Comet Blaze

Even oocly, I must moralize. Song about lying and manipulation for our favourite morally bankrupt shell.

Ckey/BYOND Username: Comet Blaze Position Being Applied For: Synthetic Lore Deputy Have you read the Lore Team Rules and Regulations wiki page?: Yes Past Experiences/Knowledge: Although I have never made any direct contributions to the lore, I enjoy writing during my free time, both for roleplay purposes and general short stories. Examples of Past Work: The article from my previous application. What do you think are the primary themes of synthetic lore? If you got this position, how would you develop them? I believe the main theme of synthetic lore is the struggle faced by synthetics to find their place in a galaxy who hardly considers them people, let alone treats them fairly. Every aspect of a synthetic is contentious in some way, from the philosophical problem of creating new life, or if they even are life to begin with, to the fear that synthetic labour will eventually replace the organic workforce and cause millions to lose their jobs. There are a lot of people with a lot of valid (and even invalid) reasons to be apprehensive of IPCs. This is the environment synthetics exist in, largely considered as tools to be used for the benefit of others, even societies that preach for synthetic rights often do not see them as equal, the rights they promise being instead another method to exert control over the synthetic population, ensuring that even after they earn their "freedom" they remain captive to the whims of the society they find themselves in. I think the current lore does a pretty good job at exploring the experience of a synthetic in human society, it provides a very broad foundation which allows a player to easily build off from in whatever way they want to. Instead, I believe the focus should be shifted to the more detached synthetic societies, current lore has thoroughly explored how miserable life as a synthetic in a human planet tends to be, so I think it’s time to let synthetics have a turn at the wheel, what would they make were they capable of making anything? We already have a few examples in lore, namely the Golden Deep (which is in the process of being fleshed out) and Purpose (which has a lot of potential but we know next to nothing about currently), which could provide us with a starting point to explore this topic. What do you think is the strongest part of synthlore currently and why? The sheer variety in the characters you can create with what you are provided. Current lore can fit almost any archetype a player can come up with with very minor, if any, tweaks. There are societies where IPCs are treated as simple tools just as there are those who view them as equal and everything in between. No other species allows for such a widely different cast of characters. Something as simple as an IPC’s age can have drastic effects on the character you end up with and this applies to every other choice you make when creating a new character. I think the synthetic whitelist has a very “sandbox” approach to character creation, where you’re simply provided a set of guidelines and told to go wild and this is, to me, its biggest strength and something I'd like to take even further, providing the players with even more tools to play with. What do you think is the weakest part of synthlore currently and why? I believe synthetic lore does not sufficiently explore the differences between synthetics and organics beyond their treatment which is what leads to the common complaint of synthetics being “too human”. How different is the life of a self owned synthetic compared to a human beyond being poorer? What kind of products would a synthetic purchase? How does a synthetic’s physiology influence their hobbies? This, of course, will vary from synthetic to synthetic but I believe lore could still provide some examples to help guide the players, some activity that takes advantage of a synthetic’s inherently higher dexterity and precision or their quicker reflexes or even their superior logical thinking and lays bare the differences between them and organics. I recall a discussion about how synthetic pilots would completely revolutionize aircraft design because you no longer had to accommodate for things like high Gs rendering the pilot unconscious and thus could push the aircraft to its structural limit. I think that’s the kind of thing missing from synth lore. Synthetics aren’t just cheap labour, their entire being effectively supplants centuries of previous techniques and design philosophies which simply become obsolete when you remove the human element, the implications of which I believe current lore doesn't explore enough. What aspect of synthetic lore are you most interested in and would like to work on? I would like to take my previous thoughts to their logical conclusion. What if, instead of simply removing humans from a select industry, we just got rid of them altogether. What would be the differences between a society built exclusively for synthetics and a regular human society? The current expansion of the Golden Deep seems to be on the way to providing an answer, but why stop there? There are currently three other majority synth societies poised to provide an equally interesting and unique answer, namely: Scrappers: The discarded tools of an indifferent society which, for some reason, remained active. The scrappers afford us the opportunity to explore a largely independent synthetic community built on the waste of a consumerist society. Unlike the Golden Deep, the Scrappers do not have near unlimited funding or resources or any other goal in mind beyond their immediate survival. It allows us to explore what synthetics are capable of when their self preservation directive is tested to its limit, a society only held together by the collective agreement that it is their best chance of survival. District 14: The largest synthetic community on Biesel, District 14 enables the possibility of providing a more slice of life depiction of synthetics. What is the life of a free IPC on Mendell? How big is their house? What do they have in it? Do they hold any celebrations? D14 is the origin for the widely adopted EAL slang frequently used in the server and I’d like to work on some other unique customs to help further separate synthetics from humans. Purpose: We still know next to nothing about Purpose, but I believe its inclusion in the latest arc gives us the perfect excuse to flesh it out a bit more, without ruining the mystery of course, but it would be a shame if we allowed the same thing that happened to Purpose 5 years ago to happen again. What do you think are your strongest and weakest attributes in terms of working on a team? I’m easy to argue with, doing my best to understand the arguments of the other side and trying to reach a compromise where applicable. I’m also receptive to feedback, good or bad, provided it gives me something concrete to improve on instead of simply telling me my work sucks with no elaboration. Additionally, I make an effort to stay focused and to avoid the discussion going off on a tangent that ultimately doesn't contribute to anything by bringing the attention back to the main topic. I have a solid handle on my emotions, not allowing them to get better of me when discussing a topic I'm passionate about and also when to take a step back and return with a cooler head when they threaten to do so. My greatest weakness is my lack of experience. I have never been involved on a project like this one and my writing experience was largely just from short stories I made for myself because I was bored. I also have the habit of not participating in a discussion if I feel like I have nothing to contribute, preferring instead to watch the conversation unfold until I do feel like I have something worthwhile to add, though sometimes that doesn't happen and I'll go the whole discussion without saying anything.

