The Fanfiction Thread

[Valkyrie Driver]

Dang... Any suggestions for a name, I spent half an hour coming up with that, and it tapped me out... I mean I didn't want to have a classically military sounding name, because that's kinda boring, and not really representative of what the Macross colony fleets are supposed to be...

[frothymug]

Spring break! I've picked up writing the next chapter in my fanfic. I hope to be done in a couple of days and plan on posting towards the end of the week.

[Saruta]

Advice wanted...

I have, last summer/fall, written a piece of Macross fan fiction in Russian. It is currently at 18k words and complete, but realy should be expanded as it's a very terse, nearly "telegraphic" text with a LOT of plot in it. I would like to know if I should make an English version too as I expand it.

The basic plot premise is simply an OC living a life in the Macross world from Zero era, when he was a young anti-UN undercover journalist in the States, into post-Frontier (this makes him 70+ years old but there is a reason he survived so long). The OC, Kenneth Macer, is an open reference to Karl Macek (and intended to be as controversial; his journalism was not always known for sticking to the truth, and he may have contributed to significant loss of life). He also ends up working in Luca's antique electronic shop and finding out he is Ranka's grandfather.

But what I really wanted to do was tie loads of canon loose ends. Why did Zentraedi have to use a recon ship to get Macross TV in SDFM episode 9, but could simply turn it on in their own rooms some episodes down the road? How did some people on Earth survive the big bombing? (For example, a Saotome, who was a Kabuki theatre master, had to survive). Or, why would Vajra have microbes/viruses inside them that are able to infect a human being, and already had them by the time of alleged first contact with Fleet 117? And yeah I do get to the destination of Megaroad...

Also, Kaifun as the elderly owner of the McDonalds-style megacorp Nyan Nyan - and he was the person who brought it to its current glory, but got somewhat senile at the end. (The Fire Bomber American thing was just a side interest). And the quiet, hidden wife of Richard Birler, who happens to write the music for a lot of projects including Sheryl (we only see her writing lyrics in the movies), Gabi Robin - could not resist that Some more real life references too, notably, Mari Iijima's later works are present as Minmay's later works. And, a resurrected-by-chip Sharon Apple. Also, I did take some bits from the translations of supplementary material on this Forum; notably I have references to the anti-UN attack on the ASS, because my protagonist is anti-UN.

Basically, loads of canon stuff played with, plot holes filled, characters expanded (Misa and Ranka get some of that), and possible abandoned sequel hooks taken up with a vengeance. The problem with the Russian version, which was originally written for a large fan works contest (not Macoss specific), is that it has very few potential readers who would understand all the references. It has Basara and Sivil appear too, and who ever saw M7?.. The expansion is likely to get at least one M30 reference, which I'll probably have to footnote because very few people in Russia can decipher the podcast with its story.

It has nearly everything except sex. Well, it refers to some sex, but not with canon characters. Somehow I saw that as too banal for the project. The closest is when senile Kaifun mistakes Ranka for Minmay and tried to make some advances on her, but it never gets anywhere... So no shipping war resolutions in the text. BUT, a fan war features prominently inworld, with an outright fan fist fight at a concert between Ranka and Sheryl fans (Ranka does not like it). This was, of course, inspired by existing fandom.

I wonder if I should make an English version. It could have a somewhat wider potential readership. But I'm not sure if I fit into the existing mold. English Macross fan fiction tends to be extremely wordy compared to what I do. I'd expect my expanded version to hit the 40k word mark, give or take - and that for an epic spanning a 50 year timeline. Besides, on this forum I saw some hostile views of fan fiction in general...

So shoild I or shouldn't I?

Edited March 15, 2015 by Saruta

[Saruta]

Dang... Any suggestions for a name, I spent half an hour coming up with that, and it tapped me out... I mean I didn't want to have a classically military sounding name, because that's kinda boring, and not really representative of what the Macross colony fleets are supposed to be...

With the kind of ideas it seems to have, here are a few possible ideas, in a brainstorming fashion:

Macross Stalwart

Macross Stonewall

Macross Radiant

Macross Defiant (this *is* a classical military name but...)

Macross Faithful

Macross Fidelity

And another idea - Macross Starlight. This one refers to the fact that "Macross Frontier" might also be a Basara song reference, "it's a new frontier". Starlight is another Basara song reference, "starlight dream".

[frothymug]

You shouldn't worry about hostile views here; it's why I started this thread in the first place. Translating to English will always get you plenty of readership, as long as your fic stays consistently readable. Write it in the style that you like. I tend to be overly wordy in my writing, but it hasn't really turned many people away. It's good that you want to translate your work... now, if only Gerli would be willing to translate his stuff...

