Unicorn Scribe [Final]

[RCTwilightSparkle]

Roleplay Type: Mane RP

Name: Scribe

Sex: Female

Age: Young Mare

Species: Unicorn

Scribe's colors are inspired by this photo

Eye Color: Warm Red #CC0000

Coat Color: A deep purple tinted gray #50404D

Mane/Tail/Markings Color & Style: Her mane and tail are brown #964B00 and just a little bit curly/wavy. She keeps her mane in a high ponytail, it's just long enough that the ends fall around her shoulders. Her tail is medium length, she keeps it simple and just lets it stay naturally wavy.

Physique: A little on the short and skinny side, but nothing dramatic.

Cutie Mark: An open book with a feather quill scribbling something on the page. In the bottom right corner of the page is a little heart. (I'll get a picture soon)

Scribe's cutie mark appeared just as she finished transcribing her first rare book. Although she loved doing it, she was certainly not expecting to get her cutie mark from rare book transcription! After her cutie mark appeared she realized that she wanted to spend her life preserving historic books and ensuring that old knowledge was easily accessible to everypony.

Origin/Residence: Born and raised in Canterlot

Occupation: Librarian and rare book preservation expert at Canterlot University

Motivation: Scribe believes that it is important to preserve knowledge, therefore she uses her special talents to ensure that old literature is kept safe as well as easily accessable.

Likes: Books, libraries, peace and quiet, academia, her family, her giant collection of feather quills, and her cat Mr. Boots.

Dislikes: Loud or rude ponies, coffee, sports, rain, books they are irreparably damaged (either intentionally or unintentionally)

Character Summary:

Scribe was practically raised on the campus of Canterlot University, some of her earliest memories are there. Her parents are both university professors and they'd often bring Scribe to campus with them. As a young foal she very much admired and looked up to her parents, and so she emulated them as much as she could. Scribe's emulation of her parents helped to foster her quiet personality and love of learning, two of her most defining features.

When Scribe was young she went to school with the other foals, but it just wasn't enough for her. She was always the foal who sat in front of the class and asked endless questions; she just wanted to know more about everything. Scribe would read anything she could get her hooves on, but her favorite was non fiction. Books that could give her real facts about the world around her were the ones that she enjoyed the most. Until Scribe was old enough to attend Canterlot U she was not able to take out university library books herself, but her parents were happy to check them out for her. Of course as soon as she was old enough, she enrolled as a student at Canterlot U. Although she graduated with a degree in history, she still takes classes occasionally.

As she grew older, it became clear that her special talent was having an impressive memory. Her memory allowed her to quickly and easily read books and transcribe what she's read. It did not seem like a terribly useful skill until Scribe discovered the Canterlot University's rare book library. The rare book library was full of old, amazing books; on all different types of subjects. What all of the books had in common was that there were few known copies of them, some books in there were one of a kind. An unfortunate property of paper is that it does always survive the test of time very well; therefore, in this library, Scribe's talent for transcription was quite valuable. Ever since her graduation from the university she has worked in the rare book library as a librarian and transcriptionist.

The rare book library doesn't get much daily traffic and is known for being one of the quietest places on campus. Scribe takes advantage of the peace and quiet and spends nearly all of her time at work copying books. Transcription is by far her most time consuming duty but also the most rewarding. She copies the rare books for other libraries and universities around Equestria to ensure that their knowledge will not be lost just because the original books are getting too old to be read. Her job also has her reading books in some interesting languages, she's been picking up a few snippets of the native dragon and griffin languages. All of her experience with these languages is written, and therefore Scribe would not be able to speak them at all.

Scribe is a bit of a pack rat, her little Canterlot apartment is cluttered full of all sorts of her favorite things. Her living room is practically a library, bookshelves line the walls and they're all packed full. She's also amassed a rather large collection of feather quills over the years because she just can't seem to get enough of them, many of them are exotic or unique. Despite the clutter, Scribe knows exactly where to find just about anything in her apartment, thanks to her eidetic memory.

Scribe has very little interest in equestrian politics, and most other current events. She'd much rather hide in a stack of books than worry about what's going on outside of the library. Life is quiet, for Scribe, and she likes it that way. Her favorite companion is her cat, Mr. Boots. Mr. Boots was a gift from Scribe's parents, and she's had him ever since he was a little kitten. At night after Scribe gets home from work the two are nearly inseparable, he'll often accompany Scribe on any errands she has to run.

[AppleNitrox]

It is a solid application I need to say, but I could suggest more expanding the character summary (I know it is WiP but this could help You) :

What are her dreams? What she would like to do in life? Does she have any friends? If You could add a little more about her parents this could be good too I suppose. Did they helped her with studying? Was she learning in same school where her parents was teaching?

