marearcana | Entries tagged with !application

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Player Name: Awe
Player Journal: awestriker
Age: 21
Contact:

awestriker
Characters Played:

IN CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Twilight Sparkle
Canon: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Canon Point: Post-S3
History: One I'm sure you know well.
Personality:
First and foremost: Twilight Sparkle is probably the best academic you will ever meet. She is absolutely fanatical about all things reading and studying, particularly in magic and astronomy, and easily capable of reading a dozen books cover-to-cover in a single weekend. Unfortunately, that whole "absolutely fanatical" thing... goes a little too far. When absorbed in her studies, it can be very, very, very difficult to break her concentration. In the past these habits caused her to spend most of her time alone with her assistant Spike, but a timely intervention by Princess Celestia, her beloved mentor and one of the rulers of Equestria, changed that. Her studies have also led her to be very methodical, and she gets confused when written instructions don't work out correctly.

Her friends are, therefore, extremely important to her. She may be on assignment to study the 'magic of friendship', which she still thinks she doesn't completely understand, but that doesn't mean she doesn't genuinely enjoy their company! In fact, she genuinely respects and loves them all, even when they get on her nerves. There was a day when she actually wasn't there for her friends, but they were... not themselves that day, to say the least, and shortly thereafter she realized her mistake and fixed everything.

She has obsessive-compulsive tendencies and can't stand her carefully planned and organized systems being disrupted. Being around Pinkie Pie has taught her to pad out her schedules in case of unexpected happenings, and she is also ready and willing to drop everything for sake of Princess Celestia. Twilight cares immensely about her reputation with Celestia, and when she became a Princess she worried that it would strain their relationship. Also, when something puts her under severe enough pressure, she will begin to act extremely irrationally, in contrast to her usually thoughtful personality. Lately, however, she has been taught some stress-management techniques which seem to be working.

She is well-known by many as a pony who has saved Equestria multiple times, as the (former?) personal student of Princess Celestia, and now as a Princess herself. Her brother is a Prince by marriage and either used to be or still is the captain of the Royal Guard. Needless to say she is immensely privileged. But Twilight doesn't let these things define her - they are circumstances, mostly, and she would much rather her actions speak for themselves. Her circumstances are in important part of her life, yes, but she doesn't want to be seen as a set of circumstances, or as some ineffable government figure. She wants to be seen as a pony, because that is, at her core, what she is, and one of the core reasons she elected to stay in Ponyville even after her coronation (the other, of course, being so that she can be there for her friends).

Strengths: Flight, cloudwalking, weather manipulation (untrained), magic (extremely proficient in utility/exploration spells, decent at combat and illusion). Capable of using the Element of Magic if the situation calls for it, but this requires the other Element bearers to be nearby.
Weaknesses: None in particular
Pony/Animal Type: Alicorn, as per canon.
Cutie Mark: Six-pointed magenta starburst with smaller sparkles around it.
Pony Picture: ...

SAMPLES
First Person:
Dear Princess Celestia,

The others and I are still having trouble acclimating the formerly-human ponies to walking on four legs. I know there's a pretty low chance that you'll have any advice on how to better accomplish this, but if you have any I would greatly appreciate it.

Meanwhile, I'm considering the potential benefits of developing something like the “computers” some of them have mentioned. I can understand that it would greatly increase the speed at which complex math can be done, and that they can store information extremely efficiently, but they also sound incredibly difficult to make and right now I'm not sure whether it's worth the effort or resources when what we have now is perfectly adequate.

I'll be sure to keep you updated on the situation in Ponyville.

[The words “Your faithful student” are crossed out. Looks like that might have become a habit.]

-Twilight Sparkle

P.S. For that matter, I should look into erasable ink.

Third Person:
"Well, that's everything I have to ask you for now. Thank you for your time," said Twilight, dismissing her last guest of the evening. The notes she'd been taking during these interviews had given her no insight into the mysterious phenomenon that had for lack of a better explanation brought these strange ponies in from worlds unknown. Not even the ponies she'd known before were the same, some having mysteriously gained knowledge and memories of places beyond reckoning.

Each one seemed to come from circumstances that were completely different, for the most part. On occasion a place mentioned by one would be brought up again by another, and she'd made sure to group the notes for those ponies together, no matter how otherwise unrelated they were. Some had met a pony before, almost always one Twilight herself knew at least in passing, which was strange. More unsettling was the fact that some had not, and yet knew about Equestria before the phenomenon occurred, as if an outside force had knowingly initiated it.

