#And he was collecting eggs to use as rocket fuel

[rassicas]

again, just so you guys know I'm not still interested in speculating on side order. all we have is one purposely vague trailer that's already been analyzed frame by frame....and honestly im glad it's so vague since with rotm I and others correctly guessed the general plot immediately

don't send me asks about my predictions im just waiting for more info or even better they suddenly release it with no other trailer that would be insane

something something agent 8 off the hook whale skeleton coral bleaching cloning we didn't start the fire

[dandelion-idk]

can we talk about golden eggs for a sec. They are supposed to be fish eggs, and we can tell they are fertilized bc u can see there's a lil being with an eye roaming and floating around. Mr grizz asked for them so he could fuel his rocket and apparently create the fuzzy ooze if I remember correctly. He must have blended them or crushed them or something so he could use them, which inevitably kills them. Meaning, we collect babies on mass (which surely has an impact on the natality rate) so we can give it away to an evil corporation that kills them to be used to fuel a plan to destroy society and the planet as we know it. I love kids' games.

[warriorsofsplatsville]

Alterna, Part 6

The buildings that made up the Happiness Research Labs protruded through the waters of Alterna jaggedly, evidently the island that suffered the most after what happened to the humans. 

Mirage and friends had to rely on the grind rails that connected the buildings together to get around to the kettles. To try and cut down on time, Gravitational Pull decided to enter kettles themselves to collect more eggs for Buddy.

Meanwhile, Vulture managed to break and enter into one of the sunken skyscrapers to look inside for any more information of the last humans of Alterna. He interestingly came across some documents regarding the nature of the psychic crystals and the rocket fuel used, as well as exact chemical formulas for said fuel. Very intriguing to the professor. 

Mirage made their way to the tallest tower in the area, and looked around for a kettle. They instead find a person there.

“Grandma, look at this place, you’ve missed a lot...” She gasped. 

“...Minu?”

As if she expected it, she spun around on her heel to look at them. “If it isn’t Royal Mirage. Glad you figured it out.”

“How do you know about that - how did you know about any of this?! Minu, you’ve just been one big mystery after the next. Who are you?”

“I already told you. Minu Castella, granddaughter of the greatest Turf War player, Emmy Castella.”

“Emmy...why is that name familiar?”

They remembered broadcasts that they watched in the diners during long nights. A Turf War player from Inkopolis by the name of Emmy took the world by storm for a bit, being unstoppable.

“Emmy...? But isn’t she....young? Too young to have a grandkid, for sure.”

“In this time she is. But in the future, she had a big family, and a granddaughter by the name of Minu.”

“But that would mean...”

“That I’m a time traveler. Yeah, I am. Congrats, Squidlock, you finally figured it out.”

“But how....and why-”

“It’s better not to ask any questions. I can’t exactly tell you what’s to come either. Space-Time Continuum stuff and all that. But I can help you along the way. Just promise not to tell anyone else here! Got it?! Pinky promise!?”

“Erm- uh, yeah.” There wasn’t much room to argue if she was lying or not, not that they thought she was, but regardless... “Yeah, I won’t tell anyone, Minu.”

“Good. I’m holding you to that. I can’t exactly fix this mistake since my time machine is broken, so it’s important that you don’t screw up.”

“Wait, wh-”

“ANYWAY. Are you ready to investigate the final signal? I’ll help you out.”

“Wait, you know where it is.”

She raised an eyebrow, and pointed ahead of them. “It’s literally right there. I can leave you to do it by yourself, if you REALLY want.”

“No, no, I welcome the help.” They sighed. Why was this all so complicated?

“Get ready.” She told them before jumping into the big kettle. 

They just shrugged before joining her. 

It was yet another massive arena. There seemed to  be four giant banners hanging from the ceiling.  Nothing too special in particular....

“WARNING: NO UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL BEYOND THIS POINT. WARNING: NO-” The speaker was cut off by Minu smashing it at full force, scaring Mirage a little. 

“Sorry. I don’t like being told what to do. Gets on my nerves.”

“Remind me to never boss you around in Turf Wars ever again...” They mumbled.

She ran ahead and superjumped to the platform below, Mirage scrambling to follow her. 

The banners hanging up swiveled around, revealing a sigil of some sort. Then, a giant manta ray jumps down from above, just like Frye and Shiver once did. 

“Ay! (Oh! Hello!)” Big Man chirped. “Ay...ay ay ay. (Hm...you must be here for the treasure. W-Well....that’s a funny situation, haha...)”

“Let’s just beat you up already and get this over with.” Minu grunted, pulling out her Dualies and flipping them around on her finger. 

“Ay?! (What?! Why?! I don’t even wanna fight you guys...)”

“Hey Minu. He doesn’t even want to fight. Let’s just leave it be-”

“Ay... (Well....I mean, Shiver and Frye will probably get REALLY mad at me if I don’t stop you from getting the treasure, so.....I will have to fight!)” 

“...Of course.” Mirage grumbled. 

“Ay! AY! (I hope you’re ready for the ancient technique of the Manta Clan!!)”

Covering himself in a green ink, he dove into the ground, and a giant silhouette of a manta ray appeared on the ground. He began to swim around. 

Minu immediately rushed forward and starting shooting at the silhouette. and it split into half, and those halves split into half, and so on. 

“Don’t just stand there like an idiot!”

“Right.” They shook their head and began to shoot at the other ones, splitting them as well. “Why does this feel like a reference to something....”

When Mirage defeated one of the shadows, it threw a bomb at them, causing them to dodge at the last minute. “YIKES! What the-?!”

“Be careful, he’s got more.” She shouted at them, narrowly swimming away from an Ink Strike from defeating another one.

“AN INK STRIKE??”

The two keep defeating the illusions, until there were only two remaining.”

“Go!!” Minu exclaimed. 

They both shot the shadows at the same time, and while an explosion happened on Minu’s end, Mirage revealed Big Man, leaving him flopping on the floor. 

“Ay! Ay! Ay ayayayayay! (Alright, alright, you win! You can have the treasure. I would say this isn’t the last you’ll see of Deep Cut, but I’m the last member so...uh.....enjoy your treasure?)”

He pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it at his feet, but it got stuck in the ink and didn’t do anything. He gave it a hard kick and it went off, sending the manta ray flying through the air. 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! (AAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!)”

“Sorry...” Mirage called after him. 

The banners swiveled back to their original pattern, and the walking platform appeared. Mirage grimaced. No sign of Cuttlefish or their mother...things were looking bleak. 

“Look. That’s the final treasure.” Minu walked ahead pointing at it. “It’s an engine.”

“An engine....I’m starting to feel like this isn’t treasure at all.”

“It is. You’ll see. Let’s get it out of here.”

Mirage, though doing most of the heavy lifting, helped Minu get the treasure out of the arena, still upset over not finding the two missing squids. If they weren’t here, where did they go?

When they left, Plat and Sandy rode on the grind rail to the two, panicking. “There you are Mirage! Oh hey Minu- Minu!” Plat looked at the small Inktoling.

“Never mind me. What?” she snarked. 

“M-Major news! Home base just phoned in, they said that there’s one more signal!! It’s coming from the rocket!!”

“The rocket? That MUST be where they’re being kept!” Mirage exclaimed. 

“Yeah! Everyone else is on their way back to Future Utopia, we’ll help you bring your new treasure back with us! Come on, no time to lose!!”

“Right!!”

[hazbincalifornia]

Amount of writing I’m getting done for OT and my IZ fic: Some.

Amount of writing I’m getting done for self-indulgent bullshit: Somewhat more.

Anyway, wrote out Bella meeting Sir Pentious because I was bit by the muse bug. This is written for the four people who know who they both are, f.

Wordcount: 2075

The second she saw the airship soaring through the red-tinted sky, shooting anything that looked at it funny, Bella knew she had to get inside of it. Let Kit flirt with their host (or, if she was honest, fail to flirt with, man, she didn’t even like flirting and even she knew that he turned into a pile of goopy mush when he was around a guy he thought was cute) and let Vee attempt to kidnap yet another animal to try and smuggle home, she wanted to find out who the heck made a steam-powered airship in the twenty-first century.

Or maybe Hell was actually stuck in the year 1900, who knew? Time probably passed funny in the afterlife, but the fact that nobody had shot them out of the sky yet said that there was something else afoot- the pilot had to have some way of warding off attacks considering rivals probably had, like, grenade launchers, and she wanted to find out how. Style merged with substance, ruling the air with confidence- and she wanted in. 

“Hey! Hey you!” She flagged down somebody with four arms and purple fur who looked short enough to be less likely to punt her into orbit- Mom had warned that most people down here were mean as, well, Hell- and pointed up at the ship. “What’s the deal with those?”

“You a newly dead?” The demon raised one of their four eyes, and Bella nodded.

“Yeah, yeah, newly dead. Anyway. Story?”

“They’re made by Sir Pentious, one of the Overlords. He’s some kinda inventor, I’unno. Never blew up anything that mattered to me, so I never cared that much.”

“Sir Pentious…” She rolled the name around in her mouth, plucking the ‘T’ in the middle thoughtfully along with the rubber bands wrapped around her braces. “Got it. Thanks!”

“Er- you’re welcome.” They darted off, but that was fine. Now it was just a matter of actually getting onboard.

____________

She couldn’t find a rocket pack anywhere- lousy Hell lagging behind Earth technologically- but ended up stumbling across the next best thing in a warehouse that had an extra ship that had clearly been in some sort of accident. This one was only partially-reassembled, and there was a lot of burn damage sustained to the aluminum and copper outside, but that just meant that she could see the skeleton without having to slice through a lot of layers, so it was almost better- and a lot easier to crawl in one of the big holes in the front window via a pile of parts in front of it.

The interior was decorated like a mansion, with vivid yellows, reds, and blacks- she could respect the commitment to the aesthetic, especially with torn-open snakesheds and red eyeballs plastered everywhere. It looked like something out of Mom’s old comic book collection, toxic and yet intoxicating, every detail chosen for maximum dramatic potential. It must look even better with all the lights on and more than her phone’s flashlight illuminating bits at a time.

It was the best playground that she could imagine- nothing but her and a massive ship the size of an apartment building. Oddly enough, there wasn’t much dust- maybe it had crashed recently and was being held here for repairs? It was certainly of a similar design to the one that she’d seen from the ground, so she couldn’t imagine that it wasn’t just an iteration or two away.

Her fingers ran over the sleek machinery like it was sacred- some of it looked like it belonged in a museum, but the rest was cutting edge, and the seamless way they blended was like something out of a dream. A genius indeed- if she’d been born a hundred years ago and was suddenly thrust into the modern day, she could only hope that her tech would look this good. There was room for improvement of course, there always was, but it was loads better than most of what she saw digging through the junkyard, and a lot closer to the stuff she made with Grandpa Zim using his irken tech. Impressive for someone who’d clearly been dead for some time, considering he’d made enough of a name for himself that some rando off the street knew it.

“Genius inventor, huh…?” Bella pulled out her screwdriver, starting to work on freeing the control panel. It had a touchscreen and levers, what was that about? She had to know what it looked like underneath- did Hell even use cables and wires or was she going to need to drag Kit in to do his magic business here?

It took some doing- whatever had taken this particular ship down had welded the panel into place and it took a crowbar to pry off, ha, take that Venus for saying she ‘didn’t need to bring it’- but eventually she got into the guts of the thing. Sure enough, it was wiring, spiraled all into itself in a knot- it must have gotten all messed up at some point, maybe that was what caused the crash on top of whatever burnt the outside? 

She was about to start taking it apart when she heard a pitter-patter behind her.

“I’ve got a gun and I know how to use it, ya know,” she said, rummaging around in her pocket before pulling it out. “Mom insisted I bring the one that can vaporize people since apparently half of you can’t even die the normal way anyway? Bunch of freaks.” Her finger twitched towards the trigger as the pitter-patter became a shadow as the thing scrambled up towards the same hole she’d come in. “I’m warning you, I’m a great shot. Won’t take two to blow your brains out.”

“Whoever you are, bossman says you gotta go!” 

It was an egg. Not like some kind of insult, it was literally an egg, and probably a third of her size. It was also wearing a little hand-tailored suit and top hat. She stared down at it, and it stared up at her. 

“Who’s bossman?” Bella asked after a few very long seconds of silence.

“You know… bossman!” It blinked. “He doesn’t like people pokin’ around his cool, cool stuff and you tripped the motion sensor. Hey, is that a ray gun?”

Bella’s finger eased off the trigger. “Yeah, it is. It can probably scramble you.”

“Oooh! Fun! Not as good as boss’s, I’m sure, but-”

“Hey, what say you take me to this boss?” Bella crouched down, knowing this was incredibly stupid but also already entirely committed to it. “Then he can decide what to do with me in person.”

“Hmm… alright, but no funny business!” The egg looked her up and down before turning heel, starting to clamor down the pile of parts. She had to hold back a snort when she saw that it had ‘#69’ written on its back.

Some things never changed no matter where you went.

____________

The egg blabbered on all the way back to the ship, mostly about jazz music oddly enough, but soon enough they were nearing a different ship that had settled behind a building. It was either the one she’d seen before or a duplicate, and she felt a shiver run up her spine as she got close- it looked a lot cooler in one piece and lit up bright yellow. Her phone buzzed, and she discreetly pulled it out as the egg launched into a diatribe on the importance of the saxophone. It was a text from her sister. 

dolittle 🐭: bells where ARE you

dolittle 🐭: kits distracting clove so I could grab one of those bugdog things but moms gonna be asking how were doing soon, what should I say

Bella thought for a moment before sending back a reply. ‘im checking out that airship we saw earlier. have weapons. ill be fine. meet you back at the cafe later’

dolittle 🐭: be careful ok? know you can handle it but still

Bella smiled a little at that, sending a thumbs up before tucking her phone back into her pocket as they ascended the bridge.

“And then, then he saysss to me, he sayssss- Ah, there you are! Good, good.” She heard him before she saw him, voice booming as he welcomed his hench-egg back. “And what was poking around the warehouse?”

“This, boss!” The egg tugged at her jeans by the knee around the corner before pushing her forward with surprising force. “They said they wanted to see you!”

“Well well well!” 

Bella’s antennae twitched as her eyes widened. The man in front of her was a jet black snake, with fangs, a top hat, a bowtie, and eyes on his face as well as nestled on the open space on his chest and hood. Best she could pin from Venus’s nature lectures he was a cobra of some sort, and there was a smug fang-y grin on his face as he slithered up to her, taking advantage of the height that his tail gave him- he’d probably be seven feet easy to Bella’s mere five foot one. 

