W_L

I am thinking of two thing groups: A council of Elders and a Conclave of peers. There is going to be issues of authority though, so I am not sure what will happen with that. Everyone is starting to let go of survivor mode and move into "It's life mode". The kids and adults haven't forgotten the decade long genocide and guerrilla war they just left either. As I keep repeating in my story, the exiles had no choice, but to abandon earth. It was a losing battle as more people died each day from raids, executions, or mental death through a combination of medical treatment/psychological therapy. (I know many gay writers would write great stories about gay people triumphing over adversity no matter what, but in this situation, there was no way to win. They just held on and tried to do what they can.) There are different schools of thought when it comes to survivors, some wish to start a new life away from the things that haunt them, some wish to kindle a common bond with their fellow survivors, and others seek an ounce of retribution. I got that from the Chinese, who still harbor great resentment towards the Japanese for killing innocent people and the sadistic experimentation. If you read my first part you know what Gregory Faust did before the ship's departed earth orbit. He is not alone in his sentiment and you can't blame him for doing what he did, especially if you knew what he had to do to protect everyone. A WWI general once quipped that "War has become a numbers game, so how many graves must we dig for them and us to end it". At the end, there's a lot of issues between mindsets and personalities.

There's a lot of ground to cover in my story. The government stuff has to be thought up as well as they approach their target destination and there are new issues coming up with the "alien" pod containing the teenage human boy. My issue is trying to come up with a government with power, but it would not cause issues to everyone involved. Also, as I stated most of the fleet are populated by kids and teenagers, there is going to be a generational gap and age issues. Call it my metaphor for the Gay Right's key issue between generations that I am seeing play out in the US and around the world. There are overt metaphors in my story that you will get as you read and some not so overt metaphors.

I just started thinking about this, it is getting me into a writer's block. What type of government would be good for a fleet of exiled gays, lesbians, and bisexuals (Yeah I will touch on bisexuality, too)? It's getting me stuck, so I will ask my readers for their input. The system that I had in place was oligarchy based on authority and specialties; however, I doubt that people would have agreed to live under such a system over time, especially after they have an amount of stability. That's one thing I thought BSG, the new series, did well. Having a hierarchy is impossible to maintain as people desire freedom and equal treatment. As a gay man, I feel that is the cornerstone of our struggles in reality as well. So, I can't possibly imagine a situation in which we should regress back to that state with limitations on freedom after being faced with a genocidal purge like in Exodus. I'm stuck on the politics. Anyone got an idea about how it could work out? I'll post this on the Fort Forum as well, since I've been mulling this back and forth.

Oh wow, Happy Birthday Gandalf! Hmmm....I thought Gandalf was ageless

You know what happened to Merry and Pippin after the war in the books; they get married to female hobbits and had kids, but during their last few years of life, they left the shire again together and spent their final days with each other. When they died, they were buried alongside each other, not their wives. (Tolkien was either hinting or their's something fishy about hobbits) I don't know, it sounds romantic to me, but then I am not a hobbit.

Happy Bday CJ, don't go near any cliffs!

It's not sam and Frodo either, if you have the extended version of the Return of the king, then you see a touching scene of Merry and Pippen too. My favorite line from them, Merry: I knew you will find me Pippen: Yes Merry: Are you going to leave me (again)? Pippen: No Merry I'm gonna look after you. (Scene ends with Pippen embracing Merry) Tolkien calls it a close bond between men in war, but I think that an interesting sexual aspect is also apparent underneath it.

It's been my hobby and fascination. I love space tech and theoretical physics/engineering.

