Unicorn Clockwise

[Clockwise]

[colour=#000000]Name: [/colour][colour=#000000]Clockwise[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Sex: [/colour][colour=#000000]Male[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Age: [/colour][colour=#000000]Middle-aged Stallion[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Species: [/colour][colour=#000000]Unicorn[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Coat colour: [/colour][colour=#000000]A dusky grey-purple. (Hex: [/colour][colour=#663366]715381[/colour][colour=#000000])[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Mane/Tail/Markings colour & Style: [/colour][colour=#000000]Red, curly, tangled and awfully messy. ([/colour][colour=715381]Hex: [/colour][colour=#993300]715381[/colour] and [colour=#cc6600]e48837[/colour])

[colour=#000000]Eye colour: [/colour][colour=#000000]Purply-grey [/colour]

[colour=#000000]Cutie Mark: [/colour][colour=#000000]A large golden gear with twelve teeth and two clock hands inside of it, pointing at 2:55. (Picture!) (Hex: [/colour][colour=#cccc66]f0d878[/colour][colour=#000000])[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Physique: Scrawny and scruffy and knobbly. Clockwise has a crooked, pointy snout, and visible age lines under his eyes and smiling crow's feet at the corners. In contrast, though, he also has freckles that add a dash of youth to his tired face and some pretty prominent front teeth.[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Origin: [/colour][colour=#000000]Fet Loch[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Roleplay Type: Mane RP

Occupation: Professor, wizard (with the documentation to prove it), clockmaker (mostly as a hobby now).[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Motivation: [/colour][colour=#000000]Exploring time, be it through theory or thought or magic.[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Likes: [/colour][colour=#000000]Things that go tick tock, tradition, hugs, bow ties, socks, reading, intelligent conversations, history, theory[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Dislikes: [/colour][colour=#000000]People commenting on his speech impediment, being startled, cats, rambunctiousness[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Character Summary:[/colour]

Clockwise is an awkward, stuttering, clumsy pony, and if it weren't for the fact that he is obviously an older fellow, it might be quite easy to mistake him for a bumbling young colt simply by his mannerisms and the nervous and often silly way by which he goes about things. Despite his goofiness, though, he is quite gentle and kindly, like somebody's quirky uncle. If ponies wore pants, Clockwise would probably forget his on a regular basis.

Exceedingly partial to the traditional customs of the powerful unicorns of history, Clockwise is rarely seen without his floppy, tattered purple hat that's certainly seen better days, though he is tragically incapable of growing a beard. He is considered an endearing eccentric by most of his colleagues, but enjoys a level of respect for his work. Though his talent isn't magic, per se, he undoubtedly qualifies as a wizard, both on account of his enviable collection of spellbooks and because his default repertoire of spells is rather large and diverse, even if they're primarily intended for convenience. Convenience, after all, saves time!

History:

Born to two unicorn parents, Clockwise began life as a long-legged, wobbly, timid colt, and he hasn't changed all that much in that regard. He spent most of his foalhood days frolicking around the verdant hills of Fet Loch by himself, nibbling new flowers in the spring and sticking out like a sore thumb against the snow in the winter; he was quite content to be alone, used to it, in fact, for not having ever had a sibling, and he shied often from other foals out of nervousness.

Perhaps he was often lonely, but Clockwise found other things to keep himself entertained during the many hours he spent by himself. Clockwise was the sort of young pony that liked things. All kinds of things--everything! He loved to watch them and try to figure out how they worked--carriages and chimneys, lilypads and feathers, clouds and the sun and the moon and the stars; he learned about how magic was at the heart of the world, and took great pride in his own capacity to wield it in its rawest form, enchanted quite early by the concept, and practicing it regularly, with mixed but always entertaining results. He read books, too, as many books as he could get his hooves on, on magic and fact and fiction, with those tales that sit under the veil that divides history from story being his favorite. Clockwise enjoyed old tales of great unicorns, the legends of ancient royals, the many different recollections of the making of the world, and hundreds of others, all spun from the fertile thread of myth and wonder. Some, of course, were truer than others, though he may never know which. He was a fanciful young pony, too, and a lot of his assumptions about the way things worked were full of silly explanations that made perfect sense to him, but not so much to anypony else, and he blissfully forgot, or pretended to forget, less romantic reasonings.

