ooc Tank/Crew Naming and Customization

[dalamb]

This seems to happen whenever I copy text from anywhere- in this case from a Google Doc, in the previous case from another post here. I think I have fixed it, and now know to check every time. 

[Arklytte]

Yep, it looks good now.

 

If you're just pasting text, then, after you paste, an option will pop up at the bottom of the frame to 'post as plain text'.  That will convert the text to the default/automatic color.

 

 

[Paxon]

I was certainly hoping the copy paste would work a little better. When I try to paste from OneNote, it literally pastes it as an image file. Not even an option to do text only. I need to to 2-step it and drop it into gdocs first.

[Arklytte]

WYSIWYG editors have their place.  A forum with image heavy text posts, with lots of spoilers and other custom formatting...is not one of them.  😜 

[M3mentoMori]

Looks like everyone's weighed in on the names; here's the votes (sans Tank names that got 1 or 2 votes): 

 

Tank Name:
Boom Box: 5
Defiant: 5
Tia: 5

Aegis: 4

Indomitable: 3

 

Crew Name:
The Breakers: 3
Tia's Tankers (if Tia wins): 3

The Crew: 2
Valkyries: 2

 

 

Looks like a tie between Boom Box, Defiant, and Tia. Everyone who voted Tia's Tankers had a rider specifying only if Tia won, so the Tank vote will decide the crew vote.

 

 

[Paxon]

8 hours ago, dalamb said:

This seems like the right place to include the story...

How Tia Got Its Name

According to legends passed down from the time of the Apocalypse, the Last Tank, Tia, was named for Brigadier-General Anna-Maria Gonzales. She was in charge of the experimental division that included the battalion of state-of-the-art main battle tanks, the Indomitable-class 1A-X series, named for the B1 unit that was first off the assembly line. Gonzales was a lead-from-the-front general, so was herself in the field when disaster struck. She assumed direct command of the Indomitable after its lieutenant was killed; it was her leadership that kept seven of the gargantuan machines going for the first few weeks. She worked out the first tactical manual for dealing with the new dangers – the first line of which was avoid kaiju at all costs.

1A-X B3 happened to be under the command of José Manuel Gonzales, the general’s nephew. As military discipline slowly relaxed into a kind of professional camaraderie, José took to calling his leader “Tia Gonzales,” and the crews of the platoon started using the same epithet. She accepted the designation with good humour – as good as it could get when, over the next few months, one after the other of the survivors fell victim to the new post-Apocalypse dangers. The second to go was 1A-X B1; Tia Gonzales survived, badly injured, and moved her command to the B3. As numbers dwindled, the designation slowly shifted from the woman to the tank she rode. When, two years into the collapse, she finally succumbed to her wounds, the crew of the last tank, 1A-X B3, formally named their machine after her. Within a generation the “Gonzales” name was dropped, and The Tank, the only one left, became Tia, and her crew Tia’s Tankers.

 

Love it, thanks for putting that together. Whatever we end up with, I could see this or some variation of it becoming canon (not to mention painted on the cannon).

 

2 hours ago, M3mentoMori said:

Looks like everyone's weighed in on the names; here's the votes (sans Tank names that got 1 or 2 votes): 

 

Tank Name:
Boom Box: 5
Defiant: 5
Tia: 5

Aegis: 4

Indomitable: 3

 

Crew Name:
The Breakers: 3
Tia's Tankers (if Tia wins): 3

The Crew: 2
Valkyries: 2

 

 

Looks like a tie between Boom Box, Defiant, and Tia. Everyone who voted Tia's Tankers had a rider specifying only if Tia won, so the Tank vote will decide the crew vote.

 

 

Nice, thanks for tabulating this. I was about to go and do so earlier today when I saw this pop up. 

 

Alright everyone, I added a poll this topic, just look at the top of the thread. Let's have one more vote on the final 3 tank names, and see if we end up with a winner. Voters are not public, if that makes a difference to you. 

[Arklytte]

9 hours ago, dalamb said:

This seems like the right place to include the story...

How Tia Got Its Name

According to legends passed down from the time of the Apocalypse, the Last Tank, Tia, was named for Brigadier-General Anna-Maria Gonzales. She was in charge of the experimental division that included the battalion of state-of-the-art main battle tanks, the Indomitable-class 1A-X series, named for the B1 unit that was first off the assembly line. Gonzales was a lead-from-the-front general, so was herself in the field when disaster struck. She assumed direct command of the Indomitable after its lieutenant was killed; it was her leadership that kept seven of the gargantuan machines going for the first few weeks. She worked out the first tactical manual for dealing with the new dangers – the first line of which was avoid kaiju at all costs.

