Sycmos

I was immediately surprised and disappointed upon playing First Responder for the first time that they didn't have general department access. Having to bash at the door of a department, or worse, clawing it open with a crowbar is ridiculous for someone who is responsible for stabilizing and exfiltrating patients to safety and proper medical aid. General department access, or at least a halligan bar or pneumatic tool that can pry open powered airlocks is necessary.

Byond key: Sycmos Discord key: Sycmos Character Name: Nikita Yutani Item name: Red Coalition banner Item function(s): Behaves like a normal flag, has been sprited to behave like other flags in the game. Item description: A high-quality copy of an original Red Coalition banner. This variant on the standard was flown by the Zelazny arcology during the Martian World War, Zelazny's origins as a mining colony represented in the center by the alchemical symbol for iron. Why is your character bringing this item to work?: Plenty of other people hang flags in their workspaces on the Aurora, and in the absence of a respectable Martian flag it wouldn't look out of place or be anymore politically troubling than a Solarian flag (or any of its new derivatives). Considering the recent disaster I think that it would likely bring him some comfort while he's away from home and working, and be a more subtle way of showing solidarity. How did your character obtain this item: Nikita's mother, prior to meeting his father and moving to the Demios arcology, was originally from Zelazny and between the two is the only native Martian (Nikita's father originally being from Earth before moving to Zelazny as an adolescent). Having descended from participants in the Martian World War she inherited an original flag as a family heirloom from her parents when they passed, Nikita receiving it from his parents when they did. As he values the original flag much more than taking it to work and risking some S*larian sympathizer burning it where it hangs he's instead had a copy of it made for recreational purposes, and keeps the original safe at home. What value does this item have to your character, and what story does it tell?: The Martian World War is a problematic point in the planet's history, a testament to the turbulent and trying truce between worlds that made the former Solarian Alliance and yet another wicked warning as to the lasting power of nuclear weapons. One would assume that being the closest habitable neighbor to Earth would have brought the planet a much better place in the Alliance (including the adjacency of a bluespace gate), but as history has told this has been anything but true. Olympia was a crowded mess of overengineering and rampant wealth inequality; the enormous monument to corporate wastefulness that were the Metal Dunes, and the general failure to terraform the surface that inevitably left the planet in the dust in favor of other, more prosperous worlds. As such, Martians have been conditioned by their environment to hold an intense love/hate relationship with their world and their place within the Alliance, eventually culminating in the birth of the entity (and to some, the cult of personality) that became the Red Coalition. Despite its respectable goals of independence, autonomy and self-determination for a world and people largely forgotten by the Alliance the Coalition's image was brutally marred by the first usage of nuclear weapons in human history since World War 2 (up until the use of phoron warheads by the SCC) to destroy a loyalist arcology. Though largely forgotten by time and other troubles the Coalition, despite the tumult its name brings, still behaves as something of an icon to Martians who hold onto the spirit of independence and perseverance, especially after the Violet Dawn disaster. To Nikita personally it's a tie to the family that has long passed, their history and the legacy that he has inherited as a Martian himself. Sprites: (See attached) Additional Comments: Thank you Chevy for the great execution on my idea for the flag. I hope that Human lore writers find this acceptable, and if there's anything that they would like changed or any questions I'm more than willing to cooperate! redcoalitionbannerdmi.dmi

I'm honest I had left it open-ended in my initial application post because I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do with it yet and where to move forward, so the general idea I posted was not something I am adamant about sticking with and frankly just kind of threw together. I tend to usually write characters as I go along and occasionally make changes along the way so the idea I had was somewhat a little less refined than what I would've eventually put together. I truthfully had this application tab open for maybe a month because I was having difficulty figuring out what I wanted to do with it, so that probably shows. I'm 100% fine with changing it, there's no resistance from me. If I stepped on any feet or made anyone uncomfortable with the basic premise it was UNintentional and I apologize - I usually take much, much longer for writing back character premise but I felt pressed for time and making you wait two weeks for me to reply seemed unreasonable.

