this is how we dance when we die

That would be great!

I'm going to go ahead and say no. As long as you are a Livejournal user and you check this tumblr fairly regularly, there shouldn't be a problem! 

URL or Real name: salaander/Shaina

Time Zone: GMT -5 (Eastern Standard Time)

Character you’re applying for: Tess Evans

Character bio: More of an introvert than her sister, she’d always preferred, when they were younger, to be reading, rather than interacting in any sort of social situation. This, in turn, led to a knack for research, aiding in cons by looking up anything and everything about potential marks. And growing up in a family without much means for survival meant learning to rely on herself and her sister, and their bond is the only one she’s ever found important enough to hold on to. Despite her introversion, she quickly absorbed enough social skills to be able to interact easily with people around her, because the interaction—and thus, the cons—often meant whether or not they’d have enough money to last them the week. The tricks the sisters devised went from earning a couple of extra dollars to a full-fledged career as they got older, and they’ve been living a nomadic lifestyle, using the money from their cons for their travels.

Morals are not exactly black and white for Tess; she’d prefer to think of herself as simply living an alternative lifestyle, rather than one of a criminal. Without a proper education, it’s better than many of the other menial jobs she could be holding.

With the outbreak, their lifestyle turns out to be an advantage. Their knowledge and cunning that they’d built over the years continues to act as survival mechanism—though now, it’s often an immediate matter of life and death.

Strengths/Weaknesses: She certainly knows how to handle people, able to read them; it’s a necessity, to be able to react in the correct manner. She knows her way around a computer, and has a wide range of knowledge she’s absorbed from books read around the years. And, she knows how to take care of herself; self-defense and weapons are no stranger to her. However, she often tends to hang to the side of groups, preferring to observe rather than interact if she deems it unnecessary or uninteresting, and people may take her to be aloof or unapproachable. Not to mention, being a grifter has lent itself to trust issues a mile long. She trusts her sister, and that’s it. Their safety is the only thing she cares about.

Paragraph Sample:

She was not unused to dangerous situations, but this was different. They’d been caught in the act before, less often now than when they were more inexperienced; chased down the road, threatened, because people are protective of their money and their property. But, this was a different kind of danger, and that much was obvious as soon as their mark turned the corner. Tess had heard of the infection, but she hadn’t known that it was spreading so fast, that it would’ve reached them so soon. She had done the research, expecting this to be an easy job; a couple of phone calls, a meeting, and then out, and they’d be on their way in a few hours. The man shuffling toward them said otherwise.

Andie was waiting a bit further away; she hadn’t seen the…thing yet. Tess dialed her phone number, breath caught in her throat, watching from her vantage point as her sister picked up.

“We have to get out of here,” she said, ignoring her sister’s protests—and then, hearing them stop as she, too, caught sight of their mark. These were the warning signs they’d been told to look out for. Her hands itched for a weapon—preferably, a gun—which, unfortunately, she did not have. Bad planning on her part. “Now.”

Zombies were science fiction, weren’t they? Creatures that only existed in movies or on television. Nothing in reality ever came close to that kind of horror. Right? Not anymore. Now, one of them was tailing Tess as she made a beeline for her car, her sister waiting anxiously in the driver’s seat. She had no time to process how surreal this all seemed, not until she was watching the zombie recede in the rearview mirror as they sped off for whatever safety they could find.

They were lucky. They managed to escape that particular encounter unscathed, but it was only the beginning of what was sure to be a long journey ahead of them—especially when unsure of their destination.

TAKEN

Name: Tess Evans / Age: 23 / FC: Rooney Mara / Group: Misc

[Not including the application that someone sent to us before this post was made.]

What this means:

If you want to play a kid from the Academy, look into these characters:

Micah West (Donald Glover)

Jesse Hammonds (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett)

Angie Carson (Zoe Kravitz)

Nick Avery (Ezra Miller)

OPEN

Name: Andie Evans / Age: 25 / FC: Kate Mara / Group: Misc.

URL or Real name: mama-boo-whore-me/Phoebe

Time Zone: Australia Eastern Daylight Saving

Character You're Applying For: Thad Hewitt

Character bio:

When you think of your childhood, or just childhood in general, images of favourite toys, of LEGO, of grubby faces and sticky fingers, of Disney and Pokemon and Pixar, of bloody knees from a less than graceful dismount from your first bike that didn't have training wheels, and similar things, may spring to mind.

