Neptunalia

When I started to listening to libertarian podcasts the topic of seasteading came up ever so often. The concept has always fascinated me because it screams science fiction. Star Trek called space the final frontier but the high seas must have been the first. Rogue waves, storms, and water that you can’t drink even with all that the oceans provide it can be inhospitable. Those dangers can lend drama which could make for a great series. For all the ridicule Waterworld gets I usually entertained by it whenever I watch it but it was the vastness of the seascape that I found inviting. When I’ve talked about a Seasteading series the two shows I said it would be like is SeaQuest DSV and Firefly. Firefly would bring the libertarian and pioneer spirit while SeaQuest has the aquatic elements. I have never played Bioshock but I’m aware of the setting but I wouldn’t plan on my series having something as grand as that city.

Feasibility and plausibility, those two words are going to be crucial in pulling the series off. As much as I like what the Seasteading Institute is trying to accomplish I think they should be working to get the idea of living on the ocean into the mind of the public. That’s why the first thing I thought of when I heard of seasteading was creating a TV series. There have been concept designs but a show can really demonstrate that it could work. Although I’ve been watching sci-fi movies and shows since I was a kid I would never call myself an expert of genre but I can make the distinction between science fiction and science fantasy. While the concept might seem fantastical it’ll be real world solutions that can drive the story.

Rather than start the series off with the floating city already operational which could get more people to watch the pilot but I’m more interested in building from scratch. I’ve struggled for years thinking of a title and I’m going to include that in first episode where the founders are racking their brains to come up with a name for the city on the sea. Eventually they decide on Neptunalia which was the holiday celebrating the god Neptune. The show also won’t fast forward to 3 years later to a thriving sea metropolis because the first season will be about recruiting and building. By the time I can actually produce Neptunalia technology will make seasteading a possibility. With the start of the 2nd season I’m going to take a title from Lysander Spooner “Vices are not Crimes” and that will deal with how the Neptunalia brings in visitors and potential residents. Relying on cruise ships as the initial structure the things Neptunalia will offer is gambling, prostitution, drugs, and pit fighting. Those elements tend to attract conflict and the main characters will struggle to think of peaceful ways to resolve those situations.

It was this video that got me thinking of my seasteading series.