Introductions

I've been a fan since 2017. When I heard Lars Pearson would do a mini-con thing for Mad Norwegian Press at a local B&N, I messaged him about the Faction, Miles, and all manner of Who-adjacent silliness. We met at the panel, and I was wearing my new work attire, as on that day I had started my first job. This was shortly after my 17th birthday. When the meeting began wrapping up (there were, in my years-later approximation, 15 others there), Lars pointed to me and told me to stay after everyone left. He's now a teacher at a high school, and that semi-intimidating energy exuded from him even then. When everyone was gone, he asked me what books I didn't have. If you're reading this Lars, sorry. I lied to you. I didn't have any. I said I had the ones I knew would be easy to find, and that I was missing the heavy-hitting ones, like The Book of the War. So, a few days later, he showed up to my doorstep and dropped off about ten rare books he had published or helped publish. The Book of the War was among them, and I knew we would become fast friends. This warmed my heart.

It was fleeting though. I was depressed, occasionally suicidal. My parents checked me into a sort of "mental health facility," where I was taught coping skills and continually monitored for any warning signs my depression was worsening. I made it out quicker than usual. You wanna know why? I called my parents within this campus a month in and requested that they bring me a few Doctor Who books. Since the interaction with Lars impacted me so much, and was still fresh in my memory, I asked them to bring The Book of the War. I finished it in a month. This Town was done the next month. I took notes on each, I drew fanart that has long since been lost or destroyed. Side-note: I made a pretty innovative interpretation of the Faction armor, drawing it as a lion-like skeleton. Very similar to Alex Kansas' Horned Serpent, with feline features. Needless to say, the Faction saved my life with these difficult science fiction tales. I would never have gone down the path I did without Lawrence Miles.

The group therapy sessions were taxing, and the only thing keeping me from falling backward was the idea that I might create a Faction Paradox story. I read Lethbridge-Stewart and Erimem, but nothing compared to the sheer subversive genius of Faction Paradox and the EDAs. I met a few other Who fans, but I was too deep into the lore even for them. A bit after I finished the two Faction audio series', with the Protocols being my favorite of the two (this will be important later), I eventually wrote fanfiction that I envisioned as a television show, a big epic sci-fi space opera. I had ideas about including Native American folklore as a focal point, of battles in shifting gravity and people made of flora, and guess what the title of the show was? Down the Middle. Yeah.

I was out of the campus in four months. I pitched the idea to Lars, who wasn't hooked, but thought some of the ideas showed promise. So I kept the ideas in the back of my mind, as I read the New Adventures after school. I was 18 now, I think. It was Christmas. I read Christmas on a Rational Planet, and a character in it really stood out to me: Christopher Cwej. I read all the New Adventures featuring him, having already read the deeply emotional journey of MNP's Dead Romance, one that brought me to tears. After finishing Lungbarrow, I thanked Andrew Lane for the creation of Chris and Roz. And then I had an idea, but I was scared to ask about it. I had never done a Doctor Who spin-off, but this character resonated so deeply with me that I wanted to continue his story. I bit the bullet and requested to use Chris Cwej. Andy said yes. My life's trajectory was changed forever. Flash forward three years. Cwej: Down the Middle is out. The Cyberons and PROBE are back. And my Faction idea hadn't died yet.

Bill Baggs knew of my love for the Faction and especially the Protocols he helped to produce. I hovered the idea of creating new Faction Paradox audios, and anyone who's this deep into Faction Paradox knows how he reacted to that interest, what he did, and what he's still doing. I moved to a new house that year, and moving was particularly stressful knowing I created a monster, an illegal unlicensed poorly produced dumpster-fire known as Hellscape. It's my fault. I nearly relapsed into old self-loathing habits, anger at what I did, whether it was unknowing or not. My friends were there to comfort me, and we came up with a gameplan to fix the damage I caused. My friends and I are working to make amends for the community. I can't give much in the way of detail, as a matter of fact I can't give any. But I'm just happy to help reverse the unspeakable damage that nearly took the franchise under. We lost the Battle of Dronid, we're winning the War in Heaven.

My name is Hunter O'Connell. I'm a 22-year-old pan enby. I'm on the Autism Spectrum, I love film and animation. My dream job is to work for Disney at some point. I currently spend my time on Cwej: The Series and my future is bright.

Hello, everyone. I'm Tim Gambrell and I'm pleased to recognise a few names hereabouts. I'm a writer in my spare time and was thrilled that Stuart Douglas selected my story 'The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Aging' for The Boulevard Vol.1. I confess I'm not hugely knowledgeable about Faction Paradox beyond the BBC Eighth Doctor Novels, but I love what I've read (it was some years ago, now - oops!)