For Thaddeus Hewitt, things were different.

His parents, both intellectuals, university lecturers at the peak of their careers, wanted four children. One for each main academic discipline. Thad, the third child, had formal sciences (computers, mathematics, logic, statistics, and systems) chosen for him. They conditioned him for greatness in his field from the moment of conception.

His childhood was filled with flashcards, schedules, Discovery Channel, Mozart, and interviews for prestigious Manhattan schools that would “present him with the utmost possible opportunities for success”. That was one of his parents' favourite phrases. Well, that and “We just want the best for you!”

They were usually repeated to him when they found him mixing music instead of studying. His sudden affinity for techno came as a surprise to Thad, but when he found that he could make music with his computer like the music kids at school could with their fine, graceful instruments, his obsession was set alight. His Dr. Dre headphones were now permanently fixed to his ears.

Thad's life, even up until now, has been controlled by his parents. He can't recall a decision being made without their influence. Unlike his precocious siblings, Thad is introspected, thoughtful, but with a mercurial temper and a tendency to bottle things up. Socially, he has trouble, because being a Hewitt came with a long list of labels, which his parents are oblivious to. So when they find out the friends he had told them about were invented to keep them from worrying, they send him to a camp upstate for the gifted and talented.

Thad went to camp deeply resentful of his parents, but what he doesn't know is he may never see them, or anyone else, ever again.

Strengths: Thad becomes experiences great clarity and is logical under pressure. Through his education he has an understanding of explosives and pyrotechnics, which could prove useful against infected. Up close he favours blunt melee weapons, preferring to spend a little time bashing in a skull instead of relying on guns.

Weaknesses: The logic he experiences in dire situations is both a strength and a weakness. Often he will not hesitate to sacrifice the happiness (or even lives) of a few for the extended survival of the group. He finds it difficult to connect with people emotionally, and subconsciously distances himself from others. He stutters when he's nervouse. Physically, asthma and allergies hinder his endurance, and the change from computer-glued vegetable to zombie slayer is a shock to the system that takes it's toll.

Paragraph Sample:

Thad didn't really take much notice when his roommate entered the room clutching his stomach and collapsed dramatically on the bed with a groan.

"You okay, man?"

"Ugh, I think I'm coming down with something. I think it was that tuna sandwich earlier. I'm gonna get some sleep and see the nurse tomorrow."

Thad nodded, gaze shifting slightly from his computer screen. He noticed the other boy, who was at the Academy on a sports scholarship, was sweating profusely, and Thad contemplated finding a secluded spot in the expansive library to sleep rather than be trapped in a small room with a germ factory. A yawn pushed through him and he decided to take his chances.

After a few brief hours of sleep, Thad was startled out of rest by a scream somewhere down the hall. He jerked upright, a vague unsettling feeling taking hold of him. He scanned the room, rubbing his eyes in confusion when he saw his roommate gazing detachedly at him.

The boy's arms were rigid, drool tinged slightly with blood ran out of his slacken mouth. He twitched his head, the muscles in his neck straining against skin. He moaned, irate.

"Jack, can you hear me? Dude what's wrong?" He noticed the boy's fingernails were bloody, scratches marring his Clearasil commercial skin, and terror swept over his body like a wave.

In what seemed like slow motion he lunged forward, and Thad, purely out of instinct, dodged swiftly away from a gnashing mouth. His pulse thrummed rhythmically in his ears, and without registering what he was about to do he retrieved the steel baseball bat from the Jack's sports bag, shifted it slightly in his grip, and unflinchingly brought it down on his skull when he lunged at him once more.

He screams a wordless scream and hits the ground with a thud. He tries to lift his head, his skull caved in and blond hair dark with blood. He writhes and gurgles. Thad scrunches his eyes shut and brings the bat down on his head again, and again, and again, and in the corners of his vision he can see Jack's Parkway Drive poster sprayed with his own blood.

It was Olivia who stopped him. She had been watching, appraising his actions from the door, and she catches the bat in her gloved hand as he draws it over his head for another strike. She yanks it free and it clatters to the floor. His hands are shaking violently and she squeezes his shoulder in an effort to calm him. He takes fast, deep breaths until he feels light headed.

[Disclaimer: These are heavily influenced by the zombies described in Max Brooks's books The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, along with the zombies from Zombieland.]

