[OOC][PLOT] The Sixth Thread of Planning for Arc 1 - Arrivals

[Bob Schroeck]

Actually.... that's not a bad idea. I was originally thinking something a bit more like the musically-augmented combat scenes from the various Macross series. Or maybe the climax of Gossamer Axe.

Hm. Gossamer Axe. Now they'd be another good addition to have orbiting the New Brunswick music scene...

[robkelk]

Are you sure you don't want to write anything here, Bob?

[Bob Schroeck]

Don't you mean "start something and never finish it because it just adds to the backlog of incomplete projects"?

EDIT: I mean, I still pull out "Virtue is Its Own Reward 2.0" and think about adding more to that...

[Black Aeronaut]

Only one minor nitpick - Gil Graham would insist on not being referred to as an Admiral as his commission had been stripped from him in the wake of the Book of Darkness incident once his role in it became known. It was a hard-learned lesson for the old man, but one he's sworn to never have to revisit, and that means acknowledging the brutal truth that he got off easy in just having his commission stripped from him and retired from service.

[robkelk]

Oh, right. Fixed.


Say... does that hard-won lesson mean he won't use the Intelligent Device that he and his familiars created for his plan? Because that would mean that there's an Device optimized for freezing out there without a user while there' a Senshi with ice attacks that doesn't have a Device... Just thinking out loud here.

[robkelk]

On the off-chance that somebody's looking for a date in the chronicles where nothing has yet been described as happening, here's the list of dates without stories. The chronicles start on 2016-09-07 and currently run through to 2017-01-23. The gaps are between:

• There's Nothing Better! - 2016-09-17 ←→ There's Nothing Better! - 2016-09-19
  
• There's Nothing Better! - 2016-09-21 ←→ There's Nothing Better! - 2016-09-25
  
• There's Nothing Better! - 2016-10-01 ←→ There's Nothing Better! - 2016-10-11
  
• There's Nothing Better! - 2016-10-12 ←→ There's Nothing Better! - 2016-10-15
  
• There's Nothing Better! - 2016-10-18 ←→ There's Nothing Better! - 2016-10-25
  
• There's Nothing Better! - 2016-10-25 ←→ There's Nothing Better! - 2016-10-27
  
• There's Nothing Better! - 2016-10-27 ←→ There's Nothing Better! - 2016-10-29
  
• There's Nothing Better! - 2016-11-01 ←→ There's Nothing Better! - 2016-11-04
  
• There's Nothing Better! - 2016-11-08 ←*→ There's Nothing Better! - 2016-11-14 (* there's a work-in-progress set on November 8)
  
• There's Nothing Better! - 2016-11-15 ←→ There's Nothing Better! - 2016-11-20
  
• There's Nothing Better! - 2016-11-26 ←→ There's Nothing Better! - 2016-12-02
  
• There's Nothing Better! - 2016-12-02 ←*→ There's Nothing Better! - 2016-12-20 (* there's a work-in-progress set on December 10, 11, 13, 16, and 17)
  
• There's Nothing Better! - 2016-12-25 ←→ There's Nothing Better! - 2016-12-27
  
• There's Nothing Better! - 2016-12-29 ←→ There's Nothing Better! - 2017-01-13
  
• There's Nothing Better! - 2017-01-14 ←→ There's Nothing Better! - 2017-01-17
  
• There's Nothing Better! - 2017-01-17 ←→ There's Nothing Better! - 2017-01-20
  

[Black Aeronaut]

Rob, IIRC, that particular Device was inherited by Chrono and became his regular use Device.  I could be wrong, though.  It's hard for me to say because of the way he gets all this screen time in Seasons 1 and 2, like as though he's going to be a regular character for the rest of the series, only to get more or less sidelined in StrikerS.

(Freakin' Yuuno gets more screen time, and he's working strictly as a behind-the-scenes guy doing research on their very-much-fragmented historical records - keep in mind, Midchilda is actually a post-apocalypse setting.  Just VERY late after the fact.)

Also, thanks for that list of dates.  That will come in handy for me here.

[robkelk]

Not saying that the story this is from will be posted any time soon. (Especially considering it's set a couple of weeks after the current end of the chronicle - let's let other writers close that gap first.) Let's see whether anybody other than my prereaders can figure out what's happening here.

"Oh, and Shirai-san, she's your classmate. You get to explain the Metacontinuity to her."

The glare that Kuroko gave Rob in reply was, in his opinion, priceless.

