TLV - Character Applications

[bargemods]

CHARACTER APPLICATIONS

Application periods are open all month, every month.

The Final Fantasy VII Compilation cast is at cap, and FFVII Compilation apps are currently closed.

Please read all rules and guidelines before submitting an application. Be sure to check the Taken Characters list and the Retired Characters list before posting an application here.

NOTES:

1. After applying for a character, we ask that players allow 30 days before bringing their next character into the game. In some cases (warden or cast caps, upcoming major game events) players may approach the mod team and clear submitting an application a few days early, though it will not be approved before the 30 day mark.
   
   
2. If you are applying into an existing cast, please be aware that we may speak to players of characters close to (any version of) the character, and will speak to the players of canonmates of the character for which you are applying. We reserve the right to reject an application if it would render a current character or characters unplayable in the opinion of their player(s). If your app is rejected for this reason, we ask that you respect the decision.
   
   
3. Both samples may be taken from threads on the Test Drive Meme, as long as they are recent and match your application with respect to canonpoint and warden/inmate status. The TDM goes up once per month and is always marked on the Event Calendar. If you would prefer to write yours out and would like some inspiration, check out the Flood Event tag on the OOC community; you're welcome to write a sample based on your character's reaction after one of these events! Here are a few popular choices.
   
   
4. Canons (or canonpoints, in the case of ongoing series) must have been out for at least 30 days before they can be applied for.
   
   
5. If you're reapping a character that you previously dropped and you plan to have them retain their memories of their previous stint onboard, please include at least a few sentences discussing how their previous stay affected them, and noting any relevant changes to their personality, worldview, and motivations. The more significant the changes, the more detail we'd like.
   

WARDEN APPLICATION FORM - CANON CHARACTERS

<b>User Name/Nick:</b> <b>User DW:</b> If applicable. <b>E-mail/Plurk/Discord/PM to a character journal/alternate method of contact:</b> <b>Other Characters Currently In-Game:</b> <b>Character Name:</b> <b>Series:</b> <b>Age:</b> This is important; characters must be at least 15, and characters under 18 will be considered only on a case by case basis. If your character is over 15 but under 18, please briefly explain why they have the skill/experience necessary to serve as a warden despite their young age. <b>From When?:</b> At what point in their timeline did they agree to come onboard the Barge? <b>Warden Justification:</b> Why does the Admiral think your character would be useful as a warden here? What do they bring to the table? Regardless of their methods and motivations, do they have the capacity to help an inmate achieve graduation? <b>Item:</b> What form will your character's Warden Item take? <b>Abilities/Powers:</b> Generally wardens may keep their powers in full, but anything with the potential to be gamebreaking, or anything that would render a warden more powerful than the Admiral, will need to be nerfed. If you're unsure whether or not your character's powers qualify for nerfs, feel free to contact the mods! <b>Wardening Strategies and Philosophies:</b> How will your character respond to and operate on the Barge at large? How will they view their role as warden, and how will they engage their inmate in their efforts to help them on their path to redemption? What are their wardening strengths and weaknesses likely to be? What sorts of inmates would your character pair best with, and conversely, what sorts of inmates would they not be such a good fit for? <b>Deal:</b> What is your character expecting to get for their effort in graduating an inmate? <b>History:</b> This may be linked or written out. <b>Sample Network Entry:</b> 5-10 sentences of spoken/written monologue, not including narration. This sample should reflect the character's day-to-day behavior and a distinctive voice, and must be Barge setting specific. You are permitted to link a thread from the Test Drive Meme, as long as it's recent (within 3 months of application date) and in network style. <b>Sample RP:</b> 3-5 paragraphs of prose or brackets RP, with focus on both action and internal thought processes. Must be Barge setting specific. You are permitted to link a thread from the Test Drive Meme, as long as it's recent (within 3 months of application date) and in log style. <b>Special Notes:</b> Anything else not covered here that you'd like us to know!

WARDEN APPLICATION FORM - ORIGINAL CHARACTERS (sample app #1, sample app #2)

