> 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).
The problem is that they still need to live in the HSR setting, where Pathstriders are a thing, and it comes with powers. Non-pathstriders are often at the mercy of whatever monster in the void that comes knocking, and can just hope their location got defenses or they got defenders or whatever. People who go out to actively plumb the mysteries of the universe need to be able to defend themselves.
That's why there's a faction literally called the "Armed Archaeologists"... because digging up ancient stuff is very often a dangerous affair. It's why even Herta's remote puppet dolls have the combat ability of a 4 star and wields a freaking giant ice hammer.
Ratio's Imaginary-based powers are as much a part of him as his mastery of the phased flame. It's why he can confidently stand by and be our MC's backup when we went into battle against a freaking cloned Emanator of Propagation. It's why he doesn't fear retribution when he foiled the plans of Duke Inferno on his own (it's not like he could predict ahead of time that Acheron would later kill the dude).
Taking away all of that for the sake of making him more real life realistic misses the entire point of this being a HSR fandom CP. For the same reason, I don't read AUs where the HSR elements are removed from the fics. (Like those ice skater AUs. Or mob AUs... Or even modern earth AUs in general, for that matter.)
> 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.
If you are talking about his in game roles, then he hasn't appeared on screen in a university setting or anything. But his intention on Herta's Space Station was to teach the researchers and our MC to resolve the problems that Duke Inferno was trying to instigate, while preventing anyone from actually dying in the process.
If you are talking about his backstory, we do get to hear a lot more about his research/invention achievements, because that's what stands out when someone describes his biography.
BTW, added a section above with my headcanon of Ratio's personal timeline. I think a lot of his R&D would take place or at least start in his early post-doc years, before he became a professor. And I think there would need to be a personal growth progression for him, from being someone who aimed at the prestige of getting into the Genius Society, to someone that cared about teaching the masses.
> 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
Eh...The problem with basing their interaction on the Penacony arc is that the whole thing was an act they were carrying out. The plan was from the beginning for Ratio to misdirect Sunday and pretend to betray Aventurine. Most of their conversations were held either with double meaning or some kind of code, because Aventurine was under watch by Sunday most of the time and he knew it.
The most we can say is that either they had worked out this plan before arriving on Penacony. Or that Aventurine was able to communicate the plan (and any changes) to Ratio without having to spell things out, just based on their understanding of each other (默契).
After the whole plot was over, we don't actually see them interact with each other afterwards... aside from one splash art of the afterparty, where they were hanging out in the pool together.
I prefer to draw inspiration from the Aventurine intro interview that featured Ratio, where he does talk about Aventurine being a chaotic ball of randomness... but in an entirely *fond* way. Aventurine's maverick tendencies are not necessarily a point of contention between them, but rather, part of the uniqueness that attracts Ratio to him.
Also, I don't think Dr. Ratio has a controlling personality either. From his teaching methods towards our MC and the HSS researchers, he has a lot of patience for letting "idiots" flail around and figure things out on their own. He can't predict whether they'd actually solve the problem on their own or not, just give them space and the occasional hint to try. His self appointed role is to stand back and catch them from the worse case scenario, should they fail.
IMO, Ratio prefers to observe and react to events, rather than be completely proactive. IMO if he was the one planning a mission or whatnot, I would expect him to only have a loose idea of how to start things off, and then a whole bunch of potential contingency plans based on what happens afterwards.
Both of them would expect to "winging" it when the unexpected happens, though I expect Aventurine to come up more riskier contingencies aimed at accomplishing both the end goal as well as protecting the initial investment, so to speak. Whereas Ratio would play it safer, aiming to protect the investment or resetting the board.
> Maybe in a comedic story.
Of course. It would be an interesting way to "confess". Better than typical flowers and dating trope anyway. Also, I want to see the face of people who get to proof read the initial drafts (and it will likely be our MC who gets dragged into that role).
Or Aventurine "accidentally" leaking it to the IPC Tech Department as a bid to sway support to their Department against the Marketing Dept. (There's also gotta be a way to work Boothill and his funny talk into this kind of setup, I just can't think of how...)
