Last time, I know I promised to put something about Space Outlaws and politics up, but I won't. As I mentioned deamons and their possessing humans to achieve some goal in the last post, and as a comment on a post over at my main blog, Valkyrie Diaries, this forced me to think about why the deamons, and more specifically why the Chaos Gods do what they do.
In the stories about the Space Outlaws, this is never mentioned, more or less on the premise that it has little to no bearing on the goals of the protagonists. To sum up, all the Eds and the others needs to know is that deamons have fed on human minds for as long as Humanity has existed and it is their duty to kill the Immaterial beasties for the betterment of Mankind.
To be able to understand where I want to go with this, we have to know a little about the nature of deamons and the place where they come from: the Warp aka the Immaterium.
As the Space Outlaws is a semi-cross-over involving the Ed, Edd n Eddy show's characters and the "physics engine" of Warhammer 40'000, this means that most things in WH40k translate more or less directly over to the Space Outlaw universe. That which doesn't, gets tweaked to fit. This is the case with the origins of deamons, but not their nature.
In Wh40K, as well as in the Space Outlaws, deamons feed of human emotion, or more specifically, our dreams. And it is not only humans, it is any self-sentient creature, essentially. Self-sentient creatures, such as humans (and I'll use us as example in the rest of the essay), are multi-dimensional, or at least weakly so. Through our dreams and emotions, we enter another plane of existence, essentially. The Eldar, for example, have better control over this and can practically enter this dream-world through their own will.
This dream-world, known amongst humans as the Warp, is home to other, immaterial, but just as sentient creatures, deamons. Deamons feed of dreams and emotions, as said, but they are essentially gluttons, and will suck onto a particularly "strong" human presence and devour it all if given the chance. The bi-product of this is possession of a human mind, usually a psyker, as they are naturally strong presences in the Warp. The end result is that the human "soul" or personality is replaced with that of the deamon, which gains a material form which it can use and abuse as it pleases, the human mind gone.
And as deamons are immaterial creatures, they cannot comprehend the laws of physics (and anatomy) that hold the Materium's living creatures together, and rampant mutation is the result.
Now, this explains the why to deamons. They are not inherently evil, nothing in the Space Outlaw universe is actually, but from a human perspective, and a humanity slowly but surely becoming more "psychically aware", this is a danger to our very existence, hence the Imperial Inquisition's hate of renegade psykers and it's hunt for the same.
The origins of deamons and consequently the Chaos Gods can be traced back to a time when pretty much teh C'tan were the only sentient creatures in the Universe.
The C'tan are referred to as Star Gods at times in Wh40k. They aren't multi-dimensional like humans and Eldar in WH40k; they are purely Material. They get their names from essentially being sentient light, fly in the face of most established physics. I say most, there might be a possibility of this if string theory is to be believed.
Anyway, the Wh40k definition of C'tan does NOT apply to the Space Outlaw universe. In the Space Outlaws, the C'tan are multi-dimensional, self-aware creatures just like humans and Eldar, which they created. They are a species of master genetic engineers. And after having engineered themselves into immortality and multi-dimensional awareness, they set about making slave species to serve them, to cut a long story short.
Somewhere along the line, but before the creation of the Eldar (no I do NOT support Creationism, this is to be seen as a satire on it), four C'tan brothers, known as the Warrior, the Architect, the Destroyer and the Libertine, attained a fairly high level of multi-dimensional awareness, a level that made them potentially dangerous to the rest of C'tan society.
The other C'tan punished them for this perceived crime (being more powerful than any one else) by robbing them of their material bodies and banishing them to the Immaterial Realm that they coveted so much, forever.
Of course, the four wanted back to material world, and have wanted that since day one. But the only hosts fitting for their minds are other C'tan, and since other C'tan are aware of the four brothers, they had no other choice than to try to adapt to their new home.
As Jean-Paul Sarte once said, "Hell is spending an eternity in the company of your friends", the brothers soon started to hate each other, each one manifesting perversions of their major character traits, in what can be called a severe case of prison psychosis.
