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At The Bright Empire....

30 Dec 2017 20:57 - 30 Dec 2017 21:02 #57937 by brantley
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Still have to figure out what those factions are! Any suggestions?
But in Throne of the Gods, it is established that Aphro'dite lends her support to Theel'dara, who wants Velor to become more humane (as opposed to human). In Homecoming III, she seems to have foreseen this. I like to make all sorts of cross-connections, as in science fiction future histories, and try to rationalize things as best I can.

By the way, not much in the canon dealing directly with the Daimoni, but Ultrasybarite posted three key stories before gafiating:

www.brightempire.com/Harvest.html

www.brightempire.com/Harvest2.html

www.brightempire.com/FindingSanctuary.html

--Brantley
Last edit: 30 Dec 2017 21:02 by brantley.

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31 Dec 2017 15:30 #57941 by brantley
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A science fictional parallel to the practical and ethical challenges facing the Velorians -- and perhaps even the Galen:

In Henry Kuttner’s “Clash by Night” (1943), Earth itself has been destroyed in nuclear armageddon. Mankind still survives on Venus, in undersea Keeps, for the continents are savage jungles. War survives, too. In highly ritualized conflicts fought on behalf of rival Keeps by the Free Companies: bands of mercenaries bound by a strict code of honor.
The Keeps themselves are never attacked, and should any warrior band break the taboo on atomic weapons, the others will turn on it and destroy it without mercy. Scott commands the Doones, one unit in a typical war for economic advantage between the Montana and Virginia Keeps. But his loyalty to them comes to seem a foolish one; the romantic ideals of the Free Companies are delusions: “Blind, stupid folly!” He longs for the hedonistic comforts of the Keeps. In the end, however, he cannot abandon his company, for it helps serve an objectively necessary end: preserving the Keeps from the danger of war, until the Keeps themselves tire of war and make the mercenaries objectively unnecessary:
"The Doones meant nothing. Their ideal was a false one. Yet, because men were faithful to that ideal, civilization would rise again from the guarded Keeps. A civilization that would forget its doomed guardians, the waters of the seas of Venus, the Free Companions yelling their mad, futile battle cry as they drove on – as this ship was driving – into a night that would have no dawn."

--Brantley

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04 Jan 2018 10:56 #58011 by brantley
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www.brightempire.com/SuperXmas.htm

It's the eleventh day of Christmas, just barely in time to post "A Visit from Supergirl," Moxie's genre spoof of "A Visit from St. Nicholas." We can use something light these days, and we haven't heard from Moxie in ages!

--Brantley

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08 Jan 2018 11:33 - 08 Jan 2018 11:37 #58073 by brantley
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www.brightempire.com/Incident.pdf

Just a few tweaks to Incident at Madstop (2010) to make it consistent with First Protector II.

--Brantley
Last edit: 08 Jan 2018 11:37 by brantley.

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27 Jan 2018 22:20 - 27 Jan 2018 22:21 #58300 by brantley
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I'm back at work on the update of First Protector II, focusing on Vespyr and Alexios. Have re-edited Chapter 11, as well as working on the new Chapter 13. They will set out for Tazzi in Chapter 14. Hope to have this ready by Feb. 1.

--Brantley
Last edit: 27 Jan 2018 22:21 by brantley.

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01 Feb 2018 08:32 - 01 Feb 2018 08:34 #58399 by brantley
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www.brightempire.com/First-2.pdf

A major update to First Protector Two that brings the story to the climactic conclusion of Part Two. Vespyr Tal'esta is truly a Protector now, having found a sense of commitment as well as mastering her new power – and having also found, in Alexios, a man to share her life and her mission. Aphro'dite may have ushered in a new era for Velor, but the details of its relationship with the Scalantrans and the scattered worlds that will become the Enlightenment are still to be worked out. No matter: Vespyr is ready to carry the battle against the Aureans to Tazzi, the world where she had been a Companion.

-- Brantley Thompson Elkins
Last edit: 01 Feb 2018 08:34 by brantley.
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02 Feb 2018 03:30 #58421 by brantley
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Hope somebody will comment, even if it's a knock.

--Brantley

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02 Feb 2018 04:20 #58422 by shadar
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I'm reading. Long story. Comments after.

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03 Feb 2018 20:21 - 03 Feb 2018 20:24 #58441 by brantley
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OUCH!

