Okay, updated version. Still not quite done -- I haven't written The Phoenix yet, nor do I think we've mined out everything that could be here without overdoing it.
Couple notes: Ebony, I haven't put Hanoi Xan in here, that write up deserves its own page, which I'll link to when it's ready.
Norway, I am completely blanking on Rei the possible Tulpa. Reference please? Or would you like to write up a couple more sentences to give her entry?
Starbolt, Duane -- I think you might like what I did with the Eldridge.
Finally, any corrections, revisions and expansions anyone wants to offer, I'll gladly take. I made some stuff up out of thin air when writing this in the intersticial moments at work this morning, and it probably should be fact-checked against established canon.
======Myths of Fenspace======
Although as a civilization Fenspace is, on the normal scale of things, barely past the sperm-sighting-egg stage, it tends to move and develop a bit faster than its ground-bound counterparts. One good example of this would be the body of myth and folklore that seemingly exploded into existence starting almost as soon as the first few fencraft made it off Earth.
Whether any of the following are //real// is open to speculation. But the folklorists who have made it into fenspace or who have taken up the field of study after arriving here take pains to remind us that there is almost always a seed of truth at the center of every myth. And when something as borderline magical as handwavium is concerned, that seed of truth may well be the size of a coconut. As the Wizards and Technomages have so clearly demonstrated time and again, Clarke's Third Law may as well be a law of nature in Fenspace, and that makes it all but impossible to dismiss any of the tales below as anything more than "unlikely".
However, it does go without saying that no conclusive evidence of the existence of any of the following has hit the Interwave, and until it does, they will remain nothing more than fanciful stories.
===== Berserkers =====
Named for the monstrous robotic planet-killers from the works of Fred Saberhagen, their Fenspace equivalents are reputedly much smaller but no less coldblooded and destructive. The least reliable accounts tell of immense craft that could threaten a midsized asteroid or the //[[ships:Grover's Corners]//, but most who claim to have seen a berserker describe something substantially smaller, barely large enough to devour a 'waved 18-wheeler. There is also, predictably, some disagreement on their number, with quantities claimed ranging from one to hundreds.
Those who lend credence to reports of berserkers speculate that they are Boskonian doomsday weapon(s) and worry that they may be Von Neumann machines, out of their creators' control, or both.
Predictably, Trekkies who believe that berserkers exist call them "Doomsday Machines".
===== Carmen Miranda's Ghost =====
Most old-time Fen, and more than a few of the younger generation, know that Carmen Miranda's Ghost Is Haunting Space Station Three. Signs of this haunting include calypso music and random fresh fruit where there should be neither of these things. But there's great dissent on exactly //which// station is Space Station Three.
A few die-hard and pedantic Fen go back to the beginnig, numbering Skylab as Space Station One, Mir as Space Station Two, and the [[ships:International Space Station] as Space Station Three. However, the ISS has never reported any fruit or unexplained music, and NASA's near-constant audio and video feeds from the ISS would make it difficult to cover up anything of the sort there.
Some Fen list only the oldest stations still in existance when trying to figure out which station Carmen Miranda's ghost is haunting. They list the ISS as Space Station One, [[ships:Starbase 1] as Space Station Two, and [[gazetteer:places:earth:New Yavin] as Space Station Three. The Warsies categorically deny the presence of any supernatural forces (other than The Force) on their first habitat... but nobody has been allowed to go in and look.
Another popular view is that only handwaved stations should be on the list. The Fen who hold this view consider Starbase 1 to be Space Station 1, New Yavin to be Space Station Two, and [[ships:Stellvia] to be Space Station Three. When asked, the Stellvians point to their contract with [[ships:Babylon .5] to supply fresh fruit, saying that's proof enough it doesn't magically appear on their station. True believers point out that Carmen Miranda's Ghost wouldn't be able to supply all the fruit that Stellvia needs, and refuse to budge.
A minority opinion among Fen is that the first station to call itself "Space Station Three" will be Space Station Three. As yet, no station admits to having that name...
===== Farmer Greentrees =====
According to those Rockhounds who swear by him, this mysterious figure is responsible for making sure the Garden is kept up (at least, so swear those who don't say it's Rei doing all the work); Chris Marsden has publically said that this is the reason for the "Turtles Welcome" sign on the Greenwood Station hangar bay doors.
===== Ghost Ships =====
It seems that wherever ships of any stripe go, ghost ships will follow. The //Flying Dutchman// roaming the oceans of Earth is the classic example from the Danelaw, but its cousins have inevitably appeared in Fenspace. When these stories are taken seriously, they are frequently held up as examples of research into phasing and cloaking technologies gone horribly wrong.
