[PbtA] Caught in the Web (Masks: ANG)

[discountprincess]

COMPLETE

Application Info Hero Name: Vibe Shift Real Name: Harmony Zang Pronouns: she/her Playbook: The Janus Abilities: Heightened physical abilities (strength, agility, toughness), able to throw projectiles, ropes, nets, etc. of her mimicked substancewebs, mimic whatever non-living substance she last touched and absorbedsubstance mimicry Personality: Harmony really had her life together. Co-captain of the cheer squad, honor roll, editor of the school paper, homecoming court, plenty of friends, and a loving family. Mama joked that Harmony's catchphrase was "No problem!" because she said it so much. And for a long time, it wasn't a problem. Harmony shouldered anything asked of her without complaint and with a winning smile. But lately, that smile's strained. Those A-pluses at the top of papers are turning into Bs. Deadlines get tighter, plans get flakier. Last Thursday, she blew up at the squad after she screwed up at practice. They said they forgave her, because she's been through so much, and it made her feel pathetic. Oh yeah, that wound up, angry feeling Harmony gets when people act like they understand her? That's new too. Description Short, cute, and outgoing, Harmony's often described as 'perky'. In her everyday life, her palette is neutral colors and soft pastels, clean lines and sparkly accessories. Loose hair, minimalist routine -- moisturizer, mascara, lip gloss. She used to decorate her nails with little animal faces, but she's done away with that distinguishing characteristic. As Vibe Shift, her suit is dark pink and shot through with fuchsia piping. A matching balaclava hides her face, and goggles set in a half-mask hide her eyes. She finishes off the look with lavender high-tops, white motorcycle gloves, and a fanny pack around her waist to hold her gear. Backstory Questions: When did you first put on the mask? Why? Four months ago, after her first encounter with the rifts. Back then, it was a chintzy costume mask, just a way to test her weird new powers without anyone thinking she was a freak. To her surprise, she liked it. A chance to cut loose, with no one to answer to or impress or please. Then came the gloves, and a sturdier mask, and sure, stopping the occasional mugging. But that first month, it was all freedom. Until her sister, Joy, snuck out, and Harmony followed. She thought she'd surprise her, tease her about some secret date, but then Joy headed to this creepy warehouse by the docks. There was a guy, but he was off. Then the rift cut through the area, a sliver of void. After that, it's all a blur of vacuum and flying debris, and Joy's hand slipping through hers. She tried to mimic the void, to yank her back, but it only made the pull stronger. Then she heard the scream. Mom had followed Joy, and the rift was pulling her in. Harmony made her choice, and she lives with it every day. She'll never forget the rage and pain on her mother's face after she tackled her to safety and the rift closed behind her, with Joy inside. Now, the mask's about more than protecting her social life. Putting it on is a promise to protect those around her, and a reminder of the person she failed to protect. Why do you keep a secret identity? Guilt. Fear. Freedom. What if her mom still blamed her for her sister's disappearance? What if she put a target on the people she loves? What if boring, good girl Harmony couldn't do what Vibe Shift can? And, though she doesn't realize it yet, dissolving that line between Harmony and Vibe Shift would mean admitting that there's no going back to her former life, or her former self. Who, outside of the team, knows about your dual identity? Ryder Brooks. A notorious school bully, popular with their own subculture of miscreants and burnouts. She was perched on a building ledge after pulling someone out of a fire, and tore off her smoldering mask -- only to lock eyes with Ryder across the alley, standing on the roof with an illicit beer in hand. Harmony ran, but she knows they saw her. She thought they'd tell everyone, but the fact that they haven't is almost as frightening. Who thinks the worst of your masked identity? Mom. She's the editor-in-chief of The Straight, the newspaper of choice in the Narrows. Ever since that night, when for all she knows Vibe Shift threw her daughter into a rift, she's made it her mission to turn the neighborhood against these dangerous masked vigilantes. What has the Spiderweb taken from you? Her older brother, Milo. He used to work at the restaurant, butting heads with Mama and joking around with customers. He'd always wanted more, though, and Joy's disappearance gave him an excuse to pursue it. He works for the Gearheads now, flashy cars and easy cash. He says the family needs the money, but it's clear he likes the power and status. Why do you care about the neighborhood? It's home. Sure, it's messy and screwed-up, but when home-home's barely hanging on, there's comfort in the sound of steel drums from first-floor tenant or the five-dollar movie theater with the ancient usher or sitting on the swings in the graffiti-covered playground. Who most connects you to the neighborhood? Mama's run the Secret Garden cafe for years. It's a neighborhood joint, the kind of spot where people hang out on the sidewalk tables smoking and playing mahjong or dominos, where you could set your watch by the regulars' routines. Mama knows everyone and their business, and loves people. Even with everything the family's been through, she's kept on going with a brave face. What do you want to explore with this character? I love the struggle of the Janus to balance their mundane and superhero obligations. I'm interested in the idea of an people-pleaser who invests a lot of herself in external validation and others opinions. I want to explore the pressure Harmony feels to be a a good daughter and student, and how her masked persona frees her from those expectations and lets her figure out who she wants to be. I'm also interested in her home life -- in a way, everyone in her family is examining and reinventing themselves in the face of loss. Will it break them apart, or bring them closer together? playlist Mood Ring~*~Long Division~*~We Were Here~*~ Teen Idle~*~Brand New City

