Hope Cort gets a good military rank so he won’t be called Civilian anymore. Given how this war started by wiping out a planet for the (fanatical) lols for it this is a do or die war. And that in return means Cort needs all the privilege but also responsibilities that come with a (high) military rank due his starcaster power. Depending on how he fights he can either save a lot of people or watch a lot of people die in plasma fire.
He might even still be a civilian, technically speaking. He has a deal to sign up, but it didn’t look like they’d gotten around to finalising all the details around his recruitment yet.
OTOH yes, Court needs to have a reasonably high rank; I say because his direct superior needs to be among those who know how to put a Starcaster at the right place and have the authority to do so. Also he should be able to command the people to not be in the line of fire.
GlitcherGirl
2 months ago
It’s only “on your left” to the reader…it’s the soldier’s right.
I can only imagine that they are thinking that the soldier was saying.
“Troops! Watch out there is a civilian on your left”.
Which we can all see is incorrect, as they were providing a courtesy to the civilian about their own location. But I can see how they made this mistake.
No, there are two commas, “Watch out, civilian, on your left”. So he is clearly referring to Cort. If you want to rephrase with less commas it would be “Watch out on your left, civilian”
It’s pretty common when walking, running, cycling, and similar to call out which side you are approaching from to someone ahead of you that is moving slower. So, “on your left” is correct, as they’re indicating to someone who can’t see them that they’re approaching on his left.
Can’t say I’ve ever experienced this etiquette on any civilian walking trail. Maybe it could be claimed as something experienced on/around military bases where troops are running in areas that the military families might be encountered.
What a nice example to show how punctuation actually matters.
The soldier said, “Watch it, civilian, on your left.” which means he’s addressing a civilian who needs to watch their left.
If the soldier had said, “Watch it, civilian on your left” he would’ve been addressing the soldiers incorrectly because the civilian is on their right.
So many people have weighed in at this point. No one realizes that as there’s no up or down in space, there’s likewise no left or right. The soldier was making a sociological / political statement. Perhaps he’s a historian and is aware that Odrossians were notorious radical liberals, hellbent on providing food, healthcare, and education for their citizenry by any means necessary. “Watch it – Civilian on your left” is likely a warning to his squad, to be on high alert and ready to fire should they launch a verbal assault. Either that, or the “We’re on your left”… Read more »
Since the Earth is roughly spherical, there’s no up or down on Earth either. People on the other side of the planet are ‘down’ from me, which means technically speaking they’re beneath me. I am not sure if that obligates me socio-politically to help them, but since I’m also technically beneath them, I’ll accept their aid should they choose to give it. Since that’d mean they got my back, they’re also behind me, which is again true in a spherical situation. Whether that puts them on my left or right, is a matter for history to decide.
That would be the case if he was warning the soldiers about the civilian, but he’s not. He’s warning the civilian about the soldiers passing on their left. (Badically telling them to ‘stay out of the way’.)
This type of confusion is a huge issue if you’re out cycling or running and need to pass someone on a multi-use path.
If you call out the direction you’re passing on there’s a 40% chance they move in the opposite direction to give space, a 40% chance they move in the direction you call out and put themselves in the way, and a 20% chance that they’re wearing headphones and don’t hear you.
That’s why I have a bell on my bike. I start ringing it well before I say “on your left.” Usually they just turn and look before I even have to say anything. If they don’t respond I just have to go really slow. Problem is a lot of folks actually have to think about where “there left” is (apparent from some of the comments) and make a snap decision on where to go under pressure. Dorky as it is, the bell really helps.
I have a horn. Once I sound my horn, five from the right go to the left, three from the left to the right. Then two of the five reverse their direction and when I arrive, they finally managed to free a path.-)
(Usually I don’t need to honk or it makes more sense to wait a few seconds)
Man your comment is not getting enough credit, the headphones bit made me laugh. So recognizable.
Ben
2 months ago
Looks like Cort is about to be making another decision: With the Federation under attack, do they take this opportunity and slip away, or help them fight off the Drang’laex?
Either way, I suspect that the Prince is going to be leaving this battle with a Starcaster of his own- that suicide bomb left one up for grabs.
