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𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐆𝐋𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐂 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒

i. basics

NUMBER.
NICKNAME.
RACE.
ABILITIES.
APPEARANCE [preform, midform, fullform].
WEAPON OF CHOICE.

ii. persona

PERSONALITY.
STRENGTHS.
FLAWS.

iii. upbringing

BACKSTORY.
ATTITUDE TOWARDS JOBS.
MORALITY.

iv. details

HABITS.
ACCOMODATIONS.
LIKES.
DISLIKES.
FEARS.
DESIRES.
MISCELLEANEOUS/OTHER [OPTIONAL].
QUOTES [OPTIONAL].
COPYRIGHT AGREEMENT.
TAGS [OPTIONAL].

❖ 𝒫lease put your character's slot number, nickname (if applicable), species, and signature weapon in your opening comment!

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 ➞

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NUMBER. Pick your slot. The assassins have these instead of names. Their entire world revolves around their identities having been taken from them, voluntary or not. There's only six slots open, which isn't a lot, I know, but there will already be other characters in the story, like the boy and the MCIA agents, so I don't want it to be too cluttered (trust me, Lost Destinies is a nightmare to plot). The less characters there are, the more I get to develop each one.

NICKNAME. You're welcome to pick something that sounds cool if you want to, but the character's primary nickname has to have some sort of story behind it—this is something that the others call them mostly as a joke. It's most likely that it comes from a prominent physical characteristic (ex. they're called Toothless because they're missing a front tooth) or personality trait (ex. they're called Hush because they're quiet) or that it comes from something embarrassing that happened that one time (ex. they're called Ragdoll because of that time they were completely hurled against the wall in a training fight). They've essentially grown up together, so sometimes their real names feel a little impersonal. They can have multiple nicknames but should have a prominent one. If they haven't garnered a nickname yet or nothing has really stuck, that's fine too—maybe the others are still workshopping it.

RACE. Try to avoid picking one that isn't likely to actually be found in the U.S., I feel bad that I already did that, but if you do they just have to have a solid reason for being here. Anyway, you're welcome to make an In-Between, a siren, a werewolf, a hydra etc. Please don't make a human. We're so terribly useless when it comes to supernatural abilities. Also please don't make a Wendigo because they aren't very stealthy and they eat people (and besides that they pretty much all belong to one gang anyway). Do mind their rarity and their lifestyle when writing backstory, as most of these species would be forced to live in hiding in the U.S., except for magi and IBs (and I suppose Southern sirens). If you make a vampire that is not a pureblood, they still would've had to have been found as a child, meaning they would still be in the body of a child today, as turned vampires do not physically age past their turning day. This would be a pretty cool concept actually, I wouldn't mind if someone explored this. I would also love to see a male siren or a female werewolf because I just don't see those in literature very often and they'd be interesting.

ABILITIES. This extends to both the supernatural and the natural. If your character is an In-Between, name their quirks (I've written an entire book about In-Betweens, so I'd be happy to explain their powers more or give suggestions). If they're a magi you're welcome to talk a little bit about how they use spells and what kind of spells they use. I've written a little bit about these as well. If they're a species with preestablished abilities, you don't really have to elaborate on this part much—I already know what sirens do in my world, but if you want your siren to do something particularly unique, then note it. (Also, if you have ability questions about any race, ask me.) Otherwise, I would like to know about your character's skills. What are they especially deft at, what do the other assassins know them for; do they excel in hand-to-hand combat or moving in and out of a location undetected? That sort of thing. This can absolutely be connected to their supernatural abilities if applicable.

