rrrrrr

[I partly used/stole the template from this thread because the current template seemed unsettling to me. I don't know what 'impact' having written lore on Mormons would have.] Lore Impact (Small/Medium/Large): Small Species: Human Type: Faction/religious organization Founding/Settlement Date (if applicable): 1830 AD in upstate New York as the "Church of Christ," current name began usage in 1838. Region of Space: In lesser or greater numbers in many human-settled regions, but primarily found in Sol. Short Description: A relatively large church. How will this be reflected on-station?: It won't be, because the SCC is a secular organization that doesn't favor any particular religion outside of providing an all-purpose chapel. Does this addition do anything not achieved by what already exists?: There is a generalized lack of well-written lore relating to any presently extant religious organization. This is a taste of what I am capable of writing. I am willing to write similarly broad overviews of, I am not joking, every other religion. There's definitely a right way to do this sort of thing in a way that won't needlessly offend people. What I'm seeing on Aurora is a reversal of what I saw way back when on BS12, where the lore was there --- but very, very dumb. On Aurora, it just doesn't really exist. Do you understand that the project may change over time in ways you may not foresee once it is handed over to the Lore Team? Yes. Long Description: I'll spare you the full history of Mormonism and just give you the basic run-down and some terminology. LDS - Latter-day Saint. Quorum - the highest governing body of the church below the President. - In LDS historiography and theology, Mormonism isn't a new religion (and it definitely wouldn't be seen as new by the 25th century, just relatively young) but instead the restoration of the ancient Christian faith, essentially in opposition to older, more established churches. Owing to certain cultural values and influences extant at the time of the church's founding (i.e, Swedenborgianism, seers, proto-spiritism), private revelation has always been important. This has allowed Mormonism to reform itself and, throughout the years, modernize to some extent. - In the early 19th century, a young treasure hunter, Joseph Smith Jr., was compelled to go to a particular hill in the region he lived in. Upon going to this location, an angel appeared to him and told him what most people know about Mormonism: start digging. Smith dug up golden plates and translated them via the Urim and Thummim, an ancient breastplate and pair of spectacles. Smith, who was mostly illiterate, transcribed what he allegedly read on the plates with the help of multiple people, such as his wife, Emma Smith, and his associates, Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery. One thing led to another and Smith was lynched by an angry mob, but by that point many people had been swayed by Smith's preaching and had become the first Mormons. - By the mid-20th century, Mormonism had become an established part of the American religious landscape, with the vast majority of Mormons living west of the Rocky Mountains in Utah, Idaho, and in adjacent states. Politically, Mormon men were targeted for recruitment by the State Department and in intelligence bureaus, primarily owing to their abstinence from alcohol and tobacco, adherence to traditional morals, and skill with foreign languages. Mormons were generally stereotyped as creepily nice people with large families; some held the erroneous belief that polygamy was practiced by mainstream Mormons, something that was generally untrue by that point and would become more irrelevant as the membership of fundamentalist LDS churches practicing plural marriage became smaller. High concept sci-fi stuff starts down here. - Given Mormonism's history and increased involvement in certain sectors of the United States government by the early 21st century, it was generally considered unsurprising that the vast majority of LDS church members were broadly supportive of the establishment of the ASSN in 2140. The church's general sense of apocalypticism, which had existed since the late 1940s, was (at the time) undergoing a lull following the tensions between the US and USSR in the mid-late 21st century. The establishment of the ASSN reverses this. Within the next twenty years, during the surge in interstellar colonization, the church undergoes two schisms owing to the Quorum's general support of the ASSN and loses one-point-eight million members. In LDS historiography, the mid-22nd century is considered one of the worst times to be a Mormon, albeit for reasons opposite to the norm: many people in the church, generally speaking, at all levels, did not trust the establishment of a one-world government, especially one that involved the USSR. - Colonization was an incredibly attractive prospect from the late 22nd century and onward. Earth's climate crisis and failing biosphere led to a great number of schismatic Mormons --- ones who, ironically, did not trust or like the ASSN --- participating in ASSN-sanctioned colonization efforts. The general idea was that the farther away you got, the better. The mainstream LDS church similarly supported colonization efforts, although the vast majority of members who left Earth did not go very far, generally staying within Sol. - By the late 23rd century, there are roughly a forty-six million people who refer to themselves as either Latter-day Saints or Mormons living in human-settled space. Of that forty-six million, five million are members of the increasingly dispersed and numerous schismatic churches that split from the mainstream LDS church following the establishment of the ASSN and now live primarily in the outer rim and on the frontier. - The Interstellar War breaks out. Schismatic churches in the outer rim and frontier support the establishment of the Coalition; the mainstream church has no stated opinion on it other than hoping for it to end as soon as possible. (It doesn't.) Given the distance, contact between the splinter sects and the mainstream church has been infrequent for a century, but their theology has remained remarkably similar: nothing too wacky has occurred. No one practices plural marriage on the frontier, outside of a handful of fringe churches with only a few thousand members in total. The main focus has remained leading a moral life and having a good relationship with God (and your local ward council.) - First contact did not lead to a widespread loss of faith, despite what militant atheists were hoping for. Most religious organizations have had two centuries to account for the possibility of alien life and Mormonism was no exception; the earliest musing on what contact with extraterrestrials would mean for the church dated back to 1971. LDS theology was, if anything, particularly immune to this kind of paradigm shift, given that it always accounted for the existence of other worlds and, by proxy, other forms of sentient life. (There was, nevertheless, palpable disappointment in the mainstream LDS church that the Nralakk Federation would not allow missionaries.) - Further contact with other forms of sentient life are met with excitement, given the general notion that the Unathi and Tajara are less advanced than humanity, not more advanced. Although distance and general restrictions make stereotypical missionary work unlikely (if not impossible), aliens living in Solarian space are given special attention. Extraterrestrials converting to any human religion is extremely rare --- it goes without saying that there aren't that many non-human Mormons. - As of 2465, there are roughly seventy-two million people in human space who consider themselves Mormon, whether religiously or culturally. Of that seventy-two million, nine million are members of sects in the outer rim and on the frontier. Missionary work is limited exclusively to human-settled planets and interstellar bodies; many missionaries can be found in the Eridani Federation and the Republic of Biesel, although postings to a missionary's stellar object of origin are far more common. - The church has no objections to non-human sentients becoming members; most Mormons in that category are IPCs owned privately by wealthy church members or the church itself. The number of extraterrestrial Mormons numbers somewhere in the low hundreds and form two distinct demographics, the first being non-human organic lifeforms living in Solarian space and the second being non-human organic lifeforms living in the Republic of Biesel. The mainstream church has no stated opinion on cyborgification but highly discourages members from voluntarily undergoing the process for medical reasons. - Mormons in Solarian space live primarily in the inner sphere; they are stereotyped as being middle-to-upper class and working either in government (particularly the Department of the Interior) or in accounting. They are generally considered bland and lacking in good taste. Mormons in the outer rim and on the frontier more closely adhere to pre-space age stereotypes of being unnervingly pleasant and having large families. - As of 2465, the current President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Michael-George Allred. There are as many schismatic sects in the outer rim and frontier as there are planets that have Mormons on them.

