Lancer's Tajara Deputy Application

[The lancer]

Ckey/BYOND Username: the lancer

Position Being Applied For: Tajara lore deputy

Past Experiences/Knowledge: I haven't been in lore before. I do have a Tajara whitelist though, if that counts.

Examples of Past Work: I made some canonisation applications for IPC lore and Idris lore.

Additional Comments: I wrote up a few paragraphs regarding Tajaran society in the PRA cities and Nal'tor

Spoiler

The state of urban PRA society

    Urban societies in the People’s Republic enjoy a variety of technological advancements compared to the rural countryside, an expanded service sector, and are influenced the most by outside alien and human culture. Through trade with Nanotrasen and visiting foreigners, tourists and dignitaries, the aura of progress and modernisation seeps into Nal’tor, the capital of the PRA and arguably the most advanced and modern city in Adhomai.

    The state and quality of life for a dweller in Nal’tor, or any other major city, varies considerably according to the Tajaran’s occupation, education and standing with the Party. That said, the government attempts to provide everyone with basic amenities such as shelter, nutrition and entertainment.

    For the average working class Tajara that labour in the industrial suburbs, one can expect an honest living to be made, and a modest lifestyle to be led. The majority of the city labourers work in government run factories and spaceports (in Nal’tor), with stable but strict work hours and schedule the Hadii regime boasts of its fairness to the worker. An 8 or 9 hour work schedule is observed, with 1 day of the week free. State run factories also provide free lunch (or dinner for night shifts) for applicants in need, through the PRA welfare programme. The above, coupled with at best average but stable salaries, keep the workers’ morale at acceptable levels.

    The standardised work hours allow family life, and many Tajara take good advantage of it, with a good portion of workers having and maintaining a household. Shelter is provided either by the government or by purchasing apartments. The living sectors of cities are filled with large apartment complexes and blocks of flats, some reaching as high as 10 stories tall. While from the outside, the aesthetics present themselves as dull and austere, urban Tajara take great joy in decorating their living space -according to their salary- in order to personalise their quarters and have their own refuge in the ocean of grey. The government tries to improve housing, and many apartments actually have a reliable heating system, hydraulics, ventilation, and in higher end complexes, even elevators. Though issues with older, hastily built or of cheap material houses exist and are of a great number, the government takes care to provide other amenities to compensate, and to ensure the compliance and morale of the dwellers.

     Aside from enjoying their family from the confines of their apartments, cities give Tajara the opportunity to enjoy parks and playgrounds, as well as community entertainment centers. The government takes great care into ensuring the citizens are given ways to vent off the boredom or work struggles, and thus allows and sponsors establishments such as theaters, cinemas, ice skating, amusement parks and even sports pitches or stadiums. Bars and nightclubs are also allowed, though somewhat more tightly controlled due to nightlife being frowned upon as it is“not an good image for the honest worker”. Despite that, many workers find solace in the bottle, with the criminal underworld cutting great profits.

     For Tajara in the middle echelons of society, urban life provides more services and luxuries. Highly educated Tajara, scientists, doctors, lawyers, engineers and businessmen are all valued by the state and its economy. Thus, higher salaries are provided for those in the public sector, as well as the opportunity to live in suburbs near the center of the city. Here, Tajara enjoy modern amenities to a great extent, from health services, cars, cuisine and more. Apartment complexes are shorter and made with a more aesthetic view in mind, and one can see that some good attempts at proper urban architecture have been made.

     In this middle-upper class, career paths generally lie open, with the government frequently hosting competitions for jobs in research programmes, public works, administrative positions in industrial affairs, and more. Tajara in this position are also the most eligible candidates for new careers in politics, or candidates for Party membership. These Tajara are also the most monitored by the secret police, as having them loyal is of great concern for the Party and Hadii. Few are these who are unaware of the spies, bugs and traced accounts that make the middle class Tajara have a nebulous concept of privacy and freedom of thought.

     Leading Party members, foreign dignitaries and human businessmen occupy the highest positions in urban Hadiist society. They live in the center of Nal’tor where the finest hotels and entertainment establishments are based. Here, the heart of Adhomai’s economy beats, big deals are made, and Nanotrasen controls its Adhomai based operations. Luxuries from human and alien space are brought here, which transform the city center from its suburbs.

     With the large amount of cash flow, the underworld is also most prominent here. Party corruption, large deals, and the general tolerance of subversive behaviour in the name of profit have all made the center of Nal’tor a very ripe ground for the powerful mafia which regularly works with the government and officials for mutual benefit.

 

[Coalf]

Spoiler

Memes aside Lancer, that's an interesting take and analysis on the urban Tajara. I would have liked a bit more spice in it perhaps, PRA is supposed to be advertised as a "Classless society" due to their propaganda machines working at full swing. But I enjoy that your descriptions didn't amount to "Everything is shit waah waah", somewhat boring for my tastes but overall a good read.

