#aetherpunk

[alphamecha-mkii]

Personal Work by Sanghyun Kam

[wire-smith-crafts]

Trying out a new type of design and I think it came out much closer to the fantasy armor ideas that live in my head! Much cleaner lines and less clutter from criss-crossing supports.

However, to my symmetry-minded irritation it turns out that shoulders are NOT perfectly symmetrical front and back, so I'm gonna need to make another one with a better shape for a pauldron. But as a DESIGN I love it. It's even reasonably strong!

[duckprintspress]

Back the Aether Beyond the Binary Kickstarter Campaign!

Duck Prints Press is thrilled to announce that the crowdfunding campaign for science-fantasy gender-diverse sixth anthology Aether Beyond the Binary is now live on Kickstarter!

The core concept of Aether Beyond the Binary is simple and compelling: create intriguing main characters outside the gender binary and set them loose to explore the modern world twisted or barely changed, enhanced or destroyed by magical aether. This power source may replace technology, supplement it, or oppose it. These characters may be agender, genderfluid, bigender, or any other non-binary identity. The thread that these tales share is exploration: of the world around them and of the self. We propose no conclusions; instead, we demonstrate how far-reaching the questions are and how expansive the range of possible answers can be, thereby broadening the discussion about the nature of gender and the place of genderqueer characters in science-fantasy fiction. We hope you’ll join us to explore the endless possibilities of these magical worlds.

This anthology includes 17 stories, each up to 7,500 words, by our diverse fancreators-turned-original-fiction-authors, gorgeous artwork by Mar Spragge, Pippin Peacock, Alessa Riel, and Atomic Pixies, amazing merchandise, and awesome add-on extras.

Looking for the perfect post-holiday purchase? Look no further! Get awesome, gorgeous stuff, a fantastic, erudite book, and support queer indie publishing – become a backer of the Aether Beyond the Binary crowdfunding campaign TODAY!

Campaign ends January 25th, 2024.

Patreon backers who support the crowdfunding campaign can also get an excellent extra: the adorable plant-watering backer as a key chain! So there’s no time like the present to back us on Patreon, too!

[zilentis]

Arcane Officers and Logi-Priests are often times seen accompanied by the Infernos Artillery in the most magically bombarded sections of the trenches, their magiks unrefined and explosive, most of No Wizards’ Land has been because of their scorching.

This project is finally complete I feel like, really explored the Aetherpunk28 potential and played around with a lot of really cool kitbashing and painting techniques. They look awesome as a group and I’m very proud of them.

[aura-morgenstern]

Another oc art mimicing a gacha splash art!

This time the blue bomber, Nico 💥

—————

“To any magic wiz-wimps who stumble upon this:”

“Hellooo~!”

“NICO GEPETTO was here! And you better remember it!”

“What? You think just because I’m here, you’re gonna get some juicy gossip about me, huh??”

“Welp, too bad for you! That is none of your business~”

“So keep ya noses outta it! Unless you want to meet my pals Monstro and Jiminy… Weeell- Even if I say that, I know you guys will try to chase after me anyways!”

“Not that I don’t mind! I love having new playmates to test my new toys on! (Disclaimer: They’re rather explosive! Just a warning~)”

“Oh yeah. Another final message:”

“Hey, Al! Take your ass back to whatever shithole you came from and leave me alone!!”

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Road Safety Lesson by Ivan Yakushev

[magiesheartlove]

I normally don't promote my projects on Tumblr (at least not my original works) but, leap of faith, right?

For years I've been developing a fantasy series inspired by an assortment of myths and folklore as well as my childhood nostalgia.

Seelie Legends tells the story of teenage fae-like beings who are chosen by the sword Excalibur. Problem is, they don't entirely know what that reason is yet. As they try to unlock the mystery of the sword, The Seelies will not only face new foes, but also discover hidden truths about themselves and the world they thought they knew.

I like to think of it as My Little Pony meets Winx Club meets Avatar The Last Airbender, since the characters are elemental fae.

I plan on making it an illustrated novel, seeing as they're supper rare these days. Like I said, nostalgia played a big factor in the creation of this series.

I also made a short animatic staring the twin protagonists, Jericho and Jelaina

More info will come, so come and step into the faerie ring.

