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General | Posted 4 years agoSo, I've got a few different ideas that I keep meaning to work on.
Starfinder STL supplement/adventure module: Something I want to publish someday for an established RPG. I haven't found any supplements from Paizo or third parties yet that detailed how slower-than-light interstellar travel might work in the main campaign setting or an alternate setting, despite their existence in the setting's history. I've written up some basic starship components and a "sleeper ship" configuration already. I might add in an adventure module about encountering a generation ark ship that has technologically regressed (the Gap probably helping) considering how brief the rules are looking.
Ulfur Saga: I'm still writing this, occasionally, still in the saga format. Maybe I'll convert it to novel format for this year's NaNoWriMo.
Para-Imperium: I occasionally still spit out worldbuilding articles for my big transhumanist space opera setting. But there's a few big things I want to write.
-An RPG. I've run a couple short campaigns using FATE in this setting. Though I've considered modifying Starfinder, Myriad Song, Hc Svnt Dracones, and Planet Mercenary to fit the setting. Actually publishing would be a massive project that would probably require some assistance to develop a custom system, and I'm thinking would be set post-Endgame (below).
-Captain Terryn's backstory: I've hinted a couple times that he's one of the oldest parahumans of the expansion era. He was born on Tau Ceti just before the Federation's formation and sent to Centauri as part of a student exchange/hostage taking. How he wound up captaining a tramp freighter is still a mystery.
-Cyberpunk YA: It's been pointed out that there's a shortage of furry fiction for younger readers (soooo much porn), and honestly Epsilon Eridani is the core world I've written the least about and practically a stock cyberpunk dystopia of the type that young adult novels love.
-Endgame; Every empire falls, the Federation of Parahuman Species is no exception. Eventually central authority will break down and local warlords will have more influence than the Praetor in the frontier regions. My first thought was to have a massive catastrophe (such as a nova) but historically empires have died with a whimper rather than a bang.
Untitled space superhero setting: This was inspired by an observation that superhero fiction in space opera settings (not oriented around modern Earth) seems to be on the rise. Premise is that since interstellar travel is so expensive with large masses, the local wannabe Imperium has a plan to conquer an independent star system by appropriating "local resources." Namely abducting a bunch of locals with a ship full of medical fabricators and converting them into brainwashed super soldiers. However, an accident kills the crew and corrupts the conditioning software. But the AI drones are still functional enough to grab the salvagers who board it and augment them. With their highly advanced technology and partial memetic programming, and no superior officers to tell them otherwise, the new super-beings start fighting among themselves as to how they should defend and/or dominate the system. Just short on ideas for characters or power sets.
Also might be the Para-Imperium universe post-Endgame, with the wannabe space Emperor being a warlord who got hold of some Federal Guard prototypes.
Starfinder STL supplement/adventure module: Something I want to publish someday for an established RPG. I haven't found any supplements from Paizo or third parties yet that detailed how slower-than-light interstellar travel might work in the main campaign setting or an alternate setting, despite their existence in the setting's history. I've written up some basic starship components and a "sleeper ship" configuration already. I might add in an adventure module about encountering a generation ark ship that has technologically regressed (the Gap probably helping) considering how brief the rules are looking.
Ulfur Saga: I'm still writing this, occasionally, still in the saga format. Maybe I'll convert it to novel format for this year's NaNoWriMo.
Para-Imperium: I occasionally still spit out worldbuilding articles for my big transhumanist space opera setting. But there's a few big things I want to write.
-An RPG. I've run a couple short campaigns using FATE in this setting. Though I've considered modifying Starfinder, Myriad Song, Hc Svnt Dracones, and Planet Mercenary to fit the setting. Actually publishing would be a massive project that would probably require some assistance to develop a custom system, and I'm thinking would be set post-Endgame (below).
-Captain Terryn's backstory: I've hinted a couple times that he's one of the oldest parahumans of the expansion era. He was born on Tau Ceti just before the Federation's formation and sent to Centauri as part of a student exchange/hostage taking. How he wound up captaining a tramp freighter is still a mystery.
-Cyberpunk YA: It's been pointed out that there's a shortage of furry fiction for younger readers (soooo much porn), and honestly Epsilon Eridani is the core world I've written the least about and practically a stock cyberpunk dystopia of the type that young adult novels love.
-Endgame; Every empire falls, the Federation of Parahuman Species is no exception. Eventually central authority will break down and local warlords will have more influence than the Praetor in the frontier regions. My first thought was to have a massive catastrophe (such as a nova) but historically empires have died with a whimper rather than a bang.
Untitled space superhero setting: This was inspired by an observation that superhero fiction in space opera settings (not oriented around modern Earth) seems to be on the rise. Premise is that since interstellar travel is so expensive with large masses, the local wannabe Imperium has a plan to conquer an independent star system by appropriating "local resources." Namely abducting a bunch of locals with a ship full of medical fabricators and converting them into brainwashed super soldiers. However, an accident kills the crew and corrupts the conditioning software. But the AI drones are still functional enough to grab the salvagers who board it and augment them. With their highly advanced technology and partial memetic programming, and no superior officers to tell them otherwise, the new super-beings start fighting among themselves as to how they should defend and/or dominate the system. Just short on ideas for characters or power sets.
Also might be the Para-Imperium universe post-Endgame, with the wannabe space Emperor being a warlord who got hold of some Federal Guard prototypes.
See me at Fur Squared (2/26 16:30 CST)
General | Posted 5 years agoI'm running my worldbuilding panel from Oxfurred Comma again at Fur Squared's virtual con tomorrow at 4:30 Chicago time.