They'd spoken of mysterious powers, of machines more complex than even they themselves could describe, of creatures she could only begin to picture in her mind. She had no reason not to believe the ones who said they had been transformed, given the number that were stumbling over their own hooves for days or even weeks. Either way, she was fascinated by it. Would it be possible, once all this was over, to visit one for herself?

Her work was far from done, and perhaps never would be, but as long as she remained in Ponyville she felt it was her responsibility to guide and protect these new ponies, and she was sure her friends understood that.

That said, of course, she wouldn't abandon them, either, and so she'd resolved to take tomorrow off from this business earlier in the week.

[Player name] Awe
[Age] 21
[Personal Journal]

awestriker
[Other characters currently played] None! It's my first time.

[Character name] Twilight Sparkle
[Age] Never revealed in the show but my headcanon is 18-20ish
[Canon] My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
[Point in time taken from canon] Post-S3E9 (Spike At Your Service)*

*Note, she has since been updated to post-S3

[Background]
History of a Unicorn, And So Much More

[Personality]
First and foremost: Twilight Sparkle is probably the best academic you will ever meet. She is absolutely fanatical about all things reading and studying, particularly in magic and astronomy, and easily capable of reading a dozen books cover-to-cover in a single weekend*. Unfortunately, that whole "absolutely fanatical" thing... goes a little too far. When absorbed in her studies, it can be very, very, very difficult to break her concentration. In the past these habits caused her to spend most of her time alone with her assistant Spike, but a timely intervention by Princess Celestia, her beloved mentor and de facto ruler of Equestria**, changed that. Her studies have also led her to be very methodical, and she gets confused when written instructions don't work out correctly.

Her friends are, therefore, extremely important to her. She may be on assignment to study the 'magic of friendship', which she still thinks she doesn't completely understand, but that doesn't mean she doesn't genuinely enjoy their company! In fact, she genuinely respects and loves*** them all, even when they get on her nerves. There was a day when she actually wasn't there for her friends, but they were... not themselves that day, to say the least, and shortly thereafter she realized her mistake and fixed everything.

She has obsessive-compulsive tendencies and can't stand her carefully planned and organized systems being disrupted. Being around Pinkie Pie has taught her to pad out her schedules in case of unexpected happenings, and she is also ready and willing to drop everything for sake of Princess Celestia. Twilight cares immensely about her reputation with Celestia. The thought of disappointing her is enough to make her panic immediately, and when this or something else puts her under severe enough pressure, she will begin to act extremely irrationally, in contrast to her usually thoughtful personality.

She is well-known by many as a pony who has saved Equestria multiple times. Her brother is a Prince by marriage and either used to be or still is the captain of the Royal Guard. These, and obviously her status as the personal student of Princess Celestia, grant her great privilege and reputation among the common pony. But Twilight doesn't let these things define her - they are circumstances, mostly, and she would much rather her actions speak for themselves. Her circumstances are in important part of her life, yes, but she doesn't want to be seen as a set of circumstances. She wants to be seen as a pony, because that is, at her core, what she is.

*at least, Princess Celestia thinks so.
**which is technically a diarchy, but Princess Luna needs a little bit to get back into the swing of things.
***Platonically, no matter what the fandom thinks. (That being said, I do lean Twidash in the absence of Edward Elric.)

[Abilities]
Twilight is... well, in a word blessed in terms of her abilities, not that there was an actual blessing involved.

Like most Equestrian unicorn ponies, she has the ability to manipulate magical energy for useful means, within the limits of her special talent as interpreted by her cutie mark. Unlike most Equestrian unicorn ponies, her special talent is the manipulation of magical energy for useful means, i.e. magic itself. However, this does not mean she is some all-powerful goddess; there are definite limits as to what she can do.

As demonstrated in the show, her magic is capable of all of the following (this list is not all-inclusive):
*Basic to advanced telekinesis, involving numerous, very heavy, or difficult-to-control objects (e.g. just about every book in the library, water towers, and free-floating blobs of water) and autolevitation
*Minor visual effects such as clouds of purple smoke
*Rapid-fire kinetic force bolts
*Short-distance teleportation
*Creating a temporary light source
*Transmogrification of various organisms into oranges or orange-like forms (intended to be used on apples, but apparently works on small wildlife)
*Reversal of Twilight's gravitational pull with respect to a specific object (usually a planet, as using it on anything much smaller won't have a noticeable effect)
*Creating solid, semi-transparent walls
*Allowing non-pegasi to cloudwalk temporarily
*Sending herself back in time (by like a week... once... (Needless to say she can't do this again))
*Revealing gems in a large area
*Minor dark magic (fear-and-hatred-based magic)

However, the third-season episode "Magic Duel" establishes limits on the things she can't do (at least not yet):
*Manipulation of the age of an object or person
*Change an animal or person's sex or gender

In addition, the way she handles her magic during this episode also suggests that she is not proficient in illusion magic, or possibly not able to use it at all.

