commit b10e10e0c69608c409913c7b2f68b2fd5217a8c0 Author: Leni Aniva Date: Thu Jul 6 11:12:48 2023 -0700 Initial commit with notes diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 0000000..940fbf3 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +.* +!.gitignore +/build diff --git a/notes.org b/notes.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..95c41f1 --- /dev/null +++ b/notes.org @@ -0,0 +1,340 @@ +#+title: To The Stars + +Up to [v1/p37] + +* History + +** Volume I + +Allocs were cut (/Recommendation by the Production and Allocation Machine +(PAL)/) [v1/p4]. + +At some point in the past the "current war" started, which caused extra allocs +from voluntary work to increase and the basic allocs to decrease. [v1/p16]. +Due to a special conscription act enacted 20 years ago, all new magic girls owe +the military 30 years of service [v1/p20]. The minimum age of combat was dropped to 13. +Magic girls enter the military not as privates but 2nd lieutenants. + +A defect in the Cult of Hope's computers caused random drops with grief cubes +for squads on the front line [v1/p33]. The occurrence seems random. This was +counterintuitive since computers are not supposed to make such mistakes. Secret +examination squads sent by Kyouko could not spot problems [v1/p33]. Similar +defects caused girls to be sent behind the lines or home and never came back. + +When Kyouko was visiting Wolf 359, a platoon of infantry dragged Saya-chan's +body and soul gem back to safety, but lost her. They broke down in front of +Kyouko demanding that she finds the missing Saya-chan. + + + +* Characters + +*** Shizuki Ryouko 静樹　良子 + +Main protagonist +Mentor: Sakura Kyouko + +- Diminutive stature [v1/p5] but does not want to be perceived as a child. +- Begins as 14 years old +- Thinks "nothing is worth rushing for" [v1/p6] +- Lives on the 42nd story [v1/p6], in Mitakihara city [v1/p6] +- Has a automatic telescope from grandmother which receives instructions from + cortical implants. [v1/p7] +- Could not find a hobby [v1/p8] +- Wants to be a space traveler [v1/p15] +- Wants to be a magic girls despite knowing the risks since the life has + contrast with the "sterile, prosaic life" [v1/p22]. It was granted after an + encounter with demons and miasmae [v2/p57]. +- Her weapon as a magical girl is a arbalest (crossbow) and can teleport [v2/p67,68] +- Can teleport up to 200km, but cannot telekinesis or teleport objects without + teleporting self [v1/p70]. 200km is much greater than the standing record of 63km. + +*** Simona + +Friend of Ryouko and foreign exchange student [v1/p13] + +- Wants to be a violinist [v1/p15] +- Exchange student but not very interested in learning languages. She embarked + on an exchange to get away from family [v1/p40] +- Describes Earth as same people everywhere [v1/p41] +- May have romantic feelings towards Ryouko [v2/p77] + +*** Chiaki 智晶 + +Friend of Ryouko [p1/v14] +- Long-haired [p1/v14] + +*** Ruiko 瑠衣子 + +Friend of Ryouko [v1/p14] +- Pig-tailed +- Wanted to learn nanoengineering or theoretical physics (dropped) [v1/p14] + +*** Ryouko's father + +- Over 100 years old but looks around 30 [v1/p8] + +*** Ryouko's mother + +*** Ryouko's (paternal) grandfather + +- Join the military on Monday next week (rel. [v1/p12]) + +*** Ryouko's (paternal) grandmother + +- Joined the military for 12 years [v1/p10] +- Stopped writing to her family but she is not dead. [v1/p10] +- Want to see something other than Earth by her own accounts [v1/p41] + +*** Tomoe Mami 巴　麻美 + +- Looked to be 19-20yo despite being hundreds of years old. [v1/p18] +- Can converse while holding a motionless face +- Body is enhanced +- Field Marshall [v1/p35] + +*** Sakura Kyouko 桜　香子 + +- Looks to be 14 and lives in the Catholic-style church in Mitakihara [v1/p25] +- Calls Mami "Marshal" [v1/p26] +- Calls MSY the "Union" [v1/p30] + +*** Akemi Homura 暁美　ほむら + +- "Left" with no more news [v1/p27] +- Believs in "Goddess of Hope" [v1/p28] +- 20 years ago she leveraged the Goddess of Hope and her charisma to start a + religion [v1/p29]. This became the Cult of Hope which was the only living + religion which gained members. +- Had presentations and statistics when she was spearheading