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Bellosh

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  1. Bellosh
    Heh..... I was able to get through the list of RPs I planned way back last year. Couldn't hurt to begin early this year, right? So here's what I hope to accomplish over the next several months:
    New magic counseling thread for Ingrid Marie, as a sequel to her old one. Svengallop giving a journalist misleading info about Countess Coloratura. Now that I got Derpy back, she needs to cause mayhem in Ponyville every now and then. Moony and pals detecting traces of dark magic coming from... the Crystal Heart???! (read my Sombra app for background info) King Sombra in hiding encounters... potential bride material, muahahahaha. Prof. Morianna Razorclaw attempting to bring Griffonstone back into the Aquellian fold.  
    This time around, I have absolutely no OC concepts I wanna work on. Unlike with my RP ideas, I got almost nowhere with OCs last year. The only one I did app wasn't even planned! In all honesty, I'm pretty content with my character roster right now. From this point onward, apping characters will be a pretty rare occurrence for me.
    HOWEVER...... with WoE's new acceptance of AU-based roleplays, I just may cook up a dark AU featuring a dark lord of mine.....
  2. Bellosh
    MOONDANCER: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101

    It always seems like forever since the last blog article these days. It’s been months since the last blog post, character commentary writeup or otherwise. Well sit back and enjoy the ride folks, because this one today might take a while. A looong while..... [/cackle]






    (Image drawn by LoopEnd)

    Development Process: First things first, we’ll need a history lesson. You see, Moondancer is technically NOT an original character, for she was born from the depths of MLP Generation 1. She was around to be glimpsed in the Rescue at Midnight Castle special, but otherwise didn’t have that big of a role to play. The Moondancer I use today uses a G4ized variant of the original, which is pretty much unchanged save for getting rid of the bow on the ponytail (G1 ponies seemed to love those bows) and simplifying her cutie mark.
    So why care about this random G1 pony? Because FiM’s writers did, for they name-dropped her twice within “Friendship is Magic, Part 1” during the first scenes. However we never actually saw Moondancer during the episode, and without an official design, the Canterlot staff for technical reasons had to declare my pony as an original character instead of a cast pony. Hence, why Moony is not Tier 3 even though I originally planned her to be one.
    As for why I applied for this mystery mare? Well, let’s consider the following canon facts:
    Princess Celestia runs a magic school for gifted unicorns.
    Spike and a number of Twilight’s acquaintances had plans to attend a party for Moondancer and bring her presents.
    The fact that ponies wanted to do the above for Moondancer meant she had to be pretty well-liked.
    Ponies who knew Twilight by name and were around her age probably wouldn’t know of Twi unless they belonged to the same student body.
    Throughout the series, stars and crescent moons have always served as symbols of magic. They appear on clothing worn by Starswirl the Bearded and Trixie, on Twilight’s blankets, and on Moondancer’s cutie mark. Of course, maybe all four love just happen to love astronomy too. XD

    I’ll be on the level with you folks: I think unicorn magic is cool. Twilight Sparkle is my favorite pony partially for that reason. Moondancer wasn’t the first of my spellcasting ponies however; that honor belongs to Ingrid Marie. But since Ingrid is more of an instructor, I wanted someone who was still a student… somepony highly skilled in magic who still had most of the unknown journey of life ahead of them. Since Twilight during late 2012 was a character that was barely seen in RP, I felt having a “magical girl” character of some sort active in WoE was very important.
    Indeed, Moondancer might be justifiably explained as a type of anti-Twilight, although completely unlike other anti-Twilights like Trixie and Sunset Shimmer. Instead of being a shut-in, Moony was out making friends for as far as she could remember. While she is still very gifted in magic, Moony never achieved Twi’s level because Moony didn’t want to become a permanent studying machine like the other unicorn. I did my absolute best to keep Moondancer from appearing overpowered, although I could’t resist making her skilled in teleportation. Twi’s warp dance during her Failure Song looked really pretty, so I wanted Moony to do so on a semi-regular basis as a dance… something that made sense for somepony named MoonDANCER. I also wanted this mare to be among my quirkier characters too, but she’s kinda lost a bit of her initial goofiness ever since I’ve won Derpy.






    (Image drawn by BrainedBySaucepans)

    Moondancer is by far my most happy-go-lucky and extroverted “OC” I have, which has made her quite more versatile than I ever anticipated. Versatility is an important quality to have for “plain ponies”; essentially, characters fitting the background filler mold embodied by such favorites like Derpy Hooves (I’ll write about her one day) and Vinyl Scratch. Most OCs you’ll ever see on Canterlot look like and act like background fillers; they’re visually designed to blend into the crowd and they don’t really serve any gameplay function but to exist, live run-of-the-mill lives, and maybe liven things up a little if they’re that sort of character (*cough* Derpy).
    I’ve since fallen out of the habit of designing background filler OCs, my philosophies on which I’ve documented more in detail in one of my older articles. However, I’m proud to say that of those ponies, Moondancer is by far my favorite to use in roleplay. For one thing, I was able to successfully establish her already having a number of pre-existing friends out there in the WoE universe, saving me the trouble of “grinding” through banal meet-and-greet scenarios in order to acquire friends for Moony. And there’s also magic to consider; I love RPs that explore the use of magic whether they’re slice-of-life or adventure threads, and since Moondancer can cast spells and all, well… that makes her RPs all the more awesome for me.
    On the whole, I’ve gotten great mileage out of Moondancer and much fun from playing her. Much of what I’ve wanted to do with her has already been accomplished or is in the process of being acted out in RP. But her tale is far from over; I’ll still need to figure out what Moony’s going to end up doing once she gets her aetherology degree. But that’s the fun of RPing, ain’t it?
    PS: As it turns out, IDW has indeed produced a Moondancer character design and gave her a cameo in that Sunset Shimmer bonus comic. Nice to see they also had the good sense to simplify her cutie mark in a manner similar to mine, but I’m in no way interested in amending my “OC’s” CM anytime soon. I don’t want to toss out all the artwork I’ve had requested of Moony just because the stars are aligned differently… and because I’m lazy.






    (Scan from The Fall of Sunset Shimmer bonus IDW comic)

    A Night Under the Stars: This became Moondancer’s first RP for a very obvious reason: she’s a night pony, and the thread was littered with night ponies up the ying yang. This included of course the Queen of the Night herself: Princess Luna as played by MyLittlePonyTales back in those days. Technically Moony didn’t do all that much in this RP; she came in halfway through and acted as the most normal pony of the lot, lacking any personal issues to discuss. And this was also one of the first times in WoE that I’d interacted with 2-3 other RPers at once (it happens quite a bit when I’m using Moondancer).
    You know that pre-existing friendship thing I wrote about earlier? This is the RP where I really started taking advantage of establishing relationships beforehand rather than having to go through the grind of meeting new OCs for the first time. The only pony here that Moondancer met for the first time was Luna; the other two were the long-lost close friend Ice Storm and younger magic student Fire Heart. Both of these unicorns went on to bond with Moony in other threads, especially Ice Storm. Moony’s appearance at Icy’s (abortive) wedding and Moony's resulting romantic misadventure with Lux’s Lore Weaver probably would never have happened if I never made prearranged my unicorn’s friendship with Ice Storm before entering this RP.
    Nighttime Tomfoolery: I managed to drag Raridash’s Dazzle Dawn out of retirement for this RP. Basically, the importance of this RP was that it strengthened the friendship between Moondancer and Ice Storm, as Icy’s worries about attending slumber parties were finally squashed once and for all. Also, this thread emphasized that Moony and Dazzle were already close friends too; something I always like. I will not hesitate to make similar arrangements with other characters in the future (especially those walking around with gifts during the pilot’s Canterlot sequences).
    Spellbound Beginnings: Despite me writing the thread’s opening post, credit for the concept ultimately goes to LoopEnd, who wanted to set up a magic guild for WoE. Because I loved the concept so much, I eventually ended up as the de facto captain of this outfit. Technically, this thread is in fact a meet-and-greet thread that I usually tend to shun. Yet I really liked participating in this one, mainly because it was magic-themed and all. Plus a few of Moony’s friends showed up too, which always rules. Yet this thread also taught me to really be wary of multi-pony conversations; my responses to numerous OCs at the same time took forever to write… especially when I was using Ingrid Marie at the same time.
    Personally, I’d say Spellbound as a group has had mixed success so far. It’s unfortunate to report that almost no new blood has joined our ranks since the completion of the first guild RP, nor have many dedicated Spellbound threads popped up since then. Yet the group is far from forgotten; many members are over in An Equestrian Education helping out with Princess Twilight’s magic camp, and this thread also directly leads into…






    (Image drawn by Fauxsquared)

    The Fixer-Upper: One Spellbound member, Tacobob’s Pocket Change, proved himself to be easily tempted by mares back in the last thread. Of course, I kept repeatedly joking to Taco that his OC was hot over heels infatuated with Moondancer, and I even requested LoopEnd to draw a mildly naughty artwork to that effect. As the introductory thread closed, I proposed to set up a private Spellbound thread for our characters to see if a genuine romantic connection could be forged.
    I always assumed beforehand that I could never realistically match up Moondancer with any character. To me, Moony would be too interested in making friends to see them as romantic partners, let alone find someone with the right… chemistry to make things happen (Lore Weaver learned this the hard way). As things turned out however, Pocket Change actually was somepony Moondancer could fall for: he does everything with passion, always has exciting stories to tell, possesses a tender side, looks really dang hot, and maybe most importantly of all, clearly demonstrated a romantic interest in the mare from almost the get-go. All in all, MoonPocket is by far my favorite ship to write for so far, mainly because Pocket is a fun character to interact with and he’s always immersed in adventure… which when combined with magic, produces extreme excitement!
    It also helps a lot that I plainly like working with Tacobob. He deserves credit for turning this thread into an interesting mini-adventure with loads of cute shippy scenes. The guy also has a good sense of using humor and littering his posts with worldbuilding, callbacks to previous RPs, and sneaky references. It’s really too bad I’ve never RPed with him earlier until now. The good news: working together, we already have a rough plan for our next MoonPocket thread. ^_^
    An Equestrian Education: Funny story… I originally planned on setting up a magic tutoring workshop featuring Spellbound instructors. Those plans fortunately ended up merged into SteelEagle’s plan for a magic camp run by Princess Twilight. Moony for this thread will actually be a student, because the RP needed more grown-up students than just kids... plus Ingrid Marie was already set to be an instructor. With Pocket Change, Lore Weaver, and Dazzle Dawn joining in on the fun too, sparks should be flying very soon!






    (Image drawn by GhostGirl)

    -----------------------
    That ran long, didn’t it? Hoped you all enjoy the read though, ladies and gentlemen. The next time I do one of these thingies, I’ll finally get to yap about my first (formerly) Tier 2 character. So… watch out!!!
  3. Bellosh

    My RP Plans

    By Bellosh,

    Nothing too fancy; just a list of things I'd like to get to in WoE, CC, and The Gathering sooner or later. Technically, it'll be two lists. First, RP ideas:
    Mist Weaver gets visited by her daughter Ice Storm in Hoofington.
    Princess Cadence and Queen Chrysalis finally meet in RP.
    Moondancer teaching teleportation to her boyfriend Pocket Change.

    Now for OC ideas:
    A moose mercenary who uses a hoof cannon as his primary weapon.
    A sea pony inspired by Fabio.
    An elderly Germane baron or baroness who once did adventuring in their youth.
    A unicorn with the ability to construct "imaginary realities" like the world the Mane 6 got sucked into during the Power Ponies episode.

    Not much I admit, but that's most of the stuff I plan on doing over the next several weeks. Unless I get lazy.
  4. Bellosh

    Future RP Plans

    By Bellosh,

    FUTURE RP PLANS: A LIST BY BELLOSH101

    Yes, that's right. I'm doing a list this time! I just wanna' randomly jot down some various ideas I've been meaning to get to, and I hope I do so someday. Do not consider this list as complete. Let's get right to it, eh?

