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At The Bright Empire....
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--Brantley
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It has been ten years since Homecoming III ended with an epilogue in which Aphro'dite reveals her plan for the creation of the Protectors and all that follows. It has been more than six years since the first book of Empress of the Dawn, Book Three of which told of the exile of Alexius, a scion of the royal family of Andros inadvertently enhanced by the Companion Kalla. Today these stories finally come together in the latest update of Book Two of First Protector.
It's been a labor of world-building, but also a labor of character building and a labor of collaboration. The story line of Homecoming began with Velvet Belle Tree, and was a spin-off of our Companions but which was also to create the Scalantrans as a people with a nature and culture all their own. The idea of Companions, of course, originated with Shadar, and the Empress series was based on an outline of his. First Protector likewise originated with Shadar, who wrote the first version of what is now Book One. But I've put my own spin on the saga of Vespyr, just as I have on that of Kalla. And the history in which they play key roles has other spin-offs, as in Incident at Madstop.
But for now, it's all about Vespyr, who is finding a new destiny.
--Brantley Thompson Elkins
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--Brantley
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Are you sure about the model's identity. The picture looks more like Scarlet Johansson to me.brantley wrote: Working on further updates of First Protector 2. For one of them, I'll need a jpg of Vespyr as a Protector. Kate Bosworth was Shadar's model for her. Can anyone substitute her face for that in the generic superheroine costume pic?
--Brantley
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--Brantley
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Woodclaw wrote:
Are you sure about the model's identity. The picture looks more like Scarlet Johansson to me.brantley wrote: Working on further updates of First Protector 2. For one of them, I'll need a jpg of Vespyr as a Protector. Kate Bosworth was Shadar's model for her. Can anyone substitute her face for that in the generic superheroine costume pic?
--Brantley
I'm not sure whose original face was on that frankenized image, but I put Scarlet's head on that body to make the "original" image a Velorian.
Now Brantley wants Kate's head put on instead of Scarlet's.
I used to be able to do that kind of stuff in Photoshop, but the software has changed so much in certain areas in the last ten years that I'm not up to speed any more. The images in question for Brantley's project are all flattened, so you've got to cut a head with complicated hair free of the background of a Kate image, and then put on in foreground of this one (after removing poor Scarlet's head and hair).
Easy for some people, but out of my league now.
Shadar
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It is a wonderful as always.
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www.infinitybridge.net/
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www.brightempire.com/First-2.pdf
It is only now that she learns she has been chosen for that role by Aphro'dite herself, albeit with a little help from a friend – the First Sponsor, as it were. They are playing with history and mythology, creating the very foundations of the Aurora Universe as we have known it since Sharon Best (now Shadar) began writing about it in 1995. But there has been a lot of universe building since then, and there is more to come.
--Brantley Thompson Elkins
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www.livescience.com/60701-ligo-neutron-s...avy-metals-gold.html
--Brantley
P.S.: Close to 180 hits on FP-2 update.
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brantley wrote: Maybe a connection to the origin of Velorian system, sayeth Shadar.
www.livescience.com/60701-ligo-neutron-s...avy-metals-gold.html
--Brantley
P.S.: Close to 180 hits on FP-2 update.
My concept of the Supremis coming from gold-cored planets has sometimes been criticized as beyond even the plausibility of even the SF/Fantasy genre I enjoy. My only excuse has been that "it seemed like a good idea at the moment".
Well, now scientists have observed two neutron stars colliding and producing lots and lots of heavy metals, including probably enough gold to make a couple of planets. The scientific thinking for some time has been that all the heavy metals (which are obviously extremely neutron rich) in the universe came from neutron star collisions as nothing else we knew about could explain it. Now, finally, the radiation from such a collision has been observed in enough spectra to say with confidence that is how it works.
As usual, wait long enough, and even some of the most ridiculous SF ideas become validated.
(I'm eagerly awaiting FTL travel, but am not holding my breath, thank you Mr. Einstein, party pooper.)
Shadar
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shadar wrote:
brantley wrote: Maybe a connection to the origin of Velorian system, sayeth Shadar.
www.livescience.com/60701-ligo-neutron-s...avy-metals-gold.html
--Brantley
P.S.: Close to 180 hits on FP-2 update.
My concept of the Supremis coming from gold-cored planets has sometimes been criticized as beyond even the plausibility of even the SF/Fantasy genre I enjoy. My only excuse has been that "it seemed like a good idea at the moment".
Well, now scientists have observed two neutron stars colliding and producing lots and lots of heavy metals, including probably enough gold to make a couple of planets. The scientific thinking for some time has been that all the heavy metals (which are obviously extremely neutron rich) in the universe came from neutron star collisions as nothing else we knew about could explain it. Now, finally, the radiation from such a collision has been observed in enough spectra to say with confidence that is how it works.
As usual, wait long enough, and even some of the most ridiculous SF ideas become validated.
(I'm eagerly awaiting FTL travel, but am not holding my breath, thank you Mr. Einstein, party pooper.)
Shadar
For me, the problem reside more with the fact that from many description it felt like Velor had solid gold core, hence the idea of a planet with a core made up around an enormous quantity of a single element, rather than an alloy of elements. Granted this is one of those artistic licenses that I'm more than willing to pass, since it serves the purpose of the story.
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brantley wrote: Maybe it didn't sink as far on Velor. And maybe gold accounted for a far higher share than average of the heavy metals produced in the particular collision in that vicinity. I suppose we can add a bit the doubletalk of AU history,
--Brantley
The reality of the original concept and later rationalizations are (as if often the case) very different.
The thought behind it was:
1) For plot reasons, I needed a control mechanism to keep people who could fly trapped on their home planet. The Galen were bio-engineering humans for a purpose. You don't just make superbeings and then let them all fly away.
2) I needed to depower Velorians at times when interacting with humans as ramping up female strength by a few thousand times presents certain rather obvious problems for intimate relationships. And most of my stories are told from the perspective of an ordinary human male.
3) I REALLY like the way gold chokers look on tall, blonde women.
#3 solely accounts for the use of gold as the control mechanism. Certainly not science.
Shadar
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As for plausibility -- hey, we do better than Dan Brown!
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