As they still were aware, and still C'tan, they started, with the onset of new, but "lesser" sentient beings in the Material Realm, to create creatures in the Immaterium to correspond with those in the Materium, like a twisted mirror. These creature were what is called deamons in the Space Outlaws.
Also, the names of the four brothers; Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle and Slaanesh, are most likely perversions over the years of their original C'tan names. But the names are old, very old. Older than the oldest of Eldar records of history.
This history/theory also explains why the Emperor, being C'tan, can resist deamonic possession, quite neatly.
I hope this has cleared up something as to the nature of Deamons and Chaos gods.
Next time, it'll be politics and the Space Outlaws. We'll also take a trip down memory lane and go back to explore sci-fi baddies and the stereotypes involved in this.
Wednesday 20 August 2008
Saturday 2 February 2008
One the Nature of Evil part 2
(Okay, that took me three months to finish. Shame on me for being sloppy.)
So far, I have mainly dealt with "The enemy beyond and the enemy without", that is to say deamons and aliens. But the Imperium of Mankind harbours many dark secrets within itself.
A good example are the traitors. True, in the Space Outlaws, these are quite few, but if you look at it, the main antagonist, Lord Kevlinn, is a traitor. He was once a loyal Space Marine and is now the unholy King of Berzerkers. How he became what he is I have already dealt with. But there are others, more minor traitors and heretics, the dreaded "enemy within" which the Imperial Inquisition is forever at war with.
As has been recorded at several places in the stories, the main strength of humanity is its ability to adapt and its free will, which the Imperial Scholars claim sets humanity apart from most of the alien species and the deamons of the Warp.
This strength is of course a weakness too. By being able to go wherever they please with their minds, humans leave themselves open to the whispers of the Warp-beings. It is quite a roundabout, but by possessing the one thing deamons lack; free will, humans can easily become prey to deamons. Which nicely illustrates the very nature of the Space Outlaw universe and why it at times comes across as so dark and bleak.
So how do deamons lure otherwise true and loyal humans over to the "dark side"? By that most human of emotions: greed. Many are those, even in the Space Outlaw universe, where deamonic possession is a very real thing indeed, who cannot resist the promise of power, be it personal or political power. Deamons usually go in for a combination of both, as this is the easiest way of baiting as many humans as possible.
And once they have baited on weak-willed heretic, more are sure to follow as the word spread.
Heretics as such are, perhaps mercifully, quite few, in relation to how many citizens there are in the Imperium, but they are good at organising themselves and thus pose a very real threat. In terms of how they appear in the Space Outlaws, so far, the deamonically possessed heretics have been minor characters with close to little impact on the story line or they have only been mentioned fleetingly. Why this is, I cannot really say; maybe because I do not wish to take the focus from the major heretic and traitor Kevlinn.
And speaking of traitors: there have been a few, haven't there? Commissar Holt, Governor von Strab and George McKenzie to name a few. What sets these out from your ordinary heretics? Well, a traitor does not necessarily have to resent the Emperor. In the case of heretics, it is sort of a pre-requisite. Both Holt and von Strab can be branded as traitors on the premise that they put personal power and goals over the goals of the Imperium. George McKenzie lost his mind dabbling with bio-technology and trying to improve the human species. But he never really turned from the Emperor's light. His brother Edward would probably say he never was in it. Maybe so.
So, what is evil then? How do we define evil? How do they define evil in the Imperium? Yes, there is a difference. Surprised? It is rather alarming if you are, at the same time that it is reassuring.
Evil as we define it, and as I perceive it, is when we hurt other people. Not necessarily physically. There are many ways to hurt people. Thusly, it is also evil when we hurt people even when we try to do good.
Not so in the Imperium: there the ends justify the means. Always. This means that Edward McKenzie, although being a Hero of the Imperium in every way, can justify to kill hundreds of unsanctioned psykers and mutants if he finds that it works for the betterment of the Imperium. This is why Commissar Rolf Yarrick can shoot cowardly troopers with no qualms (although he did not do that much even in Tracks of the Wolf) as it works as deterrent for the other soldiers.
A normal human being of Earth, that is us, would consider these people cold-hearted at best. So it is quite clear that we have a different set of moral values from the Imperials. Yet still, in the stories, I have to make these people come across as likeable, for no other reason than that they are the heroes of the show.
