分类： 美舰本·Pacific

English Devblog, 中文更新, 美舰本·Pacific , ,

2016: Nevada Episode IV: A New Hope (内华达：新的希望）

by Morgane 2016年2月26日

Close one, guys. Real close on the left side. Bernie was losing by twenty points the week before and I think he did good. 47.3% to 52.6%.
这个够险的，伙计们。真的，左边很险哦。老爷子一个星期前落后将近20多分呢，这次我感觉他干的不错。以47.3%输给希拉里的52.6%。

Now, the right side?
右边嘛…

 


“What happened, —–? You were supposed to be the chosen one! You were to unite the base, not fracture it even further! Half of them are going for —- or —– now!”
“怎么会这样，- – -? 你本来应当是被拣选者，是救世主！你本当统一我们的选民，而不是让他们四分五裂！现在他们一半都去投 – – – 或者 – – 啦!”

“YOU’RE-LOW-ENERGY, MASTER —-! STAND-ASIDE. I-WILL-DEFEAT-THE-DEMOCRATS-BECAUSE-I-AM-MOST-ELECTABLE.WHEN-THIS-RACE-IS-OVER-I-WILL-BE-THE-ONE-TO-BRING-PEACE-JUSTICE-FREEDOM-AND-SECURITY-TO-ALL-OF-THE-GOP.”
“你-太-低-能-量-了，- – 大-师！给-我-让-开。我-会-打-败-民-主-党，因-为-我-在-普-选-中-的-机-率-是-最-大-的。这-场-初-选-结-束-后，我-会-给-所-有-共-和-党-人-民-带-来-和-平，正-义，自-由，以-及-安-全。

“The GOP? —–, our allegiance is to America, to the people, to democracy!”
“共和党？- – -，我们的任务以及忠诚是对美国，对美国人民，以及民主啊！”

“IF-YOU’RE-NOT-WITH-ME-THEN-YOU-ARE-MY-ENEMY.”
“如-果-你-不-支-持-我，那-你-就-是-我-的-敌-人。”

Lemme tell ya I’d never vote for either of ’em. But the bit that Jeb said as Jeb left? I can see why people liked the guy.
说句实话，这俩家伙我永远都不会投一票。但你知道布什走前说的那番话？我理解为什么有些人喜欢他了。

 

*Vrrrrrnnnnnnnn-Fzzzzrt!*
×声效：激光剑撞击声

“YOUR-SUPPORT-IS-WEAK-OLD-MAN.”
“老-家-伙，你-的-支-持-率-太-低-了。”

*Vvvvvvv -*
×声效：激光剑撞击声

“This isn’t winning, —–. If you strike me down and remove me from this race I shall become more powerful than you could ever imagine!”
“这不是胜利，- – -。如果你将我击倒，让我退出这场选举，我将变的比你想象的还要强大!”

Okay, breaking the fourth wall for a second. I shouldn’t hafta say this, but it’s PARODY. Like Iowa said, vote who you like. We ain’t endorsing anyone or telling you who you should be voting for.
稍微说一下哈。我真的不应该重复这一点。俺们这只是在闹玩。我们可没有想告诉你应该支持谁，也没想支持任何一个人。你爱投谁投谁。

Got that? Good. Hey! Tennsy! Okie! You two are up!
明白了吗？好样的。奥姬！田希，轮到你们俩了！

Hey guys. A not-so-quick note here from Morgane.
大家好。这次莫根有想说的话~

I’ve received a lot of positive feedback – far more so than I was expecting, and I really want to say thank you. The folks that are offended by how we’re choosing to depict your candidates, we’re sorry, but that’s how we (Sima and I) decided to depict them. I’m sure that “we mean no offense” won’t make you less offended, but I really do mean that. We mean no offense.
我收到了很多的反应，绝大多数都是正面的。并且这些反应超出了我的预料。谢谢你们哦。对于那几位因为看到自己支持者而不爽的读者，对不起，但我们没有任何侮辱他们人格的意思。我知道我这样说可能说服不了你们，但，真的就是这样。我们这样画他们是因为有梗啊以及好玩啊。

