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applications.
Applications are currently: OPEN.
As of April 2021, Redshift is a sandbox game! We still have apps for some degree of quality control, but the form has been simplified to streamline the process for new players. Here's how it works:
▶ New Players joining us after April 2021 will need to submit an application for their first character coming into the game by using the appropriate form below. This is so we know who you are, and so we can make sure your character will be a good fit for our players!
▶ Returning/Current Players who have been with us since before April 2021 or are coming back to us only need to claim their character using the form below to bring in new characters. New players may do the same after two months.
▶ Returning/Current Players who have been with us since before April 2021 or are coming back to us only need to claim their character using the form below to bring in new characters. New players may do the same after two months.
Application Guide.
▶ Submission Format: All applications must be posted to this entry, and must fit within one comment with a subject line in the format of "CHARACTER NAME | CANON | RESERVED/NOT RESERVED." While applications should not be linked in the entry, players may link to an alternate source such as a wiki for the character's history and powers; for original characters, the world history may also be linked from an alternate source such as an entry on the character journal.
▶ Accepted Character Types: Fandom Characters, Original Characters; CRAU is welcome and encouraged. Please see the Rules & Game Standards page for more in-depth explanations of appable, non-appable, and case-by-case characters.
▶ Application Verdicts: Applications will receive a verdict of ACCEPTED, REVISIONS, or DECLINED. Revisions must be submitted within 48 hours of the revision request being sent out. If this is impossible due to extenuating circumstances, please contact the mod team. Declined applications can be reworked and resubmitted during the next application cycle. If an application is declined 3 times, it cannot be resubmitted.
▶ App Challenges & Reserves: Redshift will not have application challenges, but if you would like to apply for a character that is on reserve, please submit the application with "not reserved" noted in the subject line, and your application will be considered if the reserved application is declined or not turned in by the end of the application cycle. Applications will be processed on a first-come-first-served basis.
▶ Character Limits: Players may have a maximum of 3 characters in the game; the option to increase the number of character spaces may become available at a later date. A player may submit up to two applications at a time.
▶ Samples: Linked samples should be from a publicly accessible source, and no more than 1 year old. Screencaps or transcripts from locked sources are not acceptable as samples, unless the character is being apped as a CRAU from a locked game, and in these cases permission from the other participant(s) in the thread must be obtained and submitted as screencaps along with the sample. All samples should represent the character as they are being applied for; for example, samples cannot come from an AU setting or break the fourth wall (Dear Player, etc.) As long as they meet this criteria, samples from other games, museboxes, memes, other websites (Tumblr, Insanejournal, etc.) or any other source are acceptable. For CRAU samples a link from the character's original game would be preferable, in the form of a link to their tag on the relevant communities, or specific thread links.
Submit an Application.
To submit an application or claim a character, please fill out the information in the appropriate text box below, and paste it in a single comment in response to this entry. Applications should not be linked, though portions of them may be if a bulky history or world section would put them over the character limit for one comment.
Charles Smith | Red Dead Redemption | Not Reserved
Name: Diya
Contact:
Current Characters: Hanzo Shimada
Name: Charles Smith
Canon: Red Dead Redemption
Canon Point: Post Chapter 6, Pre-Epilogue
CRAU Timeline/Game(s): City of Sin, approx four months
Character History: Link
CRAU History: Arriving in a world that seemed at once magical and futuristic, Charles had to struggle to come to terms with his new living arrangement. The fact that no one seemed to hold issue for him being what he was certainly helped, as did the fact that he believes the gang is all dead and he has nothing to go back to. So being trapped wasn't so much the impediment it might have otherwise been.
Slowly he came to learn his way around somewhat modern technology, and acquired a job as security at a local brothel. He started to let his guard down somewhat even as he continued to hate the fact that he was trapped in a city, his least favorite of places to be.
It was also discovered by some of his closer friends that Charles had contracted a strange condition while out on his own. Charles was now a shifter, a lycanthrope, and while initial transformations were chaotic, painful, and dangerous, some help from another shifter in the city mean that Charles is starting to get a handle on the beast and even control the shift from time to time.
Personality: Arguably the most honorable member of the Van der Linde gang, Charles is often described as a good and decent man. This is of course in spite of his status as an outlaw and criminal, and his willingness to use violence when necessary. But it's all a matter of what is in one's heart, and the intent one has when wielding that force. Sure, he might hold up a stagecoach at gunpoint, but he won't shoot an unarmed man, or hurt women or children. He'll hunt for food, but he won't slaughter for sport. Charles does not relish cruelty as some outlaws seem to, and he despises seeing it used against fellow man or beast. He holds a lot of disdain for anyone who picks on those who can't defend themselves, or who take advantage of the underprivileged or oppressed.