==== The //USS Eldridge// ====
The subject of the mythical [[
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Experiment "Philadelphia Experiment"] in 1943, the U.S. Navy destroyer //Eldridge// and its crew were reported to have been subject to all manner of unexplainable effects ranging from teleportation to time travel to madness. Although the story has been thoroughly debunked, there have been a number of reports from throughout Fenspace of a gray-painted destroyer-sized ship bearing the name "Eldridge" and the markings of the U.S. Navy, cloaked in a green fog-like haze and barrelling across the system at a speed higher than any normal fencraft of the same size could achieve.
At least one such report is so well-documented that it threatens to push the //Eldridge// out of "myth" status and into "unexplained phenomena" territory: During the battle of 253 Mathilde in March 2013, the //Eldridge// appeared unexpectedly and according to witnesses rammed the Boskonian warship //Dr. Crippen//, effectively slicing it in half, //Curacoa//-style, without even slowing down. Blurry video and inconclusive sensor traces of the //Eldridge// were captured by several of the beleaguered OGJ ships involved in the battle before they took advantage of the //Crippen//'s damage. Naturally, by the time the battle was over, the //Eldridge// had vanished.
In the wake of the 253 Mathilde incident, inquiries made of the U.S. Navy resulted in polite denials of all knowledge of the craft. Several illicit forays into Navy computers have confirmed this -- as far as the Navy is concerned, its only vessel in Fenspace is the //[[ships:USS Stingray]//.
==== The //Big Deal// ====
A somewhat more traditional ghost ship, the //Big Deal// is the star of several accounts which have been circulating on the Interwave for almost as long as it's existed. In these stories, an unsuspecting fenship encounters a crippled craft, usually described as looking like a cargo container with a window on one end, damaged jets on the other, and "Big Deal" painted on its sides. A tow or transfer is offered and accepted, but just before the entire process is completed, the //Big Deal// vanishes.
==== The Lost Squadron ====
Not the infamous flight group lost over the Bermuda Triangle during World War II, but a group of twelve fightercraft from Operation Great Justice that simply vanished in late 2012 and were never heard from again. In the ensuing months one or more of the fighters would be reported as appearing in engagements with Boskonians, usually at the moment an OGJ craft needed a miraculous escape, and then disappearing afterwards.
A growing superstition among pilots holds that the number of Lost Squadron fighters needed to save you is proportional to how badly screwed you were before they showed up. Furthermore, a pilot saved by the Lost Squadron is expected to go out of his way to save other pilots as "payment" for his rescue, one for each Lost Squadron fighter who showed up to save him; if he doesn't, his rescue will be rescinded and he will die in a milk run that goes tragically wrong.
===== The Great Bird of the Galaxy/The Great Maker =====
The notional deity of Fenspace, one step above the Overfan. Not so much worshipped as sworn by (or at), it probably doesn't actually count as a true myth as an extended cultural running gag.
===== Hanoi Xan =====
Hanoi Xan and the World Crime League are covered on their own page.
===== Haruhi Suzumiya =====
The leader of Operation Great Justice has spawned more than a few myths and legends, some of them no doubt planted and/or fostered by her loyal minions in the SOS-Dan much in the style of the //Missionaria// from //Dune//. The most outlandish of these revolve around an obscure series of light novels from Japan which seem to have presciently depicted Haruhi and her clique and which furthermore suggest that she is, unknown to herself, God. A small fringe element among the more mystical factions have taken the novels to be literal truth (rather than, as is far more likely, the inspiration for a set of new identities and some remarkably successful biomods), and regard the brusque, energetic Japanese girl as a literal diety.
Oddly enough, the SOS-dan take great pains to keep knowledge of this fringe element and their beliefs from coming to Haruhi's attention. Most observers think this is simply to keep her already-inflated ego from swelling beyond the bursting point.
===== The Hitchhiker =====
A familiar urban legend for decades in the Danelaw, the ghostly hitchhiker has (perhaps inevitably) migrated to Fenspace. The general outline is similar to its earthly counterpart: a fencraft encounters a stranded spacer in near-earth orbit, rescues them, and takes them to the closest settlement, only to find the seat empty and (sometimes) a token left behind.
The two most common Fenspace variations of this tale cast the late Christa McAuliffe (who leaves behind an apple or a schoolbook) and Laika (the First Dog In Space, who leaves behind a Russian flag). Since the fall of Crystal Osaka, though, hitchhiking Senshi ghosts have also been reported appearing near Venus.