Belatedly noticed this morning that I'd screwed up the editing of Chapter 14, transposing parts of a conversational scene with Opara into a climactic sex scene between Vespyr and Alexios.

Just uploaded a corrected pdf. My apologies!

--Brantley
Reply
Last edit: 03 Feb 2018 20:24 by brantley.

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10 Feb 2018 15:51 #58530 by brantley
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Still no comments. Guess I can't compete with the super Asians, or even the West twins. Sigh...

--Brantley

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12 Feb 2018 04:56 #58541 by brantley
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A lot of discussion today at AURG. If any of you are members, join in!

--Brantley

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06 Mar 2018 15:42 #58794 by brantley
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Any suggestions of a title for Book Three of First Protectior, which will take place on Tazzi? It will be from the viewpoint of Kevin Galton, who will go into politics after the liberation of the planet from Gazrall and the Aureans. He'll still be hooked up with Jana, which will actually be a relief to Vespyr when she finds out (at the end of Book Two) that he's still alive, and that Jana never betrayed him – after all, she's got Alexios. She'll be on guard as Protector, but also involved in dealing with emergencies and vital work too dangerous for native Tazzians. There'll also be allusions to developments elsewhere.

--Brantley

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07 Mar 2018 23:30 - 07 Mar 2018 23:31 #58803 by brantley
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Just finished First Protector II a little while ago. Will upload the update tomorrow morning, which marks the third anniversary of when I began posting chapters. Sorry to take so long!

--Brantley
Last edit: 07 Mar 2018 23:31 by brantley.
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08 Mar 2018 05:49 - 08 Mar 2018 05:52 #58804 by brantley
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www.brightempire.com/First-2.pdf

It's Interstellar Women's Day, and we finally conclude First Protector Two, after three years, as Vespyr Tal'esta and her partner Alexios embark on their first mission – to redeem Tazzi, the world where she had served as Companion, from the Aureans. It's a learning experience for her as well as an adventure and a love story – a test of her commitment as a Protector, and of her loyalty to a new vision of the role of Velorians in the universe. And there are some surprises along the way at Freiwelt, a world where another Companion has embraced a different vision of her role; and at Tazzi itself, where personal redemption awaits...

--Brantley
Last edit: 08 Mar 2018 05:52 by brantley.
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28 Mar 2018 23:25 #58997 by brantley
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For some reason the What's New page vanished from my Dreamweaver files page. The posted version is still online, but I can't update it. I've created a bare-bones version without the pic, but have to add hyperlinks one by one, so I can't upload it until that's done.

--Brantley

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29 Mar 2018 10:03 - 29 Mar 2018 10:07 #59008 by brantley
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www.brightempire.com/blue.pdf

An update to Power of Blue (2010), which I had neglected to include in updated AU-3 references to Aureans as opposed to Arions (to avoid confusion with Aryans on both Earth and Reigel Five). Also, I had set my edit of Shadar's story on Varig, a seeded world used elsewhere in a different context, so now it's Ixania.

--Brantley
Last edit: 29 Mar 2018 10:07 by brantley.

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20 Apr 2018 14:23 - 20 Apr 2018 15:11 #59207 by brantley
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With return of TBE stats counter, which was down for week, hits for First Protector 2 now 3,260. Shadar's "Dinner Party" is at 1,161,

But today, I can't get any new posts to appear at AURG. Shadar had complained of the same problem earlier. It may have to do with Oath, a branch of Verizon that has taken over Yahoo; its terms of service may preclude any adult content.

Maybe SWM will be the only place to discuss Aurora Universe fiction generally, as opposed to just updates to TBE. With that in mind...

Still open to suggestions about FP-3. Can Shadar think of more about Zeta-5, the heavy-gravity planet where Jana Sunderlund was born? Why was it ever seeded in the first place?

--Brantley
Last edit: 20 Apr 2018 15:11 by brantley.

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20 Apr 2018 15:42 #59208 by jumperprime
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I got an E-mail the other day about agreeing to a new TOS for Yahoo/Oath, whatever it is now. Maybe you need to click a formality in order to re-enable full functionality?

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20 Apr 2018 16:05 - 20 Apr 2018 16:13 #59209 by brantley
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Already did that, hoping they wouldn't look too closely at AURG or the kind of fiction it relates to. Yet it may be a false alarm; my last post to AURG finally appeared, but only after more than an hour. Then again, maybe Oath runs a quick check for dirty words and the like before allowing posts to appear.

