[ACCEPTED] Araskael's Tajara App

[Araskael]

BYOND Key: Araskael

Character Names: Kir Iziki primarily

Species you are applying to play: Tajara

What color do you plan on making your first alien character (Dionaea & IPCs exempt): Dark Grey Fur

Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Indubitably. I've known them for a while and have read their lore just out of curiosity before, but brushed up on it now just to make sure I'm caught up.

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Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph format. One paragraph minimum per question

Why do you wish to play this specific race: I have been used to playing Unathi for a while now, and wanted to try something else than that or a human. I've lost some interest in playing as a whole, but maybe trying something new and different would help me get back into it.

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: It offers a way to play as a mindset that is fairly different than a human, a different sort of perspective that I personally find very interesting and engaging. Tajara, to me, feel a little more quirky. And obviously, their unique background and culture, way of speech with the third person talking, and rrrrrrrrr's.

 

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Character Name: Zurael Siiv'al

Please provide a short backstory for this character, approximately 2 paragraphs

Zurael was born in a small community in the middle of nowhere in Adhomai's snowy wasteland. His family was extremely poor, and barely lived on by the scraps of the land, forced away into seclusion from the civil war. Regardless, especially of their stricken position, they remained neutral, only caring for their own families survival. When Zurael grew to a child, his family moved through southward to find a more suitable living space. They fortunately came across a town to where his family could live. Among his siblings, Zurael was the youngest, yet acted as the big brother protector of them even for his size. His father died when he was fairly young, but as he and his siblings grew a bit older, his mother became gravely ill, but none of them could at all support it financially. Zurael felt he was obligated to set out, and find a way; steeled and determined. He accepted odd jobs here and there, helping around generously, yet perhaps too generous for his own good. Eventually, his job search drove him to a strange end, a group of aliens he has never seen or heard of due to his families reclusive nature. With the translation help of another, he accepted what they said almost gullibly and desperately, yet also excited for what his future holds. He was taught their culture, language, work ethic, and eventually raked up enough experience to work among their stations as a security cadet.

Zurael is a somewhat largely built, dark-haired Tajara with a calm and steadfast composure and bright yellow eyes. He has a slightly informal air about him, and seems to struggle with some hygiene issues with long and unkempt hair on his head and a somewhat thick coat of fur. He speaks with a rough and deep tone, somewhat butchering Ceti Basic at some points. The way he speaks sounds as if he is trying his best, giving his all, and being respectful to those around him, and especially those above him. Though behind his strong and loyal exterior shows a timid and gullible core. It doesn't take long to realize he isn't the smartest book on the shelf. Nonetheless, even with a soft heart, he is definitely skilled and determined to give his life for the benefit of others.

What do you like about this character? Amidst my somewhat selfish or self-motivated characters, this character stands out from what I normally play. Zurael is very much the opposite, and isn't a know-it-all, and perhaps easily manipulated.

How would you rate your role-playing ability? I consider myself to be fairly seasoned, I take it seriously.

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Notes: Critique and criticism is appreciated within reason, I've not had a main Tajara character in a while, though Zurael was one of my older Tajara character concepts.

Edited October 14, 2016 by Guest

[Alberyk]

Araskael is a serious and mature roleplayer, and do a great work with roleplaying unathi. I believe that he would be a great addition by having tajaran characters. Besides, spritting several xeno related clothing and the new unathi hair styles we added.

+1 from me.

[Muncorn]

I've known Araskael for a little while now, since back on UT. Whislt my experience OOC'ly and IC'ly with him is fairly sparse, he's a good, solid roleplayer and overall a pretty cool guy. On the basis of that, I'll happily +1 any app he puts out. But, I'm going to get critical, since I enjoy doing so.

Firstly, you've got two very good things set down with your character. It's realistic, simple, and a good character to show off your knowledge of the lore. However, you show nothing of this apart from a simple mention of the civil war. Whilst my knowledge of Taj lore is, eh... Awful, I would advise putting some more information on why they decided to be neutral. Was there no push to take part in one side or the other, no benefit to it at all? This may be a moot point, as I'm not sure how the civil war went along, but my point stands as far as it can go.

The idea of them being fairly new to alien culture isn't a new idea, but it's definitely not one to be discouraged. The playstyle you're aiming for looks to be quite cliche, with a Tajara that simply wants to help. However, it still could work out well, since I know you're capable of pulling this off better than most.

Now, to my knowledge, Tajara clans are still a thing in this lore (I'm not going to bother to check), and whilst there's no 7 foot tall Zhan-Khazan anymore, some notes of the family origin might be nice, as both good buffer and to further show knowledge of the lore. Similarily, if and when this gets accepted, "Zurael is a somewhat largely built," better not mean he's a six foot tall cat behemoth. No cats over 5'8 is the general ruling, remember that.

Other than that, this seem nice and solid, but it shares the same problem a lot of apps tend to do. The main point of the whitelist application is not to show you can make a good character and answer the questions, it's to show that you know how the species' lore works, and that you know how that would affect your character. Keep this in mind for any changes/future apps you, or anyone else, make.

