[ACCEPTED] Hiccup121's Command Application

[Hiccup121]

BYOND key: Hiccup121

Character names: 

How long have you been playing on Aurora?: More actively throughout 2020 but since late 2019

Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: I would love to take the opportunity to continue April Esker's career in the research department and have her take on a more prominent role within Science.

Why did you come to Aurora?: I have been a pretty active roleplayer for a good portion of my life, and recently SS13 has been a fantastic outlet for that. Aurora station appeals to me the greatest in terms of lore, community and general "feel" which is why I gravitated the most towards it. I've been thoroughly enjoying my time here since as well, which is why I've found myself sticking around.

Have you read the Aurora wiki on the head roles and qualifications you plan on playing?: Yes I have.

Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they? Other then mentoring people in R&D and Xenoarcheology, no.

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:

Roleplay should be about creating a story and presenting it through interactions between player characters and backstory lore, as well as being a fun and approachable outlet for creative writers to engage with one-another and create a believable fantasy to enjoy themselves in. As a D&D enthusiast that has been playing and running campaigns for almost 8 years now, I thoroughly believe that roleplay is one of the most enjoyable and amazing outlets for any writer who wishes to better themselves as a creative artist but also have fun with others inclined of the same way. Roleplay is not only about allowing yourself a creative release in form of drafting a character and impersonating them, but also about putting those characters into situations and allowing them to react in a way that can cause reactions from others. This can be as minor as picking up a neurotic coworkers pen without asking, or as drastic as handling the death of a close friend through means out of your control.

What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?:

OOCly, I believe that the purpose of any Head of Staff is to provide many different facets of opportunity. For instance, a Research Director can provide assistance in regards to achieving a certain goal, meaningful and engaging feedback on another characters work within the department or advice to other crew-members or command members characters that may otherwise not hold the required information regarding an in-game event. Further to this, I believe that a Head of Staff has a responsibility over their department in terms of how they act and what they do throughout any given shift. They exist to be approachable people that are willing to help and assist at any given task within the department or reprimand characters that are acting incorrectly or even purposefully endangering the department itself. Due to being in the position of a departmental head, you're also going to encounter new players and new departmental characters as well. Because of this, as aforementioned, it's important to be approachable and easy to talk to, as it could quite easily ruin any new players experience of a department or even the entire server.

What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?:

To me, a whitelisted player represents an experienced player. They're people who know their way around the game and are willing to assist you OOCly with tasks and issues that you may run into. Whilst they're only players, they're players that have gone out of their way to try and engage further within the community. It is of course important to remember, however, that simply because a player holds a whitelist, it does no way grant them a "higher" status among other players. It is incredibly important to always be respectful of the rules, no matter what role you are undertaking or what "Perks" you may have gained. No-one is ever exempt from any rules, regardless of how long they've held a whitelist or how they've been otherwise. A whitelisted player is still a player, they just have the opportunity to play a specific role. If granted this opportunity, I'd want to uphold those standards to any other players I encounter by trying to offer assistance (be it with their job or an in game issue) whenever the need arises. I would always want to reach out to those wanting to learn more about the game or the lore, and hopefully strive to assist them in creating something they would want in their vision.

Could you give us the gist of what is currently happening in Tau Ceti and how it affected your character and their career?

What a dangerous time to be alive in Tau Ceti and working on the NSS Aurora. Tau Ceti is declining into chaos over the one thing that gave it a place on the map and it's causing the Solarians to rip their hair out. April Esker may have come from the colonies, but whether she likes it or not her place is in District 5 in Mendell right now, and she doesn't have a choice in that matter. She can't complain though, District 5 isn't that bad... The circumstances of owning a dwelling there however, they are what sting. Whilst the wheels of bureaucracy grind in their un-oiled ways, the system continues to turn over what it can in terms of a sustainable economy and workforce, trying it's hardest to stay in relevance. Tau Ceti moves presently like a wild beast, rearing it's head when it needs to show a stance of intimidation and hiding quietly when it needs to turn it's produce over to the highest bidder but it always comes back to the same thing: Phoron. When the Phoron starts running low, and Sol start getting exposed by one of their own, Tau Ceti will rear again. This time though? This time, it may rear with no hind legs to catch it. With a job in research, April hopes to at least somewhat help stabilise this malformed growing crisis. She fled her home and chose Mendell to hide, but now she sees Tau Ceti's main selling point diminishing slowly and she wants to ensure that her little hiding hole stays good enough. And with the colonies now housing the Solarian whistle-blower, she finds her hands somewhat tied.

What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted?

Hopefully going to start with Research Director, maybe expanding to other roles in the future like Head of Personnel.

