Firstacts Command Application

[firstact]

BYOND key: Firstact

Discord Username: Firstact

Character names:

Azarii Marrkarr (Bridge Crew)
Drazihiir Zrajuun (Paramedic)
Mira'ziir Hrakh'zm (Engineer)
D'Jar Sa'Kuate (Former HoS)
Jo'Zah Saani (Former CE)

How long have you been playing on Aurora?
Since around 2014

Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they?
N/A

Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph each.

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

Heads of staff provide many different effects to the games development but none more obvious than the directing of our sides action and response during non-standard ops. Whether it is a large scale event or a relatively simple round with antagonists they are responsible for high-end decision shotcalling. When and why to alert the crew, how to respond to potential and confirmed threats and exactly how that is done are often entirely on the shoulders of command players. It's through this trust in command decision making that they are to serve as a standard of how to conduct appropriate roleplay in our setting, as we want players to have their own agency and ability to affect short and long term storytelling with others while still needing to curtail poor behavior that may stifle a players ability to enjoy their time here, personal or otherwise. Effective command have the ability to involve everyone in current events while keeping the response at appropriate tempo so that each player has a chance to contribute instead of potentially being smothered or set to the side and forgotten.

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

I've always felt this question and the last are nearly the exact same. In particular, I feel whitelisted players in general are to serve as a vetted example in terms of personal behavior and roleplay. I really try my best to not shut anyones roleplay down even if it may initially seem inappropriate simply because this is a server designed around writing and roleplay coming first. Whitelisted players are expected to be a good source of information on the standards of whatever they are portraying, whether it's command, a species, or anything else. I love discussing our writing and how it affects roleplay on Aurora whether that is teaching those who are newer or un-informed to talking and learning about more nuanced aspects of character writing. As someone who has played tajara and followed their lore development for years I really love to see how others view their writing in particular, and with species I'm much less informed about such as skrellian and vaurca, I often turn to those whitelisted players to learn more about how they view the species expectations.

Explain how the recent events in the Spur changed your character and how they came to be employed on the SCCV Horizon.

Azarii has held a long career with NanoTrasen/Nexus and came to Horizon when she was 33 shortly after the peacekeeper arc reached its conclusion. I've always taken interest in NanoTrasen having a private navy due to their huge sec forces even back before Nexus existed and it only made sense to me that prior to the scarcity decline that they'd have continued to invest. While this lore had always been written, I never once saw anyone play off it for their own character as it was so niche that most players didn't even know. So as an example to others of this lore and a way to practice writing I was unfamiliar with, I made Azarii in 2023 and had her be fresh out of the corporate aux. forces as a woman who was aging quick and growing extremely weary of conflict given the numerous attacks on Biesel. I was one of many players at the time who wanted to act out the peacekeeper mandate and its effects on those involved.

Much of Azarii's story is centered around following her family naval tradition to see the stars in a new age of history on Adhomai. That opportunity to see the stars came from NanoTrasens influence over Adhomai, and she took the very first opportunity to ever set foot on that path: moving boxes and building drones on a NDV ship for NT with the promise of fair benefits and career advancement. Republican education, and religion mixed with pacifistic culture, in a relatively harsh environment, had tempered her to have the determination required for long term goals. She came to Biesel without much support and saw the opportunity to make something of herself with the ample education incentives offered by NT. Her career with Nexus as an officer is only made exceptional by her eagerness to learn and perform well. Though she is not particularly skilled, she has come to combine deeply self-motivated goals with the cold rationality required for effective command under stress. Prior to her arrival to Horizon, she finally had her first taste of true leadership through a few sparse years of leading combative flights and running training exercises with the new TCAF.

However, the stresses of combat and the nature of tajara aging at faster pace had lead to her ability to lead from her point of speciality to end, just as it was truly beginning. It was around this time that the Horizon mission had just returned to Biesel after their first trip, and so, she requested a transfer to Horizon on the promise of being tested for field command and advisory duty as a specialist. The entire purpose of this, OOC, was to only play Azarii for about a year and a half or two, then ship her off back to Biesel after she had gotten experience leading expeditions and small teams for events. However I've grown attached to this character and she's relatively well liked, though sometimes stretches duties for what seems to be expected of a bridge crewman alone. Part of this is simply due to how often she has been drafted into leadership positions during the past few years on Aurora and has never seemed to have any major incidents of injury, misinformation, or failure for whatever she has been in charge of. (That I can remember.) Personally I feel she's developed to be well proven as an effective leader that truly cares for those under her supervision and though that may seem overbearing to some players I make sure to never disrupt anyone unnecessarily so that we can all enjoy the game.

As for VERY recent events, operation deep dive has only made Azarii's goal of showing the spur the value of Tajara even more deeply rooted in spite of those who would see her as anything but an equal. Her life-long goal, no matter how she gets there, is to be her own captain. And with the impending crisis beginning to loom closer, she is more determined than ever to protect NanoTrasens interests, her interests, and her home.

What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted?
Mostly XO and CE and maybe HoS as I have the most experience in those. Though, I have played everything but OM and would like to eventually play all command roles again.

Have you familiarized yourself with the wiki pages for the command roles?
Thoroughly, though I often have the pages open for reference while playing to determine what my character would readily know

Characters you intend to use for command or have created for command. Include the job they will be taking:
Azarii Marrkarr, Executive Officer
I have two potential CEs that I will likely pick from after getting truly familiar with engineering again

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

Have you linked your BYOND account to the Forums?
Y

Extra notes:
No, this is not because of operation deep dive. I've just felt Azarii has developed enough that it feels inappropriate for her to remain a bridge crewman. She is often a point of contact for players seeking some form of leadership and/or coordination in all types of rounds and while I try to hold strict to the chain of command that can be disruptive. She was always designed to be a character with some form of leadership as her main goal and I didn't plan for her to stick around more than a year or two.

Might do a pass or two on the character story. She's got a lot written for her that I didn't want to flood this app with for obvious reason. Azarii is my best character writing in years.

Edited Sunday at 11:59 by firstact
forgot character names other than Azarii

[JeffMomentRed]

This guy been running the bridge like a mofo since the first show up. +1 better XO than most, it's true btw and you know I'm right. Hero at in-depth roleplay, staying to a lane, and escalation. Green to go. But those who know would agree without me saying anything 

[Rookie Eyes]

Both D'jar and Azarii are fun characters to have in a shift - were in D'jar's case, and I can't think of a single instance where I OOCly felt that Firstact wasn't playing in good faith within the context of the round. +1

Edited Sunday at 20:40 by Rookie Eyes