About the AW Galaxy, Science and Spirituality.

Reblogged from a tumblr post I did a while ago.

All science fiction franchises have them.  Those people who seem to dig waaay too deep into the science part of the story and knit-pick every scientific inaccuracy.  I've even gotten a few people like that myself.  Mostly I find it a little annoying because the Azure Wheel Galaxy, like most other Space Opera type settings, is not meant to be taken as scientific fact.

It occurred to me, that I haven't fully explained what it is meant to be.

The Intrepid Story and Azure Wheel Galaxy is a Space Opera (Like Star Wars) rather then hard science fiction (like Star Trek TNG).  In my books, a good space opera takes science and reality and stretches it out to something that is not necessarily scientifically accurate, but is still believable to some extent.  To me it is a cross between science fiction and fantasy.

Some stories like Firefly (one of the biggest inspirations for Intrepid) does not really even delve into the science of the universe.  And the little bit of science explained in that story that I can recall is highly questionable.

I went the space opera route not because I tend to not be interested in hard-sci fi stories.  I went space opera because it more accurately describes myself.

What Intrepid is really meant to be is a personal story.  Every character, alien race, planet and happening in the universe is meant to be a representation of different aspects of myself or my personality.  So yes, every character in the story is myself in one way or another.

The Galaxy is held together by two halves - science and spirituality.  For years I have struggled with the concepts of religion and spirituality because the scientific part of me doesn't want to fully give into spiritual beliefs.  I am a lifelong agnostic and have learned to keep the scientific side of myself and spiritual side of myself in perfect harmony.  Like in the galaxy, these two halves work together and one half cannot function without the other.

Each species, planet and character have had their physical appearance chosen VERY carefully.  I tend to be a both complex and unconventional with my thinking, so physical appearances may not look exactly like what most people think they'd represent.  Some 'inaccuracies' are explained by the spiritual side of the galaxy.  Others are meant to be tributes to things I admire in already existing stories.  Others still are purely aesthetic choices.  Complaining to me that you think a character/species/whatever SHOULD look different isn't going to change anything.

I realize that these scientific inaccuracies exist.  In fact, I will name a few right now to prove that I am aware that they exist and have no intentions on changing things...
*  With their body shapes, Jincilla would likely not be flight-worthy.  Ironic because their entire culture centers on flight.  Even if they could fly, they don't really have a rudder to steer with.  Well... maybe their head crest like the guy from the Rocketeer... but I get the feeling that even that wouldn't work.
*  Most species should not have evolved into the bipedal creatures that they are.  In fact, 500,000 years (the amount of time that has gone by since these worlds were abandoned to evolve on their own) is definitely too short of a time for most species to evolve.  Chalk that one up to help from the spiritual side of the universe.
*  A few habited planets are located close to the galactic core, which likely would not be possible in real life.  This is meant to be a slight nod to the 'core worlds' of the Star Wars universe.
*  Athenian eyes.  'Nuff said.

I hope this gives a little more insight into my galaxy and what I am trying to do.  I also hope I'm making sense because I'm pretty bad at explaining my thoughts to others.



The bottom line (or tl;dr version):
** DO NOT take my creations as science fact!  They are NOT meant to be that way nor do I want them to be!  They are physical manifestions of different parts of my personality, my thoughts and my life!  Therefore I will not be changing anything in my galaxy no matter how scientifically inaccurate you claim they are!
** DO NOT try to give my advice about the creations in my fictional universe unless you can prove that you fully understand the universe and what it stands for!  I know you probably mean well, but please... just don't.  I know I sound harsh by saying this, but it really is a very, very VERY personal story.  The easiest way you can annoy the hell out of me is to give me advice on my galaxy when it is clear that you don't understand anything about it or what it represents.  I will usually only take advice about my universe from very close friends who know me very well as both a person and a creator.  Getting advice from strangers on my galaxy can easily make me feel VERY uncomfortable because it is that personal to me.
** If you don't like an aspect of my fictional galaxy because it is scientifically inaccurate then create your own species the way that you want to and allow me to do the same in peace.
** If you still feel the need to whine about things being scientifically inaccurate, kindly hit the back button.  Thank you.
**No, really.  I find it bloody annoying when you nit pick scientific inaccuracies.  Stop it. 


For the incredibly lazy... the even more TL;DR version:
You: <insert thing in the AW universe> is not scientifically accurate.
Me:  Yes, I know it's not.  I don't care!