Daniel M. Bensen's Blog, page 68
January 12, 2017
The Biomes of Junction
An overview of the alien biomes traversed by the Houlihan-Matsumori Expedition
From top left to bottom right:
The Glasslands (no Nun name)
Silicates dissolved in mild sulfuric acid, warmed by geothermal heat. Think living fishbowls–giant diatoms.
The Wormwood (Sokok Yo Dung—the Country of Worm Trees, Sokok Kubilon—the Uninitiated Country)
Diploid treeworms give birth to haploid workers, soldiers, and photosynthesizers, including meters-tall wormtrees.
The Toymaker Forest (Sokok Mekaletya—Country of the Small Givers)
Kelptrees crack water and oxygen into hydrogen, sugar and methane. The hydrogen they use to fill balloons for support and propagation. Ring-shaped toymaker worms colonize the wooden skeletons or larger animals, modifying them into mobile nests.
The Lighthouse Zone (Sokok Heng Tokwe–the Ground Sun Country)
Trees reflect light to shaded saplings. Under-story plants utilize piezoelectric sugar crystals and wind and animal movement to kinetosynthesize energy.
The Sweet Blood Zone, the Oasis (Sokok Ining Eng–the Ripe Blood Country)
A fast-expanding foam is colonized by plant cells. Animals contain hemoglobin-based blood, and are compatible with Earth biochemistry.
Deathwind Valley (Sokok Bou Deibokna–the Country of Death Wind)
Plants absorb oxygen and produce carbon monoxide. Animals utulize structural iron and ferrofluid muscles. Radio signals used for communication.
~~~
Man this was a big one. Done at the Euphoria Hotel in Borovets while listening to Shipstar by Larry Niven and Gregory Benford and Gulp by Mary Roach.
January 8, 2017
Junction Fan Art!
Junction is still lurching and moaning through its latest round of revisions, but something good’s coming out of the process aside from my sweet caffeine-flavored tears: FAN ART!
Lizard-bug by Viergacht
The first is a Lizard-bug by artist and cover-designer Viergacht. Love the eyes and those vestigial wings. Mm. Delicious.
Anne by Edge-lorde
And here’s Edge-lorde‘s now-canonical design for Anne. Also, yes, the U in Daisuke’s name is silent (technically devoiced) and yes, he does smile like that.
And what’s this. What. IS. THIS? A pinterest board Kim Moravec made for Junction! Impossible! And yet it exists.
By the way, Junction is still open for beta-readers. Actually it’s more like “delta” by now, but anyway…
January 5, 2017
Terrestrial Vertebrates
The Union of Sapient Species the the second largest known multi-timeline legal union, encompassing over a hundred sapient species from nearly as many parallel Earths. A few of those species are related to humans, their timelines having diverged within the last million years. Others are…more distant.
1)
Most basal among the craniates of the USS are thes, descended from cyclostomes most closely related to Human Earth’s lampreys and hagfish. Jawless, 211-115s process food with their forelimbs (also used to manipulate tools) and a forked, toothed radula. Three pairs of lungs in the upper ribcage draw in air and produce the harmonic triads that compose 211-115 languages. Their integument of hollow keratin cones insulate their bodies and (in the case of the ear-horns) focus sound. Current diplomatic relations between Human and 211-115 Earths are warm.
2)
The dondokodondons are ostracoderms, more closely related to jawed vertebrates than cyclostomes, but still jawless. Dondokodondons’ ancestors evolved calciferous bone, but grow it as an exoskeleton outside their skin. Their skull-like cephalons are supported by three limbs, homologous to the pectoral fins and tails of their swimming ancestors. They grasp tools and process food with tooth-covered radulae. Diplomatic relations with Human Earth are limited to trade in manufactured goods conducted in a single space station.
