew we'd make it through this adventure, and onto many others. The class responded with an appreciative "Oooooh!" and began applauding the young colt standing on their teacher's desk. Silver Mint looked over his classmates and noticed that instead of their focus and applause being on him, it was focused somewhere on his backside... he turned and saw on his flank were two masks, black and white, happy and sad-- his Cutie Mark had appeared! In shock, he turned to Mr. Chalk, who was smiling appreciatively. "Well," Mr. Chalk said, "I think you owe your audience something for that superb performance." Silver Mint looked over the classroom of cheering students, and took his first bow in front of an applauding audience.

Alright, here's a thematic issue I've been coming up against time and again for my character. I want to make the point that ever since he's started looking for work, he's come across a long run of bad luck. However, I don't want to alienate the reader by having a long segment of story dedicated to the putting-down of (what I hope is) a lovable character. Is there a way to emphasize a long, steady run of bad luck without making it a long, awful read about bad luck? I've considered making it into a literary montage, but I don't think that reducing the amount of time by THAT much will allow for the reader to appreciate the gradual emotional impact the events would have on the character. It would basically be: "I'm going out to be the best!" *insert montage of bad luck* "I'm never going to be the best." It keeps the reader from understanding the gradual fall from youthful optimism to depression to the (eventual) adult determination that will allow him to see his dream through to the end despite all the setbacks. So, the short version of what I'm asking is: Do you know of a way to reduce a series of complicated events into a succint summary without a.) trivializing the emotional impact of the events on the character or b.) boring the reader to tears with full-fledged accounts of each failure?

Patience is a pony virtue! Besides, something as trivial as a character-pic can wait until the artist is feeling up to doing it!

Story 1: A Failed Audition “…and so, for all of his faults, he was a pony with passionate resolve, and an unfathomable love for his countryponies. I choose this day to honor his sacrifice, and raise my glass in his memory! For no leader before his time, or after, can match the glory achieved by Naponyan Bonaparte!” Silver Mint’s final words resonated through the theater. His eyes were fixed up into the glare of the spotlight, but his ears strained for any response to his monologue. The theater was silent until the creak of chair broke the tension as one of the panel leaned forward to look at his notes. “Mr… Silver Mint, was it?” the graying stallion asked. He continued before Silver Mint could answer, “You do realize that choosing an audition monologue from the classic “Life and Times of Naponyan Bonaparte,” a monologue performed by none other than the late, great Joel Neigh… and NOT performing it in his style and cadence would immediately set you up for failure?” The two ponies flanking the stallion nodded vigorously, but pedantic yes-ponies were beneath the notice of esteemed director Stephen Spielherd, who continued to glare at Silver Mint with poorly concealed disdain. “Well…” Silver Mint started, his brain doing its best to grind out an excuse. “I thought it would be an opportunity to show you all that while I do admire and respect the classics, I think everything is open to interpretation, and that putting a new spin on the classics will open them up to audiences who might not like the old style of performing.” “Interpretation? A New Spin?” Spielherd sputtered, scattering his papers in his astonishment, “The classics are classic for a reason, you dense little colt!” He slammed a hoof on his table to make a dramatic point. “You don’t go changing things just because YOU think it’s a good idea! Such childish behavior; do not expect to be called back for a reading. Thank you.” “Wait! Mr. Spielherd—“ “I said: ‘THANK YOU.’ “ The spotlight went out on Silver Mint, leaving him to make his way offstage in the dark. He couldn’t believe it; after calling in every favor owed to him in Phillydelphia, he had wrangled himself an audition for Spielherd’s latest show, but blew it by trying to be daring and memorable. As Silver Mint exited the theater, he was stopped by a voice. “You know, sonny…” he turned to an older stallion, the theater’s custodian, sweeping the front walk. “I knew Joel Neigh, and he was never quite satisfied with the way he delivered that passage night-after-night. I think with the way you performed it just now, he would’ve been mighty proud to see it.” Silver Mint froze, mouth agape. This old stallion knew Joel Neigh? The custodian continued, “Don’t be put off by Spielherd; finding fault in young actors is his way of feeling better about himself. Keep up the good work, kid, and maybe I’ll be putting your name up on that marquee, someday.” Silver Mint looked up at the theater’s blinking lights, promoting the current show, then down the block of Phillydelphia’s entertainment district. He smiled. This was exactly what he wanted, and he couldn’t let one failed audition get him down. He turned to thank the old pony, but he was already gone. Silver Mint took a deep breath, and started the long walk back to his apartment, a new-found determination in his canter.

Alright, just so everypony knows, I'm not capable of these epic let's-make-it-a-novel writings. My brain (and thus, my characterization process) works in small scenes that define who and what my character is, so this topic will be devoted to several short stories that come from the life of my character, Silver Mint. These are probably going to be posted anachronistically, but I'm going to try and make sure it's very obvious what order they go in so that any of you loyal Silver Mint fans out there... *cricket, cricket* er... well if any pony out there wants to figure out his full life-story, it should be easy to go from there. I WILL post something soon, I just want to proofread it and flesh out some of the details before I go posting sub-standard work.

If there's any room left, I would LOVE a picture of Silver Mint onstage delivering some sort of monologue in the spotlight... he hasn't had a chance to do that for real, but that's his dream, so it can have a vaguely dream-like quality about it if you'd like to try something like that! If you can't tell from the picture, his cutie mark is of the dual theater masks.

Hey thanks for the referral and the welcome! Just thought I'd do the same for you. Hope to see you around for RP boards!