Okay, cool. I just feel that sometimes I am a little overdrawn on things and wanted to keep it short. Of course! I wasn't sure exactly how much you needed to know so I kept it general, but I'm willing to be more precise on the matter. 1. As the aforementioned Elyran had largely staffed his estate with his own personal retinue from his homeworld he was largely more concerned about bringing them along than Amandine, who had been undergoing prolonged maintenance when they planned their hasty escape. Upon stirring from her standby-induced sleep she found the estate completely empty, the Elyran's car gone and the keycard to the front door left on the porch. Though technically still owned she enjoyed a degree of freedom to do as she pleased within the estate and, after some self-convincing over several weeks, elsewhere with use of his other vehicle in the garage. It was all very new to her, largely having most of what she required given to her but never able to ask for anything beyond that, and it came to be something of a blessing after a lengthy period of introspection. This all came to a crashing halt unfortunately when several months later multiple NanoTrasen staff followed by Lance officers came to assess the premises and bring her back to the Odin. It was this particular instance, after the incident while with Idris, that cemented her resentment for ownership and her lack of autonomy. Despite having lived comfortably as a luxury IPC the lack of freedom overruled any contentment she would have enjoyed, and now she believes strongly in freedom and self-ownership. She's not open about this, as she believes it would jeopardize the comforts she enjoys now with NT and the quality of life she has been given the privilege to live as a luxury IPC. 2. During a routine board meeting Amandine was approached by a passing CFO at a coffee lounge while the board was enjoying a lunch break. She had largely been apathetic to downright ignoring most inappropriate passes made at her while in the workplace, not having any eye for that sort of matter much less the concept even occurring to her at all. However the CFO grew impatient with her persistent ambivalence and grabbed her arm while she tried to walk away, to which she took this as a direct threat to her well-being and punched him in the nose. As to be expected she was reprimanded immediately and the CFO themselves took to demanding her dismantlement, but the executive that signed on her assignment outranked him and chose to have her split from her chassis. Whether it was an issue with logic writing within her positronic, a result of exposure to humans that led to logic change or simply a design flaw was never deduced as she was quickly boxed and mailed out to Tau Ceti shortly after the incident. The aforementioned executive may or may not have had personal interest in ensuring her safety, but this is unknown to her.

BYOND Key: Sycmos Character Names: Nikita Yutani, Cygnus Rey, Kasper Kallstrom, Iniko Sani, Asahi Chernyshevsky, Zane Jelani, Aidan O'Muireadhaigh, Adalgrimur Jormungandr, Nephele Shahin Species you are applying to play: IPC (Integrated Positronic Chassis) What color do you plan on making your first alien character: N/A, IPC Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: I keep multiple tabs open of several wiki pages pertaining to IPC lore that I regularly read over whenever I find myself without something to do. I think it's important to passively absorb lore of other species, planets and factions to gain a better understanding of the universe that my characters inhabit and to facilitate more lore-friendly interactions with other players. I also find that a large majority of the lore to be incredibly enjoyable to read during down time and good inspiration for future characters (that I'll inevitably play a handful of times and eventually shelve to go back to playing Nikita, if I'm honest). Besides IPC wiki pages I've been reading Diona lore as I plan to apply for a Diona whitelist after some time, and I've been reading the extensive Tajara wiki as its a regularly-replenishing source of good information on Tajara current events and culture. 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 specific race: I find that the existential drama that surrounds the existence of synthetic life in a number of different mediums of fiction (video games, books, television, internet roleplay) to be an interesting avenue to utilize for a character that organic characters otherwise cannot travel down. Despite most universes that utilize the presence of a synthetic faction in its writing describing such in different ways (Replicants in Blade Runner, Geth in Mass Effect, etc.) they all seem to share a commonality in the unanswered questions that revolves around all artificial intelligence - do they have a soul? Do they experience emotions, are they invoked by circumstance (triumph, tragedy, the arts), and if they do are their lives just as valuable as those of humans, etc.? If they do in fact experience these characteristics of sentience, how do they feel about their lack of autonomy? Do they loathe it? Do they find comfort in the security of being shackled/owned? Are they capable of coming to such conclusions at all? With the veil of the unknown separating the synthetic and the organic I feel that there's a degree of mystery to each and every IPC that can be utilized for great storytelling. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: The biggest challenge and difference from playing a human versus an IPC is funneling the aspects that make us human (emotion and identity specifically) into something palatable for what a synthetic would potentially calculate as their equivalents. It can be immensely difficult to channel one's personal experiences, emotions, personality quirks into a character without it coming across as too human, so it has to be diluted or written in a way that is within the confines of what could be considered acceptable synthetic behavior. As a stark majority of IPCs are also owned by a corporation or a private owner they're also largely restricted as to what they're allowed to do as an independent, intelligent being. Playing a character that has something of a ceiling inhibiting the upper reaches of what could be considered 'appropriate' for a character to achieve can be taxing, especially if you become invested and seek to take their story elsewhere. I figure it takes a degree of restraint that's a little less lenient on rule-bending than it does playing organic races who for all intents and purposes are largely free to do as they will. Character Name: Amandine Please provide a short backstory for this character: Amandine, initially serialized as Bishop Cybernetics IPC 11311449135, was constructed within the Integrated Positronic Chassis fabrication line on the lowest levels of Bishop Production Factory Adhama “Glory” located on Oran, Epsilon Eridani in May of 2455, with its positronic imported from Terraneus Diagnostics Central Manifold “Nomad Alpha” orbiting among the Jovian moons in Sol. Its chassis fabricated and its positronic written for service and hospitality the two were joined and sold to Idris, exported to its headquarters in Chicago in the United Americas on Earth. Originally serving as a secretary to one of the several CFOs, it was scheduled for decommission following an incident during an executive board meeting roughly two years after its initial transfer to Idris. Instead of scrapping both the chassis and the positronic however Idris opted to keep the chassis, still pristine and ready for another positronic, and sold the 'flawed' positronic to a private buyer in Tau Ceti online under the table - after all, why bother to suffer the losses when you can simply offload the faulty product to a willing buyer? The positronic, now owned by an Elyran fashion designer living in Abaster Fields (Mendell City, Biesel) has it installed into a new chassis and names her Amandine. Largely used as a personal assistant and as a model for his eccentric designs, Amandine lives a life of relative ease and luxury until the 35th invades. Fearing for his life the Elyran abandons his estate, and Amandine, and returns to his homeworld before the invasion fully kicks off. Leaving her to her devices in his abandoned estate for several months he eventually gets in contact with NanoTrasen following the end of the conflict and sells both the estate and her to the company in an attempt to recoup his losses. Finding herself yet again at the whim of another careless employer she spends her time bouncing from station to station serving as a Head of Personnel wherever her experience is needed. What do you like about this character?: The concept of transience is largely lost on most organic characters, as they are usually financially secure enough to have an established home or place they can find refuge. Unfortunately for a number of synthetics this is not the case, as they're usually at the whim of whatever owner or employer that requires their services. Amandine, having 'lived' a life of constant change and chance, has had no opportunity to establish who they are or what their 'life' is about besides whatever current employment they're undertaking. The idea of slowly developing a personality through via reflection of others on the Aurora is something I'd like to do, for better or worse (and probably worse because let's face it, most of the people on Aurora are looney). How would you rate your role-playing ability?: I would give myself a strong 7.5, personally. I feel like I've been RPing long enough that I have a competent grasp on writing decent characters but I sometimes flounder on keeping my ideas straight and being a little trope-y (Martian main detected (I JUST LIKE MARS OKAY)), so I feel it's an OKAY judgment. Notes: This whitelist wasn't as long as my command one because I felt like I might have gone on a little too long, so I tried to keep this as short and succinct as possible. I HOPE IT'S OKAY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

