[Accepted] Art of WASD's Green Guy Application [Diona App]

[ArtofWASD]

BYOND Key: Art of WASD

Character Names: Joeseph Steel, Joe Steel, Jerold Steel (All related, Jerold is main character)

Species you are applying to play: Dionaea

What color do you plan on making your first alien character: N/A

Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: 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 specific race: Science jobs are my favorite of all the occupations. The Diona are supposed to be curious experamentive beings so i felt like it would fit how i play and RP the game already. Also, through reading the lore of the species many RP ideas popped into my head. On top of that, I rarely see anyone playing Diona on the server, to the point where new players don't even know what they are.

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: Diona, unlike humans, are beings that consist of many smaller beings. Essentially like a hive mind that acts one, but not a hive mind. (because each individual nymph still has a mind. They just work all as one). Because of this, Diona take a little longer to respond to conversation, or take action on something. This is why they are "Slow". While 1000x faster than what a council of humans could do, the "Council" of diona still have to communicate and reach a decision/finish a sentence.

What is also unique is the Dionas ability to survive in many environments, given that they at least have some form of radiation to feed off and stay functioning. They also have remarkable intelligence. Even the smallest nymph has an amount of intelligence, even understanding language (other than root song).

On the subject of Language, the Diona can understand almost all languages given preparation (AKA some DNA) but cannot necessarily SPEAK all languages due to their physical limitations. The Diona are more likely to speak only their native language and common, with other languages being more of emulations of said speech.

Character Name: Drifting On Debris (ID Name) Drifter (Nickname)

Please provide a short backstory for this character Drifting On Debris (previously known as Planter Of Many) was once a well valued crew member on a research and transport ship further studying the various forms of life found throughout space. Including but not limited to: Fungi and spores that drift on solar winds, Less documented but ultimately unimportant plant life on planets, Space carp and their behavior, and how various forms of life (other than Diona) deal with "metabolizing" radiation (Drifter's personal favorite). This is all that Drifter On Debris can recall in detail.

While out researching, some unknown force (not anomalous, just unknown) violently tore into the research vessel, venting key crew and passengers into space. Drifter was able to save some crew, getting them back into armosphere environments, but was not nearly fast enough to save many. Shortly after that again the force tore the hull. Now, nearly completely destroyed the ship was useless. And to make things worse, a school of space carp had been attracted by the commotion. In a quick decision of survival, Drifter split apart and the nymphs scattered into remaining ventilation ducts, lockers, and anywhere else they could go to escape being torn to shreds. The crew floating in space however, were not so fortunate. A better death than suffocation and freezing in space at least. When the carp had migrated away, and the ship was relatively safe, the nymphs formed back together. The sudden tearing apart to hide and survive the carps had resulted in a loss of memory. 

Some of the nymphs did not survive. Once Drifter pieced his mind back together (Literally = P) he took a moment to look out into space from his chunk of debris. The torn clothing, some frozen blood, and the light from their PDAs was all that remained of the crew. Having lost some of his nymphs in the process and losing many bits of memory, Drifter dawned the name "Drifter In Debris". It was 3 years floating in space before the wreck that was once the ship was discovered by traveling salvagers. They took in Drifter and promised to drop him off at the nearest habitable station. Aurora. 

What do you like about this character? I like Drifters new identity and the aspect of essentially starting a new life and learning things all over again after the destruction of the ship.

How would you rate your role-playing ability? 6/10 My roleplay style has had to adapt to the more serious lore focused roleplay of aurora, but i feel like i have been coming along well. Developing my characters along side others.

Notes: I had a little bit of a rough start on the server while i got used to all the RP rules. A few warnings were issued. (When i started playing i did read and follow the basic rules, but had not gone and seen all the important lore, specifically how NT operates and the higher standards of RP)

Edited July 31, 2019 by Neinbox
Application accepted.

[ArtofWASD]

I hope that the chatacter name is ok. I know diona arent supposed to dwell on deaths for too long. At the point of veing at aurora, telling the families would already be done. 

[Neinbox]

Hm. Approximately how old is the gestalt, or rather, the core nymph?

[ArtofWASD]

Hes meant to be younger (Compared to most gestalts, because of how old they can get). If rework is needed please tell me. Im greatly open to improvement or suggestions.

 

[Neinbox]

Approximately how young is "young"? I suggest you re-read the "emotions" section in their wiki.

[ArtofWASD]

I was thinking the minimum age for most jobs. So 25. With the other nymphs being within the range of 5-19.

[Neinbox]

Okay, now for my next question. Have you read the lore section regarding Dionae emotions? I suggest you read that section once more, and review your application.

[ArtofWASD]

I have looked at the emotions section. But im still a little confused. Is it because morning the dead briefly is uncharacteristic of the race? Or because he decided to honor the crew tradition of informing families?

[Xelnagahunter]

Nein, let me know if I overstepped by posting here.