It took her only a moment to shake off her awe. “So you’re the famous Sir Pentious!”

His grin widened. “Ah! You’ve heard of me, little tresssspassser?” 

“Obviously, considering I knew your name, right?”

“Er- yes!” He faltered for just a moment, and she went in for the kill.

“Your work’s fantastic, but you really need a way to keep the gutty stuff in order in case of a hit- that’s probably part of why that other ship went down, y’know? But your sense of design and how you mold your century-old designs with the new stuff- it’s fantastic, I just want to cut it all open and see how it works.”

“What did you do?” His hood flared, and she twirled the gun in her hands.

“I only touched the control panel, and your little egg boy got at me before I messed with anything, but I’d give anything for a couple of days working on the interior of this place- I bet I could make it run faster and with less fuel.”

The eye on his hat rolled itself as he narrowed the eyes on his face. “Who are you to come in and think you know better than I about my own shipssss? I should end you right here for your insolence and your trespassing!”

Bella folded her arms, glancing around. “Hmm… far left column, the one with a yellow eye instead of a red one.”

“What about it?” He folded his arms as well, waggling his head. “Are you-”

“It’s welded weird. Something went wrong with the metal when it was being forged, so you put it in the back so you wouldn’t have to look at it. You didn’t want to waste a perfectly good column because somebody screwed up one little part. And that’s just what I see looking around in, like, five seconds- gah!” The end of his tail had wrapped around behind her while she’d been talking, and struck before she finished her sentence, lifting her up to his eye-level with her arms pinned to her sides.

“Little wrench! How dare you?” 

“I’m…” Her legs kicked a little, ribs feeling uncomfortably bendy at the moment as his scales pressed against her chest and back. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

His tongue darted out as he hissed, just barely brushing her nose before sliding back into his mouth.

“What do you really want, missy? I don’t like competition, you know.”

“You to let me breathe, for one,” she wheezed, fingers turning to try tickling what she could reach, and his cheek twitched funny before she dropped bodily to the floor, only managing to roll in time thanks to muscle memory from combat training. Thanks, Grandpas. “I really do just wanna see how all your stuff works. The ways I could improve my own inventions if I just could figure out how to blend different functionalities the way that you do...”

“I am quite impresssssive, aren’t I?” He puffed up his chest a bit. “And you have no intention to-”

Bella drew an X over her chest. “Cross my heart. You’re the bossman.”

He looked her up and down. “Hmm. Get back to me when you have a proper uniform and not those ragssss, and I suppose I could show you around a bit, if- if!- you show me something of yourssss.  ”

Bella’s grin slipped into a smirk as she gave a bow. “Bella Donna at your service, then, Sir Penny.”

[aeon-borealis]

Give us fanfic withsome aleheather viewing themselves separately in the future. In Area 51 the pair fight over an object that sucks them in.. heather and Alejandro see two different points of their future life together. Alejandro sees their honeymoon and heather sees Alejandro with their child.

Note:

This doesn’t exactly fit the prompt. I wanted to try writing a one-off from just Heather’s perspective. I might take a crack at another one-off from Alejandro’s perspective in another day or so.

Every time Chris announced the next challenge, soaking in howspectacularly stupid or dangerous it was made Heather question herlife choices for at least a nanosecond. Again, why did she sign up for thisdamn show?

Butthen she thought of her list of motivators. Honestly, pure raw greedwasn’t quite enough for how insane Chris could get. So these othermotivators were what fueled Heather’s iron-clad determination andpersistence. These thoughts helped her overcome and push through thepangs of guilt, chipping her nails,losing her hair, and getting embarrassed on national TV. Everythingshe’d endured on this stupid show was bearable compared to what shecould potentially gain with that massive pile of Scrooge McDuck fuck-off money.

Thistime she thought about her boisterous younger siblings. Theyterrorized her room with reckless abandon, ripping her designerclothes, knocking over her glitter pen collection and losing rarelimited-edition pens, destroying her make-up, etc. The list went onand on. Heather had to hide every precious thing she owned behind thehighest security locks she could find in order to keep her valuablesout of her siblings’ grubby little hands.

Thelittle gremlins came to mind as she watched her competitors andteammates scatter across the warehouse. After the minefield and theelectric fence, everyone was on high alert and feverishly searchingfor alien artifacts like ants desperately chasing down that elusivepiece of candy little Timmy just dropped behind the stove. Heathertried to resist the urge to chase after and claw everyone else out ofher way. That would be the worst possible thing to do right now,especially considering she finally had a hot minute of not being thesource of everyone’s ire.

No.She was going to approach this with the same calm and measuredmindset that bastard Alejandro would. Maybe she could keep tabs onone of the savvier scavengers…Duncan, maybe? He was probably busymaking goo-goo eyes at Gwen and avoiding Courtney like the plague.The fact that he was sandwiched between those two was exactly why itwas better to observe him from the sidelines. He was very aware thathe was a prime candidate for someone looking to leverage his dramafor an alliance. There had to be someone she could twist and kneadlike putty in her hands. There had to be something unconventional shecould try. Admittedly, she had to get pretty underhanded and creativethis time if she wanted to stoop to la cucaracha’s level.

Justas the thought crossed her mind, she noticed Alejandro idly diggingthrough a pile of junk nearby. He was bent over in such a way that his tight,finely sculpted-

Heatherblushed furiously and looked away, clearing her throat to redirecther focus. To her chagrin, this caught Alejandro’s attention. Heturned and smirked up at her with so much smugness and smarm shewanted to punch his face in so far it’d leave an unsightly,cartoonish dent.

“Enjoyingthe view?” He stood up and chuckled softly.

“No.You’re in my way.”

“Goon.” He stepped aside and made an exaggerated gesture. “I’mcertainly going to enjoy the view.”

“UGHH!”She stomped towards the same pile he’d been digging through earlierand roughly shoved Alejandro along the way. He chuckled again as helightly bumped into a tower of cardboard boxes.

AsHeather knelt down to take a closer look at the junk, she feltextremely self-conscious. Alejandro’s scrutinizing gaze was like aheavy weight on her back. Sweat beaded at the base of her neck.Seconds dragged on like agonizing years. Of course, Alejandro madethings worse by humming the classic Jeopardy theme. She quicklyrifled through the pile of crap, yanked out a random nondescriptthing, then zipped back up faster than a successful apple-bobber at afrat party.

Thething she’d just snatched up glinted in the low light and Heatherforgot about Ale-jerkface for a hot minute. It was roughly the sizeand shape of a gold pocket watch, but it didn’t have a clasp on theside. Maybe it was a piece of jewelry? There was a circular redgemstone in the center surrounded by two concentric rings of whatappeared to be Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Heatherremembered overhearing a random conversation Harold had with Codywhen he was still in the game. Somehow, they’d stumbled onto thetopic of conspiracy theories and Harold was raving about somearchaeologist’s crackpot thesis about the Egyptian pyramids beinglanding pads for alien spacecraft. According to Harold, the mostominous part was that said archaeologist had disappeared off of theface of the Earth shortly after putting this theory out there. Ofcourse he did. He’d committed career suicide by officiallypublishing something that should have stayed in the niche corners ofthe internet on obscure forums with other incredible claims fromother like-minded whack-jobs…

Heatherrolled her eyes. This was just some useless trinket a member ofmilitary personnel dropped. And it was an incredibly tacky one atthat.

Justas she was about to throw the weird necklace back, she noticedAlejandro’s piqued interest. His pupils were as wide as dinnerplates and his expression was a mix between utterly baffled andmystified. Heather had this weird feeling that he knew exactly whatthis thing was but he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her.

“Letme see that…”

Hewas reaching for it now. Heather quickly closed her fingers aroundthe weird trinket and shifted her arm far from Alejandro’s grasp.“What’s it to you?”

“It’smine. A gift from my mother.” His words were buttery and smooth.Heather’s grip loosened for a moment. He’d turned the full forceof those beautiful green eyes on her and she could feel her heartmelting a little.

“Please…”Alejandro smiled sweetly, slowly extending a cupped hand towards her.For a moment, Heather looked down at his hand, then back at his face.Damn was that gaze hypnotic. Heather wouldn’t be surprised ifAlejandro had sold part of his soul to the Devil for some of theuncanny abilities and talents he possessed.

Shetook a step back from him, blew a raspberry, and smiled fiendishly asshe crammed the weird trinket in her shorts pocket. Then she took offat a quick sprint. She was mildly surprised when Alejandro starteddoggedly chasing after her, a weird determination set on his face.

“Heather!”

Upcomingrows of cardboard boxes were starting to narrow. Grinning, Heathertook advantage of her more slender frame and slipped into a narrowspace between two towers of boxes. She crawled along the space untilshe was so far in Alejandro could only peer in. For a moment, hefrowned and she shot a victorious smirk at him. Then he sighed andwandered off.

Alejandro’sbizarre reaction had only sparked Heather’s curiosity. Chris couldwait a minute for her to turn in the artifact. She pulled the trinketback out of her pocket to take a closer look. The red gemstone glowedin an especially eerie way under the dimmer lighting back here.Gingerly, she touched the smooth gemstone and then slid her fingeronto the closest ring. Her eyes widened when she realized that therings were movable.

Sheadjusted the ring slightly counter-clockwise and…

….Heatherwas temporarily blinded by bright white light.

Thelight started to fade into a spatter of bright green and yellowbokeh. A couple of blurred figures stood in front of Heather. One ofthe figures was small and crazily darting around.

It was like she waslooking into the view screen of a high-end camera as the cameramanprepared for the next shot in the hypothetical movie. Finally, themysterious figures slowly became more crisp, clear, and defined. Thetaller one was a lithe, fairly muscular, and handsome young man. Hehad tanned skin, shoulder length brown hair tied back into a rattail,light stubble, and striking goose egg green eyes. He wore Coke bottlelens glasses, a button-up red shirt with the sleeves rolled up to hiselbows, a black vest, washed out blue jeans, and black boots.Recognition swelled through Heather and her heart took off like afanatical rocket.

Thiswas a slightly older, more matured Alejandro. He was a dreamboat now,but oh God, Heather never thought he get this much hotter. WhenHeather was able to collect herself enough to stop drooling buckets,she turned her attention towards the smaller and more energeticfigure.

Itwas a little girl with light tanned skin, big and shining dark eyes,and long black hair. Those were the same eyes and hair Heather sawevery morning in the mirror. But, that slightly hooked nose andthicker eyebrows were….Alejandro’s. This little girl had the twomost distinctive features on Alejandro’s face aside from hismesmerizing eyes.

Asif Heather didn’t feel like she’d been hit over the head with asledgehammer already, her older counterpart walked into the scene.She was graceful. She wore a long white sundress and matching sunhat,strappy sandals, and had her hair tied up and casually tossed overone shoulder. It was a look Heather couldn’t ever imagine she’dwear in a million years, but Mom Heather was definitely rockingit.

MomHeather scooped up her adorable little brat, laughing and smiling insuch a sweet, saccharine way it made young Heather want to throw upand horribly envious all at once. When older Alejandro walked overand slung an arm around Mom Heather’s shoulders the scene becamesomething out of the filler page in a garden magazine or the mostgeneric stock photo ever. Of course these two were gorgeous modelswith the most photogenic family on the face of the planet. Or maybeHeather was just horribly biased.

Thescene dissipated as quickly as it’d appeared. Heather blinkedseveral times, snapping back to reality with a weird pit in herstomach. Part of her felt incredibly warm and buzzing with happinesswhile another part of her felt confused and slightly horrified. Itwas weird to think of Alejandro that way, let alone imagine what it’dbe like to have a kid and a life together. Admittedly, yes, theirchild would be the hottest person on in the known universe. But still.

Heatherhated her younger siblings and Alejandro with an equal white-hotfiery intensity. So that weird snapshot of the future was utternonsense. She sure as hell didn’t want Alejandro. She was sure she didn’t want to havekids. Both factors would seriously get in the way of the active, glamorous lifestyle she imagined having by her mid-twenties.

Yet the image stayed in her mind, drifting between otherthoughts and musings. Some small scrap of her wanted to cling to thispicture, have it professionally framed in a glitter-glue covered woodframe, and proudly displayed on her living room wall.

Shewas regaining her bearings now. She was still crammed into this smallspace. But her hand was empty. The weird trinket was just gone.Vanished. Almost as if it’d never existed in the first place. Thiswas too weird for Heather. A hard lump settled in the pit of herstomach and she felt like some eerie, unseen force was watching her.

Swallowinghard, she scrambled out of that narrow cardboard box alley and tookoff running like a bat out of hell. Everything was a blur as sherushed for the nearest exit. Instead, she ran right into Alejandroand they tumbled into each other, rolling right into a nearby towerof cardboard boxes. The boxes fell and a few hit Heather as she triedto push herself back up.

Thenshe was looking into Alejandro’s face, her gaze locked with his.She was drowning in those dazzling eyes. Her insides were twistedtogether in a crazy knot. The image of an older Alejandro and theirfuture daughter flashed in her mind’s eye a few times as shebreathed heavily and her heartbeat roared in her ears like crashingocean waves.

Aneternity later, Heather felt like she was actually just looking atAlejandro. He looked as startled and unsettled as she did. A lightblush spread across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. There wasan unspoken realization between the two of them.

Thatweird trinket had shown him some kind of weird crystal-ball futuresnapshot, too.

Thetwo of them awkwardly pulled away from each other, stood back up, andparted ways without another word. Heather took a few seconds tocollect herself, taking a few deep breaths and waiting for her bodytemperature to lower a few degrees.

