107 replies to this topic

[Marine Captain Llewelyn]

Hello, all. I have come to find out that my ship, the USS Independence looks like its going to be decomissioned, as Admiral Anassasi is going on long term LOA. I don't know whether or not Lt. Commander Cody will be receiving a command of his own, whether it will be the Indy, or anything else. To be honest I don't know what to do. I'm still stuck at ensign, and I fear that if I get reassigned I'll be losing any credit I get for the past two months I've spent simming on board the Indy. If I want to request a post, I have that option or else I have to await my fate at the hands of the powers that be. I was really leaning towards requesting the challenger, as I have a good working relationship with Toni but they already have a counselor who sounds like an alpha male in his own right and I'm not sure that Llewelyn and he would be able to work together very long before one of them ended up dead (j/k). He's a Lt. Commander, Llewelyn is a former Lt. Commander currently serving as an ensign owing to his time away from the Starfleet, and that is a burr in his blanket already... Unfortunately its a fact that every other post in the fleet ALREADY HAS A SHIP'S COUNSELOR. This really dismays me because I don't want to step on anyone's toes, and on my current vessel I've been given the heads up that if I continue to sim the way I have that sometime in the near future I will be promoted which is fine. I'm used to being the chief counselor on every vessel I've served on though, and I don't know how I would fit in otherwise. I've thought of maybe switching duty posts, but my character is a COUNSELOR, or at least he wants to be and that's where my education and training lie. I have experience in Security too, but thats because I've worked Security for the past ten years after leaving the counseling field, seven of it in the hospital setting, and I sim to play out something other than what I already do. My character has spent the rest of his career as an "operator", covert ops, psychological ops type character. I've also thought of the Eagle, because Llewelyn is a Celt, the counselor on that ship is an ensign too, and she's from a world that sounds like it would have a lot in common with Llewelyn's. Plus it is an intrepid class ship, and I am a huge voyager fan. I know I sound like a first year newbie instead of a seasoned former Lt. Commander, but I HATE reassignments and decomissionings. You spend months trying to forge new friendships and relationships, and the fact of the matter is I've only been on the INDY for about 6 days IC! Anybody got any suggestions, or would anybody be interested in working with me? If so I'm open to suggestions as to who what and where, because I'm a bit befuddled. Like I said, I'm committed to the INDY, but I'm afraid if I don't explore my options, I could end up in a posting that I really am not happy with. Plus Llewelyn has a "secret backstory" that explains why he came back to starfleet, and some people may be cool with letting me run that in the background and let it influence the plotline, whereas others may be less supportive. I would really welcome any advice you could give me on this.
Respectfully,
Iolo Madoc Llewelyn

Edited by Iolo Madoc Llewelyn, 28 September 2008 - 08:07 AM.

[Toni]

...I fear that if I get reassigned I'll be losing any credit I get for the past two months I've spent simming on board the Indy.

There are other players who stand to lose more than you, Mr. Llewelyn. I think there would be need for a counselor big time after any decommissioning. Just sit tight and see what happens. And don't panic.

Edited by Toni, 28 September 2008 - 11:22 AM.

[FltCpt Andrus Jaxx]

Llewelyn,


Although, I may seem like an "Alpha Male" OOC, I try not to do that IC. As far as I am concerned you are more than welcome on the Challenger, I don't think "stepping on toes" would be an issue. Your character would have just as much freedom here, as it would anywhere. Just because we had one disagreement in the forums, doesn't mean I did not agree with anything you had to say...just some of it. From my perspective it appeared as if you refused to see any other point but your own (which Im sure wasn't the case, but it did appear so). With Captain T'Pen's approval, I would actually look forward to SIMing on a ship that had more than one counselor, so from my point of view, if you want to request the Challenger, do it. She is a fine ship, with a fine crew...as are all of the ships in the fleet. So in the end, Challenger, or Eagle...its about where you want to be. Don't let the fact that every ship has a counselor, stop you from going where you want to go. Alpha Male or not, I could learn from your experience...and just maybe you would learn something too.

[FltAdml. Wolf]

My best advice follows on what Toni said: don't freak out. Every time this happens, people tend to get all up-in-arms about how much they're losing, but in the end, it works out 85% of the time. Just like any situation in life "you get out what you put in." If you go into it with sour grapes, you'll come out with bad wine.

[Marine Captain Llewelyn]

Llewelyn,


Although, I may seem like an "Alpha Male" OOC, I try not to do that IC. As far as I am concerned you are more than welcome on the Challenger, I don't think "stepping on toes" would be an issue. Your character would have just as much freedom here, as it would anywhere. Just because we had one disagreement in the forums, doesn't mean I did not agree with anything you had to say...just some of it. From my perspective it appeared as if you refused to see any other point but your own (which Im sure wasn't the case, but it did appear so). With Captain T'Pen's approval, I would actually look forward to SIMing on a ship that had more than one counselor, so from my point of view, if you want to request the Challenger, do it. She is a fine ship, with a fine crew...as are all of the ships in the fleet. So in the end, Challenger, or Eagle...its about where you want to be. Don't let the fact that every ship has a counselor, stop you from going where you want to go. Alpha Male or not, I could learn from your experience...and just maybe you would learn something too.

My dear Andrus,
in preparation for my impending transfer I reviewed the bios of the counselors on the ships I was interested in. Trust me, my observation has nothing to do with our difference of opinion here. You are welcome to your opinion and as you pointed out I have a very strong personality, IC and OOC. I'm sorry that I came across as intractable or inflexible because in actuality I'm very adaptable OOC. Llewelyn is a bit more "been there done that" type of a personality IC. He's been used to being the Chief Ships counselor and he's been a Lt. Commander with HCO responsibility. Now he's an ensign, and until receiving this very gracious posting from you, I was skeptical of just how he and your character would interact. As noted in your bio, your character is very direct, almost it seems confrontational, and very much convinced that if he thinks he's right, he's gonna say so and stick to his guns, regardless of the feelings of others. Llewelyn does his best to avoid direct confrontations because number one, it is tactically more sound and advantageous to do so as evidenced by the writings of BH Liddel Hart, Clausweitz, and of course Sun Tzu. One of his favorite quotes from confucious states that you don't use a cannon to swat a fly. Another axiom he lives by with regards to counseling is if the only tool you bring to the problem is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail. Llewelyn values honor, and truthfulness, but he also values humility, and he considers the fact that he can always learn from someone else. He came to that position, however the hard way. He is confident, but not [...]y. I'm not saying your character doesn't have humility or is [...]y, but he does come across in his bio as a bit of an Alpha. Llewelyn tries to control his alpha tendencies, but he's a lot like Worf trying to play down his Klingon tendencies. At any rate it could be fun, and I'm not opposed to simming with you, and I appreciate your gracious gesture towards me, I'm just not sure that their differing counseling styles and personalities wouldn't clash. I'm up for anything, mind you, but Llewelyn is not me. I'm more of a "method actor" when it comes to simming him, and whether I like it or not, sometimes he gets knee deep in some [...] with people who try to "flex" on him. That was my only concern. Not so much from anything you might do, but in the knowledge of the fact that he is much more anal than I am. I'll consider it though, and either way I consider each and every one of you to be valued colleagues. I'm sure there is much we all can learn from each other.
Respectfully,
Llewelyn

[Marine Captain Llewelyn]

My best advice follows on what Toni said: don't freak out. Every time this happens, people tend to get all up-in-arms about how much they're losing, but in the end, it works out 85% of the time. Just like any situation in life "you get out what you put in." If you go into it with sour grapes, you'll come out with bad wine.

My dear Admiral,
I appreciate your personal response here. Rest assured that I will not freak out, nor will I bring sour grapes to my new posting. Consider my last post as a bit of OOC post traumatic episode. After all, in my first year or so with UFOP I served on at least two ships, one of which was the ill fated Arizona. I've been IC for about a chronological week on the Indy, and it kind of dredged up some of the turmoil that we experienced with the decomissioning of the Arizona and LeCrisp's... departure, shall we say. I know that that was a difficult time for all of us, and I know that you were intimately aware of the issues surrounding that wonderfully complex, but somewhat dysfunctional at times crew. I am grateful, knowing the fall out that resulted at that time and shortly thereafter that you have accepted me back. It was a difficult and somewhat emotionally draining experience for all of us, and I can't help but notice that I'm the sole representative of that fine but troubled ship still represented in the fold. Integrating into a new crew is an intense experience, and I really like the people on the Indy. Although I understand the Admiral's need to take her leave, I really thought we might have a chance to make a go of it with Cody at the helm, but now it looks like that's not going to happen. Having served in the Military, I have seen change of command ceremonies before, and we never decommissioned the unit due to a personnel change, but I understand that you have the bigger picture in mind, and have considerations far beyond my pay grade or expertise with regards to who is ready to sit in the big chair, and who is a better fit or needed elsewhere. I'm sorry if my previous post seemed like grousing, because that was not my intent. I am a team player, and will do my best to fit in wherever you should choose to post me. I love the UFOP. If I didn't I wouldn't have come back. I've spent time looking into other orgs, and for a while I even ran one myself, but I must admit that the UFOP is the finest I've ever simmed in and the finest out there. You are to be commended for making it so through your leadership and, although I may not have always agreed with all of them in the past, I'm man enough to admit that you are the best person to be making these decisions, though you'll have to forgive me for taking eight years to realize it. you have my committment that I will do my due dilligence to continue to work towards making sure that the UFOP is well represented by my actions OOC and my character's actions IC.
Most Respectfully,
Llewelyn

[FltAdml. Wolf]

Your thoughts are much appreciated Thank you.

[Marine Captain Llewelyn]

To all and sundry,
Thanks to the help of Salak THE SECOND TUTORIAL I've written regarding simming the role of the Ship's Counselor is now up on the wiki! I'd be interested in any feedback that you, my colleagues in the ST Counselor's position might give to the materials. They can be found here:
http://wiki.starbase...tive_Psychology

I'm a little swamped right now but hope to start work on the 3rd and final tutorial in this series soon.

Respectfully,
Llewelyn