groundrules | applications

Entry tags:

applications

applications

APPLICATIONS

Eastbound is primarily an invite-only game — each existing player can currently invite up to one person per month, or get in touch about further invites. Existing players can hold two characters in game. A third character can be applied, if players can prove they have met activity requirements for two consecutive months with their existing two characters and have stayed engaged with the game. If you don't have an invite, somehow stumbled upon this neck of the woods, and you’d like to stay, drop the mod journal a line — we'll try to figure it out.

As of Oct. 1, cast/game caps are off. Please note, as of Dec. 1, Eastbound only has 3-4 months of gameplay left.

WHAT CHARACTERS CAN BE APPLIED?

YES: canon and original characters, if they have a solid and consistent personality and background. Characters brought in after they've died are a-okay. For characters taken from a time point just as they're in the process of dying, please read below on meeting medical requirements.

NO (at this time): real people, original characters set in a canon environment, characters from canons or canon instalments that have been released for less than one month, characters with imported development from other games (CRAU), alternate universe, or gender-swapped versions of canon characters.

Children or characters with very specific medical/magical/environment needs: appable, but please make a note of how your character will ICly meet their requirements and stay alive. Likewise, if you are applying for a character taken just as they're dying, provide a suggestion for how they can be kept alive on arrival (this might be easier in some app cycles than others). You can bend the world a little to make miracles happen (ex: a substitute for the medication your character needs to survive can be found for a high price at certain apothecaries, etc.)

Characters that were dropped or swept by activity checks: yes, but they’ll come back without their previous memories, if they are applied in by a different player.

APPLICATION FORM & INSTRUCTIONS

EXISTING / RETURNING PLAYERS

NEW PLAYERS

PLAYER NAME: 
CONTACT:
REFERRED BY: Who invited you, please? c:

CHARACTER: 
CANON:
CANON POINT:

BACKGROUND: written or linked history both fine. Bullet points also a-okay. If no information is available in English, please write this out in short.

ABILITIES | POWERS: Include any relevant power restrictions, so you don’t break our playground.

PERSONALITY: make sure this ties back to the character’s time point and background.

SAMPLE: one or more samples to showcase the nuances of your character’s personality. Submit at least one prose sample of five comments or more. You can link memes, PSL or other game threads, provided they took place within the last 12 months. You can also write a single prose sample in the game or character canon setting, if you think you can cover good introspective ground that way, or a top level with enough variety to show how the character engages in various scenarios. 
 
INVENTORY: No world-breaking items. For living or magical beings, or anything colossal (think... Gundams...) please let's talk beforehand!

SUITABILITY: Eastbound is a plot-heavy game that typically features sleuthing, action and the undead. How is your character likely to deal with all that (and the game bear)?

NOTES: Are there any particular accommodations your character will need? How do you propose to handle that?

APPLICATIONS CLOSED

→ NAVIGATION MENU

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

PLAYER NAME: Em
CONTACT: icicles@plurk
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: ruxi bullied me :c

CHARACTER: Lan Xichen
CANON: The Untamed
CANON POINT: Post-canon

BACKGROUND: Background. Aside from some minor differences between MDZS and The Untamed (such as the yin iron plot), this is accurate.

ABILITIES | POWERS:

Lan Xichen is a powerful cultivator of qi (who will probably live a very long life as much as he would rather not) and owns the crazy Lan arm strength, so he's strong both spiritually and physically. Aside from all that, he has some special abilities.

° Swordsmanship: Renowned, taught by his uncle Lan Qiren.
° Cleansing: Because of the purity inherent in his strong cultivation, Xichen is exceptionally good at cleansing spirits. He does this with his xiao, Liebing, and sometimes uses the guqin of which he is also a master musician. He can essentially send so many good vibes at a spirit that it calms tf down.
° Archery: Placed in the top four archers at a discussion conference in his youth. Not a shabby shot.
° Painting: Xichen's paintings are very accomplished, so much so that Jin Guangyao hung some in his private study.

PERSONALITY:

Lan Xichen is the older brother of your friend who is always handsome, friendly, and has a patient ear for your problems with some helpful advice. He is also always vaguely unattainable and praised for being handsome, but there is a lot more going on beneath the surface which he rarely shows to anyone except his brother.

Xichen was raised to be one of two perfect sons, known as the Twin Jades of Lan for their flawless looks and cultivation ideals. After losing his mother when he was young and witnessing how stricken Wangji was by the whole (poorly managed) affair, he became even more protective of him and grew entirely into the role of the responsible elder sibling. As a result, he is kind by nature to almost everyone, unwilling to make snap judgements on people based on their heritage or station ... which is how he came to be close to Meng Yao, a bastard son of a prostitute from another clan.

This friendship would ruin Xichen's life at a much later date.

Until then, they spent a great deal of time hanging out, gifting paintings, supposedly innocently teaching the newly renamed Jin Guangyao the guqin, and being besties. When Cloud Recesses was attacked and Lan Xichen had to go into hiding with some of the more rare library books, Jin Guangyao helped hide Xichen and even assisted in the major rebuilding of his home once the Sunshot Campaign was done. Because, as we have said, they were besties. Making decisions based on what appears to be the right thing to do is what led to Xichen joining the clans to turn on Wei Wuxian when he presented as the Yiling Patriarch, though he held no personal grudge against him and had even encouraged some honesty between Wei Wuxian and Wangji during a private ~~shovel~~ talk with the former. He is brave and independent-minded, for example, letting lots of juniors come on a hunt when they badgered him because he saw no harm in them learning, but his trust in people is what ultimately led to his mental breakdown.

Long story short, Jin Guangyao lied and manipulated his bestie/zhiji for years. Decades. While Xichen was always cared for and never hurt directly by a-Yao's machinations, people around him were (horrifically) and when he discovered the truth he went so far as to strike a-Yao and scream at him. He was strung along and only ever told or presented what a-Yao wanted him to see or hear, so he was never given the full picture but instead a tailored version that appealed to his good nature. This broke his faith, and heart, and unable to handle the full scale of how foolish/blind he has been, he at one point agreed to die with Jin Guangyao as penance. Saved by the same man, he went into seclusion from the traumatic experience of not knowing who to trust. Massive case of the Sads.

It is debatable whether Jin Guangyao genuinely cared for Xichen, which is entirely the problem: Xichen doesn't know anymore. Whereas once he was a confident and upstanding cultivator, he now feels a deep sense of shame for being tricked for so incredibly long and used as little better than a pawn. No matter which way he looks at it, he has only ever been placed where Jin Guangyao wanted him on the map. To say he is lost in his own grief would not be inaccurate.

It goes without saying, he has a much stronger aversion to liars these days.

Being played post-canon, Xichen is thinner after three months of seclusion, rarely eating or sleeping, existing mainly on his immense qi for support, and Wangji has been named chief cultivator of Cloud Recesses instead. There is something broken in Xichen that he doesn't know how to heal, and although he remains sect leader in title there is little will in him to exert his duties or tend to anything but the deep depression that he now suffers. He is still kind and gentle, but he suffers from stress around the subject of Jin Guangyao, and blames himself for not knowing him in the slightest: perhaps, he reasons, he could have stopped him if he hadn't been so naively trusting. People suffered because of his belief in that man, of which he is now well aware. I don't want to put labels on him but to say he suffers from some form of PTSD wouldn't be far off the mark.

SAMPLE: TDM Thread #1: Wangji, TDM Thread #2: Hermione

INVENTORY:

° Shuoyue (朔月, Shuòyuè): Lan Xichen's sword.
° Liebing (裂冰, Lièbīng): Lan Xichen's xiao which he used to pacify hostile resentful spirits, including the Fierce Corpse of Nie Mingjue.
° Hanfu: Some blue/white/grey robes he was in when he arrived.

NOTES: Xichen is probably going to be helping other people with their problems before he addresses any of his own, so he will just be invested in being a supporting role for a while.

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO?

Xichen will go with the flow and see where it takes him, he's a bit too fragile to take the lead in anything as of yet.

PLAYER NAME: Lae
CONTACT:

Laekhund
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: TDM & EMP

CHARACTER: Anthony Lockwood
CANON: Lockwood & Co
CANON POINT: Season 1 Episode 8 after the battle with Bickerstaff while riding to the surface from the catacombs.

BACKGROUND: A wild Wiki Link appears!

ABILITIES | POWERS:

Talent / Sight: In Lockwood and Co canon, children manifest 'Talents' related specifically to interacting with the dead and are sensitive to these Talents up until their early twenties. The talents fall under one of three umbrella; Sight, Touch, Listening. These aren't magic powers or anything that could be taught to someone else. They are considered psychic abilities and are innate talents that gradual fade as a person ages; usually gone by the mid-twenties/early thirties.

Lockwood's is most gifted with Sight. This Talent allows him to detect death-glows, which is usually depicted by the shape of how their body was laid out in that final moment. He can also detect residual spirit energy and identify different types of ghosts from the various energies they exude. His Sight is very strong, and he often uses sunglasses while on a case as a way to keep from being blinded by his own Talent.

One of the things that is remarked upon is that Lockwood, who is 17/18, which is around the time Talents start to dull, has not seen any sign that his talent is fading. He is as strong with his Talent at young adulthood as he was back as a child, as opposed to someone like Kipps, who is in his early twenties and his talent is completely gone.

Listening is the big talent in canon. It is Lucy's talent and Lucy is the audience's primary guide through Lockwood & Co, both the books and the series. Listening allows an agent to hear ghosts, ghost activity, and in rare instances allows for a psychic/empathic connection; such as Lucy and Anabelle's ghost. Lucy takes things a step further with her Talent in that she can also hold conversations with ghosts who are powerful enough -Skull-. Lucy is only the 2nd person in canon with this ability.

Lockwood can detect some ghost sounds, enough to recognize they're in an area, but where Lucy could be hearing death loops, identifying individuals, spirit type, Lockwood would need his Sight to be able to provide those same identifications. Also Lockwood does not have the ability to form a psychic/empathic connection with the dead, the way Lucy can, let alone hold a conversation with the dead.