Thiswas, by far, the weirdest thing that had ever happened to her on thisshow and it’d be a secret she’d take to the grave. She was definitely going to be lurking on some of those obscure conspiracy theorist forums for awhile, though…

[troubleshipping]

Long list of various Team Rocket headcanons

Recently I had a really nice talk with @masterstarpikachu about Rocketshipping/general Team Rocket stuff, and some of the headcanons that were brought up are just too good not to be shared with the world so I have compiled them into a big post

Warning: Some small nsfw elements at the very beginning of this, please beware if you don’t like that kinda thing! Nothing explicit but like the evil word s*x is mentioned once so shield yo eyes kiddos

Contents of this post include:

- Controversy about the see-through level of Pokéballs - Meowth and the Pokémon shittalking humans behind their backs - Meowth and Jessie tease James about literally everything - Meowth is a supportive friend in the most asshole-y way possible - Jessie actually being nice for once - Food - Hot take but Jessebelle is a yandere - Jessie almost dies but it's okay because the ship happens

Actual list under the cut because this good content here got long

- Starting topic that triggered this entire conversation: - Jessie and James are about to get intimate, but just in that moment - *Pokéball release sound* “WOOOOBBUFFET” - So that raised an important question: - How much exactly are Pokémon able to see out of their Pokéballs? - Because most of the time when they’re called out mid-battle they immediately charge in without hesitating, so it seems like they know what’s been going on - Larvitar was able to see out of its egg shell too which suggests similar things for Pokéballs - Trainers, do not leave your Pokéballs in the same room you do private stuff in

- What if that’s how Meowth finds out Jessie and James are a thing - “Meowth, how did you know? What do you mean Seviper told you?? How did Seviper know???” - “…..oh my god” - Mime Jr was too young to see that - James will never live it down - He’s too ashamed to look his son in the eyes ever again - Probably needs to sit him down to have *the talk* and it’s the most shameful thing he’s ever had to do - Does Mime Jr even understand what he’s saying? Does it care about what humans do? Probably not, but Meowth won’t think it’s necessary to point that out

- I like the idea of Meowth sharing gossip with the other Pokémon in general - He’s barely seen talking to Pokémon, which is honestly a waste if you ask me? It’s like the writers forgot that bilingual people don’t actually forget their mother tongue - Imagine Meowth and the other Pokémon just complaining about the dumb shit the humans do - Besides, let him have some friends he won’t be the third wheel to lmao

- Literally tho, imagine all their Pokémon had seen their masters, ahem.. “blast off” - Poor souls didn’t know Pokéballs were see-through from the inside - Jessie would pretend not to care, she’s above that. There’s no reason at all to be ashamed. But she’d be blushing so hard she wouldn’t fool anyone. - Shit’s awkward no matter how tough you are - James wouldn’t even try to pretend, James would straight up die - RIP James

- On another note - James totally makes those little high pitched squeaky sounds during sex and you cannot change my mind it’s canon - You know exactly what I mean - There’s literally no way he doesn’t - He’s tryna be all sexy and smooth and stuff but then Jessie starts touching him or something and he just SQUEAKS - Secretly she finds it kinda hot in a weird way but she’d never admit it - Pretends it’s a coincidence that she’ll keep trying to get him to make more of those sounds - Meanwhile Meowth outside the door is like “what the actual fuck James” - “Jimmy’s such a weird one” - He’d tease James to no end about it - Meowth embarrassing James about details of stuff he shouldn’t even know about is my new favorite thing - Also Jessie trying to stop him but also holding back laughter because “well he’s not wrong” - “WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?!” - C’mon she can’t turn down an opportunity to tease him - James is then all embarrassed and lowkey offended and gives her the silent treatment - He refuses to talk to her ever again - Aka for like the next half hour or so - Eventually she’d probably apologize though because even she isn’t THAT mean - At least not when it comes to James - Not always - Maybe - She gets soft around him when nobody’s around to see it - Sometimes - And maybe he’d forgive her if she did those things again...

- Jessie being soft with James is my absolute weakness though - Especially since they’ve been friends for so long and he knows full well that nobody else is allowed to see that side of her ever - It’d definitely make him feel special and loved - Imagine Jessie letting her guard down and being kind to James for no reason other than because she genuinely wants him to be happy - I am weak - Even if it’s just little things - Especially those tbh - Just trying to cheer him up when he’s down instead of simply telling him to get over it - Saving a nice bottlecap she found even though she never understood that hobby of his - Just saving it for him because maybe he’d want it - He’d be so touched - Probably would make his entire week - He’d save that one bottlecap forever - Even if it’s not one of the kind he collects, or a duplicate or sth - It’d be his most prized possession

- Something I really want to happen is them sharing their food properly, because you know that for those two that’d be a HUGE sign of affection - The anime may pretend they share everything equally (they say so in an episode) but honestly 90% of the time they get in literal fights over the last scrap - So one of them happily sharing could even be the first step of them realizing their feelings - Like, maybe James would let Jessie eat his portion - She’d definitely take longer than him to show any signs of affection - And she just - “Why’d you let me have it is something wrong with you?” - “No…it’s just…you seem really hungry” - When he offers her the food, instead of immediately devouring it like she usually would she just - Stops and doubles back - Stares at the food in his hands, then at him, back at the food - “Are you serious?” - In that moment he realized what he’s done and gets all defensive - “Just eat it, Jess!” - “I’m just not that hungry, okay?” (*stomach growling noise*) - Then they are interrupted by Meowth - “What about me? I’m starvin’!” - In the end they just split it in three parts because sharing with them both is a bit less awkward to explain

- Also - In the beginning when they start falling for each other, Meowth would be oblivious by choice - As in he sees the signs but he ignores them because “nahhh no way” - Then when he figures it out he mercilessly teases James about having a crush on Jess every chance he gets - Though he’d do it without her hearing about it, because he isn’t THAT mean to him - But when they actually start dating he realizes he was a FOOL and now he has to deal with that forever - Like - He probably gave James advice out of pity - (James totally confides in him at some point because he just needs to talk to SOMEONE) - But then Jessie went for it and he realizes too late what that means for him - Now he needs to live with the consequences

- Meowth giving James love advice about Jessie though - That sounds like a huge train wreck - I mean he may tease him to no end but they’re still best friends so he’d still try to help when he realizes James is serious - “That dumbass really got it bad huh” - Deep down he does care for his friends after all - He’s like permanently done with James’ shit but he still keeps his secret - Although he can and will use his newly gained knowledge as blackmail whenever he wants something from him - And at the same time half of his “advice” consists of “lol Jessie’s gonna kill you” - “YOU’RE NOT HELPING MEOWTH” - James is already well aware of that - That’s his problem - He’s been faced with the full extent of Jessie’s wrath before - He knows better than to risk getting on her bad side

- On the other hand, it’s canon that when Jessie falls for someone she tends to actually act friendly and kind around them to some degree - Which I’m assuming is an instinctive reaction because she doesn’t want to scare them off - But falling for James would be weird since it’d trigger her instinct to be soft and good but at the same time - “No that’s James wtf” - She’s been treating him full force nasty for years and so far he hasn’t left so there’s really no need - Honestly James tends to get freaked out whenever she’s calm because a nice Jessie is just WRONG - Pure boy got so used to her mean antics he gets worried about her when she’s friendly to him - As a result, before admitting her feelings even to herself, Jessie would instead get MORE mean out of defiance - That darn Tsundere smh - She cares a lot about him but she cannot show weakness her mind won’t allow it - Nope - Fight me, feelings

- Vs Jessebelle, who is a Yandere and should be feared - And should also be decked in the face by Jessie tyvm - Imagine an actual Yandere Jessebelle tho - Nightmare fuel - I mean that whip scene was already terrifying - She broke a fucking dresser with the hit that was aimed at James - I know it was exaggerated cartoon violence but like she almost straight up murdered him - And his parents are okay with that?? - Because he’s too delinquent for her - So he can just die apparently - Now imagine her getting obsessed with him to the point of actively following him around to get him to marry her - And trying to get Jessie out of the way to get him back - Can I just say Horror AU right there - I’m an angst writer don’t test me - I like to take dark stuff and make it WORSE - Picture this - James coming back from a short trip to gather firewood or sth like that, only to find Jessie unconscious and bleeding from a stab wound - :) - Maybe Jessebelle is still standing there and laughing because she finally won - Of course she’ll survive but just BARELY - They’re in the middle of nowhere and James frantically tries to find someone to help her but they’re all alone - I mean after all that blasting off they probably know some basic first aid at least - He could stop the bleeding and then take her to a hospital with the hot air balloon - Cue that good ol’ “refusing to leave her bedside until she wakes up” cliché thing - But also imagine Jessie waking up in the hospital with James asleep next to her - Maybe even subconsciously holding her hand in his sleep - Because he was too worried about her and was probably talking to her before he ended up passing out from exhaustion

[nixalegos]

⇘ - Has your muse ever used a combat vehicle or siege weapon in battle? Were they enthusiastic about it?

Somewhere near Shan'ze Dao, two weeks after the Thunder Kings revival.

“So you have nothing to stop those...things?” The hooded man said disdainfully.

“Cloud Serpents.” The Pandaren defender replied. “We are currently without air support. Until we can get our own Serpents here, we’re holding off the counter assault. No amount of you mercenary adventurers is going to help us push the mogu back without them.” 

Nix considered this, coming to raise the offered spy glass to stare at the whiplike dark forms swirling in flight around the highest peak of the northwest isle.

“...Do the Mogu use any other kind of mount in the sky?” Nix then asked. “Both you and the Mogu seem fascinated by the Serpents as you call them.”

“They are a symbol of hope to my people.” The Niuzao defender explained. “The Mogu corrupt them, pervert them into those...hideous things.”

“So nothing else?” The elf pressed with a hint of something wicked in his tone.

“...I believe they might create discs of stone that can hover? But no. Few other creatures are swift and powerful enough to seek as partners in times of war.”

“Oh delightful.” The warlock said as he clamped the spyglass down and offered it to its owner. “How thin would the sky need to be before you’d be willing to send in others?”

“You’re joking. You have a means of decimating them?” The pandaren asked incredulously. 

“No don’t be stupid. If I could do that, I’d have done it already.” Nix retorted. “But I’ve a means of pulling many away from that gloomy looking mountain and give others a chance to create a beachhead. Hurry, get the first teams ready to launch boats and portals. I need some space for this.” Nix said as he moved to put ten or so feet between them.

“I will do no such thing. Until I see how your little ‘plan’ works.” The now perturbed pandaren replied.

Nix’s hands were already moving, weaving. It was simple, as conjurations went. A name uttered in ownership. Spoken as if it were a thing, and not once a noble thinking creature with its own life and soul.

Dark scales that shimmered like burnt oil came first. Sinew and flesh and hate given form. A powerful neck, and leathery -wings- that spanned out in corrupt coloration so vivid it made the pandaren waver but for a moment, it was a color out of nightmares. Sickly green and wrong. 

“This...is called a drake.” Nix said as he swung himself up and onto a saddle marred with a symbol pandaren would only recognize from the most ancient of historical scrolls.

“And your Serpents, nor the Mogu’s have ever battled one.” He said pleased. The drakes wings beat against the packed soil, and carried the warlock up, and towards that shadow smothered isle, they stayed low, sea spray kicked up in his wake. Better for those lofty snakes to realize too late they were being attacked. The defender could only watch as the vile caster and its mount sped forth at speeds he’d never seen a Cloud Serpent reach. He scrambled back towards camp. It only took a minute and a half for the warlock to rise over the heads of the startled mogu defenders, and begin its ascent. The whip like serpents had the edge in maneuverability. That much was obvious, their entire body could coil and twist and bend at angles that would snap a drakes bones. What they lacked, however, was raw speed granted by the beat of fel infused wings. They had only sampled the rush of might that came from pain, their transformations recent and fresh. Fyrion was drowning in it. Nix had made sure of that. A shattering cry of draconic hate caught the closest serpent, its body coiling to see what had made the unearthly sound as teeth larger than long daggers found its mark, and tore its neck to flayed ribbons. The miasma of coiling scales and flash of panicked eyes swung around where they hovered and floated and lapped their roost to stare at the sudden arrival of a foreign invader. Nix let out a joyous yell as they collectively dashed down, from nearly all angles to swoop upon him. Fyrion swallowed the flesh that still coated its teeth as it reared its head back, hellish flame, backed by warbles in the air that mimicked the ripples of soil behind an earthquake were launched at the largest cluster of them in a show of force. Nix could barely hear the whine of lighting and dark stale winds being replied by those who didn’t meet flame and bone shattering impact by the drake as his knees felt like they’d give out he held his grip on the saddle so hard. Fyrion had one job. Survive, outlast, outrace. But it couldn’t possibly fight against these numbers, against the storms they launched. Raw speed over superior maneuverability.  He felt his teeth rattle in his skull from the presence of so much lighting, and so demanded the drake fling itself down towards the earth. The Serpent's dove after them, funneling towards the banks of eggs and onlooking Mogu corruptors that dotted the peak. A gauntleted arm twisted itself in the straps of the saddle, while he looked up at the chasing mogu taken beasts. Fyrion couldn’t attack them and run, which is why Nix looked up, and with his free hand flung every spell he could cast. Screaming the baleful spells against the rush of winds. Bright red fire that put the drakes to shame it was so bright discharged into the lighting streaked sky. They didn’t have to kill. Even as the flames met rushing serpents eyes and maws and ate at the flesh like a living thing. The staggering screaming victims coiled and thrashed and collided with the Serpents narrowly behind them, causing a jam of blind claw attacks and bites.  Nix flung his arm right to left and right again, painting the scene with every hateful invocation there was, only to have his last fizzle and collapse upon itself as he impacted against the saddle, Fyrions descent having come closer then he’d realized and the drake instinctively pulling the harshest point turn it could before it smeared them against the mountain. The impact caused him to lose his grip. He fell out of the saddle, and felt his neck snap unnaturally at the whiplash. He went dark. His vision returned moments later, his shoulder screaming at him as he realized he was still alive. Still moving. His cowled face buried against the straining rough grate of scales. He tried in vain to push against the g forces that pinned him like a purple butterfly to his mounts side, and only managed to wrench lower than anticipated when he tried to pull himself up. The only thing keeping him there, the gauntleted arm that he’d twisted into the strap for support. And arm that felt as if it was being torn from its socket. Fyrion was only obeying its owner, and all the pressure was to its left flank, and so Nixalegos realized as the rush of static narrowly missed him but signed the drakes wing in spastic reflex, that he was doing sluggish donuts over the enemies stronghold. And the Serpents were taking pot shots. “UP. UP!” He screamed, and tried in vain to hold on with shaky fingers as the drake swiftly flung towards the twin moons to let Nix dangle at a better angle as gravity demanded. The Serpents, the maneuverable bastards, had been on top of the play immediately. “SPIN!” Nix cried as they flew into the maw of chain lighting. Fyrion screamed as It bore the burden of damage, wounds crackling open over its form as it rose higher and higher into the night air. Rocketing up out of that arc storm. So Nix did the unthinkable in that position, and simply dismissed his drake, casting it back to the Nether with less effort then it had taken to speak its forced upon truename. He fell, his forward momentum robbed by the vain and greedy earth, down towards an onrush of serpents and death that were starting to catch up to Fyrions last position before it vanished. He tucked his arms in, forced his legs up, and kicked on his rocket boots. The Serpent's could coil and snap and bite in the time it took to take a breath. But they didn’t have a millisecond to catch the elf shaped missile that streaked past them back to the ground. It was a good a time as any to do some serious field testing. As soon as he could make out the shape of trees and rocks, he flung his arms out, goblin designed contraptions unfolding from under his shoulder pauldrons like fixed bat wings. He felt the screws he’d overtightened rock and wiggle as the frame was taking too much force from the sudden drag of rocket assisted freefall full on, tearing holes in the thin cloth material, that upon reflection, could have been made more durable. But he had to do -something- he knew. As soon as the...fuel ran out. A thought that occurred to him as soon as soon as he felt the last explosive PUFTHTPGH from his boots. Yes, he was gliding as fast as a cannonball, but he’d slow down...and the Serpents would tear him to lunch. He didn’t even try to look back. So focused on the coast. Just make it to the sea. Make it to the...volley of fire that was...RUSHING UP TO MEET HIM?! He brought his arms up as two fireballs streaked past him, and he heard the screams of pain from maws that were too close behind him. He saw Shado-Pan blues and Nizao whites spilling up over the beaches and lower reaches of the dark isle, and Nix cupped his gauntetled hands to his face as he continued his streak overheard towards the sea past, and hoped when he crashed, the waters wouldn’t be eel infested. ________________________________________________________________Thanks @korivalthedarkone for the ask!

