simpathis: (Default)
Empatheias Mods ([personal profile] simpathis) wrote2014-05-25 12:34 am

[ application: original characters ]

— APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN AND WILL BE PROCESSED ON WEEKENDS —

Canon Applications are here


IMPORTANT! We are officially in endgame until August 31, 2020. Applications are on a rolling basis. There is a small "block" period from the 1st through the 4th of every month to allow a bulk of apps to be submitted, and then applications can be submitted at any time during the month. Notices will be sent out all at once after the first "block" period, and then between 24 hours to the end of the weekend depending on how many and our schedule. Applications are guaranteed to be processed during the weekends.

IMPORTANT: Only the following types of original characters are allowed to be applied for—

  • Pure OC. These are the typical kind of OC that everyone is familiar with. They are characters that are the player's own creation with their own world that is also of the player's design. There is zero relation to any pre-existing canon.

  • MMO OC. MMOs, or Massively Multiplayer Online games, particularly those with a lot of roleplay and character build-up, have existing world building and lore that they have to follow. These characters are created by the player and can have their own story, but they have to follow the rules of the game lore. We consider "main hero" characters as those who are one of many in a great group that influenced the storyline, rather than the singular Great Hero character. This is to help multiple MMO OCs from the same game to have stories that mesh well together. In the sake of fairness to current FFXIV OC players and consistency with previous mod teams' decisions, we do not currently allow FFXIV Warriors of Light.

  • Blank Slate Canon Protagonists. For our criteria, these types of characters are those which you control throughout the game and essentially make the player the main character. They may have a name and a couple of personality traits, but everything else is up to the player to interpret. Examples of these are most of the main characters from Dragon Age, Skyrim, Pokémon, etc. Important: Please note that this category ONLY pertains to the protagonists of canons. This does not allow side characters or other support NPCs as they have set stories and personalities. This section has nothing to do with how much headcanon is used and is only about the purpose and design of the protagonist character.

The following would not be allowed:

  • Fanon/AU OCs. Characters that are based off pre-existing canons or an alternate version of the canon. We would not allow these OCs not because we are against them on principle, but it could cause unwanted confusion and complications with current existing casts. This type of OC would have needed to be allowed from the very beginning so players would know what they were getting into.

  • Game Native OCs. Currently the game is not ready for such a type of character, as it would introduce other complications and worldbuilding that the interested player would have to be aware of. In addition, it would require more close connection with us the mods than we are currently ready for.


Before applying, please be sure to read the following:

  • Read the Rules and the Game Information.
  • RETURNING PLAYERS! You only need to submit any old application. Does not matter how long ago, as long as it was accepted and you have good standing (ie, not banned), it will be valid.
  • Suggestion: Find some character sheets that have questions directly related to character building. These will help flesh out your application and give some guidelines as to how to write about your character.
  • 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.
  • Do not plagiarize. If we find that the information provided was directly taken by either another player or some other source material, 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 for two weeks. However, you can apply for a different character in that same period.
  • 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! All applications must be posted directly to this entry; no linked-in applications allowed.


We have compiled sample applications from our players to show what the mod team and the application moderators are looking for in terms of writing quality and depth. We hope you find these samples useful!


⌈ 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:
OC Type: Indicate whether this OC is a Pure, MMO, or Blank Protagonist type of OC. If it is a Blank Protagonist, indicate the canon here.
Point Taken: A sense of time when the character is taken. More applicable to MMO and Blank Protagonist OCs.

World Building:This is separate from the character's personal history. This section is to provide us with information about the character's “canon” in general. We will have no idea what kind of world that the character is coming from, and this is the only place we can learn about it. We don't want an encyclopedia, but we will need to know important details about it so that we can understand the culture the character is coming from and how that will affect how they think and behave. What countries are important? What kind of geography or political climate? Are there any social conflicts that would impact the character or would influence how they view others? For MMO and Blank Protagonist OCs, linking us to wikis will suffice, but feel free to add more to it.

Backstory: While we don't need a play-by-play, what we would like to see includes how the character lived, what choices they've made and why, what events occurred that developed them, and other important facts that will help us understand the character. For MMO OCs: Most MMORPGs will have a set storyline that the player character has the opportunity to play through. Keep in mind that rather there being a singular "Great Hero," all MMO OCs are to be seen as a part of a large group of heroes if you choose to follow the main storyline. Also keep in mind that all MMO OCs will have to follow their game’s canon lore. For example: A character could not save the NPC that canonly died, nor could a mission fail if it is set to succeed. However, your character could have died and or had difficulty fulfilling the mission. It is also possible that your character had no part in the overall game's story and had their own adventures in the world instead. Finally, there can be no romantic or familial relationships with named NPCs.

