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Saudade Mods ([personal profile] saudade_mods) wrote2011-02-27 03:16 am
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「APPLICATIONS」


Applications are open every other weekend! Please check the Calendar to see when they are open next! Reserves are ALWAYS OPEN!

APPLICATIONS
Ready to apply? Excellent, we're glad you're still with us. Before applying, please make sure you're familiar with the premise and setting, and understand the way this game is going to work. We've even made a handy-dandy checklist for you! (Actually, Kari just wanted to make more banners.) When you are ready to apply, please check the Calendar page and make sure applications are being accepted, and then email your completed application to saudademods@gmail.com!


Before You Apply:
  • First-time applicants may only apply for one character to start off. You may apply for any type of character as your first character, but bear in mind that AUs and OCs will require a greater amount of information and will be considered with extreme stringency. Please make sure you satisfy all requested prerequisites before applying.

  • To better understand the game itself, please read the Premise, Rules / FAQ, and Setting pages. Even if you're Kingdom Hearts-savvy, think of it like new secret reports to read; we've taken great pains to adapt the Kingdom Hearts world to suit an online journal-based RP, not copy-paste it all from the video games. The setting was very accurately described by a player as, "Kingdom Hearts is happening waaaaaaaaaaaay over there somewhere, and Saudade is happening on the other end of the universe behind a black hole".

  • Kids these days are getting pretty creative with the characters they want to apply for, so we dedicated an entire page to all questions of the "Can I app…?" and "Which app should I use?" variety. We like to think of it as our Start New Game menu.

  • We will not allow app challenges, and reserves are mandatory. At least for the time being, we are requiring that all applicants reserve their characters in order to apply. This is so both of us modfolks can try and gauge our time efficiently and get through the application process as quickly and efficiently as possible. We may have an open application period if we get through all our reserves, but this will be on a case by case basis for now. The journal that was used to reserve the character will be used to confirm identity in the case of any mix-ups. Please bear in mind that reserving a character does not automatically mean you're in--it only holds your place in line and guarantees that we will budget the time to review your application.

  • For every additional character, a link to the most recent Activity Check is required as part of the application. You must be acceptably active with your current characters before applying for additional characters.

  • We will check for plagiarism to the best of our abilities. Don't do it. Quoting dramatic moments or definitions is the most we should see in your application that isn't your own work. Reusing sections from older applications that were written by you is fine, however.

  • This game has a very high standard for writing quality. If you struggle to communicate in English for any reason such that we have a hard time making heads or tails of your application, this may not be the right game for you. We always reserve the right to ask you to revise your application, or reject it entirely.
All set to apply? Awesome!
  • Please read your application over for spelling, grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and HTML formatting errors. You might consider testing it out in a journal entry somewhere to make sure it looks good. A typo here and there is understandable in any application, but a combination of poorly crafted English and broken HTML won't exactly encourage us to approve an application we're on the fence about.

  • Send us an e-mail copy of your application in plaint-text with HTML tags to saudademods@gmail.com then double-check that it sent properly and to the right address. Be sure to have 'Application: Beginner Mode - Character Name' in the subject or substitute 'Beginner' with Standard/Proud/Critical for those applications -- but hopefully you guessed that already. We ask for the raw HTML because all applications are posted to [personal profile] saudade_apps, where the mods and app team helpers all have access to them for judgment. Once an application has been judged, it is opened up for anyone to read, so people can see who their potential castmates may be, or just get a better idea of any unfamiliar characters they might be interested in CR with. No personal details are ever posted publicly.

  • Expect an e-mail to let you know we received your app, but that doesn't mean it's next in our queue. Some apps may take longer to process, as we mods can't be familiar with every canon ever. To find out where your app currently stands, please check the status page

  • If you're accepted, just follow the instructions on the reply e-mail and you'll be good to go!

  • We may ask for a clarification, elaboration, or any other sort of revision. This does not mean we're rejecting you and you're welcome to contact a moderator to get more information if you don't understand our request. You get two chances to submit a revision as per moderator requests before we'll reject you. We will also default to a rejection on any application in the middle of a revision process in which we receive no communication at all for one week.

  • If your application is rejected, you may not apply for that character again unless a very specific prerequisite is met: we will only consider applications for that same character from the same player with sufficient evidence that something has changed since our rejection--burden of proof will rest with the applicant. If we catch you using a sock puppet account to try to get around this policy, you will be banned from the game. All rejection notifications will include reasons why the application was rejected; we won't just reject you for no darn reason.