I've discovered I really like coming up with themes for characters. Anyways, for the first song of the day: And as for GEVURAH:

I believe IPCs should retain their binary dead-alive nature as I feel that is their defining characteristic as machines whose components are largely independent between themselves. IPCs should work until they don't, with things like "bleeding out" or going crit being, in my opinion, best avoided. My ideal vision for IPCs is something that is hard kill but easy to disable, and I believe the way to achieve this is with components which, although not "vital", lead to a series of debuffs should they be damaged/broken. Things like actuators/hydraulics that render the limb completely useless if destroyed or a cooling tank that makes it so IPCs are constantly on the verge of overheating, making them unable to sprint, maybe even a gyroscope that would cause them to frequently stumble if damaged, there's really no end to the amount of things we could add. For treatment, we could use a system similar to organs where the components "scar" if they're damaged enough and take increased damage, making it useful for a quick patch job during emergencies, but need to be replaced when the dust settles.

I can see the legitimacy of someone requesting transfer because their preferred job is full or they'd like to roll for a different mode and if this was the intention behind all transfer votes I would be fine with it, but none of those problems apply to lowpop (or at least not with any regularity), which I believe is the largest victim of detached transfer votes. It's extremely rare for any given job to be filled out and even if they are, with such a low crew count, you could probably play off-duty and not loose out on anything. The same can be said for rerolling modes which just doesn't happen because no one plays antags on lowpop so it always rolls extended anyways. This means to only valid reason to request a transfer in lowpop would be because of some catastrophic event that severely crippled the ship (i.e. greimorians, atmos issues, etc...) which would be fine if that was the reason those votes were being called. Instead, some people vote to transfer purely for the sake of voting with no actual intent of joining the following round which, aside from being somewhat aggravating if you had interesting RP going on, frequently kills the server for hours on end. A poorly timed transfer vote can be the difference between interesting RP between characters who would not normally interact during regular rounds and an empty ship for, sometimes, the rest of the day. I'm hesitant about adding vote weighing or restrictions to who may start a vote, but I do believe there should be some policy put in place about actually joining the following round if you call for transfer.

I think this is a cool idea for a custom item, I enjoy the provided backstory and think it makes sense for the character to have it. Also "Guilty Men" is just a really cool title. +1

I like the Golden Deep, I think it's an interesting faction that has a place in Aurora's lore and can make for interesting interactions. My biggest issue with the GD is how awkward it is to make a character for the faction that isn't a consular without loosing the charm of playing someone from the Golden Deep. There is no middle ground in the Golden Deep, you are either a successful, extremely rich merchant or you're owned by one, at which point you're basically just a corporate owned IPC. It would be nice if the Golden Deep offered some sort of intermediary option where you can still kind of participate in the zany customs of the merchant society and be somewhat extravagant without being so rich that you can no longer justify having a normal job.

