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Chapter 165 (placeholder) (Patreon)

Published:
2023-05-01 03:48:11
Imported:

Content

Apologies again for the second placeholder this month (third chapter in total I'll owe you). 

You all know what's been happening in my life recently, so I won't repeat all the grim details. 

Unless there's some new unforeseen disaster in May, I should have several clear weeks to wrap up the outstanding storylines. Everything's all planned out, I just need some clear time to write out the scenes. 

Best wishes,

Tefler

Comments

GDay (FMS)

No worries Tef, get the family back on track and move forward from there.

DrShinryuu

No apologies needed

Anonymous

Tef you are doing an amazing job. Keep your family together and we'll be here when you're ready.

Rayce Royal

WOOHOO!!! Glass half full means that we're getting THREE chapters this month!! I am so looking forward to this :)

Anonymous

Ah yes, only Tefler would have the sheer audacity to say this ... " I'm sick and tired of being behind on the releases, so I want to get caught up as quickly as possible." and then put through not one, but two charges for chapters not published. And yes, he wants to issue additional chapters this month. Well, if you really believe that, I have a couple of bridges to sell you.

Anonymous
>>107541143

What’s your problem?! He’s having life troubles. We as patrons are supporting him so he can write full time. Family has died and he’s been sick for weeks straight. If you can’t understand how this would set his writing schedule back and how he’s a human being that needs to pay the bills; then there’s something wrong with you.

AzureReader

…unless there’s some new unforeseen disaster? The only thing wrong about that statement is ‘disaster’ is singular. You are a freaking disaster magnet. In some ways your relentless series of unfortunate events is more of a dramatic story than TSM. But this month’s chapter was great. Nicely ramping up. Wear a mask and a helmet and if you have natural gas heating your home shut it off at the street. Good luck.

Anonymous
>>107541143

Agree with Hunterspride… Mr. Positivity should just jump off this bridge if it’s not the right bridge for him.

Anonymous
>>107541143

Remember way back when it was going to be a one time thing? Now he is 3 chapters behind and forcing people to pay. Yes things in life pop up. It’s why I put a little money into savings every month. You never know what is going to pop up in life. Here, he keeps charging ahead of time over and over getting further behind. We’re not getting 3 chapters next month. The same crap will continue month after month with one excuse after another. Why is it our problem? Everyone had bad things that happen in their life at some point. My Dad lives with me. I’m not going to get into why. It’s a family issue. I’m sure not going out making people pay me money ahead of time month after month, after month. Personally, I think it’s theft of funds without services rendered.

Michael56Smith

.17: hey there, and some of those hater-hecklers did emerge before Mayday has begun, ... :-) ttfn

Michael56Smith
>>107541143

.18: Well, if you are that bothered, take your bat and ball, and go home, no one's stopping you, ... -- as for me, I like the story, I'm sticking around, ... I mean this guy has been at this writing gig for over 5 years, coming up on 6 years now, ... so it is not that unusual to have a run of bad luck, cut him a bit of slack, okay? ;-) ttfn

Anonymous

Meh I'm Patient and can wait. He writes a hell of a story so for me I can afford to be lenient. The best laid plans of mice and men.

Anonymous

As for the guy's with their panties in a bunch all I gotta say is look inside and remember back when you had problems. Shit happens.

TexanInParis

Tefler- You might consider setting up an account on a site like GoFundMe. I, like many others, don’t mind supporting you this way, but I’m sure you’ve lost patrons when you have to continually force your patrons to pay you in advance to stay afloat. I bet there are quite a few of us who would be willing to just pony up some extra support via another website.

Tyrius_Gale

If you were to switch to a monthly payment instead of per chapter, I'd still be funding you (you know, provided you are still releasing something, even if it is only a chapter every other month). I've tried writing myself, just fanfiction in my spare time, and to even write a tenth of what you do takes me a month or more. While I still have my father, I can definitely sympathize with your situation. Take what time you need. I'm sure we'd all rather slower releases of high quality and size than fast releases of poor quality or small size.

AzureReader
>>107541143

No one cares if Tef writes one chapter a month and misses a couple months. The problem arises from Tef thinking he has 30 days to write… plenty of time to bang out two chapters. And he commits himself and our money to that, the latter of which is a problem for some. Reality is cruel. It’s going to take a week to deal with the engine in his car seizing. A week to recover from another bout of covid. A few days, sadly, to deal with a death of someone he knows (he’s getting to that age where it starts happening more often). Then there is domestic stuff, vacation, reading, etc. After minor distractions like getting coffee, checking the fridge (again), bio breaks, and watching funny cat videos, I’d be surprised if he has more than 30 hours of key-pressing time a month. Tef seems like a disaster magnet but I think if we all look at our own lives there is far more chaos than we realize. It’s a miracle anyone gets anything done. There is no reason for Tef to set the bar so high and then disappoint himself and others. Be realistic: life is chaos. It has been since day one. And if Tef does happen to find a full 90 hours of key tapping this month and bangs out 3 chapters the worst thing would be to believe this is the new norm. All the disasters you somehow missed this month are being stored up for the next.

Anonymous

Maybe you should go back to your old job ?

Edward Hernstadt

Agree that a monthly charge would be easier all around. i would vote for a shift to monthly and fresh start to take the weight off your shoulders. or just a fresh start.

Michael56Smith
>>107557368

.29: ... and maybe you (Ralf) could withhold your rather rude comments, ... thank you very much. ;-l ttfn

Anonymous

What good will a month charge do? He doesn't have to produce anything and still get paid...somewhat like he is doing now...

Michael56Smith
>>107558907

.30: I have heard both sides of the monthly vs pay as you produce arguments, and I personally lean towards the latter view, ... but to each their own, ... it works for at least some of the folks out there, ... ;-) ttfn

Anonymous

I am trying to remember...what am I paying for exactly?

Anonymous

i'm invested in the story, literally . but i too hate it when i'm paying for something i'm yet to read. shit happens, i know myself and i'm sure many others are facing financial hardship or looking for somewhere to live. these small amounts keep coming though when it was originally a one time thing. when i purchase a book, i can see it and know what i'm getting is complete. here it is a cross between the never ending story (which is great in one aspect) or a tom hanks movie chasing the great Abernathy around the world.

Michael56Smith
>>107579368

.35: I am paying for the continuing chapters in an amazing erotic space opera, ... hope you are too, ... ;-) ttfn

Newnotsure

Yes you can set it to once per month

Bill

So what do you guys think about this - I suggested it to Tefler. To help him out of the hole of 3 placeholders. What is the average number of words per chapter??? What about charging 1 time each month - but he would deliver 3/4 of a chapter every 3 weeks until he is caught up. It would not be any additional work for him - but it would get him caught up. When he catches up he can go back to 1 story a month.

Johnkr
>>107621326

My wife is an artist, and her work comes out in a non linear fashion. She might do her prep, color palettes etc for weeks and finish in a day, or have a piece that takes months, but maybe spend 30 minutes a week adding some color here and there. Of course she might throw that piece out, and crank one out in a few hours. She has resisted all my attempts at bringing project management techniques into the art word. I just bring the dogs into my office so it's quiet. 🤪

Anonymous

Of all the authors I support here, Tefler's chapters are six to ten times the words for the same support request. The chapter just released could have been six of Schinhofen's, and I'm happy with his, ecstatic even. Smaller chapters more frequently would e be awesome

Anonymous

Why was I charged for 3 when I only got one o thought we were doing one chapter per month or one place holder not 3

Unresolved Plots

@Bill. Great idea imho. If Tefler makes the next few chapters 10K words each for instance, which as Tony Bates pointed out is still much more than most other Patreon authors, then we all win. He is more likely to be caught up and out of any financial issues he has and we get the story in smaller but quicker installments.

Anonymous

If people got charged 3 times that means 162 was paid for twice, once as a "placeholder" and again at release. Does this mean we're being asked to pay twice for every "placeholder" chapter?

Anonymous

I got charged for two chapters this month. The third place holder chapter was from last month.

Anonymous

I see that Tefler has just posted another chapter on Literotica (145) and he posted 144 last month. Note that he posted 142 in April last year and 143 last October so it looks like he is really trying to get back on track which I think is great for him, for all us who support him on Patreon and for TSM!

Bill
>>107644901

I just did a quick cheat sheet - if I did it right there would be zero placeholders around November

Unresolved Plots
>>107651072

The quick answer is no you are not charged twice. When you have paid for a post it says Paid for by Patrons in the top right hand corner. For chapters that were previously placeholders, like Ch.162, you will notice it was posted as Unlocked in the top right hand corner, meaning you have not been charged for that post, as you had already been charged previously for it. Hope I explained this well enough?

