Coalf's Tajara Deputy Application

[Coalf]

Ckey/BYOND Username: Coalf
Discord Name: Coalf#8195
Position Being Applied For: Tajara Deputy
Past Experiences/Knowledge: Administrator, Wiki Maintainer, Head Whitelist Manager, Tajara Deputy and Lore Canonization Subforum Moderator, Leading Library Liason and Head Book Master of Ungodly Proportions
Examples of Past Work: 

Spoiler

https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Mictlan - Creator of the whole faction
https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Ma'ta'ke_Gods - Added various stories 
https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Notable_Tajara - Created Bloodstorm, drew multiple pictures
https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=S'rendarr_and_Messa - Revamped entire religion, existed before me.
https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Tajaran_Minor_Religions - Created the entire page.
https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Tajara_Fashion - Created the page.
https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=PRA_Orbital_Fleet_Structure - Created fleet structure.

 

Additional Comments:

Tajara Developer Application Text

Spoiler

Culture

Raskariim

Right now Tajara doesn't need a cultural expansion. One thing I hope to elaborate on, not rework, are Raskariim who I've discovered have been understood a bit differently than I intended, partially due to my fault.
Right now they're all viewed as bloodthirsty cultists and that they have "real magic".
This is somewhat incorrect, while yes the deeper groups and members would consider themselves cultists the movement as a whole was to be understood as a general movement against the society on Adhomai as a whole. I hope to expand on this, fluffing them up more like a diversified group of people (including cultists) as well as making the alludes to magic a bit vaguer. I don't plan for them to have any bigger sway or to delete any particular passages, thus keeping everyone who has a character who is one completely safe while expanding the possibility of other kinds of Raskariim characters.

Example:

Quote

 

Raskariim, commonly known as The Cult of Raskara are a prolific cult on Adhomai. The religion has been created on Adhomai but with the free commerce, a few human members have been recorded. While Raskara may seem like a single deity it is in fact split into three aspects, each one leading down a different path and seemingly every path subverting something S'rendarr and Messa stands for.

Calling it a cult is in a way a tongue-in-cheek joke for most members, truly the most numerous members of this "cult" are not cultists at all. But simply rebels, punks and other subversive elements which wish to go against the mold. The history and background of Raskara provided an excellent way to evoke themselves on the conscience of the Tajara people, as something new and something to be afraid of.  Clubs and underground metro stations have become the usual hangout for these sorts of people with the "Lock and Key" club located in Crevus being the most popular. However, unbenknownst to most, there may be a true evil lurking beneath the cover of an anti-establishment movement.

These cults are not against the law per se but the common practices and lives these cultists leave usually lead to their arrest on other charges. The rural countryside is a different story as very often these discovered cultists will see themselves end up in a noose strung up by the overzealous villagers. The Parivara titles the Raskariim as heretics of the highest degree and that they should be cleansed, re-educated or eliminated as soon as possible. The recent changes in governmental and public opinions on working camps have greatly impeded this effort, however, and the amount of youngsters joining the numbers of Raskariim grow, most simply being fans of Bloodstorm, artists who wish to express their anti-governmental or "extremist" viewpoints which the regular cultural stream won't permit and young college students. who have seen the wider world and wish to change Adhomai for better.

There are 2300 registered members on Adhomai but there are speculations on how many unregistered members exist, many of them under arrest or active watch. Even the famous, Vargir Stenovich, the lead singer of the DPR band “Skaam’chirr” (Bloodstorm), identifies himself as a Raskara cultist. However the history of Raskariim is much richer than the usual common tajara would know. It is speculated that there is a deeper hidden layer to this semi-religious movement, but any attempts by authorities to delve deeper find themselves impeded by mysterious happenstances.

 

(The specifications on the individual groups will remain)

Fashion
While I enjoy Tajara fashion, I'd also like to further expand on this. Mainly providing a bigger variation of clothing available for Tajara to wear without having to sweat constantly, i.e "Summerwear"

Hopefully:
More colorful dresses.
Better male uniforms, namely more "working class" styles.
A new type of overalls.
NEW AK 47'S FOR EVERYONE

Politics

The War
Right now the war is finishing up and I theorize it is why people have ""majorly"" focused on homophobia as it's the biggest point of contention, ergo it creates the biggest amount of RP and interaction. After all what's the point of being counter-cultural when the original culture does not act against you? At that point, you're just acting out for no reason.
Thus I'd hope to expand the reach and influence of Tajara on the station itself. There is no point in lore if it can't be beheld on the station and appropriately represented, namely I'd focus on the influence of DPRA as they have gotten the lowest amount of events OVERALL between the 3 factions. Hopefully by providing better item base, events if possible and if others would agree and articles.

