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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 | Original Character | Reserved
Name: Ros
Contact: weeyotch#8200 (discord)
Current Characters: N/A
Name: Jeff Calhoun
Canon: Original
Canon Point: Fall 2018, early into the school year. Just enough time to get to know his students and their parents.
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 nervous, gentle bard who refuses to do anything particularly bardly. Though Gifted, he rarely casts spells, and the thought of performing for an audience is likely to send him spiraling into anxiety. There was a time, though, when Jeff was wild and reckless, a total live-wire of a performer, with the makings of a rock star.
And then he accidentally summoned a demon that ruined his life and left his dreams in tatters. After a year of (metaphorical) hell, then a stint in treatment, Jeff turned his back on magic, music, and the whole sex/drugs/rock'n'roll lifestyle. Now in his 40s, Jeff's a suburban-dwelling high school history teacher and a doting single father to his teenage daughter. A quiet life isn't what he originally envisioned for himself, but after surviving addiction, instability, and a close brush with demonic possession, Jeff's happy to keep things as uneventful as possible.
(Go here for his Full History)
CRAU History: N/A
Personality: Jeff's a 6' golden retriever: friendly, enthusiastic, and gentle, with a soft heart and a sensitive nature. He may not be the strongest or brainiest guy (truthfully, he's a bit of a ditz), but he's perceptive and emotionally intelligent. He does his best to reach out to others and approach them with empathy. As a teacher, he engages with students without judgment, and he's patient with them. A former problem child, he gets where a lot of them are coming from. Jeff tries to help people to the best of his ability, and he likes to believe in the best of them.
An extrovert, Jeff thrives on being around and interacting with other people, and he'll happily strike up conversations with strangers and make that first move towards introductions. If anything, solitude makes him wilt. He can try a little too hard to befriend stand-offish or rude people, like a total social masochist, but he means well! Even though Jeff can be afraid of the spotlight, given his past, he's never going to be a wallflower.
Though friendly, Jeff isn't naive. He knows the world can be shit, that people can be shit, because he's experienced enough horror. But he's also had time to recover and come back from a dark place. Jeff may not be a fighter, but he's got a strong heart, and he's resilient. It takes strength to survive what he did with optimism and kindness intact. Jeff could easily be a cynic, and he isn't just some sweet, dumb, bumbling dad. He's kind and optimistic because he chooses to be, not out of naivety.
Jeff lives with a ton of nervousness and anxiety. Psychological torment and quality time with a demon will do that to a guy, even 20 years and loads of therapy later. He's not great at confrontation. While he isn't likely to back down from something he believes in, he is likely to stammer, get flustered, and fail to articulate himself. It can give the impression that he's a weak pushover (which he can be, admittedly). Currently, his go-to method of dealing with anxiety is self-medication with exercise and weed. He can over-rely on these things, and get stuck spinning his wheels in terror without them.
Jeff's an addict in recovery, and though he's got 20+ years of sobriety from his drug of choice, he isn't "cured" of his addictive tendencies. He's reluctant to face issues head-on, and he's always eager for diversions, which he'll dive right into if it means putting off the source of his stress/anxiety/conflict a little longer. Self-medication with weed aside, he's clean and sober. He won't touch other drugs, and he keeps his drinking to a minimum, but he does over-rely on fitness, routine, and cramming his schedule with so much stuff he doesn't have time to think about anything. Jeff takes healthy habits and uses them to hide from his problems, which is a vast improvement over using drugs/alcohol to cope, but points to some major unresolved issues he ought to work through.
For as cheerful as he seems, there's unfulfillment lurking beneath the surface. Jeff doesn't like himself much. Though he'll defend others, he's not as likely to defend himself. Sometimes he'll just go along with people assuming he's nothing more than a naive doofus, and take insults with a smile, almost like a shield. At heart, Jeff worries that no matter how far he's come over the years, it's just not enough, like he's just somebody who acts like a good person but has a rotten core.
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. He's also pretty rusty when it comes to casting anything big, and he'd rather keep his spells to little, petty things, if he has to cast any at all.
As far as magical potential goes, Jeff could be powerful, if he applied himself. But these days, he's pretty middling in terms of what he's even willing to cast. Back when he was casting constantly (in those young, reckless days), 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-- when he casts at all, which is pretty rare these days. 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.
Jeff doesn't compose new spells these days, and he hasn't tried expanding his repertoire in over 20 years. But he's got a ton of practice with his old go-to spells, so even though he's rusty, he could pick them up again pretty quickly if he tried. Typically, his range of magic includes:
(It was also great for pick pocketing and shoplifting when he was a teenager)
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.
Jeff never casts these spells anymore, and has no desire to ever try it again. The only time he might make an exception would be if he needed to induce a temporary soothing/calming state on somebody who's panicked or injured.
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: Jeans, t-shirt, plaid button-down, flip flops (please get this man some real shoes ASAP), wallet, phone loaded up with music and pictures, a somewhat stylish-but-obviously-bought-on-sale watch, a leather bracelet his daughter made for him, his Gibson guitar, and an amp. Oh and whatever small amount of weed was in his pocket, along with a lighter.
Anything Else? Not that I can think of!
Prose/Brackets Sample: slides this in at just under a year
Accepted.
▶ Join the communities:
▶ Add yourself and your character to the Taken Characters page.
▶ (Optional) Introduce yourself and your character at the introductory CR & Plotting Meme 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.