Author Feedback: Steve

[Dark Silver]

hmmm, just getting around to catching up on the SI Doctor (I've been occupied RL wise....)

Very nice Steve, I enjoyed it. Can't wait for the next Chapter - though the SI Doctor is wavering from going "Triumphant" to "Victorious".

If that happens, someone will have to take him down a few pegs.

[Steve]

Oh, I have that in mind already. There's still a bit of the series left: "Keeping Promises" was essentially the halfway point dramatically, the high water mark if you will.

[LadyTevar]

So, Duke Ryan shows his face. Now things should start heating up politically, as Ryan needs Katherine either with him, or out of his way. Victor also needs Katherine to keep him from making faux pas, such as replacing the Griffin Mechs who'd been his mother's favored Mech Guards when she was In State.

Katrina and Ryan put a helluva spin on that mistake in the original timeline.

[Dark Silver]

A good little side-story there Steve.

I am going to hate to see the SI Doctor's return to the Avatar-verse now we see what's happened to Korra at the end of Book 3

[Steve]

I have that in mind for, ironically enough, one of the first stories of Series 3. The big question, of course, is.... does the Doctor intervene in the finale?

[Dark Silver]

I vote he doesn't.

I vote he doesn't even help Korra after the fight...

It'll be all the more heart wrenching as he watches one of his friends and allies fight, knowing he can't do anything to help her - even if he's stopped from interfering by a outside force.

[Steve]

Ha. Bastard.

We'll all see how this goes....

[Dark Silver]

He's the SI Doctor....

he needs a Master to balance him out...

[LadyTevar]

I will be honest, The Doctor doens't need to be in Korra's fight. She has to do it alone.

[Dark Silver]

I still wanna see him watch and know he can't help her - even though he desperately wants to.

[Steve]

Let's just say that I think you will both enjoy* what I have in mind and leave it at that. Just need to get 1-09 of UF done... and then the rest of Series 2.


*For given values of enjoy

[LadyTevar]

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holmes and Watson, with the Doctor! YES YES YES!!! *dances*

[Dark Silver]

And so it begins....

How long before the SI Doctor goes "The Game is a foot, Katherine!"

[Steve]

How long before the SI Doctor goes "The Game is a foot, Katherine!"

"I've always wanted to say that...."

[LadyTevar]

The Silence. Oh, oh fuck. Why would theybe here, in Holmes's England? The boy?

[frigidmagi]

Read 08.

Frankly I agree with the officers on fraternization we made these rules for a reason. That said, if ships are out and about for months at time, then rules become hard to enforce. As it stands in the modern Marine Corps you can a relation with anyone not in your direct chain of command (which does mean Rob would get court martial). The position being if Angel and Rob want to be in an relationship fine, but they can't serve on the same ship. Not with him as Captain.

Beyond that the Committee didn't seem all that professional to me. From my admittedly limited understanding, digging into someone's actions before joining the military are usually out of bounds and these courts of inquiry usually stick to the incident in question. Usually, there are times when they attempt to decide if this is the result of a long pattern of behavior that just finally managed to bite the offender on the ass. Those are dangerous and need to be rooted out to preserve lives.

Zack should have given the alien minister a free history lesson. Frankly you think everyone would have been briefed on Nazis by now. I could explain quite quickly and without needing much context why they're the literal embodiment of evil (say about 10 minutes, it's not hard with Nazis). The willful ignorance about a possible threat is alarming frankly.

Also Admiral Davies offer? That was grossly illegal and frankly Zack should have reported that. I'd see an officer shot for making such offer if it were up to me. Influence peddling is one of those things that acts like poison in the veins of any professional military and needs to be guarded against. Let me be clear there's a difference between what Davies did and honest mentoring (higher ranking officers mentoring a subordinate is a good thing), the best example of honest mentoring I can give is Sheridan and Ivanova in Babylon 5. You'll notice he puts alot of time into teaching, training and challenging her and often works to protect her and her career. That's mentorship. What Admiral Davies is doing is offering political favor in exchange for damning testimony. That is Tampering with Official Inquiry, Conduct Unbecoming, Bribery and a full host of other charges. People go to jail for this shit. Rightly so. This frankly makes Davies look alot less like a reasonably concerned military officer and more liked a slimey politican in uniform jealous of Rob's influence and his fast rise.

