Fantasy Flicker's Art Thread

-General Stuff-

Name:Grant
Nickname/Alias(es): Grantisimo
Race: Gryphon/Griffon
Gender: Male
Age: Young adult (Gryphon equivalent of 24)

-Physical Stuff-

Pelt Colour: His lower body resembles an orange tabby, being a deep orange with darker markings resembling stripes over it. His upper body resembles a Red Robin, being mostly gray with a deep Reddish Orange chest.
Hair Colour and Style: His feathery hair is styled backwards and dyed in multiple pastel colours, while being originally a darker gray with dark orange hints. The dyed hairs relate to his backstory.
Eye Colour: A bright yellow.
Cutie Mark: NaN
Other Scars/Markings:NaN
Physique: Grant is only a very slight smidgen shorter than average, but recently, he’s been getting softer around the middle. Because of that, his whole body can be described as “extra fluffy” from his red crest down to his tabby stomach.

-Social Stuff-

Current Residence:NaN, Traveler. Has a place in Griffonstone he basically doesn’t visit.
Job: Fashion Advisor and can also model and pose. Also works decently for interviews or as editor for a fashion magazine, which were his past jobs.
Mother: NaN
Father: NaN
Sibling(s): NaN
Other Family: NaN
Closest Friends: An eccentric mare who proved him “Everyone has their own fashion, and everyone can make different things beautiful”
Courting/Courted By: NaN
Mate: NaN
Foal(s): NaN



-Personality Stuff-

Likes: More than anything, he loves attention & recognition, especially liking to be the centre of it. Chocolates, because you obviously aren’t part of the fashion business until you’ve stress binged on comfort foods for at least two days a week for at least two months. Monotonous and single-colour themes. He views his natural body as the perfect theme, only have orange-red look with gray accents, something he learned to like from his artistic youth in griffonstone. His love for colour themes spills over in his love for fashion. He used to really enjoy it when ponies would simply agree with him, but he’s starting to develop a nice side and respect other ponies’ opinions.
He’s recently grown to enjoy being nice and helping others, but he’s still horrible at it.

Dislikes: Rainbows and multicolour themes, from his artistic youth, he was used to the gray stone landscapes of Griffonstone, and his inspiration stems from it. While it would have never bothered him in the past, nowadays he gets really bothered by his inability to help others and how difficult he finds it to be nice. He still has a huge problem with ponies who disagree or act smug with him because he’s so used to snapping to them, and he’ll still have the urge to do so.

Motivation: His desire to see the beauty of the world and all the ponies in it, ever since he was convinced of it against all odds.

Strengths: As a Griffon, he is capable of flight to a surprising level despite his physique. He’s strong and relatively smart (although far from a genius). He has a really quick eye for colour compositions and Posing.

Weaknesses/Flaws:Really wants to be nice, but is actually horrible at it. It’s common for him to have to pick a side to be nice too, and somehow managing to pick the completely wrong side which doesn’t have a problem at all and trying to help them (thusly only complicating everything further). He has a short fuse and is quick to throw a look of disdain on almost everyone he meets. The difficult work of super-mobile industries like Fashion industry leaves him quickly exhausted and stressed.

Fears: He simply fears not being approved or noticed by his peers, falling out of style or no longer being cared for.

 
Overall Persona:
A first impression of Grant may be easily taken for a high class fashion snob who is incredibly superficial and cares only for appearances, from his narrowed eyes to his slow careful gait, literally every moment of his physical presence oozing fashionista. He’s snide and rude, and much like many griffons, anypony expects them to throw an insult to them the moment they so much as brush against him. In the past that would’ve been true, however in modern day, he’s different. He still feels much like other gryphons, but if you bump into him, he’ll give you a sharp look before shaking his head and awkwardly trying to apologize. He’s horrible at it, but he’s evidently trying.