MSY +- Vanished after saving Epsilon Eridani [v1/p30] + +*** Yuma + +Involved in MSY + +- In government [v1/p36] + +*** some french magical girl + +Does not trust the government [v1/p32] + +*** Kyubey + +- Says Akemi Homura has disappeared due to the exhaustion of her soul gem [v1/p43] + +*** Fleet Admiral Xing +Has some feud with General Blackwell [v2/p80] +*** General Blackwell +Has some feud with Fleet Admiral Xing [v2/p80] + + + +* In-Book Items + +** Books + +*** /Universal Guidelines for Middle School Instructors (12th revision)/ +- Mentioned in [v1/p4] +*** /Daughters of the Contract: A Documentary/ +- Mentioned in [v2/p59] +*** /Mahou Shoujo: Their World, Their History (Julian Bradshaw)/ +- Mentioned in [v2/p60] + +** Laws/Edicts + +*** /Special Conscription Act/ [v1/p20] +Due to a special conscription act enacted 20 years ago, all new magic girls owe +the military 30 years of service [v1/p20]. The minimum age of combat was dropped to 13. +Magic girls enter the military not as privates but 2nd lieutenants. +*** /Information Restriction Act/ [v1/p21] + +Restricts information about Magica from the populace. + +Impossible to enforce. + + +** Tools + +- Chronometer: Some type of clock [v1/p5] + +* Settings + +** Magica + +- Magic girls are integrated into society [v1/p19] +- Discouragement from parents is illegal but practiced [v1/p20] +- Not bound by travel restrictions [v1/p20] +- Many magic girls died in their first combat assignments or before their first + leaves [v1/p21] or received psychological damage [v1/p22]. +- Incubator selection is rare and depends on "potential" which is an innate + quality irrespective of wishes [v1/p22] + + All chosen by incubators have a deep personal wish worthy of their soul, but + this is not a sufficient condition. +- Grief Cube Audit [v1/p31] +- Magic girls compose a part of the military and their primary representative is + Mami. +- Operating alone is a violation of regulations [v1/p44] +- Mentorship and team systems between magic girls existed before MSY [v2/p59] +- All magical girls upon enlistment becomes emancipated [v2/p73] + +*** Mahou Shoujo Youkai (MSY) 魔法少女妖怪 + +An organisation spearheaded by Homura which collects data about battles, grief +cube collections, grief cube usage [v1/p31]. Members resisted Homura on +insisting forcefully. + +This organisation caused the number of deaths in battle to drop and a grief cube +surplus [v1/p32]. Kyouko and Mami are still executive heads of MSY but leaves +the day-to-day handling to their legates. + +This organisation was called Union implying that the incubators are the bosses +of magica [v1/p30]. + +*** Cult of Hope + +Uses its infrastructure to handle all data collection for grief cube logistics [v1/p32] + +** Demons and Miasmae + +A miasma is a patch of localised thing which can be cleaned up [v1/p44]. Signals +have a hard time moving through miasma [v1/p45]. It also interferes with biology +enhancement systems [v1/p47]. It also blocks visible light [v1/p48]. + +Demons seem to co-exist with miasmae. +- "A white-robed figure loomed over them, tall as three men" [v1/p45] +- Demons can release intense beams of light to destroy things [v1/p48] + +Miasmae and demons occur in industrial districts where populations are sparse +[v1/p51]. Being able to see demons outside of miasma is the smoking gun of a +magical girl [v1/p55]. + +** Timeframe + +- The incubator system still exists. Instructors cannot divulge information + about incubator system until the pupils are at age 20. [v1/p4] +- At Ryuoko's grandmother's time an automatic telescope and cortical implants + were possible [v1/p7]. + + +- Clothes are self-cleaning [v1/p5] and robots can do the dressing [v1/p5], both + require money. Bedsheets are self folding [v1/p8] +- Sleep-suppressing regimen cause people to sleep 0-3h a day for adults. + Considered unsafe for 14-year-olds +- People can talk without moving lips [v1/p6] +- Hair can maintain at constant length [v1/p6] +- Species diversity preserve (SDP) [v1/p6] +- Space station can deflect major asteroids or wipe out continents [v1/p7] and + constantly being upgraded, added to, or replaced. Maybe redundant [v1/p7] +- Knowledge is directly injected