I am pleased to see Jones/Smith back. Often alot of the antagonists are openly bad or shady people opposing our gleaming champions of light. Agent Smith is a guy following lawful orders from his legitimate government which just happens to put him into conflict with our heroes. I'd like to see more guys like him.

[Steve]

Read 08.

Frankly I agree with the officers on fraternization we made these rules for a reason. That said, if ships are out and about for months at time, then rules become hard to enforce. As it stands in the modern Marine Corps you can a relation with anyone not in your direct chain of command (which does mean Rob would get court martial). The position being if Angel and Rob want to be in an relationship fine, but they can't serve on the same ship. Not with him as Captain.

Honestly from the moment I decided the characters would reasonably get back together at that point, I knew it was going to eventually cause problems. And they'll have to make that choice soon enough.

Beyond that the Committee didn't seem all that professional to me. From my admittedly limited understanding, digging into someone's actions before joining the military are usually out of bounds and these courts of inquiry usually stick to the incident in question. Usually, there are times when they attempt to decide if this is the result of a long pattern of behavior that just finally managed to bite the offender on the ass. Those are dangerous and need to be rooted out to preserve lives.

It's not just a military board of inquiry, though, it's also civilian and political. The 1-07 episode's events gave them the perfect excuse to start dragging out dirty laundry to build up a case to justify kicking them off the ship. Not everyone was okay with this, of course, hence the argument amongst the Committee and why it was so clearly divided.

Zack should have given the alien minister a free history lesson. Frankly you think everyone would have been briefed on Nazis by now. I could explain quite quickly and without needing much context why they're the literal embodiment of evil (say about 10 minutes, it's not hard with Nazis). The willful ignorance about a possible threat is alarming frankly.

I can see some of them having problems understanding what the Nazis are to Humans, not if they have no similar experiences in their own history. I was trying to reflect that. He'll come around, though.

Also Admiral Davies offer? That was grossly illegal and frankly Zack should have reported that. I'd see an officer shot for making such offer if it were up to me. Influence peddling is one of those things that acts like poison in the veins of any professional military and needs to be guarded against. Let me be clear there's a difference between what Davies did and honest mentoring (higher ranking officers mentoring a subordinate is a good thing), the best example of honest mentoring I can give is Sheridan and Ivanova in Babylon 5. You'll notice he puts alot of time into teaching, training and challenging her and often works to protect her and her career. That's mentorship. What Admiral Davies is doing is offering political favor in exchange for damning testimony. That is Tampering with Official Inquiry, Conduct Unbecoming, Bribery and a full host of other charges. People go to jail for this shit. Rightly so. This frankly makes Davies look alot less like a reasonably concerned military officer and more liked a slimey politican in uniform jealous of Rob's influence and his fast rise.

At that point he was fairly convinced he would win (hence his demeanor at the end when he didn't... although we haven't learned why he didn't yet, of course, saving that one for later). And he believed Zack was an asset to the force, and had to be preserved in some way. I believe I even had him, at one point, hold back even when it was clear Zack wasn't going to play ball; he thinks he's got a genuinely good officer out of a gang of misfits who need to be booted out before they hurt someone.

Of course, it was still tampering and still being an ass, but it did have a reason above mere service politics. And you're perfectly right about it being poison in a service.

The tricky thing for them at the moment is how they're trying to slide together all of these national forces and groups into one whole.

I am pleased to see Jones/Smith back. Often alot of the antagonists are openly bad or shady people opposing our gleaming champions of light. Agent Smith is a guy following lawful orders from his legitimate government which just happens to put him into conflict with our heroes. I'd like to see more guys like him.

I look forward to showing us more of Agent Smith in the future.

Hope you enjoy 1-09....

