[rem sleep]

"Better late than never" indeed. Happy anniversary, kalons! It's been swell. I hope you all are hanging in there and doing as well as you can be! For me, I'm currently in the heat of my finals.

To adopt this kalon I would like you to draw or write about their experience with learning. This could be academic in nature (what their favorite subject was in school, why, what it means to them and why they're drawn to it, etc.) or more abstract (personal growth, learning about oneself, one's perception of oneself, the world around them or any faith this kalon might have). I encourage you to think about this prompt however makes sense to you! Feel free to get more wild and out there. Whatever you feel is right.

This can manifest however you see fit, the only requirement is that the art or writing reflects something this kalon has learned.
For art the limit is one piece (no comics or animations other than simple ones) and for writing your maximum is 500 words! For art this can be any type other than those specified, either a scene or a pose or some other such, and for writing you can either describe the learning or tell me a story about it!

No other extras are permitted. You may however code your forms if you'd like, or post in separate forums, as long as you link the complete form back here so I can see it!

In order to try out to adopt this kalon, please fill out the form below!



Code: Select all

[b]username --[/b]
[b]name --[/b]
[b]preferred pronouns --[/b]
[b]learning? --[/b]



I won't be able to judge contests until after finals anyhow, so this kalon competition will end May 2nd at CS rollover!
I may not post that the contest is closed, but if I see any forms edited or posted past this time I will have to void them. :'>

Again, happy anniversary to kalons. I'm stoked for another year!

edits
nr - whiskers, weight edit [chubby]
standard - custom shine, hair
common - long fur, custom tail
uncommon - custom ears, custom tongue, eye edit, short fur [neck underneath ruff]
rare - twin tails

[Lex.]

username -- Lex.
name -- Chalice
preferred pronouns -- She/Her
learning? --

mark with learning how to meditate!

[azemyc]

username -- corvidous
name -- ganymede
preferred pronouns -- she/her
learning? -- learning about time

[Lyciran]

username -- Lyciran
name -- Aries
preferred pronouns -- She/Them
learning? -- learning about plants and herbs

[captain dude]

username -- captain dude
name -- Captain Mary Ellen Carter, nicknamed “Ol’ Badgerface”
preferred pronouns -- She/Her
learning? --

Nobody ever claimed cartography was easy, let alone space cartography, but then again, I wouldn’t have signed up for it if it was. Finding a fast route from the Argyllic Cluster to the Lost Isles and running goods along it isn’t for the faint of heart. Our Kalon nesting site, where I’m from, distills the finest rums but I’ll let you in on a little secret, it’s not the rum that makes my voyages illegal.

I carry a much more precious cargo: other Kals.

There’s a reason why Kalons are endangered everywhere but Earth. And that has a lot to do with the dangerous, flesh-eating species, Dralts, that lurk throughout the quadrant. Ick. Makes me shiver just thinking about it.

To do my job, I’m constantly learning to trust my crew, find new routes, and most importantly, outsmart the Dralts. And for me, that’s hard. I’m not the trusting type, not after losing my brother, but I’m one of the lucky ones to have a trustworthy crew. And trustworthy’s a matter of life and death out here. It’s dangerous, grueling work, but our nest site became unsafe when Dralts invaded the Argyllic Cluster.

Good thing is most everyone you’ll meet in space won’t bug a tanker vessel, but occasionally the Draltic Empire will stop to take a peek at cargo, hence the rum ruse. As nasty as they are, Dralts respect traders... for the most part. But you won’t be seeing me offer any one of them a ride any time soon.

Hull full of rum, victuals, and passengers, my crew and I set off. In this day and age, it’s too dangerous to have a computerized map, too likely that you’ll get hacked by the Empire. No, I’ve done all the calculations based off good ol’ mathematics, parchment, and brainpower. I’ve studying astrocartography since I could hold a pen... and now I’m finally using my skills.

We were midway through the voyage when it happened. I was on the flight deck when I saw it.

