I would submit that Korra's original arrest in the Republic is probably still part of her record, if for no other reason than that Lin seems like the type of person to make sure it was. :)

Fair points on all the others. I didn't know that psion meant specifically telepathic; I'd assumed it was a catch-all term for anyone psionically active, which I think bending might qualify as?

>Which prevents her from thinking it's interesting that the field she's
>at out in the Big Universe is pleasingly old-fashioned
>how exactly?

Well, I'd interpreted the passage in question to mean Korra thought it was old-fashioned to her own eyes, rather than being old-fashioned in general.

>>>Korra rose early by her standards, meditated for half an hour,
>>>had a nice breakfast in the hotel's miniature café, then spent much of
>>>the morning with her guidebooks and maps, working some more on her plan
>>>(such as it was) for the week.
>>
>>This also seems odd to me. I guess she hasn't bought a tablet yet? We
>>know she's web-conversant, that's established later.
>
>Is a person not allowed to have a way in which she prefers to do these
>things? Is that just not OK any more? I must have missed that
>meeting.
>
>(At this rate, I'm surprised you don't take exception to the fact that
>she bought a notebook and a pen instead of having an opticam and
>neuroprocessor installed at Cyberz-R-Us in the Avalon Centre Galleria.
> Get with the times, girl!)

... can you actually do that? I mean, is that a thing? I'm legitimately curious.

Also, it's less "you're not allowed to have a way in which you prefer to do things" than it is it that it seemed... odd for someone who was at the forefront of a digital revolution to be going so low-tech. You know? That seemed noteworthy to me.

>>>Not much of a drinker at her most abandoned,
>>>she paced herself carefully, avoiding the appearance of priggishness
>>>without getting more than pleasantly high.
>>
>>This isn't wrong, per se (and I always lose the usage arguments
>>anyway) but "high" is an extraordinarily archaic way to refer to
>>getting buzzed off alcohol; I don't think it's been in widespread use
>>that way since the 60s and 70s.
>
>Would you rather I made up painfully awkward, obviously contrived
>Future Slang the way they do in cyberpunk-themed RPGs? Chummer.

I'd like to note that, in general, my style notes are not meant to be accusatory, although I suppose it's basically impossible to give them without at least implying that you have done something wrong somewhere. Although that's a limitation of the language really.

They're intended more in the vein of "this seems stylistically off to my eyes, and this is why." It's like critiquing brushstroke work on a painting; right and wrong don't enter into it as much as aesthetics do.

I dunno, man. In this specific case it just seemed a weirdly archaic way to refer to getting buzzed. I pointed it out. That's kind of how I do. Sometimes that's just me spitballing, sometimes, I hope, it's actually useful.

>>Toph and Lin were probably really, really good at being naked
>>enforcers of the will of the state.
>
>Only that one time, and they really don't like to talk about it.
>(Well, Lin doesn't; Toph probably doesn't mind. In fact, she's
>probably sorry she can't see the photos.) Cactus juice will make a
>person do weird, weird things if ingested unawares.

The worst part is Lin didn't even win the bet.

Her thirst was, in fact, quenched.

>>It is now part of my headcanon that Zuse owns a fully-functional
>>DECstation that would be entirely capable of compiling CLULESS... and
>>that none of the people who would be interested in that fact have any
>>idea at all or are in fact even aware of his hobby.
>
>NOTE: DECstations cannot do that. He would need a HoloDECstation.
>Which don't exist.

Huh. I'd forgotten that; it's been a long time since I read the Core. Gryphon hasn't messed around with his Cosmic Cube for a sufficiently long enough time the precise details of how it works have begun to fade.

>It ought to tell you everything you need to know about my attitude to
>the latter that not only doesn't he exist in UF, his canonical
>daughter Rose is a) Deadpool's daughter and b) much funnier.
>(I mean, she likes to be called "Rosie the Ravager", what more do you
>need? :)

Not much more at all, really. :) You made absolutely the right call. Deathstroke is rubbish, and he only gets more rubbish every time they try and get us to take him seriously as someone who supposedly can take on the Justice League single-handed.

Also, Wade passed on his genes? That is terrifying. When I imagine Deadpool reproducing, my brain immediately goes to Athena-from-the-forehead-of-Zeus scenarios.