APPEARANCE.
            preform. Size, body type, skin tone, body hair, scars, blemishes, body markings, eyes, teeth, faceclaim. Self-expression is difficult in their situation but tattoos are technically viable with Six around since he has magic, though they'd probably be forced to hide anything like this with uniforms. You can be as creative as you want with appearance. If you don't find a faceclaim that fits your character well enough, that's okay, let me know, we can go without one, and if you do have one of course give me extra details to tailor the faceclaim to your liking, but I like to have them because I struggle to properly visualize faces. As for body type, be realistic. Consider the species: a werewolf is probably going to be bigger and hairier whereas a siren will be petite and sleek. Also consider that these are people who have been training rigorously their entire lives. They aren't going to be drastically underweight or overweight, they're all going to be varying forms of muscular, although some might be bulky and heavy where others are light and flexible. There's different types of muscular, bodybuilders and ballet dancers look quite different. As for faceclaims, you can pretty much go wild ethnically as the setting is '60s America—immigration wasn't so high as it is now, but still a fairly diverse country. Your character can look however you so choose. I also want to know how they do up their hair if it's long and in the way, how they groom themselves, whether they're self-conscious about body hair and prune it or whether they proudly show off all their scars in training.
              midform. This is the fun one! Well, for the monsterf-ckers. The furries might like the next one. Anyway, if your character doesn't have a midform, just put N/A. If they do, describe what they look like. Fangs, scales, claws, wings, fur, spikes, et cetera. This is a humanoid state of partial shifting in which shifter mages have access to (most of) their abilities like strength, flight and speed without having to move fully over to the primal side. They would become much stronger and much more powerful in fullform, but it's wiser to avoid it. Now, it's important to remember that some midform traits are permanent and remain in preform. For example, One has a pair of front fangs where her canines should be. Those don't disappear. However, upon shifting, she receives a full set of fangs. That's how shifting works, in stages. Claws are also a common one; nails tend to be clawlike even in preform. Cutting them down in preform affects their use in mid and full. Winged races include dragons, griffins, voltris, and sphinxes, although voltris only have one form, a winged human form.
               fullform. If your character doesn't have one, put N/A. If your character only has two forms (siren), those would be pre and full, not pre and mid. Sirens have more control over their fullform, although they're still fairly violent (honestly, though, they're violent anyway). Any other fullform is basically a big animal, so describe your character's fursona lmao. Go wild idc.

WEAPON OF CHOICE. What weapons do they typically use in training, and do they wield a signature weapon? This doesn't have to line up with their specialty. While using the body as a weapon is encouraged, training with real weapons is also necessary, especially in the case of those without animalistic qualities like claws or fangs, or the advantage of superhuman strength. Only discreet weapons are technically allowed in field use, nothing messy. (Body, guns, and simple blades. And poison.) Other specialties are being prepared for more grandiose jobs in the future and are only occasionally deployed. P.S. If your character's favorite/signature weapon is a gun, name a specific firearm, and not one that wouldn't exist at this time, please.

PERSONALITY. Anyone familiar with my writing already knows that I don't like tropes except in the context of subverting them. Please don't make a character I've already seen before. I know that's hard, but do something a little bit different, maybe take a concept you like and put your own spin on it. You should be writing multiple paragraphs for this section. I love reading the personality part. I want to know how your character thinks, their demeanor, how they treat their fellow assassins, how they treat outsiders, how they approach their work, what happens when they get angry, what happens when they feel like they lose control. What are their coping mechanisms, how do they protect themselves from harm, what deep trauma trickled into their personality despite them not remembering why? What makes them let their guard down? If they're soft, do they choose to be soft, or is it simply naiveté? If they have a tough exterior, is it because they have no other choice? How and how often do they speak, and how do they interact with strangers, authority figures, enemies, and friends? You can't cover all that in a few sentences, so please be thorough. I usually write at least three paragraphs for my personality sections when I submit an oc to an applyfic but it's up to you as long as you give me enough to sufficiently write the character, because I will likely have to narrate from their perspective and the assassins will be getting a lot of pagetime in this story.

STRENGTHS. These can be bullet points, unless you want to go above and beyond and go into detail. This should be a list of positive attributes for your character, a combination of personality and things they're good at. A bulleted list just condenses those attributes so I can access them at a glance.

FLAWS. Same thing as strengths, but with negative attributes instead, and stuff they're bad at. I didn't put 'weaknesses' because you don't need to tell me your vampire character can't handle silver bullets, I already know that. I can take care of the in-world fantasy lore so long as you give me character flaws. That being said, if there's anything specific they can't handle that's out of the ordinary, feel free to put it in the Accommodations section or the Miscellaneous section.

BACKSTORY. The Mythica take advantage of desperate wayward children who have nowhere else to go, which is how they formed their perfect seven. When they were offered a place in their ranks, the Mythica would have also offered to wipe their memories in order so that the child could start their life anew. They used to have a voltris who could do this, although she has since been killed as a necessary precaution to avoid the Mythica's discovery by law enforcement (she was the only voltris on the continent, and it was dangerous). It has been impossible to find a replacement—thus, they no longer have a means to control the minds of the assassins if necessary. Your character would have been a very young child, probably between the ages of four and thirteen, when they found a Mythica member and were provided care and help. Their backstory should entail why they were on the streets, what their life was like as a child, and whether they agreed willingly to have their mind wiped or whether they fought (and why). If they were to begin to remember flashes or if they sometimes have dreams of their past memories, what details would they recall? If they were very young, it might be too hazy and vague to pinpoint much of any substance, and that's fine too. After that, please include in the backstory how they got along with the others as they grew up training in the gang, how well they transitioned to an isolated location living exclusively with the other assassins, and a glimpse into what their journey was like growing up in this way, as this may be mentioned or may be significant for the dynamic of the characters today. This doesn't need to be ten pages long, especially the childhood part. Consider that the character is an amnesiac and you don't need to write a bunch of stuff they won't remember anyway.