Now, this update’s commentary.
稍微解释下为什么这次更新选择这样画。

You guys may have noticed that the focus here was really on Rubio and Bush. That’s because I was seriously afraid that one of them would drop – and they did. Personally, I’m extremely upset at Bush’s departure. Not because I supported any of his policies (when NJ rolls around I’m definitely NOT going to write him in xD), but because he has so many funny quirks that makes him a fun, fun fairy to draw.
你们也许这次看到了我们注重的是水哥和小小灌木。这原因其实是因为我非常怕他们俩有其中一个人退出初选的。最后，我害怕的事情还是发生了。唉，我其实对小小灌木的退出很伤心。这不是因为我支持他（我肯定不会投这家伙一票的，放心吧），而是因为他有太多的各种奇葩梗，画成精灵会特别特别的乐哦。

Given that this’ll be the last time you see of Fairy!Jeb for a while, we thought to give him a sending-off that would be appropriate. Hence the focus here, and the conclusion we now see.
所以既然这是目前最后一次小精灵布什的出场，我想让他走的震撼点。所以呢，上面所有的梗的来源以及这次的作品都是为了这个的。

See, the NH primary gave me some downtime to seriously research the candidates, but I’ve always had an idea about how Bush vs Rubio might have turned out. They’ve been attacking each other in the media a whole lot, but it hadn’t always been that way.
NH的初选（因为没舰娘嘛）给了我一点休息的时间，能让我好好的研究下他们的各种属性。然而，在研究前我已经想好了水哥和小小灌木的梗。因为你知道现在他们俩在电视上各种互黑的广告实在太多了。

然而，你知道，他们之前并不是这样。

No, in fact? Bush handed Rubio the Sword of Chang, a legendary artifact that’s basically the Republican Caliburn/Excalibur. Yes, it’s the sword of conservatism, meant to represent the enduring light of republicanism (whatever that actually means). Here’s a story explaining it (from the HuffPo.) Here’s the interview where Rubio talks about it. Yes. It’s also what lies broken at the feet of the two Floridans. I’ll leave it to you to interpret the symbolism.
你知道当时他们曾经是很近的好友哦。小小灌木甚至赐给了水哥“张之剑，”就是美国共和党版本的石中剑/选王之剑/咖喱棒。对。这具神器是美国保守派的胜利之荣光（虽然我也不知道是啥意思啦！）

这把剑是真的。小小灌木真的在2005年公开赠给了水哥一把（我个人看起来感觉可能是中国制造的）剑。我上面那俩链接里一个是当时的镜头以及事后人的分析，一个是水哥自己的吐槽。

（水哥被问：这把剑到底象征什么？答：应该是象征各种各样的共和党价值吧。反正是一个叫做张的传说人物所持。理论上来说当共和党有需要的时候，他会出现拯救整个党派。
然后记者问：这到底是何方神话传统中冒出来的人物？水哥答：应该是杰布•布什自己脑洞出来的吧…）

对。画中被打断的那把剑，就是这把。我想你能看出来这里面的象征意义吧？

I know that this is real life, and obviously Bush and Rubio weren’t exactly straight-up mentor-mentee like Obi-Wan and Anakin. There are plenty of articles commenting on the nuances and the subtleties, plenty of opinions writing about ambitions, old blood, and politics.
我知道这是现实生活。小小灌木和水哥当然不是真正的师徒关系，也不可能有那么亲密。跟星战前传中的天行者（后来变的黑武士）和奥比万的关系也自然不同。如果你对这感兴趣的话，有不少文章在那边分析他们的性格啊，他们的相爱相杀啊等等等。

But isn’t it just deliciously ironic that the GOP favorite was undone by the upstart freshman senator that they’ve carefully groomed, trained, and cultivated? Am I the only one that sees similarities in Anakin’s actions during the prequels and Rubio’s circumvention of GOP norms and “rules” and choosing to run for president? Could Bush plausibly feel a hint of the same kind of mixture of emotions as Obi-wan return in Episode IV to fight Darth Vader?
但你不感觉共和党的置顶继承人（小小灌木）被自己一手带大的徒弟（水哥）干掉，是一件蛮有讽刺性的事情吗？我难道是唯一一个感觉水哥的逆袭跟阿纳金在第三部电影里的行为以及动机基本上吻合的天衣无缝吗？难道小小灌木在退出的时候，他的情感就完全跟第四部星战里奥比万对黑武士的不同吗？

We had to do it. It was far too good to pass up. And you know what? I honestly think Fairy!Jeb is partly right. Yes, Rubio took him down. It’s everything the GOP strategists are supposed to do. Winnow the field. Bring the crown home. Win.
这个梗脑洞开后就根本停不下来了。这个机会太棒了。这个梗太巧了。你知道吗？并且说句实话，我认为小精灵布什的话其实对了一半。没错，水哥最后确实打败了他。但这就是他应当做的。共和党需要减少候选人，才能有胜利的可能。每一个被撵出的候选人都表示你可以更快的接近皇冠。你可以更快的赢。