Michael56Smith
>>107652037

.58: Yes, agreed, you'd been charged for placeholder chapters #164 and #165, which along with a previous placehoder #163 makes 3 chapters that Tef owes us that are all prepaid, .... the chapter we got, #162 was a prepaid from earlier, .... ;-) TTFN

Michael56Smith
>>107652551

.59: Oh Yeah Brain, I had been checking Lit every few days for another TSM drop, ... good for Tef, ... and I thought that the eighteen-to-twenty-chapter spread was a bit too much, I hope he can close the gap some, .... ;-) ttfn

Anonymous

Attention All Connoisseurs of Redhead Beauty!!! Please visit us at the the new and improved Discord server. Oh yeah, we also talk a lot about some space story, written by some guy... But it has a Redhead in it!!! https://discord.gg/tXEPg9PuhM

Robar

I just look forward to your next chapter and can only encourage you for your creativity and love for writing

Michael56Smith
>>107667632

.65: and I say: ... RED, ... HEADS, .... ARE, .... WONDERFUL, ... AND DANA IS AWESOME!!!! -- and for a good time, go to Tony's place, ... ;-) TTFN

Green Seadragon

Look y'all, Tefler gave up his job to write this great story. Then life tried to crush him. Let's show some compassion and help our friend through these really tough times. He is going through the worst things that can happen to a man. I myself will wait because it is really good we can be there to help.

Anonymous
>>107813143

Life hasn’t tried to crush him, life has just been life lately… we all have issues yet still continue to produce. He is a business not our “friend” and is losing face daily… we wouldn’t mind if he just started with the excuses but it’s now been a better part of almost 2yrs worth of excuses. He needs to find a way to provide for himself rather than rely on the good graces of his fans…

Green Seadragon
>>107813143

When you treat him like an employee you take the role of employer. What you are doing is workplace harassment. You see what the constant harassing does is demotivates the person. I for one hate bullies, and will stick up for Tefler. We all have uncaring bosses in our life's, just realize you are hurting the creative process. Now you have two choices, either wait for the story to continue or just go away and don't pay. That is the cruxt of the matter.

Anonymous
>>107813143

Clearly you’re putting this man on a pedestal when he does not deserve one. Last time I checked, businesses get bad reviews or comments when they do not follow through or do not provide the products paid for by the customers especially after their word is broken multiple times

Green Seadragon
>>107813143

No I'm just saying don't harass him. As a customer you can stay or go. Only two choices, just realize that if you continue to make comments after voice your issues you are bullying.

MeCherAmigos

We have all experienced supply chain issues, this is just one more. I'm not happy with paying today for a hamburger tomorrow, but this is the man's income stream. We, as patrons, support his creativity. I know that my support has dropped due to this issue, but I'm past the need to disparage Tefler for this. Once he's caught up, I will use my purse to reward him, but I don't see the need to badger him over it. I have experience with writing, as many of you do as well, and you produce more with consistent time writing. Tefler has admitted that events have disrupted his creative time and this has impacted his production of new material. I wish him well, wherever he is. By the way, his stand-alone story Truckstop Takedown is excellent - a great character and action drama.

Mapstar

7k€ per Chapter and cant manage his finances…

Tefler Fan 007
>>107870021

FYI Patreon takes a large percentage of that amount and then he has to pay taxes on what’s left. Anything over 50k€ in Britain is taxed at 40%. 7k minus 20% for Patreon is 5600. 5600 minus 40% for taxes is 3360. So out of 7000 he only brings home 3360. Correction: Patreon is 15% with fees so he takes home 3570.

Anonymous
>>107870021

Bingo...with three dependants. Don't you just love posters who post from ignorance because they are too lazy to do the basic research to substantiate or debunk their premise before posting so they don't look childish?

Anonymous
>>107870021

He only pays 40% on the amount over 50k so if he earns 60k he pays 40% on the 10k that he is over and standard tax on anything below 50k

Tefler Fan 007
>>107870021

Tax brackets for Britain 0-12500 = 0% 12500-50000 = 20% 50000-125000 = 40% 125000 and up = 45%. For the record I did some rounding on the numbers but that’s the basic tax brackets

Mapstar
>>107870021

Guys, don’t you pay taxes too? I do. And i don’t earn remotely as much. German taxes are hardcore too so y’all can calm down. I really enjoy the story and i don’t plan to unsubscribe, yet we all have heard our fair share of excuses from Tefler.

Anonymous
>>107870021

Income tax in Sweden where I live is among the worst on this planet. Sure we get some benefits from it like very cheap healthcare/medical costs. After taxes I have around 2200 Euro per month compared to the above mentioned 3570 (per chapter) for Tef. I still support him but have to agree that he must be doing something wrong since i live a good life with my income. Iirc this placeholder stuff started when he needed a major roof job done on the house. He was making good money back then (maybe even better than now considering the drop in support). Can only compare to myself but 3-4 months of that kind of income and i'd have that money sitting around just waiting to be used so no need for placeholders. Possibly he supports a large family with a single income, what do I know?

Michael56Smith

.79: TAXES! yeah, I live (survive) in California, one of the highest tax states in the USA, ... and that's in addition to the BIG increases to costs to living and to Federal taxes by our current poor/corrupt political leadership, .... taxes are no small concern, and the UK has one of the highest tax rates in the civilized countries of the 'free' world, .... blah, blah, blah, .... Tef is not rich, ... ;-) ttfn

Anonymous

I understand he has expenses the problem for me was I had to pay for something and was stuck four dollars short witch created a problem as now am behind due to not paying on time

Michael56Smith

.83: FYI -- Author BurntRedstone left a new comment on 'May the 4th be with you' regarding the soon to be released 'Jack's Moonlighting', part one, .... it is in two parts as it is huge, it was over 180,000 words on his previous update, and is now larger, ... so it's another huge BurntRedstone story, .... this is for all his fans, you can enjoy it soon, ... ;-) ttfn

Unresolved Plots
>>107912711

And people accuse Tefler of being bad with finances! I would never normally give advice, but since you are in such a perilous financial situation I feel I must. I think you should cancel your membership. I am sure Tefler will carry on fine without your 4 dollars. You evidently are struggling to stay afloat because of the charge. I mean think about it this way, you would be in the same situation regardless whether you had been charged for placeholders or completed chapters and since its not the placeholders you have a problem with, but the charges themselves, then I feel your choice going forward is clear.

Bill

M56S - I just started reading this story on SOL. Author: Banzai Ben Story: 01-Captured. It's about a sniper. I'm on Chpt 14 of Book 01 which has 23 chapts. Looks like there's 9 Books. Good filler read till Tef has another chapter.

Michael56Smith
>>107980955

.90: hi Bill, I too am reading a story on SOL, I am rereading Arlene & Jeff by RoustWriter, .... it is over 7 hundred chapters, and is paused at a good spot, but the story is incomplete, ... still it is a great read, .... I'll be checking for TSM #163 this weekend, fingers crossed, as Tef did say that he wanted to knock out a few chapters this month, ... ;-) ttfn

Michael56Smith
>>107916371

.92: I read him on Literotica,com, he has over sixty wonderful stories posted and most of them are super long, .... enjoy, ... ;-) ttfn

Bill
>>107980955

I've read Arlene and Jeff Twice over the past 3-4 years. He delivered a chapter every Friday from 2006 until he finished the story last year without fail. RoustWriter was writing a new story - I think "Times 7" - his blog said he and his wife are ill so he's stop writing for a bit.

Anonymous

Just FYI on Banzai Ben - Book 9 is inactive and incomplete and has been since 2019. I unfortunately don't like your chances of getting a conclusion for that book... :(

Anonymous
>>107822706

“Once he's caught up“ there’s no reason to believe this will happen. It would require him to dramatically increase his productivity, or go for months without pay. Why would he do that? With the type of people in these comments, why doesn’t he just continue as he is right now? Increasing the number of precharges whenever his productivity doesn’t meet his desired income. Do you think he feels bad about precharging? Then why does he precharge immediately after releasing a chapter, so that it’s impossible to leave without being charged for chapters you will never get?

Anonymous
>>107813143

The criticism will stop when the behaviour stops. Nobody cares if you think valid criticism is bullying. I also recall you think “brown nosing” is a racist phrase.

