Goolies' Tree Application 🌲

[goolie]

BYOND Key: Goolies

Character Names: Mister Newspaper, Ska'zaszhk Guwan, Ra'Akaix'Bruzk Zo'ra

Species you are applying to play: Dionae

What colour do you plan on making your first alien character: A dark colour with some spotty "planty" areas!

Why do you wish to play this specific race: The main reason I was eager to hop onto a Diona was the unique opportunity to play multiple characters within a single character! I’ve always had this idea of embodying different personalities or personas, and the Diona species offers the perfect way to explore that. I’ve tried to achieve something similar by playing as an IPC, it never quite felt the same since Dionae have actual mechanics you can mess around with to achieve this. Dionae, with their distinct mechanics, allow for far more flexibility and depth in roleplaying multiple minds or entities within one physical form. The fact that they’re the only species that lets you engage in this kind of roleplaying is really exciting to me! It opens up so many possibilities for storytelling and character development, I just don't know if people are ready for a goolies character that has MULTIPLE characters inside it...

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: The most obvious thing I can point out is that instead of playing a single-minded individual, you're playing a gestalt, a collective consciousness made up of conjoined nymphs that're all working together to better their own survival! Your character can take many forms and "types" of gestalts too, making it more of a pick than just "where should I make my human come from?" You have to consider how your gestalt has garnered its knowledge as well, because unlike humans (and the other species!) You gain experience and knowledge through the sampling of blood or DNA from your fellow co-workers. Unlike humans and other species, who spend time learning through books, literature, and direct experience, Dionae can gain flits of knowledge almost instantaneously!

Character Name: Mystic Travels On Paths Yet Unlaid

Please provide a short backstory for this character: Once part of a Colossus, a massive gestalt of countless nymphs that drifted silently through the void of space, their nymphs spanning hundreds of years to only a few weeks old, the unnamed Colossus roamed the stars, travelling from system to system. Its sole purpose was to gather and share knowledge from every corner of the Spur, as many Learning Lyrics types would. The younger nymphs within would frequently break off from the larger whole, venturing onto passing ships and inhabited planets to interact with the other species they encountered. Knowledge wouldn't come without a price, however, and in exchange for the memories, experiences, and skills of those the small fledgling nymphs extracted from countless drops of blood, the collective, even separated, would lean into the mysterious ebb, paying back its price owed with woven predictions and insights about the future from the blood samples it collected, offering cryptic visions of what might come to pass in exchange for the knowledge the split nymphs sought.

After splitting from their whole, the nymphs (including our nameless protagonist!) never truly severed their connection to the massive Colossus. Though they ventured far and wide across the Spur, interacting with other species and gathering knowledge, they always carried with them a deep yearning to return to the Colossus, to once again be part of its vast collective consciousness. They would wait upon the planets they found themselves on or drift aimlessly with the information they had sought until, by chance, the Colossus would eventually return.

It had been restless, exploring unknowns and unaware of when you might be connected back again to your cluster. Decades had passed, and the small nymphs, the ones that had formed their own Cyclops in the absence of their Colossus began to wane in patience. All across the Spur, flecks of what once remained began to come to the conclusion that the great, drifting Colossus simply vanished into the infinite void. The Colossus, their ancient home, had likely been lost to the Spur. One such small handful of nymphs left stranded without its larger consciousness, scattered and isolated, began to sense their connection to one another more keenly. They pooled the knowledge they had acquired from their separate journeys, the wisdom gleaned from the blood samples they had collected. Slowly, piece by piece, they began to merge their minds and bodies, realising that, in the absence of the Colossus, they would have to create something new.

These nymphs, led by their individual insatiable curiosity, coalesced into a small, singular entity. A cyclopean Diona formed from their combined essence. Mystic Travels On Paths Yet Unlaid.

How has the recent events of the Orion Spur impacted your character? I haven't fully planned out all the events and changes in the lore so far and how it'd affect my character I'm trying to go for, but I can already imagine that the more violent ones would definitely leave a sour taste in a Learning Lyric Dionae. As a species, Diona are inherently pacifistic, preferring harmony, understanding, and the peaceful exchange of knowledge. (Unless they're rolling for antag!) Learning Lyrics live for the pursuit of wisdom and mutual growth. To experience the loss of life is a loss of knowledge, potential and the ability to share your experiences. The more violent shifts in power, particularly those involving corruption, would be even more troubling to them. Diona value the purity of knowledge and the exchange of honest ideas, so to see power being used to manipulate, deceive, or destroy would go against everything they hold sacred.

How does your character view the megacorporation they work for? I was going to play them a visiting gestalt. Probably not going to work for anyone! (I've left out a lot of personal opinions the character has on companies, Omnivirate, the Mandates etc, so I'm happy to answer those questions. I want to flesh the character out a little bit more in my head before I fully decide what their opinions are, if they even have opinions at all.)

[dessysalta]

I'll be the first to say that Goolie's writing capabilities are off the charts; he's able to make realistic, believable, and to a degree hateable (hey, you did this to yourself) characters that have just an inane amount of depth to them. I love being on the receiving end of his more popular characters like Ska'zaszhk because of the charm interlaced with deep sensibilities and motives. 

