Difference between revisions of "Faction Guide"

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| '''[[Space Pirates]]'''|| ||Call them '''Pirates''', '''Leijiites''' or '''Buccaneers''', the free men of Space hold themselves to the moral code expressed by their symbolic founder, the great Captain Harlock.
 
| '''[[Space Pirates]]'''|| ||Call them '''Pirates''', '''Leijiites''' or '''Buccaneers''', the free men of Space hold themselves to the moral code expressed by their symbolic founder, the great Captain Harlock.
 
|-
 
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| '''The [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol]]'''|| ||Fans of both the original and remake versions of ''Battlestar Galactica'', the '''Galacticans''' are made up of two distinct subgroups. The '''Colonials''' are the ones who distrust atuomation and Ai, while the pro-AI "Cylon" group maintain the most popular "garage" in L5.
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| '''The [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol]]'''|| ||Fans of both the original and remake versions of ''Battlestar Galactica'', the '''Galacticans''' are made up of two distinct subgroups. The '''Colonials''' are the ones who distrust atuomation and AI, while the pro-AI "Cylon" group maintain the most popular "garage" in L5.
 
|-
 
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| '''[[United Stars Organization]]'''|| ||The stereotype of the Perry Rhodan fen is "GERMANS! IN! SPACE! Complete with bureaucracy!" The '''Rhodanites''' take this as a badge of honor.
 
| '''[[United Stars Organization]]'''|| ||The stereotype of the Perry Rhodan fen is "GERMANS! IN! SPACE! Complete with bureaucracy!" The '''Rhodanites''' take this as a badge of honor.

Revision as of 15:33, 18 August 2013

Until now in world's history, whenever we've had a dark age, it's been temporary and local. And other parts of the world have been doing fine. And eventually, they help you get out of the dark age. We are now facing a possible dark age which is going to be world-wide and permanent! That's not fun. That's a different thing. But once we have established many worlds, we can do whatever we want as long as we do it one world at a time.

—Isaac Asimov, speech at Newark College of Engineering, 1974

Nearly 40% of all Fen are independent, either as neutral as humanly possible when it comes to politics[1], or generally liking many different groups but not enough to join any of them. (These Fen are often called "Neutrals" and "Generalists", respectively.) The rest belong to one or more factions - something of a cross between a nation-state, a political party, a business, a social club, and a mutual-aid society, but not quite like any of those types of groups.

Confusing? A bit, but think how much worse it is to the people who live there.

Fandoms and Factions

Extremes

"Science fiction and fantasy fandom" is a complex web of identity, with a spectrum that ranges between two extremes: Fandom Is A Way Of Life, and Fandom Is Just A Goddamn Hobby. Because Fenspace is what it is, it steers closer to the FIAWOL extreme simply out of necessity. It's a cold, mean universe out there and when your fellow Fen are your best shot at surviving in it, you tend to cluster together.

This doesn't mean the FIJAGH extreme isn't represented in Fenspace, although many of the people at this side of the spectrum are still on Earth - they still care about fandom, but their families and careers are more important to them. A supermajority of the hobbyist Fen who are Up are what Fenspace calls "Generalists," and many of them are what the FIAWOL crowd identify - rightly or wrongly - as "Fendane."

This isn't to say that all Generalists are in the FIJAGH side of the spectrum, or that the Factions are made up only of Fen from the FIAWOL side. Most people are fans of more than one thing at a time. FIAWOL isn't meant to mean "just Trekkies," or "just Warsies," and so on; it's a generalist statement and we all are, as fans, generalists.

Differences Between Factions and Fandoms

A fandom does not automatically equal a faction. Just because somebody likes Property X doesn't mean there's a large or even a small group of people who like Property X and want to bring Property X's tropes out into the real world. And even if there is, these people might be more interested in Property Y's memes.

Conversely, a faction doesn't always automatically equal a fandom. For example, Jupiter and its moons are claimed by the Browncoats, but for the most part the population in and around Jupiter is Indonesian. Does this mean there's a subtle but strong underground current of Firefly fandom in Indonesian culture? No, it means the Browncoats offered a lot of work that they couldn't handle on their own and a lot of Indonesians jumped at the chance to find decent pay that didn't involve getting looked down on by Australian racists.

For another example, the Crystal Millennium wasn't set up because everybody loved Sailor Moon - there are likely Senshi out there who hated Sailor Moon when it first ran. The Senshi made a point of being inclusive. They only run the show on Venus because Tanith Curtis and her closest associates were scary-good organizers, and by the time they hit their destination they made it a fait accompli.

Also, some people hold a factional citizenship just to make things easier, without actually identifying as that faction. How well this works depends on the faction; it's a little easier to be an independent ship operator in the Warsies than in the Trekkies, for instance.

