[Accepted]Jupiter Storm's Tajara Whitelist App

[Jupiter Storm]

BYOND Key: JupiterStorm
Character Names: Gideon Mayfield (Cargo / Hustler / Traitor) | Sooty (Astromech Engine Tech) | M.I.St.R.E.S.S. (A.I) | Jupiter (IPC Mech / Drone Engineer) | Garrett O'Brien (Irish Catholic Cop) | H.E.R.A. / T.E.R.A. / S.A.R.A. (Eng / Med / Sec Cyborg)
Species you are applying to play: Tajara
What color do you plan on making your first alien character: Cinnamon, Njarir'Akhran
Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: I've read, the lore, the history, and interacted a lot with Tajara players in preparation for this moment, my characters listening to their stories and asking about their lives.

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 specific race:
For the longest time I've been looking to expand my character roster, having enjoyed Stationbounds and IPCs for quite a while, and I've really found my niche with the main people I prefer to focus on, developing them heavily... But with the recent influx of new players, a lot of roles are often over-subscribed, and when I go through the list of who I feel like playing, my roster suddenly feels super small.

My characters always talk to Tajara, and seem to get on with them really well. Either due to similarities in personality and interests, or because the Tajara characters on-shift are just the most sociable and have the richest stories to tell - I mean, given how much they were able to tell me about monsters on Adhomai and about the politics of the People's Republic, I don't blame them; the lore is clearly interesting enough to hold their attention.

The natural step for my next batch of characters (not only the Medical Resident I'm applying with, but also a bee-keeping Hydroponicist), is Tajara. It was never going to be anything else. I COULD make another human, but I want my next person to be special, and I do not see any other alternative than a character immersed in the lore I've begun to take a rising interest in.

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human:
I'm going to be REALLY boring, and say the same thing everyone else does, to start with! The obvious components include the interaction of your different anatomy with your environment; Tajaran body language isn't restricted to their posture or their facial expressions. They have ears and tails, the positions of which reflect their mood or their level of alertness. They also have claws - which must be taken into consideration whenever they're handling clothes or other people.

HOWEVER. Culture-wise, they're also exceptionally different. In the far future, humans don't seem to have very much of an ethnic identity that separates one human from another; save perhaps the division between Solarians, Ceti and Offworlders. Even then, the political structure and general living-standards are not particularly dissimilar from one another - just what's important to them on the galactic stage.

Tajarans on the other hand, have a very specific and unique pseudo-Russian / ancient Eurasian cultural origin that should and does define them as characters; The way they address others, the way they handle matters of the spirit, the way they view any sort of political situation, and the things that others take for granted such as education, pay, technology and hot food are treasures to them.

Edit: The majority of 'Taj from Adhomai would be of the lower classes, and would be very much inclined towards hard labour and pseudo-servitude (insofar as an acceptance of their lot, working together under the power of the State) - from what I understand, this would make them inclined to be heavily respectful towards others in a commanding position, or even those that they might view as in the socio-economic class above them.

Conversely, this can have the opposite effect, as class-related conflict on Adhomai can be commonplace, exacerbated by the pre-defined roles of Tajaran ethnic groups. Perhaps Tajara on-station of one ethnicity would harbour a significant mistrust, hatred, or fear (depending on their personality), against other Tajara of another ethnic group. I could go on and on, honestly, but I hope that five paragraphs covers it... 

Character Name: Oksana Al'Mhuzharri
Please provide a short backstory for this character:
Born on the 28th March 2435 - according to the Gregorian A.D. calendar - to a poor family of broken-down landowners, struggling to hold onto what little status and wealth they retained, from their estate some 250 miles east of Trizar. 'Oksana', meaning 'different' or 'outsider', was named for the striking, intelligent blue eyes she possessed by stark contrast to her parents' green. From a young age, the kit would explore the estate's cattle-ranch, attended always by an old, trusted Hrarar retainer who would impart her with knowledge about the various animals they kept (such as Nav'twir, N'hanzafu, or Sfahn'nfran), and how to look after them.

The aftermath of the First Revolution marked trying times for the people of Adhomai, however, and as the girl grew older, it became increasingly unsafe for her to walk among the lower classes. From the age of ten, she would spend long hours indoors, despite yearning to go outside and learn; and this sadness wounded her parents greatly, who found her lack of cynicism and inherent innocence to be something that they had lost in recent decades. Thus, they pooled a fraction of their failing wealth, and hired a private tutor. What she could not see, Oksana would instead study, her grades flourishing in the fields of Science and Sociology.