[robkelk]

Just in case anybody's worried that this project has gone stagnant, here's another subject-to-change snippet from the same story:


Kuroko said with some satisfaction, "You are in the presence of Her Royal Highness, Serenity II, heir-apparent to the throne of the Crystal Millennium."

"Oh! Oh, my."

"But you can call me Usagi," added said princess while taking both of their guest's hands in her own. "Pleased to meet you!"

[Black Aeronaut]

Oh no worries, Rob.

I just figure that it's the post-election fugue coupled with bracing for the Third Wave of COVID-19 (which is inevitable now given the rampant partying in the streets that went down after election day).

EDIT: Oh. And the new DLC for Destiny 2 is live.

[Labster]

I'm finally at a state I feel like I can start writing again.  It is hard to write slice-of-life when life does not want to be sliced.  I have no idea how Gryphon has been managing it lately.

For me the games I've been disappearing into are the DLC for Highway Blossoms and the latest chapter of National Park Girls.  Akari is friends with all of the characters from those VNs, by the way.  Especially Zion-chan.

[Black Aeronaut]

Well, I would be playing the new DLC.

Except that Microsoft seems to have this incredibly bizarre penchant of being all "Are you sure you wanna spend the money for that DLC right now? Weeeeee'lll just hold off on that transaction until, say, when the DLC actually drops. That way we know that you really are sure. After all, you're gonna make sure that the funds are available then, right?"

And all without telling you about it.

Idiotic cunts. What the fuck is the goddamn point of preordering if you're gonna wait to charge me until the DLC drops!? Next time I'm going to purchase the license directly instead of going through fucking Microsoft Store, because they obviously don't want my money badly enough.

[Black Aeronaut]

Thinking about Mizuno Ami - it's kind of a shame that she never got into either fields of psychology or psychiatry (though the latter would probably be more her speed).

Reason being?  Well, I've been conducting some research to turn my short wiki blurb into an outright character bible for Benjamin.  And this means really diving into the whole mess with ADHD and ASD.  And I do mean it - this really is a big mess because not only do the two disorders have overlapping symptoms, but also symptoms that tend to be at odds with each other.

Funny thing is?  A dual diagnosis was not permissible until DSM-5 came out in 2013 - prior to that, they were mutually exclusive.  (Keep in mind, they are still very much two different disorders, but the comorbidity rate is astonishing - roughly half of everyone initially diagnosed as ADHD or ASD has the other disorder as well!)

I know she did a lot of cram-school, but I don't recall if the subjects were explicitly described.  Although, this is Japan we're talking about here.  Their education system isn't the kind where you can cherry-pick areas of study until you reach college.  As I've mentioned elsewhere, in middle and high school, it's usually one of two choices: a humanities track and an academic track.

That said, though, I seem to recall she also did a lot of self-study, reading up on material pertinent to an education in the medical field.  Am I off with this?

Thing is, that material would be more than 20 years out of date.  Not that it's a real big deal - after all, she has yet to undertake formal education in medicine.

Thus, I can't help but shake this mental imagery of Ami doing her version of a "WAIT.  WHAT!?" when she hears about dual diagnosis being allowed with ADHD and ASD.  And then her lamenting the fact that she's already laid the ground work for going into bio-med, because this is exactly the kind of tangled mess that she could really sink her intellectual teeth into; puzzling out not only the implications in psychiatric medicine, but also the psychological aspects as well.

[robkelk]

Question for the story after the one I'm currently working on:

Is it possible to look at a spent brass casing and tell without any context that it's from an AP round for a high-powered sniper rifle? Or is being able to do that a sign that the character is about as realistic as James Bond or Batman?

[robkelk]

Thinking about Mizuno Ami - it's kind of a shame that she never got into either fields of psychology or psychiatry (though the latter would probably be more her speed).
...

I don't know whether psychology would be a good fit for Ami. She's shown as being compassionate - would that lead to her burning out early?

[Black Aeronaut]

Question for the story after the one I'm currently working on:

Is it possible to look at a spent brass casing and tell without any context that it's from an AP round for a high-powered sniper rifle? Or is being able to do that a sign that the character is about as realistic as James Bond or Batman?

When dealing with sniper rifles, they typically use cartridges that are used in other weapons, such as .50 BMG, or 7.62mm NATO, just to name a few.  There's actually not many that are specialized just for sniper rifles, because military prefer ammunition that is interchangeable from one weapon to another - it really simplifies the supply chain.