And they do come across as heroes. Why? Because the only prerequisite is that you as a reader accept the moral and ethical moors and manners of the Imperium as the norm to judge these people by. It is the famous "suspension of disbelief" that is so often talked about in Science Fiction and Fantasy literature, the former to which the Space Outlaws belong quite clearly.
If you feel a bit put out having been so horribly fooled by my writing this, consider why you feel irked by it before replying or formulating a scalding message. Is it because of me being a tricky vixen or that you didn't see it coming and thus are angry with yourself, when it comes down to it.
What I want to put across is simply that Good and Evil are no absolutes. To my younger readers, this might be an extremely hard concept to grasp at first, but you will understand it in time. If nothing else, it will make you all aware that there are always several angles of lighting to view the truth in.
And speaking of that, next time, I'll be talking about the Outlaw universe and politics. That is going to be a blast.
So far, I have mainly dealt with "The enemy beyond and the enemy without", that is to say deamons and aliens. But the Imperium of Mankind harbours many dark secrets within itself.
A good example are the traitors. True, in the Space Outlaws, these are quite few, but if you look at it, the main antagonist, Lord Kevlinn, is a traitor. He was once a loyal Space Marine and is now the unholy King of Berzerkers. How he became what he is I have already dealt with. But there are others, more minor traitors and heretics, the dreaded "enemy within" which the Imperial Inquisition is forever at war with.
As has been recorded at several places in the stories, the main strength of humanity is its ability to adapt and its free will, which the Imperial Scholars claim sets humanity apart from most of the alien species and the deamons of the Warp.
This strength is of course a weakness too. By being able to go wherever they please with their minds, humans leave themselves open to the whispers of the Warp-beings. It is quite a roundabout, but by possessing the one thing deamons lack; free will, humans can easily become prey to deamons. Which nicely illustrates the very nature of the Space Outlaw universe and why it at times comes across as so dark and bleak.
So how do deamons lure otherwise true and loyal humans over to the "dark side"? By that most human of emotions: greed. Many are those, even in the Space Outlaw universe, where deamonic possession is a very real thing indeed, who cannot resist the promise of power, be it personal or political power. Deamons usually go in for a combination of both, as this is the easiest way of baiting as many humans as possible.
And once they have baited on weak-willed heretic, more are sure to follow as the word spread.
Heretics as such are, perhaps mercifully, quite few, in relation to how many citizens there are in the Imperium, but they are good at organising themselves and thus pose a very real threat. In terms of how they appear in the Space Outlaws, so far, the deamonically possessed heretics have been minor characters with close to little impact on the story line or they have only been mentioned fleetingly. Why this is, I cannot really say; maybe because I do not wish to take the focus from the major heretic and traitor Kevlinn.
And speaking of traitors: there have been a few, haven't there? Commissar Holt, Governor von Strab and George McKenzie to name a few. What sets these out from your ordinary heretics? Well, a traitor does not necessarily have to resent the Emperor. In the case of heretics, it is sort of a pre-requisite. Both Holt and von Strab can be branded as traitors on the premise that they put personal power and goals over the goals of the Imperium. George McKenzie lost his mind dabbling with bio-technology and trying to improve the human species. But he never really turned from the Emperor's light. His brother Edward would probably say he never was in it. Maybe so.
So, what is evil then? How do we define evil? How do they define evil in the Imperium? Yes, there is a difference. Surprised? It is rather alarming if you are, at the same time that it is reassuring.
Evil as we define it, and as I perceive it, is when we hurt other people. Not necessarily physically. There are many ways to hurt people. Thusly, it is also evil when we hurt people even when we try to do good.
Not so in the Imperium: there the ends justify the means. Always. This means that Edward McKenzie, although being a Hero of the Imperium in every way, can justify to kill hundreds of unsanctioned psykers and mutants if he finds that it works for the betterment of the Imperium. This is why Commissar Rolf Yarrick can shoot cowardly troopers with no qualms (although he did not do that much even in Tracks of the Wolf) as it works as deterrent for the other soldiers.
