Squibbait rules
Squibbait
We still permit "squibbait" applications to the game, but the rules governing what characters are fair game for squibbaiting have now been changed. You may not app a fictional character or a real person as squibbait. Real people are not appable under any circumstance. If a fictional character has a canon, they cannot be squibbait, and will be sorted into a House regardless of your intent when you apped them. We repeat: You may not app a fictional character or a real person as squibbait.
Squibbait must now fall within one of the following categories:
1) Clowns*. (Clowns have something of a history in Hogwarts Hocus!)**
2) Your OWN original characters. This is the only circumstance under which original characters can be apped; if you apply as an original character you WILL be squibbed. The original character must be your own, not someone else's; as tempting as it may be to skewer someone else's Sue, this is not the place for it.
Note that fictional clowns from established canons can also be apped as playable. Original-character clowns, of course, cannot.
Squibbait applications MUST be clearly marked as squibbait; this is not a guessing game to see whether we can figure out if your app is an OC or merely from an obscure canon.
* In this, we interpret "clown" fairly traditionally. Not just any humorous character can be squibbaited as a clown. If you're genuinely in doubt as to whether a given character counts as a clown, ask the mod team ahead of time.
** Dating back to the applications of Ronald McDonald and Pennywise!
What is squibbait and why is it part of the game?
Squibbait is an application made specifically to be squibbed, rather than to be sorted into a House and played.
Squibbait does have a purpose within the game! As waywardoctagon explained in an OOC discussion of squibbait:
" 1) The IC drama and shouting and bitchiness can be fun (ymmv), and squibbaits are outlets/a chance to do that without fucking up relationships/storylines ...
" 2) Everyone gets to show off their squibjects(and there's some characters who wouldn't usually squib anyone, and their muns would never get to use their squibjects if it weren't for these) and
" 3) It's a way to app [original characters, who are otherwise not permitted, or] a character [now, specifically clowns] who might not fit well into the game/would cause large problems if they were a regular/with whom there would be problems with having them react IC and still be following the rules of the com/whatever and have a little fun with them/play with "what ifs", without the problems that would occur if they were actually Sorted and all. Squibbaits don't have to generate wank and bad feelings if no one's toes are stepped on OOC."
What are squibjects / squibweapons?
Many characters have their own signature weapon or object with which they signal their displeasure when casting a squib vote. They have become a Hogwarts Hocus tradition, and an outlet for creativity. Some examples can be found in the squib weapon post and its comments. Others you'll simply have to watch the community to see in action!
Why were the squibbait guidelines changed?
Formerly, we had permitted any character from any canon to be applied as squibbait. However, a squibbed character becomes unplayable, because we do not allow more than one application for the same character, and we do not allow re-sorting. The mod team decided it would be better to prevent potentially playable characters from being blocked from future use.
Why permit original characters to be used as squibbait if we don't allow them to be apped as playable? Well, we'd have run out of clowns pretty quickly!