APPLICATION FAQ;; who can come to the party

[capemods]

[APPLICATION FAQ]
After you've familiarized yourself with the RULES and the general FAQ, this Application-centric FAQ is here to answer your questions about what characters can be played here at C&C, how the reserves and application systems operate, and how we judge applications. If you have any questions not answered here or elsewhere, please feel free to ask!
Guidelines for Playable Characters

Who can I apply for? Fictional characters! While the majority of characters here come from American comics, we also welcome characters from: feature films, television series, radio dramas, stage productions, web comics, video games, animated productions, novels, and more. Eastern, Western, and everything in between! This is not an exhaustive list.

Okay, who CAN'T I apply for? One of the aspects of the Cape&Cowl universe is that when any character is "imPorted" to the City, all traces of their "canon" are erased from the physical world - meaning that once Marty McFly shows up, you can't rent Back the the Future anymore. However, because of this, there are certain categories of characters that we can't allow into the game without breaking this world build! Those categories are:

• Real World / Historical figures, which includes fictional variants thereof meant to be that real person. However, clones or reincarnations thereof may be applied for. So, for example, while we definitely would not allow 1776 the musical's John Adams into the game, we might allow someone to apply for Clone High's Abraham Lincoln. This will be judged on a case-by-case basis, and we reserve the right to decline any of these at our discretion.
  
• Personifications of Real World objects or locations meant to be those physical places or objects. So, for example, while we might allow Apollo the Grecian Sun God into the game, we would probably not allow Sol from the Sandman, as the former is a deity that controls the sun, whereas the latter is meant to be the literal sun. These too are judged on a case-by-case basis, so if you're unsure, please contact a moderator!

Aside from those, we also do not allow:

• "Player Avatars" from choose your own adventure-style books or games, dating sims, or other similar platforms where there is no "canon" or "correct" interpretation. However, some characters that fit partially under this umbrella are still open for application. For example, while Darth Revan from the Knights of the Old Republic series is a playable character here, due to his pre-established backstory, universe-defined name/gender/personality/alignment, and overall linear storyline, the protagonist from, say, the Fable series, would not. This is determined on a case-by-case basis, so if you think your character might fall under this category, please contact a moderator!
  
• Original characters, regardless of whether they're based in an original universe or someone else's published intellectual property.
• Fan-produced/created alternate versions of characters. Applying for Nick Fury from the Marvel 1602 universe would be acceptable; applying for Harry Potter as sorted into Slytherin House, however, would not.
• Alternate versions of characters currently played in-game. Examples include: different canon pull points and ages, alternate universes or realities, different mediums, and in some cases, similar franchise archetypes. For example, if someone were to play Ocarina of Time's Princess Zelda, no one would be permitted to play any other Princess Zelda from that franchise, regardless of the fact that they're all ascendants/descendants/reincarnations, and not necessarily the same person.

Is there a minimum amount of canon a character must have? As of right now, there is not! We do require the canon provide enough personality and "voice" from which you can extrapolate a consistent characterization, but if you really think you can write a fleshed out history and such for the Geico Gecko, by all means, go for it.

... seriously? Seriously.

My character isn't human! What do I do? If your character can PASS for human, like an android, cyborg, vampire, humanoid alien, etc, they can stay as they are. If they were once human, or still mostly human-looking, they will very likely be able to keep their current shape.
However, if they are: giant robots, animals, magical monsters, ghosts, computer programs, or anthropomorphic inanimate objects, they'll become human.
If you'd like your character to be an exception to this for some reason, we're often pretty flexible about this! Just be sure to let us know.

My character is someone with multiple personas / souls! What do I do? You can either apply for the whole package, or just one part! So, if your character is secretly being possessed by a second force, you can bring in the host, the other soul, or both together. If you decide to apply for two (or more) as one, your application will need to cover both (or all) entities in each section - so you may need to write multiple backgrounds, personalities, and first-person samples.
For an example of how this can play out in-game: in the series Yu-Gi-Oh!, two of its main characters are in possession of a "second soul" residing within a "host body." Currently, in one direction, we have one player who brought in both a kid and his second soul as "one" character; from the same series and the same situation, however, we have one of these dual-identity characters played as two separate entities by two separate players. Both options are perfectly acceptable.

