LAST EDITED ON Apr-17-09 AT 01:26 PM (EDT)
 
>{raised eyebrow} *Mr.* W. Shinohara? Is this the old wet-navy
>tradition of referring to all officers as "Mister", or has Wakaba gone
>and done something...odd?

Oh, the former, I assure you. (Similarly, holders of the IPSF enlisted rating below Petty Officer are referred to as "Able Spaceman" regardless of whether they're male, female, or otherwise.)

In UF's 25th century, such conventions descend not only from Earth's pre-spaceflight wet navy traditions, but also from (the generally accepted Standard translations of) the pre-Contact traditions of the Royal Salusian Navy. In the RSN, for instance, the young officers who hold the Queen's commission but have not passed for lieutenant are still addressed as "Mr. Midshipman $SURNAME", when they aren't being called "you daft undergrown bugger, stop larking about in the tops or I'll have the hide off yer, God rot your f---ing soul" by the sailing-master. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.