[Kaigen]

COMPLETE
Updated 10/21

Application Picrew by Nuggts Hero Name: Breaker Real Name: Linden Lowe Pronouns: They/them Playbook: Delinquent Abilities: Teleportation, Power Negation Description/Personality: Linden is a scrawny kid that wears dark clothing and dyes their hair green. They generally try to fly under the radar, or rather pretend to be too cool and above it all to respond, but sometimes they can't help but drop a snarky reply to what someone is saying. Backstory Questions: How did you get your powers? The Rifts, of course. Linden had been exploring an abandoned building when one opened up underneath them. When they came to, they were in a different building across town, on an elevated gantry. When they started to climb down, they slipped and teleported safely to the ground. What do you do for fun? Linden explores the books and crannies of Port Valencio, getting into decrepit buildings where no one is supposed to be, taking photographs from angles people wouldn't consider. Now that they can teleport, they've been getting even more daring. Who, outside the team, thinks better of you than you do? The art teacher at school, Ms. Richards, thinks Linden has a "good eye," and "potential to make something of themself." Linden thinks that some ruin porn photography will get views but won't lead to anything. She keeps pushing them on it, though, trying to get them to exhibit, like there's any place to do that in Port Valencio that will take them. Why do you try to be a hero? Someone's got to keep the jerks and bullies who think might makes right in line. Especially since the Rifts, people think having powers is license to do whatever they want; some of them need to know that license can be revoked. What has the Spiderweb taken from you? Their future. Linden's done the math, gamed out the possibilities, and as far as they can figure they're not getting out of Port Valencio, and if they stay they're either gonna become a construction worker or a crook, and neither appeals. Either way, they're going to be scrabbling to survive at the whims of more powerful people for their whole life. Why do you care about the neighborhood? It's theirs. They imagine they know the topography better than anyone from their explorations. It's not a place they would've chosen, but they didn't get a choice, and having it, they're not gonna let someone take it without a fight. And look, would they get out if they could? Absolutely. But they'd still want to be able to come back. Their whole aesthetic is based in this city. They'd forget who they are if they didn't have it. Who most connects you to the neighborhood? Linden's friend Derek goes on explorations with them. In fact, he was with them during their encounter with the Rift. Derek hasn't shown any powers since then, but since Linden has learned more about the power negation part of their abilities, they've started to wonder if they weren't blanking him at the time. What is Linden's family life like and how has gaining their abilities changed it, if at all? Linden's parents (Coleen and Sarah) would really like to see them go to college, even if just to Port Valencio Community College (nicknamed PVC, because getting anywhere with that degree is a pipe dream). They just don't apply themself, though. They skip homework and skate by on doing well on tests, so their grades are barely better than passing, for the most part. They do try to respect Linden's privacy, which means the main change Linden's powers have brought is that Linden doesn't get caught sneaking out as often. Linden's parents are foolish enough to think they've actually stopped sneaking out, but they try not to barge into their room without Probable Cause. Linden intentionally gets caught here and there to reassure their parents that they aren't completely out of the loop. Can you detail a time when Linden's teleporting got them into more trouble than they intended? Not every "abandoned" building Linden explores is empty. Sometimes there are squatters; sometimes they're being used for drug deals. One time it was something bigger than that. A weapons deal involving one of The Spider's lieutenants. To make matters worse, it was crashed by a masked vigilante (possibly a connection to another PC?). A fight broke out before Linden could find a safe way to teleport out unseen and the gantry they were hiding on was knocked over. Someone had to have heard their yelp of surprise even with the din, and someone might have seen them before they got out, but they can't be sure. Is there a place in the city that Linden can go to feel safe? There's an old, old derelict building on the Rundown side of the Rows. Most people have forgotten what it was—traditional rumors amongst school kids say it was an orphanage, or a brothel, or an insane asylum, and definitely haunted in any case. It's tightly locked up and boarded off on the ground level, but Linden has discovered a way in by teleporting through a window on the upper floor. As far as they're able to tell, no one else ever goes inside, so it has a feeling of absolute privacy. What do you want to explore with this character? The limitations of breaking things as a path to social change. The collateral damage that results from aggravating bad guys into taking rash action. The vulnerability required to hope. Music inspirations: The Shadow Government by They Might Be Giants I Wish This Song Was Louder by Electric Six One Man Army by Our Lady Peace