A normal human being of Earth, that is us, would consider these people cold-hearted at best. So it is quite clear that we have a different set of moral values from the Imperials. Yet still, in the stories, I have to make these people come across as likeable, for no other reason than that they are the heroes of the show.
And they do come across as heroes. Why? Because the only prerequisite is that you as a reader accept the moral and ethical moors and manners of the Imperium as the norm to judge these people by. It is the famous "suspension of disbelief" that is so often talked about in Science Fiction and Fantasy literature, the former to which the Space Outlaws belong quite clearly.
If you feel a bit put out having been so horribly fooled by my writing this, consider why you feel irked by it before replying or formulating a scalding message. Is it because of me being a tricky vixen or that you didn't see it coming and thus are angry with yourself, when it comes down to it.
What I want to put across is simply that Good and Evil are no absolutes. To my younger readers, this might be an extremely hard concept to grasp at first, but you will understand it in time. If nothing else, it will make you all aware that there are always several angles of lighting to view the truth in.
And speaking of that, next time, I'll be talking about the Outlaw universe and politics. That is going to be a blast.
Saturday 27 October 2007
On the Nature of Evil part 1; or The Reason for Treason
Okay, so my second Space Outlaws essay, and I kick off with a really heavy and hard subject: Bad guys!
In any adventure story, you need bad guys. Heck, you need bad guys (and girls), aka antagonists in any story. Otherwise, how can your hero/heroine show off their heroics?
So, of course the Space Outlaws have bad guys. It honestly have more bad guys (and girls) than goodies. Hereafter I will refer to them as antagonists and heroes, respectively.
The first ones the Space Outlaws encounter are the rather faceless Genestealers. These are your ordinary bug-monsters, with a bit of Ridley Scott's Alien thrown in. They are gribbly, clawed monstrosities with little reason or tactics. On an ice planet. In this first part, the Eds are greatly aided by the Sisters of Battle (who in my current opinion didn't show what they truly can do!) In short, the Genestealers were, and are, portrayed as dumb animals. Rather sad, in a way. They have greater potential and a short story featuring some 'Stealer hunting in the Armageddon underhives would make for intense reading. Maybe I should add that to Memories? Ah well...
The threat of Xeno species was upped a bit with the entry of the Kanker sisters possessed by the Hive Mind that controlled the bugs. Yet still, the Eds/Space Outlaws were only facing puppets, weren't they? And I felt this myself. These opponents weren't really worthy of what the Eds (and later Commissar Rolf Yarrick) were capable of taking on. Right?
Things took an interesting turn, in my own opinion, when the Eldar turned on the Imperials by thermo-bombing Saim'Hann and leaving the Secondus system without a word. This enigmatic behaviour is something I personally feel should be checked out further, and I probably will in future stories. The Eldar are jokers, in the sense that you never know exactly where you have them.
But the real antagonist is, and always will be (HammerFall reference W00t!), Lord Kevlinn, in all his incarnations. All in all, Kevlinn has four (4) incarnations: Captain Kevin Poole, Lord Kevlinn, Lord Kharn and Deamon Prince Kharn Fleshtearer. Strictly speaking, the last one is not Kevlinn himself, but the point is coming across, I think. He is the constant antagonist, the constant evil. He is opposed not only to the Space Outlaws but also to both Yarricks (Rolf and Sebastian) as well as McGranth and Charleston (not McKenzie, see further down) not to mention the Emperor and the whole of the Imperium. If the Space Outlaws where Star Wars he'd be Darth Vader. If it was Doctor Who, he'd be a combination of the Daleks and the Master. The BIG bad guy!
