[ EPU Foyer ] [ Lab and Grill ] [ Bonus Theater!! ] [ Rhetorical Questions ] [ CSRANTronix ] [ GNDN ] [ Subterranean Vault ] [ Discussion Forum ] [ Gun of the Week ]

Eyrie Productions, Unlimited

Subject: "Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"     Previous Topic | Next Topic
Printer-friendly copy    
Conferences Annotations (Spoiler Warning!) Topic #131
Reading Topic #131
Gryphonadmin
Charter Member
22115 posts
Mar-14-15, 11:44 AM (EST)
Click to EMail Gryphon Click to send private message to Gryphon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
"Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
 
   LAST EDITED ON Apr-21-15 AT 02:37 AM (EDT)
 
Notes by Gryphon
Notes by Matt

Episode 09

Mercedes-Benz 540K - Also known as the Type W24, an improved version of the 1934 500K that debuted in 1936. Fitted with a supercharged 5.4-liter straight-8 engine (the K stands for Kompressor, which means... well, about what you think it means), it was one of the most powerful automobiles of the inter-war era. The 540K was available with several different body styles (or as a bare chassis that the customer could send to a custom coachbuilder); Ursula's is a two-seater cabriolet with rumble seat. At around 22,000 late-'30s Reichsmarks (ca. $8,800, at a time when a Cadillac cost less than $2,000), this was a very, very expensive car.

her second star - The Luftwaffe doesn't use stars as indicators of general-officer rank, but the Liberion convention has entered the Allied vernacular as a shorthand for which "level" of general a person is. As the Luftwaffe rank of Generalleutnant, to which Minna has just been promoted, is (a touch confusingly) equivalent to the Liberion Major General, it's considered the "two-star" rank.

Reichsgraf von Katädien - By ennobling Gryphon thus, Friedrich is referencing the precedent of the 18th-century American/Liberion scientist Benjamin Thompson (1753-1814), who was made a count of the Holy Roman Empire (retroactively recognized as the First Reich by the Second) for services to the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1791. Similarly, his title, "Count Rumford", came from an archaic name for the town of Woburn, Massachusetts, Thompson's hometown.

Order of the Red Eagle - A Prussian order of chivalry, second in precedence to the Order of the Black Eagle (which is reserved for members of the royal family only).

Keine Ruhe für die Bösen - "No rest for the wicked."

Polternacht - Literally "noisy night". A custom also known in some parts of Germany/Karlsland as Elfsnacht ("Elf's Night"). Erich Hartmann's (upon which Erica and Trude's is loosely based) is described in Toliver and Constable's biography of him, The Blond Knight of Germany.

MIYAFUJI! - When G. described the Polternacht tradition to me, this little vignette sprang out of my fingers about 30 seconds later. We've been sitting on it for...geez, almost a month? I'm glad to see it finally out in the light of day. :)

salmiakkikoskenkorva - Exactly what it sounds like - salty licorice infused vodka. Acquired taste, etx etx....and it will knock you on your ass if you aren't VERY careful with it.

Ich bin Fotoninja - "I am a photographic ninja."

Episode 10

a night vision device - Another moderate anachronism, Gryphon's Orussian tank-witch NVGs are visually based on the Soviet PNV-57E, which in reality dates to well after World War II. Looks cool, though.

"Die Wacht am Rhein" - "The Watch on the Rhine", an old German military song containing (as such songs often do) a call to defend the Fatherland, of which the river Rhine is one of the traditional borders. More than a bit wistful in wartime Karlslandic use. Heidemarie can be found humming it to herself on evening patrol in the Strike Witches movie as well.

the big Mercedes - Since I wrote Episode 09, I read a description of the Mercedes-Benz 540K that I think perfectly sums up its "vast size vs. two seats" dichotomy: "Like a 20,000-square-foot mansion with one bedroom."

the peculiar assertiveness of her sleeping style - In Strike Witches: One-Winged Witches, Wilma describes herself as having "a bad case of sleep-hugging," but the artwork itself tells a... slightly more involved story.

the squadron's "liberated" Luftwaffe truck - Oddly enough, the biggest pile of forms generated by Operation Raketendiebstahl didn't have to do with the transfer of the Hochdruckpumpe prototype or the assault on most of a battalion of MPs; the Luftwaffe's Inspector-General's Office was most exercised about the theft of the truck, since, unlike the He 162 and project documentation, Ursula neglected to file a proper transfer request for it.

a previous "discovery" of Lucchini's - An interesting bug that turned out to be a Neuroi infiltration unit, in Strike Witches 2 episode 7, "It's All Creepy Crawly".

it's a Belv - Longtime EPU readers might recognize the Belv from Street Fighter: Warrior's Legacy, where it is the much-loved national automobile of the former-Soviet-Bloc country of Transbelvia (imprecisely located somewhere in the Carpathians).

belly rubs (for him) - In fairness, Minna might also find such treatment stress-relieving, but not in her office. There are proprieties.

Friedrich der Große - One of the H-39 battleships that Germany never actually managed to build. Since Neukarlsland needed to keep building up their navy, it makes sense that the proposed H-39 class of battleships would have been laid down as soon as the evacuation had been completed. (For that matter, the even larger H-44 class was moved towards production, too, but Götz von Berlichingen won't be ready for sea trials until 1947.)

the Sparrow - The real Heinkel He 162 had several names, including Salamander (after the name of the project that spawned it), Volksjäger (its official Luftwaffe name), and Spatz (Sparrow, the internal name the design had at Heinkel).

it'll be a bit of a handful - The He 162 was fairly-well-regarded as an aircraft, both by its original German test pilots and the Allied pilots who tested it after the war, but they all agreed that it was very demanding and required a highly experienced pilot to get the best out of it. This was... inconvenient, since the whole point of it was to be a fighter that could be flown in the defense of the Reich by poorly trained conscripts from the Hitler Youth! Ursula's version doesn't have that disconnect between its designer's expectations and the reality.

"Like any religion, Belv ownership contains deeper and deeper mysteries," - This was my favorite line that we came up with in the piece. In fact it may be my favorite line we've written since I joined the studio.

a surprisingly advanced car - The original Warrior's Legacy incarnation of the Belv, and presumably the mainstream-UF-universe version Gryphon is familiar with, dated from the late 1950s, not the late 1930s. In this context, I'm envisioning it as technologically similar to the original BMC Mini (vintage 1959), which would have been radically futuristic in 1938. This is amusingly at odds with the "classical" interpretation of the Belv: in WL it's a humorously out-of-date, poorly made, primitive car that's been in unchanged production for decades longer than it should've been. Here it may still not be very well-made - the Transbelvian Automobile Works was not known for its access to top-notch tooling or materials - but its design is ahead of its time.

reflexively tugging... her uniform tunic - Mio doesn't have the context to know why Gryphon automatically thinks of this as "the Picard maneuver".

Episode 11

Hazelnussomeletten - Yup. Hazelnut Omelet. It's a real thing.

classified Liberion material - Mwhaha. Though the good thing is between SHAEF and Minna's personal weight behind this, it's basically a matter of "No, really, you will send us a copy of this" compared to having to send someone out to steal it or something.

I think it's important to ask what you want - When I wrote this scene, I thought that was very important to establish. Minna's loss of her magic obviously pained her, as we saw in the earlier flashback to Paris, but we'd really only seen all this through Mio's perspective.

Fieseler Fi 156 - The legendary Storch ("Stork"), one of the finest rough-field short-takeoff-and-landing liaison aircraft of the war. Had such a low stalling speed that, with a skilled enough hand at the controls, it could hover in a brisk headwind. (I saw a replica do that once at an airshow. Pretty impressive.)

Willa Campbell - So glad we finally got to introduce her "on camera"! She's Gryph's creation (or, well, adaptation?), but I have a lot of respect for the Tuskegee Airmen and what they did in the war. Glad to have a little nod to their heroism here.

complex secret handshake - Plus, it meant we got to do that. :)

I thought you were in London - Not really apropos of this line in itself, I just wanted to note that it's not an accident that Lynne and Darjeeling speak with English accents and Wilma does not. Whether this is an indication that the eldest sister was educated mainly in Farawayland (where their mother's from) as opposed to Britannia, or simply that she proved more resistant to the accent, I'm not certain. Canonically, nobody in the English dub has a regional accent, and I'm not qualified to judge whether Lynne's original voice performance has whatever an English accent sounds like in Japanese (one imagines not). Of course, Wilma doesn't have a speaking part at all as she's only a character in the manga, so I could've gone either way with it, but Wilma's dialogue is rendered in a markedly North American style in the translation of One-Winged Witches, so it felt right.

late in the Battle of Britannia - Neuroi-chan appears in the last four episodes of Strike Witches and the first episode of Strike Witches 2, pretty much as described in this episode. So, um, spoilers, I guess. :)

Operation Trajanus - As depicted in the first ep of Strike Witches 2, this was an official attempt to make contact with the witch-like Neuroi Yoshika had encountered at the end of the first series. It looked promising, until a very large force of Neuroi hostile to both parties turned up, vaporized Neuroi-chan, and gave the Allied units involved in the operation an extremely serious drubbing. The 504th Joint Fighter Wing was out of action until the very last scene in the series as a result of the casualties they took that day.

Fortress of Bitche - A real place, in the far north of France near the Belgian border. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Citadel of Bitche was used as a prison for English naval officers, presumably somewhat to those officers' bemusement. Actually pronounced "beach", but, well.

Cherche-Midi - Another military prison, this one in Paris. In this case, used for detaining company-grade officers. Not to be confused with the tony restaurant in modern-day New York City by the same name.

since when are the Neuroi treacherous? - Once again, Eila says what we're all thinking.