Touch doesn't have as strong an example in canon as Sight and Listening. Touch is an agent's ability to come in contact with an item and gain a sense of the spirit connected to it. Touch really helps agents find and identify Sources, but it can also help particularly sensitive agents learn things about the ghost tied to the item.

Lockwood possess a low level sensitivity with this talent. He knows a Source if he comes in contact with it, this is necessary for an agent in the field, but it isn't the same level of sensitivity Lucy displays in the first episode when she can sense the emotions (happy, positive, vengeful, murderous) attached to an object. For example.
Charisma: Ask his friends, and even his enemies, and they will all agree that one of his best features is his charm. It starts with his smile, which is often remarked upon, and he knows how to use it to great success. From opening doors, to reassuring difficult clients, Lockwood knows how to work a room and charm people into doing what he wants them to do. He is also quick witted, able to pick up on discreet social and conversational cues, well read, and 'to the manor born', all of which allows him to pick the best response in most situations.
Sword master: Almost all agents are trained in the art of fencing and an operative's iron rapier is often their most powerful personal protection against Visitors. Lockwood has been hailed as a fencing prodigy, having soundly defeated operatives much older and more experienced. Whether he's wielding his rapier or an umbrella, his blade work is considered legendary in canon.
Leadership: Though his charm adds to his natural leadership ability, Lockwood's skill at leadership is more than his winning smile. He looks at people not pieces of paper, and he isn't interested in working with the normal, or the status quo just because it is comfortable. He embraces the quirks that made George unemployable at Fittes, the risk that made other agencies close the door in Lucy's face.

It could be said that Lockwood is just hiring who he can get, but we see that it is more than that. He hires people like George and Lucy, then stands back and trusts them to do the very thing he hired them to do. There is not just charisma and charm to his leadership, there is also wisdom beyond his years. He never asks anyone to take a risk that he won't take himself, he does his best to protect his people, and though he likes the limelight he is often the first one to give credit where credit is due.

PERSONALITY:

Charming: It is rare to see Lockwood without a smile on his face. According to his friends -and even his enemies- it is his greatest weapon. Sometimes it is his armor, but most of the time it is a genuine expression of friendliness and empathy for those he's around. Though reserved when it comes to his personal life, Lockwood does his best to be positive towards, and fully engage, with those around him. It is this quality that often helps set clients at ease, despite his youth. He may use this as a way to deflect attention away from himself, but there is a sincerity in his interest, and it is this genuine warmth, kindness and sincere desire to help people that often acts as a good balance against his natural arrogance.

Passionate: Lockwood has a passionate ambition (some would say obsession) to have one of the most successful agencies in London. He has a very well-developed sense of confidence in his worth, his goals, and this belief in himself often helps others believe in him. Though it may be fueled by the personal losses he suffered young, Lockwood has a passion for being proactive about tackling the Problem, not just reacting to it. Though his ambition to do things his way is often viewed as just arrogance, it comes from a genuine belief that people -ADULTS- have become complacent with the Problem. Lockwood wants to see actual changes in this fight against The Problem, and if he must make his own solution to get the work done, then that is what he will do.

Confident: While he can come off as abrasive, he is a natural born leader, often display wisdom well beyond his year. Such as how he takes on Lucy based on her abilities, not just her paperwork. He does like the limelight, but he is always generous with his support for George and Lucy's work and when things go sideways (really sideways, not just leaving chains behind) he takes the responsibility on his own shoulders. He is very protective of his people and believes in letting them do what they're good at, even if he's not so sure it is the best course. For example, Lucy's relationship with the Skull.

Secretive: Lockwood has a habit of always believing he's the smartest in the room. He tends to keep his own counsel in regarding what should be done, when and where. An example of this is seen in episode two when he sends Lucy and George off to get dinner while Lockwood takes it upon himself to put news of their intention to pursue Anabelle's killer based on Lucy's psychic connection with Anabelle. This after Lucy specifically asked him to leave her out of the public eye. He is also extremely reserved when it comes to the subject of his parents and his family in general. While it is obvious that these losses are what fuel his ambition, passion and also his reckless actions, he shuts people out rather than allow himself supportive relationships.

Reckless: Though he is protective of his team, Lockwood is dangerously reckless when it comes to his own safety. It is noted by many different characters over the course of the series that Lockwood has a death wish, and Flo Bones even says she was surprised to see him because she figured he'd have gotten himself killed. He often throws himself in harm's way any chance he gets, and even admits that his plans often have a suicidal component in the mix. He can also be reckless from the perspective of committing the Agency to a job that others wouldn't touch with a hundred-and-ten-foot pole in the pursuit of glory. Though, to his credit, he usually has a plan in mind when George and Lucy are part of the equation. He doesn't want them hurt and never hesitates to put himself between them and any threat.

Arrogant: Simply put Lockwood believes he is the smartest person in the room. Lockwood strives to project an air of calm, cool, detachment but when people challenge his competency and/or the legitimacy of his agency and his team, he gets very defensive. For example, his relationship with Kipps. When things go his way, his extreme self-confidence shines but when things don't go the way he plans them, his wounded pride often causes him to make bad decisions; i.e Kipps and the wager during the Bickerstaff case. The good news is, Lucy and George are often there to be Lockwood's better angels and Lockwood does show genuine growth at the end of the series because of his relationship with his friends, but it is still a work in progress.

SAMPLE:

Turning on the charm

Being friendly, yet cagey with an adult

Rare opportunity with a castmate

INVENTORY:

Long dark rain coat cut at the sides to accommodate a rapier.
Swordbelt containing 1 iron rapier, 1 digital thermometer, 1 specialized flashlight (it has 3 different settings; regular white light, yellow light, red light), 3 magnesium flares and 6 salt bombs (sand + salt+ silver fulminate)
White dress shirt with bloodstained shoulder
Wristwatch
Narrow black tie
Black slacks
Faded purple Converse All Star high-tops
Pink socks
A silver ring with an inset emerald cut emerald

NOTES: N/A

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? If there is something that works well for the game I would love plot heavy for this busy bee. Otherwise I am just as happy with something light/easy.

PLAYER NAME: Theresa
CONTACT: PM this account
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: Jenn has graciously invited me 🙏

CHARACTER: Aloy
CANON: Horizon
CANON POINT: Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores, Epilogue

BACKGROUND: Actual Wikipedia article! We made the big time, kids. There is also a more jargon-laden article on the fandom wiki. Elevator pitch: raised as an outcast in a post-apocalyptic, tribal Earth. Later finds out she is the savior of mankind, literally born to avert a second apocalypse. Kills a lot of robot dinosaurs in the process.

ABILITIES | POWERS: Aloy has no powers to speak of because she is a normie. That said, she has been undergoing intense physical training since she was six years old (she's roughly 20 now), so she is an extremely capable warrior and hunter, and is an expert in stealth, climbing, survivalism, etc. She also has a genius-level intellect and keen observational skills. Anachronistically for somebody living in the far-off, post-apocalyptic future, Aloy is a digital native, so she can figure out advanced tech just by messing around for a bit, and has a rudimentary understanding of mechanical engineering. For posterity's sake, her totally mundane abilities include sewing, crafting, cooking, and all the basic things you'd expect from someone who grew up in the woods and was taught to be self-sufficient.

PERSONALITY:
Proclaimed an outcast from the moment of her birth, Aloy grew up in near-solitude with only an austere father figure for company. She had no playmates and no one to vent her frustrations to about the nature of her ostracization, as her caretaker (Rost) was customarily tight-lipped about such things. Still, despite her isolation, she learned about love and duty from Rost, leading her to develop a strong sense of ethics and to value kindness and generosity.

Apart from Rost, the most formative experience in her upbringing was finding a Focus when she was six. Tucked away in forbidden ruins, the Focus introduced Aloy to a wider world and acted as a rudimentary education in literacy and digital technology. Finding the Focus at such an early time in her life was a godsend, leaving her open to experiences that the rest of her tribe culturally shuns.

Because of her social isolation, Aloy is kind of awkward and prone to being blunt and sarcastic. This is tempered by the influence of Rost, who taught her about kindness; she is never a jerk to people for no reason, and although she's not really friendly, she is always open to help those who need it and displays a great capacity for empathy and value for human life.

Perhaps also because of her isolation—or possibly her natural intellect nurtured by the digital education from her Focus (or a combination of both)—Aloy is skeptical of things she deems needlessly steeped in tradition, such as various superstitions and unfair or cruel treatment. She likes to analyze things herself instead of simply accepting what is "known" by everyone else, seeking the truth whenever she has the chance.

It's this fixation on the "truth" that drives Aloy's existence: when she was six, it was training to win the Proving (an endurance trial to see who earns acceptance into the Nora tribe) to learn who her mother was. After the Proving, it was to find who massacred everyone. And after that, is was finding why she was wanted dead by the assassins—and who the mysterious woman that looked like her was in her Focus. Aloy's designation as Seeker of the Nora is fitting, then, because she sure does seek a lot.

Aloy's other chief motivator is ensuring the egalitarian respect and compassion that she believes everyone deserves. Because of her isolation and the cruelty she endured by the rest of the Nora tribe, Aloy is especially empathetic to those who are outliers in their own right, and naturally fights against those who take advantage of the less fortunate.

Her fixation on her goals can sometimes blind her to other things going around her, but she almost without deviation will stop and help outsiders; no matter how far she gets or how many accolades she receives, she always thinks of herself as not fitting in. But instead of being bitter (most of the time), she'll help the "privileged" just as readily as she'll help anyone else. More than her Focus and genetics have influenced her, it's still Rost's lessons of love and kindness that inform her decisions most of all.

SAMPLE:
TDM sample #1 and TDM sample #2

INVENTORY:

Clothing/armor. Metal plates stitched to well-worn leather armor. The plates have the capability of projecting personal hard light shields, but the power source is dead so they're just there to look fancy now.

Spear. A long, solid spear made of wood and metal.

Hunter bow & hip quiver w/60 arrows.

Pullcaster. A handheld tool with a sturdy, retractable wire ending in a hook. Used to pull objects or as an aid in climbing.

Shieldwing. A small, hand-held device that can project a hard light "umbrella," used for gently descending from heights. The umbrella can collapse if hit with enough physical force.

A pouch full of medicinal berries and flowers.