Michael56Smith
>>107980955

,98: I really hope his muse gets him to continue on with more Arlene & Jeff, but perhaps under a different title. .... --- I am well into book two in the series so far, I found the comparatively short book one to be largely an introduction to the main characters and a set up for what comes later, ... however, the characters are all pretty good / awesome, ... ---- Great story that is beginning to get dated, like when they were buying computers, but the car and truck models I can still give a pass, for now, ... ;-) ttfn

Newnotsure
>>107980955

Well Michael56Smith Arlene and Jeff is complete for the section I talked to the Author he was (is) planning to have other chapters in future. He did post a new chapter for his newest book saying he will be stopping for a little, as his health and his wife’s health has not been well. Just think that author has posted a chapter every week since November 2006 never miss one month.

Newnotsure

It looks you have pay for them as well

IanBio

I do really feel for Tefler. His number of patrons rose almost linearly up until when he started precharging but have been pretty much static since. His earnings per month have fallen by 10% since then as well. He was really on a roll but has flatlined. He must be really worried how many patrons will pull out when the current TSM story arc completes, which cannot be that many months away.

Unresolved Plots
>>108140666

I'd say at the current publishing rate of one chapter per month there are at least a couple of years left of this story.

Michael56Smith
>>107916371

.103: BurntRedstone wrote a note on 5/8/23 that the chapter's editing for 'Jack's Moonlighting, part one' is about finished, so expect it to be available very soon, ... ;-) ttfn

Anonymous

Do you want to see the stars? Do you want be a part of something bigger? Are you ready to give all that you can? The Terran Federation Navy is looking for you. Start your journey at the new Discord sever https://discord.gg/tXEPg9PuhM

Newnotsure
>>108140666

Question what is the count now for Tefler I does not show on the main page so do we know what the patreon count for his site

Michael56Smith
>>108140666

.108: .... count? word count? Chapter #162's word count was 20,244, ... this count was from Word, ... Patreon count? I was unsure what you were asking. ... ;-) ttfn

Anonymous
>>108140666

Newnotsosure: did not ask for a word count but the number of patrons left after Tefler started using placeholders....I suspect that the patron count is on a negative slope and might accelerate if Tefler continues to use placeholders...Like killing the goose that laid the golden egg...sigh...metaphors...

Newnotsure
>>108140666

No not word patreon count how many are still with him since to took the counter off the main page it was once over 5000 but was wondering what it is now.

Newnotsure

Just my thoughts but Tefler has been adding so much filler in this part it will never end we will never find out if John and ladies get anywhere. Again just my thoughts

Michael56Smith
>>108140666

.112: Ah, Tef's current total Patreon / supporters, how many, .... has the number gone up, gone down, plateaued out? I have noted that fairly recently there have been other Authors that no longer list their Patreon numbers or monthly $upport, ... is this a Patreon policy shift? ... an option that the Author can choose? ... a secret government conspiracy? ... Authors hiding info from the taxman? .... that is a good question, ... ;-) ttfn

IanBio
>>108140666

You can get a pretty clear picture of Tef's patron and cash flow position here. https://graphtreon.com/creator/user?u=3814558. Use the 5 year view for the best perspective.

Myrnalin
>>108211347

I have seen others call it "Filler" before. My thoughts is: You have no clue what a Filler is.

Anonymous
>>107912711

Let's put this in to perspective. Tefler owes his customers 3 back chapters and 1 more so he gets paid this month. I know the numbers fluctuate but he gets paid roughly $4500 per chapter. If someone has real numbers please correct me. So just looking at the owed 3 chapters that is $13500 dollars he has been paid up front. I make $100,000 a year and my take home is $5400 a month. So there is something wrong with someone who is struggling to make ends meet helping support someone who is paying himself well over 6 figures a year and not delivering.

Johnkr

I empathize, but this is erotica. Yup quad yada yada, there is still a great amount of sci fi literature in each chapter. Also, I am a consultant, so I know what it is like doing what he does, so I give hi

Johnkr

M a break.

AzureReader
>>108211347

I’ve noticed when it takes 6-9 months of waiting for new chapters to progress ~3-4 days in the TSM universe that each chapter feels a bit like filler. Perhaps more accurately it feels like more should have happened in 6-9 months. I get a little resentful over a bit of casual conversation because it seems like something more important should be happening. I felt this sense of ‘filler’ or inconsequence after waiting I don’t know how many months for the chapters covering John’s visit to Genthalas and Valaden to get to know all the new matriarchs. Once all those chapters were complete and I had a chance to re-read them in rapid order my perception was very different. It almost feels like Tef was skimming topics. I would have preferred a much deeper exploration of some of the relationships with the new Matriarchs. The current ‘battle’ where Gahl’s fleets are going from the edge of Maliri space to the Maliri core worlds feels like it has been going on for a year. They are supposed to be in the fastest ships in the galaxy. But the way the chapters are progressing it feels like they aren’t going as fast as The Fools Gold. This is the perception warp we must deal with as readers. Don’t make any final judgements about the writing until you have a chance to re-read this section of chapters.

Anonymous

My hope for the current battle is that the hard to crack code that will lead Gahl and his gals to kythshara will give us both the final battle and the rebirth of Faye ,and she will be awesome in many ways.🧚🏾‍♀️

Anonymous

There should only be 9 fleets heading for Genwynn. After Gal's fleet separated he had 10 fleets with him and 11 on the way to the Maliri core worlds. 1 of the fleets with Gal was neutralized with spider mines during the attack in which John slept through.

Johnkr
>>108211347

It could be they are being cautious because they don't know what John has and couldn't believe he only has the one ship. Don't want to put your quad in the sausage grinder. I think they favor the long drawn out affairs, leave no soul unturned.

AzureReader
>>108211347

It doesn’t seem like they are being cautious at all. Losing fleets rapidly, perhaps 2-3 a day, and still plowing into enemy space anyway seems more like throwing all caution to the wind. I think progenitors are used to massive battles with huge losses so losing 10+ fleets doesn’t bother Gahl in the least. John I think said he expected Gahl to have no problem losing fleets until it was too late. At some point Gahl came to the conclusion that Baenthalas’ fleets must have been destroyed by Larn and this one ship was all he had left. But the ideas was academic because it didn’t change his stop-at-nothing charge into Maliri space.

Anonymous

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Str8NotNarrow

I definitely sympathize with Tefler. He's had a lousy year. Some of that's on him, some of it is just life and bad luck. So, with that perspective, I've made peace with pre-charged chapters. Here's where I have not made peace. 1) if there is to be any catching up, we should have the first chapter now. It's past the middle of the month. 2). If there's a snag, we should be getting some sort of communication. I love the book(s) and plan to stay with it, but I would like to be respected a bit more. End of rant

Anonymous
>>108678859

I really agree with you on the update part. I wish that Tefler would make a post on the 10th, the 20th and the last day of the month just to keep us all in the loop. That way at least we could get something rather then nothing until the end of the month. I sometimes feel like we are forgotten about. Out of sight out of mind kinda thing.

Rayce Royal
>>108678859

I am starting to wonder just how deep of a hole he's going to dig for himself. I'm really pulling for him, though. Staying positive :)

Anonymous
>>108678859

Well, it's a no-win situation at this point Tef hasn't been the most transparent even when he used to provide updates and at this point, it's a given that he's going to precharge when he does drop content since that's been his M.O for the past few years now. He employs the "it's done when it's done" mentality which imo is more detrimental than it's worth when your schedule is so obscure from chapter to chapter.

Anonymous

I've been re-reading the story and noticed something throughout the story that I hadn't noticed in earlier readings ... FUSION reactors (Power Cores) undergoing a MELTDOWN! That's something that can only happen with FISSION reactions, as the radioactive Uranium or Plutonium fuel rods generate their own heat and will melt down through the containment vessel's floor if not constantly cooled. A FUSION reaction involves slamming together atoms of Hydrogen and/or Helium to create Helium, Lithium or Berylium, where all the heat comes from the reaction itself. Fusion reactions operate at such high temperatures that they need magnetic field containment to prevent the walls of the reaction chamber from melting or evaporating, so a CONTAINMENT BREACH is the primary catastrophic failure method in those reactors, which would suddenly supply the reactor with an abundence of new fuel while giving it room to expand. (The OTHER one is where the reactor doesn't get ENOUGH fuel and the reaction simply fizzles out, but in this case there's no explosion or anything.)

Justin Webb
>>108678859

he only started the pre-charges in 2022 so at most we are only coming up on a year of him doing that.

Michael56Smith
>>108888353

.135: Yeah Ian, Poor Tef, I assume that he was educated in the UK, ... so he has several misconceptions about nuclear power, ... he confuses Meltdown with Explosion all the time, and in his story, He has a Fission reactor Explode on a colony word, .... and that's only possible if a bomb was brought in, .... But an Author needs excitement in his story, so, Tef gives us explosions, .... -- Perhaps the laws of physics are slightly changed in Tef's 28th century universe, .... -- It is still a wonderful story, .... ;-) TTFN

Anonymous

Does anyone read life as a new hire? What happened to that author?

