Ankhaia Lunazhak's Zavodskoi Surveyor Voidsuit [Denied]

[Aticius]

BYOND Key: Aticius
Discord Username: @Aticius
Character Name: An'khaia Lun'azhak
Item Name: lightweight Zavodskoi voidsuit
Item Function(s): A modkit to edit other voidsuits, similar to the Himean Voidsuit Modkit in the loadout, but with more menacing Evil Energy (tm)
Item Description:
A lightweight hybrid voidsuit produced by Zavodskoi Interstellar. The Vorobey line is a proscribed, low-unit, suit designed for hazardous operations in regions where anomalous activity or dangerous environments may be present. Unlike traditional voidsuits, however, Vorobeys are hand-fitted for specific users due to their abundant use of polymerized fabric. As such, Vorobey suits are not commercially available without connections to Zavodskoi Interstellar. This specific suit is fitted for an Unathi and has room for both a huge set of horns and a massive pair of sails.

How did your character obtain this item?: Lun'azhak is a long-time employee of Zavodskoi Interstellar and has had a significant amount of time doing survey work in anomalous and hazardous locations, as such, a voidsuit tailored specifically for them (and their non-standard anatomy) makes plenty of sense. Having access to a Noblewoman's amount of wealth also ensures that keeping the suit from it's original posting is a possibility.

Why is your character bringing this item to work?: Lun'azhak is professional that thrives on consistency and works for long hours inside a voidsuit consistently. Unfortunately for her, she carries a pair of frills and a set of horns that deserve their own post code. Having a comfortable voidsuit is paramount. It also helps she's a Zavodskoi loyalist; flying her megacorporate colors is a point of pride for her.

What value does this item have to your character, and what story does it tell?: For Lun'azhak, this suit is a comfortable alternative to the standard Science voidsuits in her department and something she's worn previously at other postings. Outside of that, it's a good way to underline that she's both unusually professional to the point of having a voidsuit designed specifically for her and loyal enough to show off corporate colors when alternatives exist.

Sprites:

Additional Comments: .DMI included.

vorobey.dmi

[Roostercat]

Hi. Thanks for making an application. As it stands though, we have some issues with this one. 

This suit doesn't really seem to have anything behind it other than it simply being a unique item that looks cooler than default kit. Other cosmetic items generally have unique lore behind them that make them significant to a character, wheras this, by our own description, is just something that has evil energy™ to look cool. 

As for the reason of having a noble's wealth, we generally don't use backstory stuff like that as legitimate reasoning for anything, since that can open up a variety of other problems.  

That said, this is going to be denied, for now. I'll keep the thread open for a bit in case there are any questions. 

[Aticius]

3 hours ago, Roostercat said:

 

Other cosmetic items generally have unique lore behind them that make them significant to a character, wheras this, by our own description, is just something that has evil energy™ to look cool. 

As for the reason of having a noble's wealth, we generally don't use backstory stuff like that as legitimate reasoning for anything, since that can open up a variety of other problems.  

 

What is the team looking for in terms of "unique lore" in this case? Are there other examples that have been accepted that I could consider?

What other reasonings are acceptable, as well? To my memory (and i forget where exactly I read it) the current Himean Voidsuit kits we have are both expensive to ship in from Himeo and are stuck in a pit of red tape because of that. I also can't imagine Voidsuits as anything other than expensive, but I could be totally wrong on that.

Finally, in any future version of this, would the art need to be changed? the evil energy™ isn't something I'm totally sold on, but everything zavod-themed seems to radiate it.

[Roostercat]

On 27/10/2024 at 14:40, Aticius said:

What is the team looking for in terms of "unique lore" in this case? Are there other examples that have been accepted that I could consider?

 

We mean the item itself should have a reason for being with the character on station besides job-related reasonings and just for looks. For example, this item; 

This item is with Tokash because it represents his guild, is a gift from his brother, and is a symbol for what he now represents after changing from a warrior mindset to a more diplomatic one, and it makes sense for him to have it when others may not because of these reasonings. 

On 27/10/2024 at 14:40, Aticius said:

What other reasonings are acceptable, as well? To my memory (and i forget where exactly I read it) the current Himean Voidsuit kits we have are both expensive to ship in from Himeo and are stuck in a pit of red tape because of that. I also can't imagine Voidsuits as anything other than expensive, but I could be totally wrong on that.

 

generally when I say backstory wealth isn't a valid reason I mean its a very handwavey way to obtain something unique i.e. no real reasoning would be required other than "my character has money". The Himean suits don't follow that same rule necessarily because they are a loadout item that anyone from Himeo can choose to obtain whereas your suit is a completely unique item.

 

 

On 27/10/2024 at 14:40, Aticius said:

Finally, in any future version of this, would the art need to be changed? the evil energy™ isn't something I'm totally sold on, but everything zavod-themed seems to radiate it.