[Mommar]

Oh, it's a normal VF-4, with a few upgrades and sans armament. You can tell the production VF-4 apart from the VF-X-4 by the canards and larger, swept wings. The pic in my profile image was done by me, too. You can see it here:

http://kylefalconkpd.deviantart.com/art/Digital-Mission-VF-X-VF-4-Lightning-III-504671179

LOOOOOVE that VF-4 pic. So awesome, real action for once. I nominate you to draw nothing but VF-4 pics from now on.

[Saruta]

frothymug: thanks! And what language does Gerli write in?

[Gerli]

if only Gerli would be willing to translate his stuff...

Keep dreaming... it's a lot of work man

[Valkyrie Driver]

With the kind of ideas it seems to have, here are a few possible ideas, in a brainstorming fashion:

Macross Stalwart

Macross Stonewall

Macross Radiant

Macross Defiant (this *is* a classical military name but...)

Macross Faithful

Macross Fidelity

And another idea - Macross Starlight. This one refers to the fact that "Macross Frontier" might also be a Basara song reference, "it's a new frontier". Starlight is another Basara song reference, "starlight dream".

I appreciate the suggestions Saruta. I had toyed with Intrepid (A classic military name), and Defiant crossed my mind. But I wanted something that spoke to the idea of exploration and destinations. Frontier kinda evokes an image of the destination, Horizon kinda felt along the same lines. Starlight sounds like a good name for the fleet, especially since I was going to use the Military Names like Defiant, Intrepid, Fortitude for military ships in the fleet. Some of my other ships would be the Crimea, Kosovo, Bunker Hill, Belleau Wood, Tarawa, and Bataan. Those would all be military ships because the names all have military significance (all are sites of battles to be remembered, right along with the brave men and women involved), but the main ship in the fleet should be something that inspires hope.

If you don't mind I'm going to use starlight.

[Saruta]

I appreciate the suggestions Saruta. I had toyed with Intrepid (A classic military name), and Defiant crossed my mind. But I wanted something that spoke to the idea of exploration and destinations. Frontier kinda evokes an image of the destination, Horizon kinda felt along the same lines. Starlight sounds like a good name for the fleet, especially since I was going to use the Military Names like Defiant, Intrepid, Fortitude for military ships in the fleet. Some of my other ships would be the Crimea, Kosovo, Bunker Hill, Belleau Wood, Tarawa, and Bataan. Those would all be military ships because the names all have military significance (all are sites of battles to be remembered, right along with the brave men and women involved), but the main ship in the fleet should be something that inspires hope.

If you don't mind I'm going to use starlight.

I don't mind you using Starlight - it is the one I liked most, too, so I hope it fits your setting well. It is simply a continuation of the "Basara derived" tradition of Frontier. (I don't need any myself since I prefer to work around existing fleets - they give more plot holes to plug).

Speaking of battles and ship names: Macross alternate history deviates from our timeline in 1999 with the appearance of the ASS-1, later known as SDF-1 Macross. So be sure to use battles before that moment only. Kosovo may be a tricky case; the NATO operation concluded on June 11, then on July 17, the ASS-1 comes in with a bang. Shortly after that, the Re-Unification Wars start. Would Kosovo be remembered as anything more than a blip?

(And yeah, the "ASS" jokes are well used in my fan fic; I do wonder why Kawamori let this happen).

Edited March 16, 2015 by Saruta

[Mommar]

frothymug: thanks! And what language does Gerli write in?

He's from Buenos Aires, so Spanish.

[Valkyrie Driver]

Speaking of battles and ship names: Macross alternate history deviates from our timeline in 1999 with the appearance of the ASS-1, later known as SDF-1 Macross. So be sure to use battles before that moment only. Kosovo may be a tricky case; the NATO operation concluded on June 11, then on July 17, the ASS-1 comes in with a bang. Shortly after that, the Re-Unification Wars start. Would Kosovo be remembered as anything more than a blip?

That's a good point you bring up, I hadn't thought about that. I'd probably replace that one with Chosin. My setting is a lot like frontier, except a bit more grown up. I have full size zentradi, many locations in the fleet for them to be full size (vast majority actually, the only place you have to be micloned is the main ship in the island cluster) and I'm trying to show some conflict between Humans and Zentradi, as I perceive that there is some between the traditions of the Zentradi and Humanity. I'm also going to keep with some of the typical themes of Macross, that song is the medium for love, and that love conquers all. I am still working on it, but the more I talk about it, the more it comes into shape. I just have so much on my plate that It's going to take some time, between school, finding work, writing, running a BattleTech RPG campaign, club activities and whatever else...