As such, he needs a well fleshed out character in the same manner of the heroes. And he has. Matter of fact, I think Kevlinn has grown more than Rolf Yarrick and the others combined. Why? He started out as a card-board villain (think Dr. Claw in Inspector Gadget) and has since gotten a depth I think few antagonists lack. He has a true "Reason for Treason". In short, this is based on his resentment of McGranth and his outlawhood. For yes, Kevlinn is a Space Outlaw too. He and his 8th Assault Company of the Death Angels Legion was outlawed after an incident unheard of in the history of the Death Angels Legion. They took the name the Berzerkers and the rest is, as they say, history. His treason culminated in the slaughter of Imperial refugees on Armageddon after they had raided an Eldar Craftworld to save said refugees. On that Craftworld, he acquired what came to be known as the Axe of Khorne, a powerful deamon weapon and he also stared down into the Well of Time, after having slain the Eldar Phoenix Lord residing with the Craftworld. Some would say that Kevin Poole lost his mind to the Well of Time, but as he still seems to have some grasp of tactics, maybe the opposite is true: maybe he is more clear-minded than ever?
Anyway, it was after this that Levin Poole became Lord Kevlinn and turned his back on the Throne and the Emperor.
All in all, Kevlinn's evil lies in his destructive power. He is powerful as an antagonist because he is a sort of personification of destruction. He doesn't build up anything. He corrupts it. This is all very dry, I know. But pulling an engaging character apart like this and looking at him, scrutinizing him, is a dry business.
Apart from Kevlinn, the other big antagonist was Metallix, the General of the Necrontyr. An army leader. Completely and utterly driven by one purpose: domination of the human species. And if that failed, he'd destroy them in the process. The Necrons, having a lot of the Dr. Who Cybermen about them, were his slaves, and the human species once had been. Metallix was a C'tan, a star child and demi-god. And he was not alone. His "side-kick" was the scientist, Damien. As both Damien and Metallix were designations that humans had applied to them, their true names remain a mystery. Just as the Emperor's true name is shrouded in mystery. He is referred to as Sorn'henai, which is Eldarain for Eagle Eye, and sometimes even as Sigismund, but his true name is unknown.
In pure power, Metallix came to measure up and surpass Kevlinn, at least in the latter's human form. As a deamon, Kharn/Kevlinn is still unsurpassed.
As I mentioned earlier, McKenzie's main antagonist is not Kevlinn. Instead, he has his own brother, George "grimjaw" McKenzie as his opponent. The reason these two don't get along is in the main because of George's jealousy of his mentally powerful as well as Space Marine brother. George was an ordinary man in almost every respect, except for his ability to understand mechanics. So, to be able to measure up to his big brother, George started to experiment on himself. Somewhere along that line, he lost his sanity. And killed his own family in an attempt to find a "cure" to the McKezie family curse of mutation.
So far I've talked about true antagonists, like Kevlinn, Metallix, and George McKenzie as well as the Kankers and touched the Eldar. But whereas these people are originally good ones turn really bad, what about those that never were good, like the Deamon princes? or those who strictly speaking still are good, but only have slighted our heroes? These last ones are of course minor characters, but they should be brought up to give a wholler picture, but they are the subject of next time.
Why next time? This blog entry is very long... :P
In any adventure story, you need bad guys. Heck, you need bad guys (and girls), aka antagonists in any story. Otherwise, how can your hero/heroine show off their heroics?
So, of course the Space Outlaws have bad guys. It honestly have more bad guys (and girls) than goodies. Hereafter I will refer to them as antagonists and heroes, respectively.
The first ones the Space Outlaws encounter are the rather faceless Genestealers. These are your ordinary bug-monsters, with a bit of Ridley Scott's Alien thrown in. They are gribbly, clawed monstrosities with little reason or tactics. On an ice planet. In this first part, the Eds are greatly aided by the Sisters of Battle (who in my current opinion didn't show what they truly can do!) In short, the Genestealers were, and are, portrayed as dumb animals. Rather sad, in a way. They have greater potential and a short story featuring some 'Stealer hunting in the Armageddon underhives would make for intense reading. Maybe I should add that to Memories? Ah well...
The threat of Xeno species was upped a bit with the entry of the Kanker sisters possessed by the Hive Mind that controlled the bugs. Yet still, the Eds/Space Outlaws were only facing puppets, weren't they? And I felt this myself. These opponents weren't really worthy of what the Eds (and later Commissar Rolf Yarrick) were capable of taking on. Right?
Things took an interesting turn, in my own opinion, when the Eldar turned on the Imperials by thermo-bombing Saim'Hann and leaving the Secondus system without a word. This enigmatic behaviour is something I personally feel should be checked out further, and I probably will in future stories. The Eldar are jokers, in the sense that you never know exactly where you have them.