The "zombies" were created by a biological agent gone awry. It's a disease that essentially fries sections of the infected's brain, reducing them to violent caricatures of humanity.

They are not the "living dead". Scientists refer to them as the infected and take offense to the term zombie. (Of course, this doesn't mean the word and variations of it aren't still used frequently.) They are alive, but unreachable, so trying to reason with them or get the shambling remains of your loved one to remember you is useless.

The infected do not react to pain. It's to be seen whether or not they actually feel it, but the pain does not set them back. That's the difference between you and them: If you get injured, it'll slow you down. One of the infected could lose an arm and keep going. 

The safest way to take out a zombie is by destroying the brain. You can kill them in anyway that you could kill an uninfected human, but remember: If you don't kill them with the first blow, they're going to keep coming for you until you do. The recommended weapons are guns (preferably silenced weapons) or anything that could crush a skull cleanly.

Hand-to-hand or otherwise close contact is not recommended. The disease is transferred through fluids. If you've got a cut in your mouth and you end up swallowing blood from an exploding head, there's a good chance you're fucked. The most common way for the disease to be transferred is through a bite, but it's definitely not the only way. Scientists recommend to give the infected a wide berth, even after they've been put down for good. If you must touch the infected to dispose of them, pay careful attention to any wounds you might have. Gloves are recommended if they can be found. 

The virus has a 12 - 36 hour incubation period. The amount of time depends on a number of factors, including the strength of the person's immune system, their body mass, and their mental state. If someone is already sick when they're infected, they'll be at the lower end of the scale. Young children are nearly always at the 12 - 15 hour point, whereas adults vary more widely. Based on survivor stories, it is suspected that during the incubation period, the infected are not contagious, but this has not been conclusively proven.

Once a person has been infected, they will display flu-like symptoms. An ever-rising fever, chills, sweating, muscle aches and headaches are the most common. The full transformation is marked by a brief period of unconsciousness, after which the infected loses their grip on humanity and reanimate, fully turned. This brief period of consciousness is what tends to trick people into thinking that the infected are actually the living dead. 

Post-infection, the infected tend to adopt a slow shuffling pace when left to their own devices. Don't let this fool you, though--the infected retain the speed of a human. However, their fevers leave them stumbling and off-balance. Knowing how to use this to your advantage could mean the difference between life and death in a heated situation. 

Is the infection worldwide? are there any countries that closed borders before it reached them? Is the infection only spread by humans? How are animals affected?

Not yet. The infection is generally contained to the United States, slowly spreading over into Canada and Mexico. There's a very good chance that it could spread overseas, but other countries shut down their borders once word got out about what was happening.

The disease is targeted toward human DNA, so it only infects humans. It's toxic to animals and will kill them outright. It's to be seen whether or not eating contaminated animal flesh will cause a human to be infected, but it's definitely not advisable.  

What physical changes do people who are infected undergo?

The infected can mostly immediately be marked by their gait--if you can tell that someone's shuffling from a distance, it's best to avoid them. Otherwise, they gain an unnaturally grey pallor to their skin, which is marked by any lesions or sores they may have acquired. They also usually have broken blood vessels around or in their eyes. 

A good image as a rule of thumb:

What is mental function in the infected like? Would the zombies be savvy enough to trap/ambush (like seen in some animals)?

The infected are not capable of critical thinking. They have one thought, which is to feed. They would not be able to open a door knob, though the noise they make when they've found a victim would attract enough zombies to cave in the door. They function sheerly on urge and instinct, and would not be able to consciously trap or ambush someone. (This is not to say that people can't be trapped or ambushed. People who don't pay attention to the sounds around them or find "shelter" in a place without a second exit point can definitely find themselves in these situations. However, that's more along the lines of poor planning on the uninfected's part than conscious planning on the infected's part.)

URL or Real name: blue-wings / maria luísa    Time Zone: GMT+2 Character you’re applying for: Alexa Johnson (Kaya Scodelario) 

Character bio: Growing up in a broken family wasn't a really good experience, but it helped on forming Alexa's personality and on her survival when everything she knew started to fall apart. After she saw her family be eaten up by a group of hungry Girl Scouts, she decided she wouldn't be the next and ran away from her hometown. Traveling alone, from town to town, Alexa found out about a shelter where "healthy" people were going to, looking for a place to stay, trying to find their loved ones and even searching for a cure for the disease that was turning people into flesh-hungry creatures. Even though she wasn't sure about the existence of the shelter, she decided to look for the place where she could feel safe for once in her life.

