mayfield_ooc | Applications

• Please read over all the rules and information before applying in order to minimize any confusion before joining.

• If applying for a character that has already been dropped, it would be a good idea, though not required, to know something of their previous interactions. You are also free to pick up a dropped character with no memories of their previous time in Mayfield.

• All content for the personality and sample entry in your app must be written or roleplayed by you; for the personality section in particular, we do not accept copied text from wikis or other sources. Obviously, you may not copy your app from other players, whether in Mayfield or other games. Application plagiarism will result in a ban from the game.

• If you wish for your character to be placed in a specific house, please mention this in the relevant section of the application and specify that permission was obtained by the PCs already residing in that house. We will be operating by the Honor System for this, and there is no need for others to comment their permission in this post!

• Other special requests would also best go in the beginning of the application. Remember, grammar and spelling are important -- if your app contains errors, you will be asked to revise.

• Please post all applications or canon updates in this post; posting them elsewhere and linking to them from here may cause them to get changed later. Posting them here keeps us from having to save them.

When Applying, Fill Out the Following:

Name: Not the character's name, but yours or however you'd like us to refer to you.
Personal Journal: If you have one; a journal on another website is fine.
Contact Info: Any other way of contacting you. IM screen names, e-mail address, etc. AIM appears to be the common link between most players, so having a handle on AIM is preferable.
Other Characters Played: Any other characters you play at Mayfield, if applicable.
Preferred Housing: We encourage random matches, but if there is a particular house you want, you will need to contact every person in the house for permission. Please post your app AFTER doing this. If you cannot get in contact with any one person, please wait a week after contact and we'll accept it as a good faith effort. It is not necessary for those you received permission from to comment; we believe you! If you have no housing preference, simply put "N/A".

Character Name: Names, nicknames, whatever is applicable. In western order, please. If the character has no last name (adult males especially), you are free to either make one up or let us do it.
Character Series: 
Character Age: 
Background: We will accept copy/pastes or links to Wikipedia or another source, provided that the source reasonably explains the canon. This section is necessary, so if you can't find an explanatory source, you'll have to write something up yourself.
Personality: The more detailed here, the better. This lets us get a good feel for the character. Please try to back up your details with canon examples when you're getting past their basic character and more in-depth. Generally, we want to see at least four good-sized paragraphs.
Abilities: This section may end up being optional for you. If your character has any abilities or powers, such as magic, they'll be taken away upon arrival in Mayfield. These will come back over time, though.
Sample Entry: Please write as if you've already been accepted and writing an ordinary post from your character during their stay in Mayfield. Using an "introduction" post is fine, but we tend to discourage it, as the typical "who am I where am I what is this crazy place" format doesn't really give us a good grasp of how your character will behave on a daily basis. If you have trouble writing sample posts, we allow links to museboxes or other RPs to demonstrate as a sample. However, you'll want to post with the account you'll be linking to in that situation. Please make sure that your app is written in first person (!!!), as that's the format that will be used in the roleplay. Generally, we want to see at least five sentences, if not more. Prose log style samples will not be accepted. If you're confused about the distinction, we will be happy to explain. Remember, we're looking for FIRST-PERSON format; prose narration is fine, but it cannot make up the bulk of the entry.

When Applying for an Original Character, Fill Out the Following

Name: Not the character's name, but yours or however you'd like us to refer to you.
Personal Journal:
Contact Info: Any other way of contacting you. IM screen names, e-mail address, etc. AIM appears to be the common link between most players, so having a handle on AIM is preferable.
Other Characters Played: Any other characters you play at Mayfield, if applicable.
Preferred Housing: We encourage random matches, but if there is a particular house you want, you will need to contact every person in the house for permission. Please post your app AFTER doing this. If you cannot get in contact with any one person, please wait a week after contact and we'll accept it as a good faith effort. It is not necessary for those you received permission from to comment; we believe you! If you have no housing preference, simply put "N/A".

Character Name: Names, nicknames, whatever is applicable. In western order, please. If the character has no last name (adult males especially), you are free to either make one up or let us do it. 
Character Age: 
Background: For OCs, we require a detailed background to be fully written out. Please make sure to describe both the character's specific, personal background, and the world the character is from. If it is exactly like the real world, you'll still need to describe the location and the specifics of the society the character lives in (also please note here that we no longer accept 'Canon OCs,' so if this world is not one invented by you, the character is not appable).

This section will need to be somewhat long; there's no specific length we want, but we want to have a very clear feel of the character's backstory, so that we can compare it to the personality section.
Personality: This section is probably the most important. We're looking for at least six or seven paragraphs, but what's more important is that this be comprehensive and detailed. We want to see what makes your character tick, and we want to see that you understand what makes them tick and have fleshed them out as a character. Some things we will need to see include their important relationships and the major events in their lives and how these have shaped them, how they tend to interact with others and the world around them, their strengths and weaknesses, and what motivates them, among others.