Focus. A small, triangular device that rests on its user's temple. This is part smartphone and part augmented reality device, and it allows her to receive basic blurb-type info (e.g., a puddle of blood will be labeled "blood, fresh"). The Focus's primary usage is interfacing with technology: she can wirelessly receive digital files and view (or listen to) them through an AR holographic interface. When scanning machines with moving parts, it also allows her to virtually dissect their components. This doesn't seem to extend to organic matter: if she scans a rabbit, it'll just be labeled "rabbit" instead of giving her an X-ray view of its organs.

NOTES: None I can think of!

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? I would dearly enjoy a plot-heavy intro 👀 But I am A-OK with taking a back seat if proportionally needed!

PLAYER NAME: Inky
CONTACT:

inkcharm or inkcharm#4573
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: Enabled by y'all on plurk, invited by Val (

honeyfoot)

CHARACTER: Sam Wilson
CANON: MCU
CANON POINT: Post "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier"

BACKGROUND: Sam @ MCU Wiki

ABILITIES | POWERS:
Pararescue:
Sam has received the nearly two year grueling Air Force PJ Training, also known as "Superman School" that includes training from multiple military branches and is designed to cover a wide range of special ops and rescue skills. Pararescuemen are combat medics that are dispatched into the field to rescue injured soldiers in a wide variets of situations. The training includes the following courses according to the US Air Force: Basic Military Trainig, Special warfare Preparatory, Assessment and Selection Course, Special Warfare Pre-Dive and Combat Dive Course, Airborne School (Parachuting), Military Free-Fall Course, SERE Training (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape), various Paramedic/EMT courses.

Paramedic/Combat Medic:
As part of his pararescue training, Sam is able to provide on-site emergency medical care with improvised means or under less than ideal conditions.

Flight/Pilot:
Outside of his parachute/skydiving training, Sam is shown competently handling aircraft familiar to him. Most of his flight prowess is depicted with the EXO-7 FALCON wingsuit and follow-up models, however, a combination wingsuit and thruster pack that keeps its pilot airborn. Sam is extremely fast and agile with this. Canonically, the EXO-7 was still a prototype, with only Sam Wilson and his wingman Riley piloting the suits, implying they'd been testing the FALCON suits mark 1 through 6 as well. later, Stark Industries would improve on the prototype design, and at his current canon point, Sam as Captain America has instead received a new take on the suit as designed by Wakandan technicians.

Martial Arts/Acrobatics:
As part of his unique training and later combat outings as the Falcon and becoming Captain America, Sam has developed a unique fighting style. Trained in aerial and unarmed combat, his style includes a combination of firearm improvisation, flight maneuvers and modern army combat styles that are influenced by elements from Muay Thai, American Boxing and Taekwondo, relying on fast and acrobatic maneuvers, often employing kicks boosted by momentum and his thrusters. Additionally, in order to handle the shifting equilibrium of his fast flight speeds, Sam trains hard to be nimble and acrobatic. In addition to regular runs, we see his training including acrobatics to keep his body in constant, fast motion.

Marksman:
While mostly using the retractable sidearms of his former Falcon now Captain America suit, Sam has been shown using a variety of firearms with skill and accuracy, as befits his military training. Additionally, he has trained to use the vibranium shield offensively as well as defensively, throwing it with great skill and accuracy.

Mechanics/Engineering:
Sam performs maintenance and calibrations both on his wingsuit as well as his drone in between missions, not trusting specialised professionals over his own skills. He's also seen doing repairs on his family's boat, and has canonically pitched improvements for his gear to Stark Industries, suggesting an above average skill level when it comes to mechanics/engineering.

Social/Community Work:
Sam has attended LSU for a bachelor's degree that he would have needed to carry out the work we see him doing upon his first appearance in the MCU, when he works as a counselor at Veteran Affairs in DC, having worked with veterans and their families in need of professional help for an unknown number of years at that point. He has theoretical and practical knowledge in this area of social work. Furthermore from his time at home in Delacroix, he's used to lending hands to various community efforts, as his parents were and his sister still is considered a pillar of the community, often providing food for those less fortunate and packing meal kits for others in a soup kitchen-esque setup.

Fishing/Cooking:
Sam has spent his childhood and youth working on a fishing boat and for his parents' seafood business. He has reasonable skill at fishing and handling fishing related tools, can be seen fixing nets, is comfortable on boats, and has a good grasp of cooking especially surrounding seafood.

Languages:
Sam speaks English and Arabic.

PERSONALITY:
Compassion, Empathy, Helping Others VS Reckless Self-Sacrifice
Unwavering Moral Code & Unflinchingly Loyalty VS Wary of Authority & Stubborn Persistence
Level-Headed with a Sense of Humour VS Open without Opening Up

Core traits of Sam's personality are perhaps best summed up in the pararescuemen motto: "These Things We Do, That Others May Live". Sam is a man dedicated to helping others and doing what he believes to be right. Sam is ready to extend a helping hand, empathy and understanding - sometimes even to those who oppose him and seek to do him harm, willing to hear others out and stick up for the little people, the disenfranchised, the ones left behind by the world. Not ready to stop at just feeling with and for people, though, he's ready and willing to take action. If he sees something done that he considers wrong, he will speak up about it, make his stance known and act if he is able to act. If in doubt, he refuses to take the easy way out. He's a man who lives his life in service to others - from being a pararescue to becoming a counselor at the VA, to jumping back in the fight to help Captain America, to giving up his career to search the world for Bucky Barnes and eventually become an Avenger, to pushing for the betterment of the world when taking up the mantle of Captain America. He's ready and willing to put himself in harm's way for the right people - this can included opponents. We see Sam save Bucky from an accident that Bucky, being a super-soldier, could likely have walked off despite being lethal to a regular human. The maneuver puts Sam himself at great risk of physical harm, but it shows that he sees others as people first, their abilities and use second. He will take a bullet even for someone who could walk a bullet off, and would sacrifice himself to do the right thing without hesitation. Similarly, Sam spends the runtime of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier trying to help the people he encounters, even going so far as to accept responsibility for problems he didn't cause, but inherited.

His refusal to stand idly by in the face of injustice or people in need can lead to Sam putting himself in harm's way physically and emotionally. He gives up his career and personal life in DC without second thought to do the right thing, throws himself at enemy combatants with reckless abandon for a man who flies through the air in nothing but light tac gear and a glorified jet pack. We see him invested in setting wrongs right, but we also see that in order to do that, Sam will put himself on the line - the biggest example is when during the events of Civil War, Sam is the one who makes the call that he and the team will stay behind to cover Steve's and Bucky's escape, knowing that it would get him arrested and thrown into prison without trial. We also see this when he spends hours at a police station waiting for Bucky's release despite having been racially profiled and despite being justifiably angry and upset with Bucky, and when Sam refuses to fight back against Karli Morgenthau in their final confrontation, when she eventually has a gun on him and he still refuses to hurt her. He's not a pacifist, but he'll fight and die for the right cause, and give more of himself than he should by any right in order to help people - and he will not rest until he's done so. If in doubt, he refuses to take the easy way out, and maintains a solid balance of conviction that never tips too far into cynicism or optimism. While he can be swayed, he will ultimately stay true to himself. His loyalty isn't the easiest to gain, but it's incredibly hard to lose. Sam doesn't give up on people easily, and can be incredibly stubborn in his convictions.

Sam's sense of justice and morality can easily put him in conflict with authority figures, whom he does not blindly follow. Optimistic when it comes to other people, he is jaded when it comes to those in authority. This wariness of authority figures can of course easily become detrimental to Sam himself. He says of himself that he's happy with his civilian life because "no one is giving him orders" anymore, and rejects an offer to be recruited by Nick Fury himself after impressing him on the battlefield. It's when he's treated as an equal - as a partner - that he joins the Avengers team. He also openly flaunts orders to operate in a 'subtle' manner when doing contract work with the Air Force in "Falcon and the Winter Soldier", mocking the Air Force general bossing him around, and later having little more than open disdain and sharp words for the newly minted Captain America, John Walker. And most famously, at the end of Falcon and the Winter Soldier he very publicly and vocally dresses down a group of politicians and demands that they have to do better with the power they hold in the world. Sam will gladly work alongside people he respects, but have an authority figure in charge, be it law enforcement, military personnel or politician, and Sam will absolutely become more sharp tongued and display a habit of flaunting their regulations and the respect many would assume they're owed due to their station alone.

Sam is able to remain level-headed and firm without portraying the full extent of the anger or hurt he might feel, often willing to diffuse a situation with humorous remarks, teasing and bantering for other's sake over raising his own voice. True anger leads to him shutting others out more than it does to him raising his voice. While being open towards others, Sam rarely if ever opens up about his own feelings, trauma and needs. Even close friends are left in the dark about much of his inner life. Patient with others far beyond what many would put up with if he considers a person worth it, Sam can and will be hurt by others, letting them close but ever kept at arm's length without getting pushed away - and often without noticing that's what he's doing. Sam is able to remain level-headed and firm without portraying the full extent of the anger or hurt he might feel, often willing to diffuse a situation with humorous remarks, often to the detriment of his ability to share his hurt and trauma unless he's using it to relate to others. We can see this in how he brings up his most traumatic personal loss only once in canon in order to show sympathy with a loss Steve Rogers suffered. Likewise, in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam spends much of the runtime deeply hurt and affected by Bucky Barnes' actions, without ever explaining this to him properly other than shutting Bucky out emotionally and snarking back at him, covering his real emotions behind angry snark or sullen silence - while also still regularly checking in on Bucky's wellbeing.

SAMPLE:
Sam would rather do what he thinks is right than what the mission expects of him
https://ximilia.dreamwidth.org/49649.html?thread=6702833#cmt6702833>A town hall speech on the ethics of getting involved
Understanding loss and grief
Some introspections, PTSD, quipping, the works.

INVENTORY:
Captain America Flight Suit & Wing Pack
The suit is basically light weight tactical gear that offers some base line physical protection. It includes a slim, silver jetpack that clips onto the shoulders and houses with retractable wings made of vibranium that allow Sam to fly at great speeds and with pin point precision while maintaining maneuverability. The wings can be used as blunt force weapons, and are strong enough to break into asphalt to provide a stable dome that shields Sam from a helicopter to the head. The suit also includes combat goggles that enhance the wearer's vision, allowing to partially zoom in and track objects beyond human eyesight ability, e.g. tracking heat signatures and foot prints, as well as a wrist monitor that interfaces with Redwing for control and battlefield overview.

