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Applications
APPLICATIONS
Since the game is in the closing process, applications are permanently CLOSED.
Reserves are currently CLOSED.
Please be sure to review our FAQ, rules, and taken page!
Player Cap: 38/60
Please note that reserves only hold the character for you to apply with. Should all player slots be filled before the end of the scheduled application round, applications will close at that time. Due to the limited number of player slots, revision requests will be given a 24 hour window for re-submission.
To submit your application during an open round, copy and paste it directly in a comment here. If your application exceeds the character length, please only use one top-level and reply to it with as many comments as needed.
Please title your comments in the following format:
CHARACTER NAME | CANON | RESERVED/NOT RESERVED
Player
Name:
Age:
Contact:
Preferred Pronouns:
Other Characters: If this is your second character, please list your first here.
Character
Name: Please include any known aliases as well.
Age:
Memory Option: (1, 2, 3 -- see HERE for more information).
Established Status: Y/N. If yes, please state for how long (up to five years, more information can be found here) and detail briefly what they've been doing since they've come to Overjoyed. Please note that no memory regains will be possible prior to game-start: this option is only available to allow you to better establish your character and their potential organizations/business/etc.
Canon:
Canon Point:
Citizenship: Please review the settings guide and job guide, as not all characters will have citizenship. This will be very important for plot events and will not be easily changed once accepted, so consider your options carefully.
Job: See our jobs, FAQ, and culture pages for more information. Who they work for--whether it's The Company, The RAC, or another option, will have a significant impact on their daily lives. The most important thing to bear in mind is that the job should make sense for the character--we probably wouldn't have Gundam Wing's Heero become a pastry chef (though that would be its own level of awesome), and likewise, Ash Ketchum probably isn't suited for biomedical engineering.
* Level: For characters who are applying as members of the RAC, please state the level you believe is the most logical starting point for them. Keep in mind that no one begins higher than a level 4.
Abilities: For an overview of how your character's canon powers can translate to Overjoyed, please review the FAQ, powers guide and/or hit up the brainstorming meme where a mod will be happy to work with you. In short, we will only be nerfing those abilities deemed game-breaking, but will require that magical abilities translate into more scifi iterations of themselves. Additionally, you will need to classify your abilities between minor and major and explain why you chose that classification. Minor abilities will be available from day one, but major abilities can only be regained through AC purchases.
This section should also include any standard physical or mental abilities that are noteworthy about your character.
Personality: We expect this section to be thorough and as comprehensive as possible. While we understand that the nature of an AU-bending game will skew a canon personality, we ask that you refrain from heavy use of headcanon and, in the instances where you do use it, provide your logic and reference canon to back it up. Things to consider in this section: How do they react to conflict? What are their strongest traits and their weakest points? In their worst moments, what are they like? How about when they're at their best? We want to see well-rounded characters--no one is perfect and no one is completely flawed.
CRAU: Yes or no. If yes, please provide a brief summary of the world setting they're coming from, the developments and/or formative experiences that occurred during the time they were there, and a link to the game's main navigation page.
AU History: This is the section where you will blend the world setting with your character's original history. Because we realize that this isn't the easiest task, we want to make it as painless--and as fun--as possible. If you're struggling for ideas, please don't hesitate to hit up the brainstorming meme. Your history does not need to mirror canon precisely--some things just won't translate well at all, but try to stay as true to the original path as you can. The people tasked with rewriting your character's memory would try to align it as closely to true experiences as they could.
Original History:
If canon: A wiki link is sufficient as long as it covers the pertinent details and pertains to the specific universe in which you're pulling your character from (anime, manga, game, etc).
If OC: Please provide a detailed account of their life and general world setting of their original universe. If possible, try to limit this section to no more than 1000 words, but know that this is more of a general guideline for your moderators' sanity than unbending rule (so if you feel that you need to write more to convey important details, we understand).
Inventory: Items that your character had on their person at the time of leaving their universe will be permitted, though some may change form when entering Overjoyed to suit the environment (i.e., if you had a magical pocketwatch, it would probably look slightly different now.) For application purposes, please list any items within their possession at the canon point you'll be taking them from, and describe any changes the items will undergo.
Samples: Please provide either (A) a sample written within the game verse or (B) two threads, only one of which may be network, wherein at least one is set within game verse (i.e., tdm).