Personality: We're looking for how they think, why they act the way they do, their strengths, their weaknesses, their thought processes, their opinions, their conflicts, what makes them feel the way they do, their significant traits. When writing your character, be careful! We want to avoid characters that are the super invincible almighty hero that can do no wrong. The one who can charm anyone with a smile, can easily trick and deceive, has the power to bend wills with ease. All characters have flaws—no one is perfect. But more importantly, such infallible characters are not interesting to play and interact with. In short, the character should be realistic, balanced, and well thought out. If we feel that your character does not meet this standard, then we may ask for a revision or reject if it cannot be changed.

Abilities: If there are any particular abilities the character has supernatural or otherwise, list them here. Referencing to a wiki list is acceptable if applicable. 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 sample requirements.

General Sample: 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.

Emotion Sample: 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. A reminder that apathetic characters will also create effects, such as loss of color, surface distortion, holes forming. This section doesn't have to be lengthy, but the effect must be clear for us to see.

The emotion sample can be part of the general character sample. If so, please link directly or directly quote that portion so that it's easier for us to quickly find it.

The samples can be "written" in three different ways and you can choose which one will work best for you:

  1. 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 can be used for both.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.



Clean copy and paste form here:

glitchinthesystem: (Haha)

Glitch | Original | 1/2

[personal profile] glitchinthesystem 2020-03-03 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉

Player: Ceej
Contact: [plurk.com profile] christhehost
Age: 26
Current Characters:None


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉

Character:Glitch
Age: 15
OC Type:Pure Oc
Point Taken:During his time in dome when he has the kiddos

World Building:
Glitch’s world is much like our own, except for the fact that in 2020 people began developing superpowers. Signs of the development of powers included a few incidents that began cropping up around the world. These incidents were caused by the appearance of super-powered beings (known as Irregulars) and, due to their often violent nature (ranging from accidental massive explosions to purposely robbing others with newfound abilities), began to frighten the public. However, throughout this time the Irregular population was still in the minority, and their powers needed more time to develop. Therefore, the world government sought to end the problem quickly by separating the Irregulars from the normal public in a project known as the Domes.

Domes were made to seem ideal place for the irregulars but were nothing more than cheap work camps and to keep the low population of super humans away from the majority of society. The irregulars growing frustrated and angry at their poor living conditions began fighting back against their governments, the biggest riots happening in Canada. Despite the government shutting off water and power to the domes the Irregulars still fought back. When the civil unrest became so great with the Irregulars the government decided to make an example of those who would fight back. They broadcasted a live bombing of one of the first domes to rebel. This for the time being effectively ended the rebelling of the irregulars.

However, the higher ups in the government did not want a repeat of the rebellions so they made a decision; They would separate Infants, children, teenagers and adults from one another into individual domes. This way the older generation of Irregulars could not teach the younger generations of what happened. Instead, the government would teach the younger generations of a false history about the world ending, their powers coming from nuclear radiation and that living in the domes was the only way to survive and what they did in them was to ensure that survival.

Robots were sent into the domes to stand guard over the Irregular inhabitants, under the guise of raising and teaching the children and infants of the first two domes, and to keeping the peace in the adult and teen domes. Though the real reason was to keep the Irregulars from developing their powers too much and would often meet the irregular prisoners with brute force if they were caught using their powers.

If anyone ever questioned about going outside and exploring the outdoors, or even tried to go outside, often they would be dealt with; either by killing them outright or sending back the offending person in having been lobotomized in a state of semi catatonia.

Effectively, The domes were the ultimate prison. No one would leave them in fear of those who never came back or those who did were not the same again.


Backstory:
Glitch’s first memories were that of growing up inside the domes. When he was five he began his schooling in the child Dome. Being naturally curious and having been told about going to school from the robots, he began soaking in all the knowledge being taught to him and the other Irregular children. Glitch learned about the “history” of the world (or the falsified history of events designed by the companies). Taught that the world had ended, adults were too busy maintaining the domes so robots were to raise the children, everything seemed normal.

However, Glitch, like many other of the kids before him, noticed they hadn't been given names to the kids; just numbers. After all, robots can’t get very creative. Instead, children came up with their own names. They would draw on their powers, talents, or interests as inspiration. Glitch’s name stemmed from his powers. One day, during lunch period Glitch had wanted more to eat, but because the robot had served him his portion, it wouldn’t give Glitch more. Impulsively, Glitch went across the counter to grab more food and his hand touched the robot. A surge of electricity caused the robot to malfunction and start saying the word “glitch” over and over. That’s when Glitch chose his name.