Actually, it's not impossible to make an interstellar voyage even with our limited scientific capabilities: SmartIes I think you are referring to the Drake Equation. N is the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which communication might be possible; R* is the average rate of star formation per year in our galaxy fp is the fraction of those stars that have planets ne is the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets fℓ is the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point fi is the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop intelligent life fc is the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space L is the length of time such civilizations release detectable signals into space. I love the idea, when I grew up watching re-runs of star trek TNG and still do. As for space travel, I believe it is very possible with a few selective problems solved within our lifetime. The key issues of deep space travel are: 1. Power, what can you use to power a deep space vehicle? (Atomic power just doesn't cut it) 2. Propoulsion, How will it get to it's location? 3. Supplies, How can you solve the issue of long term supplies for spacecraft? 4. Long term exposure to radiation, How can you protect people from long term stellar radiation? (We are protected not only with our atmosphere, but the sun's heliosphere, which prevents many cosmic rays/particles from entry.) 5. Living in space, if you don't have things like Warp Drive, Hyperspace, or a form of FTL, then how can you live in space? 6. Finally, Human psychologically, how well can we psychologically live in space even for short durations of time? (There are a host of issues here) I hate plugging for my story, but Exodus does answer all the questions with sustainable scientific prospects. 1. Power would in my opinion be best achieved with matter/anti-matter annihilation. While Dan Brown imagines stories of anti-matter weapons destroying Rome, the super collider experiments in Bonn are very good first steps to achieving anti-matter power. 2. Propulsion must be a mixed bag. I do agree that there might be possibilities out there for FTL drives, but they are centuries ahead of us unless we discover an interstellar secret, i.e. wormhole or cosmic tunnel network (Andromeda Slipstream/Star War Hyperdrive/Babylon 5 Jump Drive). I think magnetic drives/solar sail drives would be the best approach in combination with a Bussard concept. The Bussard collectors could capture in cosmic matter and the ships could use that matter to generate power for their antimatter/matter annhilator generator. The power generated could be redirected into a magnetic field generator, which could augment the solar sail propulsion systems by providing additional push generated by the ship. Think of my example like someone going down hill, you could speed up the process if you add in your own energy by running down the hill versus the slower process of acceleration. The same can be said of solar sails, which would take a while to gather the necessary momentum from the sun to get that far. 3. Here's where things get interesting, some people believe the best approach in space travel is through hibernation, i.e. some form of suspended animation. However, I tend to believe that freezing is not going to be possible with the human body due to issues of tissue damage. I believe that supplies can be gathered simply if you plot out a course with small pit stops along the way. Think of the flyby asteroids/comets/ and other space objects as McDonald's. Supplies can be fashioned out of the raw material there. As for food, well you'll get to see space farming as it has to be done with next few chapters (Can't give you everything that I have been working on). Also, supplies of a more advanced nature must be fashioned onboard. That is where advances in nano-technology comes in. You will also want to have new things created and styles changes; that is where my belief in the future of Holographic technology would be headed in the next decade (Holography is very impressive). 4. This is where a magnetic drive comes in handy. The magnetic field of the earth and the sun are my inspirations for developing a conceptual magnetic drive field that can cancel out interstellar radiation. If you can generate a suffiecient enough field around a localized area, then you should be able to protect several ships from radiation exposure. 5. Space illnesses are not rare and they are just be documented. All I got to say is that McCoy was right, "Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence."- Star Trek (2009). Remember to keep a few doctors handy. 6. Psychology of human beings is very uneasy in space. It's not simply being lighter in weight (in my story, I actually borrowed J. Michael Straczynski Babylon 5 concept of centrifical force replicating gravity, the rotating Cylinder concept). Space psychology is just beginning to be conjectured, but I think there are as many issues of physical wellbeing as there are psychological issues. However, having a psychiatrist on staff would be handy. The three major discoveries and advances are in the fields of: Anti-Particle generation, advances in nanotechnology, and applicational three dimensional holographic systems substituting desktops or laptops as the main way human beings access or work with computers, i.e. a true tactile interface.

I don't know you can hate a hero and still love the story, look at House MD

Anyone Know where I can find the author? the Journey I really enjoy the story and the themes; it was one of those many little stories that I fell in love with as I grew up.

