havenmods | Applications

APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN!
The next processing date is Friday 11th October

IMPORTANT: PLEASE POST YOUR APPLICATIONS HERE ON THE NEW APPLICATION PAGE

We're so glad you're thinking of joining us in Haven, where we are all safe.

In order to apply for a canon character, please fill out the information below and post it in a comment in this entry. For an OC, please apply using the OC information. Please do not link to applications, all applications must be posted here. Please do not delete your applications; if you do not want it to be seen, you can request for it to be screened after a decision is made.

You may apply for two characters every two weeks, to a total of six characters. Only two of these may be from the same canon, and they cannot be too familiar with one another. Please make sure to mark the header of your comment(s) with RESERVED or NOT RESERVED, as well as the character name and canon. App challenges are not allowed currently.

Try to remember spelling and grammar are important, and in app length quality and not quantity is what matters. If you wish to request a specific apartment, please do so in the relevant part of the application. All parts of the application must be your own work, plagiarism will not be tolerated, though you are welcome to reuse your own old applications.

If you are asked for revisions, please don't panic! It doesn't mean the mods don't like you, only that we probably need more information before making a decision. If you are asked for revisions, you will have one week to supply them.

Every attempt will be made to place a character in their chosen apartments, though this may not always be possible depending on the slots available.

Applications are open constantly, but are only processed every other Friday at 7PM EST. The Saturday following acceptance, an IC mingle log will be posted for characters to be introduced to the game.

We now have a test drive community at haventest which is continuously open. Posts there may be used in lieu of a sample in the application. You may also link posts, logs, or threads from other games and memes in lieu of samples, though we ask that they be no more than one year old.

To see what we are looking for:
Canon Characters:
Sample Application (Faith Lehane)
Sample Application (Iroh)

Original Characters:
Sample Application (Mors)
Sample Application (Vera de Barr)

Previous Game History:
Sample Application (Abel Nightroad/Mayfield RPG)
Sample Application (Bolin/Discedo)

Applications will be processed on the following dates:
11th October
25th October
8th November
22nd November
6th December
20th December

To apply for a canon character, please fill out this form:
Name: Your name or nickname Contact Info: Email, plurk, IM... as long as there's a way to contact you, it's fine! Other Characters Played: Any other characters you play at Haven. Preferred Apartment: If you have no preferred apartment, just put None. Character Name: Names and nicknames, in Western order (first name, surname) Canon: Canon Point: Where in the series are you taking them from? Background/History: A link to a source about the canon is fine for this. Previous Game History: At least two paragraphs on important events for the character and how they have been shaped by the previous game. If this is not applicable, please delete this section. Personality: This is the most important section! There is no specific word count, but anything less than three paragraphs likely isn't detailed enough. Abilities/Powers: Please assume canon-blindness and explain in as much detail as possible. Items/Weapons: Which three items and/or weapons will your character arrive with? Sample Entry: At least ten sentences in first person, please. A link to a previous post or thread with the character is also acceptable. Sample Entry Two: A third person sample of at least two paragraphs.

To apply for an original character, please fill out this form:
Name: Your name or nickname Contact Info: Email, plurk, IM... as long as there's a way to contact you, it's fine! Other Characters Played: Any other characters you play at Haven. Preferred Apartment: If you have no preferred apartment, just put None. Character Name: Names and nicknames, in Western order (first name, surname) Background/History: At least three paragraphs, please. Try to focus on events in the world history that have had an impact on the character. Previous Game History: At least two paragraphs on important events for the character and how they have been shaped by the previous game. If this is not applicable, please delete this section. Personality: This is the most important section! There is no specific word count, but anything less than three paragraphs likely isn't detailed enough. Abilities/Powers: Please explain in as much detail as possible. Items/Weapons: Which three items and/or weapons will your character arrive with? Sample Entry: At least ten sentences in first person, please. A link to a previous post or thread under a year old with the character is also acceptable. Sample Entry Two: A third person sample of at least two paragraphs.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Personality: When we’re first introduced to Ritsuka, he’s a cold hearted jerk with social issues. Seemingly. Right away he’s quite vocal about the things that tick him off and that he does not like (first, people who use others and people who are used.) This bluntness drives people away almost immediately, which Ritsuka is just fine with. He doesn’t need nor want friends, because he believes soon he will cease to exist and the “real” Ritsuka will take his place once more. When this happens, becoming close to anyone will have been pointless.

But this bluntness not only serves to drive others away, but to keep him from doing the one thing he dislikes the most: lying. Ritsuka can’t stand lies or liars. So if he thinks you’re an idiot, he’s going to tell you in the most straightforward (and probably rude) way he possibly can, because sugarcoating is would be lying just the same.

However, as the series progresses and Ritsuka’s walls fall down just a little, we begin to see that he is kind, and he can be friendly. Ritsuka is not the kind of person who makes many friends, but the ones he does remain very close.

