UPDATED: Teacloud // tea enthusiast! (CRITIQUES WELCOME!)

[teacloud]

Name: Teacloud
Gender: Female
Species: Pegasus
Birthplace: Cloudsdale
Residence: Varies
Occupation: Collector/inventor of teas, nomad.
Cutie Mark: Blank flank (soon to be altered)

Likes:
/tea
/leafy greens
/fresh soil
/travelling
/adventures
/inventing

Dislikes:
/heights
/flying
/overconfidence
/quitters

Personality

Teacloud was never one to adopt the cocky pegasus attitude. She's fairly mellow, friendly, and is very conscientious of how she appears to others. She would like to think she's inventive, as she enjoys creating new flavors of tea in hopes that she can concoct the perfect blend. She believes that tea joins people together and is essential for a healthy, happy lifestyle. Teacloud is free-spirited and avoidant of commitment, one major reason why she chose to live a nomadic lifestyle. She dislikes the attachment that comes with living in one place for any lengthy period of time and she finds herself longing to be elsewhere. She can be fairly detatched and sarcastic, some may even call her selfish. She tends to put herself first, and is too prideful to admit it when she needs help. Though she tries to be optimistic, that is not always the case. She's extremely embarrassed of her blank-flank, which is another reason she travels: you never know where you may find your cutie mark.

Flaws: Teacloud cannot fly. Though her wings have finally grown to match her body size, she has never flown. She is currently training with a unicorn who is teaching her to fly through aiding with levitation.

Abilities: Teacloud is capable of creating teas from nearly any ingredient. Each ingredient will determine how it affects body/mood/general well-being. She even has recipes capable of healing sick and injured ponies. Tea is also quite inventive, as displayed through her tea-making. However, she has also invented her own tea accessories, such as a teapot that allows non-magical ponies to carry and use it.
Keep in mind she still has a lot to learn.

Pets: Woodpecker named Woodsy

Very Special Somepony: Probably never applicable

Bio

Teacloud's is a pegasus born in Cloudsdale to two loving parents: her strong, valiant father 'Jet Scream', and her mother frail, gentle mother  'East Breeze'. The couple had found a lot of trouble trying to have a filly of their own, until one day, Breeze was pregnant. The family was overjoyed, but late into the pregnancy her mother fell very ill. Due to her fragile nature, it appeared that the pregnancy was taking a tremendous toll on her wellbeing. The doctor's couldn't seem to find anything that was substantial in sustaining both her and her baby. The medicines they were feeding her kept her alive (though she never did gain any strength), but their concern was that the filly wasn't getting quite enough, and as the days loomed on, Jet worried that he would lose both of them. He began to work alongside the doctors doing research of foreign opportunities, and sources led them to a  unicorn in Canterlot who was renowned for his remedy teas-- he claimed to have a cure for anything and everything! None of the doctors could leave and risk putting Breeze in jeopardy, so Jet took initiative, flying to Canterlot alongside an escort to meet with the stallion and discuss their situation. He claimed to have just the thing, sending Jet back with a whole pound of the magical herbal substance. As Breeze took in the beverage, Jet could visibly see the life returning to her face. The more she drank, the better she became.

When Teacloud was born, though, her mother's ailments seemed to have taken a toll on her. She was severely underweight and her wings were stunted: the doctors claimed that in time they would grow, but it would take much longer than most to reach their full size. Her parents lovingly named her Teacloud-- paying homage to the remedy that kept them alive, and the fact that she was so tiny and light.