How about the hero?

Is there such a thing as a noble villain?

I hope you guys like my anti-villain. An anti-villain is a villain with good intentions and maybe even honorable personality, but his actions are usually geared toward the negative for others. I like writing good guys that are villains due to reality and perception. Some famous people in history can be counted as villains if you have a certain perception. For example: Abraham Lincoln is highly revered for his anti-slavery ideals and the unification of the US, which makes him a hero, but his actions during the civil war were villainous. Suspending civil liberties and arresting people for potential threats to the US. I still think of him as a hero of chaos, but others may view him as a villain. Many people don't get that "good" villains exist along with "bad" heroes, who aren't just your average scowl and shit-eating anti-heroes. Real "bad" heroes are hypothetically like a Mossad operative that blow up a building in Beirut in order to implicate an extremist political faction in terrorism. While dozens of innocent women and children die, thousands are saved due to the popular sentiment going against the political faction and preventing another Middle east war. However, the tactics and techniques they use to inspire fear and political strife is comparable to what Hamas is doing within their own country. So, they have used "bad" actions against "bad" guys. However, I don't think it makes them "good", simply heroes of a different caliber than most people will ever acknowledge or truly praise for their actions. I enjoy these types of characters.

Wish I had a finished long story for nomination, but I have the ADHD equivalence in story writing; I like developing a lot of different story. Expect Exodus next part as a Christmas present to my readers.

Happy Birthday Rush

I can understand storytelling ambiguity to protect the author, but there are ambiguous characters, who you wish will have a happy ending with that "special guy" or "special girl". Another two movies I forgot to add, "My own private Idaho", I want to believe that at the end of the movie Keanu Reeves will end up with Phoenix, but the movie left their sexual and emotional reality in disarray. I want a happy ending, not a sad ending for the main character. "Thelma and Louise", you get this feeling that these two women deserve each other after being through so much crap from the world. I think they were not lesbians or thought of themselves as bisexuals at the start of the movie, but there was a connection and strong bond that transcended those labels by the end. I think the jury is out on this one as both have had relations with men; yet remain faithful to each other until the end. The possible "best bisexual couple ever" title might belong to this movie.

There are many male and female characters, who form very deep and long lasting bonds with a character of the same sex. However, does that mean they were gay or bi? I thought about this as I watched Midnight Cowboy, there was clear implied indication that they might have been gay. However, it was never mentioned in the movie explicitly only implied. There are some characters like the Hobbits of Lord of the Rings, who have more in common with gay couples than heterosexual. However, there is no indication that they were gay or bisexual either. Is there a way to know whether it is true implication or just a close bond?

Most people have seen my writings of Exodus, so I am wondering, am I over doing it? I think I am getting too detailed on technological progress and potential technologies within the next 30-40 years. I know some writers are detail oriented, like my favorite author of the genre, Arthur C. Clarke. I do enjoy writing sci-fi. However, it is slowing down my progress in my story writing among other things like finishing off my novella, which kind of side tracked me for a bit as it is modern fiction, not sci-fi. Should I limit my focus to one genre of writing, because I'm not sure how I can focus on multiple genres at the same time, while maintaining my detail oriented stories. Any suggestions?

Hmm, I'll finish my novella first, but I'll join for a short story. For mood music, I would go with "Unopened letter to the world" by the Ataris. Here's my tagline: "Through defeat we learn, Through death we enjoy life, Through destruction we rebuild, but Through it all we are human"

Happy Birthday Chase! :2thumbs: Go party and have fun!

