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[ ARCHIVED ] [ application ]
IMPORTANT!Applications are on a monthly cycle. They run from the 1st thru the 4th of each month. The cycle opens at 12:00AM CST and close at 11:59PM CST. Notices will be sent out all at once at the end of the cycle, and no later than 24 hours after the end of the cycle.
Before applying, please be sure to read the following:
⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player:
Contact: Journal/Plurk/AIM — anything to help identify since someone might share your name handle.
Age: You must be at least 13 years old to apply.
Current Characters: If a new player, just put "N/A"
⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character:
Age:
Canon:
Canon Point:
Background: We do not need a play by play of their life. You can of course provide one, but it's not necessary. A summary of their role in the canon and important events involving their character will suffice. Wiki links are allowed.
Personality: Tell us everything you can about how the character works. What are their quirks, reasons for thinking, habits, and flaws—basically we want to know not only how they act, but also why they act that way. You are free to use canon as examples, but be sure to explain why you are referencing the event.
Abilities: If there are any particular abilities the character has supernatural or otherwise, list them here. Referencing to a wiki list is acceptable. However, if there are any particular abilities that need to be weakened or removed, note them here.
Alignment: Please refer to the Alignment entry to choose which alignment your character would most likely fall under. Include a brief (a couple of sentences max) just to help explain why you think your choice is the best fit.
Other: Anything else you'd like to mention.
⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉
Sample: We have two requirements for the sample:
The sample can be "written" in three different ways and you can choose which one will work best for you:
Format wise, you can use either [ brackets ] OR narrative prose. We do require that the writing at least be coherent, have proper sentence structure, and is mostly grammatically correct (we realize that writing styles can be loose/creative in [ bracket ] form so we're giving a bit more leeway). One last suggestion we have is try to have the character interacting with the environment and try thinking of the sample less of a narrative piece but more like a post or thread prompt you might make in the game. That will help the sample show not only how you will write the character, but also how you will play them in practice.
Questions: If you have any questions, ask them here.
Clean copy and paste form here:
Before applying, please be sure to read the following:
- Read the Rules and the Game Information.
- Double check the Reserves and Taken Characters lists to make sure the character you're applying for is not on the list. Also check the comments in case the entry has yet to be updated, as well as any pending applications.
- Feel free to use the most recent test drive both for practice as well as to use for samples. IMPORTANT! If you submit threads as samples, you must submit the application with that character journal. This is the only way we can ensure that the samples are from you and not someone else.
- Linked samples must have been made within the past year.
- You may apply for up to two characters per cycle.
- Application challenges are allowed. Reserves will have priority, but it's not definitive. We will choose the better application regardless.
- Do not plagiarize. If we find that the information provided was directly taken by either another player or source material such a wiki, the application will be rejected immediately. If we find this after processing the application, we will revoke the application and have you removed from the game with potential ban.
- Reusing your own applications from other games is allowed. We only ask any original written samples to conform to our game. That is, we don't want to read samples that are set specifically for another game's premise. Note: this does not apply to threads linked from other games used as samples.
- If you are rejected, you cannot reapply for the same character until the next cycle. However, you can apply for a different character in the same cycle.
- Those accepted must fill out all of the required entries within a week to be considered part of the game. Otherwise, we will consider it a revocation of the application.
- Fill out the form and comment to this entry! You can either paste the application directly to the entry or link it from your own journal/musebox.
Player:
Contact: Journal/Plurk/AIM — anything to help identify since someone might share your name handle.
Age: You must be at least 13 years old to apply.
Current Characters: If a new player, just put "N/A"
Character:
Age:
Canon:
Canon Point:
Background: We do not need a play by play of their life. You can of course provide one, but it's not necessary. A summary of their role in the canon and important events involving their character will suffice. Wiki links are allowed.
Personality: Tell us everything you can about how the character works. What are their quirks, reasons for thinking, habits, and flaws—basically we want to know not only how they act, but also why they act that way. You are free to use canon as examples, but be sure to explain why you are referencing the event.
Abilities: If there are any particular abilities the character has supernatural or otherwise, list them here. Referencing to a wiki list is acceptable. However, if there are any particular abilities that need to be weakened or removed, note them here.