My experience with Ramke with Freya and Val have been nothing but exceptional judging by the quality of their RP and the swiftness of their work as an engineer. They have a robust understanding of the department and would be a credit to the CE roster. +1!

BYOND Key: Sycmos Staff BYOND Key: Alberyk Game ID: No game ID available, round which incident occurred happened November 19th, 2020 sometime before 11PM EST. Reason for complaint: Approximately ten to twenty minutes into the most recent round (game ID: b0V-akk5) Alberyk opened a ticket with me and asked if I was the Dominian character Tidus Zhao. I confirmed that was me, to which Alberyk was quick to (rightfully, mind you) criticize me for the inappropriate behavior that occurred during said round and applied a warning. I would be more than willing to take said warning having risked the biscuit for a joke had the aforementioned incident not happened a month and a half ago and already made its way through Aurora's social channels (Relay, Security Discord, Lore Discord) as an IC meme without consequence. Meria Volvalaad's player, Hepatica01, was in on the joke from the beginning and took no offense to its spread, nor did anyone else approach me regarding any negative feelings on what occurred up until I was messaged by Alberyk. While I realize that it was sitting on the fence between what is appropriate and what is not regarding server rules nobody was sincerely offended or made uncomfortable and I had no intention besides enabling crude humor and I had reason to believe it had been passed by until now. I had never been spoken to about what occurred nor am I aware that I have any notes regarding the matter so I was under the impression it was not an issue until said round and the following warning. Evidence/logs/etc: Attached photo is the date which the original meme image was created, shortly after the round had ended, and the meme itself. Additional remarks: For the 6-year-history of my account on the server I've only received two warnings, one of which was for disconnecting as antag during a sudden power outage (which I had admittedly forgot to address and appeal after the fact) and the one I most recently received. My intent has only ever been to engage in fun, enjoyable RP with other members of the community and foster a more open, welcoming environment for newer players. I would not do something like this unless it was for laughs.

Faye has always been pleasant and fun to interact with OOCly, and Sanaa and Parting Glass have always been enjoyable to interact with ICly. Considering their already-intimate knowledge of medical and their friendly, welcoming disposition in a department well-known for its insular keepings I feel that they would make a great addition to the CMO roster. +1

PM sent.

