I took a look at two posts on the mecha genre, and it has me thinking on a few things.
Section 1:  The mecha as a 'knight', bringing science fiction back to the concept of 'personal combat'.
Section 2:  The 'lie' of 'chivalry' and mecha anime.

You know, I've never looked at the mecha genre from this view before, but it does paint the entire genre in a different light.  My roomie is a big fan of the 'mecha knight' concept -- he's written an RPG on that very subject.  The funny thing is, mecha anime in and of itself is kind of "eh" for me.  I'm not entirely interested (though yes, the giant robots can be cool), I'm more interested in the interplay surrounding it -- the society which requires such things, the conflicts which these things are used in, etc.  In other words, I'm more a Battletech fan, where the mechs are more armoured platforms than 'knights' by any degree.

But I can see this -- the idea that a mech is essentially your horse and armour and sword, and the genre places the fate of the war in the hands of these elite few, rather than in the skill or luck of the mass of soldiers who would be on the front lines.  (Who wins the war, the officers or the soldiers?)  In that context, the genre is certainly interesting, but I think it makes it even more unrealistic than what I would have previously considered.

I think I usually have a certain understanding with mecha-style roleplay.  I'll nod at it in passing if we meet in the hall, but we generally agree to leave each other alone.  When I have been involved in such settings my view has always been what is practical? and what can I do with this technology? rather than consider the higher morals espoused such as 'chivalry' and 'honour in combat'.  Honour in combat's all fine and dandy, but if your enemy doesn't espouse such noble virtues, you're probably dead.  I tend to try to build survivors, and that means deal with your enemies quickly, finishing the battle so you can survive another day.

Looking at chivalry in a mecha genre, you can see how easy it is to espouse such values.  After all, most of the battles you'll be involved with concern other mecha pilots.  The 'foot soldiers' and peasant militaries of the historical past just have no place here.  They're, at most, underfoot, getting stepped on, and usually just aren't seen on the battlefield at all.  It becomes easy to discuss honour and chivalry on a battlefield where you can't die like a punk by some peasant with a rock.  And an interesting point was brought up -- who foots the bill for repair, anyway?   The second article suggested the public (peasants), and I'm thinking they're probably right -- higher taxes or costs to cover the cost of repairing these multi-million-dollar fighting machines.

I'm sort of thinking now how to turn this around, making it closer to the (stylistically realistic) roots of the genre.  How do you bring in the threat of the peasants, how do you make the cost of upholding the noble virtues actually mean something, since you're obviously putting yourself at risk to hold to a higher moral standard?  This will take some thought.

1. 4 or 5 out of 6ers are welcome here and have always been. *However*, this is a bi-centric comm, and a kink-centric comm, and a gamer-centric comm, and so on. Entries are generally expected to be about at least 1 of the 6 interests, and you do not get to tell bi people "chill out" when they protest their lack of inclusion. You're expected to be an ally.

2. This community has always strongly valued civil discourse. Criticism may happen, especially of someone's ideas rather than their selves, but ad hominems and responses like "fuck you!" are not tolerated. I try to give a warning first, but repeated offenses are not tolerated.

3. melssexysecret was warned and continued to behave badly, so zie was banned. After zie sent a private message consisting of nothing but 300 "Fuck you!"s to my inbox, zir sockpuppet was also banned. Please remember this is only the second user who has been banned in the history of the comm. Don't be afraid that I'm on a power-tripping rampage. I have no desire to micromanage this community and rarely even have to comment wearing my mod hat. I have no intention of banning a ton of people.

Hello once again!
I am selling my beloved DS Lite and 2 Pokemon games :) More Info in my Journal!

CLICK ON PIC :DD

"well, there it is then."

*(All games were rarely played, comes in original case, and booklets perfectly intact)*


DS:
Final Fantasy III - $13 shipped SOLD
Children Of Mana - $15 shipped

PSP:
Harry Potter and the goblet of Fire - $5 shipped
God Of War Chains of Olympus - $13 shipped


Thanks for looking :)

( Pics Behind The Cut )

When the skies of November turn gloomy.

On the night of November 10th, 1975, the Edmund Fitzgerald went down with all hands in Lake Superior. Gordon Lightfoot wrote a song about it, and my friend Pat Kight, known as kightp in these parts, was a reporter covering the story as it unfolded. She related her memories of that long night here.

