Manestream

What makes a character unique, cool, dramatic, or likable has very little to do with the qualities they are introduced with. I can think of very few movies or stories (none, actually) where I like the character based on everything offered to me about them. The effort you take in developing your character is directly equal to the impact that character will have on others who read about it. Telling someone in your character description: "Oh he's an orphan so he's had a hard life" earns exactly as much sympathy as it did time to read the statement- almost none.

However, its often that our favorite characters have 'setting-inspired-qualities' that we would normally see as overused, or even "lame". Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, Leia Skywalker - All Orphans. Katara from Avatar - death of a parent and only child with "special ability". John Snow and Naruto- dejected, outcast, and unloved (by someone/village.) Inexperienced RP'ers and writers look at this and they begin to feel that these qualities are *musts* in 'epic' characters. And it makes sense when you don't look at it too closely- troubled characters have much room to overcome their obstacles.

But if you take a closer look you will realize it is not the setting of the characters that even matters- those "qualities" are happen-stance for plot and setting development more than they are for character development. What actually drives character development is what happens to the character during the story.

Luke and Leia Skywalker- both happily living with other relatives with lives of their own. It is not until they experience the loss of these relatives (on tattooine, and the destruction of Alduin), that these characters experience or suffer loss. They, and the audience, could honestly care less that they were orphans.

Harry Potter - It is not the fact that Harry doesn't know his parents that makes us grieve for his situation, it is how his caretakers mistreat him that sets the stage. If Harry screamed, and was a terrible child, and put holes into walls- then we honestly wouldn't care. In fact, many of us continue not to care until he is at the point of the sorting hat, and despite everything he's been through he wants to be different than what he's experienced, and this creates some small, fledgling amount of character. The interesting thing about harry is that he really doesn't develop much character until the end of the first book. The best example of why setting doesn't matter is seen illustrated by how much more you care that Harry has to *go back* to that family than you did when you first read about his situation. Why is that? Because all the important character-development that we value occurred between those points- the events themselves did not award him any real sympathy.

Katara - Same deal, she's got ability and only has one parent who is gone most the series, but neither of that means tush-kiss; we begin to like her because of her experiences with her companions.

John Snow - We like him because of the choices he makes, not because he is a half-son; and lady stark hates him- the fact she dislikes him is actually more character development *for her*, than it is for him. This only serves as reason for him to "Go to the wall". Its a plot toy, not a character development tool.

Naruto - One of the most troubled characters painted up with most of the tropes possible- special ability, martyr, nobody likes him, attitude problems, orphan, the list goes on. All of these things we don't care about- why? Because we admire his ability to continue to laugh; and to dream. Naruto only gets decently cool when he starts to embrace his responsibility and dreams, and to *stop caring* that other people don't accept him. Through his pursuit of that and the inner strength he displays *during the story*, others grow to admire and respect him.

The key is that all of the above characters are actually normal, uninteresting people. It is what they do that determines how interesting they are. Often they will 'struggle' with elements of their setting, and yes, that is character development; but character development is both articulated through things gained and lost- and how the character responds to that. Applying *less* tropes to your character makes them harder to anticipate what kind of issues they will face, and how they will react.

When making a character, its best to start out with someone average. A farmer boy/girl with simple life. Use your RP to develop your story. That is the appropriate place to introduce loss and gain- not the character's bio. Just try summarizing everything that Luke and Leia Skywalker do into a single, simple character biography. Try doing it with Naruto, or Katara for that matter. You'll notice that they will seem a *lot less interesting* when you are done.

Dont tell us how your pony character is special or cool. Show us how your average OC does something extraordinary.

I am glad to hear that it has worked out, and Lovinity got approved for the mane RP ^-^ Its heartwarming to see your excitement :3

I should let you know that users are not able to recruit for cast positions, and both wonderbolts and shadowbolts fall under that category.

Its very cool that you want to do something, but I gotta let you know that you cant be accepting applications for who is, or isnt a shadowbolt. Also, Vinyl Scratch doesnt have any authority to give it to you.

What you are welcome to do is talk to people about it and encourage them to apply.

Or, you could host a shadowbolts recruitment thread in Crossovers or FFA.

Shadowbolts are something that were being discussed and partially implemented under our old lore structure, and I will be phasing that out in the upcoming months from the Mane RP. There will be a place for them however, in a new RP i will be opening up in conjuncture- one that is more in line with less established MLP canon, and more along the lines of popular fan-canon.

The point I want to drive home is, the way your going about this is incorrect, and your stepping into the role my staffers do- all applications need to go through them, as they are the quality control for Mane RP. In your excitement, i'm afraid you've been mislead to believe you can hire your own team.

Please speak with my RP Helpstaff to figure out what you can, and cannot do in regards to the RP- they can tell you when canon is changing, rules have changed, and what must go through them.

Thanks for understanding!

I'v been around since the start? Hah! When I joined I thought I was just a little blip of a noob

Oh- I must gotten my wires crossed somewhere in there, I thought you joined the same day I did- though you did join fairly early on QL; only five months in. :3

HA!

I like this one here

I didn't actually expect to get an answer to these questions, first off thanks so much!

No problem, sometimes I get these weird spurts where i actually have time to interact with the community. I used to be a lot more active back in the day when i was still a member/moderator.

I had always assumed that You and Artax ran the site from the very beginning its actually quite interesting to hear that there were other Admins besides you guys. To bad they didn't stick around, it would be cool to meet them!