    Princess Cadence & Shining Armor: Any self-respecting couple needs a good relationship thread, right?
    Flash Sentry & Radiant Steel: Been a while since the two guards really bounded with one another.
    Moondancer & Pocket Change going to Hollow Shades and plant special lumi seeds. I was holding off until Hollow Shades gets added to our Lore.
    Colonel Pummel & Punk Walker having a heated meeting in Pummel's office. Punk needs discipline.
    Falco Kestrelson & Pathfinder: Also need bonding time, so Falco can actually be a surrogate uncle.
    Hoofington thread: I have an OC that lives there. I intend to use her as an excuse to start a thread in Hoofington one day.

    Not much from me today. Have a good one, Canterloters!
  5. Bellosh
    BECOMING POPULAR IN CANTERLOT RP: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101

    Hello, citizens of Canterlot. This used to be the part where I apologized for the long delay between each blog post of mine. However, it seems every time I do say sorry, the delays only get longer and longer and longer. So forget all that; let’s get straight to the point.
    Today, I want to do another one of my advanced RP guides. The topic: how to increase the likelihood of users wanting to have their characters interact with yours. I’m going to make the assumption that you’ve already read all the blogs QuickLime writes; give them a read if you’re still trying to get the basics of structured RP. But if you already have a strong grasp of the fundamentals, read on for tips to increase the impact you can make in World of Equestria and Canterlot Chronicles!

    FOCUS ON A CORE CHARACTER OR TWO: First thing to keep in mind is that not all characters you apply for are created equal. For any amount of reasons, not all original or cast characters have the innate ability to become popular. Some ponies just can’t be realistically inserted into the majority of threads. Others don’t really have much of a personal journey that needs much exploration. And then a few characters who’ll be left out to dry simply because you gravitate towards other ponies on your roster.Thing is, don’t expect that all your ponies in that roster of yours are capable of all receiving the same amount of love, either from other players or yourself. To make the most out of WoE/CC, you’ll have to accept that some ponies of yours simply aren’t worth the time and effort to insert them everywhere, in the hopes that they’ll all make a big impact. The truth is, you’re better off focusing your love on a select group of ponies, or even just one. Feel free to leave some ponies covered in cobwebs; the less characters you promote, the mode individual attention you can give each of them. And the more attention a character has, the more likely someone either wants to respond to your pony in a thread, or even start a new RP with them.
    ​
    CONSTANTLY ADVERTISE YOUR CHARACTER: By now, you probably got it drilled into your head that your RP posts are better if they are of high quality. But there’s another old saying: “Quantity has a quality all its own.” Of course, that doesn’t mean you should be pumping out RP posts when you’ve got other commitments to uphold, because real-life always comes first. If you got enough free time to participate in our community however, note that without a consistent rate of RP posts from you, your OCs will get less attention. Even worse, users might be scared off from replying to your posts if they have little faith that you’ll respond in a predictable timeframe.Yet there’s more to advertising your characters other than keeping them active in RP threads. If possible, insert your core characters into as much RPs as reasonably possible. If you’re in a chat group with Canterlot buds that permits occasional IM RP, dive into it with your ponies, no matter how silly or short the RPing actually is. If your RP buddies don’t do IM RP, simple playful glorification your cast or OC fulfills this purpose in moderation and when appropriate (social calibration is required for this technique). And if you got either artistic skill or deep pockets, conjure up artwork of your ponies. Anything that advertises the existence of your characters without creating a nuisance is fair game.
    ​
    SPICE UP YOUR THREADS: For RP scenarios requiring little effort to justify, social functions and stores serve that purpose very well. The fun thing with those types of threads is that they could evolve in potentially any sort of direction. Sadly, they can also be crapshoots as far as attracting users. There’s no guarantee that someone will be inclined to jump into your character’s shop or party. This is especially true for threads set anywhere away from Ponyville or Canterlot, which hog most of the WoE/CC spotlight.To attract users to your open threads where you can spotlight your ponies, you’re going to need to think of creative gimmicks. Throwing a party? Find a way to make it as inclusive as possible, or maybe have it cater to a group of character types that normally don’t congregate together in regular RP. If you think of a RP idea or scenario that you don’t see being utilized, go for it! Do the unexpected, and make people remember your pony as a result! Remember though that no matter how innovate your thread is, it will turn into a ghost town if you don’t put the effort into keeping it active. I’ve seen many active threads die because the OP stopped posting to move the action along.
    ​
    PROVOKE OTHER CHARACTERS: Even if you can insert your OCs into a whole bunch of threads, it won’t serve any purpose if there’s nothing worth responding to. Even if you got a pony saying a blanket greeting or other statement aimed at no one specific, users might very well ignore the post if they don’t feel a particular need to write a reply back. This isn’t because users are mean, but rather they want to save themselves effort to give proper attention to whoever they’re already interacting with.So the next time you enter a thread with a pony, make sure a user or more has a reason to respond. One simple way of doing this is greeting a specific character, but there’s still always a chance that the other user will feel that interaction to be too dull to reply to. For guaranteed results, look up the app of the target character, figure out what makes them tick, and use that info as you deem sensible. There’s no question that the other user will both appreciate you taking time to read their app and enjoy a scenario more inspired than a typical meet-and-greet.
    ​
    MAKE FRIENDS: Perhaps the best way of making a meaningful presence in WoE/CC is to make friends. If you don’t already consider someone on our forums as at least an acquaintance, you really oughta' drop into our IRC room now. See who you happen to mesh with the best, and strive to keep your partnerships on very good terms. When you have confidence that you know someone or two who’d be up to enter your thread, sometimes it doesn’t really matter how many random people are interested in your RP or not. You’ve got friends; friends whom you can talk about ANYTHING to and find amusement with, because that’s what friends are for! ​I wonder if I should do a write-up about a character of mine again. Gosh, I’m so far behind on that...
  6. Bellosh
    This blog is dedicated to Elderflower: may she return to Canterlot one day with bows and eternal happiness.






    [colour=#FF0000]DEALING WITH ROLEPLAY SETBACKS: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour]

    Today, I’ll be talking for a little bit about a sort of subject that’s been nagging me throughout this week. For the most part, my RPing experiences in World of Equestria (WoE) have been pleasant and very fun ones, and personally I’ve ever encountered a user who I deemed to be excessively annoying to deal with. That said; there have been a few times now when I’ve had to grapple with the specter of RP failure too, in one form or another. If you’ve been RPing on these forums long enough, then there’s a very good chance that one of the following unfortunate things has happened during the course of your RPs. Hopefully today, I can help provide you with tips on how to bounce back from such setbacks in WoE (or FFA for that matter).
    Your Thread Is Less Popular Than Expected: One unfortunate reality of WoE is that no thread is guaranteed to be interesting for users. Sometimes only one or two people show up in an open thread you create, or maybe nobody shows up at all. Thing is, we all can’t hit home runs every time; inevitably some RP concepts that we create will be inferior to others. The best ways I’ve found to encourage interest in a RP is to invest time and effort into the thread premise and to avoid standard meet-and-greet scenarios. Just because WoE is a slice-of-life environment doesn’t mean the only situations that can be RPed are character-to-character introductions and purchasing goods/services; think outside the box!
    Your Thread Fizzles Out: Even if you’ve got a good RP thread going, sometimes all of it comes crashing down through the menace of inactivity. Now, the fear of your thread dying does not give you the excuse to ceaselessly pester your fellow RPers to post; sometimes, they just may be busy with real-life or struggling with a massive backlog of other RPs they’re in. However, the occasional friendly ping (never more than once a week) just might come in handy when someone forgets it’s their turn; I myself had to be pinged in a couple instances when a thread completely slipped my mind. In the event that you’re dealing with a chronic absentee RP participant, you really don’t have much option other than moving on without them... but make sure you give their characters room to come back out of courtesy.
    Your Character Plans Fall Through: We all put love into the original and cast characters that we apply for, but it can be quite disheartening to see all the story ideas you planned for your pony to derail one by one. Sometimes, I think of my first OC Spin Tale as my greatest failure; a whopping six out of his ten RPs found themselves abandoned, with two of those being threads I anticipated highly. The important thing though is to never blame the character, since users wouldn’t RP with them in the first place if the character was extremely ill-conceived. In the case of cast characters, giving an unfun one up is a perfectly valid thing to do too... especially if they’re in high demand.
    A RP Partner Is Hard to Work With: For whatever reason, you and another RPer have totally different ideas concerning a thread’s direction, and sometimes the two of you can really find it hard to tolerate the other. While I find that whole Love & Tolerate mantra to be nothing but feel-good hooey invented so bronies can pat themselves on the back, one thing to take from it is to never let the other person get to you. If you run the thread, politely remind them of that fact; if not, respect the OP’s wishes. If necessary, feel absolutely free to have the RP Help Staff resolve the dispute. However, never feel ashamed to cut off all ties with a troublemaker should it prove necessary; no matter how saddening it may seem to you, it is a preferable state of affairs compared to letting your seething anger negatively affect your enjoyment of Canterlot.
    A RP Partner Leaves Canterlot: This potentially may be the saddest sort of experience on the forums; working with a user you’ve bonded with very well only to have them quit RPing for important reasons (job, school, finds absolutely enjoyment in RPing anymore, ect.). But alas, real-life is always much more important than the virtual one; even if a number of your most cherished RP threads suddenly die without your partner, you must always accept that they have to leave WoE for months or even forever. The best way to handle this situation is let your partner go while continuing to maintain off-site friendships with them. Who knows; he or she may return one day. ^_^
    You’re In Too Many RP Threads: Get a life.
    That’s it for today. That probably isn’t a complete list, but it covers most of the basic pitfalls of RPing. I hope any disillusioned RPer who reads this blog becomes more motivated to keep on participating in our RPs.
  7. Bellosh
    FALCO KESTRELSON: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101

    Wow, guys, it’s been forever since I last wrote one of these blogs. I only managed to write about three of my RP characters before I got distracted by other junk. Well don’t worry folks, I’ll complete this series one way or the other, and we’ll start this very Saturday! Hooray!!!





    (Image drawn by NemesisPon3)

    Development Process: At the time I apped Falco Kestrelson, I had one earth pony, one unicorn, and one pegasus. I didn’t quite think I needed any more ponies back then, but I did want to see if I could eventually acquire an OC from every approved species. Plus, I also wanted an OC more capable of adventuring than any of my previous ponies. Hence, I saw the need for a certain griffon named Falco.
    I used two sources of inspiration for ex-Sergeant Kestrelson. Probably the bigger of the two is the South Park character Jimbo Kern, the uncle of one of the main boy characters and a hunter employing such ridiculously over-the-top methods that I knew it’d never fly in WoE. To get just a tiny dash of the original Jimbo’s personality though, I turned Falco into a sporting griffon and a part-time survivalist. Falco’s outfit however certainly pays homage to Uncle Jimbo’s standard clothes, of course. For my griffon’s actual job however, I made him a pawn shop owner in the tradition of Pawn Stars. As for the actual name, “Kestrel” is the name of a bird of prey, which I thought would be fun to incorporate in a griffon name.
    Coming back to the Uncle Jimbo line of thought, I also intended Falco Kestrelson to have a bond of sorts with SteelEagle’s Pathfinder, a complete full-time adventurer. Being predisposed to adventure and excitement himself, I imagined Falco egging on Pathfinder to further exploits, and maybe once in a while supply her with a gadget for free or for an incredible discount. In fact, I even have him referring to the Daring Do cosplayer at his very own honorary niece; something his South Park did in one episode. Because SteelEagle is such an awesome guy, he approved of this connection between our characters... and it won’t be the last time one of my OC’s was tied with that feathered menace from the Cloudsdale Orphanage.





