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

[sibyllevance.livejournal.com]

I personally read the application entirely in the order in which it was written before doing anything, sometimes applicants just have a certain vibe that will be a good indication of my future choice. Some are obviously exuberant, some are obviously more introverted. I start from there.
I open Wiki and then I skip to the element (air, water, earth) question that will tell me what time of animal I'm looking for. I'll have a look at the general category on Wiki (for example if it's water, I'm going to open the tabs of animals that live in water).
And then comes the part when I have to make sense of what I'm reading: the applicants often want something but their personality says another, sometimes I can be happy with a balance, I open a text file and write down keywords for myself: wants to be fast but is very shy, for example, funny applicant but wants to be a predator. And then I just look at my lists on Wikipedia and try to find something original, unless there's no doubt in my mind. Sometimes an animal reminds me of the applicant because of their picture and I do the opposite: I read the animal's entry and try to see if the applicant fits.

Sibylle//Ravenclaw//Maine Coon

[supremacy-born.livejournal.com]

I personally read the application entirely in the order in which it was written before doing anything, sometimes applicants just have a certain vibe that will be a good indication of my future choice. Some are obviously exuberant, some are obviously more introverted. I start from there.

I completely agree with this! I also start off by simply reading through the entire application without particularly focusing on specific questions, and quite often the TONE of the application points me in the right direction for an animagus form, because through writing we get different vibes when it comes to the applicant. Some might come across as bouncy and energetic, and then I tend to look for more social animagus forms, and others can be more logical and serious with their answers, which also tends to give me a good clue about what they're looking for. :)

Eve//Slytherin//Melanistic Leopard