Scars

---

The Citadel, Selen

35 ABY

"...if someone has to step up, I'm willing," was the resigned but resolute proclamation of the sharp-jawed Quaestor. He didn't look pleased at the prospect, but his stance was firm, ready to do what was right as the ranking officer.

"Who cares? I'm tired of standing around and not doing anything. We should be going after those sleemos."

"We will hardly accomplish anything without a proper structure of organization, Qyreia," spoke the redheaded Battleteam leader smoothly. Her smile was perfunctory and just plain enough to be appropriate for a setting of mourning. "And I am, of course, willing to do everything in my power to aid in that endeavor."

"That's appreciated, Lucine, but Terran is still our superior," Zujenia chided, more harshly than the normally calm half-Ryn typically would. She was still covered in bandages and shallow scrapes from the battle. "And there is also Lord Arconae."

"It is merely a suggestion, darling. I would not assume myself the best candidate, but I assure you, I would do quite well in such a role at this dire time."

"You can still help," Terran offered, fingering one of the many pockets inside his coat. "Don't worry."

"Hold on, now, who's to say either of you is the best for this? No offense, but I'm still right here," snapped the Zeltron. "I've been working with our troops for months, I know this stuff, and we need to be ready to fight right now a lot more than we need to be worrying about making creds."

"Darling, are you saying all we are good for is credit? Because, I assure you—"

"I've heard one too many assurances that haven't been for kark, recently, so sorry, but—"

"Hush!" cried Zujenia. "No one is saying anyone is unfit. We need to be considering what's best, here. What would Atyiru have done? Perhaps we should reach out to one of the former Proconsuls, or one of the other Arconae, if not Terran…"

The doors sliding open with a bang cut her argument off. Heads turned, gazes swiveling. The familiar faces of Uji and Kordath flanked a Human woman with a cold, feral smirk.

"Hello, nerfherders," she said, striding in and popping her hip, a hand settling there above numerous knife holsters.

"Who the frack let you in?" Qyreia scoffed.

"Me. Just now. Pay attention, Pinky. Your kind aren't the blind ones."

"More importantly," Terran asked, looking unimpressed, sharp features pinched. "Who are you?'

"Your new boss," declared the woman with a wine-red smirk.

The Quaestor continued to stare levelly, nonplussed, while the Zeltron mercenary gave a disbelieving cry and Lucine paled.

"Now's not the time for your, your joking, Satsi," growled Zujenia, her short tail lashing, the hair on her arms standing upright. "Atty...Atty is—"

"—the reason I'm here, Spots," interrupted the newcomer, approaching the table. Uji's cane rapped against the floor as he stopped just behind her, close enough that the backs of their hands brushed where they hung at their sides, while Kordath rounded the room and squeezed the Qel-Droman Aedile's shoulder. Another man, Constantine, his blond hair pulled into a tail and blue eyes bright, took up position behind Uji.

"It's true, luv," the Ryn murmured, his mustaches twitching. "Blinky done left us a note, named 'er the new big guy and such, if...if anything did happen."

"Back up, here," snapped Terran, his cool gaze cutting. "Who are you, and what are you on about?"

"If you would allow us to explain, Koul, you would have your answer," the former Scion replied with equal coolness. "We have come to rectify the Summit's arrangement, as per Atyiru's wishes."

The Jensaarai's fingers dug into the sleeve around a limb that, not long before, had been broken trying to save the Nighthawk crew during the Hutts' attack. "You left. You're not striding back in here and pulling a coup, Tameike."

"No, he's not." The woman, 'Satsi' apparently, rolled her eyes. "I am. And it's not a coup. I've been…" her voice curdled around the word, "appointed."

...Read the rest here.

"The old Atty can't come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, she's dead."

Satsi and Uji on the Throne by Gazeki

WAHR

That's right, guys. War.

It's finally upon us. Fictions are being written. Dates have been released. Events are being finalized. This is it. The beginnings of war wrack our shores. Not "soon," not "sometime," not some distant and far-flung battle, but as in here and now. We conquered the ACC Preliminary, and now the rest of our battles are here. The War calls to anyone and everyone for their sacrifice. It calls for their answers.

We are the First Clan, my dears. Our reply will be victory. We are going to soak this galaxy in blood.

Er, I mean. Glitter. And rainbows. Yeah, totally those.

Dramatics or silliness aside, Arconans, the War is here, and that means WE NEED YOU! It doesn't matter if you've been under a rock for the last year occasionally logging in to keep from AWOLing. It doesn't matter if you're here every day chatting away. I don't care if you've never written a battleplan or RO before, if you aren't sure how to play Pazaak or don't think you can art, I don't care if you're old or new or somewhere in between. It's not a question of if you're scared to give it a try or if you're walking on freaking air — I am telling you right now, Arconans, you can do this. And do you know why I know that?

Because it's in your name. You are one of us. We're Arcona. We are fighters, champions, misfits, brothers and sisters. And we don't win by just being "the best" or some such ridiculousness. We aren't victorious because of our skills or abilities. We have everything that we have, we are who we are, because we try, because we struggle and claw and fight for everything we have ever earned, and when we are knocked down, we learn, we pick each other up, we get up again. That's our definition. Masters of our own fate, and nobody can ever take that from us.

