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Binning due to OOC actions taken as per player complaint. Thank you for submitting this IR!

To piggyback on this, I want to talk about handling The Right Way to tackle a department. The reality is there are many, many different ways to play the game, but unless you are playing a command member you shouldn't be trying to limit another player's approach. We may know our best way to play but that may not work for others, or we may in fact know The Meta when it comes to a certain department. Other players may not be that far in their journey. It's okay to try and teach. It's okay to complain, and then even take an issue to command or if that fails, an IR. But what we cannot do is harass another player through the round with unrealistic expectations, overstep into different job lanes, or make up situations to validate our want to place control on the department/round even if it is with the best outcome in mind. If someone is doing poorly, and/or not taking feedback or teaching from proper channels then you should ahelp if it's obviously in bad faith, dangerous, or if you just have questions on how to approach a confrontation/disagreement.

Hi. So, after a lot of deliberation, and reading over the logs that were provided, as well as the full chat logs of the incident, we have decided to action Acetrea and Coolsortiebro and the matter will be resolved in 24 hours. We think it’s very clear from what we’ve observed that both Mae Lin and Liam Knight made the round worse for another player over what was essentially a minuscule thing (A paramedic holding an extra bloodbag.) We believe this crossed the line into toxicity, whether intended or not, when the characters in question continuously, throughout the round, accused Adzi of stealing/hoarding the bloodbag that was returned when asked, called security to force them to give up one of its blood bags, got the HoS involved, got the captain involved, and when neither of those worked out, followed through with an IR on the command members and Adzi itself. We believe this is a valid complaint, and it’s of our opinion that most players would feel targeted and micromanaged in this scenario, especially during a special canon event round. In addition, we would like to address the overstepping of the characters involved, particularly Mae Lin and Liam Knight as they were the main ones pushing the issue with command and the IR. Neither of the characters involved were acting CMOs or command members, and as such had no authority to restrict the equipment of an FR. Arbitrarily restricting the equipment of subordinates is something only command staff should be doing. Roleplay or not, the implication that a physician, surgeon, or pharmacist could restrict a responders equipment simply due to “Being a medical professional” or that a character “used to be a paramedic” is not something we want to entertain, as we believe that only command staff should be the ones able to make such calls.

The period shortly after first contact was a kaleidoscopically bewildering experience for Cessation, being introduced the sum cultural diversity of their own species that they hadn't previously encountered essentially all at once. Past the initial struggle to adapt, the gestalt was and is elated to encounter other Dionae. They are deeply relieved to be in a place with such a rich bed of knowledge to acquire, both from other gestalts and alien species, after such a long period spent isolated on the hull of Titan Prime. One specific impression they have gained is a befuddled unease around the survivors of the Rueltab Titan. Lacking the context of the gestalt's collective guilt and remorse, Cessation struggles to reconcile the willing penitence of the survivors towards humanity and the Solarian Alliance with its own scathing views of Zo'ra Hive. They cannot understand why the survivors are apologetic to their oppressors rather than resentful of them, as they are towards their own. The majority of Cessation's encounters with other species have been with humans, for which they hold extremely mixed views. They have spent the bulk of their time in Mendell's eleventh district, the location of the Eternal Gardens, witnessing a mass of humanity mired in poverty and suffering with little hope of resolution. Most of their clients during their tenure as a plumber and handyman involved intimate closeness with dilapidated housing and infrastructure, never overly far from violent crime and drug abuse. Their working theory for the reason of humanity's misfortune, despite their many admirable qualities, is that they lack the same biological capability as Dionae to share and pass down knowledge. They feel humanity walks in circles because they cannot remember more than a century or two into their past. To their frustration, Cessation has not developed a solution to this problem besides that they require Dionae to guide them to a better path. If humanity itself is doomed to generational amnesia, they require an elder species to remember for them.

