[Declined] Resilynn's Surprise Skrell Lore Dev App

[Resilynn]

Ckey/BYOND Username: Resilynn

Position Being Applied For (coder, mapper, spriter): Skrell Lore Dev

Past Experiences/Knowledge: I have developed lore for the start up (and since mostly disbanded) Eridani station, focusing largely on space and technology. I have my own pretty little Skrell whitelist and am pretty knowledgeable on their current lore and history.

Examples of Past Work: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13B3k34A3Odml_e0KnqjqdbWYZGGixku85xOfK4ZucTE/edit?usp=sharing

A wiki page writen for Eridani Lore.

Essay: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GazI2S4puHkgWTiboGJLelFqa7GMRdC2fW6VFO6TOTk/edit?usp=sharing

Preferred Mode of Communication (Skype, Steam, etc.): Discord, Resi #7437

Additional Comments: I think I'm finally ready to step up and offer more to the server than just being everyone's favorite asshole CMO.

I play regularly, I love interacting with the community, and I am open to feedback on development. I have a professional background in writing, development, and production in real life, so this would definitely be within my skill set.

Most importantly, I have a vision for the Skrell. They are our most technologically advanced species in lore, something that we do very little with. I would like to explore the Skrell's relationship with humanity, especially in regards to technology, in much more depth than has already been done. I think the addition of a few more details in regards to their advancement could not only flesh out the Skrell as a race, but create a richer lore for the universe in general. For example, do they share everything with humanity? Why? How much oversight/power/help do they demand in exchange for these advancements? What do they hold back and why? How are they using this influence in relation to AI development? I feel like answering these questions with the help of the rest of the lore team could serve to revitalize the Skrell's place, both IC and OOC, on our server.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Guest

[Resilynn]

Note: Essay to come.

[BRAINOS]

no bias here, but still a +1.

resilynn has several examples of excellent writing and is more than knowledgeable enough about the subjects involved in writing lore to make it not only believable, but interesting.

there has been talk in the community about how Skrell aren't "interesting enough" and nobody wants to play them. i've got faith resilynn could help tremendously with that, as they have yet to write anything that failed to entertain or interest me.

as a potential member of the team, resilynn is creative, friendly, has a wealth of patience, and is passionate about contributing what they can.

i support the heck out of this.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

[mention]Mofo1995[/mention] o will be primarily handling this application for the most part as it would very likely be awkward for the both of us to have me review this when in recent time you put me on blast in a command whitelist application and I have an active IR filed against your primary character. Unless you are comfortable with me lording over this still?

[Resilynn]

That’s up to you, jackboot. I think I was pretty clear that I didn’t have hostile intent and I take IRs as IC and irrelevant to ooc opinions.

If you tell me you are still impartial, I trust you. It’s your decision either way.

[Alberyk]

A major issue that many people point out is the shallow level of mechanics, and lore representation, of the skrell species in game. Do you plan to do anything about it? Anything in particular if yes?

[Snakebittenn]

Being as impartial as I possibly can be. While I enjoy the example in the OP, and while 'I think the addition of a few more details in regards to their advancement could not only flesh out the Skrell as a race, but create a richer lore for the universe in general.' is a great aim and goal (you'd probably be the best deputy in the loreteam), it is not enough in my eyes. While Skrell lore is very shallow in places, true, these places are more in their species' past, largely surrounding Glorsh Omega (praise be to His name). This microlore such as Skrell tech and the Unathi smuggling of it would be wonderful if only the bigger picture wasn't so crooked. Macrolore is what is required, not micro.

[Resilynn]

A major issue that many people point out is the shallow level of mechanics, and lore representation, of the skrell species in game. Do you plan to do anything about it? Anything in particular if yes?

 

Mechanically, I would love to give the skrell two extra known languages and open up the languages they may select to include a few more options (sol common, in particular.). The skrell are known for an enthusiasm for arts and culture, and I feel that broadening their linguistic capabilities could reflect this mechanically while also offering some small incentive to play the species. I have also toyed with the idea of giving them a little bit of natural brute and burn healing, increasing the rate that they recover from these damages (including stopping bleeding), because of their squishy skin.