It’s what he should do. All the pundits say it. All the strategists say it. Ted Cruz and Ben Carson and John Kasich knows it.
他应该这么做。所有的军师都这么说。所有的记者都这么说。Cruz和卡森医生和州长也都知道。

But you know what? When Fairy!Jeb went out I don’t think it made him stronger. At least, not directly. He certainly left a good impression on the media, but … not analogous to Obi-Wan.
但你知道吗？小精灵布什错了。他被打倒后，他并没有变得“更强大。”他给媒体也许留了个好印象，但这个跟奥比万在电影里面最后能帮助主人公，是个完全两码事的问题。

No.
不。

In theory, the idea of the winnowing is basically this. For every candidate that leaves, their voters will go vote for someone – the “savior” or “chosen one” selected by the party elites. Looks like at the moment that chosen one is Marco Rubio, so the goal is to simply get all these unwashed masses to vote for him.
理论上来说，每当一个候选人退出时，他们的选民理论上会投奔那个被指定的“救世主，”就是党里面希望赢的人。目前来看这位很可能是水哥，马可•卢比奥。所以党派内部肯定要想办法把他推上台，让这帮贱民们只要好好去投他就好了。

What makes you think Jeb’s voters are just going to fall into line and vote Rubio?
但是，谁说小小灌木的选民民就一定要乖乖的排队开始给水哥投票呢？

I mean, let’s be honest here, who the hell do you think Cruz is jetpacking towards, anyways?
咱说句实话吧。你认为这画里面的Cruz到底是对谁开始了冲锋突击？


That’s right.
对啦。


That’s right. Him.
就是他。

< The Nevada Primary with Nevada ◇ TIME LINE ◇ Super Tuesday! >

English Devblog, 美舰本·Pacific ,

On Iowa & Pacific Shipgirls

by Morgane 2016年2月25日

My professor has always told me this. In literary analysis, here are oftentimes no right answers (though, he would immediately add, sometimes there are. Most of the time there aren’t), but there are definitely wrong answers.

I think for shipgirls, this applies as well. Depending on what standard you apply as your criteria, there may not necessarily be a single “good” or “best design out there, but there are definitely bad or lazy designs.

As for which ones are good or bad? Unless pressed directly in private, I won’t really comment, defend, or critique other designs. Morgane the fan has a personal opinion, but my opinions are mine, and they should remain private. What I will say is that I am absolutely one for diversity in character designs. Pacific’s managed to poke a few people into making their own shipgirls or writing about their own headcanons, and the thought of that brings a smile to my face.

Of course, given that I do write Pacific, that is something I can comment on.

Pacific, at its heart, is a work where we put the shipGIRL before the SHIPgirl. I attribute this to my personal disinterest in the general issues and themes behind the Mecha musume genre, and a personal lukewarm reception towards the “moeblob” categorical application of select moe tropes to character design. It really, really doesn’t quite appeal to me in the same way as some of the other folks I’ve talked to, because we’re different. My culture, my experiences, my interests and values – subjective experiences they may be – shape my outlook, and of course, shapes Pacific along with it.

When we design shipgirls, we intentionally aim for a minimalist depiction of their gear or rigging. The behind the scenes stuff and the storyline show this as much – we want to make it clear to the reader that these young women are NOT machines or weapons of war, and too much rigging or equipment often creates visual “clash,” making it that much harder for us to communicate our intent to our readers. As November said, it isn’t enough to basically copy-paste an outline of a ship and put it on a cute girl. It’s important to think about how the rigging might work in relation to the character, and how she could put it on, take it off, or realistically use it.

In other words, our focus is on their humanity, and I would say that Pacific is written with no particular audience other than a single group: Believers. Whether it’s a belief in heroes, in a divine being or a religious tradition, in humanity, in yourself, in each other, in some intrinsic values, in doing good, and countless other things, it really is a simple one. There’s something out there or someone out there worth believing in.

What do our shipgirls believe in? That’s a good question.

See, as I brainstorm and think about these things, a shipgirl almost without exception writes herself. To me, the challenge is integrating everything into one cogent characterization. When Iowa was being designed, for instance, one of the greatest inspirations we had that went into her design was American Gothic. This is one of the most iconic pieces of American art, and it faithfully depicts an aspect of (Iowan) American life and – in my mind – communicates a great many values that Iowa’ll identify with. Hard work. Simplicity. Tradition. The sort of folks you want to live with next door.