The Second Revolution hit the estate hard. Over the course of two years, the Liberation Army would expand their borders, encroaching further into Republican territory - and soon her family's holdings would lie near enough to these borders that the fighting began to take its toll. Food would be scarce, the people were desperate, famine was rife and tensions were high. Indeed, it was common knowledge by now that those who supported the local governments or represented power over the masses, were summarily lined up and executed by firing squad when the militias took over; many of the workers had already fled. While the family of Al'Mhuzahrri would be forced to stubbornly cling to their home, their daughter should not suffer with them.

Imparted with what little funds remained to her family, Oksana would travel by land-train to Trizar - the last she saw of her parents being the Spring of '53. Form there, she applied herself through 7 gruelling years of Medical School, and was summarily thereafter drafted into the Interstellar Aid Corps in the year 2460. Aged 25, she sailed with a number of her class-mates across the vast gulf of space on a relief mission to Tau Ceti following a brief Lii'dra incursion. Never would she willingly turn her back on her own people during a period of strife, but many educational insitutes of Adhomai were funded and staffed in part, by foreign governmental (and corporate) bodies... And they had their own obligations to fulfil.

Oksana would find life in the Aid Corps challenging, having led a fairly sheltered and book-ish lifestyle for much of her youth and Medical career. Physical hardship was not kind to her, nor were other Tajara from lesser ethnic majorities - a sentiment she could not understand, for Oksana saw no divisons between herself and other beings. Moreso, she had little in the form of income, and therefore little choice in where she could go. She wanted to return home, to see what had become of her family's estate, perhaps even take to teaching Tajara from all walks of life (although the prospect terrified her, given the reception she'd always been given). First, she needed a stable form of income, to accumulate wealth and elevate the prospects of those she loved - and who had loved her, unconditionally.

By proximity to Tau Ceti at the time, she was lucky enough to successfully apply for a role with the NanoTrasen Corporation, enlisting as a Medical Resident onboard the NSS Aurora. Oksana knew she would have to work harder still within the competitive, and elite(?) corporate environment, but she vowed that one day she would return home and repay her poor, failing family for their selfless sacrifice, her ultimate dream to teach the next generation of Adhomai, and offer others in the lower classes the same opportunities she'd been given.

What do you like about this character?
So... All of my characters are really different from one another, in their personalities and backgrounds. Each brings a fresh experience and different way of writing, different responses to situations and a unique playstyle. But never have I ever attempted a naíve cinnamon bun who always has a positive outlook on things, and actively seeks to care for people. The closest I've come to this is either with Sooty who is an adorable 'astromech-style' IPC that can't talk, and tends to focus on engineering problems only due to the communication gap with other crew.

Oksana should really challenge my approach to rounds, emphasising positive, personal interactions with crew, and learning the Medical field from the ground up as an inferior underling, rather than jumping into a role at the mid-tier level. I want to deal with professionals and learn from them, and spend time interacting with patients and developing her IC ability to handle crises (for she is very much innocent and a scaredy-cat to boot). I wanted to write more for my backstory, but it shouldn't be so long that nobody wants to read it... So instead, through my role-play, I intend to actively explore and engage in the many facets of Tajaran lore that attracted me to the species in the first place.

How would you rate your role-playing ability?
I like to think I'm a good writer, and that I'm able to emulate how characters should respond to situations fairly well. I try to keep myself as engaged with people as possible, promoting roleplay especially at the expense of self-inflation. I still have a lot to develop on, maybe, but I've had good feedback and I've made a lot of friends in recent months here that I never had before.

Notes:
Again, sorry for the long backstory. If anything is out of place, or it seems too snowflakey, please let me know, but I DID have words with Coalf about the most likely and most 'realistic' way that a Tajaran would willingly turn their backs on their homeworld during a civil war. Edit: I have also amended my backstory to be more in tune with something that DeadLantern rightly brought my attention to. Hopefully now, it fits.

But please, please tell me if I need to improve or change anything. There's a LOT of lore to absorb, so I've probably got something wrong.