3)
Although they walk on four limbs, pwikpwuks are not tetrapods like humans, but chondrichthyes, related to sharks. Like dondokodondons, pwikpwuks’ cartilaginous internal skeletons are not strong enough to support their weight. Their external skeletons of dentine support their limbs and muscles. Denticles also cover the sensative manipulatory barbels, which allow pwikpwuks to capture food. Relations with Human Earth have been strained since a homeless man was unfortunately devoured by pwikpwuk tourists in San Francisco.
4)
That’s us
5)
Like tetrapods, tlaatlhhatls evolved from lobe-finned fishes, but conquered the land independently. Their four fins are each split four pairs of branching digits on which they walk and with which they capture and process food. The evolution of their third pituitary eye is mysterious. The human United Nations enjoys close relations with the tlaatlhatl planetary government, but efforts to promote tourism have proved largely fruitless. The blame likely falls on human arachnophobia.
6)
Vhngbas evolved from teleost fishes after an extinction far worse than the one that killed the dinosaurs of Human Earth. Their fused pelvic fins form a single pillar-like hoof, supplemented by the more flexible limbs derived from the pectoral fins. The dorsal and adipose finds curl around the earing/vocalization openings in their breathing chambers, amplifying booth hearing and speech, while a hand derived from the caudal fin manipulates tools. Sapient-rights violations by the largest vhngba social hegemony resulted in sanction and embargo from USS members, intensifying mutual hostility between Vhngba and Human Earths.
This one is inspired by @jayrockin, @deinocheirus, and @viergacht. Get well soon, @viergacht!
Done while listening to Dora and Friends (con todos mis amigos).
Zmeyove
Zmeyove are superheroes and men
Japanese Junction
(scroll down for the English translation)
私が書いているSFの小説の日本語の会話を手伝ってくれるませえんか。 このJunctionという小説の主人公は、日本人のテレビスター、松森大輔です。 この初めのシーンでは、松森さんと吉田監督にプロデューサーの竹田さんから電話が掛かります。
（吉田の携帯が鳴る）
吉田：もしもし？ 誰 – ？ お、かしこまりました！ もちろん。 （松森に携帯を上げる）竹田さんです。
松森：はい?
竹田：君はね、英語話せるよね？
松森：必要ほどできます。 あの、ご存知じないかもしれませんが、撮影の途中でございますし。
竹田：締め切ろ！ 荷造りして出発の準備しよ。
松森：出発ですか？
吉田：え？ （携帯をつかむ）どうも、松森くん。
（松森は、吉田が携帯をつかんだことに苛立つ。キャリアが低下していることと吉田が尊敬しないことを心配する。）
松森：何が起こっている？ どうしたの?
吉田：（松森を追い払う）残念ですけど不可能でございます。 お金はもう。。。キャンセルされた？（顔が赤く変わる）でわ、お帰りになるとおっしゃるんですか。
竹田：（くすくす笑う）まったく帰るつもりはないよ。
松森：どういう意味？ （携帯をつかむ）竹田さんは別の場所で撮影させようしますか？ この撮影は最後にすると通知いらっしゃいました。 私は健康ではないですし。 そして、東京で、あの、重要な会議がありますし。
竹田：松森くんの奥さんの弁護士たちは待てる。ヘリコプターのほうは待たせないぞ。
松森：（怒りを見せる）いったいなんでヘリコプター？
（ドアが叩かれる。背景で声が聞こえる。竹田は他の人と話している。）
竹田：（上司に話す）はい。 そうでございます。 そういたします。 はい、只今彼らを通知いたします。
竹田：（松森に話す）ただちに飛ぶ準備をして。しなければ、解雇されて、おそらく死んで、日本と人類全体の裏切り者として永遠に非難されるだろう！
吉田：何とおっしゃいます？ だれが何をどこまで飛ぶ？
（ヘリコプターが空に現れる。）
語彙や文法に問題はありますか？ 人物の心理はどうですか 。本当の人みたいですか。手伝ってくれてどうぞよろしく。
Who can help me with a Japanese conversation in the science fiction book I’m writing?
