Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rules

1. Follow all Gaia Rules
   
2. Keep everything PG-13!
   
3. Please read ALL the rules, it will answer most of your questions!
   
4. Be nice and have fun! (No guilting, booing, making fun of, etc, etc)
   
5. Please do not chat in this thread. If you have any questions please PM them to me.
   
6. You MUST do your own work! No getting your buddies to sketch things for you!
   
7. Please link to images that are going to stretch the page. Thumbnails! I love thumbnails! (and reference images, but that's beside the point)
   
8. If you win one of these dress-up ponies it will count as your freebie for the event, and remember you can only win one.
   
9. If you should win another game or contest during the extent of this contest, please let me know as soon as possible so that I may remove you from the running and avoid any further confusion!
   
10. You may edit your posts all the way up until the end of the contest. I will be reading them as they pop up, so just make a note at the top of your post in bright font to let me know when you last edited. Don't worry, I will also be re-reading all of them at the close date, so I won't miss anything, I would just like to stay on top of things. =)
    
11. I, Darkmoon Dancer, will be the judge for this contest, though if I feel the need I may ask another staff member to help me deliberate.
    
12. More rules may be added as deemed necessary.
    

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What IS Allowed

• Drawing directly on the base provided
  
• Drawing your own base, so long as it is your own work
  
• Entering for both! (keeping in mind you may only win one)
  
• Hair and accessory edits
  
• Small flightless head/foot wings
  
• Small additional mutations, such as little fins, spikes, Special-effect hair and feathers
  
• Additional markings
  

What ISN'T Allowed

• Cosplay characters
  
• Back wings of any sort (mutant, templated, editted, anything)
  
• Alternate/Different feet or poses
  
• Major mutations
  
• Skinwalkering
  
• Removing or altering existing markings
  

Disclaimer:
I will not be judging on a basis of your art skills! I will be choosing my favorite concepts and how that concept helped them win the day in their story!
So scribble away, pull out your MS paint if you have to, print it out and scribble with pens/pencils if you will, because it doesn't matter if it looks like a 5-yr old's scribbles!
I just need to know what you mean to portray, hence the area for reference images and a physical description so that I don't misunderstand your MS Paint glory!
Honestly, I want anyone and everyone to enter, so don't be shy and get those crayons out!

OPEN!

And uncerts added in! Go go go, people! 8D

Picture Edited: August 3rd @ 11:44 pm MST
Story Edited: August 5th @ 2:04 pm MST
Ref Edited: August 5th @ 2:04 pm MST

I'm a Beach Babe ;D

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Soquili Name: Suzuran <>
Temper: Feisty
Your Beauty Wins Story:
________Loving things that GLOW Suzuran who was named after her mother's favorite flower. Took to the dark of night more then the day. After finding two Lanterns left by humans she takes them and makes them hers. She uses them to guide herself into the dark of night as well as guiding others through the night so they don't get lost. But when out on her own then she is looking for things that spark her interest.
________After all things of interest keep her eyes a sparkle and keep her out of trouble most of the time. Normally they keep her in a good mood so she isn't as feisty as she can be. And she can get pretty feisty when she isn't in a good mood. To the point she will rear up and attack with her hooves. But most of the time she is calm and collective so there isn't much worry that she will attack others.
________Her garters keep her bells on her legs. The bells are used so things and others can hear her and move in from her path. Or others can use the sound to find her like her mother does. So her friends would as well seeing Suzuran never stays in one place for long. So this helps whose who want to get to her track her down.
________Though it isn't easy to track her even if you can hear her bells. Because sometimes she is walking in ponds collecting Water Lilies and Lily Pads for her friends the frogs that she finds to be so cute. She helps collect new lily pads and water lilies for them as well as shells and other things.
________Her frog friends are precious to her. She believes that because they are small that she was to protect them so she carries them around with her. They also freak out her mother which she gets a kick out of and uses them to get away when her mother goes on about her needing to find a stallion and settle down.
________Her mother is the one who gave her the garters on her legs, tail and the necklace which she holds her late father's favorite Starfish on. The earring with starfish is the last gift she got from her father before he past away. So she doesn't allow others to touch them. Though the bells are things she found when exploring. So others can touch those without her getting too upset or pissed about it.