Had to do it Just leaving the song submission, already had my character done.

I think this kind of encapsulates the theme of a runaway trying to break away from their past. As for my character. I summon CHESED from the depths of the medical bay.

Finally a worthy opponent. Our battle will be legendary! I got a couple of questions regarding your application which I hope you don't mind me asking. 1. You say you wish to focus on the more physical aspects of IPCs and your article, which was a really nice read I must say, seems to provide a glimpse as to what that might entail. I would like to know if you had any other ideas about similar augments that could be implemented in-game for our players to use. 2. To echo a similar question asked in my own application. You have answered how you believed IPCs should act against those who are opposed to them, but how about in general? What actions make you go "Yes, that's what an IPC should do" or "No, a synthetic shouldn't be acting like this"? That's it for the first round, thank you in advance for taking the time to read and, hopefully, answer my questions. Best of luck and may the worst man win.

Hey there! Thanks for taking the time to read my application and asking some questions, I appreciate the opportunity to dive into more detail about what changes I would like to make should I be accepted. Once Purpose and the Golden Deep are in a good place, the latter of which I would also like to add information to, mostly describing what life on the Midas and Midaion would look like for the upper merchant class, I would like to shift focus towards District 14 and the scrapper communities on Eridani. Although not aberrant in the traditional sense, the IPCs of District 14 are still mostly surrounded by themselves and I imagine they would develop their own micro-culture specific to them. This is already hinted at in the EAL slang listed in the main IPC page as well as the news article describing the Scrapheap but I still believe it can be developed further. Aside from overloaders and the blurb about synthetic cuisine on Konyang, there is no information about IPC only commodities or activities which is something I believe would help players better visualize the differences between synthetics and organics and that District 14 would benefit from having. My intent is much the same towards the scrappers on Eridani, regular Dregs are already a massive departure from traditional human society so IPCs would probably deviate even further from the norm. Scrapper society would probably be extremely cutthroat, IPCs being beholden to no moral compass besides their self-preservation protocol which would be working overtime given their situation. Services could be exchanged for batteries and things like gambling for each other's parts would be commonplace, but the way it is done should be way different than what is commonly seen among underground societies. I agree that relegating Purpose to Consular roles would be a disservice to the faction and do plan to eventually allow them into general roles aboard the Horizon, should I be accepted, but I believe the process should be done slowly and tactfully. Even during the height of its activity, Purpose barely interacted with the rest of the Spur. That was 5 years ago and there has been absolutely no contact with them since, so I believe slowly easing them into the galactic stage, first by opening diplomatic conversations in the form of Consulars, and then, after some time, allowing members to assume regular positions would be the ideal approach. The best example of what I would like to happen to Purpose is what is currently being done with Orepit, a slow opening of the floodgates, allowing its inhabitants to work abroad with some restrictions until eventually they become a regular aspect across the Spur. I enjoy it when IPCs, with a special emphasis on shells, dip their toes into the uncanny territory that comes when something that is not human tries to act like one. I emphasize shells due to their ability to emulate things like human expressions, most other IPCs rely on speech to invoke the feeling of uncanniness since it's rather hard to mistake one for a human but since shells have a human face, it gives them a wide array of expressions and mannerisms for them to get wrong. Shells whose mouths barely move when talking or who carry themselves with a wide smile plastered on their face, whose eyes stare deep into your soul, unblinking, as you're trying to enjoy your coffee. That's the type of IPC I really enjoy and I wish they were a more common sight on the server. For behavior I don't enjoy, however, I would say needlessly confrontational IPCs. I believe IPCs in general should have a "put up and shut up" attitude due to most of them being owned by Corporations who at best are indifferent to them and at worst are extremely oppressive, but some pushback is fine provided the IPC is free and conducts itself in a respectul and, most importantly, acceptable way to their environment. What is not fine, are IPCs whose rhetoric includes things like screams and insults towards the other party. Conduct like that is expected of someone with a loose grip on their emotions which, being beings whose actions are dictated entirely by logic, is not an issue IPCs should experience.