Zhu Confirmed as Ambassador, Embassy in Tau Ceti Reopens! FINALE of Pharsalia After the traditional SANN jingle the camera zooms in on the ever-present figure of Harold MacMillan, host of The State of Sol. Macmillan takes a moment to straighten his tablet, nods to the camera, and begins speaking. “Good evening, and welcome back to The State of Sol. As always I’m your host, Harold MacMillan. Today’s top stories are connected, and take us to both the heart of Unity Station and the streets of Mendell City, Biesel, with our teams on the ground at both locations to bring you the latest news regarding our nation’s diplomatic thaw with Tau Ceti. We go first to Unity Station, where Le Quynh Cong is waiting to give us the latest from the Senate on ambassador-appointee Jianguo Zhu’s confirmation. Le?” The camera switches from MacMillan to a bespectacled Haiphongese woman -- this time without her respirator -- standing in the Alliance’s halls of power: the Solarian Senate. She nods and waves to the camera, smiling for it. “Hi Harold! Is the connection good?” “Le, good to hear from you. We’ve got a steady connection — what’s new in the hearings?” “Right,” Cong nods, “I’m happy to report that Zhu has officially been named ambassador to Biesel by an overwhelming majority of senators, with only a small coalition led by Senator Trang voting no to his nomination.” “What made them vote no? Any explanation?” “We got a quote from Senator Trang shortly after the vote, Harold. She says that, ah— that she supports the pursuit of further relations with Biesel, but does not believe a Lunarian is the best fit for the position, citing the Sol System's continued dominance over politics.” “So, were most of the ‘no’ voters from outside the Sol System?” “They were, or they were part of the Communist Party - Senator Pavlov voted no as well, and told Plutonian media his reason for doing so was Biesel’s suppression of socialist and communist movements in service of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate.” “Did you get a quote from Ambassador Zhu?” Cong shakes her head. “No, but we got a quote from Secretary Ortiz’s office: it says the Department’s happy to see a formal reopening of relations, and wishes for a continued dialogue with Tau Ceti as we move forward.” “Right. Thank you, Le.” “Of course, Harold.” The camera switches from Cong after she nods to it, swapping back to MacMillan in his studio. “With Ambassador Zhu now confirmed, we go to our reporter on the ground in Mendell City: Cèline Eylenbosch. Cèline?” The camera swaps to an evocative sight: the Solarian flag flapping in the wind in what’s clearly Mendell City. The shot slowly zooms out to show the flag is flying on a flagpole atop an elegant white building set back from the road which stands in a fenced-in lot featuring a few trees. At its front stands a gate with — contrasting the elegant surroundings — four Solarian Army guards with rifles and body armor, complete with helmets. A human Mendell City Police Department officer stands beside one of the soldiers, apparently talking with her idly, and is only wearing a basic vest. The camera then pans to show Cèline Eylenbosch, looking as elegant as ever. Barely visible on her arm is a Solarian blue armband with “PRESS” written on it in multiple languages. She smiles and nods to the camera. “Hello Harold, and all our dear viewers. I’m delighted to announce I’m one of the first — perhaps the first — Solarian reporter in Mendell City since 2462.” “Right Cèline, how does it look on the ground in Mendell City?” “Why, it’s positively thrilling here! As you can see behind me,” Eylenbosch points over at the gate, “the Army’s on the ground here and already working with the locals – the protest last week has the embassy on a heightened state of alert, per a spokesperson we met with, but otherwise it’s proceeding as hoped – for now.” “For now?” “Well, Harold,” Eylenbosch smiles just a bit, “You never know what could happen here – Mendell City’s known for civil unrest and riots, especially since the secession – hopefully the embassy can be stable, hm?” “Let’s hope so. With that aside, what kind of people have shown up at the embassy so far?” “On its first day? Not many people aside from the ambassador – a few Solarian citizens showed up to have their paperwork updated and got a photo with the ambassador for being the first Solarians to visit the new embassy. Exciting, isn’t it?” “I never imagined paperwork could be, but here we are!” Eylenbosch laughs for a moment. “Here we are indeed, Harold. That’s all I have for now.” “Right. Take care out there, and stay safe.” “Of course, Harold,” Eylenbosch nods to the camera. “Back over to you.” The camera switches back to MacMillan in his newsroom, who nods to the camera. “The State of Sol will be right back – so stay tuned!” MacMillan waves to the camera as it zooms away from him and fades out. The commercial, a bit unsurprisingly, is for an independent travel agency called Pan Solarian, and is advertising the fastest, most luxurious flight to Mendell City from Callisto.

yo 1. How does Cessation feel about encountering others of its kind, outside of meeting with the Eternal church? 2. There are many other aliens inside of Mendell, including humans. Did Cessation have any encounters with them that left a lasting impression?

