In the directory itself, none, but it crossreferences to the Census Department database if you look in the right menu. From there you can get to age ranges, gender IDs, cross off the one who's a Wookiee, and so forth.

>Hunh. I was under the impression that Kate's stutter was a later in
>life thing, coinciding with Liza Broadbitch.

Nope. It came along as soon as she started talking. Liza only exploited it at every opportunity (and thereby probably made it more persistent).

>Aunt Bell knows everybody.

There's actually a very specific reason why Bell recognizes Korra, but Korra doesn't know what it is yet. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
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Trivia: And So They Met happened exactly because I was thinking of releasing just that scene (which was written first) without waiting for there to be an actual story happening around it, and Phil said no, don't do that, write a mini showing the same events from Gryphon's side. So I did.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
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Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

I'm thinking more... shades of Roman Torchwick, perhaps?

Polychrome

In this case, it's a little from column A, B, C, and Tau.

The primary influence was Zuse from "Tron: Legacy" (most of the look, the all-white shiny-ness of his outfit, the club decor and techno music, the overall attitude as an underworld fixer). Add to that a dash of Roman Torchwick (modification to the gun cane, the bowler hat, more of the sarcasm) and Junior (other underworld connections, trashed club). And then finally, classic suit-and-bowler Edward Nygma. Because really, the man has such -panache- when he's rocking the bowler hat.

--- Philip

	Philip J. Moyer Contributing Writer, Editor and Artist (and Moderator) -- Eyrie Productions, Unlimited CEO of MTS, High Poobah Of Artwork, and High Priest Of the Church Of Aerianne -- Magnetic Terrapin Studios "Insert Pithy Comment Here" Fandoms -- Fanart

He also comes unglued in a very Riddlerian fashion when stuff starts not going to plan.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
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zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

I think everyone of a certain age did that very thing when we first saw AtLA. Don't feel bad, just old.

>>"I do have some seal jerky,"
>
>Now, blame my filthsome Limey upbringing, but I've always thought
>jerky was invented as a cautionary tale for what happens when you try
>to cook and eat your own shoes. Seal jerky? Squicks me out. I mean,
>ew.

It's also a good way to prepare a shitton of meat so that it'll last for weeks without refrigeration, and make it edible without needing to stop and make a campfire. Which might be hard to do in the frozen south in the middle of winter.

>As an aside, I'm reminded of a discussion concerning customs we had on
>the Board once upon a time, and I'm now imagining Mercutio as the good
>Officer Zant.

I had the SAME THOUGHT

>>(Section in which Korra resolves to see some besbaw)
>
>My own Opinions on baseball notwithstanding,

That's because you're a filthsome Limey. I feel this has been discussed. ;-)

>thing for tourists to do that would never, ever happen in the UK. You
>don't just rock up to a Premier League match and pay on the door;
>tickets sell out months in advance and most of them go to the prawn
>sandwich brigade. It's nice that something like this can still happen
>hundreds of years in the future.

I dunno about months, but the bigger market teams do sell out well in advance of the game. One thing that baseball has going for it with regards to seeing a live game is sheer volume. there's a hundred and sixty two games in the regular season, meaning that, in an average week there's like three baseball games in the home park. It takes a pretty dedicated fanbase to sell out every game, and the smaller ones make it pretty easy to just wander up and get a seat, esp if you don't need to be right on the baseline.

>>SCHWEIKART
>
>I... don't remember why this is important, but your man here rings a
>bell. I also approve of putting gingers on the front line against
>violent crime.

He's the dude who's welcomed every dimensional traveller to New Avalon that we've seen. Heck, he's even got a signature line ("Welcome to New Avalon!")

>>(In which we contemplate the Bear Groupie phenomenon)
>
>media.knoxville.com/media/img/photos/2010/12/24/122410bearman_t300.jpg?x

--
-Pasha
"Don't change the subject"
"Too slow, already did."

>>By your powers combined, I am... AVATAR PLANET!
>>I'm not even sorry.
>
>I think everyone of a certain age did that very thing when we first
>saw AtLA. Don't feel bad, just old.

I'm twenty-two in November.

Now YOU get to feel old. Nyer.

>It's also a good way to prepare a shitton of meat so that it'll last
>for weeks without refrigeration, and make it edible without needing to
>stop and make a campfire. Which might be hard to do in the frozen
>south in the middle of winter.

No doubt, but I still take issue with your use of the word edible. I mean, you can say the same of hardtack and dwarf bread, so...