I'm the only one who IS listening to me! - "I said speak your mind, Jack, but Jesus."

Lynne's blueberry pie - In Strike Witches episode 6, we saw that Lynne's family's evidently-fairly-extensive holdings include a blueberry farm, from which the 501st receives a generous supply of fruit. (The Bishops seem to be quite well-off; Lynne's been to some pretty high-end schools, and at one point they sent a Rolls-Royce to pick her up from the 501st's base in Britannia. As an aside, it's interesting that Bishop is her mother's surname, which is unusual in 1940s Britannia.)

Yes, ma'am - Many people assume that Mio is 100% all the time the alpha dog in that relationship. It's actually a lot more nuanced than that.

Episode 12

the Rouse - Also known as the "Short Reveille", a bugle call used at the beginning of the day in Commonwealth countries. The British Commonwealth "Long Reveille" is also different from that used by the US forces. In this instance,the Britannian version's use by the 501st dates back to the outfit's founding in that country. (Curiously, the morning bugle call played on the PA in the actual TV series is neither the Rouse nor either version of Reveille; I have no idea what it is.)

Yoshika-chan - Unlike in the original Japanese, not everyone in the 501st uses Fusō honorifics in general conversation. Yoshika does, though, and by extension, Lynne does when she's talking to Yoshika.

Dacia - Ancient Roman name for the area that is now Romania and Moldova. Also the name of a Romanian car company, makers of the Sandero. Any similarity between that august automobile and the Belv is purely conjectural.

Everyone's welcome. - Indeed, that's kind of the whole point of the project...

Bharāta - India. Presumably part of the Britannian Empire.

It rings in the Force like a bell - another line that's been floating around, under a few different configurations, since almost the point we decided to go back to the Strike Witches universe. Actually, come to think of it, it might have come out of some of the first New Tricks bull sessions.

How does that fit into your theory? - I think the answer here is that certain personality types - and perhaps family lines, as Wilma gets at - have an easier time "touching" different aspects of the Force. After all, most Jedi undergo the same basic training, but there are ones who are much more adept at healing, some who find it much easier to receive visions of the future, and those who excel in the arts of battle - and such things seem to travel along bloodlines there, too.

I can practically see my house from here - Erica, like the real-life Erich Hartmann, was born in Weissach and raised in Weil am Schönbuch, both suburbs of Stuttgart, just on the far side of the Schwarzwald from the Rhine.

Whatever Trude's mind had hold of right now - We'll see more on this later, but it does, indeed, have quite a hold on her.

weirdly cute - Neuroi-chan took her modeling of the witch form to a fairly notable extreme, and although Yoshika was the witch she was looking at when she did it, she has certain features that Yoshika's look in that scene didn't have. The "commando sweater" torso configuration is one. (She also seems to have copied Perrine Clostermann's white-panties-under-black-tights look, which is doubly odd when you consider that Neuroi normally don't have white parts.)

As an aside, there seems to be some debate in the fandom as to whether the witch-type Neuroi is a unique individual or a class of Neuroi, given that she seems to be destroyed by the Warlock in season 1 and is definitely destroyed by the new Venezia Hive in season 2 - but either way, the first time we see one assume that configuration, it's after meeting Yoshika. The variations in her design are thus presumably just down to artistic license.

between its bigger compatriot and Erica - From an Evil Author standpoint, it isn't just that Neuroi-chan took action to protect Erica...it's that she took that action where Trude could see her.

albeit about a completely different subject - This is a bit of a bait and switch with the tension that's been building up in this episode, and I will take the credit (or blame?) for the diversion here.

"It's not like she's going to turn back up outside of Minna's office window." - After coming up with this line, we faced a constant urge to do EXACTLY THAT. But that'd spoil the plans we have, and that would be a real shame. So we'll just let you enjoy the mental image.

Zauberschule - Karlslandic: "magic school".

I'll type up the AAR - After-action report. Erica hates writing AARs, so this is a fairly significant favor she's offering here.

You don't think I couldn't tell it was bothering you? - For all that she loves to loaf around and not take much of anything seriously, Erica is, in her own way, just as smart and perceptive as her sister - she just doesn't apply it in the same ways.

you want to keep flying - Trude is, and isn't in the same boat that Mio was. She's a little better prepared to go into civilian life if she had to, but the idea of walking away while the war is still on - while her country is still under enemy control - is abhorrent to her, and having to accept some kind of desk job would be almost as bad.

she's such a child at heart - One of the numerous things I love about Erica is that she can have such a sweetly serious moment as the one she just had with Trude, and then turn around and run down the hall doing an airplane impression, and both moments are absolutely sincere. There's just no artifice in her at all.

Lt. Wegener....Capt. Clevinger - You probably see what we did there. Don't worry, you'll see more about this soon.

This isn't something you can make happen faster by pushing harder - in fact, it's often just the opposite. - Having stared doing some martial arts training of my own recently, I'm learning how true this is - particularly when trying to absorb a philosophy along with the physical skills.

....feel every single thing! - Because we're going a different route this time around, I wanted to make that moment of realization just a little different from the scene in New Tricks, but still try to capture that rush of the dam breaking. As Gryph says to Sanya - it's about to get very interesting.

gently restraining... a griffin - In the Strike Witches anime and related materials, Eila's Tarot cards are drawn in the style of the Rider-Waite deck, but often with slightly altered, parallel-universe imagery. In the original Rider-Waite, the animal on Strength is a lion.

Episode 13

Suomus Misfit Squadron - The Suomus Misfits were the subject of the original Strike Witches light novels. I've read a translation of one of them; it was... not that great, if I'm honest, but then I think it was a pretty stilted translation. On the other hand, the original author does seem to have had a similar attitude to mine toward being coy about character sexuality (that is, don't bother). :)

Top Secret: MAJIC - Depending who you ask, the MAJIC codeword applies to matters of highly advanced technology and the MAJESTIC-12 committee, who may or may not be responsible for investigating and recovering UFOs (among other things). On the other hand, quite a few people will tell you that it's a hoax made up by UFO "experts" trying to get people's attention by inventing a shadowy government conspiracy.

Supermarine Spiteful - One of the advanced piston-engined fighter aircraft developed toward the end of the war, the successor to the Spitfire. Like the Kyūshū Shinden and the Grumman Bearcat, to name just a couple, it never really gained the fame it deserved because the war ended before it could see widespread use, and postwar aircraft technology developed in other directions. Has one of the best names ever fitted to a fighter aircraft.

22,966 feet - Most people would've said "about 23,000," but... not Ursula.

greater than distance or time - A phrase borrowed from the introduction of the original Star Wars novel, in which it is used to describe the Old Republic.

"Paper Moon" - Fully "It's Only a Paper Moon", 1933 jazz standard by Harold Arlen. Widely recorded in the '30s and '40s, although - amazingly - the Ink Spots never seem to have done a version of it! (Ella Fitzgerald, who recorded several songs with the Ink Spots as a backup band, did record it in 1945 with another, similar-sounding group called the Delta Rhythm Boys.)

Say, it's only a paper moon
Sailing over a cardboard sea
But it wouldn't be make-believe if you believed in me.

I've done that, actually - Quite a few times if you take it as a metaphor, but even if you take it strictly literally, more than once.

Baltlandic saw steel - The local equivalent of Swedish saw steel, a high-carbon steel used in the making of hand and band saw blades. Makes a reasonable substitute for traditional Japanese/Fusō tamahagane if you're willing to work it a bit, and is quite a lot easier to come by in Gallia.

Blazkowicz - Capt. William J. Blazkowicz, Liberion Army Air Force, often finds himself feeling as if he was meant for greater things. Unfortunately, he lives in a world where there isn't really a lot of call for two-fisted manly superheroics and there aren't any Nazis. He's never going to get the call for that firefight with Chaingun Hitler.

the Majestic XII Committee - President Truman and the 11 other people who are cleared to know that the Liberion government seized all of Nikola Tesla's papers after his death in 1943.

Witolda Urbanowicz and Wojtek - Based on WWII Polish ace Witold Urbanowicz, who flew first with the RAF's No. 303 "Kościuszko" Squadron, then the U.S. 23rd Fighter Group, and Corporal Wojtek of the Polish Second Corps, who was a bear.

Q-model Warhawk - In the real world, the Curtiss XP-40Q would have been the last, fastest, most powerful revision of the venerable P-40, but by the time it was developed, newer and more capable aircraft were in mass production, so the Army didn't order any.

Friend of yours? - Yoshika, an animal lover in general, has a documented track record with bears (see the first episode of Strike Witches 2 and the movie).

Melitta Schiller - The local version of real-life German test pilot Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, whose brother-in-law was Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg of Operation Valkyrie fame. (Schiller was her maiden name.)

Princess Elizabeth - The real Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, etc., served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service as a truck driver and mechanic. She is presently the only head of state to have served in uniform in WWII.

Fusō-style temple = Shizuka Hattori would, if asked, expound for some time about just how difficult it is to get the supplies required to build one of these in Gallia, during wartime, without arousing suspicions. But on the other hand, she still accomplished it.

U-A-L - From what I could find, WWII Russian fliers used letter based "call codes" rather than what we would think of as proper callsigns or registration numbers. Normally the first character is where they were based out of, but for whatever reason the Russians never used "R" as a leading character (meaning that I couldn't just put her as based out of Ribeauville), so I went with "U" for Ulrich, followed by "A" for Aleksandra (Sanya's full first name), and hopefully the L is obvious. :)

slow, almost shy sort of wave - Rather like the very hesitant wave that Erica gave her. Hmmm.

came to glowing life on either side of her head - G. gets the credit for this. A fun little image that we decided to roll with. :)

48 degrees north, 7 degrees east! - I have no particular like or dislike of Offenburg. It just happened to be conveniently near where we'd mentioned the 511th and 501st's patrol areas meet.

the pseudo-witch shifted - After all, she's demonstrated the ability to change from a more traditional Neuroi to this form, so why not get a little more into "battle mode" when needed? Partially inspired by this artist's idea and a few of the "Witch Type Neuroi" garage kits floating around out there.