<b>User Name/Nick:</b> <b>User DW:</b> If applicable. <b>E-mail/Plurk/Discord/PM to a character journal/alternate method of contact:</b> <b>Other Characters Currently In-Game:</b> <b>Character Name:</b> <b>Age:</b> This is important; characters must be at least 15, and characters under 18 will be considered only on a case by case basis. If your character is over 15 but under 18, please briefly explain why they have the skill/experience necessary to serve as a warden despite their young age. <b>From When?:</b> At what point in their timeline did they agree to come onboard the Barge? <b>Warden Justification:</b> Why does the Admiral think your character would be useful as a warden here? What do they bring to the table? Regardless of their methods and motivations, do they have the capacity to help an inmate achieve graduation? <b>Item:</b> What form will your character's Warden Item take? <b>Abilities/Powers:</b> Generally wardens may keep their powers in full, but anything with the potential to be gamebreaking, or anything that would render a warden more powerful than the Admiral, will need to be nerfed. If you're unsure whether or not your character's powers qualify for nerfs, feel free to contact the mods! <b>Wardening Strategies and Philosophies:</b> How will your character respond to and operate on the Barge at large? How will they view their role as warden, and how will they engage their inmate in their efforts to help them on their path to redemption? What are their wardening strengths and weaknesses likely to be? What sorts of inmates would your character pair best with, and conversely, what sorts of inmates would they not be such a good fit for? <b>Deal:</b> What is your character expecting to get for their effort in graduating an inmate? <b>World Information:</b> Please explain in as much detail as is necessary the reality that your character comes from, being sure to include everything that is not necessarily part of their personal history but that nevertheless still relates/applies to them: the political and social situation where they live, laws of the universe, general levels of tech and magic that your character might be familiar with (even if they're not techy and/or magical themselves), and so on. <b>History:</b> This must be written out fully and comprehensively. Remember that, in the absence of a wiki page or a canon to refer to, this will be the only reference point that the mods or other players will have to your character! <b>Sample Network Entry:</b> 5-10 sentences of spoken/written monologue, not including narration. This sample should reflect the character's day-to-day behavior and a distinctive voice, and must be Barge setting specific. You are permitted to link a thread from the Test Drive Meme, as long as it's recent (within 3 months of application date) and in network style. <b>Sample RP:</b> 3-5 paragraphs of prose or brackets RP, with focus on both action and internal thought processes. Must be Barge setting specific. You are permitted to link a thread from the Test Drive Meme, as long as it's recent (within 3 months of application date) and in log style. <b>Special Notes:</b> Anything else not covered here that you'd like us to know!

INMATE APPLICATION FORM - CANON CHARACTERS

<b>User Name/Nick:</b> <b>User DW:</b> If applicable. <b>E-mail/Plurk/Discord/PM to a character journal/alternate method of contact:</b> <b>Other Characters Currently In-Game:</b> <b>Character Name:</b> <b>Series:</b> <b>Age:</b> This is important; characters must be at least 15, and characters under 18 will be considered only on a case by case basis. If your character is over 15 but under 18, please briefly explain why they are worthy of inmatehood despite their young age. <b>From When?:</b> At what point in their timeline were they brought aboard the Barge? Keep in mind that inmates must have just died, or were about to die. If your character has no canon death, or if you'd like to pull them from a point well before their canon death, you may headcanon a death that makes sense for the character/canon and doesn't require too many logical leaps or extra steps. Things like "My city-dwelling inmate was hit by a bus" or "My gangster inmate died in a gunfight" would be fine for a headcanoned death, as would "My character is in a life-threatening situation at their pull point that they canonically survive, but for the purposes of the game I'm going to say that they die instead". <b>Inmate Justification:</b> Why does your character require redemption? How can working with a warden on the Barge help them achieve this? Feel free to just give a brief general overview here; we're going to ask for specifics down below. <b>Arrival:</b> Was your inmate character brought in against their will, or did they agree to come to the Barge and graduate instead of dying forever? <b>Abilities/Powers:</b> Remember that Inmates will have reduced powers, with dangerous, offensive (as opposed to defensive), and combat-related abilities being removed entirely. Please tell us both what your character can do when their powers are at full strength, as well as what your proposed limits and reductions for them are. <b>Inmate Information:</b> Please lay out the most important things that your character's warden will need to know about them. Remember that permanent wardens will receive a file on their inmate's entire life story, and while we won't require you to write out a full history here (though we'll ask for at least a link to one elsewhere in the app), we'd like to hear about the highlights in your own words! This should include any serious crimes committed, details about the harm they've done to others, and major life events and how they were affected by them. While this wouldn't necessarily be included explicitly in the file, please also touch on their defining personality traits and behavior patterns, their general temperament, their worldview, and how they react to challenges. <b>Path to Redemption:</b> What does your character need to change about themselves, and what sorts of milestones do you envision them needing to reach before they're ready for graduation? How will they react to being on the Barge? How will they react to being wardened? What sorts of wardening styles would they be likely to respond best to, and conversely, what wardening styles would likely be ineffective or unhelpful? What methods can a warden use to get through to them, and what are some ideas for things that might trigger or motivate them to change? <b>History:</b> This may be linked or written out. <b>Sample Network Entry:</b> 5-10 sentences of spoken/written monologue, not including narration. This sample should reflect the character's day-to-day behavior and a distinctive voice, and must be Barge setting specific. You are permitted to link a thread from the Test Drive Meme, as long as it's recent (within 3 months of application date) and in network style. <b>Sample RP:</b> 3-5 paragraphs of prose or brackets RP, with focus on both action and internal thought processes. Must be Barge setting specific. You are permitted to link a thread from the Test Drive Meme, as long as it's recent (within 3 months of application date) and in log style. <b>Special Notes:</b> Anything else not covered here that you'd like us to know!