[daikaiju]

COMPLETE ... I think?

Lynx Hero Name: Lynx Real Name: Keira Carver Pronouns: She/Her Playbook: The Bull Abilities: Mood-powered enhanced physical ability - Superior strength and general hardiness. At a baseline, she's well above a standard human's power level, but not exactly invincible. However, intense rage or passion elevates her from "straining (but still managing) to lift a car from a trapped civilian" to "effortlessly throwing a full oil tanker at the bad guy" power levels. Description/Personality: At a glance, you would not be able to tell that Keira is a contender for one of the strongest individuals in Port Valencio. She looks similar to any other 16 year old girl, maybe barring the fact that she stands a smidge taller than many girls her age at a lanky 5'10. Aside from being slightly above average height though, nothing physically stands out; She isn't exactly a muscle-bound brute. Keira presents like a typical punk: Her hair is a short and choppy shag dyed plum purple, her ears pierced multiple times, and her outfit choices almost always involving a pair of black leather boots. When she's in "Hero Mode," her outfit remains largely unchanged, but she includes a black half-face mask, a padded black and yellow motorcycle jacket, and a pair of finger-less gloves. While one might expect a teenager to struggle to handle their feelings, Keira is god-awful at keeping her emotions in check, especially when the emotion in question is "upset." (She has, on at least two occasions, thrown a phone at a brick wall with so much force that it damaged the wall and left nothing remaining of the phone.) When she's displeased with a situation, she is completely comfortable voicing her opinion, everyone else's feelings be damned. Typically, her demeanor is either an attempt at looking cool and aloof, or extremely hotheaded (especially in her heroics.). The fact is, however, that Keira wears her heart on her sleeve, despite her best efforts. She tries to act unapproachable or distant, but she's passionate even when that passion is more than rage. Yes. I am in fact saying she's tsundere.She'll deny it, but she is an unbelievably loyal friend and not-so-secretly a hopeless romantic. Backstory Questions:   What has the Spiderweb taken from you? My life. Before all this crap - all the heroics - I lived a normal life, for a while. A pretty nice one, even. Dad worked at some research company - he'd talk about work sometimes, but all the science-y stuff kinda went right over my head... I still don't really know if it was like, biotech, or quantum physics, or what. But he would always talk about how the work he was doing was going to change The Narrows, Port Valencio, and maybe even the world. And, he made enough for us to do pretty alright for ourselves, putting us up in one of the nicer places in the Rows. I guess whatever they were working on spooked the Web though, because his co-workers kept turning up dead. We were just about to leave town when their hitman kicked down the door. Dad picks me up and tries to hide us in their bedroom closet. We're watching the hallway through the slats in the door as the guy approaches, when suddenly from the other end of the hallway, mom comes at the guy with a baseball bat. I guess I got the fight in me from her. She gets a good hit in, knocks him to the ground. She winds up to knock him out and... Bang. Bang bang bang. I do everything I can to hold it in, to stay quiet, but... I can't help but start crying. I was never any good at keeping it to myself. It's my fault he found us. It's my fault my dad's dead. I guess the guy didn't have the heart to kill some crying orphan girl, so he just leaves me to sob over my parents' bodies. Too bad for him; I'll never forget that scum's face. He'll get what's coming. Out of character, I imagine Keira's dad worked for a company that was researching The Rifts. The exact extent of that, I'd either leave up to you or workshop with you. Maybe they developed the technology that ended up infusing her with her powers? Maybe they're the reason Rifts exist at all? Maybe they were trying to predict or prevent Rifts from opening? And I left it intentionally vague so if that's a no-no for the setting you're working with, it can be shifted elsewhere. But I really like the idea that he's in some way connected to her powers. Why do you care about the neighborhood? My parents lived in the Rows their whole lives - on the rougher side, when I was really young, before my dad took that job. Their parents lived here, too, and their parents, too. My family's history goes all the way back to the old mines, before The Narrows even existed. The Rows are basically all I've ever known. When I would sneak out onto the roof at night and brood, my dad would sometimes come join me with some hot tea, and we'd just watch the people below. Seeing the Rundown and Presidio all from one place really puts everything into perspective. Dad would tell me that it's the duty of people like us - people living right in the fringe of the rich and the poor - to stand up to the guys up top when they try to stomp