If we do not have a strong sense of personality or it doesn't seem to match up with the background or sample, we will not accept the character even if your writing is strong.
Abilities: This section may end up being optional for you. If your character has any abilities or powers, such as magic, they'll be taken away upon arrival in Mayfield. These will come back over time, though.
Sample Entry 1: We're looking for a first person sample here; prose or action log format is not acceptable. If you write a sample, please write as though your character has already been accepted and is in Mayfield. You may write an introduction or first post, but we tend to discourage this, as the typical "who am I where am I what is this crazy place" format doesn't really give us a good grasp of how your character will behave on a daily basis. You may also use a link to a post in a dressing room, another game, or a musebox. We're looking specifically for a clear sense of character voice; spelling and grammar are important, but showing strong voice and characterization is more important than anything else. Remember, we're looking for FIRST-PERSON format; prose narration is fine, but it cannot make up the bulk of the entry.
Sample Entry 2: In this sample, we'd like to see a different side of your character than we saw in your first sample. This sample also needs to be in first person, but you may do a sample heavily based on introspection and action as long as it shows us a different side of your character and your first sample was strongly focused on speaking voice. For this sample, we will ask you to write something out as though your character is already in Mayfield. Please do not link to a sample elsewhere or use their first post/waking up in Mayfield here. That can go in the first sample instead.

• Before applying, please look over any applications that were recently accepted to get an idea of what we're looking for.

• If you apply for a character that has already been reserved, we will inform you and ignore the application until the reserve runs out. You may not apply for more than two characters from the same canon. For the sample entry, you may write your own entry, or use a post from a musebox, dressing room, or other game. We recommend testrun_box if you prefer the latter!

• After you're accepted, please follow all of the instructions given. You will need to reply to the acceptance, post your journal to the friend add page and your canon post, join the communities, and use the friend add page to update your journal. Once you're accepted, please introduce yourself on the community when you're ready to play.

• If your app is "Pending", do not freak out! This means that we need you to make some revisions, and does not mean you're rejected. We generally give players a chance to revise before rejecting them, but we will reject apps that do not address the concerns stated when we asked for a revision. If you have been rejected, our reply will clearly state this to be the case. If we have not gotten back to you yet, under no circumstance does this mean you are rejected. If it has been over a week since our last reply, it would be a good idea to contact us with a reminder, otherwise, please be patient!

• If you have received a "Pending" notice, you will have one week to supply us with your revisions, or your reserve will be considered expired and that someone else is free to apply for the character.

• The typical wait for a reply on apps may be anywhere from a day to a little over a week. If any part of your application requires a pending, it may be another week after your reply to that before we can get to you. We process a high volume of apps every round, so please be patient.

• If you have not heard back on a pending for over a week after apps close, please send a PM directly to the mod account.

APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Name: Tricks
Personal Journal:

pantsu
Contact Info: fail hero @ AIM | friends only, scootshire@gmail.com, naoto @ Plurk
Other Characters Played: freeeeeesh meat!
Preferred Housing: Psiioniic-mun (from Homestuck) and I would like to have Milla and Psii housed together! Psychics gotta stick together and all that.

Character Name: Milla Vodello
Character Series: Psychonauts
Character Age: unknown; well into adulthood
Background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychonauts
Personality: Agent Milla Vodello is, in a word, bubbly. She loves to have fun and, moreover, loves to see others having fun. That much is obvious just from the first look at her mind- Milla’s brain is set up internally as one great big fun dance party, for Raz and all the other children to dance and play in. She certainly loves to be the center of attention, too, as she tells Raz that she was “always meant to be” on TV. In fact her mind is set up with several TV screens through which you can watch her dancing. But it’s not all about her, certainly not - she always tries to make her kids feel like they’re rock stars, too, telling Raz that the party is “dying without him” and the like. Milla wants everyone around her to participate and enjoy themselves, rather than only being focused on her own fun.

In fact, if you examine her actions in more detail, it becomes very obvious that Milla is very concerned for the safety of the people around her, particularly the children who are her charges. For instance, when you should be going to get Levitation training from her, she says over the intercom that she hopes the children are having a “happy and safe” day; when she is tricked by Coach Oleander into a trap, she leaves a message on the bulletin first telling the children that they’ll be back soon, who they should talk to while she and Sasha are gone, and that they should not be scared being left alone. Still later, when her brain is recranialized, her first concern is to recover the other children’s brains, and during the final showdown she immediately Levitates Lili and Raz out of harm’s way instead of going for Oleander. Obviously, then, she has a protective and motherly nature, and is more concerned with keeping her charges safe than she is with her own well-being. Which isn’t to say she places herself in danger heedlessly - but she is a well-trained secret agent and supposed to be ready for anything, and so is her partner Sasha, whereas the children they are training are not.

But why is she so concerned and protective of the people around her? A look into a side room of Milla’s mind gives us the answer. Out of the general path of the Levitation course, there is a small door that leads to a room with a memory vault and a chest. Opening the vault shows Milla’s memories of her time running a home for foster children, who she dearly loved and dedicated her life to. One day, while she was shopping for groceries, the house burned down, and as her children died Milla psychically heard their screams for her. Jumping into the nearby chest takes you into a room of Milla’s nightmares, where she hears those children accusing her of leaving them and screaming in pain. So Milla has always loved and protected children, maybe even always wanted to be a mother, but the trauma of having lost what she loves once makes her extra careful with her charges now.