Physical Description in writing:
*Long white and purple hair that when the front and back come together under her it joins into a curl.
*Black Pearls in her hair.
*Garters with Bells on her legs and Tail. A Garter Necklace with a Icy Blue starfish on it and an earring with two small Icy blue star fish on it.
*The glowing lantern in her mouth to guide her way. As for the glowing Lantern on her tail is to help guide others.
*Water Lilies that are on Lily pads. The Water lilies are Glowing Icy Blue and Purple in color.
*Then she carries a cute frog on her head and one on her tail. These are her friends that she cherishes.
[[The glow on the lanterns can be the purple in the ref. instead of the Icy blue color. Or a mix of the purple and the Icy blue.
Icy blue or White Bells.
The garter colors and styles are in the refs.]]

Any/All Reference Pictures/Sketches:
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-WIP-
The rest is off the top of my head.

Anything else: Feel free to CC flowers or shells or whatnot

I'm a Beach Babe ;D

Soquili Name: Marilyn
Temper: Energetic
Your Beauty Wins Story: Mari's long blue tail swished anxiously behind her--if she had known that there was going to be a beauty contest she would have changed! But no, as usual, her friends hadn't told her what was happening today at the beach, they had just told her to come and look cute.

And here she thought it was because that certain stallion was here...

Sadly no. But Mari was stuck in line anyway, trying to come up with a moment when her beauty had saved the day.

She had nothing.

"Marilyn! You're next!" The MC announced, nosing her forward with the ceremonial stick in his mouth. Alright alright, jeeze...

"Um, hi..." Marilyn began, but cleared her throat and pulled up her famous winning grin. "Hey everybody! My name's Marilyn, and I deserve to win this beauty contest because...well, I think I'm pretty cute," she finished lamely, tail swishing lightly.

"But no, seriously. I guess my 'best use of beauty' would be this time I saw this girl bein' harassed by these stallions, see? They were like...botherin' her, I guess, not leaving her alone, calling her names and stuff. I couldn't like fight them or anything I guess, so I sashayed--" she paused and waggled her hips, grinning impishly as she did so, "on over there and said something like 'hey boys, why're you wasting your time on her?' or something, but I threw her a little wink--" she winked to prove it, "to let her know I didn't mean it.

The boys were really confused, but I eventually coaxed them--" she tossed her blue mane and smiled again, "away from the poor mare, who finally got to escape. Then I gave them the slip and never saw them again. The mare, though, is one of my best friends now," she added as an afterthought, smiling out over the crowd to that particular friend.

"So I guess that's a pretty good story. Thanks for listening, and I'm Marilyn. It's been a pleasure guys~" Mari gave a fake, joking bow and finally, finally got off that stupid stage.

She was going to kill her friends.

Physical Description in writing: She's wearing a cut off/torn tanktop or wifebeater on top, revealing her middle. On bottom she's wearing either a pair of cute 'boyshort' swim bottoms or just a bikini bottom, but either way it's blue with flowers. In her (also shades of blue) hair is a white flower.
Any/All Reference Pictures/Sketches: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=55027554

But definitely flowers instead of stripes and the shirt should be cut off o3o;

Anything else:

I won a pony in the Rainbow Wish. Thanks for the practice anyway <3

I'm a Beach Babe ;D


Soquili Name: Niamh
Temper: winsome
Your Beauty Wins Story:
Niamh was not the most beautiful thing on the beach, she did not try very hard to be so, in fact she was there simply to ENJOY what the beach had to offer. The sea breeze, the soft sand between her hooves and the bounty of shells which awaited her every day. But any who saw her diligently combing the sand wit her tail, searching for interesting shells and smooth sea glass, were taken in by her simple charms, she brought the things she collected to humans who frequented the beach as much as she, they crafted her findings into jewelry, and she was happy to sport it and give it freely to others if they liked them.