    (Screencap from South Park)

    Looking at Falco’s app, I’m not quite sure he would be approved if I tried apping him today. The basic character idea is quite sound of course, but I can’t help think that Mr. Kestrelson’s use of a crossbow might be cutting it close. I suppose the ultimate reason it passed merit though was that I didn’t try pushing the concept of Falco as some sort of heroic marksman who fights off pirates and junk... I remember one guy tried that and failing miserably. Now would be a good time to direct you to On Swordponies and Spellponies if you haven’t read that yet, hahaha.
    Pawn Stars Equestria: The first thread I made for Falco, I naturally set the thing up at his pawn shop in Beakbreak City. Even though Beakbreak is one of those settings which nobody on the forums really seems motivated to use, I managed to have some fun times RPing with Phil the Time Wizard’s dragoness Sierra and Mojo’s tank mare Tankena... one of the rare times when Mojo only used a single character in a RP! This thread ran pretty smoothly; Mr. Kestrelson managed to get Sierra and Tankena to each buy one item while Tankena got Falco to stock one of her custom-made items in his shop. And then they ended the day by drinking special Stalliongrad cider.
    Sadly, Phil and Mojo were the only RPers to drop by the entire time. I was kind of hoping that at least one random user would post in Pawn Stars too, but it appears Beakbreak City is a hard sell for many of WoE’s RPers, especially if they’re not friends with you yet. Hopefully in the future, this industrial place will become a more attractive setting for new RP stories.
    Birds of a Feather: Falco’s second RP had him spending quality time in Beakbreak City with Gerrard’s eponymous OC, who like Mr. Kestrelson is a griffon. Sent to Beakbreak to fix an irrigation pipe, Gerrard found himself as Falco’s... ‘entertainment’ for the day. Plenty of slapstick shenanigans abounded (at Gerry’s expense), and I loved the chance I got to have Falco show off his talent for crossbow target shooting. Along with some worldbuilding for Beakbreak, and I thought this RP turned out very fine and amusing for slice-of-life fare.





    (Image drawn by BrainedBySaucepans)

    Daringcon General: Before I signed Falco up for Daringcon General, no vendor OCs were present in this convention thread. Then I had my griffon come by change all that, crafting a backstory around Pathfinder’s antics to give Mr. Kestrelson a reason to sell hordes of Daring Do merchandise. However, I’d say that the pawn shop owner found himself upstaged by a newer OC of mine: Dr. Merlot. Falco’s story pretty much came to a standstill when I brought in my archaeologist, and will probably remain that way unless the thread gets new characters not interested in Merlot’s panel.
    Griffons:
    This is actually the second adventure RP I inserted the survivalist in, the first being the Unyasi Adventure (staring Zecora) series which follows up on Falco’s bonds with Pathfinder and Sierra. However, I’m giving this series a greater spotlight here because it’s showing my griffon as some guy who can be serious when he needs to. So far, Mr. Kestrelson has found himself extremely disgruntled with Gilda’s punk attitude and the evasiveness of Heidi, SonicRainboomGirl’s griffoness who’s leading the expedition. May more annoying times ensure as the team of griffons head out towards diamond dog territory.....
    -----------------------
    It felt good doing one of my OC articles again. Remind me to spend more Saturdays working on these projects; maybe one day, every single character of mine will have their own article. For now thought, this is Bellosh101 signing off!
  8. Bellosh
    [colour=#FF0000]ON SWORDPONIES & SPELLPONIES: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour]

    Welcome back to another installment of my blog! For those not keeping track of what gets posted here, Diomedes posted an excellent write-up earlier this week about what to keep in mind when writing an application for a guardpony OC. This article means to serve as a follow-up, but instead focus on wannabe action heroes, either skilled in sword fighting or spell casting, who are not in the service of the Royal Equestrian Army.
    Those familiar enough with the World of Equestria RP know that while it can support adventure RPs just fine, every OC involved ought to be well suited for slice of life scenarios too. Unfortunately, there are quite a number of Canterlot members who don’t understand this when they first try to create a WoE OC. Going in with the mindset that they’re in a violence-enabled setting, they create characters that just aren’t suitable in a show-friendly environment. While indeed there are some characters of this sort that we’ve previously permitted to be used in WoE, understand that this is so only because they were approved at a time when standards were much more lax. WoE is no longer a place where users can app characters that feel like they’ve come from D&D or an action anime.
    To be fair, there is nothing technically wrong with a pony being skilled with a useful magic spell or with a sword; after all, we know that fencing canonically exists in Equestria. However, things go so horribly wrong when it’s evident that the person apping such characters only cares about these aspects of the character to the exclusion of everything else. I want to share a few tips today to tell you all how to avoid the pitfalls found a lot with these sword and spellponies.
    First off, Equestria is not a place where ponies go on dungeon crawling quests on a routine basis. They cherish friendship and fulfilling their basic day-to-day destinies above all else. Therefore, it doesn’t jive well with WoE’s setting if a character’s purpose seems to be only to wander alone to seek out monsters and defeat them. That... just isn’t what FiM is about; the show instead shows how friendship and love can be used to overcome any possible obstacle, from the plain ole’ mundane to the more fantastical.
    Unfortunately, that basic fact seems to be forgotten when swordponies and spellponies get created. All too often, apps of these characters dwell so much about how awesome their blade-wielding skills are or how special their overpowered magic talent is that we have no good idea on what their personality really is, and how they can use their productive talents and specialized social skills to support a group of friends. Nope; the focus always seems to end up on how amazing, brave or GREAT AND POWERFUL a magician or swordpony is. While modern culture as a whole seems enamored with the concept of elite warriors, part of what gives FiM its appeal is how it avoids excessive glamorization of combat prowess and violence.
    This leads me to my final point; that violence and angst-producing events like massacres, exile, and other tragedies make up a good portion of a swordpony’s backstory. Instead of actually giving their avatar of awesomeness a well-crafted personality, users replace with the most edgy backstory they can conjure up. If a personality actually is present, it is not likely to consist of nothing else but infinite brooding, a generic willingness to protect the weak, and avoiding emotional attachments due from past generic drama. Again, WoE doesn’t aim to be that sort of environment. WoE is a place where people can roleplay the most purest form of MLP possible; a realm where pastel-coloured ponies embracing the magic of love and friendship thrive throughout the land.
    If you want to app a sword-wielding pony who isn’t a REA member, your character shouldn’t be just about roaming the wild in search of dungeons. Give your OC an occupation, cutie mark, and amusing quirks that don’t center on their skill with a blade. In the case of fencing practitioners, they should treat their talent as a sport which doesn’t translate into combat ability. As for magic users, avoid the temptation to make them outcasts because of their misunderstood or faulty spells. Also make sure their magic talent has a mundane day-to-day use rather than something clearly meant to nullify obstacles on dangerous quests.
    Everyone who takes my advice to heart will ensure that they have OCs suited for the setting depicted in WoE. As always, comment below if you have any additional insights. ^_^
  9. Bellosh
    YOUR OC IS NOT A PLAYER AVATAR: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101

    Well folks, it’s been a long while since my last proper blog entry. I suppose that with all these new members signing onto our forums, now is as good a time as any to start writing again. This time though, I’m focusing on specific subjects pertaining to WoE RP; mainly intended to be read by those already familiar with WoE’s basics but want more out of it. What I’ve got to write about it something that’s been on my mind for sometime, and maybe if other people like my musings, I’ll write more of these.
    Anywho, I’ve evaluated a lot of character apps in the few months that I’ve been on the RP Helper Team. I’ve seen my share of every sort of original character: from ones that really felt wonderfully-designed enough that I could see them as characters in FiM to those that deviated wildly from what we expect from the show. And then... there have been a fair number of OC applications that while they met WoE’s standards quite easily... they also didn’t feel like they have clearly-designated roles as pertaining to the expanded universe established by WoE.
    The trend I talk about is the tendency of a number of users, especially first-timer applicants, who conceive their OC as more as an avatar than a fully-characterized character. Inevitably with these sorts of characters, you’ll see a vast in-depth history for the OC while the character summary is only a mere 1-2 paragraphs. Oftentimes, these OCs are engaged in creative occupations like art, playing music, and DJing without going too-much into specifics on what they do uniquely. Worst of all though, I can’t even make judgments on how they actually play out in WoE because so many of these blank slate apps either get abandoned before they get finished or are just not seen at all in WoE... at least in the threads I participate in.
    Ultimately though, there is nothing wrong with making your pony a mere avatar devoid of unique personality attributes other than basic things like “she is kind to friendly ponies and grumpy towards bullies”. Provided a RPer is skilled enough, they can definitely create a fun time for other players (and crafting fun for others should always be a RPer’s highest priority) even though they use a character with only a minimum amount of pre-existing characterization. However, it is my sincere belief that the OCs that RPers find themselves invested in the most are those with well, actual roles to play.
    Should you want to make a character engrossing enough that other people eagerly want to play with, the single-most absolutely important thing you need to do is make sure your OCs role fills an unfulfilled niche in the grand scheme of WoE things. By this, I don’t mean having your OC be an entrepreneur running a business which no other user has thought of yet... no, it goes much deeper than that. The average OC (including a number of mine, to be honest)... they’ll basically muddle through a thread, do basic slice-of-life stuff that anypony else can do no matter their official occupation, and go on their happy merry way when finished. Whoever roleplays these OCs may be very skilled indeed, but chances are these ponies won’t forge lasting impressions. On the other hoof, the most memorable OCs on Canterlot will be those that serve an unique storytelling purpose or have a place in society much different from those around them (ie. other ponies in the same thread).
    I really, really hate to do this, but I’ll have to use Steel Eagle’s Pathfinder to illustrate my point. Anyone who’s been with WoE long enough will know her as a demented adventuring fanfilly, the number one pony to call upon when an adventure thread is established. And by demented, she’s really cracked; cracked enough that she entertains most of us Canterlot members, who clearly understand how the cosplaying pegasus relates to other characters according to the “big picture”. And the thing is, no other pony can provide the same service as Pathfinder does. In other words, Pathfinder fills a special role in WoE.
    If you have issues in transitioning from using blank-slate avatar ponies into creating OCs with memorable roles, I’d suggest thinking of what sorts of storylines you want to act out with others and creating characters that play specific parts in these storylines. Having a long-term character arc in mind will also work wonders in making both yourself and others invested in your OC. To put it simply, you’re less likely to merely meander through WoE threads and accomplishing nothing of significance if you’re writing with a clear purpose in mind, and that passion you share for your character’s development will show and attract other RPers.
    Going back to the Pathfinder saga for a moment, two of my very own OCs, Merlot and Colonel Pummel, began life as mere NPCs created as antagonists for Pathfinder to face. I eventually realized though how much they stood out from everypony else and what unique roles they can fulfill in WoE threads that nopony else could fulfill; Merlot being a cultured upper-class jerk, and Pummel acting as a high-ranking tough-as-nails REA officer. In fact, I grew so attached to them that I’ve apped them as WoE characters successfully; now Merlot and Pummel are two of my favorite characters to RP as, and I dare say that I feel immerse pride whenever users come to me stating how much they hate Merlot’s guts.
    Hopefully, those who read my editorial will have their horizons broadened when it comes to creating new characters. If only one person claims this entry helped them create a better character, then I feel I’ve done my job. Just remember: every OC has the potential to be much more than a simple avatar designed for a game player to transverse a virtual Equestria with. Your OC can also be your means to help craft an engrossing character-driven story that delights everyone at Canterlot.
    As always, feel free to like and comment! ^_^
  10. Bellosh

    Is it Over yet?

    By Bellosh,

    Seriously, this over-meme like needs to stop. It's overdone.
    .............

    On to real matters, I'm thinking about starting my blog series again sometime within the next 30 days. This time around, I think I'll just stick with musing on my characters most of the time, with only the occasional spotlight on someone else's character. If there's enough demand, consider this blog reactivated. XD
  11. Bellosh
    [colour=#0000ff]ICE STORM: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour]

    Welcome to another installment of the Canterlot RP Spotlight. As you may know, we’re still stuck in the thralls of winter over here in the northern hemisphere, so today I’ll be covering a character that quite fits the theme of the ongoing (but almost-ended) winter season.....






