Niko Nakamura

by on March 31, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Art, Character Profiles

Niko Nakamura has amazing eyes, and a truly fantastic tail. Seriously. She just doesn’t wear it most of the time. She was the first time I saw her on Sunnydale though. She came in with one of the Earthbuilt Avenger squadrons. She’d signed up for service after Yosemite fell, you see, and found her way into the Navy. Spent most of her first years in service escorting capital ships around on long, boring patrols, and through short, terrifying battles. After arriving at Sunnydale, she decided to come prowling around and scouting us Cowboys out to see if we were worthy of our reputation. She was doubtful on that fact. So there I was, minding my own business…nah…who am I kidding? I was totally watching the pretty girls walk by. That was when she appeared at my elbow and asked if I enjoyed the view. Would you buy it if I said that I calmly turned to face her and said it was fantastic? No? Smart. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Once my heartbeat got back down into the living range and I noticed her squadron patch, I decided that the proper revenge for such a low-down, sneaky, and duplicitous act was to give her a ride on a real Peloranbuilt Avenger. Let her suck on those eggs and like them. Little did I know she liked that ride so much she decided to request a transfer. Showed up a week later wearing a told-me-so grin, a tail flicking in amusement, and genuine Kitsune Youth ears. That was the day she became a Cowboy. It was a strange day, all told.

High rez version available for free on Patreon

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Myths and Legends

by on March 30, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

One of the more interesting things I do when studying what I want to do next with Jack is looking at old myths and legends. They are the great stories that have entranced us for thousands of years. They are the cultural myths we have tried to use to understand ourselves and the world around us. They are part of us. Stories like Star Trek and Star Wars have touched on these myths and legends enough to create millions of fans all over the world. People who don’t just enjoy it, but want to be it. People dress up as Starfleet officers, or wear Jedi robes. You can see it in other modern stories too, especially in those coming out of Japan, or in the sports heroes we idolize and dress up as. The football fan wearing horns and makeup is no less enamored by the spectacle than someone dressing up like their favorite Harry Potter character. The best stories have something that makes us want to be part of them. That is what I strive to harness with Jack of Harts.

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Japanese Kitsune

by on March 29, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Races of Humanity

The Kitsune of New Japan are a kind of a social club, if you consider the Masonic Lodges a social club. They have both youth and adult organizations, own businesses for both production and play, and even influence certain political parties in the New Japanese government. They are a serious enterprise in truth, devoted to the preservation of their Japanese traditions, while expanding it to include the American traditions they deem would improve it. Like the Scouts that they partner with, the Kitsune Youth is devoted to the practice of raising helpful and courteous children into trustworthy and brave adults. Most people only see the fox ears they wear, thinking they are something like the Disney Planet’s Mickey Mouse ears. They are to a point. Anyone can buy and wear them if they wish, but the ears and the right bow are akin to the Scouting Handshake when it comes to meeting a fellow Kitsune in public. Proof that they trained themselves at a young age to be physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight. There are subtleties in the Japanese oaths that do not survive the filtering into American, but the standard Scouting Oath is a good approximation. It is one of the reasons the two organizations partner with each other so well.

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Niko Nakamura

by on March 28, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Art, Character Profiles

Niko Nakamura was a fairly average girl growing up in Los Angeles. She’s got some subtle genetic mods. The eyes are most noticeable there. Outside that, she’s the fairly typical mixture of the Old Japanese and American genes that dominates Los Angeles and the surrounding lands. She joined the Kitsune Youth and did all the typical things kids do. Went scouting. Played laser tag. Learned to cook and clean, how to build a car, the basic care and use of a firearm. How to blow up small buildings with household cleaning chemicals. The little things that pretty much every kid should grow up knowing. She earned her tail, and still wears it on formal occasions to this day, but she’s not one who wears it out around town most days. Most chairs outside Los Angeles are not designed for people with tails you understand, and sitting on them is uncomfortable. Or so she tells me. I may have made certain all my chairs have nice, decorative holes in them after that. She may have smiled the first time she saw them. What can I say? The tail looks good on her.

High rez version available for free on Patreon

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Jack of Harts Research

by on March 27, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

One of the things I find interesting about writing Jack of Harts is just how much time I spend researching on the various subjects I write about. World War II is a repeat subject for a lot of reasons. One is that I write Jack of Harts like World War II in space. We started out as a land at peace, forced into War by a sneak attack. So there is a lot of scrambling. But one thing I like to do with my writing is having some realistic fleets. I look to World War II as an example. It is really our best example of a grand war, and the ship lists are truly amazing. Hundreds of names dot them, so when I’m looking to name a few dozen ships for a battlegroup, I just go to the World War II ship lists and see what catches my attention. Almost every name that has seen print in my stories was used in World War II. That is a sobering thing to think of. It is my way of remembering and honoring those who have and do serve our country. It is my way of making certain the names of our past are not forgotten.

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