Lucas Cats

by on February 9, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Races of Humanity

The tiger-derived Laohu of San Lucas lived forever in the underbelly of civilization on the Hankou continent. They were slaves, their parents had been slaves, and every generation going back to the very beginning of time had been slaves. They were the unfavored of the gods of the mountain, and it was their lot in life to toil for the betterment of their masters. Their masters gave them enough food and shelter to survive, but never enough to thrive. Their labors built the empire but they enjoyed few of the benefits. Then humanity arrived on their world, and they looked up to see flames streaking across the sky from a place far beyond the mountain of the gods. They began to worship these new, gleaming sky gods who wielded fire of their own. Their masters punished all who fell into such heresy, and the Laohu prayed for salvation from slavery and death as they prepared to take matters into their own claws.

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The Gateway Run

by on February 8, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Essential Galactic Atlas

Constantinople’s trading firms wanted to colonize Alcyone once we found out The Taurus Gateway was there. But America, and the rest of the Western Alliance, was deeply opposed to that idea. When even the Peloran kindly suggested that they would prefer Alliance neighbors in the system, Constantinople grudgingly agreed to stay out of the system. But they knew how much money could be made through Alcyone, and they were not prepared to relinquish that golden goose. So they chose three stars on a direct route to Alcyone and colonized them instead. They reasoned, not incorrectly, that if they could control the road to Alcyone, they could make nearly as much money as they could with Alcyone itself. So they assembled a new colony expedition and sent it to colonize the systems they named Hellespont, Marmara, and Bosphorus as quickly as possible. It was a good plan.

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Julie

by on February 7, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Art, Character Profiles

Julie’s life changed the day she moved into her aunt’s house. She barely let me leave her alone in the weeks that followed for one. That did a few things for my sense of importance, let me tell you. She tried on a whole new wardrobe, and I loved every minute of it. She looked awful good in just about anything, you see. But I also loved it because every day she woke up and tried on another sleeveless shirt or pair of shorts was another day that she proclaimed her independence from her former life. She had a good home. She let me take her to parties in other people’s homes. She flirted with all the pretty boys. She stayed up way too late at night. She did all the things a girl does when she’s becoming a young lady. Some would say she had a little too much fun. Not me. She deserved all the fun in the world, and I wanted to give it to her. She loved every minute of it. So did I.

High rez version available for free on Patreon

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Lucas Cats

by on February 6, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Races of Humanity

The lion-derived Toshi of San Lucas ruled the Hankou continent as warrior-priests for thousands of years. Their history literally begins with the rise of their first emperor, as if nothing existed before that day. Those same histories proclaim thousands of years of wise and benevolent rule following that day, showcasing the great care and concern the various emperors, high priests, and warriors had for the lesser beings they ruled. They had a long tradition of providing free carnivals and plays to the poor, and food was always made available to anyone in need. It was a matter of faith, and fact of course, that Hankou was the most advanced, most powerful, and greatest civilization under the stars. And it was the job of the Toshi to lead the empire into the glorious dawn that was their future under the mountain of the gods.

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Blade

by on February 5, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

With the upcoming run of the much-touted “First Black Superhero Movie” from Marvel/Disney, I’ve been going back and watching some of the superhero movies from yesteryear. Wild Wild West. Yeah, I know, not really a superhero movie, but I was looking for Hancock and found it. And I have yet to see the Will Smith movie I didn’t like, so I took one from the Gipper and watched it. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Then I watched Catwoman, and enjoyed it as well. Not as much, and I had more issues with it, but Halle Berry is a talented actress, so it was a good time overall. Today, with so many other people focusing on the season finale of football, I was thinking about something else.

Blade. Yes, the movie about the half-vampire/half-human vampire hunter and general sorta-dogooder taken from the pages of Marvel comics and dropped onto the big screen via the acting talent of Wesley “Tax Dodger” Snipes. I’ve never watched it before, and now that I have I can see how it rests in the annals of superhero movies. It came in at the end of the original Batman movie series, and borrowed the over-the-top stoicism of the titular hero from that franchise. And it came out before the first X-Men film, which shared Blade’s serious, world ending stakes should things go badly. Heh. I said stakes, about a vampire hunting film. 😉

Let me be clear. Blade earns its R rating with orgasmic amounts of blood, limb-chopping and body-exploding violence nearly from beginning to end, and F-bombs galore. I’m betting it skirted the edges of what that rating actually allowed, especially twenty years ago. It also sports a lead character with stoic manliness and few words, a villain with delusions of grandeur, and wise-cracking sidekicks for both of them that end up being both fun to watch and impressively effective combatants in their own rights.

This is not a family movie, in the vein of the new MCU movies with Iron Man and Friends. I’m glad I saw it, but it probably won’t make it onto my repeat-watch list. I prefer more family-friendly fare, but I’ll give it one sword up as a moderately enjoyable film to watch. The enemies gave a satisfying thump as they hit the floor as one of my favorite characters in TV once said. And I did watch a lot of Buffy and Angel in my younger days, so I do enjoy watching a good vampire hunt. There was much to like about this film, even as some of the “special effects” are clearly showing their age.

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