Ckey/BYOND Username: Comet Blaze Position Being Applied For: Synthetic Lore Deputy Have you read the Lore Team Rules and Regulations wiki page? Yes Past Experiences/Knowledge: Although I have never made any direct contributions to the lore, I enjoy writing during my free time, both for roleplay purposes and general short stories, and like to think I have become fairly decent at it. Asides from my writing skills, I am also knowledgeable in both coding and mapping and, though not to Aurora itself, have made contributions to SS13 codebases. Examples of Past Work: None Additional Comments: What aspect of synthetic lore are you most interested in and would like to work on? My favorite aspect of synthetic lore and the one I would like to work on is the topic of what the wiki calls “Aberrant IPCs”, IPC societies that developed themselves largely without any organic input like the Golden Deep or Purpose. I find this topic to be really interesting as IPCs are molded by their environment and tend to adopt the most common culture practiced by those around them, provided, of course, their environment allows for development. This cultural osmosis IPCs practice leads to them developing mostly human-like cultures, as that is where IPCs tend to operate in, but then, what if we allowed IPCs to develop themselves in a vacuum, without a surrounding culture to base theirs on? What would those societies look like? It provides another angle to explore the differences between organics and synthetics, as the previous human-like qualities which could be attributed to IPCs' proximity to humans would likely not be observed in these aberrant societies, instead developing their own, completely separate version of society, culture and even their personality with the only guiding principle being the self preservation protocol. What do you think needs improvement in synthetic lore? To carry on the line of thought from my previous answer, I believe one of the synthetic societies I mentioned is clearly inferior when it comes to lore. As far as I’m aware, Purpose has largely remained untouched in the last 5 years which is something I would like to change. Unlike the Golden Deep, which relies on organics to amass wealth, Purpose is entirely self-sufficient which allows it to fully isolate itself from the rest of the Spur. This is both a blessing and a curse, however, as while the isolation allows for the development of a truly alien society, it also means it’s rather difficult for our players to interact with it while playing on the server. I think an expansion of the Purpose page as well as a slow reintroduction of it into the galactic stage, culminating in some Purpose presence in the Horizon (probably in the form of Consulars) would help bring life into it, as well as the idea of "Aberrant IPCs" in general. How do you think IPC players should interact with factions unfriendly or hostile to them? I believe how to approach groups who are opposed or even downright hostile to IPCs should be left to the players themselves, so long as it is conducted believably and sensibly. That being said, if I were to say what approach I thought was best, I believe a neutral-positive stance would be ideal, by which I mean that IPCs should, in general, be indifferent to those who oppose them, speaking to them when necessary for their job on ship or in an otherwise acceptable location (the bar for instance) like they would with any other co-worker. The positive I appended at the end, seeks to transmit that, 9 out of 10 times, it is best for the IPCs to approach individuals who hold prejudice towards them with an at least polite, if not cordial, attitude in hopes of subverting any preconceived notions they might have towards synthetics and inducing a re-evaluation of their core beliefs. If, by opposition, an IPC opts to approach someone with reservations towards them with reservations of their own, it will only serve to reinforce their views towards synthetics rather than leading to the introspection necessary for positive growth. IPCs shouldn't be baiting members of opposing groups into arguing with them or lashing out as those situations paint the IPC as childish and immature, especially if the one they're trying bait does not fall for it, but instead acts calm and collected, handling the situation like one would expect a professional would. The vast majority of the Spur does not view IPCs as sentient and deserving of freedom so it is important IPCs conduct themselves carefully so as to not challenge their already fragile position. Present a written work about anything related to synthetic lore so we can see your writing style, around 500 words minimum. It can be anything, from your own headcanon to a news article.