[Bramble Rose]

I love this character... and you know, since Bramble practically grew up at Canterlot University too, I bet they know each other!

[brianblackberry]

Great application so far, the only part I feel is still missing is her cutie mark story.

[RCTwilightSparkle]

CUTIE MARK STORY! I knew I forgot something! Thank you Brian

[Bramble Rose]

Why was she transcribing an ancient tome as a little foal? Why would the librarians let her near the ancient and fragile books?

Maybe instead she had a foal's book that she 'copied'? With colored pencils and construction paper?

Maybe she found a little foal who had been bullied and her favorite book ruined...

So she took the book home and cleaned off the mud but it was ruined, so she took out colored pencils and paper and made a new one? Not as professional as the original, but... the look on the little foal's face when She presented the copy to her... that's when her cutie mark appeared.

She always loved drawing, and illustrations, and especially the old style, and she loved Calligraphy and stuff... but it wasn't till that point that it all came together.

[RCTwilightSparkle]

Why was she transcribing an ancient tome as a little foal? Why would the librarians let her near the ancient and fragile books?

Maybe instead she had a foal's book that she 'copied'? With colored pencils and construction paper?

Maybe she found a little foal who had been bullied and her favorite book ruined...

So she took the book home and cleaned off the mud but it was ruined, so she took out colored pencils and paper and made a new one? Not as professional as the original, but... the look on the little foal's face when She presented the copy to her... that's when her cutie mark appeared.

She always loved drawing, and illustrations, and especially the old style, and she loved Calligraphy and stuff... but it wasn't till that point that it all came together.

I was thinking that she got her cutie mark pretty late, like as a filly instead of a foal.. and because of her parents and the fact that she hung around the canterlot libraries a lot, the librarians trusted her with books they may not have trusted to many young ponies. Just the way I was picturing things

[brianblackberry]

I was thinking that she got her cutie mark pretty late, like as a filly instead of a foal.. and because of her parents and the fact that she hung around the canterlot libraries a lot, the librarians trusted her with books they may not have trusted to many young ponies. Just the way I was picturing things

I think its acceptable that she got the cutie mark as a young filly; we just want to avoid waiting until adulthood (or the end of her filly years). I could see her perhaps even working at the library at that young age part time doing very mundane tasks for bits (sorting book, etc).

[Bramble Rose]

Trusting her with books is one thing, and I can see that, if she demonstrated that she would be careful...

but transcribing a book requires a lot more than trust - it requires A LOT of practice, effort, preparation, and supplies. You don't just pick up a pen one day and suddenly you find out that you have gorgeous handwriting and an amazing drawing ability. You need to do a lot of practice and learning. And even with all the disparate skills, you also need practice putting it all together into one thing - drawing a comic is different than transcribing a book is different than writing a story and illustrating it.

[RCTwilightSparkle]

Trusting her with books is one thing, and I can see that, if she demonstrated that she would be careful...

but transcribing a book requires a lot more than trust - it requires A LOT of practice, effort, preparation, and supplies. You don't just pick up a pen one day and suddenly you find out that you have gorgeous handwriting and an amazing drawing ability. You need to do a lot of practice and learning. And even with all the disparate skills, you also need practice putting it all together into one thing - drawing a comic is different than transcribing a book is different than writing a story and illustrating it.

As she grew older, it became clear that her special talent was having an impressive memory. Her memory allowed her to quickly and easily read books and transcribe what she's read. It did not seem like a terribly useful skill until Scribe discovered the Canterlot University's rare book library.

She'd been transcribing books before she got her cutie mark and had plenty of practice.

[Skye]

Trusting her with books is one thing, and I can see that, if she demonstrated that she would be careful...

but transcribing a book requires a lot more than trust - it requires A LOT of practice, effort, preparation, and supplies. You don't just pick up a pen one day and suddenly you find out that you have gorgeous handwriting and an amazing drawing ability. You need to do a lot of practice and learning. And even with all the disparate skills, you also need practice putting it all together into one thing - drawing a comic is different than transcribing a book is different than writing a story and illustrating it.

I don't really see it as a problem, transcribing books starts somewhere and some people would have a natural affinity for it, while others wouldn't be bothered. I couldn't see AppleBloom, for example, taking the time to learn how to do book transcriptions, but another pony could have a natural affinity for it at an early age and when she becomes sufficiently competent at it (Perhaps through practice, tests, occasional trial transcriptions and such) her cutie mark could appear at sufficient age when she realizes that not only was she competent at it, but she was good at it. Remember that half of getting their cutie mark is that they either realize what it is that makes them special, or the event that makes them special is so significant that they can't help but notice it. In this case, I see it as the latter.

[brianblackberry]

For Great Scholarly Justice!

[Skye]