all over the guys at the bottom. He always felt like the Narrows were the people that could help lift up the people suffering in the poorer parts of the city. Like this neighborhood was really, really important. I guess that's stuck with me. Who changed you? Fusion. Those sick freaks. They grabbed me and a bunch of other orphans out of foster care using a bunch of fake identities and trapped us in a makeshift lab under some defunct factory. I don't even know how long they kept us there - felt like forever. It wasn't too long before we were strapped to an IV and some machine that was pumping our blood full of... Something. I don't know what. Most of those kids, most of the time, nothing happened. But some of us got really, really sick. They locked us up away from the others, hooked us up to a thousand machines and kept poking and prodding. Eventually, I guess after enough tries, a few of us started changing. Developing powers. It wasn't until I was out that I realized they were trying to summon and channel rifts. To create little super soldiers for their gang so they could push into the other gangs' turf, I guess. Sickos. How did you escape from them? Luck, mostly. I won their little superpower lottery, I guess, so I got the privilege of being thrown into another separate area all by myself. Strapped down too tight to do anything about it. The lucky part, though, is that meant when Impact kicked the door down and found figured out they were keeping some poor girl locked away from everyone else, I got to be priority number one. Guy honestly scared the crap out of me, busting down my cell door with a sledgehammer. Once he'd let me out, though, I had enough pent up aggression that I punched a hole straight through the wall. And then another. And another. And another. It wasn't long 'til I was back out in the Haze, knuckles all bloody. Impact followed after a little while, carrying this young girl I didn't recognize. Guess they had another batch of kids they grabbed while I was in solitary. She was awake, but seemed too sickly to do or say anything. After some time for her to rest, we got her name out of her - Maisy. Impact wouldn't tell me what happened to the rest of the kids. After a while, I stopped asking. I don't think I wanna know, anymore. Who most connects you to the neighborhood? All the kids in the group-home in the Narrows where I grew up. Since that little plot from Fusion fell through, I'm back to living there until I age out in a few years. Maisy's the newest addition, too. The rift-infusions or whatever was going on really took a toll on her, so she spends most of her time in bed, and I spend a lot of time hanging out with her and taking care of her. I'm the oldest in the home, so they're all like little siblings to me, but she's really the little sister I never had. Who, outside the team, tries to take care of you now? Outside of "Aunt" Rachel, who runs the group-home, that'd be Impact. I guess he feels bad for me and Maisy. Why do you try to be a hero? I've been telling myself it's because it's the right thing. Because the gangs that run this town are doing awful stuff like scooping orphans off the streets and experimenting on them and turning them into super-powered freaks. Because I need to be a good influence to all my siblings in the group home. And because I wanna be someone my dad would be proud of. But I guess sometimes I worry that maybe it's because I just want to get into fights and smash stuff. __________ What do you want to explore with this character? I really want to play a Bull that really leans into the strong emotions, to the point where it actively affects how powerful she is. I like how she wears her heart on her sleeve, especially with the Bull's Loves and Rivals, I think it will keep emotions and tensions high among the group, which is what Masks is all about imo. I like the idea of an established vigilante being tied into her story as her savior, and I wanna play around with where ever that goes - whether they have a sort of father-daughter relationship, a tense "I know I can't just leave you on your own, but I really don't like you hanging around in my shadow" relationship, or whatever else. I don't want to step on the Nova playbook's toes, but I love the idea of her having to come to grips with the fact that she could kill someone so easily on accident if she doesn't keep her feelings in check. And I'd love to see where things could go regarding the assassin who killed her parents - I think it could lead to some potent stuff with her having to grapple the morality of wanting to kill them with her bare hands. Musical Inspo: I Threw Glass at My Friend's Eyes and Now I'm on Probation by Destroy Boys Perfect by Mannequin P*ssy (yes, the automatic language filter made me censor this name lol) Libra by Free Refills Full Metal Black by The Royal They (NSFW warning on the album art here) Black Hole and Extra Extra by Be Your Own Pet (Finally a use for my ever-growing library of female-led punk bands lmao)

No idea if my ideas with Fusion or Impact are kosher - feel free to lemme know and I'll adjust them.

