[ACCEPTED] November - Skrell Application

[November]

BYOND Key: NovemberHotel

Character Names: Current - Arrow MacNamara. Past - Lexicon, Maya, Michelle Roche, Tends the Garden of Minds

Species you are applying to play: Skrell

What color do you plan on making your first alien character: Something between brown and tan.

Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yes

 

Why do you wish to play this specific race:

    I feel like Skrell are somewhat underrepresented. I’ve also been doing a lot of Dominian RP and have really enjoyed the complications of an AI averse NT employee. From there, the Skrellian mentality of competition and Arete appealed to me as an opportunity to branch out from my typically risk-averse characters. Playing a young Skrell particularly appeals to me, as it opens up that complicated AI relationship to be shaped by IC interaction.

 

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human:

    Skrell have a very interesting place on the galactic stage. They are rapidly losing their edge over the ‘younger’ races, but there hasn’t yet been an overt societal reaction to these shifts. That sense of guardianship and superiority is going to be challenged, especially with the next generation of Skrell that have not known a life without alien contact nor with Glorsh. Skrell are also the only race that Humans generally and/or loosely see as equals. These dynamics make for a unique starting point for Skrell.

    Further, their racial traits of telepathy and psionics add a dimension that cannot be ignored. It constitutes a sixth sense that many of the other sentient races are blind to- the Vaurca being similar, the Aut’akh also having an analogy, and Dionae in the vaugest sense. It also puts them in an interesting category of a herbivorous race, which is very important to understanding their culture and instincts. Though competitive in a hierarchy, they are still cooperative. Though war is a necessity of galactic life, they avoid direct confrontation and minimise losses. Other races are not prey to be taken advantage of, the idea is foreign to Skrellian development. They are at worse predators to defend against, occasionally competitors to contend with, and typically peers to cooperate with.

 

Character Name: Ooluru “Lulu” Xleptep

Please provide a short backstory for this character

    Born in inauspicious circumstance to a smaller union of largely artists of varying disciplines, Ooluru displayed a powerful drive from a young age. She did not fixate on things often, but when something grabbed her interest it was pursued with indomitable determination. This began as the innocent things of youth, such as constructing intricate furniture towers to reach jars of treats. As she got older, this trait became more problematic as law and tradition did not govern her actions quite as strongly as her parents found difficulty in restraining her from danger. Ooluru never made any serious trouble, mostly running afoul of things like curfew or at worse well intentioned trespass. 

    Still, her problematic nature excluded her from entry to any particular prestigious university, but after some initial floundering Ooluru found her place in Anthropology, ending up studying in Xeno-Archeology and Xeno-Cultural Anthropology. Her later degree quickly became her passion. She was especially fascinated with the oppressed castes of the galaxy, doing field research with the Dregs of Eridani, interviewing exploited Zhan-Khazan miners, and even a very brief encounter with the slaves of Dominia. Her methods were observation through active participation, often collecting keepsakes from these early expeditions in various forms. Her favourite is a small glass ring, blown by a Ouerean Unathi craftswoman.

    Throughout her study, one common theme became apparent- the abuse of authority figures to keep these people suppressed. So, she did as she thought any good anthropologist would and enlisted as a cadet for NanoTrasen’s security force. How better to observe the effects of authority on a wide diversity of people? Her Xeno-Archeology degree also transferred fairly easily, and is something she’s taking advantage of in order to actually acquire the funds to establish herself as a serious researcher. Additionally, though Cultural Anthropology is not the most immediately useful specialisation on a research station, Ooluru is full ready to take the chance to conduct interviews and begin a doubtlessly (to her at least) illustrious career as a pioneer in her field. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

What do you like about this character?

    Ooluru is a seeker, meaning to me that her overarching goal is to obtain knowledge in her chosen scope. Her core trait is idealism, always trying to find the best in anything. Finally, her conflict is youth, her inexperience is going to lead to her beliefs being easily challenged by new ideas and confrontations. I’m excited to find a way to communicate a very emotionally driven character without traditional means of expression. I also very much enjoy characters that are able to be shaped and change based on their IC interactions, trying to incorporate other people into her story wherever possible.