[frothymug]

As promised, I've completed the next chapter in my fanfic.

Chapter 52 is up and ready for your enjoyment!

[Gerli]

As promised, I've completed the next chapter in my fanfic.

Chapter 52 is up and ready for your enjoyment!

Nice!

frothymug: thanks! And what language does Gerli write in?

Ooops, I didn't see this early Spanish indeed, my English is still too basic to write with comfort.. maybe when I finish the story I can translate to English.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Gerli

[Saruta]

"Zentradi traditions" is an interesting question. It appears that their only native tradition is liking war - and that would be war as such; I would imagine a Zentran does not even mind being killed in batle all too much as it's their natural way to die. It also appears that they are swept off their feet by human culture with an emphasis on music, and that the majority, but not everyone, tend to find peaceful ways thanks to it.

There is a distinctive minority who, instead, manage to find a connection with the warlike parts of human culture. They are shown in the later episodes of SDFM; to a certain extent they reappear in Frontier with Temzin, but the "connection with warlike human culture" part does not really resurface there. You might want to explore it more - it's definitely "underdone" in canon as later SDFM was rushed and they apparently did not want to go deep in that direction in Frontier. (In 7, the topic is entirely skipped). But whatever Kawamori's suggestion (perhaps biased by being post-war Japanese?), in reality *very much* of human culture is warlike, so I guess that minority - the Zentradi that latch onto warlike culture - would tend to reappear over and over again even after the first wave got themselves killed under Qamzin.

I get to it to some extent in my Macer saga; he gets himself a Meltran girlfriend who later defects to Qamzin. Perhaps I should start my English version with that part - it's pretty self-contained and was originally published first. (I had to use Robotech to find her a name though - not many Meltran names known in Macross)

BTW, I've realized we're likely on different sides of the politics game with the Kosovo thing. This is completely off topic in itself, but mirrors into fan fic when I tend to see Anti-UN forces as sympathetic. Thankfully Kawamori was well on his game in making things balanced, following a well established amine/manga tradition. There are enough reasons to see the UN govt as jerks in pretty much every Macross title, and the one time we meet Anti-UN characters in Zero, they are believable and multi-dimensional. (Still trying to remember whether Nora Polanski's white hair being due to torture is actually canon; the torture or rape itself seems to be canon anyway: http://www.mtranslation.host-ed.me/MCRcharacter/ZeroAua02aNoraPolanski.php ).

[Gerli]

"Zentradi traditions" is an interesting question. It appears that their only native tradition is liking war - and that would be war as such; I would imagine a Zentran does not even mind being killed in batle all too much as it's their natural way to die. It also appears that they are swept off their feet by human culture with an emphasis on music, and that the majority, but not everyone, tend to find peaceful ways thanks to it.

A lot of my story revolves around that, but not as " tradition" with the human significant, it's about the militaristic traditions and how the continue warfare transforms and how the Zentradis can adapt to it, because they can keep records of their battles (And that's the work of the " Archivists") and therefore can study and change tactics according a similar situation that they already know.

[Mommar]

"Zentradi traditions" is an interesting question. It appears that their only native tradition is liking war - and that would be war as such; I would imagine a Zentran does not even mind being killed in batle all too much as it's their natural way to die. It also appears that they are swept off their feet by human culture with an emphasis on music, and that the majority, but not everyone, tend to find peaceful ways thanks to it.

There is a distinctive minority who, instead, manage to find a connection with the warlike parts of human culture. They are shown in the later episodes of SDFM; to a certain extent they reappear in Frontier with Temzin, but the "connection with warlike human culture" part does not really resurface there. You might want to explore it more - it's definitely "underdone" in canon as later SDFM was rushed and they apparently did not want to go deep in that direction in Frontier. (In 7, the topic is entirely skipped). But whatever Kawamori's suggestion (perhaps biased by being post-war Japanese?), in reality *very much* of human culture is warlike, so I guess that minority - the Zentradi that latch onto warlike culture - would tend to reappear over and over again even after the first wave got themselves killed under Qamzin.