    (Pic gifted to IceStormx)

    So now we have here one of Canterlot’s most storied OCs, RPed by no other than... IceStormx. In case anybody couldn’t tell just by looking at her name, Ice Storm’s specialty is ice magic, and it comes quite in handy for running a ice cream stand in Ponyville. This unicorn had done rather well in her new hometown, making friends with individuals such as Rarity (fabulously portrayed by the fabulous Phil the Time Wizard) and meeting the love of her life in the form of Dunder Blust (played by you guessed it, Dunder).
    But things weren’t always so rosy for Miss Storm. As a filly, she didn’t have a good relationship with her parents in Fillydelphia, and so she ran away from home and moved to Canterlot. Ice’s life in Canterlot was not much better, with her attempts at wooing the Canterlot elite with her special talents falling on deaf ears. It took a change of scenery via relocation to the quaint town of Ponyville until the mare’s life finally turned around.
    Nowadays, those who display haughtiness and contempt towards the mare will only receive haughtiness and contempt in return. On the other hand, ponies who’ve earned Ice Storm’s trust will find in her a loyal and caring friend. If your OC proves to be a caring individual, Ice will gladly return the favour... and then some!
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    [colour=#0000ff]Moving In[/colour][colour=#0000ff], [/colour][colour=#0000ff]Shopping at the Boutique[/colour][colour=#0000ff], + [/colour][colour=#0000ff]Ponyville Party[/colour][colour=#0000ff]:[/colour] In Ice Storm’s debut RPs, we find that she has just arrived from Canterlot having finally gotten sick of the capital city. In her rush to move out, the mare has no place to stay and has hardly any possessions on her. Fortunately the first pony she encounters is Dunder, a kindly pegasus stallion who not only treats her to lunch but provides her with some bits to help her get established in the town. In short order, Ice finds also finds herself invited to a party that night for a wedding anniversary.
    Ice Storm is thus now in immediate need of an affordable dress. To prepare, she takes Dunder’s advice and requests the services of the dressmaker Rarity, who graciously sells her a pretty gown for way below its actual value. In euphoria, Ice marks Rarity as another good friend and asks to go out for lunch. Rarity agrees, and thus another friendship is forged that day that has persisted through multiple RP threads.
    The night comes, and Ice Storm actually has a blast. The unicorn notes she that has made more friends in Ponyville in a day than in all her years at magic school in Canterlot. Despite not having a suitable residence yet, the mare’s dead set on staying in the town she relishes calling her new home. However, Ice hasn’t seen the last of Canterlot just yet.....
    -----------------------
    [colour=#0000ff]A Night Under the Stars[/colour][colour=#0000ff]:[/colour] A few months later, it’s clear that Ice Storm’s gamble in moving to Ponyville has paid off. Her Frozen Delights ice cream stand has taken off, and her friendships have continued to flourish. Yet she hesitates to return to Canterlot until she receives an invitation to participate in the Not-Quite-as-Grand Galloping Gala; a knockoff of the more famous GGG. Encouraged by Dunder and Rarity to give Canterlot a second chance, Ice Storm discovers by meeting the actress Fleur de Lis (played by Pony) that not all the Canterlot elite are stuck up as she had previously assumed.
    Yet perhaps the most meaningful moments of Ice Storm’s night don’t occur until after the gala concludes, where the nightlover finally meets the one pony that any self-respecting nightlover would idolize; Princess Luna (I’ve written plenty about her use in Mane RP before). In fact, Ice loves the cool and starry nights so much that she sleeps outdoors whenever given the opportunity. Most importantly of all, the mare reveals to Luna how observing the night sky reminded her of how the princess persevered through her own problems, thus providing Miss Storm with a source of inspiration throughout her darker years (pun very much intended; never believe anyone if they claim otherwise).


    (Pic drawn by BrainedBySaucepans)

    The other ponies Ice encounters are Fire Heart, a fire elemental mare portrayed by Lux, and Ice Storm’s sole pre-Ponyville friend Moondancer played by, well... me. Taking refuge in a deserted coffee shop, all four ponies use this chance not only to merely badger Luna with questions, but to act as a mutual support group for one another. In particular, the Princess of the Night inspires Ice to make an effort to relocate her estranged parents and reconcile with them.
    This RP has not yet concluded, thus it remains to be seen how the band of four nocturnal ponies continue to bond with one another. Plans are in motion though to arrange a nighttime tea party one day night. In the meantime, readers can marvel at the astonishing four-way conversation that this RP brilliantly pulls off.....
    -----------------------
    [colour=#0000ff]Nighttime Tomfoolery[/colour][colour=#0000ff]:[/colour] In the past, an embarrassing issue of Ice Storm’s had kept her from being able to attend the slumber parties hosted by Moondancer back in magic school. However, the ice elemental finally gained the nerve to go upon reuniting with her friend back in the previously-described RP thread. While this story has only just begun, it promises to be a fun night that Ice will never forget, as she further bonds with Moondancer and another of the partylover's friends, Phil's Dazzle Dawn.....
    -----------------------
    [colour=#0000ff]A Ponyville Wedding[/colour][colour=#0000ff]:[/colour] In the meantime in Ponyville, Ice Storm became romantically attracted to Dunder and the two begun a relationship. Despite some drama, their connection remained strong and the two eventually decided to marry one another. For their wedding, Ice and Dunder each invite their closest friends to attend; in Ice’s case, they include Rarity, Princess Luna, and Moondancer. This RP is also still-in-progress, but it’ll provide a chance for all of Ice’s various friends to get a chance to know one another.....
    -----------------------
    And it’s interview time! This is one of the most comprehensive ones you’ll read yet...
    -----------------------



    Next week will probably be one of my “break” weeks again. But after that though, maybe I’ll finally cover a RP thread again. We’ll see though; we’ll see. Until next time ladies and gentlemen... stay frosty.
  12. Bellosh
    [colour=#6699cc]TRIXIE: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour]

    Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! Today, I have an amazing article for all you fine folks. Nay; I have the finest blog post you’ll ever read this week! So gather ‘round everybody, as I now write about the (second-most) greatest and powerful unicorn of all time!!!




    By now, if you don’t know who Trixie is, you probably haven’t been visiting Equestria Daily enough. Having appeared in two episodes of MLP:FiM now, this pompous stage magician has earned a place in the hearts of many a brony. Over here at Canterlot, the honor of roleplaying Trixie belongs to Brianblackberry, who’s been at it since practically the very beginning.
    Because Trixie is still a very mysterious character in that we don’t know much about her canon backstory, it has given fans the opportunity to conjure up a million or so histories for her character. In Brian’s case, he added a tragic note to the mare’s life by having her experience her mother’s death at a young age, but not before earning her “Great and Powerful” moniker from her mum. After spending her foalhood in the orphanage system, Trixie emerged as a swindler who used her magical performance act and outright fabrications about her feats to cheat ponies out of their money. This lifestyle came to a crashing end in “Boast Busters”, when an Ursa Minor wrecked the unicorn’s wagon.
    Left destitute and no place to live, Trixie found herself struggling to survive within the Everfree Forest. Over the course of the Canterlot RP’s continuity, she pulls herself together and strives to prove to the world just how great and powerful she really is, while maybe learning a little thing or two about being a decent pony along the way. By a lucky stroke of fate, the character arc this mare goes through falls strongly in line with her reappearance in “Magic Duel”, where our favorite fraud’s ambition nearly gets the better of her thanks to the evil powers of the Alicorn Amulet. So without further ado, let’s see how Trixie has fared on our site:
    -----------------------
    [colour=#6699cc]Can Go Nowhere But Up:[/colour] As the title suggests, this RP serves as an immediate follow-up to the events of “Boast Busters”. Finding no recourse other than to steal from out-of-the-way huts, the formerly Great and Powerful Trixie unexpectedly encounters a wayward griffon heiress by the name of Lola Silverbeak, RPed by Tempest Rime. Before the unicorn has much of a chance to bask in the glow of explaining workings of magic, another unexpected guest arrives on the scene. This pony is no other than Bramble Rose’s Doctor Whooves (who all of you should remember from “An Eccentric Trespasser”), who by a luck stroke of fate had already gathered some of Trixie’s mostly-mangled belongings from the wreckage of her wagon. Once the mare learns of the Doctor’s intriguing plans to locate a mythical lost library, she dresses up in her trademark garbs and heads off on an adventure.
    This is the first of many RPs showing Trixie working together with Doctor Whooves. Initially skeptical of a kooky earth pony who keeps failing to remember her name, the prideful unicorn shows great annoyance over being seemingly dismissed by the eccentric stallion. To her great joy, Trixie rectified this “oversight” with one of her greatest feats of magic she has ever performed to date. If that wasn’t enough to prove that this RP interpretation of Trixie doesn’t know her magic stuff, she had also earlier managed to expertly answer all of Lady Silverbeak’s questions about magic. Of course, she has to be a showoff at everything she does.
    And now an obligatory inspirational quote from Doctor Whooves:

    -----------------------
    [colour=#6699cc]The Lost Library:[/colour] Heading off to the Bridlebank Beach on a quest for an abandoned royal library, Trixie and Doctor Whooves stumble upon two other ponies; Tempest’s locksmith OC Malediction and a vacationing Lyra Heart portrayed by Diego Havoc. Upon arriving at the half-sunken ruins however, things go south as the adventurers are ambushed by a swarm of Daleks Clockwork Ponies; the ancient robot mechanics of the lost city. Forced to run away, the group finds shelter and discover a family of ponies hiding from the Clockwork.






    (
    Pic drawn by ArcherMcGoggles)
    Still traumatized by her failure to save her mother from death, Trixie takes it upon herself to ensure that no harm comes upon the trapped family (even if she is annoyed that they didn’t do a better job of fleeing). Successful in that endeavor, the unicorn ignores her compulsion to flee and returns to rescue her other companions. With another awesome display of magic and an unintentional use of the Royal Canterlot Voice, the Clockwork Ponies are finally driven off, giving the group a chance to work together to deactivate the mechanical monstrosities for good (although it drains the area of its magical aura in the process).
    Aside from an excellent opportunity to see Trixie in action as a genuine heroine, we readers also get a glimpse at how the Great and Powerful unicorn handles romantic feelings. Experiencing an attraction towards the musically-talented (but already taken) Lyra, Trixie feels rather awkward being in the utterly unfathomable position of actually complementing somepony else. As she’s not naturally used to showing affection, the magician doesn’t really understand that her flirting makes Miss Heartstrings rather uncomfortable.
    In an interlude occurring as a side-story to the main “Lost Library” thread, we have Trixie and Doctor Whooves amusingly bond with one another. Among other things, the magician thinks the Doctor has a huge ego and that he needs to learn how to be humble... even though her own ego is just as large if not larger. While Trixie through most of the trip expresses jealousy towards the Doctor giving more attention to the other companions, the mare is touched when the stallion here admits that she’s someone who could be counted on. So as the party finally make their way to the lost library, stay in touch as we observe what Trixie and her companions do next.....
    -----------------------
    [colour=#6699cc]Fate and Coincidences[/colour] [colour=#6699cc]+ [/colour][colour=#6699cc]Staff of Fate: From Stormy Skies to Roaring Waters[/colour][colour=#6699cc]:[/colour] I dumped these two threads together since they combine to form another plotline for our favorite magic performer. Caught in a rainstorm at an unspecified time after the events of “Magic Duel”, Trixie and Doctor Whooves are sheltering when they are joined by another pony... the half-insane Daring Do impersonation Pathfinder (whom I’ve covered in-depth before). In a reversal of roles from her last RP thread, Trixie feels rather discomforted by the pegasus’s violations of her personal space. The magician however doesn’t have much time to dwell on that, as the Doctor ends up yammering about the Staff of Fate, a relic consisting of several magical artifacts that can be assembled together. Knowing that Pathfinder would stop at nothing to obtain all the pieces, the Doctor entrusts Trixie to make sure the madmare doesn’t cause too much of a mess.
    For her part, Trixie sees in the Staff of Fate a chance to profit handsomely off the component relics. What she didn’t count on was that Pathfinder assembled a team of her own to help her on her quest; particularly the fact that one of her teammates is no other than Twilight Sparkle (RPed by Helix), the pony who recently defeated her utilizing sleight-of-hoof stage tricks. As the Staff of Fate thread continues, we’ll witness how Trixie’s drive to best Celestia’s pupil manifests itself.....
    -----------------------
    And now for my favorite part of the spotlight; an interview with Brianblackberry!