[dark-and-twisty-01]

Aircraft Crashes: accidents or murder?

The past nine decades, various fatal air crashes have spawned conspiracy theories that linger as haunting historical mysteries. Five cases produced official verdicts of criminal activity, but no suspects were ever indicted. The remainder are listed as accidents, but nagging doubts remain. These cases include:

July 4, 1923 Actor-pilot Beverly “B.H” DeLay and passenger R.I short (president of the Essandee Corporation) died while performing aerial acrobatics at Venice Beach, California. Time Magazine reported that half-inch bolts in the wings of DeLay’s aircraft had been switched with smaller bolts, causing the wings to collapse during flight. Gunshots of unknown origin had also been fired at DeLay days earlier, during a performance in Santa Monica. Journalists linked the crash to bitter litigation between DeLay and C.E Frey, a rival who claimed ownership of an airstrip purchased by DeLay in 1919. Several Frey employees were jailed for sabotaging that airfield, but no one was indicted for DeLay’s murder.

October 10, 1933 A United Airlines Boeing 247 aircraft travelling from Cleveland to Chicago crashed near Chesterton, Indiana, killing all seven persons aboard. Witnesses reported hearing a mid-air explosion at 9:15pm and watching the plane plummet into flames from 1,000 feet. Investigators from North-western University and Chicago FBI office concluded that a bomb had detonated in the plane’s baggage compartment, but no suspects were ever identified.

March 29, 1959 Barthelemy Boganda, first prime minister of the Central African Republic (C.A.R) and presumed to win election as president when France released control of his nation in 1960, died with all others aboard when his plane crashed 99 miles west of Bangui. No cause of the crash was officially determined, but suspicion of sabotage persists. On May 7, 1959, the Paris weekly L’Express reported discovery of explosive residue in the plane’s wreckage whereupon the French high commissioner banned sale of that issue in the C.A.R. In 1997 author Brian Titley suggested that Boganda’s wife, Michelle Jourdan, may have killed hi to avert divorce and collect a large insurance policy.

November 16, 1959 National Airlines Flight 967 vanished over the Gulf of Mexico with 42 persons aboard while en route from Tampa, Florida, to New Orleans. The final radar contact with Flight 967 was recorded at 12:46 am. Searchers found scattered wreckage with corpses near that point, but most of the aircraft was never recovered. Suspicion focused on passenger William Taylor, who boarded the plane with a ticket issued to ex-convict Robert Vernon Spears. Authorities surmised that Spears had tricked Taylor, a friend from prison, into boarding the plane with a bomb, thus permitting Spears to collect on a life insurance policy purchased in his name. Police later arrested Spears in Phoenix, driving a car registered to Taylor, but he subsequently vanished and was never charged with any crime pertaining to the crash.

September 18, 1961 Dag Hammarskjold, second secretary-general of the United Nations, died with 15 others when his plane crashed near Ndola, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), during a diplomatic tour of the strife-torn Congo. Security was tight during the tour, including use of a decoy aircraft, and Hammarskjold’s pilot filed no flight plans on the trip. Officially, the crash resulted from a pilot’s error in approaching Ndola’s airfield at the wrong altitude after nightfall. Many observers suspected a bomb or rocket attack. In August 1998, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, chairman of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, announced that recently uncovered letters implicated South African intelligence officers, Britain’s MI5, and the American CIA in Hammarskjold’s death. One letter claimed that a bomb in the plane’s wheel bay was set to explode on landing. In July 2005, Norwegian major general Bjorn Egge told the newspaper Aftenposten that an apparent bullet hole in Hammarskjold’s forehead was air brushed out of photos later published showing his corpse.

October 16, 1972 House majority leader Thomas Hale Boggs, Sr., was campaigning for Representative Nick Begich when their airplane vanished during a flight from Anchorage to Juneau, Alaska. Also aboard were pilot Don Jonz and Begich aide Russell Brown. The plane was never found. Begich won November’s election with a 56-percent margin, but his presumed death left GOP rival Don Young running unopposed in a special election to fill Begich’s vacant seat in Congress. Some conspiracy theorists link the disappearance to Bogg’s outspoken criticism of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (who died in May 1972), but Begich’s children blamed President Richard Nixon, claiming that the crash was staged in a vain attempt to thwart congressional investigation of the unfolding Watergate scandal.

August 1, 1981 Brigadier General Omar Torrijos Herrera, “Supreme Chief of Government” for Panama since 1968, died with several others when his plane exploded in mid air during a storm. Slipshod radio coverage delayed the report of his plane’s disappearance for nearly a day, and several more days elapsed before soldiers found the wreckage. Florencio Flores succeeded Torrijos as commander of Panama’s National Guard and de facto ruler of the country.

October 19, 1986 Samora Moises Machel, president of Mozambique and leading critic of South Africa’s racist apartheid system, died with all board when his plane crashed near Mbuzini, in South Africa’s Lebombo Mountains. At the time, Machel was returning home from an international conference in Zambia. The Margo Commission, an investigate panel including representatives from several nations, blamed the crash on pilot error, a verdict flatly rejected by the governments of Mozambique and the Soviet Union Russian members of the commission filed a minority report claiming that Machel’s plane was lured off-course by a decoy radio beacon, set up by South African intelligence officers. Machel’s widow, Graca, remains convinced that was murdered. In 1998 she married then-South African president Nelson Mandela.

 August 17, 1989 General Muhammad Ziaul-Haq, ruler of Pakistan since he overthrew predecessor Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1977, died with several other generals and U.S. ambassador Arnold Raphel when their plane crashed shortly after take off from Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Witnesses reported a smooth lift off, followed by erratic flying and a steep nosedive. FBI agents called the crash accidental, but persistent conspiracy theories blame a wide range of suspects, including the CIA, Russia’s KGB, Israel’s Mossad, India’s RAW Intelligence agency, Afghan communists, ad Shi’ite Muslim separatists.

April 6, 1994 Unknown snipers shot down a government aircraft at Rwanda’s Kigali airport, killing Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana, President Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi, and all others aboard. The resultant political chaos led to full-scale genocide in Rwanda, where ruling Hutu tribesmen slaughtered rival Tutsis, and sparked civil war in Burundi.

July 19, 1994 Alas Chiricanas Flight 901 exploded while en route from Colon, Panama, to Panama City, killing all 21 persons aboard. Authorities found evidence of a bomb, blaming the crime on terrorists. Suspicion focused on Jamal Lya, the only passenger who corpse remained unclaimed after the bombing. Soon afterward, an unknown spokesperson for a group calling itself Ansar Allah (“Followers of God”) claimed credit for the attack, but investigators could find no other trace of the organization.

July 17, 1996 Trans World Airlines flight 800 left New York’s JFK Airport, bound for Paris, at 10:19pm Twelve minutes later it exploded in mid-air, killing all 230 persons aboard and littering the ocean with wreckage offshore from East Moriches, New York. Despite initial speculation of a terrorist attack, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a final report in August 2000, blaming the explosion on a presumed electrical short circuit that ignited fumes in the aircraft’s centre wing fuel tank. Meanwhile, multiple eyewitnesses on land reported seeing “a streak of light” rising from sea level toward the airliner before it exploded. Initial examination of the wreckage revealed apparent residue from three different explosive compounds, PETN, RDX, and nitro-glycerine but authorities claimed to find no evidence of impact from a rocket or missile. Some conspiracy theorists maintain that Flight 800 was shot down by terrorists, while others suggest a disastrous mistake during an offshore U.S. Navy training exercise involving surface-to-air missiles. The case is officially closed.

October 25, 2002 Minnesota senator Paul Wellstone died with seven others, including his wife and three children, when his aircraft crashed near Eveleth, Minnesota. Wellstone was near the end of his campaign for a third Senate term, his death coming 11 days before the scheduled balloting. Initial reports blamed icing of the aircraft's wing, but that suggestion was later rejected. Federal investigators finally named pilot error as the “likely” cause of the crash, claiming that deceased First Officer Michael Guess was “below average” in proficiency. In fact, Guess had been fired from two previous flying jobs for incompetence. Jim Fetzer, a philosophy professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth, published a book in 2004, blaming Wellstone’s death on unnamed members of President George W. Bush’s administration.

 July 30, 2005 Dr. John Garang De Mabior, vice president of Sudan and former head of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army, died when his helicopter crashed in southern Sudan. Circumstances of the crash remain unclear, and Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni blamed “external factors” for the incident. Foreign observers note that Garang’s death helped bring an end to Sudan’s long-running civil war.

[interplanetarypodcast]

Podcast 25

Happy Birthday

Quote sent in by Mary Valiakas

”You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, “Look at that, you son of a bitch.”

— Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut

An exclusive look at Jeff Bezos’s plan to set up Amazon-like delivery for ‘future human settlement’ of the moon

“Blue Origin has been circulating a seven-page white paper to NASA leadership and President Trump's transition team about the company's interest in developing a lunar spacecraft with a lander that would touch down near a crater at the south pole where there is water and nearly continuous sunlight for solar energy.”

The memo urges the space agency to back an Amazon-like shipment service for the moon that would deliver gear for experiments, cargo and habitats by mid-2020, helping to enable “future human settlement” of the moon. (Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, owns The Washington Post.)

“It is time for America to return to the Moon — this time to stay,” Bezos said in response to emailed questions from The Post. “A permanently inhabited lunar settlement is a difficult and worthy objective. I sense a lot of people are excited about this.”

So SpaceX, NASA (although they insist that it’s just a feasibility study) but also;

ULA

Tory Bruno, the ULA  chief executive. “This administration, near as we can tell, feels a sense of urgency to go out and make things happen, and to have high-profile demonstrations that are along the road map to accomplish these broad goals. … There is an opportunity to begin building that infrastructure right now — within the next four years.” 

Bigelow Aerospace

Robert Bigelow, maker of BEAM, said his company could create a depot that could orbit the moon by 2020, housing supplies and medical facilities, as well as humans.. “Mars is premature at this time. The moon is not,” he said. “We have the technology. We have the ability, and the potential for a terrific business case.”

Bezos added  "I think that if you go to the moon first, and make the moon your home, then you can get to Mars more easily."

Water is vital not just for human survival, but also because hydrogen and oxygen in water could be transformed into rocket fuel. The moon, then, is seen as a massive gas station in space.

“Blue Moon is all about cost-effective delivery of mass to the surface of the Moon,” Bezos wrote. “Any credible first lunar settlement will require that capability.” 

NASA’s Kepler provides new data on TRAPPIST-1

Last month, researchers announced that TRAPPIST-1, an ultra-cool dwarf star approximately 40 light-years from Earth, hosts seven planets that are probably rocky, including three in the habitable zone. The discovery was made by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope in combination with ground-based telescopes. TRAPPIST-1 has also been under observation by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope since December 2016. On Wednesday, March 8, NASA released new data from Kepler’s investigations of the dwarf star to the scientific community.

The Kepler spacecraft, now operating as the K2 mission, collected data on the star’s small changes in brightness due to transiting planets during the period between December 15, 2016, and March 4, 2017. These new observations are expected to help scientists to refine previous measurements of six of the planets, pin down the orbital period and mass of TRAPPIST-h – the seventh and farthest planet – and learn more about the host star’s magnetic activity.

Observations of TRAPPIST-1 weren’t always planned for Campaign 12. The initial coordinates of the patch of sky to be observed during Campaign 12 were set during October 2015 before the planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1 were known to exist.

When the discovery of three of TRAPPIST-1’s planets was announced in May 2016, teams at NASA and Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. reworked the calculations and rewrote and tested commands that would be programmed into the spacecraft’s operating system to make a slight pointing adjustment for Campaign 12. By October 2016, Kepler was ready to observe TRAPPIST-1.

“We were lucky that the K2 mission was able to observe TRAPPIST-1,” said Michael Haas, science office director for the Kepler and K2 missions at Ames. “The observing field for Campaign 12 was set when the discovery of the first planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1 was announced, and the science community had already submitted proposals for specific targets of interest in that field. The unexpected opportunity to further study the TRAPPIST-1 system was quickly recognised and the agility of the K2 team and science community prevailed once again.”

Could fast radio bursts be powering alien probes?

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence has looked for many different signs of alien life, from radio broadcasts to laser flashes, without success. However, newly published research suggests that mysterious phenomena called fast radio bursts could be evidence of advanced alien technology. Specifically, these bursts might be leakage from planet-sized transmitters powering interstellar probes in distant galaxies.

"Fast radio bursts are exceedingly bright given their short duration and origin at great distances, and we haven't identified a possible natural source with any confidence," said theorist Avi Loeb of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "An artificial origin is worth contemplating and checking."

As the name implies, fast radio bursts are millisecond-long flashes of radio emission. First discovered in 2007, fewer than two dozen have been detected by gigantic radio telescopes like the Parkes Observatory in Australia or the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. They are inferred to originate from distant galaxies, billions of light-years away.

Loeb and his co-author Manasvi Lingam (Harvard University) examined the feasibility of creating a radio transmitter strong enough for it to be detectable across such immense distances. They found that, if the transmitter were solar powered, the sunlight falling on an area of a planet twice the size of the Earth would be enough to generate the needed energy. Such a vast construction project is well beyond our technology, but within the realm of possibility according to the laws of physics.

Lingam and Loeb also considered whether such a transmitter would be viable from an engineering perspective, or whether the tremendous energies involved would melt any underlying structure. Again, they found that a water-cooled device twice the size of Earth could withstand the heat.