It should say that time on the schedule now: https://fursquared.com/schedule#wor.....nal-government
It's free.
It should say that time on the schedule now: https://fursquared.com/schedule#wor.....nal-government
It's free.
NaNoWriMo Project: Ulfur Saga
General | Posted 5 years agoSo, as some of you may know, in 2013 I came within 3,000 words of completing National Novel Writing Month's standard goal of 50,000 words in one month, which led to my premiere novel "The Pride of Parahumans". However since then I've been preoccupied to varying degrees every November and have been unable to even come close to hitting 50K.
This year I had an idea and thought I'd run with something a bit different. You see, I've had some success with the "snowflake method" where instead of outlining you write iteratively longer and longer summaries of your story until the final product is a full story, and I've been reading a few Icelandic Sagas lately and wanted to do fantasy for a while...
So this year I'm writing a furry story formatted like an Icelandic Family Saga with canines as the "human" characters. Those stories are more sparse on detail, like fairy tales, as they were passed down orally rather than written down for a long time. After it's done I might publish it as is or rework it into a novel with more detail.
It's not intended to be historical fiction with a furry slant, but there are similarities to certain historical figures and factions. Notably the villain is a white-furred wolf who declares himself king of the northern countries after serving in the foreign bodyguard corps of an empire to the south (a conflation of Harald Fairhair and Harald Sigurdsson), and the protagonists are a family who fled to a volcanic ice-covered island after resisting him.
**Excerpt Below**
There was a wolf, his name was Gisli, when he was a youth of seventeen he voyaged south to fight in the North Guard of the Constantin Empire. He fought there for five years, slaying the enemies of the Emperor and taking their treasure for his own. One day his cohort came upon a village suspected of aiding the rebellion, but when the Northern wolves arrived in town they were greeted with open arms and offered plentiful wine and meat. While feasting Gisli caught the eye of a shepherd’s daughter, by the name of Theodora, and they spent a passionate evening together. In the middle of the night Gisli was awoken by Theodora, who confessed that the villagers planned to slaughter the Northern wolves in their sleep. But, she had no intent to carry out the cowardly act. Snarling Gisli took up his axe and cut down a dozen cowards as he and his surviving companions escaped. They reached the other units of the North Guard and informed them of the trap, and so the rebel village was burned to the ground.
When they returned to the capital city Gisli withdrew his treasure and announced his intent to return to the North. Theodora followed him, for she was no longer welcome among her people. Gisli bought a longship and a farm with his gold, and he and Theodora wed as soon as the house was erected. Soon after their son Thorarin was born, as they were becoming established they had a daughter, Ingibja. When his pups were weaned Gisli decided to go a-viking, he gathered a cohort and pillaged a farming village, then traded the wheat he plundered for iron and brought it back home. The profits from these voyages enabled him to expand his lands and eventually be named a minor jarl, with many karls and thralls working his lands. Among this success Gisli and Theodora had their third pup, named Ref for his ruddy fur. As he grew older Gisli went on fewer and fewer voyages himself, focusing on managing his farm and training his pups.
Haladr was a wolf, his fur was pale as new-fallen snow, and thus he was called Snowfur. He joined the North Guard with Gisli but remained in the Empire for twenty years. As he spent time in the Constantin Court Haladr became accustomed to the riches, wine, and women available to the patricians of the Empire. He only left when his Emperor died to the poisons of his fourth wife. Then Haladr spoke to the North Guard, for he had been named captain by the late Emperor, and told them thus: “Our employment may be at an end, but why should we return to a life of farming and sowing when we come home? We have arms, treasure, and wolves, why not use them to build our own empire and all live like jarls?” And the Guard agreed with him, for it had been a long time since they had been North and they remembered hard lives herding cattle in the cold.
**Excerpt end**
See what I mean by "saga-format"?
This year I had an idea and thought I'd run with something a bit different. You see, I've had some success with the "snowflake method" where instead of outlining you write iteratively longer and longer summaries of your story until the final product is a full story, and I've been reading a few Icelandic Sagas lately and wanted to do fantasy for a while...
So this year I'm writing a furry story formatted like an Icelandic Family Saga with canines as the "human" characters. Those stories are more sparse on detail, like fairy tales, as they were passed down orally rather than written down for a long time. After it's done I might publish it as is or rework it into a novel with more detail.
It's not intended to be historical fiction with a furry slant, but there are similarities to certain historical figures and factions. Notably the villain is a white-furred wolf who declares himself king of the northern countries after serving in the foreign bodyguard corps of an empire to the south (a conflation of Harald Fairhair and Harald Sigurdsson), and the protagonists are a family who fled to a volcanic ice-covered island after resisting him.
**Excerpt Below**
There was a wolf, his name was Gisli, when he was a youth of seventeen he voyaged south to fight in the North Guard of the Constantin Empire. He fought there for five years, slaying the enemies of the Emperor and taking their treasure for his own. One day his cohort came upon a village suspected of aiding the rebellion, but when the Northern wolves arrived in town they were greeted with open arms and offered plentiful wine and meat. While feasting Gisli caught the eye of a shepherd’s daughter, by the name of Theodora, and they spent a passionate evening together. In the middle of the night Gisli was awoken by Theodora, who confessed that the villagers planned to slaughter the Northern wolves in their sleep. But, she had no intent to carry out the cowardly act. Snarling Gisli took up his axe and cut down a dozen cowards as he and his surviving companions escaped. They reached the other units of the North Guard and informed them of the trap, and so the rebel village was burned to the ground.
