#kai redburn

[austinramsaygames]

I've now finished the Blood of Kerensky trilogy, and Morgan Kell is barely in it, and when he is it's only for a the Battle of Luthien for like a paragraph. His mech IS described as being untouched by the battle but it's never stated that it is due to the Phantom Mech ability instead the reader can infer that he is untouched because he is such a graceful pilot (something that was true aside from the Phantom Mech) AND he was fighting at long range in a conservative fashion. None of that rules out PM, but there was no mention of him disappearing from sensors BUT the person observing him didn't have sensors at the time and was just looking with some binoculars. Ultimately it was kind of a shrug on the PM front, but it works enough for me.

So now I've read 6 Michael Stackpole novels in the Battletech universe back to back in like 2 months and I have some Thoughts.

First is that Stackpole gets better as a writer as he goes, particularly in describing the mech battles. The first Warrior book specifies exactly what part of a mech each of the 10 missiles fired from an LRM 10 hits at one point and doesn't exactly use exciting language to do so. It sounds like he's narrativizing a Classic Battletech Battle Report (which may well have happened to partially determine the universe plot) rather than telling an original story.

Second is that neither of these trilogies is a very focused tale as both are more about telling a more grounded view of the 4th Succession War and the Clan Invasion. Warrior is more focused with a greater emphasis on Justin Xiang's story, but it also heavily features the Kell Hounds, Hanse Davion, and Andrew Redburn. It mostly works, but I also feel that the three core stories (Justin, Kell Hounds, and the Federated Suns) may have been better served with their own one or two novels. Especially since all three only meet at The Davion-Steiner Wedding, and after that the Justin and Fed Suns stories touch twice and the Kell Hounds are completely isolated.

This almost anthology nature of these novels continues and deepens in The Blood Of Kerensky trilogy which covers the Clan Invasion. There are effectively 4 main characters (Phelan Kell, Victor Steiner-Davion, Kai Allard, AND Shin Yodama) but Phelan gets the most attention of the four, then a 5th main character (Anastasius Fochy) is added in the third book. Again, this would have been better served with one novel per faction; I'd say per character but there's a lot of overlap between Victor and Kai.

Finally, this set of 6 books is bad at writing women. Admittedly it's not the worst I've seen, but there's a clear patter where women are actual characters until they become romantically entangled with one of the men, and then they basically stop existing. The most egregious example of this is Ranna in Phelan's storyline. She's a character for the first book until her romantic tensions with Phelan get resolved, and then she effectively disappears from the book, occasionally popping in for a sentence or two to offer encouragement to Phelan. Very similar things happen to Candace Liao, Kim Sorenson, Melissa Steiner, and Dr Lear. The only way that these women regain their selfhood is if their boyfriend/husband dies OR if the couple breaks up.

(On a side note about romances in these 6 books, the only one that happens on screen and is believable is Justin Xiang and Candace Liao. The only other believable romance is Kai Allard and Victor Davion which doesn't happen because this is a military sci-fi series from the early 90s but they have way more chemistry with each other than they do with Dr Lear and Omi Kurita respectively.)

So that's it for this set of Stackpoles. Next up is Robert Thurston's Legend of The Jade Phoenix trilogy, which I am guessing either covers the Clan Invasion from the Jade Falcon perspective, or it covers the Clan Invasion after Tukayyid.

Finished the Warrior trilogy a couple days ago and after consideration I actually don't hate the phantom mech thing. I definitely thought it was a bad idea before the trilogy but the novels sold me on this one little bit of mysticism in BT. Neither person affected by it fully understands what is happening but they know that it is tied to their mutual destiny. One pilot even figures out a difficult trick for bypassing the phenomenon that makes sense.

I've started on the Blood of Kerensky trilogy and I am worried that Morgan's phantom mech ability will persist past Yorinaga's death which in my opinion breaks the sense of destiny. (I do not want spoilers about the trilogy. I'll get there).