In terms of lore representation, the way the lore is written now, the skrell should be much more involved in human news and affairs. One idea I have played with is making the skrell more influential in tau ceti, in particular. I would like to bring skrellian cultural ambassadors on station during a few canon rounds, I would like to begin having human news make reference to skrellian officials. The overall implication I would like to make is that they preside over human affairs in an almost parental sort of way, watching and occasionally making small adjustments to influence current events. I’d love to see human characters developing opinions about skrellian influence and politics, liking and trusting them for their help and support, resenting them for the amount of control they may or may not have, etc., because ultimately, that is what will get people to start applying for skrell whitelists and getting invested in the species’ news and lore.

[Resilynn]

Being as impartial as I possibly can be. While I enjoy the example in the OP, and while 'I think the addition of a few more details in regards to their advancement could not only flesh out the Skrell as a race, but create a richer lore for the universe in general.' is a great aim and goal (you'd probably be the best deputy in the loreteam), it is not enough in my eyes. While Skrell lore is very shallow in places, true, these places are more in their species' past, largely surrounding Glorsh Omega (praise be to His name). This microlore such as Skrell tech and the Unathi smuggling of it would be wonderful if only the bigger picture wasn't so crooked. Macrolore is what is required, not micro.

 

I’d like to minimize changing the existing lore (though there is one adjustment I am dying to make). Instead, I’d like to flesh out what’s already there and ultimately, I’d like to draw attention away from glorsh. As it stands, glorsh is the first thing most players think of when they think of the skrell. I would like to begin to emphasize their culture, tech, and place in politics in place of glorsh, leaving glorsh a key piece in their lore, but developing the skrellian identity beyond ‘cute frogs that were all kind of murdered pretty recently’.

We can accomplish a lot by taking what is currently micro and bringing it out into the macro.

[Doxxmedearly]

As a person, I think you’re very easy to get along with, and I think you have the drive to write (and experience), as well as the ability to work as part of a team.

You have good answers so far, in my opinion. I enjoy that you don’t plan on rewriting the species, but expanding on what is there. I also really look forward to seeing them have more development outside of Glorsh. There’s a LOT of Skrell lore established, but as stated, it’s incredibly shallow.

Consider that Skrell have been neglected for a long time, and reviving interest in a species is not a small task. It will require work, and a dev needs to be chosen carefully. So I will pose some more questions. Some may involve repeating things you've already said, but bear with me.

==

• You’ve talked about expanding their relationship with humanity. This is very good. But they are also deeply involved with other species, such as the C’thur Vaurcae, Dionae, and Unathi (Ouerea, specifically). Do you have plans for or thoughts on these?
• Right now, there’s a surge of Skrell whitelist apps. This can be really great momentum for firing off renewed interest in the species. To keep it, the dev will have to remain active; there’s no doubt that lore inactivity contributed to the species getting stale. Do you feel like you can remain active with writing lore and being available for questions?
  
• Do you have any plans to further expand on the Skrell religions?
  
• When it comes to generating interest in a species, good players have a strong influence, as a really well-played xeno in round can make people interested in looking at the lore. Right now, we have very few active skrell (pending whitelist approvals). Will we see you play skrell more to help generate interest? Will you work with the lore team to plan events?
  
• People want to see on station differences between xenos. The macro is needed, but the micro should not be forgotten. You’ve pointed out some rough ideas about mechanical changes. What plans do you have, if any, to make Skrell feel more unique and alien for a person to roleplay?

==

Also looking forward to reading your essay. So far I think you’re capable, but when it comes to lore dev apps, I’m looking for proof that you are willing and able to put in the work, as well as proof that your contributions will be what the species needs. I think questions and answers are more important than +1/-1.

[Mofo1995]

It's been a few days, is there any update on the essay?

[Resilynn]

Done, give me a bit to get home.

[Mofo1995]

Okay, I'll read it tomorrow when I get out of work if it's up by then.

[Resilynn]

Okay, I'll read it tomorrow when I get out of work if it's up by then.

 

It's up.

[Resilynn]

• You’ve talked about expanding their relationship with humanity. This is very good. But they are also deeply involved with other species, such as the C’thur Vaurcae, Dionae, and Unathi (Ouerea, specifically). Do you have plans for or thoughts on these?
• Right now, there’s a surge of Skrell whitelist apps. This can be really great momentum for firing off renewed interest in the species. To keep it, the dev will have to remain active; there’s no doubt that lore inactivity contributed to the species getting stale. Do you feel like you can remain active with writing lore and being available for questions?
  
• Do you have any plans to further expand on the Skrell religions?
  
