[Denied]Aerion111's Tajara Whitelist Request

[aerion111]

BYOND Key: aerion111

Character Names: None, probably. Fahd Zaki, eventually, I hope.

Species you are applying to play: Tajaran

What color do you plan on making your first alien character (Dionaea & IPCs exempt): 'Taupe' (the one you're calling taupe, (RGB 72, 60, 50) , not the much-lighter color google says 'taupe' is) - Probably not 100% the color I'd have chosen, but it's dark and brown enough to be usable for Fahd.

Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yes. I will likely need to refresh myself every-time I come back from any lengthy hiatus, though; There are a lot of minor details (and some not-so-minor) that differ from the 'common' lore, but it's still clearly the same species, so it'd be easy for me to get confused and use another server's lore regarding, say, the 'Slavemasters' (which you do not mention, the nobility taking their role to some extent, but which are usually involved in SOME form in other versions of the Tajaran lore)

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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: First and foremost because that's the race my 'main' character is; I have played Fahd Zaki for a while, grown accustomed to him, and do not yet feel I've finished 'polishing' him in play.

Eventually I might bore of playing him, especially if I find a really great roleplaying server, but so far I don't feel any need to make other characters.

In terms of why I wished to play it before I'd spent probably over a dozen hours working on the character (I've written and rewritten his backstory a few times, to fit various lore-variations and such, AND done some 'side projects' like a lengthy shift-by-shift log from one server and a for-school re-write of his backstory into a storyboard for a game cut-scene), I enjoy being 'slightly weird' - Slightly, because he's qualified as a scientist and has been around humans for a while, but he's still a complete 'foreigner'. Don't worry; I don't pull the kind of 'this 'toilet' thing, is drinking place, yes?' nonsense you see in bad comedies, I'm talking more the 'realistic' kind of cultural difference (when I can think of a good way to divert from the norm)

There's also the 'restrictions', both social and mechanical.

I'm hoping this server does NOT have the (in my eyes) 'bug' of Tajaran not being able to survive even a few minutes in a hardsuit without a cooling unit - that's too restrictive, given very few jobs have legitimate access to a cooling unit (and you can't always get someone else to grab you one from EVA) and two of the three jobs Fahd does requires him to get unto the asteroid (technically, Anomalist doesn't have to be outside. But there's never enough xeno-archologists to keep Anomalists busy without field-work)

But having to find special shoes, cut the fingers off gloves and so on, and needing to 'adjust' the hardsuits to fit? I enjoy the constant series of minor annoyances - it helps me stay in the mindset of 'NT sucks', no matter the job.

And while people rarely prejudice against Tajaran, or other races - likely because the players don't enjoy racism in their RPs - I still enjoy roleplaying from a, if not submissive then at least 'lower-rank' position.

The backstory also seems more interesting; The human lore isn't nearly as in-depth usually, and when it is I can usually still use most of it as a non-human (since it's usually a human-ran station, with a human-dominated corporation), while the Tajaran lore is only really usable by actual Tajaran.

And for the sake of honesty, while I know this earns me negative points, yes, I like playing a cat-man - I usually play some sort of beast-race, when given the chance. But I'd have given it a pass if I didn't find it enjoyably otherwise (I'd never have chosen the lizard-race, for example, even if they were the only inhuman choice; Their lore/flavor doesn't fit my style of play)

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human:

Well, as mentioned, there's the pseudo-lower-class nature of them; While, again, they're rarely actually prejudiced against (because, again, that'd require players to choose to have their characters be racist), they generally still shy away from making any implication of being of superior rank - to the point of acting like an inferior even towards those who'd normally be their equals.

Not necessarily out of a direct desire to show respect, or anything submissive like that, though; Depending on the exact context and exact Tajaran, it could be anything from their generally more reserved attitude (they reserve first-person pronouns for friends, generally don't have as 'liberal' of a culture as humans, and just aren't as prone, as a species, to treating strangers as friends as some humans are) to feeling like an outsider (usually being a minority race, especially during early training), or just not being 100% confident on the social queues of a new culture yet (even after years of working somewhere, you might not always know the right way to behave)

And, at times, to show respect/avoid trouble.

Most of which would also apply to other aliens, but most other aliens have some other trait that'd drown it out - like aggression or firm self-confidence - while the Tajaran mainly have traits that emphasize it.

There's also the obvious: They're not Humans. They're not from Earth, did not have human parents, did not watch human shows, and so on.

In other words, they have a different culture, and it's largely up to the individual player to invent the details- since there's, presumably, a whole lot of villages/towns on the planet, and so a whole lot of cultures, dialects, and so on.

The 'verbal quirks', the third-person perspective and the rolled-Rs, actually can be more significant than it might seem to those who haven't tried playing the race for hours upon hours; To me at least, the third-person enforces a kind of 'arms' length' anti-intimacy with anyone you talk to; You're making a point of not talking to them personally, but rather sending on a message from yourself.

The rolled-Rs mess with the 'flow' of a sentence, both in reading and in writing it, so to me it helps me keep a mindset of 'talking in this foreign language is exhausting!' - it's easy to think he'd be tired of talking after writing it for a while. Though it probably helps that the way I hear it in my mind has not just a rolled R, but a rather significant pause (so, 'I am trrr'rying to help, stop rrr'resisting' - I don't write it quite like that, it's to make it clearer what I mean right now) which adds to the flow-breaking - it's kinda like a stutter, though not quite, and both speaking with and listening to a stutter can be really tiresome.

So you're playing someone who doesn't interact personally with the rest of the crew, unless they're especially close, and talking in the human tongue is exhausting.

People generally also expect less professionalism from you, so while it's not an inherent part of playing the race, you can usually get away with a more laid back attitude (especially if you keep up the 'lower-class' act) - and if you get called out on it, there's usually ways to word an excuse to make them think it's because of your race, rather than you not taking it seriously.

Due to the nature of their culture, the latest conflicts, and so on, there's also more of a pressure to act 'appropriately'; Essentially, as mentioned, they're not as liberal as the humans, usually.

Sorry if I'm doing a bad job of explaining; I rarely think about it as 'differences', rather I build my character from pieces appropriate for the race.

As in, I don't make a human character and then adjust them to fit as a Tajaran, I look at what makes sense for the race, class, whatever, and use that to build an otherwise race-independent character.

'Human' Fahd Zaki would be almost identical, except for the direct references to Tajaran planets/culture - but I probably wouldn't have made human Fahd Zaki, because other options would have inspired me instead.

Put differently; If I was to design both a car and a bike, I wouldn't look at the car as a bike with more wheels (or the inverse), I'd design it from the ground up in both cases (though maybe taking some shortcuts when something'd work for both; No need to re-invent the wheel, nor the motor)

So I'm kinda guessing and improvising here.

 

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Character Name: Fahd Zaki

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

(Sorry if this seems like it has a bit of a fast pace; It's summarizing a backstory of 2500 words, and my first try ended up at closer to 6 paragraphs)

His father would likely have been a minor noble in the 'old days', by virtue of being in charge of one of the larger archeological teams around there (though he was less of a scientist himself, more of a manager)

So, Fahd grew up well-fed and well-educated, specifically well-educated in the ways of machines and electronics - there's a need for 'menial' mechanics too, after all, even if NT might not be too keen on them.

What the schools didn't teach, he'd usually find some other way to learn.

In the last few years of his education-plan, he happens to be accompanying his father to a 'dig'.

Short version, because I spent like a paragraph and a half describing it 'briefly': He trips, cuts himself on some ancient weapons, the disinfectant fails to prevent a problem, and he ends up needing to amputate his right arm and left leg.

Then he continues his studies, he continues to look for the path forward, and he just generally 'continues'.

Until he signs up on a 30-year contract with NT, with various most-likely-misrepresented job perks, that he'd be too smart to take if he didn't have 'a plan'.

Short version: He intends to work for those 30 years as an xeno-anomalist, studying alien tech - especially, though he doesn't reveal this part to anyone, human tech - and occasionally helping out in RnD.

Then he'll betray NT, and potentially start the next 'chapter' of the Tajaran conflict, by spreading as much tech as he can, both the knowledge and actual tech (he's sure he can get together the parts for some auto/protolathes, with the help of whatever underground elements he can convince to help him) with the goal of forcing the humans, once the dust settles, to treat the Tajaran as potential allies and trading partners, rather than cheap labor.

In the shorter term, he worked as a miner and a hydroponicist, depending on the various needs of the various stations, while he earned his certification.

Now, he still works as a miner or a hydroponicist, but occasionally NT 'graciously' lets him do his actual job as an Anomalist.

And he's just the slightly-weird Tajaran with the calm smile and friendly demeanor, who sometimes doesn't respect the rules as much as he should but who doesn't, usually, cause any serious trouble to anyone but himself, and who can come in real handy as a 'fill-in' when some menial job is lacking on a station.

What do you like about this character?

Well, for one, I like the, for lack of a better term, 'sarcastic butler' attitude he sometimes has.

It's not quite as subservient and not quite as sarcastic as a legitimate 'sarcastic butler', but the character gives me chances to make off-hand comments displaying either skepticism to the plans of my fellow crew-members, or displeasure with NT, and in either case I can do it from a 'lesser' position so some of the bite is taken out of the comment.

There's also the part where he's a Tajaran, and I've already said why I want to play one.

To some extent, he's an excuse to take it easy, do the work I want, and be a stranger to the local culture everywhere I go (since I play on a few different servers, and I'm hardly a people-expert; I'm never going to get used to any one server's 'player culture' - and there is usually at least one, whether you're aware of it or not. Usually more than one, when it comes to SS13 servers, as different time-zones and days bring different players, some of which might never meet, so the culture changes with the tides so to speak)

Mostly, I think what I like is that he's both diligent and quite unprofessional - he can act professional if he needs to (well, kind of; He's bad at it), but in his 'heart of hearts' he's not here to work for NT. He's here to serve a role, to do a job, to overcome an obstacle. To help the crew, essentially. So when the rest of the crew is slacking off, I get to be proud of being one of the hard workers 'carrying' the rest with my diligence (whether it's cranking out food, providing metals for the entire station single-handedly, or handing out tech upgrades (though mainly to the miners; The RnD side of SS13 could use some expansion when it comes to tools useful for non-miners and non-scientists - I know there's some, but they're usually not worth the effort))

Unfortunately, with the increased pressure against Tajaran in head positions AND the increased expectation for head roles to actually be in charge, I can't do what I did when Tajarans were first 'invented' and 'help out' by being an all-access HoP setting up the solars, or an RD that gives the roboticists full access to the database and then goes off to work as an Anomalist the rest of the shift, but I can still be useful.

And when they're all working hard, I get to grin at everyone running around like headless chickens while Fahd Zaki takes a well-deserved break with some delicious Irish Coffee (or, as Fahd calls it, 'that alcohol-and-cream thing with the country in the name') and maybe a few slices of pizza.

So either way, I have a role I can take that I feel stands out from the rest, without pissing too many people off, which puts me in positions to bump into roleplaying opportunities.

Actually, main reason I like the character; It's the SS13 character I've, by far, put the most effort into writing a backstory for, and/or figuring out a personality for.

And I get bored of SS13 before I get bored of Fahd, so every-time I come back for more SS13 I am ready for more Fahd.

How would you rate your role-playing ability? Hard to give a numerical number, but let's say; Pretty normal for a 'play-by-post' roleplayer.

As in, when I join various play-by-post roleplaying groups, whether so-called 'freeform' or based on a tabletop game (or something in between), I don't stand out as particularly good OR bad.

In 'live' RP, I've gotten praise for my role-playing from the unskilled, and been criticized by the exceptionally skilled.

Judging by how others treat me, I seem to be a pretty OK RPer, whose greatest merit is that I'm less selfish and more aware of 'character-design pitfalls' than the 'bad' RPers.

Ultimately, it'll depend on how much practice the average player has; If most have been doing various chatroom or play-by-post RP for more than a year or two, I'll probably seem a bit clumsy at times. If there's some who've barely RPed outside of SS13, I'll probably be better than them, unless they're especially talented writers.

I'm not great at improv, but I've... Probably close to a decade of half-hearted practice, though I feel I kinda stagnated halfway through that (I could probably improve with diligent practice, but I'm doing this for fun, not to impress others (though I do love praise, like most humans ) So, I'm not so much inclined to 'push' myself)

Notes:

Well, not much left to say.

I suppose there's two things:

1) Just to be entirely clear, this is a character 'translated' from other servers. Not just one either, I've been playing him through several different servers, most of which have shut down by now. But I've already pretty much said that in many places above.

2) I'd love to get feedback, even from those without authority, if you have any. Even if you approve it, which I hope you will, I'd like to know what parts need fixing, or even just what parts you're not entirely won over by.

I'll likely be using the character on more servers in the future, it'd be good to know what parts of the backstory to improve.

[aerion111]

Ok, NOW it let me post it.

Alright, since I chopped off rather a lot of the backstory (I had initially written a lot more, but got a 'wrong format', or some such, error - and it says approximately 2 paragraphs, so I figured maybe that was the issue) I'll give a link to the original backstory.

Keep in mind, it uses a different 'lore base' than this server, but the broad strokes would be the same (he still hurts himself when visiting an archeological dig, he's still aiming to become an xeno-anomalist, etcetera. The setting's just a bit different): https://pastebin.com/npJbmDmE (EDIT: To be clear, the intent isn't for this backstory to be judged instead. The intent is that if there's some 'missing part' in the short version, the 'judge' now has the option to check the long version instead of waiting for a response from me)

And, because why not, the 'story-board'-ed version: https://pastebin.com/r17MjvFe

Not recommended for anyone (because it's quite long, and, in my eyes, far less interesting than either of the others) unless you want to skip around in it to check that I'm not lying about writing a shift-by-shift report, or you've fallen completely in love with my writing and are desperate for more (Kidding, of course ): https://pastebin.com/quykV3ev

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Hello! Mofo is the overseer of the Tajara species, but I noticed something about your application and wanted to jump in real quick to make sure any issues can be resolved before he shows up for judgement.

From what I've been able to gather from your application, Fahd seems completely detached from Adhomai itself. There is almost no mention of his life on Adhomai, nor his stance on the current conflicts engulfing the planet and the species.

https://forums.aurorastation.org/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=6218

Please ensure that you tie your character to the current situation on Adhomai, and which of the three major factions they are most predominantly leaning towards, if any, and why.

You also included that he is engaging in corporate espionage in stealing NanoTrasen tech and disseminating it amongst Tajara. The leading Tajara government is an ally of NanoTrasen, so I do not understand why he feels that would go well for him, unless, as I mentioned above, he is trying to help one of the other two major factions.

[aerion111]

He's not disseminating anything anywhere at the moment - he's barely even gathering info, other than what he's kinda forced to from working his job.

His 'big plan' is 100% internal, especially since he's about half a decade into a three-decade plan (so right now, even if he was to focus 100% on the plan - which he won't - he'd still be better of working at getting good at his job, and getting known as someone trustworthy enough)

It won't come up during game-play - not only is there no way SS13 will be around in 25 years, but there's no way I'd still be playing Fahd even if it did stick around till then - other than as the secret cause of some his interests/quirks.

And NT being an 'ally' clearly hasn't meant free access to tech (because NT is a for-profit corporation and has no incentive to give away its patents, trade-secrets, and other kinds of 'research'); On the stations, in the time of a single shift you can turn raw ore and sand into complex machinery, and power/chemicals into all kinds of medicine. Even if we assume some things are 'abstracted' because of the nature of the game, you can clearly do a lot with very basic materials. Adhomai does not have that technology, at least not in a wide-spread fashion. Fahd wants Adhomai to have that technology, and other useful tech, even if he has to spend 30 years working for NT to get a hold of it.

Heck, let's say you think this is a dumb plan; Welp, I guess you think Fahd's got a dumb long-term plan then. It's not like he's the first youth to be, perhaps, a bit naive and overly idealistic.

But HE thinks it's a good plan, at least, and it's what's kept him motivated in his (sometimes quite tedious and repetitive) job so far - since it'll never be finished (his story will die with SS13, before he's even finished his contract) it doesn't matter if his plan will work, just what he (and, if anyone else SOMEHOW figures it out, others) feels about it.

 

From what I've been able to gather from your application, Fahd seems completely detached from Adhomai itself. There is almost no mention of his life on Adhomai, nor his stance on the current conflicts engulfing the planet and the species.

Fahd's rather detached from Adhomai itself, and rather detached from most things really, yes, but I did have a few things connecting him in the original six paragraphs.

As mentioned, the forums gave me an error message when I first tried to post it, and I thought it could be because it was too long - and the Adhomai parts were the less important parts, I felt, of the character, so the easiest to cut (I also cut other stuff, mind, like a tangent about the behavior of scientists)

Let's see if I can create/re-create some ties then (and for the record; He hardly 'grew up among humans', like the change says he's not allowed to - he's been there 'however long getting certified as an 'anomalist' takes' (I've been guessing 5-ish years, give or take a couple) and was old enough to have ran out of Adhomai-side schooling (or at least schooling worth going to) - so he was about as adult as you can expect of a fresh recruit when, well, he was a fresh recruit):

Well, he pretty much has to live in the 'People's Republic', and rather close to the capital at that.

Probably not in the capital, and certainly nowhere near any 'conflict zones'.

I can't quite tell whether the cities on the map are the only cities around, in which case there's a severe lack of villages and I'm quite intruiged by how that'd work... There'd probably be several days' travel between each city (possibly nearing a week, since it's at least earth-sized - a bit bigger, specifically) with nowhere to stop midway, and a lot of land that'd be nigh-impossible to exploit with no one living nearby - or if they're just the most noteworthy cities and there's un-marked ones around.

So I'm not sure if he just lives 'outside of' the capital somewhere in the sub-urban to rural range, or if there's a smaller, more peaceful town within traveling distance of the capital.

As mentioned in a part I cut away, it might seem strange to fund archeological digs, especially ones large enough to need an 'administrator' (as in, the kind his father administrates), during wartimes - but it actually makes sense, since the conflicts have been heavily reliant on propaganda and fairly flimsy excuses to discriminate (particularly against 'inferior' kinds of Tajara)

If you can find any supporting evidence of a kind of Tajara, other than those of your group (whatever it might be), is inferior - or, inversely, if you find evidence your kind is superior - then that can save you quite a lot of money because of all the slaughtering of the opposition you suddenly don't need to do (well, you still need to slaughter some opposition, but if the evidence is good enough then you'll probably convince the majority without bloodshed) - Which in turn means you can afford to spend some money on digging around in the ruins of old wars if you think there'll be anything there.

They don't even necessarily need to find anything if Fahd's father does a good enough job spinning it and/or lobbying for continued support - it's legitimately not their fault if they're pointed at the wrong area, after all, so he just needs to avoid the team becoming a scapegoat for a politician who wasted money on a wild goose chase.

And as mentioned a couple of paragraphs ago; Fahd's rather detached from the politics.

His view on the surveillance is mostly as an inconvenience - especially early on, when he was legitimately just a diligent student who hadn't yet decided quite what he wanted to do with his life (but knew he wanted to work with complex structures, whether machines, electronics, or some similar thing)

Yes, it's a big deal; People've probably disappeared from his town for having had the wrong things in their homes, or having said the wrong things in a bugged room.

But since the worst thing they're likely to have found Fahd with is a collection of notes dangerously close to becoming a (low-quality) text-book (and yes, I know it's specifically literature, as in the 'art' side of books, that's banned. But the way it's written implies the population views books=literature, so I don't doubt some over-zealous enforcers would destroy a kids' notebook 'just in case' letting him keep it would lead to him trying to write literature in the future) he hasn't had much reason to fear the surveillance.

Especially given that, again, his dad is, while not formally important, kind of indirectly important; No one would have to answer for 'disappearing' him personally, but they would have to answer for messing up the plans of actually-important people who were funding whatever latest task the group had.

It's the same reason you'd, in a medieval society, be punished more harshly for killing the king's floor-sweeper than for killing a random sweeper in the slums; In either case, they're just dime-a-dozen peasants, but in the former case you've inconvenienced someone powerful, and they'll want revenge (or at least they'll want to make an example out of you)

Point being; Whether he was right about that or not, he thought he was safe from anyone getting too overzealous and taking them out with little to no evidence.

Either he was right, or he was lucky, because he somehow survived his childhood, even though he didn't spend every waking moment trying not to anger the 'overlords' - and if you think it sounds like I've the wrong image because the 'overlords' aren't nearly that strict, then I've failed to portray the irony through text; Yeah, I know. It's called 'exaggerating for comedic effect'.

As for the whole 'people are fighting over the planet' part?

He's never lived anywhere too close to the 'frontier', though there's probably been the occasional 'hey, civilians, stay indoors for a while' situation (whether as a drill or as a legitimate danger)

And he's a student, not trained in combat; What's he supposed to do, if an 'enemy' came by? Use his school-gear as improvised throwing weapons?

His best bet, and quite probably it's what his mother would have advised (and, depending on how sensible the school dares being, possibly even their official stance), would be to just do whatever they tell him to, not 'play the hero', but try to get a message to the Republic at the first safe opportunity.

So, when he's walking around, he's never going 'oh god, I need to be ready to shoot them before they shoot me! Just in case!', he's instead going 'alright, no sudden moves... Just in case any hostiles come by, make sure you're calm, you make casual motions, don't put your hands anywhere near your pockets... In fact, don't wear clothes with pockets at all when going outside'

The thing about war, is that it's never 'total' war. Students, like young Fahd Zaki, go to school, go home, go to school, and occasionally go through a war-related drill or learn a war-related topic.

Just like the miners are digging in the same mines whether the metal will be used for tanks or cutlery, or the farmer has no big reason to care if his food goes to soldiers or civilians (though the latter will likely be less prone to just confiscate it without pay, when the funds run low)

Fahd Zaki's detached from Adhomai because what he's interested in, machines and such, are not (primarily) on Adhomai.

He's a scientist, not a soldier or politician.

If anything, his planet being crap is all the more reason for him to leave it behind and not look back for three decades.

I suppose that when he thinks about it at all, he's mostly hoping that the 'New Kingdom' faction will combine with the 'Republic' he grew up with, and once the Liberation group's gone maybe the Republic can calm down and stop being so paranoid. If he supports anyone vocally, it'd be the Republic, but only out of fear of the consequences if he didn't.

None of the three groups are really what he'd prefer the planet to be - really, he'd prefer a society a lot closer to how the less formal stations work (generally meaning the ones with the more incompetent/absent captains, but occasionally it's on purpose), with the general 'we're all in this together' attitude and people doing their job because it's their job and not with the goal of advancing their position.

But he knows those stations only work like that because there's a separate culture holding it together from the outside - so it'd need tweaks, and he's not sure what'd need tweaking, to actually be viable, making it more of a display-model than an actual option.

And it's not really the conditions on Adhomai that led him to join NT - It helped, especially as it might not have been an option otherwise, but even in the alternative history where the war never happened, everything is the fault of long-dead slave-masters, and NT is just recruiting more workers from peaceful cities like they do with a lot of races, he still joined them.

Really, all the 'condition' he needed was the chance to develop his interests, followed by NT being the majority recruiter for space-work - everything else about Adhomai just helps make the choice easier for him.

I'm sure it's rather disappointing answer, but not everyone's story is deeply intertwined with the deep geo-political landscape of their home planet.

Some people just tried their best to get on with their lives until they left, because the problems were too big for them to do anything about.

If you want better answers, you'll need to ask me something more specific, I think; There's probably something more I can cover, but I'm not coming up with anything.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Being a privileged child, teen, and then young adult who was kept shielded and separate from the realities of the conflict is a satisfactory way to explain the subversion of our expectation. At least with me, if you subvert the standard requirements there needs to be a description of why. You also address the fact he is fearful enough of the PRA that he doesn't speak out and supports them if asked, which is also another key point.

Thank you for elaborating; I will let this sit and Mofo (or myself) will review and decide on it in a few day's time. If it goes over 4 days with no response, please PM me.

[aerion111]

Being a privileged child, teen, and then young adult who was kept shielded and separate from the realities of the conflict is a satisfactory way to explain the subversion of our expectation. At least with me, if you subvert the standard requirements there needs to be a description of why. You also address the fact he is fearful enough of the PRA that he doesn't speak out and supports them if asked, which is also another key point.

Thank you for elaborating; I will let this sit and Mofo (or myself) will review and decide on it in a few day's time. If it goes over 4 days with no response, please PM me.

 

Makes sense, sure.

I'm not sure we have the same expectations, mind; If I get into the server and the other Tajara show clear signs of having come from, well, a planet wracked with war, I'll be both surprised and impressed.

This is an exceptional server, though; The lore diverts more than I'm used to (which means a lot more work has been done by the lore team), for starters, but there's other signs of more work going into it than I'm used to.

Point being; I guess I don't know what to expect, since I don't expect the average SS13 server, even heavy RP ones, to take it as seriously as it's taken around here.

But, yes, 'privileged' is probably a good word to describe part of his attitude; Not arrogant (well, ok, a little arrogant at times, perhaps) but a decent bit of the 'naive' kind of spoiled. (The 'let them eat cake' kind, one might say)

I'll have to think about that character trait going forward.

It's not like it just occurred to me or anything, it's been part of the character from the start, but I haven't thought about it from quite this angle.

There might be things I can do with that, especially if I find there's not enough friction with the crew - I don't want Fahd to be a hostile character, I'd actually prefer him getting along with most, but he's hardly going to be a 'real' character if he never tests anyone's patience. And I'm not sure whether I need to crank up this flaw to do so or not.

Like I said, I'll have to think about it.

And in case I need to defend him working three different jobs:

First off, Shaft Miner and Anomalist has a lot in common.

Theoretically it shouldn't; Anomalists should, theoretically, get their anomalies from the xeno-archs. But I've never seen an xeno-arch that finds more than one anomaly in a long shift, maybe two in a 6+ marathon shift.

In practice, they have to go out digging around for their own anomalies.

So, mainly, the 'extra knowledge' is knowing how to man the smeltery - and that's something he'd need to learn no matter what. Or at least he'd need to learn the 'settings', whether it's the alloy-rate or the temperature/pressure to use.

Since, yaknow, he'd need to be able to get the fundamental metals if he's to build any machines from scratch.

And 'Shaft Miner' is probably the most menial of the jobs that can't be done by assistants.

'Hydroponicist', as he insists on calling it nowadays (to counter the continual down-grade of the job) is barely even a job anymore.

Most stations, the garden is tiny, and open to the public, so it's really just a glorified assistant job anymore, making it even more 'grunt' work than shaft-mining.

But when he signed on, the station had their own section for Hydroponics, and there was a definitive difference between a good and a bad botanist.

You generally tell the difference by how the good ones can single-handedly grow enough food to feed a full crew, while the bad ones grow a couple doses of low-quality drugs before they get overwhelmed by weeds, pests, and a lack of fertilization.

Fahd's not a very good botanist - seriously, OOC I never really learned how to do much with the various 'stats', so I just rely on copious amounts of whatever the 'big harvest' fertilizer was called - but he is good at using the machines in the Hydroponics section.

Including the 'biomass' machine, knowing how to grow the right plants for it, so he doesn't run out of fertilizer and once he's got the garden up and running he can even produce 'vegan' meat (generally from soybeans and chilipeppers, so probably a rather 'interesting'-tasting kind of meat)

And it's his general 'taking it easy' job; If he's getting worn out from running around on the asteroid, looking for either diamonds or anomalies, then if he can manage to get assigned to a shift as a Hydroponicist he can spend a fair amount of time just relaxing on a spot of grass.

While it's not part of his 'obsession', he does like working with plants anyway; Nature's pretty, and plants are rather predictable.

[Mofo1995]

I will be posting full feedback and analysis tomorrow. There's a lot to read here, so bear with me for the one day delay from the deadline.

[Mofo1995]

I have good news and bad news.

The good news it that I've read everything that's not in the paste bin.

The bad news is that there's more content than I had expected here, and I'd really rather not leave any stones unturned when considering an application. If I pass this, then I naturally want to be aware of the full deal that I'm signing off on. So, I would like two more days to carefully consider this application and to read and analyze the full backstory. In the meantime, here's what you can do to hedge your bets and increase your chances of getting accepted: Get feedback!

 

Character Names: None, probably. Fahd Zaki, eventually, I hope.

 

This right here is usually a very large red flag when processing any application. In the interim of while I'm sifting through the backstory, I strongly encourage you to build a presence on the server with another character. Input from your new Auroran peers and familiarity with the community via a working understanding of Auroran Tajara by on-server playtime and experience can take most applications and strengthen them beyond what they might normally be otherwise. While imported characters certainly aren't forbidden in any way shape or form, trying to hop in wholesale as an imported character is an uphill battle without solid third party feedback vouching for your versatility. That doesn't necessarily mean your application is below standards, but it is a strong issue with it.

I'll be back on Friday night (Eastern Daylight Time). Sorry again for the delay!

[aerion111]

I'm hoping that, if the application is found lacking, you'll lean more towards needing me to add/fix it, rather than a straight denial.

Normally, I'd not even try to play to 'prove' myself; I'm hardly amazing at making friends.

In fact, I'm terrible at it, for the usual 'nerds are bad at talking' reasons - like being bad at reading people, misunderstanding intent, being a touch 'abrasive' by nature, and so on.

Which in turn means that while I can, when I do a good job, impress people temporarily, I've already tried (and failed) to make enough of an impression to earn any actual 'this guy does a good job' points.

Really, that's why I wrote a long shift-log; I struggled to get the, essentially, +1s I needed on that server, but the 'judge' liked both the character backstory and what I'd already written of a journal (the other requirement they had), so I suggested that I could keep writing and potentially prove my worth that way - but the server died before I got fully accepted there.

