WhatsUpBrotendo

Back again. Your backstory seems to end abruptly. I'm not sure if the "Given" at the end was meant to be deleted or if you had more to add to your character's background that disappeared. From what's on the application right now I have two concerns. One is the lack of choice of religion. From my understanding, they are neither a follower of Weishii or Qeblak. We do not allow atheist/non-religious Skrell, so this must change. The other is your character joining the Fog Wardens. If their intent was known to the point that they received a hit to their social credit score, how did they qualify for the work exchange programme, and why would Zeng-Hu accept them? While laws are not something we have fleshed out, considering the setting how would your character have avoided a prison sentence for that matter? Other than that I just have two questions: How does your character view C'thur and Diona in the Federation? What is your character's Social Credit Score?

Hi, thanks for applying. Unfortunately I'm finding this app difficult to parse due to the formatting. Please look into the paragraphing of your application to make it easier to read. From what I've read I haven't come across any major issues. I'll be able to give full feedback once the formatting has been edited.

[Accepted]

Hi, thanks for applying. I have no real issues with the application, my only note would be that the character's social credit score feels a tad high. It's 0.03 points away from becoming a Primary, which your backstory hasn't really justified. It's a small thing and not worth holding the app up over though. Application accepted.

BYOND Ckey: WhatsUpBrotendo Discord username: a50yearolddad Character names: Ozan Mak'draz, Makepti Aloqa-Xiruq, Sakesh Haz'ya Species you are applying to play: Tajara What colour do you plan on making your first alien character?: Chocolate brown (Zhan/rock nomad) Have you read the lore pages for the species you wish to be whitelisted for?: Yes Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph format. One paragraph minimum per question. Why do you wish to play this species?: I've joked about wanting to play a Tajaran Wicca stereotype character (I'm not, despite it being April 1st for some of you still) but I have read up slowly over the past few months in preparation for an actual app. The lore has been an interesting read, and combined with reading through the wiki page for the last Tajara arc (which I was only able to play a few events for) I've been inspired to bite the bullet and finally apply. I particularly enjoyed reading the history and motivations behind the establishment of the ALA/DPRA, but the politics and history of Adhomai in general have been very entertaining to read. What makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a human?: The biggest difference that comes to mind is how the issues Tajara face are omnipresent. Those issues, from ethnicity and culture to politics, have an arguably stronger impact on a Tajara's views and decisions compared to a human's. These issues are almost universal to all Tajara as well, regardless of origin, making them even more apparent in comparison. For example, the issues someone from Biesel faces are pretty much irrelevant to someone from Silversun. In comparison, a DPRA Tajara and a PRA Tajara will have a lot to discuss (read: argue over) on many issues. Character Application Character Name: Baariq Alsamarra Write a backstory for your character. This may include their origin, education, personality and how they arrived to the SCCV Horizon. Baariq is a Rhazar'Hrujmagh (Zhan/rock nomad) Tajara born into a nomadic caravan in 2430, near the end of the First Revolution. Their father fought on the side of the rebels during this time, but would die in battle shortly after Hadii took command of the rebel forces. Baariq was too young to have remembered their father, and would be left in the care of his mother and three older siblings. Originally calling the areas around Southern Ras'nrr their home, Baariq's family and others in their caravan would be forcibly settled to work as farmers as part of President Hadii's plans to end their nomadic way of life. Baariq's family tried to keep the old traditions of the caravan alive in their new sedentary home, but PRA policies on cultural assimilation and fears of punishment meant that over time Baariq was less and less exposed to the old traditions followed for generations previously. Spending most of their formative years under the PRA influenced Baariq heavily. They were fed Hadiist propaganda from a young age, and despite their mother and older siblings showing discontent at home, Baariq became a strong supporter of Al'mari Hadii's government. When the Tajara made first contact with humanity, Baariq initially suffered a culture shock at the revelation that his people were not alone in the galaxy. This fear was primarily as a result of the exploitation he witnessed as Adhomai's natural resources were sent off-planet, but it quickly subsided when Al'mari backed out of the deals made with NanoTrasen. After Al'mari's assassination in 2451, Baariq was distraught at what he perceived as an undoing of the foundations that the PRA was built on by Malik - and as an extension, an undoing of what his late father fought for during the first revolution. Open persecution of his ethnicity, more obvious to him than Al'mari's erasure of his nomadic culture, and a renewal of humanity's exploitation of his planet and people resulted in Baariq becoming disillusioned with the People's Republic. When conscription was announced in 2458, Baariq took this as a sign to flee and join the Adhomai Liberation Army. By now, his mother had passed, and his older siblings were either already serving in the military or dead, leaving him with no ties that would force him to stay or reconsider his options. Baariq had the beginnings of a family of his own at this point, and his main concern was making sure they were safe. Baariq would serve in the ALA until the Armistice of Shastar in 2461. While their first thoughts were to try and reunite with their siblings, Baariq was too fearful of their fate to follow through with any attempt at reconnection. Knowing that his family and his wife originally came from Southern Ras'nrr, he decided that the best option was to settle in the area once more. They hoped that perhaps they might encounter their siblings there, too, but subconsciously Baariq knew that that was naive of him. Having only known farming and military service as professions Baariq now owns a small shop that he runs with his family. While not highly profitable, it has been enough to put food on the table for his family until recently. By 2466, Baariq still has no idea what happened to his brothers and sisters. Combined with his family's financial troubles and not being able to find much in the way of profitable work, Baariq left the family business in the hands of his wife and children and left to find work in Crevus. Despite being anti-corporate involvement in Adhomai's affairs, Baariq's desperation has allowed him to justify working with the megacorporations off-planet. Baariq has now signed up with NanoTrasen and has been transferred to the SCCV Horizon's service department, where they are working as a janitor. How has the recent events of the Orion Spur impacted your character? Events such as the Phoron Scarcity, the Solarian Collapse or even the Invasions of Biesel for interstellar-wide affairs, while region-specific events such as the Peacekeeper Mandate, The Titan Rises or even Cold Dawn may impact your character. The Phoron Scarcity and its potential to escalate to a Spur-wide economic collapse worries Baariq heavily. He hopes that if/when it happens, he will be able to make his way back to Adhomai and his family. For now, his main worry is making sure that he earns enough money for his family back home, which is threatened by the Phoron shortage. Baariq is also aware of the SCC's involvement on Adhomai during the Cold Dawn arc, but is not fully aware of what they were doing. His main sources of information are from news articles from back home, and his views could potentially change as he interacts with other crewmembers in the future. He sees the SCC's involvement there as a typical example of human imperialism and interference in Adhomai's affairs and is angered by the ransacking of a village in the Din'aak mountains. Still, he needs his job and the money it provides, and he agrees somewhat with the President's arguments against execution during the National Assembly. How does your character view the megacorporation they work for? Baariq sees NanoTrasen as a greedy entity, only interested in Adhomai for its natural resources. He is internally torn at his current predicament as he is now employed by the same corporation that is currently working with the People's Republic to exploit his planet and its people. Baariq is trying to be pragmatic about the situation and plans to only work on the Horizon/under NanoTrasen as long as it's necessary to provide for his family. Notes of things I couldn't think of how to tie into the backstory without making it a lot longer: Baariq worships the Ma'ta'ke Gods like most other rock nomads, with particular reverence for Rredouane. This is one of the few holdovers of Baariq's rock nomad origin. Baariq is a supporter of the National Adhomai Worker's Party. Their service during the second revolution has left them with very little motivation for another war, which would in all likelihood lead to his children becoming soldiers and having to suffer the same experiences he had to during his service.