The main character of my scifi novel Junction is a Japanese TV star named Daisuke Matsumori. In this introductory scene, Matsumori and his director Yoshida get a call from Takeda, their producer. (Note: the translations are intentionally a little un-ideomatic. I want to let the Japanese show through)
(Yoshida’s cell phone rings)
Yoshida: Hello? Who-? Oh, yes, sir! Of course. (he holds the phone out to Matsumori) It’s Mr. Takeda.
Matsumori: Yes?
Takeda: You can speak English, right?
Matsumori: As well as is necessary. Um, you might not be aware of this, sir, but we are in the middle of a shoot…
Takeda: End it! Pack up and prepare for departure.
Matsumori: Departure?
Yoshida: Huh? (grabs the phone back) Thanks, Matsumori.
(Matsumori is irritated that Yoshida grabbed his cell phone. He’s worried that his career is declining and that Yoshida doesn’t respect him.)
Matsumori: What’s going on? What’s wrong?
Yoshida: (waving Matsumori away) Sir, I’m afraid that that is impossible. The money is already—canceled? (His face turns red) What you’re saying, sir, is that we should just go home?
Takeda: (giggles) You’re not going home at all.
Matsumori: What does that mean? (grabs the phone) Are you sending us to a shoot at another location? Sir, I humbly informed you that this shoot was the last. I’m not in good health. And in Tokyo there’s, um, an important meeting.
Takeda: Your wife’s pack of lawyers can wait, little Matsumori. The helicopter won’t.
Matsumori: (allowing his anger to show) What damn helicopter?
(A door slams. Voices can be heard in the background. Takeda is talking to someone else.)
Takeda: (talking to his boss) Yes. That is right, sir. I will do so, sir. Yes, I am humbly informing them now, sir.
Takeda: (talking to Matsumori) Just be ready to fly immediately. If you don’t, you will be fired and maybe dead and condemned forever as traitors to Japan and the whole human race!
Yoshida: Sir, what are you saying? Who’s flying what to where?
(a helicopter appears in the sky.)
Are there any problems with the vocabulary and grammar? What about the culture and psychology of the characters? Do they seem to be real people? Thank you very much for your help.
December 29, 2016
Queen of Pawns
“Oh I am altered now for good altered now for good
Shield these eyes no more shield these eyes no more”
–Vienna Teng, “Landsailor”
Have you heard of Moral Foundations Theory? It posits that people have 5 (or maybe 6) bases for moral intuition, the relative strength of which vary from person to person. These Foundations are Care, Fairness, Loyalty (to a group), Authority, Sanctity (I’d say “Purity” is a better word), and maybe Liberty. There’s:
Grizha the Rat of Caring
Chest the Root of Fairness
Chist the Light of Purity
Vyar the Beasts of Loyalty
Vod the Stream of Authority
and Svob who never shows up to meetings.
What if our alien space gods were from 6 different factions, and using the Earth as a way to prove points to each other? Then we would have a situation like the Odyssey, where people are chosen by the gods are representing certain ideals, and then left to duke it out? This guy’s the Hero of Care, and this guy’s the Hero of Authority. What do they have to say to each other? (BIFF BAM POW!)
Grizha’s champion: The Earthbreaker
Grizha’s gift: The Belt of Izanami (but it turns out you can’t please everyone)
Chest’s champion: The Lawbender
Chest’s gift: The Coin of Ma’at (there are lots of hidden costs)
Chist’s champion: The Lightbringer
Chist’s gift: The Manichean Glass (what is the binary obscuring?)
Vyar’s champions: The Cloudraker
Vyar’s gift: The Shibboleth Collar (what do you do with people who aren’t in your tribe?)
Vod’s champion: The Worldmaker
Vod’s gift: Scyld’s Rings (having slaves isn’t great)
Svob’s champion: Landsailor
Svob’s gift: Aka’s Cloak (what good are you when you’re far away?)
The protagonist would be a person who was made the Hero of X, but on further consideration, thinks that X isn’t always the right way to go. Oh man, it’s the deconstruction of super heroes I’ve been waiting for!