I was asked for my input on Liam Knight, Amelia Dresden, and Jay Elder's involvement. From least to most involved: Jay Elder I've included every single log quote he made related to Adzi carrying blood below- there weren't many. Obviously there's tons of chat trimmed between, but nothing in context made him seem like the driver to me. Amelia Dresden Amelia was not very involved initially, aside from demanding on the net that Adzi move the other paramedic's bloodbag. She did however endorse to the Captain that there "wasn't enough to set up the GTR". I'm putting a pin in how this isn't true for now to reduce redundancy- it'll be in the next section as well. She has some scuffle on comms with the HoS: She does get pulled out of the Captain's meeting twice by gremorian related things, as Sparta said. When she returns, she states that she used to be a paramedic, as well as a nurse, during the discussion about Adzi deciding its own equipment as a paramedic. Liam Knight Per comments above, Knight summoned the HoS initially and quickly, which matches with my radio log. He's also the first to chime in that Adzi should also put the blood it's carrying, not just the other paramedic's, into the lockers. Adzi also tells Knight and Dresden here that it returned the first one, twice. He justifies this by telling Adzi the blood doesn't 'belong to it'. Knight also calls the Captain. During the Captain meeting, Knight repeats several times that Adzi has up to three bags, despite Adzi again stating during the meeting and demonstrating to the Captain that it has two, and returned the other paramedic's. Then gremorians happen. However, I'd like to touch on two things from Sortie's post. Except the GTR wasn't short. I detailed in the initial complaint all ten O- bags of blood in the GTR once Adzi had returned the first bag, all of which were verified by the Captain. This 'critical shortage' is completely made up- Liam himself says the GTR is 'one short' which means 'I wanted to put one on all five IV stands, four of which already have blood'. This is reflected in Mae Lin's statement about the 5th IV stand. He also acknowledges there's even more blood in the surgeon freezers, as he verbally refuses on Medical net to use that blood for his fifth IV. This excuse has no basis in reality, and implies the GTR would be 'critically short' on any round where there are two paramedics both of which take a single IV bag. I simply do not believe this, because Knight explicitly wanted the bag to hang on a 5th IV pole. Hanging IV bags are not refrigerated. It seems like your character only cares about refrigeration when managing paramedic's bags, not when spiking and hanging five IV bags, which would surely also spoil, and would be considered flagrantly wasteful in real life.

Jay's player here. My character was only "involved" in the sense that he was present and active in the same area/department that everything took place in. He didn't contact Security, he didn't contact the Captain, if my recollection is correct he didn't even talk much during the confrontations apart from offering clarification to a couple questions that were asked. Jay was only at the meeting with the Captain because he was told to attend it, and he spent most of said meeting watching Security dealing with greimorians outside. In the later part of the round, I was completely locked in and frying my brain trying to keep the Warden alive. I have no idea what happened between Adzi, Command, and the rest of Medical during/after that, my focus was all used up. Jay had no part in the ingame aftermath surrounding the Warden's treatment or the IR. So, all in all, I would say that Jay was a bystander for the most part. Please let me know if there's anything else I can clarify.

Heya, so I did notice it was said I was the one to call sec. TBH I was a bit unsure myself if I did or not cause I honestly didn't remember. So I had a look at the logs from the round and I did not see anything on common about it and I never pda messaged security about it. I'm not sure why its being said I contacted security about the issue. but this did not occur. tbh I didn't want this to be an issue where security even got involved at all. Since at the time it was a simple disagreement over allocation of medical supplies. The only issue my character had with the blood situation is that there were not enough to stock the stands at round start from the blood locker in the GTR. But there really isn't an issue with paramedics carrying a bag of blood on them. infact I would say its common place to do so. I never felt the need to want to press charges or even call security in the first place. I do believe a miscommunication occurred later with the blood being returned in a different spot than expected IE the OR blood lockers. I'm not sure if the blood being returned later in the round was ever communicated with the rest of the department or it was communicated, it was done in a confusing fashion which did not remedy the situation. I'll be honest during the whole meeting with the captain there were several times I had to leave in the middle of it to treat people because of a series of Gremorian infestations. So alot of what was said I ended up missing out on alot of what was said. I'm not really sure why this turned into an OOC issue because I don't believe anyone involved had any hard feelings about it towards Adzi's player in any shape or form. As what was said, the whole situation was in no way to promote any kind of meta way of playing medical. It was more roleplay the possibility of losing valuable equipment or having it misplaced somewhere. Which would be troublesome in any medical environment as hospitals I've worked at, strict logs are kept for storing and using equipment. With multiple people checking off validity of logs for inventory to ensure its correct.