Tam and Ashi went their very different ways, and unfortunately there was a lot of upset during that time, a lot of users didn't understand the reasons, and things were pretty hectic. I had the pleasure of being able to work with them both on a daily basis, and had a much more intimate understanding of the situation. They were both nice people, but it was a tough time in their lives.

From the looks of it it seems like the RP section was tons more lax back in the day than it is now.

Very much so- the RP was Ashi's dig big then, and it was still something very, very small. Everyone knew everyone- their characters, and it was much easier to blaze new ground because it affected so few people. It was Ashi that introduced the griffon kingdoms into the RP that we still have today. This didnt last too long, as the RP began to explode and spiral. Applications needed a bar, and staff to approve them. And before long, we had to start scrambling to decide which elements were appropriate for the RP, and which weren't. Some very heated topics about the expression of politics, religions and sexuality within the RP threatened to tear the board apart once upon a time- and it was a very hard thing to set global guidelines for.

The solutions we came up with were never perfect ones, but we definitely put forward our best hoof, and thats why occasionally some of the old rules and procedures change nowadays. That, and we are catering to a much larger field of interest and group of people. It has been a real learning experience moving from constructing an RP for several hundred people, to several thousand, and keeping some semblance of continuity, quality, and vision.

Truth be told, our RP isnt big enough as it stands right now to cater to everyone, so some big changes will be coming out come 2013.

Thank you so much for answering my questions! This is so awesome that I know all this stuff now. It might seem a bit like useless information to know, but I feel even closer to Canterlot now than every before. I guess thats sort of weird, huh...

Its not weird, a lot of our members take pride in having been with this site through thick and thin- as do I. And while i'm sure I make decisions that upset people every now and then, I would think that many would agree that the site has come a long ways, and grown, and improved over the years. There is a lot of nostalgia for having the small tight-knit community we had back then, but having a big community is exciting and full of opportunity too.

P.S. I'd kill or a Celestia Waffle...

A robotic Celestia Waffle at that.

• Who are the Old Mods?
  There were quite a few old moderators when the board originally opened up- many of them did not post more than once or twice. They were friends of the original Administrators, Tam and Ashi, who co-ran the board together. The names of the old moderators even I have forgotten.
  The first active Moderators which quickly replaced the inactive original hires were myself, Meow, and Willowisp. Down the road a ways Skye and MyLittlePonyTales were added to that mix, as well as Dio and Dessa. All four of them are long time members from when the board originated.
  

• Why was Canterlot.com not G rated for a while and who made the change?
  When Artax and myself realized our site was attracting not only bronies and veteran MLP lovers from previous generations, but children and youth interested in the show, we decided to make Canterlot a safe place for all ages. Since our site is about a show for little girls, we think this is the safest course of action for those visiting, our users, and us as Admins.
  

• Is the anypony higher than Artax?
  Artax and I are co-admins, we share equal amounts of responsibility over the forum. There is no authority on the board higher than Artax or Myself. In a lot of ways, the board is our adopted foal to raise together.
  

• Why can I not grasp the true power of a moderator?
  You need all nine pieces of the tri-force first. Only when you have wisdom and courage together, will you be able to wield power responsibly. Keep searching, and you will someday find your goal within grasp!
  

• Where do all the Help Staff, Mods, Admins, etc. fit into the Canterlot.com story?
  That is a very long story- most of them have been hired on after I took over the board- but the names I mentioned above have a history here before the move. I would ask each one of them individually
  

• If Manestream is "Celestia's Adviser" then who is "Celestia?"
  Why, Celestia herself of course! When Artax agreed to join me and become my co-admin, he gave me this title. It makes me sound all wise and stuff, but i'm actually pretty derpy in reality :3
  

• Whats with the weird Princess Celestia Admin Bot?
  We like to have an automated Princess Celestia to wander around Canterlot. Makes the place feel a little bit more homey. She makes killer waffles, too. You should try some sometime.
  

• What's the story with some of the banned users, like Angie Cakes?
  I prefer to respect the privacy of others when it comes to issues like these; the best way to find out would be to ask the person themselves.
  

• Canterlot. Y U SO ADDICTIVE?
  I'm very glad to hear you are enjoying the community
  

• Who the heck is Tam?!
  Tam is one of the founding Administrators of the board. When Ashi and he decided to move on to different projects in their life, they agreed to entrust the board into my hands. Tam made that happen, and played a very large role in saving the board. He and I still talk to this day.
  

• What was Old Canterlot like?
  The old Canterlot was an electronook site with a basic forum skin and colour set- it was charming when I stumbled across it, and the community was small but passionate. Ashi and Tam set many roots down for the board that eventually evolved into Mane RP, our application process, and some of our other forums on the board. The board had its own set of problems back then, but it saw its way through them and has grown from 80 users, to thousands. I remember my first post on the board was an application for Applejack- things were very different back then.
  

• Who as the first member of Canterlot? Who was the first RP Helper, etc?
  Aside from Ashi, Tam, and the handful of moderators that made accounts (but didnt stick around), i'm not positive. When the board first launched, EqD mentioned it in one of their posts, and a landslide of members signed up the day after its creation- some of those members including Tales, Quicklime, and myself.
  

• When did Canterlot begin?
  Technically, March 8th 2011 is when the board first was created, known as Equestria- it was after I inherited the board a couple months later (sometimes around May 24th) and brought the previous staff and Artax onboard that it became "Canterlot".
  Hope that helps