This application is meant to be used for any character that has sufficient information about them in canon to be viable on a day-to-day basis in the game. If they pass the Strength of Heart test with a canon event, then that's a good start. Generally, we expect this app to be filled with mostly canon information, although small bits of headcanon may be included provided you note where those headcanon bits are.

The HTML code for this application is below, followed by a breakdown of what we expect from each portion of the application:


PLAYER
NAME: What you'll be going by in Saudade
EMAIL: (required) this is how the mods will contact you for all formal/important reasons
PREFERRED PRONOUNS: This is only for mod reference; we want to make sure not to misgender anyone, but we will never share this information, not even with other players, without express permission.
BEST CONTACT: AIM, Plurk, PM, MSN/Yahoo/etc, however you prefer to be contacted for plotting et al.
TIMEZONE: (pretty please) it's helpful to other players for plotting purposes
AGE: (required)
PLAYED CHARACTERS: (Please list any characters you are already playing in Saudade. If this is your first character please put N/A)
LINK TO RESERVE: The link to your reserve comment

CHARACTER
NAME(S): All names and significant/relevant aliases
AGE: Physical and mental. If no canon age is given, use your best judgment and explain your choice.
CANON: Please be sure to note which 'verse if applicable: manga vs. anime, book vs. comic vs. movie vs. game vs. TV series, etc.
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
[OPTIONAL History Link: Please describe the link (ex. Wikipedia article, fansite, etc.) ]

THIS PART IS NOT OPTIONAL. Please summarize your character's background and any related canon events as if the people reading it do not know your canon. Yes, we know you hate these, but if you can't be arsed to summarize your character's background, then how do we know you even know it? Anybody can link to wikipedia. Please be sure to include everything up to the point your character is being pulled from, but again it need only be what's relevant for your character; if they were locked in seclusion for the duration of an entire arc, then one sentence to tell us that is all we need. We're not demanding every nitty-gritty little detail here--quality, not quantity. If you can summarize your history succinctly without losing important events, more power to you.

PERSONALITY:
Please be sure to include strengths/weaknesses. There are no special snowflakes in space. This section is probably the most important part of your application, so don't cut corners.

What traits make your character unique? What traits are extremely common in their world? Is your character more or less mature than their actual age, or even the age they appear to be? Are they part of a specific race, animal species, or are they a form of robot, and how does this affect them in their world? Are they a part of some specific culture/ethnicity/country/area of the world that affects them? You should include whatever is most integral to the character, and where you feel it's appropriate, please provide examples from canon as a backing for certain aspects of your character's overall personality. Don't be afraid to refer to your Background section in that regard.

CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
Please tell us about the people most important to them and how these relationships affect your character or bring out various personality traits in them. You don't have to include every character in the series (and you can lump a few together if they're all part of an organization/team/etc. and treated similarly), but we do want to see major CR addressed here. How has it shaped them and their personality? Who are their best friends? Who are their enemies? Is the relationship one-sided, or reciprocated? Have they known each other for years, or days? Has the relationship changed at all over the course of canon? Both positive and negative character relationships are encouraged!

STRENGTH OF HEART MOMENT SUMMARY: Please provide at least a sentence or two describing where in the canon you're taking the character from. We want to know why this is a Crowning Moment of Awesome that shows the strength of your character's heart (for good or evil or any grey in-between) and would thus attract the attention of the Darkness.

POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
Please read the write-up about how Awakening works and why the choice is important in Saudade. Now, as your sample, please write your character going through their Awakening process. What made them choose the option they did? Did they spend a great deal of time on it, or just pick something right away? Did they try to reject the process entirely? We'd prefer to see this in 3rd person with at least some thoughts/dialogue included, but if you think you can achieve what we're looking for in first person then go right ahead. Please make sure it is very clear what your character's choices were! If you selected customized items instead of the KH standard shield/staff/sword options, make sure we can tell which of the three your custom object correlate to! In all cases, your character's choices should be clear! Remember, YOUR CHARACTER MUST DELIBERATELY CHOOSE AND DISCARD AN ITEM, not just choose something and then choose something else. The rejection of one of the three items is paramount!

SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Tell us your character's Power Path (Invoker, Avenger, etc) based on the Choice that your character made in their Awakening, and please describe how this will affect the character's powers, going into detail about what the powers actually are. If the rejection of an item causes them to lose a noteworthy power please indicate this as well and how that might affect them.

INVENTORY:
Everything your character will be Found with, including weapons, animals, and anything out of the ordinary. Remember, your Awakening choices may affect this!

NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
Please give us a little insight into why you want to come play with us! Got any exciting plans for your character?

