Show an affirming flame
An extensive section for an unfinished backstory vignette for one of my Star Wars characters.
No, Jedi are not career diplomats, despite their role in mediating conflict; they do not receive orders from their political masters, send it through bodies of experienced bureaucrats and analysts to turn it into policy, and then coordinate with all kinds of governmental bodies to turn policy into action; there are not Jedi ambassadors at every Republic embassy and consul, and the Republic foreign service is entirely separate from the Jedi Council.
No, the Jedi are not secret police, despite their active role in maintaining internal security, and hunting and prosecuting secret crimes; the Jedi have not had legal training on the multiplicity of Republic law, the differing standards of evidence needed, the subtle details needed to be a copper. The police forces and the investigation bureaus are entirely separate.
No, the Jedi are not soldiers, despite their extensive military record, their sometimes-quite-formidable fighting skills, or their role as the Republic’s first line of defense. The extensive bureaucracies needed to keep the military in check to the civilians they serve, the industrial complexes to churn out materiel, the training facilities and staff colleges to formulate doctrine-—all of them would be entirely separate, if they existed at all for the Republic.
And-—here is where the Jedi statements are the most vehement of all-—the Jedi are not, emphatically not, spies. Even if they sometimes work undercover, maintain lists of unofficial contacts, duck beneath the limelight of publicity and hide in the shadows of legal and illegal in their pursuit of right and wrong, keep secrets and hunt for them relentlessly for their own goals…
No, Jedi do not dabble in spying. That would be wrong.
Or so they would tell you.
In practice, however…ask the right Jedi with the right questions, and they will whisper …
Just because Jedi do not spy does not mean they do not gather information. And there are plenty of not-spies who do their not-spying for the Jedi Order, just as there are not-soldiers who must do their not-fighting (it’s called peacekeeping), not-secret police to not-hunt for secret crimes that never see the light of day (it’s called justice), not-ambassadors who do their not-politicking with all the negotiating and wheeling and dealing it entails (it’s called mediation), not tinker nor tailor, not soldier nor sailor, even if a Jedi must do all four at times…
It can be a complicated business, being a Jedi.
The future of warfare in UC.
Someone waxing philosophical on the relationship between a wing pair.
I won't actually be using this — so far, I'm sticking with "the Eyes and Teeth does not speak to humans" — whether because it cannot or it simply doesn't care to is ambiguous. But I found myself toying with how it would sound if it did, and while this is non-canon, and possibly a bit too over-the-top, I like how it came out. ADOM fans may recognize the tone. (EDIT: Less is more.)
edited 30th May '14 6:32:34 PM by KillerClowns
They/Them
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Funny, I always thought it'd sound more like Sovereign, but sharper.
The future of warfare in UC.
SHODAN is what I hear, but what I expect is more like the Naggarok/Beast from Homeworld Cataclysm.
edited 30th May '14 6:51:06 PM by Night
Nous restons ici.
All I hear is a guy yelling into a fan so his voice sound funny.
This one came from an RP I am partaking in, but I would be a fool to not incorporate it somehow into a story separate from the RP.
It's the buildup that really sells it. The other ship had chosen to put massive effort in making the contact dramatic, and I couldn't resist.
They/Them
Presented without context:
edited 31st May '14 6:02:48 PM by DarkbloodCarnagefang
Note to self: Pick less edgy username next time.
From a brief description of what I've been doing lately, taken out of context because that makes it so much better.
Intellectual Rock Star
"Or how 'bout' you don't get here at all?" — Faust, Dragon's Hoard
"Damn, I'm nearly thirty and it’s 3AM, we better go..." — Devri, Alex and Devri
"But more on that later." — Narrative, The Exe, after detailing a Noodle Incident involving one of the characters killing a bird for pooping on his shoulder.
"A what-romancer?" — Astral Gears, For Good Always Conquers
edited 1st Jun '14 4:02:23 PM by Arcee6
RIP Leonard Nimoy 26/03/1931 - 27/02/2015
From the ranting of my world-saving, world-order-destroying hero/villian/Big Good mentor/Big Bad: "Don't 'be yourself'. What a horrible message to teach children, 'be yourself'. It ranks right up there with 'you're all special'. How'd they get that so far twisted from the truth. It's 'you all have potential'. That's the truth. But having potential isn't the same as being special. We all have potential. No, what's special is putting in the effort and the force of will to keep going down the arduous path to unlock that potential. That's what's rare. That's what's special. So, no, don't 'be yourself'. We're all lazy, self-centered assholes who would screw over the guy next to us if it'd benefit us, and we'd thought we could get away with it. That's human nature. That's the us, generated by the world, by our biology, by our society. And a nasty thing about society: it comes from us. So you can tear down society, completely grind it down to dust around your feet, and then when you look up from your feet, it will be back again. Exactly the same. Actually, no. It'll be worse, because it won't have centuries of development smoothing down the rough bits and making it livable. So what do we do, if not 'be ourself'? Simple. Put on the mask of who you want to be, and walk like who you want to be, talk like who you want to be, and after a while you can take off the mask, and it shall be your face!"