My character is part of a supremely interconnected set, and it's impossible to play them separately! They're this way because of cloning/psychic bonds/magical twins/two bodies for the price of one/other reason. What should I do? If the characters are almost completely indistinguishable from one another, hive-mind esq, or otherwise defined more as a group than as individuals, we may allow you to play them here as "one" character! This is judged case-by-case, and an application like this may take more time to process. Additionally, each physical body involved will count towards a player's maximum character limit. (Activity standards, however, would remain at two posts per month for the group).
If you're unsure if your possible characters qualify for this, please contact a moderator!

My character comes with a spirit animal/magical pet/menagerie of ghosts/pokemon/etc. Can they bring those in, too? This is another case by case, and there are some limitations, but usually yes! We're currently limiting this to one such companion per character (so a Pokemon trainer or the like would not be able to bring in an entire team). Bringing in a familiar/companion like this will usually take one power slot. However, if said familiar is as self-aware or capable of higher thought and communicative processes as your ordinary person, we may refuse to allow them to come along.

My character is someone who starts as a hero then becomes a villain! How should I apply for someone like this? Write your application and designate their alignment based on where they are at their pull-point to the City. Please mention the circumstances behind the character switching sides, explaining the causes and if something similar may befall them in the City, or if backsliding is likely.
If you plan on canon-updating this character to a point after their alignment change, you will be required to provide a truncated application consisting of a new background, personality, and first-person sample that explains your character's growth, and demonstrates your ability to play this version.

I'm playing a character from X-universe, but now I want to play the same character from universe Y! Do I have to drop in order to apply for the different version? Nope! If you decide to, say, swap Storm from the recent films to, say, her Fox Kids 1990's cartoon self, we'd require a truncated application (background, personality, first person) that describes the differences, and shows your ability to play this alternate version!

Applications and Reserves

Okay, so how do applications work? When are they open? Applications and reserves each run on a one-week block schedule. When applications are open, reserves close, and when applications close, reserves open. These rounds usually run from Monday to the following Sunday, but holidays or other special circumstances may affect this schedule; there are usually two application cycles (and, subsequently, two reserve cycles) every month. All posted opening and closing times are Eastern Standard Time.

How do reserves work? "Reserving" means that your application for a given character has first priority, should there be multiple applicants vying for that character. Each reserve expires at the start of the following reserve cycle. Should you reserve a character for a given round and not apply, anyone else who applied for that same character will have an open shot.
If you reserve a character, and later determine that you do not plan to fulfill your reserve, please cancel it!
Reserving is highly recommended, even for "obscure" and "unpopular" characters; there have been numerous times when completely unexpected characters have had multiple applicants.
Should you reserve one character, and apply for someone entirely different during that cycle, your reserve will be instantly canceled.

What about villains? Each application cycle, barring special circumstances, we only accept a maximum of six (6) separate villains. However, only four (4) villains may be reserved during a given round. These remaining two (2) villain spaces are referred to as "wild card villain slots," which are saved for any villain applicants that could not reserve a space in a timely manner. Unlike other applications, wild card villains are not judged on a first-come basis. Rather, all wild card villain applications are put on hold until the end of the application submission period. At that time, these applications are judged and ranked in order of strength, with the overall best-written applications securing the wild card spots.
Should a reserved villain not apply, or otherwise be declined during the cycle, that space would be alloted to the wild cards - meaning that wild card villain slot numbers fluctuate from round to round.

I didn't reserve before I applied for a character, and someone else applied for them too! What happens? Assuming a final decision hasn't been reached on the first submission, the two (or more) applications are placed in a side-by-side comparison. Each section is judged on its own merits, and then in relation to its opponent; the stronger application wins.