Approved.

As this application has been open for 12 days in total now, I'm going to be denying it. You've shown some knowledge of Skrell lore, but not to the level we expect of applicants. You're welcome to reapply in your own time. In your new application please add in the notes your answers to the questions I asked in my previous post. I also suggest reading more on Federation society and politics, as well as refreshing your knowledge on current events related to the Federation before reapplying.

Phoron is our setting's equivalent to how important oil is in pretty much every industry. Think how logistics would be affected due to an oil shortage (or if you're old enough or into history, the 1970s energy crisis). While not everything will have been covered in articles, there are wider implications to consider. The most recent Skrell arc revolving around Traverse independence would have also impacted them. A large section of their country was demanding independence and many planets were occupied for a time, which isn't something you can easily ignore. After rereading your application, I have a few questions: Which party does Qu'lil support and why? What is Qu'lil's Social Credit Score? Keeping in mind they are known to have pro-Glorsh thoughts by the Federation, at least in the past. How does Qu'lil feel about synthetics? How does Qu'lil feel about Diona and Vaurca? How do they feel about other species, both within the Federation and without? I or my team might have other questions which may pop up later on. We'll make a final decision by Sunday at the latest due to delays.

It's me again. The team understands that our feedback potentially means rewriting a large part of this application, so the application will stay open until this Sunday. If there is no response (either here or privately) before then it will be archived and you will have to reapply. There will be no time limit on when you can reapply, we just ask that the new application takes all the feedback given here into account.

Hi, thanks for applying. I see a few things to point out in the app itself: Their subspecies, age, religion, and whether or not they're a listener or receiver are not mentioned. 7.0 for a chemist on the Horizon is too high, and this is more apparent when we consider that their views on Glorsh are known to the Federation. Without going to rehabilitation or genuinely changing their views on Glorsh, there would be no way that they could maintain Primary status. While on the topic of SCS, the frequent moving between Primary and Secondary is not common. Social mobility is (debatably) achievable in Federation society, but moving between the bands like how you describe would not be normal. Their colouration would not change entirely through diet. While noticeable changes can occur, major changes to overall colour are mostly observable in the abdomen or markings like spots and stripes. There is no real mention of events within the Federation impacting your character. While the Federation has not been involved in wider events, Qu'lil would not have been completely insulated from the recent events involving the Traverse or the secondary effects of the phoron scarcity. I'd like you to address this feedback before I can ask any questions related to the character's backstory.