[frigidmagi]

We'll you made the admiral look bluntly like a political slime. That kind of trade is so out of bounds that there's no coming back from it. I'm sure he has his excuses but so what? Everyone has excuses for how their little shit isn't corruption, no no corruption is when the other guys do it! Davies is corrupt and honestly? I feel that brings the story down, it's no longer professional admiral has issues with rob for reasons both good and bad. It's now, slimy political admiral is after rob who is good and pure.

Also if the admiral thought he was going to win then there's no reason to make the offer. Additionally, if zack did nothing wrong then he doesn't need protecting. The committee can easily drum out rob, angel, Julia and cat without touching him, simply by declaring zack did everything right with the information he had but was fucked over by a commanding officer who was reckless, secretive and in over his head.

[Steve]

Also if the admiral thought he was going to win then there's no reason to make the offer. Additionally, if zack did nothing wrong then he doesn't need protecting. The committee can easily drum out rob, angel, Julia and cat without touching him, simply by declaring zack did everything right with the information he had but was fucked over by a commanding officer who was reckless, secretive and in over his head.

You presume that the Committee would do that, even if they could reasonably, or rather that the forces at play would allow "pick and choose" even if Zack stood with his friends.

This is something I'll come back to later, as hinted with Davies confronting Robert after the meeting.

[frigidmagi]

You presume that the Committee would do that, even if they could reasonably, or rather that the forces at play would allow "pick and choose" even if Zack stood with his friends.

Reasonably? Yes. This isn't a everyone burns or no one burns situation. Given that all the officers had different information and different responsibilities... That is exactly what should happen. In fact by making the offer Davies is pretty much saying that's what going on. If the committee can't do that, it speaks to profound incompetence in the Alliance structure and it is doomed due to it's inability to separate the sheep from the goats. Even if everything is politically motivated, if Davies has the power to back his offer, he has a power to keep Zack from getting flamed in the back blast. If he can't, then the offer was bullshit and that makes Davies an even worse person.

[Steve]

Part of it is also going to be growing pains in the Alliance, especially since at least some members don't quite like the others.

You raised good points. Later in season 1 we'll learn just what happened that morning in the Council, and what's currently inspiring Hawthorne and Davies' behavior. And Pensley's to a degree.

[frigidmagi]

Finished 09 that got real ugly real fast.

[Steve]

Finished 09 that got real ugly real fast.

The fine art of the British understatement? Or just being a laconic Marine?

[frigidmagi]

I'm waiting to see how it plays out. For my part I think the rag tag fleet is being ridiculous. Oh we must preserve our sovereignty! Guys, you're 50k refugees rattling about in a set of tin cans with no resources of note. Plus if the alliance decides fuck you and walk away (which I would recommend at this point) you die. The cyclons realistically eventually hunt you down and murder you all in space. The alliance? Lose nothing.

Frankly if I was a colonial citizen and I heard my president start another fucking war with people who started this by throwing themselves in front of nuclear weapons for us... Over a fucking baby? I'd shoot her myself or toss her out an airlock. Yes, I'd hate the cyclons with every fiber of my being and would regard helo as nothing less then a fucking traitor (that said we are talking grace park here...) and would want him gone from the fleet alongside his dirty cyclon. The alliance wants them? They can bloody well have them, just give someplace where I can watch my kids grow without constant fear of death!

I not saying that the characters on the show wouldn't react the way you wrote though, but then I find ms president to be crazier than a bag of cats and frankly she often comes off as an fucking idiot on top of being insane. I'm being harsh, but you know when you're leading the last hope of humanity you don't have the option of acting out of emotion or clinging to the old ways for comfort.

[Steve]

I do feel I may have mischaracterized Adama a bit, but the cliffhanger was just too awesome to pass up. This is the clash inherent in the nBSG franchise with the more upbeat ones that are UF's primary inspirations: the dark, gritty, and cynical world of the Colonial Fleet against the idealistic, well-meaning, hope-filled, and inspiring world of the Aurora crew. All of the darker angels of Human nature at play, all of those things that make up what some call the Human Condition.

Made worse by this being early enough after Cain's death that Adama hasn't had time to decisively restore discipline to Pegasus and its brutality-prone crew. As poor Cat has found out.