How to make your application: *Read First*

Here you will find what we as Staff expect the application to contain and not contain. Please read through this and take what is written here to heart. We strive for Quality and excellence; this will help you with your start on your characters long journey. Remember if you follow these guidelines your application will be looked over quicker, less edits will happen and thus getting you onto RPing sooner than later.

"Who are you...?"

Name: Some people like their names reversed in true Japanese style, others first then last, others have no last/first name at all. Still other characters have nicknames or the like. Be sure to indicate which is which so other players know how to refer to you! (An example of Gary Thompson, nickname "Killer" reversed would be: Thompson, Gary. "Killer.") Note that we frown on copies of other people's work. If you try to pass an orange-haired swordsman who fights for his friends and is named "Kurodaki Ichido, " don't expect it to be approved.

Age:This section is pretty much up to you. Want an old man? A teenaged girl? Somewhere in between? Feel free to go with what seems to complement your character best. HOWEVER, we do have limits. No characters are allowed under 16, due to certain guidelines. NOTE that even if you play a 2,300 year-old Shinigami, they may look much younger. After entering the Soul Society, the aging process slows down greatly. How a Soul Reaper looks is largely dependent upon how old they were when they first died. Note that (as with Rukia) times may change drastically while you're outside of the Human World.

Gender:As it says. We're fairly open here at BG, so if you want to break ground with an "alternative" character, be our guest! It should spice up our roleplay merely by its novelty.

Height & Weight: Again this is pretty self explanatory, but remember if you are 6'5" and only 130lbs... You need to rethink the weight.

Eye & Hair Color: Again self explanatory.

"I define who I am!"

Appearance: Here's where you can get visual. Your character must have something that sets him apart, right? Does he have tattoos, piercings, a favorite shirt? Does she have a journal she carries, headphones, a particular perfume that identifies her? Think of what an observer might see if your character walked by. Then think about what lays beneath that first look. Here is also the place where, should you wish it, a picture can be placed to represent your character. Of course, no internet picture will perfectly show your unique character, but a visual can be helpful for those describing how your character looks.

As a secondary part, consider including how your character would look outside of his "natural habitat." For an example, Shinigami have Gigai (fake, material bodies) that they use in the Human World. Often these bodies are clothed in such a way to help its wearer go unnoticed. How would your character dress to evade suspicion?

"... And my actions define me!"

Personality Traits: In this section list some of the positive and negative traits that define what your character is like. These are very important pieces of your character. We've just established how he/she looks different, but how does he feel? What drives her, what makes her a positive|negative person to be around? What would people say about your character if they were praising or complaining about them? If you have difficulties figuring out some of these, try coming back after you finish the Negative Traits, or even after you finish the backstory. Chances are, your character will have formed in your head enough that you can finish these. Note that some of these traits may be both positive and negative. Being dedicated to a girl could be a good thing for her, but a bad thing for everyone else you're ignoring.

"You caught me in a Mono-log!"

Additional information: What do you want to say about your character that hasn't been already? Are there some traits she has that you couldn't fit in, or weren't quite important enough to mention? What else is there that's informative about him? Does your character like a type of music, entertainment, material? What makes him smile or frown?

"You will be punished!"

Race specific Items and Abilities: Addressing each one is a bit beyond this walkthrough's scope, but other guides can be found elsewhere. One note, though: Abilities and techniques are two different things. Abilities are overarching concepts that often give a clue into the character's personality. Bob Thompson's ability, for example, is water manipulation. He can move it, play with it, morph it into neat and interesting shapes… and that's about it. His techniques, however, are more advanced. One of his techniques, Obligatory Water Shark forms a shark out of water and has it charge at an opponent, teeth bared! However, that's not what we're looking for here. Bob will have to take his techniques to the Stats and Techniques board, where you'll be going after you get approved. Remember: applications are for data and visuals. Later will come the more flashy, (usually) combat-oriented pieces.

"Are you the one from my past?"