Often the manufacturer and type of cartridge is stamp in the bottom of the casing, and I believe its possible to determine if a cartridge has been reloaded with a more high-power propellant from the residue left inside.

Another issue is that, really, any high-powered rifle can be a sniper rifle, provided that it is an accurate enough of a weapon.  Larger guns that use .50 BMG such as the Barret are actually referred to as "Anti-Material Guns" since you don't use them on people (except at extreme ranges), but rather on lightly armored vehicles.  These are typically derived from anti-tank guns made just prior to WWII, such as the Solothurn S18-1000 which, again, used a preexisting cartridge.  Granted, it was one that was used in flack canons, but you get the idea.

The most telling characteristics that will indicate the use of a sniper rifle will be where you find the casing, and where you find the bullet.  One thing I think that the TV series, CSI, actually got right was that investigators can determine an estimated trajectory on shots fired.  This, of course, requires that the bullet has passed through one object of known placement (windows, the victim, thin walls) and embedded in another fixed object at the end of its flight (a tree, another wall, etc).

[Black Aeronaut]

Thinking about Mizuno Ami - it's kind of a shame that she never got into either fields of psychology or psychiatry (though the latter would probably be more her speed).
...

I don't know whether psychology would be a good fit for Ami. She's shown as being compassionate - would that lead to her burning out early?

It's actually kind of the opposite.  The best therapists are actually highly empathetic people because they're more able to "get in their heads", so to speak.  Ami would be an outstanding therapist because of her empathy coupled with her ability to zero-in on a root cause (e.g.: she's always the one to determine the weakness of a Big Bad using her Mercury Computer).

Another thing to keep in mind is the difference between Psychology and Psychiatry.  Psychiatry deals primarily with the biological aspects of mental health, and typically use medications to treat mental health issues.  Psychology is a bit more intangible, and deals more in understanding how a mind perceives themselves and the world around them, and helping people to reshape that perception so they can be happier and healthier people.

Unfortunately, there's a fair number of psychiatrists that think that psychologists are a bunch of quacks, which is kinda idiotic if you ask me because most mental disorders cannot be treated with medication alone.

[robkelk]

Question for the story after the one I'm currently working on:

Is it possible to look at a spent brass casing and tell without any context that it's from an AP round for a high-powered sniper rifle? Or is being able to do that a sign that the character is about as realistic as James Bond or Batman?

When dealing with sniper rifles, they typically use cartridges that are used in other weapons, such as .50 BMG, or 7.62mm NATO, just to name a few.  There's actually not many that are specialized just for sniper rifles, because military prefer ammunition that is interchangeable from one weapon to another - it really simplifies the supply chain.

I thought as much, but wanted to be sure. Thanks, BA.

Often the manufacturer and type of cartridge is stamp in the bottom of the casing, and I believe its possible to determine if a cartridge has been reloaded with a more high-power propellant from the residue left inside.

That's something that I hadn't considered. Must remember to mention that there's no such stamp on the casing that's discovered (because it was made on a production line set up by displacees who are covering their tracks).

Another issue is that, really, any high-powered rifle can be a sniper rifle, provided that it is an accurate enough of a weapon.  Larger guns that use .50 BMG such as the Barret are actually referred to as "Anti-Material Guns" since you don't use them on people (except at extreme ranges), but rather on lightly armored vehicles.  These are typically derived from anti-tank guns made just prior to WWII, such as the Solothurn S18-1000 which, again, used a preexisting cartridge.  Granted, it was one that was used in flack canons, but you get the idea.

The most telling characteristics that will indicate the use of a sniper rifle will be where you find the casing, and where you find the bullet.  One thing I think that the TV series, CSI, actually got right was that investigators can determine an estimated trajectory on shots fired.  This, of course, requires that the bullet has passed through one object of known placement (windows, the victim, thin walls) and embedded in another fixed object at the end of its flight (a tree, another wall, etc).

Casing's on a rooftop, bullet's in a skull that its late owner thought was protected by a power-armor helmet... Conclusion: probably a sniper.