Finally, a faction can form - with difficulty - without an associated fandom. These factions are small and tend to be inconsequential in Fenspace, but a leader with sufficient drive and charisma can catch the Convention's attention and make a name for the faction; the premiere example of this in Fenspace is the SOS-dan. Alternately, a group with sufficient resources can make a name for themselves, much like the owners of Grover's Corners when they launched and the groups in charge of the larger Fen companies over time - these groups are factions in all but name.

Joining a Faction

New fish from Earth will join whatever faction they think will get them what they want. Being a fan of the property helps - it cuts down on culture shock, if nothing else - but it's only one factor among dozens of possible considerations. One man joins the Federation because he always wanted to be an engineer on the Enterprise and the merchant marine's hiring. Another man joins the Barsoomians because they're offering land grants around Hellas and he always wanted a ranch to retire to. One neckbeard joins the Senshi not out of any love of anime but because he just wants to see scantily-clad women running around everywhere.[2]

To join a big, established faction that isn't just a general-interests club, you go in, sign the local EULA, agree to pay the taxes[3] and boom, here's your passport, welcome to the club, citizen. That's citizenship and nationality in a nutshell. There's no set limit on how many factions you can be a citizen of, so you can in theory catch 'em all... but after about the first three or four, the psychological demands would be overwhelming.

Factions

Government, or what passes for it in Fenspace

Main page: Government in Fenspace

Government
Government Body Flag, Icon or Logo Capsule Description
Fenspace Convention
Flag of the Fenspace Convention.png
Civilian government across (and binding on) all of Fenspace
Space Patrol
Patrol shield.png
Fenspace's pan-factional police force
Great Justice
OGJ flag.gif
Originally Fenspace's equivalent to NATO and the Warsaw Pact, GJ has become the Convention's standing army.

Major Factions

These six groups, listed by size, are the largest factions in Fenspace:

Major Factions
Faction Flag, Icon or Logo Capsule Description
United Federation of Planets
Federation seal.png
Also called Trekkies, Trekkers, or FedFen, the UFP is the single largest faction in Fenspace. Based around Mars, they have a reputation for staying on their ships and exploring far afield.
Galactic Republic
Republic Seal.png
The Warsies have colonized the Saturn subsystem, but maintain a presence throughout the rest of Fenspace, working with Great Justice to defend the Solar System. The Trekkie/Warsie feud is greatly exaggerated for the tourists, but was the cause of the largest interfactional dispute in Fenspace history.
The Wizarding World Scattered throughout the Main Belt and elsewhere, the Wizards (or Potterites) are fans of all sorts of modern-magic stories, not just the recent blockbusters. They have a bad habit of debating and dithering rather than acting, which led to them taking heavy losses during the Boskone War.
Interstellar Alliance The Fivers (or Rangers, if you prefer) can be found throughout Fenspace, acting as diplomats between other factions. They're believed to be based out of Earth orbit.
Independent Faction
Browncoatflag.jpg
Call them Browncoats, Whedonites, or Jossies, the members of the Independent Faction are the major colonists of the Jupiter subsystem. They've turned Ganymede into the breadbasket of the Solar System.
Crystal Millennium
Senshi flag.png
Some are called Senshi, others are called Action Girls, but they're all busy terraforming Venus and coming to the aid of distressed travelers.

Minor Factions

Minor Factions
Faction Flag, Icon or Logo Capsule Description
Belters Mostly libertarians, mostly found in the Main Belt, often fans of Niven's Known Space stories, the Belters (also called Nivenites or Rockrats) are best known as the people who find and refine the bulk of Fenspace's raw materials.
Kingdom of the Abh Formed around a group of Crest/Banner of the Stars fen, the Abh appear to be abandoning the concept of living on planetary surfaces altogether. They are best-known for the L5 station Abliarsec.
Kingdom of Jurai Originally a group of Tenchi Muyo fen, the Juraians have become the "feudal Japan fen" faction. They're insular to an extreme, rarely leaving station Tsunami.
Justice League Interplanetary Four-color fandom writ large, the Supers are responsible for the most visible change to the Solar System, Kandor City on Luna.
SOS-dan
SOS-dan logo.png
The smallest known faction (with five members), the SOS-dan were the driving force behind the establishment of Great Justice.
Sozvezdie Soviet
Soviet Rose.png
Previously known as the Soviet Air Force-In-Exile or VVS, the Soviets are a faction-within-a-faction (as a distinct group within the UFP). They are best known as explorers of strange new worlds and makers of movies about those explorations.
Spacefleet
Spacefleet Badge.jpg
a.k.a. Eagles
Space Pirates Call them Pirates, Leijiites or Buccaneers, the free men of Space hold themselves to the moral code expressed by their symbolic founder, the great Captain Harlock.
The Twelve Colonies of Kobol Fans of both the original and remake versions of Battlestar Galactica, the Galacticans are made up of two distinct subgroups. The Colonials are the ones who distrust atuomation and AI, while the pro-AI "Cylon" group maintain the most popular "garage" in L5.
United Stars Organization The stereotype of the Perry Rhodan fen is "GERMANS! IN! SPACE! Complete with bureaucracy!" The Rhodanites take this as a badge of honor.
Village Hidden in Asteroids Suddenly, Ninjas! Or other hand-to-hand-combat anime Fen! Or somebody who's comfortable associating with those people!