Her father was the first to try and 'fix' his daughter. Jet was a great flyer and intended for his daughter to be, too. Despite her disposition, he wasn't going to let her lack of flight ruin her forever. Despite most pegasus' active nature, Tea was a bit of the opposite. Though her body was physically strong due to her father's rigorous training, she preferred sitting inside and reading. She was interested in how weather ponies' creations affect the greenery on the earth-- and she was much more infatuated with tea plants. Tea's mother approved of anything and everything she did. In fact, her mother was extremely overprotective, as she was probably the only child she'd ever have. But the mint pegasus was adventurous despite her reclusive nature. She liked applying the knowledge she learned in school and read in books to the outside world.. But she was so limited considering Cloudsdale only truly has clouds to work with. And at the heart of all her wonder, she wanted to create her own teas, and she wanted to share them with the world-- maybe her creations could help someone, the way the unicorn's had helped her and her family?

Tea grew tired of her father's training. By the time her wings had fully grown to her body she had never used them, and they were painfully weak-- they certainly couldn't hold her weight beneath them. And she was growing bored of Cloudsdale-- she had seen all there was and wanted to touch ground. She begged her parents but her mother was too unwilling to let her go. Over time, Tea came to her mother with various information and propositions in an attempt to sway her harsh opinion. In the beginning, it felt like she was wasting her time. However, over the weeks, her mother's severity broke, and she gave in. There was very little opportunity for a flightless pegasus in Cloudsdale. Her mother set boundaries alongside the agreement-- for example, she demanded that Tea write home at least once a month so that her mother could know how her daughter was doing. Once the guides were set, Breeze allowed Jet to bring their daughter to the surface.

Equestria was vast and her father had only been to the surface once in is life, so she knew very little when she got there. She was alone in a strange new world, with nothing but her saddlebags full of supplies (which her mother had over-packed), but her tenacious attitude kept her going. Over the few years on the surface, she had made friends, and improved greatly in her craft of choice, though her cutie mark was still nowhere to be seen.

Tea currently travels from place to place, sharing her tea creations with ponies in need. She has made many friends, and has embraced her father's physical training methods. She now trains in solitude on a daily basis. Her best friend is currently coaching her in flying.

She swore she would meet the tea unicorn one day-- but only after she was good enough herself to do his craft justice.

Physical Appearance
/light brown mane and tail with darker brown accents
/orange irises
/mint color coat, lighter mint feathers
/white, cloud-like blotch on flank

References


(art courtesy of pixiekicks on deviantart!)

Spoiler: show

Tea's cutie mark is in the works as part of an ongoing roleplay :>

Also, one image above depicts her with a cart and her woodpecker. I will be writing up some explanations for those in the near future, as those are very recent additions.

Please please please feel free to critique her! I'm still trying to perfect her and would appreciate any feedback!

[Arashikage]

Hey, I'd like to start off by saying I really like your character!  She's one of the more well done characters I've seen so far on this board. 
I do have a question.
Teacloud doesn't have her cutie mark yet, however, she knows what she loves to do, and is talented in.  It just seems a little odd, seeing as the cutie mark(at least what I've seen about it) represents when you find out your special talent, as opposed to when you're at the pinnacle of your talent. 
That being said, I do really like the story you have set up here, and look forward to seeing you on the RP scene(If I get to that stage relatively soon )
EDIT: I also wanted to say it's very nice to not see a combat centered character, which is a sight for sore eyes.

[Ramisha]

That's nice. She's nice. I don't think you should change her, she's great how she is right now.
But I agree with Arashikage on the lack of the cutiemark.

[teacloud]

Hey, I'd like to start off by saying I really like your character!  She's one of the more well done characters I've seen so far on this board. 
I do have a question.
Teacloud doesn't have her cutie mark yet, however, she knows what she loves to do, and is talented in.  It just seems a little odd, seeing as the cutie mark(at least what I've seen about it) represents when you find out your special talent, as opposed to when you're at the pinnacle of your talent. 
That being said, I do really like the story you have set up here, and look forward to seeing you on the RP scene(If I get to that stage relatively soon )
EDIT: I also wanted to say it's very nice to not see a combat centered character, which is a sight for sore eyes.