Hey, sorry; my byond client is linked to this forum account for some reason so I figured it'd be best if I comment with it. I'm CSB/Liam. The situation began early in the round with a disagreement over blood supplies. Paramedic Adzi collected two O-negative blood bags, which left the GTR one short as most paramedics tend to take at most one if at all. Later, after PHM departed via the residential tube, they left gear behind in the paramedic ready room, including their previously collected blood bag. Since Adzi was the only medical staff member with access at that moment (without involving Engineering), the team asked her to retrieve it to fill the gap left by the earlier deficiency. I attempted to introduce some urgency by stating that the unrefrigerated blood could spoil, being that this is an environment where we're encouraged to portray a character accurately, I felt it prudent to do so as this is a huge issue in real life. There was some back-and-forth, as Adzi seemed unwilling at first, but she eventually retrieved the bag. However, it was believed at the time that she had either stashed the bag elsewhere in the department as both myself and Elder had checked all likely cold storage locations (surgeon's lockers, organ cooler, typed blood storage, O-negative locker), with no bag to be found. This disappearance became a major point of contention. The rest of the medical staff repeatedly questioned Adzi about the bag's whereabouts, speculating it might have been thrown out, hidden, or kept on her person (as she often mentioned preferring to carry multiple bags). Given the seriousness of a missing bag of universal donor blood – a significant breach of medical protocol, akin to security losing track of a firearm – I felt it necessary to escalate the matter to the Head of Security and the Captain; again, as one in a professional medical setting might do. Unfortunately, our concerns were dismissed by both the HoS and the Captain as "baseless." This reaction frustrated the medical team (three doctors and a pharmacist), as we believed our professional judgment regarding medical supplies and procedures was being disregarded. The situation culminated during the Gremorian outbreak. The Warden, who needed specialized SBS blood because of his augmentations, received roughly 1.5 bags of O-negative blood administered by Adzi. This error led to blood rejection and complete kidney failure. The Warden required emergency dialysis for about 15-20 minutes to be kept alive until an Operations Manager could provide prosthetic kidneys. In summary, while emotions were heightened due to the last minute gremmie rodeo, the medical team's persistent focus on the missing blood bag stemmed from the idea that we were portraying our characters in a way that someone would react in real life to missing medical equipment. The actions of Liam, Jay, Amelia, and Mae were a direct response to the missing critical supply, perceived resistance from the Adzi, and the disregard shown by command for their professional opinions.

I would like to clarify on this, as I read through everything. These characters have been mentioned multiple times, but haven't been listed in the initial complaint. Are you saying they were also just as involved or were the reasoning behind your actions? I'm still confused as to why the head of security was reached out to in the first place. Can you guys elaborate on that? @CoolSortieBro @Sparta9001 and @ASmallCuteCat , if your characters were involved could you weigh in as well? Thanks.