[tafferling]

Aphelion: A Touch Of Ruin

Like Science-fantasy? Soul-harnessing magic+tech? Cyberpunk (sorta)? Slow burns simmering away in the middle of a zombie apocalypse? Then this free-to-read web serial might just be for you.

Varrett reflects on the dumpster fire that is his life. Sophya browses cute kitten videos. And then the consequences of her actions sneak up on her. Rude.

Episode Two continues. I know it's been a while since I updated, but life, ya'know?

Chapter Six: Cardio

>> Read on Ao3 | Follow it on Campfire | Tumblr Tag <<

Varrett’s life had been wrecked when Elpis had buckled under the Twins. Totalled, you might say. In a unique kinda way that’d void any possible insurance claims, because who put planet-wide zombie apocalypse on their coverage sheet? Anyway. It’d turned into an unrecognisable mess made from grief and stress, with the only upside to it being how it couldn’t possibly get any worse. Ha. Ha Look at him now. On the third morning after Isaac and his conspiracy theories had taken a sledgehammer to what’d been left of Varrett’s life, Varrett started yet another day his day with enough anxiety he almost skipped his coffee. Almost. You didn’t turn down a slice of normalcy like that. A bit of steady in an otherwise unsteady (smashed to smithereens) life, even if the brew was of an instant variety and boiled with water out of a secret rebel hideout’s water tap which may or may not have been contributing to his belly ache. Clandestine coffee. Too bad it tasted like shit. The view was nice though. He leaned against the window backing the same nook where Whitram had waited for them on their first day, the mug raised to his lips and his eyes fixed on the Quarry’s bottomless pit. The Elpisan sky still held up a blanket of stars bright enough to see by; at least until you looked down. The pit quickly swallowed every twinkle. He grimaced. If this wasn’t an allegory to his situation then he didn’t know what was. Look up, and you found the hope of winking stars. Hope for all of this to come to an end. Hope for (actual) normalcy beyond a morning-coffee routine. Hope to board the Dream of Neverland and get the fuck out of here. Hope, which liked to twinkle at him like one of those stars. Look down, and it all got sucked down yet another dark hole. Unfailingly. And what do we do when that shit happens, champ? Why, we climbed down, picked up the shiny speck of hope, and climbed back up with it. It was tedious. Ex-fucking-hausting. But it was also the only thing he could think of doing. The alternative was to roll over. “Pff,” he told the window pane. No way. He’d not take the universe’s shit. No Sir. Mom’d raised a better man than that.

>> Read on Ao3 | Follow it on Campfire | Tumblr Tag <<

[hermit-writes]

Hermit Prints - Aether Beyond the Binary

This project was for the anthology Aether Beyond the Binary by @duckprintspress.

How would Earth look if the very atoms around us were suffused with magical aether? How would our lives be different if this aether was discovered last year, or last century, or last millennia? How might the people who lived with this magic explore their gender identities? These are the questions we posed to the 17 authors who contributed to Aether Beyond the Binary. Their inventive answers comprise this must-not-miss collection about magical realms, adventures and mysteries, new chances and well-earned endings, and characters as gender-diverse as the worlds they inhabit.

This is available in hard covers and trade paperback (digest format) as well as an e-book.

If you’d be interested in getting your story typeset and ready to print, please visit my commissions page.

You can purchase the anthology (and merch!) from Duck Prints Press. The e-book is also available in libraries!

Front cover, trade paperback edition

back cover, trade paperback edition

Sample interior page, title page for a new story

Art print, bookmark, holographic sticker, aether!Dux — available on the Duck Prints Press website

Enamel pin: A sky whale holding a non-binary charm. Available on the Duck Prints Press website.

[alphamecha-mkii]

Rangers Refueler by Sam Perin

[wire-smith-crafts]

Progress on my latest armguard design:

Guest star: a helpful d6 die clamping the circular bearing to the forearm piece! The clamp would have smushed the little socket coils otherwise. (I'll make a more permanent connection once I've got the forearm finished.)

[duckprintspress]

Meet Aether Beyond the Binary Contributor ilgaksu

Wondering what Aether Beyond the Binary is and why you should care? It’s Duck Prints Press’s latest anthology, currently crowdfunding: 17 stories, modern aetherpunk settings, outside-the-binary main characters! Help us reach our funding goals by checking out the campaign now!