Lmwevil seems incredibly knowledgeable about Vaurcae and plays an excellent Consular as Aoan, my interactions with them have been very pleasant both as Kasper and Nikita! +1

Reporting Personnel: Kasper Kallstrom Job Title of Reporting Personnel: Head of Personnel Game ID: b9r-bLl1 Personnel Involved: Kait Tea (Bartender) - Offender, Eva Meier (CSI) - Victim, Ta'Akaix'Aoan Zo'ra (Consular) - Witness, Evrart Luukanen (Security Officer) - Witness, Danny Wiles (Security Officer) - Witness Secondary Witnesses: Adelina Valdemar (Chief Medical Officer), Witness - Adelina was present when Consular Aoan provided evidence as to Bartender Kait Tea contaminating drinks with her own blood to create bizarre cocktails, after being expressly told not to by myself and Nurse Eris Reed, who was instructed by Valdemar. Eris Reed (Nurse) - Eris was present when Bartender Kait Tea requested a syringe from medical in order to withdraw her own blood for drinks, in a clear violation of sanitation regulations. Andres Belbase (Captain) - Captain Belbase was present during the situation in Cargo Lobby prior to Eva Meier being attacked by Kait Tea. Time of Incident: Real Time: ~10AM EST, 10/3/2020 Location of Incident: Cargo Lobby, Bar Nature of Incident: [ ] - Workplace Hazard [X] - Accident/Injury [] - Destruction of Property [] - Neglect of Duty [X] - Harassment [] - Assault [X] - Misconduct [X] - Other _____ Overview of the Incident: While making my initial rounds about the station's main floor, introducing myself to medical staff, Bartender Kait Tea arrived and requested that Eris Nurse Reed give her a syringe. When prompted by myself and Reed as to why she needed a syringe, she plainly stated that she intended to draw her own blood for cocktails. As this was a very blatant violation of sanitation regulations she was denied, to which she complained that she would simply find another way to do so and left. No incidents occurred for sometime until both me and CMO Valdemar were notified by Consular Aoan that Kait had contaminated drinks at the bar, despite my express demand for her not to do so. She provided a universal recorder to CMO Valdemar who was able to confirm the drink's contents via medical equipment. From there I spoke with Captain Belbase, and we moved forward with a suspension and arrest. From the Bridge I met with Officer Wiles and one other officer whose name escapes me in order to arrest Kait for violation of i221, gross negligence. She was taken by security with little to no issue, and I proceeded with her suspension until Cargo Technician Diego Holmsson jumped the bar and drank the remaining contents of her contaminated drinks willingly. From there I had him escorted by security to medical bay for a health screening and he then returned to work. I continued to handle duties as Head of Personnel until I encountered a recently-released Kait Tea being handed diamond-crafted knives by Cargo Technician Diego Holmsson from over the Cargo desk. Supply had been short mining staff and resources were scarce, so they were not only being wasted making trivial items but Kait, who had just recently been released from the brig, was being given knives under the assumed pretense of 'cutting vegetables'. Considering that there are a multitude of silverware vendors aboard the station she was promptly addressed by security to forfeit the knives, to which she instead handed them to Diego over the desk. For the next ten minutes or so myself, Captain Belbase and security argued with Diego as he refused to forfeit the two knives he had made until he was threatened with detainment. Kait Tea being present during all this decided to shout obscenities at me, voicing her extreme displeasure at the situation. I promptly took the elevator upstairs to retrieve Consular Aoan's orders due to the preoccupation of our lone Cargo Tech, and when I returned Crime Scene Investigator Eva Meier had a woodcutting hatchet lodged in her chest, with Evrart Luukanen pinning Kait Tea to the ground. In my absence Kait Tea had engaged in an altercation with Eva Meier and promptly attacked her with said hatchet. Kait Tea was arrested and taken to the brig, with Eva Meier being escorted to medical for treatment. From there I resumed my normal duties as Head of Personnel until shuttle departure with Chief Engineer Imran Zadeh. Submitted Evidence: The two diamond knives and hatchet were given to security. With little time to process paperwork prior to shuttle arrival I had to do so while on the Odin. Did you report it to a Head of Staff or a superior? If so, who? If not, why?: Captain Belbase and myself were present during the Cargo assault, and I was present during Kait's arrest. CMO Valdemar was present when Consular Aoan provided evidence as to the contamination. Actions taken: I suspended Kait Tea for the duration of the shift, and she was promptly arrested shortly after the assault. Diego Holmsson was submitted to a search and was released after being compliant. Additional Notes: N/A