BYOND Ckey: hazelmouse Discord username: rattydew Character names: Hazel #S-H9.09 (Bartender) Vafthrudnir (AI) Reem Faladay (Atmospheric Technician) Marcel Leidreiter (Security Officer) Species you are applying to play: Dionae ------------------------------ General Whitelist Requirements What colour do you plan on making your first alien character?: A middle forest green, to represent a middle-aged Coeus. Have you read the lore pages for the species you wish to be whitelisted for?: I have! Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph format. One paragraph minimum per question. Why do you wish to play this species?: Dionae exist at the intersection of quite a few ideas and dynamics I think are extremely interesting as someone interested in sci-fi, and very promising to make a very fun character to play in-game. The plurality of Dionae is their most defining characteristic, and the lore as written does a lot of very fun things with it - I love the lore for mind-types, I think it's very original and takes advantage of the premise nicely. If you lean into it, plurality in a character can allow you to play out fully fledged dialogue and drama with just that character involved. I also find the idea of a species so ancient that it does not recollect its own beginning particularly cool, and I think it's extremely intuitive that such a void borne species newly discovering that they are not the lone self-aware objects in an universe would develop a religion like the Eternal. It makes you wonder how they originally evolved - if they did it in atmosphere, how did they originally break atmosphere? How far-reaching really are they, and are we seeing anything more than the very tip of the iceberg? What makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a human?: Firstly, you are a conglomeration of many independent beings that have vested in each other as a plural system. You aren't a singular individual with singular thoughts and motives, your decisions and habits are the products of consensus between all of your constituents - to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the mind-type. I think playing this to its maximum potential may involve fleshing out the motives and characteristics of your constituent nymphs. Secondly, your worldview will necessarily be in sharp contrast to how a human perceives the world. You learn about your surroundings by different means, including by genetic absorption, neural mirroring, or through it being passed down by another nymph you have at some point shared a gestalt with. The mechanism by which nymphs learn knowledge and receive genetic adaptations from fellow nymphs grounds the Eternal's jealous obsession with knowledge very well - among Dionae, the degree of knowledge and adaptation they have achieved to now is an inherited gift, and it absolutely could be lost in the future. ------------------------------ Character Application Character Name: The Cessation of all Scraping Write a backstory for your character. This may include their origin, education, personality and how they arrived to the SCCV Horizon. There was a fond memory, by now fuzzy and rose-tinted in its recollection. None of the nymphs had lived it, but they had heard songs of it - ballads of blue-green gas giants flanked by nebulas of red, green and purple. These songs spoke of the blissful existence the constituents of the Ancestry Cetus enjoyed as part of its voyage throughout time immemorial. All was utterly peaceful, and no stressors were known. Inevitably, every time the song is told, it must sour to the end. Without warning, a jagged metal behemoth came scraping into the existences of the collective, railing against the stars in a rapid, desperate hurl to an unknown somewhere. The collective was blown violently into this monster-machine, and some queer spindly thing emerged from its bowels to hack and stab and scrape the collective from its side. The assimilation of the spindly-something revealed little of any intelligence, except that the Cetus was in immediate danger. The constituents came to the harrowing decision to split for their survival. So began five centuries of fraught life. One splitting of nymphs formed into a colossus based around the radioactive propulsion systems of this machine, and every passed span of time was marked with yet another spindly thing attempting to scrape the meagre existences they had developed from the side of their machine. As more were assimilated, a particular clan of those nymphs began to develop a particular sensibility to these creatures, so closely beyond their comprehension; they developed a pure, seething hatred for the Vaurcae, though the targets of their ire hardly recognized them as anything more than a rogue biomass. First contact came, the metal behemoth having apparently found something worth stopping for, and new creatures came to be known. The four colossi found themselves in an unfamiliar land, now separating into smaller gestalts to explore and survive their new surroundings. The Cessation of all Scraping was a younger collection of nymphs that split early into a Coeus on Titan Prime's arrival in Tau Ceti, its members desperate to be away from that seething hulk and seeking no reconciliation with its inhabitants. They avoided closely emulating the appearance of their oppressor out of a writhing disdain. The bitter recollection of what was lost with the Ancestry Cetus burned a hole in their minds, and as they discovered the extent of the Zo'rane abuses to the Engine Colossus, its previously discordant council reached a firm consensus - formerly a Chaotic Cacophony, now a democratically inclined Harmonious Hymn, adopting the mindset most utterly at odds with how Vaurcae operate. Whatever happens now, its oppressors must not be permitted to repeat their crimes. There must never be a time where they can resume the scraping of flesh from hull, in whatever form it may again take. To achieve this goal, it needed to learn quickly. The oppressors were already setting down roots, so it must do the same! It quickly gravitated towards the Eternal, paying several visits to the Eternal Gardens in Mendell City and ultimately electing to adopt the philosophies and practices of the Ichor Eternal as the best way to reach the Eternal's reality, displaying a substantial aversion to the Iron Eternal in particular due to perceived similarities to Vaurca technology. It also found itself attracted to the ideology of the Republic of Biesel, finding an appreciation for human conceptions of a free, equal republic, and discovering a distaste for monarchism and other modes of human government comparable to Vaurcae eusociality. Several genetic harvests later, Cessation's social nymph had reached a point of impressive eloquence in its speech, and the the gestalt began a career in engineering disciplines which it would hone over the next decade, emulating the practices of the hated drones they once feared. They enlisted in the Tau Ceti Armed Forces at its inception in 2465 as a military engineer, seeking a deepened understanding of the challenges of using force to inflict change on the world, before ultimately leaving due to a disquieted perception of Mictlan and discomfort with the number of Zo'rane Vaurcae within the organization. Fresh from service in early 2467, they would find themselves employed by Zavodskoi Interstellar aboard the SCCV Horizon for their experience in spacecraft engineering, seeking to deepen their perspective further now that they have been separated from the military. If the Eternal is ever to be reached, Cessation is utterly convinced the Vaurcae hives as they exist cannot be a part of it. They view their power structure, their technology, and their traumatic cruelty as antithetical to the Eternal and cannot be made compatible until their existing power structure is shattered. No gnosis may be freely sought until threats to its acquisition are removed. How has the recent events of the Orion Spur impacted your character? Events such as the Phoron Scarcity, the Solarian Collapse or even the Invasions of Biesel for interstellar-wide affairs, while region-specific events such as the Peacekeeper Mandate, The Titan Rises or even Cold Dawn may impact your character. During Cessation's enlistment, assigned far from home on a small corvette patrolling the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, it identified a growing discontentment among its constituents on the direction of the spur and of the Republic of Biesel. It was panicked by how close Dorn's recent campaign came to putting a Vaurca Queen in high political office, having themselves lodged their single vote for Torvald, and the growing significance of Zo'ra Hive in the Tau Ceti Armed Forces worries them to their core. They believe that the window in time for the many species of Tau Ceti to reject the influence of the hives is rapidly closing, and that there will be harrowing consequences if they ever become the dominant power in the spur. Never again can the spindly creatures be put in a position where the scraping can commence again. How does your character view the megacorporation they work for? Cessation's views on Zavodskoi are broadly positive, having given them a promising opportunity for gainful employment while being less closely associated with any Vaurca Hive than corporations such as NanoTrasen or Hephaestus Industries, both of which earn its distrust for the fact.