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branchandroot
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Date: 2024-09-20 03:24 am (UTC)The problem is that they still need to live in the HSR setting, where Pathstriders are a thing, and it comes with powers. Non-pathstriders are often at the mercy of whatever monster in the void that comes knocking, and can just hope their location got defenses or they got defenders or whatever. People who go out to actively plumb the mysteries of the universe need to be able to defend themselves.
That's why there's a faction literally called the "Armed Archaeologists"... because digging up ancient stuff is very often a dangerous affair. It's why even Herta's remote puppet dolls have the combat ability of a 4 star and wields a freaking giant ice hammer.
Ratio's Imaginary-based powers are as much a part of him as his mastery of the phased flame. It's why he can confidently stand by and be our MC's backup when we went into battle against a freaking cloned Emanator of Propagation. It's why he doesn't fear retribution when he foiled the plans of Duke Inferno on his own (it's not like he could predict ahead of time that Acheron would later kill the dude).
Taking away all of that for the sake of making him more real life realistic misses the entire point of this being a HSR fandom CP. For the same reason, I don't read AUs where the HSR elements are removed from the fics. (Like those ice skater AUs. Or mob AUs... Or even modern earth AUs in general, for that matter.)
> 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.
If you are talking about his in game roles, then he hasn't appeared on screen in a university setting or anything. But his intention on Herta's Space Station was to teach the researchers and our MC to resolve the problems that Duke Inferno was trying to instigate, while preventing anyone from actually dying in the process.
If you are talking about his backstory, we do get to hear a lot more about his research/invention achievements, because that's what stands out when someone describes his biography.
BTW, added a section above with my headcanon of Ratio's personal timeline. I think a lot of his R&D would take place or at least start in his early post-doc years, before he became a professor. And I think there would need to be a personal growth progression for him, from being someone who aimed at the prestige of getting into the Genius Society, to someone that cared about teaching the masses.
> 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
Eh...The problem with basing their interaction on the Penacony arc is that the whole thing was an act they were carrying out. The plan was from the beginning for Ratio to misdirect Sunday and pretend to betray Aventurine. Most of their conversations were held either with double meaning or some kind of code, because Aventurine was under watch by Sunday most of the time and he knew it.
The most we can say is that either they had worked out this plan before arriving on Penacony. Or that Aventurine was able to communicate the plan (and any changes) to Ratio without having to spell things out, just based on their understanding of each other (默契).
After the whole plot was over, we don't actually see them interact with each other afterwards... aside from one splash art of the afterparty, where they were hanging out in the pool together.
I prefer to draw inspiration from the Aventurine intro interview that featured Ratio, where he does talk about Aventurine being a chaotic ball of randomness... but in an entirely *fond* way. Aventurine's maverick tendencies are not necessarily a point of contention between them, but rather, part of the uniqueness that attracts Ratio to him.
Also, I don't think Dr. Ratio has a controlling personality either. From his teaching methods towards our MC and the HSS researchers, he has a lot of patience for letting "idiots" flail around and figure things out on their own. He can't predict whether they'd actually solve the problem on their own or not, just give them space and the occasional hint to try. His self appointed role is to stand back and catch them from the worse case scenario, should they fail.
IMO, Ratio prefers to observe and react to events, rather than be completely proactive. IMO if he was the one planning a mission or whatnot, I would expect him to only have a loose idea of how to start things off, and then a whole bunch of potential contingency plans based on what happens afterwards.
Both of them would expect to "winging" it when the unexpected happens, though I expect Aventurine to come up more riskier contingencies aimed at accomplishing both the end goal as well as protecting the initial investment, so to speak. Whereas Ratio would play it safer, aiming to protect the investment or resetting the board.
> Maybe in a comedic story.
Of course. It would be an interesting way to "confess". Better than typical flowers and dating trope anyway. Also, I want to see the face of people who get to proof read the initial drafts (and it will likely be our MC who gets dragged into that role).
Or Aventurine "accidentally" leaking it to the IPC Tech Department as a bid to sway support to their Department against the Marketing Dept. (There's also gotta be a way to work Boothill and his funny talk into this kind of setup, I just can't think of how...)