Being someone who is very involved in roleplay, I wanted her to discover her cutiemark that way. I feel like the CM is the most important point of a pony, and having thrown one on right from the get-go just didn't feel right to me, especially because her character still has a lot of growing to do. I also think that a big part of a pony's identity and talent coincides with their race. Rarity and Twilight (being unicorns) are gifted with talents regarding the elite status of unicorns; creative talents. Applejack is similar in that her cutiemark involves hard labour and a relationship with the earth, a common trait among earth ponies. Rainbow Dash is an athletic, fast flyer: pretty self explanatory there! (Fluttershy and Pinkie are exceptions, given that their races were originally vice-versa).

I want to incorporate Tea's lack of flight to her cutiemark. Flying is kind of a pegasus thing. Her inherent mental attachment to being an earth pony is (in my opinion) merely a stubborn way of justifying her flaws and resisting change; I want her character to grow out of this mindset. Only when she learns to fly will I give her a cutie mark. Whether that flying plays a huge role in her character I'm not entirely sure, but it's the growth that's important. Part of this is almost painfully simple, but the way I see it is her talent kind of has two parts: The 'tea' part, and then the 'cloud' part, which I see as her ties to flight and being a pegasus. Though I don't want her name to dictate her character so obviously, I feel as if they are meant to work in harmony, even if it is vaguely.

Another big issue with her CM is that I have these ideas, yet there are still holes and flaws that need to be filled and patched up. :<
Sometimes I feel like I should just design one and slap it on her flank, add some back story and be done with the whole thing, but my persistence remains. Perhaps I should just knock it off and give her one, I'm not sure xD

I appreciate you taking the time to give me some feedback! I'd really like to improve in any way I can! :>

[Gracie Sky]

I'll start of by saying the character is very well developed. A lot of detail in her personality and her visual appearance is unique.

I get this feeling her inability to fly is all in her head at this point. I mean... just based on the illustrations you've provided so far. Her wings don't seem to be as stunted as I imagined they would be.

Her name also seems convenient, although it appears that she chose to pursue tea just because it was in her name. I am curious as to how her parents decided on the name Teacloud when naming their daughter. It's of little consequence at this point, since she doesn't have a cutie mark about tea yet. Hopefully she doesn't get a cutie mark about tea at all...

I think she missed something not going to school. I'm sure there's some sort of branch in the education system for the Pegasi that are... less able to fly. Sure Fluttershy didn't take it... It just sounds like you home schooled her as a sort of a shortcut, unless it turns out she will be less knowledgeable later down the line.

[Arashikage]

It's of little consequence at this point, since she doesn't have a cutie mark about tea yet. Hopefully she doesn't get a cutie mark about tea at all...

Why's that?

I think she missed something not going to school. I'm sure there's some sort of branch in the education system for the Pegasi that are... less able to fly. Sure Fluttershy didn't take it... It just sounds like you home schooled her as a sort of a shortcut, unless it turns out she will be less knowledgeable later down the line.

Why is that also?  Those that are homeschooled aren't less knowledgeable, their focuses just aren't on the same things usually as public school or private school, which can be a very good thing, they could turn out to be more knowledgeable in more subjects because others were cut out of the curriculum. 

[teacloud]

I get this feeling her inability to fly is all in her head at this point. I mean... just based on the illustrations you've provided so far. Her wings don't seem to be as stunted as I imagined they would be.

As stated in her flaws section, her wings were stunted at birth and took longer to grow in. It wasn't that they would never grow in, just that they would take much longer to grow and that she would miss the convenient time slot in a young pegasus' life where they learn to fly. And yes, in my reply to Arashikage I did confirm that Tea's lack of flight is more mentally driven then physical. She could definitely learn to fly, however she's using her constructed ideal that she is more suited to be an earth pony as a crutch to justify her flaw. It's her pride that is stopping her from flying, not her wings themselves (though I'm sure that her wings would be pretty weak since they haven't been purposefully used in her lifetime).

