2025-01-27: Posted a Space Opera
Testing out what it might look like to have commentary articles in my "Regent Terry's Miscellaney" (yes, the misspelling is deliberate) category.
December was a tough month and I didn't spend any time in World Anvil at all, but eventually I DID finish the libretto for "The Transit of the Eldritch", a literal Space Opera. As in, an opera set in space, about something that happened related to space travel and technology. A nice synergy between the definitions of the phrase.
I don't know why the story of Captain Luéz DuBois jumped up and demanded attention as I wrote a summary of the War of Manhome Liberation aka "Orion Wars" - except that it's incredibly dramatic in the way that lends itself to operatic treatment. It started out as a way of illustrating the love and loyalty Sol.Tellus System citizens have for their system, in the face of a terrible invasion focused on changing the social and political nature of the system.
Although there is a contemporary analog there in the challenges to democracy by authoritarian populism. The relevance of that threat may have been part of why that plot development rose above mere 'moving the narrative where it needs to go' and grabbed my imagination.
So, Captain DuBois - and her crew - were willing to knowingly sacrifice their lives. That's certainly operatic enough. But who is Captain DuBois? Who are her crew, how (and why) would they reach the momentous decision to knowingly sacrifice their lives to get word of the invasion out and summon help?
Sol.Tellus system is no longer the Big Cheese in the Tellurian Federation - the largest and most prosperous of the Diaspora's Multi-World Entities. In terms of population, it's one of the largest signatories to the Federation's Framework, but economically, technically, and astropolitically, it's largely a backwater compared to the major first-wave colonies. But culturally... ah, culturally the Tellurian Way of Life still exercises an outsize influence, not just in the Federation, but throughout the Diaspora.
Which made it the target-of-choice for ideological terrorists pursuing a xenophobic jihad to establish their authoritarian dominance of major worlds and resources in the Diaspora.
As I parsed that out, I realized what might motivate some ordinary life-loving people in the local militia to make the supreme sacrifice - especially if some of them are also parents. Maybe one or more of them come from a traditional subculture with a strong warrior ethos. Maybe, maybe... and the story began to take shape.
It is certain that in the Diaspora, the tale of these people and their heroism enters history and transcends it to legend. That's a process that starts with taking the bones (basic facts) behind the story, and adding details, highlighting the emotional impact of this and that detail, speculating about what can't be known (after all, they're all dead, and while the ship's log may have captured some of the conversations and events, not even the most advanced logging tech can record the heart, the spirit, or the soul of those aboard.
What better medium to begin that process than music? Art has always potentiated propaganda, and the Federation - and Sol.Tellus system - exist in a perilous astropolitical environment with war looming on the horizon.
Enjoy The Transit of the Eldritch, and if inclined, let me know how you liked it!
Terry
December was a tough month and I didn't spend any time in World Anvil at all, but eventually I DID finish the libretto for "The Transit of the Eldritch", a literal Space Opera. As in, an opera set in space, about something that happened related to space travel and technology. A nice synergy between the definitions of the phrase.
I don't know why the story of Captain Luéz DuBois jumped up and demanded attention as I wrote a summary of the War of Manhome Liberation aka "Orion Wars" - except that it's incredibly dramatic in the way that lends itself to operatic treatment. It started out as a way of illustrating the love and loyalty Sol.Tellus System citizens have for their system, in the face of a terrible invasion focused on changing the social and political nature of the system.
Although there is a contemporary analog there in the challenges to democracy by authoritarian populism. The relevance of that threat may have been part of why that plot development rose above mere 'moving the narrative where it needs to go' and grabbed my imagination.
So, Captain DuBois - and her crew - were willing to knowingly sacrifice their lives. That's certainly operatic enough. But who is Captain DuBois? Who are her crew, how (and why) would they reach the momentous decision to knowingly sacrifice their lives to get word of the invasion out and summon help?
Sol.Tellus system is no longer the Big Cheese in the Tellurian Federation - the largest and most prosperous of the Diaspora's Multi-World Entities. In terms of population, it's one of the largest signatories to the Federation's Framework, but economically, technically, and astropolitically, it's largely a backwater compared to the major first-wave colonies. But culturally... ah, culturally the Tellurian Way of Life still exercises an outsize influence, not just in the Federation, but throughout the Diaspora.
Which made it the target-of-choice for ideological terrorists pursuing a xenophobic jihad to establish their authoritarian dominance of major worlds and resources in the Diaspora.
As I parsed that out, I realized what might motivate some ordinary life-loving people in the local militia to make the supreme sacrifice - especially if some of them are also parents. Maybe one or more of them come from a traditional subculture with a strong warrior ethos. Maybe, maybe... and the story began to take shape.
It is certain that in the Diaspora, the tale of these people and their heroism enters history and transcends it to legend. That's a process that starts with taking the bones (basic facts) behind the story, and adding details, highlighting the emotional impact of this and that detail, speculating about what can't be known (after all, they're all dead, and while the ship's log may have captured some of the conversations and events, not even the most advanced logging tech can record the heart, the spirit, or the soul of those aboard.
What better medium to begin that process than music? Art has always potentiated propaganda, and the Federation - and Sol.Tellus system - exist in a perilous astropolitical environment with war looming on the horizon.
Enjoy The Transit of the Eldritch, and if inclined, let me know how you liked it!
Terry
