/!\ READ - STATE OF TAJARAN /!\

[Nikov]

I have encountered three varieties of Tajarans. Bear in mind all encounters were as Manfred Hayden.

1. Hard-working and decent Tajarans who roleplay the submissive order-taking well.

2. Lazy and promiscuous Tajarans who, none the less, often roleplay well. Might be furries OOC. I don't ERP so I don't give a damn, just hands off the human women.

3. Edgelords who SChLCK!- "Bitch I will fucking claw your eyes out for no goddamn reason if you even suggest I am fucking over the goddamn line of being a violent sociopath with bladed weapons for fingernails!!!"

Group 3 is my problem. Not group 2. Group 3 might have a legitimate way to play a Tajaran fed up with the bullshit, I don't know, but they sure as hell would all be fired after their first incident.

[Guest Menown]

1. Hard-working and decent Tajarans who roleplay the submissive order-taking well.

 

Tajara aren't naturally submissive. Laying a set behavior type into a species is something we changed, so, Tajara aren't submissive. They can be, they can not. It depends on the individual.

[Central]

The point I was trying to make earlier is that it doesn't make sense for NT to allow this kind of behavior from -either- side. Edgelord cats who disrupt the workplace OR speciesist assholes who intentionally abuse Tajarans. BOTH cause problems that affect productivity, and thus, profits, and that is what NT focuses on.

[SierraKomodo]

Right, so, I think we should take a different approach here at this point. It's clear that people have issues with specific types of Tajaran characters. This I think actually sums up the general opinion/stereotypes on the characters as seen by other players:

 

1. Hard-working and decent Tajarans who roleplay the submissive order-taking well.

2. Lazy and promiscuous Tajarans who, none the less, often roleplay well. Might be furries OOC. I don't ERP so I don't give a damn, just hands off the human women.

3. Edgelords who SChLCK!- "Bitch I will fucking claw your eyes out for no goddamn reason if you even suggest I am fucking over the goddamn line of being a violent sociopath with bladed weapons for fingernails!!!"

 

But here's the thing - People that are playing characters that are feeding into this problem, at this point, probably just don't realize they're a part of the problem, otherwise this wouldn't still be an issue. I'm not going to tell you guys to start calling people out and turn this into a pointing fingers game, but one way or another the people who are playing these characters need to know that they're causing problems, and what they could do to tweak their characters to fix this without having to completely retcon them or just stop playing entirely.

I have a couple ideas for how to handle this but I want to run them by the staff before I potentially open a huge can of worms or overload a staff member with a ton of PMs. So, in the meantime, I'm going to volunteer myself and my characters for people to bring up any issues they may have with them in line with this thread, and if anyone else wants to volunteer themselves, go for it.

For reference, my Tajaran characters:

Azaela Nejem

Miraj Zi'Ad

Katana Silvers (Not a Tajaran, but a Tajaran shell so I may as well mention her)

Kylan Lo'Rah (Formerly Kylan Hadyara)

Rasine Ha'kim

Zakiya Ahmad

Ziva Mo'Taki

Now if you /do/ have a problem with any characters, don't just name them and say 'These need to be fixed'. Explain what the problem is, try and come up with a way it can be fixed. Why? Because alot of people here won't know how to fix their characters right off the bat or even what's wrong if they didn't know they were a part of the problem in the first place.

[Jakers457]

I admit, my Tajaran Miko Du'Razha has gotten into the occasional barfight and will retort with racial slurs like Ape. But I've put work into who he is and how he thinks, feels and reacts to the environment. So I hope it doesn't seem like he's Edgelord McClaws.

[LetzShake]

It's been said a few times, but essentially, I like the idea of Tajaran as oppressed second class (at best) citizens who are not treated very well. HOWEVER. I do not think in a professional environment, loud, overt racism should be the norm. I think, realistically, the kind of racism that should exist in the game is quiet racism. You know the kind. The kind that exists in the real world. The kind where if you see a Tajaran on your shuttle, you kinda move to the other side or clutch your bag a little closer. the kind where, while it's not impossible for an individual to become a token head of staff like Ana or Houssam, it's not common (I think we've done a good job of this so far). And despite it being retconned, I don't think a Tajaran head of security is a bad idea because that position requires a loyalty implant. I think that'd make it one of the first head positions likely to get a 'token' member.

HOWEVER I also think that 'Cat' shouldn't be treated as a proper racial slur by NT. Or at least not yet. Social progress isn't that fast, but it's something I think we have a unique opportunity to play out over time on this server. Calling a Taj a cat or an Unathi a lizard shouldn't be 'the N word times a hundred'. But it should not be reasonable for a Tajran to say "please don't call me that." and then file a formal complaint when it doesn't stop. Unfortunately this raises another issue. Formal IC complaints tend to carry almost no weight.

So I agree, that I think too many people play Tajaran as a little too free-wheeling and forget where they came from, but I also think that SOME characters like this are realistic and expected. Look at the real world. Some members of marginalized groups respond by quietly living out their lives and doing the best they can. Some crack. Some turn to crime. Some become loud, angry, belligerent and RAH RAH FIGHT THE POWAH. Almost never, however, do they turn to physical violence against racism, and when they do they get shitcanned mighty quick.

TL;DR: I love Xeno-Racism. But it's not realistic for it to be this loud. I like Tajara as a marginalized group, and we shouldn't get away from that but we shouldn't expect everyone to be a uniform submissive janitor. I think people are getting too personal in this, on both sides.

[Guest]

dunk on those catbeasts with microaggressions.

[Central]

That kind of attitude is part of the issue here.

[Guest]

 

I hope you also know I'm not being serious.

[Guest Menown]

Here's an example of some quality racism Nightmare and I experienced. Code Blue called to Odin, and the crew was processed through. Nightmare and I, Nasir and Mrychny, were called aside to wait. Nightmare had to give the DOs his duffel bag, and we were both patted down, while the DOs had emptied Nasir's bag out on the floor, as well as his toolbelt and such, before making him clean it up. One of the DOs had began meowing at Nasir (which we both thought was in poor taste for racism), but the "pulling aside for a totally-random-right search, was something we enjoyed. It's a subtle believable racism, that isn't overt in the way it's handled.

After 9/11, brown people (middle-easterns, indians, ect) for lack of a better term were usually singled out by air traffic authorities for searches. They weren't called names like towel-head to their face, or things like that, nor were they insulted. They were just treated differently, and with more suspicion against them. That's how racism should be portrayed. If you walk up to somebody and call them a (pardon the phrase) nigger, or anything like that, you're risking retaliation. While I don't condone retaliation, people need to think about the effects of their actions.

[LetzShake]

 

I hope you also know I'm not being serious.

But at the same time, it's actually exactly what I think we need, to some degree. Not like full-SJW "he looked at my funny" 'microaggressions' but small, quiet to moderate racism.

What MeowMoo posted would be a fantastic example if not for the meowing. Still good.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

I was the DO responsible for the random check, I think it was the other one present that started meowing.

It'd be great if more people searched Tajaran crew with any excuse, if you're a human officer. Not because they're cats. "Random searches are permitted", remember? Why are you resisting?