into consciousness [v1/p5] and [v1/p9], but has + speed limits [v1/p14]. +- Can live eternally [v1/p11]. +- Food synthesizer produces food [v1/p12] [v1/p13]. +- Images can be called up from optical implants which highlights interest + regions [v1/p17] and can take pictures [v1/p19]. +- Aliens [v1/p27] + +*** Emergency Packages + +The packages operate by assisting with motion and thought. The civilian-issue +version is weaker than the military version. Emergency mode turns on when there is a life-or-death situation. [v1/p53] + +Exiting emergency mode causes /recoil/ which is traumatic. Some soldiers turn +emergency mode on for weeks at a time and exiting is very difficult [v2/p53]. + +** Economics + +The economy operates on a /eudaemonic/ model rather than capitalistic. [v1/p9] + +- Resources are allocated in units of /Alloc/ [v1/p4] which were cut by + /Recommendations by the PAL/. +- All productive works are voluntary. [v1/p8] +- No one wants to live outside a city because it is expensive and boring + [v1/p9]. Flats are government-allocated [v1/p9] and citizens spend + government-distributed incomes. +- Goods are more expensive away from centres of production, which are in cities [v1/p9] + +*** Travel + +- Solution to congestion was to go 3D via traffic tubes [v1/p6] [v1/p13] (Just + one more lane bro!!!) +- People can use personal auto-transports [v1/p12] which can be self-driven or + magnetically driven. +- Public transport tunnels are guarded by sentries to protect falling but they + ignore magic girls [v1/p24]. Public transport channels are surveilled [v1/p24] + +Space flight is still a scarcity. Pleasure flights were priced to absurd levels +to restrict civilians. It had not always been like this but changed for +colonists and military [v1/p7] + +Military veterans can have unlimited travel on earth or colonies and the right +to settle anywhere. + + +** Culture + +- Governance stress having each generation of children experience a little of + human conditions [v1/p5] +- Governance placed restrictions on direct mental communication and VR [v1/p6] +- Nothing worth rushing for [v1/p6] +- Story of human history was all about escape in the past and has reached the + end for perfect society [v1/p6] +- Residents of Earth spend time on their hobbies. [v1/p8] +- People with /ennui/ (unable to fit into society), divorced after 60 years of + matrimony, who are more than 100 years old, can join the military and then be + discharged in the colonies. [v1/p11] +- Human Standard (a internationalised and mutated form of English) is the Earth + lingua franca. + +*** Education + +- School is about socialising with peers and figuring out what you wanted to + learn. [v1/p13] +- Primary School Civics [v1/p16] +- /Mandatory sessions/ are a civic duty [v1/p15] + + Such sessions are for preparing the citizenry in a scarcity situation when the + economy has to be switched from eudaimonic to scarcity mode (family Allocs + tied to productivity), or even capitalistic. [v1/] +- Spaceflight Engineering [v1/] + +** Places + +Earth has defense stations orbiting [v1/p7] + +*** Mitakihara City + +Mitakihara has a major starport which is particularly important and busy [v1/p7] + +The city is crammed and most families in tight flats. [v1/p8] + +School is at the 30th floor [v1/p13] + +Buildings +- Shizuki Consumer Goods [v1/p23] +- Hephaestus Nanotechnology [v1/p23] +- Chronos Biologics [v1/p23] +- Zeus and Prometheus Research Centres (unique to Mitakihara) [v1/p23] + + The two research centres face each other over a narrow causeway between them. +- Headquarter of Cult of Hope (Catholic-style church) [v1/p23] + + Church has a small bedroom for one + +*** Space Stations + +Bucky Model space stations are shaped like football [v1/] + +*** Epsilon Eridani + +A human colony; Akemi Homura helped to save it [v1/p30]. + + +* Divergence + +In /To The Stars/, there are some divergences of meanings of words from common usage. These could also reflect on the author's misunderstanding. + +- [v1/p41] "A scramjet lifted into the air, using an antigrav assist": Scramjets + cannot start from standstill or subsonic conditions. +- [v2/p63] A nomenclator describes the identity of an individual.