Unresolved Plots
>>108888353

? Lol. I suppose Spaniards have several misconceptions about Coal Power and the French have several misconceptions about Gas Power? Obviously because of where they received their education. Anyone who makes a generalized statement like this, that a whole nation lacks understanding of a particular subject, is probably not a clever as they think they are, otherwise they would not make such a silly statement! Nb// The explosions Tefler talks about in the Fission reactor on the colony world are probably due to the secondary effects of a core meltdown! You do realise that a nuclear reactor meltdown could result in further catastrophes at a nuclear plant? e.g. coolant flash steaming at Chernobyl, which caused an 'explosion'. @Ian Kennedy perhaps in the 28th century they use the word meltdown for fusion reactors because it entered the vernacular from earlier fission reactor disasters? Then it just stuck in day to day language, even though, as you point out, it is not an accurate description. Or maybe the 'melting' of the fusion reactor containment chamber is why it is referred to simply a meltdown, which whilst not scientifically correct, is a bit shorter and easier than saying containment breach?

AzureReader

Tef has put so many possible hooks in the book for interesting turns. For example, he currently has the wormhole generator flaw exposed but not fixed. He’s got the Trankaran Star Forges identified as Mael’s recovered forges. It would be an incredibly bold dramatic move in the middle of battle to fix the damn wormhole generator, find out it has a 2 hour recharge, wormhole to the Star Forges to build a few superweapons and armor by drawing psychic power from his entire network. The matriarchs have been working hard to change and so very much want to help make a difference in the war. They would then wormhole back to Kythshara in time to greet Gahl’ with some new surprises. It’s the kind of tying everything together that has made the book great so far. It seems pretty clear Tef is going to fully expose and leverage the mystery of the Maliri men. And the long running battle with Larn’ culminating in his demise and requisition of his fleets is a nice tie in to a thread running through nearly the entire book. But if this battle is wrapped up in two chapters I don’t see how he will have time to really bring it all together. It would be awesome to find a way to have at least a small tie to the Terrans and Ashanath also. But at least I want to see the tie in to the fixed wormhole generator and star forges. Sure they can always visit the forges in the quite time after the battle but then it would not be a dramatic ballsy move worthy of someone with four balls.

Anonymous
>>109003784

It would because are still 2 doze more progs to defeat and the God of the astal plane. Or does he forgot the progs and go straight to the Astral plane

Anonymous

For as concerned as he is Cally its sure been awhile since he's spent any time with her.

Who Me
>>109003784

BTW Azure Reader - Shouldn't that be GK and not Larn? Larn is long dead!

Damion Cocchi
>>108928690

Yes, he is very haphazard about writing, finding motivation to write and hasn't added to the story in 2020, after a 4 year hiatus. It's an awesome story, but probably won't ever be finished. He's currently doing a podcast with his daughter. The DapperMouse Show https://open.spotify.com/show/2KY4t3TT4AcKGOFTtcNkT9?si=wfFtB51NS5an9VyHDaENBg He published his books on Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Secrets-internship-Nyilas-Volumes-ebook/dp/B00UUB9LHW https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/FinalStand

jdg45
>>109003784

The Start Forges will only be of use IF the Trankarans have the correct metals Dana needs for MWM to hand?

20 ton
>>109003784

Dana purchased oxn from the Tark after the glowing queen incident. She may have to create some elements with a fusion reactor but if they are naturally occurring the miners will probably have them. My question is to make metals harder than steel will psychic energy be need with the star forge and where will it come from? Using the nymphs as psychic batteries without harm could fit into the story line.

AzureReader
>>109003784

There is no question Mael’s Star Forge used psychic energy when he was around. Now of course the Trankarans don’t use it that way since they are not psychic. It would not surprise me if when they go there they find a special seat that Mael’ sat in to power the forges. I’m sure the Trankarans wondered for thousands of years what that chair and related equipment was for. John will provide the power just as he has for the small forge on Invictus. Plugging other people into the forge might work, but in John’s network power flows to him, not the other way around. John is the natural choice to draw psychic power from every person in the galaxy he is connected with. But John spending months hooked up to the Star Forge building fleets is going to suck. Mael’ didn’t want to do that. The Ashanath were obviously intended to be the sustainable power source for the Star Forges. But it sounds like he was frustrated by their modest psychic powers and probably ended up powering the forge himself, which is why the quantity of things built of white metal was limited. My hope is that the Star Forge has some secrets that Dana can tweak. Perhaps it keeps white metal melted via direct energy from the star so it’s remains easy to shape. If that’s the case and John has unlimited psychic power, as the Kythfaren citadel suggests, he should be able to forge white metal much tougher than Mael’ or the Progenitor black metal.

AzureReader
>>109003784

Also, I suspect the Star Forges may be able to directly use raw materials that Trankarans have mined instead of fabricating some of the key elements in a fusion reactor like Dana has been doing on Genthalas. However large the Genthalas fusion reactor might be a star’s fusion energy will be billions of times larger. I’m guessing the name of the forge isn’t just decorative and the fusion power of the star is harnessed.

Unresolved Plots
>>109003784

I disagree with your assertion that there is no doubt the Star Forges used psychic energy. The indications we have had so far in the story imho point to the opposite. The name Star Forges imply that a stars energy is used as opposed to soul energy. Also, most telling imo, is that when Dana psychically scanned the shard of white metal, which John hacked away from the bunker under the palace, she did not detect any residual psychic energy. We know negative psychic energy is imbued in black progenitor metal and my guess is positive psychic energy is imbued in the crystal alyssium that John creates in his Psi Forge (though this is not confirmed yet). The metal Mael'nerak produced, if it was done using a stars energy alone, is probably psychically neutral, meaning it should be able to be used alongside either progenitor black metal or crystal alyssium imo.

Michael56Smith
>>109003784

.151: question: Doesn't the Trankaran Star Forge / Mael's resurrected 'advanced' Soul Forge operate on Solar (star) power? So, no tying John down, for months at a time, to psychically build a fleet, right? ;-) ttfn

AzureReader
>>109003784

If the Star Forges worked (to their full potential) without psychic energy the Trankarans would still be churning out white metal products instead of iron ones. The difference between Mael’s white metal and crystal alyssium is that Mael’s metal is formed only a single time and cannot be reformed. But that single forming definitely uses psychic powers. The difference between black metal and either white metal is different. Black metal is forged by capturing the psychic energy of dead thralls which can be seen by Dana’s scan. White metal does not capture part of people’s souls. Psychic energy is only used to do the work of forging. If either Mael’s white metal or crystal alyssium was capturing people’s souls or retained psychic energy in any sense we would definitely have heard about it by now.

20 ton
>>109003784

I tend to agree with azure. We know the Tark are very knowledgeable about metals and minerals. Why use steel and thickness for strength. There is a missing link to making the white metal and I believe it is benign psychic energy. Mal wouldn’t sit there long so what did he use as a psychic battery. The nymphs would be more fun to empower than ash.

Unresolved Plots
>>109003784

I think your logic is not correct again. I can think of two simple ways why the Trankaran's might not be able to produce Mael'neraks metal. 1) The Star Forges might not be completely repaired e.g. like the Progenitor reactors and FTL drives the Ashanath tried to replicate. If so, then this could be why they are unable to reproduce Mael's white metal. 2) It is also possible that even if fully prepared they do not know the mix of elements Mael used to produce his metal. Remember that in a very early chapter, when Dana purchased Onyxium from the Trankarans, they did not value it very highly, which means it is likely that they do not know its uses. If it has not already been stated as being used in Mael's white metal in the story? Then I would put money on it being an essential element in the mix, like it is in Progenitor black metal. You repeatedly make the claim that psychic energy is used to forge Mael's white metal and that this is beyond any doubt. How do you know this? This so far as I can tell is a complete guess and ignores the clues I gave above that it actually does not. So far in the story, if psychic energy is used to shape metal, that metal is imbued with psychic energy, whether positive (Crystal Alyssium) or negative (Progenitor Metal). That Mael's white metal does not have any residual psychic imprints, as I stated above, indicates that psychic energy was not used to forge it. Another point against Mael using psychic energy in the Star Forges is what they are made from. It is very likely that they are built from Progenitor Black Metal, since their description, given in Ch. 107, tells us they are black. When John sent positive psychic energy through the black metal of Larn's Soul Forge, it destabilised it and the black Progenitor metal started to break down. Therefore if Mael did the same with the Star Forges, why did those rings not break down? You could argue that he sent negative psychic energy through them, but if he was still producing negative psychic energy, then he was still evil, so why would he convert them from Soul Forges? In answer to your last point, we have heard about Crystal Alyssium having positive psychic energy imbued in it. When they repaired Larn's shuttle they did not use Crystal Alyssium because they were afraid of how that metal would react to the negative psychic energy of Progenitor black metal. The wormhole drive John produced in the Soul Forge has faint blue and green streaks in the white metal, which indicates John/Jades positive psychic energy is imbued in it. So too with the Psi Forge ring itself, which was converted by John and Dana during the process of making the wormhole drive. It has a faint blue tinge and is golden around the edge, again indicating that John/Dana have imbued it with their own psychic energy.