INMATE APPLICATION FORM - ORIGINAL CHARACTERS (sample app #1, sample app #2)

<b>User Name/Nick:</b> <b>User DW:</b> If applicable. <b>E-mail/Plurk/Discord/PM to a character journal/alternate method of contact:</b> <b>Other Characters Currently In-Game:</b> <b>Character Name:</b> <b>Age:</b> This is important; characters must be at least 15, and characters under 18 will be considered only on a case by case basis. If your character is over 15 but under 18, please briefly explain why they are worthy of inmatehood despite their young age. <b>From When?:</b> At what point in their timeline were they brought aboard the Barge? Keep in mind that inmates must have just died, or were about to die. <b>Inmate Justification:</b> Why does your character require redemption? How can working with a warden on the Barge help them achieve this? Feel free to just give a brief general overview here; we're going to ask for specifics down below. <b>Arrival:</b> Was your inmate character brought in against their will, or did they agree to come to the Barge and graduate instead of dying forever? <b>Abilities/Powers:</b> Remember that Inmates will have reduced powers, with dangerous, offensive (as opposed to defensive), and combat-related abilities being removed entirely. Please tell us both what your character can do when their powers are at full strength, as well as what your proposed limits and reductions for them are. <b>Inmate Information:</b> Please lay out the most important things that your character's warden will need to know about them. Remember that permanent wardens will receive a file on their inmate's entire life story, and while we won't require you to write out a full history here (though we'll ask for one elsewhere in the app), we'd like to hear about the highlights in your own words! This should include any serious crimes committed, details about the harm they've done to others, and major life events and how they were affected by them. While this wouldn't necessarily be included explicitly in the file, please also touch on their defining personality traits and behavior patterns, their general temperament, their worldview, and how they react to challenges. <b>Path to Redemption:</b> What does your character need to change about themselves, and what sorts of milestones do you envision them needing to reach before they're ready for graduation? How will they react to being on the Barge? How will they react to being wardened? What sorts of wardening styles would they be likely to respond best to, and conversely, what wardening styles would likely be ineffective or unhelpful? What methods can a warden use to get through to them, and what are some ideas for things that might trigger or motivate them to change? <b>World Information:</b> Please explain in as much detail as is necessary the reality that your character comes from, being sure to include everything that is not necessarily part of their personal history but that nevertheless still relates/applies to them: the political and social situation where they live, laws of the universe, general levels of tech and magic that your character might be familiar with (even if they're not techy and/or magical themselves), and so on. <b>History:</b> This must be written out fully and comprehensively. Remember that, in the absence of a wiki page or a canon to refer to, this will be the only reference point that the mods or other players will have to your character. This will be especially important for potential permanent Wardens, who will receive a file detailing your Inmate's life history. <b>Sample Network Entry:</b> 5-10 sentences of spoken/written monologue, not including narration. This sample should reflect the character's day-to-day behavior and a distinctive voice, and must be Barge setting specific. You are permitted to link a thread from the Test Drive Meme, as long as it's recent (within 3 months of application date) and in network style. <b>Sample RP:</b> 3-5 paragraphs of prose or brackets RP, with focus on both action and internal thought processes. Must be Barge setting specific. You are permitted to link a thread from the Test Drive Meme, as long as it's recent (within 3 months of application date) and in log style. <b>Special Notes:</b> Anything else not covered here that you'd like us to know!

Last Updated: 07/09/2023

directory • rules • ic faq • ooc faq • setting • potential applications • requests • pairings • cabins • jobs • calendar • contact

Comments

Application: Prince Po (posted from my Loki account until my internet is faster) 1/?

[silver_tongue]

User Name/Nick: The Sheep
User DW: --
AIM/IM: iisheep
E-mail: rschwarz@gm.slc.edu
Other Characters:
--
Character Name: Greening “Po” Grandemalion
Series: Graceling
Age: 20

From When?: Po has come from the middle of the book Graceling, not long after he has hidden himself from his enemies in a forest so that he can recover from some grievous injuries.

Inmate/Warden: I think that Po would be a Warden aboard the Barge. He is a good person with a great deal of patience and strong moral. Furthermore, his “Grace”, or special ability, is the ability to sense what other people are thinking in relation to him. He cannot mind-read, but he can tell if someone means to lie to him, hurt him, or follow his orders. This would allow him to point his Inmate in the right direction whether they want to open up to him or not, but it would leave any Inmate mun plenty of freedom to let their character be a jerk to him or hide their true problems from him.

Item: This is a tough one for Po: he can no longer read, and in his world there is no such thing as a recording device or braille. Maybe the Admiral can tutor him a bit on how to at least work the audio function on a phone or tablet?