I ended up wanting a big cat styled name to lean into the "powerful, standoffish, but a softy deep down" thing, and while I think Puma would probably fit her better (Bigger, faster, stronger), I think Lynx just like... Sounds cooler, lol. Willing to workshop it, though.

[NoizePollution]

Okay, we're moving right along here.

Here are some general insights for people. Things that pop up in multiple apps, though not all so it may not apply to you individually. I aim to get individual replies out over the weekend with clarifying questions. It looks like we will hit 10 completed apps shortly so expect the 72 hour 'new app' window to start. Anyone who is on the fence take note.

• Remember, Masks is as much about the teen as it is the superhero. Teens have very specific concerns and relationship dynamics. How do they relate to their peers? How do they cope at the neighborhood school? Who among the adults in their life pushes their buttons the most? Reflect that in why you care about the neighborhood. Having always lived there is probably universal among the crew so go deeper.
• With the Spiderweb playset, take the concept of grounded to reference the tone. Give your abilities focus. Specialize them. Think more The Runaways than Teen Titans for the tone.
• Parents killed by criminals is a common trope in comics for a reason. It's an easy way to build investment in a character's origin. But if you go that route, make sure to consider the other factors that make that impactful. How did the parent(s) impact the community? Who among their peers does your character still interact with? What does the memory of their parents inspire in them?
• Keep the central conflict of your playbook in mind as you answer these and future questions. These conflicts will come up a lot in your character's life so get comfortable with them.
• Just a note: So much great music in these apps. I really like what I'm seeing.

[daikaiju]

You think we should just answer these questions directly in our app/a new post, or go back and edit our responses to try and implement our answers?

[NoizePollution]

These are not specific questions to be answered. They are things people should consider in the answers to their other questions if the situation in question applies to them. If they have a dead parent, they should consider the factors in that suggestion as an example.

[Iron Signet]

I feel like I kept most of those questions in mind pretty well when writing my application. I'm not entirely happy with how clear the details are, but I'll just eagerly await any clarifying questions that might come up, if any, so I don't get too much in my own head.

I also just wanted to say that I also think there are some really cool applications in this thread. You guys really all pulled out the stops, it was fun to read through as a fellow applicant/bystander.

[Lazer]