I have one and only one thing to say regarding the attacks at Ft. Hood.

Proximity to trauma matters.

If...IF...Hassim's actions can be explained by second-hand PTSD from working with vets (and I am very dubious as to this), there's something underneath that.

Something bigger and uglier.

Not to mention equating the severity of his PTSD -- if that was the root cause and not just a symptom of something else -- with first-hand PTSD experienced by vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan devalues their experiences.

It's akin to living in Michigan and stating that your trauma experience after 9/11 is the same as that of a resident of NYC. No it isn't.

Tuck that away and ponder.

Gov. Paterson is trying really hard to get the State Senate to pass a same-sex marriage bill duringt he ession that started today.

I live in Sen. Betty Little's district (the Northway, basically), and I am in favor of same-sex marriage in new York.

I think it's important for our citizens, and I think it's important to take the momentum away from the decision in Maine.

Our senator, Betty Little, who is generally and good and supportive senator, has oppsed same-sex marriage in the past, and I have express my concern about that.

 I called her office at (518) 455-2811 and talked to Kathy, who said the senator does not think the state should redefine marriage.

She also said they are keeping track of the number of calls they receive expressing an opinion.

Honestly, if you have a strong opinion on this, I urge that you call either way.

In case you are not up here, this site will tell you how your senator stands on the issue -- http://tools.advomatic.com/24/nyequality/totals

Even if your senator has declared opposition to same-sex marriage, please contact him/her so our voices can be heard.

Update: Fom the Albany Times-Union's "Capitol Confidential" blog a little while ago:

As for legislation legalizing gay marriage, the Senate Democrats engaged in heated discussion during conference earlier — a conference meeting that did not include Sen. Tom Duane, the lead Senate sponsor of the bill. But so far, there’s been no indication that it will be brought on the floor today.

A year ago, I told you about Jimmy Roosevelt and the Makin Island Raid. Jimmy was the Executive Officer of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion at the time of the Makin Island Raid, and he continued to distinguish himself as a Marine officer throughout the war.

Jimmy Roosevelt was not the only one of President Franklin Roosevelt's children to serve on active duty during WW II. All four of FDR's adult sons put on the uniform and went to war. Elliott joined the US Army Air Corps in 1940 and served throughout the war as a reconnaissance pilot, eventually becoming a squadron commander. FDR Jr. joined the Navy and was decorated for bravery in the naval battle of Casablanca. John A. Roosevelt joined the Navy in 1941 and served until 1946, winning a bronze star while serving with a carrier task group in the Pacific.

After WW II, two of the Roosevelt brothers went to Congress. Jimmy represented California's 26th congressional district, and FDR Jr. New York's 20th. Jimmy was also the chairman of the California State Democratic Party. Meanwhile, John became a follower of Dwight D. Eisenhower and a registered Republican. John carried on a public debate with his mother during Eisenhower's campaign against Adlai Stevenson.

There's an interesting discussion over on crowdfunding about whether a donate button constitutes begging or something else altogether.

For what it's worth, I tend to use "donate" here either as a general term, or referring to small amounts of money going toward a particular project or to making it possible for me to spend more time writing. I use "sponsor" referring to funds that cover a complete work, such as a whole poem. Both have perks, but they're a little different -- any donor with LJ account gets put on my Donors group for a couple of months, and can read the special donor-perk posts; I also list all donors associated with a project. Sponsors get an extra perk: nonexclusive reprint rights to the sponsored piece. That means if you buy a whole poem from me, I treat you like an acquiring editor who can publish it somewhere, such as on your blog, in addition to it appearing here on mine.

So I'm not begging here; I'm busking and selling. If you like what I'm doing, you can buy some of it, or you can give me money so I'll have more time to write. If you like a particular subject, and you consistently throw money and/or compliments toward it, you will increase the amount of it in the world. You can be a patron of the arts. You can be an editor. And I'm not just proud of my writing; I'm proud of you, because I have a tremendously cool audience doing marvelous things. You folks are my rocket fuel.

Tweet? Tweet! It never stops, that bird.
( Cut in case I have a 100 tweet day and scare the British at their morning tea )
Will there be more tomorrow? There will be more tomorrow.
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