Understand the secrets and have some fun

[these_balls]

APPLICATIONS!
Currently: Closed!
Route 29 has closed as of May 30th. For the continuation of the game, please visit victory_road!

Applications will be normally checked during the weekend following the first and third Sunday of each month unless otherwise stated, and we will allow one application per person during one application cycle. Remember, the most characters one player can have at a time is currently set at five.

Applications received after 11:59 PM EST on Saturday of the first and third weekend of each month will be checked the following app weekend unless otherwise stated.

We now ask that potential applicants post their application in comments rather than linking. If their application contains explicit references to 'hard' spoilers (character death, unforeseen plot twists, big reveals, he was evil all along etc), players should put the application in their own journal or their character's journal and link it, making sure to mention the presence of spoilers within. For further clarification on our spoilers policy and whether or not your application needs to be linked, please check this page. Thank you for your cooperation!

The comment character limit on dreamwidth is 16,000 characters so apps no longer need to be split into multiple comments; however this is at players' discretion.

Please use the form below and post your application in comments rather than linking if you can. If you have any questions, feel free to ask either of the mods. You can reach us through emails, IMs, or PMs.

A reminder for those waiting to hear back, please don't be worried if we skip yours while going through them. It only means we needed a little more time to research!

Helpful links!
Taken: 1|2|3 / Reserves
Please do not app a character from either of these unless you reserved them!
Starter Pokémon!
A compiled list of the starter pokémon to choose from offered in Route 29!
Word Count Tool!
Word count! It has other pointless stats too.
Navigation


<u><b>Player</u></b> <b>Name:</b> <b>Personal Journal:</b> <user name=""> <b>E-mail:</b> <b>AIM/Plurk/Etc.:</b> <b>Timezone:</b> <b>Current Characters in Route:</b> <b><u>Character</u></b> <b>Name:</b> <b>Series:</b> <b>Timeline:</b> <b>Canon Resource Links:</b> Here we would have the links to wikis and other information sites. If none of those seem to provide enough information, feel free to add more about the character here. However, please do not use this section as a full history section unless your canon is ridiculously obscure. General rule of thumb: if there are a good amount of descriptive resources, please just link them and use this section to add in what may have been left out, as opposed to writing an entire history section. <b>Personality:</b> Give us at minimum 2-3 full paragraphs of how you understand your character's personality. Talk about basic characteristics, any major developments over the course of their canon, their motives, their social behavior, and anything else you can think of that shows off your knowledge of this character. <b>Strengths/Weaknesses:</b> Try to cover the good points of what they can do, their life skills (not necessarily powers, but things they're just good at). Go into their biggest fears and what they just can’t do. <b><u>Pokémon Information</u></b> <b>Affiliation:</b> What career path will your character be taking? Breeder, Trainer? Or maybe even down the dark path of becoming a member of Team Rocket? Note: All Rocket members start as grunts. (For right now, only those three positions are available, whether your character chooses to follow their assigned path or not.) <b>Starter:</b> What starter pokémon do you want your character to have? Please use the list linked above to choose from. Certain pokémon have an orange star next to their names; if you choose one of these starters (Deino, Zorua, Litwick, Pikachu, Scyther, Dratini, Bagon, Gible, Axew, Ralts, Riolu, Beldum, Larvitar, Eevee, or Beldum) you must provide reasoning. You do not need to explain your reasoning for pokémon other than those listed above. <b>Password:</b> This is where you'll put the passwords from the Rules and the F.A.Q. There are two words, to assure you've read both. <b><u>Samples</u></b> <b>First Person Sample:</b> The sample must take place in Route_29's setting. Eight sentences is the minimum. This is a PokéConnect post--one that will be on the character's journal, broadcast to the network. Although it is short, it needs to show how your character would communicate with others, as well as be descriptive enough to express the character's voice without sounding too generic. <b>Third Person Sample:</b> The sample must take place in Route_29's setting. The minimum is 300 words. Please note that what we are looking for is an inner working into the character’s thoughts and actions, and how the character responds to the setting, not something that could be taken as an excerpt fanfic. You may use other characters to bounce your characters actions off of, but everything should still be mostly from their point of view.

Comments

2/2 i can't believe i went over the comment limit

[brocrux]

The only thing he's not confident in is his own personality. A sword may look awesome and be useful in a fight but it's full of sharp edges and dangerous to be around otherwise. He knows he's cool but he also knows "cool" could be a terrible person. Growing up alone, Dirk has been with his own thoughts for a long time. He surrounded himself with versions of himself. This made a constant mirror for him to look into and see his own flaws. He externalizes these versions to the point where he often feels he is an outsider looking at himself. After finally being around people, he realizes his interactions with people can be toxic. He does not believe himself to be a good person in the slightest. Dirk puts himself in a constant struggle to avoid being an even worse person. His own worst enemy is himself, metaphorically and literally. This is clear with how to reacts to the Auto Responder. The AR is an artificial intelligence that started out as a copy of brain at age thirteen. Dirk allowed him to pretend to be him until he realized his behavior is something he doesn't like. The AR points out is the same behavior Dirk would be having in the same situation. The AR is rude to him and Dirk does it back because this is how he thinks he deserves to be treated.

