Very Long Apping Guide Part 1
This is a Very Very Long Guide directed at people wising to app into CFUD (so long it is in two parts) It is primarily geared toward new blood, but hopefully it has some information that can be useful to everyone. I am putting it both here, in Ed's journal, and it was posted in CFO the other day.
General Overview - The Process
The way apping for camp works is like this!
Getting Ready - Picking the Character
I'm not going to discuss if you REALLY want to app that character or not here. It used to seem like Certain Characters just would not work in camp. But I've literally seen every class of character, from amazingly cracky to outstandingly evil, played well in camp. You want to app them? GO FOR IT. Use your own self knowledge to determine if you will have fun, play them well, or drop them after a month. If you do end up wanting to drop after a month? It's not the end of the world. You took a shot at it. Use what knowledge you've gained to pick a different character better suited to you. We don't slaughter people for dropping characters, nor expect that apping someone means you keep them until your dying days.
But there are technical things to apping characters you need to know. Namely! Are they valid? Here are all of the current rules for what characters you may or may not app that I can think of:
All in all, camp really has very few restrictions to keep characters out. The only big one is the age thing, and counselors can still get in twice a year and there isn't as much pressure on those as there used to be (there used to be a limit of how many counselors could get in, and weeding was quite heavy). As it is, my youngest character is 2, my oldest has been around since the start of creation. I play a character who removes people's organs FOR FUN, and then Vash the Stampede. Your apping range is as wide as you want it to be.
Getting Ready - Things to Think About
Aside from writing the app itself (we're getting to that) there are a few other things to keep in mind for your character.
Icons-
A fairly big one for many people. The majority of the characters in camp are played with the 100 icon maximum that Live Journal allows (and we pray on a daily basis that it will be increased). If you have never roleplayed before, or haven't in a large community, this may seem like ridiculous overkill. Hell. MAYBE IT IS. None-the-less we willingly shuck out 7 bucks every two months per journal to keep our icons up. This is NOT REQUIRED in any way! However it is recommended. Icons are a large part of the roleplay experience and which one you use when you comment tends to vastly change the implications of the words. Since we are not a prose RP, we use icons to convey everything from rage to apathy, humor to fear, and as you work with your character you are likely to find they have far more than 15 expressions (far more than 100, really).
As far as GETTING ICONS, that is up to you. If you are apping from a visual medium of some kind, where to get them is fairly obvious. You're going to need to screencap and crop anime or movies, or crop and clean up manga. It isn't uncommon for players to spend an absurd amount of time on their character's icons *cough* but how much work you do or don't want to put into it is of course up to you.
If you are apping from a non-visual medium, such as a novel, you will likely want to look for model or actor who suitably fits the description of your character and use them to make icons from. There are livejournal communities dedicated to this sort of thing. If you are the artistic sort, people have been known to draw their own icons as well.
Journal Name-
You'll be needing a livejournal user name! Some people consider it a jinx to decide these things, or to create the journal before receiving the character. Either way it is something to think about while you are working toward apping.
What Is An App? - The Basics
For the bare bones of it, here is what you do.
In more detail, this is your app, which will slave over until it can reach a 70% IN.
Character: Your character's full name.
Series: The series the character is from, if there are multiple versions of the canon, be specific (I.E. Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)) Some people like to supply a wikipedia link to the canon for people who may want to find more information.
Character Age: If the physical and actual ages differ, include both if it is relevant. (I.E. 300 years old, but permanently stuck at age 12).
Canon: Canon is deeply important and I will be covering it at more length later. But basically, this is where you describe the character as they appear in their canon, and the series itself if it is important. You want to give an interesting and understandable impression of WHO THE CHARACTER IS, primarily as they relate to themselves. If your canon is flooded with things like "Miaka is the true love of Tamahome and she spends a lot of time staring deeply into his eyes and he would do absolutely anything for her like that one time joined the enemy to protect her." etc then... your canon isn't really about Miaka, it's about Miaka and Tamahome's relationship. We want to hear about the character's strengths, weaknesses, and personality. How he or she talks, interacts with people, and important bits of their history or abilities, as well as an idea of their function in their series. It's perfectly fine to describe the hero as being the hero of the story, just go into more depth than that. Also, the single most important thing is that the canon reflect the sample app, if your character is usually SUPER PERKY but gets desperately terrified around zombies, and then you fail to mention that, but write her as being desperately terrified throughout the sample app, your canon and app do not match and you will be voted out by people who don't know you canon and can't recognize the character.
Canon is typically between 200 words and 300. 350 at the absolute max.
Sample Post: There are a lot of do's and don't's here, which will also be covered in more detail later. But basically, there is where the app itself goes. This is to be written in the first person present voice of your character. Technically, it is to be written as a journal entry, however most apps do not have the feel of being written on a computer, nor do they need to. The idea is that it is the character speaking. It is not prose, it is not a mental monologue. Unless your character is the type to monologue out loud, with no one within ear shot, it is expected that it be written for an audience of some sort. Whether that audience be the whole of camp or just that toucan over there.
Apps tend to be between 300 words and 400. 500 at absolute max. Generally speaking, you want the app to be about 100 words longer than the canon, in order to have proportions that don't make your canon look super long or you app look super short.
CFUD Specific - Do's and Don’ts for Your App
aka If you only read one part of this guide, read this!
Basically, the hardest part about apping to most people is always in the little things. Because you can have a good voice and a decent canon and you simply won't go in if you Do It Wrong. This is harsh! And probably the most unfair part of the application process. But simply due to the nature of the community, how things are Usually Done and Shall Continue To Be Done is what you Want To Do, you can either surpass it or... quit! Obviously I'm aiming this at the former, because I certainly don't want these little details to keep awesome and IC people out of the game, but if you try to fight it you're honestly just wasting your breath. Everyone deals with these every time they app. You must too.
And tragically, there are only so many ways to overcome these nuances. If you are lucky, you have a natural feel for how to app CFUD and don't need anything explained to you. 95% of people don't fit into that category (this includes people already in camp! Which is why I'm famous for telling people to rewrite their apps). Otherwise you have been in camp a long time and have learned what to do and not do, seen what works and what doesn't. Or else you have a beta who can find these things for you and help you fix them. I am going to do my best to explain every one of these points I can remember, explain why they don't work, and recommend how to fix them. This list may be a bit messy but I will order it the best I can.
First, there are some very basic overall rules that apply no matter what.
First Person Present Tense- MUST. All of camp is written from this point of view. This doesn't mean your character can't say "I was in the woods." But the implication is "I am here right now telling you about how I was in the woods." And at some point the app will catch up to "Hello camp, I wish all of you a good day." and not "I said hello to camp and wished them all a good day". Okay? Think journal entry. "I did this and that and then this and now I feel this and that and one of those."