She was certainly shining much brighter than any who took time to care for their looks at the beach. She was a free spirit an would always remain so. But little did she know, that her carefree, beach combing ways would lead her to true love, especially with one of the stallions who had been among the popular group, always hanging off to the side and laughing uproariously. She didn't look his way often, but her cheeks felt hot every time she thought of him, she was too shy to approach the sparkling throng, but instead, left him strands of shell and glass jewelry. Slinking off back to her sand sifting before he noticed.

But of course, she never could have known that he too, had been looking at her, she was unique, and unlike any mare he had ever come across at these sandy shores. She was carelessly beautiful with her long brown hair and her interesting trinkets. He was always being eyed by girls, but when he wasn't keeping up appearances with his so called "friends" he was a simple soul as well, and enjoyed the beach for what it was, it was like a cleanser for the soul, and right now, his soul was trying to desperately connect with the strange mare who enjoyed shells so much, he had a small collection of her shell trinkets by now, he never had seen her drop them off, but he knew of course that it was her, every time he looked at her she scurried away, but today, he would talk to her, perhaps he could interest her in a drink or something...

Needless to say, the next time she tried to discreetly drop a gift for him, he was there waiting, and after quite a lot of awkward blushing and laughing, they went off together, the beach stud and the beach comber.

Physical Description in writing: She's got very long brown hair which she does her best to keep tame, but to no avail, the sea breeze is an entirely different beast you know! She has spots similar to those on her back spattered across her cheeks, giving her the appearance of freckles. She enjoys making shell baubles, so anything you can find on the beach that is a shell or the mysterious "sea glass" is likely to be on her trinkets and on her body somewhere, usually a necklace, a hair piece and some wrap arounds.

Any/All Reference Pictures/Sketches:
SHELLZ
MOAR shellz
Anything else:
Thanks for the fun <333

I'm a Beach Babe ;D

Soquili Name: Briar
Temper: Environmentalist
Your Beauty Wins Story:

Briar could have easily hated his family, had he been anyone else. He could have easily turned mean and spiteful, he could have turned violent. But beauty shaped his soul too much for that to ever happen. Briar's mother claimed to love beauty, she gave it lip service, but she loved only the beauty that she could control. She grew and cultivated flowers, but at a whim she could pull them up, destroy them, kill them, so that another who had her favor could grow in that space. She named all her daughters for flowers, and wore the pelts of dead animals as capes. Yes, plural. Briar never knew if she got them from humans, or if she had the animals slaughtered specifically for her. He didn't want to know. His sisters all wore the capes too, and killed plants to make into paste to style their hair "just so". The whole thing disgusted him, but he knew that destroying any of it would just lead to more death. They wouldn't learn. So instead, he educated himself. He learned to find the beauty in all things as best he could. Beauty saved him many times as a foal. He learned, when his mother was at her worst he turned outward, to find the beauty, to remind himself there were things in this world to protect.

When he was big enough, he left. His father was nearly never around, and his sisters were practically clones of his mother, whom he could not tolerate. But he always remembered to find the beauty, and at least twice a day, no matter how busy he is, Briar picks a random place and just studies nature, to find the beauty at least three times before he moves again. And the beauty could be anything. The hard work of a colony of ants working as a team is beautiful to him. The pattern on a butterfly's wing, or the feathers on the tail of a bird. The intricate art of a spider web, the veins in a leaf.