I get to it to some extent in my Macer saga; he gets himself a Meltran girlfriend who later defects to Qamzin. Perhaps I should start my English version with that part - it's pretty self-contained and was originally published first. (I had to use Robotech to find her a name though - not many Meltran names known in Macross)

BTW, I've realized we're likely on different sides of the politics game with the Kosovo thing. This is completely off topic in itself, but mirrors into fan fic when I tend to see Anti-UN forces as sympathetic. Thankfully Kawamori was well on his game in making things balanced, following a well established amine/manga tradition. There are enough reasons to see the UN govt as jerks in pretty much every Macross title, and the one time we meet Anti-UN characters in Zero, they are believable and multi-dimensional. (Still trying to remember whether Nora Polanski's white hair being due to torture is actually canon; the torture or rape itself seems to be canon anyway: http://www.mtranslation.host-ed.me/MCRcharacter/ZeroAua02aNoraPolanski.php ).

Wouldn't it make sense that they would likely take up more risky endeavors? Be more likely to join the military, or take up boxing or some other athletic activity that involved fighting/combat?

[Valkyrie Driver]

"Zentradi traditions" is an interesting question. It appears that their only native tradition is liking war - and that would be war as such; I would imagine a Zentran does not even mind being killed in batle all too much as it's their natural way to die. It also appears that they are swept off their feet by human culture with an emphasis on music, and that the majority, but not everyone, tend to find peaceful ways thanks to it.

There is a distinctive minority who, instead, manage to find a connection with the warlike parts of human culture. They are shown in the later episodes of SDFM; to a certain extent they reappear in Frontier with Temzin, but the "connection with warlike human culture" part does not really resurface there. You might want to explore it more - it's definitely "underdone" in canon as later SDFM was rushed and they apparently did not want to go deep in that direction in Frontier. (In 7, the topic is entirely skipped). But whatever Kawamori's suggestion (perhaps biased by being post-war Japanese?), in reality *very much* of human culture is warlike, so I guess that minority - the Zentradi that latch onto warlike culture - would tend to reappear over and over again even after the first wave got themselves killed under Qamzin.

I get to it to some extent in my Macer saga; he gets himself a Meltran girlfriend who later defects to Qamzin. Perhaps I should start my English version with that part - it's pretty self-contained and was originally published first. (I had to use Robotech to find her a name though - not many Meltran names known in Macross)

BTW, I've realized we're likely on different sides of the politics game with the Kosovo thing. This is completely off topic in itself, but mirrors into fan fic when I tend to see Anti-UN forces as sympathetic. Thankfully Kawamori was well on his game in making things balanced, following a well established amine/manga tradition. There are enough reasons to see the UN govt as jerks in pretty much every Macross title, and the one time we meet Anti-UN characters in Zero, they are believable and multi-dimensional. (Still trying to remember whether Nora Polanski's white hair being due to torture is actually canon; the torture or rape itself seems to be canon anyway: http://www.mtranslation.host-ed.me/MCRcharacter/ZeroAua02aNoraPolanski.php ).

Militaries, and especially individual units, develop their own traditions, and from some of the dialogue in SDFM, Zentradi seem to have some concept of recreation, and as such it would likely be reflective of what most warriors do with their downtime; eat, drink, fight, and generally raise hell. Unit histories are important to the creation of traditions, they establish a certain way of doing things, (Quamzin makes reference to it numerous times in SDFM). Some Zentradi might latch on to the more warlike aspects of human culture, while others might be intoxicated by the idea that there is more to life than war.

As far as sympathizing with the Anti-UN forces, I get that. Being an American, my nation's history is replete with examples of forging one's own way. The American Revolution, The Civil War, Manifest Destiny, much of American history revolves around independence and self-sufficiency. I do understand and sympathize with the Anti-UN group, not wanting to lose their cultural and national identities, because that's been such a huge part of defining ourselves for most of human history (indeed it's integral to self-realization and moral life if you follow Hegel's views).

On the other hand, being an American, and believing in American Exceptionalism (The idea that Americans are an exceptional people, not superior, but exceptional, I could expand on this, but politics has no place here, pm if you're interested in discussing this) I believe that we are all one race, and though everyone comes from different backgrounds, we all have something to contribute, and it is our differences that make us strong, because in us, we have the strengths of many peoples (E pluribus unum, from many we are one). It's kinda how I see the UN government, pre-space war 1.

So I decided to model my fleet on my perception of what a united humanity should be. Everyone gets a vote, everyone works to live, and their work contributes to the common good. The guiding principles are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. It's not a Marxist paradise, because that would be boring, but it is what I think a true utopian society would be (I'm believer in community, and that if you have an abundance, it is your moral duty to share of your own free will with those less fortunate, rather than have the state take it and redistribute it for you).