As a hint, this would be regarding the desire for emotional response and the age of the gestalt as a whole.
I'm not hinting anymore, I'm helping cause I love this race and want more people to understand it and play it.
 

Quote

Dionae are capable of developing more complex emotions using either more refined versions or a combination of their core emotions when exposed to other species, but it takes an extensive amount of time to learn the ability to emulate a single new emotion- anywhere from years to centuries depending on the age of the growth as younger Dionae have difficulties with such.

Quote

However as previously mentioned, when merged Dionae are given an "emotional filter": with the minds of multiple individuals joined and each action thought out in a consensus, emotion is set aside in favor of logic. Whereas individual Nymphs act as animals, a Gestalt behaves similarly to synthetics and unfortunately gives them a rather eerie presentation. Despite this, the longer a Gestalt has been merged, the more likely the individuals are able to sympathize with one another and show logical emotional responses instead of raw displays over the years.

The younger your gestalt the less likely they are to really understand emotion as they have to logically communicate with one another for each and every action they take. Eventually they learn to empathize with one another, not unlike any normal group of friends or other social groupings.

 

Also, regarding tree ages:
Usually the actual age of the nymphs/gestalt doesn't usually matter that I am aware of. Nein should correct me if I'm wrong, but due to their evaluations for citizenship and education, they are typically assigned an "equivalent" age that would appear on the records. The length of your name is what would really indicate your age as a gestalt.

Edited July 20, 2019 by Xelnagahunter

[ArtofWASD]

That last bit about age helps A LOT. And i will probably adjust my applicatuon to fit much better tonight. My problem was i want to RP a more inexperienced gestalt. One that would still show emotion, but not have advanced emotional control. (Keep in mind the character will be adjusted to still meet NT employment regulations)

[Xelnagahunter]

Remember, in an ageless race, the concept of age is actually irrelevant. The things you know and mental maturity matter more. You can be an older group of Dionae who so happened to be from a conglomerate, so mentally your dionae would not know about other races socially. They would be immature in that sense, but would likely have a strong bond within the nymphs.

[ArtofWASD]

After recieving some advice and having some misconceptions cleared up I removed the sloppily tacked on section at the end of backstory and changed character name.

[Neinbox]

Sorry @ArtofWASD, I had some events to go to and my internet was out for two days! But here I am!

No need to worry about overstepping, @Xelnagahunter! I appreciate the help. I know that my writing can be hard to read/understand because of how I put it down, so the restatements do help.

To break it down, no, age doesn't entirely matter and nymphs that are stuck together longer generally are more capable of showing emotion which are very basic raw ones that animals typically have. "Raw" emotions being anger, happiness, and fear- things that are essential for survival. Nymphs alone can show such, but fresh new gestalts have to learn to understand one another and agree on an emotion to show because it's not just one that's there anymore and until then, they act a bit more synthetic which is good for learning otherwise they'd be seen as feral for acting out in a way that looks like a psychotic break,

But certain emotions, especially in a young, intelligent and carnivorous animal, can be incredibly problematic. Something like guilt could prevent one from eating the only thing that it can because it feels too bad for their prey and would result in starvation, and mourning in an especially long-lived species would be troublesome as well as they would be constantly mourning what was lost, as everything else around them drops like flies in comparison. They can feel apologetic about the deaths and wish that their friends were still alive, but they'd need to learn what mourning and guilt is after they've more matured so they know what is appropriate to display to not hamper their survival.

But most of all, what matters to Dionae is that they have the memories. Everything survives in memories to the species as they are the ones that can continue the existence of that one thing by making it be remembered, and consuming the flesh of the departed is what makes that thing actually continue to live on through you, because it has become a part of your living body. You are what you eat, after all.

 

Theoretical biology aside, I read your updated backstory. Going to say now, it has a very nice pretense! It has a nice beginning, and the height of what made them leave their relatively happy life felt oddly natural despite the odd circumstances. Suspension of disbelief done right! But I have to ask- did they board the Aurora at first originally as a guest, or a scientist? Where do they live now, and do they have the same interests and goals as before despite the changes?

[ArtofWASD]

Having lost memory, my character would have boarded the aurora as a guest at first. Likely enjoying dynamic of the crew. Due to the drastic changes, he would have to go re register for citizenship (probably Sol because his rescuers were human) later as well as develope himself a little more before joining the aurora (a period of yeara). He does have the same interests because he can remember being a scientist and enjoying that.

[Neinbox]

Do you think they'd be able to defend his previously earned degrees with chunks of their memory being lost? Or would you have them go back to schooling for a while to re-earn it?

[ArtofWASD]

I do not. He would have to get his degree again. 

[Neinbox]

Well, those are all reasonable answers and I am pleased to see your willingness to work with the lore to be a proper species representative. I think you've waited long enough on this.

Congratulations on your first whitelist. If you need any help or have any questions, feel free to contact me.

 

Application Accepted.

Edited July 24, 2019 by Neinbox