Alignment: Please refer to the Alignment entry to choose which alignment your character would most likely fall under. Include a brief (a couple of sentences max) just to help explain why you think your choice is the best fit.
Other: Anything else you'd like to mention.
Sample: We have two requirements for the sample:
- Character Portrayal. We should see examples of the character's dialogue as well as some introspection or additional narrative to further show how you intend to write the character. This is the most important part of the sample and where most of the weight will be.
- Use of Emotions. This is our "game setting" requirement. Essentially we want to ensure that you have a basic grasp of the game's premise, especially with the use of emotions. It can be a small scene, even incidental to the main sample. For apathetic characters or those who do not exhibit emotions easily, an alternative is to describe what the character is doing instead and essentially show how they behave in such a manner. For example, if a character is set in a scenario that would normally provoke an emotional response, what do they do instead? What is their mindset and their reaction instead? This portion doesn't have to be lengthy and can even be a couple of sentences to a paragraph. Also keep in mind that subtle and passive effects count, so you do not have to try and create something exuberant or extreme. A calm wind will work just as well as a raging storm, so feel free to be as simple or creative as you want.
The sample can be "written" in three different ways and you can choose which one will work best for you:
- Test Drive. You can utilize our test drive to cover both requirements of the sample. So long as there is enough character portrayal and a scene with an emotional reaction, be it within the prompt or done during the thread, then it will satisfy both requirements.
- Link out + Written. You can link to threads/entries from other games, memes, or museboxes to show character portrayal, and then write an additional short scene for the emotion portion of the sample.
- Original Sample. You can write a complete sample that shows both character portrayal and a scene involving emotion use. This can be one sample or two separate samples. If you opt to write an original sample, you are welcome to use any prompts from any of our Test Drives, Intro Logs, Task Board, and even past events. You are also free to change things up and are not restricted to any of these prompts. They are just here to help offer ideas.
Format wise, you can use either [ brackets ] OR narrative prose. We do require that the writing at least be coherent, have proper sentence structure, and is mostly grammatically correct (we realize that writing styles can be loose/creative in [ bracket ] form so we're giving a bit more leeway). One last suggestion we have is try to have the character interacting with the environment and try thinking of the sample less of a narrative piece but more like a post or thread prompt you might make in the game. That will help the sample show not only how you will write the character, but also how you will play them in practice.
Questions: If you have any questions, ask them here.
Revision
Although the Personality is very thorough in terms of examples, the current style makes it difficult to really see Trip's personality. As it is, we get vague glimpses and examples alone aren't enough to really further explain or give reason for interpretation. For example, when you talk about his Pokemon, you mention how Pokemon reflect a trainer's personality. You then talk about the Pokemon, but don't really explain how that reflects Trip himself. Thus we would like to see the Personality section rewritten so that it's not as heavy with facts and more about Trip's characterization. Rather than show what he did, explain more about why and if you use a factual example, explain how they reflect his personality.
In addition, we need you to reformat the application to conform with the game's format. You can still use the information where applicable, but the application must fit our format. You will also need to give a very brief explanation as to why he is aligned to Sosyne.
Please submit your revisions as its own comment in reply to this one. You have one week to submit the revisions, otherwise we will consider it a revocation of your application. If you have any questions or concerns, ask away!
Revision
Will do! o7 The reason the personality page is so vague partly because he has a very sporadic and minimal roles in the BW! storyline and even when he is on-screen, he tends to avoid interacting with others and keeps to himself. The other issue is he's specifically written to have a very inconsistent, contradictory personality.
I've elaborated and expanded on a lot more on that note and others in the revised personality section, especially in regards to the Pokemon I neglected to really explain how they reflected aspects of his personality despite saying they do! It was a very big oversight and I apologize for how confusing it was before! I hope you'll read it and that it'll be more acceptable this time.
Thank you so much for pointing it out, I just realized I left out some very, very important information and very key aspects! I honestly don't know how I missed it, wow. Thanks so much for pointing that out!
