Earth Pony Gearly

[ShadowMage]

Name: Gearly

Sex: Male

Age: Stallion (19-20-ish range)

Species: Earth Pony

Coat Color: Steel Grey

Mane/Tail Color & Style: Both - Mix of: Dark Brown (Varnished Oak, #703b1b) and Light Brown (Tanned Leather, #C6914D). Worn as slightly combed bed-head.

Eye Color: Teal

Cutie Mark: A set of 2 silver gears with the teeth of the gears interlocked, representing his affinity for clockwork machinery, particularly the fabrication of unique devices.

Physique: Tip of left ear is torn, leaving a jagged edge. His body is less well built than most other Stallions. His front legs are lean and fairly well muscled, although minutely scarred from various accidents.

Origin: Birthed: Outside Solstice Heights. Current Residence: Stalliongrad

Roleplay Type: Mane

Occupation: Engineer/Mechanic

Motivation: Gearly, always fascinated with the world about him and disappointed in not being gifted with the powers of magic, turned to science and mathematics to solve problems and better the lives of those around himself. His first creation earned his cutie mark.

Likes: Logic, Reason, Experimentation, Physics, New experiences, New ideas, (Secretly) Magic, Education, Innovation, Trinkets

Dislikes: Electricity, Stagnation, The status quo, Time, Darkness, Ignorance, Form over function, Jewelry, Extravagance

Character Summary:

On a small farmstead near Solstice Heights, a foal was born to a poor family who had been wheat farmers for generations. His dark-grey pelt echoed the steel gear that had broken on the family's wheat thresher earlier that day; lacking a better name, he was given the name inspired by his grey coat. His name, as it turned out, proved to be fitting; before his eighth summer, he figured out how to disassemble the wagon simply by watching his father. Within two more years, he had prevented the constant grinding of the wheat thresher by replacing the gear which had inspired his name and had continued to degrade. With the rusted gear hidden away under his pillow, he set out to improve the machines upon his parent's farm.

Within months, he had learned all he could from dismantling and maintaining the basic farming utilities owned by his family. He was content for several weeks, but his curiosity could not be sated by contraptions he had already mastered. While his family was distracted by their harvesting duties, he began to make infrequent, secretive trips into town. With every return home, he'd tuck a newly "acquired", curious device into a hidden compartment under his floorboards; the contraptions were always damaged, and he was certain that such things would not be missed. As the crawlspace beneath his room became a warehouse for springs, sprockets, gears, and pulleys, he began volunteering to head into town to buy supplies for his family; no pony ever seemed to connect the farmer's grey son with the disappearance of tools, the misplacement of parts, and the loss of inexpensive devices.

The following cold season was one of learning and experimentation for Gearly; farm life in the winter months left ample time for dismantling, tinkering, and reassembling his mechanical curiosities. During the short frozen days, Gearly discovered many of the principles which powered jacks, pumps, clocks, and other devices; working with the creations of people far wiser and infinitely more educated than he, Gearly observed how clockwork bits interacted. Even as he worked and toiled, though, he knew his family would ostracize him for his burning passion. The young pony kept his hobby from his family, hidden under piles of wheat stalks and chaff insulation.

As winter came to a close, Gearly's family tasked him with heading into town to collect supplies for the coming year. In his absence, his family began working on that year's winter wrap-up; his father and brothers began clearing the fields of snow while his mother and sisters set out, clearing the improvised insulation from the house. Hauling a cart laden with supplies for the new spring and returning late that evening, Gearly found his family pulling heaps of metal springs, cogs, and

other clockwork bit from his room out into the field before their house.

After being chided by his parents and reassembling and returning each and every item which he had "acquired", Gearly was exiled to his room that night without any nourishment. While his parents loved Gearly dearly, they were at a loss for what to do with their troublesome son; he had never contributed to the farm as his other siblings did, and it was plain that his curiosity could not be contained. His odd and eccentric behavior had nearly caused his parents to die of shame and embarrassment. There was only solution as near as they could find: send their son to a formal school; if nothing else, it would get them out of their mane to figure out something else.

Self-educated and lacking a great deal of resources, the thought of a formal education was enough to make the young foal's head spin. While the prospect of leaving his family and the only home he had know was upsetting, Gearly knew that it would be foolish to pass up an opportunity such as this. By the end of the week, bags had been packed, plans had been set, and hugs had been shared. The day of his departure, Gearly slipped to his room, pulling the ancient, rusted gear from beneath his pillow; slipping the toothed circle onto bit of twine and tying it into a large hoop, the young foal slipped the ad-hock necklace over his head and went to share a round of final good-byes to his family.

