Free Trader - Freeform story based Sci-fi SLGBTQI - still looking for a few folk

[CassYuri]

I saw that Downbelow station is available on Kindle so I'll read that then make a character.

[Chrystal]

Can't believe I missed this! While not familiar with this series I have been reading the Foreigner series by the same author.

I've not read the Foreigner stories, I am sad to admit. I have had little money to spend on books for a long time and what I read tends to be free crap downloaded from Amazon to my phone's kindle app.

There is actually a quite extensive wiki for the A/U universe, which CJ herself contributes to - in fact this has me slightly worried! If anyone spots anything I've got wrong, please let me know and I'll fix it!

I saw that Downbelow station is available on Kindle so I'll read that then make a character.

Cool... Uh, you might also want to read Merchanter's Luck, because it gives the idea that this scenario is based off.

[Blinkin]

I have the books on order, but it may be a week before the NLS gets them to me, then I have to read them; the narriator is not a great one, so it takes longer to read.

But, at some point, I'll be up on the story... it may be time to read Ready Player One again... even if there's no game. *chuckles*

[CassYuri]

Cool... Uh, you might also want to read Merchanter's Luck, because it gives the idea that this scenario is based off.

I haven't room for the physical books I have presently so quite awhile ago I resigned myself to just getting ebooks.  If you know where I can buy an ebook of Merchanter's Luck, I'll totally buy and read it.  Otherwise I'll have to wait.  On the plus side it wasn't that long ago that I looked for the Downbelow station book to get started on the series but it wasn't out at the time so I think they are finally getting around to making ebooks of them.  Yay!

[Chrystal]

I haven't room for the physical books I have presently so quite awhile ago I resigned myself to just getting ebooks.  If you know where I can buy an ebook of Merchanter's Luck, I'll totally buy and read it.  Otherwise I'll have to wait.  On the plus side it wasn't that long ago that I looked for the Downbelow station book to get started on the series but it wasn't out at the time so I think they are finally getting around to making ebooks of them.  Yay!

http://www.download-genius.com/download-k:Merchanter%27s%20Luck%20%28Alliance-Union%20Universe%29.html?aff.id=5218

Not sure if that works, but a google search turned it up.

It's not yet available for kindle.

[Rook Seidhr]

As a long-time fan of Cherryh's work, especially the Alliance/Union and Compact series, I am very interested in this game…but I haven't been at my most reliable lately, and I have some issues with the way group games on Elliquiy seem to proceed.

What is the expectation for minimum post length?

What is the maximum number of posts per player per week you're willing to deal with?

[Chrystal]

As a long-time fan of Cherryh's work, especially the Alliance/Union and Compact series, I am very interested in this game…but I haven't been at my most reliable lately, and I have some issues with the way group games on Elliquiy seem to proceed.

What is the expectation for minimum post length?

What is the maximum number of posts per player per week you're willing to deal with?

Hi, Wow! Another Cherryh fan! *HUGS*

Hmmm.... Didn't we speak at one point about a story based on Morgaine?

Minimum post length, I have set at around 200 words. I'm generally not a "word counter" though. What I would like is two decent length paragraphs per post. and by decent length I mean occupying a minimum of three and a bit lines within the text box that we type our posts into. So if I type a bit more and waffle some, this paragraph will eventually become what I consider to be a decent length. So yeas, basically two paragraphs of about this size, minimum.

There is no maximum post length, but if you go over 1,000 words, consider that you may want to split the post to allow others to react! (I need to add that sentence to my RoP!)

That said, if a post is short, once in a while, I'm not going to say anything. If someone short-posts repeatedly, I will.

The maximum number of posts per week? Uh... That has never been a problem! I find that getting every player to post a minimum of once a week is the challenge. However, if two players are posting back and forth and running away with the thread without waiting on anyone else - unless they are in a private sex scene - I will step in and ask them to wait for people to catch up. And a private scene like that would probably get moved to it's own thread to allow the story to continue.

