Re: OLN: Daybreak on Hyperion
Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 4:38 pm
Hard to stop reading, isn't it?
Why do you think that is?
Why do you think that is?
Well, it was not hard to stop ... just nearly impossible !! Even while I had dinner, the only one thing i wanted was going back to the storyHimeko Inaba wrote:Hard to stop reading, isn't it?
Well, before answering, i'd like to precise one thing. I'm an old, hum no ... a seasoned RPG player and gamemaster so my reading grid is biaised by this fact and I will use some RPG analogies (oh, by RPG I mean the old thing you play around a table with friends like the venerable Dungeons and Dragons, not the computer ones).Why do you think that is?
Are you sure we're thinking of the same Russia? Are you sure you're not viewing Kaede's upbringing (Russia/Japanese geared towards Eastern philosophy, which is society-centric rather than individual-centric, emphasizing individual duties instead of individual freedoms) through Western goggles?After all, she comes from a world where freedom and privacy are practically taken for granted.
I guess my question would be... what would you do in a situation where you were tossing into a world where you suddenly have nothing, not even an education fit for its locality? As Kaede reflects in v1ch3: punching Pascal out of frustration for him being a total asshole was easy. Figuring out how a live in this world without his help... that might be an issue. While she can and does nudge him in certain directions, his fundamental character isn't going to change overnight.I’m sorry I don’t buy it.
Good point. I haven't really thought of that. But then, I'm not sure why such a device would exist either. Most familiars hardly care if their senses get hijacked. It's not easy to hijack another mage's sense due to the ether resistance, commoners usually lack the ether to power most magic items (plus, such specialized gadgetry -- magic or not -- is expensive! Basic supply/demand economics).Kaede could have used the maid to get a magical device that could detect if her senses are hijacked and a way to block it. Likewise as her work output slows down and she acts more suspiciously she could have used the opportunity to test Pascal’s promise about not hijacking her senses without permission.
Why does every computer user (aka all of us) not try to figure out how semi-conductor microprocessors work or how to build an Arithmatic Logic Unit from scratch? Kaede does ask about magic here and there. She asks enough to fit what she needs. Since Pascal says she can't cast spells herself, why does she care about the details she can't interact with anyway? That's like talking to the average user about how Microsoft Word is programmed (will the audience stay awake if I start talking about Design Patterns in software architecture? Same goes to spell architecture). It takes a very technical-oriented thinking to delve into mechanics deeper than an interaction level; Kaede isn't a technical person.Why does Kaede never ask about magic in detail?
Again, one thing at a time. Also if you don't think archery builds muscles, you've been fooled by modern media. Drawing a longbow to full is MUCH HARDER than swinging a sword (more precisely, controlling a sword's swing, since beginning the swing is also easy). I guess it's my fault for not clarifying intent + common misconceptions... I'll see if I can nudge that a bit in the writing.he complains about her weak body, but not once does she workout or train (yep just history reading) even though she supposedly knows martial arts and multiple ways of sword fighting.
It better be~ Or tables will be flipped~ jkjk xDAorii wrote:Next chapter is awaiting Kadi's lazy butt XD
@Phantasimo
Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm glad you enjoyed it so ^^
I make no promises about romance aspects though, other than it will be unusual and interesting =P
Just finished the 9 chapters of volume 2 ... and I found what i asked for in my previous comments (politics, geopolitics, even make some use for genreblender )Aorii wrote:Next chapter is awaiting Kadi's lazy butt XD
@splynncrith
Hahaha thanks. Hope you continue to enjoy ^o^
I have bit of an obsession with gemstones and the symbolism surrounding them ^^"
i.e. Rose Quartz = stone of universal love. Kaede is a modern humanist/philanthropist
I felt that way... because of the bestiary (who knows about Damphir ), juste before reading your novel I dove in the pathfinder Bestiary (vol 2) and found some illustration which could fit what i read later ^^"Aorii wrote:Yes I know pen&paper RPG well. My worldbuilding experience comes from 6yrs of GMing D&D. I actually have character sheets (in a customized system) of all the story's main characters to make sure their power scaling makes sense and doesn't get out of hand XD
As I said upthere you managed to use the genreblender in chapter 9 (and I think there will be more to come ) so I'm no more on the "so what ?"-mode I was on the volume 1Aorii wrote:Yes, as you've read, Kaede's main role is storyteller and not story protagonist (which is Pascal and later on, Sylv as well). I use her mostly to reflect upon things, as she has a very wide knowledge base and incredible insight from a layman perspective (whereas Pascal thinks like a career officer and Sylv as a ruler). In fact, developing her is a real pain to plan since she lacks other specializations. Read down for why the genderbent...