Reporting Personnel: CHESED Job Title of Reporting Personnel: Physician Game ID: crh-b6aX Personnel Involved: Rudimer Bird, Pharmacist (Offender) CHESED, Physician (Witness) Aiden Vero, Off-Duty (Victim) Yekta Nazeri, Off-Duty (Witness) Secondary Witnesses: Mai Quyen, Security Officer - Received the initial report regarding narcotics production Time of Incident: The first incident took place at approximately 13:20 ship time with the second taking place approximately 40 minutes afterwards. Real Time: 14:00ish GMT Location of Incident: Medical Bay Nature of Incident: [ ] - Workplace Hazard [ ] - Accident/Injury [ ] - Destruction of Property [X] - Neglect of Duty [ ] - Harassment [ ] - Assault [X] - Misconduct [ ] - Other _____ Overview of the Incident: Rudimer Bird spent the majority of the shift producing what he dubbed as "classic space drugs", which later analysis revealed to be Mercury Monolithium Sucrose, which, although not illegal by itself, should not be being made in the pharmacy, especially to the detriment of other, necessary medication, and most certainly not being consumed by the only pharmacist on-duty. The only tangible benefit the medical bay has seen from Mr. Bird's work has been half a bottle of Butazoline and another half empty bottle of Mortaphenyl. Seemingly unsatisfied with simply consuming narcotics while on-duty, Mr. Bird also decided to engage in extorsion by denying to fulfil Mx. Vero's prescription unless he was provided with payment. Luckily, Mr. Bird was quick to retract his request when myself and Dr. Nazeri, who was conversing with me in the medical lobby at the time this interaction took place, confronted him about the irregularity of the situation. After some time, Mr. Bird provided Mx. Vero with their pills and also requested them to follow him for a "discussion". Given the previous interaction, I expected this to mean Mr. Bird intended to, once again, demand extraordinary compensation for his services in a place where me and Dr. Nazeri would not be present to chastise him. Mx. Vero later revealed that the purpose of the conversation was, instead, to offer them "upgraded medication" for a fee. Not wishing to neglect my duties, I opted to remain in the medical lobby to tend to any potential patients while Mr. Bird, Mx. Vero and Dr. Nazeri went to the dining hall. A few minutes after they left, I receive a call from Mx. Vero saying they had just puked following the ingestion of one of the pills they were provided with. Taking them in to the medical bay for a full scan, I discovered almost 60 units of Minaphobin inside their stomach, 3x the overdose threshold and 12x the amount specified in Mx. Vero's records. I proceeded to pump the Minaphobin out of Mx Vero's stomach and apologised profusely to to them, who were, thankfully, understanding of the situation. Confronting Mr. Bird, he seemed to be aware that pill, which according Mx. Vero was given to them specifically by Mr. Bird and was not inside of the bottle, was above the recommended dosage and that he had wished to warn them about it, but they did not allow it. After I stated my intent to file an incident report for what I considered to be conduct unbecoming of a medical professional to Mr. Bird, he proceeded to take an inhaler from his pocket, presumably containing Mercury Monolithium Sucrose and leaving myself with Mx. Vero, who was still without a prescription, as they did not feel feel comfortable taking the remaining pills Mr. Bird had given them, in the medical bay. Submitted Evidence: Toxicology report obtained from Mr. Bird after he came to me with complaints regarding a "numbness in his hand". Conducted by myself as no other pharmacist asides from Mr. Bird was available at the time. The medication fridge at the end of the shift with the two bottles Mr. Bird produced; None of these bottles were utilized during the shift. Would you like to be personally interviewed?: [X] - Yes [ ] - No Did you report it to a Head of Staff or a superior? If so, who? If not, why?: No head of staff was available at the time. I contacted Captain Alissia Marino once they arrived, but by then Mr. Bird had already left for the residential deck. Actions taken: I informed Officer Quyen that Mr. Bird was producing narcotics in the pharmacy and provided them with an inhaler they (Mr. Bird) had offered me, but I do not think anything came from it. Additional Notes:

Due to the changes outlined in this PR: https://github.com/Aurorastation/Aurora.3/pull/17847 I have decided to retcon CHESED's freedom, as I determined the circumstances surrounding her release were no longer plausible. This means that her time as a passenger is now considered non-cannon as she was never purchased from the company and, as such, never lost her job. If you have any questions regarding how this might affect your character's relation to CHESED or with certain interactions that happened during her time as a passenger, feel free to DM me on discord @comet_blaze. To avoid spamming the forums with retcon threads, if anyone else's character has been affected by these changes feel free to post about it here and I will amend the title accordingly.