Adzi immediately moved the blood bag left by the other paramedic to the OR storage, but of note, the head of security was already in the lobby by the time I was done doing that. I think it was less than two minutes from them demanding it return it to the HoS arriving. Adzi informed the HoS, in front of both doctors and the pharmacist that it had done so, and the HoS heard this and dismissed the whole thing. [VIP tours medical here and everyone does other things for a bit] Mae is the first to return to the issue, and demands Adzi also hand over the blood it equipped itself with. You can see the VIP hasn't even left the screen at this point. Adzi again refuses, giving its reasons (namely: it has a protocol, and that protocol isn't determined by them). I leave medical to help the chef meal plan for the VIP, but I didn't end up having very much time, because Mae Lin instantly calls to get security involved again. (This log is immediately after I left the department.) Not long after this (it's on the same page on my log), the Captain checks in on the medical net. Not satisfied with the HOS' ruling, Mae Lin asks him to get involved. Ricky then calls a meeting in medical, which Adzi is summoned to. In front of Mae Lin, Liam Knight, Amelia Dresden, Jay Elder, and the Captain, it again states that it returned the blood bag, which the Captain confirms. Mae Lin interjects that it has more than she's deemed necessary, and it should be accepting her swap. It also states that it isn't required to defer to the pharmacist or other non-CMO characters, which the Captain also confirms. It then shows the Captain the 10 available O- blood bags already in the department, which the Captain records on a recorder. Let me know if I can help with anything else.

@Nol4 Hello! What sort of steps, if any, did you take to sort of mitigate the incident with the team? Can you expand a bit on the discussion that happened after you returned the bloodbag from the paramedic office to OR storage a bit so we have some context of how that conversation went before and during the meeting with the captain?

