Tag: College

#30 Reiko oro-Banaru

| November 30, 2010 | 0 Comments

Name: Reiko oro-BaranuReiko oro-Baranu

World: Race

Species: Onka

Gender: Female

Age: 49

Bio: Reiko is co-chair of the Mathematics Department at NDU.  Though she does her best to be friendly and approachable by the students (she asks that they call her by her first name), she has been known to get brusque with people occasionally, most likely from the pressure that comes with her position.  She and the other co-chair, Professor Kanari, don’t exactly get along well.  Some students are fond of her while others are wary around her, which in itself isn’t all that unusual.  She’s taken an almost motherly liking to Professor Everett; despite working in different departments, the two of them often have lunch together.  The student tutors and graders of the department answer to her, and she’s the one who ultimately selected Nyarokhu and Fyorra, plus a few others, from the small pool of tutoring applicants.  She’s a bit on the short side, and she speaks with a slight accent.

[The following journal entry is translated from the original, which was written in Azenai-ro.]

There was another dinner with the school president tonight.  He’s a nice fellow, don’t get me wrong, but the dinners are always the same.  I feel justified in politely declining his invitation in favor of tackling this queue of student proofs.  Fear not, I’m in no rush.

Seems like at least once a week, I’m hearing from either Fyorra or Nyarokhu about the other.  Fyorra moreso.  I swear, you’d think they were at each others’ throats day and night, the way they complain about each other.  I’m half tempted to fire them both if they don’t knock it off soon, but being down two tutors is certainly not the wisest course of action at this time of year.  I would’ve thought it an aggressive trait of Dubina as a whole if Kristen hadn’t lauded that one student of hers so.  Nanneyo, I believe her name was.  According to Kristen she’s the sweetest thing since French Vanilla.  I certainly wouldn’t mind meeting her.  Aira’s mane, I’d welcome it after all the animosity from those other two.

Yesterday I finally had the fortune to meet Nakoa, the young lad Nalirún kept talking about.  I must say, it’s no wonder he likes that boy so much.  I could see the eager sparkle in his eyes.  From what Nalirún’s told me, he’s quiet but always alert in class, as if he can’t get enough of the knowledge he’s receiving.  I would’ve liked to have him in my own department, I admit, but a passion is a passion.  I could never keep a person from his or her dreams.

It probably isn’t the best idea to let this drag on for too long.  I’ve still got quite a few proofs to look over.  A shame that starting to work is the hardest part.  Believe me when I say I’m looking forward to winter break this year.

Race info can be found here.

#29 Noah Kiemann

| November 30, 2010 | 0 Comments

Name: Noah KiemannNoah Kiemann

World: Race

Species: Human

Gender: Male

Age: 20

Bio: Noah used to be more arrogant than he is today.  In high school, he tried several times to start a relationship, but could never hold one down because of his tendency to womanize.  Upon arriving at NDU, however, things began to change.  Perhaps it was seeing so many different races together that opened his eyes to diversity, or maybe it was just a change of scenery that helped him relax.  In any case, he thinks a lot more highly of others now.  He made many good acquaintances during freshman orientation, and it was such a good experience for him that he was compelled to volunteer to be a student host for the next year’s orientation.  It was at that time that he met Nakoa and Karalún, who had both been assigned to his group.  He and Nakoa hit it off almost immediately as buddies, and he greatly admired Karalún for her conviction, courage, and sense of justice.  He’s currently a sophomore pursuing a major in Chemistry.

“What the heck is that?”

Noah looked up from his console.  “What’s what?”

“What you’re holding,” Blake clarified as he let his backpack hit the ground and pulled out a chair next to his friend.

“Oh, this.  It’s a DS.”

“Which would be…?”

Noah leaned over so Blake could see his screen.  “Sorry, it’s an old gaming console.  See, it’s a little computer made specifically for playing various games on it.”

Blake eyed the screens skeptically.  Noah seemed to be steering a small, pixelly kid along a wooded path, closely tailed by some sort of green critter.  “Hunh.  How old is it?”

“About two hundred years, according to Nakoa,” Noah answered.

“Jeez, and it still works?”

“Sure it does.  Nakoa’s got this whole huge collection of consoles that he’s repaired and rewired for power.  The battery life’s atrocious, but manageable.  I’m sure he could loan you one if you’re curious.”  Noah closed the device, leaned to his side, and dropped it into his own backpack.  “Probably not the best thing to have on in class, though.”

Blake laughed at that.  “Yeah.”

They stared off into space for a while, vaguely listening as the rest of the class filtered into the room.  It was a Friday, and people were getting chatty and excited for the weekend.  The thoughts of the two of them, however, lay elsewhere.  It was a few minutes before the silence between them was broken.

“Dude,” Noah started, “is it…weird to have the hots for someone who’s not Human?”

“Hm?”  Blake shook himself from his thoughts and looked at Noah.  “Ah, heh, you’ve got your eyes on someone?”

“Uh, well, you could say that,” the latter faltered nervously.  “I don’t know.  Is that even, like, okay?”

Blake stretched in his seat.  “I don’t see why it wouldn’t be.  Did I not introduce you to Tansei?”