Miscellaneous Notes: Is there anything you would like the mods to consider that didn't quite fit into the above sections? For original characters, please note your PB here. Otherwise, feel free to add anything pertinent that didn't quite fall into the above categories.
no subject
Giovanni’s first memory is of waking up as a child of around 8 - 10 in a sterile white room, surrounded by other child, all wearing what appear to be hospital-issue clothes and with metal collars bolted down into their necks. Soon after waking, a tall, imposing, but beautiful woman walks into the room, introduces herself only as Mother, and informs them that they are to become ‘the military’s most beautiful weapons’. No sooner has she announced this then a group of hack-mod experimental subjects that only bear a passing resemblance to humans (failed test subjects, as it happens) are let loose into the room, and the children are expected to ‘despatch’ them with nothing more than their own hands. His first memories, then, are drenched in confusion, bloodshed, and fear.
As it transpires, he and the other children he came into consciousness beside are test subjects for a special unit of hack-mod soldiers (known as the Cerberus Project and, later, when the project comes to fruition, the Cerberus Unit) originally intended to be used by the military. Whether they were children stolen from the streets of the Old Town and underground tunnels in Westerly, or produced specifically for the Cerberus Unit, is never revealed to them, and what follows from his first moment of waking is day after day after day of gruelling training (weapons training, combat training, ‘test exercises’ where they are forced to kill normal human soldiers and failed test subjects alike), as well as horrific experiments designed to ascertain the limits of their hack-mod abilities.
As a test subject, Giovanni is somewhat slow to develop in comparison with the other children, his Spine needing further tweaking in order to keep up with the demands of their training (which of course involves further experiments and surgeries, fun times for him). He is considered an inferior subject by Mother and the rest of the scientists working on the Cerberus Project, and is often derided by them for being substandard trash. As such he develops the somewhat fearful and timid personality detailed in the personality section, alongside a life-long inferiority complex.
Whilst their days are highly regimented and consist of little more than one grueling training session/test after another, they are given some downtime for meals, sleep, and controlled socialisation amongst each other. It’s during these socialisation sessions that he develops a friendship with one of the other children, his older ‘brother’ Heine. Unlike Giovanni, Heine is considered ‘top of the range’ within their test group, performing better than all the others in every aspect of their training and testing. As such, Giovanni looks up to him as a kind of role model and protector, although he also harbours some level of jealousy towards him for being the favoured test subject.
At some point during their training stage, Mother becomes romantically involved with one of the Company’s employees, Handsome Jack, and - being the exceptional scientist and doctor that she is - manages to pull some strings and switches from military personnel over to Company employment, taking her pet project (heh heh) along with her. It’s at this time that Handsome Jack comes into contact with the Cerberus Unit and, more specifically, Heine, and notices the unhealthy level of interest Mother invests in Heine, as her favourite of the ‘Dogs’. He devises a plan to free Heine, essentially stealing Company property and releasing him into the overpopulated warrens of Westerly.
Left without the one person Giovanni had anything approaching a positive relationship with, and subjected to the continued rigorous training/testing processes, he endeavours to become the ‘perfect Dog’; singularly loyal to the Company and to Mother herself despite never being quite able to live up to the standard Heine had set, or winning that level of praise and adulation.
Further adding to his fears and his determination to prove himself unequivocally useful is the ever-present threat of being ‘put down’, held over them by those above them. Whilst this threat is one that is rarely carried out due to their status as particularly expensive and effective equipment, the fact that it exists still casts an ominous shadow over Giovanni’s every day life. As previously mentioned, weapons laced with the tech ‘poison’ known as Dog Bite are issued to those in a position of control over the Dogs, and the few occasions where Giovanni was unfortunate enough to witness its effects weigh heavily on his mind. The first instance occurred when all of them, as a demonstrative tactic, were cut with a sword laced with Dog Bite - just a superficial cut along the forearm, nothing that would create cause for concern in and of itself, yet even this small wound had momentous effects. With the poison quickly entering their bloodstream, all of the Dogs were down within minutes, suffering from intense nausea, uncontrollable shaking, frothing at the mouth, fever, a burning pain spreading from the site of the wound and throughout the nerves, and eventually temporary paralysis (lasting up to an hour). It proved an effective tactic-- the experience has been burned into Giovanni’s memory, and it’s not one he is eager to repeat. The second incident was when, during a training session, one of the other Dogs - pushed to breaking point by the violence and brutality of their existence - turned on their Handler in a bid to escape. The Handler plunged the Dog Bite sword directly into the Spine of said Dog, leading to their death...only the death wasn’t instantaneous. It was drawn-out and painful, consisting of the effects experienced with a minor dose of the poison, only further exacerbated, and eventually ending in fatality. Witnessing the agonised death of one of his Unit had a profound effect on Giovanni, further cementing his loyalty and obedience to his superiors through fear.