When they returned to the capital city Gisli withdrew his treasure and announced his intent to return to the North. Theodora followed him, for she was no longer welcome among her people. Gisli bought a longship and a farm with his gold, and he and Theodora wed as soon as the house was erected. Soon after their son Thorarin was born, as they were becoming established they had a daughter, Ingibja. When his pups were weaned Gisli decided to go a-viking, he gathered a cohort and pillaged a farming village, then traded the wheat he plundered for iron and brought it back home. The profits from these voyages enabled him to expand his lands and eventually be named a minor jarl, with many karls and thralls working his lands. Among this success Gisli and Theodora had their third pup, named Ref for his ruddy fur. As he grew older Gisli went on fewer and fewer voyages himself, focusing on managing his farm and training his pups.
Haladr was a wolf, his fur was pale as new-fallen snow, and thus he was called Snowfur. He joined the North Guard with Gisli but remained in the Empire for twenty years. As he spent time in the Constantin Court Haladr became accustomed to the riches, wine, and women available to the patricians of the Empire. He only left when his Emperor died to the poisons of his fourth wife. Then Haladr spoke to the North Guard, for he had been named captain by the late Emperor, and told them thus: “Our employment may be at an end, but why should we return to a life of farming and sowing when we come home? We have arms, treasure, and wolves, why not use them to build our own empire and all live like jarls?” And the Guard agreed with him, for it had been a long time since they had been North and they remembered hard lives herding cattle in the cold.
**Excerpt end**
See what I mean by "saga-format"?
Oxfurred Comma Panel In One Hour
General | Posted 5 years agoWant to know where to start with your worldbuilding project's governments? Check out my panel "Earls and Elections" at 1 pm Pacific time at Oxfurred Comma.
Also try
Domusvocis's "Dystopian Fiction and Furries" panel an hour after mine.
Twitch stream: https://www.twitch.tv/furwritersguild
Also try
Domusvocis's "Dystopian Fiction and Furries" panel an hour after mine.Twitch stream: https://www.twitch.tv/furwritersguild
Oxfurred Comma Panel 10/18
General | Posted 5 years agoThe Furry Writer's Guild is holding a virtual convention next week called "Oxfurred Comma". I'm hosting a panel on government design in worldbuilding called "Earls and Elections."
Check it out on Sunday, October 18th at 1:00 PM Pacific if you have the time.
https://oxfurredcomma.com/programming/
Check it out on Sunday, October 18th at 1:00 PM Pacific if you have the time.
https://oxfurredcomma.com/programming/
The Vore Studio (Anthology pitch)
General | Posted 5 years agoVorearephilia, aka “vore”, a paraphilia where arousal occurs from the idea of being eaten, eating another, or watching the process. The furry fandom has a unique relationship with this fetish, as one might expect where characters of many different species of predator and prey interact. Here in the Vore Studio, those characters’ stories are told.
Length: 2,000-10,000 words
Deadline: October 31st, 2020 (subject to change)
Story Content: We do not accept Racism, Sexism, Discrimination or Homophobia presented in a positive light. We are not interested in stories that promote hateful ideologies We are welcoming to diverse creators and content.
Erotica encouraged but not required. Humans are allowed but at least one furry character is required to be present. Absolutely no underage (<18) characters in erotic situations.
Any type of vore is accepted, but include a content warning if disposal is involved.
Format: Submit in a .docx, .doc, or .ods format only. Please use Times New Roman in 12 point font.
Payment: $10, plus paperback contributor’s copy.
Multiple Submissions: Yes, within reason. Please don’t submit more than three stories at once.
Email to: zarpaulus[at]gmail.com , include the words VORE STUDIO in the subject line.
Discord server: https://discord.gg/SJ7QbeX
Length: 2,000-10,000 words
Deadline: October 31st, 2020 (subject to change)
Story Content: We do not accept Racism, Sexism, Discrimination or Homophobia presented in a positive light. We are not interested in stories that promote hateful ideologies We are welcoming to diverse creators and content.
Erotica encouraged but not required. Humans are allowed but at least one furry character is required to be present. Absolutely no underage (<18) characters in erotic situations.
Any type of vore is accepted, but include a content warning if disposal is involved.
Format: Submit in a .docx, .doc, or .ods format only. Please use Times New Roman in 12 point font.
Payment: $10, plus paperback contributor’s copy.
Multiple Submissions: Yes, within reason. Please don’t submit more than three stories at once.
Email to: zarpaulus[at]gmail.com , include the words VORE STUDIO in the subject line.
Discord server: https://discord.gg/SJ7QbeX
Podcast transferred to Anchor.fm
General | Posted 5 years agoMy podcast, Tales of the Para-Imperium, is now fully available on Anchor and seven other sites that are affiliated with them.
https://anchor.fm/para-imperial-tales
I'm also considering hiring my theatre kid brother to redo all my stories, I did convince him to do one a while back. I don't think he got the character voices right back then, but we'll see.
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/23163906/
https://anchor.fm/para-imperial-tales
I'm also considering hiring my theatre kid brother to redo all my stories, I did convince him to do one a while back. I don't think he got the character voices right back then, but we'll see.
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/23163906/
Starting a Vore Anthology
General | Posted 5 years agoAnthologies are popular with the furry community, I'm sure my fellow published writers know this. And there's a variety of erotic and fetish anthos throughout the market. However, I don't believe there's been any vore anthologies.
Sure, Swallowtail Productions had an e-zine, but they stopped taking prose submissions after the second issue (which I got into), and canceled altogether after the third.
So, I think I'm going to make another (tried before in 2017) attempt at organizing a vore anthology. Any time of vore is allowed, soft, cock, anal, unbirth, nonfatal, fatal... Just warn me if there's disposal.
