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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.
Jeff Calhoun | OC | NOT RESERVED
Name: Ros
Contact:
Current Characters: Kylo Ren
Name: Jeff Calhoun
Canon: Original
Canon Point: 1995. He's 21, in rehab, and still has a demon tethered to him. It's a work in progress.
CRAU Timeline/Game(s): N/A
World Description: Jeff's from a modern fantasy universe, set in the present day, where magic is:
- Real. It exists, and it's been around for ages.
- Hereditary. Approximately 12% of the population is born with the ability to use magic at all.
- Out in the open. Everybody knows about it.
For centuries, magic users did the whole "hiding in plain sight" thing, their "society" (such as it was) existing as a secret, underground subculture. That changed with modern shifts in mass media and globalization. By the 20th century, discovery seemed inevitable. In the late 1940s, magic users outed themselves and emerged on the international stage. There were rough times, and many places are still rife with tension and conflict. But nowadays, in a lot of the world, the magical is practically mundane.Officially, magical abilities are known as Gifts, and those who possess them are Gifted. While Gifted people are generally understood as part of modern society, that doesn't mean they're universally loved or embraced. Stigma and prejudices still run deep, especially in more conservative communities. But by and large, being Gifted (or not) is just another facet of a person's identity.
(Go here for more World Info)
Character History: Jeff Calhoun is a sunny, outgoing bard who lives for the spotlight. He may have failed his way out of school, and he can barely keep a job, but when it comes to the Gift, there's no limit to his ambition or his work ethic. With his band of fellow Gifted musicians, Jeff lives for magic and music. Wild and reckless, a total live-wire of a performer, he just might have the makings of a genuine rock star.
Too bad he accidentally summoned a demon that's currently ruining his life and leaving his dreams in tatters. Yoko's really tearing the band apart.
(Go here for his Full History.)
CRAU History: N/A
Personality: At his core, Jeff's a bright, good-hearted person. Friendly, easygoing, and cheerful, a beam of sunshine... with an odd sort of elusiveness. Emotionally and socially, there's a nomadic quality to him. He's that guy who can get invited to any party, no matter who's throwing it, though he isn't part of any group in particular. Jeff comes across as a laid-back burnout who's simultaneously friendly with everybody and friends with nobody.
(Which is a pretty lonely way of being.)
Generally, Jeff comes across as sweet, but a bit of a ditz. There's truth to it, since he's not exactly booksmart and he doesn't care to be. He's a major flake, forgetting things (and people) easily. There's a selfishness to Jeff, even if he doesn't realize it. It's the self absorption of youth, an innocent sort of cruelty, where he seems really engaged and intimate with another person, only to seemingly forget them as soon as his attention moves on to other things. It's not uncommon for Jeff to seemingly connect with a person, staying up all night talking to them in a diner or a parking lot, only to ghost out of their lives the next day.
He doesn't mean to do it, but he does, leaving a trail of hurt feelings and disappointment as he moves on.
With his easygoing demeanor, it can be easy to write him off as a lackadaisical dreamer, content to drift his way through life. But Jeff does possess fire, and drive, and ambition! He just doesn't apply it to things like... school. Or employment. But when it comes to his music, and his magic? There's no end to his willingness to work at it, to devour any knowledge he can get his hands on, to hone his skills and expand his repertoire.
And, once the spotlight's on him, he transforms into another person entirely. Jeff's a showboat, a commanding, energetic performer who thrives on attention. That capacity for superficial intimacy is one of his greatest strengths when he's performing. He puts his all into his shows, totally reckless and unfettered, and feeding his own feelings and impulses back into the crowd. On stage, he's at once open, intimate, and juuuuuust a little unattainable.
Or at least that's how it used to be. These days, Jeff's going through some shit. Thanks to some ongoing issues with a demon, all he wants is to hide and make himself small, dim any 'light' in himself that might attract unwanted attention. He's perpetually anxious, constantly fidgeting with nervous energy and nowhere to direct it. And while he wants to hide, it's solitude that leaves him feeling vulnerable. Jeff hates being alone, and once he finds somebody he can trust, he can be clingy and needy, desperate for any feeling of security.