>>However, to be fair to Zuse, I actually think he got the better of
>>Korra here when she tried to shake him down. Transparisteel is nothing
>>special, if Known Space-UF is anything like Star Wars in terms of
>>production and usage. Zuse can probably buy it in long tons from any
>>one of a dozen suppliers dirt cheap. It's a bit like a native shaking
>>someone down for shiny beads or iron hatchets.
>
>It's not intended to be a profitable shakedown; it's a gesture.
> Making him do a little legwork and come across with a few goods in
>order to see if he's do-business-with-able. And it may be a
>relatively commonplace material (it's probably duracrys or klaster,
>not transparisteel), but that doesn't mean it's cheap. Not the
>high-optical-quality kind, anyway. Anyway, she's not trying to rip
>him off, she's just seeing if he can come across on a legitimate deal.
> If he can, her contacts at the other end will start buying the
>stuff through him. She's basically seeing if he can give him an
>incentive to go legit. First the stick, then the rutacarrot.
>:)

... makes sense. Objection withdrawn. I legit thought she was trying to shake him down.

>(Meanwhile, I had someone else complaining that Korra wanting to go
>clubbing with some local kids instead of just reading Fodor's
>was weird and implausible.

I think I saw that. (Most of the discussion of AINA seemed to take place in the preview thread, which is why I made a proper thread; apologies if I just straight missed the proper thread.)

The thing is, it would be an absolutely fair point, if that was what happened. But Korra didn't really decide she wanted to go clubbing with some local kids, which would indeed be implausible if it were just a random impulse. She decided she wanted to get out on the town and meet people (plausible, Korra is a people person) and the logical starting point for that is people she's already met who have pre-established social networks. There's Ragnar (not exactly subtle as a date) and there's Mike. She picks Mike. Mike just happens to be a college kid. So there you go.

Thing is, Mike could have been anyone. Korra met a guy at the port who was nice and welcoming and made her feel like a person rather than just Passport Holder #24601 when she got to this strange place far away from home. And he showed respect for her seal jerky, a big plus. But it didn't have to be Mike. She could have run into a corporate type who was also way cool at the baggage claim, like when Yuri met Larry, and ended up dining at Le Coq Superier after all. She could have run into a civilization hunter and ended up at an academic conference with people arguing furiously over the provenance of the Dyson Sphere. (Keynote speakers: Doctors Liara T'Soni and Henry Jones.) She could have met a fast-talking cabbie on her way into town who reminded her so much of Bolin she thought she might cry.

Lots of possibilities. Mike is just the one who actualized.

If I had to make a stab at the process, I would imagine that the fight at Hi-Rez materialized very early in the plotting and you worked backwards from there to get Korra in the door, and Mike was part of that. Shot in the dark, tho.

>There is no winning in this place.)

Well, when it comes to critiques, it's not about winning and losing. Or it shouldn't be. This isn't a field of endeavor that should be about scoring rhetorical points or proving superiority. It's about examining the unexamined, gaining deeper understanding, and honing the craft.

Also about passion for the arts. I've never understood people who review or critique professionally who come across like they're dead inside. At least summon up some honest hatred! That proves you're engaged with the materiel and speaking from a place of conviction.

>Ah, the circularity of the Internet. Phil Thorne was gigging me about
>this on these boards 12 years ago, and I told him the same thing: It's
>designed that way. The UF universe in the 25th century is the future
>of the past.

Interesting. I hadn't know that! So it's less traditionally futurist science-fiction and more... more...

Hmm. Is "futurepunk" a word? If it isn't a word I guess it is now. Futurepunk it is.

Thinking about it hard... that's a genre that exists, but not in any great quantity. Most works I can think of that'd fall into the category are either deconstructions of classic silver age narratives or nostalgic celebrations of the same.

The closest thing I can think of is actually an RPG I picked up at the same time I grabbed Atomic Robo, called Cosmic Patrol. The setting basically says "screw it, everything is the future of the 1950s minus the racism and misogyny. There are robot civilizations on Venus! Mars needs water! All your blasters have fins on them, and your rocket ships too! Bubble helmets! Weird hairdos!" and plays it utterly and completely straight.

I'm going to have to re-calibrate in the future, at least a little bit. I do at least make the attempt to approach stories on their own terms rather than on my terms. It's not a wholly possible endeavor but it keeps me at least a little honest.

-Merc
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