Update, long-belated: Working on a UF project, half-blessed by Gryph. Asked, he shrugged and said it could be pseudo-canon a la Bacon comics. So I’ve been working on that - and how odd it is to have a fic that’s not an AU, merely a plot on my own terms, no SI but a close-enuf OC! - and reading through a looooooot of UF’s Future Imperfect installments plus some Golden Age stuff. Read all of Warriors of the Outer Rim, Cybertron Reloaded, working my way through Symphony of the Sword’s third part (incomplete ?!?!?!?!?!?!) and will try to get through the whole amalgam right to the K-On bits.
Some notes, then, and trying to reflect them back on what I think I can write that works:
1. If the latest the timeline technically goes is the end of Outer Rim, and on a helluva teaser - but the series and others also imply a Big Deal Evil comin’ down the pipe. I think I know what Gryph was teasing, but I’m not quite sure. So, okay, set the whole thing after the Earth Alliance war, but hopefully with enough room to not be, uh, in line with whatever happens there. Maybe use 24XX for effective ambiguity.
2. By that token, setting most of the fic and where it goes and what it crosses over with well out of the way of the main cast speaks for itself — in the distant reaches of the galaxy where the big powers don’t hold quite as much sway. Though looking at what’s released by Eyrie these days, if it’s all Our Witches At War, I guess I don’t have much to worry about? That’s bittersweet, knowing that the metaplot is winding down, but maybe it’s good - I can come back to this project with minimal pressure.
3. I really, really, really wanna do Gundam Stuff, but what is accepted in UF’s world almost seems to strain against that. Robotech was one of the main foundational work, when that was localized and most of Gundam wasn’t, and then more of that world’s space battles are with Wars / Trek style big ships and starfighters, with Destroids being more Battletech mechs than they are Mobile Suits, and THEN no shortage of Super Robots ‘cause I guess Gryph is a big steampunk / art deco-y vibes fan and Big O / Giant Robo tickled him pink? Well, bully for me, I have to bend over backwards to justify yanking Titans Mobile Suits (ex-Earthforce weirdos!) and a Gundam Unicorn-style hardsuit (hero tech) for the setting.
4. By the same token, I wasn’t aware of how UF’s multiverse works: You’ve got the 9 Realms, Cephiro in Symphony, pocket realms for Avatar and Strike Witches. (So is Gryph just that big of an interwar tech guy? I guess his old Gun of the Week page, bears that out. If that’s the case, where’s riffs on either Bioshock? Wait, should I be the man to make that happen?) This makes yanking in UC Gundam characters as themselves a dubious proposition at best. We’ll see how that plays out.
5. I’ll have to be more careful about themes and ideas in play and character voice with a true OC. One character from the game Brigador I picked just because his voice is so distinct, but it’s a hard blend of snark and gravitas to pull off. More, the premise needs to have a specific enough direction. Commit to what part has what happen where, and how things escalate and end. I think doing it ‘movement by movement’ or whatever is actually a good way to make a fic nice and episodic.
Anyway! Who wants to watch me use Resident Evil elements, of all things, in Eyrie? It’ll be fuuuuuuuuun, I promise.
Some notes, then, and trying to reflect them back on what I think I can write that works:
1. If the latest the timeline technically goes is the end of Outer Rim, and on a helluva teaser - but the series and others also imply a Big Deal Evil comin’ down the pipe. I think I know what Gryph was teasing, but I’m not quite sure. So, okay, set the whole thing after the Earth Alliance war, but hopefully with enough room to not be, uh, in line with whatever happens there. Maybe use 24XX for effective ambiguity.
2. By that token, setting most of the fic and where it goes and what it crosses over with well out of the way of the main cast speaks for itself — in the distant reaches of the galaxy where the big powers don’t hold quite as much sway. Though looking at what’s released by Eyrie these days, if it’s all Our Witches At War, I guess I don’t have much to worry about? That’s bittersweet, knowing that the metaplot is winding down, but maybe it’s good - I can come back to this project with minimal pressure.
3. I really, really, really wanna do Gundam Stuff, but what is accepted in UF’s world almost seems to strain against that. Robotech was one of the main foundational work, when that was localized and most of Gundam wasn’t, and then more of that world’s space battles are with Wars / Trek style big ships and starfighters, with Destroids being more Battletech mechs than they are Mobile Suits, and THEN no shortage of Super Robots ‘cause I guess Gryph is a big steampunk / art deco-y vibes fan and Big O / Giant Robo tickled him pink? Well, bully for me, I have to bend over backwards to justify yanking Titans Mobile Suits (ex-Earthforce weirdos!) and a Gundam Unicorn-style hardsuit (hero tech) for the setting.
4. By the same token, I wasn’t aware of how UF’s multiverse works: You’ve got the 9 Realms, Cephiro in Symphony, pocket realms for Avatar and Strike Witches. (So is Gryph just that big of an interwar tech guy? I guess his old Gun of the Week page, bears that out. If that’s the case, where’s riffs on either Bioshock? Wait, should I be the man to make that happen?) This makes yanking in UC Gundam characters as themselves a dubious proposition at best. We’ll see how that plays out.
5. I’ll have to be more careful about themes and ideas in play and character voice with a true OC. One character from the game Brigador I picked just because his voice is so distinct, but it’s a hard blend of snark and gravitas to pull off. More, the premise needs to have a specific enough direction. Commit to what part has what happen where, and how things escalate and end. I think doing it ‘movement by movement’ or whatever is actually a good way to make a fic nice and episodic.
Anyway! Who wants to watch me use Resident Evil elements, of all things, in Eyrie? It’ll be fuuuuuuuuun, I promise.