That beauty, and the constant reminder that it is always there is what keeps him going each day. He is careful when he eats to take only what he needs, and to never kill a whole plant, or eat the needed roots. He spoke to other Soqs about the importance of taking care of nature, and showed them, if they'd listen, how to find the beauty for themselves. He spends his days taking care of injured animals, and planting seeds, always hoping to one day help enough to make up for the harm done by his family, to maybe make the world a bit more beautiful for his passing.


Physical Description in writing: Ideally his skin looks not terribly unlike tree bark, but driftwood, as above, works well too. He has flowering vines around him, because they've grown there, setting roots into the soil in his fetlocks, or he is otherwise surrounded by small animals that he has helped. Greenish eyes, with loose shaggy blond hair. He does nothing to style it, so it hangs about his face, and sticks out every which way. Often he has small twigs caught in it, or a flower some kind creature found broken and set behind his ear. Soil colored hooves.
Any/All Reference Pictures/Sketches: Hair ref
This is an OC character I've had and adored for years now, so I always pictured him with clothing, but I am open to suggestions and ideas for Soqifying him. He is the eternal environmentalist, always looking for a way to save the world, or at least make it better for his passing. To me, his story is more important then what I came up with here for his looks, so am willing to change nearly anything about his appearance.
Anything else: I hope you'll read his story when it gets published!


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I'm a Beach Babe ;D


Soquili Name: Jewel
Temper: Pretty
Your Beauty Wins Story:

Beauty begets beauty. Jewel knew this well. Her long dark hair trailed in the sand as she walked, allowing her head to dip slightly to savor the sensation. Her tail drew pretty pictures in the sand behind her, to lure the curious to see what moved in just that way. She swished her hips, and let the world see her, beautiful and sad. Didn't it just break your heart? Didn't you just want to help her?

Oh she knew it wasn't the best way to be, but she couldn't help herself. Jewel had an addiction to two things in life. Shiny stones, and complements. She loved more then anything to be handed some new set stone by someone who was exclaiming over her luscious locks, or iridescent pink skin. She could listen to someone extol the virtue of her beauty for hours. It wasn't so much that she was vain, as that she couldn't see herself the way these male, and occasional female, soqs saw her. She looked in her reflection and saw her own face, and her curtain of black-violet hair. They looked at her and they saw art, perfection, beauty. When they described her, however, she could close her eyes, long lashes fluttering closed over her cheek and picture what they described. Using their words, in her mind, she was beautiful.

When she used her own eyes, she never saw her own beauty, but she saw the stones. She loved to wear them. She knew some Soqs adorned themselves with feathers, but few things that soft ever seemed filled with the radiance and luster of her stones. She didn't know the technical names for the stones she loved - labdorite, rainbow moonstone, blue moonstone - she just knew that the glow within the stones always teased at mysteries and puzzles, at beauty yet unfound. So she played with the foolish males. She wasn't proud, she took their complements, and their gifts of the stones, and she loved both, even if she had yet to find a male whom she would love even if he offered her nothing, and spoke not a word. She often wondered if that was the true beauty she sought, but she didn't know. So she kept walking along the beach, collecting stones and complements.

"Ah, miss, you dropped this," A male said, rushing up to her. She saw in his eyes the moment he truly saw her. She settled into the sand as he began telling her how he had been struck by her beauty. She closed her eyes, rested her head against him and listened as his voice melded with the surf.

Physical Description in writing: She is a pearly iridescent pink. Her hooves and eyes are dark purple, and her hair is ridiculously long and black with purple highlights. She wore silver chains, most of them fine and delicate, and each adorned with at least a single stone of labdorite, blue moonstone or rainbow moonstone.
Any/All Reference Pictures/Sketches:
Hair ref one
Hair ref 2
Hair shape ref
Necklace ref 1
Lab 1
Lab 2
More labs
Another lab necklace
More lab
Another labdorite
an awesome labdorite tear.
Blue moonstone 1
Blue moonstone 2
Blue moonstone 3

Anything else: The purple square in the thumbnail is a color ref for the highlights in her hair, since Illustrator was being persnickety tonight. Also, you are not limited to the jewelry I put on her. Go wild. Necklaces, bracelets, around her tail, in her hair, tiara's, pierced ears... have a ball.

