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- 33 Mission Posts
- 5 Personal Logs
Last Post
Fri Oct 14th, 2016 @ 5:27pm
Commander Andrew Matheson
Name Andrew James Matheson
Position Chief Diplomatic Officer
Rank Commander
Misc
| Permission Level | Department Head |
Character Information
| Gender | Male | |
| Species | Betazoid | |
| Age | 52 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 6'1" | |
| Weight | 180 lbs | |
| Hair Color | Pale Blonde, going to white (picture slightly outdated) | |
| Eye Color | Black | |
| Physical Description | Andrew has fairly fair skin for a Betazoid, with the beginnings of laughter lines forming at the corners of his eyes and mouth. His eyes are a little more sensitive to the light than is typical for a Betazoid, though he schools himself to not squint. He keeps himself clean-shaven, to the point where it's noteworthy if he goes two days without shaving away the beard stubble. His hair is worn in a slightly closer-cropped close-cropped fashion than pictured above. This hairstyle does have the drawback of exposing more of his forehead than would generally be desirable on an oval face. His face looks slightly drawn and angular, enough so to lend a bearing of firmness and solidity without veering into cruelty or cynicism. His frame is more agile than muscular, his contours more in line with a dancer's physique than anything else. He moves purposefully and firmly, but he does have the flexibility to sidestep a running crewmember without spilling his morning beverage. His hands are particularly slender and graceful compared to the rest of him, with long fingers that help in delivering a good firm handshake. His nails are always neatly trimmed. There are faint calluses on the fingertips and at the base of the fingers, developed from years of practice at some of his hobbies. He carries himself with confidence, his at-ease posture only a few millimeters removed from his attention posture. When a speaker is not requiring his attention, his head (and particularly his eyes) are always moving and taking in the surrounding details so critical to his line of work. When a speaker is in fact requiring his attention, his gaze is direct and absolute. His voice is quite possibly a greater asset than his posture and bearing. His normal speaking voice is smooth and silky, settled comfortably in the tenor range, with no trace of an accent in non-mission situations. On the rare occasions that more than a speaking voice is required, the silkiness drops away to reveal firm, steely resolve and confidence; filling a room is not a problem for him when the need arises. |
Family
| Spouse | Rachel Matheson (nee Jintay), now divorced | |
| Children | None (a pair of twins lost in childbirth) | |
| Father | Chris Matheson | |
| Mother | Charil Matheson (nee Zatlar) | |
| Sister(s) | Amber Letrin (nee Matheson) | |
| Other Family | William Letrin - brother-in-law |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Andrew's general outlook on life tends towards 'calm, cool and collected'. It generally takes a lot to rattle him, and even when it does it takes a lot more to get him to show it. He does find comfort in a daily routine wherever possible; the one thing he does generally insist on is 30 minutes over a cup of tea, coffee, or water (in that order of preference; his tastes in tea run toward black tea with a dash of honey, his tastes in coffee run toward cinnamon roasts) to allow him to pull his day together and organize his thoughts. Being Betazoid, Andrew is telepathic. Compared to the average Betazoid, Andrew is above-average in detecting and projecting thoughts and emotions. He is rigidly disciplined to keep his thoughts to himself unless the situation absolutely requires it or he has permission from the other people involved. The one area where he will deviate from this is when he's trying to pick up a language in order to aid communication, in which case he will limit himself to reading surface thoughts to pick up syntax. One of the few ways to get visible irritation out of him is to attempt to force his mental barriers, or to attempt to force someone else's in his presence. His command and leadership style is regulation, but he treats his subordinates as friends and colleagues wherever possible. He is always respectful of the ideas and opinions of others, but he is not above critical questioning of an individual who he does not feel has done the amount of homework required for a given situation. He is not given to emotionalism, except where his wife is concerned. This isn't to say that he doesn't understand the importance of emotion in diplomacy; he just keeps his own emotions under a very tight rein. His humor tends towards the dry and understated; he understands the value of a well-placed subtle stroke of sarcasm and also understands that puns, while generally to be avoided, are occasionally irresistible. Frankly, the person who appreciates his humor the most is his wife, Rachel. In terms of Myers-Briggs preferences, Andrew is slightly introverted, slightly intuitive, mildly thinking, and mildly judging. None of these preferences are critical enough to him that he'll upset the apple cart if someone has to have things the other way. |
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| Strengths & Weaknesses | Andrew's biggest strength is his mental discipline. The telepathic abilities he's protecting and using are potent, and he knows this. A side effect of this discipline is a very strong force of will. Once he latches onto a project, he is able to stay with it fairly easily and fairly tenaciously. However, the flip side of this is that he will occasionally overwork a situation, particularly if he has too much time to address it. Andrew has a natural talent for languages and mimicry; he learns them quickly and can adopt regional dialects and accents after a couple hours of exposure to it. He tends to augment this talent with his telepathy in mission-critical situations. Andrew is in good shape for his age; however, his age is a fair ways beyond the rank and file of a starship crew. As such, while his physical condition is not poor by any means, it is potentially a liability depending on his surroundings and situation. Andrew's biggest emotional weakness has to do with his wife, Rachel. The two of them are still married, but the demands of their separate careers means that they are effectively separated from each other. They care for each other and converse regularly, but it's with the mien of people who have been friends for 30 years rather than that of ardent lovers. However, Rachel has the ability to get Andrew caught up in her moods, which can occasionally cause tension for Andrew. |