Captain America's Shield
A vibranium shield impervious to most damage from regular human weaponry, can be thrown and bounced off solid objects, becoming a versatile hand-held offensive and defensive tool. It can be placed on Sam's back, covering the jetpack while still allowing the wings to unfold.

Recon/Combat Drone (Redwing)
Redwing is a recon and combat drone, Wakandan tech with a vibranium chassis, when not in use is housed in the silver "backpack" wing case from which the drone can easily be launched. Includes extensive scanners, projectile grappling handcuff line, twin machine guns mounted on the wings, a small missile launcher in the center, a high powered laser that with time can cut through metal within reason. Redwing is able to split into three separate pieces to split up fire power, with only the central piece retaining full recon functionality. Although highly advanced technology capable of interpreting complicated voice commands as well as the wrist controls on Sam's Cap suit, and although Sam talks to Redwing as if it's a pet, the drone is not sentient and fully controlled by him.

Weapons
The wingsuit stores miniature guided missiles that seek out targets predetermined by Redwing, twin machine pistols holstered in the suit, a dual barrel wrist-mounted machine gun.

Note
Canonically the capabilities of Redwing + the goggles is pretty damn invasive, so of course I will never use any of those abilities against other players without express permission/prior plotting, and I'm happy to run anything Sam would try to do with them by the mods, with a 100% understanding that sometimes the answer is going to be "no, you can't do that / this doesn't work right now / shenanigans" ;) Just because Sam's tech theoretically has a capability will never mean I expect it to be fully functional/working all of the time.

NOTES: n/a

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? Happy to go with plot heavy if capabilities allow <3

PLAYER NAME: Kitty
CONTACT: PM journal
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: Existing Player

CHARACTER: Wen Ning
CANON: The Untamed
CANON POINT: Post canon

BACKGROUND: Here

ABILITIES | POWERS:

- Strength (due to being a puppet he's stronger than any ordinary human)

- Agility (better than a puppet without consciousness)

- Speed (better than a puppet without consciousness)

- Archery

- Medicine (But nowhere as skilled as his sister)

PERSONALITY: Wen Ning, before becoming a puppet, was a very kind and caring young man. To the point where he tries not to allow anyone to suffer.

His loyalty to someone he considers a friend is first shown after Wei Wuxian shows him kindness when helping with his archery skills. The other man had actively given him a bit of boost in confidence even when he'd been a bit shaky in the activity he was doing. After that kindness was shown he continued to show a loyalty that had no bounds. To the point of saving Jiang Wanyin and Wei Wuxian from the Lotus Pier. Wens had taken it over and had killed off Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu. It had been him, in the dead of night, to help Wei Wuxian retrieve Jiang Wanyin even though his friend had thought him the enemy at first. Something he did his best to prove to the other that he wasn't, that he was there to save them.

Wen Ning takes both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin back to his sister deciding that hiding them away in the office his sister held would be the safest place for them. It wasn't like their cousin would come looking for them there. While there he petitions his sister to help Jiang Wanyin. After all, the man had been through a lot and he owed quite a bit (in his mind) to Wuxian. To a man who had done nothing but show him that there were those out in the world who were kind, even to people that weren't as good as them. (Or as healthy).

Then, during the Wen indoctrination, even at the risk of himself he steals medicine (from his own sister at that) for someone who had showed kindness to him, someone who had been trapped in a dungeon with a big dog, a mutt that he'd sedated with one of his sister's needles. This is all done despite the fact that his sister had told him that he should stay away from the other man. That he wasn't in the same league as the other, more or less. However, he'd pointed out to his older sister that Wei Wuxian had saved his life. So despite the fact that his own sister had tried to convince him to avoid his friend, the one who saved him, he couldn't. Much less when the man was being tortured by their cousin.

After becoming a living dead boy he doesn't lose any of his innocence or gentle nature. Though that does not mean that he can't feel guilt. Even though he can no longer really show emotion (let's face it, he tries) he is none too happy about the way that things went down when he killed people. (Even a certain Jin because that was his friend's nephew's father). Despite all of the guilt that he feels he doesn't allow that to bring him down. He doesn't allow anything that happened (when he didn't have his consciousness and when a certain demonic cultivator lost control) to take away from who he really is.

The Ghost General is, and always will be, a sworn protector of the people. Of those that he considers friends and family. Even if some of that family now happens to be a man in white who is with the man that he would follow to the ends of the Earth and possibly even beyond.

So it all comes down to a very protective, loyal, gentle, kind living dead boy. Someone who will put his life on the line in order to keep those around him safe. What little bravery he had (and he did have it, look at what he did for Jiang Wanyin and Wei Wuxian) before becoming a puppet he will gladly show for the rest of his life as a puppet.

SAMPLE: TDM & TDM

INVENTORY:

- Clothes on his back
- Chains

NOTES: Wen Ning is a puppet who will sink under water due to being a living dead boy. So something that keeps him from sinking to the bottom of the lakes (or any type of water), especially if he's going to help people get to safety (without the use of a boat).

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? Let's go plot-heavy

PLAYER NAME: Kalyn
CONTACT:

ovals
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: points at eyes, points at ruxi

CHARACTER: Ruka Minazuki
CANON: Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse
CANON POINT: Phase IX: Descent, when she enters her family home

BACKGROUND: https://wiki.thelostvillage.net/index.php/Ruka_Minazuki

ABILITIES | POWERS: Ruka is able to see spirits, but that's about all. Without her Camera Obscura she doesn't appear capable of exorcising them or anything like that.

As a descendent of the Tsukimori Maidens, her music has the ability to soothe agitation and in particular the Moon Song, which at this time she can only remember snippets of, can help trigger lost or buried memories in people

PERSONALITY: Ruka is dedicated and driven. As a child she studied piano and this continued well into her adulthood. She is studious and hard-working, practicing and honing her skills. It brings her peace and also brings her closer to her lost memories, as well as being a source of peace for the others. Madoka talks about Ruka playing for them often, which implies Ruka keeps touch with them and cares about their well-being. Even despite her mother making her promise to never return to the island, Ruka returns anyhow to help her friends--and herself--with recovering the truth of what happened there in the hopes of saving themselves and each other.

It's this dedication to her craft and to her friends and family that helps save them in the end. Ruka is able to remember most of the lunar melody and her ability to read music helps her put together the rest of the song needed to "calm the moon" and clear the Moonlight Syndrome.

Ruka is also shown to be very caring and kind, even from a young age. She constantly worries about her father working so hard, and even as an adult she worries about his spirit and what happened to him. Instead of being angry and upset with how he treated her and caused her to develop Moonlight Syndrome in the first place, she's more concerned with figuring out why he was doing all this and what his thoughts were.

Ruka is curious to a fault. While it's natural to be curious and inquisitive about some things, Ruka can't leave well enough alone. Once she gets it in her head to figure something out, she'll stop at nothing to see it through the end. While in away this is a good thing, it's also what led her to returning to the dangerous island of her childhood. Her mother's pleas forbidding her from going back weren't enough for her to quit.

Also thanks to her father and to the Moonlight Syndrome, Ruka is wary of things like masks, mirrors, and the moon. She also likely has some unease with hospitals and the like, but generally, despite having the daylights scared out of her at every turn, she's learned to manage her fear quietly. Mostly so she doesn't attract unwanted attention from other ghosts.

SAMPLE: https://westwhere.dreamwidth.org/50527.html?thread=7815775#cmt7815775

INVENTORY: 1. Camera Obscura
2. Ruka's patient interview
3. Ruka's diary (entries 1-3)
4. Sayaka's diary (entries 1-3)
5. Tape Recorder
6. 3 out of the 4 pieces of the Mask of the Lunar Eclipse

NOTES: Annnot that I can think of

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? hit me up man i am Ready.

PLAYER NAME: laura
CONTACT:

spandex
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: waggles eyebrows hi

CHARACTER: Marc Spector ( Steven Grant / Jake Lockley )
CANON: Marvel Comics
CANON POINT: Vol 9, issue 9

BACKGROUND: Wiki

ABILITIES | POWERS:

Marc does not have any powers per se — he is a human in mostly great physical shape, who tends to push his body as hard as he can. He's acrobatic and a skilled boxer, proficient in multiple martial arts and a decent marksman (ex-military!). He's broken near enough every bone in his body, doesn't sleep anywhere near as much as he should, and generally has a lackadaisical approach to the concept of 'self-care'. Look, it may not be a traditional ability but, please, give the man something.

He speaks multiple languages with a high degree of fluency outside of his native English: Hebrew, Arabic, French, and Symkarian.

For the sake of transparency, Marc has been stated to have had powers before — strength that waxes and wanes with the phase of the moon, but as with everything with Moon Knight, the subsequent rewriting of this has been: Marc (may have just) believed he had strength that waxed and waned with the phase of the moon, and pushed himself more or less accordingly so. The only other supernatural ability that Marc has been stated to have is the inability to die, but even this is less an innate ability and more a reliance on Khonshu to bring him back from death.
NB. irrelevant to the here and now, but (the real) Khonshu is presently imprisoned on Asgard and as of present canon, is stated to be limited in his ability to resurrect his FISTS. Marc doesn't know this.

BUT as Khonshu will not be present (outside of any delusions or hallucinations Marc may have), this ability outside of game mechanics will be null and void.

The big deal in terms of Marc and quote-unquote abilities is in relation to telepathy and psychic powers: though Marc has precisely none of his own, as the revelation of Khonshu being a REAL BOY has come to the fore, so has his effect on Marc's psyche. That is, whilst Marc does suffer from DID, depression and has a debatable and tenuous grip on reality, like, most of the time, Khonshu has made precisely none of that better. Whilst Marc, therefore, has no ability to prevent mind reading or mental manipulation in and of itself, what he does have is a terrifying mind that is utterly unpleasant for anyone/thing else to experience. Even esoteric, man-eating houses.