QSL card - a written confirmation of radio broadcasts being received, either exchanged between HAM operators or to notify an AM radio station that you got their signal. (Often for ridiculous things like a family in Aukland getting a surprisingly good signal from WBGG in Pittsburgh.) The radio code "QSL?" is the "Can you hear me?" and a response of "QSL" means "Yes I can."

Night Witches are often in the habit of collecting and trading QSL cards with each other, and there's an informal record book for longest distance, most frequent connections, etx.

Red Nose Day 2411

I'm half jackrabbit - This scene is based on one in the 1983 motion picture The Right Stuff, featuring Shirley's archetype, Chuck Yeager, and his wife Glennis, making a game of pretending to be flirting strangers at Pancho's Happy Bottom Riding Club. Our version naturally casts G in the role of Mrs. Yeager. And he's fine with that. :)

Qu'est-ce qui vient de se passer? - "What just happened?"

Bastion Broadcasting Corporation - When the British Broadcasting Corporation left Earth in the wake of the Earth Alliance crackdown of 2406, they needed to find something else for the first "B" to stand for. There was a viewer contest, and the winning suggestion was "Bastion", on the premise that the "BBC-in-exile" was meant to be a "bastion of integrity" (in opposition to, e.g., post-crackdown Earthdome's notorious mouthpiece, InterStellar News).

a yellow metal D-handle - You may recognize this as a part from the original version of the He 162 jetpack. The overall effect draws a certain level of inspiration from the modifications to Lupin's Fiat 500 in Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro.

less a buzz than a snarl - Compare the sound modern rally cars make, as in this clip.

Restaurant Bonséjour - This is a real restaurant on the real road between Aubure and Ribeauvillé. You can see it on Google Maps Street View, it's about halfway along the shorter of the two routes between the two towns.

As an aside, we've used Google Maps for most of the geography that's happened in the course of this series - with some artistic license here and there, to be sure. The satellite photos and Street View give the impression that the route between Aubure and Château Saint-Ulrich is much as it is described here. Looks like quite a hoot.

trees flashing by on either side, haring up into the hills - In the original version of this, the Eliminator (and by extension the Stig) would have shown up here, breaking up the game of tag and racing them both back to the hangar. We decided having G. and Shirley unexpectedly finding them both at the Castle worked even better for sheer "Wait, what?"-ness.

I actually did try writing it that way, but couldn't come up with any plausible way that the Stig's interference at that delicate juncture wouldn't cause Shirley to crash, which would've put a bit of a damper on the day.

little "grabby" motions - It's interesting that Shirley's involuntary reaction to the sight of a hot car is more or less the same as Lucchini's to an... enticing frontage.

unfamiliar new car - http://auto.howstuffworks.com/zz-top-eliminator-hot-rod.htm

Some say... - I couldn't help but tweak the trope a little. :)

Well, now he's talking my language! - I mean, we couldn't have the Stig show up and NOT have a race. That's just the law.

hot rubber and hickory - I mean, I don't know for sure that the Eliminator constantly smells of drag racing and barbecue, but it seems like a reasonable assumption.

flaming tire tracks - The signature of a time vehicle fitted with a Brown Industries flux capacitor system. Mainly because an OSCILLATION OVERTHRUSTER would have required him to be heading for a wall. (We considered the DeLorean itself for the scene, but decided that A) it would be too startlingly out of place in 1946 and B) we'd get tired of explaining that it wasn't Doc Mui's DeLorean, it was some other one. :)

Episode 14

Me 262 V1 - A note about German/Karlslandic aircraft nomenclature: The "V1" in the prototype Me 262's model code doesn't mean "version one", and it has nothing to do with the real-life primitive cruise missile known as Vergeltungswaffe (reprisal weapon) 1. The V stands for Versuch - "research" - and indicates that that particular version is the first test model. If a subsequent test revision is needed, it would be V2, and so on. The final, complete, we-anticipate-no-further-major-changes-before-mass-production test model would be type A0; the first production run, type A1.

From there it gets extremely complicated as different versions with different hardware configurations arise. Being the meticulous people that they are, the Karlsland Reichsluftfahrtministerium (Imperial Aviation Ministry, abbreviated RLM) will often even retroactively assign official type codes to "field expedient" modifications (and always if they then go into production as running revisions or Rüstsätze, field retromodification kits).

a risk most test pilots take - Which is entirely true, but you can understand Ursula's hesitation here, given her history with the Me-262 design.

Whiskey Kilo two eight - Not Wilma's personal callsign, but a code attached to this particular flight test.

Hals und Beinbruch! - Literally "neck and leg break", used in the same context as the English expression, "Break a leg!"

bit... slippery - Not only do you figure the jet propulsion is a lot different to what most Witches were used to, but the real He 162 was pretty notorious for needing a skilled hand at the controls.

coordination tests - The actual name for this type of evaluation maneuver.

Frances Whittle - Our interpretation of the Strike Witches version of Sir Frank Whittle, OM, KBE, CB, FRS, Hon FRAeS. The inventor (or, depending how you look at it, co-inventor) of the jet engine. In fact, in "the real world", Whittle patented the initial design that eventually became a working engine in 1930, but funding, health issues, battles with manufacturers, and the small matter of the war kept him from having a functional aircraft to use it until 1943.

Hans von Ohain - The other man who shares the credit for the creation of the jet. Von Ohain and Whittle were working at the same time, on the same ideas, and created final designs that worked very similarly (though there were several major mechanical differences), and never knew the other man was working along the same lines until after the war - in fact, they didn't meet in person until 1976!

Boscombe Down - Home of the RAF's Empire Test Pilot School and several Flight Test Squadrons, including the 41st Fighter Squadron, which eventually became the Fast Jet Test Squadron.

Meteor - The Gloster Meteor was that 'functional aircraft' I mentioned. Technically the Meteor F.1 was flying by 1944, but things probably worked a little differently with the RAF brass funneling so much money and brainpower into the Warlock project.

Rolls-Royce - Rolls was responsible for manufacturing the "production" versions of Whittle's engines. In this case, the Meteor has a pair of W.2 "Welland" ætherjet engines capable of 1,600 pounds of thrust.

Lutterworth - Home officers of Power Jets, Ltd, the company formed to design (and improve) the jet engine by Whittle and several investors.

Tesladyne Heavy Industries - And now you know what Gryphon wanted the MAJIC documents for. :>

sheer immensity of the thing - If you've never had a chance to see a B-36, the photos don't even come close to doing it justice. Should you ever have a chance to visit the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, please stop by their WWII building, where the B-36 takes up a significant part of the entire hangar. (And give me a call so I can meet you down there!)

I love a good aviation museum, me, and the Air Force's is one of the greats. It's expanded to several buildings since the first time I was there, but what I think of as the core of the collection is still housed in the original (quite enormously vast) hangar. Wherever you are in it, whatever you're looking at, all you have to do is maybe turn your head a little and you'll be looking at part of the B-36. It dominates a room the size of some small towns - a room that also has a B-29 in it!

Jack Ridley - A cohort of Chuck Yeager's, portrayed (somewhat inaccurately, since one of his major scenes is set after the real Ridley died) by the late Levon Helm in The Right Stuff. They met in 1947 when both were assigned to the X-1 supersonic flight project. As you can probably tell from context, this is their first meeting in this setting.

Most Secret - There is a classification level in the Britannian intelligence establishment so secret its actual name is secret. When referring to it to those not cleared for it, those who are cleared for it may refer to it only as "Most Secret Sources". History will later know it by the codename Ultra. More on this later.

the Royal Aircraft Establishment - The Britannian government's aeronautical research and development agency, comparable to the Liberion National Advisory Council on Aeronautics (NACA) and the Forschungsbüro (Research Bureau) of Karlsland's RLM.

a bunch of remote-operated turrets - Early production B-36es did in fact have these, but they (and their operators) were removed in later models because they weren't of any use against real-world jets, either.

still be pretty cramped - In the original B-36 design, there's a small bunk area in the aft section of the plane. What makes it really fun is hauling yourself through a tunnel that ran between the crew area and the cockpit on a little trolly. (The video is in a static display craft - normally the tunnel WAS lighted when the plane was spun up.) In the Witchcraft version, instead of just skipping over the bomb bay, there are hatches leading to the striker launch bays.

Is this reheat? - Reheat was, in fact, the original name for afterburners, which Whittle invented in the process of trying to improve turbojet speeds.

on a point of order - In fairness to Sanya, she may be speaking for someone else there. In fairness to Eila, she may not. It's hard to tell with Orussians.

how many divisions has the Prince of Monaco got? - Echoes a remark attributed to - of all people - Joseph Stalin, who supposedly replied to a remark about currying favor with Russian Catholics, "The pope? How many divisions has he got?"

In fairness, the Prince of Monaco has probably a couple more than the Pope.

Actually, the Monegasque military is the third-smallest in the world, says Wikipedia, with a standing force or 255. Monaco actually has more cops than soldiers (515).