[story-of-the-infinite]

The Corruption of Earth Main Characters

General Info: the Academy is the name for any of the schools in the secret society called the Agency, and it is primarily for wards of the Agency and children sent away by their parents (often for financial reasons); the main Branch of the Agency referenced in this story is the English Branch

Infinity Weir: a god in a mortal body whose powers fluctuate based on how "human" she feels and how connected she feels to those around her; ran away from the Agency at age 13; her nickname is Finny and that's how I'll usually refer to her; currently works at a bookstore in Massachusetts; married to Sola Vagari; overachiever with a vaguely innocent demeaner; avoids using her powers; values loyalty to a fault

Sola Vagari: works as an Agent and Doctor for the Agency, but lives with wife Infinity in MA; extraverted and eccentric, dichotomy between angry/calculating and cute/friendly; he converted their basement into a laboratory; also escaped the Agency with Infinity at age 13, but he was recruited as an Agent at age 18

Biola Ace: online magazine editor who has known Infinity since age 14; doesn't feel listened to by those around her and tends to be the voice of reason; in a relationship with Abby; tends to be monotone and unimpressed by the world around her; prone to anxiety; ambitious; wants to be an author

Jo Bijou: local coffee shop barista who met Infinity and Biola when they moved to MA for university; struggles with feeling left out and connecting to those around her; lived in France until she was 4-6 years old; grew up with her mother and aunt and inherited their trauma; strongly connects with the color pink but is not particularly feminine

Abby Thomas: lawyer who began dating Biola a few years before the start of the story; grew up with her father and half-sister but is not close with either of them; the closest relative she has is her uncle that she visits once or twice a year; did ballet as a kid/teen; compulsive liar; confident and arrogant but warm and loving; has basically built a persona around herself that even she believes

Kai Redburn: he's Finny and Sola's childhood friend who they abandoned when they ran away and Stuff happened; he was initially in the Training Track at the Academy but was transferred to English at age 15 or 16; dated Sola for a while when they were 18-20 and Sola had just started working for the Agency

Wilbur Lamprey: absolute scum of the Earth, actual main antagonist; Headmaster + English Professor of the Academy and later the leader of the Agency; has an obsession with the color blue; wants to be the most important person ever, terrified of the idea that he does not matter because he was forced to compete for affection as a student at the Academy

Henry Angiel: Philosophy Professor at the Academy; completely devoted to the Agency and its mission; adoptive father of Infinity, also in charge of exploring her abilities when she was a child; Infinity accidentally injuring him (she believed to a fatal extent) is what ultimately caused she and Sola to run away; his color association is either black/white or indigo; partner of Gregor and Rowen

Gregor Thymes: Science Professor at the Academy (yep, all science for all ages, they are comically understaffed); partner of Henry and Rowen; was very close with Sola; genuine sweetheart forest man who wants to protect all of his students; former friends with Wilbur; his color association is yellow

Rowen Delivar: Social Sciences Professor at the Academy and Diplomat of the Agency; partner of Henry and Gregor; one of the most loving and self-loving people to exist; has a relaxing aura; part-goddess, but it's so far down the line that it mostly just means he has a REALLY good immune system; his color association is orange

Altheia Reed: childhood friend of Finny, Sola, and Kai who died during their early teens; control freak, ambitious, and caring; was sort of like a big sister to Finny; worried the most about the Agency and their futures; English Track

Simon Byrd: Mathematics Professor at the Academy; since the story is set a little in the future, he is the only Gen Zer on this list; his family became a part of the Agency through his stepdad when he was 11; he was a maths prodigy who was pulled out of the Academy during his teens to do Math Stuff for the Agency, then given the Professor position without having to do all of the stuff other students/applying teachers had to do; lot of anxiety, caffeine addiction, and fear of birds; has a antagonistic relationship with young Kai but is also the pseudo-parent of young Kai; he passed away shortly after Finny and Sola ran away; his color association is red

Thomas Lovell: Head Training Instructor (aka he teaches PE) at the Academy; it's like PE but with weapons and combat; hates his job for understandable reasons; best friends with Simon; kind of a himbo, major Labrador Retriever energy; he dies shortly after Simon; his color association is violet

[story-of-the-infinite]

~ The Corruption of Earth ~

WIP Introduction

GENRE

sci-fi, low fantasy, drama, horror, slice-of-life

SETTING

Salem, Massachusetts (primarily)

TROPES

tragic mistake, you can’t fight fate, childhood friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, kind of dead parents, found family

SUMMARY

Infinity Weir has spent more than a decade perfecting a normal and happy life after a rather unpleasant childhood spent in the Agency, a secret society quietly running the world.  When an old friend re-enters her life, begging her for help, she is forced to question whether anything can ever truly stay dead - and whether she wants it to.

