The Convention was weary - physically weary from fighting the Boskone War, emotionally weary from being treated as criminals by so much of the 'Danelaw, and mentally weary from realizing that life in space still involved dealing with all the little annoyances of daily life. They were ready for a change.

And they got one, with the news that the Miranda had discovered evidence of extra-Solar intelligence.

The Convention started to spread out in earnest. The Artemis Foundation send a manned mission to Barnard's Star and found native life there. A group of Vernor Vinge Fen visited Lalande 21185, and was amazed to discover Gatewood, a planet that could (just) support human life. And everybody knew about the wonders discovered by the Soviet Air Force's mission to Delta Pavonis.

Thus did the second half of the century's second decade come to be known as The Great Age of Exploration, with Fen of all nationalities and factions working together to find their own wonders.

Certainly, not everyone was willing to leave the Sol system - some people had put down roots on Luna, Mars, Ceres, Ganymede, or Mimas, or above Venus, and they weren't about to pick up and leave right away. And somebody had to stay behind and pay the bills.

But there were enough people who were willing to see what was out there to make this half-decade one of the most vibrant in Fenspace's history.

-- from the introduction to "The Great Age of Exploration", by Jon Helscher, published 2023 by Kandor Press

1. Pick a group of characters - established, new, or a mix.
   
2. Pick a destination http://www.fenspace.net/index.php5?titl ... stinations that hasn't been visited yet.
   
3. Come up with a ship or a flotilla that's big enough to support an exploration mission. (Artemis went to Barnard's Star and back with two Shuttles.)
   
4. Write stories about exploring that star system! (But remember that we've already established there aren't any civilizations within easy reach of Fenspace.)
   

“You have beaten
Truth. Take it all.”

One
Hundred Years Ago, A Certain Location

“Sozin's”
Comet burned across the night sky, slowly receding from the world.
The flicker of its tail grew dimmer and dimmer with each passing
second. Soon it, and the power it bestowed, would vanish entirely
from this world. It would be another hundred years before the comet
would return, more than a human lifetime. Yet it had done its job.

The
door thundered open and Sozin himself strode proudly into the
chamber. His hair was grey from age, his face lined by the years yet
he stood proud and strong. His life work had finally been
accomplished. He quirked a corner of his mouth into a gentle smirk as
he beheld his chief science adviser.

“How
went the campaign, my Lord?” There was really no need to ask. He
could read the results of the day in his Lord's face.

“Absolutely
perfect. The monk's stood no chance. With the power of My Comet we
struck down all three of their temples. The few who escaped will be
hunted down easily enough.”

He
bowed his head. He could imagine the outcome of that battle. No, more
rightly a massacre. He had felt the power of the Comet burning in his
own blood, stoking the Fire within him to unimagined heights. All
that hot breath swirling around him. Plus, he had his own, much more
obvious proof of the victory of the Fire Nation today.

“And
the Avatar, my lord?”

Here
Sozin's expression darkened, but only for a moment. “We almost
certainly destroyed him in the raids. None of the children were
spared. Though none displayed any master of any additional
elements...”

“Perhaps
he merely had not come into his power?”

“Perhaps,”
the Fire Lord Sozin agreed. “Whatever the case, it turned out your
preparations were not necessary. I will not need your secret weapon
against the Avatar.”

“Ah.”
He was not disappointed or surprised. “And what I am I do to with
my research?”

Sozin
glanced imperiously around the chamber. It was a circular chamber
full carved into the rock with only a small hole in the cieling open to the night sky. Its walls were bright with the sheen that
showed stone cut with Firebending techniques and not Earthbending.
Into the floor and walls were carved elaborate mandalas and formula.
The momentary look of confusion was quickly and professional erased
from the Fire Lord's face. He may not understood how the formulas
worked, but he understood what they meant. A threat. His adviser had
promised him a weapon capable of defeating the Avatar, or at least of
turning the tides significantly in the Fire Lord's favour. With the
Comet receding into the depths of space for another hundred years...

“Burn
it. All of it.”

The
adviser bowed briefly. “Of course, my Lord.”

Sozin
examined his servant's face for a long moment, perhaps searching for
some sign of disobedience or disloyalty. Apparently satisfied with
his investigation he nodded curtly and stepped out of the chamber.
“See that you do,” he called over his shoulder as he walked out
to where his loyal dragon mount awaited.