Please feel free to get back to me with any comments or suggestions or concerns...

[Blinkin]

Chrys, did you see my question about relationships on the previous page?

[Chrystal]

I did. I replied to it here... https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=213048.msg10496230#msg10496230

and I have put the info relating to society and sex, which should answer the question, here: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=212989.msg10504420#msg10504420

[Blinkin]

Ah, thanks. I wasn't sure if the response was to me, or an earlier post, but question answered. :)

[Rook Seidhr]

in Cherryh's universe artificial gravity is provided the real way, by spinning a cylinder about a central axis, rather than the Trek-Trope way of just assuming that something is holding everyone to the deck and it is still working even when the ship has been derelict for centuries, there is no air and no power to anything else.... (Seriously, the least they could have done was have them on wires!)

But possibly the worst goof in the Roddenburyverse was the life support system. "Divert all power to shields...." Says Kirk, standing with his feet firmly planted on the deck.... Um, sorry but if you are diverting ALL power to the shields, wouldn't the gravity go off?

If I recall correctly from the TNG "tech manual" I once laughed my way through in a bookstore, artificial gravity is supposed to be a fluid, which leaks away slowly once its containment is disrupted…

Silliest damn bit of technobabble I remember ever having read.

[Blinkin]

Sure that you're not talking about anti-matter?

The gloss over of artificial gravity has been around since the first silent movies with a science-fiction element. It wasn't called artificial gravity, but blaming roddenberry and Star Trek for all of the seudo-psyic psychobabble in the world isn't entirely correct.

A old role-playing friend who had serious trouble with anything the least bit un-realistic once pointed out that the "rocket pistols" of the original Buck Rogers were totally unrealistic because the amount of distance that it took for the rocket to accelerate to achieve a velocity effective enough to detonate was measured in dozens of yards instead of feet... then, the fuel capacity of the little rockets and so on and so forth. Yet, we don't blame Buck Rogers for the fact that the science didn't support it's effects.

So, I try hard to just watch for the story of sci-fi productions and ignore the lack of actual scientific fact. Even 2001, which went to some lengths to seem based on realistic effects flunked several elements... so... enjoy the story. :)

[Chrystal]

There is some justification for the Graviton particle... It's one of the odd quirks of science that gravity cannot be explained in terms of anything except itself... I remember my physics teacher at school saying to imagine the universe as a thin rubber sheet. Every massive object distorts the universe in the same way as placing a ball of a certain mass on that sheet.

Of course the problem with the analogy is that you are using gravity to explain gravity!

But I have never heard or seen a better explanation. There is a Unified Theory of Science into which every single subatomic force known to man (strong, weak, electromagnetic, etc, I think I forgot one...) fits, except - at least, to my knowledge - gravity!

But yes, Treknobabble is cringe-worthy at times.

My favourite is the idiotic concept of "Inertial Dampeners", which the Trekies came up with to counter the fact that the entire crew would be a greasy smear if they went from standing still to "warp 6" in two seconds... And yet in ToS, they didn't seem to work very well... *giggles*

In RimRunners, the character Bet Yeager speculates about the take-hold sounding literally a second before a massive burn kicking in on Africa - the carrier she was a marine on - and the fact that there were some long, long fore-aft corridors on a carrier that you didn't want to get caught in when the mains kicked in and aft became down with anything up to ten g's... and she describes seeing people falling past her in those corridors.

So yeah... Newtonian physics!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knE4eIn-YDA

[Rook Seidhr]

There is some justification for the Graviton particle...

Oh, it's part of every theory of quantum gravity in one form or another—but it's a gauge boson, not an invisible form of matter. You cannot fill a ship with gravitons any more than you can fill it with photons. It's a category error.