• When it comes to generating interest in a species, good players have a strong influence, as a really well-played xeno in round can make people interested in looking at the lore. Right now, we have very few active skrell (pending whitelist approvals). Will we see you play skrell more to help generate interest? Will you work with the lore team to plan events?
  
• People want to see on station differences between xenos. The macro is needed, but the micro should not be forgotten. You’ve pointed out some rough ideas about mechanical changes. What plans do you have, if any, to make Skrell feel more unique and alien for a person to roleplay?

 

Initially, I am going to focus on humanity, since we are in human space and the Skrell are in desperate need of some attention from the main playerbase. I absolutely intend to flesh out their relationships with other species over time, and look forward to working with those species' respective loreteams to see what we could do together.

I am an incredibly active player. I'm on the forums multiple times throughout the day and check discord regularly, so I think I'd absolutely be active as a lore dev.

I don't currently have immediate plans to work with Skrell religions, focusing instead on politics and history. I do agree, however, that these religions are exceedingly vague and definitely in need of some work if we are going to give our Skrell chaplains something to do. Holidays would be neat.

I absolutely intend to plan and run events. I've made a few Skrell characters and, while I haven't found one that has really stuck with me yet (I never seem to play anyone for too long other than my adorable Skrell fan-boy Fernando), I don't want to eliminate the possibility of finding a Skrell character that resonates with me long term.

I think the current Skrell lore on their alien-ness is sufficient, for now. They have trouble with expression that humans can understand. Their lifespans are incredibly long. I think your average Skrell probably views humans, both as individuals and a species, as children. Anything else is up to players to have fun with and invent.

[Snakebittenn]

Now that your essay is out, and you've posted some well developed replies, I can finally go through this point by point.

 

If you look into them any further, you get that they struggle to communicate emotion to humans and that they are suffering from some mild (yes, mild) reproduction issues.

This is, in my opinion, one of the weakest parts of Skrell. They do not really have anything that qualifies as 'Skrellness' besides an inability to emote, an ability to swim, and noslip. None of these things really separate them from a mentally challenged human wearing galoshes.

Yet,

I think the current Skrell lore on their alien-ness is sufficient, for now. They have trouble with expression that humans can understand. Their lifespans are incredibly long. I think your average Skrell probably views humans, both as individuals and a species, as children. Anything else is up to players to have fun with and invent.

 

An inability to emote would work well if this were a LARP, or if we had anything remotely qualifying as 'graphics', but this does not work in a text based game. Their long lifespans are somewhat alien, yes, but it does not come up often besides 'Here's why I have more PhDs than chromosomes.'

 

If it works with the rest of the lore, since I know Glorsh impacts more than just the Skrell, I would like to push Glorsh about 200 years further into the past. Currently, older Skrell were alive to remember Glorsh’s reign.

 

This is not necessary. Players will not care about things their characters weren't around for. How many Unathi can you successfully quiz about any previous Hegemony? This will reduce the impact of Glorsh too much, and nullify characters like mines who still have the actions, and voice, of Glorsh-Omega haunting them. and /especially/ characters you later mention that supported Glorsh.

 

I would like to imply that Glorsh only began to become obviously problematic in the last few years of its material existence

This doesn't really give Glorsh any impact either beyond being an average malf AI antagging at 1:45.

 

I’d like to emphasize that the Skrell only have about 4 generations (~1200 years) left to solve the genophage before their population will be too low to sustain necessary genetic diversity. This would put around a 2000 year lifespan on the species, putting them in a state of relative emergency.

 

This will do wonders for making the genophage irrelevant. Much as you cannot ask players to care about things their characters weren't alive for, you absolutely cannot ask players to care about things their characters won't be alive for. 2000 years is an insane amount of time, and is even crazier considering it will not actually fit in the operating time of Aurora. There's a reason that things happen very often very rapidly in-lore, and there's a reason (despite how much I hate it,) that most 'past' lore events only happened like 25 years ago.

 

I want your average Skrell to at the very least outwardly express love and faith in their government and culture, and to fear speaking out against them if they are not in support.

 

This is not very good, and is yet another thing that cannot really happen often. It's hard enough getting catbeast players to even talk about their home government/culture.

Lastly, a question. What experience do you have interacting with the skrell playerbase in recent months? I have never seen any of your Skrell. If it were to expand, what would be your plan to communicate effectively with them?