So taking this idealized humanity, and adding the Zentradi, and seeing how they get along is what I want to explore. I believe that life is full of conflict and competition, and it is through those elements, that we truly realize our selves. It could be conflict in military terms, or simply in business, and it is how we resolve those conflicts that shows our true character. In war, you resolve the conflict by protecting your people from harm, and destroying your enemy. In business, you resolve it by negotiation or competition (buying out the competition, reaching a mutual understanding, or cornering the market).

I'm also planning on having a group that is radically opposed to war, and so that will be a source of conflict, that will further tug at the human and zentradi populations. Then there will be the military and the general and mixed race populations, who are caught between the two extremes. I think that focusing more on the internal struggles with an external struggle as the backdrop will be a fun playground to build in.

[Saruta]

The idea does sound interesting, but if you want to model things around the relationship to war. you gotta have a war. Who do they fight? Rogue Zentradi are usually isolated operations, as opposed to full scale war.

As for anti-UN, my view of them revolves not just around national ways but more importantly around mistrust of the UN. There are many cases in current politics where, according to the views I subscribe to, US-led wars were and are based on lies. (Particulars would be off topic here but in general the view is well known). And so the anti-UN, as I see them, saw the announcement about the alien menace as just another lie. It was, in fact, not a lie. But it was like that boy who cried wolf.

This dovetails nicely into canon. In the events of Macross Zero, it became obvious that an alien menace actually existed. Canon says that's when the principal leaders of the Anti-UN side pulled out. Also, canon has the UN government as quite prone to lying - remember how they announced that the Macross was destroyed by Anti-UN terrorists (even though in fact they were dormant for a year by that time).

[Valkyrie Driver]

I was going to have my enemy be enthralled humans and zentradi. I don't have a lot of info on the supervision army, I thought that I'd use them as my big bad evil guys, who have brainwashed a human/zentradi colony fleet. I was also planning on having a remnant Zentradi Main fleet, be the first antagonist they face, giving some motivation to the separatist Zentradi in the Starlight fleet. Then the Supervision army would show up to really throw a wrench in things, and threatening both sides. Seeing as we don't know the outcome and since the war could still be raging.

I see what you're saying about US led wars. I have come to understand a lot more, about them recently. I won't go into my views on the recent wars the US has started, or any justifications, or misconducts. I don't always agree with the way my government goes about doing things, and I have that right. I do see how that could extend to the Macross Universe's UN, but remember that there are three kinds of reasons for why a nation does anything; The Stated Reason, The Moral Reason, and the Real Reason.

They are not always the same, and remember every nation lies; To its people, to its neighbors, to the rest of the world. Politicians are an inherently untrustworthy bunch. They are people and people are ultimately self-serving, and imperfect. It's why my country has the Constitution, if you read it it, it clearly establishes what the government has the authority to do, and anything that is not stated falls to the states. The bill of rights is a list of protections, saying that we have the right to live our lives and protect them without government interference. The UN essentially becomes a military state after the SDF-1 disappears, and when you look at military ethics as opposed to political ethics, they're very different.

So when you put it that way, I can understand the Anti-UN perspective a little bit more. As for my story, I had been planning at putting my fleet at odds with the NUNS, but I think that would be too much conflict, and I don't really know when it ceased to be the UN Spacy and Became the New UN Spacy. So I'll just have my fleet accept it as a fact of life, and function independently, without much interference from the NUNS. I will take some cues from the attitudes of M7 (regarding renegade zentradi [M7, Fleet of the Strongest Women], for how to deal with the main fleet I have as a bad guy).

Characters are something I'm struggling with, because I want them to feel real. The setting is providing me some context for that. I'm going to work on it some more.

[Saruta]

If you have brainwashed humans/Zentradi as enemies, the key question is whether the stuff happens before M7 (perhaps contemporary with Macross Plus) or after. Before M7, brainwashed enemies are not known or expected. After M7, they are known and expected, and there would be suspicion that another group of the same Protodeviln bunch is around (triggering involvement of Dr. Chiba and a search for Basara?)

Isolated Zentradi fleets appear to be curb-stomped if "Fleet of the Strongest Women" is anything to go by; note that HQ wants M7 to engage the Zentradi fleet because they are pretty sure it would lead to military victory. The reason for the curb-stomping is not entirely clear, though. And there might be a "mega-fleet" of Boddol Zer proportions out somewhere. (One might even go with the DYRL option of Zentradi commanders as organic parts of ships).

