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

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Comments

Re: REVISION REQUEST

[agonybooth]

To understand why Malcolm is the way he is and the motives for his actions, you have to know the type of place the Terran Empire is. It’s the sort of place where survival of the fittest is the motto and the weak are butchered by spaceships, as well as any alien that they come across is either a new slave or next on their extinct species list. The strong use the weak to move up to desirable positions and then toss them away when they’re of no use to them. Malcolm knows his place in this world and does everything possible so he’s not one of the weak that will be tossed aside once he’s no longer of use, to the point where he backs who he believes is the strongest person in the game. He doesn’t want to be in a higher position than he already is because if he’s in too high of a position, he’ll be a target for others wanting his position, but at the same time he isn’t too weak to be considered useless or someone to be used by those wanting a foothold into the senior staff.

Even though he’s the mirror version of his main counterpart, Malcolm is still very much Malcolm. He’s what can be best described as emotionally stupid: he is a very emotional person, but has no idea what to do with these emotions so he tries not to deal with them at all. To keep himself from being hurt though, he took things to the extreme and disconnected himself from everyone. The only way he normally allows himself to express these bottled up emotions is through rather destructive means like blowing things up and torturing people, which is why he’s disliked by most of the crew. It’s a form of control, his way of expressing his emotions. Being a terrible human being to everyone around him allows him control of his environment in ways he wouldn’t have just by being distant. Because of his disconnect from other people, he finds himself without much of a purpose in life beyond doing his job well and surviving every day. Then Jonathan Archer came into his life and gave him a purpose, even if it was just to further Archer’s goals to become captain and then onto being Emperor of the Terran Empire, not to mention giving him an outlet for his emotions by having him assist in a coup and attacking an enemy ship. Where Archer had goals for himself, Malcolm didn’t and so worked to assist Archer in his goals because he believed in him, not because he was manipulated into it.

This is why he doesn’t have the same loyalty and respect for Travis Mayweather, who became captain after Archer’s murder by Hoshi Sato. Travis didn’t work to get his position, instead sleeping with the new Empress and asking for the position. He does gain some respect for Travis during the following year, since after Archer’s death, Malcolm was left without a purpose yet again and Travis gave him one. His new purpose of helping take back control of the ship from the Andorians also gave him a new outlet for his emotions, allowing him to be destructive without restraint against enemies of the Empire, though it could only do so much to repair Malcolm’s opinion of Travis. Hoshi Sato, while giving him a purpose by being kidnapped, is not someone he’s loyal to nor is she someone he respects as she only gained her position by having sex with people of higher rank than her that she found useful instead of moving through the ranks with any sort of skill beyond what she has in the bedroom.

This leaves Malcolm in a strange position when it comes to him on the Barge. As far as he knows, he’s dead and has no reason to return to his universe. Once again, he’s without a goal in life for himself. Redemption for a second chance wouldn’t be much of an incentive for him since there’s nothing back home for him to use that second chance on as the Empress has been saved and the rebellion is crushed, leaving him not much to do. Finding out about the Wardens and their deals might actually give him a goal to work for because he would attempt becoming a Warden just to bring back Archer as a way to make up for Malcolm’s failure, though he wouldn’t actually try for redemption because he believes that it will only come once he saves his captain from death. Trying to make friends here and lying to them about the kind of person he is is part of his plan to become a Warden since he thinks that if they believe he’s actually a good person or someone who just needs a little push in the right direction, they might actually graduate him faster than if he was how he normally is. This ruse wouldn’t last long since it would fall apart either as soon as he’s paired with a Warden or if he forgets himself and is a racist dick to whatever non-human he stumbles upon and finds out that they aren’t human. Meeting the people on the Barge and realizing they’re not all backstabbing sociopaths like the people back home would make him incredibly wary that they might be playing him, but this would change to utter bafflement once he realizes that’s just how people in other universes are. He’s just so used to how people are in the Empire that he wouldn’t understand people being genuinely nice to him and others around them without some ulterior motive being involved.