    -----------------------





    (
    Animated by cmaggot)
    And that wraps up this week. Always remember that I'll be glad to take suggestions as to what to cover next, be it a character or a thread. So until next time, this is Bell getting the heck out of Dodge!
  13. Bellosh
    [colour=#800080]SUGAR APPLE: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour]

    With another Saturday ahead of us, it’s time for Bellosh here to post another article on... anything, haha. This time, I’ll offer up some commentary on another one of my RP characters. So unless you haven’t had the chance to watch the new MLP episode yet, here’s your weekly reading material!






    (Image drawn by ClairDeLaSoul)

    Development Process: Initially after my Ingrid Marie app was accepted, I didn’t really have plans to apply for another member of the Apple family. That plan swiftly changed however when Old Man Mojo informed us Apple RPers about a background pegasus going by the fanon name “Sugar Apple”. Upon further research done after I wrote her app, I discovered that the name for this factory worker came from a Generation 1 pony bearing a similar appearance.
    Ignorant of her true origins at the time, the Apple folks and I debated whether this Sugar Apple could be an Apple pony. We didn’t have much to go on though, other than a pink smudge on her flank. After some chatter, we just assumed it was a pink-coloured apple and called it a day. As for the Old Man, well he really wanted the Apple family to have an air force as it were, but he already had a boatload of Tier 3s to his name. As for my situation, while I technically already had Ingrid Marie for an Apple pony, she wasn’t really a “traditional” one by any stretch.
    Tempted by the prospect of crafting both a pony who could fly AND one who spoke with a good ole’ country accent, I took it upon myself to adopt Sugar Apple as my third RP character. When it came time to develop her personality, much of it ended up influenced by my mother; back when she still worked, my mum was a free-spirited supervisor at the factory she worked at. Additional influences come from my grandparents and I; namely, our love to travel places on vacations and take lots of photos. To explain the cutie mark, I decided to make Sugar skilled in the art of coating apples with pink frosting; of course, this was all before I discovered that sugar apples are an actual tropical fruit.
    However, the big reason I made Sugar Apple loved vacationing and amateur competitions so much was a deliberate attempt to make her travel-friendly; that is, so that it’d take little to no effort to conjure up reasons to insert her in RPs anywhere in Equestria. It’s ironic then that despite my efforts, I’ve gotten relatively little mileage out of her compared to her predecessors. That isn’t to say that I don’t like my pegasus character; in fact, her app was the first one where I managed to actually write a well-crafted personality for beforehand. Needless to say fellow RPers; be warned that just giving your characters reasons to travel all over the land won’t quite guarantee their frequency of use in WoE.
    Before I forget; Sugar Apple was the first time ever where I set out to write dialogue with a country accent. Due to that, I oftentimes run her dialogue through an automatic accent converter I found lying around on the web. The more and more I’ve written dialogue for Sugar however, the less I’ve had to rely on that tool on reflex.





    (Screencap from "Sonic Rainboom")

    The Apple Family Reunion: Since I reserved Ingrid Marie for “Apple Bloom’s Big Day”, I opted to introduce Sugar Apple by dumping her straight in with all the other Apples. Unfortunately, my pegasus didn’t get too much of a chance to stand out in this RP; thanks to the actual family reunion episode that aired this season, the powers that be decided to end the thread before the episode aired. So other than establish Apple Strudel as her grandfather, Sugar basically did nothing of consequence.
    A minor note; her introductory routine is lifted straight from SOP for WWII-era dive bombing runs, complete with a wailing Stuka-siren (AKA that sound every plane makes in movies before crashing in a fiery explosion).
    Running of the Leaves 2012:


    An unofficial event, I’m proud of how Sugar Apple performed both RP and point wise. To date, I’d say that this is by far her most definitive RP of all. Since I had unofficially designated Sugar as my competitive pony, I deemed that she was the most natural fit for this thread. It was certainly a challenge having to post high-quality posts on a daily basis just for this one event, but it was all worth it in the end having her win third place.
    Something I really liked about this thread was all the adventure aspects incorporated in it. I absolutely enjoyed how Sugar Apple’s bridge sequence with Phil’s Gilda played out in Stage 3 (beware of Hunchback of Notre Dame vibes), even if that was the only real place where they interacted in the RP. And of course, there’s the avalanche set-piece from Stage 5 where the pegasus survives a rockslide and forges a close bond with Rackenhammer’s Earth Writer, a fellow Running participant who also has a passion for going places. To me, having Sugar and Earth develop their friendship was the real emotional highlight of this RP event.
    Fun fact: the drawing below depicts all the Apple ponies that appeared in ROTL 2012. From left to right: Sugar Apple, Applejack, and Greenshot Apple. Coincidently enough, each one is of a different pony species.






    (Image drawn by Clockwise)

    Writing, Rest, and Recuperation: A direct continuation of the events from “Running of the Leaves”, we find Sugar Apple recovering from injuries sustained over the course of the previous competition. While there, her new buddy Earth Writer pays her a visit to show off some of his journalistic work. This thread has been on-hold for sometime, but hopefully it will reactivate again once Rackenhammer finishes his study-abroad program. Come to think of it, it’s quite fitting that someone with an OC traveler would participate in such a program. XD
    -----------------------
    So there you have it. As you can see, this personal commentary has been shorter than the rest so far. I’ve been meaning to set up a large-scale RP taking place in the weather factory for some time now, but I’ve been too distracted by other things to get around to constructing an OOC thread for it.
    With that taken care of, I bid my fellow readers adieu. Tune in next week when I return to my Canterlot RP Spotlight articles!
  14. Bellosh
    [colour=#b22222]HAYWIRE: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour]

    I said in my last article that I’d cover a RP thread. Well, that plan has been changed, muahahahahaha. For this week’s post, I’ll be covering one of the greatest terrors the kingdom of Equestria has ever known. So, let’s get down to it, shall we?




    Anybody who has kept track of the foal-centric RP threads for a while now will probably shudder at the mention of Mojo’s filly OC, Haywire. For those who don’t shudder... they should learn to do so. This little filly hails from a family of hay farmers aptly enough; her brother Hayseed (not to be confused with the hillbilly show character Hayseed Turnip Truck) handles sales and distribution of hay, while Haywire’s pugilistic sister Haymaker handles the farm’s day-to-day operations. It is left to these older siblings to watch over Haywire, who’s also aptly-named for another reason.
    Ever a lover of good fun, Haywire has a nasty habit of making everything go haywire around her. No matter where she goes, her mischievous hijinks are sure to bring momentary chaos to anyplace she sets foot in. Ponies should especially wary of firecrackers whenever Haywire’s around, for she sure loves setting them off. Obviously, the little earth pony will end up disciplined for her shenanigans too, whether by her teacher Cheerilee or by Haymaker. Some of her actions from time to time have noble intentions behind them, but they tend to backfire all the same.
    If you feel like your RP thread has gotten a bit dull, have Mojo send for this filly. Haywire will set things rights... or try to at any rate.....
    -----------------------
    [colour=#B22222]Famous Visitors:[/colour] The first time Haywire appears in Mane RP, we find her classroom graced with the presence of the Wonderbolts themselves. The filly is absolutely thrilled to have them come to her school, and even asks if she could join the team... despite not having pegasi wings. Then when the Wonderbolts go outside to demonstrate a few moves, Haywire compulsively climbs up a tree for a better view only to find herself stuck requiring rescue by Soarin’. This thread readily establishes how this pint-sized menace is one of the least mature OCs around, unable to stand having to learn anything in school. Manifestations of her dislike of school include always arriving late and also bringing captured critters along in her saddlebags (which tend to escape and get everywhere). Maybe Haywire will get some sense later on in later RPs?
    -----------------------
    [colour=#B22222]The Good Ol Hoedown:[/colour] We see in this thread the Hay Family all together for the first time. Paid to play music at an Appleoosa hoedown, Haywire and her older siblings each have their own instruments. Haywire, the juice-harp player, tags along as “the cute part of the band”, but of course she almost immediately gets into trouble by swiping party food and making fun of her sister. While we do see that she can be remorseful if she hurts the feeling of her family, it’s doubtful that Haywire really learned too much from this particular incident other than not steal pies.
    -----------------------
    [colour=#B22222]A Country Field Trip:[/colour] Here in this RP, some of Haywire’s more admirable qualities are brought to light. Bored out of her mind on a class trip to Tiny Apple Orchard near Fillydelphia, the little earth pony accidentally injures a poor rabbit when one of her slingshot projectiles ricochet around the trees. Sorrowful over her misdeed, Haywire willingly looks after the rabbit, now named Ruby, as the class continues their farm tour.
    Of course, also leave it to Haywire to accidently light an apple tree on fire in a misguided attempt to collect its fruit. As QuickLime put it; “Some foals just want to watch the world burn.” Since this thread is still ongoing, it remains to be seen what Haywire do next (especially now that her big sister is on the scene).....
    -----------------------
    [colour=#B22222]Class Is In Session:[/colour] Another school session; another opportunity for Haywire to be tardy. This time around it is book report day, and the filly in question forgot all about her assignment. Fretting over a terrible fate should she be called upon, Haywire conspires to forestall her doom by extending everypony else’s book reports with stupid questions. The slacker gets lucky enough to have Cheerilee declare recess before being called upon, but even a chance meeting with the author of her book may not be enough to save Haywire. As the thread progresses, we’ll just have to wait and see....
    -----------------------
    [colour=#B22222]Apple Bloom’s Big Day:[/colour] Finally, we get to a RP thread where Haywire may not actually be the most disruptive force of nature within in. Invited to Apple Bloom’s birthday party, Haywire’s normally-calamitous nature gets overshadowed by Applejack’s unfortunate mistake of mixing up the foal and adult cider barrels. Left as one of the few foals not inebriated from AJ’s experimental cider, Haywire valiantly helps to not only dispose of the bad barrel but also plays an instrumental role in rounding up some animals that broke lose during the chaos.
    Perhaps Haywire has a productive future ahead as a cowgirl? Only Mojo knows for sure; speaking of him, he’s an interview I got with Mojo himself:

    -----------------------
    I hope you all enjoyed my look into Mojo's lil' OC today. Next week, I'll probably take another "break" so I can do one of my personal Character Anatomy write-ups. In the meantime, I welcome everyone to nominate what characters or threads I should cover next down in the comments below!
  15. Bellosh
    [colour=#000080]PRINCESS LUNA: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour]

    Hello, and welcome to another edition of “Canterlot RP Spotlight”. This week, I’ve taken the liberty of covering one of our site’s most beloved cast characters. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Her Highness, the Princess of the Moon & Night:




    WARNING: HERE BE RP SPOILERS.
    I don’t think anyone here needs to be told who Princess Luna is. You know, the younger sister of Princess Celestia who got banished to the Moon for a thousand years, terrorized a town with antiquated ROYAL CANTERLOT TRADITIONS, and plays games of Inception with Equestria’s foals. For a character who only has a major appearance once per season, Luna has received quite a nifty character arc for herself. It’s not very hard to see why she’s become so popular with the MLP fandom.
    Over here at Canterlot, Princess Luna has been portrayed by MyLittlePonyTales since almost the beginning of the forum’s existence. Just like with the show, Tales’s Luna underwent a character arc of her own. Behaving early on as the shy remorseful princess that many fans took Luna for back in the old days, the princess in Mane RP learned how to take names and regain her alicorn powers. Nowadays Luna enjoys seeking out the company of other ponies, although her royal status ensures that she gets surrounded by folks wherever she goes. Having already been spotted in such places as Sweet Apple Acres, a Canterlot coffee shop, and even a shop next to a junkyard, who knows where we’ll see Luna next?
    Before we go forward, here’s a blast from a past for all of you fine people: the original Season One-era version of Tales’s character profile for Princess Luna:


    -----------------------
    [colour=#000080]The Castle Garden[/colour][colour=#000080] / [/colour][colour=#000080]Night Walk[/colour][colour=#000080] / [/colour][colour=#000080]Recuperation in... Paradise?[/colour][colour=#000080] / [/colour][colour=#000080]Good Morning, Skyeshine[/colour][colour=#000080]:[/colour] Forming a four-part series, these RPs will give readers a glimpse into the really old days of Canterlot RP, when Princess Luna hadn’t yet became her Season Two self and when members could RP as OC relatives of the Royal Princesses themselves. The story begins in the castle garden, with the angsty Luna running away from Princess Celestia, played back then by MudBug, after telling her sister about a moon celebration she was contemplating. Heading off into the Whitetail Wood at night, Luna finds a new friend in the form of Skye, a long-lived peryton portrayed by the RPer of the same name. Along with finding someone new to bond with, Luna also begins the process of patching things up with her older sister... all after a brief scare with a ferocious bear first!
    As readers can see, Tales’s Luna has come a long way since early 2011. Leaving off after the “Elements of Harmony” pilot episodes, Her Highness’s powers still hadn’t returned to her at the time, leaving her to mope about her uselessness. More importantly perhaps, the princess was too afraid seek out other ponies during the early days of Canterlot RP, thinking that everypony still hated her due to turning into Nightmare Moon. With all those chips on her shoulder, it’s thus a major accomplishment for Her Highness to make a friend in modern-day Equestria. Of course though, Luna would still have miles to go before she truly “returned to form”.....
    -----------------------
    [colour=#000080]One is the Loneliest Number:[/colour] In due time, Princess Luna summons the willpower to show her face in Canterlot. Filled with anxiety, she braves the city streets and quickly finds herself surrounded by ponies. Her earlier fears that her subjects would cower in fear due to her dark past proved to be unfounded... somewhat. When overzealous guards arrive on the scene to drive onlookers back, one young mare is left in hysterics over her persumed arrest. Luna however authoritavely sends the guards off and successfully calms down the mare, Riverhippo's OC Granola Gracie. And so Miss Gracie winds up as the first pony in Mane RP whom the princess personally wins over.
    All and all, things went rather well for Her Highness. Aside from seeing once and for all that her subjects did not fear her one bit, Luna for the first time made use of her royal authority for one of the very first times post-NMM. Not only that, but the princess even learned of "night clubs" for the first time. Yet it would take another RP for Luna to eventually unlock her innate powers.....
    -----------------------
    [colour=#000080]An Eccentric Trespasser:[/colour] What started with the “Skye Quadrilogy” comes full circle with this RP, as we finally see how Princess Luna completes her transformation into the alicorn that we now know and love. When Luna and Celestia stumble upon the strange Doctor Whooves, still played to this day by Bramble Rose, the Royal Pony sisters get more than they bargained for when they follow the Doctor into the underbelly of Canterlot Castle. To their horror they find the lower levels infested with manasprites, parasprite-like bugs that feed off magic and have cocooned a number of guards. It is left to Luna to distract the main swarm while Celestia and Doctor Whooves confront the Manasprite Queen.
    As one might expect, the trio end up eradicating the bugs and saving the day. For Princess Luna however, the adventure also awakened her dormant alicorn powers and restored her to her true stary-maned self. With the life of her subjects and her sister on the line, we also see the princess finally shake off her self-doubt and confidently step up to fulfill her role as bait. Gone forever is the old Luna who lamented her worthlessness and past history; in her place is a princess that we see in Mane RP today.
    Taking place over the course of a year in real-time and going through two Celestia-RPers in the process, “An Eccentric Trespasser” should be read by all Canterlot members interested in adventure RPs. Aside from seeing the princesses work together as a team, Doctor Whooves's oddball personality provides a humorous foil to the down-to-business royal alicorns. In many respects, the story feels like something that came from an actual Doctor Who episode.
    Before moving on, I just wanted to add this quote from the Doctor concerning her potential:

    -----------------------
    [colour=#000080]A Night Under the Stars:[/colour] Now confident in her mantle as Princess of the Night, Luna is much more willing to wander out of the castle and make the acquaintance of her subjects. She encounters on one of her nocturnal expeditions the unicorns Ice Storm and Fire Heart, OCs used by IceStormx and Lux respectively who control their namesake elements. Later on, the trio also meets another night lover named Moondancer (one of my OCs as a matter of fact) while bonding at a deserted coffee shop.
    In this thread, Luna is shown to be quite well adjusted to contemporary Equestria... at least more so than her immediate post-NMM self. Her Highness still finds it a bit odd that her night has become more appreciated nowadays, but you won’t see her angst over how she doesn’t deserve any sort of praise whatsoever. As a sign of her newfound maturity however, Luna additionally proves herself more comfortable with providing guidance and inspiration to her fellow ponies. In short, “A Night Under the Stars” is a neat glimpse into how Luna performs in an intimate RP setting.
    -----------------------
    [colour=#000080]1[/colour][colour=#000080]00 Country Kisses:[/colour] If the previous RP could be considered “cozy”, this thread would be the exact opposite. Craving the taste of fresh apples, Princess Luna inadvertently winds up as one of many ponies who descend upon Sweet Apple Acres on the day of a special promotion; buy a bushel of apples, and get a kiss from Applejack (as played by Riverhippo). Using her royal prestige to cut to the front of the line, Luna proves herself to be a rather fussy customer. Not only was she dissatisfied with her apples, but she even demanded a redo of the kiss AJ provided. At least it made for a good picture though:






    (Image drawn by BrainedBySaucepans)

    If anything, “100 Country Kisses” shows what happens whenever Princess Luna is inserted into a thread with a crowd of other characters in an Open RP. Namely, ponies lose their minds as they either rush to bow to one of their rulers or otherwise seek out her attention. Thanks to such crowds, it can be rather hard for characters to have some proper one-on-one moments with the princess. This brings us to our last spotlighted thread for the day.....
    -----------------------
    [colour=#000080]AMA: Princess Edition:[/colour] As part of a month-long stunt by the Canterlot Royal Public Relations departments, all three of Equestria’s princesses solicit letters from their subjects and respond to them as they see fit. As one of the three princesses, Luna gets bombarded with a whole slew of letters. Those who have engaged in written back-and-forth correspondence with her so far included an adorable filly, a pirate, a sleep-deprived weather pony, and more. If you want your character to interact with Luna without dealing with pesky crowds, then this thread is absolutely for you. Heck, who knows what will come with your OC's correspondence with the Night Mare? So don’t delay; post today!!!
    -----------------------
    And now, here’s an interview of the ever-amazing MyLittlePonyTales where the secrets of RPing as Luna are revealed to all:


    -----------------------
    And that’s a wrap. As usual, I hope everyone here enjoyed this latest read. Come back next week when I go ahead and spotlight another one of our site’s great RP threads. PS: Enjoy the new year, everybody!
  16. Bellosh
    [colour=#008080]INGRID MARIE: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour]

    As I said I would, I’m taking the week off from my RP spotlights to do another one of these personal introspective articles. Last month, I wrote a little something about my first original character, Spin Tale. This week, I’ll be yapping about my first ever Tier-3 character. So if you’re ready, climb on in and enjoy the ride!






    (Image vectored by ClairDeLaSoul)

    Development Process: Before I begin, let me use this opportunity to brag about how awesome Tier-3s are. They’re basically like OCs in that they have no real pre-existing personality, but the RPer who apps them doesn’t have to go through the hard work of actually designing the character. Better yet, there’s usually no competition for these ponies. Lazy I know... but still. Like Grandfather Mojo, I’ve grown to enjoy apping Tier-3s throughout my time here.
    Getting back to this article’s subject, the reason I wanted to app Ingrid Marie was simply because I wanted to portray one of those magic school examiners from "The Cutie Mark Chronicles". When it came time to decide which of the four proctors to app, I chose Ingrid because I liked her design and because of her cutie mark: a red apple. Normally, the explanation for a cutie mark like that would be how students always give apples to teachers... but what fun is there in making sense? Instead I opted for something bolder, envisioning her instead as a member of the far-strung Apple family. At first I feared the chance that the app would be rejected on the basis that Apple ponies are all supposed to be earth ponies; it was only after the fact when I discovered that an OC Apple unicorn already exists here..... go figure.
    Because this was my first cast app and because of the high stakes I envisioned back then, I spent considerably more time writing Ingrid’s app than I did for Spin Tale. While I wrote a lot more as far as character history was concerned, the app was still wanting in the all-important personality fields. So once again, I ended up constructing most of her personality on the fly, as it were. How things played out, Ingrid is mostly a straightmare-character and mentor who every once in a while is prone to displays of bashful exhibitionism. In many respects, Counselor Marie acts as an amalgam of my grandmother and her sister, who while working in different occupations still fulfilled basic counseling and mentoring roles. As for Ingrid’s occasional “mmkay”, that’s a tribute to school counselor Mr. Mackey from South Park.
    If there was one thing in my app for Ingrid Marie that I’d take back, it would be her conflict with her parents. I did my best to avoid the clichés surrounding jerk authority figures by giving Ingrid’s mum and dad a legitimate reason to have a disagreement with their daughter. However, the fact stands that unless someone can be bothered to app Ingrid’s parents, then this unpleasantness will never be resolved through RP. Lesson for everyone: the next time you think child-parent conflicts should play an important role in your next character app, keep this important thing in mind. In retrospect, it would have helped to place more thought into conjuring a long-term arc for Counselor Marie that could actually be played out through existing RP characters. The good news; there’s no time to dwell on such thoughts like the present!





    (Screencap from "The Cutie Mark Chronicles")

    Apple Bloom’s Big Day: The first thread I inserted Ingrid Marie in, this was also my first time RPing with loads and loads of cast characters. I debuted Ingrid here instead of the Apple Family Reunion RP (may it rest in peace) kinda because I didn’t want my character to drown in a sea of other Apples right off the bat. At any rate, Abby’s Big Day has been a total blast so far; not a minute goes by where a calamity doesn’t happen. It was this thread where I learned that WoE RP is at its most memorable when you’re out inflicting comedic misery on both other characters and your own. A RP isn't as fun if it's only about calmly eating out, shopping, or et cetera. Seriously; the reason your RPs may be dying is because not enough hijinks are going on in it.
    Nanny and the Professor: Another early thread for Ingrid, this RP was the point where I finally learned to stop caring about having my characters stick around just their home city. Additionally, we got to see Ingrid in a classroom environment for the first time teaching unicorn foals magic. Finally, this is the story where Ingrid meets Mojo’s clumsy Misty Magic for the first time; they’ll meet again in the thread below. This thread kinda stalled, but hopefully it'll become active once again.
    The Magic Counselor Is In: The biggest reason I envisioned Ingrid Marie as a counselor and not a teacher is because simply put, I wanted to RP Ingrid on the job. Since there’s not a whole lot of apped magic student characters, I went with the counseling gig as she’ll always interact on a one-on-one basis with characters. Onto the RP itself; I believe this was the first RP thread I’ve ever created if I recall correctly. I have to thank both Lux and Mojo for really bringing this thread to life so far, and I sincerely hope other RPers will bring their gifted unicorn students here too to inflict magic-assisted disaster upon Ingrid’s office. Hopefully, Counselor Marie will do what she can to advise her pupils on how to manage their magic abilities.





