The-Jaded-Bug

The jenny grinned lightly at the acknowledgement, but something yet again didn’t quite sit right with the rest of what Zephyr had to say. He seemed like he had good intentions, but it was as though the dark green Pegasus was trying to condense the whole story. An eyebrow rose as Gale’s smile slowly yet surely faltered, trying to think of just why she was starting to suspect that something was up. Then it dawned to her. He obviously didn’t think much of the little donkey. To him, she must have appeared to be some small, immature, weakling of a foal who barely had any understanding of what either of them had been saying. He was dumbing down his vocabulary for the sake of communicating to someone that had plenty more smarts than he was willing to acknowledge. Resisting the urge to give him a dirty, full-blown glare, her blood began to boil. She wasn’t going to tolerate those flying horseapples, now, was she? When the monk spoke up while giving them his best wishes, Gale finally managed a happier, more genuine expression. She didn’t have it in her to act mean towards the other, especially not when he was actually treating her like a person rather than as a size and age group. She tipped her head at him with friendly smile. “Why thanks Swift,” She interjected politely. “Welp, if ya don’ mind me callin’ ya that!” Gale wasn’t sure if the light green stallion cared about being casual as far as names went, considering how polite the Pegasus himself could be. She then turned her head towards Zephyr, the donkey’s smile morphing into that of a smirk. An idea of how to deal with him had began to take form in her mind: Resorting to fistihooves was obviously out of the question, as he hadn’t directly invoked her...yet...and he was a full-grown adult, and who was seemingly working with a rather powerful stallion at that! In the meantime, she’d have to prove herself that she was anything but stupid. In fact, maybe she could outright convince him that she knew more about his whereabouts than she actually did. “Oh, and I think I know what yer talkin’ 'bout there, Zeph. ‘It’s s’posed to be the...Trans Equestrian Railroad! Right?” She queried in fake naivety, but she really was glad that the name of the project came to mind. It was something she had heard of since their arrival, considering the hubbub over it. “Ya mus’ be workin’ for a pretty powerful guy there. Hearda th’ Rockefilly legacy few, ‘t’s funny seeing ‘im turning a new leaf ‘ere!” In truth, she wasn’t too sure about the rich stallion’s motives for the project. Part of her had her suspicions, but she knew that her brother and the vast majority of Appleloosans were especially happy about the towns potential prospects, if everything were to go as planned. Gale put a hoof by her muzzle in thought. She didn’t know too much about who else was investing in the project that was working closely with Max, though there were rumors abound that he apparently brought along two bodyguards - one being an actual guard in their own right, and the other being some criminal of sorts. A part of her doubted that it was true, since she didn’t know anypony who would have the right mind to trust the latter in protecting such an influential figure...but her eyes suddenly flickered, the unlikely happening giving her another idea to follow through. “Though, I’ve gotta ask ya - y’all know anypony else workin’ on th’ whole thing? ‘Cause somepony said some days ago there was ah, say, odd duo workin’ with Max, correct?” She shuffled her hooves casually as she peered her head over at Zephyr. “Somethin’ about ah guardsmare an’ a convict duking it out at one point. Y’ don’ happen to know ‘em, right? And wha’d of yer friend? Would she know of ‘em?” A devious smirk formed as the jenny began to circle around him. Of course, she honestly wouldn’t have know whether or not Zephyr Burst had any part of that, let alone if that was the truth, and Gale had only heard that the guard in particular was a mare, though she couldn’t be too sure about that either. She honestly didn’t believe the whole situation to be true, but it was at least worth attempting to rile him up in retaliation.

Welp, you've lured the beetle into the bug zapper. There's no way I can't take part of this now. Also, zhe thread with zhe buggy drawings.

S'more updatin' (spoilers because largness)~ A potential character design for another OC I may app, Wisteria Bloom. Her Cutie Mark will likely have something to do with the flower she's named after, but how it'll be used/shaped will be a little more creative than just 'stick some flowers on her flanks and call it her special talent'. For at least a basic idea on what she might be personality-wise, let's just say that I'm incorperating both European and Japanese interpretation of the flower's symbolism and see what you can come up with...