Someone reserved this character, but I still want to apply. Can I? Yes! The reserve means that the other applicant has priority, but it does not forbid other players from trying. Should their application be declined, never be submitted in the first place, or the reserve otherwise canceled, your application would then be processed.

What if I apply for the same character as someone else, and I don't get in? Do I still have to wait until the next round to try for someone else? If your application is declined due to special circumstances such as this, you may be permitted to submit a second application during that cycle. This is case-by-case, however, so don't rely on it!

My application was declined because you ran out of villain spots. Can I app someone else? Unfortunately, no; this is a risk you have to take for a wildcard spot!

So how do applications work? How should I post it? All applications are screened, as you can see. At present, you may either post your application across several comments in reply to the application entry, or you may post the application as its own entry on one of your own journals, and reply to the application page with a link. If your application exceeds three comments (roughly 13,000 characters), we require that you post it elsewhere and link it to us. If you wish to keep the application itself more secure, you may temporarily add the capemods account to that journal's friends list.

Which do you prefer? Links! However, if you are using a sponsored account, or have custom comment pages enabled, please add ?format=light to the end of your URL.

Where do you want me to post revisions? No matter how long they are, we want them as comment replies to the revision notice. DO NOT EDIT YOUR ORIGINAL APPLICATION. We need both to accurately determine if there has been sufficient improvement!

How do you judge applications? In a shady back room, different members of the mod team read applications and place votes based on a variety of data. Each moderator may: put your application on hold (due to them being wild card villains; characters reserved by someone else; etc), abstain (refuse to vote for any number of reasons), or vote ACCEPT, REVISE, or DECLINE.
If a moderator feels that one or two major sections of the application are lacking, she will vote for revisions; if there are three or more sections that need improvement, the vote defaults to a decline.
Three votes must point in the same direction to make a final decision; if the vote is split, it is up to the fourth moderator to make a decision, or else further discussion may be necessary.
Each application is judged by its main sections: background, personality, each sample individually, powers, and overall writing quality. While it usually takes three faulty sections to warrant a decline, having sub-par writing quality may, depending on its severity, be enough to warrant a decline on its own.
If an application receives a revision notice, the applicant has 72 hours from that posting to provide improved sections. You may request an additional three day extension, but if a total six days is not enough, we recommend you simply resubmit the improved application during the next cycle.

What if I'm declined? Don't stress! Many of our community's best players and characters have had their applications declined. Don't give up! We give decline notices on applications we feel will need longer than just three days to improve, and we love seeing how much change an application can go through between rounds.
It seems harsh at first, but there's no ill-will behind decline notices; we want you to try again and come play with us!

How long do applications take? Anywhere between one hour and two weeks!

How can I make my application get finalized faster? Reserve during the reserve cycle, go into enough detail in each section that everything is clear and concise, and proofread!

I didn't get a processing notice! We've officially stopped giving applications processing notices! But rest assured, if you've posted your application, we've received it!

I've submitted my application, but I haven't gotten any word from you yet; can I keep revising/editing it? We'd prefer that you didn't! Submitting the link to your application, or posting them in comments, is submitting a final product! While minor changes like spacing or a typo correction or two is alright, but please don't submit an application you haven't finished! We start reading and processing applications the moment they're submitted, so if the application changes drastically during the review process, we're forced to start over - which wastes everyone's time.

Hey, all these other applications have been finalized, but not mine! What gives?! If your character is a wild card villain, applying for someone else's reserve, or competing for a character, the application may be put on hold for up to a week. Additionally, other factors that may increase an individual application's processing time may result from a moderator being forced to abstain from voting, or more discussion being necessary for a final decision to be made.