One interesting question about the kind of fleet you envision would be the kind of music popular there (it's Macross after all). Of course one has galactic radio, so the current top stars would not be unknown (that's Sharon Apple or Fire Bomber depending on exact timing, one has to mention them to keep context, I suspect). But if they pride themselves on keeping older traditions they might have something more old-fashioned, like jazz, as their principal entertainment? You might also want to play around with whether Nyan Nyan managed to gain a foothold.

By the way... perhaps your fleet might be Macross 11? It's a canon English-speaking fleet; I think the only place you can see it in canon is a brief moment in Frontier where controlled Vajra appear over it. It is also known that Lynn Kaifun hung out there for some time and ran the "Fire Bomber American" project there, but apparently was not very successful. One can see the makeup of the fleet in the animation but no details are known so it could be known as "Macross Starlight" just as Macross 25 is "Macross Frontier".

[Valkyrie Driver]

I'm playing in the frontier era. I could use Macross 11, though I wanted to use a diverse multicultural fleet, but who says Macross 11 can't be that, since not much is said about it. Lynn Kaifun having spent time there might be a good genesis for my peace movement. I'm a bit hesitant to use an already established fleet though, since I'd have some constraints to deal with. I really don't want to use the Vajra, as I kinda already envisioned the events of my story being concurrent with and separate from Frontier. I also had my fleet taking a different route entirely, going spinward (with the spin of the galaxy) and coreward rather than just coreward. I thought this would give me some extra play with the kinds of stuff I'll run into going that direction.

I'm personally a big fan of all kinds of music, I listen to many different genres. Among my favorite bands are Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Clutch, System of a Down, Metallica, Static-X, Volbeat, and the Prodigy. I like the idea of a rock band being my primary source of music, since it is my preferred genre.

I actually intended for the Starlight fleet to run across a Boddol sized main fleet. Said Zentran fleet would still be engaged in fighting the supervision army. The main fleet would mistake the Starlight fleet for supervision army, because they noticed similar ships being enthralled by the particular force they were pursuing. That would precipitate conflict between the Zentran Fleet and the Starlight Fleet. Unlike previous incarnations of Macross, I'm going to have the fleet evolve towards a Minmei/Fire Bomber attack, and I'm not going to have a Basara clone, because that wouldn't be tolerated by the military in my particular fleet (civilians wouldn't have access to that tech, and interference with a military operation would be grounds for an investigation and charges of treason). However, using SDFM as a base, the Zentradi fleet could intercept the broadcasts from the Starlight, and become intrigued, following Britai's example and sending spies. Or I might have my special forces deliver speaker pod ordinance which play music from a broadcast concert.

[Saruta]

I think the only constraint with Macross 11 is its size. It is a New Macross class fleet, roughly similar to M7. http://macross.anime.net/wiki/New_Macross_class

Frontier is a much bigger Island Cluster class fleet. http://macross.anime.net/wiki/Island_Cluster_class

Everything else is really a side story. You don't have to use the Vajra in the main plot at all; they appear in the skies at one point in 2059 and disappear within an hour or less, folding out without firing a shot. And by 2059, Fire Bomber American is a blip in history and Kaifun has most likey left (it appears he should have a fat load of Nyan Nyan stock, whether or not he is involved in running the corporation).

Some points to consider in that era:

- The SMS exists on a lot of planets and fleets. It would logically have either a presence or a reason not to have a presence, like a ban from the fleet's authorities. If a ban exists I suspect Bilrer would obey it; there are many other places where one can make money. SMS tends to have the newest "toys" because of close links to manufacturers; I guess Starlight military can still order Valks all right, but would not have access to the experimental models. Starlight might have its own maulfacturer too if you want to play around with non-canon mecha?

- Sound Force is a matter of record and known, at least, to military professionals (ref Macross FB7, where Ozma did not know the whole story, but did know what Sound Force was). Also, Dr. Chiba is likely to be somewhere out there (possibly Professor Chiba by the time).

- If brainwashed humans and Zentraedi are encountered, someone (scientist or military analyst) is likely to draw a connection and to attempt to use song energy to break the brainwashing. This attempt does not require a Basara clone - no need to put musicians at Valk controls (the idea runs counter to proper division of functions among staff, anyway). In fact, it is likely to be tried in a lab first, rather than in space; that's what happened on M7 too when things started to get organized. I would not put it past them to try and contact Chiba personally; unlike the elusive Basara, Chiba is likely to be reachable and not even retired.

[Valkyrie Driver]

I wanted to have a frontier sized ship, because of wanting to play around with full sized Zentradi. So I'm just going to make up my own fleet. As for the sound force, I'm going to use my own concept according to how I think my fleet would go about it.