How would you rate your role-playing ability?

    With most pursuits I believe that if you’re not ashamed of the work you did a year ago, then you’re not growing properly as a performer/artist/producer. I’m better than I was before, and hopefully worse than I will be, but ultimately I’d like to call myself good enough. 

 

Notes: I know my biggest ask is the spread of her “qualifications” on the station. Currently I see her going between Xeno-arch, cadet, and visitor/reporter. I see a possibility of future growth towards detective, or at least being more inclined to work with them than other members of security. I’d like to think that under the scope of Anthropology and the participant observation aspect of ethnography would allow for a more interesting yet believable diversity than three interdepartmental fields. 

[Doxxmedearly]

Ah, you're the player of Arrow. Very cool, I enjoy her. 

I agree the qualification spread is a bit... much. It's just going to be jarring to see someone jump from cadet to xenoarch. Xenoarch to reporter feels pretty okay, definitely better than cadet, but again, a big jump. I won't focus on that, though; that's up to staff to weigh on.

Overall, I very much like the app. I like seeing how you address the theme of authority and suppression in the federation, and you give us an extremely strong sense of her personality.

A few questions:

She seems very young, but well-traveled. Is she a contact-era child?

Is she a receiver or a listener with regards to the wake, and what impact, if any, do you feel that's had on her life?

Overall a strong app made with passion and detail. Hearty +1 from me.

[November]

3 hours ago, Doxxmedearly said:

Ah, you're the player of Arrow. Very cool, I enjoy her. 

I agree the qualification spread is a bit... much. It's just going to be jarring to see someone jump from cadet to xenoarch. Xenoarch to reporter feels pretty okay, definitely better than cadet, but again, a big jump. I won't focus on that, though; that's up to staff to weigh on.

Overall, I very much like the app. I like seeing how you address the theme of authority and suppression in the federation, and you give us an extremely strong sense of her personality.

A few questions:

She seems very young, but well-traveled. Is she a contact-era child?

Is she a receiver or a listener with regards to the wake, and what impact, if any, do you feel that's had on her life?

Overall a strong app made with passion and detail. Hearty +1 from me.

Gauging your concern, I would reframe the roles as a career xenoarcheologist using a fairly low entry barrier job in security cadet to pursue her passion that normally doesn't apply to the station of cultural anthropology.

She is both young and well traveled, I'm figuring probably a couple digits over 40. My assumption of the Skrellian education process was that both of those fields would involve a year or two of field work, which is time to get these cultural touchstones, while still having room to explore them in depth once she's on the station. This would place her in contact-era, which I think is important to her particular kind of xenophilia and cultural relativism.

I think she is much more likely to be a listener than a receiver, based on her slight divergence from the norm. If I don't come up with anything better before writing her records, I'll likely list her as a listener. It just seems like a cop-out to say 'she's divergent because listener', so I want to make sure that decision fits once I'm able to commit to the character.

Also thank you very much for the kind words. Arrow is one of my favourite characters I've had, so I'm very glad to see she's having some positive recognition.

[Resilynn]

I agree that you should limit your role choice to 2 at most of the 3 you’ve pitched (with admin approval, please).  

I’m going to go ahead and ask a few questions targeting character development, there aren’t wrong answers here so no pressure. 

How do you intend to express Lulu’s enthusiasm and fairly rambunctious nature without (human) facial expression?

Why has Lulu been drawn to studying other species’ oppressed parties and how does she feel about the Jargon Federation in respect to her studies?

What is her relationship with her parents given her past as a somewhat difficult child?

[November]

3 hours ago, Resilynn said:

I agree that you should limit your role choice to 2 at most of the 3 you’ve pitched (with admin approval, please).  

I’m going to go ahead and ask a few questions targeting character development, there aren’t wrong answers here so no pressure. 