Try. Draw a doodle. Plan a fiction. Play a game. Help proof your clanmates. Cheer them on, rally to each other. Any or all of these is trying, and that's all we will ever ask.

And my beautiful Arconans?

Be proud.

Arcona Invicta!

The Nuts and Bolts

I also want to take this time to give you guys and gals the most pertinent information you're going to need in the next few weeks and during the War. So, pay attention. Heads up, eyes up.

The Twelfth Great Jedi War will take place from Friday, October 13th to Sunday, November 19th.

In accordance with those dates, there may be no transfers between clans as of October 6th until the event's end. You can see this policy and other VERY RELEVANT policies on the newly updated Vendetta wiki page.

Participation and placement information as well as information about the structure of this War's events and signups for the Gaming brackets can be found in this GJWXII Update.

Please be sure, in this time before the event start, to review the Rites of Combat that dictate rules of conduct for gaming during a War/Vendetta, and also bear in mind any possibilities of cheating during such an event are taken seriously under the Covenant. I don't say this to scare you guys, because I trust all of you utterly — it's just good to keep these things on your radar and give the RoCs a review. Wars are tense, and stress can get to folks sometimes.

Arconans, come join the Arcona War Room chat if you haven't already. This will be our hub for all War-related activities, prep, planning, advice, and moral support. Contact any of your summiteers for an invite. See also your emails or any of the summit or your fellow Arconans for the RO team signups.

Don't be dicks out there. Win with some grace, lose with it as well, and learn from both. And always, have fun.

We'll have more information for you all on events and specifics in the upcoming few days, but for now, learn it, live it, love it, make that last one your mantra, and be as amazing as I know each of you is.

The Story So Far

Well if this ain't a showdown.

I urge you all to read each of these fictions, or at THE VERY LEAST, the summaries included for each of them. They cover not only the prologue to the War, wherein the Lotus (that's half us) along with some of the other revolting Clans launch an attack on Pravus and co directly to destroy his supermegadeath ship, aka the Dark Council's SSD The Suffering.

While that's happening, though, a mysterious new force appears and attacks both the clans' ships and the Dark Council's! The clans being to retreat, and Arcona's forces hang back to cover them. Just before we escape, more of this new enemy's kamikaze ships slam into us, causing damage, and we see Atty fall.

The following update, the first portion of the GJW fiction, takes a look at introducing the people onboard those mysterious enemy ships, and clues us in on a possible new threat to all the DB, the Collective. We're going to see more about them in upcoming fictions from Sarin as the days tick closer to the deadline, but you can read about them and check out their artwork in that fiction and on their wiki page.

See all of this here:

The New Order Arc:

• Chapter 4: Order
• Chapter 5: Conclusion: Endgame

GJWXII: Retirbution:

• Chapter 1: The Collective

And us, meanwhile? Weeeeeeeelllll…

There are varying degrees of evil. We urge you lesser forms of filth not to push the bounds and cross over into true corruption, into our domain.

Brotherhood News

Across the DB

First up, I want to take a second to say CONGRATULATIONS to our honorary Arconan, gaming friend, and sistacon, Turel, on his promotion to EQ4! It's amazingly well-earned. Clan Odan-Urr has come a long way in the last two years, and I'm proud of them as our allies, friends, and equals. No small part of that can be attributed to Turel's efforts in wanting his Clan to be the best they could be, just like we on your summit want for all of you, Arcona. It's always our privilege and honor as your leaders to be able to serve you, and for that, we thank you; and for his service, we thank Turel!

Speaking of such sentiments of service, I want to extend the same wishes and congratulations to Xen, who, this summer, retired from the longest Consul stint I know of in DB history and was given an Amethyst Kukri for his efforts. Well done to him, well done to his successors and Clan, and well done to our Brotherhood and all our Clans, the Dark Council, and the Dark Summit for all they do.

Now, on to some more odds and ends, Sarin and Mav recently released the Mandalorian Tradition, which all our dear Fett fans and Mando players can now select under their Traditions tab if they like! Woop!

A quick nod, too, after last month's Destiny 2 release, to all the goodness released from the Fist staff in response. Check out their first and second updates on the topic as well as the gaming network news. Also, ohai, Drac has completed his first year as fist, so check out his year in review report here.

ACC Rockstars (That Means you guys)

Back in July, we saw the first and only open round of ACC War competitions in the ACC Prelims! You can read Atra's entire review of the event from back then if you didn't at the time, but I wanted to say again how utterly proud I am of you all now as we dive back into the War hype and highlight a few statistics from therein.

• Arconans counted for about one fifth of all participants.
• Arconans claimed half of the top ten placements, and placed in four of the top five.
• Arcona won the overall ACC Preliminary when Kordath placed first.
• Arconans scored 138 points towards the War throughout the event with their participation and placements (roughly 40% of total points given for the ACC prelim event).

Do you guys see those numbers? Do you? Because that is amazing. I watched you guys run to as many matches as you could; I watched you swallow your fears and tackle the challenge to get even one match in for the sake of your clan; I watched you cheer on and continuously aid your fellow clanmates through kind comments, open ears, and willing proofing no matter how late the hour or how close to the minute the countdown; and I watched you win and lose both with grace.