[Resilynn]

Now that your essay is out, and you've posted some well developed replies, I can finally go through this point by point.

 

If you look into them any further, you get that they struggle to communicate emotion to humans and that they are suffering from some mild (yes, mild) reproduction issues.

This is, in my opinion, one of the weakest parts of Skrell. They do not really have anything that qualifies as 'Skrellness' besides an inability to emote, an ability to swim, and noslip. None of these things really separate them from a mentally challenged human wearing galoshes.

Yet,

I think the current Skrell lore on their alien-ness is sufficient, for now. They have trouble with expression that humans can understand. Their lifespans are incredibly long. I think your average Skrell probably views humans, both as individuals and a species, as children. Anything else is up to players to have fun with and invent.

 

An inability to emote would work well if this were a LARP, or if we had anything remotely qualifying as 'graphics', but this does not work in a text based game. Their long lifespans are somewhat alien, yes, but it does not come up often besides 'Here's why I have more PhDs than chromosomes.'

 

If it works with the rest of the lore, since I know Glorsh impacts more than just the Skrell, I would like to push Glorsh about 200 years further into the past. Currently, older Skrell were alive to remember Glorsh’s reign.

 

This is not necessary. Players will not care about things their characters weren't around for. How many Unathi can you successfully quiz about any previous Hegemony? This will reduce the impact of Glorsh too much, and nullify characters like mines who still have the actions, and voice, of Glorsh-Omega haunting them. and /especially/ characters you later mention that supported Glorsh.

 

I would like to imply that Glorsh only began to become obviously problematic in the last few years of its material existence

This doesn't really give Glorsh any impact either beyond being an average malf AI antagging at 1:45.

 

I’d like to emphasize that the Skrell only have about 4 generations (~1200 years) left to solve the genophage before their population will be too low to sustain necessary genetic diversity. This would put around a 2000 year lifespan on the species, putting them in a state of relative emergency.

 

This will do wonders for making the genophage irrelevant. Much as you cannot ask players to care about things their characters weren't alive for, you absolutely cannot ask players to care about things their characters won't be alive for. 2000 years is an insane amount of time, and is even crazier considering it will not actually fit in the operating time of Aurora. There's a reason that things happen very often very rapidly in-lore, and there's a reason (despite how much I hate it,) that most 'past' lore events only happened like 25 years ago.

 

I want your average Skrell to at the very least outwardly express love and faith in their government and culture, and to fear speaking out against them if they are not in support.

 

This is not very good, and is yet another thing that cannot really happen often. It's hard enough getting catbeast players to even talk about their home government/culture.

Lastly, a question. What experience do you have interacting with the skrell playerbase in recent months? I have never seen any of your Skrell. If it were to expand, what would be your plan to communicate effectively with them?

 

Having Glorsh only start murder boning towards the ends of its rule leaves room for more realistic and understandable factions in support of it.

I am making the genophage a bigger deal. Only having a few generations left before the end of your species is terrifying and more pressing than the situation is in current lore.

Pushing Glorsh back that far still allows for old Skrell to remember Glorsh.

Lastly, to answer that question: 1- I've already been talking to some of our more active Skrell players, mostly Conspiir, Riq, and Chirp (whatever his ckey is) to ask what they want to see from Skrell. I'm very easy to reach on discord. 2- I don't believe I've ever seen the other applicant play a skrell (or any other species, human included) in the last two years anyway. My little Quilp'Vlomn comes on now and then.

[Mofo1995]

I read your essay! And after thinking about it awhile I've come here with some feedback for you. I'm not here to be a formalist and request everyone abide by genre conventions, so I won't gripe hard about the form your essay took, but it was pretty unorthodox. Starting off with a post modern deconstruction of the medium of writing in essay form was a risky move.