We don’t actually know that blue guy’s caster is unattached. We saw evidence that the explosives detonated, but not the aftermath of that. Given that StarCasters have shown us deus ex levels of protection (granted, as necessary plot armor) it is entirely possible that he survived and is fighting his way down ship. The interesting point is that the prince is aware of A starcaster being aboard. But there are two of them, the blue guy on the bridge and Cort. So what happens if the boarding teams run into Cort first, and go into a grand chase off ship?… Read more »
Very valid point about Danton’s current condition. However, there aren’t two Starcasters aboard. There are currently two ships with Federation Starcasters in the Galaxy. -Ship A (Aldoricut), carrying La’Ni, Cort and Quel.* -Ship B (going Boom) carrying Danton. (*Ok, that one probably does have two Starcasters aboard, assuming La’Ni hasn’t moved on yet. Still different ones than the ones you were thinking of.) This ship (the one with Cort) is not under attack. Cort merely got picked up by La’Ni and pressured into joining the Feds Meanwhile, elsewhere in the galaxy, the Dranglaex attacked Dantons ship, because it was alone… Read more »
And thanks for going in on the names. I couldn’t pull Danton for much of anything, and mobile browsing meant losing content to try and find it; much appreciated there.
jack
2 months ago
you know sometimes, i wonder to myself ‘why do i hate grammar nazis with a blinding, white-hot passion?’. thankfully, i never go more than a day without someone reminding me.
Perhaps things would improve if you used some capital letters while writing. In the proper places of course, like the start of a sentence, or for the singular first person pronoun.
24
Early
Hope Cort gets a good military rank so he won’t be called Civilian anymore. Given how this war started by wiping out a planet for the (fanatical) lols for it this is a do or die war. And that in return means Cort needs all the privilege but also responsibilities that come with a (high) military rank due his starcaster power. Depending on how he fights he can either save a lot of people or watch a lot of people die in plasma fire.
My guess is they called him a civilian just because they’re not wearing any uniform
He might even still be a civilian, technically speaking. He has a deal to sign up, but it didn’t look like they’d gotten around to finalising all the details around his recruitment yet.
Nyrah is to his left, so she has to watch out.
OTOH yes, Court needs to have a reasonably high rank; I say because his direct superior needs to be among those who know how to put a Starcaster at the right place and have the authority to do so. Also he should be able to command the people to not be in the line of fire.
It’s only “on your left” to the reader…it’s the soldier’s right.
It’s the soldier politely telling Cort that there’s a troop hurrying through on Cort’s left side and they need to get where they’re going quickly
I can only imagine that they are thinking that the soldier was saying.
“Troops! Watch out there is a civilian on your left”.
Which we can all see is incorrect, as they were providing a courtesy to the civilian about their own location. But I can see how they made this mistake.
The soldier passes on Cort’s left side, so the sentence seems correct to me
“on your left side, civilian”
Are you suggesting the soldier used the word “your” to refer to himself?
No, there are two commas, “Watch out, civilian, on your left”. So he is clearly referring to Cort. If you want to rephrase with less commas it would be “Watch out on your left, civilian”
It’s pretty common when walking, running, cycling, and similar to call out which side you are approaching from to someone ahead of you that is moving slower. So, “on your left” is correct, as they’re indicating to someone who can’t see them that they’re approaching on his left.
You can tell how many readers actually go outside…
Can’t say I’ve ever experienced this etiquette on any civilian walking trail. Maybe it could be claimed as something experienced on/around military bases where troops are running in areas that the military families might be encountered.
Never been on a military base in my life. Extremely common on running trails, bike paths, mountain bike trails
Maybe it’s a US thing? I remember hearing that in one of the MCU movies, between Captain America and to-be-Falcon.
Not a common thing over here, at least. (here being an European country)
Or apparently haven’t seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
What a nice example to show how punctuation actually matters.
The soldier said, “Watch it, civilian, on your left.” which means he’s addressing a civilian who needs to watch their left.
If the soldier had said, “Watch it, civilian on your left” he would’ve been addressing the soldiers incorrectly because the civilian is on their right.
