trope-a-day
Trope-a-Day: Space Cossacks
Space Cossacks: This is where much of the Rim Free Zone’s population comes from. And, indeed, more than a few independent drifts and city-ships.
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Trope-a-Day: Space Cold War
Space Cold War: Oh, lots of them, simultaneously. The Empire vs. the Voniensa Republic over AI rights, proper contact protocol, economics, and No Transhumanism Allowed. The Silicate Tree versus AI-slaver civilizations, with contributions from the Photonic Network, Empire, and others. Random bits of the Rim Free Zone versus whichever states
trope-a-day
Trope-a-Day: Space Clothes
Space Clothes: Averted; even in space, people just wear regular clothes.  (Sure, they have lots of pockets, but that’s not specific to spacer culture.)  The only difference is that the pure-skirt option is eliminated for both sexes (because microgravity), and the cloaks have to come with MEMS and occasional
less-lethal weapon
Trope-a-Day: Sonic Stunner/Static Stun Gun
(Sorry, folks, no fic today. We spent much of said day having electrical work done, leaving me separated from the notes and assorted apps which I need to check various important details of the whichness of the whyfore, so…) Sonic Stunner / Static Stun Gun: Averted the former because the general
trope-a-day
Trope-a-Day: Something Only They Would Say
Something Only They Would Say: A number of intelligence agencies and other organizations use this kind of call-and-response code as a non-technology-dependent shibboleth, but for the sake of extra security, they’ve more or less perfected the technique of embedding them into subconscious levels of the mind-state, so that the
trope-a-day
Trope-a-Day: Some Call Me Tim
Some Call Me Tim: They didn’t go to all the trouble of acquiring such an impressive collection of syllables (see: Overly Long Name) to have some git go and shorten them. Use all of them. Well, at least, use everything up to and including the attributive name if you
trope-a-day
Trope-a-Day: Sociopathic Hero
Sociopathic Hero: The Fifth Directorate has special tools (ICE BLUESHIFT) to induce the capacity for this sort of behavior – albeit very high-functioning ones, who genuinely don’t have any desire for cruelty [1] – under special circumstances, because in the existential threats business, sometimes necessity really does mandate, and so forth.
trope-a-day
Trope-a-Day: Society of Immortals
Society of Immortals:Â Indeed, the eldrae and the galari (among others) being natural immortals, and desiring very much to extend the privilege to everyone else, too.
trope-a-day
Trope-a-Day: Snowy Screen of Death
Snowy Screen of Death: Imperial camera systems, like just about everything else, are digital mesh-networked systems these days. When something gets disabled or shredded, you get a blank screen and a “Connection lost; connection timed out.” message, not static.
trope-a-day
Trope-a-Day: Slow Doors
Slow Doors: Even in the future, blast doors are less than sprightly. Except when being closed in an emergency. Which is to say, by explosives. (Don’t stand on the red-and-yellow chevrons.)
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Ongoing Rumbles
“…encode status report for immediate transmission to Vonis Prime…from VNS Moderation, Kadash IV…riot control action…fighting broken out in several major cities…operational dues, bank transfer payments and…seized…forces imprisoned planetside…self fired upon by local system defense forces…forced to withdraw…unrest elsewhere in the Shell…
trope-a-day
Trope-a-Day: Slippy Slidey Ice World
Slippy Slidey Ice World: Welcome to any number of outer-system moons and planets. If you’re lucky, they’re cold enough that your waste heat won’t be enough to produce a water (or whatever the liquid form of the frozen stuff is, ’cause there’s no guarantee that it’