In time, Glitch figured out his superhuman abilities had to do with electricity and Magnetism. Whenever he could he would use it on the robots to get more food. He took care not to get caught, having seen what happened to most kids who were too showy with their powers. Eventually, however, he did get discovered - not by a robot, but by another child. This child, a girl with pyrokinesis named Torch. She had noted his abilities as being useful and promised not to go alerting the other kids or robots if he would get her extra helpings as well. Glitch grudgingly held up his end of the deal, not wanting to have every child or robot in the Dome. Torch honoured her part of the deal as well, even going beyond it by helping Glitch. She would start small fires to distract the robots who oversaw the food distribution while Glitch worked his magic. As time went on in this fashion, Glitch and Torch began to trust each other, and eventually viewed each other as friends..

When they finally turned 12, they were moved via the underground tunnels to the Teen Dome. The moment they arrived, they were thrown into 16 hour days of work, with no breaks, with barely edible food and poor living conditions. They didn’t receive daily portions of food like they did back in the child Dome, now having to pay for it with food tickets from their jobs. The food tickets were enough to purchase one meal a day, and the meals themselves were not enough to keep anyone full.

As time passed, they decided to go back to their food-stealing scheme that had worked out so well for them in the Children’s Dome. Unfortunately, food security in the Teen Dome was much tighter. When Glitch tried to make a serving robot malfunction, another caught him, even with Torch’s distractions. He was beaten severely leaving him unable to work for a few weeks. In that time, Torch divided her already meager portions between the two of them.

With food problems, came bully problems. Older teens viewed the younger kids as easy pickings which Glitch and Torch were targeted for. A common practice for the more established inhabitants to try and take advantage of the newcomers, shaking them down for meal tickets or forcing them to try and steal things for them. Glitch and Torch resisted, earning a few bruises along with having their meal tickets stolen for a time. It wasn’t until Torch seriously burned one of the teen's faces that the older kids finally left the pair alone.

Having nearly starved on several occasions and getting robbed was enough to show Glitch how awful living in the Dome was. Cramped and trapped inside the Dome, he had no hope for anything better. He knew the only other option was to leave - but that meant becoming one of the Tweakers. Having seen firsthand what the Tweakers were like, the lifelessness and lack of self preservation unsettled him.

It wasn’t until he was fourteen that he heard about the underground fighting club in place in the Teen Dome. The fighting club was located in an old collapsed tunnel in which a small cave had formed among the debris. With the entrance being hidden behind a large loose panel and the robots no longer securing the area, the teens found it easy to use this one spot for their fight club. Each week the teens would host a fighting tournament where admission was a food ticket. Powers could be used in the fights so long as it didn’t result in any fatalities.The winner for that week would get a portion of the food tickets used for admission.

Glitch and Torch decided that participating in the fights would be their method of getting extra food tickets. For the first few weeks, all Glitch and Torch did was watch the fights: seeing who regularly participated, how they fought, who used what power or if they used them at all. When they decided it was time to try and participate, Glitch was first of the pair to fight. Having studied the other contenders before, Glitch could fight them easily . Having won the fights for that week, Glitch had managed to win enough food tickets for himself and Torch for at least a few weeks.

Torch and Glitch continued this pattern, keeping themselves as well fed as they use to. At least until the new kids would come to the teen dome.

When that time came an uneasiness stirred in Glitch. After everything he and Torch suffered in this dome Glitch became determined to protect the newcomers. Torch protested against it, saying that they already had a good system for themselves and that taking in strays could ruin everything. Despite her protests, Glitch wouldn’t budge on that. Finally, Torch accepted and the two would start .

They had taken in a few kids by the time they were sixteen. Glitch and Torch would manage to keep them protected from the worst of what the teen dome had to offer.

Regardless, their existence continued as it was: work, taking care of the younger kids, fight club and so on.
Personality:
Glitch is what you’d call something of a typical angry teenager. Constantly rude, crass and very stand offish when you first meet him. After all, it’s the front he shows to the world. Growing up in the situation he did, Glitch learned not to be a pushover. He doesn’t let anyone talk down to him or walk over him if he can help it. However, it doesn’t mean he’s stupid. Glitch has always known when to pick his fights and just how to win them. Observant and self reliant, he would often only pick these fights when he figured out his opponents’ weakness or when he can gain something from it. He’s a boy of calculated risks and will often seek to tip them in his favour, rules be damned.