How do you intend to express Lulu’s enthusiasm and fairly rambunctious nature without (human) facial expression?

Why has Lulu been drawn to studying other species’ oppressed parties and how does she feel about the Jargon Federation in respect to her studies?

What is her relationship with her parents given her past as a somewhat difficult child?

That's fair, and as I marinate more with the additional feedback I see where it's coming from. I'd be fine sliding back to xenoarch and reporter and just taking an interest/trying to 'ride-along' with security where possible in order to progress her work. I'd imagine that anthropological studies could actually be useful to an organisation as large as NT, so having her job be to make these ethnography reports feels solid to me at least.

To your questions directly, that first one is difficult for me because I tend to solidify a characters "voice" during their early interactions. What I intend is for her actions to speak more directly than her words. That's getting to know people, giving them gifts, and being genuine about it the entire time. I'm going to have to weigh her choice of words interestingly, because I imagine words that explain or evoke emotion are difficult for Skrell to use precisely. That is another one of her struggles I'm interested in exploring with others, how to cross that barrier.

I don't think she much cares about the Federation. In her relativistic point of view, your race, nation, and background is just the lens through which your light is projected. She's more interested in creating a universal understanding of that light. She's going to have to reconcile the beliefs instilled by her own culture (AI mistrust, religion, family, etc), and the new culture around her. Lulu is perfectly fine setting aside her beliefs in order to conduct her work, but I don't know how she is going to handle situations where she starts to wonder if she needs to be less objective and make a change for herself. I expect the Tajaran Civil War to be a big discovery arc for her, if she gets to meet the right people and try to decide if anyone is "right", and if it's the same people her nation supports.

She's likely not incredibly close to her parents. She doesn't resent them, but there was definitely an urge to escape their influence. Lulu wants to be her own person, and at this age her attitude makes sense to me. There is something beneath the surface though, where she wants to be able to produce something that she herself is proud of, so that she can show that to her parents. It's not that she has an expectation to fulfill, she wants to show them that she "made it", so that they can be put at ease and let her go.

Hopefully that answers your questions completely enough. None of these blocks are set in, I don't tend to commit 100% to any part of my character until someone actually observes/interacts with it. I'm hoping to possibly have time to answer those same questions in her voice, but to do that I need more focus and energy than I have free for a few days.

[Faris]

I can't really think of any questions to give you as your application and your replies to questions give a comprehensive insight to many aspects. 

A suggestion I have is that you do have a job within science, as xenoarcheology, coupled with you playing as a visitor for your more specific research. I find that keeping a single job plus the visitor role tends to make the character experience more smooth. Visitor as well is a role with zero obligations, so you can do your observations at leisure. 

Lastly, as a player, I believe I do recall you from a few years back, and what I recall includes nothing bad. You don't have any outstanding ooc issues that come to mind.

You get my deputy stamp of support.

[November]

1 hour ago, Aboshedab said:

I can't really think of any questions to give you as your application and your replies to questions give a comprehensive insight to many aspects. 

A suggestion I have is that you do have a job within science, as xenoarcheology, coupled with you playing as a visitor for your more specific research. I find that keeping a single job plus the visitor role tends to make the character experience more smooth. Visitor as well is a role with zero obligations, so you can do your observations at leisure. 

Lastly, as a player, I believe I do recall you from a few years back, and what I recall includes nothing bad. You don't have any outstanding ooc issues that come to mind.

You get my deputy stamp of support.

Thank you. I agree with and appreciate the common feedback dial back the roles. I think I went in feeling it was an expectation for Skrell to have multiple disciplines, but I'm glad to have her focus narrowed down as you recommend.

I think the only thing I've been in trouble for was derping out and tasing some people as a security borg waaay before I was ready to play sec. Maya was also questionable as an IPC, but I'm glad that I at least have a neutral reputation on average.

[Resilynn]

Accepted.  I'm really excited to have you around.  If you haven't already, consider joining the skrell discord for updates on some new additions to lore, and if you have any questions, feel free to contact Abo or I at any point.