>>As an aside, I'm reminded of a discussion concerning customs we had on
>>the Board once upon a time, and I'm now imagining Mercutio as the good
>>Officer Zant.
>
>I had the SAME THOUGHT

Yay! Thoughtcrime buddies! I mean thought buddies! I'm not on the run from Minitrue!

>I dunno about months, but the bigger market teams do sell out well in
>advance of the game. One thing that baseball has going for it with
>regards to seeing a live game is sheer volume. there's a hundred and
>sixty two games in the regular season, meaning that, in an average
>week there's like three baseball games in the home park. It takes a
>pretty dedicated fanbase to sell out every game, and the smaller ones
>make it pretty easy to just wander up and get a seat, esp if you don't
>need to be right on the baseline.

I guess you're right. In the Premier League, there's only thirty-eight games per season, and there's a lot more money in the game, most of it oil-related.

>He's the dude who's welcomed every dimensional traveller to New Avalon
>that we've seen. Heck, he's even got a signature line ("Welcome to
>New Avalon!")

Oh yeah! Derp.

>>>(In which we contemplate the Bear Groupie phenomenon)
>>
>>media.knoxville.com/media/img/photos/2010/12/24/122410bearman_t300.jpg?x

I promise this will make sense in the final cut.

---
"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.

The really frightening part about that revelation is that you've been a registered user here for more than five years. I'm not even sure that was legal in the UK. :)

--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.

I only thought of it later, because I didn't actually watch Captain Planet at the time, but I made that joke in Fire Hazards and everybody was all "Huh? Whatevs."

>I dunno about months, but the bigger market teams do sell out well in
>advance of the game.

It depends on who they're playing, too. The Boston Red Sox, for instance, can confidently expect to sell every ticket to every game against the New York Yankees within about 11 nanoseconds of the year's tickets going on sale. Their games against the Minnesota Twins? Not so much.

--G.
-><-
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Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

As a throwaway bit, it's nothing to get worked up over, but I really, really hope that by the time we get to the 25th century, humanity has gotten past the various ugly reasons why STEM is still such a sausage fest. Right now, the computer industry in particular (over here in the states, anyway) seems to be actively working to hold onto that, and in the process, quite a few people I thought I respected have unmasked themselves as this horrible quantum superposition of the worst aspects of the stereotypical 1980s movie nerd and the stereotypical 1980s movie fratboy, and I am sick and tired of it.

... In the UF context, it's a big galaxy and maybe there are planet-sized enclaves of high-tech misogyny still. It doesn't seem like New Avalon's institutions of higher learning ought to be having any of it, though.

Anyway. Let's talk about something less dismal.

>>(In which Korra is a tourist)
>
> Again, this is something I like very much. New Avalon's
> just a great place for someone like her, and I'm really
> enjoying how well she's acclimatising to the Big Universe -
> and that she still has moments of culture shock.

I also really liked this part. I feel like I have a better sense of what New Avalon is like on an everyday basis, now. I also may have a better appreciation for its sheer scale. And I love that there's not just Officer Ragnarsson but a whole community of Ursus maritimus sapiens.

> All in all, a complete success, minor quibbles notwithstanding.

I'm mentally comparing this to the Diqiu Suite and I think I know why that feels like it's dragging on, whereas this doesn't, despite that both of them are basically filling in narrative gaps.

Korra was introduced in Try, Try Again with a colossal retcon: she's been a friend of the family since Corwin was born (to the day, even) but kept offstage by the machinations of the White Lotus, also offstage. This is not a bad thing; I thought it was really quite elegant, considering what the writers had to work with. (Welding so many different bits of source material together as seamlessly as possible has always been one of UF's greatest strengths.) But it does mean that her presence in the universe is a little less solidly nailed down than it could be. Then we follow that up with the SotS primary cast going on an extended holiday in Diqiu. This is narratively important because it's demonstrating how Avatar in general is going to fit into UF, but we're still watching someone else's vacation, and I think that's the central problem with it. It doesn't feel all that relevant to the larger UF story. (This is also why the minis starring various Diqiu OCs don't have this problem: they're introducing new characters, who we can be confident will be relevant later.)

In contrast, this story shows us the larger UF context through Korra's eyes, at a pivotal moment in its own history. The IPO's coming online, New Avalon has existed long enough to develop a character as a city, and, oh yeah, introducing Corwin. There's no need to sell me on its larger relevance, and Korra is acting toward a definite larger goal. So it's not like watching someone else's vacation, even though she is spending most of the episode doing vacation-ish things. (Getting mixed up in the local organized crime problem is totally a vacation activity for Korra. Well, a busman's holiday, anyway.)

