Spectral Clash
now sorted by subfolders- if you're in the 'personified space' folder, click above to actually look at the 2389323249 stars
Spectral Clash is the name of my old webcomic which is about personified space outside the Solar System - currently mostly stars! It takes place within the 1000 light-year 'sector' around the sun (who is named Sol in SC). There are as many characters as there are stars in the sky, and then some - since some of those points of light are actually multiple stars!
In terms of plot- the sector is rather quiet these days, after a large upheaval and power struggle a few hundred thousand years ago (very recent in galactic terms). The militaristic ruling class was overthrown at the time and the crime organizations they worked with were disbanded or sent into hiding. However, there's a couple stragglers of those past groups still lurking around, and the latest big threat is a certain loudmouth self-proclaimed supervillain who's now gone from pranking old ladies for fun to gathering ancient relics that could possibly start the apocalypse. Kinda a bigger problem now.
Almost all of these are stars since I'm mainly focused on the nearest 1000 LY. I do have very old concepts for pulsars and galaxies and the like that are way past the sector, and most have been reworked and are currently in the 'distant objects' folder. Currently its only Local Group - but there's some concepts for more (eye emoji)
While the majority of these designs are from me, I have a few friends that are handling specific constellations- My friend Dirsteh is handling Lepus and Draco, and my friend Kay is handling Hydra.
There are some other designs from other friends that either left the internet, or that I lost contact with for many years and recently reconnected with! I also sometimes adopt designs or friends have designed specific characters with me for fun. Altogether it is meant to be more of a hodgepodge of designers than solely just me 100% of the time.
In SC there is a clear divide between the part of the sector represented by summer* constellations and the part represented by winter* constellations. Many of the winter constellations have formed a coalition, largely based around the temples of Canis Major, Canis Minor, Taurus, and Lepus. This coalition also includes Orion, a very young constellation and current headquarters of the current sector leader, Rigel.
Not all the stars of the winter constellations get along, and there is still a lot of bad blood involving the far northern constellations and the previous crime organization URSA, which was based in both Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. This organization has since been shut down (by Rigel) but some stragglers and supporters are still around.
*I'm sorry Southern Hemisphere dwellers, this is based off the Northern Hemisphere :( pretend it is reverse for you
In SC there is a clear divide between the part of the sector represented by summer* constellations and the part represented by winter* constellations. The summer constellations are a lot less organized and more laid back than the winter constellations, but a recent push by Antares of Scorpius has banded most of the summer constellations together. He's also made them a villain troupe and constantly taking them around the sector to wreck havoc and chaos on everyone in petty weird ways...
*I'm sorry Southern Hemisphere dwellers, this is based off the Northern Hemisphere :( your Summer stars are Winter stars and vice versa
These stars are ones found in or near the 'Sea' part of the sky - encompassing many fall* nautical/aquatic constellations such as Pisces, Cetus, Aquarius, Capricornus, Eridanus, and other constellations around them such as Pegasus and Andromeda.
Previous bad blood between the Pegasus crime organization and their nautical neighbors has caused some major strife between these autumnal constellations, and currently a large swath of the sea is off limits to outsiders, guarded by Cetus stars. On the other hand, the Pegasus organization was nearly taken down by Rigel just like URSA, and went 'dark' - disappearing with no trace.
Ever since these two major constellations went silent, it has made the neighboring constellations quiet as a result - its some of the least active areas in the sector.
*This is (like other examples) based off the Northern Hemisphere - sorry to Southern Hemisphere dwellers :( it would be spring for you!
The Hunter organization or Hunter force was originally created billions of years ago as a possible defensive strategy against other galaxies and more dangerous stars, in a time when the galaxy was younger and more active, and the universe was much more tightly packed. Over time it got distorted into being used as a weapon to control other stars, and the soldiers colloquially known as Hunter stars became known as tyrants that terrorized various star clusters into following the Quartet - a nickname for the four Sector Leaders of the organization. The Quartet itself started as a duo to prevent corruption, only to end up becoming a trio and then a quartet as the major gangs/organizations of the sector became the real leaders of the Hunter force. Most other sectors do not have a working Hunter force anymore and rely on alternative leadership roles or forms of government.
The force was disbanded over the last 200,000 years* by Rigel who, after the Quartet was found murdered by their own students/bodyguards, became the last sector leader.
Some of these stars are ex hunter stars, some are dead by the start of the story, and some are just up here so we can laugh at them. Sinistra
There are other stars (namely Rigel, Achernar, and Cursa) who would go here but they already exist in other folders.
(*to those who aren't knowledgeable about Astronomy timescales, this may seem like a long time, but this is basically yesterday in cosmic time)
A folder for far northern constellations, that are circumpolar (never go below the horizon) at far Northern latitudes. This includes constellations such as Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco, Cepheus, & Cassiopeia.
In Spectral Clash, until recently this region was largely taken over by the three major crime organizations of the sector, namely URSA and Draco, but Pegasus's reach included the neighboring constellation of Andromeda along with Cepheus and Cassiopeia. When Rigel ordered the takedown of URSA, it caused a domino effect with Draco and Pegasus, and other uprisings continued in the region - only recently have things died down, revealing a large power vacuum in the region.
A few stars look back on the time under URSA fondly, but most others saw it as a stain on their history. Some attempts have been made recently to bring back a 'new' URSA organization without the corruption and crime. Its yet to be seen how this will play out.
(Draco stars and the Draco organization are handled by my pal Dirsteh!)
A folder for far southern constellations or stars that aren't as easily visible from the Northern Hemisphere.
A general purpose folder for any stars not held in the above + Sol (the sun is not in a constellation)
a place for distant objects that won't be interacting with nearer objects except for spoilers!
A joke AU that got out of hand and became almost more exciting to write for than the main universe, oops. Moving Legir and friends over here to help avoid confusion!
A lot of art and comments will reference Pel who is Dirsteh's character! (I kinda need to tag her in a bunch of these but I forgot until now. oops)
styx