DPP: Technical... Stuff

[plaid-slytherin.livejournal.com]

This came to my mind the other day while watching the Miniseries for the bsg_epics rewatch - there is an awful lot of technical jargon and... stuff in the show. Assorted wireless chatter, talk on the deck, military procedure. All sorts of things I'm sure many of us don't have much real-world familiarity with (I couldn't even tell you how much is based on reality). So, how do you deal with things that come up in the course of your writing about pilots that you don't know much about? Do you tend to fake it? Ignore it? If you do know a lot about the terminology used on the show, do you know of any resources so that the rest of us may educate ourselves?

Comments

[plaid-slytherin.livejournal.com]

This may or may not be based on my recent attempts to inject a bit of flavor into my writing - I'm definitely a member of the "ignore it" school. I do not believe I have ever depicted pilots piloting. Which I don't like, which is why I really hope there is some kind of resource that can be useful for this kind of thing.

On this rewatch, I am trying to pay attention to some of the things that go on in the background, that could be injected into fics for flavor. I love the immersiveness of this universe right from the get-go; it all feels so real and I really want to imitate that with my writing.

[kdbleu.livejournal.com]

I tend to ignore anything I can't use well when I'm writing. I avoid action because I have a hard time writing it for example. But at the same time, one of the things I really like about fanfic in general is that I can work on my writing in a place that's supportive but where I can still get a feel for what is and isn't working.

Now, I have no desire to become a better writer of military procedure, but BSG has been great for me in terms of writing plot and action. YAY!!!

[plaid-slytherin.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes! I would never have thought I could write plot before I started writing BSG fic. Now I write plotty things all the time, often with action!

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Battlestar Wiki (http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page) is a great resource in general to add flavor and detail to your fics, you can look up basically anything you have questions about, from the design of a Viper to the colors on the Caprican flag. Regarding the military lingo, this

Glossary of terms (http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/List_of_terms_(RDM))

is very useful. The page gives you a basic definition, and then if you click on the link, you get more detailed discussion, an account of the episodes in the series where this topic comes up, and in some cases discussion of real life military parallels.

For example, this is what they say about the CAP:

Combat Air Patrol - A Combat Air Patrol, or "CAP", is a part of a battlestar's early response and Fleet defense posture.

CAPs typically consist of two Vipers (lead and wingman) flying a designated pattern in and around the Fleet, providing an immediate spaceborne response to incoming threats. More than one CAP may be flown at a time, with Vipers positioned at different distances and "orbits" around the Fleet. CAP flights can be reinforced by a battlestar's alert fighters (TRS: "33").

CAPs sometimes include Raptors in a support role.

Despite the 40 Vipers at her disposal, Kara Thrace finds mounting full CAPs difficult in the episode "Sine Qua Non". It may be that on high alert Galactica mounts multiple simultaneous CAPS, along with the 2 Vipers sometimes seen on screen escorting Colonial One. Flying continuous CAP shifts with alert fighters on standby could explain this strain on pilots and planes.

Later in the series, it becomes even more difficult to keep up a full CAP. Casualties, the mutiny, and a rebel Cylon baseship joing the Fleet result in a joint CAP being flown including both Colonial Vipers and Cylon Heavy Raiders (TRS: "Someone to Watch Over Me").

[See Also: List of terms in the Re-imagined Series]

On Earth, the term "combat air patrol" is most frequently applied to fighter aircraft patrols guarding a carrier battle group; however, it applies equally to flights guarding a fixed land target, other vessels at sea, and (least commonly) slower, more vulnerable aircraft. Series information notes the existence of battlestar groups, which are analogous to carrier battle groups, so the use of CAPs in the series likely a parallel to real CAPs...

[plaid-slytherin.livejournal.com]

This is AWESOME. I use BSG Wiki all the time but I didn't know about that glossary page. That's getting bookmarked.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Hello -- I left a comment which was marked as spam because of the links I provided, I think, so let me just say that Battlestar Wiki is a great resource for this kind of thing, and if you type in "list of terms" into their search engine, you will get to an in-depth glossary of all the military lingo.

[plaid-slytherin.livejournal.com]

I think I fixed it. :)