Excuse me, while I don't mean to butt in or get off topic, but someone having a 'multiple personalities'/dissociative personality disorder and hearing voices are not quite one in the same. Sure, the etymology of the word schitzophrenia literally means 'split mind', but as a medical disorder? While the symtoms and affects of various contitions may overlap, and can be hard to discern when someone has multiple disorders with related syptoms, a characterer that has a 'split' personality isn't enough of an indication to affirm what type of schitzophrenia they would have, let alone schitzophrenia in general. While I already know that Mane and Tales have ruled that out (and I agree with them on the matter), and as much as I'd rather not sound like a know-it-all, I just wanted to point that out.

Quick update! I whipped this up a while ago, but I sort of forgot that I even had a thread open. Silly me. ^-^;; 'Tis gale, my little donky. Her legs/belly/eyes are supposed to take on a beige color, but scanners can be quite fickle. I think I'm the only one on the 'net who's a fan of the female donkey (or at least Matilda's) design, methinks.

As someone with curly hair myself, so am I! As for Splatter's mane, I was trying to make her mane appear to have particularly thick/curly hair without going for the usual curly Qs (or create an exact replica of the linework used for Pinkie's hair). I haven't quite out a mane color however: I was thinking about giving her a blue or purple mane, with the latter being more of a red-violet or a shade of indio as to differentiate from Rarity's hair color (as I intend on giving Splatter an off-white pelt). Though now that you brough up the 'beads', I think I might use two or more colors for her mane...

Gale couldn’t help but slip a smirk at the acknowledgement of their names, resisting the urge to lightly giggle at the monk’s hint of dry wit. Taking wind of the stallion’s related questions, Gale looked over at Plucky once more, who was dragging a her talons back and forth as the hen eyed spacily as nopony in particular; the perfect “I’m innocent” pose, not that she had much to do with the donkey being up so early. Making a subtle shrugging motion, she set her gaze back on Zephyr and Swift Breeze. “Eh, not quite.” She answered Swift first, “She jus’ follows me around some. Plucky’s more of a pet than a farm animal, but speakin’ ah which,” The little jenny turned more towards Zephyr. “We - my brother an’ I - we moved jus’ this week, from our family’s farm I mean. But the house he got? It’s a little, well, beat up in places...” Gale scuffled a forehoof nervously at the understatement.”But m’ brother, Finch, he’s stardin’ up business as ah repair jack, so things aren’t too bad. Still, we’ve been fixin’ up the place since we got ‘ere! He lemme take a break from workin’ today, so that’s why’m up early.” The warm desert air was slowly started to take the place of last night’s chill, but that seemed to be the last thing on the donkey’s mind. While she noticed the warmth creeping alongside the rising sun, such an instance didn’t particularly matter much in her mind. After all, Gale was anything but an indoor show horse, and while the sweltering heat could be bothersome while working on their new home, it was more of a tedious thing than an annoying setback.

^THIS. SO MUCH. *ahem* Being adopted myself, I'll admit that, at least at first, I had been a little dissapointed with the episode. Specifically, I didn't see any message beyond "Spike wats to know more about his dragon origins, but gains nothing out of it after running into the dragon equivalent of a group of fratboys" and felt as though the adoption message had been completely lost. But the more I thought about it, and the more I read about others' interpretation of the episode, I have more respect for the (now more complex) message that was being conveyed. I believe that my former oppinion was due to various things, the main one being that, still being a young 'un, I've yet to completely go through that stage where I come in contact with my biological origins, so maybe I was hoping for a different outcome for Spike that would give us, the viewers, more answers. But I'm glad that you're the first one to have given some deeper insight on the adoptive perspective, and to be honest, you really hit the doornail there. The whole "adopted kid in a plain/boring family that goes on an epic journey to discover just how awesome they and their 'real' parents are" is especially overdone, even if it's a little better than the (dated) wicked stepmother trope (and when both tropes/literary devices are combined...let's just say that it becomes riddled with unfortunate implications). My likeing/respect has been earned for you plentyfold.

