In the Navy RP?

[ebonyviper]

I saw Whale Rider. It was good.

And as for Nerina, her future was probably revealed to her in the form of an osprey during her vision quest. Her family wouldn't have approached but she joined the navy anyway to prove to them that this was her calling.

I'm guessing these vision quests are the equivelant of a ship's actual sea trials that test the performance and reliability of said ship.

@tracker: I like the second suggestion too.

[fierano]

@ebony: The self-discovery thing could definitely work, though ultimately he will have to figure out where he comes from. Leasath's (nation where Gleipnir was developed in ACX) equivalent country should either be North Korea or Venezuela for some reason....

Strait of Malacca? Hey, that's very close to my corner of the world. Maybe I could stick a few bangkas in there just for the fun of it.

[Evangeline]

The more we talk this out, the more that the resistance to Nerina's chosen career seems to have nothing to do with Navy policy, but with family/cultural issues. The Navy doesn't seem to care about that, its concern is one's ability to do the job. In the cultural community of the free-roaming Ship Tribes, the military, as I mentioned before, might be seen by the most cynical among the family people as a dumping ground for the excess males, or, in the most charitable view, an outlet for the ones who are too ambitious to fit into a matriarchal society. Hence, other family members' attitudes might be something like this:

The women: Why is she throwing her life away? She doesn't have to degrade herself like this when she could have a bright future in her own tribe! We need the smart women to lead our clans.

The men (at least some of them): It's bad enough that we can't get ahead in our own family structures. We've carved out a place for ourselves here. Why does she have to come in and poach in our bailiwick?

This would add some complications and ambiguity to a familiar theme.

And I'll see what Stratfor.com has to say about the Malacca straits.

[ebonyviper]

So... I can still use all that as a reason for Nerina making the decision for joining the Navy and going against the cultural traditions of her particular tribe? Or do I have to make some changes?

[Evangeline]

Nerina's your girl Ebony, you can do anything you want. But I might make some tribe and/or fleet characters that can bring those things up. Funny, the aircraft carrier personality doesn't seem to resent her, maybe because he knows or senses something that the others overlook.

[ebonyviper]

Ah, good. I was worried there for a second.

The aircraft carrier probably sees something in Nerina that has been overlooked by the others and thinks she has some kind of potential to be able to accomplish her dreams. He can probably look inside her soul and see the lonely woman that she is and the inner torment that she's suffering from the harassment from those that don't think she belongs.

[Evangeline]

Nerina seems to come across a bit like Honor Harrington in John Weber's novels, except that Honor didn't have to deal with the gender baggage from her own peers for the most part. I found them a good read.

[Tracker89]

Just to add my own 2 cents to the whole "Ship Tribe" idea, maybe Fletcher could be from a tribe that settled down and adopted a more modern style of living. So when this whole issue comes up in the RP, he'd probably defend Nerina for not letting herself get held down by (what he considers) outdated beliefs...but at the same time, he'd accidentally insult every ship who had come from a more traditional tribe.

Being in the middle of a mission, the rest of the fleet would probably go easy on him as long as he doesn't bring up the issue again, but he could end up as a target for harassment by the "camp followers".

Oh yeah, and we need to come up with a name for the RP...I don't think "In the Navy" would work. I was thinking some kind of classic nickname for the sea(sort of like how the aircraft RP was named "The Wild Blue Yonder"), but I can't think of any.

[ebonyviper]

Hmmm... so both Eva's aircraft carrier character and Fletcher would probably defend Nerina.

As for titles, the most general ones I can think of are:
- From Sea to Shining Sea
- High Seas Adventures
- Ocean Tales
- The Seven Seas

Not really sure which one sounds better, but from all the info that has been discussed in this thread so far is just enough for me to come up with a decent intro.

[fierano]

"Battle for the Blue"

Or anything with "Voyages" or "Odyssey" will do. @.=.@

Current Gleipnir Development: He'll have several regular defensive missile and gun turrets, and it'd be interesting if they happen to go off if he senses "stranger" aircraft nearby...although that usually happens without his distinct knowledge. I doubt he'll use his SWBM or Shock Cannon anytime near the beginning.

Also, I'm also thinking of introducing a Sukhoi aircraft (either 34 Fullback or 47 Berkut) and Soviet/Russian vessels that defected at the end of the Cold War, probably either allied with the pirates or mercenary.

[ebonyviper]

We need conflict to keep the RP interesting, other than the internal kind. Eva suggested "boomer" subs as the kind of conflict that the fleet would likely run into besides the pirates.

The pirates, however, I may have to work on. Seeing as they are only there to sink ships and make a profit, however illegal, they need a more definate motive. Like who would most likely be their enemy and what are their goals?

And as for the title, I've settled on "Sea to Shining Sea" because basically that's a line taken from the American National Anthem, American, The Beautiful, which was written in 1893 by Katharine Lee Bates to give honor to those that fought for America's freedom from British oppression. The reason for this, is because what if the fleet has a lull period and they're not in combat? This gives people more freedom and time to develop their characters.

Watch for the actual RP in a few hours...

[Evangeline]

The Cold War's end saw a lot of Russian soldier types adrift in the real-life world. I don't imagine this situation would be much different in the Carsverse. Lots of Russian ships and aircraft would be pursuing careers as mercenaries or signing on to other military forces to keep body and soul together. Some of them might even interbreed with Westerners. Perhaps a Flanker woman married an F-18 and their offspring manifests the best of both lines. There would also be some older MiG-21's and 25's and younger throwbacks around. A bunch of them running loose would be trouble. I could also bring in my Arrow descendant character, Elspet, because the pacific area is her AO, and she's a high-class mercenary for a Blackwater/Executive Solutions-type organization and has her own particular agenda.

And I might do the carrier if nobody objects, because he would have perhaps the most omniscient view of things, thought it might be filtered and relayed by computers and crew members.

[ebonyviper]

I could NPC a couple of pirate ships, but that's about the only conflict that I can do.

Evangeline: That's fine if you want to play the aircraft carrier. You're the one who came up with him.

Anyway, here's the RP, if anybody wants to get started:

Sea To Shining Sea RP

[Tracker89]

I wonder if I can introduce my own two jet fighter characters, Tanya and Ivan, as ex-Soviet mercenaries. In the original history I developed with The Wild Blue Yonder in mind, they were like the Ukrainian Air Force's equivalent of the Blue Angels, until financial problems forced the team to be sold off to a private businessman. For this RP I could change that so that they were simply discharged and left in poverty, forcing them into mercenary life to make a living.

And I can't believe I just remembered...I actually travelled the real-life Strait of Malacca several years ago on a vacation to Singapore. It was a 3-day round trip from Singapore to Phuket Island and back again. Fortunately there were no pirates, and we got to see some lovely sights as well.

[ebonyviper]

Sure. Anyone's welcome.

I can only play ship characters, though. I'm bad with playing fighter planes. XP