During his bookish indulgences, Clockwise found a very thick volume full of lines and equations, and was introduced directly to the mechanisms of one of the most complicated devices he had ever seen: a clock. He knew what a clock was, of course, but there was something different about seeing the intricate mechanics laid bare upon the pages of a book like the delicate bones of a bird wing. They were so complex that he couldn't understand them just by looking at them! He decided immediately that he therefore had to learn everything about them, and as he was an older colt by this time, he was gladly taken in as an apprentice to a local earth pony artisan when he went about expressing his interest in happy babblings to anyone who'd listen.

Learning the trade alongside some basic unicorn schooling, Clockwise proved a diligent, if bumbling, worker, which he still is today; clocks were much more complex and difficult to build and understand than he could have thought, having grown up believing his own theory that stars were broken diamonds and other things of the variety, but time managed to change even his clumsiness into something of finesse, at least when working with timepieces, which he grew to love more than any other thing he had watched or studied, even his stories. Perhaps it was the smell of the wood, or the sound of the tick, the joy of piecing together something almost as complex as a living thing; whatever the case, clocks were suddenly his favorite thing in the world.

He made many errors, and often, but his master had taken a shine to him, and was encouraging and kind in his criticism. Clockwise quickly grasped his problems and the things he had to do to fix them, and as he improved and was able to allow his mind to wander more as he worked, an even greater complexity became obvious to him--why, not clocks, and not clouds, or even magic! It was the greatest complexity of all, the greatest mystery that ever existed. It was time, and every bit of the young pony began to burn with wonder and eagerness and a most profound desire to comprehend it.

He turned, of course, to his books, digging up every myth related to time, every story, every legend--and the rest, as they say, is history.

Clockwise never actually learned the nature of time, though he spent many hours on trying. As he grew into his long legs, he became singularly obsessed with it, attempting over the years such impossibilities as trying to find the exact length of a moment, or the true nature of the present, or the engine that keeps time running. His search took him on plenty of journeys, both through libraries and over miles of dusty road. Something clicked in his head one day--the timesense, a passive comprehension of the passing of time, and an incredible capacity to be always aware of the hour and the minute and the second of the day, of the date and the season and the year, of his precise temporal position. It was a deep realization, but impossible to understand; Clockwise doesn't know how his timesense works, but the world is full of mysteries, and in the way that some ponies are good at finding their way, or know when something is going to happen, Clockwise just knows what time it is, always. The unlocking of the strange sense granted the fumbling young pony his cutie mark, and when asked about it now, he smiles absently in a way that crinkles the corners of his grey eyes, which become bright and vague with memory. With age, the timesense developed, and Clockwise can crisply recall dates and times with extraordinary accuracy.

Of course, when one feels the passing of every moment, those moments become so much more valuable. Clockwise recognized the significance of time, and there is almost nothing else in the world that is more important to him now. Time is the catalyst through which all other things happen, after all, and slowly the pony's love and fascination began to grow into a worry; other ponies around him thought nothing of time beyond the flimsy boundary of dates and hours and days and nights, and this worry crested during the return of Nightmare Moon, and again at the freeing of the spirit Discord, for fear of what either entity and their great power would do to the progression of the hours and the days. Other ponies feared the presence of chaos, or the eternity of night--but Clockwise, in addition to these, feared what either of these might do to something far more fundamental to existence.

Perhaps he worried in futility, for no great temporal ill came of either occasion, but Clockwise still dreads, in some deep place in his heart of hearts, that one day all of the monsters and nightmares that he had read about in his books would free themselves from their ancient prisons and do something terrible to the fabric of time. After all, very real events had already proven at least two of the fairy tales to be true.