I am so proud of all of you, my dears. So damn proud. And I'm gonna keep being proud, because I know you're going to go into this War doing everything you can.

You're stars.

And speaking of stars (and rising ones), I want to give a shout out to our own Lucine for not only being brand new to the event and the ACC at the time and coming in third place, with some of the most matches and wins, but also for taking everything she learned and becoming an ACC judge!. That's how we live and learn, Arconans. Keep it up!

Arx

Once upon a time, the jewel of the Brotherhood was its home planet, Antei. From Antei did the Brotherhood long reign in all its glory, a beacon of dark power.

Then, one fateful day, as war raged on its surface and fire and blood rained like starfall, a terrible ritual was enacted, a too-proud Lion seeking life eternal. Titans challenged him, with armies at their backs, and the evil was vanquished—

Okay, that's getting hard to keep up. TL;DR the DB used to have its home on Antei (and you can still see lots of signs of that, names of medals and stuff) but then it got slagged in the last GJW and the DC went all vagrant in its fleet when the clans went back to their home systems and we've basically been playing carpool in space for the last two years.

BUT! Now we've got a shiny new planet, thanks to lots and lots of hard work from so many people on the project. Everyone, if you haven't checked it out already, then welcome to Arx..

You can find all the initial details about Arx and its release in that report from Wally there, and check out both the wiki pages for the system and the planet, which were all populated by graphics made by us DBers who participated in the Art4Arx comp. It's pretty great.

And if that's all not cool enough for you, just bear in mind that Arx is where all the Dark clans and the DC (and Pravus) will be hanging in the coming months, so if nothing else, we might have vested interest in it as a source of vengenc— I mean, uh, economic benefits and train...ing…?

Really though, give it a glance, and well done and so many thanks to everyone who contributed! Woo!

For if you do, one day you will look behind you and you will see we three. And on that day, you will reap it.

Clan News

New Appointments, Team Shifts, and You

As many of you will already know, I had the pleasure of introducing you to your new Proconsul in Kordath this last month as he stepped up and took on the mantle with me, and I hope you'll all join me in thanking the man and his wayward tail for it!

Kord's move, though, left us with some rearranging to do. To that end, Uji/Donny volunteered his further services and has left Nighthawk to serve as Galeres' new Quaestor. Due to a tumult of real life issues and recalls, though Ernor applied for the position of Aedile, he had to step away, and after putting out a call to discuss the state of Galeres, Donny has welcomed back the once more available Q to Aedile and Constantine to Battleteam Leader.

I want to thank both the boys for their applications and willingness, and additionally thank Q, Constantine, Ernor, and everyone else who expressed interest in leadership for your eagerness and interest, as well as your help and work thus far. Thank you, all of you, so much.

Additionally, I want to take the time to turn your eyes to Qel-Droma and her teams as well. After much debate internally and review and talking to their members, the HQD summit decided to close one of its Battleteams, and so said goodbye to Shadow Gate and moved all its members into Voidbreaker. Leeadra was very supportive in this process and very understanding, and I want to thank her for all her service to the team. You can check out her final report as well as SG's final report below.

Meanwhile, Lucine will be continuing on as BTL of VB. You all can read more about these decisions and the future of Qel-Droma and Voidbreaker in Terran and Lucine's respective emails they sent out previously. Thank you, everyone, and well done.

Pictured above: Satsi and Kord being "in charge."

Annnnd I might as well talk about one more "summit change" while I'm at it, though this one is less of an appointment shift. As you'll have seen from reading above, with Atty's death at the hands of the Collective, Arcona was in need of a new Consul, and Atty, in all her questionable wisdom, posthumously bequeathed that role onto Satsi Tameike. Satsi is my other character, one some folks know I have been playing on the sidelines for several years now. Some of you reading this will be familiar with her, most of you will never have heard of her unless you've seen me answering for her in daily fiction chat questions. I never really thought I'd actually switch to her as my Main Character (I had a token for her for some time, then an NPC sheet, and then when NPCs went live, she became my Alternative Character, woo Voice and Possessions and Senechal teams!) but here we are. The fiction stars all aligned and we needed a War Consul for the War Council.

God help us all. :P

So, yeah! Meet Satsi. Obviously you all will still know me as Atty, but if you don't see "Atyiru" coming up when you look for me on the site roster anymore, that's why. Any questions? Just ask me! Nothing else is changing in this, I'm still here, you're all still awesome, and we're all still gonna kick butt.

Sins of the Past: On Hold

After Episode III: Revenge of the Hutt's conclusion back in the summer, we decided to put Sins on hold until after the War. At the time, we thought the War was going to be over by end of August, but plans change, heh. Still, we maintain that statement now, less than a week away from the war — ARE YOU HYPED?!!!? — and so we'll be tabling Sins until December at the earliest. You'll probably see more discussions about what to do with the story and events after the War, but for now, our focus is elsewhere.

In the meantime, if you've missed anything and want to catch up, always remember that you can read all of Sins so far here on the Discourse page.

Dem Factions Tho

Reminder as ever for our ideological factions, different schools of thought that draw different people together and lead to certain goals and actions in Arcona. They're a useful little tool for sketching characters and thinking about how every Arconan "aligns" themselves.

These “factions" have long been developing amongst all our individual characters and in the stories we as a Clan have told, and they’ll be our device to further establish ourselves and develop now! They’re our boats to help us along in the fictional sea of the New Order storyline, its eventual War wrap up, Sins of the Past, Aftermath, everything from DB to BT level, and more.

The descriptions are going to be in need of a bit of an update post-War, to adjust for changes in storylines and to focus less on particular characters, but the general sentiments will be remaining the same.

It’s still a very big chart.

If you want to go back over the specifics and thorough details of all the factions, refer back to my previous report on the topic.

Reminder that some of the standing Summit and Arconae have all declared their factions to help out as a reference. You can check them for an idea of who’s who, where, doing what — just bear in mind that while YOU know these allegiances, your characters may not.

• Atyiru: Champions
• Satsi: Operatives
• Uji: Operatives
• Timeros: Shadow Hearts
• Kordath: Wildcards
• Terran: Wildcards
• Zujenia: Champions
• Lucine: Wildcards
• Wuntila: Shadow Hearts
• Sashar: Shadow Hearts
• Strategos: Shadow Hearts

We saw movements from all of these groups over the course of the last year with its many events, and will continue to see them as a starter framework for reference. What’s next for all these groups? How will the events of Sins affect them, and each of you? How will your stories continue to build now that the New Order arc has ended, and we move to meet a new enemy of The Collective in War?

Go find out.

The Road Ahead

So, what now, for Clan Arcona? What comes next? Sins is on hold, so presumably, in-character, Port Ol'Val is still piecing itself back together after its near destruction and Estle and Selen are still recovering from the plague and famine that has left the city tense and at the edge of riots. Eldar's population is dead, and the planet is only useful now as a source of mining and natural resources for Dajorra. Arcona is bustling its armies and outposts as its shiny new fleet of gunships and immense army settles in, prepared to defend her homeworld even if the away-portion of her ships go to battle. The Clan has just made a major strike against Pravus with her allies, but our kill was stolen by this new enemy in the Collective, and on the eve of war, our beloved Consul Atyiru has been killed, and a new one has taken her place to drive Arcona to bloody victory and survival at any cost.

The light has faded, and our shadows grow long. Where will they reach next? Keep your eyes out on the newspage and on your emails all this week for more fiction releases about the War storyline and other information on the War. We've got just days to go, Arcona. What comes next? What's ahead of us?

We stand up as a clan and we fight, that's what. Whatever our reason, whatever fictionally comes next, we will account for it, adapt with it, conquer it, and make it our own. We will fight and we will win.

Are you ready?

And we will send you to whatever god you wish.

Other News, Reports, and Happenings

• Fist Report 13
• Voice Report #10
• Herald Update: Magistrates and Releases
• MAA Report #7
• Regent Report #9
• Headmaster Report #16
• Senechal Report: September
• Combat Master Report #11
• Odan-Urr Consul Report August
• Qel-Droma Report 11
• Shadow Gate September Report
• Voidbreaker Report September
• Nighthawk Report #2

Recognition

You darlings have been as amazing as ever. We've got big promotions out the door! We've got awards! We've even got several Novae. Hell yeah, Arconans! Give yourselves and your fellows a round of applause. Hey, maybe even dance.

Kordath Bleu

• Gold Nova
• Equite IV

Tali Sroka

• Dark Cross
• Equite I

Leeadra Halcyon

• Dark Cross

Rrogon Skar Agrona

• Dark Cross

Rulvak Qurroc

• Anteian Cross

Kelviin

• Equite I

Lucine Vasano

• Equite I
• Bronze Nova

Uji Tameike

• Equite IV

Edema R'uh-Kalinor

• Equite II

Zujenia

• Equite II

Ask the Atty

I just want to say this up front: you sons of biscuits, you really took the whole "see how many increasingly harder questions we can ask her" challenge seriously, didn't you? :P

Well strap in and quack quack, motherduckers, 'cause I answered them all in depth. YOUR MOVE.

Turel asks, #asktheatty where would you like the Lotus story to go from here (read: after the GJW)

• Atty: /me has flashbacks to all the times we've "discussed" this
• Well. :P I think of the Lotus less as the anti-Inquisitorious and more as a neutral faction that accepts people of any path and power so long as they're willing to do one thing: make the Galaxy better by any means. That breaks down into two prongs for me: policing and protecting where there is injustice being done, and providing home and haven to anyone who would wish it. I want to see them become a universal peacekeeping force removed from the politics of the DB that recognizes the many sociopolitical, economic, and humanitarian concerns that it creates, rather than trying to be a rebellion or locked in direct opposition to it (because I think that's what Odan-Urr, really, stands for as Jedi. Spreading the Light and guarding against the Dark when there is an imbalance, usurping things when they go wrong, #rebels). I imagine COU as the other side of the DB's coin, ostensibly (which isn't to say they don't have dark allies — hi, love you — just that that status could very easily change years from now but I don't think their true Jedi-rebel meaning will as long as there's an evil GM to oppose). If the clans are the ones always duking it out, and the Inq are the secret police spy network, then I hope the Lotus could be the ones picking up the pieces, constantly out there rebuilding and safekeeping when their isn't a war and rising to the call of action when there is something bigger going on. I guess another way to think of it is that while our countries here on Earth squabble, there's always someone in need or in danger out there going unnoticed, and there are in turn groups to help them. I'm not looking for some rainbow friendship thing that's all about love and respecting each other's differences — I imagine a group that doesn't discriminate because their work is practical and meant to do the good left undone, whether or not someone calls them terrorists or someone calls them heroes. There's probably a better parallel here in comic or story business but I can't think of it.
• Point being: I want the Lotus to stay, and I want them to be more and less than the rebel alliance and something everyone could invest in if it suited their character, not the polarized little section it's become today and not limited by the boundaries of Clan Path lines. An Arconan or Plaguein Dark sider could be a Lotus crusader right beside an Odantie NFU of Light or Gray. When we first created the idea three? years ago before the New Order Arc was even a thing, I envisioned it as a Tradition, like Krath or Sentinel, that would be not unlike the White Lotus from Avatar the Last Airbender, which was where the name came from, or the Argent Dawn or Argent Crusade in World of Warcraft.

Donny asks, #Asktheatty what do you hope to be remembered for? With the legacy of so many prior Consuls being what we were raised on in the Club. What do you hope new members will learn about you?

• Atty: Oh god, this is like staring at my bathroom mirror with existential dread at three in the morning. Uh. Okay, deep breaths. Collect thoughts. I've thought about this A LOT over the last two years in many anxious moments, it's just hard to put to words, heh.
• I suppose I hope that people will say I helped make us kinder. Not only to the club as a whole, starting with the first co-op feud ever when I pushed for us to ally with the dirty lighties to all the social change that had come up with chats opening and members sharing and generally just care being shown all over regardless of clan boundaries… But also internally too. I've always known Arcona was considered the clan of assholes. And hell, I've always been proud of that. We might be assholes, but we're each other's assholes. We're a family, and no one messes with our family but us. I loved that. It felt like a home. What I didn't like was the way it seemed like not everyone had that, and the ways we could hurt not just other people, but also each other. The rainbows and friendship thing is a joke. I'm really not that cheery a person and I'm terrible, cynical and mean in my own ways. But, I honestly think people are inherently worth it and good no matter how bad we as a species and individuals also are. I think everyone should be loved and should have someone care about what happens to them even if they don't "deserve it." I think they do deserve it. I've prayed for the guys behind mass shooting, crimes distant and closer to home, things like that. Because you know what? It's likely no one else is going to. And somebody should. I just think somebody should. We live right now and it's all we have, this journey. We have to choose to put something good into. Choose to be kind and not angry, to understand instead of judging… Hell, to do both, because we're going to, and still pick the more forgiving course of action. If we don't choose to do that, then it won't happen. That's just not how nature works. Someone has to.
• Anyway, to get away from the philosophy...I kept up with the whole sunshine and happiness thing because it was a blunt instrument of forceful cheer, and it wasn't graceful, but it worked. I have watched Arcona become a kinder, friendlier place over these last years. I've even seen it happen all across the club. I've watched us make deep connections and friendships that, at the risk of great arrogance in the assumption, I don't think would have happened like they did if it had been someone else in my chair. I like to think that I helped make that possible, that we're a little better now and that I had some part in opening that door that all you beautiful, wonderful people walked through.
• "Legacy? What it a legacy, but planting trees in a garden you'll never get to see?" -LMM. Still, I suppose I'll have one, at least for a little bit. So… Look. I've made a lot of mistakes. I have made bad decisions, I have mishandled situations, people, and feelings, I have spoken out of turn and made choices that hurt us. I've also made the best of bad decisions and made a few good ones I stand by too. I have failed so much you guys don't even know how on the edges of sanity my friends and my team keep me, heh. I'm still doing it. But for all that, I do think that when I look at us, we are better than we were two years ago. Different, not all in good ways, but better overall. And if that's not a worthwhile legacy, then I'm sorry, hon, but I just wasted all y'all's time with these paragraphs because I just don't have anything else for this.

Warp asks, #asktheatty Have you had a job outside the DB that relates to what you do in the DB? If so, did you use the DB as job experience or your job as experience for the DB position? If not, would you have? Lastly, if you had to pick something else to do in the DB, what position would you choose?

• Atty: I haven't had a job that relates to any of this, no, unless you count being the "mom" and "designated driver" of my friends group in high school. Which. I guess you might, since DB dramas are the same. I've only had three jobs so far: stock work filling orders at a travel bag company, nurse assistant internship work at a medical-surgical wing at Cleveland Clinic, and stock, cleaning, and food service at my old dorm at OSU.
• That said, the DB has given me a frakton of skills in computing (Google Docs/Sheets/Slides, Office products, Gmail, spreadsheeting and data gathering, project apps, messaging platforms, etc), creative skills (writing, drawing, graphic design, even some multimedia software) and management (hello leadership). I've found a lot of all that has actually been extremely applicable and helpful out in the world. As for listing the DB as job experience, no, not yet, but I have used it academically in resumes and for projects, like my final anthropology ethnography, several formal speeches, and several essays and interviews.

Kelly Mendes asks, #asktheatty what advice would you give to people outside Arcona who are interested in writing with Arconans?

• Atty: Type, "hey, wanna write something together?" No, seriously. We're just people just like you. Talk to us! Ask some Arconan about their character in fiction chat, maybe comment on their answer to the daily question if they bring one up. Talk about how your character and their character might interact. Do a little off-the-hip snippet or something. All good ways. And that doesn't just go for other DBers looking to write with Arconans, that goes for Arconans looking to write with each other and with other DBers. Talk, mingle! People and friendships don't operate in vacuums, and neither should characters. None of my characters' relationships came out of thin air — hell, two of my three major DB chars were co-created with other people (Donny/Uji and Turel respectively). All the ties my characters have, those came from talking to people about ideas and writing with them sometimes. Point is, be bold, be social, be curious! Put them out there, engage, and always — just ask. The worst that happens is someone tells you they're too busy to write something right away, so what do you have to lose?

Turel asks, #asktheatty Bean asks "do you want to go to the bark park?" :p (Dog dad addendum: when you aren't sick)

• Atty: I absolutely do, new best pupper.

Donny also asks, #AskTheAtty - If you were forced to choose a member of Arcona to die (Atty and Satsi not being viable) who would it be? why would you choose them? and how would you craft the death to ensure it's loyal to the character and readers?

• Atty: Joke's on you, Atty was viable. :P
• To answer this anyway, though, it would really depend on what the death was for. I guess, right now, I'll say Skar — because he and I had been having an ACC match of Skar vs Satsi and he decided to kill Skar off while he took a break from the club. The why there is because it worked and he wanted to anyway. As for the how...Skar's recent character arc involved the dark side driving him to kill his wife in a fit of insanity, and making up a whole story to himself that it was Uji who ordered it and Atty who let it happen, so he blamed the clan and went traitor. Satsi, knowing he was gunning for her brother, had decided to take him out or die trying. In the course of their battle, I was going to write that Skar eventually tried to shoot himself in his grief but couldn't manage it, and Satsi scoffs at him and shoots him herself. Tragic/bitter wrap up and all that. We didn't get to finish our match because of time constraints, but that's what I would have done.
• If for a clan fiction? Again, it'd depend, but killing any character would be a labor of love and a letter of goodbye. I would research the character and talk extensively with the person before it happened, and it would need to be reasonable and organic in its delivery.

Aiden asks, #AskTheAtty how do you feel about experimentation on your members? I know of a lovely red-head who could be a fun test subject.

• Atty:

Zuji asks, #asktheatty What advice would you give a sistprentice trying to understand her darker two sisprentices?

• Atty: Patience and a firm hand. Zuji has light in her soul, and the heart of a protector. She'll be able to guide and guard her sisters if she stays strong and true, and remembers that she can try and try, but sometimes, can't save people if they don't want to be saved. Lucine and Juliana both probably very much don't think they need to be.

Xenna asks, #asktheatty Octopuppy or dogtopus?

• Atty: Definitely octopuppy. Imagine a tiny floof with eight legs of love trying to smother you in fluffy lickies and snuggles. Fukken yiss.

Leeadra asks, #asktheatty How does Satsi feel about Atty possibly being dead? How does she feel about taking over Arcona in Atty's footsteps?

• Atty: I can't use a GIF of the guy in Boondock Saints going "eff" fifty seven times, so here's this:
• 
• She's not happy. She's not happy about Atty — they've had a lot of animosity between them lately because Satsi stopped being able to trust her...but sadly, even hating someone doesn't mean you can stop loving them, and that sneaks up on you when they're suddenly gone — and she's especially not happy about being surprised by this "hey take over for me" thing. She hates the Brotherhood. She hates the Clans. She'd much rather than all go to hell, and now her dead friend wants her to lead it? Ffffffff that.
• But here she is. Why? Read and find out later, perhaps.

Tasha'Vel asks, #asktheatty How does Arcona feel with what has occurred currently in the GJW events? What are some ways the clan is preparing for GJW?

• Atty: Pravus is still the big concern for them...but they're also NOOOOT happy about Atty being killed. IC, they're reshuffling their summit and getting their army ready to attack. OOC, we've got a hype train in our War TG chat, RO teams ready to go, CS workshopping, stuff like that. We'll see you on the field!

Lucine asks, #asktheatty Will it really be okay? Or were you simply saying what people wanted to hear the whole time?

• Atty:

Tali asks:

#asktheatty How will Arcona shore up its defenses in the wake of this not-quite-war-but-still-kinda-war? Will Arcona seek to increase domestic production? Will Arcona focus on capital ship, starfighter or ground armaments?

• Atty: I'm pretty sure I have peons for this question, lol. Arcona's fleet and army are designed as a "raiding" or smash and grab fleet. That is, we have lots of gunships, several starfighter carriers, and two larger "capital" ships, one of which is a major troop transport. It's meant to be able to go out with a large portion of our army and ground vehicles, kick some tail, and come home, and to do so with higher maneuverability than not. Meanwhile, the other half of our army is stationed at home to prevent any takeovers of our home planet when we're gone, and their defense is augmented by Dusk Station, which is weaponized and stays in orbit over Selen. We actually have the largest army in the DB by more than...uh...three times? I think. From last viewed stats. Like 21-24k troops alone. Our idea isn't to have the biggest fleet with ALL THE ISDS. It's to be tactical.