Michael56Smith
>>109003784

.155: .... and I can't wait for Dana to examine the Trankaran Star Forges, ... with all the recently acquired knowledge she has, she should be able to 'fix' or 'upgrade' the Star Forges to produce John's Great White Fleet, .... oh boy!

AzureReader
>>109003784

The Trankarans may have forgotten the formula or operational instructions. The forges were lost during the war between Mael and Rahn, but later found and recovered by the Trankarans. I got the sense it may have been thousands of years later. So no doubt some knowledge was forgotten. This doesn’t mean the forges were either psychic or not - just that the Trankarans may not know how to use them correctly. There are a few things that still strongly suggest that the forges were psychic. First, if they didn’t require psychic power then the Trankarans during Mael’s time should have been able to steadily produce ship hulls and large weapons without Mael’s psychic powers. And yet there are zero known white ships and the examples of weapons and other things made with Mael’s white metal can only be described as rare. This suggests there was a serious production problem with making white metal. Not having enough psychic power would explain this problem. Second, the original soul forges use the psychic energy from the souls of thralls to reinforce the metal. Mael’ understood that psychic energy was the most critical element to the alloy. There is zero chance that Mael would not have tried using his own psychic powers as a replacement to the most critical part of black metal. It would make as much sense as Dana trying to reformulate white metal without psychic powers… she wouldn’t do that because they have the most important element on hand: psychic power. Finally, the challenge for Mael’ and potentially John is where to get enough psychic power to operate a massive forge that can build large ships and weapons. John has found a far more powerful source of psychic power than a progenitor would have. Mael’ had to try to find alternatives. If he could have built ships with white metal he would have. So he created the Ashanath in hopes that they would be able to work in teams to use the forge. He was disappointed in how weak they were. Why would he have created such a race, and be disappointed by how weak they were? He needed them to power the Star Forge. I believe Mael’ designed a smaller prototype forge that he could power himself. It was big enough to forge relatively large items like a quantum flux cannon but not forge a ship hull. He then designed the Star Forges to build giant ships, but his experiment with the Ashanath was not successful and the the Star Forges may never have been operated the way they were designed to be. If Mael was strong enough to use them himself to build big things there would be evidence of him doing that. That metal lasts forever. And because it lasts forever if the forges were not psychic they would have been used to mass produce large scale things that should still be around.

Steven
>>109003784

I like your thought process on the hooks and it would be ballsy! I'm also really enjoying the back and forth conversation.

Unresolved Plots
>>109003784

@AzureReader. The Trankaran's told us that they repaired the Star Forges 9K years before (Ch.107 again), so 1K after the war of the heavens. Again I can think of 2 simple reasons why vast amounts of white metal might not have been produced by Mael'nerak. 1) Lack of materials. If Onyxium is required (which I think is likely), we know this is in limited quantities (especially if vast amounts are required) and we have been told cannot be reproduced in a fusion reactor like the two new elements Dana created at Genthalas. 2) Mael'nerak might have only discovered the process of making white metal after his war with Rahn'hagon began. His dialogue in the Nexus video tells us he thinks he has become weak. This probably means he let his Thrall numbers fall and did not have enough Thrall fleets (in his mind). I'm thinking this is because he had stopped recruiting and sacrificing Thralls sometime between 40K - 10K years ago, when he seemed to have undergone at Damascene conversion. If he had been producing vast quantities of white metal in this time (which I agree should probably mean he had a large numbers of white ships, space stations etc...) then why would he think he had grown weak? My guess is he stopped his research at some point during these years, preferring to spend his time with Valada, who he had fallen in love with. This probably included not producing an alternative to Progenitor Black Metal and he only restarted his research and discovered how to make it during the war (kind of like on Earth, with war necessitating and being the catalyst for big technological leaps). Mael launched his final suicide attack in what is now Trankaran space 2 1/2 years into the war with Rahn'hagon. I think it is likely he did this after the Star Forges fell. The lack of white metal we see could be due to simply running out of time to produce more in those 2 1/2 years. However, contrary to what you state, they did produce large amounts of white metal that we know about. 11 large space stations (we don't know exactly how big, but my guess is they are substantial). The giant Pyramid trap on Kythshara, all of the defence platforms (possibly hundreds) around the planet and the bunker under the palace on Valadan. The reason they have not been seen is that each of these was hidden until very recently. Mael'nerak might have produced ships from the metal too. In his last video he tells Valada he is taking his Thrall fleets to attack Rahn'hagon. We know that all the ships in that battle were likely destroyed (except the two Dreadnought's, which were both very badly damaged). Valada also told us in a later video that Mael'nerak took all of his Thrall vessels and none of them returned. It is possible that he did build ships out of his white metal and at least a portion of these lost vessels were made from his white metal. I noticed that you skipped my question about how Mael'nerak pumped psychic energy through the rings of the Star Forges (which are likely made from black Progenitor metal) but did not destabilise them as John did to Larn's Soul Forge rings? This along with the psychically neutral white metal are the strongest indication that psychic energy is not used in the forging process imho. Using the Ashanath to pump psychic energy through the rings would still mean positive psychic energy is being used, so I don't believe this is the answer. Another reason for no psychic energy being used is that Tefler needs a way for any damaged Thrall ships to be repaired. They cannot reproduce Progenitor metal, so a psychically neutral metal that is just as strong is required i.e. Mael's white metal. A final reason is that they need to go beyond Mael'nerak, the Progenitors and maybe even the Kyth'faren to gain a technological advantage. A metal like Mael'neraks white metal, which seems to be at least as strong as Progenitor metal, with psychic energy imbued would likely be much more powerful than anything seen so far in the story. Imho, only the Invictus (including weapons) and the crews personal weapons and armour will be constructed from a metal like this, giving them a tech advantage over everyone else, even their own forces. Think about it this way, if they build large numbers of ships from Mael's white metal, then what makes the Invictus special anymore, if it is only built from the same material? The crew might be the best, but a larger vessel made from the same material would be stronger than they are. Tefler needs a way for the Invictus to be more powerful than anything else and this is how I think he will do that. So merely for storyline purposes, I don't believe we will see the Star Forges able to use psychic energy and therefore produce psychically imbued metal (at least not yet and then only for the Invictus imo)!

AzureReader
>>109003784

These posts keep getting longer, from both of us. I’m glad others are enjoying though. This is all speculation on top of imagination, but we can know some things about your first two points logically. First, why would Mael’ have built massive forges that require a ton of material he doesn’t have? And not just one massive forge… do I recall correctly there are three of them? He had to have a solution to the physical material problem. The same argument could be said of the lack of psychic power, but he felt he was going to solve that problem by creating a psychic species. In your second point you mention a bunch of speculative ideas but I think the main one is that he may have discovered white metal too close to the war of the heavens to have a chance to produce much of it. I can’t imagine he created, propagated and trained the entire Ashanath species just a few years before the war of the heavens. Nor the Trankarans who were made to mine for the materials needed. No, this was planned out and executed over thousands of years. Perhaps somehow thousands of years of work came down to multiple fully functional forges with enough material to begin mass production just a few years before the war of the heavens. Doesn’t make sense to me. Regarding the forges being black metal and how he could have pumped psychic energy through them. Perhaps we know the forges are black but I’m not sure we know they are made of black metal. Perhaps they are dirty. It would be curious that the last thing he would forge with the Soul Forge and the souls of his thralls would be the parts needed for the Star Forge because he never wanted to sacrifice his thralls again. I can see him considering that a necessary sacrifice though. And undoubtably the Star Forge must be made of something tough for it to survive the war of the heavens and for thousands of years more. Regarding the positive psychic energy interacting with black metal issue. First, this is almost certainly a relatively unique problem to John. Mael’ was a black hearted progenitor who brokered in dark psychic energy. It seems like all progenitors that show up in Shrouded space start developing loving feelings enough to turn their thrall’s hair white. But that doesn’t mean Gahl’, for example, is all positive psychic energy now. If Mael’ had discovered how powerful positive psychic energy was then he would not have considered himself weak. And dark psychic energy does not interact badly with black metal. It does not fight against it. So there would be no problem for Mael to use a black metal forge himself. And Dana pointed out that the white metal, like black metal, was only forged once, unlike crystal alysssium which is forged many times. This why the metal has little to no residual psychic energy. And we also know that even black metal starts white. It only becomes black when forged with the souls of dead thralls, which white metal clearly does not have. All of the above, for both of us, is speculative. What we do know is that the formula for white metal is still lost. And Dana knows crystal alyssium is already more sophisticated than Mael’s metal. John will forge with either crystal alyssium (perhaps to far more forgings) or an improved psychic material Dana invents. The challenge is how are they going to use the Star Forges to do that? If the forges were designed to be used by either a single psychic or a collective (the Ashanath) then plugging John in should be relatively easy. But if the forges are made of black metal then that’s a problem. It seemed like John, Dana, and Jade together barely held the smaller forge together during its conversion to be compatible with positive psychic energy. I get the impression the Star Forges are a thousand times bigger at least. It would be better if the Star Forges are made of Mael’s white metal and don’t have souls trapped in them. 9000 years of forging with iron can put a layer of soot on anything. I can only imagine a lot of Trankaran jaws dropping when Sakura blasts the dirt off with wind and ice showing everyone their brilliant white color. There is a lot of speculation between the two of us. If there’s one thing I’m sure of its that we are both wrong. In the TSM universe only Tef can be right. I’m sure the story will surprise both of us.