-- Brantley
Last edit: 20 Apr 2018 16:13 by brantley.

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20 Apr 2018 17:14 #59211 by shadar
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brantley wrote: Already did that, hoping they wouldn't look too closely at AURG or the kind of fiction it relates to. Yet it may be a false alarm; my last post to AURG finally appeared, but only after more than an hour. Then again, maybe Oath runs a quick check for dirty words and the like before allowing posts to appear.

-- Brantley


Don't confuse incompetence with malevolence. Oath is a bunch of idiots. I heard that the good people left after the purchase from Yahoo.

Shadar

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15 May 2018 20:26 - 15 May 2018 20:27 #59485 by brantley
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Talked to technical support at Hostway.com today, and the news is bad. As you may know, my site has been frozen since my old computer died in March -- no updates since then.

But it's worst than that. There’s no way Hostway can take over the account as manager (rather than just host) and update brightempire.com with all the files and links intact, because the design uses an obsolete technology called frompt as well as the obsolete Dreamweaver I’d been using to edit it before my 2005 computer died. I’d have to create a new version from scratch, and with more than 13 years’ worth of material....

The only option seems to be create a new version as an .org or a .net for new material, with a link to the .com version for the old material – might even have to save the .com as a Wayback archive, just in case… At the moment, the only stories I have In mind are First Protector 3 and the completion of Empress-3. But I might think of something, and host new material by Shadar and others.

Should I go with Hostway for that, or somebody else? Any other advice?

Really need to get some feedback.

--Brantley Thompson Elkins
Last edit: 15 May 2018 20:27 by brantley.

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15 May 2018 21:06 #59486 by shadar
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brantley wrote: Talked to technical support at Hostway.com today, and the news is bad. As you may know, my site has been frozen since my old computer died in March -- no updates since then.

But it's worst than that. There’s no way Hostway can take over the account as manager (rather than just host) and update brightempire.com with all the files and links intact, because the design uses an obsolete technology called frompt as well as the obsolete Dreamweaver I’d been using to edit it before my 2005 computer died. I’d have to create a new version from scratch, and with more than 13 years’ worth of material....

The only option seems to be create a new version as an .org or a .net for new material, with a link to the .com version for the old material – might even have to save the .com as a Wayback archive, just in case… At the moment, the only stories I have In mind are First Protector 3 and the completion of Empress-3. But I might think of something, and host new material by Shadar and others.

Should I go with Hostway for that, or somebody else? Any other advice?

Really need to get some feedback.

--Brantley Thompson Elkins


I have the same problem with the AU-Otherworlds site, and my approach for dealing with it was to post any new stuff here on SWM.

My old site is built on FrontPage and their specialized server extensions, which is even older than Dreamweaver. Turn of the century stuff.

I'm confident I could figure out how to build a new page using current tools and then manage it, but it would be a bunch of work and I'm just not motivated enough to do it given the audience for readers of this style of fiction has shrunk greatly over the years.

It's my belief that the remaining true-believers are here on SWM, with is kind of the Rivendell or Lothlorien (if we only had Arwen or Galadriel !) of the superwoman fiction world.

Perhaps we should call ourselves a virtual Last Homely House, which Tolkien described as being in Rivendell:

"That house was, as Bilbo had long ago reported, 'a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep, or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all'. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear, and sadness." — The Fellowship of the Ring, Tolkien

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15 May 2018 22:41 #59487 by fats
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I can build you a site, all you would need to do is populate it with content and host it on a decent host, tell me what you need and I can get it done.

Fats
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15 May 2018 23:14 - 15 May 2018 23:14 #59488 by brantley
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Thanks, and I'm glad to accept your offer. But I need to have some new content for a new site -- I presume you can't just duplicate the old one with all the files and links. What with other demands on my time, it will doubtless take a few weeks to finish Empress-3 and at get a good start with FP-3. Anybody here have stuff they'd be willing to add?

--Brantley
Last edit: 15 May 2018 23:14 by brantley.

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22 May 2018 00:08 #59574 by brantley
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Trying to wrap up Empress-3. That will be essential to a new site, as will the version of FP-2 with a link to FP-3 and enough of FP-3 to be worth posting. More people are still reading FP-2, judging from the stats.
--Brantley

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