The glamor and excitement of formal education rapidly wore off for the soon-to-be-colt. His peers, all several years younger from starting their education earlier in life, could not relate to the older pony; few to none knew of the hardships of working on a farm, a lifestyle Gearly was quite accustomed to. While his peers played and frolicked in the sun and fields, Gearly studied and talked to his teachers, seeking knowledge he hadn't acquired earlier in life. The vast interest in mechanisms rather than toys and games was alien and laughable to his peers. Gearly's eccentric mannerisms caused only a fraction of the torment directed at the new student; the rusted gear worn about his neck and his naked flank were constantly fuel for any and all who wished to bully the poor farmer's, who was quickly dubbed "Geekly".

Early one fateful day, a pair of hooligans decided to play a prank upon Gearly; one would distract their target as the other would hide, trip the grey colt and then steal the "ugly and useless" gear that he always wore while he was dazed. The plan worked perfectly, much to the distress of Gearly; the necklace was both a symbol of his passion and a memory of his family and farm, and it was now in the hands of ruffians who would likely lose or damage it. Only after much begging and pleading with the teacher, insisting how important the rusty gear was, was the keepsake returned safe and sound. Gearly waited patiently for punishment to be dealt to his two delinquent peers, but not even a scolding was given; Gearly stormed off in a huff, determined to take matters into his own hooves.

As the memory of the incident faded from the mind of all involved save Gearly, he toiled secretly behind a cluster of topiaries, hidden away from prying eyes. Using various scavenged and bought parts, the colt fashioned his first contraption from scratch; The catapult he had cobbled together would deliver a payload of viscous tree sap to his targets as he hid in the bushes. Luring his tormentors to the mark, he primped the device, loaded the sap, and pulled the cord to fire the machine; not a thing had happened. Questioning his design as he trotted toward his contraption, he leaned close to inspect for any faults in his design. Sap at oozed down into the device, coating the gears in the sticky fluid preventing them from working. At that moment, he heard a loud snap as something gave way, his machine exploding into thousands of tiny splinters as he was flung backwards, colliding with a tree. When he opened his eyes, he found himself upside-down, coated in sap, firmly stuck to the trunk of a sturdy oak.

Gearly's sudden appearance upon the side of the tree started the young filly who'd been singing peacefully beneath the cool leaves. Moments later, after recovering from his stunning flight and even more stunning stop, Gearly regained his senses and verbally calmed the shaken deep sky-blue pelted pony; the filly carefully helped Gearly from the tree and proceeded to help him clean up the remains of creation, after asking politely if Gearly needed assistance. The silver-maned pony's kindness surprised Gearly, having only dealt with laughter and ridicule from others his age. As he cleaned the sticky sap from his form, his shock only deepened as he discovered a set of silver gears sporting brightly on flank. His luck had taken a dramatic turn for the better that day; he'd gained both his first true friend and found his cutie mark.

After completing his schooling years later, Gearly returned to his family's farm and his home. The unusual mannerisms which had caused him and his family such trouble years before had dulled, though his burning passion for all things machinery and creation and only intensified. Gearly knew that, while a sturdy foundation, his current level of schooling would never satisfy his passion and desires; to achieve his goals, he'd need to leave his family once more, traveling to the far off city of Stalliongrad to study and practice. After several months which felt all too short, Gearly had helped his family in the only way he was able; each and every machine on the farm had been modified by Gearly so that, while he was gone, his work would still help his family earn their livelihood. With yet another round of good-byes, and a heavy heart, Gearly set out on the long road to Stalliongrad to learn all he could.

"A failure is still a success if you learn from it."

Character Log Here

[flutterscotch]

Hi Shadowmage!

One thing, I know this is WIP, but before you get to far into it, I know that there's a forum-wide tendency to try to stay away from human names as pony names, so someone may ask you to change it. You might want to consider alternates... And oddly a good place to look for mechanical words that would fit as a name fictional pony is Doozer names from Fraggle Rock: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Doozers (I know how weird that sounds)

I *think* though that he will fly profession wise, because there is also a tinkerer named Rivet, one of Pony_Sage's characters, who has a similar skillset. Except maybe the magic part, since he's not a unicorn.

[ShadowMage]

One thing, I know this is WIP, but before you get to far into it, I know that there's a forum-wide tendency to try to stay away from human names as pony names, so someone may ask you to change it. You might want to consider alternates...

Hm... I did forget about this little bit of information... Would it be more acceptable to name him "(Something more pony-esque) Leonardo Gearling"? I'm rather fond of the nickname he acquired in his schooling.

[RarityDash]

An engineer pony from Stalliongrad? Awesome. He can talk to my Snowfall if he ever finds himself in need of a job.

But yeah, looks likes the makings of a cool character.