ATTITUDE TOWARDS JOBS. This will undoubtedly be connected to their morality, but is slightly different. How do they feel about the authority of the gang leaders who give them orders, how do they feel about the Mythica as an organization—loyalty, begrudging loyalty, maybe resentment?—and do they have any regrets today? Do they groan every time they have a new job or look forward to it, or even wait anxiously for their turn to get out of the warehouse? Do they engage in competition with the others, and is that competition intense or lighthearted?

MORALITY. Do they enjoy killing, are they numb to it by now, do they not care? Do they only care if the target looks like them, or do they draw the line at children? Are they religious, superstitious? Will they do anything so long as it benefits them or are they deeply loyal to people they care about? Do they have doubts every time they go out on a job? How might their personal morality conflict with that of others?

HABITS. Pretty self-explanatory, give me a few. Don't limit yourself just to "they pick their nails when they're nervous", or something, there are broader things too, like having a nightly routine or meticulously organizing their belongings or even a lack of habit can be a habit, forgetting to brush their teeth or clean their training knives. Being messy is a habit, being clean is a habit, speech patterns are habits, procrastination, timeliness or lack thereof, tics, addictions, all sorts of things.

ACCOMMODATIONS. Depending on your character's species, they might need certain things consistently accommodated for them. For instance, a vampire is going to need a steady supply of blood, right? And a siren can't be away from water for too long, a vampire can't go out and do jobs during the day—and if they take too long, it will be to their detriment. In-Betweens and magi can go "cold turkey" on using magic for long periods of time with withdrawals, but when they try to use them again it will be stiff and difficult, and they have an incentive to use magic because it induces a sensation of euphoria, so generally magic users should be utilizing magic in some capacity regularly. Hellhounds cannot survive in oxygen-low environments and werewolves must be restrained every full moon. Keep these things in mind when creating your character, and you're welcome to expand on restrictions for your character based on their race if you see fit. Otherwise, accommodations for physical or mental disability may be in order, so you should note those if applicable.

LIKES. Self-explanatory, a brief list separated by commas or bullet points is acceptable. Make your character feel like a person, give them interests and curiosities and quirks, even if they don't get much of an opportunity to explore these things. Telling me what they like and dislike in terms of people also helps give me an idea of who they might get along with and who they might clash with.

DISLIKES. Same idea as the Likes section. Turn-offs and pet peeves, too. Things that bother them, whatever makes them really irritable.

FEARS. Rattle off a few of these, maybe a major one and then a couple of more irrational stupid ones or ones that aren't as severe. They might've retained a deeply held fear from something that happened in childhood that seems irrational now because they don't remember why it's there. That's interesting, I like that! They might also be afraid of more general things; heights, failure, their primal instincts upon shifting, that sort of thing. An unhealthy lack of fear can be a significant personality aspect, too. Feel free to be weird—a vampire with a phobia of blood? Heck yeah, I'll take it. Fear can be a pretty significant aspect of a character's overall development.

DESIRES. Deep down, what do they want? What drives them to do what they do, and what makes them get up every morning? Do they have personal goals, do they seek freedom or perfection? Usually, conflicting desires or motives causes conflict between characters, and some of their fears might even come from the idea that their desires won't be fulfilled (for example, fear of lack of acceptance = desire for approval).

MISCELLANEOUS/OTHER [OPTIONAL]. And then here's the spot where you add anything else you feel like adding if you need it.

QUOTES [OPTIONAL]. If you quote your character it might make it slightly easier for me to get into their voice once I start writing them, but you don't have to.

COPYRIGHT AGREEMENT. Consent to use, minor alteration as needed, death (unlikely), injury, dismemberment, and appearance in future properties. Before you ask, no, you can't opt out of dismemberment. If it makes you feel any better, I've only done it twice. Three times if an eyeball counts.

TAGS [OPTIONAL]. Preferably 3+. If you don't have anyone to tag, that's fine. It's enough that you're here.

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Can I apply with more than one character? Sure. There are only six available slots, but you're welcome to apply as many times as you want. I'll be picking the ones I think are the most intriguing, will create interesting dynamics, and that I think I'll feasibly be able to write.

Can I (or myself and a friend) make a pair of siblings or cousins? Of course, I love writing family dynamics. For the most part, I would imagine the seven already treat each other like siblings or something close to it since they've trained and studied together for so long. Obviously some of the relationships may vary in that some of them might really hate each other or something, but I absolutely think throwing in a pair of biological siblings would shake things up and be cool to explore. If you want to pair up with another user and submit your forms together that's fine.