I think Korra's commenting from her own experience. For all its wonders, Diqiu is not as egalitarian as the Big Universe, and it appears that STEM education is one of the more outstanding examples.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.

It's worth bearing in mind that she's talking specifically about civil engineering here, not the entire vast continuum of science, engineering, and so forth. I repeat that it's more a statement on the building trades than some kind of cultural admission that Dìqiú womenfolk aren't good at math.

Also, "Dìqiú is not as egalitarian as the Big Universe" is not really valid as a blanket statement. Consider that men and women competed equally in professional bending back in that world's cultural equivalent of the 1920s; by comparison, American women had only had their right to vote constitutionally guaranteed in 1920. For that matter, even the Fire Nation - not exactly one of that world's bastions of liberal thought - draws no legal distinction between the powers and privileges of male and female Fire Lords. And then there are the Kyoshi Warriors...

Even when you're talking about technical fields, it's not an entirely fair comment. Hell, one of the towering figures in the history of science and engineering in Dìqiú is Asami Satō, who was very, very much a woman.

I suspect Dìqiú has benefited greatly, in that regard, from the fact that statistically about half of the Avatars have been women. Even back in the Old Days, anybody who tried to marginalize or ignore the views of, say, Avatar Yangchen or Avatar Kyoshi just because they were women was likely to find out real quick what a bad plan that was.

As it says in the BPGD file on the world, it's not perfect, but it's far from lamentable, and even where there isn't complete parity there's plenty of room for outliers: "Some traditional gender roles persist (and, for that matter, are still widely valued), but transgressing them is no longer considered shocking or shameful by most people."

Finally, now that we've all wandered this far down this philosophical path, it's also worth bearing in mind that she's teasing him, not making some subtle and nuanced social comment. Cripes. :)

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

Yeah, I, um, the comment + Traitor's reaction to it happened to strike a personal nerve that is worn exceptionally thin at the moment. Wasn't meant to be any deep criticism of the writing or anything. :)

if I were seriously going to bitch about the UF-25th century not being enough different from the 21st I would be complaining about the continued ubiquity of the automobile.

Don't even start with me about insufficient futuristicity of depicted technologies. Just don't do it. ISTR Phil Thorne went there once, when he wasn't wringing his hands about all the lesbians. It wasn't one of the better days at the office. :)

--G.
Also, "I'm Wringing My Hands About All of the Lesbians (Crypto Subtext)" is totally a Fall Out Boy track title from around From Under the Cork Tree.
-><-
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.

>Also, "I'm Wringing My Hands About All of the Lesbians (Crypto Subtext)" is totally a Fall Out Boy track title from around From Under the Cork Tree.

Or anytime, really, though they seem to have toned it down a little in the latest release.

Yes, that's why my answer had a smiley on it.

>>Also, "I'm Wringing My Hands About All of the Lesbians (Crypto Subtext)" is totally a Fall Out Boy track title from around From Under the Cork Tree.
>
>Or anytime, really, though they seem to have toned it down a little in
>the latest release.

I know! Slightly disappointing. In the old days, "The Phoenix" would have been called "I Still Think Our Vintage Misery Looked a Little Better on Me, But You Can Wear It If You Really Want To (Put On Your War Paint)". Still, at least it's a kickass song, and in fairness I'd have gotten tired of typing that in Desolation Angel after a while.

--G.
the war is won before it's begun...
-><-
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.

For the record, I didn't invent the concept; it's explicitly mentioned as a Water Tribe staple back in ATLA. I'm not saying you needed to know that, just puttin' it out there. :)

(Also, what the hell with you people and getting squicked about everything lately?)

>>"Although you won't meet as many girls."
>
>Which is weird to me, because pretty much all my female-identifying
>friends are in STEM or related industries in some way.

Hmm, whereas I've been working in the Machine Tool Lab in the University of Maine's Mechanical Engineering Technology program for the last three years (which means I've seen three years' worth of MET students pass through, because they all have to take the introductory MTL class first year). Out of about sixty students in that course per year, I've so far seen five women.

