For Ratio, writers might sometimes remember he can throw ballistic chalk.
Ballistic just refers to the projectile property, not explosiveness or deadliness... e.g. contrast ballistic missiles to cruise missiles, deadliness is the "missile" part of the name, not "ballistic" part.
But ignoring that, game mechanics != narrative mechanics. If the HSR story is genuinely saying an academic throwing chalk can cause lethal damage, like as part of the narrative, then I'm with the fan writers on ignoring it. Having an academic being an action hero is a big no for me (hence my hate for the Indian Jones franchise). Academics can be physically fit (most actually are), but most are not going to philosophically agree to carrying weapons, even less so using said weapons. Like maaaaybe in a war when there's no choice, but only under very extenuating circumstances. Again, educators, like doctors, need to have the highest bar when it comes to ethics because they are tasked with shaping the ethical framework of the next generation.
(Also, from what you're describing, it sounds like despite paying lipservice to education, the story has written Ratio as a researcher/inventor first with educator a very, very distant second. This makes me sad, this Ratio is far less likable than his PV suggests.)
IMO they also ought to have a freaking personal inventory to carry stuff, like Ratio's chess set and his headgear. Similar to how the members of the Astral Express are often seen materializing weapons out of nowhere. I would say personal inventories would be something that's pretty common.
I would say this is a case of suspension of disbelief is needed. Due to the story being an action first type of story, inventory is deemed boring logistics and thus get handwaved away, hence personal hyperspace excuse (much like infinite bag of holding in medieval fantasy RPGs), but if the fic's purpose is to increase the grittiness (aka focus on the logistics rather than the action) then it makes sense to ignore that part of canon. Personally I'm not a fan of personal hyperspace/bag of holding trope as a way to circumvent the logistics, as those types of stories tend to downplay the importance of planning ahead. And with characters like Aventurine and Ratio, their biggest strengths are planning ahead and where the meat of their interactions would be happening.
he's had a long collab history with the IPC, to the point of designing weapons for them
More things hurting Dr. Ratio's standing with me. He sounds more like an R&D project leader than educator... Like that's fine. But sounds like his in-game backstory is nothing like what his PV suggested...
As for his papers in the field of biology...
As someone who had to deal with math people in biological research... FUCK THAT. They know absolutely shit and need to STFU and sit down and listen to the actual experts. Ahem. Sorry pet peeve...
I see these two guys as rational people who will tend toward making rational plans and decisions, not hasty emotional knee-jerk responses.
You know more about these characters, so I'll just chime in with my initial response, which is that it feels like the main point of contention between the two is that Ratio prefers plans that control all the variables while Aventurine leans towards playing the odds. Like Ratio would rather plant their own spy while Aventurine would try to trick/bribe an enemy mook into coughing up the the necessary information. Both plans work, their opposing views reflect the trade off between certainty vs expediency.
I can actually see these two dorks starting their relationship with a comprehensive contract all prettily dressing up their desire to start a relationship in cold hard legalese.
Maybe in a comedic story. But dear God not in a more serious story. I don't think they're such dorks that they'd actually think contracts work for a relationship...
Like I'd think given their semi coworker status, butting heads over operational logistics is how I see these guys growing to know each other and from that developing a mutually respectful relationship. The type that's like "only I can insult him". But also they don't seem like the type to care to make their personal relationship a public gossip topic so they'd keep it on the down low purely because they'd rather not share their love lives with the world at large. It has nothing to do with being in the closet.
Finally, yeah, I can see either guy topping. They'd probably switch.
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2024-09-20 01:21 am (UTC)Ballistic just refers to the projectile property, not explosiveness or deadliness... e.g. contrast ballistic missiles to cruise missiles, deadliness is the "missile" part of the name, not "ballistic" part.
But ignoring that, game mechanics != narrative mechanics. If the HSR story is genuinely saying an academic throwing chalk can cause lethal damage, like as part of the narrative, then I'm with the fan writers on ignoring it. Having an academic being an action hero is a big no for me (hence my hate for the Indian Jones franchise). Academics can be physically fit (most actually are), but most are not going to philosophically agree to carrying weapons, even less so using said weapons. Like maaaaybe in a war when there's no choice, but only under very extenuating circumstances. Again, educators, like doctors, need to have the highest bar when it comes to ethics because they are tasked with shaping the ethical framework of the next generation.
(Also, from what you're describing, it sounds like despite paying lipservice to education, the story has written Ratio as a researcher/inventor first with educator a very, very distant second. This makes me sad, this Ratio is far less likable than his PV suggests.)
I would say this is a case of suspension of disbelief is needed. Due to the story being an action first type of story, inventory is deemed boring logistics and thus get handwaved away, hence personal hyperspace excuse (much like infinite bag of holding in medieval fantasy RPGs), but if the fic's purpose is to increase the grittiness (aka focus on the logistics rather than the action) then it makes sense to ignore that part of canon. Personally I'm not a fan of personal hyperspace/bag of holding trope as a way to circumvent the logistics, as those types of stories tend to downplay the importance of planning ahead. And with characters like Aventurine and Ratio, their biggest strengths are planning ahead and where the meat of their interactions would be happening.
More things hurting Dr. Ratio's standing with me. He sounds more like an R&D project leader than educator... Like that's fine. But sounds like his in-game backstory is nothing like what his PV suggested...
As someone who had to deal with math people in biological research... FUCK THAT. They know absolutely shit and need to STFU and sit down and listen to the actual experts. Ahem. Sorry pet peeve...
You know more about these characters, so I'll just chime in with my initial response, which is that it feels like the main point of contention between the two is that Ratio prefers plans that control all the variables while Aventurine leans towards playing the odds. Like Ratio would rather plant their own spy while Aventurine would try to trick/bribe an enemy mook into coughing up the the necessary information. Both plans work, their opposing views reflect the trade off between certainty vs expediency.
Maybe in a comedic story. But dear God not in a more serious story. I don't think they're such dorks that they'd actually think contracts work for a relationship...
Like I'd think given their semi coworker status, butting heads over operational logistics is how I see these guys growing to know each other and from that developing a mutually respectful relationship. The type that's like "only I can insult him". But also they don't seem like the type to care to make their personal relationship a public gossip topic so they'd keep it on the down low purely because they'd rather not share their love lives with the world at large. It has nothing to do with being in the closet.
Finally, yeah, I can see either guy topping. They'd probably switch.