Seconded! I'll have Swift Kite join in the blind date-craziness. Either mare of stallion would be fine~

Hmmmm, now that you mentioned it, I've wanted to put Gale in Bistro's Grand Opening for awhile. I have another Appleloosan character I want to apply (her brother), though right now I've been filling out (and have writer's block on) another one entirely. Maybe I could have Gale enter the inn and have her brother join later once he get's accepted?

Aaaaaaand, here's some pony doodles: This isn't really an OC as much as it's...a random pony I drew. I'll probably have it be an adoptable/give it to someone who really wants to use the design for a character of their own. Once I get Gear Savvy's application done (and once I finish Gale's brother's app), you just might be seeing my dye-making/botanist pony, Splatter Tinge, showing up in the RP. And as for the random blotches on her pelt, they're just dye stains...or you know, splatters on a very pale coat, hence the name. And as Dio nicknamed her in chat..........Liartinge

Welp, it's time to update! This thread isn't dead, or at least I hope so... Some multimedia stuff from my visual journal (in spoilers because size): And on a small note, I'd rather not spam this page with every single thing I've submitted on my dA account. These here are actually some early stuff that I did (as in last year and the year before). Some of my stuff on there will likely show up on here with more updates, but I'll mostly focus on pony-related art/doodles. Oh! and my first gif. I found out that, well, they're incredibly easy to make actually:

Well folks, I knew I'd have to do this sooner or later...*braces everyone before they face a plethora of text* 1. Flying and/or buzzing insects in general. For the exeption of bees and wasps, I can tollerate it when I see insects...that is, when they're on some sort of surface. But when they're not? Let's just say that, unless they can't sting or give bug bites, I'll stay away from them as far as possible. And when they make noise? I was once startled by a vibrating phone because I thought there was a bee in the living room, so I'll just point out that it only amplifies my flying insect paranoia. Oh! And ladybugs, moths and house flies will send me running. Especially ladybugs, those sneaky *******s. 2. Being upsidedown in midair/falling. The latter fear isn"t quite as strong as of late, but ever since I went on this one ride called "The Ring of Fire" (aka, one giant rollercoaster track in the form of a circle that goes around and around and around...), I've never been able to stomache going on any upsidedown rollercoaster ride. I'm somewhat alright with going down one at a fast speed, since I usually go from "GET ME OFF OF THIS THING!" at the beginning to "THAT WAS SO AWESOME! LET'S DO IT AGAIN!" once it actually finishes, but anything else...*shudders* 3. Talking in front of groups of people while being (or feeling) unprepaired. I'll admit that I used to be ridiculously timid, and maybe I still am to an extent, but even when I was little I was good about keeping calm durring school plays, choir concerts, and the like. But anything else, however, is a different story altogether. Unless I do something, like doing a ton of rehearsing what I might have to say, and unless I feel that I have everything I need, I have an extremely hard time with making presentations, even if I'm part of a group rather than alone. Even if I double-check that I have everything down, I then worry about how I present myself, because looking at an audiece (size reguardless) makes me feel really uncomfortable, and attempting to look at the wall or some random object while talking just makes me look like I'm spacing out (which has been and can be a problem with concerts and past plays, but in those cases, for some unknown reason, it's a lot easier for me to overcome them). Also, when I'm really anxious/nervous/stressed out in general, I'm particularly prone to pausing and doing TONS of stuttering while possibly being prone to making lisps, which thusly makes me look like an idiot who knows absolutely nothing on the subject of which I'm talking about, even when most people would have no difficulty at all. Or sometimes I don't even bother to speak at all when I'm nervous, just so I don't have to deal with said stuttering/lisping/looking like an idiot. Combine that with fear number 3 and, well... 4. Dying a gruesomely painful death/being killed. I'm pretty sure this should be self-explanatory. I'm not afraid of death in general, but of how I'll meet said death. I would rather die peacefully on some sort of deathbed, no matter how long or short my life turns out, than being stabbed in the heart, getting run over by a car... And last but not least...*takes a deep breath* 5. The idea of meeting either one of my biological parents. Yes, I just so happen to be adopted, and yes, I live in a supportive/caring/loving family that may or may not tend to treat me like their little baby girl (being the 'youngest' has its pros and cons, trust me). While I'm not going to harbor over the details reguarding said adoption (other than that I young enough not to remember my biological parents), I will say that knowing about my birth parents in the first place is...well...kind of surreal. And to better explain it: I've known about them for a good portion of my life, while being filled in on specific delails about them as you get older/mature, but I don't actually know them. Which, now that I think about it, it's surprisingly similar to knowing about a celebrity without ever meeting/getting to know one...for the HUGE exeption being that they're not famous, and that, obviously, they have a MUCH stronger connection to me...and now that I think about it again, comparing celebrities to biological parents is a really bad analogy, but I'm not sure how else I could explain it. Or to put it in short, I actually do want to meet them in the future at some point, but I'm also afraid to because it's out of my comfort zone/like jumping into unknown territory/insert-other-reasons-to-ramble-about. I have the feeling that I'll be fine once it happens, but even thinking about it is enough to make nervous at this point...