Noah looked at him in confusion.  “Who?”

“Tansei.  Junior, Onka, dancer.  We’ve been seeing each other since April.  I guess I didn’t tell you, sorry.”

“Oh, hm.  Onka, though…they’re way more like us.  That’s, like, natural.”

Blake peered at Noah curiously.  “What species is she, then?”

“Jorgoan.”

“Well, hey, there’s nothing wrong with that.  You should ask her out next time you see her.”

Noah pulled back a little.  “You’re not serious, dude.”

“Sure I am,” Blake persisted.  “You won’t get anywhere if you don’t start moving.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Noah sighed.  “I just hope we don’t lose the friendship we already have.”

“You’ll be okay, buddy.”  Blake placed his hand on Noah’s shoulder encouragingly.

Noah smiled a little.  “Thanks,” he replied as the bell rang.

Click here for Race info!

#25 Nyarokhu ra’Sennari

| November 25, 2010 | 0 Comments

Nyarokhu ra'Sennari

I ran out of room to write it on the image, but he’s a junior at NDU with a major in Mathematics.

I do hope I haven’t gotten in over my head here.  There shouldn’t be any problem writing Fyorra’s reactions to Nyarokhu, since she and I have similar prudish personalities.  Writing for Nyarokhu and his group, though, is going to be hard to do realistically and without offending anyone.  Maybe I should start hanging out with more people at my own school…

Fellow math tutor Fyorra’s page is here, and general Race info is here.

#18 Kristen Everett

| November 18, 2010 | 0 Comments

Kristen Everett

Trying to get ahead a little, since I’ll be busy this weekend.  This character is perhaps a bit uninteresting, but I’ve been wanting to add a few professors to the cast of Race so I don’t feel guilty about making every single character a student my age.  Maybe when I start writing this she’ll have a DARK SECRET.

Race info can be found here.

#16 Nakoa olu-Hani

| November 17, 2010 | 0 Comments

Nakoa olu-Hani

Our random futuristic shirt of the day is a sweatshirt from a Polares concert.  Polares is a band Nakoa likes.  The name is the literal plural of Polaris, the name of Earth’s pole star, so perhaps their name best translates to “North Stars.”  Each planet has to have one, after all!

As usual, more info about Race and its species can be found here.  My entry for Tansei is here.  (And that’s not a typo, the masculine prefix for Onka last names is “olu” and the feminine is “oro.”)

#15 Karalún Sanjori

| November 16, 2010 | 2 Comments

Karalún Sanjori

The plot thickens!

This character had a predecessor I drew a few times back in high school, but since I figured I would never get around to finishing the story she was in at the time, I incorporated some of its background ideas into Race and edited her history and personality accordingly.  I also wound up giving her a shirt that looks eerily similar to one of my own, for some weird reason.  I kept imagining her in it.

Race info can be found here.

#13 Rohal Ayuun

| November 14, 2010 | 0 Comments

Rohal Ayuun

Looks like I’ve finally started running a day late. I suppose I should have expected it. Also, the Zanduul’s eight-fingered hands looked a lot better in my head.

Our futuristic shirt of the day is from the 0130 Summer Olympics, held in the city of Ranhaal on the Zanduul homeworld. After learning of this Human tradition, most other races embraced it, and now the Olympics cycle through several planets besides Earth.

As usual, more info about Race can be found here. You may also be interested in my entries for Tansei and Luziim.

#12 Fyorra ra’Nensulo

| November 12, 2010 | 0 Comments

Fyorra ra'Nensulo

Hey, look! I came up with the entire Dubina alphabet so I could write Fyorra’s name in it on the collar, then shrunk it down so you can’t see it anyway!

I first sketched a character like this back when I first conceived of Race. She was to be a computer science tutor like myself. In this refinement, I was worried she’d look like self-insertion so I changed her major, but I wound up imagining her with my personality instead, so…yeah. Still self-insertion. I apologize.

Info on Race can be found here.

#9 Tansei oro-Hani

| November 9, 2010 | 0 Comments

Tansei oro-Hani

Seems like half the fun of designing Race characters is making up fictional future organizations and crafting logos for them!  This tank top is from a dance convention called LifeBeat, which Tansei attended in 0132 CEU when it was held in Kunsai (a city on her planet).

More about the Onka and other species of Race can be found here.

#7 Luziim Oshan

| November 7, 2010 | 2 Comments

Luziim Oshan

She was quick to buy that top, eh? (The small text reads “Since 0104 CEU”.)

For more about the Zanduul and the other species in Race, click here!

#5 Blake Lianson

| November 5, 2010 | 2 Comments

Blake Lianson

Vox Aeterna is a fictional music group that Blake’s a fan of. He got the hoodie at one of their concerts. Props if you can guess what kind of group it is!

More info about the world of Race can be found here.

#2 Nanneyo ra’Shuli

| November 2, 2010 | 7 Comments

Nanneyo ra'Shuli

You’ll often find her frolicking in the campus arboretum Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  She doesn’t have class until 1030 hours those days.

For more information about the alien species in Race, like the Dubina, click here!