worldbuilding
Something I was reminded of â by some of the comments here (âŠThere Is Only Awesomeness) that suggest an assumption of ground combat as a default â is the surprising emptiness of space in many settings. (Iâm looking at you, Star Trek, where even the freakinâ capital of the Federation, Sol
trope-a-day
The Future Will Be Better: Well, obviously. Weâre working to improve the present all the time, and weâre fundamentally awesome, so thereâs basically no way the future canât be better. Why would you even ask that question? (In Earth-relative terms, the Imperial cultural climate successfully blends
meta
So, today I was randomly reminded of In The Grim Darkness Of The Contact Form, and the hypothetical fictional possibilities of a face-off between the Empire and Warhammer 40Kâs Imperium of Man, which details I cover there with a note that I canât really deal with metaphysical mismatches
trope-a-day
Future Spandex:Â By and large, this class of garmentage is averted. There are a very few specialist exceptions â skinsuits, which have to be skin-tight in order to work; body gloves, which are mocap and environmental sealing devices for hardshell armor; spray-on protection â but by and large what these things have
Freedom's Seed COG
CimĂłr gazed out over the lectern as her audience finished connecting. The virtual space was crowded with avatars â the glowing spheres with emoticon faces that nym-avatars defaulted to, naturally, hiding identity, culture, and species â haloed with the expected glows marking slow connections and packet loss. Even those telerepresenting from less
trope-a-day
Future Imperfect: Generally averted, due to the historical greater continuity of civilization (âIt has been 7,921 years since the last interregnum.â), general better record-keeping (thanks to the Repository of All Knowledge, et. al., and a religious climate that favors the burning of book-burners, and so forth), and, of course,
ChengĂĄl Rock
âThe Venerable and Veritable Autocrator of ChengĂĄl Rock, may his reign last forever, will be accepting petitions from all within the Rock during the first shift for the megapulse following the Rockâs apoapsis, as custom dictates. Please note that immediately following shift-end, all vacuum-qualified citizens of the Rock are
trope-a-day
Fictional Color: Proliferate, since it is the nature of exotic species in general that not all of them will use the same chunk of the electromagnetic spectrum for seeing with. Most obviously, if you have typical eldrae eyeballs, before red in your spectrum comes calescent gallé, which we can only
worldbuilding
So, in things to think about, letâs talk about intellectual integrity. Or, more specifically, letâs talk about a citation Iâm taking from Paean to SMAC (Sid Meierâs Alpha Centauri)âs discussion of the Intellectual Integrity technology, and specifically this: That this is tied to a technology
trope-a-day
Flying Books:Â Not usually books, no, but flying paper â which works best when folded into small origami models of birds and aircraft â yes. Itâs an impractical yet fun device intended principally for the sending of romantic missives.
governance
âAnother of these accidental creations is the governance of the Thanedom of Darazik, a minor azikeldrae city-state in southern AltĂ©nĂĂ€. Its story begins when the initial charter of the thanedom was drafted, in which the overthane was appointed to his office âin perpetuityâ rather than the more conventional âas willedâ
trope-a-day
Force-Field Door: Not generally used, since sensible engineers and architects by and large put doors there for a reason, and prefer it when the doors do not vanish as soon as the power goes out. Even less used as airlocks or spacetight doors, since itâs even more embarrassing when