So many people have weighed in at this point. No one realizes that as there’s no up or down in space, there’s likewise no left or right. The soldier was making a sociological / political statement. Perhaps he’s a historian and is aware that Odrossians were notorious radical liberals, hellbent on providing food, healthcare, and education for their citizenry by any means necessary. “Watch it – Civilian on your left” is likely a warning to his squad, to be on high alert and ready to fire should they launch a verbal assault. Either that, or the “We’re on your left”… Read more »
I love you
Since the Earth is roughly spherical, there’s no up or down on Earth either. People on the other side of the planet are ‘down’ from me, which means technically speaking they’re beneath me. I am not sure if that obligates me socio-politically to help them, but since I’m also technically beneath them, I’ll accept their aid should they choose to give it. Since that’d mean they got my back, they’re also behind me, which is again true in a spherical situation. Whether that puts them on my left or right, is a matter for history to decide.
Shouldn’t it be Civilian on your right, not left?
No.
That would be the case if he was warning the soldiers about the civilian, but he’s not. He’s warning the civilian about the soldiers passing on their left. (Badically telling them to ‘stay out of the way’.)
This type of confusion is a huge issue if you’re out cycling or running and need to pass someone on a multi-use path.
If you call out the direction you’re passing on there’s a 40% chance they move in the opposite direction to give space, a 40% chance they move in the direction you call out and put themselves in the way, and a 20% chance that they’re wearing headphones and don’t hear you.
That’s why I have a bell on my bike. I start ringing it well before I say “on your left.” Usually they just turn and look before I even have to say anything. If they don’t respond I just have to go really slow. Problem is a lot of folks actually have to think about where “there left” is (apparent from some of the comments) and make a snap decision on where to go under pressure. Dorky as it is, the bell really helps.
I have a horn. Once I sound my horn, five from the right go to the left, three from the left to the right. Then two of the five reverse their direction and when I arrive, they finally managed to free a path.-)
(Usually I don’t need to honk or it makes more sense to wait a few seconds)
Gotta appreciate the irony of you using “there” instead of “their” while trying to call people out for being stupid.
Man your comment is not getting enough credit, the headphones bit made me laugh. So recognizable.
Looks like Cort is about to be making another decision: With the Federation under attack, do they take this opportunity and slip away, or help them fight off the Drang’laex?
Either way, I suspect that the Prince is going to be leaving this battle with a Starcaster of his own- that suicide bomb left one up for grabs.
We don’t actually know that blue guy’s caster is unattached. We saw evidence that the explosives detonated, but not the aftermath of that. Given that StarCasters have shown us deus ex levels of protection (granted, as necessary plot armor) it is entirely possible that he survived and is fighting his way down ship. The interesting point is that the prince is aware of A starcaster being aboard. But there are two of them, the blue guy on the bridge and Cort. So what happens if the boarding teams run into Cort first, and go into a grand chase off ship?… Read more »
Cort and the blue alien Starcaster guy are on different ships.
Very valid point about Danton’s current condition. However, there aren’t two Starcasters aboard. There are currently two ships with Federation Starcasters in the Galaxy. -Ship A (Aldoricut), carrying La’Ni, Cort and Quel.* -Ship B (going Boom) carrying Danton. (*Ok, that one probably does have two Starcasters aboard, assuming La’Ni hasn’t moved on yet. Still different ones than the ones you were thinking of.) This ship (the one with Cort) is not under attack. Cort merely got picked up by La’Ni and pressured into joining the Feds Meanwhile, elsewhere in the galaxy, the Dranglaex attacked Dantons ship, because it was alone… Read more »
Ahh, gottcha. Thank you.
And thanks for going in on the names. I couldn’t pull Danton for much of anything, and mobile browsing meant losing content to try and find it; much appreciated there.
you know sometimes, i wonder to myself ‘why do i hate grammar nazis with a blinding, white-hot passion?’. thankfully, i never go more than a day without someone reminding me.
You’re lacking some serious punctuation in that comment.
Perhaps things would improve if you used some capital letters while writing. In the proper places of course, like the start of a sentence, or for the singular first person pronoun.