Glitch was forced to grow up relatively fast for the situation he was in. Constantly being preyed upon when he was younger, Glitch developed a quick distrust of strangers. He’s always suspicious of others intentions and always on guard when he’s put into a situation where he has to speak with a stranger. Despite his initial distrust, he isn’t against making “a mutual alliance.” When faced with a situation he is unfamiliar with or could gain little by himself, he’s willing to work with another to get what he wants. When deciding if he should go out on a limb and help a stranger it’s always with the intent of what he can gain from it.

However, he’s fully capable of trusting someone eventually and usually when he does he’s a very loyal friend. Torch is a prime example because while their relationship first began because of blackmail he learned to count on her. He will always have another person’s back if he knows they have his he just needs to see it. He’s willing to go to whatever means to keep them safe and healthy be it stealing or fighting. He won’t ever abandon someone he calls a friend regardless of how hard a situation may seem.

Underneath the layer of a rude teenage boy who may be a little too smart for his own good and a bit selfish does lie a decent person. When Glitch does see suffering or an abuse of power to children he’s at least willing to act against it and do something selfless. On a whim he was willing to take in a bunch of kids he didn’t know and keep them safe from the worst of the teen dome. For his friends he was willing to risk life and limb just to supply them with enough food to live. He’s actually even capable of some semblance of cheeriness, through snarky humour or willingness to be more talkative. His life just hasn’t allowed much for this decent side to come out.
glitchinthesystem: (lame)

2/2

[personal profile] glitchinthesystem 2020-03-03 01:55 am (UTC)(link)

Abilities:
Glitch has the ability to manipulate, create and use electricity in a multitude of ways. He's capable of shooting electricity from his hands, draining electricity from other sources and storing it inside himself. He has been able to short out the robots in his Dome long enough to steal food.. He can generate electricity and cover his limbs with it to deliver an electrified punch. Glitch can also fire electricity out from his hands and blast others with it. To a degree, Glitch can use his electrical powers to lift, throw, and move metallic objects.

Glitch has managed to refine his ability of control over how much power he outputs as well. Exhibited with the robots, Glitch only ever held back enough to temporarily make the robots malfunction. He can make an electrical blast as weak or as powerful as he wants, deciding if he’d rather stun someone (like at the fight clubs) or using a more lethal blast.

He is completely immune to anything remotely electrocity based. He can’t be electrocuted and killed with electricity for he can redirect or absorb the energy. However, he is vulnerable to water. Large amounts of it can completely short him out and drain him of his electrical abilities for a short time. If he is completely submerged in water he could potentially die.

While he’s only used his electrokinesis for certain things in the Dome and to very small degrees he does have the potential to allow this ability to grow more powerful if he practiced and used it more in a more open setting.

Being part of the fight club Glitch managed to make up his own fighting style. Mostly it involves dodging, blocking and diverting kicks and punches to throw the attacker off balance. When he knocks them over he ends up taking advantage and attacks them while they're lying on their back. With this type of fighting style it has made him fast and nimble able to avoid and dodge at a faster reaction time than others in his Dome.


Alignment:
Piphron - Glitch is a kid who finds others hard to trust. Really, he distrusts people right off the bat but when he finally befriends someone he will trust them implicitly.

Other:


⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉



General Sample:
Sample

Emotion Sample:
With the beauty of this environment it was definitely enough to overwhelm anybody.Especially, someone who's never seen real trees before. He should be happy shouldn't he? But, he's not. When he looks at the foliage all he thinks is what he lost, what his world lost. When he tries not to let it get the best of him it doesn't help. The bitter emotion is just too strong to ignore. It begins to wilt the grass around him, the flowers die. Beauty could not live where there was anger. What summer weather was around him seems to turn cold, the temperature spiking fairly quickly into more Fall. More suiting he thinks as he begins to look at what his emotions do to the world. Winter meant death. Bitterness meant it.

But, maybe he needs to apperciate it while it lasts. Even if he's bitter about his dead world doesn't that mean he's also happy to live in a thriving one? With that thought coming to mind it helps ease the pangs of pain. The grass that had taken on an ashen black colour, starts to respond to his thoughts of gratefulness.

It doesn't turn green again, but it takes on the colour of Fall. Orange and red grass now sprouting from the dead. The air also doesn't have that stinging icy quality anymore. Instead, the air becomes crisp and clear as if the Winter cold hasn't fully overtaken it.Flowers that had died under his pain come back more fully, not as much as they had when they were summer blooms, but more of when Autumn begins to spread. They still had colour but, were just slowly going into that long slumber.

Perhaps this field that he sucked the life out of and put back in represented how he really felt. An Eternal Fall.


Questions: