[.QUESTING.]
Is there a specific animal you have in mind? A specific personality and 'look' you want them to have? Well, you've certainly come to the right place!
[.rules.]
[please keep in mind that there are certain rules regarding the design and personality of the children that MUST be followed to keep the feel of the shop the same with every child.]
.NO COSPLAYS. You may not quest for a cosplay. You child can be a fan of a character, certainly, and if you can work some of that character's 'style' into your character's outfit realistically, due to them being a FAN of the character, while still giving them their own unique personality, we MAY consider it. It's a big risk though, and any character deemed too close to a cosplay will be turned down, and asked to be fixed.
.NO MYTHS. Myth questing is going to be opened up on a strict, side-quest approval ONLY basis. Meaning you may not start a Myth quest without approval. You must not quest for a Myth as your MAIN quest. You must wait for Myth-specific events to try for them, and cannot enter them in normal custom, quest or custom auctions. Please, please, please try and keep in mind just how rare Myths are, and focus more heavily on real animals; that's what this shop is supposed to be about in the first place.
Myth questing is currently CLOSED.
.NO HUMAN NAMES. Children's "full" names are the scientific name for their specific species. The name that the animal is usually called is considered the child's name, and a shortened version of it (for example, Black Widow Spider is frequently known as "Widow") Children can sometimes pick up odd nicknames, but these must NOT be human names, or nickname variants of human names. Acceptable nicknames are things such as "Stretch", "Gills" or "Swift". We do not, however, want to see every single child with a nickname like this, so please, ask yourself if it's really necessary before picking a nickname.
[.guidelines.]
[aside from the small set of strict rules we have in place, there are also some design guidelines to make sure every child fits into the setting.]
.HUMAN>ANIMAL. In other words, we're not just anthropomorphising animals here. In fact, what we're doing is almost the opposite. Giving humans animal traits, rather then giving animals human traits. The effect is, more or less, children who represent animals. They dress like them, and have a few defining traits from them, but they are essentially humans. PLEASE keep this in mind when designing your character, as every other guideline revolves around this concept.
.The Color Palette. Children will always dress in the colors of their animals. They do not necessarily have to wear them in the right places and in the right patterns, but as a whole, the child's entire color palette should be colors directly from, or from the same group, (such as different shades of the colors) as their animal, in every stage of their life. ICly this stems from the ingrained urge to mimic their animal (also known as their "true" form). Children will not "rebel" against this instinct.
-Bugs and Fish generally mimic patterns more closely, and on occasion, Birds who have characteristic coloration (for example, the Redbreasted Robin will tend towards red shirts, but wear browns, greys and whites elsewhere.)
-Kids don't have to include EVERY SINGLE COLOR in their scheme if they have multiple colors.
-Neutral or Complimentary colors may sometimes be allowed into the scheme, but only in very small amounts. The feature colors must be from the animal's palette.
-.Hair Color should also be taken from the palette. It does not have to mimic their fur/feathers/scales patterning, however it can include a fading root-to-tip scheme, or streaks of the different colors (possibly stick to two or three colors at most, but it depends on the child's over-all design). Again, Fish, Bugs, and on some occasions Birds can mimic their patterns more closely.
-.Skin Color Should generally stay within normal human skin tones. This can be from very pale, to very very dark, and everything in between. Bugs will always be made an exception, due to their exoskeleton (which will mimic their Bug's coloration as close as possible) and Fish, who will generally mimic the coloration of their scales on their skin, with some scales on their shoulders, cheeks and hips. Some other children (but never Birds) may get colored skin, or some fur or scales. Please do not rely on this to make your character interesting. For example, a Tiger does not have to have his fur and stripes, he can be tan or dark skinned and simply get lots of tribal tattoos all over his body as a throwback to his instinctual need to /have/ patterns. Try and think creatively like this. Makeup, face and body paint and tattoos are not out of the question in LATER stages. Children can also use their clothes to try and mimic their True Form's patterns and colors, as mentioned earlier.
.Traits. Children will exhibit some internal and external traits based on their animal. Unacceptable traits are ones that transform the human figure. Mermaid or naga legs, wings that replace the arms and other such traits would be considered physical deformities and handicaps, and are no more acceptable then giving your character a real handicap. Again, refer to the first guideline.
.Laying Out Your Quest.
Quests should be formatted in a way that is easy for the staff to read, with all the necessary information clearly visible, and easy for us to find.
.Necessary Information. This is the stuff you MUST include in your quest for us to be able to understand and visualize your character.
-Species Information
-Gender (may only be androgynous if their true form is able to be)
-Basic Appearance Information
-Some Traits you would want to see on the child
-Basic Personality Ideas
-Character Development Ideas (how the child will be as they grow)
You can leave some stuff up to staff and the artist if you like, but the more creative and in-depth a character is, the more likely we are to favour them.
.Bonus Information. This is the stuff the staff would love to see included.
-Hair Color, Eye Color, Skin Color, Hairstyle, Eye Shape, Facial and Body Structure, and other detailed information on the child's overall appearance. Bonus points if it relates more closely to the animal, to make the child represent it better, minus points if you try and turn them into an Anthro (Animal with human traits)
-Clothing Style/Dress Sense. Giving us an idea of how they would dress to mimic their true form is a big plus. For example, Widow wears very big dresses, that gather up around her backside, to mimic the huge abdomen of the Black Widow Spider.
-Detailed Personality, Likes/Dislikes, and possibly even a list of Personality Keywords. A huge plus, especially if their personality plays off of their animal in a creative way. Even more of a plus if you describe their personality progression (or ideas on this, as we all know some characters have a mind of their own) through their stages.
-Artwork of their concept. This does not have to be by you, but any art of the concept, no matter the quality, always helps us get a better idea of the concept you're trying to convey.
-Quirks, Peculiarities, Hobbies and possible Job Interests. A huge plus, as this gives us a better idea of how your concept is going to fit in with the existing children.
-A well laid out Trait list, including information on how each trait would appear on the child, and how they would use it/what they might use it for (if applicable)
-Good Formatting. +++!
-Up to date Funds. +++!
*~*
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