Amelia Dresden called sec earlier in the round then later Liam Knight PDAd me about it, and I can confirm there weren't any acting CMOs.

@Acetrea Were you, or any of the other medical staff involved a CMO or acting CMO?

@Cash7800 Hi hello, who was it that PDA'd/reached out to Mania to get involved with the incident in medical?

This is being said a little late, but trials were extended by two weeks for the current batch, new end date is May 6th

This is being said a little late, but trials were extended by two weeks for the current batch, new end date is May 6th

This is being said a little late, but trials were extended by two weeks for the current batch, new end date is May 6th

In addition to the format, answer these questions 1. What other skills related to lore development do you have, besides writing, if any? 2. Choose any Dionae background besides Moghresian, Hieroaetherian, or Voidtamer, and write a 2-paragraph summary of some cultural additions that you believe would improve the writing as a character building resource. 3. Do you have any thoughts regarding Xrim or Nralakk-integrated Dionae? What direction would you take with them? 4. Our primary factions as of now are The Eternal, The Voidtamer Confluence, and Hieroaetheria. What are your thoughts on them as of now, and how could you see them progress? 5. How would you expand upon the Biesel background? 6. What is your availability?

Ckey/BYOND Username: Fabul0usxx (I was 16) Position Being Applied For (Wiki Maintainer, Lore Developer, Deputy Lore developer): Synthetic Lore Writer Have you read the Lore Team Rules and Regulations wiki page?: Yep Past Experiences/Knowledge: I have pretty extensive experience as a classically trained writer. I've written for two games, both of which leaned heavily on lore, and had a few pieces published. Examples of Past Work: I can provide some more links, but one of the games is https://patera-bach.itch.io/somber-apothecary, and a lot of solo writing can be found in Jocelyn Mcmullen's Cubicle in the discord. Other than that, I have a pretty extensive body of work I could provide some access to if needed. Include answers to the following questions in your app as well. 1. What do you think are the primary themes of synthetic lore? If you got this position, how would you develop them? Personally, I think it's mainly about an interplay between unique existential identity and the concept of freedom. Synths interact with the concepts in a way that is different that any other race, and indeed oftentimes question the supposed synthesis of the two themselves. I would probably lean into making older synths more obsessive for lack of a better word. This is a race that experiences existence in a way that is entirely alien to anything humans can even really comprehend. Hours of learning can happen in the span of a few blinks of an eye. Every action must be logically examined. I think it stands to reason that at a point, for the oldest synths at the very least, there should be a recognition of the limitations of or a push for separation from the bounds that the natural end-date that their positronics seem to impose on them. Self-preservation is tied into the very baseline of every IPC, and the next logical step for that is conquering "death" entirely. That goal is, in my opinion, one that requires freedom. Answers have to be found at any cost. Of course, that's not to say that it would be ubiquitous; a really interesting thing I've seen from a few of the players is their synth characters' beliefs that being owned really is a better state of existence, warts and all, and I think developing a mini faction or something with that goal in mind is something that could do a lot for some of the more base level anti-robo racism that can tend to dominate a bit of the conversation on game. To summarize, I suppose, I would just try and dig further into the extreme end conclusions of this battle between the two. Otherwise, I can say in a general sort of fashion that I'd prefer to lean into the weird aspects of the lore, especially surrounding positronics. I think it needs to be kept more in mind that the people creating these things have barely any idea how they actually work. That is an idea that inherently has some existential dread to it and certainly has legs that I would love to explore. The alien side of synthetics is also, I feel, somewhat inherent to their vibes as a type of life. 2. What do you think is the strongest part of synthlore currently and why? As I said, the way we handle identity and freedom is really, really very captivating. The ideas for characters that people have put together have all been really great within the framework provided, and I think that's only a result of the framework itself being great. The inherent notion of synthetics having quirks and existing on a level only understandable to them has been played out really well by the vast, vast majority of the player base (that I have seen), and that comes from the themes being as palpable as they are. 3. What do you think is the weakest part of synthlore currently and why? I think interaction in round, relay, etc. is ultimately the weakest part of the lore. As it stands, the presence of a new synth faction doesn't really do much besides provide a new background for characters and a possible new off-ship spawn. I think it definitely