I plan on paying half a cent per word, 2,000-8,000 words preferably. Deadline tentatively set for October.
We're discussing it on my Discord server here:
https://discord.gg/rUF7nDY
Sure, Swallowtail Productions had an e-zine, but they stopped taking prose submissions after the second issue (which I got into), and canceled altogether after the third.
So, I think I'm going to make another (tried before in 2017) attempt at organizing a vore anthology. Any time of vore is allowed, soft, cock, anal, unbirth, nonfatal, fatal... Just warn me if there's disposal.
I plan on paying half a cent per word, 2,000-8,000 words preferably. Deadline tentatively set for October.
We're discussing it on my Discord server here:
https://discord.gg/rUF7nDY
Podcasting and Publishing News
General | Posted 5 years agoA few weeks ago I submitted my short story "A World Lost" to Khaki's podcast The Voice of Dog and the queue got to me today. He asked for "uplifting" furry stories to read and that was the closest thing I could find in my sci-fi horror-dominated bibliography.
Also, THP finally published Purrgatorio, which includes my story "Ancient Infections" listed under Gluttony.
Links:
The Voice of Dog (some stories erotica) https://anchor.fm/the-voice-of-dog
Khaki's Twitter: https://twitter.com/khakidoggy
Purrgatorio (very adult): https://boundtales.storenvy.com/pro.....urry-purgatory
Also, THP finally published Purrgatorio, which includes my story "Ancient Infections" listed under Gluttony.
Links:
The Voice of Dog (some stories erotica) https://anchor.fm/the-voice-of-dog
Khaki's Twitter: https://twitter.com/khakidoggy
Purrgatorio (very adult): https://boundtales.storenvy.com/pro.....urry-purgatory
Parody Comic of one of my stories
General | Posted 5 years agoFor some still unfathomable reason, 
Thiger_lel has decided to draw not fanart, or even a fancomic, but a full-blown 13-page parody comic of my story "Family Ties'.
I mean, sure, it was kind of a "poor furry's Altered Carbon" but I can't decide whether to be flattered, astonished, or appalled.
The comics are here on FA: https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery.....87917/Comics/#
Original story here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/24160684/ or in my book "Tales of the Para-Imperium"
Thiger_lel has decided to draw not fanart, or even a fancomic, but a full-blown 13-page parody comic of my story "Family Ties'.I mean, sure, it was kind of a "poor furry's Altered Carbon" but I can't decide whether to be flattered, astonished, or appalled.
The comics are here on FA: https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery.....87917/Comics/#
Original story here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/24160684/ or in my book "Tales of the Para-Imperium"
Where to Find Me
General | Posted 6 years agoMy various pages are all linked in my profile.
Tell me if any of them don't work.
Tell me if any of them don't work.
How do I navigate?
General | Posted 6 years agoWhere'd the older/newer buttons go?
I can't even use the arrow keys to go from one pic to another like on DA and FN.
I can't even use the arrow keys to go from one pic to another like on DA and FN.
See ya at Aquatifur
General | Posted 6 years agoI'll be selling both my books in print, The Pride of Parahumans and Tales of the Para-Imperium, as well as many books from my publisher Thurston Howl, this Friday to Sunday at Aquatifur.
Check us out at Chula Vista (probably not going to recoup the room cost) in Wisconsin Dells.
Check us out at Chula Vista (probably not going to recoup the room cost) in Wisconsin Dells.
Convention Schedule
General | Posted 6 years agoSo, I’ll be at Furry Migration in Minneapolis from September 6th to 8th, just a regular attendee I think. I’ll have a room reserved so if anybody is looking for sleeping space send me a note.
I also got a Dealer’s Den table at Aquatifur in Wis Dells, October 11th-13th, again. I randomly checked my spam filter today and found it there, can you believe it? Unfortunately I hadn’t reserved a room as Chula Vista is expensive and it’s only an hour’s drive from home.
I also got a Dealer’s Den table at Aquatifur in Wis Dells, October 11th-13th, again. I randomly checked my spam filter today and found it there, can you believe it? Unfortunately I hadn’t reserved a room as Chula Vista is expensive and it’s only an hour’s drive from home.
See Me in the Dealer's Den at Aquatifur (Wisconsin Dells)
General | Posted 7 years agoSo, I'll definitely be representing Thurston Howl Publications at Aquatifur this weekend, Jan 11th-13th, right across from the con store too.
The hours for the den are
Friday 1pm-7pm
Saturday 10am-6pm
and Sunday 11pm-4pm
I've got my novel, The Pride of Parahumans, Mark Engels' Always Gray in Winter, and Bill Kieffer's Goat and Cold Blood.
As well as a printout of the house's Storenvy page that I'm calling a "catalog". http://thurstonhowlpub.storenvy.com/
The hours for the den are
Friday 1pm-7pm
Saturday 10am-6pm
and Sunday 11pm-4pm
I've got my novel, The Pride of Parahumans, Mark Engels' Always Gray in Winter, and Bill Kieffer's Goat and Cold Blood.
As well as a printout of the house's Storenvy page that I'm calling a "catalog". http://thurstonhowlpub.storenvy.com/
Aquatifur 2018/2019 Anyone need a room?
General | Posted 7 years agoAquatifur informed me that their Dealer's Den had a couple last minute cancellations and offered me one of the tables.
So, you'll be able to pick up The Pride of Parahumans at a booth in Wisconsin Dells January 11th to the 13th, possibly that story collection if the cover is done soon.
I was previously planning to just drive up there daily, like last time, but if I have a table I want to have a more readily available "base of operations", so I reserved a room last minute, too late to get the group rate.