But that means I HAVE been in a situation where I would benefit from having other people support me, and even though I felt I got along with some characters, I only got one guy to support me, and I had to specifically ask for support in OOC (which I feel kinda goes against the spirit, but I was getting impatient and frustrated) - none of the random and unbidden 'oh, this guy's cool' you see in the other whitelists here.

It doesn't help that I specifically enjoy playing under-manned shifts; I really dislike 'bumping shoulders' with anyone (working the same job, that is), and I feel more useful when there's no one else around to do it; I'm not just playing, say, a scientist, I'm providing the station with RnD functionality it wouldn't have at all if I wasn't playing.

So, I might 'meet' a top of 20-30 characters per 'active' week, and probably interact with a max of 5 (since usually if a character catches my attention once it'll do so multiple times - whether they're just friendlier or if some quirk keeps catching my attention, or whatever)

Hardly an amazing sample-size for recommendations, especially when 'interact' in this case means any attempt on either party to start anything - so, anyone who doesn't just run past me or wordlessly do their job (or talk to other people)

But this server seems pretty interesting, so I'll probably give it a shot.

I was going to do it tonight, but between getting distracted, and spending way too long writing this, it's way too late to play anything and I need to just go directly to bed.

I know what character to use too: 'Alfred Blackburn', a human - nothing that should spark any trouble with his backstory, just a not-Fahd character I've used before when there's whitelisting problems (or the station's just flooded with Tajara), and he's a pure chef/botanist so I'd have plenty of chance to meet the crew.

There's a 'sister' for Alfred too, but with any luck I'll never have to introduce her to the server since I'll be playing Fahd by the time I get bored of playing a chef.

But chances are, if the application is outright denied and I'm not allowed to just immediately give it another shot (and try to do it 'right' this time), I'll probably pick 'playing Fahd' over 'playing on the server' and stick to primarily playing elsewhere.

Though the server does intruige me, even if I'd struggle to say why.

[Mofo1995]

Right now I am here

I very well might be queer

Time to review this.

 

As always, I prefer to start with positives in order to reinforce things I like. Even if the applicant doesn't take it to heart, if others are like me, they read all kinds of whitelist application to see the valuable nuggets of information they can gather from lore team members. The concept of minor nobility by wealth. One thing I've been trying to drive home in Aurora's Tajara lore is the idea that most Njarir-Ahkran were nobility, but that not all of them were. Similarly, the idea that a Hharar or two, or maybe even a legitimized Zhan-Khazan bastard, can be or were nobles too. Of course, unless you live in the New Kingdom of Adhomai, titles of nobility are completely abolished. You said Fahd is a xenoarchaeologist which means he is at least 25 years of age with a doctorate in his required field. The first revolution of Adhomai and the seizing of power by the People's Republic of Adhomai was concluded 27 years ago. This means that Fahd was not alive or was a baby/child while nobility was an actual status to have. If his family was historically minor nobility (which is fine) they would be scorned on modern Adhomai if they didn't side with the Hadii family during their defection in the civil war and subsequent co-opting of the revolution to take power. Now, an easy solution to this is to just metaphor the situation to mean that he's upper middle class when referencing his current status of nobility. His family could have sided with the Hadii's and as a result retained a favorable socioeconomic position in the new world order.

A more obscure part of our lore which was only added maybe 4 months ago is Tajaran lifespans. A long time ago a predecessor of mine (and author of the base modern Auroran Tajara lore) wrote that Tajara age about 33% more quickly than humans. This was canonized and their lifespan was dropped accordingly to match this faster maturity and aging. However, NT's employment requirements don't differ by species to reflect this. So, a 200 year old skrell has the same requirement for occupation by NT as an 18 year old Tajara. What I'm getting at here is that most Tajara retire at 60 because at that point they're ridiculously old. If they lived in a more prosperous and liberal society, they would probably retire around age 50 when they really become senior citizens. Signing a 30 year contract (at least at the age of 25) means that your Tajara will likely be only a few years away from death when he finally returns home. I don't say this as a negative side to your application, but it is a notification of something you should be aware of.

 

If you forget about the occasional overly-strict Head, and look away from how disturbingly similar the station is to the Temple Cities (really, give humans a few decades to perfect AI tech and breed the perfect plant, and they'll become their own Masters, with Keeper-esque station-AIs keeping them to NT's guidelines and self-tending crops feeding them without 'wasted' manpower spent growing or processing the food) then the station's rather close to a Tajaran's dream (which is a bit strange, for a capitalistic company like this)

 

What's a Temple City? They're not in our lore. Unless you mean Sana Sahira which is a really small city and the home of Adhomai's "Parivara," which is their version of an institutional church for their biggest religion. Or the city of the gods in the second largest religion, which is metaphysical in nature and doesn't exist outside of theology. The People's Republic of Adhomai engages in state sponsored atheism with some light toleration of religious practices.

 

in the Habitable belt, of course; That being the best place to find ruins that aren't either in the middle of a glacier or protected by rather archeologist-unfriendly Keepers.