Camp is NOT a prose style RP, and prose is never acceptable in applications unless you have a very unique situation, such as apping a character who is an author and frequently monologues in prose. And even then you wouldn't want to do that for the entire app.
The App Is Pure Monologue- One person talking. Possible and very rare exceptions to this is having one character with multiple personalities, in which case it might be considered a dialog if the personalities speak to each other. However, having a zombie talk as in "Hello, Mr. Zombie!" "Braaains" is not acceptable. What IS okay is "Hello, Mr. Zombie! How are you? 'Braaaaains' you say? How nice!"
*Actions* Are Bad- In ye olde camp days, you could get away with one action such as a *BANG* sfx or something in the app if the rest of your app was really strong and the action noticeably contributed to the app. Those days are almost entirely gone and putting *ACTIONS* in your app will severely weaken it. I won’t say it will absolutely never work, but I strongly suggest not trying it.
Spelling Is Good- Grammar is subject to character voice, and provided you don't abuse the hell out of commas, or just throw in quotation marks at random, you won't get burned too hard. Spelling can get you in trouble. One mistake here or there isn't a big deal and will often be completely missed, but if you aren't good at spelling and obviously haven't used a spellcheck, people WILL vote you out. Spellcheck your final app and proofread it carefully for left out misused words.
Over Formatting Is Bad- By formatting I mean! Italics, bold face, underlines, strikeouts, smallfont and largefont. I also throw into this things that aren't actually formatting but are noticeable due to not being a regular part of speech, such as tildes ~ and ellipses ... and heartmarks ♥. All of these things are acceptable in moderation, but the overall look of your app IS important, and basically you want people to look at your app and see the paragraph as a whole. It should look like a normal paragraph: a block of words. If instead of seeing A Paragraph they see font that shifts in size and shape constantly. Or just sentences interspaced frequently with ~'s, it's going to look bad.
There are no exact numbers for this. It depends on the character you are apping, how they speak and such. Fay uses ~ a hell of a lot more than Zack does, and how much you use them changes the voice. But then again Earl of the Millennium heartmarks after 90% of his sentences, and if you did that in app it would just look bad. If you need a rough idea, I'd say no more than three to four alterations/oddities to each medium-large paragraph. But things like italics are less obvious than smallfont, and you can get away with more.
That's pretty much it for every situation rules. Next, to start broadly:
App Formats-
By this I mean the... way the character is presented in your app, there are two basic styles to write an app that are considered widely most acceptable. I won't say these are the only two possibilities, but they're the only ones I can think of, and make up probably 98% of the winning apps we see in camp.
Interaction Apps- This is a popular style of app that revolves around the character interacting with things and the app consisting of what the character says during this interaction. An example would be:
"My, I've never seen such a pretty toucan! You have a big beak don't you? Such a big bea--EEK! MY EYE YOU BITCH THAT WAS MY FUCKING EYE"
Even though we don't have anything like "And then the toucan poked Betty's eye out", the monologue is written in such a way that we can discern what is happening by what is said. Apps written in this style tend to be 'journey' apps, and will move the character through a series of interactions, either with one camp creature or a group of them. Zombies are especially popular for these apps because they are humanoid and can 'do' virtually anything you need them to do for the purpose of the app, from attacking your character to inviting them to a party.
Pros to this style of app:
-Offers a variety of things which can happen to your character, and thus forcing them to react in ways that may be humorous or interesting for voters.
-Many characters will not easily monologue at length, forcing them into one end of a conversation with something that cannot speak is often useful in such cases.
-Often makes it easier to fit in jokes, especially ones that might be particular to the character (I.E. Having something call Ed a 'bean').
Cons to this style of app:
-Tends to have weaker character voice. Because the character is only reacting or 'commenting' on things most likely very out of the ordinary, it's harder to get a general sense for how they speak and act with regards to camp itself, rather than Zombie_A who is Doing This.
-Can easily get gimmicky. Since the app relies on things happening off screen, appers often feel what is happening offscreen needs to be funny in its own right. However, a character talking to a zombie trying to eat his head tends to be far more interesting (and gives a better sense of the character himself) than a character watching a toucan cancan line. The 'funny' offscreen thing distracts from character’s actions and voice, and honestly, those things probably aren't funny anymore, nor have they been in two years.
-Can easily get busy. Since 'reactions' are typically short, such apps will keep up a series of events happening to the character until the app is long enough, this leads to a string of odd things, none of which are interesting in of themselves (though the character's reactions might be), but can give an overall feel that too much action has taken place in the app.
-Frequently leads to exposition dialog. Exposition dialog is saying something that one would not normally say in order to convey what is happening. To use my above example with the toucan and the eye it would be more like: "-EEK! HOW DARE YOU FLY DOWN AND POKE OUT MY LEFT EYE". Another more frequent use of exposition dialog is the character repeating whatever is said or done offscreen. "'Brains', you say?" is a classic.
Directed Monologue Apps- this is the second style of apping. A directed monologue app tends to be more like an actual journal entry, though the character can be 'talking' or 'writing', the idea is that they are doing it all at once, without stopping to interact with whatever along the way. These apps can be anything from the character writing a letter home to mom, and relaying events of camp, or the character speaking in an 'open letter' to the Director about what she or he THINKS of this damn place, or the character introducing his or herself to the camp and campers as a whole, and explaining the trials they've been through to get here.
To continue with my earlier example, in this style of app it would go:
"Owwwww--fuck! This hurts! So on my way here I saw this fucking toucan and I just wanted to pet it a little and can you BELIEVE the bastard took my goddamn eye out? Who the hell here is a healer? God I hate losing eyes. Such a bitch."
Pros to this style of app:
-Tends to have stronger voice impact, because it is entirely the character's own priorities, words and thought process.
-Is the best way to 'prove' the apper's ability to play the character, since if you can get a character to ICly monologue for 400 words you're doing pretty good with them.
-Less need for camp interaction, or to come up with 'creative' or 'interesting' camp things. Simply mentioning the character's opinions on zombies is often enough to get the ball rolling.
Cons to this style of app:
-Because MOST CHARACTERS don't monologue at length, and their canons consist of them playing off of something else, this style of app tends to be much more difficult
-Can easily get monotonous, even if you can get a character to monologue they may very well be very boring about it
-Often requires a greater grasp of voice and more extrapolation on the character and how they talk, due to not being a reaction type app.
Mixing!- Obviously you don't have to do all of one or the other. It's quite common to start with an Interaction app and move into a Directed Monologue, or visa versa. I wouldn't say mixing it up guarantees the best of both worlds, but it may help you in your app writing process to try it.