Off the top of my head, the suggestions posed here are very ironic in the sense that they completely flew in the face of the intentions of Loow, the previous Skrell lore handler. That's not inherently bad in any way! But I feel as though these suggestions in particular aren't great. Pushing Glorsh and the foundation of the second federation back so that there are no living skrell from that time would probably make it very irrelevant to most skrell players, and less impactful on lore writing since there would be no one saying "I was there," an extremely powerful aspect of skrell lore. It's a comparison that I hate to draw since it doesn't do either skrell lore or actual human history any justice, but imagine if the Holocaust had happened 600+ years ago instead of within the last century. Isn't it far more powerful when there are survivors still around, and in addition, the perpetrators and collaborators? While there are hints of serious and entrenched issues within the second federation's government, it's ultimately bound and knit very sturdily through the collective trauma of the older generation's experiences, that same older generation which is primarily still in charge. An important feature which gives flavor to the hints of the totalitarian Skrell deep state is how the older generations were hardened by the times they lived in, and now operate with that same strictness and do or die mentality in these peaceful days as they had to in those dark times. Much of the tension of the modern federation is from how this old guard contrasts against the young like Jrugl, who have grown up in times of relative peace and seek to liberalize the state to reflect the change in the times. This dynamic of fathers and sons would be lost if we pushed it really far back.

Second is the sterilization changes suggestion. The biggest astro-political issues facing Skrell on a strategic level is the slow outpacing of their position as top dog by humans through economy and population growth. The way the Skrell are currently set is that they're sort of like space elves in the sense that they don't propagate very quickly (but enough to not be going extinct) and are very powerful, advanced, and intelligent. The sterilization is supposed to be a reminding scar to accompany the collective trauma of the era of synthetic oppression, and the diminished effects of it today are an allegory for how skrell are slowly overcoming the burdens that were laid onto them by Glorsh-Omega. Do you think the tradeoff of removing these symbolic themes are worth presenting players with an extinction crisis over a thousand years away? At the current trajectory, humans are set to outpace them in economy, military strength, and eventually technology. The current state of the lore is at the fascinating moments when their relative strengths are a toss up. And truthfully speaking, the unscrupulous use of AI by humans is a massive accelerator for their rapid advancement, which further threatens the complacent skrell.

Skrell illuminati is a pretty decent idea. The old Guard and hardened revolutionaries who founded the second federation essentially pull the strings behind the curtains, with Qroisht Tup being the most visible and overt representation of their influence and power. But subtlety has always been a very important feature of skrell. I think making the autocratic tendencies of the skrell plainly obvious might be insulting to the intellect of skrell players. And even if insulting is a bit too far, I think it would be compromising the strength of their lore.

 

Moreover, I want to turn Glorsh from a nameless, pointless evil bent on utter destruction (which is how the lore currently reads) to an almost father-like leader, promising to lead the Skrell into glory.

 

For me, this is the biggest sticking point. A lot of the interest in Glorsh is generated first by the scale of its impact on the trajectory of galactic history, and secondly by the mystery of its motives. By demystifying Glorsh, I think we're doing a great disservice to everyone, and it would be far less immediately less interesting. Glorsh was a cold calculating and practically omnipotent machine, adding transparent propaganda motives makes it seem more like a demagogic dictator, and less robotic. Much of the horror is derived from the emotionless nature of machines, and much of the mystery but the lack of explanation and ultimate disappearance at Tri'Qyu, which could have been anything from ascension to a higher state of being to suicide. No one knows.

I'm interested to see your thoughts on these musings, I will be largely unavailable for the next three days due to family visiting, so my response may take awhile.

[Resilynn]

I read your essay! And after thinking about it awhile I've come here with some feedback for you. I'm not here to be a formalist and request everyone abide by genre conventions, so I won't gripe hard about the form your essay took, but it was pretty unorthodox. Starting off with a post modern deconstruction of the medium of writing in essay form was a risky move.

 

I have a BA in English Literature, so you'll forgive me if I'm tired to death of traditional structure, which they teach us to abandon about three years in anyway.

I'll have answers written out to the rest of your points in a day or so.

[Bygonehero]

What does a Skrell Warble sound like to you? Since its an emote, does it give a facial expression? What does warbling mean or, why do Skrell warble about things?

[Resilynn]

"Pushing Glorsh and the foundation of the second federation back so that there are no living skrell from that time would probably make it very irrelevant to most skrell players, and less impactful on lore writing since there would be no one saying "I was there," an extremely powerful aspect of skrell lore. It's a comparison that I hate to draw since it doesn't do either skrell lore or actual human history any justice, but imagine if the Holocaust had happened 600+ years ago instead of within the last century. Isn't it far more powerful when there are survivors still around, and in addition, the perpetrators and collaborators?

That was actually my exact line of thought, which is why I've pushed Glorsh back to where old skrell (400 and older) were alive for it, but middle aged and younger were not. Most skrell aren't survivors of Glorsh, but there are still plenty around.