I think it may depend on the particular discipline, too. Mechanical and civil engineering are very closely linked to the construction industry, and construction jobsites are still pretty much wall-to-wall dudes. That will have changed somewhat by the 25th century, but I suspect the building trades will still not be at anything like parity then (particularly in Dìqiú, which is a bit behind the galactic curve in some respects). UMaine's chemical engineering program, on the other hand, seems (to an outsider's casual glance) to be mostly women. Make of that what you will.

Note that I am in no way saying women can't be mechanical or civil engineers. I'm just saying that it doesn't look to me like many want to be, for whatever reasons.

>My own Opinions on baseball notwithstanding, this is a very pleasant
>thing for tourists to do that would never, ever happen in the UK.

Although that's mainly because you don't play much baseball there. :)

>You don't just rock up to a Premier League match and pay on the door;

And if you did, judging by what happens in Boston when Arsenal play at Fenway Park (this actually happens, and it is colossally surreal), you'd be killed to death by suspicious partisans who've been watching you since you got off the bus and concluded that you are some kind of foreign spy.

>tickets sell out months in advance

In fairness, along with what Pasha said elsewhere, this probably does happen to some 24th-century Major League Baseball teams. Just... not the Knights. :)

>>(In which a man who talks to people for a living is awkward over the phone)
>
>I... I buy this less. I don't know why, but it seems a little off. But
>hey, I don't know Korra like y'all do, maybe she does do that sort of
>thing. She certainly seems fairly impulsive, I got that from the field
>report, but then again... random customs guy? Hm. Not convinced.

What? She doesn't want to have his babies or anything, she's looking for an on-ramp to the local Young Person scene and he's the only local Young Person she even-kind-of knows. I'm not sure why that's so hard to credit.

>Also, by the way, can Americans in general not use the word spaz quite
>so much? Over on my side of the pond it's a pretty damned offensive
>term for people with disabilities, physical or mental.

This coming from a member of a culture where a word I'm not even going to type on this forum is no worse than a mildly offensive, even playfully teasing, insult. Regional variations for the... win? I guess?

>>"I'm Michael Dufresne, your host."
>
>Michael Dufresne. From the moment I saw him, I knew... he was fucked.

Whoops, I missed that one. His name's supposed to be rendered the French way - "Michel".

>>"Yeah [...] I know how that goes."
>
>I know enough to know that I kinda don't want to know, because I don't
>like the thought of Korra being put through the wringer by fate or by
>writers.

Protip: Don't watch the actual show, then, because that's all they do there.

>>"Think I'll take the Jaaag."
>
>Jeremy Clarkson describes Jags as "cars for men who take their wife
>out to dinner and flirt with the waitress all evening".

Indeed, The Jaaag's name actually comes from a news segment on an old Top Gear in which they discuss that very phenomenon.

>It's not the sort of car I associate with UF-Gryphon,
>generally, but I'm not complaining.

The Mark II XJ is one of the less caddish Jags, IMO, bit more sedate. Gryphon has one for no better reason than I've always kind of liked them. There used to be one for sale here in town that I rather coveted, but I know the problem with 1970s real-world Jags is that they don't actually work, so I never bought it. Fictional Gryph doesn't have that problem! D'accord!

>Oh Kei. It's like you never left. Which at this point, you, er,
>haven't, and, um... dammit, Time, stop dicking me around!

New "Time" to Keep Everything from Happening at Once

>Also, miniKate is precious and adorable and I want, like, fifty. And
>this is from someone who doesn't even like children.

Yeah, Li'l Kate worked out pretty well. She's got some more screen time coming in the next episode, too.

>Also, I imagine the car Gryphon's driving on Tomodachi to be a Morgan
>3Wheeler, shown here:
>
>
>I know it's not one of those, but come on, he's got one. You
>know it, I know it.

Ha, no, but he probably does have one in the warehouse someplace. (We've never actually seen the warehouse. I should fix that one of these days.)

For the IPO pool car he got on Tomodachi, I had in mind one of those hilariously tiny Japanese city cars. Something like a futurized version of the Subaru 360.

--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.

Fair enough. =]

>(Also, what the hell with you people and getting squicked about
>everything lately?)

Hey, I wasn't squicked by the whole Korra realising that some dude whose nappies she remembers changing is a fine piece of ass. I just think of seals as cute-thing rather than food-thing.