Personal Thoughts- Now that I tried SO HARD to keep my bias out of that, let me say that I have a giant pet peeve toward Interaction apps, and unless they are done really strongly will almost always suggest people rewrite them with less interaction reliance. I don't mind some, but if an entire app is a series of Stuff Happening To Character and Character Reacting the app is almost always weak on voice and characterization. I wouldn't say never use Interaction style! Just be aware that moderation is good. Also the more reliance on something happening off screen, the weaker it is. Interacting with a group of zombies gesturing at the character isn't as bad as having an entire conversation with a zombie that we only see one half of. Having an entire conversation AT a zombie is better, because the implication is nothing is being said offscreen that needs to be relayed back to us.
I tend to aim for Directed Monologues, and in the case that you have such a character that just would never monologue at length, FIND a reason to make them do so. I always use Kira's app as an example of this, simply because it's when I figured it out for myself. Kira is not a character who talks at length, but with the proper motivation, he certainly CAN. As can most characters, if you figure out why they would. And working from that angle of what makes them talk at length also adds to characterization on its own.
Either way, be aware of what you are doing, what you are aiming for, and what is well received. While I don't favor Interaction Apps, you can certainly do that, just be aware of the weaknesses, and if you want to go for a Directed Monologue, but aware of THOSE weaknesses. Don't try to break the box and do something completely new and amazing! Because honestly, the tried and true is far more likely to pull you through.
App Content-
What you talk about in your app! 'Content' generally means there has to be something of substance. An idea, an encounter, it can be just about anything but will basically act as a fixed point for the text to revolve around. For example, Character A gets bit by a zombie. If Character A is neurotic, you may then have an entire paragraph of them worrying about infection. If Character A is a horror flick junkie, it may be an entire paragraph of worrying about becoming a zombie themselves. The same situation can result in two entirely different app directions for two different characters.
For this reason, in general what you choose to talk about in your app is pretty much up to you. People say that talking about zombies gets boring, but the vast majority of apps have some sort of basic zombie commentary or interaction. It might not SEEM entertaining, but apps get in despite it. Why? Because what we care about is how they react to the zombies; that shows characterization. Apps which rely on New And Amazing Things, like pokadotted zombie lemurs hosting a formal ball and you are invited, tend to get lost in all of the New And Amazing Stuff which... does nothing to show characterization! Why interact with a polkadotted zombie lemur at a ball if you can show just as much characterization by interacting with a zombie? Don't spend so much time creating Amazing Camp Creatures that you outshine the personality and actions of your character with them.
But outside of that warning? What you can do is pretty much limitless. Camp is that sort of place. Just make sure that what you choose to use as content has a purpose to it.
As for what you CAN'T do, there are a few content subjects you want to avoid. They are:
Canon Reliance- This can be one of the hardest ones for many characters. You are apping a character with a great deal of reliance on others in their canon, and so it's only natural to have the character talk about THEM instead of about him or herself. Tragically that is not really an option. People should not need to know your character's relationships in their canon to follow your app. This means if you're apping Pinky, you don't spend your entire app going on about what The Brain might think. By rule of thumb, you can have roughly a half a paragraph to a paragraph of content that focuses on ONE (1!) Canon Thing. This means one paragraph about the Brain. Not one paragraph about The Brain, the Lab Back Home, And Those Four Times We Almost Took Over The World.
This is for several reasons. First, you want your app to be easily followed and understood by people who don't know your canon. If you have a lot of canon references, you are likely to make people feel like they being left out of the loop somehow. Additionally, the Point Of The App is to prove you are capable of handling the character. You need to show voice, understanding, and that you can play your character WITHOUT relying on their cast, world, plot, etc. Camp is all about taking the character out of their element, and you need to show you can do that in the app, and still play them ICly. You aren't doing that effectively if your character arrives in zombie camp and can only talk about the people back home.
Camper References- This is when references are made to people who are already in camp. Typically speaking, people will only do this if they are apping their canonmates. For example, a Tear apper might mention that she came to camp to fetch Luke. This is generally acceptable as your one bit of Canon Reliance. But it also counts towards Camper References. Because long in the past there were issues with people indiscriminately referencing characters in their app that they don't play, it's now common courtesy to ask the players of said characters if they mind being referenced in your app. Then usually to mention in the Canon section that you received permission for this reference. In such cases it's important to make sure you don't misrepresent the character you are mentioning (I.E. Tear calling Luke a useless failure), as doing so will make people mad at you.
App Construction-
How your app is put together! Basically, flow and structure. I can't really give you a list of don't for this, because it's just too subjective to character and situation. However, if you lurk on campfuckuvote at all you may notice apps tend to have a certain look to them.
Roughly, an app is going to be anywhere from three to seven paragraphs, at least three of those paragraph will typically be a good length (eight to twelve sentences). You may have a few very short paragraphs thrown in for punchlines or reading flow. Apps will typically NOT be a long series of one to three sentence paragraphs, nor will it usually be one single block of text.
But none of these are really Don'ts. I've seen all of these done effectively before; just make sure it fits your character. Above all, make sure it reads well. The reader should not get lost in a slew of words, but it should maintain their attention. If the character never spends more than one sentence on any given subject, that damn well be an important character trait, because jumping around that much for no reason will drive readers crazy.
Basically, you CAN structure your app anyway you want. But avoid going outside the standard set up unless you have a good reason for it. Wanting to be 'different' isn't a good reason. Having a character who simply ABSOLUTELY WOULD DO IT THIS WAY is a good reason, and keep in mind even if that is How They Would Totally Do This, you still have to ICly and convincingly represent it.
Another important thing to watch for is paragraph flow. Apps tend to discuss a different content subject with each paragraph. People often construct their apps aiming for 'three jokes', and they write three separate jokes very well, but can't string them together comprehensively and the app looks disjointed. The entire app should not only read easily but should flow together as a comprehensive thought process, from beginning to end.
Pet Peeves-
That's pretty much it for the app building Do's and Don’ts. These are just things that people tend to throw in or leave out of their apps or canons that may cost them votes.
As a disclaimer, the reason pet peeves are listed as pet peeves and not overall rules, is because you CAN make it work. It has been done in the past, will be done in the future. A strong app will almost always overcome a pet peeve, especially if it uses that peeve in an effective way to make the app stronger. Additionally, pet peeves only apply to some players, and not all players will vote out on just one, and generally speaking the inclusion of a single pet peeve will not throw you out of the running completely. Losing three or four votes will just bring your percentage down. If the rest of the app is good you will almost always still go in. But in order to avoid accidentally doing many of these and lowering your chances, here are the ones I can think of.
Image Links in the Canon or App- Once upon a time it was popular to put image links into the canon or app, usually for purposes of humor. These were often drawing or photoshopped images. It was funny for a little while, then quickly got old, and at this point is generally recommended against unless you have a very IC reason for it or a very OOC need for it.
