[MLP FiM] Bridle Shores Out of character thread 6

[PurityIcekiller]

1) I didn't think we were going to timeskip at all, this is just the next ponyday (after a legendarily long one).

2) Sure, go ahead. Writing out character info is fun.

Got it. So things will be pretty simple. Anyway, here's a bit on how each of my characters came to be, along with some observations of mine, all of which may or may not be interesting.

Night Jewel:

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Unlike my other characters, Night Jewel was actually created on the spot for this roleplay. Her concept was rather simple at first, but after a bit of time and experience, she grew into one of my most interesting characters.

As you've probably figured out by now, she was designed with the "Loveable Rogue" concept in mind. However, I wanted to try a new spin on it. I didn't want the clichéd motivation of greed, and after a bit of consideration, realized that she could be driven by boredom instead. She's too clever for her own good (or possibly too clever for everypony else's good), and can't find many good uses for her cleverness, and thus tends to get in trouble just to see if she can get out of it.

She's rather afraid of losing ponies she's close to. This wasn't something I had planned out beforehand; rather, it came up in the actual roleplay. In her past, she's had to leave many friends behind, whether because she had to skip town or alienated them personally, so she's gotten a bit desperate to keep the ones she has.

Her backstory is otherwise rather vague, and likely to remain so. She doesn't really need a complicated past, and in my opinion, it's more fun to have it be a mystery for now. She may well be older than she looks, and she might have other unusual aspects that even she doesn't really know about. Speculation is welcome.

She's quite fun to play, and possibly my favourite of all the characters I've created for this. She's got a good mixture of playfulness, intelligence and mystery, and worked out much as I intended. I hope you think the same - she's probably pretty fun to know, too.

Flower Tail:

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Flower Tail was actually designed to be the first boss for a game I'm planning. She was intended to show up and offer her help, but the player character would turn her down, not needing her and not wanting to put her in danger. This is where the part of her backstory involving the researcher came from.

She's got a big attitude, possibly compensating for her small size and her "cute" magic. I chose her power because I thought it would be funny to have a tiny filly with powers over flowers acting all tough. She's got a fairly sharp mind, but tends to use it more like a bludgeon. She's rather prone to getting in over her head, but when she actually bothers to think things through and keeps her temper, she can pull off some neat things.

She's probably the pony of mine who will have the most character development. Gradually, she's going to become more mature and more level-headed, and her powers will grow as well. She'll still be pretty sassy, though. The fact that she requires this development is also the reason she isn't likely to appear in FWM - to survive in the darker setting, she'd have to either be more cautious or more powerful, and doing either would weaken the point of her character.

Winterflap:

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Winterflap was originally designed as a sort of foil to Flower Tail, and because I didn't have enough pegasus characters. She's not very developed compared to my other characters, but I think she's interesting in her own right, and it's fun to have amusing misfortune happen to her.

She's quiet and gentle because it contrasts with Flower Tail's loud and boisterous personality. Of all my ponies, I think she's the one that resembles me the most - timid, well-meaning and artistic. Her main development will probably be becoming more outgoing and cheery, but she's generally a pretty simple character.

Sweetheart:

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I think Sweetheart's concept actually came to me when I was playing around in the pony creator, but I'm not sure. Whatever the case, she was originally intended as just a pony who had powers involving feelings. I do know that she became a maid when I finished her picture and thought she kind of looked like one.

At first, I intended her power to be controlling her own emotions, but it seemed too narrow, so I added the fact that she could influence the emotions of others. To make things as interesting as possible, I decided that she couldn't "turn off" her power - to avoid affecting other ponies, she had to abandon all her emotions - and that she disliked the implications of it enough to only use it when necessary, even if it meant she had to suffer.

As you are probably aware, there were some objections to her at first. Her premise is rather dark by Equestria standards, and I had to be careful to actually have her be accepted. Still, I'm really proud of what she became, and I'm very glad she got let in. She also happened to be very well suited for defeating Simmer.