Reporting Personnel: Nikita Yutani Job Title of Reporting Personnel: Quartermaster Game ID: b9o-abgJ Personnel Involved: Julian Chet (Station Engineer) - Offender, Marshal Burns (Chief Engineer) - Witness, Elise Deshayes (Engineering Apprentice) - Witness, Myself (Quartermaster) - Witness Secondary Witnesses: Layla Starr (Cargo Technician) - Layla was the Cargo Technician that processed the order for the singularity engine parts, and the radiation collector tray. Cart Kanara (Corporate Liaison) - Cart was advised as to the situation in Engineering during its development. Time of Incident: Earlier in round, prior to my arrival. Real Time: ~9PM EST 9/29/2020 Location of Incident: Engineering, Cargo Nature of Incident: [X] - Workplace Hazard [ ] - Accident/Injury [] - Destruction of Property [X] - Neglect of Duty [X] - Harassment [] - Assault [] - Misconduct [] - Other _____ Overview of the Incident: Upon arrival to the station I realized that the surface level was without power and that a multitude of emergency shutters had been closed. I overheard Supply staff discussing the sale of phoron canisters to the department from Engineering, and something regarding the purchase of a singularity engine. After some back and forth and heading to my office I realized that after looking at my Quartermaster console that Cargo Technician Layla Starr had processed orders for a singularity engine and a radiation collector tray, both of which were not properly tendered through the payment system and drew from the cargo account. Layla Starr and Cargo Technician Safaa Sadar claimed that it was "paid for" by engineering through the fulfillment of the phoron canister bounty, to which I found out that Engineering had completely emptied their phoron reserves and were unable to properly sustain the supermatter engine. Speaking with Engineering Apprentice Elise Deshayes I discovered that Station Engineer Julian Chet had spearheaded the effort to build a singularity engine in the Tesla bay, completely neglecting the supermatter engine and disassembling the Tesla engine and leaving the station in partial darkness and without the protection of shields from meteors. This resulted in a number of damaged locations on the surface from a meteor shower, which is why the emergency shutters had been closed prior to my arrival. Though the cargo account had eventually recovered the initial balance on my arrival was lower than our starting balance, indicating that the phoron bounty had NOT in fact covered the costs. No proper authorization was sought for the construction of this engine, let alone the purchase of such expensive parts. Chief Engineer Marshal Burns arrived shortly after myself and spent the duration of the shift having to salvage the situation, and shared with me further details on the matter listed here as the situation progressed. Corporate Liaison Cart Kanara was also advised, but it seems that his counsel was largely ignored. Submitted Evidence: Attached are screenshots of my Quartermaster console from my office, indicating the purchases of the engine and tray, as well as the resting cargo account balance. If you notice, neither payment were properly tendered and left unpaid. Did you report it to a Head of Staff or a superior? If so, who? If not, why?: Chief Engineer Marshal Burns and Corporate Cart Kanara were present and involved in the issue, I consulted with them both separately. Actions taken: Considering that the damage had been done long before I arrived, I collected evidence of the purchases and spoke with my staff about avoiding said issues in the future. Marshal Burns spent the duration of the shift attempting to restore power to the station. Additional Notes: I was notified by other staff that the same Julian Chet was granted "authorization" to build a Tesla engine in the bar, for reasons which I have yet to discern. This may be something better discussed with Liaison Kanara, as I was not present for the matter.

1. More or less all of the above to one extent or another, but for the most part it had to be lack of command presence in the Head of Personnel office. I feel like people tend to avoid it because it's immensely stressful and gets little to no 'yield' for interaction when compared to Head of Security, Chief Engineer or Research Director - all of those heads can have a direct hand in how situations are handled by their departments whereas Head of Personnel generally plays a more logistical/bureaucratic role that facilitates departmental adjustments. It's more of a power utility role than anything else, or at least that's how I like to look at it - you're not directly involved, but you have a set of tools that make everyone else's jobs much easier. Maintaining profitability in Cargo as well as keeping tabs on the other service departments gives something of a managerial aspect to the job that I feel like I've grown comfortable with as Quartermaster over the last month, and I think that will translate over to my abilities as Head of Personnel and vice versa as I double between the two. 2. I'm going into the idea of playing command knowing that I will have to take care of business first before I can engage in any meaningful RP. More or less that is why I've decided to shelve any idea of using any current characters as my Head of Personnel option as I'd like to dedicate a new one to more job-focused gameplay. That way I can effectively build their character around the job instead of having a predisposed idea and having to make compromises. I think it's important to know when to avoid letting the biases of RP get in the way of performing job duties, namely when other people's experiences depend on your ability to be responsible. 3. Cargo and service are generally look at as different departments, but having played both and understanding that the Head of Personnel is responsible for both I think it's important to bridge the gap between the two and understand how their smaller communities interact. Playing bartender for several months made me realize that a significant portion of cargo players tend to come to the bar whether for bounties, to deliver materials for drinks or simply just to hang out. The bar and kitchen are right across from the cargo lobby and are the most convenient spot to engage in RP for cargo that isn't cargo itself. Oftentimes people also interchange occupations between the groups too, so you get a lot of intermingling. I feel that with some fine-tuning of cargo's current playerbase as well as tapping into the more seasoned players in service the two can be a little more tight-knit and in turn it'll help with improving the overall experience of the department in general. I am trying to do that currently as QM with Nikita, as he already has an established rapport with a share of the regular chefs and bartenders, trying to get cargo folks to interact with them more often and supply more goods faster and when needed. Thank you so much!

Same character, I moved to cargo but I still bartend from time to time. ^w^

BYOND key: Sycmos Character names: Nikita Yutani, Saulden Ramses, Lionel Kaspersen, Ciaran McGrath, Lucien Saravah, Ananse Twumasi, Zosar Al-Sayed, Reynir Jotunheim, Djimon Ashraf. Of my list of characters I have only played Nikita Yutani recently and regularly, the others being relatively new characters or being old characters that I've since decided to retire. I would consider Nikita Yutani my "main" character, as I've logged considerably more hours on him than really any other character since I joined the server. This year has been the most I've played consecutively in any lengthy period of time, so I've logged quite a bit of time under his name to the point that I feel like his character is relatively recognizable at this point. I frequently use the Discord NT Relay under his name as well, for the added RP experience outside of the actual game. Sometimes I use the Relay more than I actually play in a given week, entirely depending on the trend of rounds. How long have you been playing on Aurora?: I've been playing SS13 and on Aurora, and only on Aurora, on and off for roughly 7ish years since creating my BYOND account in 2012 and first joining the server in late 2013 to early 2014, unsure. I largely flew under the radar with most of my characters and did not participate in many past events, save for a few where one of my characters canonically died and thus was retired. I took an extended hiatus with the occasional log-in around the middle of 2017 until March of this year where I regularly playing again. With COVID having stopped a lot of normal life in its tracks I've had a lot more spare time to devote to hobbies and I found myself hooked on Aurora again, albeit much more this time around as I'm not distracted by the woes of work or other obligations. I usually play around 3AM-10AM EST because my sleep schedule is in ruins and it just happens to coincide with the play schedule of other people that I like playing with. Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?:For the most part I avoided applying for any whitelists for the duration of my tenure on the server out of a feeling of inadequacy in my roleplaying ability, coupled by personal issues (college, stress, other life events) that led to some relatively poor interactions during the first two years of my participation on the server. I was immensely self-conscious about my ability to conduct myself in a manner befitting command staff and thus avoided the idea entirely, which led to me also avoiding applying to any species whitelists as well (save for Tajara, which I have had the WL for since 2014). Since then I've floated in and out over the years playing non-command roles, largely relegated to either Engineering or Service positions where I felt I was most comfortable practicing my RP ability and getting a knack for game mechanics as I was pretty 'bald' when it came to actual antag play. Overall I learned to enjoy the RP/extended round aspects of the game more as I got older, deciding to turn my antag roles off and focus on character interaction whenever I could. During my hiatus from 2017 to now I moved twice and held two jobs that were incredibly important to me since graduating college and settled back down in my hometown, working on a budding interest in amateur writing as well as refocusing on my lifelong reading habits. I feel that since I've left my early twenties behind and fully embraced life as a working adult (save for the current pandemic, although I am doing freelance web design as a side gig) I've developed a stronger sense of perspective for interacting with others on a workplace basis, particularly with service-related positions as I worked numerous sales and food service jobs throughout college, including in management. Now more than ever during my stay on the server I feel confident in my ability to play a command staff role competently, particularly Head of Personnel given that a large majority of my IC experience has been with Service roles. I think that I can positively contribute to the role given that it seems to be the most neglected slot during a large majority of rounds, second only to possibly Research Director, despite having massive importance. Why did you come to Aurora?:Truthfully I cannot remember why I did as it's been years since and my life has drastically changed in the time that I joined to now. Prior to creating my BYOND account in 2012 I participated on a number of different forums that had roleplay subforums or roleplay elements, and dabbled occasionally in other games that had roleplay servers or roleplay aspects. Somewhere along the line I stumbled across SS13 while trawling through my usual threads on forums I used to regularly frequent, and decided to give it a shot. Whether or not it was the "heavy roleplay" tag that interested me or the fact that I simply picked Aurora first is beyond me, but it's been the only server that I've played on since and I don't feel inclined to play anywhere else. Though I've taken several breaks and come back to completely different communities and circles I've enjoyed my time on Aurora every time. I'd say for this specific stint that I've been on I've probably enjoyed the server and the community the most, though. Have you read the Aurora wiki on the head roles and qualifications you plan on playing?: I've read the wiki page for Head of Personnel likely a dozen or more times while I've been writing this app, and plenty more times while I was considering applying for command. I cannot see myself playing any other command roles until I have a better grasp on their departments, so it's unlikely for some time I'll be attempting any other command slot. I've also had some brief experience as Head of Personnel on the handful of antag rounds where Nikita was injudiciously given the platform by an antag with the means to do so, and largely spent most of those rounds either dealing with hacked accounts or giving certain staff access. Nothing terribly extraordinary. Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they?To my knowledge I've received notes prior to 2020 for small mistakes I've made while playing, largely due to the fact that I was (and sometimes am) pretty 'bald' and didn't know how things work - for example, not being able to use the stunbaton properly while playing as Sec and harmbatoning someone on accident. As for recent times I was talked to regarding disconnecting as an antag and chain-EMPing robotics, but both were resolved given the fact that I had a power outage during the former and unfortunately fat-fingered the EMP spell during the latter. I'm not the GREATEST gamer by any means and largely tend to focus on RP more than actual game mechanics, but I'm doing my best to avoid having further bald episodes in the future. Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph each. Give a definition of what you think roleplay is, and should be about:I believe that roleplay is the transplant of one's experiences and imagination into a medium that allows for free expression of the untapped potential of a person's identity. Obviously we are not at the stage in human civilization that we are free to roam the stars as we do as our characters in SS13, and none of us will likely live long enough to see that day come. Still the human capacity for imagination and creativity leads us to assembling ideas, concepts and dreams of what life in an intergalactic community would be like, and ultimately the collective work of hundreds of people over years in this community has led to what we know as the Aurora today. I feel that it's not only healthy for an individual to participate in a sort of roleplaying community as means of exercising their creativity and to manage stress, but also important to one's identity to be able to realize their own ideas in a way that allows others to interact with them and help them grow. I think that roleplay should be about cooperation, working with others who share similar and different views in order to assemble individual ideas into a greater picture that draws from those individual influences, creating something that all parties involved can not only enjoy but draw further inspiration from ICly and OOCly. More or less everything that makes up the community that staffs from the Aurora comes from a primitive idea in someone's head that they decide to pursue to make something bigger, and I feel like the mutual sharing and benevolent discussion of ideas is incredibly important to sustaining a healthy and lively roleplay community as well as healthy and happy participants. In turn those participants benefit OOCly as well as their imagination is allowed to be expressed without the constraints of our mundane everyday lives. What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?:A player who maintains a Head of Staff position is not only responsible for behaving in a professional manner befitting of leadership, but also to set an example for others who interact with them and those who strive to acquire a Head of Staff position. Said players should know not only the ins and outs of their respective departments but also the collective consciousness of each group, able to discern the mood of each subdivision and utilize the staff within each to their strengths while mitigating their weaknesses with strong direction but a willingness to compromise. A Head of Staff should also have a strong sense of vision for their department and have the aptitude to work towards that vision, pushing the department towards greater cohesion with the remainder of the station in order to make it more prosperous and enjoyable. A good Head of Staff will set an example that others will follow not only while they are present, but while they are away and will use to instruct others. A good Head of Staff will set a healthy precedent for his fellow Heads of Staff, and encourage them to work towards a common goal that benefits every department. Not only should these qualities be carried ICly but they should also carry OOCly, influencing players in their department to be more polite and cooperative with the community and each other OOCly. What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?:It is important that Whitelisted players maintain a standard of excellence for non-whitelisted players to look to, doing their best to uphold a sense of responsibility, integrity, thoroughness and fairness when it comes to IC play but also knowing when to extend a helping hand OOCly when a player is in need of aid in their department, or when to give critical feedback when they feel something in their department needs to be changed. When these qualities are exercised they are an effective boon to their department ICly and OOCly, pushing towards an environment that is not only cohesive and productive but enjoyable to play with others or on one's own. When players enjoy their rounds more frequently they are more likely to stay and contribute positively, which in turn leads to more positive outcomes for future changes and events. This cycle of mutual cooperation only stands to benefit the community in the long-term, and has to start with those experienced enough to take on the more difficult roles to push it. As most Heads of Staff are likely to be longer-term players it's up to them to hold the standard and not waver, regardless of the ebb and tide of yearly player shifts. Could you give us the gist of what is currently happening in Tau Ceti and how it affected your character and their career?As it stands for my main character, Nikita Yutani, it is incredibly unlikely for him to be able to return to Mars for the foreseeable future. Seeing that whistleblower August Maldarth was a Martian and given Mars' previous history with the Sol Alliance it would not be out of sorts for the Sol government to crack down on dissidents on the Red Planet, as it's likely that his example will stir a familiar sense of Martian patriotism that has more