A
few seconds passed after the door closed. Then the shadows of the
room shifted. Eyes opened in the darkness. Too many eyes. Large eyes.
Small eyes. And great grinning teeth,

“Well,
are you going to obey your lord?” a voice called from the darkness.

“You
appear to serve no purpose now,” he answered.

“Oh,
really?” The teeth glinted and the eyes filled with merriment.
“Tell me, old man, do you want to live forever?”

Time
Unknown, Location Unknown

Emptiness.

They took something
from me. Something important. I can't remember what it was. I feel
like I'm deflating, all my vital stuff just leaking out all at once.
If nothing happens I'm just going to fade away, lost and broken.

“Hey!
Hey you, wake up!”

A
voice? Is that a voice?

“If
you don't wake up, you're going to die!”

I
struggle to respond to the voice, but it seems so far away, like its
calling to me from the other side of a thick wall. Still, its very
presence seems to give me strength. I can feel something inside me
responding to it.

A
warm hand presses down on my shoulder.

That's right. I
have a shoulder. I have a body, I am...

[ ]A boy, of
course.
[ ]A girl, of
course.
[ ]A
boy... wait, that isn't right...
[ ]A girl... wait,
that isn't right...
“I
can't exactly get out of here on my own. I need your help. You need
my help.” My shoulder is jostled. “We're running out of time.”

I
can feel my body now, it feels familiar and

[ ]Strong.
[ ]Tough.
[ ]Agile.
[ ]Fast.
Just like it always
has been. However there is something still missing. Something
important. My body is just a body, nothing more. I am missing... even
as I think that the presence of the Other pulls something up out of
me, the fills me with an explosion of thought and emotion. The sense
of Self makes me feel

[ ]Perceptive
[ ]Imaginative
[ ]Devious
[ ]Centered
in a way that is
hard to describe.

A
resounding noise fills the air, the ground shakes. I'm on the ground.
It's hard and damp, but rapidly getting hotter. The Other starts
pulling on my shoulder more roughly, shaking me. I had better respond
because

[
]They need my help.
[
]I'm in danger.
[
]I want to know what is going on.
[
]They'll stop annoying me if I do.
With
that thought, I wake up.

How
Does This Work?

Every
weekday (barring emergency) I plan to do a scene of this story. I'll
end every post with at least four options for the character to follow
up on at the end. You vote on which option you want (one person, one
vote, and please indicate if you change your mind). I follow up. I
start writing at Midnight, EST. But first we need to know who our
protagonist is! So you have until Midnight, Sunday June 19th
, EST to offer your
opinion.

-----------
Epsilon

Hey guys. You're probably wondering what the heck happened to me. I said I was switching to attend the Khan TF that Terry was putting together and I logged out and never came back. Seems my account expired for the month! I don't have the funds immediately to get it paid up for at least a day or two. So I can't come back tonight. I logged out and it wouldn't let me log back in again. Bugger all on the timing!

I finally had a chance to look into the new Alabama immigration law, aka the Beason-Hammon  Taxpayer and Citizen  Protection Act.
It's about 70 pages long, but if you want the highlights, here it is:

Quote:In an echo of the Arizona law, the Alabama legislation requires that
police, in the course of any lawful "stop, detention or arrest," make a
reasonable attempt to determine a person's citizenship and immigration
status, given a "reasonable suspicion" that the person is an immigrant,
unless doing so would hinder an investigation.




It outlaws illegal immigrants from receiving any state or local public
benefits, bars them from enrolling in or attending public colleges, and
prohibits them from applying for or soliciting work.
It forbids
the harboring and transport of illegal immigrants, and outlaws renting
them property or "knowingly" employing them for any work within the
state. It also makes it a "discriminatory practice" to fire, or decline
to hire, a legal resident when an illegal one is on the payroll.

The law criminalizes "dealing in false identification documents" and,
beginning April 1, will require every business in the state to verify
employees' immigration status using the federal E-Verify system.

It deems invalid any contract to which an illegal immigrant is a party
if the legal party in the contract has "direct or constructive
knowledge" that the other person was in the country illegally. And it
requires a citizenship check for people registering to vote.
For
opponents, one of the most disturbing provisions is a requirement that
officials in K-12 public schools determine whether students are illegal
immigrants. It will not ban the students from schools, but rather
require every school district to submit an annual report on the number
of presumed illegal immigrants to the state education board.

here is something I didn't expect to see from a 64 year old politician.

