Member of the Year Nominations 2019

Nominating Rawk for member of the year. I wasn't here for the full year, but I've done my due diligence of a total lack of real research.

TLDR: Rawk has been very active in posting. He's also contributed a lot to events like WW4, changes and progression for multiple organisations/groups, put efforts to clarifying and adding to PH lore, and did staff work at all levels.

Let's start off with what he's done regarding IC activity. In 2019, Rawk became predominately active with four groups: Vastime, Vandenreich, Lux Orior, and the Gotei.

Within Vastime, he had Abalia and Alex, though Alex is more affiliated with Vastimians rather than Vastime. Abalia went from being Hayden's unrequited love and close aide, to the his wife. She went to being Queen of Vastime, she led a death unit to defend Vastime from Shadow Fall on the eve of World War 4. Alex had a more dramatic change imo. He was originally a free-spirited man who roamed the world and satisfied his immediate desires and amusement, who hated the government and all that. In 2019, he was close friends with the leader of an authoritarian nation, he became committed to his lover, he mourned the loss of his best friend and twice-over had a city under his authority fail. Vegas was destroyed alongside his best friend, Margaritaville didn't work out, and he became a man who genuinely wanted to grow in strength for the sake of others. To not lose anyone again, to protect his lover, to control his powers. Alex also went from 4-5 with mostly beginner and adept skills to 2-tier and elite skills.

• https://www.platinumhearts.net/t20250-my-heart-in-all-it-s-pieces-will-forever-love-you
  
• https://www.platinumhearts.net/t20021-i-blessed-the-acid-rains-down-in-africa-ww4-attack-event
  
• https://www.platinumhearts.net/t20090-down-in-margaritaville-open
  
• https://www.platinumhearts.net/t20147-alex-leveled-up

In the Vandenreich, he had Cyrus go from a Captain-equivalent position to the head of the whole thing. He had several threads with Cyrus to bolster Quincy activity, gain some agency with them, gain a friend in Ulv, face Hayden and nearly start war, and relinquish his humanity in the pursuit of his world vision.

• https://www.platinumhearts.net/t20888-tea-for-two-cyrus-shirohime
  
• https://www.platinumhearts.net/t20351-mere-advice-nothing-more-cyrus-nif
  
• https://www.platinumhearts.net/t20965-if-you-would-cyrus-sylvia
  
• https://www.platinumhearts.net/t20852-nothing-is-so-necessary-cyrus-ulv

In Lux Orior, he had Valentine assume one of the Chairman positions, equivalent to a Gotei Captain. With that character, he established a relationship with Chifuyu Yuudeshi, and participated in the Lux Orior attacks on Europe, sparking civil unrest in London, the heart of Shadow Fall's earth-based territory.

• https://www.platinumhearts.net/t20570-take-me-to-your-leader-closed
  
• https://www.platinumhearts.net/t19422-a-beastly-merger-vanguard-yayjuu-vizard-corps-mini-event
  
• https://www.platinumhearts.net/t19991-crossing-the-channel-ww4-event
  
• https://www.platinumhearts.net/t20847-organic-insemination-valentine-chifuyu

Rawk created multiple characters for the Gotei and has had tons of activity in it. From Abalia becoming the Vice Captain of Realm Enforcement, and then Vice Captain Commander, assuming the majority of the CC's authorities, being adopted and becoming the head of the Kyoraku house, and later becoming CC herself (though that's technically in 2020). He also continued plots with Julian to tear down the Gotei, he held position as Captain of 7th Division with Murasaki which is in contention for one of the most active divisions in the Gotei. Rawk's also been a major player in the resurgence of nobility in SS with Abalia interacting with nobles and Kokoro as a Shihouin member. He was also active with Murasaki during WW4 and went through a whole character arc of Murasaki falling to depression and finding help to climb out.

• https://www.platinumhearts.net/t20549-the-striplas-vegas-invasion
  
• https://www.platinumhearts.net/t20832-family-reunion
  
• https://www.platinumhearts.net/t20873-a-home-away-from-home

OOC, Rawk was staff in 2019 first as a moderator, and then an admin, and naturally did a bunch of staff work that I honestly don't feel like grabbing links for, like reworking some racials in light of the skill sheet changes of 2018, clarifying how some systems on PH work like energy, etc.. I think staff work still does apply as merits for him being a good member, since being staff is volunteer work. Being staff enables you to do a lot more for the site, more than regular members have the access to do, but any member can become staff. It's that Rawk's taken initiative to be staff and perform staff work that I believe staff work should count.

Rawk has also went through the process of helping many members throughout the site, whether it be through helping them with activity by getting them off the ground running with threads, being active in discord and offering advice, establishing a service on site where he helps people name their characters, offering an IC alternative to Hebimas with Cyrusmas. Rawk's also put work into developing site lore, such as working on Quincy Lore, clarifying the nobility of the Soul Society and making a new clan for them. Rawk regularly participated in member-meetings and whether as member or staff, had feedback for the site.

All these things are just ones I'm aware of off the top of my head, which I then went to look for threads for to link until I got tired of looking for links. Point is, there are 100% gonna be things he's done that I'm not aware of either, since like I said I wasn't here all year.