Following his apprenticeship and his first few searches for the nature of time, Clockwise fell back into his old scholarly ways, using the money he had made through his clockmaking to pursue an education in magical theory. He soon grew up from a curious young stallion into a knowledgeable older one, and decided that he may find his answers not out in the wild world but instead in a book such as the one where it had all begun. He eventually took up a position teaching in Canterlot--one that was hard-earned, for not many have the patience for a stuttering professor--and spends much of his time there now, where he has rightfully earned his position as one of the university's most eccentric and most brilliant teachers.

Some doofy doodles of robe concepts. Also, face.

[Pony_Sage]

Hay there, I thought I would stop by and lend a helping hoof! Clockwise here seems like a pretty fun character to have in the RP and the application is pretty much all there, so I just have a few questions for you and some tips! First, I really want to know what dimensional magic implies! It sounds rather complicated and interesting, but I am more concerned with its outcomes and ramifications. What is he going to be doing with this sort of magic? Also while you have a personality and a back story, I would like to know a little more about him and his life up until now. How is his relationship with his parents? Does he still keep in touch with his clockmaker friend? How did he notice his talent for magic if he wanted to work with clocks? All these things will help you develop a more dimensional character and make him more fun to play for you! You also might want to expand upon his cutie-mark story, give a few specifics about what he was doing when it happened. Was he putting together an especially difficult clock from scratch, or was he fixing a patrons beloved coo-coo clock? Something like that will also add depth to your character. I like his personality, it seems to fit him very well! I hope that these tips help you out while you develop this character!!

~Sage AkA Freddie Freewings

[Clockwise]

Hello! I will definitely contemplate these questions, and thank you for posing them! I didn't go into massive detail with the back story primarily in the interest of keeping it relatively short and sweet and saving some details for discovery through roleplay, but I'll certainly be working with a number of your suggestions. C:

Of all of them, though, I do realize that the dimensional magic thing would have the most impact on other ponies, and so I'll definitely elaborate on that right here for everypony to see, right now!

Clockwise loves Time, of course, so a lot of his study is based around it and magic that manipulates it. There'd definitely be nothing awful or game-breaking like travelling back into the past or forwards into the future, at least, not in practice--that sort of thing would be restricted to theory, and it would most certainly be very dangerous. I picture him, therefore, as working with littler temporal spells, like slowing something down for a little while, or speeding it up, or undoing a small action that happened within the last minute, like someone dropping a glass, or maybe making somepony forget something for a little while. In other words, lots of odd, small, temporary little magics related to the flow of Time!

Naturally, Time isn't the only dimension in existence. He can do other little things, like teleporting over short distances. With a lot of magical resources and possibly the aid of other unicorns, he could even open portals to other locations on Equestria, too, for the sake of ease of travel.

Since this is his specialization as a professor, this is also the kind of stuff he teaches--it's complex stuff, most of it, which is why he educates at a university level.

He mostly just prefers to study this kind of hoopla, but he does use it, of course, probably mostly for shenanigans and as a convenience--it helps to be able to rewind the last thirty seconds when one is a clumsy pony that often loses his glasses and steps on them after.

If any of it sounds like too much, or if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear what you've got to say!

[Clockwise]

I answered most of Freddie's questions on the form itself and added some elaboration on his magic that I should have remembered to put there from the beginning!

