military
Just to clear up a few misconceptions that may have crept in: David Weber, alas, has done me no favors by convincing much of the SF-reading world that the standard interstellar badass is the dreadnought. And, yes, you may remember me saying “it sure would be nice to build nothing
spacer
(Obvious idea is obvious.) walkplate (n.): A walkway for magnetic boots (q.v.). Since starship hulls in the modern era are manufactured from a variety of light composites very few of which are significantly ferromagnetic, such walkplates are necessary to enable crewers on EVA to remain attached to the ship.
medicine
PROCEDURES IN THE EVENT OF IRREVERSIBLE CONTAMINATION In the event of irreversible contamination by biological or nanotechnological plagues, and standard quarantine responses are deemed insufficient, either (a) as declared by consensus of the Flight Commander, Environmental Systems Engineer, and Flight Surgeon, or (b) as imposed by order of a duly
military
I am removing this post. Why am I removing this post? Because apparently no matter how many disclaimers I stick on some numbers I came up with on the back of an envelope before my morning coffee, concerning both those factors and how they represent a hypothetical extreme case that
military
LEVIATHAN-CLASS DREADNOUGHT Operated by: Empire of the Star Type: Dreadnought, General Operations Construction: Palaxias Fleet Yards Length: 3 km Beam (avg.): 0.8 km Z-Beam (avg.): 0.6 km Dry mass: 2,500,000 tons Gravity-well capable: No. Atmosphere-capable: No. Personnel: 6,736 * 4,968 crewers * 1,768 espatiers * Thinker-class
Cultural Crossovers
Straight on with it: * Well, they don’t look much like pre-stellar ignition creatures, but we’ll roll with it. (Anyway, wouldn’t they be Hot Ones in that case, not Cold Ones?) * …using a K does not make words extra-special. Just ask the Krell, the K’kree, the Kazon…
worldbuilding
Randomness: I’ve just rewatched Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Thus, for anyone who wasn’t around the first time it came up, this is your reminder that wuxia is a good model for what classical melee combat looks like in the ‘verse – only glowier, since space magic, unlike qi, has
military
“The best approach to peacekeeping is the sophont-friendly one. “This is standard doctrine. Most sophonts resent being policed by machines – unfeeling, uncaring, unstoppable. They can’t be negotiated with; can’t empathize; can’t offer even a moment of understanding. A mailed fist without a velvet glove. Thus, our peacekeeping
fanfic
Well, you didn’t think I’d need a suddenly need a policy for no reason, did you? Go here to read Heads and Tails, written by long-time reader Morgrim. Your author deems it to be Good Stuff.
fanfic
(The answer to a question asked on the Eldraeverse Discord, copied here since not everyone follows the Eldraeverse Discord.) Fanfiction policy: Well, first, I’m rather gratified to discover that I need a fanfiction policy… 1. I don’t have any objection to fanfiction per se . Content-wise, however, I would
meta
Okay. I regret having to do this, because by and large I enjoy engaging with my readers and satisfying their curiosity, but — I am, as of now, declaring a complete, conclusive, and perpetual moratorium on all “gotcha” questions. (I am not providing a definition, because definitions can be gamed; if
worldbuilding
So today I was catching up on another work I’ve been following on another site, and one of the chapters reminded me of some of the discussions we (all, collectively) have had about the UBI / Citizen’s Dividend here. (Click through to read and scroll down to the bit