(my undergraduate degree in physics did not teach me real physics but I can puzzle out some of the longer words from context—real physics starts in grad school)

[Chrystal]

Player ID: Chrystal

First Name: Lena

Surname: Fiori (NB: This is the Ship Surname)

Gender: Female

Age: 18 standard years subjective

Height: 180 cm

Mass: 63 kG

Hair Colour: "As picture"

Eye Colour: "As picture"

Skin Colour: "As picture"

Build: Slim with decent curves, 82-61-82

Distinguishing marks: Small burn scar on back of left hand, walks with a slight limp in her left foot

Sexual preference / Orientation: Lesbian

Assigned Department: Engineering

Stated specialisation preferences: Main engine Maintenance, Jump Drive Technology, Cargo Management

Likes: Synth-caf, girls, machinery, Cyteen beer, getting her hands dirty, Jayna

Dislikes: Low class Azi, men, people who don't get their hands dirty, stuck-up stationers, idiots, people bossing her twin around.

Personality prior to the attack: Lena was very calm, easy-going and likeable. She was studious and diligent, never missing her studies, never shirking a responsibility. Lena was fairly quiet, normally. She had a small group of friends on the ship, and when on station-leave, rarely ventured beyond the hostel and a few bars nearby, rarely engaging in sleepovers with other ship's crew members or stationers. Her preference for female companionship is something she never tried to hide, but equally never actually broadcast, considering it to be her own business and no-one else's. She reckoned that, sooner or later, she would come across another like-minded female who would wish to join her on her ship, or whom she could join. In the mean time, every so often she would find someone who would share her bed.

She was always fascinated by what made the ship go, and when asked "What do you want to be?" by her mother, when she was six, had replied "Wanna make ship work!" That had stayed with her through her childhood and teenage years. Her mother, Miranda Fiori, who sat Scan 2 Mainday, approved of her choice. Her father was some unremarkable insystem belter at Cyteen Station.

How has the attack affected them: Lena has become decidedly more outspoken since the attack on the ship. It is almost as if her personality has been shifted up a gear. She harbours a deep burning hatred, now towards the Earth Company in general and the Maziani in particular. Whereas before, politics were for others, and the war was far away, now suddenly it is up close and personal. She is constantly fighting an urge to run off and join the Union Fleet, to some how hit back, but manages to reason with herself that keeping her ship alive and running, keeping the goods flowing between the Union stations, will be a good enough way, and in this way she will not be letting down her surviving family.

Player O/Os: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=74306.0

Any Other Info: Lena got her left foot trapped between two cargo canisters that were being loaded onto the ship, when she was twelve. She had been playing around in the downside cargo area, a silly, dangerous game of "dodge" that she and some friends had invented and that the adult crew were trying desperately to put a stop to. She was the one who didn't dodge fast enough. Her left foot was crushed. Station Medical managed to put her foot back together again, but she was forced to spend a long year stationside while the ship did it's regular run, and she has walked with a limp ever since.

As a result of this she is several months older than her twin sister Jayna .

[Chrystal]

Please feel free to post approved character sheets here.

I have decided arbitrarily on a family surname of "Florentine". If anyone has any major objections to this (like perhaps you associate that name with something unpleasant, please tell me and if you wish, suggest an alternative?

A better suggestion from Riveda, the surname is Fiori. It actually fits a lot better with Merchanter family names in the books!

[Blinkin]

Player ID: Blinkin

First Name: Samantha, or Sam

Surname: Fiori
Gender: Female

Age: 18

Height: In CM. 167.6 cm

Mass: 59 kg

Hair Colour: Blonde, kept in a bob
Eye Colour: brown

Skin Colour: Peaches and cream

Build: Athletic, a little on the curvy side with a rounded rear and generous C-cups

Distinguishing marks: Piercing in her ears, bellybutton and pubes, a tattoo of hunting cat on the back of her right shoulder and a faint scar on her right hip from a childhood accident.