#asktheatty What will happen to Ol'val without Shadow Gate to tend to it? (not that they did a great job at keeping it safe so far...)

• Atty: They'll still have Voidbreaker and the rest of Qel-Droma. And, besides, it's a shadowport. Business will return because the underworld always does. :P

#asktheatty How many bodybags do we have stockpiled and do they all come in a selection of rainbow colors?

• Lots and lots of them, but incinerators and space funerals work very well for a reason. It's economic! And I think those might be the one thing Atty didn't rainbowify, expect one for herself, maybe.

Q asks, #asktheatty How does one get in good with Satsi? Why should/would we (our characters) want to? What does she bring to the table that Atyiru doesn't?

• Atty: Step one: don't touch, disrespect, or otherwise harm Uji.
• Step two: be in Uji's good books/have him vouch for you, or otherwise help him (for instance, upon the revelation that Q saved his life once when she was gone, Satsi would eat every bad thought she'd ever directed at the Zeltron. She might even apologize for being rude, though she wouldn't apologize for thinking like she does… she's still xenophobic of Zeltrons/Falleens)
• Other possible steps: don't be a dick, buy her a drink — alcohol or caf — or a smoke, fist fight with her, don't be a Force-user; if you are a Force-user, don't be a mindfrakker; if you are a mindfrakker, don't use your powers on her and admit how screwed up it is that you mindfrak people.
• Why would your chars want to? Self-preservation is a good one, she reacts very violently towards people she doesn't like, and now she's got some amount of authority/autonomy in not having to hold back with judgement as she sees fit. Before, if she shot someone, Atty would have a problem with it. Now? Atty's not here. Otherwise, Satsi is actually loyal to the most extreme definition to anyone she gives it to, and would throw herself in front of a bullet without a second thought — probably over eagerly — for someone she cared about.
• What's she bring to the table? Uh. Well, Satsi is a lot more vicious than Atty and that means no holding back because of moral crap. She's pragmatic, amoral, and violent, and if someone crosses her or hers, they're getting shot, no theatrics, no speeches, no mercy. Pravus needs to die horribly, not be saved. Anyone opposing Arcona, the same treatment. Anyone on her side is okay. Satsi also has more experience tactically than Atty does, having co-lead a very large Black Sun gang for 20 years. Atty was charismatic and kind and had foresight, and people followed her because they loved her. Satsi doesn't give a damn about anyone's feelings or the people that get caught in the crossfire. She's a fighter and she's here to make sure the people she fights for survive. No sacrifices for the greater good. To hell with the greater good. There's just today and living until tomorrow. So, some folks might see those qualities as beneficial. Others might argue this is the biggest mistake ever, haha.

Grandprentice Kelviin asks, #asktheatty do you believe that each character represents a component of ourselves? And if so, does that part of us die if the character does?

Donny adds, Follow up question #asktheatty - if that part of us does die when the character does, is this an indicator of our development as writers and individuals? could this represent the changes and experiences we've encountered over the years as members of the DJB?

• Atty: Well, Jesus, you two. :P
• I wouldn't say I believe that each character represents a component of ourselves, but I would say that I believe real emotion and experience from a writer always ends up in their characters. That's not to say I think a character is a vehicle for a writer or self-insert or escapism. I'm actually very against those assumptions, because I think it discredits the author and the character both. If that's what you're writing, that's great! But I think it's a rude assumption to make when looking at a person's writing. I generally dislike assumptions. :P
• That said, I definitely do believe characters come to life on their own and still retain those little pieces of ourselves we put into them, inadvertently or otherwise. When I made Atty, I put into her all the values I wanted to be better about myself, a sort of overly extreme self-actualized ideal of what I wanted to be like; not to be, but to be like. Something to aim towards. Those ideas were forgiveness, love over hate, mercy, trust, non-judgmentalness, acceptance...Atty was stupid to the extent of her forgiving nature, but that extreme depiction was sometimes a nice little compass. I didn't like how hurtful I could be, and I never wanted to be made to feel hate for someone (that didn't work) and so I played a character that wouldn't be made to hate anyone. Things like that. Satsi is a much rawer expression of emotion, and sometimes ends up being an outlet for my rage, heh. But, really, this version of her has ended up being a voice for some of my anxieties. Her character is so different from me it's ridiculous, and yet I feel her more strongly than I do anything else I write. She's very emotionally raw, and accessing that is something I love to explore, especially in her extremes of trauma/PTSD and in her diehard, self-destructive love/dedication. Ruka, my other NPC, is an exercise in happiness and love and genuineness, but also somehow became a place for me to explore my feelings of insecurity, and also to vent about my familial relationships (my older brothers and I have had some tough times, and some of those disappointments have been rehashed in Ruka's story as his distance from his deadbeat father).
• So, yes, I do think we have pieces of ourselves in our characters, but that they are wholly their own selves. And I don't think any of that dies when a character does, in the same way that we say people are still with us when they die. Their memory, and their effect on those around them, remains. Eventually, yes, it will fade as time passes and those who they left behind pass too...but until then, we tell their story.
• To answer the follow-up, again, I don't think part of us dies with the character. I do, however, think our writing of different characters can reflect different parts of and different changes in ourselves. Does the fact that I have come to write Satsi more than Atty, or that I've come to write Ruka a lot, mean I've somehow grown up? I don't think so. I think it means I might be in a different place than I was three years ago. I don't know that I could articulate what that place is, or what it says about me, if anything. I'm not a psychiatrist, haha. There's definitely something to be said, though, about how I've changed as a person over the last several years because of the influences of my writing and my friends and loved ones in this club and the choices I've made in my life accordingly. We all keep changing. Sometimes, yeah, maybe changing characters is reflective of that in some way. Who's to say?

