Botanist - Human Lore Deputy Writer Application

[rrrrrr]

BYOND Ckey: Timby
How long in the community: Roughly 10 years (since late 2014 or early 2015)

1. Why are you applying for the position of human lore deputy writer? Why do you think that you would be good in the position?
I like Aurora and I like writing. I have a particular fondness for Aurora’s human lore. I think I’d be a good fit because I’m a fairly competent writer with some background in writing SF.

2. What is your favourite part of Human Lore and why? If you submitted something for canonisation that was indeed canonised you may not select that as the answer to this question.
Broadly, the diversity and depth of it all, especially any and all writing on the political inner workings and systems of all of the major human factions, i.e, Sol, Biesel, COC, Elyra. More specifically, I greatly enjoyed the recent “election arcs” for both Biesel and Sol and found that both of them got a fair number of players talking about and debating politics.

More specifically, Valkyrie. Valkyrie is the right kind of in-game location and it just really tickles this part of my brain that likes to make up characters who, I, uh [tugs collar] proceed to not play for more than a round. I just think it’s neat!

3. What do you believe are ways that the Human Lore Team could best implement the phoron scarcity to our various factions and locations throughout the setting that would reflect the gravity of the in-character situation without grossly compromising the out-of-character things that make each faction and location unique and compelling?
Given that phoron is fairly integral to the setting, every single faction is going to be hit. It’s sort of just a question of how hard! On the extreme end of things, you have Biesel and Elyra, with Biesel’s phoron scarcity write-up being absolutely wonderful and managing to paint a nice grim picture of where things are headed. Specifically, I think a vibe of ‘economic depression’ needs to be imbued into the writing, going forward. Everybody’s suffering, it’s just a question of how much.

4. What do you believe are the current strengths and weaknesses of human lore? Why? What would you do to improve upon the weaknesses? Please do not mention offworlders in your answer to this question. We know that they are a weak spot and that they require action and would prefer to hear perspectives that do not highlight this area of human lore.
I think that human lore’s biggest strength is its overall breadth. It allows for an incredible diversity of backgrounds to pick and choose from, both culturally and tonally; overall, I would say that, in regards to planets, backgrounds, et al., it all coheres together into a very interesting whole.

Currently, I think Elyra is a little behind, writing-wise, and probably needs a little TLC. It also isn’t currently up-to-date with the Phoron Scarcity bizness; I don’t know if anything for it is in the works, right now, though.

5. What are three projects (medium-to-large size additions, arcs, or reworks) that you would like to complete during your tenure as a Human Lore Deputy writer? Please do not mention new locations or factions in this answer.
I think that the whole ‘uncharted space’ business in the Crescent Expanse sector (and elsewhere, like Light’s Edge) is a fertile place for future arcs that can manage to be high-stakes while also not being spur-defining historical events. A lot of my ‘arc-based’ ideas sort of hinge on that and I’ll illustrate one in #6.

Some non-arc ideas are as follows…
1. One thing I’d like to do is write something going over what would be considered ‘common knowledge’ in each human faction; I’m also interested in adding more depth to the setting’s lore on ‘education,’ going over advancements in pedagogy, and what exact fields of study could lead to you being hired as an [insert job here] on the SCCV Horizon.
2. I’m not sure if this counts as a ‘rework,’ but getting a touch more granular planet-to-planet on what the living conditions are like, to what degree they experience wealth inequality (Silversun is a great working example of a human background that is very detailed on that!), any miscellaneous cultural touchstones stemming from what specific Earth culture settled a specific planet, so on and so forth.
3. A detailed overview of medical advancements that humanity has made by 2467. I would specifically like to focus on figuring out what the average lifespan is in the 25th century, something that would likely vary heavily based on class, faction, and specific system. For example: someone from Luna probably lives longer, on average, than someone from a podunk Coalition planet on the edge of settled space.
4. a fake democracy rating for every human planet by the Freedom from Tau Ceti Foundation

6. What is an idea for a future arc that you would like to have a part in writing and organising in the future? If you provided an arc(s) as part of your answer for question 3, you may expand on the ideas for that arc(s) here, or you may provide another idea.
I am still overly fond of the arc idea I had last time I applied for this role, so, er, hopefully it’s okay if I just restate it… ha-ha… [starts sweating nervously]

To summarize said idea: while in transit towards the frontier, the Horizon is waylaid by a small fleet patrolling the space around a Coalition-aligned planet whose government is undemocratic and overall suspicious of the SCC. From there, things would develop: if allowed, the ship would be boarded and searched up-and-down by some fairly unfriendly people (customs officials and space cops.) Command staff would have to answer such exciting questions as ‘where are you going’ and ‘why are you here.’

This could develop further, with command having to shuttle down to negotiate their passage through the system with a handful of bureaucrats. Maybe they’ll meet (and even, gasp, get their picture taken with?) the generalissimo in charge of this backwater planet…? In the meantime, the crew could enjoy an amazing ‘shore leave’ on a planet that has no tourist attractions!

For a while, the Horizon would hang out in orbit of the planet, hosting a small contingent of bureaucrats and space cops. The service department, presumably, would have to roll out the red carpet for them. Meanwhile, political prisoners escaping from the planet’s moon-prison hijack a shuttle and book it over to the Horizon, since it might be their only real ticket out of here! Are ‘morals and ethics’ worth causing a small incident over? Who knows!

Basically, some Star Trek style hijinks spread out over a few events. Fun-fun-fun.

7. Have you ever been subject to any warnings, strikes, or bans from the Aurora moderation team? If so, how long ago were you and for what actions did you receive moderation action for? Answers for this question should include actions taken on the game server, discord servers, and forums.
Yes, multiple, including a permanent ban at one point. Several years ago, my overall conduct on this server (both as a community member and, briefly when I was around thirteen or fourteen years old, as a writer for synthetic lore) was poor. While I can provide an explanation for my poor behavior and highly questionable, inappropriate writing, this doesn’t really excuse any of it. A lot of this happened or is coming up on taking place a decade ago, but, regardless, I am deeply embarrassed by it and have tried to apologize to people I treated badly. It wasn’t right.

8. OPTIONAL: Do you have any miscellaneous comments or remarks for the Human Lore Team or the community?
I tried to keep it short and sweet.

Edited November 2 by rrrrrr
woops

[MattAtlas]

You are missing the questions in the basic format here:

 

[rrrrrr]

Haha. Woops. Should be fixed.