PERSONALITY:

As a by-the-by, given the nature of Marc's character and the medium of superhero comics as a whole, Marc's history and experiences have been rewritten and retconned a handful of times, however in the specific context of Moon Knight (as compared to, like, Spider-Man or whoever), these retcons and changes in personal experience are generally attributed — in canon — to Marc's incredible tendency to be a very unreliable narrator. What he believes he experiences is not always reflective of reality, and his acceptance/not of this is a consistent thread throughout the character's run.

Anyway—as the WE DON'T TALK ABOUT IT MCU adaptation of Moon Knight so succinctly put it: Marc Spector is a troubled man. He's difficult, abrasive and single-minded. He's ruthless, reckless and generally considered a liability. He's dramatic, irritable and angsty! He avoids dealing with his problems in favour of punching (not always) bad guys and yelling at an Egyptian god that only he can see. (Or, occasionally, a statue of said god. The god does exist, but it's Complicated. Half the time, Marc is just yelling at delusions and externalisations of his Problems.) He has a questionable grip on reality!!

Marc's early history can be summarised as: challenging. He had a tempestuous relationship with his father (this forming the bulk of his #daddyissues, which feed into his relationship with Khonshu both perceived and real) — their disagreements and Elias' subsequent disowning of Marc were ultimately about pacifism vs violence, and how the former was a stronger tool in the face of anti-semtisim and bigotry than the latter. Marc disagreed and frequently (read: always) chose violence as a reaction to almost anything he perceived as problematic in his life.

Elias himself has been described — by Marc — as the opposite to Marc: kind and gentle, deeply committed to his faith and his people. By contrast, Marc holds the firm belief that there is nothing kind nor gentle in himself, and is fully aware that he gave up his religion and his people at the merest possibility that he might not die. Marc — in contrast to his beliefs as a young adult — has reached the conclusion that he's weak, and deeply regrets almost every choice he's made.

(The very short version of this is that Marc deeply, deeply hates himself. That's it, that's the personality section. Marc "is it any wonder I developed DID? I'd prefer to be anyone other than myself" Spector.)

Prior to death ("death"), Marc was a mercenary, very happy to work for absolutely whoever employed his services for as long as it meant he got paid (he is a war criminal...). Over time, he admits he "grew a conscience", something that led to his death and subsequent rebirth (as it were) as Moon Knight. Whether Marc did die or not is ultimately irrelevant: his belief that he did was the turning point in him being a completely awful human being to becoming a less awful human being. From Marc's perspective, however, nothing he has done since has ever been able to make up for his past, and he's continuously striving for redemption — a process not as fluid as Marc would like given his propensity for violence and making the worst choices.

(It's worth mentioning that Marc has precisely zero hobbies outside of doing Moon Knight stuff. It's not, then, that any non-vigilante hobbies are being glossed over — Marc just really, genuinely doesn't have any. He hasn't even had an actual job since his mercenary days. The man's life is singular and, frankly, sad.)

His dedication and determination to serving Khonshu and what he perceives to be his debt and duty are entirely unwavering, but his methodology raises questions (as he would point out, known FUCKING VIOLENT ASSHOLE, Frank Castle, considers him crazy) and has served to make him an incredibly unpopular superhero (debatable term) within New York. Marc is unpredictable and unreliable, prone to erratic behaviour that very few others can make sense of and he's not aided by his staunch refusal to ever elaborate or communicate to any worthwhile level (he literally burned his Avengers ID card). The few times that Moon Knight has been tolerated to any large degree, Moon Knight has either: not been Marc, or has been Marc pretending to be someone else (Jake Lockley, as opposed to like, actual Jake Lockley. I'm sorry, comics are wild. At least I'm not playing Spider-Man anymore.).

Marc ain't okay, man.

While he wants to be a good person, he has a tendency to go off the rails, to need to be pulled back and reined in by others and, unfortunately for him, he doesn't always listen. Marc's mental state is typically fragile, even early on in his career as Moon Knight — he placed great importance in the presence of Khonshu's statue ("liberated" from Egypt) and had an identity-based breakdown (look...) when he believed it to be smashed to pieces mid-battle; through to years later in his career, having defeated his nemesis, Raoul Bushman, but finding himself rapidly hitting rock bottom in the process (carving off Bushman's face, taking it home, wearing it, branding criminals with a crescent moon if he doesn't outright kill them — behaviours that are generally frowned on, you know?); and then, later still, helping to take over the world and steal the powers and abilities of his colleagues because his moon god was like 'yeah, no, it's the best course of action, please believe me, bro'. ACTUAL PHRASING MAY HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT.

Marc is very good at not questioning what he should or should not be doing until it's generally far too late and he's in the middle of something awful. The conscience he great at, like, 30 or so? Yeah, it's there but Marc is also very easily manipulated and weirdly, for someone that has lingering issues with authority and authoritative figures, really good at following orders.

Marc's self-loathing and self-hatred is consistently funnelled into 'Marc Spector' rather than any other identity he wears — Moon Knight and Mr. Knight, for all else that Marc is and does, do help people and are capable of good things, but Marc doesn't consider any of his positive actions to be the result of Marc Spector (he occasionally talks about himself in the third person, too). He has an unhealthy tendency to separate and partition his life: Mr. Knight is the superhero who protects his local community, who is capable of working alongside the police and who does not commit horrific acts of violence. Then there's Moon Knight, the less sanitised and people-friendly superhero ("superhero"), who does commit questionable actions. And then there's Marc Spector, the guy who fucks up every single aspect of Marc/Moon Knight's lives by being an awful person at all times.

Canonically, he's diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, but it's not used as an explanation for Marc's frankly terrible life choices at any point. Those, canon is keen to point out, are all Marc's doing, even if Marc's acceptance of his DID¹ veers between healthy and himself blaming all of his problems on that rather than acknowledging that it's him, he's the problem.
¹ Marc's DID is canonically stated as presenting atypically — comics!! — on account of his brain's structure being irrevocably changed after being touched by a god. That is, Marc battles with mental illness and has head his messed with.

Steven Grant and Jake Lockley are the two other alters part of the Moon Knight system. As of his canon point, he's in the process of wilfully and deliberately suppressing them for two reasons: one, his desire to be "normal"; and two, his belief that Steven and Jake are better people than Marc is and that the people he cares for will leave him for Steven and Jake if he allows anyone to meet them. (Or: Marc needs to feel in control of his life, even if he is not actually in control of his life.)

This current status quo is a direct reversal of how Marc is first met in canon — then, Marc was vehemently denying his DID in favour of asserting that 'Marc Spector', 'Steven Grant', 'Jake Lockley' and even 'Moon Knight' are alter-egos (who was considered to be the 'real' identity at this point? A bone of contention—). Despite everyone around Marc knowing Marc as Marc first, 'Steven Grant' was the "alter-ego" seen the most — an urbane, charming, millionaire investor who hated Marc Spector as much as Marc hated (still hates) himself, whilst Marc was mostly seen as Moon Knight and just Moon Knight.

Steven, whose opinion of Marc often mirrored Marc's at this point in time, repeatedly stated that Marc was unneeded, an unnecessary reminder of [their] past, whilst Marc himself insisted that he died in the desert and viewed himself as a ghost (healthy). This was the closest Marc, Steven, and Jake have come to co-existing for any real length of time...

Marc, whilst not meaning to, tends to get incredibly and wholly wrapped up in his own issues and matters of self that he doesn’t always (read: rarely ever) stops to consider the impact of his actions on anyone else. The positives, though, are that he's incredibly protective, loyal (admittedly, not always to the right people or causes), determined and resourceful (again, not always in the right way, but An Attempt Is Made).

His actions have led to a life of reclusiveness and isolation he's trying to get over (kind of), have led to his long-term partner deciding 'fuck this' and skipping the country with their daughter (who, for obvious reasons, Marc rarely sees), and his one (1) friend also deciding 'fuck this' — after a decade plus of their companionship, Marc has reached the conclusion that their decisions to leave him are reflective of his ability to do nothing but hurt others around him. That is, he's ultimately very good at self-sabotage, but compared to where he used to be, he is better.

Basically: angry and sad man uses violence as a poor coping mechanism to deal with his life, is then SHOCKED to discover it's a poor coping mechanism and hates how the violence makes him feel... All the while continuing to be an angry, sad, violent man.

SAMPLE: psl, tdm.

INVENTORY:

suit (white suit with crescent moon details, fam.)
crescent darts (five) — these are literally just throwing darts shaped like crescent moons. the man has a theme and he's sticking to it.
truncheon — this. it can function as a club (nice), nunchaku, and grappling hook. it's white (because it can't be moon shaped). he's very fond of it. after his crescent darts, it's his second favourite weapon.

NOTES: No...

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? gimme what u got (by which i mean, like, whatever works out best balance-wise given workloads!)

Edited (ugh x2 (or: don't look at me)) 2023-05-30 14:08 (UTC)

PLAYER NAME: Drake
CONTACT: Discord: SilverDrake#1436
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: Referred by CellarSpider#9984/PaleAntiquarian

CHARACTER: Shen Yuan/Qingqiu
CANON: The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
CANON POINT: Halfway through book two, after his death by self-detonation but before his resurrection in the fungal body.

BACKGROUND: Shen Yuan was born in a world like ours, in China at some point between the mid-80s or early 90s. His parents were wealthy enough to afford to have four children despite China’s One Child Policy, and as the third son with two highly motivated and capable older brothers Shen Yuan never felt like he had any reason to struggle or achieve anything in particular, as long as he didn’t embarrass himself or his family. He grew up to be a lonely, disaffected, and deeply closeted adult, who spent all his time binging webnovels alone in his apartment until the day he suddenly died of food poisoning, while raging-posting over the inglorious ending to his latest hyper-fixation.

For the sake of convenience I treat July 2015 as the date of his death, as that was the month his home canon began serialized publication on the internet. However, Shen Yuan’s death was not the end of his story: he woke up in the world of the book he’d just finished reading, Proud Immortal Demon Way, in the body of one of the most important characters. In fact he’d woken up in the body of the protagonist’s immoral and abusive mentor, Shen Qingqiu.