But the real antagonist is, and always will be (HammerFall reference W00t!), Lord Kevlinn, in all his incarnations. All in all, Kevlinn has four (4) incarnations: Captain Kevin Poole, Lord Kevlinn, Lord Kharn and Deamon Prince Kharn Fleshtearer. Strictly speaking, the last one is not Kevlinn himself, but the point is coming across, I think. He is the constant antagonist, the constant evil. He is opposed not only to the Space Outlaws but also to both Yarricks (Rolf and Sebastian) as well as McGranth and Charleston (not McKenzie, see further down) not to mention the Emperor and the whole of the Imperium. If the Space Outlaws where Star Wars he'd be Darth Vader. If it was Doctor Who, he'd be a combination of the Daleks and the Master. The BIG bad guy!
As such, he needs a well fleshed out character in the same manner of the heroes. And he has. Matter of fact, I think Kevlinn has grown more than Rolf Yarrick and the others combined. Why? He started out as a card-board villain (think Dr. Claw in Inspector Gadget) and has since gotten a depth I think few antagonists lack. He has a true "Reason for Treason". In short, this is based on his resentment of McGranth and his outlawhood. For yes, Kevlinn is a Space Outlaw too. He and his 8th Assault Company of the Death Angels Legion was outlawed after an incident unheard of in the history of the Death Angels Legion. They took the name the Berzerkers and the rest is, as they say, history. His treason culminated in the slaughter of Imperial refugees on Armageddon after they had raided an Eldar Craftworld to save said refugees. On that Craftworld, he acquired what came to be known as the Axe of Khorne, a powerful deamon weapon and he also stared down into the Well of Time, after having slain the Eldar Phoenix Lord residing with the Craftworld. Some would say that Kevin Poole lost his mind to the Well of Time, but as he still seems to have some grasp of tactics, maybe the opposite is true: maybe he is more clear-minded than ever?
Anyway, it was after this that Levin Poole became Lord Kevlinn and turned his back on the Throne and the Emperor.
All in all, Kevlinn's evil lies in his destructive power. He is powerful as an antagonist because he is a sort of personification of destruction. He doesn't build up anything. He corrupts it. This is all very dry, I know. But pulling an engaging character apart like this and looking at him, scrutinizing him, is a dry business.
Apart from Kevlinn, the other big antagonist was Metallix, the General of the Necrontyr. An army leader. Completely and utterly driven by one purpose: domination of the human species. And if that failed, he'd destroy them in the process. The Necrons, having a lot of the Dr. Who Cybermen about them, were his slaves, and the human species once had been. Metallix was a C'tan, a star child and demi-god. And he was not alone. His "side-kick" was the scientist, Damien. As both Damien and Metallix were designations that humans had applied to them, their true names remain a mystery. Just as the Emperor's true name is shrouded in mystery. He is referred to as Sorn'henai, which is Eldarain for Eagle Eye, and sometimes even as Sigismund, but his true name is unknown.
In pure power, Metallix came to measure up and surpass Kevlinn, at least in the latter's human form. As a deamon, Kharn/Kevlinn is still unsurpassed.
As I mentioned earlier, McKenzie's main antagonist is not Kevlinn. Instead, he has his own brother, George "grimjaw" McKenzie as his opponent. The reason these two don't get along is in the main because of George's jealousy of his mentally powerful as well as Space Marine brother. George was an ordinary man in almost every respect, except for his ability to understand mechanics. So, to be able to measure up to his big brother, George started to experiment on himself. Somewhere along that line, he lost his sanity. And killed his own family in an attempt to find a "cure" to the McKezie family curse of mutation.
So far I've talked about true antagonists, like Kevlinn, Metallix, and George McKenzie as well as the Kankers and touched the Eldar. But whereas these people are originally good ones turn really bad, what about those that never were good, like the Deamon princes? or those who strictly speaking still are good, but only have slighted our heroes? These last ones are of course minor characters, but they should be brought up to give a wholler picture, but they are the subject of next time.