Of course, as a nonspecialist, her skill in any given branch of magic is weaker than that of a unicorn that specializes in that branch - for example, her brother Shining Armor is an expert in shielding and barrier magic, and as such her own shields and barriers are easier to break.

She is also able to learn new magic simply by watching other unicorns (or people) perform spells, which is how she learned dark magic (from Celestia of all ponies!) and the gem-finding spell (from Rarity).

If her abilities do need a limiter, she will be unable to use her own magic in others' dreams, and unable to use dark magic at all (not that she would). Not sure if the last version of Twilight needed one.

[Other important stuff]
I can't particularly think of anything other than "no memory retention from the last time she was here". She might be able to fuzzily remember some things because 1. archives and 2. I know the last Twilight's mun but she won't remember anything clearly.

[Sample post]
[First Person]
- Would you consider yourself a power-hungry individual?
"Well, they do say that 'knowledge is power'... so, yes and no. I'm always looking to learn more, but other than that I'm content with my life at the moment."
- Is coffee the best part of your morning?
"I've always been able to get on fine without it, so no."
- A friend of yours - say, Rarity - is dangling from a cliff's edge. You can either save her life or catch the person responsible for her situation - if you let him go you'll never have the opportunity again. What do you do?
"I'd save Rarity, of course. Even if I wouldn't get the opportunity to catch that pony again, somepony else might. And I could only save her right then, so... yeah. Besides, that's what friends do, right?"
- So, you've lived a city and a rural town, yes? Which do you prefer?
"That's a tough one. I'm sure I wouldn't be who I am if I wasn't Canterlot born and raised, but I like my life back in Ponyville so much... I think the friends I've made since moving push it in favor of Ponyville, though."
- You would say you're a believer in the magic of friendship then?
"Of course!"
- Contract?
"I'm not agreeing to anything if I don't have the complete terms in writing. Come back with those and then I'll consider it."
- But haven't you ever wanted to be a superhero?
"Actually, a while back I was, for a little bit... sort of. My friends were all in on it, and we mostly just did it to teach Rainbow Dash a lesson in humility... 'The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well', we were called. I didn't have any powers beyond what I can usually do, but since we all took turns it looked like she did. I think it was pretty clever."

[Third Person]

The buzz of her alarm clock woke Twilight Sparkle up bright and early, for today was a day she was eagerly awating. She had circled this particular day and all others like it on her calendar with a note. For today... her favorite bookstore was getting a shipment in. It had taken her a few weeks of buttering up the manager to get this kind of information, and in her opinion it was all worth it.
But it remained to be seen what, exactly, they would be getting in. If it was just romance novels there wouldn't be much reason to stick around. Twilight had little patience for the romance of others, and hadn't even started considering trying to look for a partner for herself! She wasn't ready for that yet, she still wanted to get more of a handle on friendships first! Adventure novels she'd read herself first and then recommend the good ones to Rainbow Dash - ever since that one incident she'd loved them... well, at least Daring Do. They wouldn't have those here. Twilight had heard that Dash was writing some sort of novel, as well. What if she needed inspiration? If nothing else, it would just be a good gift.
This was going to be a good day, and she knew it. Everything was already going perfectly, and by the time she was out the door there was no longer any doubt in her mind.

[Why do you want to play this character in Somarium?] Your casts are all excellent and I always love the confusion that ensues from CP mismatches and previous game CR. Or in this case, the lack of previous game CR.
[Which rule was your favorite and why?] No pre-canon CP! While sometimes this just doesn't make sense for a character it's good to have a rule of thumb. I'm just not quite sure whether flashbacks to, say, childhood, count or not?
[Where did you hear about Somarium?] Via plurk. Your game is rather prolific on my timeline!
[Any questions?] Nope!