Do you think the tradeoff of removing these symbolic themes are worth presenting players with an extinction crisis over a thousand years away? At the current trajectory, humans are set to outpace them in economy, military strength, and eventually technology. The current state of the lore is at the fascinating moments when their relative strengths are a toss up.

I absolutely understand we'd be sacrificing some of the subtle space elves themes, but I think it'd be worth it. I don't think the current state of the Skrell has gained much interest in the playerbase. And while yes, this crisis is over a thousand years in the future, it is only three generations. Skrell that manage to have children are going to have to worry that their children are going to see the extinction of their species. I feel that this pressing issue will bring the Skrell's being outpaced further into the foreground and will amplify the issue, bringing the Skrell into more of a current state of turmoil.

But subtlety has always been a very important feature of skrell. I think making the autocratic tendencies of the skrell plainly obvious might be insulting to the intellect of skrell players. And even if insulting is a bit too far, I think it would be compromising the strength of their lore.

If something is so subtle that you have to read a backlog of years of news articles on a nonmajor news source on the forums to pick up on it, it is too subtle for most of our players. I've picked up this suggestion specifically from talking to Skrell whitelisted players who would like to see this major facet of their lore actually feel major.

A lot of the interest in Glorsh is generated first by the scale of its impact on the trajectory of galactic history, and secondly by the mystery of its motives. By demystifying Glorsh, I think we're doing a great disservice to everyone, and it would be far less immediately less interesting. Glorsh was a cold calculating and practically omnipotent machine, adding transparent propaganda motives makes it seem more like a demagogic dictator, and less robotic. Much of the horror is derived from the emotionless nature of machines, and much of the mystery but the lack of explanation and ultimate disappearance at Tri'Qyu, which could have been anything from ascension to a higher state of being to suicide.

I intend to keep the machine robotic, but I don't feel like the current lore is mystifying, it just feels shallow. Evil AI did evil things because it was evil. I'd like to to make things more ambiguous. AI are purpose built, I'd like Glorsh to be a purpose built machine that transcended its purpose, not a formless evil that emerged from the void. I will not make a concrete explanation for what happened at Tri'Qyu, but I will use the various theories to build up the factions I intend to make.

[Resilynn]

What does a Skrell Warble sound like to you? Since its an emote, does it give a facial expression? What does warbling mean or, why do Skrell warble about things?

 

When I play Skrell, I use various chirps and warbles in place of expression. Skrell are far more verbally expressive than they are physically expressive, warbles are their variations of smiles or frowns or scrunched eyebrows- Their social cues are auditory above physical, which is one of the more alien features of the species.

[Lonely Caravan]

Resi is a really good Roleplayer. I haven't interacted with her as Skrell, to Skrell, but I've roleplayed with many other characters of hers, and I have absolutely no doubt she understands the Skrell lore, and is fully capable of adding new things that would make the race very interesting, and even make more people go apply for it. Something that also makes me support this is due to the fact that the Skrell lore is frozen, and needs some attention, and I think that Resi will do a splendid job picking off from where it came to a halt.

A honest, filled with love, +1 from me.

[Zaeperry99]

Resi asked me to come with input since I'm her best Skrell friend. The short of it is, there are quite a few things I like about this and a few things I very much dislike. I'll categorize them as to make responding a bit easier. Just name the spoiler so that you won't have to make a post which is 50% quotes of my own. Don't expect this to mean I won't be going on colossal tangents constantly, though. I'll also be including jokes in the spoiler names as to lighten the mood a bit, so don't think any of those are snide remarks at anyone expect probably myself.

Also, it's 2 hours after my bed-time and I just spent a solid hour and a half making some stupid useless formula nobody needs and another typing this up, so I'm making blood sacrifices in hopes that all of my English professors and teachers don't smite me from beyond the fucking graves. Thus, forgive me for my probably atrocious grammar and structuring. And maybe get a cup of coffee, since this is gonna be a long one.

To start, Resi's personality is good. Fernando is an asshole, as everyone knows, but I interacted with Ellie Shoshanna(I'm probably misspelling that, forgive me) long before I met Fernando, and thought she was just the neatest dude lady. Whether or not I consider Resi a worthy member of staff is a no-brainer; I think she'd have no problems with the responsibilities and image expected of staff. My points of contention are entirely in the lore ideas, though there are several things I like. I'll go in order from my biggest complaints to the most minute ones, with the things I like sprinkled around when relevant.