Cultures and Subcultures

These groups are identifiable as distinct cultures in Fenspace.

Cultures and Subcultures
Group Flag, Icon or Logo Capsule Description
Furries
Furry-mon.gif
Heinlein Society a.k.a. Heinleinians
Military fen
Military Fen.png
If someone in Fenspace needs to understand something of a military nature, and they don't have access to the Dorsai or the Roughriders, they consult their local Military Fen.
Minimalist Spacers Guys who like to fly a Mercury capsule with the bare minimum of 'Wavium.
Panzer Kunst Gruppe Cyborg Martial Artists who may take the cyborg thing just a bit too far. Gunnm Fen.
Pellucidarans
MinersHelmet.jpg
Miners, tunnelers, Hollow-earthers and other fen with similar interests. By necessity an earthbound group, not strictly considered a faction.
Pulpers a.k.a. Golden Agers
Submariners
Submarine.png
For lovers of Seaquest, 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, and similar works. Those who believe the mysteries of Space are nothing compared to the hidden mysteries of the Abyss.
Timelords
TARDIS.png
a.k.a. Whovians
Turnerites a.k.a. Skinheads, Space Nazis, Church of White Jebus, etc. Named after the first group of people in space identified to think this way, the Turnerites held onto their racist and sexist beliefs when they moved Up from Earth. They are considered an "enemy" culture by many Fen but not by the Fenspace Convention as a whole, who offer them as a group the rights and protection that they deny to some of their own members.

Non-Governmental Organizations

Some things need to be done, or should be done, but cannot effectively be done by a company or a government. These groups are the ones who do these things.

Non-Governmental Organizations
Organization Flag, Icon or Logo Service Provided Capsule Description
Artemis Foundation
Artemis project emblem.png
Astronomical observation and charting
Banzai Institute for Biomedical Research and Strategic Information
Winged-BB.jpg
Education, Disaster Relief aka Blue Blazers[4]
The Cyber Confederation Mutual-assistance
The Hacker Underspace Computer Security Fenspace's "l33t haxorz"
The Knight Foundation
Knightrider.jpg
Operating only on Earth, the Knight Foundation assists people while promoting good government and law and order.
The Mars Terraforming Project
Mars.jpg
Terraforming
The Mob Thanks to the pervasive nature of fandom, the nature of criminal organizations in Fenspace is... different from their mundane counterparts. The Mob takes offense at those who confuse them with the Boskonians.
Musician's Aid Society
Filkers.png
Mutual-assistance a.k.a Dandelions, Filkers
Nikaido Foundation Charitable Funding
Paratheo-Anametamystikhood Of Eris Esoteric
Hand of Eris.png
Fnord Fnord
The Quatermass Institute
Radiotelescope.gif
Defence of Earth
The Venus Terraforming Project
Venus.jpg
Terraforming

Other Groups

Assemblages that resemble groups from the outside.

Loose Groups of Fen
Grouping Flag, Icon or Logo Capsule Description
Antis a.k.a. Anti-'Danes - virtually indistinguishable from Generalists, from the outside
Boskonians Black Hats, the Dark Kingdom, Death Eaters, Pirates, Reavers, Shadows, Sith – whatever name one gives them, the Boskonians are Fenspace's organized-crime element. The Fenspace Convention considers them to be outlaws and terrorists; the whole point of the Space Patrol and Great Justice is to arrest or subdue (respectively) Boskonians whenever and wherever they arise.
Gearheads
Gearhead 2.gif
If it walks, drives, flies, transforms or preferably all of the above it falls among the Gearheads. Fenspace mecha Fen.
Herbertites A very loose collection (sometimes at each others' throats) of Dune fen, known primarily as the original backers of CHOAM.
Humourists
Humorists.png
Some people can't take anything seriously – in Fenspace, these people are called Humorists. Or Humourists. (Some will insist you spelled the group's name incorrectly, no matter which spelling you used.)
The Watch The local Neighborhood Watch, Terry-Pratchett style.

Related Pages

Fen Companies
Mercantile and other business groups in Fenspace.

Notes

  1. Which means not at all neutral, of course.
  2. And then he's disappointed that so few of them are fashion models.
  3. Sometimes called membership dues or whatnot, but let's be real here.
  4. Most Blue Blazers would say they technically count as a subset of the Pulpers, but the sheer size and scope of Dr. Banzai's operation leads this Troper Editor to separate them into their own faction.