*tucks into some cold lamb while perfectly aware of the hypocrisy*

>>>"Although you won't meet as many girls."
>>
>>Which is weird to me, because pretty much all my female-identifying
>>friends are in STEM or related industries in some way.
>
>Hmm, whereas I've been working in the Machine Tool Lab in the
>University of Maine's Mechanical Engineering Technology program for
>the last three years (which means I've seen three years' worth of MET
>students pass through, because they all have to take the introductory
>MTL class first year). Out of about sixty students in that course per
>year, I've so far seen five women.
>
>I think it may depend on the particular discipline, too. Mechanical
>and civil engineering are very closely linked to the construction
>industry, and construction jobsites are still pretty much wall-to-wall
>dudes. That will have changed somewhat by the 25th century, but I
>suspect the building trades will still not be at anything like parity
>then (particularly in Dìqiú, which is a bit behind the galactic
>curve in some respects). UMaine's chemical engineering
>program, on the other hand, seems (to an outsider's casual glance) to
>be mostly women. Make of that what you will.
>
>Note that I am in no way saying women can't be
>mechanical or civil engineers. I'm just saying that it doesn't look
>to me like many want to be, for whatever reasons.

'S'fine. It wasn't a rebuke, merely an observation. I know that the opinions of a character do not necessarily mirror the author's own; if they did, we'd be drowning in MPD sufferers.

>>You don't just rock up to a Premier League match and pay on the door;
>
>And if you did, judging by what happens in Boston when Arsenal play at
>Fenway Park (this actually happens, and it is colossally
>surreal), you'd be killed to death by suspicious partisans who've been
>watching you since you got off the bus and concluded that you are some
>kind of foreign spy.

Er... are you sure it's Arsenal? And not, say, Liverpool, who are actually owned by the same guy as owns the Red Sox? Of course, it could be Liverpool vs. Arsenal, and of course I could be completely wrong, but Liverpool's the much more likely team to find there.

>>>(In which a man who talks to people for a living is awkward over the phone)
>>
>>I... I buy this less. I don't know why, but it seems a little off. But
>>hey, I don't know Korra like y'all do, maybe she does do that sort of
>>thing. She certainly seems fairly impulsive, I got that from the field
>>report, but then again... random customs guy? Hm. Not convinced.
>
>What? She doesn't want to have his babies or anything, she's looking
>for an on-ramp to the local Young Person scene and he's the only local
>Young Person she even-kind-of knows. I'm not sure why that's so hard
>to credit.

Flyers. Guidebooks. Online reviews. Rough Guides. A copy of So You Just Arrived In New Avalon. There are other, more credible options to me, is what I'm driving at.

>>Also, by the way, can Americans in general not use the word spaz quite
>>so much? Over on my side of the pond it's a pretty damned offensive
>>term for people with disabilities, physical or mental.
>
>This coming from a member of a culture where a word I'm not even going
>to type on this forum is no worse than a mildly offensive, even
>playfully teasing, insult. Regional variations for the... win? I
>guess?

Yeah, well, y'all banned Kinder Eggs. *rides off into the sunset on a giant, monocle-wearing bulldog*

>>>"I'm Michael Dufresne, your host."
>>
>>Michael Dufresne. From the moment I saw him, I knew... he was fucked.
>
>Whoops, I missed that one. His name's supposed to be rendered the
>French way - "Michel".

To be honest, I make that joke with people I know IRL called DuFresne no matter what their first name is. =]

>>>"Yeah [...] I know how that goes."
>>
>>I know enough to know that I kinda don't want to know, because I don't
>>like the thought of Korra being put through the wringer by fate or by
>>writers.
>
>Protip: Don't watch the actual show, then, because that's all they
>do there.

sssh. sssh korra. no tears. only galactic adventures and li'l kates.

>>Also, miniKate is precious and adorable and I want, like, fifty. And
>>this is from someone who doesn't even like children.
>
>Yeah, Li'l Kate worked out pretty well. She's got some more screen
>time coming in the next episode, too.

>>Also, I imagine the car Gryphon's driving on Tomodachi to be a Morgan
>>3Wheeler, shown here:
>>
>>
>>I know it's not one of those, but come on, he's got one. You
>>know it, I know it.
>
>Ha, no, but he probably does have one in the warehouse someplace.
>(We've never actually seen the warehouse. I should fix that one of
>these days.)
>
>For the IPO pool car he got on Tomodachi, I had in mind one of those
>hilariously tiny Japanese city cars. Something like a futurized
>version of the Subaru 360.

Oooh! Oooh! Futuristic Renault Twizy!