The enormous Draltic warship.

My crew rushed into the hull and, at the time, I didn’t know what for.

My blood ran cold as my ship was boarded by the cold, shifty-eyed Dralt.

“Where are you headed, rumrunner?” It asked in a voice like silk.

“Taa’Mara,” I replied, biting my cheek.

The Dralt walked over to inspect the cargo hold. I followed at its heels, terrified it’d see every stowaway on board. It opened the door and... was faced with a wall of rum bottles. Rum! The crew had blocked up the door from the flight deck to the hold with floor-to-ceiling rum bottles! Genius!

“You lie not. Good day,” it said, leaving.

I don’t exaggerate when I say they saved my life that day.

And that’s when I learned perhaps the most important lesson in all my years as a captain and as a person: to trust. I thought to myself, I’ll be giving ‘em a raise... and maybe some of that rum!

(500/500)
Edit: whoops! I’m pretty sure I misread the prompt and added art when art was not required! Anywho, winner, please PM me for some art! ;P

[SilentMelody]

username -- SilentMelody
name -- Landon ("long hill")
preferred pronouns -- he/him
learning? -- res with learning how to live a more natural life without water and electricity to be more conservative towards the environment

[rab1es]

username -- rab1es
name -- ???
preferred pronouns -- he/him
learning? -- mark w/ learning things the hard way

[lovage]

username -- lovage
name -- elise
preferred pronouns -- she/her
learning? -- it was a nice weekend after some high school exams. she was a good student but tended to be overly rude with her classmates. however, she wasn’t currently at school, she was in her mother’s pottery room. she’s been in there before to paint pots but to never make one. so, she was excited to finally be able to make something with her mother’s help.

her mother sat a ball of clay onto the wheel before her and turned it on. “make a cup,” her mother instructed.

hesitantly, she dipped her paws into the water like she’s seen her mother do countless times before. and, she started to mold it. she shaped a single long tube with a small open hole in the center. she soon accidentally moved her paw wrong and caused the entire shape to be thrown off. “can you help me?” elise hesitantly asked after she pawed the shape more til it ended up with a very wrong shape.

sighing while taking the clay, her mother started to shape it. “clay, much like anything, is easily shaped and molded,” her mother lectured. “a single movement can destroy an entire piece, but it takes multiple tries to correct it. everything in life is like this, you just need to learn how to control your actions to make everything right the first time around. you need to remember this.”

“but, why are you telling me this? you just said i’ll be learning about clay,” elise retorted. she folded her arms as she felt uneasy about the situation. she didn’t sign up for a lecture that day.

“you are, but i thought that you may need this extra lesson after how i’ve seen you interact with your classmates. you can’t intimidate them, you need to be patient and caring towards them,” her mother replied. elise was flustered as she went to retort again. “remember, everything is like clay, a single movement can ruin it but it take multiple tries to fix it. apply this to everything and everyone that you’ll come across, and you’ll do fine within the business.”

“i can’t just change over night,” elise replied. she watched as her mother unmold the clay. “and, you’ve already taught me everything about the business, i’m perfectly good at it.”

“but, you need to take this to heart to succeed,” her mother smirked as the wheel started up again. “remember to shape everything carefully like you would with clay to gain what you want like getting trust to manipulate. i wouldn’t be able to help you if you fail again especially in our business. so, now, try again and again until i get that cup.”

and, from that day on, elise knew what she had to take to heart from her mother’s lesson of manipulation that day: how everything is shaped by anything so be careful with every subtle decision, and it’ll be what you want in the end. with those careful words, she was able to gain what was needed.

(500/500)

[Griff]

username -- Griff
name -- Cheyenne
preferred pronouns -- She/Her
learning? --

Cheyenne really had not thought much about her decision that day. College was around the corner, and she wanted her applications to look good! Her grades were fine but the extra-curricular? Not so much. She had seen the sign-ups, for something called Sign Language Class. What was Sign Language, she wondered? Would they be learning how to draw signs for businesses? That sounded extremely dull. But, she needed SOMETHING and almost every other class was filled up.