I.E. Namine is a character who canonically draws cute pictures of things, and through them can shape memory. Having one of Namine's drawings within the app would not be a horrible idea if done well.
I.E. When I apped Argilla I included a link to a picture of her demon form in the canon, because I wasn't sure how to effectively make sure people would understand that she has mouths in her breasts without just showing it.
However, these are rare circumstances. Pictures are generally not a good idea if it's just because "this is a canon image that is funny" or "here is a grate photoshop I made in lieu of a punchline". Unless your character canonically photoshops the hell out of things. And even then? In most places you can use a picture, you can probably use words just as effectively.
Accents- A lot of characters canonically speak with a heavy accent. If you mention in the canon section that yes, their accent is truly this over the top, people who have difficulty with the accent will usually abstain rather than vote out based on it. However, make sure you if you have a character with really unusual written speech patterns that you clarify in the canon that this IS how they speak.
Suffixes and Random Japanese- CFUD has a lot of people formerly guilty of speaking fangirl japanese, or who have simply been around that sort of person enough that now that we are older and wiser as a whole we tend to avoid it as much as possible. Using Japanese suffixes at all is pretty much only acceptable if your character is japanese, using them excessively is only okay if they are the type of character to do that. If your character is from an anime or manga, but in their canon they themselves are not Japanese, you generally want to translate the suffixes into something suitable for that region. For example, an american highschooler might call a classmate Jo-san in the anime, but in America, highschoolers don't call classmates Miss Jo.
Additionally, camp tends to be fully translated outside of periodic character quirks (I.E. Mitsuru canonically throws french into her sentences at random) so if your character screams KAWAII!! In their canon, that would still be Cute!! to us, unless your character is an american anime fan who screams in random japanese all the time.
Other Quirky Character Talking Things- Chichiri's 'no da', Pyon's 'pyon~', Colonello's tendency to say "Hey" all the freaking time, the Earl's constant ♥'s are all things that might, in canon, be used every damn sentence, but in reading 350 words will get tiresome fast. You usually want to space these things out, use them enough that it's obviously frequent but not so much that your reader wants to cut you over it.
Humor vs Voice-
And last but not least, the age old discussion over How Funny Do You Have To Be, Really?
Final answer? Honestly you don't really need to be.
In ye olde days, the focus on apps was humor. But in ye olde days, there were still things that hadn't been done before. Zombies doing the limbo was still a funny and unique and hilarious idea. Camp humor has mostly moved on from that, and when done tends to be more centered on in-jokes. But in-jokes can be hard if you... aren't in camp! Unless you are an audience that lurks a lot you may not know all the things about camp that the campers like to laugh at. Since we have a lot of 4channers, 4chan memes are often synonymous with camp in-jokes. But does that mean you HAVE to have these things to be funny? No, not at all. Old fashioned humor that simply fits your character and the situation well is the best stand by. But chances are those won't be AS hilarious, especially if the person reading it doesn't know your canon.
None-the-less a lot of people still fixate on humor for camp apps. For good reason! Angsty apps that aren't angsty in a funny way simply won't get in. While camp has its fair share of drama, we certainly don't want to see all of it in your app. At heart we like humor and crack, laughing is fun. But this doesn't mean your app has to fixate on the 'three jokes' rule. You will not fail out if you don't have three concise, unique and funny punchlines delivered throughout the app.
You do want a humorous overtone, but don't punch yourself if you can't think of something that is going to make everyone lol. Humor as it is related to the character tends to do better, because if written ICly, with a good canon section to back it up, we can tell it's funny for THEM.
In the end, voice currently counts for a lot in apps. Funny is still good, but the reality is that most characters just wouldn't say in-jokes easily. If you CAN make it work in a way that is IC for the character, go for it! ( Meru Otonashi's app is an excellent example of this) But if you can't, don't make your character act OOC to gain humor points. Make them as amazingly IC as you can be. Use whatever makes them a unique character to show how interesting and awesome they are. You have four hundred words to make us LIKE this character, and you don't necessarily have to use jokes to do that.
Punchlines? I honestly can't remember the last time I wrote a punchline. If I have a character I can be humorous with, the final paragraph will be a reasonably amusing one. But I pretty much never end with that 'punchline' effect. I know several people who will write an entire app around their punchline. Of course everyone should do whatever works for them (and gets them in!) and this is not a process which fails. I'm not at ALL trying to say "jokes are bad", but a lot of people have trouble with jokes. "It's not funny enough!" is one of the great stress points of writing apps. I'm just trying to point out that rather than the app being 'funny enough' you should worry about it being 'interesting enough'. If you can create interest with something other than jokes because you have an AWESOME CHARACTER HERE LET ME SHOW YOU IT? Do it.
Punchlines, thus, don't have to be the closing of a joke. It can be something sincere and honest and so brutally IC that just sells the app. I do this all the time and it has never failed me once. It also fits my style better because I basically fail at humor. But the end fact is, if it's good people will like it.
Link to Part 2
General Overview - The Process
The way apping for camp works is like this!
- Application Dates Will be Announced!
-Camper apps open once a month
-Counselor apps are every six months (Generally end of June/beginning of July, and near the end/start of the year)
-Camper apps are always open for twelve hours from 6pm EST to 6am EST
-Counselor apps are generally open for two hours from 6pm EST to 8pm EST
-With both Camper and Counselor applications, you are welcome to have someone else send in your application for you if you can't be at your computer at the scheduled times, (make sure they include YOUR email address and name when they send them in!) but applications after the deadline will not be accepted
-Getting your app in immediately after the application window opens up does not guarantee you will be in an early batch. The mods place the apps at their discretion, and certain characters (such as ones the mods have reason to believe may be a double or triple app) definitely don't go up until the window is closed. Basically, you have no control over when your app goes up. The mods almost never completely miss an app, and don't weed often at all. If you aren't seeing yours go up, wait until after the last batch is up to ask them about what happened to your app. - Beta Offers Will Go Up!
-In these posts, you anonymously say which character you are apping, and request betas that you can contact to take a look at your app
-People who offer up their beta services usually classify themselves as Canon Blind if they haven't read your canon. Canonblind betas are GOOD and I suggest having one for every app. They can tell you if your character appears interesting to someone who knows nothing of the canon.
-IMPORTANT: If you are new or think your app may need a lot of work, PLEASE don't wait until the day before apps to send in your app for betaing. Most people are betaing several people in a round and don't want to do it all in the last twenty-four hours. You also don't want to find yourself blocked if you have to rewrite the entire thing. Giving your betas a week? A good idea. - You write your app and submit it to lolcampappslol at gmail dot com within the appropriate app window. Not before. Not after.
-READ THE RULES They are helpful.
-Send your app as a *.txt file with all of the html code done
-Put the name of the character you are apping in the subject line - You WAIT. Everyone waits, everyone gets antsy. It's okay! Don't bother the mods about when your app will go up, it makes Juri hurt things.
