[Citizen] Kilo11 (Patron: Flinn)

[Akar]

My bit

Oh my Dudeness... it's been a long long time since I last came here to propose a worthy member for Citizenship, last time was over 3 years ago with the beloved Socrates.. however, if I'm back today is because I firmly believe that Kilo11 is deserving the citizenship status; I remember having seen him around for long, even though he's become more active over the last 2 or 3 years, I remember his name back from my early times at the TATW forum, though honestly I started to notice his activities when he became more regular in the PH&A (something which happened as well with others of my clients, after all the PH&A is my house here at TWC ).

However, I won't bore you with too many details, Kilo11's provided plenty of them (he probably wrote the longest application letter ever!), but I'll just make you aware of one fact: he's the first client ever of mine who's not a Staffer... writer, tester, modder and awesome and kind person in general, IMO he is really overdue.

Kilo11's bit

Salvete Cives!

I honestly cannot remember when I joined the TWC, though official record would maintain that it was the 23rd of March, in the year 2012. Perhaps that is even the truth of it. At any rate, I was for an extended time a quiet and ungenerous member, coming only for the mods that entertained and amused me. I took what I would, giving nothing in return, and then went back to my own haunts. That was my way, in those times. That was my way, to my shame and discredit.

That changed roughly two years ago, when I discovered the artistic fora of the TWC, in particular the Writers' Study. I had been interested in writing for some time already, having written a number of short stories and started more than one book, and on finding an entire community of caring and creative individuals with similar interests, I joined readily. I began a sprawling AAR that is ongoing to this day (more on that below), and quickly began posting some of my completed short stories (again, more on that below), as well as partaking in the regular Tale of the Week competitions (and again, more below). And with the roots of that seedling of activity in place, I quickly began to grow more active by the day. I regularly talked with other writers about their craft, poking in on threads covering narrative structure, writing practices, and plot and character development, to name just a few of them. I also read many AARs and creative writing pieces, giving commentary where I could, encouragement where it was needed, and in all those efforts I became acquianted with new faces, forming friendships and confidances I otherwise would have missed. In short, I went out and did all I could in that small corner of the TWC. But that was not all.

With my newfound interest in not just consuming the content found on the TWC, but also creating some of my own, I began to look around more and more of the subfora that before I had ignored. I found the modding workshops, where I did my best to learn some things and give a bit back (see "Modding Contributions" below), and also the Artists' Studio with all its varied beauty and craft. I dabbled here and there, creating a thread about mapping, with links to my own works, and did my best to give input and suggestions to the more regular contributors to that area of the fora. I also found the Personal Help and Advice forum, where I periodically check in to see whether or not I might be able to give a word or two of wisdom (assuming that I have any to give). And with all of this poking about, I was noticed.

Just over a year ago I received a message from Flinn asking if I had been contacted by anyone with regards to citizenship. I hadn't, and said as much, and Flinn then offered to put my name forward. He said he had noticed my contributions and thought me worthy of joining the ranks of the Cvria. He and I talked a bit more about citizenship in the TWC, what it amounts to, what it means, and though I was certainly intrigued by the idea, I told him then that I would rather wait a bit. My reason for that was based on rather principled thoughts I have regarding citizenship (for those of you who do not know me, I am doing a Ph.D. in philosophy -- specialty is ethics and political philosophy -- and so I take things like "citizenship" quite seriously). I believe that being a citizen of anything, be it site or nation, is a privilege and a responsibility, as we gain not just rights, but the imperative to use those rights responsibly and to uphold them in the face of potential threats to them. When Flinn first asked whether I wanted to become a citizen, I was indeed interested, but I was also too busy with my Ph.D work to feel that I could in good faith bear the rank of Citizen, of Civis. For that reason, I turned him down at that time.

Unexpectedly, I then received another message offering patronage, this time from King Athelstan just a few weeks ago. I told him my earlier concerns, and that Flinn had previously asked me, but I thought longer about the input I am likely to make in the future, and whether I could indeed perhaps join the ranks after all. Then, as if to hammer home the playful thought, Flinn again contacted me (Athelstan later told me he'd reminded Flinn to... harrass is the wrong word... but something along those lines ). This time I said yes. I have the time, and I care enough, and so at long last I am putting my application forward to become a Citizen of the TWC, and I hope that you will agree to let me join you.

Below is a breakdown of all of my specific contributions to the site since my becoming active roughly two years ago. There are links aplenty for those of you unfamiliar with my work, and I hope you will peruse some of it, as I imagine at least a few of you might actually find it interesting. For those of you don't, at the very least you can see that there is plenty there, and I can promise there will be more to come. So I will break this wall of text now, and leave you to look through the record of my contributions, as I believe that speaks far more to my candidacy for citizenship than any words I might now say.

1. Contributions to the Writers' Study:

1. AAR: My longstanding After Action Report (AAR), Written in Sand, has been a fixture of the Medieval 2 AAR subforum for nearly 2 years, and in that time it has won first place three times in the Monthly After Action Report Competition and second place once. As a testament to its relevance in the AAR writing-scape, it also received an extensive Critics Quill Review while the AAR was still in its rather early stages. Since then, the AAR has had more than 50,000 views, and has been voted the second-best AAR of the year in the 2018-2019 Writers' Study Yearly Awards.
2. Creative Writing: Though the lion's share of my writing is certainly to be found within my ongoing AAR, I also have four separate creative writing pieces in the Creative Writing subforum. Two of these works are short stories that are finished, one is an ongoing piece of fantasy-fiction written in the style of Terry Pratchett, and one is a thread in which I review whisky.
   
   • The Last Days of Albanus (completed): This first short story is a telling of the final days of Britain's first Christian martyr, Albanus. It is one of the earlier things I've written, so the writing is not -- excellent, shall we say -- but it explores some interesting ideas and presents a solid narrative for an interesting historical event. It also received second place in the Monthly Creative Writing Competition XVIII.
   • The Song of Tekka and Maharat (completed): This piece is a short creation myth that I wrote to accompany some fantasy-esque fiction I have been working on for a while. It is short and self-contained, and does a rather nice job of building a world and mythology in a concise manner.
   • The Fool and His Keeper (ongoing): This ongoing piece is rather dear to me, and represents my first foray into writing more comical things. The story focuses on a (somewhat foolish) boy who has found a (possibly even more foolish) magical sword. The tale was born out of my entry to the Tale of the Week 279: The Magic Sword, and has since found its way into a second Tale of the Week entry (281: The Hero of Legends), as well as an ongoing longer story which can be found in its own dedicated thread. This tale has also won second place in the Monthly Creative Writing Competition XIX.
   • Wood's Guide to Whiskies (ongoing): This little side project of mine is as much about providing information as entertainment. In it, I give some personal (and certainly not professional) tips on whisky tasting, along with some general thoughts and information, and then I go on to provide specific reviews of whatever whiskies happen to be on my shelf at the time. The purpose of the review thread is to provide a repository for my thoughts, spark some conversation about good drink, and maybe get a few people thinking about whisky to give it a try. So far, the thread has been refreshingly chatty and interesting, with a good group of lads freely gabbing away about what they like and why, and sharing suggestions, fun facts, and just general joviality. Really, a great place to peek into if you want a casual conversation about the Water of Life ("whisky" is derived from the Gaelic "usice beatha", which means "water of life"!).
   
   
3. Tales of the Week: Since joining the Writers' Study there have been nineteen Tale of the Week competitions. I have participated in fifteen of them, and had the good fortune to win six times. Most of my entries were one-off pieces of flash fiction, as is the norm for Tales of the Week, but two (279 and 281) went into my ongoing Creative Writing piece The Fool and His Keeper. For a full listing of my TotW entries, see post #4 of my personal library here on the TWC.
4. Occasional Competitions: Since joining the ranks of the Writers' Study, a new so-called "Occasional Competition" has begun. To date there have been two such Occasional Competitions, and I have participated in both. The first required one to write an advert for something posted to TWC, for which I created an Europa Barbarorum II advert, and the second asked participants to write a short story based on the web game "seedship".
5. Duels: I have taken part in one Writers' Study duel, in which I and Swaeft duked it out to see who could come up with the best story given a particular prompt. I emerged victorious (though his entry was also great), and with our battle we brought renewed life to a Writers' Study event that had long been cold. To see my winning entry, click here!
6. In addition to these direct contributions of my own, I also regularly provide commentary on a number of larger works from other writers. In particular, I have been very active in Derc's Meta-AAR, Skotos of Sinope's epic Rise of the Republic AAR, Cookiegod's Medieval 2 hotseat AAR, and Swaeft's now complete Stainless Steel AAR, as well as many others. I have also recently joined the TWC Writers' Study unofficial Discord, where I and other TWC writers discuss our stories and give one another advice (If you dabble with the pen, come and join us there! It's a good time with good folks!)

2. Contributions to modding: Modding is not really my forte, and in general I have done very little of it. That being said, I do find it to be interesting, and I help when and how I can. Below are two concrete contributions I've made to modding, but I also do my best to give input, suggestions, and minor fixes whenever I can.

1. In 2017 I put together a "Basic Roadmap to the .txt. Files". The point of the thread is to provide an easy reference guide for where files are located, both to help new modders get their bearings in the Medieval 2 folder setup, and to provide an easy signpost for more experienced folks who just might have forgotten where to find something.
2. Just recently, I have helped the SSHIP team with fleshing out some of their latest additions to their Stainless Steel submod. In particular, Jurand of Cracow wanted to add a number of new ancillaries but did not have the time, so I took that project over. The work should be included in the next version of SSHIP, and in the meantime more information about what I did can be found in this thread where Jurand and I discussed the work.
3. While it's nothing significant, I also regularly chime in on any threads I notice that ask for native speaker's advice about in-game texts, and I provide as much thought and input as I can on modding topics with which I have some familiarity and can offer useful suggestions.

3. List of other contributions to TWC:

1. Mapping Thread: In my AAR work, I found it be quite useful to have blank maps, but could not find many good repositories of such things, and so I began making my own. As my abilities to create good maps increased, I decided that might be something that other AARtists would be interested in, and possibly also modders. For that reason I created Kilo11's Cartography Corner, a thread in which I provide a couple of guides for how to make your own maps, and where I provide links to the files of the blank maps I have already made.
2. Personal Help and Advice: I am not nearly as active in the Personal Help and Advice forum as people like Flinn, chriscase, or General Brewster, but I make an effort to poke my head in there now and again to see if anyone needs advice on a topic in which I might have something of use to say. I can't say my words have necessarily done any good, but I do try.
3. Total Guess Competition (movies): I regularly participate in the movie guessing competition, and to date have 19 points in the Total Guess Competitions.

4. Awards:

1. First of all, there are the numerous MAARC, MCWC, and Tale of the Week wins listed above, along with my AAR coming in 2nd place in the 2018-2019 Writers' Study yearly awards.
2. In my first year as a contributor to the writing areas of the TWC, I was also honored by being voted Best Newcomer in the 2018 Writers' Study Yearly Awards.
3. In December of 2019 I received the Writers' Study Competition Medal (Gold) for receiving at least 24 Writers' Study competition points, and to date I now have 30 such points.
4. In February of this year I received a 2019 Member Award for being voted "Best Writer" in the 2019 TWC Site Awards.
5. In the past year I began taking part in the Guess the Movie from the Picture guessing competition, and have since then received a Total Guess Competition Medal (bronze).

And now, as per tradition, an image to send you on your day. For your viewing pleasure, I present my very own dog, Buddy!

RECOMMENDATION LETTERS

I honestly found his mantis-dog creepy, but I'm a cat man after all
Thanks for your time, as usual..

Flinn,
of the Church of
The Latter Day Dude

[Turkafinwë]

An overabundance of support

[Jurand of Cracow]

Support.

[Akar]

Ignore any and all things that might look like mistakes in this thread or the fact that Flinn is no longer the OP and continue with your business thank you good day.

[Alwyn]

Voted.

[Lifthrasir]

"Duty" done

[Leonardo]

Voted.

"Duty" done

You are always on duty.

[Gaius Baltar]

Voted

[King Athelstan]

The die is cast. The loaded one, of course

[Swaeft]

Very glad I didn't miss this.

Wholehearted support. Kilo11's contributions are of a wide variety and his writing is superb. And that application is a great piece of work on its own. Godspeed!

[MIKE GOLF]

Voted.

[General Brewster]

I'm only voting for Buddy to be honest.. Hot damn what a handsome dog.

[Lord Thesaurian]

Voted

[PikeStance]

Support and voted