Name: Awe
Journal: awestriker
Contact: AIM: awestrikernova, tumblr: infinitescrollofawe, plurk: awestriker

Character Name: Twilight Sparkle
Series: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Gender: Female
Age & Canon Point: Approximately 20; End of Season 2 (since updated to End of Season 3)
Requested Sponsor: Emerald
Entry position (Cadet, SeeD, Instructor, other): Cadet
History: Wiki linked.
Abilities & Physical Abnormalities: Well, first of all, she's a pony. There are a couple of ponies around (two). More specifically, she is a unicorn and can use true magic, although most of hers is utilitarian rather than combative. Her talent range is wide enough that she could conceivably use it for combat, though.
Personality: Twilight is a rational pony that nonetheless has a lot of emotion to her. Even though she is known to snark, and is sort of the "only sane pony" of the core cast, she cares deeply about all of her friends. Seemingly more often than not, though, she's doing research into some obscure branch of magic or science.

She is quite an obsessive planner and listmaker, making plans almost a month in advance and knowing exactly what she's set to do on any given day. The exactness of these plans doesn't leave a lot of room to be stressed, and if she is, she will "break". When "broken", Twilight will suggest outlandish or otherwise impossible ideas, adopt nervous tics and jitters, and otherwise act extremely oddly.

Her studies have led her to be very methodical and to look for procedural solutions to many situations, usually in books, which has had mixed results for her, and even if she isn't studying she can often be found with a book. One problem with her method of studying is that she will try to get it right once, then move on, which has caused her spells to fail on occasion.

Lately, her emotional side has become somewhat more prevalent, leading to her having jumped to conclusions quickly and without collecting actual evidence. She also wants to be seen as "just an average unicorn" rather than "two-time hero of Equestria" or "student to the Princess" or "younger sister of the Royal Guard Captain" or her most recent acquired title "sister-in-law of Princess Cadence", although all of those things are important to who she is. Except maybe that last one; that hasn't had implications yet.

She is the user of the Element of Magic when necessary; while this may have to do with her immense magic power, it probably has more to do with her general demeanor and overall friendliness. How else could she and her very-different-from-her friends get along so well?
What are your plans for the character in-game? She's going to be learning as much as she can! And other assorted friendmaking and tutoring shenanigans. And joining the library committee. Possibly running the library committee.

Anything else?

Complete TWO out of the FOUR options.
I) IC Questionnaire
What do you prefer to be known as? Twilight Sparkle
How old are you? 20 years.

Do you have any history in combat? There was an incident a little bit ago involving a full-scale invasion/wedding-crashing, but other than that no.
If so, have you ever killed? No.

i) How do you feel when you get involved in some project that calls for immediate and rapid activity? I'll do it, even if I don't want to.

ii) Do you organize and initiate leisure activities? Yes.

iii) What role do you take when working in a group? I usually end up leading, unless somepony has a better grasp of the situation than I do. In those cases, I suggest plans of action in a more advisory role.

iv) How talkative are you around other people? It depends on the situation. If I'm reading, I'm likely not to respond, but I do start conversations with my friends if I see one.

v) What three things would you want to have with you on a desert island? State your reasoning. Assuming there isn't a way to just leave the island, I would want a source of fresh water, food, and a really good book. Survival is important, and I wouldn't like to stop learning things.

vi) Is it important to be liked by a wide range of people? Yes. I don't think I'd be the pony I am today without having known my friends, all of whom are very different from each other and myself.

vii) When the odds are against you, is it worth taking a chance? Yes.

viii) Do you consider yourself to be an impulsive person? No.

ix) Would you agree that planning things ahead takes the fun out of life? No.

x) Do you like surprises? It depends on the surprise. I know somepony that's very good at friendly, harmless surprises, and hers are always fun. On the other hoof... let's just say it's a good thing Discord is sealed in stone.

xi) Do you sometimes wonder if there is something wrong with you? No.

xii) Do you consider yourself to be smarter than your superiors, and disagree with their decisions? No.

xiii) Lastly, how do you feel about cabbages? They're alright... but why did you ask that?
II) Prose sample (can be general or a response to the post's prompt).

"CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS".

Thus read the sign hanging over the Garden's library, and it frustrated Twilight Sparkle to no end. Evidently a cadet couldn't just apply for a library card, so she didn't have one yet. The computer system still freaked her out, so far.

Thus, she had nothing satisfying to read, for now, and she was so anxious to learn. A new world of course meant new people, new places, new histories. Perhaps there were fields of science or technologies she could never have dreamed of. And who knows what they could have done with magic?

On the other hand, her friends weren't here, as far as she could tell. There was hope that they were, but it was far from likely that that was true. If she were to continue all of her studies, she'd need to reach out to her fellow students.

And who knows, maybe she'd have something else to learn from them, too...