[Pony_Sage]

Hay there again! I see that you edited the application and everything is looking pretty good! You added some depth to his back story and cutie-mark tale, which is great. The magic at the moment is a sticking point for me, his magic is just too powerful. I know that he would use the spells properly and responsibly, but as far as we have seen in the show, Twilight Sparkle is the most powerful Unicorn Pony spell caster. With this in mind, her most powerful spells that she has demonstrated seems to be both telekinesis, demonstrated whilst levitating the Ursa minor and the water tower, and her ability to teleport, which is relegated to minor distances. I would say that, although they are very interesting, the portals have to be removed. Maybe you could emphasize on a spell that he created o help him with watches, being his go to spell, or the time dilation effect that you outline later in the application. His ability to teleport might need to be reigned in a bit, so that it does not exceed that of Twilight. I like the Time Sense, that is a really neat passive spell! The telekinesis is perfectly fine, almost every unicorn has that to some degree. The pocket dimension in his hat is a very interesting angle! I would assume it is used for storing his tools and such, maybe a book or two, things like that right? The limitations are good, and the time paradoxes add a really fun aspect and hook to an RP scenario. I hope this helps you out!

~Sage AkA Freddie Freewings

[Clockwise]

Twilight Sparkle is also just a young pony, and is pursuing studies to get better at what she does, while Clockwise is an accomplished, older pony who would be teaching ickle fillies like her. (; Fair point, though. I don't really like getting compared to main characters in terms of ability, and I definitely don't want people to get the impression that I am purposefully trying to outdo one of them.

I'll cut the portals, then, and perhaps narrow his repertoire of chronomancy. Yes, the pocket dimension is entirely for flavor and silliness--that's what most of this character is about, after all! The Timesense is directly linked to his 'revelation', if you will, and so he doesn't really need any other spells to do what that already does, but I definitely enjoy your concept of a sort of signature spell. I'll have to think long and hard on what it could be.

Thank you so much for all of your help! You've been incredibly constructive, and I appreciate it.

[ShadowMage]

I do say, I'm quite certain that Clockwise and Gearly, should they both get accepted, would be friends quite quickly! Nothing makes Gearly drool like a finely crafted piece of clockwork.

Then again....Gearly has this terrible incompetence when it comes to measures of time...

[Clockwise]

Ohoho, I am inclined to agree! I do appear to have jacked your cutie mark, though. I might change it so we don't confuse people too terribly. :V

Also, I switched this back to a WIP since I have some specific things I need to iron out, herka derka. Special thanks to AppleNitrox for giving me some small tips over the pony chat, too.

[ShadowMage]

I actually didn't have any issues with your previous cutie mark. While many ponies may have similar cutie marks, the ponies themselves differ VASTLY. If anyone HAD managed to confuse our two ponies, we could share a good laugh with them for getting a steel-grey steam-punk pony and a purple-and-gold chronomancer confused.

On the subject of your new cutie mark, I actually like this one A LOT more than your previous one. The inclusion of the clock hands is something I like quite abit. The gear/clock feels incredibly unique, something that another person likely won't duplicate by themselves.

I'm not sure if this is within reason of the rules... But perhaps his cutie mark's hands shift to reflect the progression of time? It'd likely be something nopony would notice, even if directly observing it., unless they were SPECIFICALLY looking for the change. Might also have a connection with his Timesense. Just a random idea I had.

[Clockwise]

Yes, it's entirely true that mixing up Gearly and Clockwise would be silly. XD Even so, I don't like seeing the same sort of cutie mark on two ponies that aren't related, and honestly, the gears suit Gearly, for the kind of pony he is and the nature of his talent (AND HIS NAME, DERP), so much more.

I'm glad you like the new one I picked! The gear-clock was actually my original idea, but I wasn't sure about it, mostly because I was having a lot of trouble drawing it for some reason. I do like it much more now that I've started using it, though, and I think it suits much better.

Having the hands move is an awesome idea, but it might be a bit too 'special'--there's no other characters in the show with moving cutie marks, even though there's a relatively good reason for it here. Alas! I opted instead for it to show the exact minute when it appeared on his flanks, which I think is a moment significant enough to be kept on a cutie mark. :B

Thank you very much for your input! It makes me warm and fuzzy inside. Like Parasprites, but with less mayhem.

[Pony_Sage]

"Assessed!" Thus spake the Sage.

[Skye]

The rest of this application looks pretty good to me, but I have one issue that should be addressed.

