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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.
Ritsu Shikishima | Caligula: Overdose | Not Reserved
Name: Yue
Contact: PM
Current Characters: Dave Strider (Sphere CRAU)
Name: Ritsu Shikishima
Canon: Caligula: Overdose
Canon Point: Musician ending, post-game
Character History: wiki.
Not much is known about Ritsu's background beyond that
His dissatisfaction with his life eventually summoned him to the virtual utopia, Mobius, where he had his memories rewritten and was forced to relive his high school years on loop due to its creator's belief that high school is the brightest years of one's life. He "awakened" to the fact that the world he was in was not real after witnessing a third-year student loop back into a first-year, regaining all of his memories in the process. From that point on, he received the powers of his "Catharsis Effect" - a violent expelling of his usually concealed emotions - and used it to fight back against the enemies that were sent to re-brainwash him. He became the president of the Go-Home Club, a scattered group of people all looking for a way out, as a result.
At the same time, though, unbeknownst to them, he was scouted out by Thorn, the power behind the throne of Mobius, and given a spot among her group of Musicians, who sought to keep Mobius functioning by drawing power from the followers of the creator of the world and brainwashing denizens through the use of music. Adopting the Musician persona "Lucid," Ritsu would re-brainwash rogue students who were awakened by the Go-Home Club and at every turn thwart the Go-Home Club's plans to ambush the Musicians.
By working on both sides, Ritsu was able to gain access to information that would otherwise be impossible for him to gain. From this, he discovered that a member of the Go-Home Club, Eiji Biwasaka, was actually a dangerous criminal. However, he did not confront Eiji with this information, choosing instead to keep it to himself. This would later lead to the death of an innocent - the youngest member of the Go-Home Club, fourteen-year-old Kotaro Tomoe.
Once the way to the real world finally seemed to present itself to the Go-Home Club, Ritsu revealed himself as Lucid and gunned down his own teammates, gleefully siding with Thorn, who revealed that her plan was to destroy the real world - the world that Ritsu detested so much.
With no one left to stop her, Thorn enacted her plan to set the real world into disarray with fake news reports and false-positive incoming missile signals, launching the real world into a cataclysmic world war that wiped humanity out.
With no humans left, the virtual world began to fade, too, unable to sustain itself - and Ritsu, content in the knowledge that he'd taken everyone down with him, disappeared with no regrets.
Personality:
Ritsu gives off the impression of a gentle and kind person with high empathy. He is always willing to take on the burden of others, lending them a comforting shoulder and an open door. He's disarming to the point that he easily worms his way into people's hearts, becoming their most trusted confidant seemingly effortlessly. Many students remark on how easy it is to open up to him - and apart from a slight playfully mischievous streak in him, he seems to be a patient and understanding person.
However, this is a far cry from who Ritsu Shikishima really is. In reality, Ritsu is a prime sufferer of the Caligula effect - a person attracted to the taboo. In Ritsu's case, his preoccupation is with digging out the hidden secrets and traumas of the people around him; he is a cold-hearted voyeur interested only in satisfying his own curiosity. Though he has taken on the persona of a kind, caring individual who just wants to help, his goal is never to truly help any of the people who confide in him; if he helps, it is only an unintended side effect of his desire to satisfy himself - never an end goal. This can be seen clearly by the fact that he ends up harming many of the people who come to him for help. On top of that, Ritsu is amoral, willing to go to any lengths in order to find the truth he seeks.
Ritsu keeps everyone at arm's length. While he's content to let his friends dump all of their emotional baggage onto him, providing a never-tiring source of support for them to vent at, one would find themselves hard-pressed to extract a single truthful word from Ritsu about himself. In fact, there's a sense that Ritsu doesn't even have much of a sense of self. It is implied that he first began to put on fake personas as a way of surviving, in much the way that an animal will utilize camouflaging to hide from a predator or a salesperson will put on a falsely chipper demeanor for the sake of keeping their job. However, the more masks he put on, the more he began to lose the sense of who he actually was underneath it all.
The current Ritsu Shikishima, for as hollow as he is, is certain of one thing: humans are all wretched to the core, putting on false personas in order to hide the unsightliness of their insides - and since that is the case, they're no different than him. In fact, they're surely worse, because they're the ones who made him this way, and for that, he'll drag the deepest darkness of their hearts out himself.
Powers/Abilities: Ritsu has the ability to shapeshift into his Musician counterpart, Lucid, at will. On top of that, his Catharsis Effect* allows him to summon two guns and make use of a wide array of magic. His moveset has been copied below. He has a nearly identical moveset as Lucid with only superficial changes.
Overdose: Singularity Zero - kick the enemy into the air, then unload a salvo of bullets into it
Dual Trigger - a hail of deadly bullets
Vintage Strike - (ranged counter) launch the enemy into the air if successful
Disruption Trigger - (melee counter) leap backward while firing forward
Shadow Pierce - break the target's shield with a powerful blow
Rapid Fire - barrage the enemy with a multitude of bullets
Impulse Spinner - fires off powerful shots with both guns (deals 150% damage to enemies in the air)
Leaden Retort - a burst of bullets from short range (launches enemies risk 4 or higher)
Ninth Sense - (on enemies risk 5 or higher) executes a relentless combo-and-launch combo, finishing with a devastating laser
Swelling Strength - greatly increases your attack for a time
Mother's Mercy - greatly increases your defense for a time
Marksman - greatly increases your accuracy for a time
Shadow Child - greatly increases your evasion for a time
Explosive Loader - reduces your skill cast time temporarily
Misery - reduce your turn cooldown for a time
Heal - restores a small amount of health to an ally
Field Clearance - removes all debuffs from nearby allies
Calamity Prophet - drastically increases your accuracy and critical for a time
Heal Virtue - restores a large amount of health to an ally
Soul Surge - recover 300 SP after a long cast time
Emergency Barrier - a quick-acting shield for emergencies that lasts for a short time
*It causes a strange black mass to break out from beneath the skin of its user and take on the form of a weapon.