But, even without those fixes, I'll still +1 this. I just feel these would help for the more discerning people to like this more.

[Araskael]

I've known Araskael for a little while now, since back on UT. Whislt my experience OOC'ly and IC'ly with him is fairly sparse, he's a good, solid roleplayer and overall a pretty cool guy. On the basis of that, I'll happily +1 any app he puts out. But, I'm going to get critical, since I enjoy doing so.

Firstly, you've got two very good things set down with your character. It's realistic, simple, and a good character to show off your knowledge of the lore. However, you show nothing of this apart from a simple mention of the civil war. Whilst my knowledge of Taj lore is, eh... Awful, I would advise putting some more information on why they decided to be neutral. Was there no push to take part in one side or the other, no benefit to it at all? This may be a moot point, as I'm not sure how the civil war went along, but my point stands as far as it can go.

The idea of them being fairly new to alien culture isn't a new idea, but it's definitely not one to be discouraged. The playstyle you're aiming for looks to be quite cliche, with a Tajara that simply wants to help. However, it still could work out well, since I know you're capable of pulling this off better than most.

Now, to my knowledge, Tajara clans are still a thing in this lore (I'm not going to bother to check), and whilst there's no 7 foot tall Zhan-Khazan anymore, some notes of the family origin might be nice, as both good buffer and to further show knowledge of the lore. Similarily, if and when this gets accepted, "Zurael is a somewhat largely built," better not mean he's a six foot tall cat behemoth. No cats over 5'8 is the general ruling, remember that.

Other than that, this seem nice and solid, but it shares the same problem a lot of apps tend to do. The main point of the whitelist application is not to show you can make a good character and answer the questions, it's to show that you know how the species' lore works, and that you know how that would affect your character. Keep this in mind for any changes/future apps you, or anyone else, make.

But, even without those fixes, I'll still +1 this. I just feel these would help for the more discerning people to like this more.

 

At this point, a lot of things seem done. For my first Tajara character on this server, I rather keep it simple to get into it, and then explore some different sort of things later. I explained a little bit of why they don't chose a side, at least in their young life, though I can definitely add on to it. I just wanted to keep the entire thing short without going on a rant. Also, when I say he is largely built, I mean just a little more muscular and such, not like a 7 foot behemoth, I imagined his height is just about average. If the one who reviews my application deems so, I can add on to it to reflect the knowledge of the lore. You can always trust that there is a lot of background to all of my characters, either set in stone or in development, but I just rather the details be shown through roleplay. I'll definitely keep all of this in mind though, thanks for the comments and criticism.

[Coalf]

I know Araskael and I know that if he gets a Tajaran whitelist the amount of capable Tajarans players will increase.

Although I am a bit sad at the fact how boring this character is even if we can't all be our very own special snowflakes with five novels of backstory I wouldn't mind getting a bit more information, maybe names of his family/friends/relatives just to spice this up a little bit.

BUT and a big BUT, I realize a lot of people like to take a character which is just a blank canvas and use IC interactions instead of backstory to flesh them out and I can fully understand that, so yeah I'm curious what Araskael does with this character IC and here's hoping he doesn't get bored of it too quick.

+1

Also props for not being another focking M'sai sec Taj.

[Araskael]

I know Araskael and I know that if he gets a Tajaran whitelist the amount of capable Tajarans players will increase.

Although I am a bit sad at the fact how boring this character is even if we can't all be our very own special snowflakes with five novels of backstory I wouldn't mind getting a bit more information, maybe names of his family/friends/relatives just to spice this up a little bit.

BUT and a big BUT, I realize a lot of people like to take a character which is just a blank canvas and use IC interactions instead of backstory to flesh them out and I can fully understand that, so yeah I'm curious what Araskael does with this character IC and here's hoping he doesn't get bored of it too quick.

+1

Also props for not being another focking M'sai sec Taj.

 

Yeah sorry, I do like to detail it through RP itself. Not to say he will be the most engaging and interesting character, I would hope he isn't boring to others, there's much more depth to him than I put. I just wanted to keep to the 2 paragraph summary. That said, I can spare some extra details for anyone who is curious and a bit of a story, while I wait for approval or disapproval. I also made an error, saying he was the oldest, he would be the youngest. I don't know why I got that mixed up, I think I was thinking he was the last one born.

 

Zurael's father, who was named Akh'Zahbir of Zhan descent, had found his mate, Shivira, who was of Hharar descent, a few years after the uprisings happened in 2421. Akh'Zabir held a very disdainful disposition towards the nobility, while his mate felt a little more inclined towards them. Regardless, they both agreed it was best to try to stay out of the conflict if possible. Their family grew after some years together, with having two children, J'in and Shaia, male and female, two years apart. However, about a year or two after Zurael's birth, the town they lived in began to take up heat from the peasants who lived in it. Akh'Zabir urged his family to pack up immediately and move, even if Shivira felt if they would keep to themself, that they would not be affected by it. Regardless, Akh'Zabir forced his family to move out into the middle of nowhere. Shivira was not used to living completely away from civilization, but Akh'Zabir knew exactly how to build shelters and a lot of skill in forestry, which he used to keep his family stable. They fortunately had avoided certain death as the town they once lived in was completely destroyed by the war around late 2430.