This isn’t to say that Milla is an emotionally fragile wreck underneath a happy exterior, because she certainly is not that. Despite her nightmares, Milla has a strong and exuberant personality that simply cannot be restrained, and she has the force of will to move on past those nightmares and get them under control. Though her nightmares are vivid and horrific, Milla has locked them away in her mind, keeping them safely contained where they cannot harm her dealings with the real world. Her second memory vault, “Milla’s Adventures,” shows her becoming a Psychonaut after losing her children; these memories are full of exuberance and life, showing her as a strong figure, and there’s no insincerity in how kindly she deals with the children at Whispering Rock. Not only does she find new purpose, she even (seemingly, as implied at the end of her second memory vault) finds room in her heart for falling in love rather than wasting away in grief.

In fact, in the end, despite her laid-back manner Milla is a strong person and a very good secret agent when she needs to be. Despite losing everything that was precious to her, she managed to forge a new life for herself as a Psychonaut, spreading good in the world as a secret agent and even becoming famous as the “Mental Minx” due to her skill. Rather than crippling her emotional life with sorrow, the fire that killed her children seems to have made Milla more determined to protect what’s important. She still has an incredibly optimistic personality, light and bubbly enough to be the Psychonauts’ foremost Levitator, and is still strong enough in mind to Levitate two other people far from where she is and fight off another Psychonaut with Sasha at the same time. Milla is, then, an indomitably optimistic character and an agent to be feared in her own right, who doesn’t let her past get in the way of what’s important now. Laid-back and fun-loving she might be, but then, maybe she’s just learned that it’s important to hold on to the joys of life to endure its sorrows.

Abilities: Milla has a lot of psychic powers! These are general powers common to Psychonauts, but she’s better at some than others. We mostly know that she’s incredibly skilled at levitation, but I headcanoned her skill with various abilities a bit. She is proficient in most of them, though, since she is a full Psychonaut!
-Levitation: she’s famous for this. Basically she can float or glide or roll or what have you, and it keeps her safe from most obstacles. It should be noted she’s also the only character shown able to levitate others with her psychic abilities, in the showdown with Oleander where she gets Raz and Lili out of harm’s way - which isn’t to say that other Psychonauts can’t, necessarily, just that she is very skilled and can do so. (Raz himself cannot, suggesting that it is an advanced technique.)
-Telekinesis: what it says on the tin. Lift things, throw things, make things float, et cetera. Distinct from Levitation.
-Invisibility: yep.
-PSI Blast: ability to focus and fire a ranged shot at opponents. Not as skilled at this as Sasha, but she’s plenty good at it.
-Shield: ability to protect from and even reflect attacks with a mental forcefield.
-Clairvoyance: ability to see through someone else’s eyes. Also works on animals and objects with a lens such as a camera. Can be used on an object associated with or previously attached to the subject, also, like a feather from a crow.
-Confusion: throws a kind of bomb that imbalances enemies and, well, confuses them temporarily!
-Pyrokinesis: make fire with your brain. Not mentioned in the game, but I’d assume she’s bad at this due to trauma from the fire that burned down her orphanage.
-Psycho-Portal: this handy item allows Milla to enter anyone’s mind she chooses, or allow others to enter hers. (If this is regained it will of course only be used with another mun’s permission.)
-Psychic punches/Palm Bomb: This is pretty simple, more forceful than a normal punch but a basic psychic technique. A Palm Bomb is basically a jump in the air and spiral down into the ground that creates a psychic energy shockwave.
-Control of nightmares: Milla is able to wall off nightmares in her own mind, presumably due to Psychonaut training. Without her mental abilities they’ll be free to torment her again.
Sample Entry:
Okay, who is ready to party? I hope it’s everyone, because we are gonna have fun fun fun at the prom this weekend, darlings! Now don’t worry, children, I am going to be personally chaperoning to make sure nothing bad happens to any of you. We want to have a happy, safe prom for everyone! And that means no alcoholic beverages, no drugs, and absolutely no fighting. Leave that stuff at home and we’ll all have a good time, okay?

And if anyone wants to go to the makeout room... [ Milla’s suggestive wink is practically audible. ] Don’t worry, Milla’s got your back! I’ll just look the other way, mmkay? Just make sure you take care of yourselves, children! See you Saturday!

Edited 2012-01-10 02:50 (UTC)

Welcome to 431 Peepers Street, Milla Apemis! Please reply here with your character journal. Once you've done that, complete the following:

• Join

mayfield_rpg,

mayfield_ooc,

mayfield_logs, and optionally

junefield
• Add your info to your canon post
• Add your info to your household! Use the street list to find your house.
• Make sure to tag your first post with the !intro tag, as well as your character's personal tag: c: milla vodello

Go ahead and introduce yourself in the main comm and tell people where your character will be living!

The game will be open for new entries on January 16th

Thank you!!

Applications

Agent Milla Vodello | Psychonauts

ACCEPTED

Re: ACCEPTED