 

Also not part of our lore. Tajara, as well as the entire Adhomai ecosystem, was born and raised on Adhomai. While more of Adhomai is covered in glacier than earth, it's not most of the planet. Everything is acclimated to the colder weather. The equator to a Tajara on Adhomai is like the equator to a human on Earth. Toasty, warm, the basket of civilization and a great vacation spot. Also, what's a "Keeper?" Something that defends ruins? This also is not a part of our lore.

 

Not even their best-bud Einstein likes NT.

 

They've been bitter competitors from the start. They were never allied nor friends. Einstein had a monopoly on FTL drives for the longest time, but then NT came about and discovered plasma as a fuel source and bluespace drives as a means for transportation, blowing Einstein Engines out of the water. While they were able to adapt and start making their own bluespace drives, they never were able to regain the same market share they used to have. Again, not a part of our lore.

 

Sure, he is often still stuck working the gardens or digging through rock to free up the more 'valuable' humans, but sometimes he's actually able to convince them to let him work in 'RnD' or out on the asteroid.

 

I quoted this in particular, but really the whole motif of being a fully qualified xenoarchaeologist (or Anomalist) who is only allowed to do his actual job every once in awhile is just a bad misconception. Yes, much of the known galaxy looks down on what is easily the least technologically advanced and weakest civilization. However, racism is against NT corporate policy. There are Tajaran congressmen and politicians in the Republic of Biesel's government- the puppet state established by NanoTrasen. If you want your character to work multiple jobs that's fine, but NT isn't a comically racist and over-the-top evil corporation, it's just another business with yet another equal opportunity employment policy. They're not going to take a doctorate wielding scientist and say, "Go grab that pickaxe and do bitch work or you're fired." just because of their race. Everything about this seems arbitrary and contrived, and not really fitting of the narrative behind NanoTrasen. Sure they import cheap labor, so Fahd would obviously be paid less, but they're not going to hold assets down in lower positions for the lulz.

 

It's largely a coin-toss, in those cases, whether he'll decide he's willing to risk getting in trouble for disobeying orders and doing his own thing until he can get someone to re-assign him, or take it as a 'learning experience' and actually give untrained archeology a shot (breaking a lot of priceless relics in the process, but he's broken far more as a miner without the fancy equipment for finding relics without relying on the distinctive 'crunch' noise they make when you drive a drill through them)

 

It's one thing for a miner to regularly destroy relics while just mining. Afterall, it's just a digsite for ores and they're under no obligation to dig up relics. However, no business worth its salt is going to routinely employ and overlook a trained archaeologist who does the same. I understand the distinction being made here between ancient artifacts and more contemporary artifacts, but how would you even know the difference unless you had already fully excavated it? Swords and spears are still made to this day, there's no way to tell an ancient one from a contemporary unless it was dug up first so its details could be examined. There really isn't a reason for the same excavation training to be magically bad with more contemporary items which tend to be sturdier and made of more advanced materials than with older items which are more likely to be brittle and weak. And there's no reason for the largest corporation in the known universe to be comically inept and senselessly discriminatory to the point where they lost "priceless artifacts." From a repeat offender.

 

NSS Hypatia

 

Here's a list of NanoTrasen stations and vessels which exist in our lore: https://aurorastation.org/wiki/index.php?title=Nanotrasen_Corporation

Lastly, the entire section about criminality. While characters with criminal history exist easily, known recurring criminals are not just given a free pass. If I tell my employer that I'll sign an agreement to work 30 years for less than they usually pay people, and then routinely commit crimes, gather some sticky fingers, act adversarial with anyone who gives any orders, and regularly break priceless artifacts, nothing is going to stop them from just dropping me as an employee. Especially when there's another species with a population some 50x larger than mine which is apparently so much more valuable and entrusted. No corporation is going to routinely take losses to their assets with a troublesome and uncooperative worker who is extremely replaceable just because they pay them less for their time and have a long reaching contract.

The fact that your character is a translation from some other lore sticks out like a sore thumb. I can't find a single identifiable part of his backstory which is unique to Aurora's lore, and in fact, it seems to be nearly entirely comprised of another server's lore. While some themes which are relatively universal among many SS13 servers are present (Tajara being cheap labor), even the execution of these themes fails to appropriately translate from wherever they came from to our own narrative. While I don't expect anyone in the world to read the mounds of fluff I put up on the wiki, I do at least expect applicants to be familiar with the parts relevant to their character.

Fahd Zaki just isn't of the Aurora universe as his backstory currently stands. While you're more than free to edit his history following some research of our lore and adjustments to my criticisms, I would likewise understand if this character you have played for a long while isn't something you're willing to compromise on. I am afraid I will have to deny this application, but you're welcome to reapply in the future if you're interested. Naturally, I highly recommend that you play on the server more. While those sweet sweet +1's likely would not have salvaged this application because of the irreconcilable differences in lore, playtime is an excellent way to gain an in-depth understanding of our story through osmosis and experience to more organically construct a stronger application. Even if you never made any friends or got any feedback, you could obtain a strong foundation for future applications.

Application denied.