Why next time? This blog entry is very long... :P
Sunday 30 September 2007
Writing under the influence of Hammerfall
So, this being the first blog written here, I figured that writing about one of the things that created the Space Outlaws wasn't such a bad idea, no?
And yes, you read right: the Swedish metal band Hammerfall has influenced me far more than maybe I should admit.
True, what was initially needed for the Space Outlaws was the wonderful combination Ed, Edd n Eddy and Warhammer 40.000. And my wicked imagination. But, the story lacked purpose and the certain "je ne sais qoui" (which is French for "I dunno what is missing, but something is!") until roundabout summer 2000. Before that, if I recall correctly, I had managed to write the two first series of the Space Outlaws and anyone who has read them, will probably agree with me that the third one was much better, not only in terms of grammar (I was 14 at the time) but also in the way the universe got fleshed out. And another feeling or rather sense of wonder had entered it. At least that is my personal opinion.
It was during the summer of 2000 that I started writing the third, and as I naïvely thought, the last of the Space Outlaws series. And about the same time Hammerfall, a heavy metal band from my hometown, released their third album: Renegade. Having recently been converted to the cause of metal, I bought the album, as the music video for the title track was played in Swedish TV quite frequently, that in itself something noteworthy, as it did not happen that often that metal bands got so much recognition.
There was just something with the way Hammerfall wrote their songs that spoke directly to me. And as can be noted, a big chunk of the Space Outlaw stuff I wrote after the summer 2000, has a heavy influence of just the Renegade album.
And how could I not be influenced by titles and songs like Templars of Steel, Renegade, The Champion, Legend Reborn and The Way of the Warrior? I had found that special something that was missing from my Space Outlaw stories. I found a "purpose" with them.
And that purpose was to capture the feelin Hammerfall had in their music, of adventure and big battles, in writing. But also of a struggle without end. True, this sounds like something I can find in the Wh40k universe, and mostly it is, but there was this sense of wonder that just wasn't there, that Hammerfall's music possessed.
I know this sounds exceedingly intangible and abstract, but it is hard to pin down exactly what I was looking for and what I found in Hammerfall's music. It was just that "je ne sais qoui".
Anyway, their music started to influence my writing, and maybe it is most obvious in Tracks of the Wolf. Much of what happened in the early chapters was entirely ripped from the lyrics of several Hammerfall songs. Even the first chapter has a Hammerfall title: Legend Reborn. And the more I wrote, the more I felt that I had found this feeling I was after. And it was confirmed by the people who wrote to me about it, the few that did. Maybe not the Hammerfall feeling, but that they were getting a great story with great adventure and great heroes. I know that sounded very weird, but hopefully the point comes across.
It was after I wrote Number of the ED, a story entirely based on the Battle for Armageddon board game which also had the Hammerfall feeling to it, but much darker (a bit like Hammerfall's own development from Renegade to Crimson Thunder) and just after starting on Tracks of the Wolf that MaxJordan/Adam Baker contacted me about writing a potential fourth series of Space Outlaws. I read his synopsis and agreed on a collaboration between us, as I am a bit protective of the Outlaws.
However, as I wrote the fiurth series, known as Iron Men, and despite it having titles derived from heavy metal songs and each chapter starting with a qoutation from a famous heavy metal song, the feeling, that "Hammerfall feeling" started to seep out of the stories. Truth be told, it was Adam's service that some inkling of the original Outlaws remained, in terms of feeling. I had gotten a very gothic outlook on life since I started writing the Outlaws in early 2000. Thankfully, Adam steered me up at least in some manner.
However, I didn't realise what had happened until I went to a Hammerfall concert in January 2007. Standing there, in Scandinavium hockey hall, I was forcefully reminded of what the Space Outlaws was, and is, all about. I can write deeper meaning into them, which is what had happened, the stories had gotten too deep; and at the same time give people the time of their life when they read. And accompany this with the best art I can give.
The Outlaws are there to entertain, and always have been. At the same time, I want to feel I do what I like with them. I have to be honest with myself.
What this has to do with Hammerfall? They work in exactly the same way: they aim to entertain people with something they like.
Hopefully this rather peculiar first attempt at a Space Outlaws' essay has shed some sort of light. Dunno yet what the next will be about.
And yes, you read right: the Swedish metal band Hammerfall has influenced me far more than maybe I should admit.
True, what was initially needed for the Space Outlaws was the wonderful combination Ed, Edd n Eddy and Warhammer 40.000. And my wicked imagination. But, the story lacked purpose and the certain "je ne sais qoui" (which is French for "I dunno what is missing, but something is!") until roundabout summer 2000. Before that, if I recall correctly, I had managed to write the two first series of the Space Outlaws and anyone who has read them, will probably agree with me that the third one was much better, not only in terms of grammar (I was 14 at the time) but also in the way the universe got fleshed out. And another feeling or rather sense of wonder had entered it. At least that is my personal opinion.
It was during the summer of 2000 that I started writing the third, and as I naïvely thought, the last of the Space Outlaws series. And about the same time Hammerfall, a heavy metal band from my hometown, released their third album: Renegade. Having recently been converted to the cause of metal, I bought the album, as the music video for the title track was played in Swedish TV quite frequently, that in itself something noteworthy, as it did not happen that often that metal bands got so much recognition.
There was just something with the way Hammerfall wrote their songs that spoke directly to me. And as can be noted, a big chunk of the Space Outlaw stuff I wrote after the summer 2000, has a heavy influence of just the Renegade album.
And how could I not be influenced by titles and songs like Templars of Steel, Renegade, The Champion, Legend Reborn and The Way of the Warrior? I had found that special something that was missing from my Space Outlaw stories. I found a "purpose" with them.
And that purpose was to capture the feelin Hammerfall had in their music, of adventure and big battles, in writing. But also of a struggle without end. True, this sounds like something I can find in the Wh40k universe, and mostly it is, but there was this sense of wonder that just wasn't there, that Hammerfall's music possessed.
I know this sounds exceedingly intangible and abstract, but it is hard to pin down exactly what I was looking for and what I found in Hammerfall's music. It was just that "je ne sais qoui".
Anyway, their music started to influence my writing, and maybe it is most obvious in Tracks of the Wolf. Much of what happened in the early chapters was entirely ripped from the lyrics of several Hammerfall songs. Even the first chapter has a Hammerfall title: Legend Reborn. And the more I wrote, the more I felt that I had found this feeling I was after. And it was confirmed by the people who wrote to me about it, the few that did. Maybe not the Hammerfall feeling, but that they were getting a great story with great adventure and great heroes. I know that sounded very weird, but hopefully the point comes across.
It was after I wrote Number of the ED, a story entirely based on the Battle for Armageddon board game which also had the Hammerfall feeling to it, but much darker (a bit like Hammerfall's own development from Renegade to Crimson Thunder) and just after starting on Tracks of the Wolf that MaxJordan/Adam Baker contacted me about writing a potential fourth series of Space Outlaws. I read his synopsis and agreed on a collaboration between us, as I am a bit protective of the Outlaws.
However, as I wrote the fiurth series, known as Iron Men, and despite it having titles derived from heavy metal songs and each chapter starting with a qoutation from a famous heavy metal song, the feeling, that "Hammerfall feeling" started to seep out of the stories. Truth be told, it was Adam's service that some inkling of the original Outlaws remained, in terms of feeling. I had gotten a very gothic outlook on life since I started writing the Outlaws in early 2000. Thankfully, Adam steered me up at least in some manner.
However, I didn't realise what had happened until I went to a Hammerfall concert in January 2007. Standing there, in Scandinavium hockey hall, I was forcefully reminded of what the Space Outlaws was, and is, all about. I can write deeper meaning into them, which is what had happened, the stories had gotten too deep; and at the same time give people the time of their life when they read. And accompany this with the best art I can give.
The Outlaws are there to entertain, and always have been. At the same time, I want to feel I do what I like with them. I have to be honest with myself.
What this has to do with Hammerfall? They work in exactly the same way: they aim to entertain people with something they like.
Hopefully this rather peculiar first attempt at a Space Outlaws' essay has shed some sort of light. Dunno yet what the next will be about.
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