space is the final frontier and the final frontier of that final frontier is talking to people who you dont already know

i tried this. i don't think it works, but maybe i am wrong?

not 100% sure how dirty it is to bring up Lifeweb: Theater of Pain around here, but, what the h, i'm gonna do it. how it worked on Lifeweb: Theater of Pain was that the changeling absorbed people and left behind a huge, nasty sack filled with amniotic fluid. you could not move the sack. the sack grew out of the drained husk that the changeling left behind. what made this "cool" and possibly "good" was that after a handful of minutes, a changeling copy of the guy/gal who got drained would pop out of the sack. gross wet schlorping sounds. gross. and they could keep playing... as an evil alien doppelganger. this solves the "I have been murdered twenty minutes into the round and now I must sit and watch" problem. i do not know if it would solve the "The changelings inevitably end up 'going loud' (note: I hate this term. I also hate the terms "murderbone" and "chucklefucking") and slaying people/getting slain!" problem. that seems more structural, i.e, well you're giving me the ability to grow an awesome [PROTOTYPE] style Alex Mercer arm blade. why wouldn't i use the awesome arm blade. keep in mind that i am 1) genuinely not that smart 2) chronically ill/in pain in case this post is incoherent. but: you can easily solve the "I've been murdered early into the two to three hour round" problem by changing it from The Thing into Invasion of the Body Snatchers, i.e, by allowing changeling victims to come back as evil alien doppelgangers of themselves. "bob went missing 15 minutes ago... wait, there he is, but hes acting weird... why does he want me to check out this cool maintenance tunnel with him???" the issue with changelings basically not being stealthy and fighting the security team probably has a lot to do with the abilities they're given. why do they have arm blades?? thats like if you gave every traitor an energy sword and got surprised when nine out of ten times they end up using it. thanks for reading.

i was going to put a rod serling .gif here to start off the thread but i guess images aren't allowed on forums anymore in 2023 ad? weird and offputting. anyways, imagine, if you will, that you are playing janitor. having a great time. it hits the right part of your severely unwell mind that makes you have borderline crippling OCD. let's say there are a lot of bullet casings on the ground. "time to clean up," you think. you take your trash bag out. you need to click on the tiny little bullet casing, which is a huge pain in the rear because you use a trackpad and also your monitor is tiny. "oh no," you think. "this is horrible. what am i to do." basically to sum it up ideally if i want to pick everything up off of a tile using a trash bag, please let me just click on the tile. at the moment you need to click on an object on the tile, which can be difficult if the object (or rather objects) are tiny. thanks for reading

Six or seven sounds like it'd be a good number as the maximum; not big enough that mercs would steamroll the station, but not small enough that they're more or less impotent in the face of a fully staffed security department.