His low opinions of himself twist his confidence. This leads to a distrust in others when it comes to opinions about him. Dirk is arrogant, even during all his self-loathing. He is the smartest but since he can't fix himself, no one can. He's the failure because he is the most qualified. It's all on him. Compliments directed towards him are often dismissed. He is not reaching his own personal standards. He doesn't like what he sees in the mirrors. He thinks he knows best and what he knows is that he's the worst so everyone else is wrong when they say he's not. He knows it to his core. He distances himself from his friends when things go south. This distance only causes him to feel terrible because he is alone with himself again.

He can get caught in a cycle of unintentional self-sabotage as a result of this skewed self-image. Nothing about Dirk Strider is "half-assed." One can count on him to put a lot of thought and effort into everything. While this can be a good thing and turn him into an unstoppable force, it can also turn him into a complete disaster. His inability to let something go sends him into a downward spiral when mixed with his self-hate. He ends up sabotaging himself without knowing how to stop because he has to keep trying to perfect the flaws. He has to perfect something because no one else is capable. He keeps trying and trying without stopping to ask for help then he hates himself for it. Repeat forever.

He fears that sharing his deep respect and love would overwhelm Roxy. In actuality, it would be the other way around. It would overwhelm him to hear praise he can't argue with. He holds remorse for everything he does and everything every version of him does. He owns up to what he does and says in every universe. He isn't sure how to approach fixing problematic areas without an act of self-destruction. He almost destroys AR but can't bring himself to do it. AR states he doesn't think Dirk is capable of being happy under any normal circumstances. This is yet another factor into why his face remains stoic. He doesn't think he has anything to smile about.

He puts himself under a lot of stress. Dirk stated he does not sleep, trying to be alert at all times. He likely doesn't sleep much once he lacks a dream-self that allows a constant state of being awake. He gets distracted while trying to do everything at once and always ends up zoning out on one end to focus on the other. Despite claims and attempts to do so, he's not great at multi-tasking. But his life required him to be on guard and never learned how not to be, so he keeps at it. He more or less skipped childhood. He assumed he had to take the position of main protector for the group like he had always been for himself.

He idealizes his friends and feels he has to help them. This is the role he thinks he is best at and doesn't know what other purpose he might serve for them outside of it. He doesn't want anyone to see him fail because failure would mean a loss of purpose and thus a loss of self. The complete loss of control is the worst fear for him so he grasps at what little he can get of it to remain functional. He keeps trying even if things are completely out of his hands. Their entire game session had been out of their hands. He kept scoping out every little part of it despite knowing it was a waiting game to find something to grasp. Dirk can't back down completely lest he completely shatter to pieces.

He's getting better at picking pieces back up. At the end, we see him talking with Jake after mutually avoiding each other. This looks like conversation that involves apologizing or having a more formal official break-up. Dirk seems to be actually sharing emotions in a reasonable matter. Jake's personality and way of life is almost the polar opposite of Dirk. Jake goes with the flow and was ready for adventure at the drop of a hat. This always appealed to him and he saw Jake as a second half that could help control his insanity. It didn't at the time but he knows having him there is better than not as a balance, even if romance is off the table.

The first big step before this was with Dave, someone who isn't his idol but he thinks might be even better. He states he's glad someone gave him an objective opinion about himself. He hasn't received one before. Roxy has idolized him, Jane and Jake had been too kind and AR has only ever amplified his own opinions back at him. He gives up control to Dave and lets him take the reigns of the fight (and literally murder him in a triple head slice.) Dirk stopped being unbreakable.

But he's still a fuck up that looks at puppet porn. Jesus.

[these_balls]

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Pokemon!
Congratulations, you have a fun and exciting adventure awaiting you.

Now that you've been accepted...
[○] Respond to this with your character's journal. This is a must!
[○] Comment in the Taken Characters post, alphabetized by series: # thru G, H thru O, or P thru Z.
[○] Comment to the Friend Add/Remove, and update your friends list.
[○] Join the following communities: route_29, route_006, route_1065, pokedaycare. Only Team Rocket personnel should join rocket_hq, but we ask that all Route members subscribe to it.
Note! You will not be accepted to the main or logs community until you've commented in the aforementioned places.
[○] If you're still on the reserved list, please let us know that they've been accepted.
[○] Please make sure to check out the Calendar for the weather and upcoming plots and swarms!
[○] Route 29 has an optional spam/meme community; it's slowpoke_gif!
[○] You can also find our mod plurk at RouteMods; if you have a Plurk, we suggest you become a fan!

We'd also like to take this moment to inform you of the Eastern Kanto Ferry! For only P2000, you can take a three day, all-inclusive ferry ride from New Bark Town to Pallet Town and begin a new pokémon journey in the Kanto region! Otherwise, feel free to start in Johto!

Thank you! See you in the Pokémon world!

Please note: Route 29 will be changing at the end of the month. Please read herer for more details. In addition, we have an event going on!

[brocrux]

This is the journal. Thank you!