Time passes, and Giovanni grows up along with the other Dogs, who are put to use by the Company in particularly volatile or difficult situations where something a little extra is needed (prison riots, the hunting down and disposal of particularly dangerous oppositional agents etc, or use as ‘guard dogs’/body guards), utilised when Company loyalty is required and discretion is of the utmost importance. Most often they’re accompanied by Dog Handlers or lent out to other Company employees/parties when back-up or something needing their particular skill-set is in order, or to keep an eye on untrustworthy parties due to the intense loyalty to the Company that has been drilled into them. They only rarely work alone due to the potential risk involved in letting loose something so potentially volatile, and whilst their presence can be requested across the Quad, they must always be accompanied, their visas tightly controlled. They are based more permanently in Westerly (at a Company building referred to as ‘the Kennel’) where, if an incident were to occur and the Company lost control of any of the Dogs, the only citizens at risk would be those no-one particularly cares about. Given that the Dogs are known for their ruthlessness and propensity for brutality, capable of tearing apart their enemies with nothing more than their hands and teeth should it come down to it, they’re not exactly the kind of thing you’d want housed in a nice neighbourhood on Leith!
As you can imagine, they’re not especially popular outside of their ‘work’, and for the most part Giovanni’s existence is quite a lonely one. Despite this, as well as the lack of praise and recognition he so desperately wants from those high enough above him, Giovanni’s loyalty to the Company remains absolute; he executes the jobs he’s sent out on with skill and ruthless precision, following orders down to the last letter. Whilst there’s a small part of him that longs vaguely for a better kind of existence, extricating himself from the loyalty and obedience that have been hammered into him for as long as he can remember is, quite frankly, beyond him.
CRAU: N/A
Original History:
The series is set in a dystopian, unnamed European city with three levels: the surface level or the ‘Above’, the Underground, then the ‘Below’, who very few have even heard of, and which consists of the hellish facility were Giovanni was created.
Giovanni’s earliest memory is of waking up in a large, white room surrounded by other children, all of whom have no idea who they are or how they came to be there. They are all in fact ‘synthetic life-forms’; test-tube babies (clones, copies, blah blah blah) created specifically to be highly compatible with the ‘Kerberos Spine’ they all have implanted in their backs. The Spine is the source of their unnatural abilities. These Spines are designed to resonate and respond to the original Spine, ‘Fuhrer’, making them obedient ‘lapdogs’ to whoever has the original Spine implanted, basically creating a ruthless yet controllable army of living weapons who are near impossible to kill thanks to their healing and regenerative ability unless they take major damage to the head (the Rammsteiner series, from which Giovanni’s ‘last name’ is derived). Giovanni starts out as a poor specimen, deemed defective and inefficient, as his abilities fail to manifest straight away.
He develops a friendship with two of the other children (Heine, the main anti-hero protagonist, and Lily) who generally ensure that he survives in the Below. Heine is the most ‘successful’ creation in that he demonstrates an ability to harness the Spine and utilise it in a controlled way, while Lily is by far the strongest, but has very poor control over her Kerberos Spine and goes into a blacked-out rage where she will destroy anything and everything, including the other children. Heine is the only one able to calm her down and bring her back under control.
As the children grow more aware of what’s happening to them and what they’re intended for, they realise that at some point they are all likely to be destroyed, either consumed by the blackouts as Lily is beginning to demonstrate or when Angelika (their creator) creates an improved series, THEY will become the ‘beasts’ to be destroyed (all the enemies they face during their training are earlier, less successful experiments). They begin to talk about escaping, though each time the subject is brought up – despite the fact that he’s voiced the opinion that he doesn’t belong in such a violent place – Giovanni shows a great deal of reluctance, demonstrating a fear of the outside world and what might be waiting for them out there, as well as a fear of what would happen to them if they were caught trying to escape. Whenever the plan to escape is brought up, he removes himself from the discussion because it causes him so much anxiety.
