StewardsCap - Skrell Lore Deputy Application.

[StewardsCap]

Ckey/BYOND Username: UnionGuy 
Discord Name: Asalesmen#5866 (unioncap)
Position Being Applied For: Lore Deputy 
Past Experiences/Knowledge: I go over this in my ramble of a first answer, but I have experience in writing and worldbuilding with a hint of vibes posting.  
Examples of Past Work: N/A



Please answer the following questions to the best of your ability in your application:

1. What skills can you bring to the Skrell Lore team?

I have never written in any official capacity, I never felt a real calling to work on a staff team, nor did I have the passion that would justify me before others, who would be more suitable for the role. However, I was a real ideas guy and a loud critic of the many roleplay communities I took part in. When I was really young, I had (embarrassingly) joined many Roblox clans, as well as Sci-Fi building groups. While many in a clan would enjoy the infinite array of techniques and skills to put you above the other, I was really more enamored by the history and hobbled lore that was made for the sole purpose of being cool. It was what spurned my interest of looking critically into a world's backstory or ‘worldbuilding’, which would eventually lead me to join groups specifically catering to these crowds.

Now if you have heard of these types of communities, you would know that it has no real mechanics or limited interaction beyond the ability to write out what you want to be. This meant the main enjoyment came from acting out in improv with the support of a background world for consistency. However, in reality it grew to be nerds obsessing over superficial details to prove intellectual superiority, and I was one of those nerds. Since often the official lore of these groups was made to be a backdrop, it allowed for a lot of flexibility for someone to make their own character and backstory in the world. However, many would come to criticize it for not bending to their own hyper specific considerations or just generally being too vague, thus starting “factions” or “fan-lore” of their own to make up for it. Now this often comes from a pedantic or “I want to slap my OC in” worldview, which if you know is often not pleasant for worldbuilding. Furthermore, I was staunchly opposed to it, and I began writing unofficial ways to get around the logical inconsistencies and hyping up the lore itself. I would often go on long-winded rants with needlessly excessive swaths of text to attempt to “sell” the lore to onlookers. It was akin to a salesman selling a car, hence my username. I would often use fluff and researched concepts to give the base lore more appeal to those who were displeased or newcomers. Eventually utilizing these hard scientific concepts to better explain the world itself, and to support the backdrop.

Now you may look at this and say, “what is the point?” and I say to you its context for the frame. I have a true passion for this stuff, and I do not think my track-record shy's away from this. I’ve amped up TerraGov for TG with creative retellings of the breadcrumbs given to players, I have made news articles and after-action reports for factions in Shiptest, and I have even used flowery language here (i.e. calling the USSR the “World Soviet Republics/World Soviet” to showcase their accomplishments). I know this isn’t the most mind-blowing, and I know I have overstepped these thin lines in the past, but I do believe that holds some merit in a game like this.

2. What part of Skrell Lore interests you the most?

The historical era, the old commonwealth's pre-glorsh and the systemic order of planets are definitely the top two for me.

The Commonwealth is really cool even if it is somewhat old lore. I like the whole idea of the war being a hushed sabotage campaign with hired guns doing what they can to keep each other down. It leans into the skrell's war tactics, their crab-bucketing, and their skill with diplomacy. It explains the origins of the federation, and I think it’s a good starting point for the underground criminal movements that would come to bite these officials centuries later. The fun with this is that it sets a precedent early on that the skrell are just vastly more experienced in the affairs of nationhood.  While the Unathi’s history showcases their strength through brutal domination and war, or humanity showcasing its will through an unlikely union between west and east, skrell history simply shows their intellect. The skrell’s intimidation is below the skin, their ability to swindle and manipulate is something many would be worried about and probably make conspiracies around. The fact that the largest war in their history is probably a tenth of the devastation of a small war in pre-modern human history is something that is often scoffed at as evidence of a “weak and passive” people, in reality I think it showcases that the skrell do not need to wage a great war of attrition to take down their targets.

The system of order that the planets follow being named after the waves of colonization is neat and draws back to their amphibian nature. It also lays out the thinning of the federation and the segregation of the frontiersmen otherwise known as traversers. In-game players can distinguish each other with where they're from, that being those from the core worlds, colonized worlds, and uncivilized frontier worlds. For a species that often judges and questions each other, I think it’s a great way to add depth with communication and mutual connections. It also helps visualize the gap between federalist and traversalist  that is much needed in an already confusing species. The Core takes, the Colonists wait, the Traverse makes. 

3. What part of Skrell Lore would you like to expand or develop further?

Starlight Zone and Skrell Engineering are probably the two that come to mind, maybe more stuff about dining and food rituals would be neat as well?

The Starlight zone is okay, but the detail is just “There is a city above water and one below water” and that’s really it. The notes on Lekan and Severson are really just talking about their conformity level to biesel rather than the actual place they live. Also, the fact that even though they're both right next to each other yet are in a red vs. blue in regard to culture and politics. At least Xoikko has something to talk about with it being a tourist attraction and renowned for its bars and casinos. Though it seems like it's just Aliose and Qerr'Malic combined.

Skrell overengineering or just ship craft would be cool, why wouldn’t it be sweet to have the smart scientist species talk about pedantic and pointless architectural schools of thought to the himeno worker who lives in a pod? We know that the Skrell spacecraft are not like human ones, if it wasn’t obvious from the weird coloring, hover chairs and strange holo-like design. In regard to cuisine, again, how does more eating lore hurt worldbuilding? It is just another appeal to the “I am different” theme that Skrell has going for it with the principle of “Mon”. 