You just reminded me: Care Bears- My most embarrassing Cartoon

The book that changed my life: Of Arms and Men: A History of War, Weapons, and Aggression This is the book that got me interested in reading at age 9. I've always been interested in military tactics and technology. I found it in the Boston public library and started reading. I still remember the developmental history of Heat seeking missiles to this day and the advent of mechanized infantry. This book began my lifelong love of history. What got me into imagination and thinking came a year later at age 10 with this book: The Physics of Star Trek The book inspired me to learn more about mathematics and science. I wanted to be the one to prove you can go to Warp or make transporters possible, it was kind of childhood wish. Some of what I write today that involves complex scientific and engineering knowledge can be attributed to this book. When I became a Teenager, I started internalizing and began my exploration of religious and philosophical studies. Consider it soul searching. I've read the Bible before, but I realized there was so much more out there. I wanted to understand why people believe the way they do and I learned more about my own background along the way. I've grown to love proto-Daoism as an extension of my interest in natural sciences; the idea of universal relativity and continuous order and chaos working in a system interest me the most. I also understood the differences between how Buddhist belief and Confucian beliefs truly came about rather than accept a twisted dogma. There are many people in the West that would turn their back on these two philosophies if they knew the totality of what the philosophies mean rather than what some want them to mean. Let's just say there's less freedom and equality in Buddhist and Confucianism than people get from siding with either the "Free Tibet" crowd for Buddhism or the "Pro China" crowd for Confucianism. The entire philosophical debate has become a political farce rather than a true questioning of human nature. Both operate on certain principles that I cannot agree to, but it is a tragedy most people do not understand these two religious/philosophical standpoints other than purely surface interpretation. I also enjoy Judaism and Islam as counterparts to Christianity with so many areas that can be bridge if not for the doctrinal ideology.

I think we all agree to give SGU a chance for a couple more episodes. I liked the Voyager concept and premise, but hated the episodes. I'm one of those geeky trekkies that actually counted how many shuttlecraft they lost and how many people they reported were killed each episode. Dr. Rush is shaping up to be interesting, but I still don't understand what motivates him. For the new BSG's Dr. Baltar, you understand it was his vanity, lust, and pride that motivate him from the very beginning. Everything he did had a twisted logic that people can relate with, which made BSG such a powerful story. Dr. Rush is missing a motivation to be so cold and calculating. Now to Star trek: I think the Trek franchise began to die after DS9, not after TNG. Both the main producers of DS9 have crafted marvelous series after DS9, Ira Behr, the 4400, and Ronald D. Moore, Battlestar Galactica. DS9 was the high point of Star Trek on a conceptual basis, but what happened is that concept was far too high and nothing can seriously be done for a proper ending to Star Trek. It was the last series to be thought out by Gene Roddenberry before his death. I would dare any Sci-Fi viewer to name an episode of Star Trek that was better executed in TNG or the original series than DS9 "Taking into the Wind", TNG's "Best of Both worlds" does not count as it was a two season arc, "Taking into the Wind" was a decade long story arc. It took them 7 years to craft that episodes elements (The Klingon civil War and Worf's storyline of TNG, the Bajoran occupation and Cardassian storyline TNG/DS9, and the Dominion storylines into what I would call the final hurrah of Star Trek) from the later seasons of TNG to DS9's final episodes.

