Why are there even humans on Furaha? The idea started without them, and for a long time I thought that adding humans would only result in ecosphere destruction, turning the story into a human one rather than one about biology.
The answer is simple; without humans the stories would become dry and boring. Human interest requires a human viewpoint, at the least here and there. Some readers probably wouldn't mind if there wasn't a human in sight, but I thought that adding humans to the mix increased the complexity of the world enormously: the mixture became richer, spicier and more interesting.
This doesn't go so far that all lifeforms are exclusively viewed through human perceptions: that would take it much too far. There should be images and explanations that have nothing to do with humans.
But once there are humans, they must have a background. All of a sudden, there has to be space travel and there has to be a reason to travel. This is touched upon in the site. There also has to be a society, preferably one that does not look on animals as food only. Although references to eating wildlife may be found, Furaha is not about 'To serve Man'.
The history of the human settlement of Furaha and the Horizonists' challenge explain the current society of Furaha. Sean Nastrazurro's pathetic 'adventures' in the Spiny Desert only make sense if you know that an academic career, or at least the trappings of one, function as a rite of passage in this particular society. Sean, not well-equipped for real hardship, rather pitied himself on his Field Trip and in later life tried to enlarge everything he had done in that time. He tried to seduce young female students with his stories, but failed completely.
Sofar not much of this society has been shown on the site, although a few hints are dropped here and there. But there are reasons why people have names such as Sean Nastrazurro or Wladimir Kokkinopoulos. In this society a person can belong to various groups. One of them is cultural background, called the 'clade'; Nastrazzuro's mother is from the Italian clade, and his father from the Irish one. Another is academic achievement, and there are literally several dozens of titles one can have. The small sketch above shows a 'professisimus' in formal garb.
More on that later, when I will at one point put up a page on humans on Furaha. I will also have to think about their dress code, and their vehicles. I'm thinking about mass repulsor technology, resulting in floating vehicles with enormous inertia and a small lifting capability. That will be much later.
6 comments:
Mass repulsor technology? How would it work? It sounds like a really intersting form of locomotion.
Do you still plan to include a page about humans?
Hi Spugpow,
So, have you been reading ancient posts? At present I think I will just work bits and pieces of human interest into the entire endeavour, but as a side issue, something that needs little or no explanation.
Reading them, and failing to check back for responses!
I like that approach. Your website has taught me the value of a sense of mystery.
Just realized: without humans, nothing would have a name. Therefore, the presence of named features and creatures would suggest human life. Just stumbled upon your project and jumped back to the first post to see the genesis. Cool stuff!
Ted: Thank you! It's just as well that Blogger keeps me informed of new comments, or else I would not have discovered your comment. Well, I wpould probably have discovered it a month from now, as I intend to write a post on the occasion of 10 years of blogging, and it started with this very post.
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