[Dessa]

Love the cutie mark. So is he devoted to mechanics because of his frustration about his inability to use magic?

[Pony_Sage]

Hello there! Another Stalliongrad pony, and a mechanically inclined one top boot, very nice. I am sad to inform you but you can not have a three part name, just too cluttered. Also Leonardo, while it is an interesting name, doesn't sound very pony-like and we are trying to shy away from first and last names. I do, however, really like the name Gearling, it really fits him as a pony! As for the "Mane" RP, I am sure that you can fit him in, "Mane" RP just have more stringent rules outlining what you should and shouldn't have as a pony, and as it stands nothing seems out of place other than his name.

You have a pretty good background and the cutie-mark story is rather funny but it works well at the same time. I don't see much of a personality however. What makes this pony tick? Why does he like technology, what drives him to create these contraptions? Did he see one when he was a foal and just fell in love with the design? Or is it an attempt to make mundane tasks easier? Maybe he has a repair shop in Stalliongrad, or maybe he works for a big firm that repairs many different sorts of items. There are a lot of fun ways you could take this pony and I hope to see him come to completion soon!

~Sage AkA Freddie Freewings

[ShadowMage]

I am sad to inform you but you can not have a three part name, just too cluttered. Also Leonardo, while it is an interesting name, doesn't sound very pony-like and we are trying to shy away from first and last names. I do, however, really like the name Gearling, it really fits him as a pony!

To solve this problem, would it be at all possible to keep all his names, but just refer to himself and be referred to as Gearling?

As for what making him tick, I'm still kinda fleshing it out, but Dessa more-or-less has it right. He looks at the amazing things magic can do and draws inspiration from such things.

I'm really debating about making him a more down-to-Equestria pony creating reasonable and useful contraptions or have his head more stuck in the clouds and attempting to create ridiculous over the top machines that would make Rube Goldberg blush.

[Pony_Sage]

I like the down-to-equestria idea, it makes him more playable and easier to interact with. Again I hate to tell you but the three names really can't stay. The nick name is a clever play on words, I understand, alas Leonardo and Isaac are too human of names and just don't fit with this OC it seems. Flutterscotch pointed out a great place to come up with names if you want a two part, but I really think that Gearling fits this pony perfectly. So while you are editing his motivation if you could edit his name as well, it would be greatly appreciated.

~Sage AkA Freddie Freewings

[Ashwood]

A stallion from the east, welcome Comrade!

Edited October 30, 2011 by Pony_Sage
Please keep all posts in English so the moderators can understand what is being said.

[ShadowMage]

Okay! I've started reworking the character abit. I've given his past more thought and detail, tell me what you guys think so far. I'm going to keep working on this. If someone wants, I can post the original back-story, probably hidden in a spoiler tab or something, if that's possible.

Still trying to figure out if I want Gearly to be more down-to-Equstria or abit...eccentric.

[Dessa]

Well, what you've got so far is really good. Based on what's written there, stealing things just to fix them would seem to lean more eccentric, but I'm not seeing the whole story either so don't base much on my take.

[ShadowMage]

Okay! More written out. I'm not sure if I like how this last part is written. Any comments would be delightful. If there's any inconsistencies, please tell me.

[ShadowMage]

Huzzah! His first creation and finally when he gets his cutie mark!

I'm beginning to wonder a bit if this is too long, or is the length a good thing? Does anyone have any comments about it so far?

[Xiee]

Hi shadow. I know I promised to critique your app on the chat but I'm still at work. Let me get home first so I can seriously give it a read okay? ^^

[Pony_Sage]

From what I see all you need to do is wrap up the Cutie-Mark story, and touch on how he came to his current situation. Just final touches and wrapping up the back-story is all that really needs to be done. Since this is a WIP and you noted that you are working on the back-story in your app, I say that you are well on your way to completion. I find it rather amusing that he stole things to fuel his curiosity, a rather unique attribute. So just wrap up the Cutie-Mark story and touch on his current circumstances and you should be fine.

~Sage AkA Freddie Freewings

[Xiee]

Ugh... sorry wasn't able to give comments on this but pretty much what Pony_Sage has said is spot on >_<.

[ShadowMage]

Alright. I think I'm all done here! Provided that he's accepted, I'll probably start role-playing him, starting in Solstice Heights, on his trip to Stalliongrad. I like this idea, as I'm not ENTIRELY sure how his life in Stalliongrad would be: He's still young, has a lot to learn, and, despite having his cutie mark and knowing what his ability is, he's not sure what he's going to do with it. I think RPing is probably the best way to find out all of these things.

[Pony_Sage]

"Assessed!" Thus spake the Sage.

[Skye]