Yeah. I don't really get battle value. It was just starting to get play in the source books when I stopped paying attention. When I pulled my stuff out a couple weeks ago and sketched up a quick scenario I just eyeballed a balanced fight. I had an initial engagement of a Clan medium star against a 3050 Inner Sphere recon lance that got reinforced by a medium support lance. The main fight was a Clan heavy supernova with a medium star reinforcing against a mixed IS company with an assault lance plus a company of vehicles. According to battle value any two of the 'Mechs in the Clan recon star in scenario 1 were a match for all eight 'Mechs in the IS force (Uller, Puma, 2 Black Hawks and a Shadow Cat v. Stinger, 2 Javelins, Phoenix Hawk, 2 Blackjacks, Panther, Rifleman). So I divided it out slightly more with just the Uller and Puma on the board for the Clans at first. The IS lance kicked their ass. Once the other 3 came into play they pushed the recon lance back and I expected them to overpower the reinforcing lance. Not so much, no. And this was even with the Phoenix Hawk and one of the Javelins off the table. According to the battle value in my second scenario the Clans held a noticeable advantage (2 Daishi, 2 Mad Cat, Thor, Cauldron-Born, 2 Black Hawk, Shadow Cat, 10 points of Elementals in the main force, Phoenix Hawk IIC, 2 Hunchback IIC, Griffin IIC, Shadow Hawk IIC in the reinforcements. Battlemaster, Goliath, Marauder, Victor, Warhammer, Orion, Thunderbolt, Axeman. Archer, Crusader, Catapult, Trebuchet, Phoenix Hawk, Centurion, Wolfhound, Wasp, 4 Vedette, 4 Pegasus, 4 Demolisher. I tossed the Demolishers in at the end precisely because I'd looked at BV and figured the Clans would run through the IS like snot at a tissue party). That fight was pretty much even. The IS side won, but pretty much based on the luckiest gyro hit in the world against the Thor (1 SRM, rolled critical on the center torso) and an early head hit on one of the Daishi. I had no idea how that fight was going to go, which was kind of the point. And I don't really get all the new tech they were adding just before FASA went out of business. I like my Gauss rifles and pulse lasers. I really like CASE and Artemis IV fire control systems. But then they started adding in all kinds of bizarre variations on armor, all of which were inevitably worse than ferro-fibrous and in some cases worse than standard. And they tossed in the MRMs and whatnot. Apparently they added a bunch of other stuff that makes even less sense after that. I'll take 3050 tech over pretty much anything. Oddly, for all the walking computer stuff the one thing no one seems to have done is create a program that allows you to use your computer to track damage. That seems like the most basic freaking thing to bring technology in for. I get the romance of pencil and paper, but holy crap keeping track of all those record sheets is a PITA.

Actually, knowing that it stood out and was wrong was really all that you needed to know for that one. It was totally against the established tone and because of that it colored the rest of the paragraph. Take that line out and most of the rest of the paragraph still works just fine. I'd still re-work it because it ends up feeling clunky no matter what, but that one sentence takes something that kinda works and throws it completely out the window. Also, you bring up one of those things that really of annoys me about people who respond to criticism. It happens with music more, but I see it all over. It's the whole, "You can't criticize [this thing I did/like] because you probably can't do it better." You don't have to be a musician to understand when someone is writing crap lyrics or singing off key. You don't have to be a film director to know when someone made a bad movie. I muffed that line. You saw it and it took you out of the moment. That's really all that matters and it's a legitimate criticism. Now, with something like that there might be a reason it happened, such as the author attempting to set up an unreliable narrator or a character who's hiding a secret momentarily slipping into their true character. In something like that the words, "I meant to do that and maybe you just missed it," become valid. But this is two pages in and I haven't established the necessary trust to justify pulling that. Either way, that's a long way around saying that, no, you're right to criticize and the only skill set needed is the ability to read and process. Because, really, seeing and and hearing others point it out and accepting that will only make me a better and more perceptive writer. Nothing wrong with that in my book.

I filled in the blank, no worries. Although I used "standard," not "succinct." And I think that's part of the problem I have looking back. It feels too boiler-plate. I mean, that's Jack's backstory and it will be Jack's backstory even if I re-imagine the book (I'd say "re-write" but, y'know...) a hundred times. It's kinda hacky, I guess. And a little too "tell, don't show." And I can't imagine using the phrase "A succession of clingly bitches used him through high school and college, always taking and rarely giving back." I mean, srsly. Actually, that entire paragraph bugs me, compositionally speaking. That said, I was arrogant enough at the time to think the final line was one of the most insightful things I'd ever written. I still think so today.

D'oh. I'll bet those captains would have been well-served to ask the Chinese how to draw world maps, which would undoubtedly have helped them avoid embarrassment.

Good ol' Bullshit Channel. Was the guy with the crazy-ass hair and the ancient aliens theories on? I believe that his Minoans in America theory is the foundation of his Atlantis book. Atlantis = Minoans = global empire. Also, apparently they decided, "Hey, let's leave evidence of our existence in Minnesota and nowhere else between, like, say, Long Island or Cape Cod." Which seems legit. The interesting thing is that I can't entirely rule out the idea that ancient Mediterraneans might have discovered the Americas. There are some tantalizingly vague stories of voyages beyond the Pillars of Hercules and at least one story of the circumnavigation (kinda) of Africa. The Phoenicians were amazing sailors, so they could have done it. That said, I'd say possible in on way equals likely. And there's no freaking way that the Minoans were trans-Atlanic empire.

It's nice to be pleasantly surprised. One of the interesting things about blogging is that I find it's a record of things that I can go back and say, "Hey, that was really funny," or, "Wow, that was exactly what I wanted it to be." It's also a record of things that fill me with shame for their lack of crsftsmanship or, y'know, a point. I think the most interesting bits, though, are the ones where I can look at something and realize, "This was close, but a really clunky way to do that." That, I think, is where the real learning comes in. Several bits of A Distant, Dreadful Star did exactly that to me last night when I was re-reading it. Also, it occurs to me that my decision to consider the sketches as valid blog fodder should be partially credited to you. Your little one-off stories convinced me it's possible. Mine probably won't involve monsters or the supernatural too often, though. I really like writing small, self-contained moments that specifically focus on interactions. If I go much beyond that I start writing novels that never end...