I was very much outside my comfort zone writing for The Boulevard, but it does us all good to stretch ourselves from time to time. Thus it became a very rewarding experience for me, and an honour to become (in some small way) a part of the FP universe.

Hello! I'm Mop (sometimes Callum Phillpott). There is a story behind being called "Mop" but I won't elaborate. I do a bit of writing here and there, mainly for Arcbeatle Press, though I have dabbled in that Copper Cupids series that has been mentioned here, as well as regrettably doing the Cyber-Hunt novelisation for BBV. It has left a mark on my Goodreads page that can never be undone. I have a twitter here and a tumblr there, and I post sometimes.

My main exposure to Faction Paradox has been sitting in the background of lore discussions... maybe that's not the best foundations for joining a Faction Paradox forum, but I'm willing to learn stuff that happened in the actual books. In theory I like it, it has an interesting vibe, I like a lot of weird fiction (not specifically Lovecraft or the general genre label of cosmic horror) and am sort of fond of Doctor Who (hopefully that doesn't get me crucified here). I also like a lot of World of Darkness games (not specifically Vampire, I'm one of those weirdos who has only played Changeling for some reason), and those ones are sorta kinda adjacent to Faction Paradox lore-wise.

I've also been watching a lot of Columbo lately.

Cornelius Blanc here, already had the pleasure to interact with some people already (brilliant!).

Not the most knowledgeable about the Faction series but have wanted to educate myself more in-depth for some time now. Had seen this site was active for a short time but only decided to take the plunge when I saw the book club announcement.

The username? A completely random choice made on the spot, I had thought that I'd chosen capitals for GodfatherPixel but alas I guess not.

Hello there! After much indecision, I’ve taken the name Miss Bearbrass on the forum, and it’s been lovely reading everyone else’s introductions. I’m usually a lurker in forums but you all seem fab.

1. How I got into FP: Alien Bodies! Back in the wilderness years, a child who grew up on a diet of The Three Investigators, Who VHSes and Douglas Adams came to the EDAs in a consistently wrong order and when she came to this bad boy, she had her imagination absolutely blown by absolutely everything in it. (Imagine my exaggerated teenage disappointment and indignation when 2005 came and Entirely The Wrong War appeared on-screen.)

2. Some favourite FP stories: I feel very poorly read compared to everyone else here, but that won’t stop me playing favourites. I don’t think I’ll ever give an answer that isn’t “T. memeticus is pure chef’s kiss.” The horror lingers in my mind (reading it in a quiet, darkened airplane cabin definitely helped with the atmosphere!). Bonus mention to Tonton Macoute because a) I used to live in Darwin and it was such an unexpected setting, and b) I know someone who’d basically just be Macoute if she ever joined FP.

3. Some favourite non-FP stories: I absolutely adore Alastair Reynolds’ Revelation Space series and Neon Yang’s Tensorate series. I also love idly trying to see if/how other faves like On the Beach and Roadside Picnic and Scarfolk and Night Vale fit into the FP universe (I swear they can! The Blood Space War is just another name for one aspect of the War! You’ll never silence me!).

4. Why I chose my username: Bearbrass is an early name for Melbourne in Australia, where I’ve spent a good half of my life. I have a soft spot for the forgetting of things from cities’ histories (and the things mostly forgotten). My quiet little lurky Tumblr also bears(!) the name Bearbrass.

Hello everyone! I'm Finlay and I'm a student and writer from England. I'm normally based in Newcastle but currently studying in Rio de Janeiro until Christmas. I'm actually a brand new Faction Paradox fan -- I stumbled upon Nate Bumber's blog a year or so back and realised it was mostly about this strange Doctor Who spin-off I'd vaguely heard about some time before. When I heard about the Book Club of the War, I thought I'd just jump in at the deep end and take the opportunity to be introduced to the big concepts of the series alongside a bunch of like-minded people!

At the moment I'm really into the fiction of Jorge Luis Borges and Italo Calvino, both of which influence my writing a lot. And my username is the title of a short story I wrote called "Quicksilver Wolf" about a shape-shifting hunter, modified to sound a bit less impressive and a bit more "Little Sibling"!

Great to be here, and I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone!

Hi! Andwhentheskywasopen is my name here, but I go by @insidetheskinofthesun on tumblr. I found out about Faction Paradox a few years ago via the Tardis Wiki, and have spent my time since then eagerly picking over all the available content on it that I didn't have to pay for. Mostly via tumblr.

I'm mostly here for the Book Club of the War, but I'll probably stick around.