To be fair, that is still more than the pope, whose Swiss Guards only number around 140. :) Still, a division is between 10,000 and 20,000 troops, and there are only about 35,000 people in all of Monaco. And half of them are tax-dodging Formula 1 drivers. :)

tea dress - Not specifically to take tea in, but a dress that is suitable for afternoon and evening occasions, with a hem that falls between the bottom of the calf and the top of the ankle. In Lynne's case, I was thinking of something rather like this, but I thought the solid saffron color would suit her better.

homity pie - A dish that showed up a lot in WWII Britain because it was fairly easy to make even with rationing - the pie has one crust (on the bottom), filled with a mix of mashed potatoes, leeks, garlic, sliced apple (really!) and cheese.

syntymäpäivä - Finnish for Birthday.

Brautlied - "The Bride's Song", a traditional tune played at German weddings. There are a number of such tunes (most everybody in the Western world is familiar with the one from Richard Wagner's Lohengrin) - this particular one is the Intermezzo from Karl Goldmark's Landliche Hochzeit (Rustic Wedding Symphony, 1875).

red-and-blue-edged envelope - The particular configuration of this one, as you'd guess, belongs to the Royal Karlslandic Airmail Service.

Poljot Sturmanskie - Poljot ("Flight") is the international brand of Moscow Watch Factory No. 1; the Sturmanskie ("Navigator") is one of their signature models, issued to Soviet aviators for decades. Yuri Gagarin had one (the one he was issued when he joined the Red Air Force) with him on his space flight. Elsewhere in UF, Gin Shepard also owns one.

That's what Shirley would have done! - In fairness, it's not what Shirley would have done.

She can't have gotten all that far. - One of those phrases that, like "How hard can it be?" is almost ALWAYS followed by trouble.

Perfect is for later. Alive is for now. - This would also make a good Tech Specs motto for an Autobot medic.

tracery of angled light paths - The pattern looks like printed circuitry, but since integrated circuits do not yet exist in this world, Yoshika doesn't know that.

M24 hand grenades - The famous German "potato masher" grenade, formally the Model 1924 Stielhandgranate ("stick hand grenade").

Hölle und Verdammnis - "Hell and damnation!"

broken arrow - In the older sense of "unit in danger of being overrun", not the more modern "nuclear weapons accident that does not entail the risk of nuclear war" one. In this case what it means is that an element of the 501st is in imminent danger and the rest of the wing is scrambling in support. The neighboring units must be aware of this because the 501st's all-hands preoccupation creates a potential gap in the line that the enemy might otherwise exploit, but at this alert level they are not expected to come to the 501st's aid.

That unit is not limited! - The fix for the "production" Me 262 A1 involved installing a governor on their Miyafuji engines that would prevent the Striker from consuming energy beyond a certain output. This meant they had a little less speed (and a lot bigger turn radius), but prevented them from draining a pilot to the point where she could no longer remain in the air.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

  Subject     Author     Message Date     ID  
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09- Star Ranger4 Mar-16-15 1
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09- Nova Floresca Mar-16-15 2
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09- Gryphonadmin Apr-05-15 30
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09- Proginoskes Mar-16-15 3
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09- Gryphonadmin Mar-16-15 4
         RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09- Proginoskes Mar-16-15 5
             RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09- Gryphonadmin Mar-16-15 6
                 RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09- Lime2K Aug-22-18 49
         RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09- Proginoskes Mar-16-15 7
         RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09- rwpikul Mar-18-15 8
             RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09- Arashi Mar-19-15 9
                 RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09- ebony14 Mar-19-15 10
                 RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09- rwpikul Mar-21-15 11
                     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09- Meridias Mar-25-15 17
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10 The Traitor Mar-24-15 12
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10 BZArchermoderator Mar-24-15 13
         RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10 Gryphonadmin Mar-30-15 20
             RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10 discord Apr-05-15 28
                 RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10 Gryphonadmin Apr-05-15 29
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10 StClair Mar-24-15 14
         RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10 Peter Eng Mar-24-15 15
             RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10 Arashi Mar-25-15 18
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10 Peter Eng Mar-24-15 16
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-11 CdrMike Mar-29-15 19
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-11 Tabasco Mar-31-15 21
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-12 zwol Apr-04-15 22
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-12 Gryphonadmin Apr-04-15 23
         RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-12 SpottedKitty Apr-04-15 24
             RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-12 Gryphonadmin Apr-04-15 25
                 RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-12 SpottedKitty Apr-04-15 26
                     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-12 Croaker Apr-06-15 31
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-12 BZArchermoderator Apr-04-15 27
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13 Matrix Dragon Apr-14-15 32
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13 ebony14 Apr-14-15 33
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13 cacklz Apr-16-15 34
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13 BZArchermoderator Apr-16-15 36
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13 CdrMike Apr-16-15 35
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13 Droken Apr-16-15 37
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13 + RND Verbena Apr-16-15 38
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13 + RND BZArchermoderator Apr-16-15 39
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 Wiregeek Apr-21-15 40
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 drakensis Apr-21-15 42
         RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 TsukaiStarburst Apr-22-15 45
  RND Addendum Gryphonadmin Apr-21-15 41
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 SneakyPete Apr-21-15 43
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 Mephronmoderator Apr-21-15 44
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 TheOtherSean Apr-22-15 46
         RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 Gryphonadmin Apr-22-15 47
             RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 McFortner Aug-22-18 50
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 Delusionist Jun-08-16 48
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 SneakyPete Aug-23-18 51
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 Gryphonadmin Aug-27-22 52
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 Verbena Aug-27-22 53
         RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 Gryphonadmin Aug-27-22 54
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 Gryphonadmin Nov-07-22 55
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 Senji Nov-08-22 56
  RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 Senji Jan-09-24 57
     RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 Gryphonadmin Jan-09-24 58
         RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14 Senji Jan-09-24 59

Conferences | Topics | Previous Topic | Next Topic
Star Ranger4
Charter Member
2483 posts
Mar-16-15, 01:34 AM (EST)
Click to EMail Star%20Ranger4 Click to send private message to Star%20Ranger4 Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list Click to send message via AOL IM  
1. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-"
In response to message #0
 
   >MIYAFUJI! - When G. described the
>Polternacht tradition to me, this little vignette sprang out of my
>fingers about 30 seconds later. We've been sitting on it for...geez,
>almost a month? I'm glad to see it finally out in the light of day.
>:)

>
What's worse, is I can totally see it being a case of Mio using..... Using...
gah. what IS the name of that multiple strike techniqe? the one that marks you as having progressed from aprentice to journeyman? I cant even seem to find where in the SoS stories it appears.

>Ich bin Fotoninja - "I am a photographic ninja."

I take it she got it right, cause I'm recalling the time Kennedy tried to say he was a berliner what he got out was that he was some sort of pastery?

Of COURSE you wernt
expecting it!
No One expects the
FANNISH INQUISITION!

RCW# 86


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Nova Floresca
Member since Sep-13-13
414 posts
Mar-16-15, 03:10 AM (EST)
Click to EMail Nova%20Floresca Click to send private message to Nova%20Floresca Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
2. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-"
In response to message #1
 
   Hyakken no Arashi, the Storm of One Hundred Blades.

(I'm a sucker for awesome sounding moves)

"This is probably a stupid question, but . . ."


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Gryphonadmin
Charter Member
22115 posts
Apr-05-15, 01:31 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Gryphon Click to send private message to Gryphon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
30. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-"
In response to message #1
 
   >>Ich bin Fotoninja - "I am a photographic ninja."
>
>I take it she got it right, cause I'm recalling the time Kennedy tried
>to say he was a berliner what he got out was that he was some sort of
>pastery?

So I've been told. If memory serves, the way it was put to me back when I was taking introductory German (where, unsurprisingly, we discussed this very issue, though most of the kids in the class had no idea what Herr Tozier and I were talking about) was that you leave out the indefinite article in sentences where you're saying you're a particular sort of person - "I'm a Berliner," "I'm a foreigner," "I'm an airplane mechanic," that sort of thing, but leave it in if you're speaking metaphorically ("I'm a busy bee today"). Ordinarily, JFK leaving "ein" in there would've just seemed like a minor grammatical blunder, but unfortunately there's a food item called a Berliner, so it came across as if he were going for some abstruse jelly-donut metaphor. If he had been speaking in Stuttgart everything would've been fine. (... But not Hamburg. Or Frankfurt. Or Vienna.)

All in all, he'd have been better off saying Ich komme aus Berlin ("I come from Berlin"). That's not a common way of saying that sort of thing in German, but it at least means what he meant.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Proginoskes
Member since Dec-3-09
198 posts
Mar-16-15, 12:17 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Proginoskes Click to send private message to Proginoskes Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
3. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-"
In response to message #0
 
   >salmiakkikoskenkorva - Exactly what it sounds like - salty licorice
>infused vodka. Acquired taste, etx etx....and it will knock you on
>your ass if you aren't VERY careful with it.

Hooray for liquorice!

I have (as is usually the case) very little familiarity with the source material, and I haven't developed a clear mental map of the castle's layout. Does FUEL STORAGE have a door to a kitchen or dining area? Because it occurred to me (way back when it was pointed out how little sense FUEL STORAGE makes when Striker Units don't use any fuel but the magic of their pilots, but I've only just now remembered while typing) that while the Striker Units don't need fueling, their pilots do, so somebody might've labeled a pantry "fuel storage" as a joke.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Gryphonadmin
Charter Member
22115 posts
Mar-16-15, 02:25 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Gryphon Click to send private message to Gryphon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
4. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-"
In response to message #3
 
   >I have (as is usually the case) very little familiarity with the
>source material, and I haven't developed a clear mental map of the
>castle's layout. Does FUEL STORAGE have a door to a kitchen or dining
>area?

Nope. Its only door leads out to the hangar. The living quarters, including the kitchen, are on the other side of the building.