Imagine how scary it would be to fall asleep while watching the prequels and wake up to discover you’d possessed Sheevy P, and now a disembodied voice in your head is telling you that it’s your job to mentor Anakin Skywalker and fix the plot. That’s the burden that was dumped on poor Shen Yuan’s shoulders. Obviously he was terrified of the ignoble demise that eventually awaited him (and Shen Qingqiu’s death was both more final and bloodier than Palpatine’s!) but it took him an entire volume and four long years in-story to come up with a way to escape: he’d die a second time, but with a back-up body waiting to receive his soul just off-screen! And then he’d run away to the far edges of the world map and keep his head down for the rest of forever, living a quiet and peaceful life beneath the protagonist’s notice.

(Obviously it doesn’t work out that way in the book.)

In volume two, an angry and betrayed protagonist confronts Shen Qingqiu (secretly Shen Yuan), and the two of them eventually come to blows. However, protagonist Luo Binghe has taken to carrying around a powerful but extremely cursed sword, which is doing major harm to his body and spirit. Halfway through their fight Shen Yuan realizes that Luo Binghe is on the brink of a complete mental, spiritual, and physical breakdown, and seeing his chance to pull a classic “Villain does a good deed in the 11th hour and redeems themselves before dying” maneuver, embraces Luo Binghe and destroys his own spiritual core, pouring all of his body’s magical energy into Luo Binghe’s body and reversing the breakdown. He dies in Luo Binghe’s arms, content that he has made his escape from the plot and that the protagonist can now forget his grudge against his wicked teacher and achieve a glorious destiny.

(It definitely doesn’t work out like this in the book, either – but that’s not relevant to this application. <3)

ABILITIES | POWERS: - Knowledge of the concept of the multiverse as a basic fact of reality.
Encyclopedic knowledge of the fantasy genre and associated tropes, including real-world media (Shen Yuan has canonically read Harry Potter); ability to draw workable conclusions about his observed reality through comparison to fiction. (I wasn’t able to find any specific rules about 4th-walling in the game info, but my personal policy is to always talk things out with other players and follow their preferences before letting Shen Yuan 4th-wall through in-game dialogue. IC-wise he tends to be extremely cagey about the subject, so as to avoid offending anyone or triggering an existential crisis.)
Basically instead of having Shen Yuan enter the game with a bunch of fancy powers already in place, my interest is in having him gradually empower himself over time by pursuing relationships, collecting special items or equipment, and studying the setting’s magic system.

PERSONALITY: Shen Yuan is his own most unreliable narrator. He would describe himself as lazy, arrogant, overly-particular, and somewhat ridiculous. Of these only the last one has any significant basis in reality. Actually Shen Yuan is extremely intelligent in all matters except emotional awareness, with a strong drive to protect his friends and those weaker than him. He has an enormous capacity for love and affection, but he’s so out of touch with his own feelings that he tends to under-estimate his own importance in other people’s lives, frequently leading to misunderstanding and heartbreak. He is artistic and scholarly, and after living for seven full years in a xianxia world his manners are an odd and frequently jarring mix of “real world internet troll” and “flowery lord of a cultivation sect.” He has a tendency to slip into melancholy when things go badly for people he cares about, and he’s so deep in the closet that he’s besties with Mr. Tumnus.

SAMPLE: 1. https://spiderparlour.dreamwidth.org/5338.html?thread=166106#cmt166106 Crossover PSL with CellarSpider (Kahl’s player) and a mutual friend. “Luguang” is a courtesy name I invented for AUs where Shen Yuan as a xianxia native, rather than occupying the body of Shen Qingqiu, but his personality is the same.
2. https://alloriginalheavenlypillar.dreamwidth.org/421.html?thread=75429#cmt75429 A version of Luo Binghe invades the real world and latches on to Shen Yuan like a very horny limpet. Also features Shen Yuan’s complete inability to notice when someone is hitting on him, even when they’re doing it with a 2x4.
3. https://deercountry.dreamwidth.org/196521.html?thread=35673513#cmt35673513 A thread I did with Peter Graham (from the movie Hereditary) in the deer_country rpg. Dialogue-heavy and features Shen Yuan in a mentorship role, which he always enjoys.

INVENTORY: Pffft, items? He’ll be lucky if he shows up in Akhuras with clothing. The only thing from PIDW that might have had any use to him in-game would have been his sword, Xiu Ya – but it broke when he detonated his core. Oopsie!

NOTES: Shen Yuan comes with a small content warning for internalized homophobia and both transphobic and misogynistic opinions. Although he outwardly treats women no differently from men (indeed, a young woman under his care grew up to be an insightful and reasonably powerful cultivator) his internal monologue may sometimes allude to concepts other players may find upsetting. My personal policy is to avoid using slurs and instead play up the comedic side of his closeted status: he can’t be homophobic if he never realizes people are being gay in his general vicinity, after all! As his CR circle develops I will discuss this further with players interested in pursuing closer relationships with him, and develop a plan from there. It’s never my intention to spoil anyone else’s fun, and I know everyone’s ability to tolerate these issues when they come up in fiction is different.

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? A plot-heavy intro sounds like a lot of fun, but if there’s nothing available I won’t complain about a plot-light intro instead!

Edited (fixed a broken html tag) 2023-06-01 03:12 (UTC)

PLAYER NAME: Rose
CONTACT:

LadyotRings
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: You can’t get rid of meeeeee

CHARACTER: Cal Kestis
CANON: Star Wars
CANON POINT: Post-Jedi: Survivor

BACKGROUND: Incomplete wiki and my Jedi: Survivor write-up. I’m sorry this is not short at all.

ABILITIES | POWERS: He’s a video game protagonist so any of this can be nerfed as necessary.

Lightsaber skills: Cal is a proficient swordsman, not just in single bladed combat, but having learned five total fighting stances.
- Single blade: Ye olde traditional lightsaber, for a more civilized age. Good for deflecting bullets, one-on-one duels, and miscellaneous rope-cutting.
- Double-bladed: Darth Maul started a trend, apparently. Good for crowd control and just looking really cool.
- Dual blades: When you have two hands, you might as well have two swords. Faster and more powerful, but lowers one’s defense.
- Lightsaber and blaster: I wanna be a cowboy, baby. Sometimes you just need to shoot someone in the face.
- Crossguard: Kylo Ren started a new trend. If lightsabers could be claymores, then it’d look like this. Hits hard and heavy, but has a long wind-up which leaves one vulnerable beforehand.
- Lightsaber throw: It’s like a boomerang; it always comes back.

Force abilities: Cal is a Jedi Knight and can do quite a bit!
- Psychometry: A rare ability he was born with where he can touch an object or be in a location and learn its history through the Force. It doesn’t happen with everything he touches, but seemingly only if there is a strong enough emotion or memory attached.
- Force stasis: AKA Slow. What it says on the tin. He can “freeze” a group of enemies for a short amount of time, making it easier to dispatch them or retreat. Mostly the former. Embracing the darkness replaces stasis entirely after a certain point in the game, but I imagine it would make more sense to switch between depending on his mental state.
- Force pull: He can yoink enemies or objects toward him, sometimes directly onto his lightsaber.
- Force push: He can shove them away. Weaker enemies can be shoved off cliffs or the like and it’s very entertaining.
- Parkour: This includes good ol’ video game wall-running, double jumping, and dashing.
- Mind trick: He is not the Jedi terrorist you’re looking for.
- Confusion: You absolutely should fight with him and not against him. Works on both sentient beings and beasties.
- Creature taming: Useful when you need a ride across large distances!

Miscellaneous: All that extra stuff.
- Can understand droid binary language (AKA all those cute beep boops)
- As a former scrapper, is very good with fixing droids and other mechanical things, as well as customizing equipment to fit his needs
- He sassy

PERSONALITY:

Five years ago, Cal was forced out of hiding when he was discovered to be a Jedi by the Empire. Up until that point he had kept himself hidden and didn’t get involved in anything that would attract attention. After getting swept up in adventure, however, he has grown in confidence and become a thorn in the Empire’s side. Once the spark is lit under him, he embraces what he believes to be his purpose in life, which is to fight the Empire head-on. And considering his background this isn’t surprising. He and his master, Jaro Tapal, were in command of a clone trooper battalion at the end of the Clone Wars when Cal was still a child, about twelve years old. The fight is really all he knows.

This makes him valuable in the fight against the Empire, of course, though it also puts him and anyone close to him in constant danger. He is a powerful Jedi and, thus, a force (haha) to be reckoned with. Rank-and-file soldiers don’t stand a chance against him and so he doesn’t necessarily worry about any threat they could pose. This makes him a little reckless, something Cere doesn’t hesitate to point out to him when she is still part of the Mantis crew. But Cal feels like fighting is the best bet they have against the Empire. After all, if he doesn’t do it, then who will? It’s only recently that he’s been presented with an opportunity for another way to fight, by hopefully gathering Force-sensitive people on the hidden planet of Tanalorr and biding their time until they can pose an actual threat to the Empire.

Some of his drive can be traced back to one of the last things his master told him before he died, to “hold the line.” Cal felt guilt for Jaro Tapal’s death for years, feeling like he was responsible since he couldn’t save him (but, like, he was twelve years old, please calm down, Cal). While he’s come to terms with this and no longer feels that same responsibility, he still takes these words to heart. Cal can be kind of intense with his need to stick it to the Empire all the time and it’s implied that this was one reason the original Mantis crew of Cere, Greez, and Merrin went their separate ways, though they had their own reasons, too. His drive isn’t always a bad thing, though, as it does unite people for his cause, especially those who want to get back at the Empire, whether for personal reasons or not. Cal is easily likable, with his generally optimistic outlook and easy-going attitude. He can be considered the heart of his found families, always beating and always ready for what comes next.

Family is incredibly important to Cal, even if the people he claims as his own aren’t related by blood. He doesn’t really remember his biological parents, but he has called the Jedi Order his family, as well as the original Mantis crew. There is also his second crew that was killed on the mission on Coruscant, except for new hire Bode. Cal may act on his own a lot of the time, but he functions best when he has a safety net to catch him. He knows what it’s like to be alone and cut off from other people and how scary that can be. Having a family he can trust who will support him but also keep him grounded is what he craves. So, it comes as no surprise that he was deeply hurt when the original crew broke up and when the second crew died.