He is a changed gryphon, and knows the bad attitude of gryphons to heart, and commonly will treat others that way if he is treated as such… But to ponies he tries his best to be polite, even if he has to stop himself flying off the handle thrice in a row to do so. He’ll give ponies with ensembles criticizing looks, judging their every step, and when asked for his opinion, much like he does when apologizing, he gets ready to say something mean, before stopping himself and making an attempt at being polite.
When asked anything about himself though, he’ll gladly talk and talk on how grandiose he is, on how perfect his style is and his wings are. He doesn’t know how to stop talking about himself, and that’s something he still has to learn before he can truly be kind and polite. All in all, he’s a good example of a very superficial and uncaring Fashion stereotype, but he’s trying to be better than that.


 
History/Background:
Grant has a very normal start in griffonstone. His love for fashion got little attention there, and hardly developed, because other gryphon hardly cared, but he was quick to learn that being ‘artsy’ wasn’t enough to get attention in griffonstone, and learned to become the center of attention by sake of being the loudest, rudest and most impossible to deny gryphon in his surroundings. He had become the local nuisance, but other gryphons listened to him because he was simply far far more annoying when you tried to work against him. He made it worth your time by process of making all other processes cost more time and patience than was worth it.

Many Gryphons still cared little for his art shows and gave horrible critique, although despite their tough shells, he got the very occasional wow, and a few of the gryphons he had trying out his tips said they really felt more beautiful. Feeling it was time to expand, he moved himself to the rest of the world, letting his fashion tips and runway examinations take Equestria by surprise. Sort of. He didn’t blow up to the fashion elite in an instant, but he made a difference in the towns where he did do his work, assisting tailors and models in small areas. He eventually started getting booked for his advice and his critique, and started editing his own column within a fashion magazine. His harsh attitude earned him little love from his peers, but he cared not for it, and they dared not speak up against it, because many were under the impression it simply was so in the fashion elite.

Eventually, in a meek little town, he would encounter what he considered one of the largest fashion disasters he had ever met. However, against all odds, that mare had managed to charm him and make him see something that he didn’t at first in her strange style (for more on this, read the little RP segment below!). She eventually pulled him into conversation and started teaching him that she believed that every fashion was a good fashion, aslong as it makes the wearer happy. She spoke of beauty in ALL of Equestria and in all different kinds of styles! At first, he was not convinced, but her smug intelligence managed to pull him into a bet. She showed him her world and turned his upside down, making him lose the bet, and as a griffon of his word, he let her Dye his hair. To this day, he explores the world he has yet so much to discover, in a hairdo he absolutely despises.


 
While an RP sample is not a part of this website, I feel it does add a lot to the idea of the character and the creators writing style, so I felt I should add this in here.
RP sample:
“Ugh, really? You’re wearing that top with that hairstyle?” he said, with more than just a hint of dismay. He did not like the style that the Mare before him was trying to do. However, she simply replied with a smug grin. “Oh yes, Yes I am. And I think…” she said with a pause, before suddenly striding with great confidence in her gait. He was astonished, her steps, the way that top made her look agile, the hairdo that made her look playful. Her smile which put it all together. It was… Not ugly! Infact, it worked quite well! His eyes widened as he saw this. “It’s Just Perfect.” she said, smiling at him, taunting him but proving him wrong at the same time. Grant’s beak simply hung open, he did not understand this. Those kinda things were NEVER supposed to work together. But she made it feel SO right. So perfect with her pelt and her gait. He was blown away.

“It’s… It’s impossible! You simply must be a model, dear.” he told her, adjusting himself and keeping appearances while walking to her. She laughed and shook it off. “Hah! No, not even close, not at all! I’m just confident, dearie.” she said, perplexing Grant’s, at the time, simple perspective on fashion and life. He thought he knew it all, but he was just proven wrong. He was sour. “Well, I do fine making people who aren’t ‘confident’ much prettier than you are!” he said in a fit of anger, not liking her tone with him. He wasn’t raised to be kind or polite, this was not the griffon way! “Jeeze, would It hurt you a little to be polite?.” she said. He scowled at her, evidently, she never dealt with griffons.