Familiarity with the source wouldn't help much in this case, since a) OWaW is set after the TV series and in a different place than either of them and b) the layouts of their other HQs were never explicitly established either. I did throw together a quick floorplan of the barracks wing, showing whose room is where, though as of Episode 09 it's already out of date:

As it stands now, Mio has moved across the hall to Minna's room, leaving her old one vacant; Perrine has moved to the room at the end of the hall (currently labeled "vacant"), leaving her old one empty as well; and Chris Barkhorn has moved in with Ursula Hartmann (whose assignment to that room is now official, since 404 Squadron has been made part of 501 JFW).

I should probably update that, and put together at least a crude map of the rest of the facility, in my copious free time... :)

>Because it occurred to me (way back when it was pointed out how
>little sense FUEL STORAGE makes when Striker Units don't use any fuel
>but the magic of their pilots, but I've only just now remembered while
>typing) that while the Striker Units don't need fueling, their
>pilots do, so somebody might've labeled a pantry "fuel
>storage" as a joke.

That would be a decent witticism, but unfortunately it's not the case. The people who renovated the castle sincerely believed that the witches would be keeping avgas or something in there. :)

In fairness, they do have conventional vehicles on the base, but the fuel for them is kept elsewhere.

Also, that reminds me of something I forgot to include in the annotation for the episode where it appeared. In my head, the joke about FUEL STORAGE (that it's always written and pronounced in all caps like that) has its referential roots in Dave Barry's running joke about THE SMOOT-HAWLEY TARIFF in Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States, which to me, anyway, is still his funniest book.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Proginoskes
Member since Dec-3-09
198 posts
Mar-16-15, 04:22 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Proginoskes Click to send private message to Proginoskes Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
5. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-"
In response to message #4
 
   Ah. I am enlightened. I was assuming that FUEL STORAGE was something someone spotted in a background, precipitating a brief discussion that concluded that no, nobody else knew what need witches had for FUEL STORAGE either, not even the person in command of the Sapper who presumably put it there.

>THE SMOOT-HAWLEY TARIFF

I didn't even realize FUEL STORAGE was referential! I thought it was some kind of meta-humour of your own devising that prompted the readers to come up with the joke themselves. (That, or Derek reached out from the afterlife to imbue FUEL STORAGE with a fragment of his humorous power.) I was quite content with the mystery and my imagined origin (1: in some off-screen moment, Gryphon asks the assembled witches what's up with FUEL STORAGE, taking care to pronounce the all-caps of the sign with appropriate pomposity. 2: somebody breaks dramatically and unexpectedly in response to 1. 3: as a consequence of 2, "FUEL STORAGE" is now The Right Way to refer to that room.), but I now have an amusing-sounding book to seek out and read.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Gryphonadmin
Charter Member
22115 posts
Mar-16-15, 04:30 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Gryphon Click to send private message to Gryphon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
6. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-"
In response to message #5
 
   >Ah. I am enlightened. I was assuming that FUEL STORAGE was something
>someone spotted in a background, precipitating a brief discussion that
>concluded that no, nobody else knew what need witches had for FUEL
>STORAGE either, not even the person in command of the Sapper who
>presumably put it there.

Nope, not canonical. Made it up myself.

>>THE SMOOT-HAWLEY TARIFF
>
>I didn't even realize FUEL STORAGE was referential!

Well, it's a reference I sort of recognized after the fact - at around the time that I was recording the audio, and realized that I was giving it Full Dramatic Weight every time. I did a little digging around in the file cabinets of my unconscious at that point and realized that it probably has THE SMOOT-HAWLEY TARIFF's DNA. :)

>I was quite content with the mystery and my imagined
>origin (1: in some off-screen moment, Gryphon asks the assembled
>witches what's up with FUEL STORAGE, taking care to pronounce the
>all-caps of the sign with appropriate pomposity. 2: somebody breaks
>dramatically and unexpectedly in response to 1. 3: as a consequence of
>2, "FUEL STORAGE" is now The Right Way to refer to that room.)

If it helps, that is the most likely in-universe explanation. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Lime2K
Member since May-4-04
157 posts
Aug-22-18, 04:22 AM (EST)
Click to EMail Lime2K Click to send private message to Lime2K Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
49. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-"
In response to message #6
 
   It’s too bad we haven’t seen a Karlsandic air bases’ hangar yet, because KRAFTSTOFFLAGER is a delightfully German word.
--------------
Lime2K
The One True Evil Overlord


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Proginoskes
Member since Dec-3-09
198 posts
Mar-16-15, 04:44 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Proginoskes Click to send private message to Proginoskes Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
7. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-"
In response to message #4
 
   LAST EDITED ON Mar-16-15 AT 04:45 PM (EDT)
 
Network lag, nothing to see here, move along…


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
rwpikul
Member since Jun-22-03
222 posts
Mar-18-15, 05:00 PM (EST)
Click to EMail rwpikul Click to send private message to rwpikul Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
8. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-"
In response to message #4
 
   >That would be a decent witticism, but unfortunately it's not the case.
> The people who renovated the castle sincerely believed that the
>witches would be keeping avgas or something in there. :)
>
>In fairness, they do have conventional vehicles on the base,
>but the fuel for them is kept elsewhere.

Having a fuel storage room for the striker hangar actually does make sense: It allows for future rearrangements and/or deployments that result in it being a hangar for conventional aircraft.

--
Chakat Firepaw - Inventor & Scientist (Mad)


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Arashi
Member since Mar-12-10
118 posts
Mar-19-15, 01:11 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Arashi Click to send private message to Arashi Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
9. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-"
In response to message #8
 
   >>That would be a decent witticism, but unfortunately it's not the case.
>> The people who renovated the castle sincerely believed that the
>>witches would be keeping avgas or something in there. :)
>>
>>In fairness, they do have conventional vehicles on the base,
>>but the fuel for them is kept elsewhere.
>
>Having a fuel storage room for the striker hangar actually does make
>sense: It allows for future rearrangements and/or deployments that
>result in it being a hangar for conventional aircraft.

The problem with that statement is you're applying the term 'make sense' to not only a bureaucracy, but a military bureaucracy.

When in Danger, or in Doubt.
Run in circles, scream and shout.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
ebony14
Member since Jul-11-11
437 posts
Mar-19-15, 01:52 PM (EST)
Click to EMail ebony14 Click to send private message to ebony14 Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
10. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-"
In response to message #9
 
   >>>That would be a decent witticism, but unfortunately it's not the case.
>>> The people who renovated the castle sincerely believed that the
>>>witches would be keeping avgas or something in there. :)
>>>
>>>In fairness, they do have conventional vehicles on the base,
>>>but the fuel for them is kept elsewhere.
>>
>>Having a fuel storage room for the striker hangar actually does make
>>sense: It allows for future rearrangements and/or deployments that
>>result in it being a hangar for conventional aircraft.
>
>The problem with that statement is you're applying the term 'make
>sense' to not only a bureaucracy, but a military bureaucracy.

Oh, pish. Form 17-2735/A was sent out and dispatched the required personnel to the castle for preparation of the base for occupation, and Sub-Form 17-2735/A-27 stated that all areas of the hangar must be clearly labeled in the appropriate color paint. Section 17-2735/A-27/B23 states that all hangars must have clearly labeled FUEL STORAGE areas that must meet certain safety regulations (as dictated in SHAEF Manual 4735/A-25; make sure you don't use 4735/S-25 - that's for shipyards). This is a hangar, and thusly, it has a FUEL STORAGE area, labeled as such. It couldn't be simpler... unless you were following Form 23-1125/A. And we all know how easy one of those is to use.

Ebony the Black Dragon

"Life is like an anole. Sometimes it's green. Sometimes it's brown. But it's always a small Caribbean lizard."


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
rwpikul
Member since Jun-22-03
222 posts
Mar-21-15, 02:27 AM (EST)
Click to EMail rwpikul Click to send private message to rwpikul Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
11. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-"
In response to message #9
 
   >>Having a fuel storage room for the striker hangar actually does make
>>sense: It allows for future rearrangements and/or deployments that
>>result in it being a hangar for conventional aircraft.
>
>The problem with that statement is you're applying the term 'make
>sense' to not only a bureaucracy, but a military bureaucracy.

Amazingly enough, militaries often do have people who can think things through and have good ideas. These are often the people who write the regulations that the bureaucracy is mindlessly following.

--
Chakat Firepaw - Inventor & Scientist (Mad)


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Meridias
Member since Jun-9-12
95 posts
Mar-25-15, 02:23 AM (EST)
Click to EMail Meridias Click to send private message to Meridias Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
17. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-"
In response to message #11
 
   LAST EDITED ON Mar-25-15 AT 02:25 AM (EDT)
 
>Amazingly enough, militaries often do have people who can think things
>through and have good ideas. These are often the people who write the
>regulations that the bureaucracy is mindlessly following.

Yep, they sure do. They're called 'enlisted'.

*********************
Rock Is Dead. Long Live Paper And Scissors.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
The Traitor
Member since Feb-24-09
1190 posts
Mar-24-15, 07:44 AM (EST)
Click to EMail The%20Traitor Click to send private message to The%20Traitor Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
12. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10"
In response to message #0
 
   LAST EDITED ON Mar-24-15 AT 07:46 AM (EDT)
 
>a surprisingly advanced car - The original Warrior's
>Legacy
incarnation of the Belv, and presumably the
>mainstream-UF-universe version Gryphon is familiar with, dated from
>the late 1950s, not the late 1930s. In this context, I'm envisioning
>it as technologically similar to the original BMC Mini (vintage 1959),
>which would have been radically futuristic in 1938. This is amusingly
>at odds with the "classical" interpretation of the Belv: in WL it's a
>humorously out-of-date, poorly made, primitive car that's been in
>unchanged production for decades longer than it should've been. Here
>it may still not be very well-made - the Transbelvian Automobile Works
>was not known for its access to top-notch tooling or materials - but
>its design is ahead of its time.