- Your app goes up! If it receives more than 70% IN votes, you are in! If not, please try again!
Getting Ready - Picking the Character
I'm not going to discuss if you REALLY want to app that character or not here. It used to seem like Certain Characters just would not work in camp. But I've literally seen every class of character, from amazingly cracky to outstandingly evil, played well in camp. You want to app them? GO FOR IT. Use your own self knowledge to determine if you will have fun, play them well, or drop them after a month. If you do end up wanting to drop after a month? It's not the end of the world. You took a shot at it. Use what knowledge you've gained to pick a different character better suited to you. We don't slaughter people for dropping characters, nor expect that apping someone means you keep them until your dying days.
But there are technical things to apping characters you need to know. Namely! Are they valid? Here are all of the current rules for what characters you may or may not app that I can think of:
- Camp accepts published characters from works of fiction. This can be anything from web comics to video games to TV shows and of course, manga and anime. Real historic characters are only accepted as they are represented by a fictional work (I.E. Pocahontas from the Disney movie is appable, Pocahontas from your history text book is not).
- Characters 21 and younger are Campers
- Characters 22 and older are Counselors
- When in question, characters ages are determined by physical appearance. Not Earth Years or Mental Age. A 300 year old loli vampire is a Camper. A clone of a 30 year old man who has only been alive for two years is a Counselor.
-If you are unsure of a character's age and the physical appearance is borderline, ask the mods about it before hand to get approval for Camper or Counselor apps - Once upon a time, characters only alive in flash backs were not appable, this is now handled on a case-by-case basis because most only-alive-in-flashbacks types don't have enough canon. However, you want to app such a character, e-mail the mods about it to verify.
- "Younger" versions of older characters (Young!Snape!) are not appable from flashbacks unless there is substantial canon for playing them at that age. (I.E. We did have a younger Riddle in camp). Ask the mods for permission for this sort of character if you are unsure.
- If the character only has a tiny bit canon you may encounter difficulty both while writing your app, and from voters who personally feel that character does not have enough canon to be apped effectively. However there is no concrete rule of how much or how little canon must have to app.
- Characters that aren't sentient and/or can in no way talk probably aren't appable, regardless of their amount of canon. (I.E. The Black Stallion is not appable. Nor is Gurren Lagann's Boota. However, a human who is simply mute would be, albeit a difficult app).
- Characters are not restricted by gender, race, species, alignment or anything else. Basically. Rapists, murderers, crack godmoders, srs godmoders, jesii, traumababies etc are all equally welcome. As are... talking trees and magical housecats and disney animals. HOWEVER keep in mind the setting you will be playing them in, and the people you will be playing with. Playing a serial rapist does not give you the okay to badtouch characters without the permission of their players. And overall CFUD is meant to be humorous, if there is just nothing funny about your character in this setting, you might find them difficult to get in and difficult to play.
All in all, camp really has very few restrictions to keep characters out. The only big one is the age thing, and counselors can still get in twice a year and there isn't as much pressure on those as there used to be (there used to be a limit of how many counselors could get in, and weeding was quite heavy). As it is, my youngest character is 2, my oldest has been around since the start of creation. I play a character who removes people's organs FOR FUN, and then Vash the Stampede. Your apping range is as wide as you want it to be.
Getting Ready - Things to Think About
Aside from writing the app itself (we're getting to that) there are a few other things to keep in mind for your character.
Icons-
A fairly big one for many people. The majority of the characters in camp are played with the 100 icon maximum that Live Journal allows (and we pray on a daily basis that it will be increased). If you have never roleplayed before, or haven't in a large community, this may seem like ridiculous overkill. Hell. MAYBE IT IS. None-the-less we willingly shuck out 7 bucks every two months per journal to keep our icons up. This is NOT REQUIRED in any way! However it is recommended. Icons are a large part of the roleplay experience and which one you use when you comment tends to vastly change the implications of the words. Since we are not a prose RP, we use icons to convey everything from rage to apathy, humor to fear, and as you work with your character you are likely to find they have far more than 15 expressions (far more than 100, really).
As far as GETTING ICONS, that is up to you. If you are apping from a visual medium of some kind, where to get them is fairly obvious. You're going to need to screencap and crop anime or movies, or crop and clean up manga. It isn't uncommon for players to spend an absurd amount of time on their character's icons *cough* but how much work you do or don't want to put into it is of course up to you.
If you are apping from a non-visual medium, such as a novel, you will likely want to look for model or actor who suitably fits the description of your character and use them to make icons from. There are livejournal communities dedicated to this sort of thing. If you are the artistic sort, people have been known to draw their own icons as well.
Journal Name-
You'll be needing a livejournal user name! Some people consider it a jinx to decide these things, or to create the journal before receiving the character. Either way it is something to think about while you are working toward apping.
What Is An App? - The Basics
For the bare bones of it, here is what you do.
In more detail, this is your app, which will slave over until it can reach a 70% IN.
Character: Your character's full name.
Series: The series the character is from, if there are multiple versions of the canon, be specific (I.E. Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)) Some people like to supply a wikipedia link to the canon for people who may want to find more information.
Character Age: If the physical and actual ages differ, include both if it is relevant. (I.E. 300 years old, but permanently stuck at age 12).
Canon: Canon is deeply important and I will be covering it at more length later. But basically, this is where you describe the character as they appear in their canon, and the series itself if it is important. You want to give an interesting and understandable impression of WHO THE CHARACTER IS, primarily as they relate to themselves. If your canon is flooded with things like "Miaka is the true love of Tamahome and she spends a lot of time staring deeply into his eyes and he would do absolutely anything for her like that one time joined the enemy to protect her." etc then... your canon isn't really about Miaka, it's about Miaka and Tamahome's relationship. We want to hear about the character's strengths, weaknesses, and personality. How he or she talks, interacts with people, and important bits of their history or abilities, as well as an idea of their function in their series. It's perfectly fine to describe the hero as being the hero of the story, just go into more depth than that. Also, the single most important thing is that the canon reflect the sample app, if your character is usually SUPER PERKY but gets desperately terrified around zombies, and then you fail to mention that, but write her as being desperately terrified throughout the sample app, your canon and app do not match and you will be voted out by people who don't know you canon and can't recognize the character.
Canon is typically between 200 words and 300. 350 at the absolute max.
Sample Post: There are a lot of do's and don't's here, which will also be covered in more detail later. But basically, there is where the app itself goes. This is to be written in the first person present voice of your character. Technically, it is to be written as a journal entry, however most apps do not have the feel of being written on a computer, nor do they need to. The idea is that it is the character speaking. It is not prose, it is not a mental monologue. Unless your character is the type to monologue out loud, with no one within ear shot, it is expected that it be written for an audience of some sort. Whether that audience be the whole of camp or just that toucan over there.