His ability to manipulate time is a bit much, I feel. I would rather not see that sort of power be possible in the RP. However, what could be possible, very handy and likely very useful is if he had an ability that keyed off his time sense, to be able to remember anything that happened at a particular date and time (Throughout his actual lifetime). Think more Quantum Leap and less Doctor Who.

[SunsetSombra]

Moving this app back to Applications at the request of the user!

[Clockwise]

Alright, I'm stuck. Ignoring the mess that is the hargledebargle character summary, which you can ignore entirely for the moment, I'd like some feedback and/or commentary on a few things in particular:

1) I want to keep Paradox. I need ways to generate it. It's a result of messing with something that's usually very stable, i.e. time, and part of Clockwise's goofy charm and a lot of his more serious plot potential were designed to come from the effects of, and his own reactions to and opinions on, this volatile magical 'curse', so to speak. He has to deserve it, he has to have gotten it from somewhere, and if he can't use time magic, I've got no ideas. I'd like it to tie into his underlying 'theme' somehow rather than pulling something new and disjointed in to explain it.

2) Magic. Even though he's a unicorn, because his talent is not magic, should his magical ability be heavily restricted? Would still being able to call him a wizard be out of the question?

3) Clockwise is supposed to be based around time, but I feel like he's devolving into a very poor imitation of our current Doctor Whooves (being a weird, reclusive clockmaker) when his original flavor was more along the lines of an eccentric, naive person who was very interested in something beyond his realistic capabilities, i.e. chronomancy, and having to deal with the repercussions from practicing it, aka Paradox. He was never intended to be powerful in any way, only knowledgeable and experimental.

What do? Is maintaining the flavor of this character within reasonable limits a moot effort?

[Clockwise]

I consulted the ever-so-helpful ponychat, and got some excellent answers to my questions from members and helpstaff alike! I poked Skye, too, and while I didn't get a clear verdict, perhaps things here are a little less ambiguous and slightly more favorable.

I don't want to repeat the process I just went through, though, so if any helpstaff genuinely think this isn't going to pass, please tell me right off. C:

Thank you very much, all of you!

[Brauner02]

I consulted the ever-so-helpful ponychat, and got some excellent answers to my questions from members and helpstaff alike! I poked Skye, too, and while I didn't get a clear verdict, perhaps things here are a little less ambiguous and slightly more favorable.

I don't want to repeat the process I just went through, though, so if any helpstaff genuinely thing this isn't going to pass, please tell me right off. C:

Thank you very much, all of you!

Well i'm glad you got it sorta figure out, even if i had to push you to do it.

[Davroth]

I love chronomancy. Hope this is toned down enough to get your app through.

Good luck.

[Pinecone]

I really love the character idea!

Good Luck!

[Clockwise]

With lots of help from Bramble Rose, I did a pretty massive rewrite of the character summary so that it explains some stuff better, and entirely removed chronomancy. (: We'll see if this goes anywhere.

[Davroth]

Chronomancy or not, you need an evil nemesis called counter-clockwise. :I

[Clockwise]

Finalized, hopefully for the last Time. I apologize for the gigantic wall of text that is the character summary, and the overuse of Very Long Sentences™.

[Xiee]

Finalized, hopefully for the last Time. I apologize for the gigantic wall of text that is the character summary, and the overuse of Very Long Sentences™.

As long as you get your message through it doesn't really matter. Besides, I'm guilty of doing that too in some of my apps.

[brianblackberry]

Well I was personally fine with the original app, but changes were made. Reading the revision I am no less impressed.

For Great justice!

[Skye]

[Bramble Rose]

With lots of help from Bramble Rose, I did a pretty massive rewrite of the character summary so that it explains some stuff better, and entirely removed chronomancy. (: We'll see if this goes anywhere.

I'm so very glad that my suggestions helped so much! *^_^* You had most of the great ideas, though, I just tidied them up a bit! I'm glad you are happy with the result!