This idea is dedicated to Lew Delport (aka Viergacht) who’s working on the idea with me.
December 28, 2016
Want to read about aliens?
Junction needs more work, and I need your help
Well nuts. The first-round publishers have all rejected Junction. The feedback from them consistently faults characterization. The characters just don’t click with them.
There are more publishers out there, but before I start submitting again, I have to revise. I have to fix those characters. Here’s my plan so far, and I’d appreciate your advice on all of it:
1) work through exercises on characterization do you guys know any good ones?
2) draw the characters (which helped in previous books. Plus, it’s therapeutic 
December 24, 2016
A Visit from Santaraptor
http://danbensen.tumblr.com/post/154500970410/a-dinosaur-a-day-iguanodont-santaraptor-and
The moon seemed much larger in that yesteryear
It gleamed from its orbit on all with good cheer.
When what should appear flying over the snow
Than 12 nyctosaur-steeds with a red sleigh in tow.
And driving that team on this special night was
An accurate Santaraptor, covered in fuzz.
He snapped the reins, with his snout gave a hiss
And named all his coursers in rhyme, just like this.
“On Flapling, on Beaky, on Uropatagium,
Come Pteroid, come Squeaky, come Trailing Edge Tendon.
From Laurasia to Tethys, from Gondwana to Pole
We deliver these gifts to good children all!”
December 23, 2016
Emily and Ruth
I can’t use this chunk of text because it’s narrated by the wrong person, but I like it so here you go. At least as of now, the events are canonical to The Centuries Unlimited.
To the tune of blatting horns and growling engines, Emily came back to herself. She had been gone for some time, her soul only distantly tethered to her body as it ran about, shot at people, and allowed itself to fly through the air strapped to an antisocial psychotic with a penchant for fast cars and sarcasm.
Emily had come within inches of death several times and that had distracted her. Now in the warmth and relative safety of their stolen car, Emily was once again at leisure to consider her priorities.
“Now,” she addressed Ruth. “How do you propose we retrieve my son?”
Ruth gave her a glance and a raised eyebrow. “Well, we can’t do much retrieval of anything if we’re dead or in a dungeon somewhere, so the first thing we got to do is get out from under Johnnie Magician.”
“I was under the impression,” said Emily, “that he controlled the city.”
Ruth growled. “He does. Which means we got to get out of the city.”
December 22, 2016
Self-replicating Talismans
Here’s the text:
In books like Garth Nixon’s Abhorsen, and even in Spellwright, some person (human, spirit, or god) has to read the magical signs and understand them in order to “translate” them into magical action. That’s magical-as-human-language.
In Brandon Sanderson’s Elantris and S. Andrew Swan’s Broken Crescent, magic works like computer programming language, so the spell-caster submits a magical sign to a mechanism that cranks out a magical action. But that machine was still made by someone (usually a god). That’s magic-as-machine-language.
A spell system based on biology would have to be one with no person (human or god) involved. Magical signs are not signs at all, but objects (call them “talismans”) that interact with each other to produce effects. String together talismans in the right order, and their effects combine into a higher-order “spell.” Make the string long and complex enough, and you start getting emergent properties that you couldn’t have predicted.
Talismans, then, are another order of life that exists alongside familiar humans and their kin. Humans have “domesticated” some spells and can use them reliably, but others and wild and dangerous.
Hm. Have I just invented a fantasy version of Petrolea?
@exxos-von-steamboldt : I am picturing the taxonomical tree and wondering if magic exists as a domain or being non-cellular, if it might be over with the viruses and viroids. Or maybe yet on the level of “life…” Superdomains Life and Magic?
A fireball spell is Pyroprojectus spirii? It’s spores live in dry wood and coal nuggets.
Eccentric spell breeders try to interbreed spells like toy dog breeds and get gradually crappier and crappier, but more showy and eccentric spells.
“I combined a perpetual wax spell with a scented air spell!”
“You created an air wick scented refill with anxiety is what you did!”