Sexual preference / Orientation: bi-sexual

Assigned Department: Operations

Stated specialisation preferences: Cargo Handling, damage control and engine repair

Likes: Reading, flirting with the guys, watching the stars via video systems,”real” food from a station and a good joke.

Dislikes: Short rations, sappy vids, inactivity, The chemical smell of medical areas and pirates.

Personality prior to the attack: Sam was a fairly content, confident and independent young woman who was prone to harmless jokes, flirting with the guys and laughing at even the worst jokes; especially when one of the children told a funny story that she had heard a thousand times before. She loved the children and waited for the time that she could have one or two… or three of her own someday. A light-hearted girl who had never known much more than the ship and liked it that way. Carefree and while a hard-worker, relished the moments that she could steal for herself and her love for anything that she could read. A little bit of a day-dreamer who liked to simply look out at the stars via the displays and plan her future with her extended family. Outgoing in a flirtatious fashion, she had gone through several little crushes and tried hard to maintain an optimistic attitude while she pursued this boy or that  one, the occasional “playtime” with a willing person during her off-duty time.

How has the attack affected them: Sam doesn’t laugh anymore. She hasn’t yet allowed herself to grieve, but is very deeply in the anger phase of the process. Her once light heart is filled with a fury that the reactor core might not quite match it’s heat. But, the anger is focused and directed toward those who have caused her loss and the deaths of her family. Her smiles are a bit more fierce, a little strained and her brown eyes spark at even the mention of the companies. While her rage comes out sometimes in yelling fits or  biting comments, she has directed a lot of it into a different kind of passion; that of the flesh and her determination to live every minute as if it might be her last and that she is certain that she’ll go down to a raider’s weapon.. and her teeth in his throat! Where she was a playful flirt, she has become more aggressive in her “playtimes” and in some way that she has refused to admit, an attempt to find some solace in someone’s arms and maybe bring children back to the quiet places of the ship. Although her hatred runs red hot, she’s also developed a fear of being confined.

Player O/Os: Find Them Here!

Any Other Info: Nothing comes to mind

[Rook Seidhr]

I have decided arbitrarily on a family surname of "Florentine". If anyone has any major objections to this (like perhaps you associate that name with something unpleasant, please tell me and if you wish, suggest an alternative?

It makes me think of spinach. I like spinach, but it's not a spacer thing. I will be constantly chuckling.

(in cooking, "florentine" generally means "with loads of spinach"; thus, "spinach florentine," like "tomatoes Provençal" or "shrimp scampi," is redundant)

"Fiori," maybe?

[Blinkin]

If you want to make everyone feel hard-up, name them Phizer (sp?) lol

If you're feeling a little cheesy, we could go with fettichini (Often served with a cheese sauce). lol

[Rook Seidhr]

Player ID: Riveda

First Name: Mark

Surname: Fiori

Gender: male

Age: 19

Height: 180cm

Mass: 75kg

Hair Colour: As picture

Eye Colour: Green (as picture)

Skin Colour: As picture

Build: As picture

Distinguishing marks: One gray star on inside of right wrist, the start of a night-walker navigator's tattoo (to which he as yet has no right, of course)

Sexual preference / Orientation: Heteroromantic demisexual (though he would characterize himself as asexual)

Assigned Department: Operations

Stated specialisation preferences: Navigation

Likes:

• math
• music
• those puzzles where you have to fit a piece of metal through a gap in another piece that's apparently too small, or whatever
• pictures of weather
• trying to grow facial hair

Dislikes:

• crowds
• alcohol
• loud noises (he puts up with ship noises, they're familiar enough not to make him flinch, but he certainly doesn't like them and he could never work in Engineering)
• small children
• people who try to figure out his emotional buttons

Personality prior to the attack: As a child, Mark was bright and curious; his mother Tanya was junior chief comp, and she expected him to follow her into that specialty. When he was 16, however, he nearly died in jump from an allergic reaction to a contaminated dose of trank. After that, he was phobic about tranking down, and only faked doing it. He learned to claw his way through the nightmares and perceptual distortions and move around the ship. It had a marked effect on his personality, making him somewhat schizoid (rather than borderline like Capella in Tripoint), more interested in people as puzzles rather than as beings like himself. When he concentrates, he can "put on a skin" and behave normally; he just doesn't always bother. He fought hard and dirty to be reassigned to Operations and made it just before the attack.