If anyone else was planning to attend the con and wanted to share a room, feel free to message me.
So, you'll be able to pick up The Pride of Parahumans at a booth in Wisconsin Dells January 11th to the 13th, possibly that story collection if the cover is done soon.
I was previously planning to just drive up there daily, like last time, but if I have a table I want to have a more readily available "base of operations", so I reserved a room last minute, too late to get the group rate.
If anyone else was planning to attend the con and wanted to share a room, feel free to message me.
NaNoWriMo and other writing updates
General | Posted 7 years agoAs I might have mentioned before, I haven't been able to complete a full 50,000 word novella for National Novel Writing Month since 2013.
This year, my publisher
howlthewolfdog has been running a novella writing workshop for the past month, and I've been writing gradually longer outlines for what will probably be more of a short story by the end of this month.
It's something of a Lovecraft influenced furry horror story about an exhausted office fox named Charles who gets invited to a cult meeting by a coworker of his. Working title so far is "Haruspicy".
While I haven't written anything on the Para-Imperium setting, I am actually planning to self-publish a collection of the stories and worldbuilding information I've posted on this site and on https://paraimperium.wordpress.com/ so keep updated for that.
A while back one of my friends wrote a "fanfic" of the Para-Imperium 'verse ( http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/8544697/ ), I honestly wouldn't mind if anyone else had their own content to add, it is a pretty big universe after all. Though I reserve the right to decide if it's canon.
Heck, I've been writing a bit of "recursive fanfiction" of this long-running Zootopia fanfic called "Take a Stand" along with some of its' other fans. (See my fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own accounts).
This year, my publisher
howlthewolfdog has been running a novella writing workshop for the past month, and I've been writing gradually longer outlines for what will probably be more of a short story by the end of this month.It's something of a Lovecraft influenced furry horror story about an exhausted office fox named Charles who gets invited to a cult meeting by a coworker of his. Working title so far is "Haruspicy".
While I haven't written anything on the Para-Imperium setting, I am actually planning to self-publish a collection of the stories and worldbuilding information I've posted on this site and on https://paraimperium.wordpress.com/ so keep updated for that.
A while back one of my friends wrote a "fanfic" of the Para-Imperium 'verse ( http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/8544697/ ), I honestly wouldn't mind if anyone else had their own content to add, it is a pretty big universe after all. Though I reserve the right to decide if it's canon.
Heck, I've been writing a bit of "recursive fanfiction" of this long-running Zootopia fanfic called "Take a Stand" along with some of its' other fans. (See my fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own accounts).
Para-Imperium Federal Bureaus
General | Posted 7 years agoAs anti-corporate as the Pallene are the Praetor simply cannot be everywhere at once. While the Federation leaves a great deal to local governments to handle anything more than a light-second outside a planet or habitat with a population of 1,000 is their jurisdiction. The Federation also maintains a starport on the most populous body in a system and in the stargate (if present). For example, if Earth were part of the Federation Luna would be under Federal control until it attracted enough colonists to apply for statehood, while Phobos and Deimos would be Martian territory.
That is a great deal of space to adminster, as such the Praetor maintains several Federal Bureaus to act in their stead. Each of these Bureaus is led by an Executor appointed by the Praetor, usually on their prior performance within the Bureau though as always there are exceptions. Bureau employees tend to start out at the bottom and work their way up, but cronyism and nepotism are not unknown and a few houses are known for their employment in one Bureau or another.
Ungated systems also have a unique quirk, the Bureaus operating in such systems don't normally answer to their Bureau superiors elsewhere in the Federation, but to the system's Emissary who appoints the local directors much like the Praetor to the Executors.
Major Bureaus:
Bureau of Allocation: Responsible for collecting taxes and budgeting to the other Bureaus. Since collecting taxes from ungated systems is... difficult to say the least, the standard policy for such systems is to spend collected taxes on local projects or on portable assets such as qubits or starships.
Bureau of Defense: The Federal Guard and Civil Guards responsible for defending the Federation from threats both external and internal.
Bureau of Ecology: Evaluates planets for Parahuman inhabitation and approves terraforming projects.
Bureau of Memetic Health: Monitors the emergence and spread of memes that might impact the Federation's cohesion. Calls on the Bureau of Defense when intervention in a meme carrier group is warranted, up to an including exile to the Outworlds.
Bureau of Transportation and Trade: Licenses conversion drive starships, produces the monopoles required for their reactors, and maintains the Starforge and the fleet of linelayers that produce the stargate network.
Bureau of Xenosophont Relations: Formerly the Bureau of Xenoarchaeology. Originally founded to study the remains of extinct alien civilizations, ever since contact with the Kershkans their mandate has been expanded to encompass contact with the Federation's non-Terran client states.
That is a great deal of space to adminster, as such the Praetor maintains several Federal Bureaus to act in their stead. Each of these Bureaus is led by an Executor appointed by the Praetor, usually on their prior performance within the Bureau though as always there are exceptions. Bureau employees tend to start out at the bottom and work their way up, but cronyism and nepotism are not unknown and a few houses are known for their employment in one Bureau or another.
Ungated systems also have a unique quirk, the Bureaus operating in such systems don't normally answer to their Bureau superiors elsewhere in the Federation, but to the system's Emissary who appoints the local directors much like the Praetor to the Executors.
Major Bureaus:
Bureau of Allocation: Responsible for collecting taxes and budgeting to the other Bureaus. Since collecting taxes from ungated systems is... difficult to say the least, the standard policy for such systems is to spend collected taxes on local projects or on portable assets such as qubits or starships.
Bureau of Defense: The Federal Guard and Civil Guards responsible for defending the Federation from threats both external and internal.