Her name also seems convenient, although it appears that she chose to pursue tea just because it was in her name. I am curious as to how her parents decided on the name Teacloud when naming their daughter. It's of little consequence at this point, since she doesn't have a cutie mark about tea yet. Hopefully she doesn't get a cutie mark about tea at all...

As for her name, no I would not like it to dictate her character so obviously. However, I feel as if many character's names reflect their characteristics and passions, if even vaguely. I don't think Rainbow Dash's parents were aware that their daughter's talent would involve her flying at ridiculous speeds and forming a rainbow in her wake, nor did Fluttershy's parents know that their daughter would grow to be socially inept. Rarity's parents, being simple, run-of-the mill people named their daughter Rarity, though they had no idea that she would be interested in the finer things in life. And in all of these cases, I would say that the name dictates the fate, if we were to draw any parallel at all. I am still attempting to perfect her CM. Maybe it will reflect her love for tea, perhaps it will stem from that, or perhaps she will do a complete 360 and find it elsewhere. Right now she follows a very selfish path; she's solitary and makes choices based on her own personal desires. I think I would like her CM to come with the pursuit of compassion for others, giving her talent a worthwhile purpose; not 'just tea'. However, it would be fun to develop some backstory as to how the name was formed! I'd never thought of that!

I think she missed something not going to school. I'm sure there's some sort of branch in the education system for the Pegasi that are... less able to fly. Sure Fluttershy didn't take it... It just sounds like you home schooled her as a sort of a shortcut, unless it turns out she will be less knowledgeable later down the line.

Whether or not there was a branch of their education system dedicated to the poor flyers, Tea wouldn't have been involved in it. It was her father's pride that encouraged the homeschooling. I do now realize that aspect of her life was not elaborated in her history, so I will be sure to add it in! As stated in her history, her parents were not able to properly educate her, so yes, Tea is lacking. She is a poor reader (though she can read, it's not as fluidly as someone who received a true education) and her writing is broken, grammatically illiterate and fairly illegible. She was very basically educated, she only knows as much as her parent's knew before they realized that they couldn't keep up, which was pretty early on. Her poor reading and writing skills mean that she cannot communicate with others through letters, the main form of transmitting information in Equestria. She also lacks some basic knowledge that others would have received in their curriculum; so she learns by trial and error in the real world. So yes, the homeschooling was placed with a purpose! Though I'm sure I could definitely elaborate on this more so that it flows more realistically.


I really appreciate you taking the time to add some insight! Please let me know if some of my responses seemed redundant or didn't quite answer your questions/concerns well enough. I'm definitely taking your remarks into consideration, there's definitely some stuff that needs to be revised! :>

[Gracie Sky]

Ah, you have cleared up some of my concerns with your explanations.

I would like to justify the mane 6's names with a few reasons I've theorized. Rainbow Dash has a rainbow colored name and it is highly likely she came from a competative family; unconfirmed either way. Fluttershy may have also come from a family line with terminal shyness; would be great if we could meet her parents, though. Rarity is... a rather ambiguous name when trying to define its meaning... I'm not sure if it is implying "rare", but I don't see any correlation between her name and her talent.

Not to say names shouldn't have any relation to what the pony is destined to be, but as you said, it shouldn't be dictated by what the pony is skilled at. It's only really the obvious references that seem to lack that creative spark that I raise the convenient flag on, but if there is a good reason for that name to exist for that pony, there's no quarrel.

[teacloud]

BUMPING because I've updated the character!
Her backstory was seriously altered, though I'm still working out some kinks.
Thanks to everyone for their feedback and I've taken it all into consideration!

[MrEmu]

Likes:
/tea

Alrighty, I like you now...

[Tiger]

I would have criticised the name if you hadn't given that good reason behind it in the backstory. Good job

I still don't quite understand about the "Pride that stops her from flying" thing, though. If she thought about it, flying would let her do many things so much easier, like travelling to far-away lands that have rare tea plants at much faster speeds, for example. Unless she's never really given it much thought?