Wiki and Information

Being a wiki developer gave me new appreciation for formatting. Thus I'd like to compound or at least shrink several pages. The Tajara wikipage is famously (or infamously) giant and it doesn't seem to show a sign of stopping. I'd hope to take parts of the lore and re-organize or compound them into other pages so that we can reduce the b-b-b-b-b-bigness count of lore.

Another reason why I believe right now Tajara should focus on articles, more or less there isn't that much to ADD to Tajara pages besides changing things which were already established. And with the new outcry against retconning I don't believe that's the correct step.
 

7

 

[SleepyWolf]

Coalf created some of the coolest parts of Tajaran lore in my opinion, and the Raskarii and Ma'ta'ke religions are some of the most aesthetically and thematically pleasing things in all of lore. As a person, Coalf is also very logical but doesn't overlook emotional things, and from what I've seen does try to look at both sides of an argument to find the response that's best.

He has experience and knows a lot of the lore team, and again is a really good writer.

yea also blood moon cool ung ung 

[Bear]

An iconic individual to Tajaran lore and an easy +1

[Guest Menown]

Coalf is one of the few people who've done work with Tajara lore that I actively can say I "love." His work with the culture expended a lot into Tajaran society and is something I'm able to reference a lot in-game.

He's honestly my first and only pick for the position, because I can trust him to do it well.

[Scheveningen]

Oh my god he used comic sans. This will impact theirrr social crrredit scorrre, comrrrade.

I would have to agree that your lore work with Taj in the past was pretty great. I do have a couple questions regarding creative direction, though.

1. What is your OOC opinion about the rather prevalent homophobia in the Tajara lore, and do you think it needs changing? To my understanding, the PRA jails and labels homosexuals (or, so I'm told, those who openly associate with them) as sex offenders if they ever catch them. The DPRA and the NKA just kill them, and the PRA is somehow considered the more progressive faction. Which technically isn't even wrong. Surely, there are plenty of IC explanations for why the homophobia exists, I've heard them all and I'm sure nobody's interested in discussing it - is the open discrimination against homosexuals (if not openly killing) really important to the Tajaran narrative, though?
2. What are some resolutions you have to make Tajarans easier to gravitate to? I found that because of the above reason and a few other aspects, particularly that PRA/DPRA/NKA loyalist characters are incredibly rare nowadays - very few people feel particularly inspired to play their Tajaran characters themselves due to the incredible, awkward baggage involved. I often see PRA consulars board and get barraged with "PRA man bad because his government discriminates against homosexuals", which leads to few people associating with the consul than what could've happened naturally had the aforementioned issue not been a factor. There are also some permeating aspects of each faction with different cultural opinions that would be considered a 'bad take' if you openly expressed it in a coffee shop.

Edited October 20, 2019 by Scheveningen

[Coalf]

5 hours ago, Scheveningen said:

Oh my god he used comic sans. This will impact theirrr social crrredit scorrre, comrrrade.

I would have to agree that your lore work with Taj in the past was pretty great. I do have a couple questions regarding creative direction, though.

1. What is your OOC opinion about the rather prevalent homophobia in the Tajara lore, and do you think it needs changing? To my understanding, the PRA jails and labels homosexuals (or, so I'm told, those who openly associate with them) as sex offenders if they ever catch them. The DPRA and the NKA just kill them, and the PRA is somehow considered the more progressive faction. Which technically isn't even wrong. Surely, there are plenty of IC explanations for why the homophobia exists, I've heard them all and I'm sure nobody's interested in discussing it - is the open discrimination against homosexuals (if not openly killing) really important to the Tajaran narrative, though?
2. What are some resolutions you have to make Tajarans easier to gravitate to? I found that because of the above reason and a few other aspects, particularly that PRA/DPRA/NKA loyalist characters are incredibly rare nowadays - very few people feel particularly inspired to play their Tajaran characters themselves due to the incredible, awkward baggage involved. I often see PRA consulars board and get barraged with "PRA man bad because his government discriminates against homosexuals", which leads to few people associating with the consul than what could've happened naturally had the aforementioned issue not been a factor. There are also some permeating aspects of each faction with different cultural opinions that would be considered a 'bad take' if you openly expressed it in a coffee shop.

1. Homosexuality

Is it needed?
I can't speak for the intent of people who added it and approved of it being added way back when I wasn't around. You’d have to ask them.

Do I and why believe it's needed?
Because the factions aren’t supposed to be morally justifiable from a player standpoint. Being ostracized from society for something that is, not your own fault, is something a large part of the player base can relate to. This theme is further strengthened in the racism against Zhan, which a lot of people seem to permeate and allow without any issues. These issues should not be morally justifiable by a 2019 human, that’s the point, they ain’t 2019 humans they’re aliens cats for god’s sake Montresor.