Speaking of the glorious Belv, I just found this:-

For those with inferior squinting powers, this chap's a rapper styling himself "Bulletproof Belv".

I want a bulletproof Belv now. You have no idea how much.

EDITSKI: I also think this is the longest I've gone without shitposting making a valuable contribution to life on this fair forum. Just when you thought it was safe, etc. =]

---
"She's old, she's lame, she's barren too, // "She's not worth feed or hay, // "But I'll give her this," - he blew smoke at me - // "She was something in her day." -- Garnet Rogers, Small Victory

FiMFiction.net: we might accept blatant porn involving the cast of My Little Pony but as God is my witness we have standards.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
BZArchermoderator
Member since Nov-9-05
1774 posts
Mar-24-15, 08:52 AM (EST)
Click to EMail BZArcher Click to send private message to BZArcher Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
13. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10"
In response to message #12
 
   I have the mental image of a Belv being transformed into something like Lupin's car from the opening of Castle of Cagliostro, and used for a bank heist.

It's...it's beautiful.

---------------------------
Jaymie "BZArcher" Wagner
She/They
@BZArcher / bzarcher at gmail
"Life is change. Let’s live.”


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Gryphonadmin
Charter Member
22115 posts
Mar-30-15, 01:47 AM (EST)
Click to EMail Gryphon Click to send private message to Gryphon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
20. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10"
In response to message #13
 
   >I have the mental image of a Belv being transformed into something
>like Lupin's car from the opening of Castle of Cagliostro, and used
>for a bank heist.
>
>It's...it's beautiful.

"I want all'a THAT... in THERE."

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
discord
Member since Jun-24-07
37 posts
Apr-05-15, 01:11 PM (EST)
Click to EMail discord Click to send private message to discord Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
28. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10"
In response to message #20
 
   >>I have the mental image of a Belv being transformed into something
>>like Lupin's car from the opening of Castle of Cagliostro, and used
>>for a bank heist.
>>
>>It's...it's beautiful.
>
>"I want all'a THAT... in THERE."


HAH! Vin Diesel said the same thing in XxX didn't he?


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Gryphonadmin
Charter Member
22115 posts
Apr-05-15, 01:19 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Gryphon Click to send private message to Gryphon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
29. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10"
In response to message #28
 
   >>>I have the mental image of a Belv being transformed into something
>>>like Lupin's car from the opening of Castle of Cagliostro, and used
>>>for a bank heist.
>>>
>>>It's...it's beautiful.
>>
>>"I want all'a THAT... in THERE."
>
>HAH! Vin Diesel said the same thing in XxX didn't he?

That is indeed the reference I was going for.

(The other canonical xXx reference, "Stop thinking Prague police and start thinking PlayStation," wouldn't work with the "people from 1946" demographic. :)

As an aside, I've always been vaguely amused that they named the movie what an MMO player who wanted to call his character X, but discovered that X was taken, would have used.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
StClair
Charter Member
819 posts
Mar-24-15, 10:19 AM (EST)
Click to EMail StClair Click to send private message to StClair Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
14. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10"
In response to message #12
 
   A Belv with enough armor to qualify as "bulletproof" (even to small arms) would probably be unable to move (between the underpowered engine, and the suspension bottoming out).


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Peter Eng
Charter Member
2026 posts
Mar-24-15, 05:03 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Peter%20Eng Click to send private message to Peter%20Eng Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
15. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10"
In response to message #14
 
   >A Belv with enough armor to qualify as "bulletproof" (even to small
>arms) would probably be unable to move (between the
>underpowered engine, and the suspension bottoming out).

Depends on how much modding somebody did, and what their available technology was. It would probably be possible with a 25th-century engine, an upgraded suspension, and some overtechnology-grade armor...

Peter Eng
--
"You could have bought an Arnage-C for less."
"Where's the fun in that?"


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Arashi
Member since Mar-12-10
118 posts
Mar-25-15, 01:09 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Arashi Click to send private message to Arashi Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
18. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10"
In response to message #15
 
   >Depends on how much modding somebody did, and what their available
>technology was. It would probably be possible with a 25th-century
>engine, an upgraded suspension, and some overtechnology-grade armor...
>
In other words, a totally different car? :P

When in Danger, or in Doubt.
Run in circles, scream and shout.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Peter Eng
Charter Member
2026 posts
Mar-24-15, 05:07 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Peter%20Eng Click to send private message to Peter%20Eng Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
16. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-10"
In response to message #0
 
   "This is amusingly at odds with the "classical" interpretation of the Belv: in WL it's a humorously out-of-date, poorly made, primitive car that's been in unchanged production for decades longer than it should've been. Here it may still not be very well-made - the Transbelvian Automobile Works was not known for its access to top-notch tooling or materials - but its design is ahead of its time."

So, it's a car built in 1938 that was state-of-the-art for 1959, and never changed.

That still fits, actually. I am assuming that the WL Belv is SOTA for 1959, rather than 1946 or something. It's all in the perspective.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
CdrMike
Member since Feb-20-05
823 posts
Mar-29-15, 08:01 PM (EST)
Click to EMail CdrMike Click to send private message to CdrMike Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
19. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-11"
In response to message #0
 
   >Yes, ma'am - Most people assume that Mio is 100% all the time
>the alpha dog in that relationship. It's actually a lot more nuanced
>than that.

I think we all know that, when the war is finally over and these two have the opportunity to settle down, it's Minna's word which will be law in that household.

--------------------------
CdrMike, Overwatch Reject

"You know, the world could always use more heroes." - Tracer, Overwatch


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Tabasco
Member since Dec-4-06
186 posts
Mar-31-15, 11:11 AM (EST)
Click to EMail Tabasco Click to send private message to Tabasco Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
21. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-11"
In response to message #19
 
   >>Yes, ma'am - Most people assume that Mio is 100% all the time
>>the alpha dog in that relationship. It's actually a lot more nuanced
>>than that.
>
>I think we all know that, when the war is finally over and these two
>have the opportunity to settle down, it's Minna's word which will be
>law in that household

Or to borrow from one of my sis's favorite movies, Mio may be the head of their future family, but Minna is the neck which turns the head from side to side...

--------------------
Space for Rent


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
zwol
Member since Feb-24-12
294 posts
Apr-04-15, 04:24 PM (EST)
Click to EMail zwol Click to send private message to zwol Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
22. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-12"
In response to message #0
 
   LAST EDITED ON Apr-04-15 AT 04:25 PM (EDT)
 
>Lt. Wegener....Capt. Clevinger - You probably see what we did there.
>Don't worry, you'll see more about this soon.

Well, there's certainly something that comes to mind when one reads about "above top secret" documents couriered from Los Alamos, but is there any significance to the names, or are we just looking at a regular old tuckerization here? (I'm not asking for more than a yes or no.)


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Gryphonadmin
Charter Member
22115 posts
Apr-04-15, 04:27 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Gryphon Click to send private message to Gryphon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
23. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-12"
In response to message #22
 
   >is there any significance to the names

Yes.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
SpottedKitty
Member since Jun-15-04
605 posts
Apr-04-15, 06:05 PM (EST)
Click to EMail SpottedKitty Click to send private message to SpottedKitty Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
24. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-12"
In response to message #23
 
   If you've done what I think you've done... do you have any idea how unnerving it is to realise you've just spent the last couple of minutes laughing like Peter Lorre...?

--
Unable to save the day: File is read-only.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Gryphonadmin
Charter Member
22115 posts
Apr-04-15, 06:14 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Gryphon Click to send private message to Gryphon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
25. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-12"
In response to message #24
 
   >If you've done what I think you've done... do you have any idea how
>unnerving it is to realise you've just spent the last couple of
>minutes laughing like Peter Lorre...?

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
SpottedKitty
Member since Jun-15-04
605 posts
Apr-04-15, 09:28 PM (EST)
Click to EMail SpottedKitty Click to send private message to SpottedKitty Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
26. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-12"
In response to message #25
 
   <waves Dandelion Flag> I have that on tape!

--
Unable to save the day: File is read-only.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Croaker
Charter Member
639 posts
Apr-06-15, 11:14 AM (EST)
Click to EMail Croaker Click to send private message to Croaker Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
31. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-12"
In response to message #26
 
   ><waves Dandelion Flag> I have that on tape!
>
>--
>Unable to save the day: File is read-only.

I'd be laughing like, oh, Mio, right now, but I'm at work and it would make people look at me funny.

Oh, what the heck, let 'em stare.

BWOHAHAHAHA!

--
Croaker
RCW #mc2
"When in doubt, shoot something. Preferably the enemy."


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
BZArchermoderator
Member since Nov-9-05
1774 posts
Apr-04-15, 11:36 PM (EST)
Click to EMail BZArcher Click to send private message to BZArcher Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
27. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-12"
In response to message #22
 
  

---------------------------
Jaymie "BZArcher" Wagner
She/They
@BZArcher / bzarcher at gmail
"Life is change. Let’s live.”


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Matrix Dragon
Charter Member
1887 posts
Apr-14-15, 02:48 AM (EST)
Click to EMail Matrix%20Dragon Click to send private message to Matrix%20Dragon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
32. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13"
In response to message #0
 
   >Blazkowicz - Capt. William J. Blazkowicz, Liberion Army Air Force, often
>finds himself feeling as if he was meant for greater things. Unfortunately,
>he lives in a world where there isn't really a lot of call for two-fisted
>manly superheroics and there aren't any Nazis. He's never going to get the
>call for that firefight with Chaingun Hitler.