On regards to behaviour, you've been a pretty solid dude as I can remember, you had that one kerfuffle with fat giorno but that one made me laugh so whatever.

Activity, well you are a head CCIA, I've never been a CCIA personally so I don't know what the uh "workload" is so I won't judge on if being one would impact your performance as a wiki developer.
As a person overall you get my recommendation, but here are some questions.

1) What do you think of the lore amount? Should we compact it? Destroy it? Make more? Or do you think it's fine and that it's not really an issue, it just looks big?
2) What are your thoughts on the war, looking back at it would you consider it a good move that the Tajara lore team made?
3) What do you think of expansion? Where do you see Tajara going in the following years and what should the team focus on?

[The lancer]

1) Tajara lore is one of the chonkiest on the wiki as of now, with every faction having its own page and details. This isn't necessarily bad per se, as long as the average player is presented with the fundamentals of the lore, and isn't lost in an avalanche of information. So I believe that more details and lore is fine for those who want to dig in more, but what matters most is a good and gradual presentation.

2) The war has become central to Tajara lore, with almost all articles being about it and each faction's progress. This has both pros and cons. On the one hand, a war setting provides unique background settings for people to make characters with and is by itself a constant source of conflict. You get Tajarans on station that have communist/monarchist ideals, and this can generate conflict to keep things interesting. On the other side, if the only thing that your lore is based on is constant warfare, it gets taxing and loses its touch like everything. Peacetime culture remains underdeveloped, and the whole ordeal becomes tiring. As for the original team that started the war I can't say whether or not they had a plan on it ever ending, but looking at all the other species who are at peace, it may have filled the war niche in our setting. So, good idea I guess, but it should end sometime.

3) I think the first order of business is ending the war, as it's gone on for too long. After that, the new order on adhomai should be established, and the factions that are solidified (I don't think we will have a winner that takes all.) will start having contact with the general galactic setting. We could focus on them, and see how they will fare after the war.

[DeadLantern]

On that same line of questioning:

What do you think is lacking in peacetime lore, in the facets of Tajara culture that are unexplored? And what facets of Tajara culture would you like to explore? Examples could be Religion, Industry, Economy, Familial structures, etc. Basically what would you want to expand into with your intent of ending the war?

[The lancer]

There's much detail and work put in the tajaran culture and life already, but the fact is that much of it revolves around people not having many ties with the outside world due to the war. The only thing that's going on for them is the NT programmes that take tajarans out to work in tau ceti, as well as some immigration. I can't really pinpoint specific aspects, but with more access to outer space and human culture some parts of Adhomai would enter a new age, with a new versus old kind of idea that would challenge many parts of life.

[Bear]

As a centerpiece to the CCIA team and someone with incredible attention to detail, Lancer would (in my meager opinion) be a great addition to the lore team. While I've supported several other apps to this spot, I completely support this one as well with a fat +1.

 

My question would be:

With Tajara lore being as amazingly thicc as it is. It is also, without a doubt, the most intimidating for players interested in applying for Tajara. How would you help them get started?

[The lancer]

As I said above, good wiki presentation that helps dish out the lore in a gradual manner for new players is what we should be after. Aside from that, DMs are always open for guidance and orientation where needed.

[BoryaTheSlayer]

Hi babe. Nice app. I wanna ask some questions, though.

When I read your essay right after reading Menown's, I find that there is a very heavy contrast between them, despite the fact that they cover pretty much the same topic. It's the fact that you want to take it in a more positive direction, while Menown focuses on the darker details of the Tajaran lore(of which there are many, as it is a very sad life on Adhomai). Is this something you intend to stick with throughout your contributions to the Tajaran lore, or will it fluctuate?
Also, this.
 

Quote

I know you wanted to describe the urban aspect of the life of Tajara, but do you intend to write about their relations with other species(something that's starting to become relevant now for Tajara), about their culture, history, the war? I know that Alb is already working on the last two, but I want to know if you plan to help him in this glorious task or not.

Good luck!

[The lancer]

Life on adhomai kinda sucks if seen from the outside, but this doesn't mean that the average Tajaran has no way of looking on the bright side. While prosecution, war and dictatorships exist and will be written on, the normal life on Adhomai will also be looked at. So a bit of everything as needed. As for the second part, yeah I'll do what alb tells me to. I'd like to expand on foreign relations when the war ends, as well as post war culture. It's only natural that something happens with these two when the war stops.

[Alberyk]

This is a really hard decision for me. But, I will have to decline your application due to the team being full. But, I can still add what you wrote to the wiki and lore if you want, and I am also open if you want to contribute or give me feedback. Thank you for applying.