ID cards

There's a song on my playlist -- about breaking up -- that I keep on repeat as I brainstorm a music video for it. Korea (both sides) mandates conscription for all able men, so there is at least a month where young couples are forced to split as the guys ship off to Basic. Officer training, though not as harsh as the grunt life, still requires weeks away from home, linked only by snail mail and the occasional payphone. I sketched out this Character Page for this MV as a way to begin organizing and formalizing my mental storyboard.


I settled on a modified, humanized version of MLP:FiM to fill this MV. The world I have in mind involves a Korean-speaking traditional monarchy in the present day, named 騎士王國 (literally "Knight Kingdom", it's the closest I could come up with for Equestria). (Note: Most translations were done through Google Translate. Accurate interpretations not expected.)  The convention for their language is to keep proper names in Hanja (Traditional Chinese characters), and all its nationals would be fully educated in it. Citizens retain an 인감 (registered seal), that world's analogue to the MLP "cutie mark"; guys generally go for a white-on-black design, while the ladies tend to prefer black-on-white. Ordinal dates (days since the year began) are standard. All official ID cards are chipped for PKI abilities.

# Armed Conflict Conventions ID (武裝衝突公约신분증): Modeled after the US Common Access Card. Notable modifications are the replacement of the large redundant expiration date with the 인감, and the addition of the rank insignia on the bottom. This is a simplified sketch, the full version would include a faded government seal and other tamper-resistant graphics.

# Diplomatic Protocol ID (外交議定書신분증): Also based the US CAC, except the portrait is extended to include the full-color 인감 as the background, in addition to a physical stamp of it on the card itself. This ID is mostly for internal use (e.g. access into and within the Palace), there's a separate Diplomatic Passport for travels abroad.

# Princess Celestia's Academy of Advanced Studies (宇宙公主深造學院) student ID: Based on what I've found in web searches for Korean student ID cards. Each academic year, the registration sticker gets replaced with the current one.


The sheer amount of characters in the show allows a lot of flexibility in casting, and its own canon supports the storyboard I have in mind. I hybridized the character design between Trinityinyang and Hasbro's Equestria Girls. All of these characters are slated to appear somewhere within the MV.

# Shining Armor (閃耀盔甲): Currently a Captain in the Royal Guard, which means he had to have gone through Officer Basic at some point. Princess Cadance's high school sweetheart, whom he later marries. His ID card will be the only one actually seen on screen, everyone else's are just illustrative.

# Spitfire (爆火): Currently a Captain in the Wonderbolts (or at least has worn the "railroad tracks" on her uniform). I put her as Shining's possible classmate, later to split off for the air force after Basic (騎士王國 uses a central academy to commission its officers).

# Princess Mi Amore Cadenza (愛韻律): Though a full princess destined for high leadership, she went to an otherwise normal public high school where she met and fell for Shining. (I had her name changed from the official phonetic translation of her English name "米阿默卡丹紗")

# Princess Celestia (宇宙): Sovereign ruler of the nation, reigning solo after being forced to detain her co-ruling sister Luna for a good while now by the time Shining and Spitfire ship off. Her calm, motherly demeanor hides the fact that she's not exactly taking it well.

# Sunset Shimmer (落日霞光): Princess Celestia's prime personal student at the time of Shining's enlistment. Her interests in power and domination ultimately interfere with her studies, and she gets expelled and goes into exile later on.

# Minuette (小步舞曲): Sunset's classmate at the academy. Obsessed with oral health and wellness.

# Twilight Sparkle (暮光閃閃): Shining Armor's little sister, replaces Sunset as Princess Celestia's personal student after her academic talents become realized.


ETA to the final cut could take a few years; I have yet to even start a project on Flash