"Look," said Gryphon, pinching his nose, "this is ridiculous. We've got at least one actual frickin' Time Lord on the books. At least. There is no reason or excuse for the car pool to contain something so damn small I had to rub up against a beautiful woman while oh I see. Carry on."

---
"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.

That's one way of putting it, I suppose.

>Er... are you sure it's Arsenal? And not, say, Liverpool, who are
>actually owned by the same guy as owns the Red Sox?

I wasn't paying that much attention, but I remember noticing that Arsenal was on the bill when they were advertising it on TV during Sox games last summer, and I know it's a regular thing. They might've been the "visiting" team.

>>What? She doesn't want to have his babies or anything, she's looking
>>for an on-ramp to the local Young Person scene and he's the only local
>>Young Person she even-kind-of knows. I'm not sure why that's so hard
>>to credit.
>
>Flyers. Guidebooks. Online reviews. Rough Guides. A copy of So You
>Just Arrived In New Avalon. There are other, more credible options
>to me, is what I'm driving at.

I guess? Except in the paragraph before she calls him, she's specifically thinking that she wants to get out and interact with people:

        What she found was interesting and informative, but having been
reprocessed through the city's various press organs, it was also a bit
dry and clinical.  Returning to her hotel room at five-thirty, Korra
made herself some tea and considered her next move for a few minutes.
She thought she'd absorbed enough freeze-dried information from the
press archives for one day; now she needed something a bit warmer and
more immediate.  As she had done every evening so far, she needed to get
out and move around in the city, see if she could put some living flesh
on the skeletal understanding of the place she'd begun to develop.  This
time, though, she needed to -talk- to some people.  To really interact
with them, not just chat in passing or watch them at play, as she had
done during the opening phase of the project.  It was time to take
things up a level.

Frankly, "So she went down the street to Indigo and bought a Fodor's guide" would be a less-than-whelming followup to that graf if you ask me.

I'm really and truly a little baffled that you find it implausible that an outgoing, dynamic personality like Korra's would want to experience a new city by making friends with some of the locals and doing their recreational things, quite aside from the fact that it wouldn't be much of a story if she just turtled up in her hotel room and surfed the Web.

>Yeah, well, y'all banned Kinder Eggs. *rides off into the sunset on a
>giant, monocle-wearing bulldog*

"I'm English, which means I crave disappointment. That's why I like Kinder Surprise. Horrible chocolate; nasty little toy!"
- Bill Bailey, paraphrased from memory

>Oooh! Oooh! Futuristic Renault Twizy!
>
>

Yeah, something very like that, although at least big enough to have doors.

I have a peculiar fondness for very small cars, despite being quite a large man. True story: I test drove a Smart (the model that's called the Fortwo in the rest of the world; it's the only kind they sell here, so I suppose they didn't feel the need to give it a distinct model name) a few years ago. It was epic. Hand on heart, I would have bought it if I'd had the money; it was like driving an office chair that can go 80 miles per hour and has a radio and a heater. Really, really enjoyable.

--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.

I don't think Korra would want to go to a Premier League match. It seems to me that her primary goal in going to see the Knights is to soak up the atmosphere of the stadium, so if she wanted to do the UK equivalent, she'd pick a lower-league team's match to watch - possibly even a non-league team.

---

Not actually that unusual. I talk to people over the phone for a living and it's really not the same as talking to them face to face. There aren't the visual cues and when it's your living you have to learn to overcome that.

(Video-phones may one day relegate the skills to cope with that in a professional or amateur level to SCA re-enactments, so I'm glad to see New Avalon hasn't taken them to heart).

So Zant being personable in person but awkward on the phone (and in a less work-constrained conversation) isn't implausible.

...and that wasn't your point, was it.

Oh well. 'tis my fault.

What makes it even more believable was that, even in person, once he'd gone off script, as it were, he got pretty awkward pretty quick. Babbling about seal jerky and his lack of lunch, stumbling a half-hearted pass (well, not so much a *pass at*, but definitely a step in that direction), etc. I can't remember the last time a border agent said more than three words *NOT* in their script at me.

--
-Pasha
"Don't change the subject"
"Too slow, already did."

Actually, the man in charge of the Sky Raiders is called Virgil Slade - it's his last name. He's a composite of Slade from the Teen Titans cartoon (who was supposed to be Deathstroke the Overrated, but they couldn't call him that because it was a kids' show) and Colonel Virgil Duray, the leader of the original City of Heroes version of the Sky Raiders.

--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.

------
Oh God, it was me. I was the grognard all along.