Re: Application: Prince Po 2/?

[silver_tongue]

Abilities/Powers: Po’s world is populated by certain people called “Gracelings”. They are regular humans who have been gifted with certain unique abilities, much like mutant powers in the Marvel universe. Some Gracelings possess the abilities to run at great speeds, or understand advanced mathematics in a matter of moments. Po’s Grace is that of “perception”. He can see into the minds of others around him, but only in terms of how they pertain to him. He cannot tell if his father is annoyed with his brother or whether a friend thinks that tomorrow will be sunny, but he can sense if anyone around him likes him or finds him attractive or wants to harm him. He can also tell if someone is telling a lie to him.

On top of that, he has the power to sense the “physical energy” of others. He knows what movements a person intends to make before they make them. He can also tell if someone on the other side of a door is about to knock, or if they’ve got a long nose or a missing eye. Since he is still young, his power is growing. Recently he has begun to sense the physicality of animals, plants, and even features of the land. He can tell if a rock is in his path in the dark or if there are fish in a nearby stream.

This power leaves him extremely isolated, however: he cannot turn his power off and he cannot block the thoughts of others from entering his mind. If anyone knew that he could read some of their thoughts, they would not trust him. Because of that he hides his abilities. He pretends to have the Grace of hand-fighting because he is naturally an exceptional fighter; his real Grace also gives him a very definite advantage in a fight because he can predict any move an opponent will make before the opponent makes it.

As a note, anyone from his world could tell at a glance that he is Graced, for Gracelings all share the common trait of odd eyes. One of his eyes is silver, and the other is gold. (Yes, I’m aware that this makes him sound like a Mary Sue. In his defense, most people in the story are frightened or revolted by odd eyes because of their connotation, and his strange-colored eyes especially scare people. They also apparently make his face look uneven.)

Major Malcolm Reed | Star Trek Enterprise (mirror universe)

[agonybooth]

I suppose a coup d'etat could be classified as 'trouble.'

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Guinevere • BBC Merlin

[humbling]

This way

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Boyd Crowder | Justified

[maybebatman]

Fire in the hole.

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Medusa Gorgon | Soul Eater

[nakesnakecobracobra]

Careful, you're starting to sound pathetic again.

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Vegeta / Dragon Ball Z Kai

[tailless]

Here!

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Bigger || The Almost Guys (re-app)

[takingacut]

"It’s alright, I know he calls me that."

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Scrad/Charlie | Men in Black 2

[twoheadsofcabbage]

"You really are proof that two heads aren't better than one."

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Wichita | Zombieland

[wichita_kansas]

The application is here.

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[thatisasecret]

Yeah I was using all my sexy bitch ass self restraint and then I decided self restraint was for bitches.

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Sokka | Avatar: The Last Airbender

[thatscalledsokkastyle]

That's called Sokka style! Learn it!

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Faith | Buffy the Vampire Slayer

[hungryanhorny]

User Name/Nick: Kevin
User DW: dragon8writer
AIM/IM: Aim: dragon8writer
E-mail: kevinstar1991@gmail.com
Other Characters: none, here.

Character Name: Faith
Series: Buffy the vampire slayer
Age: 24
From When?:Around the start of season 8, when Faith started wanting to help others.

Inmate/Warden: Warden; as a murderer, now trying to repent, she has a good understanding of the inmates. She’s still the girl who does the dirty jobs – the one who gets called upon because people know she won’t hesitate, and she doesn’t – even if it’s something like killing children (vampires), and even if she hates herself for it afterwards.

Coming from that background, Faith was – starting in season 8 – determined to help those who’d been put through the meat grinder by Buffy’s war; she wants to redeem herself, and she’d take the chance to help others along the way.


Item: [Wardens Only -- What Gives you Your Information While Here? Examples -- a compass, a book, a palm pilot, a tarot card, etc.] A book, probably modeled after the slayers tomb.

Abilities/Powers: Super strength; flexibility; good with most weapons, and hand to hand combat.

Re: Faith | Buffy the Vampire Slayer

[hungryanhorny]

Personality:

Faith has a tendency to be wild. She enjoys a fight – and she doesn’t like to over think things. It isn’t that she’s stupid – far from it – it’s simply that she likes to lose herself in whatever she’s doing. To fight with what often comes down to reckless abandon.

She has improved at this somewhat since her first years, when she accidentally killed someone. She pays attention to what she’s doing, and she recognizes consequences – going to jail of her own will in order to make up for the wrongs she had done, before breaking out to follow a more active style of repentance.

In search of that repentance, Faith dedicated herself first to take down the First Evil, and later to the dirty tasks that no one else wished to touch. When she was asked to take care of children, she leapt to say yes – despite inferior living conditions indicating she was already struggling to make ends meet; and when she found out that those children were vampires, and “take care of” referred to slaying them, she took care of that too.