>the Majestic XII Committee - President Truman and the 11 other people who are
>cleared to know that the Liberion government seized all of Nikola Tesla's
>papers after his death in 1943.

Well, if nothing else, when they manage to open the portal to the Vampire Dimension, at least we have a suitable replacement for Jenkins.

Matrix Dragon, J. Random Nutter


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
ebony14
Member since Jul-11-11
437 posts
Apr-14-15, 09:34 AM (EST)
Click to EMail ebony14 Click to send private message to ebony14 Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
33. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13"
In response to message #32
 
   >
>Well, if nothing else, when they manage to open the portal to the
>Vampire Dimension, at least we have a suitable replacement for
>Jenkins.
>

Much like Elric of Melnibone, Corum Jhaelen Irsei, and Dorian Hawkmmoon are all manifestations of the Eternal Champion, B.J. Blazkowicz is a manifestation of the Eternal Jenkins. :)

Ebony the Black Dragon

"Life is like an anole. Sometimes it's green. Sometimes it's brown. But it's always a small Caribbean lizard."


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
cacklz
Member since Oct-25-13
7 posts
Apr-16-15, 04:49 AM (EST)
Click to EMail cacklz Click to send private message to cacklz Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
34. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13"
In response to message #0
 
   >QSL card - a written confirmation of radio broadcasts being
>received, either exchanged between HAM operators or to notify an AM
>radio station that you got their signal. (Often for ridiculous things
>like a family in Aukland getting a surprisingly good signal from WBGG
>in Pittsburgh.) The radio code "QSL?" is the "Can you hear me?" and a
>response of "QSL" means "Yes I can."

Just a quick attempt at a QSL card, courtesy of RadioQTH:

I just had to reorder a supply of QSL cards myself since I upgraded to Extra recently and changed my call. Thanks for the ham-related reference!

73,
Brian


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
BZArchermoderator
Member since Nov-9-05
1774 posts
Apr-16-15, 02:48 PM (EST)
Click to EMail BZArcher Click to send private message to BZArcher Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
36. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13"
In response to message #34
 
   That's beautiful! Thank you!

---------------------------
Jaymie "BZArcher" Wagner
She/They
@BZArcher / bzarcher at gmail
"Life is change. Let’s live.”


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
CdrMike
Member since Feb-20-05
823 posts
Apr-16-15, 02:33 PM (EST)
Click to EMail CdrMike Click to send private message to CdrMike Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
35. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13"
In response to message #0
 
   >Blazkowicz - Capt. William J. Blazkowicz, Liberion Army Air
>Force, often finds himself feeling as if he was meant for greater
>things. Unfortunately, he lives in a world where there isn't really a
>lot of call for two-fisted manly superheroics and there
>aren't any Nazis. He's never going to get the call for that firefight
>with Chaingun Hitler.

I've thought a couple times of bringing up ol' B.J. in the "Who would you like to see in New Frontier" threads because if you're going to be dealing with Nazi scum, you want the very best.

When Reichenberg first showed up, I actually found myself wondering for a moment if he might be a DC of B.J.'s most persistent (at least in the games since Return) adversary, Gen. Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse.

--------------------------
CdrMike, Overwatch Reject

"You know, the world could always use more heroes." - Tracer, Overwatch


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Droken
Member since May-6-08
415 posts
Apr-16-15, 08:17 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Droken Click to send private message to Droken Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
37. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13"
In response to message #35
 
   I've been wracking my brain since I read this to where that name was from. Could've Googled it, I know. Too lazy for that.

Then I walked into GameStop today, and lo-and-behold, guess what turns up on their "promo program" on the screens.

It has been a -very- long time...

-Droken

"If at first you don't succeed, bull-
riding is not for you."


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Verbena
Charter Member
1094 posts
Apr-16-15, 11:07 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Verbena Click to send private message to Verbena Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
38. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13 + RND"
In response to message #0
 
   Am I the only person who saw Shirley in the same place/time with the Eliminator of all cars and could NOT help running out to YouTube to play She's Got Legs in the background?


--------

this world created by the
hands of the gods
everything is false
everything is a LIE
the final days have come
now
let everything be destroyed

--mu


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
BZArchermoderator
Member since Nov-9-05
1774 posts
Apr-16-15, 11:50 PM (EST)
Click to EMail BZArcher Click to send private message to BZArcher Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
39. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13 + RND"
In response to message #38
 
   Wise decision.

---------------------------
Jaymie "BZArcher" Wagner
She/They
@BZArcher / bzarcher at gmail
"Life is change. Let’s live.”


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Wiregeek
Member since Mar-13-14
159 posts
Apr-21-15, 00:04 AM (EST)
Click to EMail Wiregeek Click to send private message to Wiregeek Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
40. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #0
 
  
>That unit is not limited! - The fix for
>the "production" Me 262 A1 involved installing a governor on their
>Miyafuji engines that would prevent the Striker from consuming energy
>beyond a certain output. This meant they had a little less speed (and
>a lot bigger turn radius), but prevented them from draining a pilot to
>the point where she could no longer remain in the air.


This is the single scariest part of the episode for me - though I can easily see how it can turn into a CMOA... or a funeral.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
drakensis
Member since Dec-20-06
410 posts
Apr-21-15, 03:03 AM (EST)
Click to EMail drakensis Click to send private message to drakensis Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list Click to send message via AOL IM  
42. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #40
 
   >This is the single scariest part of the episode for me - though I can
>easily see how it can turn into a CMOA... or a funeral.

Which leads me to wonder if it's _possible_ for a witch using the Force to run herself out of 'magic'.

Of course, Trudi isn't _using_ the Force, yet at least. And personal exhaustion doesn't mean the Force itself is exhausted...

D.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
TsukaiStarburst
Member since Jan-5-15
165 posts
Apr-22-15, 01:00 AM (EST)
Click to EMail TsukaiStarburst Click to send private message to TsukaiStarburst Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list Click to send message via AOL IM  
45. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #42
 
   Gotta wonder what this thing'll start burning up as fuel next, yes...


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Gryphonadmin
Charter Member
22115 posts
Apr-21-15, 02:36 AM (EST)
Click to EMail Gryphon Click to send private message to Gryphon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
41. "RND Addendum"
In response to message #0
 
   Missed out a couple of notes for the Red Nose Day special. I've added them to the main post as well.


I'm half jackrabbit - This scene is based on one in the 1983 motion picture The Right Stuff, featuring Shirley's archetype, Chuck Yeager, and his wife Glennis, making a game of pretending to be flirting strangers at Pancho's Happy Bottom Riding Club. Our version naturally casts G in the role of Mrs. Yeager. And he's fine with that. :)

Bastion Broadcasting Corporation - When the British Broadcasting Corporation left Earth in the wake of the Earth Alliance crackdown of 2406, they needed to find something else for the first "B" to stand for. There was a viewer contest, and the winning suggestion was "Bastion", on the premise that the "BBC-in-exile" was meant to be a "bastion of integrity" (in opposition to, e.g., post-crackdown Earthdome's notorious mouthpiece, InterStellar News).


--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
SneakyPete
Member since Jun-30-04
130 posts
Apr-21-15, 02:18 PM (EST)
Click to EMail SneakyPete Click to send private message to SneakyPete Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list Click to send message via AOL IM  
43. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #0
 
   On the B-36's size: my Dad was stationed in Japan in the late 1950's; he was an aircraft electrician in the Air Force, worked on B-57s. He once told me about a B-36 making an emergency landing at his base. Now, the '36 was only supposed to land at bases where the runways were rated for the size and weight of the thing; this one wasn't. When it touched down, the runway was only *just* wide enough to fit the tires on (and this was a runway that B-29's (and later, B-52s) landed on with no problem,) but the weight of the plane literally drove the landing gear through the tarmac, and the landing gear held up to plowing three tracks through the runway for nearly half a mile, until it came to a stop with the gear buried halfway up to the fuselage in the ground. They had to cut the thing apart and truck it out in pieces, because the runway, even if they could have got the plane out of it to make repairs, was only 2/3rds the minimum length of takeoff run needed to fly it out of there. I don't know if the pilot got a medal or a court-martial.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Mephronmoderator
Charter Member
1886 posts
Apr-21-15, 05:26 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Mephron Click to send private message to Mephron Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
44. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #43
 
   It is entirely possible the answer to that question is "yes", if it was a sufficient emergency.

Court-martial, a friend of mine reminded me, is not always a purely disciplinary matter. It can also be a review of actions to see if they were in line with the code of conduct, or if the 'emergency' was a real one.

--
Geoff Depew - Darth Mephron
Haberdasher to Androids, Dark Lord of Sith Tech Support.
"And Remember! Google is your Friend!!"


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
TheOtherSean
Member since Jul-7-08
246 posts
Apr-22-15, 09:25 PM (EST)
Click to EMail TheOtherSean Click to send private message to TheOtherSean Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
46. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #43
 
   >Now, the '36 was only supposed to land at bases where the runways were
>rated for the size and weight of the thing; this one wasn't. When it
>touched down, the runway was only *just* wide enough to fit the tires
>on (and this was a runway that B-29's (and later, B-52s) landed on
>with no problem,) but the weight of the plane literally drove the
>landing gear through the tarmac, and the landing gear held up to
>plowing three tracks through the runway for nearly half a mile, until
>it came to a stop with the gear buried halfway up to the fuselage in
>the ground.

Having seen all three of those aircraft types up at the USAF museum, I can say that the B-36 was the one that felt largest. It had the greatest "presence," so to speak.