CHARACTERS

Infinity Weir Sola Vagari Biola Ace Jo Bijou Abby Thomas Henry Angiel Gregor Thymes Rowen Delivar Kai Redburn Theia Reed Wilbur Lamprey Simon Byrd Thomas Lovell Elijah Arken Helena Wolff

[story-of-the-infinite]

hello and how are you?

For the "OC Interview" Game, we can please hear six, thirteen, and twenty-two from Kai? c:

The Not Yet Dead Author, @365runesofwriting

Hello! I'm doing well, thank you! I hope that you are as well!

For the sake of myself, the vague time that Kai would be answering this is during the couple years he and Sola were reunited when they were, like, 18-20ish. TW for swearing.

Kai

6. What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do?

I mean, obviously, this would be a very difficult question for anyone, especially for someone who grew up in the Agency. Most of us would say the graduation test, but my boyfriend at the time got me out of having to actually do anything. I just watched that and, honestly, I don't know if that was so hard. Moving on is hard, because sometimes it's just moving forward. I lost a lot of people I cared about before I moved to the English tract, with Wilbur. Theia was gone. Sola and Finny were gone. Professor Byrd and Mr. Lovell were gone. There was just Wilbur and Tyson, really, and then Tyson was gone. I don't even like English - I was shit at that tract, and I would have ended up an Agent anyways. But I just existed every day, and that's all I had to do. I found my allies, and I didn't confuse them for friends. I found my opponents, and I didn't hate them for just trying to survive too. I just kept moving forward. I kept playing the game.

13. You’re given an unlimited budget to build anything you want!  What do you build and where do you build it?

Easy - I would build a circus! The energy is perfect - it's playful and a bit dark, but it doesn't have to be. It depends on how you look at it. And every circus is unique and uncanny, and that's beautiful. I would build it somewhere abandoned, so I could bring life and joy and love back to something that seemed hopeless.

22. What’s the easiest way to flirt with you?

Aw, it's not that hard to flirt with me. Just be genuine. Don't be an asshole. For the most part, I'll play along. I like everyone to be having a good time. And hey, ya know, just share something you love or know a shit ton about with me - that spark of passion in someone's expression is the most beautiful thing to me.

[story-of-the-infinite]

Sola genuinely believed that Kai was trustworthy when he just coincidentally found him while searching for a cult leader that just coincidentally knew intimate secrets about the Agency (the secret society Sola and Kai both grew up in and Kai was specifically training to be an Agent)...

Like, he thought he was so trustworthy that they dated for a year or so, and Sola told him about what he knew and didn't know about this bad guy, what his next moves would be, his own insecurities and weaknesses, etc...

Oops...

Tell me, what’s the dumbest thing your OC has ever done?

[story-of-the-infinite]

Hi there hoes the writing going

Hiya!

I wrote a song for one of my characters (Kai Redburn) yesterday, but otherwise the writing has been a bit stalled. The last update to The Corruption of Earth was 5 days ago.

I'm also beginning to change a lot about The Reality Asylum, so I might update about that soon.

Thanks for asking!

[story-of-the-infinite]

Sola killing Kai

What moment would your character rather die than relive?

[story-of-the-infinite]

Gonna answer for Sola because one bad choice made at age 13 ruined literally everything. Also, gonna give his two mistakes because they boil down to the same thing: separating from people due to fear.

Leaving Kai at the Academy rather than looking for him harder/longer/even just waiting until they COULD find him.

Separating from Infinity right after running away, believing that she would have a better chance of escaping by herself.

Leaving Kai behind messed the kid up and left him in Wilbur's care and manipulation, also instilled the idea of the "Game" in him, leading him to become the Game Master. Every time he reincarnated, he found a way to retain his memories of his past lives, and thus he became A Problem for the main characters, also inevitably furthering Wilbur's hidden agenda.

Separating from Finny left them both vulnerable. Finny lost her sense of identity and connection, making her powers and obsessive tendencies more unstable. Sola got caught back up in the Agency's web, and that would eventually lead to them finding Infinity and (through much time and many plot details that I won't get into right now) eventually the closure of the Mortal Realm. Otherwise, the Agency would have struggled to locate either of them living a quiet life in MA, and both would have been healthy enough to avoid the subsequent mistakes that led to, well, corruption.

That all being said, Sola would argue that his second mistake was not separating from Finny, but rather him reuniting with her 11 years later.

Big OC Question of the Week #15!

Tell me, what is your OC’s biggest f*ck up?