Faith doesn’t hesitate; for all her wildness, she’s also stubborn – determined to get things done. Occasionally, she hates herself for it – she does things that make her feel guilty, or angry; and she doesn’t forget the people who are hurt because of her. But she does them anyway, because someone has to do it.

However, it’s worth noting that she is – as she herself says – all about forgiveness. Faith is repenting, and trying to make up for what she did – and she is willing to accept anyone who is honestly trying to make the same effort. She won’t coddle anyone – she won’t tell them everything is going to be alright, or bother with them if they’re not even going to try. But she won’t give up on someone she sees a chance for, either.

Still, Faith can be somewhat brusque – she has little time for people who get on her nerves. She has something of a temper. And while she’s working towards what’s right, her moral code doesn’t necessarily encompass legalities. She was more than willing to break out of prison when it became an emergency, after all, and she didn’t choose to go back afterwards – preferring to be active in helping others.

On the other hand, she doesn’t run away. Faith had the chance to live a golden life if she let a friend die – she didn’t take it, even though said friend turned against her. She had the chance to flee the country – but instead, she took the thankless job of counseling slayers who had been put through the meat grinder by Buffy’s war.

In short, Faith is wild, but constrained – occasionally prone to aimless drifting, but relentless if she actually sets her mind on a goal. If someone gets on her nerves, she won’t hesitate to undercut them physically or verbally. But if she sees someone who’s been torn down, she’ll put the effort into building them back up again.

History: http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Faith

Sample Journal Entry: [5-10 sentences, 1st Person POV]
[Faith walks into her cupboard, yanking it open and grimacing when the wood creaks; empty anyhow. Next is the same. Third really is the charm, though - a carton of cereal, and a chipped bowl. No milk she’d trust – and no clean spoon.
She shrugs, scoops out a handful, and pops a piece in her mouth.] Wonder how B’s doing… [bad thought. She chomped a bit more.] Probably surrounded with… [Bitterness. She shook it off. She had a job to do – couple vamps tearing hell through the streets. War didn’t end just because Buffy was playing general . She still had work to do.

Even if she was just second string.]


Sample RP: [3-5 paragraphs, 3rd Person POV]

Dead flesh gave way to the point of her spike, bones crumbling in favor of wood as her stake tore into the vampire’s heart; no blood – no fuss. It crumbled neatly into dust, freeing her stake and allowing her to catch a second with a roundhouse kick. The third she took backhanded, grinning at the feel of power as she shoved the wood deep. “Good as B ever got.”

A sudden flash of pain interrupted her attempts at back patting, bringing her down to her knees. Vamp two had brought her down to his level, one hand tightening painfully about her leg. His free hand was already reaching for her stake, which she pulled hastily from his reach. He tugged at her leg instead, fangs barring, squeezing tighter when she tried to pull herself free.

She kicked at him in response, her toe catching the outer eye socket, and then tugged herself free. The scramble to her feet was undignified, but it gave her the upper hand again as the vampire crawled up to it’s feet, growling again.

“You might wanna get that breath checked, yo.”

She grinned when it lunged, easily sidestepping. Her close call from earlier was already forgotten – her love for the fight overwhelming it. The way the wind moved through her, speed adding to the heady mix of empowerment that came with being the slayer. The way the whole damn world seemed to stand still for her as she plunged her stake towards the vampire’s heart. She almost welcomed it when it avoided her – and when it swung at her, she blocked, pitting her physical strength against it’s own.

She won, knocking its arm aside, and plunging the knife forward again and into its heart. A third explosion of dust marked its passing, and she smiled. “Alright. Score one for Faith.” ‘Bout time. But that wasn’t a thought she wanted to touch – for now, patrol was over. She just wanted to get something to eat; maybe someone, too. Slaying had that affect on her as a rule.

Special Notes:
I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with the first person – was a bit more confident with the third, but I’m hoping both are fine. ^^; If anything’s wrong, I’d be more than happy to fix it!

Cassandra Cain | DC Comics

[bodyreads]

You let them know you're alive. You let them know you've just begun.

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Red | Once Upon a Time

[canfindrope]

my application for red

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ERIC CARTMAN

[breakingmyballs]

Application here!

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AZULA (Trade-in for Simone Betheson)

[divine_right]

App

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Art Mullen | Justified

[marshal_art]

You're a thrill a minute

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Guinevere Pendragon BBC Merlin Application

[maidtoqueen]

http://maidtoqueen.dreamwidth.org/306.html

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Jonathan Crane | DC Comics

[crownotcrane]

now with a shiny new differences section!

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Superboy| DC Comics (Reboot)

[an_abomination]

http://an-abomination.dreamwidth.org/291.html

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Constable Benton Fraser, RCMP | Due South

[themountie]

I first came to Chicago on the trail of the killers of my father...