+1. Shaken, not stirred.

[goolie]

Thank you for the kind words! xoxoxo That was really nice to read!! 😃 I'm glad you enjoy my Guwan chef too! Hoping for much more RPs! 

[MrLenny]

If goolies characters had one billion fans I'm one of them, if goolies characters had ten fans I'm one of those ten, if goolies characters had one fan that's me, if goolies characters had no fans I'm dead.

In a more searious tone, I truly love goolies characters, he always make a kinda dead round to a round full of life with his shenanigans. He's also a really good RP in my opinion, so easy +1.

[Crozarius]

I have absolute confidence in Goolies' ability to RP as a tree. +1

[4000daniel1]

Goolies is pretty much the Messi of RP. I exaggerate only a little.

But really, he very actively drives interaction and always makes a round more interesting by doing so. His characters are all a blast to interact with, and I'm always eager to see more of them.

+1

[goolie]

Aaaaaawwww… thanks you three for the +1’s! ❤️ Thank you for the lovely words too xoxox I can’t wait to harass you all on a tree! 

[pocheto]

good i like gooliss rp

seriously though i trust them with 🌲 

+1

[goolie]

THANK YOU XOXOOX

[Caelphon]

Hi there, sorry for the delay. 

Spoiler

1. We try and not advise players to make their first gestalt from a headcanon origin. If possible, do you mind editting it so to reflect one of our existing clusters, and how that culture has impacted your Dionae? This can also merely them being "adopted" into that faction after being found as well. But, ideally, we want to see if you're able to grasp the motifs and concepts of the Dionae factions. 

2. Provided the above is met; 

2a) How does your character feel regarding the Eternal, and the Omnivirate? 

2b) How does your character feel about Hieroaetheria, and its nation-states? 

2c) How old is your character?

2d) How did they find themselves on the Horizon? 

3. How does your character feel about the latest news for Dionae? Omnivirate's Providence, Pactolus Exploration League, Colonisation by Gla'orr... etc 

4. How does your character feel about factions that somewhat have a bad reputation with Dionae? The Underhive Collective? Izweski Hegemony (and their Trading of the Species)? 

Thanks! 

[goolie]

Spoiler

1. I'm probably going to go with something more safe and go for the Culture of the Choir or the The Biesellian Choir. I want to make a super religious dionae down the road and if I do decide to do that with this one I'd pick something like the Immigrants From Beyond to keep up that mystique I want with this character.

2a. I would say that they view it with a combination of detachment and awe. A non-religious Dionae might not be TOO into the Eternal or the spiritual aspects of the Eternal, such as the belief in a primordial entity or the notion of merging with the Eternal’s Embrace. They would recognize the Omnivirate’s undeniable power and influence but might also view it as more of a primarily political institution rather than something to believe in? Rather than have an opinion on the Omnivirate as a whole, they would most likely have separate opinions for each of its High Overseers.

2b. As for Hieroaetheria, I know it's a little bit of a boring answer but, I'd like to have my diona be a spacer, more akin to moving around from planet to planet, state to state, etc. Hieroaetheria, even though it's ingrained in the histories of their species, would just be another place for my diona to suck up some knowledge.

2c. I want to go for a middle-aged diona, maybe more of a young one? I haven't decided yet but I'm leaning towards an older diona, go with that "wise" stereotype that comes with older, more learned ones.

2d. Our nymph protagonists, could have been instinctively drawn to regions of space where mysterious energies or anomalies are present. The Horizon, a ship known for deep space exploration, might find itself investigating one such anomaly or an uncharted region near the edge of the Spur. My Diona (one or more nymphs from the Colossus) could have found its way to the Horizon through a natural progression of its journey across the Spur, drifting from planet, to unnamed spaceships, driven by its deep-rooted need to collect knowledge and find purpose after the loss of its Colossus.

3. I haven't read over ALL of the arcs yet, because the ones that I remember were cancelled / retconned so I'll need to take a peek at the ones that took place over the forums. The ones I've decided that would have affected my character are the Omnivirate's banquet. It was a strategic move to foster relationships between the Dionae, the Omnivirate, and the Triumvirate of the Covenant of Xrim. It was a necessary step in ensuring that the different factions work together for mutual benefit.

4. The Underhive would be seen with total scorn. Nymphs who have been illicitly acquired and exploited for the production of the aphrodite drug is a wasted opportunity for that said nymph to acquire knowledge about the Spur around them. The idea that Nymphs are being used in a harmful and dangerous manner would most likely anger any dionae cluster, except the ones that are involved in it! The formation of the small dionae community on Eridani would be seen as a silver lining. Maybe one could view the formation of such a community as a necessary response to oppression and manufacturing of aphrodite? Maybe with their combined power, they could deconstruct the drug trade, or fall to it and end up selling their OWN nymphs for quick cash...

 

Edited October 9 by goolie
grammar

[Caelphon]

Accepted.