Application Grading, and how we do it

What do you look for in each section? IN TURN:
Background: We're looking for a general overview of the "world" around the story. Where does it take place? When? Is it similar to the real world? Is it in space? Do they have magic? What is the most important / unique feature of this world? If there are any aspects that are not glaringly obvious, please explain them! Even if we have multiple characters from a given canon - even if one or more moderators play from that canon - we need you to contextualize what all is going on!
We also want to see some detail about the key players to your character. If you're applying for Scar from The Lion King, we will stare at your application in disbelief if Simba or Mufasa never come up. We don't need to know the town baker, but if a given person has major impact on your character, you may wish to mention them - and briefly touch upon why they're important to your character.
And, finally, we want some major canon events, as important to your character. Doesn't have to be too terribly detailed, and we certainly don't need a blow-by-blow recounting of seven thousand chapters of a franchise series, but if your character suddenly winds up being the main villain, unexpectedly magical or radioactive, or is otherwise thrust into a new and unfamiliar situation, please let us know how they got there.

Personality: How does your character act? What are their motivations, and wants? Methods? What are they like when they're angry? Sad? Stressed? Are they hiding anything? What makes them open up? Do they have a certain style of talking? What are their peeves, dreams, what traits are they drawn to, what kind of people become their enemies, how do their perceptions change over time? You don't have to answer all of these questions, but we want a well-rounded image of your character's personality in different situations.

Powers: As of this writing, a character may have a maximum of three powers - though we categorize these based on "schools," or "umbrellas," rather than individual skills. For example: a character's supernatural ability may be superhuman swimming, senses, the ability to breathe underwater, incredibly sharp teeth, and a penchant for sinking small boats. Or, you could say "secretly part-shark." Powers such as water manipulation could include ices and some gases as being part of the same ability; super speed would come with the physical resiliences required for the human body to withstand such speed; telepaths may get a bonus of being able to understand whatever a person is saying, even if they don't understand Ancient Persian.
However, for abilities to fall under a cohesive "umbrella," they need to logically connect to one another. While a character may be able to transform into a tiger, this does not necessarily mean they will be able to instantly locate any and all boxes of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes within a twenty-mile radius.
While our maximum is three, we may ask you to limit down or otherwise adjust your character's powers at our discretion.

First Person Sample: We want a clear demonstration that your character is not merely Generic Perky Teenage Female Sidekick #470, or Reserved Shonen Anti-Hero Exhibit B. What makes your character a unique person? You may find it easier to better demonstrate your character's voice by writing as if they are reacting to current or past going-ons in the game - it can be difficult to ascertain someone's individual characteristics from a "hello my name is bob" entry.
Remember: the format of the main community involves characters intentionally contacting and conversing with one another over a glorified multimedia internet forum; please write your sample bearing this in mind. Unfortunately, "accidental" posts, or "I'm looking for XYZ" posts may not give us a clear picture of YOUR unique character!

Third Person Sample: Introspection! We want to see what your character thinks about. How do they react to stimuli? Do they obsess? Do they harbor regrets, are they easily distracted, are they so love-struck that even being hit by a car can't dampen their mood? Do they have schemes, do they analyze their surroundings, are they observant, or clueless? We want to see the inside of your character's head, and how they interact with the world around them.

Writing Quality: This should be pretty straight-forward! If your application includes a great number of misspellings, misused homonyms, misplaced punctuation marks, run-on sentences, incomplete phrases, incomprehensible paragraphs, or other similar detriments, we will have a very difficult time understanding what it is you're writing! In this case, we won't struggle through the application. Cape&Cowl is a writing-based game, and even if your characterization is perfect, we can't allow in a player that cannot properly conjugate their verbs.

All in all, your application does not have to be a SERIOUS BUSINESS LITERARY ANALYSIS. If it's easier to say "and suddenly the plot veers into card games in space, dinosaurs punching satellites and shit IDEFK. Then, they find this cursed wind chime that's apparently the whole point of this quest, and they go defeat the bad guys, rah rah go fight win." go for it. So long as it's clear to someone completely unfamiliar with the source material what is going on, go ahead and insult your canon with a "god what is this I don't even."
Of course, if writing it in a more serious/academic and straight-forward manner is easier for you, feel free to do so! Write the application in the way that's most comfortable to you, but remember that we DO need to know what you're talking about!

Anything we missed? Let us know!