Anonymous

Are you looking for a 3SM Discord Server for serious people run by a lunatic? Have we got the server for you!!! Come on down to "The Invictus, a Three Square Meals Forum" and post your thoughts on the epic. https://discord.gg/tXEPg9PuhM

Randy

Praying all is getting better. With respect

Michael56Smith
>>109003784

.161: Oh Yeah, the infamous Tefler story Twist, .... ole Tef does surprise us a lot doesn't he? ;-) TTFN

Unresolved Plots
>>109003784

@AzureReader, your ideas about the Ashanath are all based on them being created to power the Star Forges, which is wrong imho. The Ashanath we know were created 60K years before the story. Mael'nerak, as shown in the videos, was still evil at this point and in later videos, so it is likely he was still using his Soul Forges to produce black metal until at least 40K years ago, when we first saw Valada and he was not yet in love with her. I think that the Star Forges were created sometime between 40K-10K years ago and likely much closer to the latter, as per my previous post. Wrt where he got the materials to build the Star Forges, this is simple. I believe he just repurposed his Soul Forge rings into Star Forge rings. We saw Gahl'kalgors Soul Forge producing the whole superstructure of a Thrall vessel during Valeria's visit, so it is likely that Progenitors have a number of different sized Soul Forge rings, used for different sized technology. Niskera mentioned 6 Star Forge rings, which makes sense when thinking of Progenitors and their affinity for the number 6. My guess is Mael'nerak took all 6 different sized Soul Forge rings (which I'm guessing is what all Progenitors have) and as stated above, repurposed them, so no need to produce loads of new material to create them, he just needed to create a means to use star energy instead of soul energy. John and Dana probably converted and took the smallest one of these 6 rings from Larn's Soul Forge imo. Your point about white metal having little/no residual psychic energy does not make sense when you acknowledge at the same time that black progenitor metal is also forged just once and yet we know it has lots of psychic energy imbued in it (btw the white metal definitely does not have little, it has zero psychic energy imbued in it, as per Dana). You have it the wrong way around about the black metal starting white. Onyxium is black so the first mix of Crystal Alyssium is always black (probably because of the Onyxium imo) not white. When John/Alyssa started to psychically reshape it, it turned the metal compound from black to white. I believe that Dana does know the formula for Mael's metal. She psychically scanned it (which is when I believe she learnt what its chemical formula is) and then told John it is less sophisticated than her metal Crystal Alyssium. In order for her to make this statement she would have to know the formua for Mael's metal imo. Crystal Alyssium was only shaped until they recently acquired (what has been referred to as) the Psi Forge. John has been Forging Crystal Alyssium since then, but this is different to reshaping it, because it is done in one go. Forging and reshaping are two different things, which is why Forged CA is much stronger than even 35 shaped CA. Imho, the Ashanath were created by Mael'nerak for a different purpose, to study the Astral and attempt to break away from Xar's influence, possibly by creating a sub plane (which probably did not work). Wrt what the Trankarans were doing for Mael'nerak. We know they were created as miners for him. So it is clear he used them to mine materials he wanted. In the years when he fell in love with Valada (probably 40K-10K years ago), I believe that Mael'nerak basically stopped caring about recruiting vast numbers of Thralls, sacrificing them to produce ships etc... Imho, he probably slowly just left the Trankarans and the Ashanath pretty much to their own devices as the years went on. Hence when Rahn'hagon attacked his statement that he had grown weak. Maybe he had already relocated the Forges and already discovered his white metal before the war, but if so I doubt he had the Trankarans working flat out to mine the materials for it and producing vast amounts of white metal. Going back to my earlier post, if he had been doing this for thousands of years, then surely he should have had a massive advantage over any attacking Progenitor?

Unresolved Plots
>>109003784

I've thought of another reason why think it very unlikely that the Ashanath powered the Star Forge psychically. Alyssa was shown to be more powerful psychically than the entire combined Kirrix Hive mind. I doubt that the combined Ashanath are that much more powerful than the combined Kirrix psychically. We also know that Alyssa is not yet powerful enough to use the Psi Forge on the Invictus to produce Forged Crystal Alyssium. Therefore she should not be powerful enough to psychically shape using the Star Forges, which in turn means the same for the Ashanath. The amount of psychic energy the Ashanath can likely produce is probably so negligible as to be useless wrt psychically shaping Progenitor grade materials imho.

AzureReader
>>109003784

I believe the Ashanath were created to operate the psychic forge, but they were unable to do so even as a collective because their psychic powers were not strong enough. Which is why Mael’ was disappointed in them. I’m sure the star forge isn’t just a soul forge by another name - Mael’ must have made modifications he hoped would meet the Ashanath half way. But it still wasn’t enough. Which is why there is hardly any white metal. I believe all the white metal that exists was personally single forged by Mael’. And Tef used the term forging pretty loosely, but in the real world forging is done by shaping the metal under heat and pressure or hammering. But always shaping. Which is different than casting where the metal is poured into a form. Forging is much stronger than casting because the shaping changes the internal structure of the metal. Things that need to be the most durable, such as aircraft landing gear, are forged. I don’t think there is anything different happening to CA when they psychically shape it without the forge and with the forge except the forge vastly amplifies or focuses the psychic forces, just like those assistive contraptions the Ashanath use. I was thinking of black metal being white at its core because they turned Larn’s black bed white. But I recall the Invictus was initially black because of the Onyxium. The Ashanath do have a sub plane. Alysssa has visited them there. But they didn’t create it - Mael’ did. They just maintain it. I’m curious which one of us is right, but I’m afraid I’m out of speculation juice until Tef delivers another chapter.

Rayce Royal

Good thing we've got a three-day weekend coming up. Plenty of down time to read Chapter 163-165 we'll be getting any day now!! CAN'T WAIT!!!

Unresolved Plots
>>109003784

I don't recall seeing anything about Mael'nerak being disappointed in the Ashanath? While it may be true, it would be for a different reason imo (previous post). This is something that you cannot know, but you state it as if it is beyond any doubt! You state again that there is hardly any white metal, when I provided evidence in my last post, direct from the text, that Mael built 11 space stations, numerous defence satellites, a giant pyramid, a bunker (which could be substantial) and possibly fleets of ships from that material. Even without the ships this probably equates to millions of tonnes of white metal, so your hardly any metal quote is inaccurate. For this reason I disagree that Mael'nerak personnally forged all of this metal. Imo, this adds weight to the idea that the Star Forges only use a stars energy to produce the white metal. I doubt Mael would hang around to create the likely millions of tonnes needed for all of these different constructions. He only needs to have given the Trankarans at the Star Forges instructions on what to build and left them to it.

Unresolved Plots

I've been having a back and forth debate about the Star Forges further down the comments with AzureReader. This reminded me that I posted some speculation a while back on Tefler's Discord https://bit.ly/TeflerDiscord that Genthalas might not be the Great Wheel that the Trankaran's talked about in their oral history (which is accepted by most I think), but that a large white metal Great Wheel may have been built by Mael'nerak and it still remains hidden (so Genthalas was merely a replacement built by Valada). It would take too long to post the whole thread, so come and have a look if you are interested!