In visual art, it is extremely easy to convey a sense of something with minor strokes. A character who’s smiling versus a character who isn’t can mean a million different things to different readers. Such complexity is only possible, however, if you consider the character outside of the tropes that we’ve shoehorned them in. The more predictable or visible the trope is, the less individuality the character possess on her own. If someone already has a predisposition to interpret something a certain way, then in essence we’ve locked the character into that.

In other words, I need to carefully considering her “upbringing” – what inherent traits we assigned her – and constantly strive to show the reader that they are not the end-definition to all of her traits. Iowa’s intentionally written to be a little blunt, for example. There’s definitely a bit of the quiet country bumpkin in her. This is a girl who doesn’t really shirk from responsibility or socialization, but would still prefer to have time alone in solitude so she could reflect and ponder on what her values actually mean. These are all traits that fit well with the schema (bear with me here, I’m not using the psych term here correctly, but it’s a system of thought or ideas, applied to a character) that I’ve constructed for her based on inspiration and ideas drawn from that above.

But what about her naval traditions? Her amazing captain? The politics that involved the ship? The fight at the Secretary of the Navy to get the class named after her? How about the state? What aspect of the state do we capture and choose to present? How do we integrate all of these different inspirations into a single character?

We considered all that too. All that and more. The truth is, Iowa isn’t just Iowa, the battleship or Iowa, the American State or a composite of Iowans or a stereotype. She’s a Pacific shipgirl, and she represents all of that and more.

Look at her depiction in our 4koma, the scattered histories of STEC, references from other shipgirls, even in our political commentary that ostensibly sits outside of Pacific proper. Virtually everything we do here is a part of a single process, with a single goal.

I want you to get to know her. Just like I’ve came to known her throughout the years. As we work to make Pacific come to life, I really want you to get to know her dreams, her beliefs, and what she thinks.

Does she smile, or laugh, or jump for joy when she’s happy? Does one of the most powerful characters in our setting have to be designed in a certain way? Does she, for instance, have to follow the physique/boob-size pecking order that’s typically found in our big-named western comics? Can a character with her humble and down to earth personality, written as she is and inspired by those aspects in mind, be a leader? In what way would she lead? Could we actually make stockings and strappy sandals work, even though it’s really a fashion faux pas?

What could possibly convince her to work with a certain director in Pacific’s world?

A better question might ask. What’s Morgane trying to do with this?

To put it another way, it’s my job and pleasure to give our girls a chance to come alive before your very eyes. I will not be able to accomplish this with one updates or ten updates or even a hundred updates, but with each little thing we do?

We get into something terribly philosophical once we start asking to what extent could one truly know someone else, but to me? The world lights up a tiny bit more because you now know a little more about her, and the path towards her becomes a little clearer.

And this journey – the one we’re all on together? That’s just beginning, too.

Meliora. 

English Devblog, 中文更新, 美舰本·Pacific , ,

2016: The Nevada Primary with Nevada (拥有内华达的内华达州初选）

by Morgane 2016年2月21日

Alright that’s enough. Both of you. I registered to vote in the primaries a month and a half ago! Take your debating back to reddit or the comment section, okay?

啊啊啊啊啊啊你们两个够啦！

我一个半月前就已经登记啦！别吵啦！要撕政治回Reddit或者回评论区上撕去！

 

We’re having a ton of fun with this. Believe me. We totally are.

While I generally stay away from assigning shipgirls direct political parties or political ideologies, there’s two that are rather explicit in their character design. Pennsy and Sanny. Think about geographical location, culture, demographics, and everything you know (off the top of your head) about those two places.

Then go do a little more digging. Think again.

See where I’m getting at?

They’re both idealists. In very different ways. But idealists nonetheless. Isn’t that what America is about? The ability to reach completely different conclusions? That’s diversity.

2016’s gonna be an interesting year, folks.

And yes, that is Harry Reid on Nevada’s shoulders. I figure if we ever make a game, I think the fairy politicians probably help boost resource generation or something. No partisan obstruction. They’re all in this together.

… Yeah, wouldn’t that be nice, huh?

PS. The reason why there’s a lot more Chinese text down there is because I’d like to explain a few things – Rubio’s short-circuit included. It’d really make me happy if you looked up the references on your own. Try searching for “Cruz lightsaber” (the team had a debate over the color, ironically), “Kasich democrat,” “Ben Carson fresh clothes” and the like. 😉

Okay, fine. Here’s what we were thinking when we designed Rubio. More succinct version.