They then asked, why build such an instrument in the first place? They argue that the most plausible use of such power is driving interstellar light sails. The amount of power involved would be sufficient to push a payload of a million tons, or about 20 times the largest cruise ships on Earth.

"That's big enough to carry living passengers across interstellar or even intergalactic distances," added Lingam.

To power a light sail, the transmitter would need to focus a beam on it continuously. Observers on Earth would see a brief flash because the sail and its host planet, star and galaxy are all moving relative to us. As a result, the beam sweeps across the sky and only points in our direction for a moment. Repeated appearances of the beam, which were observed but cannot be explained by cataclysmic astrophysical events, might provide important clues about its artificial origin.

Loeb admits that this work is speculative. When asked whether he really believes that any fast radio bursts are due to aliens, he replied, "Science isn't a matter of belief, it's a matter of evidence. Deciding what's likely ahead of time limits the possibilities. It's worth putting ideas out there and letting the data be the judge."

The paper reporting this work has been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters and is available online.

NASA Seeks Information on Commercial Mars Payload Services

The agency issued a request for information (RFI) Feb. 27 seeking information on private ventures planning to send spacecraft to Mars in 2020 and beyond that would be willing to accommodate NASA instruments and other payloads on their missions. Responses are due March 28.

“Furthering NASA’s human deep space exploration goals will require a significant amount of scientific research, and opportunities to collect data on Mars have been rare,” NASA said in a statement announcing the RFI. “Evolving capabilities in the private sector have opened the possibility for NASA to take advantage of commercial opportunities to land scientific payloads on the surface of the Red Planet.”

Organizations planning such missions should provide “details of your planned mission, including payload accommodation locations on your transportation vehicle, estimated mass and volume that may be available, and your schedule for the Mars mission,” the RFI states. “Provide information to aid in understanding the probability of success for your planned Mars mission.”

FRIED EGG? FLYING SAUCER? NOPE. JUST COOL NEW CLOSEUPS OF SATURN’S MOON PAN

Closeup photos taken by the Cassini probe of the the planet’s second-innermost moon, Pan, on March 7 reveal remarkable new details 

side view of Pan better shows its thin and wavy ridge likely built up through the accumulation of particles grabbed from Saturn’s rings. The ridge is between 0.9 and 2.5 miles (1-4 km)

There’s good reason to believe that Pan was once part of a larger satellite that broke up near Saturn long ago. Much of the material flattened out to form Saturn’s rings while large shards like Pan and another ravioli lookalike, Atlas, orbited within or near the rings, sweeping up ring particles about their middles. Tellingly, the ridges are about as thick as the vertical distances each satellite travels in its orbit about the planet.

Today, Pan orbits within and clears the narrow Encke Gap in Saturn’s outer A-ring of debris. It also helps create and shape the narrow ringlets that appear in the gap It’s lookalike cousin Atlas orbits just outside the A-ring.

Neil Armstrong Biopic 'First Man' Gets 2018 Release Date

"First Man," the upcoming biographical film on the life of Neil Armstrong, has a release date: Oct. 12, 2018, according to Deadline.

Based on the book "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong" by James Hansen, "First Man" will chronicle the life and career of the first person to walk on the moon. Actor Ryan Gosling ("La La Land") will portray Armstrong in the Universal film, which will be directed by Damien Chazelle ("La La Land"). Hansen's book is being adapted for screen by Oscar winner Josh Singer ("Spotlight")

talking of movies

Spuds on Mars: Potatoes Can Sprout in Red Planet Environment, Study Suggests

Potatoes may be able to feed real-life Red Planet explorers, just as they sustained fictional astronaut Mark Watney in the book and movie "The Martian," an ongoing experiment suggests.

On Feb. 14, 2016, researchers at the International Potato Center in Peru (known as CIP, its Spanish acronym) planted a potato tuber in a cubesat-size container that mimics Martian temperatures and atmospheric conditions. The potato sprouted, as you can see in this time-lapse video.

CIP scientists characterized these preliminary results as "positive" and said they plan to perform more experiments. [How Will a Human Mars Base Work? NASA's Vision in Images]

"If the crops can tolerate the extreme conditions that we are exposing them to in our cubesat, they have a good chance to grow on Mars," Julio Valdivia-Silva, a research associate with the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in California who works at the University of Engineering and Technology in Lima, said in a statement.

Time Crystals Created, Suspending Laws of Physics

NASA Mission Named 'Europa Clipper'

NASA's upcoming mission to investigate the habitability of Jupiter's icy moon Europa now has a formal name: Europa Clipper.

The moniker harkens back to the clipper ships that sailed across the oceans of Earth in the 19th century. Clipper ships were streamlined, three-masted sailing vessels renowned for their grace and swiftness. These ships rapidly shuttled tea and other goods back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean and around globe. (Cutty Sark)

In the grand tradition of these classic ships, the Europa Clipper spacecraft would sail past Europa at a rapid cadence, as frequently as every two weeks, providing many opportunities to investigate the moon up close. The prime mission plan includes 40 to 45 flybys, during which the spacecraft would image the moon's icy surface at high resolution and investigate its composition and the structure of its interior and icy shell.

Europa has long been a high priority for exploration because it holds a salty liquid water ocean beneath its icy crust. The ultimate aim of Europa Clipper is to determine if Europa is habitable, possessing all three of the ingredients necessary for life: liquid water, chemical ingredients, and energy sources sufficient to enable biology.

"During each orbit, the spacecraft spends only a short time within the challenging radiation environment near Europa. It speeds past, gathers a huge amount of science data, then sails on out of there," said Robert Pappalardo, Europa Clipper project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Previously, when the mission was still in the conceptual phase, it was sometimes informally called Europa Clipper, but NASA has now adopted that name as the formal title for the mission.

The mission is being planned for launch in the 2020s, arriving in the Jupiter system after a journey of several years.

JPL manages the mission for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Launches

Song sent in by Chris Carney

Spaaaace X From Electric Cars to Massive Rockets Spaaaace X Moon Missions, Mars Ambitions Spaaaace X Elon Musk, Launch Date Busk Spaaaaace X Recycled Boosters, Heavy Falcons Spaaaaace X Sounds like a Strip Club in Star Trek.

[shadowofthelamp]

Behold, some context for this, specifically Bella’s part. I’ll add more when I actually write more about Kit’s bit.

Wordcount: 2075

The second she saw the airship soaring through the red-tinted sky, shooting anything that looked at it funny, Bella knew she had to get inside of it. Let Kit flirt with their host (or, if she was honest, fail to flirt with, man, she didn’t even like flirting and even she knew that he turned into a pile of goopy mush when he was around a guy he thought was cute) and let Vee attempt to kidnap yet another animal to try and smuggle home, she wanted to find out who the heck made a steam-powered airship in the twentieth century.

Or maybe Hell was actually stuck in the year 1900, who knew? Time probably passed funny in the afterlife, but the fact that nobody had shot them out of the sky yet said that there was something else afoot- the pilot had to have some way of warding off attacks considering rivals probably had, like, grenade launchers, and she wanted to find out how. Style merged with substance, ruling the air with confidence- and she wanted in.

“Hey! Hey you!” She flagged down somebody with four arms and purple fur who looked short enough to be less likely to punt her into orbit- Mom had warned that most people down here were mean as, well, Hell- and pointed up at the ship. “What’s the deal with those?”

“You a newly dead?” The demon raised one of their four eyes, and Bella nodded.

“Yeah, yeah, newly dead. Anyway. Story?”

“They’re made by Sir Pentious, one of the Overlords. He’s some kinda inventor, I’unno. Never blew up anything that mattered to me, so I never cared that much.”

“Sir Pentious…” She rolled the name around in her mouth, plucking the ‘T’ in the middle thoughtfully along with the rubber bands wrapped around her braces. “Got it. Thanks!”

“Er- you’re welcome.” They darted off, but that was fine. Now it was just a matter of actually getting onboard.

____________

She couldn’t find a rocket pack anywhere- lousy Hell lagging behind Earth technologically- but ended up stumbling across the next best thing in a warehouse that had an extra ship that had clearly been in some sort of accident. This one was only partially-reassembled, and there was a lot of burn damage sustained to the aluminum and copper outside, but that just meant that she could see the skeleton without having to slice through a lot of layers, so it was almost better- and a lot easier to crawl in one of the big holes in the front window via a pile of parts in front of it.

The interior was decorated like a mansion, with vivid yellows, reds, and blacks- she could respect the commitment to the aesthetic, especially with torn-open snakesheds and red eyeballs plastered everywhere. It looked like something out of Mom’s old comic book collection, toxic and yet intoxicating, every detail chosen for maximum dramatic potential. It must look even better with all the lights on and more than her phone’s flashlight illuminating bits at a time.

It was the best playground that she could imagine- nothing but her and a massive ship the size of an apartment building. Oddly enough, there wasn’t much dust- maybe it had crashed recently and was being held here for repairs? It was certainly of a similar design to the one that she’d seen from the ground, so she couldn’t imagine that it wasn’t just an iteration or two away.

Her fingers ran over the sleek machinery like it was sacred- some of it looked like it belonged in a museum, but the rest was cutting edge, and the seamless way they blended was like something out of a dream. A genius indeed- if she’d been born a hundred years ago and was suddenly thrust into the modern day, she could only hope that her tech would look this good. There was room for improvement of course, there always was, but it was loads better than most of what she saw digging through the junkyard, and a lot closer to the stuff she made with Grandpa Zim using his irken tech. Impressive for someone who’d clearly been dead for some time, considering he’d made enough of a name for himself that some rando off the street knew it.

“Genius inventor, huh…?” Bella pulled out her screwdriver, starting to work on freeing the control panel. It had a touchscreen and levers, what was that about? She had to know what it looked like underneath- did Hell even use cables and wires or was she going to need to drag Kit in to do his magic business here?

It took some doing- whatever had taken this particular ship down had welded the panel into place and it took a crowbar to pry off, ha, take that Venus for saying she ‘didn’t need to bring it’- but eventually she got into the guts of the thing. Sure enough, it was wiring, spiraled all into itself in a knot- it must have gotten all messed up at some point, maybe that was what caused the crash on top of whatever burnt the outside?

She was about to start taking it apart when she heard a pitter-patter behind her.

“I’ve got a gun and I know how to use it, ya know,” she said, rummaging around in her pocket before pulling it out. “Mom insisted I bring the one that can vaporize people since apparently half of you can’t even die the normal way anyway? Bunch of freaks.” Her finger twitched towards the trigger as the pitter-patter became a shadow as the thing scrambled up towards the same hole she’d come in. “I’m warning you, I’m a great shot. Won’t take two to blow your brains out.”

“Whoever you are, bossman says you gotta go!”

It was an egg. Not like some kind of insult, it was literally an egg, and probably a third of her size. It was also wearing a little hand-tailored suit and top hat. She stared down at it, and it stared up at her.

“Who’s bossman?” Bella asked after a few very long seconds of silence.

“You know… bossman!” It blinked. “He doesn’t like people pokin’ around his cool, cool stuff and you tripped the motion sensor. Hey, is that a ray gun?”

Bella’s finger eased off the trigger. “Yeah, it is. It can probably scramble you.”

“Oooh! Fun! Not as good as boss’s, I’m sure, but-”

“Hey, what say you take me to this boss?” Bella crouched down, knowing this was incredibly stupid but also already entirely committed to it. “Then he can decide what to do with me in person.”

“Hmm… alright, but no funny business!” The egg looked her up and down before turning heel, starting to clamor down the pile of parts. She had to hold back a snort when she saw that it had ‘#69’ written on its back.

Some things never changed no matter where you went.

____________

The egg blabbered on all the way back to the ship, mostly about jazz music oddly enough, but soon enough they were nearing a different ship that had settled behind a building. It was either the one she’d seen before or a duplicate, and she felt a shiver run up her spine as she got close- it looked a lot cooler in one piece and lit up bright yellow. Her phone buzzed, and she discreetly pulled it out as the egg launched into a diatribe on the importance of the saxophone. It was a text from her sister.

dolittle 🐭: bells where ARE you

dolittle 🐭: kits distracting clove so I could grab one of those bugdog things but moms gonna be asking how were doing soon, what should I say

Bella thought for a moment before sending back a reply. ‘im checking out that airship we saw earlier. have weapons. ill be fine. meet you back at the cafe later’

dolittle 🐭: be careful ok? know you can handle it but still

Bella smiled a little at that, sending a thumbs up before tucking her phone back into her pocket as they ascended the bridge.

“And then, then he saysss to me, he sayssss- Ah, there you are! Good, good.” She heard him before she saw him, voice booming as he welcomed his hench-egg back. “And what was poking around the warehouse?”

“This, boss!” The egg tugged at her jeans by the knee around the corner before pushing her forward with surprising force. “They said they wanted to see you!”

“Well well well!”

Bella’s antennae twitched as her eyes widened. The man in front of her was a jet black snake, with fangs, a top hat, a bowtie, and eyes on his face as well as nestled on the open space on his chest and hood. Best she could pin from Venus’s nature lectures he was a cobra of some sort, and there was a smug fang-y grin on his face as he slithered up to her, taking advantage of the height that his tail gave him- he’d probably be seven feet easy to Bella’s mere five foot one.

It took her only a moment to shake off her awe. “So you’re the famous Sir Pentious!”

His grin widened. “Ah! You’ve heard of me, little tresssspassser?”

“Obviously, considering I knew your name, right?”

“Er- yes!” He faltered for just a moment, and she went in for the kill.

“Your work’s fantastic, but you really need a way to keep the gutty stuff in order in case of a hit- that’s probably part of why that other ship went down, y’know? But your sense of design and how you mold your century-old designs with the new stuff- it’s fantastic, I just want to cut it all open and see how it works.”

“What did you do?” His hood flared, and she twirled the gun in her hands.

“I only touched the control panel, and your little egg boy got at me before I messed with anything, but I’d give anything for a couple of days working on the interior of this place- I bet I could make it run faster and with less fuel.”

The eye on his hat rolled itself as he narrowed the eyes on his face. “Who are you to come in and think you know better than I about my own shipssss? I should end you right here for your insolence and your trespassing!”

Bella folded her arms, glancing around. “Hmm… far left column, the one with a yellow eye instead of a red one.”

“What about it?” He folded his arms as well, waggling his head. “Are you-”

“It’s welded weird. Something went wrong with the metal when it was being forged, so you put it in the back so you wouldn’t have to look at it. You didn’t want to waste a perfectly good column because somebody screwed up one little part. And that’s just what I see looking around in, like, five seconds- gah!” The end of his tail had wrapped around behind her while she’d been talking, and struck before she finished her sentence, lifting her up to his eye-level with her arms pinned to her sides.