Jeff's also in early recovery, and he's still struggling with replacing harmful survival mechanisms with healthy/positive coping skills. His first instinct is to steal, barter, and trade favors without much care for his own safety. It may be counter-intuitive (but hey, nobody ever accused him of being smart), but his desperation to survive leaves him reckless to the point of self-destruction and harm. He's stressed, pretty much 24/7, and seeking ways to alleviate it. Thanks to the demon, Jeff doesn't get a ton of sleep, either, which can make him moody and even less capable of making responsible decisions. He's something of a shell of his former self, that promising superstar in the making, but every once in a while, a spark of his true self manages to shine through.
CRAU Development: N/A
Powers/Abilities: Jeff is Gifted, which means he has the potential to make magic work through self-directed Ritual. Magic, in this universe, isn't some amazing superpower, nor is it something that's as simple as picking a spell out of a book. Its applications can be versatile, running the pretty typical fantasy gamut (clairvoyance, glamours, telekinesis, vague curses/blessings, etc), with the potential mixing, matching, customization, and so on. The principles of magic are universal, but the actual spellwork is based on the individual.
Spells and Rituals are unique to the caster. Rituals are tied into some aspect of who they are, what they're interested in, or what they're skilled at. As for spells, they have to be crafted/composed and cast by the individual. Think of them like a song that can only be played by one person. think of them like a song that can only be played by one person. They can cast the same spell over and over again, or remix it with something old and something new, or craft a new one. The bigger the effect you wish to have, the more difficult and complex the ritual spellwork must be.
Jeff's Ritual is music: singing, humming, whistling, playing the guitar, etc. Any spell he works has to be built on music, which makes him a bard. As far as magical potential goes, Jeff can be powerful, when he applies himself. When he would cast on stage, as a musician, his magic was the epitome of style over substance: flashy, potentially useful, but applied frivolously. What boosted him up and set him apart from your average Gifted person (and consequently: attracted a demon's attention) was the way he was amplified by other casters (his bandmates) and his spells were further fueled by his crowds' energy.
On his own, Jeff's magic has a very limited range and influence, and his spells tend to be small, personal, and borderline mundane. It should also be noted that his spells only work in person, and only when he's actively casting them. So a studio recording of one of his spells wouldn't have any effect on anybody listening, nor would a live broadcast.
Typically, his range of magic includes:
(It's also great for pick pocketing and shoplifting)
In theory, he could use this kind of magic to do things like pick locks! But since he's likely unfamiliar with the lock's structure, it would be the magical equivalent of throwing shit at a wall to see what sticks.
Beyond lighting/snuffing out fires, Jeff can manipulate them a little with magic, but only in flashy, pointless ways. He can make them dance a little, or take shapes temporarily, but that's about it. Jeff can't change the size or intensity of fires.
There's also a range of magic that Jeff's absolutely not capable of: healing (that's kind of a one in a billion skill), telepathy, mind control, flying (NO BROOMSTICKS FOR THIS WITCHBRO), anything permanent, and anything that might have a larger scale influence than his immediate area.
Inventory: The clothes on his back, and a duffel bag with a couple changes of clothes, a pair of boots, a notebook, a few paperback books, a walkman, and a bunch of cassette tapes.
Anything Else? His normal grown-up self was here before, so any characters that knew him are free to make the connection. Also, given his experiences, here's a general warning for drug addiction, demon-induced psychological torture (hallucinations, fugue blackouts, intrusive thoughts), occasional self-harm, occasional suicidal ideation, and a stay in inpatient recovery. I'll always warn for any of these subjects, when necessary, in top-levels and subject lines!
Prose/Brackets Sample: open rp thread (and prose top levels on the tdm link above)
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.