Anything else you feel is important for us to know about, or why you want to explore this setting with your character goes here as well. This is where you would explain any unorthodox situations that aren't covered in the main application. If you're a current player applying for another character, this is where your most recent Activity Check should be linked.



This application is designed to accommodate Minor/Recurring Characters that require a substantial amount of headcanon to be well-rounded and playable in an RP setting. This includes characters that are canonical alternate versions of a character -- such as the Dark Side that comes out every so often, Evil or Alternate-History Twins, and Extra Personas of a character that exhibits a form of Multiple Personality Disorder. As a rule of thumb, if your ratio of headcanon to actual state canon is about 40/60 or less, you're probably okay to use a Beginner app. Cresting or exceeding half headcanon, use this one.

The HTML code for this application is below, followed by an elaboration on how this application differs from the Beginner Mode app. Please note that the same expectations will apply:


PLAYER
Same as Beginner Mode.

CHARACTER
BASIC INFO LINES: Same as Beginner Mode
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
We're just guessing that this section is where most of people's headcanon for any given character will end up, so please make sure that you clearly identify what's canon and what's headcanon. We would like to know why you felt the need to fill in various bits of information too--was it because of a logic fail in canon? Was it to explain an absence from the main storyline? Do you think there was a personality shift that needed explaining with some behind-the-scenes movement? We want to be able to follow your lines of logic and see if your headcanon truly supports what's canon about the character, rather than completely changing them.

PERSONALITY:
Knowing minor characters, this section should still be largely canon with headcanon sprinkles on top. All the same, make sure you note where canon ends and headcanon begins. However you chose to show us that in the Background section, it would be spiffy peachy keen awesome if you used that same style in this section.

CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
Hopefully this section will be largely canon-based information as well. Minor/recurring characters usually are CR fodder for the main cast, so there's bound to be some canon relationships worth mentioning.

STRENGTH OF HEART MOMENT SUMMARY: This must be a canon event (or implied canon) for your character to qualify for this application. If you have to make it up, then you should be filling out a Critical Mode app.

POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
Same deal as on the Beginner Mode application.

SPECIAL ABILITIES:
We understand if this section also requires a bit of headcanon to finagle properly, but, once again, pretty please with a cherry on top use the same notation method to indicate what's canon vs. headcanon in this section as you did in the rest of your application. Also please make sure to list your character's Power Path (Invoker, Avenger, etc) as dictated by their choice.

INVENTORY:
Everything your character will be Found with, including weapons, animals, and anything out of the ordinary. Remember, your Awakening choices may affect this!

NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
This is where you should include anything else you feel is important for us to know about, such as why you want to explore this setting with your character. If this is an additional character, this is where your most recent Activity Check should be linked.

If this is your first character at Saudade, we also ask that you link us to a demonstration of your roleplay history--we want to see how you play before we make a final decision on whether or not to accept a character that has a lot of headcanon from you. If you have played this character before, please provide links to where. If you have not, we want to see how you play characters of similar demeanor or history. Barring that, just link us to any previous RP you've done, something with substance please. We just want to know you can handle more responsibility than an already fully-fleshed out canon character. This is not optional if this is your first character.



This application is designed to accommodate Post-Game/Carry-Over Characters, of any flavor (canon/minor/original) that you want to pull in with previous history/personality shifts from another RP.

The HTML code for this application is below, followed by an elaboration on how this application differs from the Beginner Mode app. Please note that the same expectations will apply:


PLAYER
Same as Beginner Mode.

CHARACTER
BASIC INFO LINES: Same as Beginner Mode
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
We're asking you to divide up your character's past in two parts: their background, and then game history; this section is for their canon background. This section is especially important if your game required as its premise some AU version of your canon, such as a ground-up Mafia or High School style AU and "always been a different sex than canon." In this section, please summarize just your character's pre-game background at least up to their original pull point, if applicable.

GAME HISTORY:
[Required Links, as available]
Please point us to any major events you feel would help us better understand how the game affected your character, especially the event that serves as your Strength of Heart moment. Please then reference them and provide context in this section; you don't need to explain any Personality shifts until that section. Please assume that those reading your application have never even heard of the premise behind the game.

PERSONALITY:
[Links to examples of game-related personality shifts, as available] Please point us to any major events you feel would help us better understand how the game affected your character. Please then reference them and provide context in this section. This section should be used to explain both their canon personality and any changes that may have resulted from their time in your old game. Referring us to your Game History Links is advised.

CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
This section should be utilized for both canon and in-game character bonds, as appropriate. If their BFF or lover or rival never came to your old game and as a result another character took on that role, that's worth some elaboration.