“Little wrench! How dare you?”

“I’m…” Her legs kicked a little, ribs feeling uncomfortably bendy at the moment as his scales pressed against her chest and back. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

His tongue darted out as he hissed, just barely brushing her nose before sliding back into his mouth.

“What do you really want, missy? I don’t like competition, you know.”

“You to let me breathe, for one,” she wheezed, fingers turning to try tickling what she could reach, and his cheek twitched funny before she dropped bodily to the floor, only managing to roll in time thanks to muscle memory from combat training. Thanks, Grandpas. “I really do just wanna see how all your stuff works. The ways I could improve my own inventions if I just could figure out how to blend different functionalities the way that you do…”

“I am quite impresssssive, aren’t I?” He puffed up his chest a bit. “And you have no intention to-”

Bella drew an X over her chest. “Cross my heart. You’re the bossman.”

He looked her up and down. “Hmm. Get back to me when you have a proper uniform and not those ragssss, and I suppose I could show you around a bit, if- if!- you show me something of yourssss.  ”

Bella’s grin slipped into a smirk as she gave a bow. “Bella Donna at your service, then, Sir Penny.”

[loislaneinvestigatesauthors]

Rising to a higher plane: Bill Copeland’s Cosmic Swan

You draw upon a wide variety of themes and inspirations here: allusions to international forms of spiritual practice, geology, ecology, political and international relations, biology, etc. How did you develop the concept for this story?  ==> The Cosmic Swan story evolved over many years.   Growing up on the edge of desert, the usually clear sky over our part of southern California became a prominent part of my daily experience.  For much of each year clear skies and warm evenings invited us to enjoy being outside.  When I was a kid,  I started noticing how the sun position changed throughout the year, the moon went around the sky once a month. Most stars marched around the sky locked together as if printed on moving sheet.  Some bright stars were not fixed on the sheet but moved along the background stars.  What made them do that?   

A real mind blower for a kid was the huge vision of a comet that appeared about 1955 in the evening sky.  It spread from the horizon to the top of the sky with a tail that pointed away from the setting sun.  As it moved away I wondered where it was going.  Nobody I knew could or would try to explain all that movement in the sky.  So I went to the library and got some books on astronomy.  

I found the moon goes around the earth and the earth goes around the sun, and the stars that moved against the background sheet of the sky were actually hosting other planets like the earth. When I looked at the sun as it was going down I came to see the big orange ball was the center of most of the movement in the sky.  I pretended I was very big so I could reach out and grasp those planets and watch them from different places.  I loved the experience of seeing and moving in the three dimensions.  Finally putting the moon, earth, planets, comets, fixed stars together in one connected 3-D picture was, and still is, a thrill. Of course the explanation I got from church and the Bible contradicted a lot of the picture I developed in my head, but early on I realized that the old testament explanation was the best the ancient people could do with their limited scientific heritage.  Rather than becoming cynical, I realized their understanding of the sky served them well enough to manage their farming, hunting, harvesting, traveling, and birthing babies.  I enjoyed the spiritual feeling I got when I sang, so I joined the choir.  What I got from church was the feeling that the sky created a sense of wonder in ancient people.  All those objects in the sky suggested a commanding cosmic consciousness, a spirit beyond us, and the human events on the earth seemed to be related to what goes on in the sky.  I love the feeling that there is a deep spirit which we all share.  No matter how much I have learned about the physics and math of astronomy, I have kept the feeing we are all a part of a spirit. Hiking around the county I explored hiking trails, rabbit trails, even very narrow little bug trails that snuck through the grass and roots of the chaparral.  In our dry climate I discovered how the fragrant chaparral, grasses, and animals coped with the long dry seasons and the occasional wild fire.  The rock forms showed me clearly the layers over time of sand, cobblestones, and deeper layers of sea shells, and hard rock.  An older boy across the street studied geology and had a great collection of rocks.  He was quite ill for years but finally was well enough to go on hikes. With the help of his geology books, we tried to understand what the hills, cliffs, and stream beds showed us about how different eras created different layers in the earth. When I went to San Diego State College, I started out with a major in astronomy and took geology and a lot of history.   I was particularly fascinated with ancient history, 18th century England, the American Revolution, and the process of creating the US Constitution.  As a science major I took a full load of math, physics, biology, and of course astronomy.  When I finished my first year, I sought out the lead professor in astronomy for advice.  I caught him in the observatory working on a government project to photograph certain stars to discover their movement, and what they are made of.  I didn’t get the advice I expected.  He said, if I really wanted to study astronomy, I should take math.  Astronomy and physics are mostly math, he advised.  What they could teach at SDSC was descriptive astronomy, not astrophysics.  So I changed my major to math and still keep up with the physics.   At the suggestion of my uncle, went to SDSC before me, I took computer programming classes on the computer he helped to set up.  When I graduated with a BA, I had three different big computer companies offering me a job.  So I went to work at Univac.  After a year I was offered a job at the Univac site in Houston at the Manned Spacecraft Center.  We worked on the Apollo communications system.  While there I helped fix bugs in the software, but also saw early pictures of the Moon and Earth from the spacecraft.  One series in particular of the earth rising over the limb of the moon sort of blew my mind.  The earth looked like a marbled blue and white egg.  What kind of bird would hatch out of that egg, I wondered.   I came back to California and settled in Silicon Valley.  I worked for various computer companies while working on an MS cybernetics degree program at San Jose State College.  For my masters project I recruited three other student in my class to work on the four-part design for an interstellar ark that could fly to the nearest star system.  I worked on the spaceship design.  For the rocket ship motor, I selected the interstellar ramjet.  It inhales the sparse hydrogen from space, compresses it and uses it for fuel.  A woman student worked on the social organization and genetic diversity issue since travel for many generations would be required.  She described the required for a minimum of 10,000 people, so genetic drift would not result in freaks, monsters, and other undesirable companions.  A student of government wrote the section on how to govern the people on the ship.  The final section described the infrastructure, living space, animals, food production and other accommodations. While working over the years I also traveled.  I traveled with two guys to England and Scotland, where I explored where my family came from.  I traveled to Spain to study guitar and took a side trip to Morocco.  Silicon Valley was pretty intense at times so I looked into a Zen Buddhism meditation group.  A friend asked me to sit with a group following the teachings of swami Muktananda.  I became more self aware of ways to be calm and explore how to be more creative and productive.  When Muktananda ‘left his body’, I went to his home Ashram in Ganeshpuri to see his shrine and study.  On a recommendation from a swami, I took a trip Muktananda had taken and went to Kashmir.  I wanted to see the area just south of Tibet in India called Little Tibet.  I saw the glaciers, Himalayas, the people, their food, yaks, camels, and so on.  I wanted to go farther, but the Indian Army had hot operations in northern Kashmir.  I spent a lot of time in meditation and learning about the spiritual paths.  I was noticed that Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and other spiritual groups regard Mt. Kailas, which is shaped like a pyramid, as the Crystal Mountain in which the God Shiva resides. I noticed that such spiritual groups attracted a lot of wealth.  I started telling a story of how a guru felt she needed to be closer to God when meditating so she sponsored the development of an orbiting meditation ship with a dome that allowed her to see only the stars.  She was launched and while meditating, the knowledge came to her of a catastrophic threat to earth.  She convinced her devotees to build an ark.   I traveled to India five times.  I visited a dozen ashrams and learned practices in Delhi, Kerala, Srinagar, Udaipur, Ganeshpuri, and Menar.   I was invited twice to weddings of family members.  Kusoom was the name of the first bride.  Asha was the second and her brother, Jagdish is the magistrate of Menar and a good friend.  I visited Pune on company business. Despite the poverty in the tribal areas and inner cities, I found the Indians to be very civilized and ready to take care of each other, no matter what the circumstances.  I followed the conflicts and territorial issues over the years — especially with China and Pakistan.  How did real science play a role in this story? I know some of the story is real and the rest is possible given what we are pretty sure we know at this point about our planet.  ==> Yes.  I merged well-established science with more speculative physics and astronomy.  One key conjecture that I got from Halton Arp and other scientists is the development and structure of our galaxy.  The alternate theory is that the universe did not start with a big bang but is infinite in time a space.  Dr. Arp is a famous astronomer who published many papers describing what he saw and recorded through the biggest Mt. Wilson and Palomar telescope.  Mt. Palomar and Mt. Wilson are in southern California.  I visited both and truly felt like I was in a temple to heaven in each.  

I visited Mt. Hamilton many times over the years while I worked in Silicon Valley.  Dr. Arp did an extensive study of unusual galaxies, their quasars, stars, their black holes.  He helped discover that virtually every galaxy has a black hole at its core and ejects jets of plasma and clumps of extremely dense matter. This led me to consider that black holes are the engines of cosmic evolution, sweeping in matter and energy, concentrating it in the core, and feeding the black hole until it spits out protogalaxies into space.  The protogalaxies serve as the core of new galaxies as they fly into space. So I imagined a creature, a Cosmic Swan, that lives for billions of years and flies and explores around the galaxy.  They lay their eggs on planets in the comfort zones around stars.  The eggs hatch and carry animals, plants, and comfortable habitats on their backs as required symbionts.  They closely monitor the black hole.  When it is ripe to send out a jet of material that will become the seed black hole of a new galaxy, young cosmic swans fly with the jetted material and live to become residents of the new galaxy.  Of course the interstellar birds can fly faster than light by my physics (which scientists object to) and I have a good rationalization (conjecture) about how they can do that. I love to imagine what can live in the atmospheres other gas giants like Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune.  There is no end to where imagination can go in our infinite space. Of course Star Trek is one of my favorite TV programs. How did you decide to set the story in part in Tibet?  ==> Mt. Kailas is in Tibet close to the border of India.  It plays a central role in many Eastern religions.  I didn’t make it to Mt. Kailas, but I got close. I took a bus from Srinagar into the Himalayas north toward a region call little Tibet.  Because of Indian Army activity had to stop at a high pass near Sonamarg but took a walk out on the nearby glacier.  The landscape is spectacular. Are you a fan of sci fi and fantasy in general? Who are some of your favorite authors?  ==> Yes.  Of course.  I have watched most of the Star Trek movies and TV programs.  Here are a few favorite Sci-Fi authors I have read:  Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Gene Roddenberry, Frank Herbert, Asimov, Orson Scott Card, Tolkien, LucasFilm, Heinlein, Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Do you think that our world could come together to solve a planetary challenge? 

The world could come together only if the source of information on the planetary challenge came from a credible source, and the defense group set up to save us was lead by an internationally respected scientist diplomat who is also an excellent speaker, and inspiring leader.  I believe world organizations such as United Nations, major religions, and economic blocks would have to sign on.   Years ago I participated in an online forum about astronomy.  The topic came up about the threats from asteroids, comets, and other events like a plasma burst from the sun or even a nearby star.  I was surprised that virtually all the people on the forum thought the chances were so close to zero that it wasn’t worth troubling ourselves about.  I asked how much do we actually know about the risks. I was very certain that such threats were serious risks over time — centuries.  We have to plan way ahead to handle world risks.  I asked them to do trade-off analysis.  How much do we value a city, a whole nation, the whole earth?  Most came to agree that we should at least monitor the near earth objects closely.  We do that now, and have a few scientific studies on what a planetary defense project would cost in terms of money, manpower, and research.   But as I mention in Cosmic Swan, there are many different world views, cultural and religious beliefs about God’s will, heaven and hell, and who is worthy to survive.  An announcement from the United Nations of a credible threat from a large asteroid, for example, would initially create chaos and anarchy, but I believe if we had enough forewarning, then wisdom would prevail.   What do you think it would take to inspire that level of cooperation?  ==>  I hope a world-class scientist-diplomat would gather enough credibility and supporters to lead us to a humanitarian solution that did the greatest good for the greatest number.  Such people are rare.  They would find themselves the target of suspicion, misunderstanding, merciless attacks, and disbelief in his or her motivations.  Someone like Gandhi.  I don’t know of anyone today on earth who could or would take that role, but often such people arise to meet the challenge. Such persons would have to be able to understand the science of the threat and be able to articulate the actual facts and risks to general earth population.  He or she must be able to manage a very large project.  They must wisely, kindly, and diplomatically convince the leaders who control critically required resources to work together to design and implement the agreed upon strategy.  