 

为什么Kasich州长这次在珊妮的肩膀上？

为什么Cruz手持激光剑？

各位好。说句实话，右边共和党马戏团这次从激光剑到裤子到水哥与小小灌木的生死决斗…都是真实生活的梗。再次说明，本作品无政治意图。只是现在美国政治有太多有趣的事情我感觉真的值得精灵化。

这次讲两个梗的细节。

先稍微解释左边民主党的梗。有网友问为什么希拉里精灵似乎好像总试图把老头Sanders精灵撵走，不让老头露脸。因为从一个实际角度来讲，这就是目前的政治情况。希拉里理论上赢了衣阿华州（理论上啊，因为民主党那边最终没有细致的检测数据），但新罕布什尔州她被一个一年前知名度0的老爷子痛扁。从年轻人到她本来应该赢的女人，老头都稳稳的拿到了手。

然后你知道本来一星期前她应该以20-30%的高度在内华达州干掉老爷子。可到好，一个星期后老爷子开始上电视后，现在这个州已经扯平了。

所以希拉里干啥呢？现在希拉里正在全力试图说服选民们：我才是观海同志的继承者！

（顺便稍微吐槽下我感觉中文给奥巴马总统的这个“观海”外号太萌啦！也很实际，噗）

第二个梗：

水哥，现任美国议员，Marco Rubio精灵的机器人梗视频：

（这是现在美国政治界的一个小笑话。水哥向来以训练有素的口才在辩论上有名。轮到他发言的时候刚刚好好的骂了现在掌权的民主党一同。

水哥表示：Let’s dispel the notion that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing!

然而上次初选前辩论上某（现在已经退出的）NJ州州长Christie毫无怜悯的指出：你跟复读机差不多。

水哥再次表示：Let’s dispel the notion that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing!

上面是某网友的删减，就是把两句话重叠起来了。看看，确实一样吧？

NJ州长Christie（视频中1:38）：各位看到了吗？华盛顿DC（美国口语中相当于代表政府的口语词汇）现在就变成了这个样子。开嘴就满口胡言，乱咬人乱撒谎。然后给你吐出来一个已经背好的20秒官方答复 –

（围观者欢呼中）

NJ州长Christie: 当你当总统的时候。你掌管一个国家的时候。你难道也会拿出来一段漂亮的20秒演讲稿来告诉人民美国优秀吗？我很高兴你想当总统。你的口才也很好。但我并不认为你能解决任何问题。这不是你应该担当的工作。

（明显看起来紧张）水哥表示：（我先转移话题）州长，你说工作？你州被大雪淹没时，你干你的工作了吗？

NJ州长Christie: 你这有点太不公平了吧？

（群众丢砖中。这行攻击确实有点低俗）

水哥再次表示：Let’s dispel the notion that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing!

脸上有:3表情的州长：看没看到？There it is. 那段背好的20秒。看没看到？

有点慌乱的水哥: L-Let’s dispel (然后基本上就听不清了，因为州长的评论，围观者的欢呼，以及估计是电视台需要切剪视频～）

所以你懂得。第二天不少大报纸都吐槽了这个亮点。Vox等报纸直接大大的头报：Rubio终于短路啦？机器人终于露出了原本外貌？连一般比较右翼的媒体都忍不住来吐槽下。

啊，最后，解释下为啥宾夕和珊妮来串门。没啥别的。不少舰娘对政治真的不太关心。顶多就是选民的义务罢了。但如果你来美国这边逛的话，你会发现有一些非常非常投入的人。这两个舰娘代表的，其实是从她们代表的城市，州，以及文化传统里面的那些无数的文艺青年文艺愤青的一种观点。

这俩真的，虽然是好朋友但她们的政治倾向则完全相反。我想如果美舰本故事不是另类历史（并且在1990年左右的开始），她们估计在网上评论区肯定也很活跃吧。

总之今年是很有趣的一年哦。

啊，对，在内华达肩膀上的那位确实是Harry Reid。现实生活虽然政党争论搞的一团糟，但如果美舰本做游戏的话我想这堆政治家精灵们的作用应该是加强后勤或者资源能源吧（笑）

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English Devblog, 美舰本·Pacific , ,

From Action Report #1: The History of STEC (6)

by Morgane 2016年2月15日

STEC Archives, Print Document Division
Curator signature: Shaw
Format: Message, Personal
Object: Telegram #119 from Dr. Herbert L. Pugh, Surgeon General of the United States Navy
Location (if known): Unknown
Time (if known): Unmarked.