Sorry for double posting, but I did say I would give an in-depth review of the series premise and SGU: Stargate has become a well known franchise, equivalent to Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, and other. Stargate universe is the third series in the franchise. Stargate SG1 set the stage with adventure, over-arching plots, and the usualy "Save the world scenarios", which we can found in Sci-Fi today. It was good entertainment and enjoyable, because it had the right mix of bravado and humor. Who can say no to Jack O'Neill making snide remarks about his opponents and then gunning down twenty guys? The peculiar Dr. Jackson who is obsessed with the mysteries of existence and seeking something beyond him? Samantha Carter's romances and trait of killing off every boyfriend she ever had including Jack O'Neil in the Continuum Movie ? Finally, Tealc with a warrior scowl and silent treatment that would make most Klingons blush, most likely based off Worf from TNG? Those were the golden years of Stargate before the 9th season. Stargate Atlantis was to be a second series branching off the original. The series started out very well, but fell apart around the 3rd and 4th season. The premise had many promises: understanding a whole new host of civilizations in a distant galaxy alien to our own, new villains that could rival the perrenial technologist (The Ancients) that were the Wraith and Asurans, and you had interesting characters with a complex backstory that coalesced. I liked the M.A.S.H -esque motif they ran during the 1st season, which was incredibly delicate blend of humor/action/humanity. "Poisoning the Well" may perhaps be my favorite episode of the Franchise for the line, "Victory at any costs, Churchill, Didn't think I'd disagree"- Carson Beckett. It was a good series before the dynamic shifted more to emulate SG1 in the action category ending in the Biggest battle of Stargate "Be all my Sins Remembered", which made Atlantis become similar to DS9 if you wish to compare Star Trek series to Stargate. Both series had merits, but they started fading due to many writing shifts. Now we go into Stargate Universe or SGU- A meshwork of Star Trek Voyager, Battlestar Galactica, and many other nods to series. So far, the musical score reminds me of Battlestar Galactica and the opening action sequences with the Al'Kesh bombers and Death Gliders were more akin to the Cylon raiders of BSG than Stargate. As to the 9th Cheveron SFX sequence, I'll leave that for viewers to decide upon. I like the premise, but I have big reservations on execution. Now for the meat of the story, it is a character based series rather than a Arc story. Most people viewing sci-fi don't think about the differences in the Genre of Sci-Fi, but there are two main group of shows: "Adventure of the Week"- This is similar to an anthology format like Star Trek and its sequel TNG along with Voyager. Additionally, Lost in space, Andromeda, and the original Battlestar Galactica were based off this story technique. The adventure of week usually involves a large ensemble cast, which makes or break this kind of TV series. Execution of the stories must be consistent with the characters, which sometimes mean that the characters become robots only set to one emotional or character dynamic. Stargate SG1 succeeded with this format and Stargate Atlantis in season 2 and 3 failed here. "The Big Story"- This one was utilized by Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5, and Battlestar Galactica. Arc or "Big story" shows are driven by plot points. The characters are still involved, but the plots carry the show to the next challenge for our characters. Stargate SG1 used this approach on their main storyline for the Gould in Season 1-6 and Stargate Atlantis 1st season and 4th seasons were thrilling due to it. I won't lie about my bias toward the "Big Story" and plot driven series. SGU for me is still young and could become either, but the pilot shows us a more "Adventure of the week" style with possibly better execution than Voyager was for Star Trek, hopefully. As to the characters: Eli Wallace- The Geeky guy inside all Sci-Fi fans. Syfy network knows their audience and he looks like someone that would fit into any comic-con. I think the character needs fleshing out; he'll become comic relief if they do not. Dr. Rush- An Anti-Villain or an Anti-Hero, it all depends on your view of the character. He reminds of Dr. Baltar from BSG along with a few others. I like the concept and the cold deceitful nature of his character, which seems to me more human than many Stargate main cast members. He's as close as you can get to a BSG personality without calling it Stargate BSG. The military guys have not gotten enough screen time for me to love or hate them. Now there's an interesting thing in this series, Stargate has introduced the first openly lesbian main character, which is a interesting though forgettable. The first bisexual main characters, both females, appeared in Ds9 and Babylon 5 concurrently (I can debate this with sci-fi fans later in private; it used to be a more touchy subject as B5 fans thought they were more progressive than Trekkies.) I'm still waiting for a openly bisexual/gay male character in American sci-fi (DR. Who doesn't count) that isn't or turns evil, (Why did Felix Gaeta have to turn evil?) Thus, let's get down down to the story: It was odd and disjointed, so I'll leave any true judgments until part 3 "airs", pun intended for people that know episode titles like me by heart (very geeky). As it is currently, SGU has many flaws and potential. Let's hope that they can make it and not crash the franchise like Enterprise.