Background: Here is where your character's past unfolds. We're looking for a detailed summary of what your character has been through. A common theme is merely going through step-by-step, but other ways of breaking the past into pieces are also acceptable. What you want to have here is, besides a history, an explanation of how your character got to this point physically, spiritually and mentally. What events made him have the positive and negative qualities he has today? What contributed to her mood and personality? People don't have all of their traits predetermined. Events change them and help them grow in new ways. Remember that in some races these memories should go up to and beyond death, but they may not remember them afterwards. If you plan on roleplaying that your character, now deceased, is still haunted by a beloved pencil case from all those years ago, you'd better have a very good reason for it.

*Note: Even if you do not remember your past, please include it. This will help create an even deeper character and possibly a personal plot that you may later wish to delve into, something for your character to build his actions on, or maybe you won’t use it at all. The choice is yours, but we still want it included.


RP Sample:

This is one of the most important (initially, at least) parts in your application. While it needn't be long, well-formatted or even about this character (though we prefer all three), what it should show is your skill. One of the goals of our site is to have our players became better writers. Ideally, as your character is training his or her skills in Kidō or swordsmanship, you'll be training your own skill in writing. You'll even level up, too- by the time your character is Prestige-worthy your writing will be leagues above what it was.

As a final note on other guidelines

Our (unpaid) staff is very busy, and it's possible we might not get to your application as soon as you'd like. Don't worry, though. Our team of winged monkeys with typewriters should be able to get around to your app sooner rather than later. Don't despair! If you really feel ignored, try logging onto the Chatbox (bottom of the home page) and badgering pleading with nicely reminding a staff member of your application. You'll know them by the @ sign in front of their name, or their presence on the staff member list to the left side of your screen. That said, don't be obnoxious. The best way to delay your approval is by constantly nagging someone to get on it. They have a lot to do already. Be nice.
When (if) you are approved, you will be placed in an appropriate standing for the skill you've shown us so far. A good application might get you to low-mid tier, an excellent one might get you to mid tier, and a truly fantastic one might just catapult you all the way to the high tier. You can of course ask for a lower position, but asking for a higher one is pretty much doomed. By this time we know your skill level pretty well, and are certain where we'd like to have you. Don't worry, though- this is no caste system. People rise and fall routinely. All it takes is diligence and effort. Now, I'm sure you're wondering "what makes an application good enough to impress the staff?" Well, there are several things we're looking at.
1. Conventions: we want to see good, fluent grammar. Capitalize the first letter of a sentence, use apostrophes where they're needed, and keep the flow natural. Do you have a ton of obvious mistakes one read-through would have fixed? That's not a good thing.
2. Writing: we want to see good, solid work. It shouldn't bore us to read your application; we should be captivated by the story you're weaving, looking away only when it ends.
3. Elevated diction: do you have eloquence and poise without becoming too verbose? This is a sure sign that your writing is high class. If you reuse the same words over and over without parallellistic intent, if you fall victim to endless clichés and base language, and if you can't seem to form a word longer than two syllables then your writing maturity is not what we're looking for in a high-tier player. But don't worry; you can always get there later.
4. A "finished" headline: when you are done with your application, edit your thread title to contain the word "FINISHED." If you don't do this, we won't know you're done.
5. Correct format: when you're ready to begin, see the links below for race-specific applications. These will contain more in-depth information to do with the race your character belongs to, and less on overall method. Only move forward if you think you've got all this down, or if you can manage to switch back and forth when you have questions. Post your application in the WIP section.


IF YOU HAVE BEEN APPROVED, congratulations! You're halfway done in the creation of your character, and this has been the hard part. Now that your foundation is established, head over to the Stats + Techniques board, where you'll begin working on your character's special moves and power levels.

IF YOU HAVE BEEN DENIED, you have our sincerest regrets. Sadly, it seems your application was not up to par. You're encouraged to try again, because guess what? The hard part is mostly done, especially if you merely refine the denied character. Character creation once you get the hang of it can be a real breeze, and a pleasure. Note that it's pretty hard to get denied. For us to outright disapprove your application, you would need to make a pretty egregious mistake. Common examples include copying another character wholesale, including extremely (far, far beyond socially acceptable) themes, or just not even giving the application process a proper try.

Here's to an excellent roleplaying experience! Good luck!

Quincy App
Shinigami App
Arrancar App
Human App