May Activity #1: How to Choose an Animal Discussion

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

Activity: How to Choose an Animal
Points: Participation 10pts/5kts, Additional comment: 2pts/1kt. 10 point bonus for animagi.
Deadline: Monday, 17 May EDT (7pm UTC)

Everyone has their own way of reading an application, picking up what to look for in a form and narrowing it down to one creature. But, lets open it up - share your secrets, your tips, everything. New voters can learn from the masters, and perhaps even the experienced voters can pick up a thing or two.

Comments

[mmailliw.livejournal.com]

Usually I begin by reading the section where the applicant explains what animal they identify with to put me in the right frame of mind when looking at the rest of their application.

Sometimes this part may not fit well with the rest of the application (an early bird identifying with an owl, or someone who wants to be all meek and shy in Animagus form identifying with a jaguar) but usually at least one of the 'animals they identify with', or something close to it, fits in well with the rest of their application.

When reading the rest of their application, I usually pay close attention to the 'earth/air/water' question and reasoning (so I can see how they view their relationship with watery environments, for example), along with whether they're diurnal or nocturnal. The 'special traits' section (both what they want and what they DON'T) is very important because this often tells me what the applicant wants THE MOST in their form, along with the sections where they refer to what animals they're afraid of.

Piecing that together I usually have a type of animal in mind; from then on my main step is to Google search related species and subspecies and compare it against the registry so I find something that fits particularly well and does not duplicate what I already have.

William//Slytherin//Tiger Shark