I had more of a problem with the mindset of just wanting a cool looking suit more than having an issue with how the suit ACTUALLY looks. It would fall to the lore team to decide whether or not this is something a Zavod worker would reasonably have. 

[Aticius]

27 minutes ago, Roostercat said:

We mean the item itself should have a reason for being with the character on station besides job-related reasonings and just for looks. For example, this item; [snip]

This item is with Tokash because it represents his guild, is a gift from his brother, and is a symbol for what he now represents after changing from a warrior mindset to a more diplomatic one, and it makes sense for him to have it when others may not because of these reasonings. 

generally when I say backstory wealth isn't a valid reason I mean its a very handwavey way to obtain something unique i.e. no real reasoning would be required other than "my character has money". The Himean suits don't follow that same rule necessarily because they are a loadout item that anyone from Himeo can choose to obtain whereas your suit is a completely unique item.

 

 

I had more of a problem with the mindset of just wanting a cool looking suit more than having an issue with how the suit ACTUALLY looks. It would fall to the lore team to decide whether or not this is something a Zavod worker would reasonably have. 

Yeah, this is all fair. The explanation given here is relatively terse because I wasn't entirely sure how in-depth would be appropriate. The voidsuit applications I've seen have mostly been about comfort and "this was purchased". The two examples we have (to mind) are a Captain and an Engineer that worked with the Yeongseon in a military capacity (i think?), so it seemed important to mention the financing part, rather than let it be in the air.

I wasn't entirely sure if I should write up something really long considering my previous item application was relatively brief. Because while "wow! cool suit" is definitely an OOC consideration, it's not the only one, and definitely not the main one. It's just difficult to justify "I'm such a fan of Zavodskoi, I brought the suit I'm most comfortable with from a previous work site" without saying, "I bought this thing, and I'm comfortable in it." given that this isn't an Offworlder and doesn't have the easy reason. I also didn't want to toss out something unreadably long.

Would you want an expanded set of reasons, or would a new post entirely work better?

[Roostercat]

I would say an expanded list of reasons here would be fine. Try and give the item a story to it that is unique to this character alone. 

[Aticius]

more lore, and less sanitized

How did your character obtain this item?:
Lun'azhak is one of the few scientists under Zavodskoi who's research and field aren't more suited for a lab, instead much more at home in the field and in a hostile environment. As a relative minority within Zavodskoi, few things fit her anatomy well or even comfortably. This specific suit was manufactured especially for her, prior to a long-term (5~ years) mission to a remote exoplanet for a long-term analysis of the world as reliable and bespoke equipment is only natural for missions to locations without consistent resupply and there is a noted shortage in Sinta-specific equipment, making this Vorobey a one-off production for a rising star; though not necessarily for free. She's stuck paying it (though comfortably) for the next long while

Why is your character bringing this item to work?:
Given the suit's relative expense (as any specially produced spacesuit ought to be) and it's designed-to-specifications nature, it's a bit of a white elephant now that Lun'azhak has been assigned to SCCV Horizon, it's still not totally paid for and most certainly something without much resell value (if it could be sold at all!) As such, it's been kept around past it's original mission. Bringing it around now is a comfort and security thing; it's an expeditionary suit that's followed her around as a second skin through space, snow, ice and stone for majority of her career outside of a lab assistant. To her, it's a way to show off achievement within the company: She's important enough and loyal enough that she has a piece of bespoke equipment and isn't particularly shy of her corporate ties. Letting it remain a trophy when it's fully functional and not particularly old would be a waste, too.

What value does this item have to your character, and what story does it tell?:
In a literal sense, this suit serves as a more direct way to underline corporate loyalties on a character who most certainly is a loyalist, but it also serves to underline that they're intended to be both experienced, storied and a veteran within the field. This makes that visually obvious. On a more subtle note, it highlights how much this character is reliant on Zavodskoi for her success- she's committed enough to her job to integrate it into her personality. (more than is healthy, probably.)

[Roostercat]

sorry I legitimately forgot this existed for a minute. I'll look things over tonight or tomorrow and get others' opinions

[Aticius]

All good, thank you. Let me know if a further expansion or clarification is warranted!

[Roostercat]

Right, I've talked with Cybs - the other person on the custom item team - and we've come to the conclusion that we are going to be denying the item for now. The expanded story is more or less just the original with more words, we feel. A custom item needs to have specific reasons for belonging to a character beyond it being made specifically for them. In the example I gave you earlier,  Tokash's mantle was symbolic of a mindset change, and a gift from a family member while representing his guild. The guild representation is arguably the smallest part of the story, making it symbolic of the character's views/personality and thus specific to them as a character. 

As it stands, the story for this suit still sums up to "It was made specifically for them, and they still have it today." There isn't much of a story to work off of from there. If you have any further questions, you can DM me or Cybs. Gonna' be closing this for now.