Apps tend to be between 300 words and 400. 500 at absolute max. Generally speaking, you want the app to be about 100 words longer than the canon, in order to have proportions that don't make your canon look super long or you app look super short.
CFUD Specific - Do's and Don’ts for Your App
aka If you only read one part of this guide, read this!
Basically, the hardest part about apping to most people is always in the little things. Because you can have a good voice and a decent canon and you simply won't go in if you Do It Wrong. This is harsh! And probably the most unfair part of the application process. But simply due to the nature of the community, how things are Usually Done and Shall Continue To Be Done is what you Want To Do, you can either surpass it or... quit! Obviously I'm aiming this at the former, because I certainly don't want these little details to keep awesome and IC people out of the game, but if you try to fight it you're honestly just wasting your breath. Everyone deals with these every time they app. You must too.
And tragically, there are only so many ways to overcome these nuances. If you are lucky, you have a natural feel for how to app CFUD and don't need anything explained to you. 95% of people don't fit into that category (this includes people already in camp! Which is why I'm famous for telling people to rewrite their apps). Otherwise you have been in camp a long time and have learned what to do and not do, seen what works and what doesn't. Or else you have a beta who can find these things for you and help you fix them. I am going to do my best to explain every one of these points I can remember, explain why they don't work, and recommend how to fix them. This list may be a bit messy but I will order it the best I can.
First, there are some very basic overall rules that apply no matter what.
First Person Present Tense- MUST. All of camp is written from this point of view. This doesn't mean your character can't say "I was in the woods." But the implication is "I am here right now telling you about how I was in the woods." And at some point the app will catch up to "Hello camp, I wish all of you a good day." and not "I said hello to camp and wished them all a good day". Okay? Think journal entry. "I did this and that and then this and now I feel this and that and one of those."
Camp is NOT a prose style RP, and prose is never acceptable in applications unless you have a very unique situation, such as apping a character who is an author and frequently monologues in prose. And even then you wouldn't want to do that for the entire app.
The App Is Pure Monologue- One person talking. Possible and very rare exceptions to this is having one character with multiple personalities, in which case it might be considered a dialog if the personalities speak to each other. However, having a zombie talk as in "Hello, Mr. Zombie!" "Braaains" is not acceptable. What IS okay is "Hello, Mr. Zombie! How are you? 'Braaaaains' you say? How nice!"
*Actions* Are Bad- In ye olde camp days, you could get away with one action such as a *BANG* sfx or something in the app if the rest of your app was really strong and the action noticeably contributed to the app. Those days are almost entirely gone and putting *ACTIONS* in your app will severely weaken it. I won’t say it will absolutely never work, but I strongly suggest not trying it.
Spelling Is Good- Grammar is subject to character voice, and provided you don't abuse the hell out of commas, or just throw in quotation marks at random, you won't get burned too hard. Spelling can get you in trouble. One mistake here or there isn't a big deal and will often be completely missed, but if you aren't good at spelling and obviously haven't used a spellcheck, people WILL vote you out. Spellcheck your final app and proofread it carefully for left out misused words.
Over Formatting Is Bad- By formatting I mean! Italics, bold face, underlines, strikeouts, smallfont and largefont. I also throw into this things that aren't actually formatting but are noticeable due to not being a regular part of speech, such as tildes ~ and ellipses ... and heartmarks ♥. All of these things are acceptable in moderation, but the overall look of your app IS important, and basically you want people to look at your app and see the paragraph as a whole. It should look like a normal paragraph: a block of words. If instead of seeing A Paragraph they see font that shifts in size and shape constantly. Or just sentences interspaced frequently with ~'s, it's going to look bad.
There are no exact numbers for this. It depends on the character you are apping, how they speak and such. Fay uses ~ a hell of a lot more than Zack does, and how much you use them changes the voice. But then again Earl of the Millennium heartmarks after 90% of his sentences, and if you did that in app it would just look bad. If you need a rough idea, I'd say no more than three to four alterations/oddities to each medium-large paragraph. But things like italics are less obvious than smallfont, and you can get away with more.
That's pretty much it for every situation rules. Next, to start broadly:
App Formats-
By this I mean the... way the character is presented in your app, there are two basic styles to write an app that are considered widely most acceptable. I won't say these are the only two possibilities, but they're the only ones I can think of, and make up probably 98% of the winning apps we see in camp.
Interaction Apps- This is a popular style of app that revolves around the character interacting with things and the app consisting of what the character says during this interaction. An example would be:
"My, I've never seen such a pretty toucan! You have a big beak don't you? Such a big bea--EEK! MY EYE YOU BITCH THAT WAS MY FUCKING EYE"
Even though we don't have anything like "And then the toucan poked Betty's eye out", the monologue is written in such a way that we can discern what is happening by what is said. Apps written in this style tend to be 'journey' apps, and will move the character through a series of interactions, either with one camp creature or a group of them. Zombies are especially popular for these apps because they are humanoid and can 'do' virtually anything you need them to do for the purpose of the app, from attacking your character to inviting them to a party.
Pros to this style of app:
-Offers a variety of things which can happen to your character, and thus forcing them to react in ways that may be humorous or interesting for voters.
-Many characters will not easily monologue at length, forcing them into one end of a conversation with something that cannot speak is often useful in such cases.
-Often makes it easier to fit in jokes, especially ones that might be particular to the character (I.E. Having something call Ed a 'bean').
Cons to this style of app:
-Tends to have weaker character voice. Because the character is only reacting or 'commenting' on things most likely very out of the ordinary, it's harder to get a general sense for how they speak and act with regards to camp itself, rather than Zombie_A who is Doing This.
-Can easily get gimmicky. Since the app relies on things happening off screen, appers often feel what is happening offscreen needs to be funny in its own right. However, a character talking to a zombie trying to eat his head tends to be far more interesting (and gives a better sense of the character himself) than a character watching a toucan cancan line. The 'funny' offscreen thing distracts from character’s actions and voice, and honestly, those things probably aren't funny anymore, nor have they been in two years.
-Can easily get busy. Since 'reactions' are typically short, such apps will keep up a series of events happening to the character until the app is long enough, this leads to a string of odd things, none of which are interesting in of themselves (though the character's reactions might be), but can give an overall feel that too much action has taken place in the app.
-Frequently leads to exposition dialog. Exposition dialog is saying something that one would not normally say in order to convey what is happening. To use my above example with the toucan and the eye it would be more like: "-EEK! HOW DARE YOU FLY DOWN AND POKE OUT MY LEFT EYE". Another more frequent use of exposition dialog is the character repeating whatever is said or done offscreen. "'Brains', you say?" is a classic.