Reactions to this: From a six year old, who's statement triggered the rant: "Oh. Um, in that case...Mr. Bad Guy...why did you want to be a bad guy?"
From the snarking hero, on the other side of the room: "Really, what is this, the Twilight Zone?" From the hero/villain/Big Good mentor/Big Bad in response to the above: "No. It's Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle! Aristotle! It's all in Aristotle. Dear Lord, what do they teach them in these schools?"
edited 2nd Jun '14 8:19:23 AM by sharur
Nihil assumpseris, sed omnia resolvere!
Trans Siberian Anarchestra (it/they)
Yes. Yes, I did. What can I say, the line resonates with me. Of course, this may be because my answer to that rhetorical question is "so little as to be all but nothing, and they do it in a way that no only emphases poor learning methods, but makes higher study actively harder", "still very little," and "what they need to finally, but they cram all this useless stuff as well", for primary, secondary, and university level education, respectively.
A nice butterfly
One extremely silly fix I wrote once had a character jump off a ledge to save another, whom in true Tsundere fashion began to beat him after falling all heroic-like to the rythm of her frantic cries of "WHO EVEN DOES THAT!?!".
It was silly.
It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Intellectual Rock Star
"I'm not an it! I'm a he! Oh wait... you don't understand me. You just think I'm cassing insane don't you." — Indie, The Exe
RIP Leonard Nimoy 26/03/1931 - 27/02/2015
The future of warfare in UC.
Intellectual Rock Star
A simple one:
Alex muttered something, something that was commonly switched to 'sugar' in the presence of children.
I'm not going to explain that. But I am being classy as hell there.
RIP Leonard Nimoy 26/03/1931 - 27/02/2015
"I have danced naked in the snow of the coldest darkest night of the coldest darkest winter there ever was. This is nothing. The problem is to not overdo it or she'd swell up and pop like a bubble before I even notice any drain." Mikuru turned to Yuki. "You dropped your glasses by the gate."
That was the Japanese Mythology (and Yuri) Wham Moment I had in mind when I selected the characters for the crossover.
"Show us the Galaxy Warp."
Show an affirming flame
That doesn't sound much like Mikuru, though. Either the younger Maxwell Smart!Mikuru or the older George Smiley!Mikuru.
Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.
The concept was Haruhi crowd as actual beings from Japanese mythology. Mikuru gets her young/old status here by being an ordinary high school girl possessed by an ancient goddess.
"Show us the Galaxy Warp."
"You do realize, don't you, that in Faust, Mephistopheles advised Faust against selling his soul? That's right: the devil himself thinks a deal with the devil is a bad idea. And, buddy, even if that weren't true, you're trying way too hard. You're got 'slimy car salesman' written allll over you."
Intellectual Rock Star
"Static, I will stab you in the fragging ankles if you fragging try to fragging stand on me again! Understand?!" — Papercut
Something about that makes me giggle, perhaps it's because she's threatening to stab him in the ankles...
RIP Leonard Nimoy 26/03/1931 - 27/02/2015
They/Them
edited 15th Jun '14 5:37:07 PM by DarkbloodCarnagefang
Note to self: Pick less edgy username next time.
edited 19th Jun '14 10:07:58 PM by TeraChimera
In the name of being honest
"I've got 'im." "You've got 'em. Play the jazz, Mr Kibble."
Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)
From my prequel to Les Miserables...
Looking at the minute miss, I could see the stars reflected in her eyes, eyes so big, her face seemed almost too small, but those luminescent eyes were countered by a firm, pert nose, and a soft rosy mouth that always seemed to be smiling.
Or this one....
This little woman sitting across from me was my Fantine! She had those same huge, enchanting emerald eyes, and the same little nose, yet there was something different about her. Suddenly it hit me like a thunderbolt. She had lost her smile. "Fantine, do you remember me?"
We must never confuse elegance with snobbery.