Anyway, I really love your OC. I've never seen anypony quite like her 

[teacloud]

I actually had less meaning behind the name before, her story was recently revised to fix some obvious naming problems xD

But part of Tea's nature is that she is prideful. She likes to think that she can do anything without help, and doesn't like to admit when she needs it. I should actually update that because I'm currently in a roleplay that's  progressed to the point where she's been accepting help from a close friend. Thanks for pointing that out!

I really appreciate the feedback! She's never truly finished for me, as I'm always coming up with ways to make things flow a bit better
Post Merge

I just had to point out the obvious 

[Gracie Sky]

You state one flaws is being a weak reader, but then you state that she prefers to spend her free time sitting and reading and applying what she's read in books. These two statements seem to contradict each other. It sounds like she'd be a strong(er) reader when compared to your average pony.

I also have mixed feelings about the circumstances in which Teacloud was born in. Her mother had a seemingly life-threatening sickness that completely stumped doctors, but a tea brewer had just the thing for it. Perhaps Cloudsdale isn't known for their practices in medicine, but I still kind of find that to be odd.

Lastly, I'm very concerned that she had to resort to running away from home in order to pursue her dreams. Not only would it cause a great deal of everlasting worry to her parents, but it would make them question where they went wrong in raising their daughter if she felt running away was her only choice. This is even assuming they figured out that she ran away. It sounds like she's keeping the fact that she ran away secret, so her parents probably haven't the foggiest about what happened to their daughter. She can't even write a letter to them, since she's incapable of writing. I'm not sure this is the best terms to leave your parents on.

[teacloud]

You state one flaws is being a weak reader, but then you state that she prefers to spend her free time sitting and reading and applying what she's read in books. These two statements seem to contradict each other. It sounds like she'd be a strong(er) reader when compared to your average pony.

That was an issue where I forgot to alter that bit of information from her previous plot arc, thanks for pointing it out!

I also have mixed feelings about the circumstances in which Teacloud was born in. Her mother had a seemingly life-threatening sickness that completely stumped doctors, but a tea brewer had just the thing for it. Perhaps Cloudsdale isn't known for their practices in medicine, but I still kind of find that to be odd.

She was always frail and had trouble bearing children. Her mother is a weak flier with a very fragile build. I was getting at the fact that the pregnancy was taking too much out of her, and she did not have the strength to support both herself and the baby. I will clarify that. The unicorn, being a magic user, created magic brews-- something that you couldn't get in Cloudsdale, which I am assuming only use traditional remedies. I will tweak the story a bit to explain it more clearly! 

Lastly, I'm very concerned that she had to resort to running away from home in order to pursue her dreams. Not only would it cause a great deal of everlasting worry to her parents, but it would make them question where they went wrong in raising their daughter if she felt running away was her only choice. This is even assuming they figured out that she ran away. It sounds like she's keeping the fact that she ran away secret, so her parents probably haven't the foggiest about what happened to their daughter. She can't even write a letter to them, since she's incapable of writing. I'm not sure this is the best terms to leave your parents on.

The fact that Tea is described as being selfish and prideful, she wants to do things her own way. Tons of children leave their parents over petty disagreements if they have stubborn or tenacious personalities. Tea's mother also put a lot of pressure on her, hovering and sheltering her out of fear, which is aggravating and tends to push children away from their caregivers. It would be Tea's pride (another one of her traits reiterated throughout her profile) that would keep her from writing. She's not going to admit that she did anything wrong. It would be out of character for her to apologize and outwardly project her guilt. However, I have made some adjustments so that it doesn't seem so sudden, and less.. eh.. dramatic? (which NOBODY wants xD)

Glad you pointed these things out! I kind of re-wrote it in one sitting which always leads to holes and things. I appreciate you giving me things to improve upon, rather than most people who are like "NAH IT'S FINE SUPER GOOD 100%!" xD