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The Once-ler | The Lorax (2012)

[manlyknitting]

I'm the GOOD guy here.

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Sara Pezzini | Witchblade (Top Cow Comics) 1/2

[chlorophylliac]

ahahah it's still before midnight somewhere. also, reposting having added some extra detail.

User Name/Nick: Naomi
User LJ: asyndeta
AIM/IM: metonumia
E-mail: asyndeta@gmail.com
Other Characters: Merlin, Iroh, Shego, Poison Ivy

Character Name: (Detective) Sara Pezzini
Series: Witchblade
Age: Early 30s
From When?: Shortly after the events of issue #69, as described in the History section.

Inmate/Warden: Warden. Although her methods are sometimes a teensy bit unorthodox and there's a voice in her head that tells her to kill things, everything Sara does is ultimately driven by her desire to be a good cop and protect her city. She has intimate lived experience of managing and controlling darker urges, and has spent enough time dealing with criminality and evil of all kinds to understand what would drive an Inmate's decisions and how that behaviour might be changed.
Item: Her police badge.

Abilities/Powers: This is going to take a while.

Alone, Sara has all the training and competences you would expect from an intelligent and experienced detective. However, she is also the current host of the Witchblade, an ancient symbiotic weapon created to act as a balance between the warring universal forces of light and dark (the Angelus and the Darkness respectively). In its dormant state, it appears to be a jewelled bracelet or watch worn on her right wrist. Even in this state, it still speaks to her, and acts as a sort of early warning system for supernatural beings or times of mortal peril (not reliably, and not often providing enough information to be useful).

It has granted her a wide array of abilities: she can form various weapons, generate full body armor in order to protect herself (she can also form wings allowing flight), shoot energy blasts from the hand or sword, fire projectile darts, and whip-like grapples to attack or climb. The Witchblade is also an excellent lockpick, and can heal wounds, even mortal ones. It can show the host scenes of great trauma, and allow the host to relive experiences from past hosts as dreams. The Witchblade is also known to be able to damage incorporeal beings and is capable of slaying other-dimensional entities and deities; it can also communicate with spirits of the dead and share gleaned knowledge with its host. On one occasion it connected directly with the mind of a severely disabled boy, allowing Sara to communicate with him although he couldn't speak.

It also had a tendency of ripping all Sara's clothes off when used to generate armour. Canon reasoning? The Witchblade is a pervert. Eventually she trained it to stop doing that.

However, she will spend her time on the Barge trying not to use any of these abilities, particularly the offensive/destructive ones. Part of her reason for coming to the Barge in the first place is to stop having to use the Witchblade as frequently as she does and allowing it so much control over her life. The Witchblade is also notoriously unreliable, sometimes acting without her command as a response to perceived threat, sometimes refusing to respond even when her life is in danger.

Sara Pezzini | Witchblade (Top Cow Comics) 2/2

[chlorophylliac]

Personality:

In many ways Sara adheres to the female detective archetype seen in cop shows everywhere: worldweary, cynical and a little sarcastic, not to mention married to the job, but staunchly dedicated and possessed of strong moral fibre. This includes a deeply abiding respect for human life: although she's killed people in her own defence and when she's had no other choice, she would do anything to prevent the death of an innocent bystander. She is a great believer in the criminal justice system and would much prefer to see people tried and imprisoned for their actions than die in the process of being caught. She has a strong caring instinct, seeing herself as at least partly responsible for her younger sister Julia (who is something of a wild child) and Lisa, the daughter of a murdered friend. She can be quick-tempered under stress but never really blindingly so; out of necessity she's learnt how to better control her anger and fear in recent years. Often she can go for days with a background buzz of frustration or misery and it can make her difficult to be around but it doesn't seriously cloud her judgement.

Not unnaturally, Sara's more decent impulses place her at odds with the Witchblade. Although she's had the opportunity to give it up on a few occasions, or has had it forcibly taken, she's always taken it back - because she knows that someone who would want to treat it as a weapon to be used rather than a burden to be suppressed could cause untold pain and misery. The Witchblade is sadistic, in love with death and destruction, and preys on Sara's weaknesses in its attempts to be given free reign - occasionally going so far as to completely withhold its powers or outright attack Sara's body until she submits to its whim, allowing it to kill their enemies or let them be killed when she had hoped to take them alive. Because the weapon is empathic, this violence forces her to feel the pleasure and arousal the Witchblade does during acts of violence, making it yet more difficult to keep it under her command. Overall her relationship with the Witchblade waxes and wanes from the cooperative to the antagonistic, largely depending on her own level of conviction in her desire to possess and control the weapon.