But, you may be asking, aren’t attachments forbidden for a Jedi? And you would be correct! This is something Cal struggles with for a time, especially after Merrin kisses him before a roller coaster of a time on Jedha, but he eventually concludes that the Jedi Order didn’t get everything right. Plus, they’re gone now, so it isn’t as if he feels obligated to follow every rule they set down. So, now he has a family and a hot goth girlfriend and he would do anything for them. Which can be a double-edged sword. They may make him stronger, but the fear of losing them or anger when anything bad happens to them are very real emotions. Fear and anger are, of course, paths to the Dark Side and Cal is not immune to the pull. After Bode betrays them and then uses Cal as a distraction to escape the Empire, Cal grows so angry that he embraces the Dark Side and uses it multiple times. In-game this is visualized by the edges of the screen going red and making enemies much easier to kill for short bursts of time.

(I also just find it interesting that Cere has struggled with the Dark Side and she served as Cal’s informal master and now he’s struggling with it, too.)

Nor is he a bad person or has completely fallen to the Dark Side. Cal is just very sentimental with his heart in the right place. He wants the best for people and normally doesn’t enjoy being the one to kill someone who simply won’t back down. More than once in Survivor he tries to talk down some of the big bads, hoping to convince them to either stop fighting or join him in his fight, but when they don’t, he doesn’t hesitate to take them out. He may be somewhat naïve in hoping for the best, but he isn’t so foolish as to turn his back entirely on an enemy. If they’re up to no good, then he has to step in. He even gives Bode a second chance despite his unforgivable betrayal so that they can work together for the greater good and so his daughter won’t have to grow up without a family, like Cal and Merrin had to do.

Cal could use a good space therapist that isn’t Merrin (though she definitely puts in the work and none of us deserve her). Cal has PTSD from Order 66, unsurprisingly, and even ten years later, he has a panic attack when getting into escape pods since his master died in one. It’s very possible he has survivor’s guilt since many people have died on his watch, and just feels guilty in general when things go wrong since he feels like he could have done something. Hindsight is a bitch, though. Despite this, he’s able to find happiness in life and still form good relationships. He’s good with animals (the kinds that don’t want to immediately kill him, anyway). He’s good at witty little quips in the moment and even has a mischievous streak, though it usually relates to Merrin. Because she’s a space witch and intimidating by reputation, as well as able to keep a straight face when joking, Cal easily plays along with her empty threats. He even tells people who ask about her things like she’s a witch and can raise the dead and you better look out because she’s ~scary~. It’s disgusting. They’re made for each other.

TL;DR: looks like a cinnamon roll, could actually kill you.

SAMPLE: beep boop

INVENTORY:

- Lightsaber
- Blaster
- Ascension cable (grappling hook)
- Charm to allow him safe passage through energy shields
- Rebreather for breathing underwater
- All the freckles

NOTES: N/A

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? Let’s go crazy, let’s go apeshit. Hit me with the heavy.

Edited 2023-06-02 07:15 (UTC)

PLAYER NAME: exxie!
CONTACT:

perilous
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: Ruxi kept poking me!!

CHARACTER: Hua Cheng (San Lang, Hong-er)
CANON: Tian Guan Ci Fu
CANON POINT: Post-series

BACKGROUND: Here.

ABILITIES | POWERS:

Ghost: As a ghost, Hua Cheng doesn't age, doesn't need food or sleep, and can't actually die unless his ashes are destroyed. And since no one but he and Xie Lian know where his ashes are, well.. he's pretty safe. He can be drained to the point of essentially disappearing, of course, which then takes time to recover from.. but that takes something really extraordinary.

Spiritual Powers: He's a Devastation/Calamity rank ghost, so he has a lot--A LOT--of spiritual power, which he uses for various, mostly unspecified things. In particular, he uses his abilities to manifest his Wraith Butterflies, which are more or less what it says on the tin. They're beautiful, glowing silver butterflies that act as offense and defense (their wings can cut like razors), and can also do recon work for him (like following people and transmitting and recording voices). Additionally, he turned his despised right eye into E-Ming, his sentient, cursed scimitar. A cut from E-Ming usually means an opponent will be poisoned and die, and even if they survive such a fate, Hua Cheng can will any healed cuts from E-Ming open again to bleed out at any time he wishes.

This is all very OP, even in his actual canon, but he basically doesn't do much with his abilities that Xie Lian doesn't specifically ask of him. His husband is a very good collar and leash.

PERSONALITY:

Polite: One thing that's immediately and easily noticeable is the fact that Hua Cheng is actually very polite-- even when he's being extremely impolite. He smiles and he's genteel in most of his language, and he has a way of saying things that one can't really fault even when one knows he's actually insulting everyone (except Xie Lian) around him.

Dauntless: It's only very rare throughout the novels for Hua Cheng to lose his cool. He always seems at least one step ahead of everyone else--often several steps--and he observes things that other people don't notice, especially in dangerous or stressful situations. He has absolute faith in his abilities, and given his massive amounts of spiritual energy, it's no wonder, really. Only Xie Lian in danger can truly ruffle or scare him-- and it's rare for him to show it even then.

Brilliant: There's absolutely no doubt about one thing, at least: Hua Cheng is extremely talented and intelligent. He doesn't exactly believe that, especially when compared to his god, but the fact remains that he's the only person that could basically go toe to toe with Jun Wu on his own, and even as a Supreme Ghost King, the wealth and power he's accumulated over the centuries is enough to bankrupt heaven if he wants.

Insecure: Despite all his projected confidence and power, not all that deep down, Hua Cheng is deeply insecure about himself. He believes he's ugly and unworthy of being loved, and has based everything he's done, his entire personality and reason for existence, on his quiet service to Xie Lian. He was perfectly satisfied to never be acknowledged, to always exist in the shadows of his god's life, worshiping and protecting him wherever possible, never opposing him-- only trying to help and guide when Xie Lian needed those things.

Single-minded: As mentioned, everything he's done in the last 800 years has been for Xie Lian's sake. The prince was kind to him for a few hours in Hua Cheng's childhood at his very lowest point, and he's never, ever forgotten that. Even when Xie Lian forgot him--not once, but several times--Hua Cheng continued to do his best to serve him and provide for his needs. He remembers everyone who's ever done Xie Lian wrong, and he despises them for it. He hates the heavenly realm for its abandonment and mocking of his god, and he in fact severely punished 33 gods in particular that once crossed and humiliated Xie Lian. In some ways, you might call Hua Cheng a bit.. obsessive, though thankfully not in a creepy way (despite what certain gods might think).

Soft: Now that he and Xie Lian are married, Hua Cheng has shown his husband a side of himself that no one else gets to see. He finds it completely wondrous, impossible to believe at times, that Xie Lian loves him even a little-- much less enough to marry him. He still teases and charms and seduces, but he also allows himself to be more vulnerable around him, the quiet, reserved young man he'd been before he'd died. He still struggles to admit to his fears and doubts, and he's terrified of not being worthy, of failing his husband somehow, and he's very unlikely to communicate those things, but he's.. trying..

SAMPLE: Here.

INVENTORY:

- E-Ming, his cursed, pseudo-living scimitar.
- A pair of his teleporting dice.. with limited teleportation capabilities (whatever the mods deem suitable).

NOTES: N/A.

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? Plot-light.. pls..

PLAYER NAME: Rin
CONTACT:

chatvert / Discord: Temujin#0712
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: Been here on and off since the game opened! You may remember me as playing Rachel Silva.

CHARACTER: Beckett Mariner
CANON: Star Trek: Lower Decks
CANON POINT: s3e10, "The Stars At Night"

BACKGROUND: Mariner @ Memory Alpha

ABILITIES | POWERS: Mariner has exceptional combat abilities, training herself in multiple martial arts while off-duty. She is proficient enough to avoid death by all sorts of horrible ways and has an extremely high tolerance for pain.

PERSONALITY:

Boimler: Beckett Mariner...how do I begin to explain Beckett Mariner?
Fletcher: Mariner is flawless.
Tendi: She has the cool new tricorder with the purple stripe.
Jet: I hear the Sequoia's insured for 10,000 bars of latinum.
Ransom: I hear she plays in anbo-jyutsu tournaments...in Japan.
Shaxs: Her favorite holonovel is Crisis Point.
Rutherford: One time she met Will Riker on a starbase...
Dr. T'Ana: ...and he hooked her up with contraband.
Jennifer: One time she punched me in the face...it was awesome.

In all seriousness:

Ensign Beckett Mariner is the most-demerited officer in Starfleet. She's been promoted and demoted so many times it'd make a normal person's head spin. Not because she's incompetent, but rather because she resists moving up the rank ladder so much that she self-sabotages to keep herself from gaining responsibility she doesn't want. She was the top of her class in Starfleet Academy, and everyone thought she'd be the first from their year to reach the rank of Captain. Her perennial Ensign-hood is baffling and disappointing to her former classmates, who think she's throwing her life - and career - away. People think she's immature for her antics, but she's perfectly happy being a perennial Ensign while she figures her life out. The Cerritos is her fifth ship, and she was stationed on Deep Space Nine during the Dominion War as well; she's no fresh-out-of-the-Academy newbie. Captain Will Riker (you know, the famous one) was even her mentor.

When Boimler calls her "Starfleet royalty" after finding out that her mother is the captain of their ship and that her father is an admiral, she hisses at him to shut up and threatens him to try and keep it quiet. She's a Starfleet brat, true, but she doesn't want any special treatment because of who her parents are. (She has a different last name, which obscures their connection.) When that information comes out, everyone on the ship sucks up to her, trying to give her the special treatment she feared. It gets to the point where she tries to transfer ships to get to one where nobody knows about her connections.

She's extremely calm and levelheaded in crisis situations, cracking jokes and being the source of morale, and trying to keep her other crewmates calm too. Her pain tolerance is so high that when she crash-lands and gets injured, she claims her injured arm is "just a fracture" and snaps the bone back into place, much to Boimler's dismay. She's very proud of her scars and views them as trophies of her Starfleet life, unlike many other officers who prefer to have their scars healed over by Starfleet Medical. She claims that she is always right due to her experience, and she knows all sorts of weird and obscure things about alien societies, including customs and languages. She's dated murderous aliens just to make her mom mad. Once she even defused a barfight by paying for the next five rounds...with a wallet she stole from someone else.