Finally, I think the most important thing to keep in mind about this character is that, despite the way he speaks and how carries himself, he really is just a kid who's still figuring out who he is and coming into his own as a Pokemon trainer. In many ways, his journey's just begun.
I revised the application here, but I'll see if I can find and fit everything I changed into this comment:
Personality: He is shown be a very inconsistent person in terms of behaviour. It is hard to anticipate what he might do or say in a certain situation because he is very taciturn and does things that seem counter to his nature entirely on a whim (he disrespects Ash early on and looks down on him for losing to him on Tip's first day of his journey
regardless of the Legendary interference that led to Ash's Pikachu temporarily being unable to use Electric Attacks because Trip didn't see that happen, but he also decides to imitate Ash's battling style in their third battle and makes it very clear to him that he's trying it out!). The boy acts like an insufferable know-it-all and can be very condescending, but he's not above learning from someone he seems to look down on, and just in general, he'll say one thing and do another. Very inconsistent, very difficult-to-pin-down, because he's not sure what he's going to do yet and has only been on his journey for a relatively short while and, more importantly, is still developing his own personality too. He's basing his personality on (possibly grossly misunderstood) childhood advice to seek strength and grow up quickly. He tries to act like he knows more than he really does, more confident and sure of himself than he really is, but he knows he needs to grow and change, so he's not shy about adapting his style and learning new things, as long as he's convinced they won't interfere with his personal growth (... unfortunately, friendship and building trust seems to be something he filed away as an impediment for a long time), otherwise, he wouldn't have been carrying that camera around to record his journey. And he does recognize it as a journey on which he should grow and change and normally, although he's very confident, he doesn't think he has nothing left to learn from anyone else except for when his arrogance reached its peak just before his crushing defeat.He doesn't take pictures just to remember experiences and places or the way he felt about them, but also to learn from; as he used pictures to help Ash find out what was preventing Oshawott from successfully performing an attack.
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As for the many contradictions involved with Vanillite and his attitude towards it, it's worth remembering that just as older Alder focuses on living in the moment, Trip is very much focused on the past. He cherishes it and dwells on it in memories and photographs. Trip is a very sentimental person despite his harsh coldness in battle and Vanillite, being the pre-evolutionary form of one of Alder's Pokemon, in addition to its appearance (a babyish creature that resembles confectionary), all tie it quite strongly to feelings of childhood and it elicits more of an uncharacteristically emotionally-driven, but also protective response from Trip. His reasons for giving it such a treatment are based in his own childhood, while he rejects the "child" label now, wanting to be seen as an adult, he also places himself in an almost parental role for it and sees Vanillite as something to be protected. He recognizes childhood and childhood memories as something precious, not just his own or other humans', but also a Pokemon's, because he is also protective of its own feelings. If it were only about his own memories, it wouldn't make a difference to him if someone said something insensitive to Vanillite. But it did. This sort of response means a lot coming from someone who normally sees emotional responses as foolish and something to be avoided because they cloud judgement.
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The more sinister Pokemon (Frillish and Lampent) also suit Trip's change in demeanour in battle and his malicious battling style. While he's normally calm and polite even while battling (provided the battle isn't emotionally charged like the one against Alder), when excited, he does seem to enjoy taking down his opponent in extremely harsh or even cruel ways. And he smirks while doing it too. Although he cares for his own Pokemon, he has a very vicious battling style, and the Venipede incident also shows that he does not care what happens to wild Pokemon who pose a threat to him or other humans. He absolutely won't kill or intentionally cause serious injury to a trained Pokemon (he's not heartless, he's a legitimate trainer), he respects that trained Pokemon are important to their Trainers and it's not the same as wild Pokemon who are attacking humans like the Venipede, but he has no qualms about using tactics that will bring a Pokemon to the brink of death because he takes his battles as deathly seriously as he takes himself and his pride relies on being seen as strong and capable, which is why his earlier losses affected him so badly. Trip is much more ruthless in battle than he is outside of it, as he seems to reserve his his kindness for certain Pokemon (it might tie into his sense of pride as putting those he cares about above others of their own kind and/or his pragmatic nature as well, because it would not benefit him to care about something that would not benefit him, cold as it is) and in certain, non-battle situations. His kindness to people is less restricted, as he feels it's also only "basic" that humans would protect and help one another (it sounds unusually idealistic for Trip until you put it into context that he's using it to justify burning a common, non-human enemy: the Venipede). He is quite cold, but very rational, more logic-driven than emotion-driven and weighs his options out based on what brings more benefit rather than being tied down by vaguely-defined feelings and motives like Ash's compassion (pfft, what?). (Except when it comes to Vanillite because it's his baby and shush, don't hurt its feelings!). Yes, it's very arrogant and self-centered thinking, but with a combination of pride, introversion, and inward-focus, it's also to be expected. He's very much focused on himself, his Pokemon, and how they come across, so that's where he puts most of his care. He isn't flooding with affection for all living creatures like some people...