Shortly after all the talk of escape really gets underway and just before they execute any kind of plan, they wake up to find themselves in an unfamiliar test room, and to discover that Heine is missing. They are then informed by Angelika that the selection process is complete, that Heine has been chosen to be a ‘Master’ and therefore the rest of them are no longer needed. However! Of course she has some compassion! Whoever of them survive this final test, she insists, she will ‘love with all her heart’ (aka. they will get to live). She then promptly orders them to destroy each other. At some unseen command, the Spine overcomes them and they begin to rip each other apart, some of them trying to get a hold of themselves and prevent the others from killing each other, to no avail. Giovanni attacks Lily, and when one of the other children sees this happening he demands Giovanni ‘snap out of it’, thinking he has been overcome by the Spine. However, Giovanni is completely in control of his mental faculties yet he attacks Lily regardless, voicing a deep jealousy and confusion over how much power all the other children have whilst he has nothing. Lily - being much stronger than Giovanni – turns the situation around and attacks him, though doesn’t quite kill him. At which point Heine disconnects himself from the ‘Fuhrer’ Spine, bursts into the test room and tears Lily apart with his bare hands, ‘saving’ her from the monster she’s become. Heine comes round, realises what he’s done, then goes berserk, killing everyone that remains in the immediate vicinity - all the researchers, Angelika’s clone body (she has many ‘spares’ so that she cannot be killed) - and escapes. Giovanni is the only one (barely) alive, and he is left behind by Heine in the facility.
Cut to the present canon time! Giovanni has been ‘upgraded’ by Angelika and can now heal and regenerate etc. He has also been given an additional update, and can take massive damage to the head and still regenerate. Where he’d once been gentle-natured, reticent and fearful, he now portrays himself as suave, violent, and ruthless. Loyal to Angelika, he becomes one of the antagonists of the series and routinely attacks Heine, in part under orders and in part due to personal reasons. Angelika has decided the time has come to launch an attack on both the Underground and the ‘Above’ and has readied an army of mindless soldiers which she sends out to cut all train lines running between the Above and the Underground, launches a full-scale attack on the Underground, and then breaks out into the Above. Giovanni is charged with going after the mayor of the city (Zollner Neubauten), and after engaging in a fight with Heine and the other protagonists, Giovanni takes advantage of the explosions (the mindless soldiers have all been programmed to blow up) to break into the above and attack Zollner. On his way to meet with Herbst (another antagonist) it is revealed that Giovanni has begun to have blackouts and is slowly losing his memories (it is later revealed in chapters 80 - 82 that this is a side-effect of his 'update'; the brain may be able to regenerate but the stress of it on the body causes cells to slowly deteriorate after regeneration, destroying his memories).
After pulling himself together, Giovanni meets with Herbst and the attack on the above begins. However, when Giovanni bursts into Zollner’s building and shoots him in the head, he discovers that Zollner has a Kerberos Spine too; Zollner regenerates and then swiftly subdues and captures Giovanni. This is where I’ll be playing him from.
Inventory: Two Walther P38 pistols, a pair of orange sunglasses, one rather snazzy suit, a weird straightjacket-like device (all things he was wearing in canon just prior to arrival)
Samples: one two
Miscellaneous Notes:
ACCEPTED
Congratulations! You've been accepted into Overjoyed.
We’re so excited to have you join our community. Before we can get started, please do the following:
- Request to join the following communities: Logs · Network · OOC · Memes
- Friend the mod account, thenine, and respond to the player contact page.
- Reply to the taken page.
- Fill out the job registry.
- (Optional) Follow the mod plurk here to stay up to date about upcoming plots, community discussions, and more!
- (Optional) Put your application, IC contact/inbox, and permissions post in your journal, then introduce yourself to the OOC community!
- Second Round Applicants: You've caught us in a bit of a transition period! The new chapter/plot will launch on January 10th. In the meantime, you're free to create pregame CR or play around with the current setting and get your character established until the next plot installment. Thanks so much for joining us!
All characters will start with a balance of 100 bonus HP. This balance can be used towards AC bank purchases, but may not be used for satisfying monthly AC requirements.If you have any further questions or comments, please don't hesitate to reach out to us by PM or on the contact page.
Once again, we’re so happy to have you, and thanks for joining us!
Yours,
Overjoyed Mods