Bill Copeland’s The Cosmic Swan can be ordered here.  =======================

[blograzorwit]

Jest A Minute (4/5/2017) from Subroto Mukherjee

Smash Hit------------------- In Kolkata, film actor's speeding car spins out of control, hits something and rolls completely over! The guy was taken to a hospital. Mistake. When a guy drives like a MAD MAN, he should be rushed straight to a MENTAL hospital! *** I don't know about this actor's films, whether they are hits or flops but, boy, his car sure was a SMASH-HIT! Some people have never heard this long-held wisdom : drive like hell -- and that's exactly where you could end up. HELL! *** No matter how many nuts, screws and bolts go into the making of a car , into making a car a safe ride, all it takes is one nut driving the car to wreck it. *** Missile Trump----------------------- To confront aggressive North Korea, the US has developed a new missile. This missile is called Trump. Too bad this missile is NOT working as expected. Nor can it be fired. *** Trump recently described Kim Jong-un as a 'smart cookie'. He certainly does not look it though. Hitler was a tyrant with a funny mustache, you know. Well, this dictator is like a potato with a funny hair-cut. *** Great! How Ungrateful Can You Get?------------------------------------------------------- Napoleon liked to say that his dictionary did not have the word 'impossible'.So some of his soldiers gifted him a better dictionary -- a dictionary that did have the word 'impossible'. You know what? This joke also applies to Saimaa, sister of Eman Ahmed, who until yesterday was the heaviest person in the world at 500 kilos. But for all the good work done by a medical team in Mumbai (shrinking Eman's original weight to less than half), her sister Saimaa lashed out at the doctors and nurses diligently taking care of Eman. Now that Eman is being shifted to Abu Dhabi, I feel Eman's Mumbai medical team should gift her sister a better dictionary. Because obviously the word 'grateful' is missing from her dictionary. *** Zooming Like Prices Here!-------------------------------------------- A British inventor has successfully designed a flying suit complete with rocket boosters. You put on this suit -- and yahoo, you shoot up into the sky! This suit is working so well, it has been compared to the inflation here. Zoom -- this suit shoots up just like prices in our country! *** Perfect Film For Sonu------------------------------------- No, Aparna Sen's new film Sonata did not put me to sleep. Actually it put me into a deep coma. So much so, all the noise pollution in Mumbai could not wake me for days! Sonu Nigam should watch this film at bed time. And even the blaring loudspeakers in his area won't disturb his beauty sleep one bit. *** Some people say they fell asleep halfway through this film. Hey, I fell asleep halfway through the film's title as I read it out. The 'so' got be drowsy, the 'na' had me dozing and by the time I reached 'ta' -- I was snoring. ***   That Thirst Class Feeling------------------------------------------- It's so hot in Mumbai and I have worked up such a thirst, I feel like Isaac Newton sitting in the shade of a tree, hoping -- not for an apple -- but for a big fat juicy watermelon to drop in my lap! *** Eureka Eureka----------------------------- It's so hot in Mumbai, I feel like Archimedes racing through the ancient streets of Athens -- without a stitch on me -- finally finding a cool pool and  diving into it, yelling eureka eureka! (Meaning of course I found the pool, I found the pool! What a relief!) ***   Happy Happy Happy----------------------------------- It used to be said that Kashmir was a paradise. If you ask me, it still is. A paradise. Where everyone is happy. Happy happy happy! Stone-pelting students are happy when they hit our poor soldiers. And the soldiers are happy when those students miss! *** Eat Roach Poach -- YUMMY!----------------------------------------------- No more flashing and flaunting the VIP status. The red flasher on VIP vehicles taken away from our VIPs. Not enough. More needs to be taken away. Take away their luxury sedans/SUVs. Let them ride cycles, bikes and public transport. Take away their bungalows. What's the matter with living in flats? Take away their Black Cat commando security. Give them actual black cats for protection. No one intending harm will dare step anywhere near a VIP for the surrounding black cats. We Indians are so pathetically, pitiably superstitious. Take away their free flying privileges. Let them travel by train. And eat roach poach instead of the egg poach ordered from the pantry car. Bar them from snazzy restaurants and let our VIPs eat street food. No, don't worry, they won't fall ill. Why -- heck --  they don't even fall sick after swallowing their own filthy lies! No more 5-star hotels for them. Let our VIPs stay in cheap, crummy guesthouses. And tolerate the bedbugs in bed. But hey, it's worse for the poor bedbugs, you know. They have to tolerate our VIP humbugs! *** Prayer Answered------------------------------ Bizarre but true. In Tamil Nadu, an elephant foraging on higher ground slipped over its edge and fell through the roof of a house below! Just imagine! You are sitting at home praying to your beloved elephant-god Ganesha -- and just then, as if in answer to your prayer, an elephant drops right in your lap! Moral of this incident : don't underestimate the power of prayers. They work! *** God Knows!--------------------- The editor of a local paper asked a reporter exactly what had happened. How the heck did an elephant fall through a roof? "God knows!" shrugged the lazy reporter. "Fine," the editor sarcastically told the reporter. "Interview God. Write up the details." *** What's Really Missing------------------------------------------ Turns out our Bollywood celebs make the worst employers -- at least in the way they treat their maids/household helps. Is it any wonder then that we sometimes hear of domestic helps helping themselves to valuables from a celeb's swanky home and doing the disappearing act. Of course, at times, the poor helps are unfairly accused when things go missing. Well, at least some things can never go missing. Like a celeb's heart or conscience. Those are missing already! *** Criminal Waste!---------------------------- What a criminal waste! In the last 5 years, our Maha state has had to throw away well over 2 million units of blood collected from donors! I ask you, how the heck does precious human blood end up the gutters instead of where it matters? Does it go down the drain because our blood banks are managed without brains? *** See, this is why I don't donate blood. I'd rather give my blood to the mosquitoes in the evening. At least they don't waste the blood. Also they give you something in return for it. Something like dengue and malaria! *** Small Fry----------------- In London, Vijay Mallya was arrested, then released on bail. Now that kingfisher might have been reduced to a shrimp fisher, a small fry, but we still have to be patient. It might take a while to fish that shrimp out and fry that small fry. *** How Much More Can Soldiers Combat?------------------------------------------------------------- A BSF jawan was sacked for complaining about the poor quality of food served to our brave-hearts at the front. I ask you, how much more demands are we going to make on our poor combatants? Combat stone-pelting students in Kashmir -- combat terrorists -- combat the enemy across the border -- combat your tummy-ache owing to stale food -- and now also combat your unemployment! *** The Indian Ocean Only For India, OK?----------------------------------------------------------- China has given Chinese names to places in Arunachal Pradesh. Ha! As if giving Chinese names to places in India is all it takes to legitimately claim that this Indian state belongs to China! Tomorrow, in the same way, India can claim that the Indian Ocean belongs only to India because, hey, the very name says it's the Indian Ocean. And India can legitimately demand that China take our permission to use this ocean for shipping or any other purpose. *** Fuel Or Fool?-------------------------- Turns out that many petrol pumps in UP could be rigged to cheat fuel buyers. In other words, you stop at a petrol pump for fuel -- and those cheats will stop at nothing to fuel -- er -- fool you! ***

[allcheatscodes]

jet force gemini n64

http://allcheatscodes.com/jet-force-gemini-n64/

jet force gemini n64

Jet Force Gemini cheats & more for Nintendo64 (N64)

Cheats

Unlockables

Hints

Easter Eggs

Glitches

Guides

Get the updated and latest Jet Force Gemini cheats, unlockables, codes, hints, Easter eggs, glitches, tricks, tips, hacks, downloads, guides, hints, FAQs, walkthroughs, and more for Nintendo64 (N64). AllCheatsCodes.com has all the codes you need to win every game you play!

Use the links above or scroll down to see all the Nintendo64 cheats we have available for Jet Force Gemini.

Genre: Action, Adventure Developer: Rareware Publisher: Nintendo ESRB Rating: Teen Release Date: October 15, 1999

Hints

Completing The Game

In order to complete the game, you must first unlock each character, and then defeat the boss at the end of each character’s Journey. Then have each character defeat Mizar’s Palace, and then kill Mizar. Then you have to go back through the game, collecting every trybol and ship piece you find. Then you kill Mizar once and for all!

Running While Shooting

Well first you have aim. Then hold C-Up. Then just simply hold Z. If done correctly you should be running and shooting at the same time!

Mizar’s Palace Lobby

When you are in Mizar’s lobby in his castle there are lil circles at the side where the fire is lit, one candle is a fake. jump onto the candles with the fire, there is one with a hole. When you fall through you are in a maze. When you finish the maze. You will be in Mizar’s castle, then once all the characters are in there, Mizar comes and Lupus steps up to the big guy and fights once you hurt Mizar bad he leaves and goes in a metior. Then you get new armor.

Beating Mizar Easily

When you blow off Mizar’s wings, you have to shoot him in the face, use the machine gun to shoot his face and don’t stop until he falls down to the ground.(If you don’t have much ammo on your machine gun, ask someone to be Floyd and help you out.

100 Head Cheat

Collect 100 ant heads to receive a cheat code used to change the color of the blood it will become rainbow.

Hear Lupus Howl

While playing as Lupus, press C-Down.

Super Jump

Hold C-Up to perform a super jump.

Quick Character Change

At the map screen, press C-Left or C-Right to quickly change the character icons.

Hover With Jetpack

Press C-Down to hover with the jetpack. Note: This consumes less fuel then actively flying.

Special Abilities

Juno can walk on fire (lava), Vela can swim, and Lupus can hover.

Refill Ammunition

Switch to the shotgun, pistol or machine gun if running low on ammunition and run over the bodies of dead enemies to collect more bullets for that weapon. To refill the flame thrower, shoot Tribals once to force them to drop their lanterns without killing them. Collect the lanterns to use as flame thrower ammunition.

Collect Out Of Reach Gems

Shoot gems that are out of reach to bring them within range.

Avoid Getting Hit By Flying Objects

When reaching a section with small flying objects, run behind a tree and repeatedly run sideways to avoid getting hit.

Alternate Title Screen

Accomplish the following tasks during the game to unlock different sequences on the title screen:Rescue Vela (Juno and Vela run on their ship)Put Floyd back together (Juno and Vela run and Floyd flying on their ship)Have Lupus (All characters run on their ship)Defeat Mizar once (All characters wearing upgraded armor run in Mizars Palace)Defeat Mizar for the final time (Juno, Vela, and Lupus wearing regular armor walking down a runway on Earth)

Mizar 3D Racer Multi-player Level

Finish in first place in the races at Mizar’s Palace.

Greenwood Village Race Track Multi-player Level

Obtain a first place score on both Jeff And Barry Arcade Racing machines at Ichor Arcade.

Jeff And Barry Arcade Racing II Multi-player Level

Obtain a first place score on Jeff And Barry Arcade Racing II at Ichor Arcade.

Jeff And Barry Arcade Racing Multi-player Level

Obtain a first place score on Jeff And Barry Arcade Racing at Ichor Arcade.

Rith Essa Target Range Multi-player Level

Obtain a gold rank on the Eschebone Floyd level.

Goldwood Target Range Multi-player Level

Obtain a gold rank on the Goldwood Floyd level.

Space Station Multi-player Level

Make contact with the hidden Totem Pole in Space Station Basement.

Rith Essa Mine Multi-player Level

Collect powered jetpacks. Then, make contact with the hidden Totem Pole in Walkway Station.

Tunnels Multi-player Level

Make contact with the hidden Totem Pole as Vela in Rith Essa Waterfalls.

King Of The Hill Multi-player Level

Make contact with the hidden Totem Pole in Cerulean Holding Room.

Play As Cyborg Ant In Deathmatch

Obtain an expert rank with Floyd on all Floyd levels.

Play As Purple Termite In Deathmatch

Make contact with the hidden Totem Pole with Juno in Mizar’s Palace.

Play As Metallic Termite In Deathmatch

Make contact with the hidden Totem Pole with Lupus in Sekhmet (hover across the Spiral Walkway).

Play As Beetle Termite In Deathmatch

Make contact with the hidden Totem Pole with Vela in Tawfret (Tomb).

Play As Zombie Termite In Deathmatch

Make contact with the hidden Totem Pole with Lupus in Tawfret (Treehut).

Play As Female Tribal In Deathmatch

Collect the Mine Key. Then, make contact with the hidden Totem Pole with Vela in Rith Essa (Mine).

Play As Male Tribal In Deathmatch

Play as Lupus and collect the Magenta Key in Eschebone (Thorax. left intestine). Then, make contact with the hidden Totem Pole with Lupus in Sekhmet (Channel Area).

Play As Green Ant In Deathmatch

Make contact with the hidden Totem Pole in Spawn Ship (Cargo Sewer).

Play As Red Ant In Deathmatch

Make contact with the hidden Totem Pole with Juno in Ichor (Military Base).

Play As Blue Ant In Deathmatch

Make contact with the hidden Totem Pole in SS Anubis (Generator Room 2F).

Play As Yellow Ant In Deathmatch

Make contact with the hidden Totem Pole with Vela in Goldwood.

Ants Into Pants Mode

Collect 300 ant heads to unlock the “Ants Into Pants” option on the cheat menu. Enable this option to get stick figures with large pants as enemies.

Jet Force Kids Mode

Collect 200 ant heads to unlock the “Jet Force Kids” option on the cheat menu. Enable this option to unlock the kid version of the game’s characters.

Rainbow Blood Mode

Collect 100 ant heads to unlock the “Rainbow Blood” option on the cheat menu.

Tri-Rocket Launcher

To find the Tri-Rocket Launcher with Juno, you must first be able to have access to Tawfret.When you land, you should see a door, go through it. The when you have, follow the path that leads to another door on the other side of the place.(Watch out for Drones on the way there.) When you have gone through the door, King Jeff or his brother is on the other side of the gate. Talk to him and he will give you the Tri-Rocket Launcher.

Extra Flamethrower Ammo

If you are low on flamethrower ammo, then shoot a tribal with a lantern once, and it will drop the lantern. Pick it up for ammo.

Cheats

Currently we have no cheats or codes for Jet Force Gemini yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Unlockables

Currently we have no unlockables for Jet Force Gemini yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Easter eggs

Currently we have no easter eggs for Jet Force Gemini yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Glitches

Currently we have no glitches for Jet Force Gemini yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Guides

Currently no guide available.

Currently no guide available.

[allcheatscodes]

diddy kong racing n64

http://allcheatscodes.com/diddy-kong-racing-n64/

diddy kong racing n64

Diddy Kong Racing cheats & more for Nintendo64 (N64)

Cheats

Unlockables

Hints

Easter Eggs

Glitches

Guides

Get the updated and latest Diddy Kong Racing cheats, unlockables, codes, hints, Easter eggs, glitches, tricks, tips, hacks, downloads, guides, hints, FAQs, walkthroughs, and more for Nintendo64 (N64). AllCheatsCodes.com has all the codes you need to win every game you play!

Use the links above or scroll down to see all the Nintendo64 cheats we have available for Diddy Kong Racing.

Genre: Racing, Go-Kart Racing Developer: Rare Publisher: Nintendo ESRB Rating: Everyone Release Date: November 21, 1997

Hints

Lead On WIZZPIG

At the begining of the race get your speed at the begining, and drive infront of the pig and he’ll kick you in to a BIG lead.

Arial Tricks

While flying, point the control stick left or right, and press R twice, holding it the scond time. This will perform a Barrel Roll.To fly upside-down, point the control stick up or down and press R twice, holding it while you fly upside-down!

Get The First Time Trial Key

Turn on the time trial and go to Antient Lake and right after the first balloons there is a ramp to the right of those balloons and that is where the key is.

Sharp Turns In A Plane

When flying in a plane, hold R to make sharp turns while you’re turning. This also creates smoke behind your character.

Lock On

When you have two red ballons hold (Z), then let go when some one comes by.

2-Wheel

When turning, hold B, A, and R to do a 2-wheeler.

Sharp Turn

Hold B while turning to make a sharp turn to help you on corners.

Play As T.T.

After selecting a character, choose “Tracks” and turn time trials on. Then, beat one of the following times with the default vehicle used in Adventure mode on that track. Example, Hot Top Volcano, use the plane, not the hovercraft. Beat the required time, and you will race T.T.’s ghost. Beat his ghost time (which is “Time To Beat”) on every track and he will become a selectable character.