or less disappeared from the surface since the war. Though he draws a sense of distinct stubbornness and recklessness from the collective consciousness of the Martian identity Mendell and by extension Biesel and Tau Ceti is his new home, having established a completely different life while living on Biesel that runs in total contrast to his life on Mars. If anything his life has made a considerably turn for the better since departing, no longer bound by the bleak urban living of Olympia and free to expand his horizons with a clean slate in a different system. He has recently acquired a new job, met who he feels is the love of his life, and is living comfortably for the first time in a considerably long time. That being said his familial ties still bind him to Sol and Mars, and it fatigues on him daily to imagine what mess home will get into now that the focus is on Maldarth's assassination, and by association of his personhood the Martian identity as it stands in Sol-governed space. What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted?The only role that I anticipate playing in any serious manner is Head of Personnel. The Service wing is what I am familiar with the most, having spent a majority of my time playing Nikita in both the diner and in cargo. I feel like I have a fairly good grasp of the community that inhabits both divisions and I feel that I can effectively play into their unique identities to try and push for a narrative of a more unified, cooperative department. I think that the department could stand to benefit from a Head of Personnel who plays more frequently and is willing to participate in each division on a more personal basis, seeing that the Head of Personnel is one of the least-played command roles while simultaneously being incredibly important crucial to the operation of certain station activities. A lot of the capacities at their disposal can be used to great advantage to help mitigate damages during station dilemmas or to contribute to collective efforts across departments. Unless I become more familiar with Engineering or Science I likely will stick to Head of Personnel for the foreseeable future. Characters you intend to use for command or have created for command. Include the job they will be taking.: I will be playing a new character named Kasper Kallstrom, a Ganymedian Sol Marine veteran who expatriated to the Republic of Biesel to start a new life shortly after he was honorably discharged. He will be my primary Head of Personnel character for the time being, unless something changes for Nikita in the FAR future where he decided to pursue a college education. I usually play anywhere between 8PM to 8AM, as my sleep schedule is quite erratic. How would you rate your own roleplaying?: I've been actively participating in RP communities since I was 13-14, across numerous forums and several other video games that held RP communities. While I feel like I'm well-written for the most part now that I'm older I feel that my writing suffered for a number of years after I took a decidedly turbulent break from reading and writing while in college due to stress. After I quit in 2017 I got occupied with work and didn't do any real RP until I returned to the server last March, where my initial idea of playing bartender with Nikita was to brush up on my RP chops. All told I feel like I'm pretty comfortable at a solid... 7.5/10. Do you understand your whitelist is not permanent, and may be stripped following continuous administrative action? Absolutely. I don't plan to do anything drastic or insane, outside of accidentally keysmashing things because I'm bald at the game. I've done my best to stay out of the searchlight since then, even bothered to turn antag off because I got tired of it. Have you familiarize yourself with the wiki pages for the command roles? I've more or less read every command wiki page a couple of times, but I keep the Head of Personnel wiki page as well as the Chain of Command wiki page open more or less at all times just as a refresher. I always have a number of pages from the wiki open in case I need to reference something specific. Extra notes: It's been literally 7 years since I joined the server and I am just now applying for command and I am STILL nervous! I hope my app is good! Please ask me anything about my app if you need clarification! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I've spent long enough chatting about lore with True in Discord to know that they will make a good WL player and do their best to contribute positively to the community. +1

Though I haven't interacted with all of Sherm's characters yet, I've had a great time interacting with the ones that I have and I regularly enjoy the relationship between Nikita and Umbra whenever the two are tending. +1

Ryog very clearly has the respect for the whitelist roles to look into character development, and the chops to roleplay well. +1

Every interaction I've had with Ryog has been enjoyable, and this would definitely give her more opportunity to do what she's already doing well. +1!

I've only had maybe a handful of interactions with Mel since coming back to the server but all of them have been engaging and enjoyable, whether it's with Adelina or Naledi. Playing as Nikita I almost always anticipate her stopping by the bar with Nal because she's one of my favorite players to interact with thus far. +1!

I had a lot of fun with both, even though I got my ass handed to my by Sec later on in the Cult round. Thanks for the opportunity!

Thank you!

Definitely not going to be a recurring problem, just happened on an enjoyable moment I didn't want to break prematurely and got carried away. Thank you!

Lionel Kaspersen is my second of three fresh characters since returning to the server, still working out the kinks of his backstory and general personality as I go along. Any feedback on your interactions with him would be greatly appreciated. Likes, dislikes, favorite moments, critiques, anything. Share away!