Hi, thanks for applying. I just have a few things I want to point out in your application: There would be bias by the Federation as Axiori are more psionically adept than Xiialt on average. While this isn't a pronounced bias it would definitely impact how easily someone could enter government positions or move up the social credit system. The Federation is more presenting itself as a meritocracy than being an actual meritocracy. How Listeners and non-Skrell are treated in the Federation are just a couple of examples of how it isn't as meritocratic as it might initially seem. These might seem like nitpicks since they're small details, but it is important when reading and interpreting other bits of lore or when developing a character's backstory. Other than those two things the app is good and I'm happy to accept it.

This seems more of an admin issue, but the cooldown should be looked into. I remember there being a similar issue with one of the other psionic abilities where it froze the person and slowly crushed their entire body, and that could be sustained even after the antag left the room. This led to things like a technomancer warping in, crushing you, then warping into another room and carrying it on and nothing could be done about it. While there's definitely an argument for balance, I believe if you're doing something gamey like what you described it falls into administration territory. There's nothing to gain other than a character's death if you're going to kill someone while they're in surgery silently and not even being in the room when you do it.

[Accepted]

Sorry, had a busy weekend. I forgot to ask if Xushi is a listener or a receiver, as that would also have an impact on their SCS and views on the Federation. I'm not going to hold up this app longer than I have so it's fine. I'm going to accept the application, but I'll leave you with some notes regarding your answers: Religion is an important part of the lore, and I do not allow characters that are irreligious. The explanation behind Xushi's thoughts on the Skrell faiths makes them out to be almost atheist which is not allowed. Keep in mind that they would have been brought up with both faiths widely followed in Federation society, combined with the Nlom they would not have negative feelings towards Skrell faith (that said they could favour one and dislike the other, but disliking both is not something I want to see in characters). Skrell who are Primary numericals (7+) are allowed, but we ask players to be sensible regarding the score. With the benefits you gain from being a primary there needs to be a strong justification for that character to be outside of the Federation. Skrell who are in command positions have a bit more leeway in their score, but around 8 (not a hard value and depends on different factors) is the cutoff point with the current Skrell team, and only diplomats or representatives could be higher.

Hi, thanks for applying. Your backstory is fine, but I do want to bring one thing up: The Surr'ka/subversive elements of the Veteran's lodge are not well-known to the wider public, which includes Sqai'Laaq. While they consider themselves pro-Federation this particular part of the lodge would be considered anti-federation by the authorities. While it's possible that your character was recruited into the "inner circle" of the Lodge as it were I get the impression in your app that you were not aware of its Suur'ka practices being secretive. You have answered pretty much everything I typically ask applicants, so I only have two questions: How does Mruqila feel about Vaurca? How have recent events in the Federation impacted Mruqila?

Thank you for changing the app pre-emptively. I have a few things in your app I'd like to point out: With a score of 5.85 that puts them solidly in Secondary territory, making them an average Skrell citizen. This phrase implies they were born into high society. Reef Garden is the equivalent to high school for Skrell, with 50 years old (the end of Reef Garden schooling) being the equivalent of 18. Xushi "psychoanalyzing" humans, who would be a rare sight on Qerrbalak, at high school age seems over the top to me. There are some details missing in this app in general as well. Please answer the following questions to expand on your character's backstory: When was Xushi born, and what generation would that put them in? How does Xushi feel about the Federation? You've touched on this in the backstory slightly, but is their loyalty/adherence to the Federation out of obligation or true belief in the Federation and its ideals? You said Xushi is not particularly devout. Is there a reason for this? If it's not a general theological issue and more an issue with Qeblak, what's prevented them from converting to Weishii? How does Xushi feel about non-Skrell in the Federation and in general? How does Xushi feel about current events surrounding Skrell and the Federation?

Hi, thanks for applying. We ask that players make a Federation-born Skrell for their whitelist application to avoid being unable to tie in large swathes of Skrell lore into their backstory and to prove that large sections of the lore we deem required reading are actually read. We have never come across a situation where someone applies with a character that moved to the Federation later in life so I'll have to discuss this with my deputies first.

Accepted.

Hi, thanks for applying. I'm going to accept this since it's obvious you've read at least a large chunk of the lore. I don't feel the need to ask extra questions. As for the social credit score comment in your notes, keep in mind that they are a listener and that alone would be a large barrier in terms of SCS progression. We ask players to be sensible, and there's no real hard rule on what score your character would have, but if you want a suggestion I'd say anything between 5 and 6 would make sense considering their family ties (veteran's lodge member and a Federation-loyal Doctor as parents).