I'm a Beach Babe ;D


Soquili Name: Trafford "Jamil" Nicomedo
Temper: Awkward
Your Beauty Wins Story:
"All winners come from humble beginnings," Trafford said. He paused and cleared his throat. "Maybe it's best if I start at the humble beginning, though. I always miss parts of the story if I try to tell it backwards." The stallion stared at his hooves uncomfortably.

"Okay, so when I said humble beginning...Maybe I should have used a different word. Unknown, quiet, wet....fishy..." he seemed to snort out a bit of laughter at that. "Sorry, that was a bad joke. Truth is, a two-legger found me when I was a basket. He's a very nice man - very gentle. He was too kind to me. But anyway, he found me in a stream. Abandoned. Lonely. So he took me in and when I popped out....well, I was this. A kelpi. So he named me Trafford. I remember him, trying to, uh, cradle me. He brushed a forelock out of my eye like the two-leggers like to do to kids and he whispered to me, 'sweet, sweet, Trafford.' He told me tales of a noble two-legger that came from lands far away, on the other side of the ocean. He told me I was named after this man because I would become kind and noble. Then he pinned these feathers and some odd insect's wings to my hair and smiled. Said they were a gift from Trafford, before he left. That I would live his legacy," He paused, smiling fondly at childhood memories. His eye had that light in them, as if tears were getting ready to well up. "Lucky for him, I was a kelpi and he was the food provider for his family. And since all of this -- " he tilted his head back, indicating the ocean backdrop, "--all of this is here, he fished to get food. With me, it made fishin' easier for him."

He paused, feeling a surge of energy invigorate him - oh how he loved fishing! - before he continued his story. "Anyway.. well, one day... I, uh, had gone for a dip, I guess you could say. The two-legger's kid sat in the sand, watching me. I think he fancies doing my work one day. It's a shame two-leggers can't sprout extra legs like us, right? But yeag, net in my mouth, I gathered up some fish. Just so you know, those things are annoying to use. I personally think it'd be easier to catch the fish with my pearly whites, but I usually end up snacking on them if I do, and that doesn't please my two-legger friend. So anyway, I had come back from fishing, and the little two-legger threw this thing on my head. It helps my hair to dry off. I was walking back to my home when lo-and-behold! All these equine gathered up. 'What could be going on?' I wondered, so I moved in closer."

"And I guess that was my mistake. Once I did, I was on this...ionno...elevated thing. A stage, someone told me. And this voice boomed out, crying out, 'Presenting Jamil!' and I was getting ready to wet myself - that's an expression I picked up from the two-leggers - because everyone was cheering me on. My mouth kinda dropped open and my net slides down - I could see the little fish begging to be re-aquainted with water. And then they ask me to tell my story and why I deserve to be the winner and well," he gasped for breath, having said the last bit rather rushed. "Well, there you go. That's my story. I don't know if that's winner worthy or...well, I have no idea what this is, but that's my story. Humble beginnings, right?"

Physical Description in writing: He has medium lengthed grayish-blue hair. He has a clump of bangs that cover right eye. His hair is not perfectly straight, but it isn't wavy if that makes sense? He then has like, a beach towel/some clothing wrapped loosely around his head. It's orange that fades to white. Attached to his hair (practically right below his ear), he has a yellow-orange and sky blue feathers. The feathers go over the towel, as to not get ruined. 8B He has half of a set (two) wings on each side, both located below the ears. Lastly, he has a fishernet in his mouth. The net should have some fish in it - what kind is up to you I guess? XD;
Any/All Reference Pictures/Sketches:

Hair only


with noteees!


another attempt at net doodling was a failure!
Anything else: Gosh wow umm I really love these kinds of contests?? Thanks for having this, DD. <3