They say that if you genderbend most males, they'll come off a little tsun because males have that culture of being more stoic/embarrassed about open display of feelings while females don't. (shrug)
Well sometimes my english may sound harsher than I really mean ^^"Aorii wrote:Parzifal accepted Pascal's apology and he's the center of that group, which has a somewhat trickle-down effect. But I wouldn't say everyone 'bought' it =P Enough to 'push it under a rug' is how I would describe it.
I took as some kind of uchronia, it seems it was (on mythics levels )Aorii wrote:Setting
Hyperion setting's parallel is intended. I describe it as "alternative history fantasy" =P aka what is a possible outcome if Earth geopolitics evolved with magic in mind.
It's embedded into the name itself. The continent name 'Hyperion', named after the in-setting dragonlord, named after the Titan of Greek Mythology. In the Greek Titanomachy, the Olympian Gods defeated the Titans and kept mythic power to themselves. Here, that did not happen, and Prometheus-like Dragonlords/Titans would spread the gift of magic to mankind.
I probably would have stabbed the guy as he slept on the first night and then been executed myself, but that wouldn’t make a good story now would it.what would you do in a situation where you were tossing into a world where you suddenly have nothing, not even an education fit for its locality?
Sorry about that, I knew she was Japanese/Russian I just didn’t know where she was from. It could have been Japan, Russia, or even America with that background. Maybe it was mentioned and I missed it. And yes maybe it’s just my western ideals but I find the concept of literally being a slave much more terrifying than figuratively being a slave. But I also feel Kaede echoes this sentimentality when she is horrified that the maid is sentenced to be an indentured servant. They are practically equals now, so what’s the big deal? I mean the maid may even be higher on the legal ladder than Kaede (little more than property) and doesn’t have her senses hijacked. To be honest I just really can’t get into the mind of Kaede. Even recently she was yelling about ethics on the battlefield, it just seemed out of place for her pragmatic self. She seems to risk more for her enemies than for herself.Are you sure we're thinking of the same Russia? … Any realistic Japanese collegiate already knows he's going to become a slave to society and to his occupational boss once they start a career anyways
Well I can think of a few good reasons, like you capture an enemy familiar, block its senses, and then use mind magic to interrogate it. An alternative may be that hijacking senses and telepathy work on the same channel and blocking one blocks the other. A device could grant the user the ability to flip between multiple telepathic links or silence them all if the situation arises (ie like a silent mode for a cell phone). Another alternative is a mage took a commoner wife and created some anti-magic device to protect her. Weather it exists or not isn’t really the point. The point is more I don’t know it exists and neither does Kaede. But even if such a thing didn’t exist, as long as she tries to find out more about it, it shows that she is unhappy with the current situation. To be honest I didn’t realize she didn’t like her current life until she said it. And since then she really hasn’t done much to improve it.I'm not sure why such a device would exist either. Most familiars hardly care if their senses get hijacked.
What are the most common offensive magics? What are their strengths/weaknesses. How can the spells on my arm be used effectively. What are the strengths/weaknesses of the defensive magics. I see it more like cars. She doesn’t need to know how to build one. She doesn’t need to know how to drive one. She just needs to know basic info about cars and traffic laws in order for her to cross the street safely. If a car chased her down she could lure it into an intersection or oncoming traffic or run into a building. It’s more about understanding her options when magic is involved.Since Pascal says she can't cast spells herself, why does she care about the details she can't interact with anyway?
Uhh, have we been reading the same OLN? Because I clearly remember just before Pascal and Kaede leaving the school that Kaede got a letter about citizenship. And that in ten years(this length of time isn't unheard of) she would be an official citizen of that country, AND she's getting this medal thing from the king as well. So, to be honest, I'm pretty sure she isn't at the same level as the maid. As indentured servants, in the times they had it, while most likely better than slaves, were still no different from slaves and being worth less than property. And to be honest, Kaede has way more freedom than any slave because of Pascal's personality, and I'm pretty sure Pascal isn't that much of an asshole to tap into her senses without asking unless the situation was a life/death situation, the guy is better than you think he is. After all, while he is the one that took her from her world, he is also doing what he can to make her stay in this world as good as possible, and even at this point he probably considers Kaede as family now. Also, we honestly still have no idea on what exactly happened to Kaede in her world while she was still guy, maybe Pascal's assumptions are correct and she had died before being summoned, heck maybe she had literally just died the moment the summon happened. We have no idea, for all we know currently, he could have easily saved her life. But, that's just going off topic. Anyway, Kaede isn't even a slave from what I can tell. :UKairos wrote: Sorry about that, I knew she was Japanese/Russian I just didn’t know where she was from. It could have been Japan, Russia, or even America with that background. Maybe it was mentioned and I missed it. And yes maybe it’s just my western ideals but I find the concept of literally being a slave much more terrifying than figuratively being a slave. But I also feel Kaede echoes this sentimentality when she is horrified that the maid is sentenced to be an indentured servant. They are practically equals now, so what’s the big deal? I mean the maid may even be higher on the legal ladder than Kaede (little more than property) and doesn’t have her senses hijacked. To be honest I just really can’t get into the mind of Kaede. Even recently she was yelling about ethics on the battlefield, it just seemed out of place for her pragmatic self. She seems to risk more for her enemies than for herself.