What she discovered, however, was a whole new world she has known nothing about. Kalons who could not hear, and communicated solely through this sign language. She learned that expressions meant everything, how important it was for these kalon to be heard, too. She learned just how amazing a lot of the community was, and found herself neck deep in learning first letters, than words, and finally for the holidays even full songs.

It was during the holidays, even, that she recieved her official name. With it being a holiday video they were recording for deaf kids, she dressed festively in a pair of antlers with a red nose. AFter that. Her new name was the letter c spelled and placed on the top of the head!

She finds it was the best decision she ever made, and currently works as a translator for the deaf community. She had made so many amazing friends after all, and was always open for more and learning new signs and names from around the world!

[rem sleep]

username -- captain dude
name -- Captain Mary Ellen Carter, nicknamed “Ol’ Badgerface”
preferred pronouns -- She/Her
learning? --

Nobody ever claimed cartography was easy, let alone space cartography, but then again, I wouldn’t have signed up for it if it was. Finding a fast route from the Argyllic Cluster to the Lost Isles and running goods along it isn’t for the faint of heart. Our Kalon nesting site, where I’m from, distills the finest rums but I’ll let you in on a little secret, it’s not the rum that makes my voyages illegal.

I carry a much more precious cargo: other Kals.

There’s a reason why Kalons are endangered everywhere but Earth. And that has a lot to do with the dangerous, flesh-eating species, Dralts, that lurk throughout the quadrant. Ick. Makes me shiver just thinking about it.

To do my job, I’m constantly learning to trust my crew, find new routes, and most importantly, outsmart the Dralts. And for me, that’s hard. I’m not the trusting type, not after losing my brother, but I’m one of the lucky ones to have a trustworthy crew. And trustworthy’s a matter of life and death out here. It’s dangerous, grueling work, but our nest site became unsafe when Dralts invaded the Argyllic Cluster.

Good thing is most everyone you’ll meet in space won’t bug a tanker vessel, but occasionally the Draltic Empire will stop to take a peek at cargo, hence the rum ruse. As nasty as they are, Dralts respect traders... for the most part. But you won’t be seeing me offer any one of them a ride any time soon.

Hull full of rum, victuals, and passengers, my crew and I set off. In this day and age, it’s too dangerous to have a computerized map, too likely that you’ll get hacked by the Empire. No, I’ve done all the calculations based off good ol’ mathematics, parchment, and brainpower. I’ve studying astrocartography since I could hold a pen... and now I’m finally using my skills.

We were midway through the voyage when it happened. I was on the flight deck when I saw it.

The enormous Draltic warship.

My crew rushed into the hull and, at the time, I didn’t know what for.

My blood ran cold as my ship was boarded by the cold, shifty-eyed Dralt.

“Where are you headed, rumrunner?” It asked in a voice like silk.

“Taa’Mara,” I replied, biting my cheek.

The Dralt walked over to inspect the cargo hold. I followed at its heels, terrified it’d see every stowaway on board. It opened the door and... was faced with a wall of rum bottles. Rum! The crew had blocked up the door from the flight deck to the hold with floor-to-ceiling rum bottles! Genius!

“You lie not. Good day,” it said, leaving.

I don’t exaggerate when I say they saved my life that day.

And that’s when I learned perhaps the most important lesson in all my years as a captain and as a person: to trust. I thought to myself, I’ll be giving ‘em a raise... and maybe some of that rum!

(500/500)
Edit: whoops! I’m pretty sure I misread the prompt and added art when art was not required! Anywho, winner, please PM me for some art! ;P

Winner! Loved the development in this form and the AU is really cool! >;3c I hope you enjoy them!
Thank you to everyone who participated! It was great seeing you all here and good luck in future competitions!