Being born the son of a Native American woman and a former Black slave, Charles has never really known himself to have a place in the world. He lacks a sense of identity, community, or people, and that belonging is something he's craved his whole life. He feels at once lost and stuck, unsatisfied with his lot in life as an outlaw but uncertain how or if it can be changed. So he overcompensates. Ever conscious of his outcast status in society, Charles often pulls more than his own weight in a group. He prefers to be working whenever possible, and he has a reputation for being as competent and dependable as he is deadly in a fight. Such a position likely ensures that he's not seen as expendable, and even if someone dislikes him for whatever reason they cannot deny his usefulness.
In temperament Charles is often quiet and reflective. He prefers action to speaking, though he is often soft-spoken and a voice of reason whenever he does contribute to a conversation. Largely, he prefers it when others make the decisions and he simply offers his support. Then again, this is a strategic move as well. It is a method of survival in a world that would happily turn on him.
When goaded by a fellow gang member about seeming stupid by being so silent all the time, Charles replies that if the choice is people thinking he's stupid for being quiet, or people knowing he's stupid because he sounds like them, he'd rather keep them guessing. So while lacking in booksmarts or learning Charles has the potential for a quick tongue and a dry wit...but again, ever conscious of his precarious social standing, most of the time he will opt to say nothing at all and remain a stoic bystander. This self-imposed isolation can result in melancholy, the same sort that claimed his father before him. But when Charles has people he can rely on and a moment to relax he is more than capable of talking, smiling, laughing, and engaging like anyone else.
Introverted and quiet, it takes a great deal -- or perhaps just the right nerve being struck -- for Charles to lose his cool. In those moments, one remembers the saying: Fear the anger of a gentle man.
CRAU Development:
The deepest change comes as a result of both the end of the game and finally finding himself 'unstuck' from the cycle of violence and crime Charles had found himself trapped in for so many years.
Charles developed friendships with several of the city's inhabitants -- and a romantic relationship with one, after some misunderstandings, introspection, and a lot of stupid but period-appropriate toxic masculinity getting in the way. Charles remained far more content to let other people take the lead and play a supporting role, but he became a lot more selective of who he planned on following. He's planning on leaving his criminal past behind him and making a legitimate life for himself, one where the things he develops and claims for his own can't be taken away from him again.
That decision to take some measure of control for himself at long last is also somewhat due to his condition as a werewolf. Letting either his melancholy or anger spin out of control is now shown to be demonstratively destructive, and rather than sink into it Charles has to make the effort to push forward and do better, for the people around him if nothing else.
He's also carrying a lot of guilt regarding losing almost everyone he had positive feelings towards back home, so there's a new protective streak in him that rears its head whenever danger appears.
Powers/Abilities:
Fighting: Charles is known for his strength, being broadly and sturdily built by design, and usually relegated to the heaviest labor that needs doing. He's skilled with a number of weapons, including throwing knives, tomahawks, even a machete taken from an enemy combatant at one point. He seems to prefer the shotgun as his primary firearm, compared to the pistols and revolvers most of his compatriots carry. He's also proficient in hand-to-hand, surviving for a while with winnings earned by participating in back-alley bare-knuckle brawling.
Tracking/Hunting: Considering this is the character who teaches the player character how to track and hunt, it's no shock that he's the most talented of the bunch. If there's game to be found in those hills, Charles will find it. Quiet, patient, and observant, he's quite capable of following quarry for a long distance to line up that perfect shot. He doesn't waste his shots, doesn't kill needlessly, and prefers to make it quick and clean to prevent suffering, given his respect for nature and animals in particular. People? Sometimes the hunt isn't always so clean, but that's usually because people tend to shoot back.
The Wolf Business: Increased sense of smell and vision at night on a day-to-day basis, and perhaps a flare of supernatural strength when pushed into a corner. Willful transformation is only possible with great effort -- the transformation itself is painful -- and otherwise only takes place in the course of a lunar cycle. While a wolf, human rationale takes a backseat to something more instinctive and animal. His form reflects this, more like an oversized wolf with the ability to go into a bipedal stance. Werewolves are not inherently evil, and do not seek human victims in particular, but are prone to rage when confined and best left alone until returning to human form on the morning. He's gotten better about recognizing people he's encountered while human, but anyone unfamiliar to him might be seen as potential prey or a threat. In the presence of those he knows well, he seems calmer and more content to do whatever 'the pack' is doing. After turning back into a human, a full day of recovery is usually needed unless the wolf has hunted and fed.
Inventory:
- Beaded Necklace
- Tomahawk and whetstone
- Holster w/sawed-off shotgun
- Bite, a gun made by Angel that shoots lightning
- Compass
- Small Knife (for whittling)
- Harmonica
Anything Else? Please let me know if anything needs to be altered or nerfed. I'm happy to do so.
Prose/Brackets Sample: Log Sample A, Log Sample B, Log Sample C
Accepted.
▶ Join the communities:
▶ Add yourself and your character to the Taken Characters page.
▶ (Optional) Introduce yourself and your character with an entry to the OOC Community, or tag in at the monthly event log.
▶ (Optional) Join Redshift's Discord server by clicking this invite link.
▶ Activity Check Link: Please submit all activity for this character in the character's thread on the activity check post.
▶ For your character's experience upon arrival, please see the Arrival Page.