AzureReader
>>109003784

I believe we saw Mael’s view on the Ashanath in one of the old videos of him that covered his creation of the Ashanath. That was in the 60’s or 70’s maybe. As for white metal we have seen none in the space stations, including Genthalas. The pyramid was designed to be inviting to progenitors so it at least had a facade of black. His throne and palace… all black. I don’t recall them finding anything white further in either. There is a bunker on Valaden and some defensive weapons around Kythshara built of white metal. That’s it. No evidence of white ships in old images, legends, or present day. And we know for sure Mael’ died in a black metal dreadnought because the Ashanath have it. If your argument that is that the forges could not be psychic because Mael’ would not have sat around to make anything… you are right. That’s what he made Ashanath for. But that experiment failed. And there is therefore no white metal except that which the one psychic powerful enough could be bothered to make himself. I question whether the Star Forges were ever used the way they were intended.

Unresolved Plots
>>109003784

But as I pointed out, he created the Ashanath at least 20K years before his likely change from evil to good and therefore change of Soul Forge to a Star Forge. The video you site was the one in which Mael created the Ashanath, so I don't see how you go from his reaction (indifference) to the first Ashanath he created to saying this is evidence he was dissatisfied with their psychic strength. He didn't even test it psychically in the video, it had only just been created seconds before! Another reason why what you are proposing does not make sense is why, if Mael was continuing to use psychic energy to reshape metal would he even have built Star Forges? We have seen that it was relatively simple for Dana to build a device which pumps John's psychic energy through one of Larn's old Soul Forge rings (now that it is white metal)! Why didn't Mael just leave his in place on Kythshara and build a device like Dana did, negating the need to sacrifice Thralls? I'm sure he was capable of this. If the Ashanath were created for the purpose of using their psychic energy to shape his metal, as you propose, then I don't see why he created Star Forges at all, he would not have needed too? The blueprints for the weapons on the space stations match the weapons on the defence platforms, which Dana told us can only be made from Mael's white metal (and possibly from Progenitor metal), due to the stresses and heat on the material. So I think it is highly likely that at least the weapons of the stations are made from his white metal (my guess is virtually all of the stations are made from this metal. Not much of a defence station if the frame and armour at least are not made from the white metal too). You keep saying that there is virtually no white metal. As I have continually pointed out we have already seen vast amounts of it (which likely adds up to millions of tonnes), so you are completely wrong with this suggestion.

AzureReader
>>109003784

I think the path to Mael’s conversion was not a single point in time. The Star Forges were built as an alternative to the Soul Forge. That we both agree on. We just don’t agree on what Mael’ designed to power it. Which is a bit of mute point since I doubt Dana or John will be forging more of Mael’s white metal with the Star Forges or by other means. The Star Forges were brought to Trankaran space (which was his space at the time) because that’s where the material was. And since he didn’t want to run them personally that was not a big deal. Perhaps most importantly the modified forges were ‘Star’ forges… leaving the forge on Kythshara wasn’t probably the right proximity to leverage a stars fusion power. The few white metal products Mael’ made himself were in nearly laboratory quantities. Those he could have made on the rare trip to the star forges for set up and testing. As far as white metal everwhere… you have a massive imagination. I’m going with the fact they have been to all these places and didn’t see any white metal. The stations are definitely not made of white metal. And the weapons on the stations were confirmed to be quantum flux cannons, but they were not confirmed to be the white metal variant surrounding Kythshara. The only white metal ‘we have already seen’ as you say, is the bunker and the weapons surrounding Kythshara. I’m not sure how many weapons platforms surround that planet but I’m guessing a hundred. And if the quantum flux cannon on each weighs 100 tons we have 10,000 tons of white metal. I’m guessing with a slightly larger forge John could crank out a quantum flux cannon barrel in a few hours. So 100 of them in a couple of weeks. Probably less if he had a forge large enough to make multiple barrels at the same time. That doesn’t add up to the kind of white metal production three gigantic Star Forges should have generated in centuries or millennia of production. But I’m not going to convince you if you choose to believe there are millions of tons of white metal product no one has seen. It would be a fun surprise for the men to show up in a small fleet of white ships they have been hiding. But there is no basis to think that will happen. I think our opposing views are pretty fleshed out so I’m not planning on continuing this thread. You are welcome to have the last word.

Anonymous
>>109184912

Realistically it will probably just be another placeholder so we can pay his bills

Rayce Royal
>>109184912

I'm honestly not even expecting one chapter anymore. I'm just hoping

Anonymous

No contact for a month. I'm starting to worry

Anonymous
>>109198395

There is also the possibility that said great wheel is hidden under the crystal icing like the starbases disguised as trading stations

Unresolved Plots
>>109198395

Agreed. This possibility was discussed at length on the Discord. The points against this are Edraele/The female Maliri engineers on the station have not mentioned it to date (which they surely would have done)? They have occupied Genthalas for 10K years, so I think it unlikely they would not have noticed a large white metal centre. Also Dana visited the centre of the station and did not notice anything unusual, so imho it is unlikely that this is the case. Also Genthalas being in the centre of Maliri space means they did not have the reason to cover it like they did with the border stations. The whole discussion was much more in depth with points for and against here https://bit.ly/TeflerDiscord. I'd encourage all readers who have not joined to come and visit because we have had lots of discussions like this about many other threads of the story.

Anonymous
>>109265641

Why, this is normal....No contact for a month, then right before the Patreon deadline, he will pop on, release some form of a chapter, promising to finish it in a day or two, put in a pre-charge for 1 or 2 chapters, then in 1-2 weeks release the rest with a promise to catch up this month, then disappear again till the end of the month...rinse and repeat...Has been going on this way for a long time now...

Anonymous

You know. I'm good w one placeholder per month when you're giving us one chapter a month. 2 placeholders should be reserved for when you will ACTUALLY get 2 chapters in a month. This shit is getting out of hand. Now you owe us 3 chapters. I get the problems you are having and am sympathetic, but if ur busy/sick whatever maybe just stick to one placeholder.

AzureReader
>>109265641

Agreed. It’s extremely rare to hear from Tef until 2 hours before the month ends. If you’re going to worry about anything let it be whether we get a whole chapter or just part of one (plus a personal disaster story).

Steven
>>109003784

The person that could benefit from these kind of discussions are Tefler and the story. If I was an author and stumbled across a hit story idea like TSM I'd want the fans immersed in the story and giving this kind of feedback. I'd also try to have the involvement a group of serious strategy and war gamer friends. Some grey or even black hat tech support input. A few female advisers for emotional and relationship aspects. Because no one person can normally and consistently put out content in relatively short amount of time. So, thank you

Tom Ray

STOP with the place holders until you produce the promised Chapters. This has gone far enough.

Anonymous

So...if I cancel my patronage, I will still get my 3 owed chapters (sometime in next 6 months), and then rejoin after the 4 chapter comes out. Right?

Anonymous
>>109355202

🤣 You'll get a hearty "Fuck you" and you'll like it. Anyone would think that the specific wording on Patreon was that you were paying per "creation". Turns out the "creations" you have been spending your hard-earned money on are the words "Chapter XXX (placeholder)" and a paragraph or two about a writer's financial problems.

Unresolved Plots
>>109355202

Since Tefler started using placeholders about a year and half ago we have had over 12 chapters published, so you have hardly paid for nothing! I know this because the placeholders started a few months after I joined and I'm pretty sure I have read some chapters since then! In that time we have had their long anticipated arrival at Kythshara, revelations about Jade and the Achonin, discovery of Mael's Hyperwarp Gate, the visit to/claiming of the Larathyran's, a new Psi Forge on the ship, the War with the Galkiran's has begun etc... or maybe I just imagined all those chapters? I have proposed that Tefler reduces the next 3 or 4 chapters by half to 10K in size. This should allow him to catch up and therefore stop using placeholders. That would make each of these chapters about 25 word doc pages, rather than the usual 50 pages, so I don't think anyone should have any complaints as they would still be substantial.

Dan

Hey, tefler, good work on what you've churned out so far. I can hardly wait for the next chapter! I'm excited to read what comes next!

20 ton
>>109355202

I quit last July and I was allowed to get my prepaid chapters. I now have it set at one payment per month. I’m sure if he provides multiple chapters per month I could buy them like a newbie.

Michael56Smith

.194: Tef began this epic series in December 2015, he has published multiple millions of words so far, and despite the various 'whiners' we have continued to receive new chapters (almost all at/near the end of each month) and the story continues, .... Yes, we would dearly love more chapters, and longer chapters, ... but we are continuing to get more of the story, .... I would not wish to 'rock the boat', ... let's not discourage Tef into quitting the series, ... -- I tend to ignore the bulk of the negative remarks, but I do tend to post my own comments whenever the 'whiners' increase their less than civilized efforts (jumping onto the bad-comments bandwagon), .... I really enjoy Tef's story, I am very hopeful that he will be continuing Three Square Meals and will be eventually completing the series, ... fingers crossed, ... -- Plus, I really want to see Faye returned to us, ... ;-) ttfn

Rayce Royal
>>109391545

I agree completely, I truly believe that most of the negative comments stem from frustration directly caused by loving the story so much. The wait for each chapter begins to chafe as the month speeds by with no communication, and we lash out at the author in our attempts to coerce him to speed along our addiction and give us a new fix. I sincerely hope Tefler takes what we say (good and bad) with the proverbial grain of salt. We love ya, big guy. We love your story, too :)

Anonymous

I have no problem paying for the place holders but I’m really chomping at the bit for longer stories, the filler wouldn’t be as bad if there was more delivered in each chapter. Fingers crossed we get a chapter in the next few days

Johnkr

I don't know how many stories I have gotten into on literotica and then they end, back in 2015 or something. Plus some authors, singers, scientists, famous people in general create something great, but very few can sustain at that high level. Tefler is an exception. I like his current writings as well as the past. I figure if I chop up what he wrote into standard hard cover sci fi books, I am ahead. So I raised my membership level.

Michael56Smith
>>109404855

.198: Yeah John, ... at 162 chapters with more on the way, ... and at 10 to 15 chapters per book, ... that would make it about 11 to 16 books at least, .... so, Tef is working on book #17 right now? -- Also, another fan had previously posted the total word counts of a few other long books, ... i.e: The Harry Potter books, The Lord of the Rings, War and Peace, Gone with the Wind, Shogun, .... and Tef has them all beat, ... ;-) ttfn

Myrnalin
>>109394546

I am SICK and TIRED of people calling this "FILLERS" "Filler episodes are entries in a generally continuous serial that are unrelated to the main plot, don't significantly alter the relations between the characters, and generally serve only to take up space." According to this definition Tefler havent published a single FILLER

AzureReader
>>109551054

Two more days until what though? I’m ever the optimist but even I’m going to be pissed if its 90% of one chapter and pre charges for two more. Which is far more likely than seeing the 3 chapters we are owed.

Tefler Fan 007
>>109551054

Would it have been better if I said, “Two days until your hopes and dreams are destroyed.” 😎😁

Anonymous

Do you suppose that Tefler is witting under another pseudonym, or many such as Tefler, and that he has spread himself out pretty thin and unable to maintain a schedule that he can keep up with...Also do you suppose that his home problems are also fictitious. Heck if he can write a quality story such as TSM he could also fabricate a story initially that is plausible but under closer inspection falls apart...

AzureReader
>>109551054

Definitely not better. Just more realistic. But I am still a Tefler fan too so… ‘go Tef!’

Anonymous
>>109576343

Is seems highly unlikely that so many scenarios would happen to one person, I have been under the impression that this is a dog ate my homework excuse to relax his deadlines

AzureReader
>>109576343

Tef’s personal issues are too mundane to be made up. We all have these issues. All of our houses are always falling apart because that’s what houses do. It’s hard to have parents, children or close friends without someone in that group suffering with cancer, Alzheimers, or any of a million more issues. And no one can go long without some disease, dental or mental issue affect them personally. I’ve had house, family, and personal issues this year. And I would be hard pressed to think of a year where that didn’t happen. And while there are varying degrees of chaos, everyone always has quite a bit. I honestly don’t see what Tef as going through as unusual.

Anonymous

Kudos to whoever mentioned Mike Cropo's "A Spartan's War Chronicles" https://storiesonline.net/a/Mike_Cropo

Anonymous

I wonder what the next excuse will be, or suddenly a new placeholder appears, or does he finally gets his head out of his a… and remembers that he needs to start producing chapters or find a job, I hate freeloaders. He has not produced anything in the whole month May, except opening his hand for free money, not even publishing chapters on SOL, they should be easy since they are already written!!!

Unresolved Plots
>>109591097

Why does it concern you that Tefler has not posted on SOL for a month if you hate 'freeloaders' as you put it? Surely you define SOL readers as freeloaders (who you hate), since they get the story for free? Due to the usual number of edits posted to https://bit.ly/TeflerDiscord after each new chapter and the time it must take to sort through them, my guess is it takes Tefler hours to do a final edit before publishing to the free sites. So I don't think it is quite as easy as you make out to publish to the free sites. Since he owes chapters on Patreon, I suspect he prioritising his time with producing chapters for here at the moment.

Greg Hill
>>109581490

His was another saga I was well pleased with, too bad it had to end incomplete. "King Martin" seemed to be every bit as powerful as John, if in a different fashion, but they basically stumbled into their growth in the same Fashion..."Wolves And Dragons"!!! Werebeasts, vampires, and elves, and that's a winning hand for any great story..

Anonymous

@tefler I suggest you find a ghost writer who will take your direction and storyline for 25% of the income. You have the brand and loyal fans.

Unresolved Plots

So someone else writes the story...terrible idea! I'd rather have no chapters written by Tefler than someone else finishing his story off. Just look what happened to Game of Thrones when the shows writers ran out of material GRRM had written and had to improvise what he told them to end the show.

Newnotsure

I don’t care if we don’t get chapters at all, he owes us three right now let’s call it an advance on his wages but now is the time to put up the back chapters owed to us even if he only gives us part chapter every week. But Tefler needs to catch up. In the past Tefler kind of spoiled us giving us some nice size chapters now he is having trouble giving us 20,000 words, time for a change get recharged Tefler come back stronger,please stop using us as your new bank.

Bill

If Tef only charged once a month and delivered shorter stories every 3 weeks he could catch up around the end of the year.

Unresolved Plots

I've noticed quite a few people asking for chapters 1-58 (the ones published on the free sites before Tefler started his Patreon) to be made available for download, on here and Discord a number of times. Seems to be common request. I've suggested in the past that Tefler publish Chapters 1-58 as a one off paid post, so people can download them all to have the full set. What would people think if he did this instead of a placeholder for next month? Imho, this would be a good compromise if he is still struggling to catch up.

Unresolved Plots

The other suggestion I made recently, during a discussion a few readers on here had on reduced chapter sizes, is for Tefler to reduce his usual chapter sizes to 10K word size (which is approximately half the size he currently publishes). This would be about 25 word document pages, still the best part of an hour to read (for me), so not insubstantial. He could do this for the next 3-4 chapters to catch back up.

Forbsey
>>109675717

I like your first suggestion better. He will eventually get back to normal. It would really mess with the pacing of the story and force Tefler to adjust stop points that I presume he sets as he plans for future chapters

Anonymous

MEN!!! Admiral Kester here. I am looking for volunteers to join an elite group. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to go to the new Discord Server, "The Invictus, a Three Square Meals Forum" and have fun discussing everything 3SM. DISMISSED!!! https://discord.gg/tXEPg9PuhM Also, leave "RAMMING SPEED" to me.

Unresolved Plots
>>109675717

I agree this could be an issue, but I believe an Author as skilled as Tefler could navigate this. Especially since the upcoming chapters likely have a number of pivotal moments coming up, which could be used as cliffhangers or natural stopping points e.g. As the Galkiran's reach the station before they attack, during their attack at a point when it seems like the Galkiran's are winning, or one of the girls is in danger, when Gahl'galgor learns of Kythshara's location and heads there etc...

Cignal

Here is the invite to Tefler's official Discord Server. https://discord.gg/ZbMHnNKEpu

Cignal
>>109675717

When the chapters were 30k words long, Tefler usually worked in 2-3 major events (scenes) into the chapter with a few minor ones. Now that it is 20k words, we are seeing usually 1, sometimes 2 major events with some minor ones. I don't think going to 10k words per chapter will be enough space to get 1 event completed in the chapter sometimes. Maybe 15k words would be better for awhile.

Unresolved Plots

I thought the invite was https://bit.ly/TeflerDiscord ? Or do both work?

Anonymous
>>109691979

They both work. One is to the new fan server and the other is to the original fan server.

Myrnalin

WHAT TIME IS IT?! ITS CHAPTER TIME

Mapstar

2 hours til the next placeholder… x)

Anonymous

I could use an example of a writer who produces a chapter every day, and is still working full time. He not only publishes on Patreon but also on SOL!!

Anonymous
>>109722736

I think Tefler has published once on SOL in the past year. Why are you asking about writers who produce a chapter every day and still work full time?

Jim lynch

Any chance of getting this chapter this decade ?

Tom Ray

just marking this as the first placeholder that needs to be completed....