And Soubi, in his thoughts, sums up very well what happens when he begins to care deeply for people: When Ritsuka finds that “love object” he is so desperate for; he will cling to it with all his strength and endure whatever is put to him because of it. This is why he endures the abuse his mother subjects him to. This is why he clings so desperately to the image of the loving older brother that Seimei gave him. He refuses to lose faith in them, will forgive them if they betray him. A good example of this are his interactions with Seimei: even when told it’s possible Seimei is alive, that he faked his death and left Ritsuka all alone at the mercy of their mother, he says he will forgive him. Knowing that Seimei would have had to kill someone in his place, that Seimei has purposely lied to him, he insists that it doesn’t matter, and he loves Seimei no matter what.

His mother beats him on a daily basis, frequently telling him that he is not her son, and at one point that she should have cut him out of her before he was born. And yet, he tells Soubi, he’s alright with that. As long as she’s safe at home, and doesn’t die and leave him alone like Seimei did, he’s fine with the way he is treated.

This extends into his pacifism, which is present for a good portion of the story so far, and only begins to wane when he realizes that to figure out what is going on, to find Seimei’s killer, to adapt to all this Fighter/Sacrifice business, he’s going to have to fight. He hates using violence against others, and despises ordering Soubi around despite how the man constantly requests it. It is worse to hurt someone emotionally, he says early on, because physical wounds will heal, but emotional scars last forever.

Despite this pacifism, Ritsuka could win an award for ability to hold a grudge. And is bound and determined to find who he believes killed his brother, and to avenge that murder. He quickly becomes angry and hostile at those he thinks have knowledge of it, or might be involved with it. He will put himself in any danger, go to any lengths to find his brother’s murderer, even when it very much risks his health, at the hands of other Bonded or at his own mother’s.

He keeps on, because Ritsuka is nothing if not determined, and isn’t the kind of person who gives up easily at all. This is both a good thing and a bad one, because while it does get him where he needs to go, it puts him at risk, and will one day reveal some things he is much better off not knowing. When presented with danger, Ritsuka just won’t turn back. Even if it brings him harm, Ritsuka wants to know the truth. He doesn’t want to get himself hurt ot into trouble, but if that is what it takes to get the while truth, that’s what he will do.

On the flip side of this, however, when he finds someone (such as Soubi) who has some sort of connection to Seimei, he is all too eager to latch onto them. It is through them that he can find out more about his brother, and how others regarded him.

Ritsuka’s love and seemingly doomed devotion to Seimei is a significant driver of the story and a big part of his personality. To Ritsuka, Seimei is one of the most important people in his life, and the day he “died” was the most devastating day of his life. Ritsuka himself says that afterwards, life lost its meaning and he was simply waiting die as well. This love remains, even as evidence stacks up that Seimei is not who Ritsuka thought he was at all. Even when he comes to realize that his relationship with his brother was not normal, that he is the only one who remembers good things about him, Ritsuka continues to insist that no matter what, he will always love Seimei, and always forgive him.

The present Ritsuka is incredibly mature for twelve, reading books written by authors such as Nietzsche, understanding concept, ideas, and words that other sixth graders couldn’t even begin to consider comprehending. He takes on responsibilities –even those he shouldn’t have to—and seems to deal with them as well as he can. Instead of being cared for by his mother, he instead takes care of her, deals every day with her insistence that he is not her child, and tries his best to adjust to how he “should” be, to make her happy.

But however mature Ritsuka presents himself to be, when it comes down to it, he is still a child.

And this mature childishness manifests in a truly heartbreaking way: Ritsuka is afraid of being forgotten. He does not believe he is the real Ritsuka because his Mother does not. He says himself that that he accepts that one day the real Ritsuka will come back and he will give him back his life when does. And while Ritsuka does not want to disappear, he puts it in a very straightforward way: “But so it goes.”

And so Ritsuka takes photos, to prove that he was there, even if he will one day cease to exist. He knows the “real” Ritsuka through photos, and so he will be known through them as well. Through those photos, he can stop others from forgetting about him. And if he doesn’t have them, it will be as if he never existed.

But despite this maturity and this complex child-but-so-adult nature of his, Ritsuka is still childish in his own ways.

This manifests itself for a large portion of the beginning of the story in his views and reactions the adults. As is usual for someone of his age, the world is divided simplistically, into “adults” and “children”. Adults are liars, to a point, and sometimes simply can’t be trusted. Because they’re adults, he thinks they have all the answers, because they act as if they do. And when they don’t, he doesn’t understand why. But as time goes on and Ritsuka grows up and is exposed to more people, he begins to realize that that isn’t true. Not even adults have the answers to everything, and even when they do, they can be wrong.

And that really is a point all its own: for as much as Ritsuka projects a cool, mature exterior, he’s short-tempered and easily irritated. When irritated, he reacts by ~~tsuning~~ snapping, and usually at Soubi. He’s generally a pretty grumpy boy with a perpetual scowl and limited patience. This temper especially comes out when he is embarrassed or feeling unsure, making him a little on the defensive side.

And, to be fair, Soubi does often try to get this reaction on purpose.

Applications

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