Bureau of Ecology: Evaluates planets for Parahuman inhabitation and approves terraforming projects.
Bureau of Memetic Health: Monitors the emergence and spread of memes that might impact the Federation's cohesion. Calls on the Bureau of Defense when intervention in a meme carrier group is warranted, up to an including exile to the Outworlds.
Bureau of Transportation and Trade: Licenses conversion drive starships, produces the monopoles required for their reactors, and maintains the Starforge and the fleet of linelayers that produce the stargate network.
Bureau of Xenosophont Relations: Formerly the Bureau of Xenoarchaeology. Originally founded to study the remains of extinct alien civilizations, ever since contact with the Kershkans their mandate has been expanded to encompass contact with the Federation's non-Terran client states.
Book Giveaway on Twitter
General | Posted 7 years agoEarlier this year I had a local book store carry some copies of my novella, "The Pride of Parahumans", on consignment. Last week they sent all of them back, including two I autographed for their booth at WisCon.
I'm thinking now that I may be overdue for that standard tactic of the indie author, the giveaway. So, from now until July 7th, if you follow me on twitter and retweet the original announcement, you will be entered into a raffle for one of the two signed copies.
If I get more than 20 follows and retweets (it's currently at 12) I will sign another book for the raffle.
https://twitter.com/zarpaulus/statu.....10934996361216
I'm thinking now that I may be overdue for that standard tactic of the indie author, the giveaway. So, from now until July 7th, if you follow me on twitter and retweet the original announcement, you will be entered into a raffle for one of the two signed copies.
If I get more than 20 follows and retweets (it's currently at 12) I will sign another book for the raffle.
https://twitter.com/zarpaulus/statu.....10934996361216
On Archive of Our Own now
General | Posted 7 years agoI finally got into that new fanfic website, I'm currently mirroring my fics there at a rough rate of one chapter a night in largely chronological order.
I'm currently a quarter into "Zootopian Eclipse"
https://archiveofourown.org/users/Z.....euds/Zarpaulus
I'm currently a quarter into "Zootopian Eclipse"
https://archiveofourown.org/users/Z.....euds/Zarpaulus
Musings: Superheroes and Transhumanism
General | Posted 7 years agoSuperheroes: Individuals with special skills, equipment, and in particular, powers that they use to fight criminals both “mundane” and superpowered like themselves. They might have mutations from laboratory accidents or accident of birth, they might have been augmented with cybernetics after sustaining horrific injuries, they could have escaped from a secret super soldier project, or maybe they weren’t human in the first place.
Transhumanism: The philosophy that the limitations of the human body should be “transcended” through the use of technology. Specifically, technology internal to the body such as cybernetic implants or genetic modification. The hope is that such tech will make people hardier, smarter, longer-lived, potentially even immortal.
Now, one might be forgiven for thinking that superheroes were prime examples of transhumans, but in truth the majority couldn’t be farther from them. You see, most transhumanists see the ability to choose to enhance oneself a right that should be available, though they might disagree on how one gains access to enhancement. While very few superheroes willingly obtain their powers, and if they do they either refuse to share the source of their powers or plot happens to prevent others from following in their footsteps. Captain America’s probably the closest to the transhumanist ideal as he volunteered for the super soldier project, but the serum was destroyed after his enhancement. Iron Man and Black Panther on the other hand, could make the sources of their powers available to the world, but choose not to for fear that “the wrong people” could misuse them.
Of course, the main reason why superheroes can’t share their superpower sources with the world is sales. The big two comic book publishers in particular have been running their big titles for the better part of a century and they can’t risk making too many big changes to the status quo in the story, hence any world-shattering events like mass produced superpowers can’t stick. That’s also why superheroes and villains rarely stay dead.
The secondary reason why superhero stories are anti-transhuman is that supers are by necessity exceptional people who accept or reject “the burden of protecting the mundanes.” Writers need a reason why these particular people are fighting crime or attempting to conquer the world, and it would be much more difficult to justify their actions if everybody had superpowers. Though frankly, I think Syndrome from “The Incredibles” said it best: “...when everybody’s special, nobody is.”
Now, whether it’s possible to write a work of fiction with superheroes and transhumanism is another story. If just anyone can punch through a wall or bounce bullets off their skin there’s not really much point to committing or thwarting super-crimes. The most apparent possibility is specialization, in which some transhumans choose to focus on combat-oriented enhancements for good or ill. Of course, this presumes some kind of limitation is applied to the number or type of enhancements one person might possess. This tends to be more explicit in role-playing games than prose or comics, where powers are typically assigned point values that one must expend a resource to obtain.
In cyberpunk RPGs money tends to be the resource of choice for obtaining new abilities. Money could easily be the transhuman limiting factor in your superhero story but be wary about making enhancements too expensive. If the average person cannot afford enhancement without a governmental, corporate, or criminal sponsor the setting can get very dark very fast. Of course, post-scarcity economies tend to go hand-in-hand with transhumanist settings so maybe money wouldn’t fit as a limiting factor.
After money the next apparent limitation would be physical size, even nanobots take up some space in the body. It’s fully plausible that your potential superhero can’t fit their orbital calculator in with their subdermal plating and targeting implant. Related would be a limitation on how many implants the human brain can learn to control. Now, there are many settings where people can change their bodies like shirts and everybody can have access to a few dozen spare bodies, and I’m not going to try and convince you that “pattern continuity” is just Cartesian dualism stripped of the overtly supernatural elements this time, so let’s try another concept. In the Orion’s Arm setting the Singularity is not an event, rather it is a threshold for brain complexity. Once a being goes through the intensely traumatic process of ascending to a new Singularity they find it as difficult to relate to their former peers as humans to dogs. Their concerns have taken on a whole new scale, a “generalist” transhuman might distribute their consciousness processes over a dozen different specialized bodies including a spaceship, but find themselves more concerned with controlling solar flares than stopping thieves with superspeed and pyrokinetic terrorists.