Dear Commodore Wallace,

Please allow me the opportunity to preface this note with my abject incredulity. I have just spent the last four days pouring over every detail of your report, and your proposed solution is outlandish, unscientific, unhinged, and unbecoming of something coming out of the office of a United States Navy officer. 

You are forgiven for having exactly zero knowledge of military medicine. Military medicine is a well-conceived, well advised, and well established device, system, or mechanism. Our mission, which is to provide the Armed Services with a quality or brand of medical coverage that is essential to the proper and efficient function of the military, is critical to the best interests of the individual and of the national welfare. To that end we must not only be scientific, but we must cautiously and yet paradoxically push fearlessly our own boundaries so that we may remain vigilant against all threats, the greatest of which is that task you were assigned on. 

Bless your heart, Conrad, but fairies? Fairies!?! Little humans that “appear and disappear at will?” Nearly two whole years on the task and your best answer is put precious research dollars, raised by the citizenry, towards understanding “fairies?” I have half a mind to phone Nimitz and put in a strongly worded recommendation for your retirement. 

With warmest regards,

Dr. H. Lamont Pugh

STEC Archives, Print Document Division
Curator signature: Shaw
Format: Message, Personal
Object: Telegram #120 from Dr. Herbert L. Pugh, Surgeon General of the United States Navy
Location (if known): Unknown
Time (if known): Unmarked

Conrad,

Ignore previous telegram. Fry me in butter and call me a catfish, the fairies are real after all. Proceed as initially reported. 

An extraordinary problem often requires an extraordinary solution.

Sometimes, however, the extraordinary solution ended up being something quite unremarkable. This was one of them. Anticlimactically, the solution to the abyssal affliction ended up being not a chemical or a particular treatment protocol, but in literal, casual interactions with the shipgirl and her fairies.

There was – initially, at least – significant amounts of dissent coming out of STEC’s own research staff, many of whom felt that the conclusion was a let-down. Arguments to end STEC’s research division (not necessarily Iowa herself) were numerous, with most grounded in near-fatalist reasoning. Why bother with anything, some argued, if the shipgirls themselves provided all the solutions to the problems? After everything modern medicine has tried, the fact that some tiny magical critter could literally wave its hand and make the problem go away is a rejection of everything that humanity is capable of. Give Iowa and her fairies a nice place to live, keep her happy, and call it a day. Why waste mortal resources on something that the immortal would take care of anyways?

The answer to that question is fundamentally one of a personal nature. When faced with the supernatural, the unknowable, or simply something it doesn’t understand, humanity tends to fall into two mindsets. Most of the time, it becomes passive. Fueled by pride and ignorance in equal parts, when the human mind becomes accepting – and eventually, reliant – on answers outside of its control, the end result is nothing short of learned helplessness.

Sometimes,hopelessness and apathy are just as deadly as guns or teeth.

Yet there is a distinctive alternative. When the mind chooses to look into the unknown and acknowledge – clearly, concisely, with humility – of its own limitations in its current understanding, it rejects the paradigm that was laid out for it. By taking matters into its own hands, it is by definition taking the first step of a journey (mentally or otherwise) onto the unknown path, which humanity is trained – subconsciously or otherwise – to fear and avoid.

Yes, so the fairies offer a cure. Why? How? Is there a way to improve upon the method? How can the fairies be studied? Is this applicable to any other area? In what way can this be used to better understand something – medicine, psychology, perhaps ultimate questions pertaining to humanity itself?

None of these questions have easy answers. Some may never be answered. Yet such questions are hardly foolhardy or a waste of precious resources. Each solution uncovered burns away at the aura of invincibility, incomprehensibility, or inevitability that previously blocked progress. Each question asked a declaration of war against predestined downfall. Even solutions that fail result in progress of an alternative kind. After all, the rate of success through inactivity caps out and ends at zero.

There will always be those who believe that humanity is doomed from the onset. Yet there are also others who believe that alone, together, or with divinely inspired aid, humanity can overcome its tendencies towards stagnation and move towards a better future.

It may take some courage or willpower or hardwork, but it can be done – if there is a will for it. As history would show, STEC would not be the only ones to choose to fight, but they were, as some would proudly say, some of the first.