1A-X B3 happened to be under the command of José Manuel Gonzales, the general’s nephew. As military discipline slowly relaxed into a kind of professional camaraderie, José took to calling his leader “Tia Gonzales,” and the crews of the platoon started using the same epithet. She accepted the designation with good humour – as good as it could get when, over the next few months, one after the other of the survivors fell victim to the new post-Apocalypse dangers. The second to go was 1A-X B1; Tia Gonzales survived, badly injured, and moved her command to the B3. As numbers dwindled, the designation slowly shifted from the woman to the tank she rode. When, two years into the collapse, she finally succumbed to her wounds, the crew of the last tank, 1A-X B3, formally named their machine after her. Within a generation the “Gonzales” name was dropped, and The Tank, the only one left, became Tia, and her crew Tia’s Tankers.

 

Cool story, D.  🙂  Thanks for writing/sharing it.

[PigLickJF]

Since we're only voting for the tank name at this point, I had a couple last-minute ideas for crew names if the tank ends up being the Boom Box as alternatives to the Breakers: Boomers, Beaters, Bumpers. Personally, I think I like Boomers the best out of these since it basically just hearkens back to the tank name itself, which feels the most natural. Of course we'll have to see what the final vote is to see if that even matters.

[M3mentoMori]

Looks like it's gonna be Tia, unfortunately. Unless the last voter makes it a tie again.

Edited June 19, 2022 by M3mentoMori (see edit history)

[dalamb]

Tie, after all. So how do we resolve this? I am not at all fond of Boom Box, nor is Mori at all fond of Tia.

[Paxon]

Here is what I'm thinking:

 

The discussion and disagreement here is the same kind that has followed The Tank through the years. Names were given early on, none of them became 100% official, many of them stuck in one form or another..

 

It is an Indomitable Class tank. The original name was Defiant, before the world broke. In the weeks and months that followed, "Tia" was scrawled in bright white letters right next to the 1-AX B3 designation, in homage to Tia Gonzalez, beloved leader, general, and auntie of Indomitables (the series of tanks that initially survived, and those who served them). That name is continually refreshed in that spot, and many tankers through the years refer to The Tank affectionately as Tia, both with each other and when talking with outsiders (or many variations. Tiny Tia. Tia Muerto. Terrible Tia. Auntie Boom Boom. Tia Furiosa. Even "Aunt Tia" in one of those redundant translations that just just seem to stick, kind of like "PIN Number"). This tends to come up a lot when tankers are talking to it directly ("Come on Tia old girl, a little longer..."), or talking about it in a way with each other that personifies it.

 

Like many legendary figures and vessels, The Tank is known by many names. One tanker with a sense of humor, upon installing the huge speakers that still adorn the vehicle, spray painted "Boom Box" on the turret. It has remained, and specifically when speaking of the turret, many in The Crew will refer to it as such ("Raiders at 11-o'clock. Jones, get your ass in the Boom Box and give 'em a present"). The words are so prominent, the turret such an important part of the tank, that the name carries its own weight. Observers sometimes think it's the tank's name, and crew who like the attitude of the moniker sometimes use it with outsiders. The original name "Defiant" is still stenciled on one side of the barrel *While La Chancla is scribbled on the other by someone with a sense of humor, faded over the years and then re-stenciled at times to keep up traditions and remember origins. Sometimes The Crew will still use it as a call sign when interacting with unknown parties over a wider band radio, for it carries a certain heroic gravitas. Crew tend to develop their own pet names and nicknames for it as well. Some call it Beast, Tyrant, Boomer, Aegis, Big Growly, or Thrice-Damned-Hunk-of-Junk followed by less polite expletives. 

 

Most of these names, and others it has carried over the years, are well-chronicled in the archives the crew maintains. However, on the cover of that archive are two simple words. The Tank. The words themselves have become synonymous — at least in all the wastelands of what was once North America — with the vehicle driven by this crew. When someone talks about "The Tank," people know which tank they are referring to. They know which crew they are referring to. The Crew. Tia's Tankers, to those who know it as Tia, and the designation in the log of past crew who have signed the Tanker's Creed. People in the great lakes region and most of the north still refer to them as "The Breakers" for an extended period they spent in the area demolishing slave pens and freeing their occupants. While the Indomitable tanks still operated under Gonzalez, and for a time after in her honor, they all operated as "Primos" (or Los Primos), though last contact with any of these other "cousins" was a long time ago. Either way, The Crew, like The Tank, stands on its own when people talk about those who ride the metal monster that has survived all this time in the wasteland.

[Arklytte]

^^This^^

 

This is brilliant, Pax, and I love it.

[PigLickJF]

Agreed, that's perfect. 👏💯

[M3mentoMori]

I love it.

[bcool999]

I like it. All the history of names without being overly beholden to the name.