They lived deep into the forest, far away from civilization for many years. Akh'Zabir taught his children how to live out in the wild, how to hunt and such. J'in took after his father quite a bit, eagerly going out to fish and hunt, as well as to capture little animals. Shaia took more interest with her mother, and stood around the house to help around, and to make clothing for her family. About two years after living there, they had another child, and named him Zurael. They spent another six years living there. Though, it was when Zurael was about six years old when his father died in a horrible accident in the woods. Shivira burried her mate and mourned, but felt she couldn't support her family out in the middle of nowhere. They packed up, and moved back towards civilization. They found a small village that was fortunately unscathed from the war that went on. They lived their, somewhat in poverty, with Shivira and Shaia selling the wares they made. By this time, the worst of the war had already been over, and any of the affected families were recovering.

Zurael grew up somewhat rambunctious, very energetic and playful. Even though his siblings were older than him, he acted as if he was the big and tough one, that protected his family. He would often frustrate his mother and getting into trouble, since he would nearly hurt himself from his playfulness and accidentally picking fights. As he grew older, about when he was 14, he helped around with farm work, and was generally eager to help with any heavy lifting or strenuous activities. Around when he turned 18, his mother began to become extremely ill, as all the siblings came together to help their mother. After a matter of weeks, Zurael set out on his own, to find better work than what was offered at the little village. He found himself in a larger city, where he immediately found work hauling goods across the town, which didn't yield enough of what he was looking for. After not too long, he came across a few representatives of NanoTrasen, which were sending out offerings for a grand opportunity of a life time! Whatever it was, Zurael ignorantly didn't look any further into it, and accepted it. He met the representatives, and the translators, who had to explain to him everything, including what even a Human was. Regardless, anxious and eager, Zurael signed his life away as he was sent off to learn the human's culture and how they worked. Many years would pass, through many years of school, where he was finally accepted position on-board a space station as a security recruit.

 

Hopefully that also helps with my understanding of the lore as well. It at least helped me harden I ideas about him. I didn't imagine them being directly a part of the war, but definitely influenced by it. I guess some may consider the background boring, but I didn't want to go super crazy with it. His personality and stuff about him will be more apparent when I play him, if anyone notices it when they interact with him.

[Mofo1995]

Hello, I'm the new cat boss. Since your app has been up for a few days, you get the dubious honor of being the first whitelist application I get to consider.

As someone whose primary Tajaran character is deeply ingrained in the first revolution rather than the on-going civil war, I can appreciate the character being more affected by the historical event, even if it's vicariously through his parents. I was concerned about this app in the sense that I haven't seen Kir Iziki on server in quite awhile, but the fact that you were able to accumulate three well-writ posts of solid feedback without even being on server is very good validation of your roleplaying abilities. My only major concern is the seeming lack of impact of the current civil war on Zurael's life. This story seems to suggest he left his siblings and ill mother on Adhomai where the war is still raging. How does Zurael feel about this? Does he have plans to make enough money to move them to Biesel/New Gibson? Under which faction's territory are they currently residing?

[Araskael]

Hello, I'm the new cat boss. Since your app has been up for a few days, you get the dubious honor of being the first whitelist application I get to consider.

As someone whose primary Tajaran character is deeply ingrained in the first revolution rather than the on-going civil war, I can appreciate the character being more affected by the historical event, even if it's vicariously through his parents. I was concerned about this app in the sense that I haven't seen Kir Iziki on server in quite awhile, but the fact that you were able to accumulate three well-writ posts of solid feedback without even being on server is very good validation of your roleplaying abilities. My only major concern is the seeming lack of impact of the current civil war on Zurael's life. This story seems to suggest he left his siblings and ill mother on Adhomai where the war is still raging. How does Zurael feel about this? Does he have plans to make enough money to move them to Biesel/New Gibson? Under which faction's territory are they currently residing?

 

I've quit SS13 for a little while, and got back into it, played Kir a bit the past few days. As for Zurael, I imagined that could be developed through the course of playing the character, if I ever got to it. I imagine Zurael does have plans to try to move his family away when he can convince them to move closer to him, and of course feels very homesick and misses his family, even if he's excited for his new job he found. His siblings are fairly conservative, and just don't like the idea of it, and the mother is too sick and old to be making her own decisions at the moment. I suppose Zurael would reside in Republic of Biesel, and would want his family to relocate there whenever possible, if they ever agree.

[NebulaFlare]

I don't believe I've ever interacted with Araskael, but I do appreciate the backstory. It's very down-to-earth; a big plus.

I want this cat to meet my own cat Laikov.

[Mofo1995]

All righty, you've been really receptive to feedback, you seem responsible and mature, and you've demonstrated good enough knowledge of the lore. I'm inclined to accept this application once I get my WebInterface permissions, but for now it will be set to [PROCESSING].

[Mofo1995]

Accepted.