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| Ambitions | Andrew's had a 30-year career in the Diplomatic Corps. He's still lucky enough to wake up every morning loving his job, but he'd still like to make captain while he's still spaceborne (and he wouldn't say no to commodore; admiral strikes him as slightly too much work, though). These days, though, he is aware that there are definitely fewer days ahead than there are behind. He wants to make sure that his knowledge is passed along; he's seen a lot in his 40 years, and there's some of it that you just won't find in any book. He's working on writing said book in his spare time. Andrew also dabbles in musical composition, being a firm believer in the theory that to truly understand a culture you must understand its music. He has been crafting a composition in dribs and drabs across the years that he'd like to bring to a close and hear performed before he dies - but he can't bring it to a close until he stops traveling. |
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| Hobbies & Interests | Andrew dearly loves strategy games. He has a particular passion for go, but also has skill and interest in bridge, 3-D Chess, and Stratagema. Of the four, he's probably best at go. Andrew also appreciates gambling games such as poker and Tongo. However, most people won't play games like that with Betazoids they don't know well. So he doesn't get to play that as much as he would like to. As previously mentioned, Andrew has an interest in musical composition. He's self-trained in the art and has written minor pieces over the years. He hasn't published any of them because they're not up to his exacting standards, though. A couple of them could easily have been published and made a decent amount of fame for him with his skill level. He tends to work out most of his instrumentation on a rosewood lap harp, which is one of his more cherished possessions. Andrew has a love of literature; as with music, the literature of a culture is an important window into understanding it. His bookshelf and PADD collection has a wonderfully eclectic selection of texts from a diverse variety of cultures. Wherever possible, Andrew tries to get the texts in the original language. It helps him stay conversant with the language and helps him avoid cultural inaccuracies or biases that may be introduced via the translation. |
| Personal History | Andrew was born on August 14, 2338 in a medium-size city on Betazed. His parents are both Betazoids; they relocated to a somewhat rural portion of Earth in 2342 to offer their services as therapists. His sister, Amber, was born just over two years later on August 30, 2340. The Earth town was fairly rural and remote by the standards of the Federation, with a fair amount of nature and wildlife. He grew up outdoors, always knowing he was different. Betazoids coming to Earth to relocate wasn't a terribly common experience. As such, Andrew had a bit of a rough childhood growing up; it always is for the child who's different. In high school, Andrew got by on his intellect and his silver tongue. He could talk himself out of almost any situation (a talent made easier by the fact that he could subconsciously pick up on what the other target did or did not want to hear), and the Betazoid ability to project emotions allowed him some small success in the high school theater productions. He graduated third in his class of three hundred and seventy two, and was out of town the next day heading for San Francisco and for Starfleet Academy. As a result of his placement examinations, Andrew was enrolled into the Diplomatic Corps of Starfleet. It was while he was at the Academy that he met the love of his life, Rachel Jintay. She was studying exobiology at the University of California in San Francisco, and they were set up by mutual friends. An awkward evening at a nightclub transitioned to weekly get-togethers at coffeeshops, and by his junior year they were spending every free moment together. They were married just after their graduations in 2360; Andrew graduated third in his class, Rachel second in hers. His first assignment was a short stay on a colony world near Klingon space; after his year was up, he was recalled to Earth for a second assignment. While his transport was unloading supplies at the Federation Planet of Tau Gamma IV, his services were requested as a peace mediator between Tau Gamma IV and its neighboring planet of Tau Gamma V to try and defuse a civil war. Andrew was able to talk both sides down and hold the peace until a more senior diplomatic team arrived to conclude negotiations. Owing to the success he had as a raw diplomat at Tau Gamma IV, Andrew found himself being attached to more senior diplomatic teams, actually traveling to galactic hot spots. In 2365, Andrew was called to help serve as a negotiator for the Federation - Cardassia peace talks. His major project for the next five years was collating and investigating diplomatic flare-ups along the border. He never had the ability to do anything about them, but his even temperament and keen intellect made him someone both sides would talk to. His wife was detailed with him; her background in exobiology made her a valuable surveyor for estimating the value of the disputed territory. During this mission, Andrew and Rachel attempted to start their family; however, Rachel suffered a miscarriage of twins that almost killed her. At this point, Andrew was an accomplished negotiator and was seen as capable of leading diplomatic teams. As such, following the Treaty of 2370, Andrew was detailed to Earth for three years of leadership and command training before being assigned totart serving on frontier vessels, where contact with Starfleet wasn't always a given and thinking quickly on one's feet was the best asset one could have. Rachel's civilian status precluded her from being assigned with Andrew any longer, and their marriage started to decay to the point of a good friendship. Andrew's four tours of duty on the USS Medusa, USS Manassas, USS Petersburg and USS Solstice were served with distinction and served to keep him on the frontier for the next seventeen years. As the end of his tour on the Solstice approached, he heard about a opening at Starbase 80 and submitted his resume... As a recent development, his wife Rachel has filed for divorce since Andrew has arrived at Taranok IV. |
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| Service Record | 2356 - Entered Starfleet Academy Diplomatic Corps 2360 - Commissioned Ensign 2362 - Commendation for exceptional performance, Tau Gamma IV 2362 - Commissioned Lieutenant JG 2365 - Commissioned Lieutenant 2368 - Commendation for exceptional performance, Cardassian Borderlands 2373 - Completed leadership and command training; commissioned Lieutenant Commander 2377 - Notation of above-average performance, USS Medusa 2381 - Notation of above-average performance, USS Manassas 2386 - Notation of above-average performance, USS Petersburg 2390 - Notation of above-average performance, USS Solstice 2390 - Commissioned Commander at Taranok IV |