This is not to say that Sara herself has no darker side. While she is as incorruptible as cops get and tries to keep her moral code unshakeable, clearly differentiating between right and wrong, she has always operated in a greyer area than some. Since coming into possession of the Witchblade she has been all but forced to take this to the point of vigilantism, toeing the line between good and evil; the threats she has encountered have become ever more brutal and dangerous and she has had to become more brutal herself in order to combat them. But even since Sara was a child, she had severe anger issues, spending time in and out of therapy for her nihilistic thoughts and violent tendencies - which practically imploded at the point of her father's death. These never really got 'better' but were sublimated into her chosen career, where she took massive risks - not least an apparent phobia of the very idea of calling for backup. She used to be a bit of a thrillseeker, and still is, at least much more than she'd like to admit - although these days she avoids calling for backup more because the backup would inevitably get killed.

More generally, Sara has a habit of distancing people. Even around Julie and Lisa she's economical with the truth, and although she fosters friendly acquaintances without trouble, she'd be able to count who she considers friends on one hand. Possessing the Witchblade has made her more secretive (although that fact that she possesses it feels like a bit of an open secret in certain circles), more paranoid and more likely to go it alone in perilous situations. This isn't entirely unjustified. Her partner was killed at the same time she acquired the Witchblade, and his replacement has been pulled into near-death situations more than once. People who get close to her for any reason tend to wind up dead. It's partly for this reason that she was drawn to the assassin Ian Nottingham - who was seemingly impervious to these dangers, who already knew all her secrets, and who she could get close to both physically and emotionally without it being a death sentence. Eventually, though, her moral compass kicked back in; he was never going to be more than a completely amoral contract killer and she couldn't overlook that forever. She's not really afraid of love or intimacy but she's definitely afraid of the consequences for the people she's intimate with.

As mentioned, much of her reason for coming to the Barge would be to give herself a sort of break from her life being lived according to the whims of the Witchblade (and everyone who wants it) without actually surrendering it to someone else. It's an attempt to rediscover herself as a human being with good intentions, rather than merely a host or - worse still - a channel through which the Witchblade acts. She believes strongly in rehabilitation, and knows that people can change and redeem themselves, but when so many of her recent suspects have been supernatural or outright demonic in nature it's been difficult for her to connect with those concepts. On the Barge she would try her level best to be 'normal' - to make friends, form meaningful relationships with people and try to keep things calm and organised wherever possible.

History:

[The following is dragged together from a really, really inconsistent canon dictated by writers who don't seem to talk to each other very much. Witchblade meandered through being a plotless T&A comic for dozens of issues before acquiring something similar to a narrative, and keeps getting used as a jumping-off point for other Top Cow properties. It shows. Constantly.]

It seems that Sara had been intended to bear the Witchblade from birth. As a young girl, growing up in a suburban area with her parents and little sister Julie, Sara had trouble sleeping; medical investigation found that her entire night's sleep would be spent in the REM phase, meaning that on sleeping she would enter a vivid 'dream life' that felt almost as real (and was as easily remembered) as her waking hours. As an adult, the Witchblade would use this to let her relive other hosts' lives, help her make connections she had failed to see and even psychically connect her dreams with those of others who possessed part of the weapon or its power. Her father Vincent, a cop, and his partner Joe Siry both seemed to know that she was destined for greater things but the young Sara caught only the barest hints of this.

Then, at the age of 11, Vincent was killed - shot, Sara would later learn, by Siry at the behest of a powerful cult who had owned him for some time. Sara's already temperamental behaviour began to spin out of control; at the age of 13, her therapist discovered an innate supernatural power in Sara, going on to kidnap her. She was held in an unknown location for three months. At the time of writing, Sara doesn't remember what happened to her; it seems likely that she underwent some sort of ritual or transformative process to ready her to take on the Witchblade later in life.

Sara was highly intelligent, breezing through high school, but the only life she could imagine herself having was one in the police force. Although not yet mentioned in canon, she presumably attended college for at least 2 years (due to applicant requirements in New York), then immediately enrolled in the Police Academy. After graduation, she started work at the 18th Precinct under then Lieutenant Joe Siry, becoming a detective two years later - an unusually quick progression. She was the only female detective there.

Some years later, her investigation of a known drug dealer - Gallo, the man responsible for the death of a good friend - led her to the Rialto theatre. Unbeknownst to her, billionaire Kenneth Irons had arranged a 'tournament' of sorts to find the person able to bear the Witchblade - which he had long had in his possession, but had been unable to wield, losing his hand in the attempt. Sara and her partner Michael Yee sneaked into the theatre; Yee was caught and in the process of trying to save him, Sara was mortally wounded and Yee was killed. The Witchblade responded to Sara's desperation to live and claimed her as its new host; it healed her wounds and, through her, killed the tournament's numerous attendees - all but Irons and his bodyguard, Ian Nottingham, who had escaped.