His final League battle with Ash, when they're already mutually friendly? He has his Serperior wrap its tail around Pikachu's neck and suffocate him until he loses consciousness before ordering for Pikachu to be slammed into the battlefield. Serperior, ever obedient, does all of this without hesitation, accustomed to its trainer's style. So even his non-Ghost Type Pokemon show streaks of cruelty in their battling styles, rather than just Trip's favoured Ghost Types who have this penchant for childish cruelty as part of their very natures, and Trip mirrors in battle.
Just as in the Venipede incident, it shows he has a very ends-justifies-the-means approach to battles and isn't afraid to go further than most. So while the vast majority of trainers would absolutely not go to such lengths, it's still technically an acceptable battling style. Ash's Pikachu has been in worse fixes in standard battles before too (Pika and Goliath, Pikachu battles a Raichu, winds up hospitalized with a dropping pulse and heart rate). This was during the league and no one stops him or raises any objection, so it's technically acceptable even if it did cause Ash and friends to worry.
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In closing, by the last time we see him, he's become slightly more humble and open to interactions rather than rejecting them all and no longer tries to says purposefully offensive things. However, his core personality remains the same and he is still proud, keeps mostly to himself, focused on growing stronger (now understanding that being close with his Pokemon cannot be sacrificed to that end or they won't be able to battle effectively against more tightly-bonded opponents), and a goal-driven pragmatist with a powerful, frightening battle style, but also a young boy trying to be taken seriously so he can achieve his dream of being the new Champion of his region, although he recognizes he has a long way to go.
Alignment: Sosyne! Because calm is his demeanour 90% of the time and he's very good at keeping a level-head in demanding situations (or just comparmentalizing everything else he might be feeling to unpack it later when his mind isn't focused on strategy and he isn't concerned with keeping up appearances). However, he can also be swept up in the heat of a battle and his temper runs hot when he does. In spite of himself, he can also get quite angry in certain situations and has a bit of a childish temper then. I think it'd be most interesting because his temper seems to be the hardest thing for him to control; he doesn't seem to feel other emotions as intensely or rather, even if he does (he does show sadness and bitter disappointment), he can keep them locked in so very little shows (oh, but here, it will show), compared to his temper which gets the best of him.
I mean, does this look like a kid who has an easy time controlling his temper?
Note: The remainder of the eedits I made are mostly teeny, tiny edits like the last personality one above that just points what the other Pokemon represent, but the rest of his Pokemon get less focus so I have less to say about them— the summary is that they have a regal theme to them or their evolutionary lines, like Lampent evolving into Chandelure which is crowned like Frillish... with the except of Conkeldurr who is strictly a strategic choice and Vanillite to fit this kid's royal ego, that's about it! Serperior, Vanillite, and the Ghosts probably convey the most of his personality while Tranquill simply follows the theme and Conkeldurr is the exception who is mostly strictly a strategic choice because Trip trained his Serperior for speed (Serperior can move so fast, it looks like it teleported!), bit of endurance, but Conkeldurr is trained for strength. Trip's Tranquill and Serperior also enjoy their own rivalries with Ash's opposite-gender Unfezant and Snivy separate from their trainers (because initially Trip acts indifferent to Ash). That's all! o/
If there's anything else I need to elaborate on, please point it out! This place looks like a lot of fun and I don't want to give up on it! ♥
Accepted!
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Accepted!
Thank you sooooooooooo much!!