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At The Bright Empire....
01 Sep 2017 15:50 #56081
by brantley
Replied by brantley on topic At The Bright Empire....
Having a sudden server problem. Connection was fine last night, but now it times out. If this doesn't clear up, I may have to take the home computer to Apple. If they can't fix it, I'm in big trouble.
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01 Sep 2017 16:17 #56082
by fats
Replied by fats on topic At The Bright Empire....
Brantley, it's not your MAC it's the server that's down, I've tested the link it's fully down, you need to contact your web host and ask them to fix it.
Fats
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01 Sep 2017 16:34 #56083
by fats
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it's back up
fats
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01 Sep 2017 17:33 - 01 Sep 2017 19:20 #56084
by brantley
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Thank Skietra!. Can't figure out what went wrong with the server,.
--Brantley
--Brantley
Last edit: 01 Sep 2017 19:20 by brantley.
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21 Sep 2017 12:32 - 21 Sep 2017 12:43 #56308
by brantley
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www.brightempire.com/First-2.pdf
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
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
Last edit: 21 Sep 2017 12:43 by brantley.
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22 Sep 2017 15:34 #56320
by brantley
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Overdue on some housecleaning. The Mandi and Adara Steele sites are long gone and, unlike those for writers whose sites are inactive, there isn't any archived free material. So I've deleted the links.
--Brantley
--Brantley
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25 Oct 2017 17:57 #56730
by brantley
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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
--Brantley
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25 Oct 2017 21:44 #56738
by Woodclaw
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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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25 Oct 2017 21:52 #56739
by brantley
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It is, Just the costume is generic.
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--Brantley
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26 Oct 2017 00:17 - 26 Oct 2017 00:18 #56740
by shadar
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
Replied by shadar on topic At The Bright Empire....
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
Last edit: 26 Oct 2017 00:18 by shadar.
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01 Nov 2017 02:22 #56827
by pithlit
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I am glad First Protector will soon be finished. I am really enjoying reading part 2. It takes me a while to really digest your writing as it is so well crafted. I like to read it multiple times before I feel ready to really comment on it.
It is a wonderful as always.
It is a wonderful as always.
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01 Nov 2017 21:17 #56845
by brantley
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Thanks for the support! Are you also in AURG? Would be great if you could get some discussion going there as well as here...
--Brantley
--Brantley
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02 Nov 2017 18:30 #56865
by brantley
Replied by brantley on topic At The Bright Empire....
Just settled a billing problem with iPage, which hosts the archive of Infinity Bridge, the classic superheroine fiction site of S.T. MacBeth, who was killed in a plane crash 15 years ago. He wrote a lot of the best AU fiction ever, and hosted other writers. If you haven't discovered Mac's work yet, or long to revisit it, click on the link:
www.infinitybridge.net/
--Brantley
www.infinitybridge.net/
--Brantley
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03 Nov 2017 14:33 #56875
by brantley
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My birthday today. Really.
--Brantley
--Brantley
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15 Nov 2017 15:48 #57133
by brantley
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Latest update to First Protector 2 has been slow to come, but I finally have a handle on it. Should be able to post a new chapter (along with edits to the rest) before Thanksgiving. Need to make Vespyr's encounter with Aphro'dite, and her enhancement really visceral, as Shadar would put it.
--Brantley
--Brantley
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21 Nov 2017 10:53 #57229
by brantley
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It's almost Thanksgiving, here and on Velor, where Vespyr is meeting her destiny as a Protector, the first of her kind, in Book Two of First Protector.
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
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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22 Nov 2017 13:53 #57262
by brantley
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Ninety-six hits the first day. I think that's a record.
--Brantley
--Brantley
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26 Nov 2017 03:38 - 26 Nov 2017 03:52 #57301
by brantley
Replied by brantley on topic At The Bright Empire....
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.
www.livescience.com/60701-ligo-neutron-s...avy-metals-gold.html
--Brantley
P.S.: Close to 180 hits on FP-2 update.
Last edit: 26 Nov 2017 03:52 by brantley.
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26 Nov 2017 17:51 #57305
by shadar
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
Replied by shadar on topic At The Bright Empire....
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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26 Nov 2017 19:33 #57306
by AuGoose
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Given how much gold there is at the center of our planet, I never had a problem with that concept. The apparent scarcity of gold is an illusion that comes from the human experience living only at the very top of a gravitic sifter/sorter. Of course it's rare up here... it sinks.
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27 Nov 2017 13:46 #57314
by Woodclaw
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.
Replied by Woodclaw on topic At The Bright Empire....
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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27 Nov 2017 13:48 #57315
by brantley
Replied by brantley on topic At The Bright Empire....
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
--Brantley
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27 Nov 2017 17:40 - 27 Nov 2017 17:51 #57321
by shadar
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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Replied by shadar on topic At The Bright Empire....
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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Last edit: 27 Nov 2017 17:51 by shadar.
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27 Nov 2017 18:25 #57322
by brantley
Replied by brantley on topic At The Bright Empire....
Agree with your points,
As for plausibility -- hey, we do better than Dan Brown!
--Brantley
As for plausibility -- hey, we do better than Dan Brown!
--Brantley
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30 Nov 2017 12:30 #57389
by brantley
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By the way, who's your latest model?
--Brantley
--Brantley
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