Checking the fact sheets from the museum, I see that a B-36J has 45 foot greater wingspan than a B-52D, though the maximum loaded weight of the B-52D is about 40,000 pounds heavier than the B-36J. However, the B-36 lacked the wingtip wheels that the the B-52 had. Perhaps the B-52 distributes its weight better because of that?

--
The Other Sean - Don't accept substitutes!
Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Gryphonadmin
Charter Member
22115 posts
Apr-22-15, 09:39 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Gryphon Click to send private message to Gryphon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
47. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #46
 
   LAST EDITED ON Apr-22-15 AT 09:41 PM (EDT)
 
>Checking the fact sheets from the museum, I see that a B-36J has 45
>foot greater wingspan than a B-52D, though the maximum loaded weight
>of the B-52D is about 40,000 pounds heavier than the B-36J. However,
>the B-36 lacked the wingtip wheels that the the B-52 had. Perhaps the
>B-52 distributes its weight better because of that?

My guess it that it's not the tip gear (that's mainly there to keep the wingtips from hitting the ground, because the 52's wings flex so much), it's the configuration of the main gear. The B-52 doesn't have a nose gear and two main gear, it has essentially four main gear, all quite close to the centerline. So even though its main gear consists of double wheels instead of the production 36's four-wheel bogies (meaning it actually has two fewer wheels, if you don't count the tip gear), I would expect it does have better (longitudinal, if not lateral) weight distribution.

Also, comparing maximum weights doesn't really tell as much as it implies, since aircraft rarely operate at their maximum weights; it's possible that the later B-52s operating out of that field were restricted to operating at less than their absolute maximums specifically so as not to break the field, or that the runway had been improved by the time they came along. (I know I'd put the latter on my to-do list if I had a bomber fall through my base's runway. :) It's also worth considering that aircraft making emergency landings are generally a lot heavier than they normally would be when trying to land - and that landing, for obvious reasons, usually places greater stresses on the runway than takeoff. After all, if you're careful, you can walk across a surface that would collapse if you fell on it.

Of course, all of that is just educated conjecture, as I am neither a civil nor an aeronautical engineer.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
McFortner
Charter Member
557 posts
Aug-22-18, 06:45 PM (EST)
Click to EMail McFortner Click to send private message to McFortner Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list Click to send message via ICQ  
50. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #47
 
   Remember that the B-36 had propellers that had to stay clear of the runway, while the B-52 doesn't. That means the wing flex that could damage the props on the Peacemaker wouldn't bother the engines on a BUFF.

Michael C. Fortner
"Maxim 37: There is no such thing as "overkill".
There is only "open fire" and "I need to reload".


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Delusionist
Member since Jun-3-10
10 posts
Jun-08-16, 10:39 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Delusionist Click to send private message to Delusionist Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
48. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #0
 
   >It rings in the Force like a bell -
>another line that's been floating around, under a few different
>configurations, since almost the point we decided to go back to the
>Strike Witches universe. Actually, come to think of it, it
>might have come out of some of the first New Tricks bull
>sessions.

A variation shows up in Blades describing Darth Vader's presence in the Force at the beginning of his confrontation with Ko-Enshaku.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
SneakyPete
Member since Jun-30-04
130 posts
Aug-23-18, 05:17 PM (EST)
Click to EMail SneakyPete Click to send private message to SneakyPete Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list Click to send message via AOL IM  
51. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #0
 
   LAST EDITED ON Aug-23-18 AT 05:19 PM (EDT)
 
Something I ran into today while idly wandering around YouTube, the restoration of a B-36: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VykzdDTOHmU


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Gryphonadmin
Charter Member
22115 posts
Aug-27-22, 00:53 AM (EST)
Click to EMail Gryphon Click to send private message to Gryphon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
52. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #0
 
   >Witolda Urbanowicz and Wojtek - Based on WWII Polish ace Witold
>Urbanowicz, who flew first with the RAF's No. 303 "Kościuszko"
>Squadron, then the U.S. 23rd Fighter Group, and Corporal Wojtek of the
>Polish Second Corps, who was a bear.

I've just learned that there is a canonical World Witches character based on Witold Urbanowicz in one of the manga series I haven't seen; her name is Wiktoria and she is, alas, not a mad test pilot whose familiar is Wojtek the Combat Bear.

According to the WW wiki, the manga she's from was published in 2016, which means my version actually came first. :)

--G.
(although in-story, the official character is a few years older; in OWaW 1946, Witolda is 17)
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Verbena
Charter Member
1094 posts
Aug-27-22, 12:35 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Verbena Click to send private message to Verbena Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
53. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #52
 
   I think I like Witolda a lot more anyway, with or without Wojtek. Wiktoria looks frankly boring and uninspired, though I know nothing of the manga in question.


------
Authors of our fates
Orchestrate our fall from grace
Poorest players on the stage
Our defiance drives us straight to the edge


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Gryphonadmin
Charter Member
22115 posts
Aug-27-22, 01:39 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Gryphon Click to send private message to Gryphon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
54. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #53
 
   >I think I like Witolda a lot more anyway, with or without Wojtek.
>Wiktoria looks frankly boring and uninspired, though I know nothing of
>the manga in question.

I don't either, besides what's written in its wiki entry, but I get the impression that she's not a main character.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Gryphonadmin
Charter Member
22115 posts
Nov-07-22, 03:45 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Gryphon Click to send private message to Gryphon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
55. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #0
 
   >QSL card - a written confirmation of radio broadcasts being
>received, either exchanged between HAM operators or to notify an AM
>radio station that you got their signal. (Often for ridiculous things
>like a family in Aukland getting a surprisingly good signal from WBGG
>in Pittsburgh.) The radio code "QSL?" is the "Can you hear me?" and a
>response of "QSL" means "Yes I can."

Apropos of this: the gang over at Standards Manual, publishers of great niche-y art books like their signature reproductions of the New York Transit Authority, American Revolution Bicentennial, and NASA graphic standards manuals, have just published a new book, QSL?: Do You Confirm Receipt of My Transmission? It's built around a collection of QSL cards collected by the late Charles Hellman (1910–2017), callsign W2RP—who is believed to have been the longest-licensed American ham radio operator, having held his license from 1925, when he was 15, until his death in January 2017 at the age of 106.

My copy of QSL? came in today's mail, and it is really, really cool. Hellman collected QSL cards from all over the world in his long career, including many from behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, and a lot of them are amazing little artworks on top of their cultural fascination factor. The book is printed to Standards Manual's usual high... uh... standards, with all the cards reproduced in color, often with close-ups of their more intricate details.

Disclaimer: I receive no consideration from Standards Manual for promoting their product. As far as I know, they've never heard of me other than as a customer. I just really like their products. They fit very neatly into the same niche in my brain that opted to minor in graphic design as an undergraduate, and they're well-made and just... satisfying on a level that is hard to describe, and probably incomprehensible to anyone who isn't wired to appreciate it. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Senji
Member since Apr-27-07
253 posts
Nov-08-22, 09:18 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Senji Click to send private message to Senji Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
56. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #55
 
   >Standards Manual,
> publishers of great niche-y art books like their signature
>reproductions of the New York Transit Authority, American Revolution
>Bicentennial, and NASA graphic standards manuals

Oh.

Wow.

looks at bank account wistfully

L.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Senji
Member since Apr-27-07
253 posts
Jan-09-24, 09:07 AM (EST)
Click to EMail Senji Click to send private message to Senji Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
57. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #0
 
   LAST EDITED ON Jan-09-24 AT 01:05 PM (EST)
 
Huh, just listened to the audio of Episode 10; and I'm sure this comes down to the source material, but why is Wilma Bishop a Sergeant. In the Britannian RAF and Farawayland RFAF an OR-6 is called a Sergeant, but it's an airwoman rank, not a flying rank; and I assume witches wouldn't be deployed as aircrew when they could be flying.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Gryphonadmin
Charter Member
22115 posts
Jan-09-24, 12:10 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Gryphon Click to send private message to Gryphon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
58. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #57
 
   >Huh, just listened to the audio of Episode 10; and I'm sure this comes
>down to the source material, but why is Wilma Bishop a
><i>Sergeant</i>. In the Britannian RAF and Farawayland RFAF an OR-6
>is called a Sergeant, but it's an airwoman rank, not a flying rank;
>and I assume witches wouldn't be deployed as aircrew when they could
>be flying.

NCO pilots weren't uncommon in the 1940s IRL, particularly in the UK/Commonwealth air forces and the Luftwaffe. It wasn't until the jet age that combat aircraft* became the exclusive province of commissioned officers.

As for why Wilma, specifically, is a pilot sergeant, you'd have to ask Shimada to be certain (since the Bishop sisters don't have direct historical analogs), but I assume it's connected to her career-long avoidance of responsibility for others, which is a plot point in One-Winged Witches.

--G.
* apart from helicopters, which are still flown by warrant officers in some forces
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Senji
Member since Apr-27-07
253 posts
Jan-09-24, 02:27 PM (EST)
Click to EMail Senji Click to send private message to Senji Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
59. "RE: Our Witches at War Eps. 09-13, RND, 14"
In response to message #58
 
   >NCO pilots weren't uncommon in the 1940s IRL, particularly in the
>UK/Commonwealth air forces and the Luftwaffe. It wasn't until the jet
>age that combat aircraft* became the exclusive province of
>commissioned officers.

Huh, I didn't know that, you learn something new every day. I guess Wilma was too valuable to discharge but too avoidant to promote.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Conferences | Topics | Previous Topic | Next Topic

[ YUM ] [ BIG ] [ ??!? ] [ RANT ] [ GNDN ] [ STORE ] [ FORUM ] GOTW ] [ VAULT ]

version 3.3 © 2001
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited
Benjamin D. Hutchins
E P U (Colour)