    (Screencap from "The Cutie Mark Chronicles")

    Fire Meets Fire: I’m not sure how much time Lux and Phil originally wanted to have their OCs Fire Heart and Spirit Flame (hence the RP's title) spend visiting Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but with their permission, this thread has really turned into a great worldbuilding RP with Ingrid as the tour guide. I really liked all the chances we got to envision all sorts of practical spells, magic tools, and enchantments. I'm particularly proud of how I described all the complicated processes behind magic teleportation (which unicorn OCs shouldn't do unless it's their special talent). Thanks to this thread, I can definitely see how Equestria could use unicorn magic in place of various modern-day tech like air conditioning and such.
    Fun fact: I didn't learn until I started setting up the "dragon egg" scenario that magic student OCs in Mane RP are not supposed to take the egg hatching test. I had to put a lampshade on the whole thing so that I wouldn't look too silly.
    The Magic Guild: Technically this RP hasn’t started yet, but Clair’s upcoming thread promises to be whole loads of fun for the entire (magic) family. As Ingrid’s getting on in years, she’ll take a back-seat in this thread to let younger guild members shine. Of course, she’ll play important roles both as a mentor and as an advocate for the guild. If you have anypony who’s interested in the magical arts (and not just unicorns), sign up your character for this RP today!
    -----------------------
    That’s a wrap for today. Next week, I’ll be back with my usual spotlight article assuming everything goes to plan. If you’ve got a RP character here that you’d like for me to write about, give me a shout and we can arrange an interview. For now those, this is Bell signing off the rest of the year.
  17. Bellosh
    [colour=#00ff00]DUNGEONS, PONIES, MAGIC, AND DRAGONS: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour]

    Hello again! This time around, I’m doing things a bit different than last week by focusing on a specific RP thread than a character. For this article, I’ll be covering a RP that I feel exemplifies how the best of the best threads readily go toe-to-toe with quality reading material that we MLP fans read for fanfiction. So without further adieu, I give you “Dungeons, Ponies, Magic, and Dragons”:





    (Artwork drawn by ClairDeLaSoul. Pictured from left to right on bottom: Silver Flash, Sugar Rush, Vivid Flair, and Sketch. On top is Drifting Veil, who according to Davroth looks all sinister because “Dungeon masters have the reputation of ruining the days of the players, if you know what I mean. ^^”)

    WARNING: HERE BE RP SPOILERS.
    To put it frankly, “Dungeons, Ponies, Magic, and Dragons” is a RP about... RPing. To be more precise, it is an RP depicting a table-top game conducted by four ponies and one hippogriff. With these five OCs played by Davroth, Imagination, Riverhippo, Phil the Time Wizard, and Bramble Rose, anyone who reads through DPM&D can expect to find some the highest-quality RP around these parts.
    As the backstory for DPM&D goes, Davroth’s Drifting Veil had recently relocated to Manehatten for career reasons. Having exhausted all the entertainment that the big city had to offer, he next listed a bulletin at City Hall advertising a meet-up for a RP game at his apartment. Four other individuals answered Drifting Veil’s call; most of them with no prior gaming experience at all, and all hailing from different backgrounds within Equestrian ‘nerd’ culture.
    The end result of mixing up these OCs is a delightful read as many of the gamers struggle with figuring out how to even build their own RP characters, point-allocating systems being as complicated as they are. While DPM&D itself has yet to progress to the actual game itself, be assured that what follows will be just as fun as humorous as what has already transpired. If you haven't read through the thread already, click this link now. To help you out is this breakdown of the five OCs involved:
    -----------------------
    [colour=#00ff00]Drifting Veil:[/colour] A Germane stallion employed as a theatre stage designer, Davroth’s Drifting Veil acts as the Dungeon Master for DPM&D. As the unicorn had made friends earlier in his life through table-top gaming, he figured to organize a DPM&D session to make some new friends now that he resides in Manehatten. Being the DM, Drifting Veil himself does not make up a character for use. Instead, his main role is to provide instructions and guidance for the newbies participating in his game. Particularly, the DM leads the group’s efforts in developing their RP characters and assigning stats, the latter which bewilders almost eveyrpony who hasn’t played a RPG before.
    The RP campaign Drifting Veil constructs is set in an Equestria 500 years in the past. As he explains to his fellow players, a whole slew of monsters have escaped from imprisonment in the land of Tartarus. Against the backdrop of fiendish creatures haunting the countryside, four adventurers unite to seek their fortunes out in the lawless wildness. What happens in the story next, only Drifting Veil knows.....
    -----------------------
    [colour=#ff8c00]Sketch:[/colour] Imagination’s OC stallion is a comic book artist born and raised in Manehatten. Prompted by his parents to take a break from his work, this bespeckled unicorn sees an opportunity through DPM&D to not only try something new and interesting, but also to possibly find inspiration for future comic stories. While initially unfamiliar with the mechanics of pen-and-paper games, it doesn’t take too much effort for him to figure out how to fill in a character sheet. Furthermore, Sketch’s creative background makes the process of conjuring his player character comes rather easily for him.
    What Sketch comes up with is Solemn Vow, a cleric of the Order of the Sun. As a young colt, the resentful Solemn and his family were forced to panhandle in order to survive. His life changed upon learning that happiness could be obtained through faith and freeing oneself of possessions; thus, the now-cherry cleric resolved to provide kindness and generosity to others. Serving the warpriest role in the group, this character is adapt at casting a variety of magic spells. Fortunately, Sketch will probably have minimal issues with using Solemn in the RP... hopefully.
    -----------------------
    [colour=#800080]Sugar Rush:[/colour] Played by Riverhippo, Sugar Rush is that one guy who has severe issues adapting to an unfamiliar game’s rules. On a personal trip to Manehatten, the earth pony arrived at Drifting Veil’s apartment on a sugar high; a premonition of forboding things to come. RPing is utterly out of the stallion’s level of competency, as shown by his extraordinary difficulty in creating sensible characters and comprehending stat sheets. Hence, it is up to the more experienced Silver Flash to guide him through the introductory phases of the game.
    No further demonstration of Sugar Rush’s bewilderment is as ‘exemplary’ as the process behind creating his RP character, the druid Alfalfa. Representative of a stereotypical amateurish character attempt, Alfalfa was originally a mary-sue unicorn zebra with preexisting fame and enormous wealth along a gigantic pet eagle. Sugar Rush eventually was persuaded to change things so that his unicorn was instead raised by a zebra tribe; Sugar doesn’t care about the specifics just as long as his guy can shoot lots of arrows. Alfalfa’s physical design is just as hideous, featuring a garish combination of red and black along with a chocolate bar cutie mark... because Alfalfa likes chocolate apparently. Expect further hijinks from Sugar as he blunders through RPing.
    -----------------------
    [colour=#8b4513]Vivid Flair:[/colour] Phil the Time Wizard’s hippogriff is an engineer for Northern Storm Industry’s Manehatten branch by day, but fights crime as a costumed vigilante during her off-hours. Encouraged by her employers to be more social, Vivid follows a tip from a coworker and accepts Drifting Veil’s open invitation to join his RP group. An engineer by trade, the hippogriff doesn’t take too long to figure out how to fill out her character stat sheets.
    Ever craving adventure and excitement, Vivid Flair’s knightly character Regalia Banneret represents the sort of OC who exists mainly for use in combat scenarios. Her over-the-top backstory rife with clichéd dialogue and dramatic plot points, Regalia is for all intensive purposes Vivid’s RP-persona. It remains to be seen if Vivid’s overzealous nature will cause powergaming conflicts to emerge in the group.....
    -----------------------
    [colour=#696969]Silver Flash:[/colour] Last but not least is Bramble Rose’s OC, the stage-actress Silver Flash. Readers of my last article who looked through “Daringcon General” will recognize Silver as the pegasus cast in the role of Daring Do for a major Mareway production. Unlike the other members of the DPM&D group, Miss Flash is very much an experienced and highly active table-top gamer, possessing nearly as many RP books as the Dungeon Master himself. Owning to her familiarity with the game, it seems natural that Silver Flash takes on an advisory role to the other players in a way not unlike the ones played by Canterlot.com’s ever-amazing RP Helpers.
    As the resident veteran and RP Helper-expy, it should be expected that Silver Flash’s character Snicker Snack features the most down-to-earth history of all the other PCs (which is ironic, considering Snicker comes from Cloudsdale). A tinkerer by trade, Snicker fulfills the rogue position in DPM&D by relying on stealth and tricks to win fights. Judging by Snicker’s ability to also outsmart ancient booby traps, it seems that a little bit of Daring Do snuck into Silver’s character as well. All that remains to be seen now is whether Snicker Snack can live up to the awesomeness that is her inspiration.....
    -----------------------
    What would a RP Spotlight be without an interview? Here now are all five of the RPers in DPM&D as they talk about this extraordinary thread:
    -----------------------
    I’m taking next week off from my series due to Christmas and New Year’s, but expect the Spotlight’s return the week after. If you want your RP character spotlighted, let me know. Meanwhile, I’ll probably do a write-up on one of my characters again during my “week off”. Until next time, this is Bellosh101 wishing you Happy Holidays!
  18. Bellosh
    [colour=#006400]PATHFINDER: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour]

    Howdy-do, Canterloters! I'll still write about my own RP characters every once in a while, but now I'll be introducing a new series of articles. Starting today, I plan each week or so to do a spotlight feature on other RPer's characters and threads. With this new series, I wish to provide a way to cover the happenings of Canterlot's RP section in an in-depth manner. Note: any RP thread and character I review will be done so with the permission of the OP/RPer, and you'll won't find any sort of drama in these posts. So without further ado, let' get this show on the road!


    [colour=#006400]BELLOSH101 PRESENTS:[/colour]