Directed Monologue Apps- this is the second style of apping. A directed monologue app tends to be more like an actual journal entry, though the character can be 'talking' or 'writing', the idea is that they are doing it all at once, without stopping to interact with whatever along the way. These apps can be anything from the character writing a letter home to mom, and relaying events of camp, or the character speaking in an 'open letter' to the Director about what she or he THINKS of this damn place, or the character introducing his or herself to the camp and campers as a whole, and explaining the trials they've been through to get here.
To continue with my earlier example, in this style of app it would go:
"Owwwww--fuck! This hurts! So on my way here I saw this fucking toucan and I just wanted to pet it a little and can you BELIEVE the bastard took my goddamn eye out? Who the hell here is a healer? God I hate losing eyes. Such a bitch."
Pros to this style of app:
-Tends to have stronger voice impact, because it is entirely the character's own priorities, words and thought process.
-Is the best way to 'prove' the apper's ability to play the character, since if you can get a character to ICly monologue for 400 words you're doing pretty good with them.
-Less need for camp interaction, or to come up with 'creative' or 'interesting' camp things. Simply mentioning the character's opinions on zombies is often enough to get the ball rolling.
Cons to this style of app:
-Because MOST CHARACTERS don't monologue at length, and their canons consist of them playing off of something else, this style of app tends to be much more difficult
-Can easily get monotonous, even if you can get a character to monologue they may very well be very boring about it
-Often requires a greater grasp of voice and more extrapolation on the character and how they talk, due to not being a reaction type app.
Mixing!- Obviously you don't have to do all of one or the other. It's quite common to start with an Interaction app and move into a Directed Monologue, or visa versa. I wouldn't say mixing it up guarantees the best of both worlds, but it may help you in your app writing process to try it.
Personal Thoughts- Now that I tried SO HARD to keep my bias out of that, let me say that I have a giant pet peeve toward Interaction apps, and unless they are done really strongly will almost always suggest people rewrite them with less interaction reliance. I don't mind some, but if an entire app is a series of Stuff Happening To Character and Character Reacting the app is almost always weak on voice and characterization. I wouldn't say never use Interaction style! Just be aware that moderation is good. Also the more reliance on something happening off screen, the weaker it is. Interacting with a group of zombies gesturing at the character isn't as bad as having an entire conversation with a zombie that we only see one half of. Having an entire conversation AT a zombie is better, because the implication is nothing is being said offscreen that needs to be relayed back to us.
I tend to aim for Directed Monologues, and in the case that you have such a character that just would never monologue at length, FIND a reason to make them do so. I always use Kira's app as an example of this, simply because it's when I figured it out for myself. Kira is not a character who talks at length, but with the proper motivation, he certainly CAN. As can most characters, if you figure out why they would. And working from that angle of what makes them talk at length also adds to characterization on its own.
Either way, be aware of what you are doing, what you are aiming for, and what is well received. While I don't favor Interaction Apps, you can certainly do that, just be aware of the weaknesses, and if you want to go for a Directed Monologue, but aware of THOSE weaknesses. Don't try to break the box and do something completely new and amazing! Because honestly, the tried and true is far more likely to pull you through.
App Content-
What you talk about in your app! 'Content' generally means there has to be something of substance. An idea, an encounter, it can be just about anything but will basically act as a fixed point for the text to revolve around. For example, Character A gets bit by a zombie. If Character A is neurotic, you may then have an entire paragraph of them worrying about infection. If Character A is a horror flick junkie, it may be an entire paragraph of worrying about becoming a zombie themselves. The same situation can result in two entirely different app directions for two different characters.
For this reason, in general what you choose to talk about in your app is pretty much up to you. People say that talking about zombies gets boring, but the vast majority of apps have some sort of basic zombie commentary or interaction. It might not SEEM entertaining, but apps get in despite it. Why? Because what we care about is how they react to the zombies; that shows characterization. Apps which rely on New And Amazing Things, like pokadotted zombie lemurs hosting a formal ball and you are invited, tend to get lost in all of the New And Amazing Stuff which... does nothing to show characterization! Why interact with a polkadotted zombie lemur at a ball if you can show just as much characterization by interacting with a zombie? Don't spend so much time creating Amazing Camp Creatures that you outshine the personality and actions of your character with them.
But outside of that warning? What you can do is pretty much limitless. Camp is that sort of place. Just make sure that what you choose to use as content has a purpose to it.
As for what you CAN'T do, there are a few content subjects you want to avoid. They are:
Canon Reliance- This can be one of the hardest ones for many characters. You are apping a character with a great deal of reliance on others in their canon, and so it's only natural to have the character talk about THEM instead of about him or herself. Tragically that is not really an option. People should not need to know your character's relationships in their canon to follow your app. This means if you're apping Pinky, you don't spend your entire app going on about what The Brain might think. By rule of thumb, you can have roughly a half a paragraph to a paragraph of content that focuses on ONE (1!) Canon Thing. This means one paragraph about the Brain. Not one paragraph about The Brain, the Lab Back Home, And Those Four Times We Almost Took Over The World.
This is for several reasons. First, you want your app to be easily followed and understood by people who don't know your canon. If you have a lot of canon references, you are likely to make people feel like they being left out of the loop somehow. Additionally, the Point Of The App is to prove you are capable of handling the character. You need to show voice, understanding, and that you can play your character WITHOUT relying on their cast, world, plot, etc. Camp is all about taking the character out of their element, and you need to show you can do that in the app, and still play them ICly. You aren't doing that effectively if your character arrives in zombie camp and can only talk about the people back home.
Camper References- This is when references are made to people who are already in camp. Typically speaking, people will only do this if they are apping their canonmates. For example, a Tear apper might mention that she came to camp to fetch Luke. This is generally acceptable as your one bit of Canon Reliance. But it also counts towards Camper References. Because long in the past there were issues with people indiscriminately referencing characters in their app that they don't play, it's now common courtesy to ask the players of said characters if they mind being referenced in your app. Then usually to mention in the Canon section that you received permission for this reference. In such cases it's important to make sure you don't misrepresent the character you are mentioning (I.E. Tear calling Luke a useless failure), as doing so will make people mad at you.
App Construction-
How your app is put together! Basically, flow and structure. I can't really give you a list of don't for this, because it's just too subjective to character and situation. However, if you lurk on campfuckuvote at all you may notice apps tend to have a certain look to them.
Roughly, an app is going to be anywhere from three to seven paragraphs, at least three of those paragraph will typically be a good length (eight to twelve sentences). You may have a few very short paragraphs thrown in for punchlines or reading flow. Apps will typically NOT be a long series of one to three sentence paragraphs, nor will it usually be one single block of text.
