Status and Support

[WarpGirl]

The problem is that they had the right to refuse! And they were attacked for it. They weren't enemies they weren't allied with the Xindi, they were just ordinary people stuck and had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So what was Archer supposed to do? Shrug and let several billion people die because the Illyrian captain said no? That was the entire point of the episode - he had to make a decision that he loathed making because humanity was relying on the Enterprise to save them (since evidently Starfleet was too stupid to have an actual fleet or even put something resembling planetary defenses in place.) Yeah, it sucks for these ordinary folks, but no one ever said life was fair.

Again, I'm not sure what the issue is. This decision was intended to suck. *shrug*

Chalk it up to my being a stubborn wench and give your mind a break, I'm sorry I'll never see it any other way. Like I said, I'm happy being alone.

Okay I'm lost where can I see Distracted's triumph.

[Kotik]

WG, you really are alone with that opinion. Archer simply did not have a morally acceptable option at hand, so he chose the one, which did the least damage. This whole discussion is a no-brainer, really.

[WarpGirl]

Thank you for enlightening me Kotik I had no clue!

[Alelou]

LOL. And now for something completely different Have a look at the front page of ff.net - DO you notice something Someone's craving comments

Ummmm.... Yeah.
Well, a reader complained that I didn't have scene breaks in my stories. I didn't... because the software didn't recognize my little & signs and I'd been too lazy up to now to change them all to # and repost. So I spent the past two weekends doing that instead of writing. And now I have lots of hits and a few more comments and I can go back to my novel.

Who doesn't want a few more comments? Too bad you didn't space it out ... you could have gotten even more. Your output there was just too prodigious to keep up with.

Does this mean you can't edit a story without it being reposted? Is that something new?

Having to work does suck, but I think I get even less of my own writing done in the summer without it. Kind of weird, that.

[Kotik]

Thank you for enlightening me Kotik I had no clue!

That's not enlightenment, me dear, just a not very subtle hint that you're baiting for a pointless argument again and nobody's going to bite. Sorry

[WarpGirl]

I was not baiting! I said several times I knew I was alone! I continued the discussion because my blasted email kept dinging with replies from other people! So excuse me for trying to enjoy my day. I've just fixed it so that my email won't ding anymore and you're spared a pointless arguement. I should have done it ages ago!

[Alelou]

Thank you for enlightening me Kotik I had no clue!

That's not enlightenment, me dear, just a not very subtle hint that you're baiting for a pointless argument again and nobody's going to bite. Sorry

Every time I try to craft a response to this I realize you're the one who's actually baiting here.

[Kotik]

Baiting for what? I merely tried to tell her to knock it off before she starts looking like a complete tool. There wasn't a single coherent fact in WG's arguments. It was just arguing for the sake of arguing. I don't think we need that. Criticizing (or even doubting) Archers decision is completely ridiculous. Your own story proves what would have happened, had he not pilfered the warp coil. Applying some outlandish religious moral codes to that is simply laughable. We're talking about a fictional situation here

[panyasan]

The fact that we talk about a fictional situation doesn't matter in this case, because the whole discussion is about "did Archer do the right thing if this was a real situation", an question that we all answer from our own moral code.

But you're right when it comes to make your point and move on and trying not repeating yourself. For me, in this case diplomacy had failed, the world isn't perfect and broken and Archer had to save Earth, which left him with little choice.

Maybe it's good to go back to the original topic: what kind of subjects would you like to write about that provokes your readers into thinking?

[Alelou]

Kotik, did you stop taking meds recently or something? Your hostility is completely out of control.

[Silverbullet]

WG, boil it down to the simplist terms. A few against many. (This is what makes me wonder about T'Pol's attitude "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" according to the Vulcans.

The many are Earths Seven Billion people. Earth itself will be destroyed along with it's population. against the alien ship and crew being stranded in space.

I would have made Archer's decision and I believe Kent would too. Archer wasn't oblivious to what the aliens would be going through. He tried to alieviate it but his ship had to have that coil, period.

Leaders always come up against things like what Archer faced. A good leader will make the tough decision and hope like Hell it is right.

SB

[Distracted]

Does this mean you can't edit a story without it being reposted? Is that something new?

Having to work does suck, but I think I get even less of my own writing done in the summer without it. Kind of weird, that.

No, I just didn't see the "replace content" function. Instead I tried to delete the story and then put in a new chapter. The software wouldn't let me, of course, so I ended up posting the revised versions as second chapters and then deleting the originals. It worked, but the site's software flagged every story as "updated" after that, so I ended up unintentionally flooding the "new updates" page (since I put scene dividers in about 15 stories at a time during two marathon posting sessions over two weekends). It was pretty cool to watch the stats, though. Don't think I've ever gotten over 2,000 hits in one month before.

When I'm truly on vacation I don't get much done, either. I always think I have plenty of time until the time's all gone. I'd have to quit my day job and decide that writing WAS my job to really get much done. But that's coming. I've got just 11 more years in the state system before I retire with a pension. At that point I will officially be a professional writer. I figure since the women in my family all live to their 90's with intact intellect, that'll give me another 30 years afterwards to win a Hugo.

[WarpGirl]

Just don't forget to thank all of us "little people" in your acceptence speech.

[putaro]

Almost have my next chapter done but I need a little bit of color. Can anyone (Kotik?) think of a good exclamation from a Russian admiral who just got a very nasty surprise?

[Kotik]

A short one would be черт! (tchort, devil!) which would be the Russian equivalent of "bloody hell". Another one is твою мать! (Tvoyoo Mat', I f****** your mother), which is the equivalent of "effing hell". A third one is пиздец! (Pisdyez) which means something along the line of 'that's it', 'it's over' or 'we're going down'. If that particular admiral hails from siberia, another one would be ебанный в рот! (yobanny v rot, mf****d in the mouth), which relates to the english phrase 'we're f****d!'.

Can you tell that russian swearing/exclamations are a tad ripe?

Which one to use depends on the context. If the nasty surprise comes completely unexpected, it is best to go with черт!. If he did some manover and it went unexpectedly wrong, пиздец! or твою мать! are the better choices.