Why not just retcon it?
People have been causing a big humbug over retcons for one. For two, retconning something because it is morally dubious is fucking stupid. There are plenty of issues on our server that are morally disgusting that people have zero issue with because they can’t relate to it, and so they consider it “foreign” and “okay”.
Untouchables, murder, robbery, piracy, slavery, eugenics, all of these things are romanticised in our lore and roleplayed just fine by the same people who raise taj as a big issue. Yes, in the future I believe human ideas will show themselves more and more on Tajara culture, ICly, through articles and lore development.

Why force me to?
I’d agree if this was the default species, but you have to choose to play Tajara and understand the burden they come with. Not only that, you can play a gay/non-phobe Tajara. You just have to aknowledge it's not the norm.
If you aren’t comfortable with playing a character who is prosecuted for his sexuality I’d recommend playing one of the following: Aut’akh, Elyrian, Eridanians, Skrell, Dionaea, Mictlanians, Solians, Dominians, Off-worlders, Scarabs, IPCs, Frontiersmen, Martians, Venusians and more.

2. Factions

Loyalists?
Nobody is forcing them to, but playing a character that is opposed to the majority of crew opinion is what provides a huge amount of roleplaying. Where gears grind, conflict arises and having a conflicting character is good for the server-culture as whole. Plus, people have been playing these characters for centuries but only now people are aware of this? It just proves that this is a fad, and when people find the next big thing to be outraged about they'll forget this.

People dropping Tajara because of baggage?
It’s not for everyone. Some people don’t want to play them because they’re space cats, I don’t take that away from them.

PRA consular?
And I have met a few that have helped people with their visas and working conditions.
It’s a culture that is alien in a familiar way. I don’t see people bashing vaurca breeders for how their society is nothing more than a top-down monarchy with lobotomized slave-caste. Which I think is a fault, people can’t associate themselves with these problems, so they don’t care about them, they care about Tajara problems. That’s good! They should! It shows that people are engaging with both the good parts and evil parts of lore instead of just ignoring one side of the argument.

Bad opinions?
Read above.

To summarize everything above: (if you don't like reading, just look at this)
Factions shouldn’t be held to the standard for 2019 societal norms, doubly so if they’re alien.
If people don’t feel comfortable with playing an ostracized homosexual, don’t play Tajara.
People are not forbidden from playing a gay/non-phobe Tajara, just don’t pretend like it’s normal.
Playing an evil/bigoted/hateful/homophobic/pirate/mafia/guwan/corporatists character is okay.
If there are issues permeating Tajara lore, it’s to do with the sheer amount of lore not homophobia.

---

 

 

Edited October 20, 2019 by Coalf

[BoryaTheSlayer]

Great answers. I'm glad that you applied, Coalf, because I think you are the perfect fit for the Tajara lore team. Claim your rightful throne that position and own it, baybee.
Now, some questions. You're probably not planning on bloating the Tajara lore any further, but I want to ask this anyway: Are you planning any completely new additions to the Tajaran lore, or only expanding on what already exists?

Also, something that I was surprised to find on Allakai's application is the mention of naval culture. While I don't think we need a whole new social group of Tajara for that, I do think it is a topic that has a lot of place in the context of Tajaran lore, considering the geography of Adhomai. Do you have to say anything on this?

[Coalf]

1 minute ago, BoryaTheSlayer said:

Great answers. I'm glad that you applied, Coalf, because I think you are the perfect fit for the Tajara lore team. Claim your rightful throne that position and own it, baybee.
Now, some questions. You're probably not planning on bloating the Tajara lore any further, but I want to ask this anyway: Are you planning any completely new additions to the Tajaran lore, or only expanding on what already exists?

Also, something that I was surprised to find on Allakai's application is the mention of naval culture. While I don't think we need a whole new social group of Tajara for that, I do think it is a topic that has a lot of place in the context of Tajaran lore, considering the geography of Adhomai. Do you have to say anything on this?

More addittions?
I'd hope so, Tajara fashion has always been my passion. But I believe we don't have to make entire wiki pages for these things.
A lot of things like art, music, movies and fashion can be shown through in-game means such as the news articles, small-time little events etc. Perhaps some new stuff to the overall lore but I can't say right now, I wouldn't want to do anything against Alberyk's judgement but I think a lot of stuff can be compounded/moved/shortened to reduce the sheer size of this lad.