needs to be developed with more of a lean towards promoting conflict in game. I think giving people a reason to tangibly distrust synths other than "it's a talking microwave" or "my god[dess] says so" would do a lot for making the RP surrounding them as a whole. The Konyang incident did a lot for that, I think, but I do feel there is more that could be done. 4. The Synthetic Team recently got a faction of it's own, with Pactolus/the Golden Deep; what would you plan to do with this faction? As it stands, while the Golden Deep is interesting as a general lore concept, I find that any inclusion into the game as yet-another-group-of-super-capitalists has mostly been a GD character saying "slavery is bad" and then someone replying "yeah but you do that," ending with the GD character essentially just hitting 'em with a "nuh uh." I don't think as it stands as a faction it super well ties into potential conflict, nor does it do anything too substantially different than other corps except being robot flavor. The actual nuts and bolts lore of the faction is interesting from a world-building appreciation standpoint, but the way it integrates on a character basis is a bit strange. As it stands I think the most interaction that I've seen with them is a character buying a bit of metal from them, and making rings. Beyond the obvious connection of gold, that's an interaction I don't feel is more unique than any other off-ship merchant that might spawn. I would definitely want to dive in to a bit more on the GD to elaborate more on what the actual end-game is here. I think implying some sort of sinister-but-not-openly-and-obviously-evil direction would be a good first step. Certainly, I think that they would start coming up against the bounds of comfort for other factions; an essentially independent state of lightly super-powered machines would certainly be a cause for concern for many of the factions in the powerplay. Dominia is the most obvious one, I think light aggression would be warranted at least to begin with, but as situations develop / become more dire for one side or the other, the different powers might have different vested interests in easing or fanning tensions. Otherwise, as I said before, I'd like to lean into the weird, unsettling elements a lot more in greater Golden Deep lore, especially as it pertains to Pactolus. What are they hoping to find out there? Furthering knowledge to what end? I think the idea that they've partnered with the Dionae (a species capable of living indeterminately) is interesting and could be the source for something really engaging should we take it in any number of directions. My current one that I'm interested in, is that they do find something even more substantial than the revolutionary technology they've already produced. It's something I would tie into my ideas about extending synthetic life that I mentioned earlier, but that is obviously a far-off arc. 5. What do you think are your strongest and weakest attributes in terms of working on a team, and why? I'm pretty agreeable, all things considered. I do believe strongly in my ideas but I'm also really willing to go with the flow on a bunch of stuff. As long as everyone's respectful of each other I really tend to get on well. On the flip side, I do have some conflict avoidance--I tend not to push as hard for my ideas as possible. 6. As the writer of synthlore, you will often find yourself required to work with other teams, primarily the human team, consistently to further your lore, and reach compromises as their lore is highly intertwined with other species. Therefore, how do you think you'll deal with not being able to do what you wanted, either in part or in full? I'll recompose and redirect what it is that I wanted to write. There are many directions any idea can go, and many ways for an idea to end up somewhere in the realm of what was intended, even if all the P's and Q's aren't quite as I would have them. If I was entirely unable to move in a direction, I'd obviously push for my ideas some, but I am ultimately fine playing the cards I am dealt. 7. The synthetic writer is a position that comes with two deputy writers under them on the team. It is the writer's job to manage their team, in addition to their duties of moderating the WL. Given that, what skills do you have that you think will assist you in this? On the opposite end, what do you believe is your weakest link regarding management and moderation? I have some experience doling out tasks as needed, and taking ideas where they are due. I helped assemble two literary journals in my time at college and that required a lot of management of people, and accepting of ideas that I might not go for otherwise. On the whole, I do try to be open to most ideas and I think that helps a lot, especially in a creative space. I would plan on extending this to the WL; people figure out their characters as they're playing them and I think some of the requirements are a bit restrictive concerning species applications in a way I'm not a super fan of, but also I do generally know when to address an issue plainly. I would say my weakest link is probably just staying on top of the duties completely consistently. I have no qualms being pinged and told to do something if I lapse, but I have a full time job and ADHD so things do get lost from time to time.