===== Kaboomite =====
The unknown nature of the explosive known as "kaboomite" lends itself readily to outlandish speculations, some of which enter the range of urban legend. The most prominent, and possibly most ridiculous, of these is the oft-repeated claim that kaboomite is nothing more than handwaved Pop Rocks and cola.
When Noah Scott first heard this claim, he made a single public statement: "I want to categorically deny the rumor that Kaboomite is handwaved Pop Rocks and Cola." After that, he simply said "no comment" whenever asked. The more conspiratorially-minded fen have of course leaped to point out that he only said he //wanted// to categorically deny the rumor, and point out the implied but unspoken followup "...but I can't because it's true" to his statement.
===== The New Jersey Tripod =====
Not so much a myth of Fenspace as a myth about Fen, this is a persistent story circulating in the Danelaw and frequently included in the more inflammatory anti-Fen rhetoric and websites. According to this story, an irresponsible Fan in Grover's Mills, New Jersey (not to be confused with the //Grover's Corners//) created a Martian war machine (from the original ''War of the Worlds'') with handwavium, which then got away from him. The tripod then laid waste to the New Jersey countryside until it was stopped by National Guard forces on the shores of Lake Carnegie in Princeton.
Although it is pathetically simple to confirm that no such destruction ever occurred and that the tripod never existed in the first place, even anti-Fen fanatics in New Jersey embrace the story as "proof" of the fundamental dangers of handwavium and the irresponsibility of Fen in general. On the other end of the spectrum, some Fen also believe the story, mainly because they find the //idea// that someone built a real Martion war machine too cool not to be true.
(Inspired by a random reference in "Miracles" by Talienas, probably a typo for "Grover's Corners", but too good to pass up.)
===== The Oxygen Fairy =====
Mysterious benefactor of stranded and damaged fencraft, who extends their faltering life support long enough for them to be rescued. Originally a tongue-in-cheek supposition, but after several spectacular rescues, some S&R teams swear it exists.
===== The Phoenix =====
(Ship + pilot who merged into single being during an uncontrolled
re-entry. Believed to be a carryover from the Julia Ecklar filk
song, but numerous witnesses have claimed to have encountered the
Phoenix. Others point to Wave Convoy to indicate that it's at
least //possible.//)
===== //Tulpas// =====
In various Buddhist traditions, primarily those of Tibetan origin, a //tulpa// is a "thoughtform", an idea or image given a physical existence by the mental energy and effort invested into it by one or more persons. In effect, it is a kind of golem formed entirely by spiritual power, capable of independent thought and action in many cases.
The similarity of this concept to the most commonly accepted theories for the functioning of handwavium as been noted and commented on numerous times. It can be argued that most AIs might qualify as //tulpas//. However, some believe there are far more //physical// examples in Fenspace.
==== Rei ====
Among the Rockhounds there's Rei, whose lack of clear origin or history suggests that she may be what have come to call "spontaneously generated fan life".
==== Zathras ====
[[ships:Babylon .5] has something similar -- there have been repeated sightings of a being that looks like Zathras from the program //Babyon 5//. Some argue that it's just one or more fen playing a practical joke.
===== UFOs =====
Although to date no hard, incontrovertible evidence of spacefaring alien intelligences has been found either within the solar system or during the Fen's limited explorations of other systems, there are those who maintain that they have seen spacecraft in-system that were //not// Fenbuilt. The usual features these witnesses cite to distinguish a claimed UFO from an oddly-formed fencraft are usually limited to maneuverability and accelerations in excess of anything a handwaved drive can produce, resistance to sensors and scanners, and claims of breaking the Limit.
Given what handwaved systems can achieve given a sufficiently imaginative and motivated user, not to mention the impossibility of meaningfully defining what can and //can't// be a fencraft, and the simple fact that no one actually tracks who is where in the system, it is difficult not to dismiss these reports as nothing more than misidentified Fen ships coupled with an ordinary human inability to accurately judge speeds and distances.
Still, there are those who embrace the uncertainty... and the hope.
===== The Untrustworthy Vendor =====
There is a persistent urban legend about a seedy stranger in a semi-disused corridor of a space station (always //another// space station, not the one where the story is told), selling bootleg pocky and off-brand sodas which always turn out to be spiked with [[guacamole].
Frequently cited as the cause of an unpleasant or unwanted biomod.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
andelions] are always quick to point out the prior existence of Julia Ecklar's 1983 filksong //[[