Things which I consider contradictions, but other Skrell may recognize as having a clear intent:

You claim that too much of the Skrell lore takes place in the distant past and that the genophage should be more of a recent and painful memory, but trying to make the Glorsh Rebellion more of a recent story told to children by their parents than an actual event people who are alive remember doesn't seem to go with that. I fully agree that most of the important bits of Skrell history seem to be in the past.

I'm not sure of the logic behind it other than potentially making the hate for Glorsh less vitriolic. I feel as though the opposite would happen, though; By pushing it further back, the majority of people (who weren't around seeing as it was 400 years prior) have no experience with Glorsh. Their only direct experience is their infertility. The losers of a battle become portrayed as more evil as time goes on in history; I think pushing it back would mean Glorsh would be viewed by the Skrell as even more of an inherently evil force.

This brings me to my second point:

The very extremely large no good several paragraphs of questions and points.

 

I think completely reworking Glorsh is a bad idea for a few reasons.

To start, this re-work almost flips it. Currently, Glorsh was a seemingly all-knowing force with no personality. This would seem to make it a much more 'mortal' force with a persuasive, charismatic personality, which raises several questions and a couple of outright complaints from me:

Questions include:

Why would it introduce the genophage if it sought to make the Skrell more powerful?

If it came to power on the basis of making the Skrell more powerful, why would anybody still support it after being sterilized to the point of nearing extinction?

It's already apparent to anyone willing to look hard enough what his goal was, or at the very least each Skrell and Player can look at what happened and draw their own conclusion. I like that. That gives more points of contention - even between pro-Glorsh parties and other pro-Glorsh parties, there can be colossal disagreements as to what the original intent was like in just about any religion, which fits seeing as how Glorsh acted like a malevolent God.

I feel like making Glorsh more human would make Skrell less unique. They have something that no other species has ever experienced on such a scale; They had what is essential, as said earlier, an actual malevolent God in complete control of everything. The closest any other civilization has come (except maybe the Vaurca) to that is just horrible and selfish dictatorships. I think this is a facet of the lore which should be capitalized on, whereas flipping Glorsh would instead just wipe it away and replace it with something more inherently human.

 

What I think about what you think about what people should think about the Genophage, otherwise known as 'Please rename it something other than literally the same thing it's called in Mass Effect'.

 

Seriously, call it the Big Bad Infertility Monster. Just anything other than the Genophage.

It's not currently an actual threat and it should be, I absolutely agree with that. If it were an actual threat it'd massively impact the way Skrell interact and feel - though not in such a way as to revamp the lore. I've actually had thoughts about making a Skrell who believes that the 'immunization' they give the meat is making the genophage worse/uncurable, and were it an actual threat I'd feel even more compelled to make this character.

I designed a formula (included in the spoiler below) which shows that the Skrell have around 11 generations (and I'd say no less than 3 fewer than that) left before there are too few of them to maintain sufficient genetic diversity to keep the species alive, which gives them about 3000 years, which definitely needs to be shorter. If you'd like the genophage to be an 'Our grandchildren are going to be the last Skrell' issue, it'd need to 'evolve' and probably knock the fertility rate to 10% or less and/or effect more Skrell. (Do remember to consider the implications that would have towards the Skrell's opinion on the Synthetic Oppression, as well.)

Spoilers in spoilers? This is gonna be a good time.

Note, this is my formula. It has literally nothing to do with the application and is only here so that people know I'm not pulling the '11 generations' number out of thin air.

Formula: To start, I had to make a few assumptions for this. First of all, it assumes that all Skrell who are able to have children do have children. Worst case scenario, we can chalk this up to mass artificial insemination. It also assumes most Skrell have their children at about 300; I'll back this up as my own headcanon in that a Skrell would be expected to have children as late as is reasonably safe to ensure that, should the Genophage not be cured, they will remain a species for as long as is possible. 300 is the youngest the average Skrell will die of old age, so I figure it's a fine point. Fertile Skrell can have 1-3 children, thus the avg. amount of Children per couple is 1.5. Once again, a big assumption, but I'll just claim Occam's Razor to try and make myself sound smarter than I am.

Simplified: P1=(P0/2)*F*Ca

Legend:

P1 = Next Generation's children

P0 = Current Generation

F = Fert modifier ( .33 )

Ca = Children per couple.