How has the attack affected them: The death of almost everyone Mark knew has made him more withdrawn, less and less willing to "put on a skin" like a normal human being. He regrets having alienated his mother in the course of fighting for reassignment, and now hears her voice in the Between, urging him to "join us" (i.e., sabotage the ship in jump). He knows it's a projection of his own survivor guilt, and isn't going to act on it, but it distresses him that knowing that doesn't make it go away.

Player O/Os: here

Any Other Info: not at this time

[Rook Seidhr]

If you're feeling a little cheesy, we could go with fettichini (Often served with a cheese sauce). lol

Oh, fettucini can be served with any sauce—marinara, arrabbiata, margherita—just as any pasta can be served with an alfredo sauce. And I'd better stop before Chrystal reassigns my character to Cookery :)

[Chrystal]

Okay, yes, Fiori it is, I like that. I hate thinking up surnames!

Sorry Blinking, please could you edit?

[Blinkin]

Sure, no problem.

So interesting that the only male on the ship, so far, is asexual... I guess that if Sam needs snuggling, she'll have to go looking in the Engine room. lol

[Chrystal]

If we don't get a couple more players at least this is going no-where anyway!

I'm patient. I am waiting for those who have expressed an interest to offer characters for approval.

[CassYuri]

Player ID: Cass Yuri

First Name: Olivia

Surname: Fiori

Gender: Female

Age: 20

Height: 178cm

Mass: 70 kg

Hair Colour: "As picture"

Eye Colour: Green

Skin Colour: "As picture"

Build: "As picture"

Distinguishing marks: Yin/Yang tattoo on the back of her neck.  Tongue has a metallic green stud.  Nipples are pierced with metallic green bars.  Belly button is pierced with a dangly translucent yin/yang pendant.

Sexual preference / Orientation: Lesbian

Assigned Department: Sciences

Stated specialisation preferences: Economics, Scan, Helm

Likes: Profit, Zero-g martial arts called "Zedo", Free Trader air, Science, Exercise

Dislikes: Losing money, Anyone messing with the Free Trader or it's crew, Earth Company, Stationer air, People who try to trade or negotiate like the "used car salesman" of Earth

Personality prior to the attack: Up till her teenage years Olivia had to use a respirator when on a station, because of a respiratory suspectibility to airborne viruses.  When she was seven, some stationer boys were teasing her and took her respirator and she got terribly sick.  After that she was determined to learn how to defend herself and took up Zedo and exercise.  She developed a distaste for stationer boys which as she became sexually active turned into an exclusive interest in girls.  She was open about her being a lesbian, but never hostile toward boys unless they were being jerks.  She took a real interest in the business side of the Free Trader and managed to make a decent profit on some small scale trade ventures she took upon herself to pursue.  As part of her desire for profit she also learned what she could about the scanners to sniff out adrift cargo, valuable salvage, or raw materials that can be gotten easily.  With an eye toward eventually Captaincy, she is also eager to pick up the helm skills to legitimize her in that role.

How has the attack affected them: She feels like she should have been able to do something more to protect the Free Trader from the attack.  She doesn't know what but she feels in her bones that she should have been able to do something.  She is even more protective of the Free Trader and crew that remain and hopes to rescue those taken.  Just as when the boys took her respirator and she took up Zedo, Olivia is trying to figure out how much money and on what they need to spend that money to make sure an attack on Free Trader never succeeds again. 

Player O/Os: https://elliquiy.com/forums/onsoffs.php?u=54350

Any Other Info: none at the moment