What if: instead of rats, tapirs...?

I've been a little busy lately catching up with my family while on break from school. I usually don't play very much SS13, either, to be honest.

I'm not questioning whether or not they should have access, I'm questioning whether or not their radios are strong enough to pick up signals from a station that's presumably a decent distance away.

I used to see it happen a ton back when I played almost every week. If it isn't a recurring issue, I still think it should be changed because why would you still be in range of the station's comms when you're in your hidden lair?

good idea. bump

could an admin move this to suggestions. tia

merc rounds (in my experience) devolve into "the mercs leave and then taunt the station for an hour and a half" it is dumb and it is boring

dunno you but everyone seems sad and you seem like a chill guy... will be missed bro. hopin your replacement is as good or even better.

btw - some info on catholic thought regarding artificial intelligence; st. thomas aquinas's mentor, st. albert, allegedly made an automaton out of metal that was capable of speech. st. tommy responded by burning it. just some food for thought re: why the sons of cain might have split. if they are gnostic, they might have almost definitely had huge issues with the creation of new, intelligent life capable of suffering.

it looks good. see 0 reason to not have these sprites. "nothing else is at this perspective" is a weirdo argument considering ss13 as a whole has really inconsistent sprites. 1+++

gonna throw in my two cents here because I study religion at university - depending on if the Sons of Cain are Christian, they could be Gnostic... tertullian mentions a sect of heterodox Christians who glorified Cain as the first dude to get owned by Satan (keepin it simple) if they're non-Christian Sons of Cain be a very edgy name... but reality is edgy sometimes so it doesn't seem super crazy

seems to me like that form was not intended to be copy-pasted. you can still read it though

[b]BYOND key:[/b] BotanistPower [b]Character names:[/b] Walter brooks [hr] [b]How long have you been playing on Aurora?:[/b] like 3 years. ss13 8 [b]Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?:[/b] to play head of staff [b]Why did you come to Aurora?:[/b] good server [b]Have you read the Aurora wiki on the head roles and qualifications you plan on playing?:[/b] yeah [b]Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they?[/b] i was banned for a plot that involved selling "kois" i do not know what a koi is but i wanted to sell them. got 7 days for that i think. i was then banned forever for making a joke ban appeal. sorry [hr] Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a [b]paragraph[/b] each. [b]Give a definition of what you think roleplay is, and should be about:[/b] not sure why you expect me to do a paragraph because these are not hard questions. roleplay is just acting but more fun for those involved because there is no script. ideally "roleplayers" have some level of competence in writing and portraying a character. i think i am an alright "roleplayer" [b]What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?:[/b] this question is poorly worded but i'll try my best. the OOC purpose is to basically make sure the department you're heading doesn't get completely out of control and make sure it's conducive to a fun and interesting story for everyone involved. [b]What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?:[/b] to make things fun and more interesting. i would strive to uphold them by being a not shitty actor/head of staff i guess [b]Could you give us the gist of what is currently happening in Tau ceti and how it affected your character and their career?[/b] tau ceti was being blockaded by some crazy nutso admiral dick and there was some fascism stuff going on for a little while. i am pretty sure this isn't happening anymore but right now the republic of biesel is fighting a covert war with sol alliance intelligence. hsan't gone hot yet. my character was on vacation in israel when the nuts stuff was happening. [b]What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted?[/b] probably head of security... perhaps "captain" [hr] [b]Characters you intend to use for command or have created for command. Include the job they will be taking.:[/b] walter brooks... hos/captain [hr] [b]How would you rate your own roleplaying?:[/b] decent to good [b]Do you understand your whitelist is not permanent, and may be stripped following continuous administrative action?[/b] yep [b]Have you familiarize yourself with the wiki pages for the command roles?[/b] oh yeah [hr] [b]Extra notes:[/b] "Brevity is the soul of wit." - William Shakespeare.

my 2 cents as a vet of the neo-troubles: the new map sucks donkey dick

I sincerely don't know how anything I've written in this thread could upset anyone. It could potentially be that it's somewhat self-aware of the silly (on my part) reason my 7 day vacation was extended to a permanent relocation. If that is the case, I apologize. My intent was never to upset. In fact, quite the obvious: it was to amuse. My take away is that ban appeals are serious business. Please unban me.

I also want to request a Discord unban. I'm banned from there, and I can't remember why, probably because I was sleep deprived.