As its name implies, the Catharsis Effect is powered by emotions, and to use it is to allow oneself to be overtaken by a sudden release of built-up emotions. This means that one's uninhibited self will surface when they use this power, and that aspects of themselves that they usually repress may come to the forefront. As a result, it is prudent to use this power in moderation; overuse will take both a mental and a physical toll - if one becomes too emotional or goes overboard while the Catharsis Effect is activated, the black mass that bursts out from their body may overtake them in various painful ways such as, for example, causing a massive wall of thorns to riddle their sides. When enough stress is gathered via fighting, the user gains access to a powerful overdose skill.
As the Catharsis Effect is powered by emotions, its attacks cannot fatally injure an opponent. They can, however, snap an opponent out of being brainwashed or mindwiped.
Inventory: Since Ritsu is coming from a virtual world made up of emotions, his inventory consists of crystallized traits that he's absorbed into himself. These affect his demeanor on top of providing him with certain attributes.
Face Mask (attack impulse) - +150 attack +150 defense +20 accuracy +20 evasion +20 critical
Dear Doppelganger (defense instinct) - +80 defense +23 evasion +600 HP
Eager Defector (amplification) - +200 evasion
Provocateur (passive) - everything you do is annoying. +12 evasion
Spirit Regeneration III (passive) - you recover a massive amount of HP over time. +25 HP recovery
Energy Consolidation III (passive) - you recover a considerable amount of SP over time. +3 SP recovery
Aside from that, the only thing he has on him is his phone. It contains his music, a list of contacts, and way too much information on everybody from his world.
Anything Else? Ritsu is pretty messed up, so I will definitely heavily content warn for anything questionable that comes up. I plan to also warn people ahead of time in his OOC intro. Also, while I seriously doubt it will come up due to how misanthropic he is, I do want to note that he technically looks underage despite being an adult (looks 17, is 26) - in case that's a problem if smut ever comes into the picture.
It seems I've ended up in a rather interesting place somehow.
Well, since we'll be spending the foreseeable future together, how about we try to get to know each other a little? My name is Ritsu Shikishima, and due to various circumstances, I have no world to return to (if it's okay, I'd rather not talk about it). And so, I can't say I'm really in a rush to get out of here or anything.
But what about the rest of you? What were your homes like? Or, if that's too depressing a topic for some of you and you'd rather not dwell on the past, how about some questions to break the ice?
If you were to describe yourself with an idiom, which would you pick?
What do you like to do in your free time?
What's your favorite location here?
You can answer any or none of the above, or tell me something else about yourself you'd rather talk about instead. I don't mind.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting along with everyone here!
Prose/Brackets Sample:
"You must have had a reason, right? A really good reason for betraying all of us."
Bargaining. Ritsu recognizes a stage of grief when he sees it. Part of him, at the back of his mind, notes it as an interesting additional fact about Kotono Kashiwaba. He wonders if some part of Kotono still wants to plead with him - if some part of her blames herself for his choice and is currently rifling through her brain for early warning signs. Their kind and patient president was always so quick to notice when they were struggling with grief or depression, after all; and yet, could any of them really say they know anything about him? If only I'd paid more attention, Ritsu imagines Kotono thinking. There must have been some sign somewhere. If only we'd supported him the way he supported us. The thought makes a swirl of contempt bubble up in the pit of Ritsu's stomach.
"This is my punishment for running away... It must be."
Depression. That one's already given up, Ritsu thinks with a slight tilt of his head. It doesn't come as a surprise; Naruko Morita has never been strong.
"This is a lie, right? Because Senpai... Senpai would never betray us.
"...Ah, I know. Senpai, you must be being brainwashed! In that case, don't worry! I'll return you back to normal," Suzuna says with a sharp laugh.
Denial. Suzuna's reaction doesn't come as a surprise to Ritsu either. Of the members of the Go-Home Club, she's always been the most reliant, the most attached to him. To call her obsession unhealthy would be putting it lightly, so it's only a given that she's reacting the most poorly to this. In fact, it's so predictable that Ritsu could laugh.
"Don't fuck with me," Eiji snarls, and at first, Ritsu is slightly disappointed. Should he mark Eiji down as anger then?
Eiji, the most perceptive of the Go-Home Club, is the only person who seems to understand Ritsu on some level - the only person to know there's much more to him than meets the eye. Ritsu had always thought that if someone finally made the connection between him and Lucid, it would be Eiji. Perhaps he'd simply overestimated Eiji, ultimately.
"You killed Kotaro Tomoe!" Eiji continues with an angry laugh. "He was a pure human being. You're the worst! You only think of yourself!"
Ritsu can't deny Eiji's accusations, but coming from Eiji, they take on a different light.
"If I'd known you were that type of person earlier, we could've gotten along much better."
Right; of course. Eiji is the only one to recognize him for what he is because, in Eiji's own words, "it takes a criminal to understand the psychology of a criminal." In other words, Eiji recognizes him as a terrible human being who only thinks of himself because Eiji himself is one. If he'd known earlier, they could've gotten along better...? Admittedly, the statement piques Ritsu's interest.
"But it's too late now!"
Too late to change the past. Too late to get caught up on if onlys the way Kotono probably is. Eiji always cuts to the heart of the matter, huh?
"You thought you could make a fool out of me, and the penalty for that is death! Diiiiieee!"
Gladly, Ritsu thinks.
But he won't be going down alone.
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. First month's AC will be due by the end of this month.
▶ For your character's experience upon arrival, please see the Arrival Page.