Example:

P1 = 84,000,000,000 (Only 1 couple per 2 Skrell, hence divided by 2) / 2 = 42,000,000,000 x .33 = 13,860,000,000 x 1.5 = 20,790,000,000. The formula doesn't need to be changed to plug this in several times.

If your headcanon is different or a lore authority would like to state otherwise, you can plug it into Excel and find a new answer, or give the correct statistics to me and I'll gladly do so. Also, credit to [mention]duskofdawn[/mention] who probably hasn't been on for multiple months for taking about half the workload for making this stupid formula.

 

Now, some things I really like.

 

Your concept of a 'Skrell Illuminati' that seems to interfere/provide help at random is great. It provides a 'Stare ye not into the abyss' situation which I like a lot. Particularly paranoid Humans may see Skrell in a similar light as the Skrell first saw Glorsh - shadowy, acting without reasonable connections, and knowing something they all don't. That feels like professional-level writing, whether or not it was intentional.

I also very much like the consideration of making the Skrell government more openly Totalitarian. My Skrell should not be able to openly talk about Glorsh being right without fearing retribution from their government. It also gives the Skrell player base a dividing factor other than 'Do you think our oppressors were just utilitarian, or outright evil' and 'Do you think Glorsh was evil for A or evil for B' or 'Are robots bad or are they good'. The Skrell's government being totalitarian is not only a key factor of the lore which needs to be more obvious (I'd like to avoid two people from the same region of the same planet, one claiming they're totally free and the other claiming that they're under a totalitarian democracy) and is essentially a massive well of untapped potential.

 

As a totally unrelated thing, but something I'm always curious about; How do you feel about Tup commandos?

Thanks for reading all of my unsubstantiated nonsense. I want to make it clear here that I'm not saying you're unfit for this position, just that I want more context or reasons for some of your ideas.

[Conspiir]

Heyo, second application, let’s do this.

First, you’re a different person to Fowl, and I respect that. So I’ve given myself a few hours between reading his and reading yours.

Let’s talk about the essay!

Hm. A generation wouldn’t be a full 400 years. Natural lifespan is currently 200 (which would be about 70 for Humans today) but can live between 300 and 500 with medical help (something like our ability to live up to 115 or something). A generation would probably be closer to like… 100-130 years. Assuming education takes a while and people aren’t looking to start families until they have careers. If a Skrell waits too long, their eggs will definitely shrivel up. No 400-year-old Skrell is going to pop out a babe.

The Skrelluminati sounds awesome. It’s a piece of what some might already see happening, particularly with Frost a while back and the Skrell input in the situation. I’d like Skrell to make a comeback on the recent Frost events.

Right now, a lot of who Skrell are is based on their history. Really, that accounts for humans, too. Every culture and country now can be identified by events in their past. What I’m getting is you want to push the major event Skrell have a bit back, which would make it less major, and take away what a lot of Skrell have right now: reason to care about Glorsh-Omega. I have a Skrell that grew up in Ceti. Glorsh is just a fairytale when you’re removed from seeing the effects, just as a human would care less. What Skrell need isn’t less Glorsh influence, but more. There are ruins all around the federation of what Glorsh supposedly did. Guaranteed, the government keeps those up as memories. Keeps the Skrell people remembering.

Resi. You’re cool. We’re tight. I’ve no doubt you could handle the position as a person. But the direction your Skrell ideas are trying to flesh out the race don’t appeal to me very much. It sounds like you’re pulling out some of the stuff we have for Skrell right now and trying to give them a bit of a different identity focus. The sterility of the Skrell should definitely be given more prevalence. Every Skrell should be tested to see if they’re naturally fertile or not. The fertility treatments are probably expensive. Skrell would have like 8 kids at once. Their parental drives are probably horrifically strong. Just imagine that. Your whole body and mind are telling you you would be an amazing parent that could teach your children so much. And then… too bad.

Lore should be more personal, not more general. There’s a lot of stray dogs in the world. Does that affect my life? It's sad, but not really. Is my dog the center of my whole world? 100%.

Anyway, here’s your super-weird Skrell question that I believe is extremely important:

“How would you describe Skrell skin? Is it membranous and slightly see-through? Is it moist and slimy or just casually dry like a person’s might be? Is it any easier to cut? How do you feel about Skrell having any sort of… flaps, like a cuttlefish might?”