Maybe that'll happen later? (shrug) I honestly don't know lol. I don't plan in high detail unless it's only a few chapters away. It allows me to write the story in a character-driven style (choices are picked based on character preference) instead of a plot-driven style (where character pick options based on where one wants the story to go).But if I had your campain to play, as a gamemaster I sure would have tweaked it in keeping a NPC rather spiteful, just to play some dirty tricks to the PC later
This is noted as recently as ch9. Kaede tends to stay to her comfort zones unless she sees an immediate need to breach it. Among the reasons she doesn't go outside much (for anything, exercise included) is because all the stares and murmurs she got at the academy (hence she was worried about turning into a shut-in/NEET).Himeko Inaba wrote:She seems like an escapist who doesn't want to face her problems until necessary. That's the impression I got from the beginning.
Suicide = lose. That's like admitting defeat to life =PI probably would have stabbed the guy as he slept on the first night and then been executed myself, but that wouldn’t make a good story now would it.
She grew up in trans-Eurasia Russia (so between the Urals and Siberia) for early childhood and later went to Japan. I think this detail is scattered in two places in vol1... =\I knew she was Japanese/Russian I just didn’t know where she was from.
Have you ever heard of the concept of soft power vs hard power? Pascal has a capacity of control over Kaede's life, but it's a choice whether he would do so or not. It's no different than how employers can hurt/ruin their employees' jobs by firing them (which most employment contracts allow them to do so for any reason). Does this mean to have a job is to be enslaved to it? Are housewives with no income of their own slaves to their husbands? (okay... feminist arguments are just asking for trouble XD).But I also feel Kaede echoes this sentimentality when she is horrified that the maid is sentenced to be an indentured servant. They are practically equals now, so what’s the big deal?
One of the biggest things I realized since starting to read psychology is that there is no such thing as a perfectly logical personality. It's why almost all people are hypocrites to a degree, because their learned values on different subjects are the result of different experiences that often don't match up (i.e. Kaede's preference for pragmatism doesn't change the fact she's read enough history to know lots of really awful stuff; as noted again in v2ch6: Russian, the Great Patriotic War is nasty). There is also an innate psychological backlash that deals with killing/watching people being killed that has nothing to do with pragmatism.Even recently she was yelling about ethics on the battlefield, it just seemed out of place for her pragmatic self.
Mmmh, this is an unanticipated downside to making the first 10 chapters really fast paced. I wasn't nearly as detailed with the first week as I've been with the later chapters in regards to what Kaede was focusing on / worrying over. I'll look into what I might be able to squeeze in without bogging pace... since the rapid pace at start is what kept a lot of people's attention well.But even if such a thing didn’t exist, as long as she tries to find out more about it, it shows that she is unhappy with the current situation.
She figured out enough by ch11 when she used Pascal's runes as a landmine field and customized the spell-load on an entire rune-set of hers, implying she at least did some work on the topic. I didn't see the need to infodump it ahead of the combat action.What are the most common offensive magics? What are their strengths/weaknesses. How can the spells on my arm be used effectively. What are the strengths/weaknesses of the defensive magics.
Haha, surprisingly enough, that was the same reason for me finding B-T, well that and Index. xD And yeah, the fanservice and the convenient misunderstandings were a bit much. xDD But, I personally enjoyed the story nonetheless~ though I am sad that it has ended (ZnT). :UAorii wrote:@Phantasimo
IIRC looking for ZnT novels is how I came across B-T years ago. XD
My opinion on that series is bit mixed though. I loved a lot of the concepts and some of the drama. I hated the endless fanservice and often rolled my eyes at the relationship developments (too many convenient misunderstandings) =x
I gave this a lot of thought overnight and came up with one conclusion:Kairos wrote:What are the most common offensive magics? What are their strengths/weaknesses. How can the spells on my arm be used effectively. What are the strengths/weaknesses of the defensive magics. I see it more like cars. She doesn’t need to know how to build one. She doesn’t need to know how to drive one. She just needs to know basic info about cars and traffic laws in order for her to cross the street safely. If a car chased her down she could lure it into an intersection or oncoming traffic or run into a building. It’s more about understanding her options when magic is involved.
Things are getting critical, in a good wayAorii wrote:volume 2 chapter 10 posted
http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index ... Chapter_10
first taste of things getting weird, and critical...