Both Irons and, later, Nottingham attempted to take the Witchblade from her but ultimately failed. In the years that followed, Sara was under the scrutiny of a number of people and organisations - most regularly Irons, Nottingham and Level 42, part of a cult seeking to hunt out and utilise men and women with special abilities known as Noble Ones. Alongside this, her work for the NYPD continued. In the years following her acquisition of the Witchblade, Sara garnered a reputation for picking up the 'psychic hotline' jobs - homicides that were seemingly ritualistic, physically impossible or otherwise bizarre - to the extent that she was being called into other precincts to work on such cases.

Most recently, Sara had been on leave - travelling through Pennsylvania on the way to Gettysburg - when she came across a teenage hitchhiker named Claire. She had run away from home and was making her way to Indianapolis to find her brother; Sara called the local police department, only to learn that Claire's brother was dead - and over a hundred years old. When she returned Claire to her family, the Witchblade showed her an image of a possible future: the family being violently torn apart by its power.

Moments later, Claire pulled a gun. It transpired that the family had been frozen in time, granted immortality in exchange for sacrifices made to an entity living in their home, and Sara was intended as their next victim. In the ensuing struggle, Sara was shot by mistake, the Witchblade making no attempt to heal her or retaliate; despite Claire's attempts to get her away from the house, they were overpowered and dragged back onto the family's property. Sara tried to run and all but collapsed against a seemingly dead tree. Possessed by the entity in question, it began to swallow her up. The Witchblade demanded that she stand and fight, that she accept the weapon and the destiny attached to it instead of denying it and running away, before it would intercede on her behalf. Finally she surrendered. The weapon came to life and the family, Claire included, were slaughtered, leaving Sara broken and horrified. Shortly after this she would receive her invitation to the Barge.

Sample Journal Entry:

[Hello, Barge. The video affords a view of Sara's apartment - compact, untidy, cheap furniture - and a small, fluffy white dog curled up against her leg. She looks hesitant, and if it seems like she's trying to project a sense of normality it's because she is.]

....okay, well, let me start by saying I don't really get the video blogging. Don't really understand what happened to just talking to people, but this seems to be the done thing around here and....if it ain't broke, right? Right. I never even got on Facebook.

Anyway. The name's Sara Pezzini. I'm a cop - NYPD, 18th Precinct, for those of you who know what that means. Gonna be here as a Warden for the foreseeable future. Don't suppose anybody can offer an estimate on when I'm likely to be assigned an Inmate? The Admiral wasn't clear on bureaucratic process, or - well, I'm preaching to the choir here, you don't need me to tell you he's a little on the enigmatic side. I've only been here six hours and I already know around five times more than he told me about this place.

[Also, an ancient Dear Mun entry for a less on-best-behaviour post from Sara.]

Sample RP:

If there was a single advantage to being on a ship apparently entirely crewed by Pop Culture's Greatest Hits 1990-2011, it was the fact that she could tell the Infirmary staff she was fine two hours after being bodily hurled down a set of stairs and they actually believed her. She'd gotten what seemed to be a form lecture about not throwing herself into any more disasters any time soon, but no-one was trying to make her stay. And she was fine. The Witchblade had been as quiet as a mouse when she'd resisted letting it tear the guy limb from limb, but (after she'd spent a few painful minutes being thrown around before backup arrived) it seemingly wasn't petty enough to let her spend weeks contending with multiple fractures.

It'd made its point, after all.

And that was something else nice (?) about the Barge, she supposed. Backup that was actually halfway effective against the sort of problems she usually served as backup for herself. Not that she was without that kind of support back home, but fair-weather friends and short-term visitors with their own agendas were a little different from having literal superheroes as neighbors. People around explicitly for the same reason as she was, even if their means and motivations were different - and she couldn't exactly get on anyone's case for unorthodox methodology.

Maybe the aforementioned superhero neighbors meant she could afford to start reaching out a little bit. Drop the lone wolf act - though it had been going on so long she wasn't sure it was an act any more. It wasn't the case here that she couldn't afford to bring people into her social circle because it brought them into the blast radius - but could she afford to get used to that? The Witchblade certainly seemed so indifferent to her friends' suffering that sometimes she wondered if it was jealous of anyone else spending time with her.

She was still limping a little when she reached the gym. Running off a mostly-healed broken ankle was a terrible idea but she could still go a few rounds with a punchbag before she got the week's sleep she'd need before being 'over' this latest episode.

Claudia Donovan | Warehouse 13

[reactivates]

I'm not trained like you guys. I'm not Secret Service, or ATF, or NSA, or M-O-U-S-E. I'm not a real agent.

Sample journal entry is kind of long, but that's on purpose. She'll be anxious for the first one, and thus will ramble, but she'll settle into it quickly enough.

PENDING

[bargemods]

PENDING
Your application has been received and will be reviewed ASAP!

Leslie Knope || Parks and Recreation

[lesliemonster]

I started thinking about you as a woman and as a person and I got carried away.

PENDING

[bargemods]

PENDING
Your application has been received and will be reviewed ASAP!