Strengths/Weaknesses: Strengths – She’s a fast runner and very practical when it's about surviving. Living in a loveless home, she learned how to not depend on others and knows how to control her emotions very well. She also knows how to use a gun. / Weaknesses – She has a hard time on trusting others and even though she spends most of her time alone, she can get into some serious trouble for believing she doesn't need anyone to survive.

Paragraph Sample:

Alexa was running as fast as she could, but apparently it wasn't fast enough. Going through abandoned cars and dead bodies, she decided to stop running. She then turned around and, using the gun she found on her dad's office, fired three times against the creatures. With headshots, the three of them fell on the ground and she was sure they were actually dead.

"Leaving that house was probably a mistake." She thought "I walked for an entire day and almost get killed. But now, there's nothing I can do about it. I should just keep going."

She started to walk calmly, looking inside of the abandoned cars, hoping she'd find one that had its keys in it and a tank full of gas. Without any luck, the only good thing she found was a small pack of candy.

TAKEN

Name: Alexa Johnson / Age: 19 / FC: Kaya Scodelario / Group: Misc

OPEN

Name: Nathan Graves / Age: 33 / FC: Joshua Jackson / Group: Base

OPEN

Name: Lydia King / Age: 30 / FC:Freema Agyeman / Group: Base

URL or Real name: gemlegs/Meghan

Time Zone: EST Character you’re applying for: Keely Jackson Character bio:  Throughout her life, sharp-tongued Keely has always been known as the “tech nerd.” She never thought that her experience with computers and hacking would ever be appreciated - until pandemonium breaks out across the US and takes many aspects of technology with it. Cell phone towers are down, internet connections are spotty at best, and Keely suddenly finds that her services are needed. Which is lucky for her, because if she was left on her own she would be dead in minutes. She doesn't have the first idea how to work a gun, and most of her physical activities were done for her by proxy by her sims.   Strengths: Quick witted and clever, finding something to say has never been a problem for Keely. She is logical minded and not likely to fall to pieces in times of great stress. She is an excellent planner, and very good at seeing multiple sides of arguments. 

Weaknesses: While her computer skills have given her an edge in this new world, they've done nothing for her people skills. She isn't the person you go to if you need a shoulder to cry on, and has no time for giggly 'girl talk'. Making friends has never been her strong point, and that is now becoming an issue in a world where the uninfected need to stick together more than ever.  Paragraph Sample: The first time she saw an infected was on a Tuesday. It was a funny detail to remember, the day of the week, but for some reason it's one of the things that she can't forget. It was a Tuesday, and she was on her way to her first class of the day - English - when she spotted someone stumbling along the walkway outside through one of the wide glass windows that lined the hallway of the Academy. At first she didn't pay them much mind, it was early, and most people were still a little blurry-eyed. She wasn't the most graceful person, and before she had her morning coffee she ambled along at best. It was possible that she looked like her limbs were only loosely attached at the joints, that she moved with an unsettling mixture of fluidity and stiffness, like the person outside. 

But then she stopped, standing shock still, when she took a second glance at this person. It wasn't just the way they moved, everything seemed off about them. She couldn't see their face, but their skin was a terrible shade. Like milk that'd gone off. She looked down at her own arm, trying to tell herself that it was probably the lighting. She looked ghastly in fluorescent lights, maybe that is what was happening with this person. Yes, they were outside, but it was a gloomy day, wasn't it possible that the dim lighting could cause the odd effect that was making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up? 

She felt frozen in place, and she didn't know why. Everything felt wrong, tainted, and all she was doing was watching some student who'd been up too late studying, like a creeper or something. She wanted to turn away, to let out a little half hearted laugh at herself and hurry into the classroom. She was going to be late if she kept this up, she should just turn and walk away. But the more reasons she gave herself for leaving, the more she couldn't look away. Then she spotted a different student running down the walkway, heading in the same direction as the one that was giving her the heeby-jeebies. She didn't know why, but a part of her wanted to call out to them, to tell them to watch out, that something was wrong with the person they were rapidly nearing.

OPEN

Name: Dr. Jason Matthews / Age: 35 / FC: James McAvoy / Group: Base