COMPLETE

Tom Enapay - Tread Hero Name: Tread Real Name: Tamaha (Tom) Enapay Pronouns: He/him Playbook: Enhanced strength, agility, and toughness.The Janus Abilities: Able to see a short time into the past (so can track people/objects), and a second or so into the future (fast reflexes)Supernatural senses, Speedster, but not extremely so. Can run at the speed of an Olympic sprinter and maintain that speed for up to about ten minutes. Also has significant parkour skills.impossible mobility Description/Personality: At 4’8” Tom is still quite short for a 14 year old, not having started his final growth spurt yet, although his mama says his dad was tall. He is quiet and fidgety, preferring to leave the spotlight to others. He is intelligent but tends to coast in school and hasn't really found his passion yet, although he generally does better in science and math than in subjects like history or geography. He likes art when it’s creative and expressive but fails to see the point of studying boring old painters of the past. Although his mother is full-blooded Sioux, Tom can pass for full African American due to his father's genes. He wears his hair in a short afro to fit in better with the other kids and doesn't like people talking about his Sioux heritage. In his guise as Tread he wears a black costume, the better to be inconspicuous at night. In addition, his full-face mask and hoodie protect his identity so that his extra-curricular exploits won't come back to haunt him or his mama. Backstory Questions: When did you first put on the mask? Why? Well, the mask actually came before the powers. Some guys were doin' free-running in the neighbourhood and it looked like fun, so me an' my friend Jase kept talkin' 'bout how we would do it too. I bought the mask thinkin' it would look badass, but Jase backed out an' acted like he'd never wanted to do it in the first place. Why do you keep a secret identity? I didn' start out wantin' to be a hero. When I got these powers I thought, 'cool, I can do parkour now and nobody can catch me,' y'know? So I wore the mask like I had planned to. Then, one night, I saw a woman gettin' mugged. She looked so scared, so alone... I had to help. I was on that guy before he knew what hit 'im... and before I realised I knew him. He was the older brother of one of my friends and I had been in their house so many times through my childhood. The guy was a total punk, though, and had started runnin’ with some Webheads, so it was only 'cause I was wearing the mask that nothin' came back on me. So I kept wearin' it. It keeps the two sides of my life separate. Who, outside of the team, knows about your dual identity? Nobody. Well, maybe Jase does. I showed him the mask when I got it but that was a coupla years ago so he might not have remembered. We haven't been talkin' so much these days so it's hard to tell what he thinks. Who thinks the worst of your masked identity? It’s gotta be Sergeant Sykes, a local beat cop. See, he spotted me one night and musta thought I was breakin’ into a shop, or somesuch. That’s the problem with wearin’ a mask and black clothes, especially if your skin is also black. He chased me, which didn’ work so well for him seein’ as he weighs about as much as a small rhino. Pretty soon he was puffin’ an’ pantin’ like he was blowin’ out all the candles! An’, well, I mighta taunted him a little. Seemed funny at the time but he didn’ take it that way, and since then he’s had it in for me. Him and some other officers have been askin’ around, tryin’ to find out who I am. They don’ scare me though, those guys couldn’ catch a stoned sloth. What has the Spiderweb taken from you? Mama hates the Spiderweb. She's a paramedic so she sees first-hand all the damage they do. And one time when she was drunk... she doesn't drink much, this was at her sister's wedding and it was the only time I remember seeing her really let herself go. Uh, anyway, she said that the Spiderweb took my dad from us. She never really explained that, but from what I’ve pieced together over the years I think he was a criminal, and that he got on the wrong side of them. I’ve never wanted to look any deeper into it in case… well, I’d just prefer not to know. Why do you care about the neighborhood? It’s everything. It’s my family, my friends, every good memory I have was in The Narrows. I might not like e’rybody here, I might not be their favorite person all the time, but they’re my people. Who most connects you to the neighborhood? Mama. She’s not originally from here but she has made the Narrows her home. She knows everyone and she’s always giving, and not just in her job. She helps to organise charity drives, she makes sure the homeless folks have enough to eat and are warm in winter, she looks after people’s cats or house plants when they go on vacation. I don’t know how one person can have so much love. What do you want to explore with this character? Tom is a kid with a real identity crisis. He looks African American like his dad, but he was raised by his Sioux mother and, despite the fact that he adores her, he has pretty much rejected that side of his heritage to better fit in with his friends. On top of that his mother is pretty much a saint, but his dad was a criminal; if he looks like his dad is he going to turn out like him? Can he ever live up to his mother’s standards? And now there’s the whole supe/school kid dichotomy to deal with too. He’s got so many competing influences pulling him in different directions that he has no idea who the ’real’ him is. In addition to this, he would probably be the youngest member of the team, quite possibly the smallest, and his skills/powers are not exactly going to stand out, so I see him as having a major dose of imposter syndrome. He already had one figurative superhero to try to live up to in his mama, now he’ll have a whole peer-group who seem impossibly far ahead of him! Playlist: My mind doesn’t really work this way, linking music to a character concept, but I’m going to try to think of some things to put here anyway because it sounds like a fun challenge. I haven't actually managed to come up with any fitting songs to go here and I think it's mostly because, well, I'm a middle-aged guy with a musical taste which runs the gamut from 'dad rock' to 'oldies'. Tom would be much more 'street'. His sound would be gritty and energetic, basically whatever the contemporary equivalent of punk is these days. :-)

[Lazer]

Originally Posted by NoizePollution

…Parents killed by criminals is a common trope in comics for a reason. It's an easy way to build investment in a character's origin. But if you go that route, make sure to consider the other factors that make that impactful. How did the parent(s) impact the community? Who among their peers does your character still interact with? What does the memory of their parents inspire in them…?

I’ve been so busy writing my app that I haven’t really been paying attention to the thread, but it looks like my guy isn’t the only member of the Dead Parents Society. We should start a group or something. :-)

[Acathala]

@NP
I’m ready for any critique and questions you may have for me.

[NoizePollution]

Still plenty of time to modify apps, or put one in if you haven't. Remember that you can change anything on your application up to the end date of 10/27. You aren't locked in until that time, so if something new occurs to you feel free to adjust.

[Acathala]

[NoizePollution]

I forgot to mention this in the original ad so I'll do it here. I always ask myself this question when I look at potential PbtA characters. If I did a slice of life / night at home scene with this person, would it be engaging?

[A7ice]

[/QUOTE]

[daikaiju]

Oh boy, my favorite part of the application process: the wall of blank secret text posts!