Roy McDonald (senator in NY) switched his stance on gay marriage.
He of course got flack/threats of voter retribution from the religious sector.
his response:

"You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn't black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing,"
"You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, fuck it, I don't care what you think. I'm trying to do the right thing.
"I'm tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I'm trying to do the right thing, and that's where I'm going with this."

If I lived in NY I know who I would be voting for come next election.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... e-Designer

So, Mark Skarr posted this picture of his WIP over in the Divine Mess forum.  Upon seeing it, my brain automatically tagged her as Urd even though she somewhat lacks the... assets of our favorite Norn of the Past.
Thing is, though, the scene gave me a nice little plot bunny.  After all, how many fics depict Urd getting herself a steady boyfriend?
So, today's Hiro Protagonist is a Dresden type: the blue collar mage, decent skill set, likes to take his time and do it right the first time (workman's ethic).  Odd quirk in his mage abilities: he's on silent running by default - having to sneak around a hyper-sensitive and abusive father gave him a paranoid streak and he has a nasty habit of sneaking up on people (even other mages) without even realizing it.  His foibles: strange attractor (weird shit just happens around him), tends to get foul mouthed when he's pissed (fit to make a sailor look like a monk).  He's also an alcoholic with a tendency towards benders.
On the mundane side of things, he's a great mechanic and has a hobby of restoring antique cars and building hot rods.  He comes to Japan by way of being hired on as the new automotive sciences teacher at Nekomi Tech.  And yes, alcohol was involved in the decision.  (Though more enlightened people, such as Bell-chan, will say otherwise... though he does need a bit of help with his drinking problem.)
He's about twenty-five, and while his in the 'prime of his life' he still can't help but feel like he's lost.
The story starts off with Hiro hanging out someplace near the docks.  It's oh-my-god-in-the-morning, but earlier in the day he had the amazing fortune of finding a liquor store that specialized in importing American booze.  At that moment, he'd love to just sit there and enjoy the little bottle of Southern Comfort he's got in his pocket.  It's a nice night for a drink - cool, but not too cool and a fog just rolled in so that helps with the visibility.
Somewhere in the distance he hears the sounds of a good thrashing going on.  Besides a concerned look, he does nothing - he knows better than to get involved.  Although he mentally prepares himself for trouble when he hears a few bars of loud and raucous rock and roll followed by a muffled explosion.
And then She shows up.  Tall, dark skin, platinum blonde hair, and curves in all the right places.  She's seems startled by your presence at first, but as he tips the bottle in silent greeting to her, she relaxes and then saunters on over.  As she approaches he notes that she's actually taller than him by an inch or two.
"Morning there, stranger," she says in a sexy, husky voice that's as smooth as silk.  "Got enough in that bottle for two?"
And it goes from there.
He starts entering the lives of others as the new teacher at Nekomi.  He's surprisingly engaging and notably passionate about his trade - though not to the extent that Tamiya and Otaki take things, of course.  At first, Urd tries to keep him out of the Shrine, but he starts showing up anyhow to pick her up for dates despite her efforts.  Inevitably, Belldandy notices and he is soon invited in.  Belldandy is Belldandy, and Skuld is a precocious little kid-sister that never let's up on the fact that Urd's got a boyfriend.  Good thing Hiro likes kids - he gives back as good as he gets from Skuld and with a smile to boot.
He gets involved with club projects, soon enough falling into the role as their faculty adviser, and even gets caught up in Mara and Hilde's plots - these come as major surprises as the others see him work his mage mojo and he sees the Norns in action.  Soon enough the question of whether he should really be involved with a Goddess comes up.  In answer, Urd merely forcibly points his head at Keiichi and Belldandy: problem solved.  He also has his alcoholism and his past to confront (child abuse is a bitch).
No guarantee that I'll write this one, but if sooner becomes later and no one's picked this up...
That aside...  Thoughts?

I'm looking for a Naruto fic that I've lost track of. I'm sure it was recommended here at one point, but I've gone way back and can't find the link.
It was a Peggy Sue type fic, where Kakashi and Team 7 go back in time, but arrive at different times and start messing with the timeline.
Hilights include blaming the Uchiha massacre on Orochimaru, having the 3rd Hokage seal Kyubi instead of the 4th and constant jokes about Sakura being 'useless'.
--
If you become a monster to put down a monster you've still got a monster running around at the end of the day and have as such not really solved the whole monster problem at all. 

I'm Placing this to hold a  position.

Twenty-six and a Half: A collection of Al Covers, a parody of one of his originals.

They're kind of fun.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll