About Roselight

You've probably already read the blog description and have a vague idea of what this whole thing is. Nevertheless, I thought it'd be neat to write out a little more about the setting.

The original idea for Roselight was drafted in April of 2020 and fit solidly in the science fiction genre. I tried to justify a global exodus into space: total disruption of the Solar System by a passing star (or a small cluster). We would've had many years to prepare, but there would be absolutely no hope of staying behind, as the planets fell into chaos. Centuries later, we'd stumble across the threshold of another nearby system, on which we'd settle and start anew.

I've mostly moved away from hard sci-fi for this story, and in turn I've tried to let this origin be something that fades into the mystery of the past. I don't want to spend hours upon hours thinking about the logistics of a fleet of colony ships and the initial settlement operations and what have you. It's mostly a means to an end - I want a setting where things are familiar but new, where people hop between worlds on a regular basis, but where I'm free to do things more because they're cool and interesting than because they make strict logical sense. This is not a rigid speculative future, but a fantasy story with a sci-fi skin.

Roselight has some weird influences. I briefly got really into the Electroswing music genre and its associated aesthetics, which, strangely, vary quite widely. The most common association I saw was with Steampunk; I can't really explain this, as swing music generally falls in the 1920s/30s time period while Steampunk is solidly in the Victorian era/1800s. This is where the low-tech electronics and mechanics come from, and a lot of the overarching look and feel of the setting.

More sensibly, Electroswing also associates frequently with more of an Art Deco/Noir aesthetic, whose gold and black tones I tend to blend in with the brassy colors of steampunk; a lot of more urban settings are going to have this vibe. Airships over glowing nighttime cityscapes are the biggest pull from this. I've also found myself drawn to the moody classical music of Dark Academia, which has thoroughly seeped into Orus, the world on which much of the story takes place.

Overlapping these time periods sits the Gilded Age in US politics, which influences a lot of the themes of corporate control over citizens' lives, and rampant exploitation of resources as populations boom. The Rosa system is full of trusts and robber-barons, with labor issues and radical progressivism forming core parts of the narrative. This time period also picks up the steampunk thread quite nicely, featuring railroads and telegraphs and such technological marvels with a novelty I've been trying to emulate.

…of course, there are also heavier-than-air vehicles, whose aesthetic has gradually migrated from World War I to World War II, retaining the idea of piston engines and props but graduating from canvas to riveted metal plates. The design of Ark Royal originally drew from WWII bombers blended with Titanic, of all things, though I've worked to characterize it more like enormous modern cargo ships.

And also there are rockets and spaceships. Look, I don't claim to be adhering to any one genre with even a hint of purity. Again, my motivation here is to make something fun and cool, and take what influences I think suit the story I'm trying to tell. Hopefully it comes across well and at least 0.6 other people enjoy it.

Anyway, at this writing I need to be awake in six hours for an 8 AM lecture, so I'll cut the rambles short. If you've made it this far, I hope it's because the story has piqued your interest. With any luck I'll be updating this pretty regularly. See you again soon!