The third way to keep superheroes in a transhuman setting “super” involves the law. There’s a bit of an anarchist streak running through the transhumanist community but it would be possible for a government to approve limited implementation of human enhancement technology. In the most liberal versions only weaponized enhancements might be banned, as the setting gets more authoritarian enhancements that might cause collateral damage such as strength or speed boosts might be restricted, until finally you get a sort of “reverse Harrison Bergeron” where everyone is modded to the limits of “natural” human ability and no further. Now, superheroes have traditionally been vigilantes, breaking the law to carry out their idea of justice, so this doesn’t preclude the possibility of transhuman superheroes in the slightest. At most, you might add a bit more antagonism between the police and supers than was usual for even the more cynical eras of comic publication.
In conclusion, there are ways to write superhero stories that aren’t contradictory to transhumanist philosophy, but most mainstream publishers don’t use them.
Transhumanism: The philosophy that the limitations of the human body should be “transcended” through the use of technology. Specifically, technology internal to the body such as cybernetic implants or genetic modification. The hope is that such tech will make people hardier, smarter, longer-lived, potentially even immortal.
Now, one might be forgiven for thinking that superheroes were prime examples of transhumans, but in truth the majority couldn’t be farther from them. You see, most transhumanists see the ability to choose to enhance oneself a right that should be available, though they might disagree on how one gains access to enhancement. While very few superheroes willingly obtain their powers, and if they do they either refuse to share the source of their powers or plot happens to prevent others from following in their footsteps. Captain America’s probably the closest to the transhumanist ideal as he volunteered for the super soldier project, but the serum was destroyed after his enhancement. Iron Man and Black Panther on the other hand, could make the sources of their powers available to the world, but choose not to for fear that “the wrong people” could misuse them.
Of course, the main reason why superheroes can’t share their superpower sources with the world is sales. The big two comic book publishers in particular have been running their big titles for the better part of a century and they can’t risk making too many big changes to the status quo in the story, hence any world-shattering events like mass produced superpowers can’t stick. That’s also why superheroes and villains rarely stay dead.
The secondary reason why superhero stories are anti-transhuman is that supers are by necessity exceptional people who accept or reject “the burden of protecting the mundanes.” Writers need a reason why these particular people are fighting crime or attempting to conquer the world, and it would be much more difficult to justify their actions if everybody had superpowers. Though frankly, I think Syndrome from “The Incredibles” said it best: “...when everybody’s special, nobody is.”
Now, whether it’s possible to write a work of fiction with superheroes and transhumanism is another story. If just anyone can punch through a wall or bounce bullets off their skin there’s not really much point to committing or thwarting super-crimes. The most apparent possibility is specialization, in which some transhumans choose to focus on combat-oriented enhancements for good or ill. Of course, this presumes some kind of limitation is applied to the number or type of enhancements one person might possess. This tends to be more explicit in role-playing games than prose or comics, where powers are typically assigned point values that one must expend a resource to obtain.
In cyberpunk RPGs money tends to be the resource of choice for obtaining new abilities. Money could easily be the transhuman limiting factor in your superhero story but be wary about making enhancements too expensive. If the average person cannot afford enhancement without a governmental, corporate, or criminal sponsor the setting can get very dark very fast. Of course, post-scarcity economies tend to go hand-in-hand with transhumanist settings so maybe money wouldn’t fit as a limiting factor.
After money the next apparent limitation would be physical size, even nanobots take up some space in the body. It’s fully plausible that your potential superhero can’t fit their orbital calculator in with their subdermal plating and targeting implant. Related would be a limitation on how many implants the human brain can learn to control. Now, there are many settings where people can change their bodies like shirts and everybody can have access to a few dozen spare bodies, and I’m not going to try and convince you that “pattern continuity” is just Cartesian dualism stripped of the overtly supernatural elements this time, so let’s try another concept. In the Orion’s Arm setting the Singularity is not an event, rather it is a threshold for brain complexity. Once a being goes through the intensely traumatic process of ascending to a new Singularity they find it as difficult to relate to their former peers as humans to dogs. Their concerns have taken on a whole new scale, a “generalist” transhuman might distribute their consciousness processes over a dozen different specialized bodies including a spaceship, but find themselves more concerned with controlling solar flares than stopping thieves with superspeed and pyrokinetic terrorists.
The third way to keep superheroes in a transhuman setting “super” involves the law. There’s a bit of an anarchist streak running through the transhumanist community but it would be possible for a government to approve limited implementation of human enhancement technology. In the most liberal versions only weaponized enhancements might be banned, as the setting gets more authoritarian enhancements that might cause collateral damage such as strength or speed boosts might be restricted, until finally you get a sort of “reverse Harrison Bergeron” where everyone is modded to the limits of “natural” human ability and no further. Now, superheroes have traditionally been vigilantes, breaking the law to carry out their idea of justice, so this doesn’t preclude the possibility of transhuman superheroes in the slightest. At most, you might add a bit more antagonism between the police and supers than was usual for even the more cynical eras of comic publication.
In conclusion, there are ways to write superhero stories that aren’t contradictory to transhumanist philosophy, but most mainstream publishers don’t use them.
Story Ideas on Hold
General | Posted 7 years agoI really need better time management:
Memories in Review: This has one episode out in my stories, but I haven't gotten around to writing more on it.