STRENGTH OF HEART MOMENT SUMMARY: This must be an event from during your character's time in a previous game for your character to qualify for this application, preferably with a link to the event attached.

POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
Same deal as on the Beginner Mode application.

SPECIAL ABILITIES:
This section is especially important if your character was granted new powers upon their arrival in the game, developed new/advanced powers over the course of the game, or your AU verse shifted the character's powers. Please make sure to include your character's Power Path (Invoker, Avenger, etc) as dictated by their choices.

INVENTORY:
Everything your character will be Found with, including weapons, animals, and anything out of the ordinary. Remember, your Awakening choices may affect this!

NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
This is where you should include anything else you feel is important for us to know about, such as why you want to explore this setting with your character. If this is an additional character, this is where your most recent Activity Check should be linked. Explaining why you want to explore this setting with this version of the character as opposed to without any game history is also highly recommended.



This application is designed to accommodate three character options:
  • Original Characters, from canon OCs to from a wholly original ones

  • Alternate Universe versions of a character of any flavor, from world-shift to sex-change to alternate timeline etc.

  • Canon characters with extremely minimal screentime or avatar-type progatonists whose personalities and histories are [almost] entirely incumbent on a player's choices--in Saudade, those will be considered essentially Original Characters as we expect them to be 95% headcanon.


The HTML code for this application is below, followed by an elaboration on how this application differs from the Beginner Mode app. Please note that the same expectations will apply:


PLAYER
Same as Beginner Mode.

CHARACTER
BASIC INFO LINES: Same as Beginner Mode
WORLD HISTORY:
We're asking you to divide up your character's past in two parts: their world, and then their personal background. This World History section is important whether you're using this application for an AU or for Original. We need to understand where your character is coming from since we can't just figure it out with a few google searches. Don't tell us this world is "just like modern earth but"--we want the whole story.

BACKGROUND HISTORY:
Here we must put a reminder that for canon OCs we don't want to see any long lost siblings or super secret 15th members of Organization XIII members--trust us, there are plenty of cool things you can do with OCs aside from tie them directly to a canon character's backstory. For AUs, we don't expect to see anything like "basically canon" except in very rare circumstances. Any world-shifting or sex+gender alterations will affect canon events at least in some small part, so please address that in this section and the Personality section.

PERSONALITY:
Especially for AU or the 'minimal canon' characters, this section should still reference what canon you do have; personality is usually the strongest trait on display in canon, so even AU characters should resemble their canon counterparts in some manner. All the same, make sure you note where canon ends and headcanon begins--however you chose to show us that in the Background section, it would be spiffy peachy keen awesome if you used that same style in this section. For Originals, just go to town with your description, while keeping it comprehensible.

CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
This section is important on an AU app for understanding how the AU affected castmate relations. For OCs, this section is important because no one grows up in a vacuum and neither should OCs. For canon-OCs, do not write about your being BFFs with the protagonist or anything like that. Seriously.

STRENGTH OF HEART MOMENT SUMMARY: For 'minimal canon' characters, it's okay if this Strength of Heart moment is headcanon-ed, but it should still make sense for the character. For AUs, this can be a canon event or an AU canon event that you created.

POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
Same deal as on the Beginner Mode application.

SPECIAL ABILITIES:
This section is especially important if your AU verse shifted their powers, or for 'minimal canon' characters who you want/need to headcanon some powers for in order to flesh them out. For Originals, we need you to be very specific in terms of what your characters can do--we cannot stress this enough. Anything not listed here will not be available to your OC later; these powers cannot be changed or added to without major significant growth of character. Please also make sure to include your character's Power Path (Invoker, Avenger, etc) as dictated by their choices.

INVENTORY:
Everything your character will be Found with, including weapons, animals, and anything out of the ordinary. Remember, your Awakening choices may affect this!

NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
This is where you should include anything else you feel is important for us to know about, such as why you want to explore this setting with your character. Explaining why you want to explore this setting with this version of the character (for AUs) or why you such a minor character interests you is recommended.

As with the Standard Mode application, we would also like to see a demonstration of your written/roleplay history with this character--we want to see how you interpret your OC or AU before we make a final decision on whether or not we feel the character will be acceptable to our setting. If you have not played or written this particular character before, we want to see how you play characters of similar demeanor or history. If you have never played this character or a character anything like them before, we're going to need some really compelling evidence that proves to us that you are capable of handling a character that is mostly of your own creation without firm canon parameters to work from. This is not optional, even if you are already playing a character in Saudade.

If this is an additional character, this is where your most recent Activity Check should be linked.