Naval?
It's certainly an interestinig topic, but as Alberyk says "not on station, don't care".
To explain, I'd rather focus on HOW this shows on the station and HOW players can "brag" or "Show this off" to others to ennunciate their culture rather than just shitting down another paragraph that 2 players will make a 3 round gimmick out of and then everyone will just forget it.

[BoryaTheSlayer]

Thank you for answering that quickly. That is reasonable, and I certainly want to see what you will bring to us once you're in the team. As someone who often plays Tajara, I'd really love to see all the things you'll make in the game and utilize them in my roleplay.

[NewOriginalSchwann]

I have nothing to add other than my support - Coalf is clearly passionate and has answered everything well so far. They're exactly the kind of person I want to see driving forward our catbeasts and their nightmarish civil war.

[canon35]

Coalf's proven himself a good writer and passionate for Aurora and Tajara's lore. He definitely deserves a position on the team.  

[Zundy]

Have coalf and I dated in the past? Yes. Is this an issue? Yes. Will it get in the way of lore? Yet to be seen. Lore contribution wise Coalf's been good but it's mainly the work ethic where Coalf really shines. If I recall correctly Coalf produced decent lore within speedy time frames and also encouraged others, pushing for others to contribute. Good example is the lore apps. Bit of a meme because they take so long to process (a known issue) but Coalf did try and correct this when they were placed to oversee it. It didn't pick up but this was no fault of Coalf's.

You gonna do lore events (both canon and non canon) in game @Coalf? That's the main thing I think otherwise it's just fanfic re. Lore.

[Coalf]

6 minutes ago, Zundy said:

You gonna do lore events (both canon and non canon) in game @Coalf? That's the main thing I think otherwise it's just fanfic re. Lore.

I'd hope so yes. A lot of people view lore events as something grandiose that has to involve literally everyone and has to be the bees knees.
And sure if you specifically create an extended round for an event, it should be this way. However, I have something I call;

Mini-events (ME from now on)
 

Spoiler

The concept of ME's came to me in a dream. The main issue of canon/lore events is that they are unimpactful because they're expected to let the station survive for a while.
This doubles for species events, as they're mostly there to introduce parts of species or provide lore for people playing THAT species. Understandably players who get massively hyped for an event and then don't get to participate in it because they aren't the required race gets annoying.
Thus in the past I have created what I called "mini-events", small scenarios which would play out on and around the station without distrupting the job-flow of the crew.
For example a pod crashlanding on the asteroid, an associate from a certain faction visiting and touring or even advertising new merch.
The main difference is that unlike big events, they don't happen on vote rounds, but on secret extendeds. Which provides that bit of PIZAAZ for those players looking for a bit of spice in their round, while also letting those who just want to chill out with their friends do exactly that.
In summary, those events wouldn't be any more impactful to a round than a merchant visiting. Essentially, if you want to be involved be involved.
Plus they allow for a ton more variety as they're not beholden to such a high golden standard and don't require tight scheduling, but simply if someone feels like doing one, they do one.
Plus it breaks the monotony of the game, in a way it's like a player doing a fun in-round gimmick except they get some help.

Pros                                                                
+ Easy to run
+ Non-demanding on players or admins
+ Larger variety due to not having to be giant
+ Don't distrupt game flow for those who don't want to participate
Cons
- Chance of missing out
- Lack of use by others might make other species players left out

Events
 

Spoiler

Large species are hard to run. Not impossible but hard, in a way you have to pander not only to your Tajara playerbase but also flex on others to impress them and make them apply.
I'd hope to run at least two large scale events, involving a certain band since that would be a nice cultural insertion and once again the usual NKA recruitment drive which happens almost every year.
Outside of that, I don't have any events planned right now, no.

 

[zyymurgy]

Holy shit that's a good idea for mini-events. Why isn't that done regularly anyways?

[Bygonehero]

6 minutes ago, zyymurgy said:

Holy shit that's a good idea for mini-events. Why isn't that done regularly anyways?

It was

[MattAtlas]

I really like your stances so far. I think they're the ones that best represent what Tajara should be and I personally believe you to be one of the best for the job. You've always had a clear mind with goals, so I really doubt there'll be any issues

Make Joker canon in Adhomai please. +1

[Coalf]

2 hours ago, Datamatt said:

I really like your stances so far. I think they're the ones that best represent what Tajara should be and I personally believe you to be one of the best for the job. You've always had a clear mind with goals, so I really doubt there'll be any issues

Make Joker canon in Adhomai please. +1

Bottom text.

[Alberyk]

This was not an easy decision, but to help me in the future of the tajaran lore, I have decided to select the most experienced tajaran writers for it. I have worked enough with Coalf to know that he is a capable writer and is very passionate about the lore. Application accepted.