I hadn't thought about including the SMS, though in my fleet, it would make more sense for them to be Testing and Evaluation, and providing security for shipping, rather than providing military services, because of how my fleet (read "I") feels about private military contractors. This would be in their contract agreement.

[Valkyrie Driver]

I decided to go back and revise my list of mecha, I'm going to simplify and streamline my list.

So the CF mech will be the VF-171, the Spec ops fighters will be the VF-19F/S and VF-22S, and I'll use the VA-3 as the catchall bomber/elint/early warning craft. I'll still be using destroids, tomahawks and monsters, and I'll have Quaedlunn Rhea's for the fleet's zentran units.

Enemy mechs will be standard Zentradi mechs, regults, glaugs, Quaedlunns, Nousjadeuls, and fighter pods, in addition to modified older designs (ala M7's VF-14 based enemies). I decided that I put way too much emphasis on the mecha to begin with, so I'm streamlining it to established designs, and paring it down to what will feature most prominently in my story...

[Falconkpd]

I decided to go back and revise my list of mecha, I'm going to simplify and streamline my list.

So the CF mech will be the VF-171, the Spec ops fighters will be the VF-19F/S and VF-22S, and I'll use the VA-3 as the catchall bomber/elint/early warning craft. I'll still be using destroids, tomahawks and monsters, and I'll have Quaedlunn Rhea's for the fleet's zentran units.

Enemy mechs will be standard Zentradi mechs, regults, glaugs, Quaedlunns, Nousjadeuls, and fighter pods, in addition to modified older designs (ala M7's VF-14 based enemies). I decided that I put way too much emphasis on the mecha to begin with, so I'm streamlining it to established designs, and paring it down to what will feature most prominently in my story...

So, what about characters? Have you come up with any yet?

[Saruta]

I wanted to have a frontier sized ship, because of wanting to play around with full sized Zentradi. So I'm just going to make up my own fleet. As for the sound force, I'm going to use my own concept according to how I think my fleet would go about it.

Well yeah, that was the idea. It should be their take on it, in your own concept, but they should still have the raw information that a few years ago on another fleet a Sound Force existed and made certain achievements against an enemy who used brainwashing. They don't have to like the way Sound Force operated.

Looking at this "inworld", not from a "rule of cool" perspective, *I* would not like the idea of musicians piloting their own mecha while also making music. And never mind that they can and that one of them is ex-miitary and another is the daughter of two ace pilots. Concentrate on ONE darn thing, it's World War II vintage news. Like Ranka did - she sang in a Valk piloted by someone else and even continued through the landing (and through getting out of the Valk). That's a pro, and she did not have to pilot to be one.

I guess the military on Starlight will have somewhat more to say about it... But still they gotta know that it was somewhere out there.

[Valkyrie Driver]

So, what about characters? Have you come up with any yet?

I have a few, I can't draw so you'll have to use some imagination...

My main character is Ensign Soren MacDonald - 22yr old pilot, newly assigned to sword team (Special Ops Strike Squadron, VF-19F pilot), Consummate professional, but a bit wild, with a feral look to him. He's of Scots-American and Danish heritage, fifth generation military family. If anyone can say they were bred for war it's him. He's got a bit of a philosopher-poet side, and like all good warriors he's a reader, and very intelligent.

Another main character is Provisional Lieutenant (Warrant Officer) Mira Dosel. She's 18 years old, recent graduate of one of the military academies on the Starlight. She's assigned to a Zentradi Battlesuit platoon as the platoon leader. She's very proud of her zentradi heritage, even going as far as to eschew the use of micloning whenever possible (she was born naturally to non-micloned parents, and finds being micloned awkward). She's descended from Zentradi that sided with humanity, and she feels no hostility towards humanity because of her pride or views.

those are really the two I have focused on because the story is kinda told from their perspectives. They're obviously the love interest in the story, and rather than a love triangle, I'm going to have a different love conflict, where a Zentradi separatist is tugging at Mira, and a pacifist is tugging at Soren, and showing how their choices of lifestyles, and devotion to each other, keep them from drifting apart because of the outside influences.

I have some other Supporting characters, but I'm still in the process of fleshing them out, since I haven't come to their influential parts of my story yet.

Well yeah, that was the idea. It should be their take on it, in your own concept, but they should still have the raw information that a few years ago on another fleet a Sound Force existed and made certain achievements against an enemy who used brainwashing. They don't have to like the way Sound Force operated.