Edited April 4, 2019 by Mofo1995

[Jessica_Stark]

+1. Jupiter is an amazing RPer, and has made me alternately love and hate their characters. 

[Elspeth]

+1. Absolutely love interacting with Jupiter any time I get the chance. Just a truly great RPer.

[VTCobaltblood]

oh so THAT'S who plays gideon. i love gideon. +1

[DeadLantern]

I do not really understand why she is Njarir'Akhran at all. I doubt a Njarir'Akhran at this stage of Tajaran politics would be living poorly. Living in a village is somewhat pushing it, but still makes sense. I'd like an explanation on how a Njarir family is living in this village. Secondly, you don't reflect on the affects of the species differences in culture and story. You talk about it in what makes this species different, but you do not show it. Njarir'Akhran would go through racism and terrible hate crimes, probably. She also worships Ma'atke gods--This theoretically could happen, but again, I would like an explanation on how this set of things came to be. Other than that, the story is fine.

It is possible that she is Njarir'Akhran and this is her story, but I'd like an explanation on how this came to be.

[Jupiter Storm]

6 hours ago, DeadLantern said:

I do not really understand why she is Njarir'Akhran at all. I doubt a Njarir'Akhran at this stage of Tajaran politics would be living poorly. Living in a village is somewhat pushing it, but still makes sense. I'd like an explanation on how a Njarir family is living in this village. Secondly, you don't reflect on the affects of the species differences in culture and story. You talk about it in what makes this species different, but you do not show it. Njarir'Akhran would go through racism and terrible hate crimes, probably. She also worships Ma'atke gods--This theoretically could happen, but again, I would like an explanation on how this set of things came to be. Other than that, the story is fine.

It is possible that she is Njarir'Akhran and this is her story, but I'd like an explanation on how this came to be.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I believe I missed something rather key there!

`Each race has a common role which they play in society which their biological inclinations make them more suited for, as well as their own cultures which have formed from long histories of performing these roles in society. Tajara heavily stereotype each other based on race which is often a cause for conflict. As a result of these differences, there is a lot of racial tension between these various types of Tajara which was further exacerbated by differences in socioeconomic classes.`

... So... I amended the story a little bit, her family are failing land-owners running a shitty estate now. That should... Probably make it better. If I had more space, I could bring religion into it, but I think given what the majority of Tajara believe, I'll stick with the S'rand'marr faith. I could write more, but I don't want to overload the size of my whitelist app, since the recommendation was for 'about two paragraphs' in the first place, oof.

As to the other thing you mentioned, I have tried to add in something in the 'What makes this race different to humans' section, to try and demonstrate my knowledge, but I am not sure how best to do that, so I've gone with what I thought was best. Hope it's passable.

[DeadLantern]

The story is better. Much better. There are a few very small details you miss, like saying cattle instead of the native fauna of Adhomai. But this is a small nitpick.

[ShesTrying]

I've never seen her play a character I didn't enjoy. Even the characters that are designed to be hated, I always enjoy interacting with. A huge +1 from me.

[GreenBoi]

-1 for not using the correct plural Tajara

 

Jupiter is good. I remember seeing them in the past, and they were good, and now I see them again, they're even better now. +1

[Jupiter Storm]

Update: I've included two names of some common animals that serve the same role as cattle animals in the application, to demonstrate further acquired knowledge of the local fauna. I couldn't find a fitting name for the collective that could reasonably replace 'cattle' per se!

[Snakebittenn]

Your willingness to edit your application around community feedback proves to me enough that you're a good choice for this whitelist. +1

[Coalf]

Yesterday during the "jokey pokey artillery and chill" adhomai round I interacted with your character.
Even though it was technically non-canon I'll presume you acted as your character will act in the future.

You played your character accordingly to what you say here. Thus while I personally am not a fan of this character archetype you have (merely a personal opinion and preference nothing objective) I can safely say that you'll be able to keep in-character and I was glad to see that you were one of the very few people in the town square who actually reacted to things by emoting and talking, instead of clicking.

Thus I give a whole hearted +1.

[Mofo1995]

Sorry for the delay, I know you DM'd me about this, but I had church tonight and also maybe got caught up playing Adhomai server a bit. My schedule once I get home from work tomorrow is wide open though and I absolutely will be judging our application tomorrow when I get home from work.

[Mofo1995]

Application accepted.