Characters you intend to use for command or have created for command. Include the job they will be taking.:

April Esker: Research Director

How would you rate your own roleplaying?: Roleplaying has been, is presently and will continue to be one of my greatest passions when it comes to creative writing. It's something I find myself doing in any community that allows it. Further to this, as aforementioned I have been playing D&D for almost 8 years now with my own homebrew universe to play in. I could only hope to rate myself quite well in terms of RP.

Do you understand your whitelist is not permanent, and may be stripped following continuous administrative action? Yes

Have you familiarize yourself with the wiki pages for the command roles? Yes

Extra notes:

- I have quite strenuous work hours at the moment (I work in IT at a school, it's rough right now) so I apologies if I am slow to get back to any messages during GMT daylight hours though you'll often find me playing in GMT evening hours.

[Vinni.Dragon]

+1, I love role-playing with you and with April especially. April Esker RD would peak her character arc and I'm definitely about that

[Astra]

+1 I think April Esker is a really fun character and all the interaction with her has been great

Edited September 23, 2020 by Astra
spelling

[Life]

Not much to say other than Hiccup's a great player, and April herself is a really good character. Big +1

[ShesTrying]

Heya! I'm going to be handling this application. Your trial starts today, October 2nd, and ends on October 9th. Good luck, and remember to keep gathering feedback as you try out your new command roles!

[Hiccup121]

7 hours ago, ShesTrying said:

Heya! I'm going to be handling this application. Your trial starts today, October 2nd, and ends on October 9th. Good luck, and remember to keep gathering feedback as you try out your new command roles!

Thank you for this opportunity! I hope I won't disappoint, I'll play as much as possible around my schedule! 

[Lmwevil]

I really liked April as RD, interacted well with my Ta and ran a unique experiment with the AI.

[Vinni.Dragon]

Now that mans is on trial I gots MORE TA SAY ABOUT RD APRIL

I've played a few rounds with RD April as my xenobiologist, and she is the most committed-to-her-job person! It's clear that both as a player on trial for command, and as a skilled role player playing your character, that you are very dedicated to playing by the books and keeping yourself in line. April ran her first expedition, and it was a mess. But, in spite of it being a huge mess, she was able to do all of the work that she set out to do, bring (almost) everyone home safely, and had the time afterwards to reprimand a roboticist on behalf of Bjorn, and my IPC Charlotte, for not having nanopaste accessible to care for them.
 
Command is a huuuuuge change from your average roles in each department respectively, and as such, there's that possibility on losing a lot of your character's integrity when they aren't allowed the similar freedoms most members of staff are. Being a Research Director requires a lot more time, and dedication to the role, as opposed to being an Anomalist that can step out whenever she feels too stressed. Command staff aren't always allowed the same moments of reprieve. So, basically, what that huge run-on paragraph is leading to me saying is this: April doesn't feel any less like April when she is Research Director. In my opinion, it takes a very skilled role player to be able to adapt and change so much about what your character does, and how their work day functions, and not lose any of what made that character notable in the first place.

Now that I've offered tons and tons of praise, let me just also add one tiny little bit of criticism. I think that you - as the player - could stand to loosen up a little. It's clear from my perspective that you're putting a lot of pressure on yourself (rightfully so) to be your best self over the course of your trial, and even though I just said that April is still April, even as RD, you don't want to risk losing yourself in your role, rather than playing your character. 

Anyway! That about does it! Much love, and I wish you good luck x2 on the rest of your trial! You know we're all rooting for you in research ♥

[Hepatica]

Hello, Director!

 

+1. I don't need to say anything that hasn't already been said, they have my full confidence.

[MEDTECH]

My dear April, congratulation.

You managed to stay calm in a situation where we had to run everywhere in the station, where you have been zapped, where someone died, where our giganormous expedition team was in a state of pure chaos while they were waiting and operating. I know a lot of people who would not have been able to handle the stress, would have flipped the table and disconnected. But yet, you stayed frosty.

It's still a joy to RP with you, as my director, or as your director. But, like Charlotte said, let's hope you don't fall into madness!

I wanted to give you the -10 we talked about IG, but have a +1 instead.

Edited October 5, 2020 by MEDTECH

[DatSamTho]

Hey there! I play the captain Andres Belbase, and it's honestly always nice to see April on shift. They seem very much competent at what they do, and their roleplay ability is impecable. +1 from me

[Astra]

+1 April is a fine RD and managing a 4 hour extended shift with that hell of a 9-man expedition is no small feat.

[ThelonTV]

April good. Bunga unga

Also very friendly and goes out of their way to thank someone ? +1

[ShesTrying]

Congrats!

Welcome to the command team-- it's good to have you here! Locking and archiving.