Terryn's Backstory: For NaNoWriMo last year I was going to write a new novel about young Shigeto Terryn as a Tau Cetan noble's son going to Alpha Centauri for an educational exchange program. But I hit massive writer's block before he even got off the planet.
Adventure-Friendly World: My latest idea for the Para-Imperium 'verse. It takes place on an Outworld where Federation technology is mistaken for magic and enhanced adventuring guilds have formed a sort of military junta. The main character might be an adventurer's illegitimate daughter who inherited some of his strength biomods.
And then there's the stuff in other people's IPs
Jadeclaw: I was thinking of writing the story of a newly qualified imperial bureaucrat and his journey to his first post, or to the examination, and what follows afterwards. Maybe I could pitch it to Rafferty but I don't know if he'd be interested in fiction for his games at this point.
Zootopia Zombie Apocalypse: An AU where the Night Howler serum turned contagious while Judy was at the academy, which has become a fortified enclave. Then Nick comes by to trade scavenged scrap.
Also, Wilde Magic and Rise of the Zootopian Star Republic aren't done.
Memories in Review: This has one episode out in my stories, but I haven't gotten around to writing more on it.
Terryn's Backstory: For NaNoWriMo last year I was going to write a new novel about young Shigeto Terryn as a Tau Cetan noble's son going to Alpha Centauri for an educational exchange program. But I hit massive writer's block before he even got off the planet.
Adventure-Friendly World: My latest idea for the Para-Imperium 'verse. It takes place on an Outworld where Federation technology is mistaken for magic and enhanced adventuring guilds have formed a sort of military junta. The main character might be an adventurer's illegitimate daughter who inherited some of his strength biomods.
And then there's the stuff in other people's IPs
Jadeclaw: I was thinking of writing the story of a newly qualified imperial bureaucrat and his journey to his first post, or to the examination, and what follows afterwards. Maybe I could pitch it to Rafferty but I don't know if he'd be interested in fiction for his games at this point.
Zootopia Zombie Apocalypse: An AU where the Night Howler serum turned contagious while Judy was at the academy, which has become a fortified enclave. Then Nick comes by to trade scavenged scrap.
Also, Wilde Magic and Rise of the Zootopian Star Republic aren't done.
Artist Offering Free Sketches
General | Posted 7 years ago
ProcyonLupus decided he needs a bit of practice drawing so he's offering free sketches with his characters, SFW or NSFW, over here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/26727703/At Fur Squared this weekend
General | Posted 8 years agoI was too late to get a Dealer's Den booth at Fur Squared this year, but myself and fellow Thurston Howl published author Mark Engels will be running our Paths to Publication panel Saturday at noon and reading excerpts from our novels.
Hopefully I can get a booth at Furry Migration though.
Hopefully I can get a booth at Furry Migration though.
Planning a bit of a "mix-and-match" RPG
General | Posted 8 years agoYou see, I like the cyberpunk/posthuman setting of Hc Svnt Dracones but I can't say much for the rule system with its 20 stats that sometimes combine in counter-intuitive ways. I know second edition is coming out "soon" but in the meantime I have an idea for a campaign from the new "Sound and Silence" lorebook and I think it would work quite well with the more rules-light system of Supers!
You see, in HSD the MegaCorp Pulse is a media giant in the most literal of terms. They've created a bunch of team sports and game shows, even "reality TV". They also foster very competitive attitudes in the citizenry of their corptowns and encourage them to purchase augmentation surgeries (preferably from their clinics). One of their numerous public relations projects to help promote those ideals are the Beacons, costumed and usually augmented vigilantes sponsored by the MegaCorp. In other words, superheroes.
Most Beacons have some sort of show, sport, or other well-known event that makes them celebrities; and then they spend their downtime stopping criminals or rescuing people from fires or some other thing that makes Pulse look good. They also tend to break stuff in the process, but their megacorporate sponsor covers the bills.
Fortunately Pulse's contract with the IRPF stipulates that they turn a blind eye to their actions.
There's also a possibility that Pulse will occasionally back a supervillain or unleash a monster on the unknowing populace for the sake of ratings.
This pic shows an example NPC Beacon by the name of "Hardlight"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16W.....ew?usp=sharing
Unfortunately I've only got two, maybe three players who have expressed interest as yet. If this sounds intriguing send me a note and I'll invite you to my Discord server.
Campaign begins in mid-January, at the earliest.
You see, in HSD the MegaCorp Pulse is a media giant in the most literal of terms. They've created a bunch of team sports and game shows, even "reality TV". They also foster very competitive attitudes in the citizenry of their corptowns and encourage them to purchase augmentation surgeries (preferably from their clinics). One of their numerous public relations projects to help promote those ideals are the Beacons, costumed and usually augmented vigilantes sponsored by the MegaCorp. In other words, superheroes.
Most Beacons have some sort of show, sport, or other well-known event that makes them celebrities; and then they spend their downtime stopping criminals or rescuing people from fires or some other thing that makes Pulse look good. They also tend to break stuff in the process, but their megacorporate sponsor covers the bills.
Fortunately Pulse's contract with the IRPF stipulates that they turn a blind eye to their actions.
There's also a possibility that Pulse will occasionally back a supervillain or unleash a monster on the unknowing populace for the sake of ratings.
This pic shows an example NPC Beacon by the name of "Hardlight"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16W.....ew?usp=sharing
Unfortunately I've only got two, maybe three players who have expressed interest as yet. If this sounds intriguing send me a note and I'll invite you to my Discord server.
Campaign begins in mid-January, at the earliest.