About ilgaksu: Full-time fandom cryptid, Furby enthusiast, and the human embodiment of that one gif of Elmo on fire, ilgaksu was born and raised in an  undisclosed location, living in several others, and now currently residing in [REDACTED]. Their interests include collecting haunted toys, using their artistic practice as an excuse to forget to do their laundry, and playing with fictional men like Bratz dolls. They have not unclenched their jaw yet today, but they do remember to drink lots of water. 

Link: personal webpage

This is ilgaksu’s first publication with Duck Prints Press.

An Interview with ilgaksu

What is your “dream project” – the thing you’d see as the culmination of your work as a creator?

I have a list of dream projects – a big queer space opera trilogy, a series of detective serials, I want to pastiche all of the genres I adored growing up – but I think I’m never going to find the culmination of my work. I’m going to have to make do with whatever I do while I’m alive, and other people can argue about that for me or something. The work is the work. It has to speak for itself without me defending it.

When you look at your “career” as a creator, what  achievement would you most like to reach – what, if it happened or has  already happened, would/did make you go “now – now I’m a success!”?

Does any writer actually get to the point where they fully believe they’re a success, and the feeling lasts forever? This is a genuine question. Where are they hiding? I want their advice.

What are your favorite snacks and/or drinks to consume while creating?

I have to have at least three emotional support beverages, and one of those will always be a form of iced coffee, then usually bubble tea, and then usually water. These are because I clearly run on three separate hydration systems. Snack-wise, I don’t tend to eat while I’m actually making things, but I like churros and loaded fries and ramen and salmon on bagels and, listen, I just really love food.

Describe your ideal creation space.

I like writing somewhere near a window, ideally when it’s raining outside, with three emotional support beverages and my favourite headphones and the very specific song that works as white noise in that moment on repeat. Possibly for the next five hours.

Do you like having background noise when you create? What do you listen to? Does it vary depending on the project, and if so, how?

I have to have background noise or I can’t focus to write, and it’s usually music with lyrics. I tend to have a mix of current songs I’m fixated on in a huge Everything playlist, and then I often have a smaller playlist for the project itself. Like I said before, I can also easily listen to the same song on repeat for as long as it takes to finish the necessary section, even if it that takes hours, because after a while I stop hearing the music itself – it functions as white noise.

Share five of your favorite books. (You can include why, if you want!)

Wolf Hall Trilogy (Hilary Mantel, technically 3 but)

The Dream Thieves (Maggie Stiefvater) 

Evensong’s Heir (L. S. Baird)  

Daughter of Fortune (Isabel Allende)  

The Magpie Lord (KJ Charles)

Share five of your favorite (blanks). 

Five favourite current bubble tea flavours: Earl Grey, Snow White, Rose, Lavender, Honeydew

If you could give one piece of advice to a new creator who came to you for help, what would that advice be?

You don’t want to write like me. 

That probably sounds incredibly arrogant, but let me explain: the most common thing I’ve had said to me by a new creator, or a fan of my work, is “I want to write like you.” And I get where people are coming from, and I get it’s from a place of admiration – which is very very flattering, of course – because early on in my writing career that used to be a desire that consumed me to. But my point is this. I realised that it was futile to want something like that, because I would never be that creator, with their experiences in life and reading that had informed how they view the world and filter it into their own work. Even if I tried to mimic it, and maybe if I managed it on a superficial level, it wouldn’t be animated by the same mind moving through it, and so I’d be doing us both a disservice. So, I no longer want to write like other people. I want to write more and more like myself. And because of that, I try and advise people to redirect how they’re verbalising that desire. What is it about my work, or anyone’s work, that speaks to you? What parts of it don’t work for you? What is it you want that’s similar – the assurance of their authorial voice, their breadth of lexis or grammar, the themes they focus, how they make you feel as a reader in that relationship with them through the text? Identify those things. Start from there, and think about who you are and take these little ingredients from everyone you’ve read and loved, and everything you love in the world outside writing. Do that instead. Not only will it help you identify more concretely the goals you’re working towards in your craft, but you deserve a voice as a writer that’s solely your own.