[Labster]

I keep forgetting to reply to this thread.  So let me go with this: Ami isn't screwed up enough to be interested in psychology.  Well, let me revise that: she doesn't see her or her mother's workaholism as problematic.  For all of the psych majors I knew, there were generally three types:
* The ones wanting with their own or their family's illnesses who get interested that way
* The ones who think it's an easy field to get through college because "I like people"
* The ones who think they can use this to pivot to business or advertising

I don't really think she's any of these, and I suspect that the people who become psychiatrists lean heavily to the first option.  And, honestly, Ami is pretty happy.  Most people go through adolescence with angst if they will be accepted by their friends or have a place in life.  She's a reincarnated princess and she knows, for a fact, that she has friends willing to die for her.

It might be the kind of thing she'd be interested in if any of her friends got post-traumatic stress, though.

Unfortunately, there's a fair number of psychiatrists that think that psychologists are a bunch of quacks, which is kinda idiotic if you ask me because most mental disorders cannot be treated with medication alone.

There are a fair number of scientologists who think that psychiatrists are quacks, but the feeling is quite mutual.

Also it's not terribly surprising the DSM description changed.  A lot of things in psychology, immunology, and neurology are pretty poorly understood, and were known to be so in the 1990s.  Diseases like this that seem to be symptom sets rather than those with direct causes are more likely to be wrong, or divisible into more syndromes.

[Black Aeronaut]

Well, the idea I was kinda running with here is that Benjamin might become close enough of a friend that Ami will learn about how much he struggled in the past (he gets help from Washu in the now), and has her interest piqued once she learns about how ADHD and ASD have such a high comorbidity rate even though they effect different parts of the brain.

Of course, this kinda hinges on how we interpret Ami's character.  Is she striving to become as good as she is because she wishes to be the best doctor?  Or is she striving so hard because she is insatiably curious?  Of course, these aspects would not be mutually exclusive, just that one of them (or something else) is going to be a bigger source of motivation than the other.

The changes to the DSM didn't really surprise me much either.  Just that it took them this long to make that dual-diagnosis official.  That could have helped me and my family a lot had it happened mid-90's.  I was so very Aspie that the signs were blatantly obvious that a doctor might only spend about fifteen minutes with me before coming to a conclusion.  Trouble is that I was also so very much ADHD that I guess given the choice (as I mentioned, they were only allowed to diagnose a person as having one and only one, and never the other - kinda like an XOR gate), most doctors felt the ADHD outweighed the Aspie and went with that.

[robkelk]

Of course, this kinda hinges on how we interpret Ami's character.  Is she striving to become as good as she is because she wishes to be the best doctor?  Or is she striving so hard because she is insatiably curious?  Of course, these aspects would not be mutually exclusive, just that one of them (or something else) is going to be a bigger source of motivation than the other.

Or is she striving so hard because she wants to help people? Or because she wants a challenge in her life?

And does she think "best doctor" means "the doctor who loses the fewest patients on the operating table", or "the doctor whose patients feel best after their sessions", or something else?

To all of this, I give the mathematician's answer:

Yes.

No one answer is false, but no one answer is completely true, either.

[robkelk]

Hmmmmm... Looking at old threads on the forums, and realized that this one would tie into the Christmas Party story as an example of what somebody ends up getting as a gift... if we ever write the story.

We have more apartments with people to attend a Christmas party, too - Philadelphia, New Brunswick NJ, Nova Scotia, and Windsor, off the top of my head. OTOH, I still remember the teeth I had to pull to get people to contribute to the Halloween party story.

[Labster]

I posted a couple more chapters of Channeling Mana on the wiki.  Chapters 1 and 18.  I have 85 kB written but only 15 kB posted, because lot of bits aren't done, or just not connected.  But hey, maybe I can at least post one chapter here soon.

Do other people tend to write in order?  Because I'm all over the place, seriously.  I can see the skeleton, and I'm like, okay, how 'bout an eyeball... and now I'll work on the quadriceps.

[robkelk]

Occasionally I'll write in order, but, more often, I'll write a scene or two and build a story around it or them. If you want a peek inside my mind, well... all of my writing notes for TNB are on the wiki now, so that I can access them pretty much anywhere.

[robkelk]

Neo's weakness has been found: People smaller and sassier then her.

Guess we'd better make a list of such characters, then.

We have "smaller" covered - there's plenty of petite Japanese girls in the residences - but "sassier"? Tricky.

Hmmmmm... Anzu and Katyusha from Girls und Panzer might be sassy enough, and I'm pretty sure I already suggested having various school ships dock at various ports near the SIs' home cities. EDIT: Here it is, but for early Arc 2, not Arc 1.

Kuroko can be snarky, but is she small enough? EDIT: Maybe have her give Last Order a crash-course in sass?