Crass Commercialism

As it’s nearing the end of the month, that time at which Patreon charges people’s cards, today I deem an excellent day to thank my Patreon patrons for their contributions to my writing time and funds. Thank you, gentlesophs, most kindly; your generosity is most appreciated. Of course,

Master of the House

She slipped quietly into the busy room through the servitor passage, anonymous in the grey and dark crimson livery of the House staff, and placed the goblet of wine on the arm of the throne at the speaker’s right hand. Not waiting for acknowledgement, she turned to leave, and

Epistolary Experiment (19/30)

EMERGENCY ALERT FLASH FLASH FLASH FLASH FLASH VNS Social Harmony destroyed in antimatter explosion, cause unknown. Admiral Tarqar and his command staff lost. All Guardian Fleet units go to Case Black. Message repeats. VNS Social Harmony destroyed in antimatter explosion, cause unknown. Admiral Tarqar and his command staff lost. All

Trope-a-Day: Mechanical Horse

Mechanical Horse: While recognizing the general principle of the occasional usefulness of walkers, the Imperials generally prefer mechanical spiders, or at least hexapods.  Extra stability is always nice. (They’re also not generally used for military applications [but see also Spider Tank].  The legs, and the joints in particular, are

Trope-a-Day: Spider Tank

Spider Tank: The classic eight-legged war walker is mostly averted these days, thanks to vector control and modern power reactors letting you build hovering tanks, with rather lower maintenance requirements and fewer vulnerable joints, but it was quite the staple back in the day.  (Not to replace regular tanks, which

Technepraxic #2

“Only the smallest, least enlightened minds accept the limits of the currently possible. Indeed, only small minds accept the limits of the possible, where greater minds strive to expand its reach. Some apologist philosophers would advance the claim that a finite mind is inherently limited in its ability to comprehend

Trope-a-Day: Meat Moss

Meat Moss: A characteristic of the esseli homeworld, and more specifically their cities, starships, and other facilities. Kind of similar to the way Star Control portrays it, actually. See, the esseli are biotech wizards and use it for just about everything they can – although there are many things for which

Trope-a-Day: Mechanical Evolution

Mechanical Evolution: True for digital sapiences, with the proviso they note that ‘It is seldom shown as the equivalent of the biological process; rather, the mechanical species will be shown to actively design their own successors, or even “evolve” within their current generation through self-modification. This is similar to real-life

I Now Pronounce You Trust And Trust

Lorcis Vianath-ith-Vianne & Selves Pty., Bonded Commercial Obligators, to Sens Dal Shen, Kar Riette, and Tir Ledeen, greetings. With regard to your communication of the 20th inst., we have undertaken a preliminary legal investigation into the commercial contractual arrangements between the specified parties, Sentir Industrial Products and Nen-Palan Environmental Atmospherics.

Things That Make Things

Since we’ve just passed the Matter Replicator trope, and since it may be relevant to an upcoming FAQ question, I thought I’d throw out some definitions relating to such things that may make things clear. Well, clearer. A nanofac is the basis of nanofacturing technology. Think of it

Trope-a-Day: Mayfly December Romance

Mayfly December Romance: Mostly averted; in two different ways.  The happy one is that immortagens are now available for just about every species, thus avoiding the tragedy of death.  The less happy one is that… well, while one may well be able to love someone who is doomed to die,

Questions

Additionally, based on expressions of interest I’ve received, I’m going to open up the floor for questions from my Patreon patrons – one per $ per month – as suggested here, and now added to the Patreon rewards list. So! Let’s start while the iron is hot. It’s January,