What would you say to a demoralized creator to inspire them?

The same thing I said earlier but reappropriated: nobody can write like you.

ilgaksu’s Contribution to Aether Beyond the Binary

Title: chameleon trick

Tags: be gay do crimes, be gay solve crimes, established relationship, heist, manchester, non-binary, past tense, present tense, suicidal ideation (mentions of), united kingdom, third person limited pov, trans man

Excerpt:

Sasha turns on him; gleeful, sparking with it. It’s less a dropping of a mask and more of a perfect, total illumination as they ask, “How did I do?”

You would think they were an amateur at this, looking at their borderline puppyish excitement. They even tilt their face up, less in expectation of a kiss and more in certainty of one. But they are both working. Martha has read the codes of conduct at this factory: no fraternisation during work hours. And so:

“I don’t have time for your praise kink right now,” Martha says, and sidesteps them.

End-of-post reminder: check out our campaign on Kickstarter! It ends January 25th – we’re about half-way done.

[zilentis]

While many effective enchantments are used in the trenches to empower bullets and bayonet alike, behind the lines the logi-priests use the efficient power of Speed Magiks; dashing up and down supply lines with great haste on their broomsticks. Some snipers guarding the ways have learned well from those rituals, and now can deliver the rounds addressed to the other side with almost as much efficiency

Got some more Aetherpunk28 minis on the way but I’m close to calling this fun project finished.

[art-of-li]

🔸 𝐎𝐂: 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜 🔸

𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗲: Built to withstand the energy currents emitted throughout an Aether Ring that would be harmful to an uninitiated human being, Solace has served as the on-site emergency medbot since the Spire’s construction.

𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: In the beginning, the visionary engineers and technicians that worked at the Spire had a simple goal to create an automaton capable of responding to medical emergencies with on-site immediacy.

Thus, Solace, the first ever medic automaton was built. Solace’s only function, in the rare occasions that called for it, was to bring back a duelist from the brink of death by injecting them with a healing fluid mixed with their appropriate aetheric element. Any remaining medical procedures would occur subsequent to the Aethermancer being carried off the Ring.

Over the years, a multitude of refinements and upgrades have been implemented upon the base model, most remarkably of which was the hologlass projector. The projector allowed for a holographic display of the doctor who is currently hosting the automaton, providing a much stronger human connection to the potentially injured or traumatized patient in need.

While newer medbot models created for many the emerging Rings around the world possess varying features and presentation, they all essentially replicate the base functionality and design of Solace as the first prototype.

Song: Panik Control - Psykosonik

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Ticket Tortoise by Brian Valeza

[tafferling]

Aphelion: A Touch Of Ruin

Like Science-fantasy? Soul-harnessing magic+tech? Cyberpunk (sorta)? Slow burns simmering away in the middle of a zombie apocalypse? Then this free-to-read web serial might just be for you.

Today, we return to where we left Sophya and Varrett; sitting on a small bed, confined to a room within the warrens of the Quarry and overlooking its bottomless pit. What will we find in the puzzle box Isaac gave them?

>> Read on Ao3 | Follow it on Campfire | Tumblr Tag <<

Part One, Chapter One: A Secret Third Thing

Sophya sat in the wreckage of her life, among doubt and defeat and the dance of rain against glass. No more than an unhappy moment ago, she’d made a choice. She’d keep going. She’d not leap into the monstrous pit looming beyond the window, with its green lip where plants clung to the edges and its gaping thirst for the rain pouring into it. No. She’d keep going. She’d not give up on Krisi. And she wouldn’t waste all the wayward effort she’d put into ruining (and often ending) the lives of all the people who’d been unlucky enough to cross her path in one way or another. Like a certain Varrett Vild Vickers, tethered to her against his will. Or like Pete. Dead. And all the others; the people in the shuttle, the nameless person who’d kept her out of Monarch’s hands. Also dead. She took a shaky breath and stared at the puzzle box Isaac had given them. It sat cold and dormant in her hands, a simple, heavy sphere of steel grey metal with a thin line of yellow dividing it. The choice no longer made sense.

>> Read on Ao3 | Follow it on Campfire | Tumblr Tag <<