People tend to think of her as a badass fuck-the-rules person. When confronted about this, the implication being that she doesn't care about any rules and is entirely lackadaisical, she angrily says that she'd never break rules that would put her friends in danger, and that she only breaks "dumb rules" that keep her from being able to do her job. One example of the latter is that she procured advanced farm equipment for some aliens that they needed and wouldn't be able to get without going through Starfleet bureaucracy. She does her job and she does it well, but she doesn't mind breaking protocol to do it. In fact, she loves doing that. Mariner's take is that protocol is for people who need to be told what to do, which she doesn't.

Mariner is generally tight-lipped about her past aside from her service history. She actually spreads rumors about herself that she's some kind of creepy black-ops agent to cultivate an air of mystique and mystery around herself, and the rumor is at least partially true, since she has done "off-the-books grey-ops stuff" with a Klingon general. She's able to get in good with a criminal element pretty easily due to her generally chaotic nature, but won't hesitate to strand them on alien planets if she needs to. Other tidbits about her past include that she was once trapped in a sentient cave for a week ("that's a dark place that knows things") and was once in a Klingon prison where she had to fight a yeti for her shoes.

She tries not to get close to people because every time she makes friends, they get transferred or killed, which is why she is so affected by Boimler's decision to take the promotion to the Titan and slip away in the middle of her shift without telling her. She acts like she doesn't care until she blows up at him for leaving without saying goodbye and for not apologizing about abandoning her. She even holds a grudge after that when he continues to bring up his time on the Titan, because of how abandoned she felt. There's a clear implication that she thinks he'd rather be having adventures there instead of being with his friends on the Cerritos, and she takes it very personally because of the very few friends she has.

Her friends and family mean everything to her. Once she trusts you, you're in #MarinerGang for life, whether you want to be or not. She'll take a phaser blast - or a trip to the brig - for you. When her mother was being court-martialed for something she didn't do, Mariner almost stole the Cerritos out from under guard so she could go and find proof that Captain Freeman was innocent, even though that would have made her a wanted woman and torpedoed her Starfleet career for good. She takes her "badass" reputation seriously, but is willing to sacrifice it to make a friend feel better about themselves. When Boimler thought that he wasn't cut out for Starfleet, she made an obvious "mistake" that he was able to pick up on and succeed where she "failed", because the alternative was Boimler being so dejected that he was going to quit. She even drove herself half-crazy trying to protect Boimler from the girlfriend she thought was a murderous alien, because she'd seen a friend get eaten by one before and didn't want that to happen again.

Trying to get Mariner to do something she doesn't want to do is like trying to drink a Klingon under the table. You can't do it! (...except she did. Okay, other people can't do it!) Even when Captain Freeman and Commander Ransom tried to get her to transfer of her own accord by giving her the worst tasks on the ship, she knew what they were up to and was determined not to let them win. She figured out how to make the tasks fun, even "Klingon prison stuff" like scraping carbon off the ship's carbon filters by betting on who could finish it first. When that didn't work, they tried to get her to quit by promoting her to Lieutenant and putting her on Captain Freeman's senior staff, but she was so stubborn that she stuck it out until she was able to get herself demoted by making fun of an Admiral in front of the Captain, embarrassing her and forcing her to demote Mariner again.

Fairness and justice are very important to her. When demoted and transferred to the worst posting in the fleet due to Captain Freeman's mistaken though reasonable assumption that she'd caused trouble, Mariner resigned her Starfleet commission in anger, temporarily striking out into civilian life. She'll take her lumps when she knows they're deserved, but if she's being treated unfairly, she's going to make her displeasure known. Loudly.

SAMPLE: So, this isn't the weirdest thing that's happened to Mariner, but it's pretty close. At first she thought that someone was playing a prank on her and dumping her in the holodeck, but no amount of 'computer, arch' or 'computer, end program' did anything. And people were starting to look at her weird.

Nothing for it but to adapt. Her commbadge isn't sending or receiving, because why would it be these things fritz out at the WORST times, so she's on her own on a strange planet. And the weird thing is that this place is silent. It's pretty - it looks almost like Risa here, but it's definitely not normal. It feels off, somehow, like animals have fled before an earthquake. There is danger beneath the beauty. And an indicator of that is the mold that she can see climbing things. "Nuh-uh, I know better than to touch that stuff," she mutters to herself, stepping away from a half-sunken building. "My kingdom for a tricorder, here." Without any ability to examine exactly what it is and its molecular structure, that stuff may as well have DANGER stamped all over it in big red letters. Some predators on other planets appear as carpets of lichen and devour unwitting prey; who's to say this isn't a distant relative?

Looks like there are people who hadn't started walking the other way when she'd been trying to talk to the nonexistent ship's computer. She hopes that her universal translator in the commbadge still works, at least, even if it doesn't send and receive communications. "Hey there," she says, walking up to a group of presumed locals. "What's, uh...what's up, how're we all doing, anyone know what this planet is called?"

INVENTORY: Starfleet commbadge, bat'leth

NOTES: I am so sorry about her in advance.

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? Whatever's easiest, but I'd prefer plot-heavy. Star Trek Protag Syndrome wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Thank you for your application!

ADMIN

When you have a second, have a last read through the game rules and comment to the TAKEN LIST.

Join

eastbound,

lostcompass,

westwhere. Feel free to make an OOC intro post on

lostcompass, if you want — or wait til the CR meme of 5 June.

All game updates are posted on

lostcompass, but you can also follow

eastbound. You’ll get a private message with an invite to the informal game discord server, once you comment to the Taken List.

If you’re not already served on that front, we have some custom codes to help you set up a character inbox or permissions post. Both are entirely optional — feel free to customise at will!

Your character is exempted from activity requirements this month!

NOTES

If you are opting to play from the Untamed, unfortunately you won't be able to have Xichen's background include references to fierce corpses. If you prefer to go with the Mo Dao Zu Shi version, please clarify on the Taken List. Since the two character versions are very similar in Xichen's case, it's still possible to make that swap.

Your character receives a shiny new village pendant with a mirror inside, which serves as a translator and communicator for written, video and audio interaction. It can read out translated messages of any written content your character sees in local tongue. Your character’s assigned username is average sighren.

INTRO

Since you want to take things a bit easier with him, have him arrive with the TDM that he participated in.

If you can, please shout here over the next 48h if you’d like your character to get a mod-assigned:

1. …job while in Yancai? (Alternatively, you can invent your own!)
2. …housing?
3. haunting? If so, please describe in no more than two sentences one of the biggest regrets.

Thank you for your application!

ADMIN

When you have a second, have a last read through the game rules and comment to the TAKEN LIST.

Join

eastbound,

lostcompass,

westwhere. Feel free to make an OOC intro post on

lostcompass, if you want — or wait til the CR meme of 5 June.

All game updates are posted on

lostcompass, but you can also follow

eastbound. You’ll get a private message with an invite to the informal game discord server, once you comment to the Taken List.

If you’re not already served on that front, we have some custom codes to help you set up a character inbox or permissions post. Both are entirely optional — feel free to customise at will!

Your character is exempted from activity requirements this month!

NOTES

Given his line of work, we’ll have Lockwood count as death-touched within Eastbound, alongside necromancers, dead and undead characters. This will mean potential drawbacks and/or advantages during some events, which will be signalled when applicable. It also means the undead will be generally more drawn to him. Sorry, buddy!

INTRO

Since quite a few newcomers are interested in a plot-heavy approach, there’ll be a special scenario exclusive to you folks in the upcoming event. Stay tuned.

If you can, please shout here over the next 48h if you’d like your character to get a mod-assigned:

1. …job while in Yancai? (Alternatively, you can invent your own!)
2. …housing?
3. haunting? If so, please describe in no more than two sentences one of his biggest regrets.

Thank you for your application!

ADMIN

When you have a second, have a last read through the game rules and comment to the TAKEN LIST.

Join

eastbound,

lostcompass,

westwhere. Feel free to make an OOC intro post on

lostcompass, if you want — or wait til the CR meme of 5 June.

All game updates are posted on

lostcompass, but you can also follow

eastbound. You’ll get a private message with an invite to the informal game discord server, once you comment to the Taken List.

If you’re not already served on that front, we have some custom codes to help you set up a character inbox or permissions post. Both are entirely optional — feel free to customise at will!

Your character is exempted from activity requirements this month!

NOTES

Just for the record, your broader TDM top-level and other threads from it were considered for the application — otherwise, the samples linked would have been a tiny bit scarce.

1. …job while in Yancai? (Alternatively, you can invent your own!)
2. …housing?
3. haunting? If so, please describe in no more than two sentences one of her biggest regrets.

Thank you, mods!

1. I think he'll stick with the baffling Lotus Picker job I gave him and let Xichen continue to be confused as to where to find any because it's ... dumb and funny.
2. You can choose his home!
3. I think I'll go with the White Woman for his haunting, she sounds like she should be chilling in solitude too. :'U

Sure thing! Do you want to arrange his own haunting, or do you want a mod-assigned one with the white woman? Will need his regret, for mod-assigned, but do your own thing if you'd rather figure it out yourself.

He will have his housing shortly c:

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 32 of 41

applications

Lan Xichen | The Untamed

Anthony Lockwood | Lockwood and Co

APPLICATION RECEIVED

APPLICATION RECEIVED

Aloy / Horizon

Sam Wilson | MCU

Wen Ning | The Untamed

APPLICATION RECEIVED

APPLICATION RECEIVED

APPLICATION RECEIVED

Ruka Minazuki | Fatal Frame 4

APPLICATION RECEIVED

marc spector, marvel comics

APPLICATION RECEIVED

Shen Yuan | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System

Cal Kestis | Star Wars

APPLICATION RECEIVED

hua cheng ( tgcf )

APPLICATION RECEIVED

Beckett Mariner | Star Trek: Lower Decks

ACCEPTED

APPROVED

APPROVED

no subject

no subject