TrackRequired TimeTime To BeatAncient Lakes1:07.001:01.28Fossil Canyon 1:37.001:30.18Jungle Falls1:08.001:02.50Hot Top Volcano1:35.001:30.71Everfrost Peak1:53.001:48.00Walrus Cove2:10.002:06.28Snowball Valley1:13.001:06.41Frosty Village1:44.001:39.40Whale Bay1:19.001:13.11Crescent Island1:39.001:33.16Pirate Lagoon1:34.001:28.56Treasure Caves1:10.001:05.63Windmill Plains2:22.002:13.13Greenwood Village1:46.001:40.61Boulder Canyon2:11.002:02.35Haunted Woods1:22.001:09.51Spacedust Alley2:12.002:06.16Darkmoon Carverns2:20.002:12.05Spaceport Alpha 2:16.002:09.03Star City2:07.002:01.45

Jump Into The Water

First, make sure you are driving a hover craft. Go into the wooden tunnel and make a left. Go really fast an jump on the ledge (Pressing the R button.) At first you will be grinding on the ledge, but keep pressing the R button and you will jump into the water!

How To Free Drumstick From Wizpigs Spell

After you win all the trophy races up to Dragon Forest, go back to Taj’s Meadow and look for a frog with a rooster’s comb on his head. Roll over the frog to change him back to Drumstick. Drumstick can now be chosen as a character.

Second Adventure

Enable the “Space World” code. Then, beat Wizpig on this world. An “Adventure 2” option will now be available. This adventure involves collecting platinum balloons on reversed tracks.

Space World

Collect all the trophies and amulets, then locate the sign by the lighthouse. Approach the sign and honk your horn. The lighthouse will turn into a rocket and launch into space, allowing access to the bonus fifth world.

Quick Start

At the moment the race commentator says “Get Ready” and those words fade from the screen, press A.

Cheats

Backflip/Frontflip

When in Adventure push Up/Down on joystick and then push “R” 2 times.

Lock-Up Display

For an EPC Lock-Up Display, type in EPC. It allows you to change camera angles, and a couple of other things.

All Balloons Are Green

TOXICOFFENDER

Two Player Adventure

Enter this code through the “Magic Codes” selection on the options screen – “JOINTVENTURE”

Cheat Codes

Enter one of the following codes through the "Magic Codes" selection on the options screen. Enter the code again to disable the cheat effect. Note: The cheat codes can not be saved and must be entered with each game session. Additionally, some codes will only work in Tracks mode and have no effect in Adventure mode. CodeWhat It DoesOPPOSITESATTRACTAll balloons are rainbowTOXICOFFENDERAll balloons are greenBODYARMORAll balloons are yellowBOMBSAWAYAll balloons are redROCKETFUELAll balloons are blueZAPTHEZIPPERSNo zippersBOGUSBANANASBananas slow raceVITAMINBInfinite bananasFREEFRUITStart with 10 bananasNOYELLOWSTUFFNo bananas in multiplayer modeBYEBYEBALLOONSNo CPU player weaponsJOINTVENTURETwo-player adventure modeARNOLDLarge racersTEENYWEENIESSmall racersDOUBLEVISIONRace against same characterBLABBERMOUTHAlternate hornTIMETOLOSEExpert CPUFREEFORALLLevel three itemsJUKEBOXMusic test [Note 1]OFFROADNo slow down [Note 2]WHODIDTHISView creditsNote 1: A music test option will be available on the "Audio Options" menu.Note 2: To drive at full speed, leave the track

How To Choose The Same Character As Opponent.

Put “doublevision” on in the magic codes screen.

Free Gold Balloon

On The “Magic Codes” screen, enter EOLAOBFENRLONE as a code. You will ge a free Gold Balloon.Note: This code only works on the Adventure mode.

Start With 10 Bananas

Free Fruit

Big Characters

Arnold

Bananas Reduce Speed

BOGUS BANANAS

Small Characters

TEENY WEENIES

All Blue Balloons

ROCKET FUEL

All Yellow Balloons

BODYARMOR

Unlockables

Play As Drumstick

Collect all of the trophies and amulets. Move to the central area, with the redspot that leads to all other zones. Then, run over the frog that has a red birdperched on its head to access Drumstick.

Unlock Drumstick

Choose your player, and go to Adventure. When see a frog with something red on it’s head. Run that frog over, and Drumstick will appear in the air. That Means he’s unlocked

Easter eggs

Currently we have no easter eggs for Diddy Kong Racing yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Glitches

Currently we have no glitches for Diddy Kong Racing yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Guides

Currently no guide available.

Currently no guide available.

Currently no guide available.

Currently no guide available.

[allcheatscodes]

the outfit xbox 360

http://allcheatscodes.com/the-outfit-xbox-360/

the outfit xbox 360

The Outfit cheats & more for Xbox 360 (X360)

Cheats

Unlockables

Hints

Easter Eggs

Glitches

Guides

Achievements

Get the updated and latest The Outfit cheats, unlockables, codes, hints, Easter eggs, glitches, tricks, tips, hacks, downloads, achievements, guides, FAQs, walkthroughs, and more for Xbox 360 (X360). AllCheatsCodes.com has all the codes you need to win every game you play!

Use the links above or scroll down to see all the Xbox 360 cheats we have available for The Outfit.

Also Known As: Outfit

Genre: Action, Combat

Developer: Relic

Publisher: THQ

ESRB Rating: Mature

Release Date: March 15, 2006

Hints

Make Your Own Foxhole

When there is a deep hole in the ground, order ananti-tank gun or machine gun nest in front of it.Try crouching down in it to get protection whenreloading or when your gun overheats. For example,when you are Deuce and he is reloading hisbazooka, crouch down in the hole. The anti-tankgun or machine gun nest will take over.

Cripple Nazi Tanks

The best way to cripple a tank (keeping it from shooting you with its machine gun or its main turret) is to shoot out the gunner. It works against all of the Nazi tanks and gun cars EXCEPT for the Panther Tank.

Acheivement Award Locations

This is where all the medals are located in single player campaign:

Mission 1: Combat Aid, Air DefenseMission 2: Troop Car Destroyed, Search Lights DestroyedMission 3: Convoy Ambush, Propaganda DestroyedMission 4: Tank Crew Rescue, Reinforcement RescueMission 5: Allied Rescue, Panther Tank CaptureMission 6: Submarine Destruction, Transport Ship DestructionMission 7: POW Savior, Train DestroyedMission 8: Allied Savior, Fuel Depot Destroyed (barrels)Mission 9: Howitzer Defense, Tank Columns DestroyedMission 10: V1 Rockets Destroyed, Prototype Jet DestroyedMission 11: Bunker Defense, AA Guns DestroyedMission 12: Airfield Saved, Radar Tower DestroyedCompletion of the Game

Infinite Points

Get 9,999 battlefield points by killing enemies, blowing up tanks, etc. You will then have an unlimited amount of points to buy things with destruction on demand, and your points will never go down.

Mega Health

Collect 25 Medals

Insane Damage Multiplier

Collect 21 Medals

Faster Health Regeneration Rate

Collect 8 Medals

Cheats

Currently we have no cheats or codes for The Outfit yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Unlockables

Currently we have no unlockables for The Outfit yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Easter eggs

Currently we have no easter eggs for The Outfit yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Glitches

Currently we have no glitches for The Outfit yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Guides

Currently we have no guides or FAQs for The Outfit yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Achievements

Currently we have no achievements or trophies for The Outfit yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

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prototype ps3

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prototype ps3

Prototype cheats & more for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

Cheats

Unlockables

Hints

Easter Eggs

Glitches

Guides

Trophies

Get the updated and latest Prototype cheats, unlockables, codes, hints, Easter eggs, glitches, tricks, tips, hacks, downloads, trophies, guides, FAQs, walkthroughs, and more for PlayStation 3 (PS3). AllCheatsCodes.com has all the codes you need to win every game you play!

Use the links above or scroll down to see all the PlayStation 3 cheats we have available for Prototype.

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Genre: Action, Adventure Developer: Radical Entertainment Publisher: Sierra ESRB Rating: Mature Release Date: September 16, 2008

Hints

Easy EP

First you need to hijack any kind of tank. Then you go to a place where there is lots of infected (Preferably Around A Hive) and keep running over infected everytime you run over one you get allot of EP so just go to a hive and shoot up the place and if you do that correctly you should get the “Butcher” trophy.

Best Weapon On Hunters

Use Hammerfist on hunters its easy just do the square triangle square combo.

He Went For A Swim

To avoid the millitary climb on the wall next to the water (doesnt work when there is strick team).

Military Get Away

When being atacked by the military, you can jump into the water and if your red bar starts going down, than change your disquise before they can notice.

Easy Way To Take Out Helicopters

I have two ways. 1st is: consume or kill a military guy that has a rocket launcher, pick it up, hold R2 to aim, while aiming shift to helicopter, then finally with the rocket launcher press square to shoot and it will take out the heli in one shot! 2nd way: Use the R2 button to aim and aim at the helicopter, then hold X for a high jump then (while in the air) hold square and hit it twice do this move either 2 or 3 times and it will take out the helicopter!

Hit The Ground Running

NOTE* THIS IS NOT AN ACHIEVEMENTAfter you purchase the air dash upgrade under the “movement” category, if you find yourself falling at a tremendous rate and don’t feel like waiting the few seconds for Alex to stand back up, if you time it just right, you can air dash just before you hit the ground, you will “hit the ground running” and you won’t have to wait two seconds to start running again.

Fast Hunter Takedown

To take down hunters quickly and safely just do the jump blade attack (in air hold triangle) this should wipe them out instantly if you don’t yet have the blades then simply spam fully charged jump kicks if you want to take them out with powers though and you don’t have the blade just use the hammerfist which you can purchase after the mission where you get the claws.

Easy Hunter Kill

By the time that you are fighting hunters in the infected zones you should have bought the whipfist upgrade this is such an easy safe way to beat them with no damage done or little done. Just aim at them and run in evasive directions then hold triangle for a power attack it should reach them and kill them over time. If you are fighting a supreme hunter then the single hand scythe should do it in closer range but you can be hit with a deadly combo so the whipfist is the best way to kill anyone.

First Thread,evolutunary Step,andcrossing The T Trophies

After playing a little bit you have to get this guy out of the tank. So go up to the tank disguised as the military and radio all clear. The guy will get out of the tank, then consume him, you now have “the first thread”. Then go to the pause menu go to upgrades and buy shield power, you now have “evolutionary step”. Then later you have to run away from these big dudes to this building. Inside are huters grab a grenade launcher and shoot them. Eventually they will get stunned, if you consume it you get claw power. When you kill some hunters you need to destroy the fuel tanks. When the mission is over you should have “crossing the T” for the hunter boss encounter.

Cheats

Unlock Body Surfing

After title in EXTRAS, press: RIGHT, RIGHT, LEFT, DOWN, UP, UP, UP, DOWN.

Unlockables

Platinum Events

To unlock the Platinum (and some of the “Radical” events), you just need to get a Gold ranking in all events.

New Game+ Mode

After you complete Story Mode, you can then replay all the Story Mode sections with all of your previously unlocked powers and upgrades. Game+ Mode is for the difficulty you completed story mode (and lower difficulties).

Easter eggs

Currently we have no easter eggs for Prototype yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Glitches

Currently we have no glitches for Prototype yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Guides

Currently we have no guides or FAQs for Prototype yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Trophies

The Secret Trophies

Crossing The T (Bronze) – You’ve completed the Hunter Boss Encounter.

Children Of Blacklight (Bronze) – You’ve completed the Supreme Hunter Boss Battle.

Errand Boy (Bronze) – You’ve completed the Specialist Boss Fight.

Hope (Bronze) – You’ve discovered the truth behind Hope, Idaho.

On Instinct (Bronze) – You’ve completed the Mother Boss Battle.

One Thousand Suns (Silver) – You’ve completed the Supreme Hybrid Boss Battle.

Origin (Bronze) – You’ve discovered the history of Elizabeth Greene.

Trophy List

Wrecking Yard (Bronze) Destroy 2,000 Vehicles Misconception (Bronze) Destroy 25 infected water towers before they hatch Brain Trust (Bronze) Complete all consume events Half-Truths (Bronze) Complete a mission without causing a single military alert Return Fire (Bronze) Catch any object tossed by a hydra; and throw it back Gunning (Bronze) Destroy 20 helicopters in a single helicopter flight Cleanup (Bronze) Kill 15 characters with a single whipfist attack The First Thread (Bronze) Unlock the web of intrigue Self-Deception (Bronze) Discover what happened to Alex Mercer through the web of intrigue It’s Him! (Bronze) Patsy 5 military personnel In Plain Sight (Bronze) Evade 10 strike teams Infiltrator (Bronze) Infiltrate 10 military bases disguised as a commander Threat Elevated (Bronze) Destroy 25 strike teams Repossession (Bronze) Seize 50 vehicles from enemy hands SME (Bronze) Gain the ability to drive and fly all vehicles Surface-To-Air (Bronze) Shoot down 50 helicopters while driving armor Evolutionary step (Bronze) Use the upgrade menu to acquire an upgrade In The Web (Bronze) Consume 50 web targets Speed Bumps (Bronze) Run over 500 characters in a single tank Trail Of Corpses (Silver) Kill 53,596 infected Endless Hunger (Silver) Consume 200 characters to boost your health Streetwise (Silver) Collect all landmark collectibles scattered across New York City Polymath (Silver) Collect all hint collectibles scattered across New York City Mankind is your mask (Silver) Complete 3 missions without causing a single military alert The butcher (Silver) Kill 50 characters in 5 seconds Unnatural Selection (Silver) Acquire all available upgrades The Cleaner (Silver) Destroy 10 military bases or infected hives in New York City Au (Silver) Achieve a rating of gold or better in all events Nice Guy (Silver) Complete the game while consuming 10 civilians or fewer Revenge Revisited (Gold) Complete story mode on hard difficulty Web Of Knowledge (Gold) Acquire all nodes of the web of intrigue Hard To Kill (Gold) Complete story mode in any difficulty without dying Pt (Gold) Achieve a platinum medal in all events Platinum Trophy Collect all other trophies Hope (Bronze) Discover the truth behind Hope, Idaho through the Web of Intrigue. Origin (Bronze) Discover the history of Elizabeth Greene through the Web of Intrigue. Crossing the T (Bronze) Complete the Hunter Boss Encounter Errand Boy (Bronze) You’ve completed the Specialist Boss Fight Children of Blacklight (Bronze) You’ve completed the Supreme Hunter Boss Battle On Instinct (Bronze) You’ve completed the Mother Boss Battle One Thousand Suns (Bronze) You’ve completed the Supreme Hybrid Boss Battle

Speed Bumbs Trophy

Early in the game you have to get a tank for Karen Parker when that happens you have to run over 500 pedestrians in a single tank. When you do that there will be a message that says speed bumps.