Looking at this "inworld", not from a "rule of cool" perspective, *I* would not like the idea of musicians piloting their own mecha while also making music. And never mind that they can and that one of them is ex-miitary and another is the daughter of two ace pilots. Concentrate on ONE darn thing, it's World War II vintage news. Like Ranka did - she sang in a Valk piloted by someone else and even continued through the landing (and through getting out of the Valk). That's a pro, and she did not have to pilot to be one.

I guess the military on Starlight will have somewhat more to say about it... But still they gotta know that it was somewhere out there.

Yeah, I'm going to probably use the broadcast idea, and use it like PsyOps (because I have a working knowledge of PsyOps). As for knowing it was a thing, sure, they'll have the info, and due to the freedom of information in the starlight fleet (barring recent classified operations) the public will know too. But I'm pretty sure that the Starlight Military will not be willing to put civilians in harm's way just on a theory or a hunch. Musicians will music, pilots will pilot.

[Saruta]

That may be a very interesting setup. Keep the musicians safe in the city or at least on Battle Starlight - sort of like how Sheryl was in the last episodes of Frontier TV. Try to get that song energy channeled through mecha piloted by proper miltary.

The question is whether radio transmission is going to "cut it", or dilute the energy too much like recording apparently does.

If this is happening post Frontier, someone knowing what happened on Frontier might get the idea of using fold crystal to transmit the energy, but this must be someone in SMS; only SMS has the knowledge and, more importantly, the actual crystals. Whether SMS acutally want to tell about this could be a plot point.

Also, broadcast. SDFM appears to have an outright plot hole when they suddenly broadcast successfully to Zentradi ships, without knowing Zentradi communication technology. (In my Macer saga I drive a coach and four through this one). You, however, have direct descendants of the Britai fleet. They might know the broadcast tech that Zentradi ships use. Could be useful too.

[Falconkpd]

Macross Elysium Chapter 2 is 100% complete! Read it here!

http://kylefalconkpd.deviantart.com/gallery/52987946/Macross-Elysium-CHAPTER-TWO

[Gerli]

Cool!

[Valkyrie Driver]

That may be a very interesting setup. Keep the musicians safe in the city or at least on Battle Starlight - sort of like how Sheryl was in the last episodes of Frontier TV. Try to get that song energy channeled through mecha piloted by proper miltary.

The question is whether radio transmission is going to "cut it", or dilute the energy too much like recording apparently does.

If this is happening post Frontier, someone knowing what happened on Frontier might get the idea of using fold crystal to transmit the energy, but this must be someone in SMS; only SMS has the knowledge and, more importantly, the actual crystals. Whether SMS acutally want to tell about this could be a plot point.

Also, broadcast. SDFM appears to have an outright plot hole when they suddenly broadcast successfully to Zentradi ships, without knowing Zentradi communication technology. (In my Macer saga I drive a coach and four through this one). You, however, have direct descendants of the Britai fleet. They might know the broadcast tech that Zentradi ships use. Could be useful too.

I actually start my story in February 2059, so I think it's quite a few months before the events of frontier (I can't remember the source, but it said frontier happened between september and december 2059, or something like that).

Looking at the Fleet of The Strongest Women as inspiration, for dealing with the Zentradi, speaker pods seemed to be effective against opponents that were in possession their faculties, and thus able to be swayed by the emotion in song.

I have actually used a radio to jam comms with inane chatter or (my favorite, bagpipes). (It was an airsoft game, and they didn't say EW was off limits, so I scanned for the other teams Freq and keyed the radio and played bagpipe music off my phone). It's possible this is another way the Fleet would go about using music to defeat the Zentradi.

I might also have my fleet discover the connection between song, spiritia, and fold waves, on their own, along a different line of study than frontier. This information would be shared with the NUNS, but might not have had any impact on frontier as it was "buried" under other research being conducted on the matter, or dismissed as "gee-wiz" information.

[Gerli]

Chapter 54

EPUB https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_DOFdZyWXfybDhROFdxdE41YkU/view?usp=sharing

Fanfiction.net http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8885775/54/Chatarra

in Spanish

[MILKAUTICO]

Chapter 54

EPUB https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_DOFdZyWXfybDhROFdxdE41YkU/view?usp=sharing

Fanfiction.net http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8885775/54/Chatarra

in Spanish

NICEEE!!! good charpter Mr Gerli!!!!

[Gerli]

Chapter 55

EPUB https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_DOFdZyWXfyWTJaWlM1OXNzSWs/view?usp=sharing

Fanfiction.net http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8885775/55/Chatarra

In Spanish