4. What part of Skrell Lore would you like to remove or rework?

The Prescient Republic of the Qar and Skrell Skin Coloration both need some touch-up, I don’t think anything needs to be explicitly removed from the lore, epically since I’m more of a fix it then trash it type of guy.

The PRQ is really weird and from reading it I don’t understand how you could enjoy playing as someone from there. The OOC note of “Members from the core of the PRQ fleet living out in the Spur are rare, are expected to not divulge many details about the inner workings of the fleet, but are quite open about their background.” is really vague and makes reading the lengthy wiki page incredibly unrewarding since you aren’t allowed to talk about most of it. The fact that members aboard are either an incredibly rare sight or are criminals/pseudo-criminals dissuades people from picking it up in our current setting. Sure, it is funny to pray to a giant slug, but other than that I don’t see much else that could get you to stand out from your co-workers or fellow skrell.

Secondly the structure of the Fleet, who is going to call the great leader “Species Apex” with a straight face? I understand it’s supposed to be a unique take but it’s just so funny thinking of someone seriously calling themselves a Class Healer or Kingdom Artisan while writing in the ‘Holy herald’ about big slugs. The strange organization with the core vessels and Periphy vessels is also strange, how does a weird slug cult wring a bunch of low-end marauders in a species known for debating is a little illogical to me.

Skin Colornation has always been something that has bothered me or at least confused me. We know that the natural colors are Red and Green for Axiori, Blue and Yellow for Xiialt, and Xiori is the mix between the two. Yet actually this isn’t the case, the chart itself says that it doesn’t represent all the colors and the skrell just come in “numerous color and species combinations” which is moot since spa treatment basically makes any customization possible, so it doesn’t really have any meaning anymore. What is the point of denoting those with longer headtails as wiser or older when a 60-year-old can just get a spa-treatment to grow them out faster. What is the whole point of the food changing pigmentation if it doesn’t show up mechanically and has an easy solution that is readily available. The fact that it is ubiquitous and socially acceptable everywhere seems handwavy of potential to differentiate both subspecies and origin or play on unique amphibian traits like mimicry, countershading, or even signaling? I am not a biologist, but I do think it would be nice to develop origins for different natural skin colors from around skrell space since the skrell colonists have had millennia to situate themselves.

Here’s an example, if you look at the New Gibson page and go down to the Xoikko you will find a very interesting line:

“Due to the similar environment of Aliose to that of New Gibson, Skrell from these planets share similar appearances - thick, white skin meant to assist in thermoregulation.”

This is obviously old lore, since Aliose makes no mention of this from what I can tell. Yet it is probably one the more interesting traits of a skrell from both planets. A pale white skrell would be quite striking and is something that would get someone's attention. Now obviously skin color isn’t the most important thing to a character, but it does play a part in making your character and I do think giving it some more structure wouldn’t be terrible. It would also mean that a skrell taking spa treatment would matter since there could be outlined differences that could be noticed in-game which is something major to character creation. 

5. Provide a 2-3 paragraph long sample of your writing. This can be basically anything, so long as it’s related to the Nralakk Federation.

Independent contracting or freelancing within the Federation is often a cognitive dissonance when it comes to the trans-stellar nations' political theory. Historically Independents were condemned and often labeled as ‘consultants’ with the rise of federation due to the infighting by colonists in that time period. Unlike other nations, most colonial fleets were state-organized; solely kept within government bounds to avoid sabotage from the other nations. However, independent colonists were still instrumental in charting the first and second wave, with the invention of the warp drive the need to tediously organize and sanction was no longer necessary. The public outlook of freelancers shifted as well, as the ambition of each nation to chart out more stars than the other grew a new demand. This is where the lucrative industry of independent exploration came to life, with an endless supply of adventurous scientists and veteran surveyors working much the same way as the dishonorable consultant agencies.

The modern stigma that freelancing would garner wouldn’t come about until the Tresja Agreement and reinstatement of the Federation. Fearing the idea that unsanctioned research could bring about the next calamity, the 2nd Federation quickly dissuaded and cracked down on non-state agencies. The only meaningful presence that freelancers had was in the traverse, which only further vilified them. This was only exacerbated with the rise of the Independent Traversal Movement, whose members often went under the moniker of simply “Independents”. Quickly many independent contractors would replace the word to avoid the ire of the federation, using titles such as Autonomous, Corporate, lone, or even the oxymoronic title of “Independent-Government” contractor. Those who choose not to trade outside of the traverse often kept the original title, usually as a badge of honor and a reinforcement of traversal resistance.

It is, also, one of the many pieces of red tape that corporate and independent contractors outside of the federation must go through. While many federation-born independent scientists and workers may lament the safeguard of scientific, mineral, or gas sites, they still have options. Independents from outside the Federation are disbarred almost entirely from most work beyond the traverse or estuaries. The prospect of being independent has also deflated significantly with the onset of the phoron scarcity with the freelancing sector practically frozen due to the rationing favoring government entities. Many of these contractors have given up, either being absorbed into SOE’s at best or marauder groups at worst. 

6. You’re in a room with Weashbi Jrugl, Klaq’Qi Weibii, Xioshi, and a loaded gun with one bullet. What do you do?

Shoot Xioshi, ruining the reputation for the skrell equivalent of “John” is irredeemable. 

Edited Friday at 22:23 by StewardsCap