But none of these are really Don'ts. I've seen all of these done effectively before; just make sure it fits your character. Above all, make sure it reads well. The reader should not get lost in a slew of words, but it should maintain their attention. If the character never spends more than one sentence on any given subject, that damn well be an important character trait, because jumping around that much for no reason will drive readers crazy.
Basically, you CAN structure your app anyway you want. But avoid going outside the standard set up unless you have a good reason for it. Wanting to be 'different' isn't a good reason. Having a character who simply ABSOLUTELY WOULD DO IT THIS WAY is a good reason, and keep in mind even if that is How They Would Totally Do This, you still have to ICly and convincingly represent it.
Another important thing to watch for is paragraph flow. Apps tend to discuss a different content subject with each paragraph. People often construct their apps aiming for 'three jokes', and they write three separate jokes very well, but can't string them together comprehensively and the app looks disjointed. The entire app should not only read easily but should flow together as a comprehensive thought process, from beginning to end.
Pet Peeves-
That's pretty much it for the app building Do's and Don’ts. These are just things that people tend to throw in or leave out of their apps or canons that may cost them votes.
As a disclaimer, the reason pet peeves are listed as pet peeves and not overall rules, is because you CAN make it work. It has been done in the past, will be done in the future. A strong app will almost always overcome a pet peeve, especially if it uses that peeve in an effective way to make the app stronger. Additionally, pet peeves only apply to some players, and not all players will vote out on just one, and generally speaking the inclusion of a single pet peeve will not throw you out of the running completely. Losing three or four votes will just bring your percentage down. If the rest of the app is good you will almost always still go in. But in order to avoid accidentally doing many of these and lowering your chances, here are the ones I can think of.
Image Links in the Canon or App- Once upon a time it was popular to put image links into the canon or app, usually for purposes of humor. These were often drawing or photoshopped images. It was funny for a little while, then quickly got old, and at this point is generally recommended against unless you have a very IC reason for it or a very OOC need for it.
I.E. Namine is a character who canonically draws cute pictures of things, and through them can shape memory. Having one of Namine's drawings within the app would not be a horrible idea if done well.
I.E. When I apped Argilla I included a link to a picture of her demon form in the canon, because I wasn't sure how to effectively make sure people would understand that she has mouths in her breasts without just showing it.
However, these are rare circumstances. Pictures are generally not a good idea if it's just because "this is a canon image that is funny" or "here is a grate photoshop I made in lieu of a punchline". Unless your character canonically photoshops the hell out of things. And even then? In most places you can use a picture, you can probably use words just as effectively.
Accents- A lot of characters canonically speak with a heavy accent. If you mention in the canon section that yes, their accent is truly this over the top, people who have difficulty with the accent will usually abstain rather than vote out based on it. However, make sure you if you have a character with really unusual written speech patterns that you clarify in the canon that this IS how they speak.
Suffixes and Random Japanese- CFUD has a lot of people formerly guilty of speaking fangirl japanese, or who have simply been around that sort of person enough that now that we are older and wiser as a whole we tend to avoid it as much as possible. Using Japanese suffixes at all is pretty much only acceptable if your character is japanese, using them excessively is only okay if they are the type of character to do that. If your character is from an anime or manga, but in their canon they themselves are not Japanese, you generally want to translate the suffixes into something suitable for that region. For example, an american highschooler might call a classmate Jo-san in the anime, but in America, highschoolers don't call classmates Miss Jo.
Additionally, camp tends to be fully translated outside of periodic character quirks (I.E. Mitsuru canonically throws french into her sentences at random) so if your character screams KAWAII!! In their canon, that would still be Cute!! to us, unless your character is an american anime fan who screams in random japanese all the time.
Other Quirky Character Talking Things- Chichiri's 'no da', Pyon's 'pyon~', Colonello's tendency to say "Hey" all the freaking time, the Earl's constant ♥'s are all things that might, in canon, be used every damn sentence, but in reading 350 words will get tiresome fast. You usually want to space these things out, use them enough that it's obviously frequent but not so much that your reader wants to cut you over it.
Humor vs Voice-
And last but not least, the age old discussion over How Funny Do You Have To Be, Really?
Final answer? Honestly you don't really need to be.
In ye olde days, the focus on apps was humor. But in ye olde days, there were still things that hadn't been done before. Zombies doing the limbo was still a funny and unique and hilarious idea. Camp humor has mostly moved on from that, and when done tends to be more centered on in-jokes. But in-jokes can be hard if you... aren't in camp! Unless you are an audience that lurks a lot you may not know all the things about camp that the campers like to laugh at. Since we have a lot of 4channers, 4chan memes are often synonymous with camp in-jokes. But does that mean you HAVE to have these things to be funny? No, not at all. Old fashioned humor that simply fits your character and the situation well is the best stand by. But chances are those won't be AS hilarious, especially if the person reading it doesn't know your canon.
None-the-less a lot of people still fixate on humor for camp apps. For good reason! Angsty apps that aren't angsty in a funny way simply won't get in. While camp has its fair share of drama, we certainly don't want to see all of it in your app. At heart we like humor and crack, laughing is fun. But this doesn't mean your app has to fixate on the 'three jokes' rule. You will not fail out if you don't have three concise, unique and funny punchlines delivered throughout the app.
You do want a humorous overtone, but don't punch yourself if you can't think of something that is going to make everyone lol. Humor as it is related to the character tends to do better, because if written ICly, with a good canon section to back it up, we can tell it's funny for THEM.
In the end, voice currently counts for a lot in apps. Funny is still good, but the reality is that most characters just wouldn't say in-jokes easily. If you CAN make it work in a way that is IC for the character, go for it! ( Meru Otonashi's app is an excellent example of this) But if you can't, don't make your character act OOC to gain humor points. Make them as amazingly IC as you can be. Use whatever makes them a unique character to show how interesting and awesome they are. You have four hundred words to make us LIKE this character, and you don't necessarily have to use jokes to do that.
Punchlines? I honestly can't remember the last time I wrote a punchline. If I have a character I can be humorous with, the final paragraph will be a reasonably amusing one. But I pretty much never end with that 'punchline' effect. I know several people who will write an entire app around their punchline. Of course everyone should do whatever works for them (and gets them in!) and this is not a process which fails. I'm not at ALL trying to say "jokes are bad", but a lot of people have trouble with jokes. "It's not funny enough!" is one of the great stress points of writing apps. I'm just trying to point out that rather than the app being 'funny enough' you should worry about it being 'interesting enough'. If you can create interest with something other than jokes because you have an AWESOME CHARACTER HERE LET ME SHOW YOU IT? Do it.
Punchlines, thus, don't have to be the closing of a joke. It can be something sincere and honest and so brutally IC that just sells the app. I do this all the time and it has never failed me once. It also fits my style better because I basically fail at humor. But the end fact is, if it's good people will like it.
Link to Part 2