In Closing

Real Talk

Well, that was my first report in a very long time. A very long time, mind. A lot happened, one thing leading to another that eventually just culminated in one month going by, then another, then another...sometimes it was big stuff. Other times it was me or someone else telling me that I should take a breath when I can and that the Clan would be there tomorrow, that sort of thing.

My last report was in March. Back in March, I had my classes start finishing up, going into April with seemingly back to back deadlines and projects and madness before finals were suddenly there in May. About that same time the first week of May, I got a new medication that I started having tremors on — shaking in my hands and fingers that turned into my whole arm, my legs, and even my face. I took one of my finals by holding my right hand still enough to bubble answers in with my left. Obviously that wasn't supposed to be happening, so I went to the doctor. Except, I never got there. I got a street away from mine and then the next thing I knew, paramedics were waking me up by putting me in an ambulance. The meds had caused both tremors and tachycardia, which just means my heart was going insanely fast when I wasn't doing anything to make it do so. So much so that I blacked out while driving and went into a pole. I recovered well enough — no bad injuries, but the car was totaled — just in time to fly to Arizona because no way in hell was I cancelling that trip, and got to see my dad for the first time in almost four years. Vic got to meet him. This time last year we weren't sure if he was gonna make it or not, and my grandad had passed. My family and I got to visit my remaining grandpa for the last time while we were up there too. When we got back, it was a sort of revolving door of fighting insurance folks and doctor's appointments to see if anything else was wrong with me — I still had an irregularly fast heart rate and was sleeping all day on different meds. By then it was about mid-July, we were embroiled in the ACC prelims day and night (which you all ROCKED), I was finally getting on medicine that didn't have side effects for me, there were more family visits when my mom came by, and then it was already mid August, and oh hey, the War was delayed AND school was right there, which I should probably be signing up to retake things for so I can actually get into nursing school, and also our cat Farah was briefly thought to be dying and I literally did not sleep for almost four days because we were scared if one of us couldn't actively have eyes on her she'd have some internal rupture thing in the middle of the night but she got better thanks to the vets and wam bam boom, here we are already. I'm just out of my first exam week, I've been sick for another week and was running around helping sista (hi Turel) move in across the street before that, and oh my god, guys, it's almost Halloween (squee!) which means IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS AHHH YES SQUEE.

/me breathes

How's those for run on sentences, eh?

So, all that said, why am I telling you guys all this crap? Why break out the sob(ish) story or whatever? Well, I don't say any of it for the sake of pity and I especially don't say it as an excuse for not doing a report in six months — that's on me, end of, and it's a failure as your Consul I've been concerned with for all that time. This might be a volunteer job, but if I'm still volunteering to do it, I need to be doing it. Thankfully, you all had a good summit to keep you on track even with me flaky and a revolving door affixed to my Proconsul office.

But that's not my point. My point here is, really, to just let you guys know what's been going on, for two reasons. One, I believe in honesty, and I've always tried to be honest with you all. Two, we're family. Ohana. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I do mean that. I mean family. And you tell your family, whether you're born with them or find them, what's going on with you. Maybe not always. Maybe not everything. But you talk to them. You listen when they need to talk. You're there for each other and that doesn't change even when other things do.

And that's really more my point. Life happens. Life never stops happening. We all have entire worlds, our individual worlds, going on for us behind our screens. We're all people, we're all human, and we should never forget about that. Always remember, the guy next to you, the guy you're messaging, and the guy who has no idea who you are, you're all the same... Just human. Humans with lives.

Stuff happens. Life happens. The DB happens. Things change. We change. We make our choices. I personally go by the philosophy that it's all about the journey before the destination and that every day is about making your own happiness, whether or not you feel it. That's why I try to always be here and be smiling and positive and yelling at you about hugs and glitter. I don't always talk much about myself, but I want to be there for you guys like you're there for me. This club has given me what I consider the best four+ years of my life, when all's told and totaled, and the last two going on three years as your Consul and one of your fellows and part of your lives... They've all been goddamn fantastic. Driven me insane and kept me sane. Introduced me to people I'll never know and also my best friends, partners, and brothers and sisters.

We don't always have to say everything. Or, we can say all we like! It doesn't matter. We're all still here. We're all still human. We're all still family.

So, there you go. I've been chewing on this, on not saying any of this, for months. Wondering how I'd phrase things and if I shouldn't bother because it's all a bit self centered and pointless or not. You're here to get your necessary #arcona info and some hype and move on, and it might be better of me to just keep on my leader face and be honest, yes, but not dwell on the past overmuch.

I finally decided I'd write it out anyway, and then see about including it or not, so here we are. I don't have much more to say, now, except to remind you guys to stick by each other and to get excited for the War, our first one in almost three years. We're about to fire the starting gun.

Don't miss it.

Arcona Invicta!