tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post2225378169133654272..comments2024-03-29T06:16:21.012+08:00Comments on Monsters and Manuals: And Now She's Got Helicopters... Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-37492934959089893192018-12-05T01:07:20.637+08:002018-12-05T01:07:20.637+08:00From my window, I can see passenger planes cross t...From my window, I can see passenger planes cross the sky at an acute enough angle that makes them seem like they are just casually browsing the shops, smoothly sliding through the grey sky towards the airport beyond the horizon. And 20 minutes walk away, paramedic helicopters raise up from the pad on the local hospital, and move off level with the tops of the high rise buildings. For wind perhaps, or to incorporate themselves into the fabric of the city. We are not those high overseers, roaring away as police clash with demonstrators, we wasp-coloured but friendly, returning slowly and carefully with our frail cargo, or moving out determinedly to find those who are beyond normal reach, head forwards to our mapped and marked destinations, motor tutting along, battling forwards against gravity like you do the wind.<br /><br />And so I hear them pass, their rumble mixing to be heard as well as I do the trucks of the big road to the south. One day those trucks will be silent, electric, and these tutting droning ambulances will cut through the quiet air. Until then, they have made themselves just small enough to fit in a world of great fume pumping square fronted charging road trains, hands on wheels and minds distant, in old music or memory, or the stopping starting people cells around them.<br /><br />In that world, they are like an umbrella or a falling leaf, struggling by some miracle to stay aloft, moving slowly but determinedly to their goal, as if tied to a line in the sky.Josh Wnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-57608771841305117652018-10-29T20:25:28.643+08:002018-10-29T20:25:28.643+08:00There is probably something to that, although ther...There is probably something to that, although there are benevolent dragons in other cultures too. noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-31126339910283090252018-10-29T20:24:24.943+08:002018-10-29T20:24:24.943+08:00Yeah, Pinochet and all that - didn't occur to ...Yeah, Pinochet and all that - didn't occur to me.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-65608131016074591442018-10-29T06:56:41.152+08:002018-10-29T06:56:41.152+08:00Oh helicopters can drop nuclear bombs they just go...Oh helicopters can drop nuclear bombs they just got to get out of dodge before the device detonates.<br /><br />The helicopter is a device of political oppression alongside military might. There are elements on the internet that joke about giving (one-way) "helicopter rides" to political opposition.JDsivrajhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10674833512849495283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-35950382878946665642018-10-29T00:44:37.710+08:002018-10-29T00:44:37.710+08:00There is a popular science book, Deadly Powers, th...There is a popular science book, Deadly Powers, that posits that dragons are actually an instinctual fear of three major predators of ancient humans- venomous snakes, big cats and large raptors (obviously venomous snakes do not eat people, but they kill many and the birds only ate small children).Derek Hollandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-82743675734679101492018-10-27T01:38:20.778+08:002018-10-27T01:38:20.778+08:00I'm sure that the approach/lurk of a helicopte...I'm sure that the approach/lurk of a helicopter can trigger something in our deep lizard brains of an airborne predator - time to run, get under cover...Vance Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03911245780875316627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-63380336100323345052018-10-27T01:20:12.121+08:002018-10-27T01:20:12.121+08:00So dragon fear was potentially (partially) inspire...So dragon fear was potentially (partially) inspired by watching helicopters?Derek Hollandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-3095911203143893942018-10-27T00:05:31.528+08:002018-10-27T00:05:31.528+08:00I loved Air Wolf when I was a kid.
I love using h...I loved Air Wolf when I was a kid.<br /><br />I love using helicopters in my Shadowrun game, because they're perfect for city distribution of forces in a quick manner. I never thought about them being so menacing and intimidating though. I'll have to use them more. Thanks for the article.Rajaat99https://www.blogger.com/profile/04004927618394555665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-91650584271035920172018-10-26T22:30:51.391+08:002018-10-26T22:30:51.391+08:00Plus, being a child of the '80s, helicopters a...Plus, being a child of the '80s, helicopters always make me think of Blue Thunder and Air Wolf, both concepts with cyberpunk overtones.<br /><br />In my longest running playtest of Cry Dark Future, one of my players ran a troll pilot with a gunship which acted as transport, surveillance, and fire support for the other operators. It got its guns off at least once or twice in fairly terrifying fashion. You don't see that type of action in many RPGs (at least not on the players' side of the table)!<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-15685059100552024862018-10-26T14:21:20.699+08:002018-10-26T14:21:20.699+08:00This idea fills me with wonder and excitement whic...This idea fills me with wonder and excitement which is odd, as we're talking cyberpunk here and the right emotion for that is uneasiness.Gorinichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17232977766320497127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-19892303115247464812018-10-26T11:48:52.425+08:002018-10-26T11:48:52.425+08:00The forward tilt is pure menace. That instant turn...The forward tilt is pure menace. That instant turn-and-sweep thing is pure predation. That's the move of a thing that can kill you as soon as look at you. Skerpleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06393779599461560431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-51222662187866123772018-10-26T08:51:16.280+08:002018-10-26T08:51:16.280+08:00The helicopter's forward tilt is pure menaceThe helicopter's forward tilt is pure menaceAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18269649306050134373noreply@blogger.com