Can I give my character a disability? Within reason. As with everything else, be realistic; assassins deployed for very elite jobs who are supposed to be among the best fighters alive would have extremely high expectations put on them by their superiors, so an assassin in a wheelchair? Not realistic. An assassin with blindness? Sure, given that their deficiencies in this area can be made up for by their skills elsewhere. Your character just has to have individual agency, the ability to work independently without direct assistance. I also want to be able to portray things correctly, and it might be hard for me to accurately represent a disability I've never heard of or don't know much about. Neurodivergent characters are no problem if you consider that a disability, simply describe their personality in detail and I'll be able to write them as I would anyone else; I have some experience writing mute and deaf characters, speech impediments, and most recently one of my stories has featured a character with Tourette's. That's all I can say I have grown comfortable with so far, although I'm tentatively open to trying new things. A prosthetic limb shouldn't be an issue (and it would be the sort of thing that made sense, given the high risk for injuries).

Do I need to have existing knowledge of this universe/your other stories to apply? No. This isn't a sequel to The Quimby Hotel and is almost entirely unrelated. I don't expect anyone to sit down and read a whole novella about In-Betweens just to make an In-Between character, I'm not a psychopath. Also that novella has major issues and I'm rewriting it anyway. Just ask me questions if you have any about the world/species you're working with.

Does my character need a name? They don't need one, but you're welcome to give them one in the backstory if you'd like. If the need comes up in the plot, I might use it.

Do I need to put my character's age? Like the name, this isn't in the form because it isn't super relevant and the character, being an amnesiac, is unlikely to know this. However, if you feel it is relevant, like for example because your character is younger than the others and underage, or because they are older or younger than they appear (ex. actually 70 but in the body of a 13-year-old or something), you are welcome to add it in the Miscellaneous section. You could also say the year they were born in their backstory if you wanted to (it's currently 1965). Barring exceptions, the assassins are all probably in their twenties. They have to be able to keep up physically with their peers.

Do I need a backup faceclaim? The only reason I might ask you to change your faceclaim is because I am already using this faceclaim in another story (I try to avoid repeating them, but I'm willing to negotiate on that point and have before, although if you wanted to you could always skim the cast page of TDZ and the intro page of TQHd2 to avoid those faceclaims) or because your faceclaim looks too similar to somebody else's and I feel like the cast looks a bit too samey. The faceclaims already in use for Squad Zero are Manny Jacinto, Barry Keoghan, John Boyega, and Lucas Till, and Callum Turner for the kid. Also, like, please try to avoid sus faceclaims like Ezra Miller or somebody. I'm not very up-to-date on problematic celebrities but Ezra Miller would be crazy. I won't ask for a backup faceclaim for no reason, so it's not in the form. I'll let you know if there's an issue. Ultimately, if you don't find any faceclaim that suits your character, don't sweat it, a detailed description is fine.

Is there a specific type of character you're looking for? If you see a lot of people have applied with one species, try a different one. You're welcome to take my suggestions in the form or the ideas in the aesthetics to heart. Just do whatever you think sounds most interesting. Obviously I'm going to pick personalities that suit each other the most, that would create the most interesting conflicts and relationships. I also want the characters ideally to have varying skills, not just in their specialties, but in personality and in the smaller details, too. If everybody is equally good at the same thing, what's the point of having seven of them?

To clarify, what races are we allowed to use? Magi, sirens, vampires, werewolves, hydra, In-Betweens, and hellhounds are all fine. Others are sketchy but if you come up with a really good character concept and justification for it I might take it anyway. Every single member of the seven can be a different race, or there can be repeats, I don't have a preference. Most of the Mythica are mortem, especially leaders, with some vampires, hydra and hellhounds mixed in (and Black-Eyes as mainly errand runners). I repeat that if you have questions about abilities, which I'm positive somebody will, don't hesitate to ask. I can even list IB quirks if you want.

Can I apply with Google Docs? Google docs forms are preferred, but comments forms are also allowed. Just try to keep them neat and submit your form as a reply to your header comment.

Is there a form word limit? THE WORD LIMIT IS 10K. I REPEAT, THE WORD LIMIT IS 10,000 WORDS, ALYSSA AND GWEN. THIS WILL NOT BE AMENDED FOR ANYONE. 10k is already entirely absurd. A longer form doesn't have more or less merit than a shorter form so long as everything on it has been filled out thoroughly. Quality matters; I won't consider the length of the form at all when picking which characters to accept. So don't sweat it if it's only 4k-6k, I think this is perfectly normal, but seeing as there's only six slots, I will be perfectly glad to sit through a longer form.

What's the due date? Early to mid-March, so don't stress. Ask questions as needed and fill out the form with time and attention to detail. For now I'm still working on some other project goals, so I'll announce it when I set a final deadline.

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( next up: cast . . . )