It was mid afternoon, but the snow storm made the sky look gray and gloomy, even more so than normal during the winter season. The sign in front of the door of Joy's Toy Shop read OPEN, but most sane ponies wouldn't bother to travel through thick snow in an open field just to buy a toy for their little ones, especially in this kind of weather. But the few employees there were still working, and there were still things to do before anypony - or anyone, as Patches was a dragon - would even bother to flip the store's sign. The Pegasus Swift Kite, along with Patches, who helped with sculpting the parts, had recently finished making and painting a wooden toy dragon with jointed legs and wings. It was modeled after that of an adult, and its 'scales' were a bright red that was lighter than Kite's pelt. It was placed on a nearby shelf where it could be left to dry. There was something strange about this toy, however, something that neither of them had picked up on, but they may, sooner than later, discover just why... "You know, thank's for helping me out with that!" Swift Kite said gratefully to Patches as she opened up a sack filled with toys. It was around this time of year where some of the toys from the shop would be gathered and then donated to foals in need. But considering the storm, this would have to wait, and a good way to pass the time was to make a few more until it passed, even if they had to wait until tomorrow. "Y-you needn't mention it..." The orange and blue dragon replied timidly, giving a warm yet toothy smile at her. "I-it was nothing really, they were just a few pieces for assemblage, is all." Patches then looked down a shelf and arranged a few stuffed animals, knowing that his friend would comment on his modesty. But before the young mare could open her mouth, a black Pegasus suddenly opened and staggered through the doorway of the shop, appearing cold and exhausted from the storm brewing outside. Patches winced, practically startled by weary stranger's sudden intrusion, and Swift Kite's eyes widened, showing that she was startled too. With a quick exchange of glances, Swift Kite spoke up. "Patches, y'think you can check to see if the fire's still running? And maybe get some blankets, or, or..." She tried to think of other thinks she could get for the tired stallion, but Patches lifted up a claw-like index finger and nodded slowly. While nervous about leaving Swift Kite alone with the newcomer (as they barely even knew him, after all), he glanced back at the two Pegasi before heading through the back door. But as he did, he almost swore that a certain toy was moving slightly, but quickly dismissed it from his mind. Cantering towards the stallion, Swift Kite put a hoof on his snowflake-covered back to help his balance, unsure if he had the strength to walk any longer. "Hey, you okay there?" She queried softly with concern. Considering his tired demeanor, is was obvious that 'okay' was an overstatement on behalf of his condition.

Yes, I know that x] I was just pointing out that, well, I tend to make long apps anyway even if they're not expected of me. It's a habit I guess, on this site and others in the past. But on a different note, you SO much Brian!

My little donkey is firm and toned for proper inspection. Erm, I mean, Gale's ready for approval/any needed changes!

A little slow (again), mostly due to the normal hectic-ness of the holidays. I have what I want to add for the rest of this in mind, I just need to find some time to sit down and finish it (which will be very soon :3).

The main engineer also aprooves!

*~pokes through the thread before slowly dissapearing in a cloud of smoke~*