    WARNING: HERE BE RP SPOILERS.
    If adventure had an old name, it would have been Indiana Jones. Well, not anymore it ain’t; it can be safely said that the crown of adventuring now belongs to the one of Canterlot’s most popular original characters, Pathfinder. For those of you not in the loop, Pathfinder is the Mane RP’s resident Daring Do fanatic; a pegasus mare heck-bent on imitating her cherished idol down to every letter. Created and role-played by SteelEagle, this pony fills every thread she appears in with the energy and fanaticism that only a die-hard, half-insane master explorer can provide.
    To briefly summarize her life story so far, Pathfinder is the orphaned daughter of a husband-and-wife duo of stunt-flying performers who mysteriously vanished. Left to cope in the Cloudsdale orphanage system, the young filly found a source of strength in the Daring Do books, whose heroine reminded the orphan of her parents. Pathfinder became a huge fan of Daring Do, and her love for the books empowered her to thrive on and become an adventurer when she grew up.
    Pathfinder thus spends most of her time roaming the land, on a seemingly never-ending journey to find exotic locales teeming with dangerous booby traps and frightening monsters. The Daring Do impersonator lives for almost nothing else; she sees no current reason to find conventional jobs or worry about the opinions of others who don’t share her devotion to adventuring. Whenever she ventures into civilization for reason unrelated to questing, you can be sure that it’s because Pathfinder’s hunting down the latest Daring Do book or gracing a fan convention with her overzealous presence.
    The following four RP threads may not be the only stories that Pathfinder has appeared in, but they exemplify why she belongs in the Luna-tier of Canterlot OCs. Should a character find themselves unprepared, they’ll end up overwhelmed by the sheer awesomeness/insanity that is Pathfinder. However for those few who let themselves become captivated by the thrills of outsmarting traps and conquering the ruins of ancient civilizations, the living embodiment of Daring Do may just become one of their most treasured companions.
    -----------------------
    [colour=#006400]The Heart of an Adventurer:[/colour] While this RP isn’t the first thread to feature the half-crazed adventurer, it is the chronological beginning of one of Pathfinder’s most important character arcs. It is this thread where the Daring Do fanatic meets her fillyfriend Snowfall, the Northern Storm Industries CEO played by Phil the Time Wizard. Paired up by a matchmaking service, the two are sent on a blind date to an obstacle course nestled in a desert town; a rather ideal date spot for a master explorer like Pathfinder! Over the course of the story, Pathfinder and Snowfall connect with one another quite handedly; by the end of the date, the two pegasi are convinced that the other is their special somepony.
    As shown in this thread, Pathfinder can barely go a moment without recollecting past escapades and generating excitement in the heat of the present moment. Yet even with Pathfinder’s everlasting obsession with Daring Do, this RP demonstrates that even someone like this pegasus has basic emotional needs to fulfill, like companionship. We also see that the touchy-feely adventurer who says whatever’s on her mind without any reserve actually has some sort of plan for the future; to start-up a survival gear business that’d naturally go bankrupt from bankrolling an expedition.
    While it would seem that a nearly-broke vagabond would be extremely hard-pressed to relate to a wealthy business owner, it turns out that matching Pathfinder and Snowfall together was a stroke of genius. For Snowfall (herself a Daring Do fan in her youth), the adventurer provides the CEO a sense of raw fun and nostalgia that she hasn’t been to experience for a long count of time. Meanwhile, Pathfinder sees in the businessmare someone with the willpower and confidence to potentially serve as an amazing (and not to mention beautiful) companion on voyages. Of course, both mares also share the sorrowful common ground of losing parents to the Badlands. It retrospect, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Pathfinder and Snowfall become a couple.
    Commenting on the premise of the thread itself, an action date consisting of an obstacle course littered with loops and tourist-friendly booby traps serves as a very original concept for a romance RP. In fact, it really helps drown out the clichés that befall most romantic-based well... anything in general. Many writers would do good to take a look at “The Heart of an Adventurer” to gain insight into how to avoid a by-the-books date story involving bog-standard fancy restaurants, walks in the park, and all that jazz.
    -----------------------
    [colour=#006400]Daringcon General:[/colour] After the events of “The Heart of an Adventurer”, we find Pathfinder attending a Daring Do convention held not too far away from Ponyville. The fanatic is not alone though; it turns out that Snowfall (meticulously dressed-up as the character Princess Veil) is in attendance too, having rekindled her old foalhood love for the franchise. The stage is thus set for numerous con hijinks, such as failing miserably to let con goers sneak inside the sold-out con and having a brief run-in with a biased news reporter. And to think Pathfinder hasn’t found out yet that one of her closest acquaintances is selling off most of her beloved Daring Do merchandise at the con itself!
    “Daringcon General” is a perfect example of how poorly Pathfinder fits into normal society. The pegasus frequently regards rules as mere annoyances meant to be broken, an attitude readily on display as she carved out badges to help unfortunate fans sneak inside the con. As it turns out, Daringcon itself wouldn’t have taken place at all without the extremist fan first sabotaging a rival convention. Equestria is thus fortunate that Pathfinder is only just a half-insane fanfilly at heart.
    Any RPer looking for a slice-of-life thread to interact with Pathfinder in her element should definitely consider participating in this thread. In addition, this is the perfect place to act out any sort of con-based scenario in Mane RP. The thread has recently gained a griffon vendor to sell merchandise; hopefully, other types of OCs like artists will join him shortly. Come here if you want to check out the OOC thread first.
    -----------------------
    [colour=#006400]Pathfinder and the City of the Griffons:[/colour] Now we get to one of Pathfinder’s most larger-than-life adventures. Set in the Aquellian capital city of Talonpolis, this story revolves around the madmare’s mission to recover the Helm of Commander Hurricane, a relic seized by the griffons long ago. By happenstance Pathfinder stumbles upon Gilda, the ex-friend of Rainbow Dash (and also brilliantly played by Phil the Time Wizard). Joining forces, the rabid adventurer and the roguish griffon commence a spree of robberies, each one failing to turn up the Helm.
    On one such break-in gone wrong, Gilda gets captured by the griffons and is given the choice of either assisting in apprehending of Pathfinder or face punishment. Gilda agrees to help the Aquellian military in order to save her own skin, but she experiences conflicting feelings over betraying her new-found friend. In due time Pathfinder’s luck runs out too, as the exhausted mare fails to escape from a griffon trap. Both Gilda and Pathfinder are thus banished to the Pit; the dreaded prison inhabited by Aquellia’s most dangerous criminals. At the time of this blog post, the two partners are resolved to escape from their Tartarus-on-Earth and recover the Helm of Commander Hurricane.
    If there’s one thing that “City of the Griffons” makes clear, it’s that Pathfinder is an absolute determinator. No matter what impossible odds she faces, she’ll charge at them head-on no matter the consequences. Unfortunately the pegasus ain’t that bright too, as it’s eventually revealed that the object of her desire was actually stashed away in a totally different city altogether. Of course no mention of “City of the Griffons” is complete without discussing Gilda, who despite her antihero demeanor not only comes to admire Pathfinder but even learns to like the Daring Do books (which the pegasus somehow keeps on her person at all times). For a griffon who came off as somewhat one-dimensional in her sole-appearance in the show, here she’s given honorable qualities by Phil in a believable way without sacrificing her less-than-stellar downfalls in the process.
    If anyone wants to read through an exceptional character study of Gilda, look no further than “City of the Griffons”. Obviously, this thread is also one of the best adventure RPs one can read at Canterlot, especially since it makes exceptional use of the Talonpolis setting. If you haven’t done so, you should read it now!
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    [colour=#006400]From Stormy Skies to Roaring Waters:[/colour] The first thread in the Staff of Fate adventure series, expect to see great things from Pathfinder as she pursues an epic quest to recover a series of powerful artifacts before they fall into the wrong hooves. Joining with the likes of Twilight Sparkle, Trixie Lulamoon, Dr. Spin Tale, and Rain Leaf (played by Helix, Brianblackberry, myself, and Doc Hoof MD respectively), expect chaos and hilarity to ensure as the band of five struggle to work coherently as a group… let alone cooperate with a rival team.
    Anyone wishing to RP in Staff of Fate should feel free to sign up in the OOC thread. While the positions for the main and support characters for Teams 1 and 2 are currently filled up, location-based characters are always welcome. No adventure-RPer should pass up on the opportunity to have their OCs interact with Pathfinder, Twilight, or even Doctor Whooves!
    -----------------------
    For additional insight into Pathfinder, below in the spoiler box is an interview with SteelEagle where he elaborates on how he came up with his character and how he plans to use Pathfinder in the future:
    -----------------------
    I hope everyone who views my exposé on Pathfinder finds it a very enlightening read, especially if you didn’t know much about her up until now. If you’d like to have me spotlight one of your characters or RP threads, feel free to give me a shout either through the comments below or through PM. If you’re interested, we can arrange a time where I can interview you about your OC or RP. Depending on the feedback I get, I just might very well make this a weekly series.
  19. Bellosh
    [colour=#FF6666]SPIN TALE: A COMMENTARY BY BELLOSH101[/colour]

    Hello, folks! Bellosh101 here, and today I think I’ll finally start a blog for the first time… like, ever. For a while now, I’ve wanted to do a sort of commentary on my RP characters; how I came up with them, why I picked the cast ponies I did, how well I think I did in select RP threads, and so forth. For each article I write in this series, I intend to focus in-depth on one of my characters. As each blog article I write will be fairly comprehensive, I only expect to write one or two of these things a month.
    I hope that anyone who reads my blog will come away with some insight on how to better improve their own character applications past the bare minimum standards of Mane RP. If anyone has any feedback on my commentary series and how I can improve my articles, let me know down in the comments. Gushing praise will also be accepted. So without further ado, I’ll now introduce the first of my spotlight characters:


    (Image drawn by Satohai)

    Note: each section title contains a link to another thread.
    Development Process: Well, we might as well begin with the first character I’ve ever created for Mane RP. I have to confess that in many respects, Spin Tale is the OC who is the closest remotely to what I’d call a ponysona, although I’d say that Spin’s only 10% based off me (NOTE: never try to base a character too much off yourself, lest he or she turns into a Mary Sue). To be more precise, he resembles the sort of person that many of my old high school buddies thought I’d become after college; a professional historian. Additionally, Spin Tale’s coat is covered red, and red is my favorite colour… so there! XD
    As for who else I’ve based Spin Tale off of, 25% of him is basically a stock historian/orator character (abet a very competent one), another 15% a stock “drowning in debt” college graduate, and the remaining quarter I envisioned as a classic-style antihero in the vein of characters like Bilbo Baggins. Spin’s app doesn’t really convey this well (see below), but I actually intended the guy to serve as a reluctant adventurer, who’d go on a journey out of some sort out of pressing need only to find himself way out of his depth. While I did have a RP idea in mind where I planned to convey this aspect of Spin’s character, that plan has since been superseded by the Staff of Fate adventure-RP series.
    Name-wise, I wanted to give my first OC a name that would sound good with the prefix ‘doctor’; after sometime, I settled on Spin Tale as his name since historians like spinning yarns so to speak and because I liked how the name ‘Dr. Tale’ rolled off the tongue. Spin’s design is pretty basic, with no real bells and whistles other than a simple blue tie which shows that he’s part of Canterlot society (even if he ain’t part of the elite). Since Spin was my first character, I wanted to make sure that nothing in his application could raise any objections.
    That means that on paper (ie. the character application), Spin Tale is essentially bland and inoffensive… which is actually a good thing if you’re just learning how to write apps for Mane RP. RPers can try more novel things with their Mane RP character apps once they know all about what boundaries not to cross. Getting back to the point, this means that this character has the least developed approved app in my entire character portfolio. Back in those days, I was afraid that the RP Helpers would be turned off by long OC apps… since then, I’ve learned that it simply isn’t the case. Not only that, but my short app also means that whatever I didn’t decide for Spin Tale back when I apped him, I’d have to decide on the fly in actual RPing, which could potentially lead to inconsistent-portrayals if I’m not careful. If I wanted too, I’d go back and redo his app so it’d fit the high standards of my character log… but I prefer spending my creative energies on RPing and apping new characters.


    (Image drawn by BrainedBySaucepans)

    Fudge Frolic: Spin Tale’s first RP I put him in… and the first RP experience I’ve had in many years. For a slice-of-life incident, my character didn’t do anything of any real consequence. As I was just getting into the grove of Mane RP back then, I essentially let Spin drift in that thread without any clear overriding purpose for him. Consequently, he just sort of orbited around the other characters, acting all bland and inoffensive. Once Spin Tale got his fudge, his part in that tale was essentially over.
    Mending Hearts: I thought this RP thread was a good fit for Spin Tale, as I implied in his life that he didn’t have much of a social life. Featuring one of my first major collaborations with my trusty associate Lux, I thought I wrote Spin pretty well here. I may not have summoned my A-game writing for this thread, but I’ve found in my experience that multi paragraph-long posts are not always needed in every situation. Ironic fact: at the same time Lux and I RPed in this topic, we played out the same basic ‘seek-advice’ scenario in a different thread using different characters, except our characters’ roles were reversed from this story.
    100 Country Kisses: Aside from the bare-bones nature of Spin Tale’s app, another little flaw I’ve come to identify with it was how I mentioned how he was distant and snarky towards his close acquaintances. Of course, if nobody else played one of these acquaintances, then whom would Spin show his snarky-side towards? Fortunately, 100 Country Kisses is where I first had the opportunity to exhibit the less-savory side of Spin’s personality.
    Not only did I place Spin Tale in a situation that he wholeheartedly despised being in (everybody hates long lines, after all), but I was able to craft additional backstory details for my character in conjunction with the illustrious BrainedBySaucepans. Being able to play off with his character (his OC Smirk is the other stallion you see in the pic above), I feel this was the moment where Spin finally started to display some moments of snarkiness. Not long after I started RPing with BBS, I tracked him down to his livestream thread and soon became a regular viewer of his Saturday drawing sessions.
    Historically Accurate: If the last thread showed how Spin Tale reacted under less-than-ideal conditions, this RP demonstrated how brilliantly he’d behave on his very own home turf. I relished the chance to participate in FermataTheBasse’s interview series, as up until then I hadn’t had the chance to describe the museum that Dr. Tale operated. In many respects, I consider this thread Spin Tale’s signature RP. When Fermata returns from hiatus, I hope this thread can be resurrected.


    (Image drawn by LovinMoonlight)

    The Library Fine of Doom: The second RP idea that I’ve helped bring to life (the first was with a different character). In the interests of full disclosure… Twilight Sparkle is Best Pony, and I really wanted to do a RP featuring her (played by Helix) and one of my characters. I chose Spin Tale to be the character I’d use for such a thread, since he is an academic-type like Twilight and all that. This story may have proceeded a bit more slowly then I would have liked, but hey; real life stinks sometimes.
    (Staff of Fate) From Stormy Skies to Roaring Waters: If Twilight is Best Cast Pony, then SteelEagle’s Pathfinder is Best OC Pony. With this thread… I can RP my character interacting with the two of them at the same time (and Trixie too)! Better yet, I can put Spin Tale through all sorts of nasty trouble out in the middle of nowhere and make his life a total and complete wreck. Why you ask? Because schadenfreude is funny, that's why! Along with Library Fine, I’m bringing along the best of my RP writing to this story. Seriously, SoF is going to be awesome; everyone should read the first installment in progress now.
    **********
    If you enjoyed my musings today, tune in next time when I discuss my next character, Ingrid Marie!
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