#Orion arm

[deinocheirus]

I’ve barely drawn lately, but I have been thinking about different populations of snamels.

They have been space faring for Millennia, different colonies have varied looks from a combination of genetic drift and genetic modification to suit different words (or to make themselves look like rainbow sherbet)

[bimoonphases]

@wolfstarmicrofic September 6 - prompt 6: Time-Turner [word count 622]

It had become a sort of routine, the first night after they all came back to Hogwarts after spending the holidays apart. After the train ride, and the banquet, when they closed the door of their dorm, they kicked off their shoes and gathered on James’s bed. There, Sirius finally let the cheery mask he had worn since that morning drop and nestled in James’s arms, James delicately passing a hand in his hair. Remus kneeled at the bottom of the bed and slowly rolled up Sirius’s trousers, doing his best not to grimace at the sight of the new wounds appearing on the back of Sirius’s calves, and delicately applied a healing pomade Poppy gave him every Full, before bandaging them. Peter then carefully measured the right amount of drops of the Sleeping Draught he had brewed to give Sirius a good, dreamless night of sleep without knocking him out immediately. After that they all relaxed back on the pillows, or on James’s chest in Sirius’s case, and played the Time-Turner game.

“If I had a Time-Turner,” Peter was saying in that moment, “I would travel back and meet the founders of Hogwarts.”

“That would be cool,” Remus agreed. “I wonder how different they were to how they’ve been pictured in History.”

“I’m a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin, according to family lore,” Sirius yawned, the Sleeping Draught evidently close to achieving its goal. “So he must have been insanely hot too.”

“Of course, Pads,” James smiled, patting him on the head.

Remus caught himself nodding and stopped immediately, but not before Peter shot him a knowing look and he turned away, feeling his cheeks heat up. Damn that stupid crush of his on Sirius fucking Black of all people.

“If I had a Time-Turner,” James went on, “I would travel back and watch a Quidditch game when McGonagall played Chaser for Gryffindor.”

“That would be awesome!” Peter exclaimed. “Also, can you imagine her at our age?”

There was a moment of silence, then they all shook their heads laughing. Sirius managed to yawn mid-laugh and ended up closing his eyes, his nose buried  in James’s shirt.

“If I had a Time-Turner,” Remus said, “I would go back and meet Merlin himself.”

“I kind of imagine him like Dumbledore in a way. Maybe you would find out they’re related,” James smiled, moving his hand in Sirius’s hair. “Pads? Do you want to keep playing or are you asleep?”

“If I had a Time-Turner,” Sirius mumbled without even opening his eyes, “I would travel back and stop my mother and my Uncle Cygnus from murdering my Uncle Alphard, so that he could live on and take me and Regulus in.”

A stunned silence followed, the only sound Sirius’s snores. They looked at each other, eyes wide, each wondering if what they had just heard was true, each of them knowing deep down it was. Nothing was past the so-called Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and they were well placed to know not even their own members were safe. Remus’s hands balled into fists as James’s arms closed protectively around Sirius’s sleeping form.

“If I had a Time-Turner, I would go back and blast both Orion and Walburga Black out of existence,” Remus whispered.

He swallowed, his eyes moving from Sirius’s bandaged calves to his face, finally serene in his sleep. Peter leaned closer and silently pried Remus’s hands open just before he could break the skin.

“Unfortunately,” Remus went on, his voice trembling, “they did manage to make one of the things I love the most in this world and I would never want to lose him.”

He was grateful his friends chose just to nod and smile at him.

[elbiotipo]

Finally read All Tomorrows last night and I know why people recommended it to me all the time, it was a very interesting piece of *biopunk* speculative evolution with a fascinating overarching story. It was also a breeze to read, I expected it would be long and a bit tiring (like Man After Man) but no, it was very illustrated and in fact it left you hungry for a bit more, I love the way it lets you fill in the gaps.

Of course, like always, it falls in the same old trope that biotechnology = bad and gross. It doesn't fall straight into saying biotechnology is evil, but the element of body horror is very, very, very much present in all the book. The fact that being warped into abominations is shown as the big event of human evolution reminds me of Man After Man, where "human evolution" doesn't occur "naturally" or as a result of, well, human selection, but as a result of a higher power messing with humans. All those strange beings we see in the book were not the ultimate result of environmental pressures, "artificial" selection or people bioengineering themselves. They were the result of fucked-up eldritch beings who wanted to make fucked-up humans. Which is kind of dissapointing if you are looking for a book that actually talks about future human evolution.

Which brings me to a discussion of the future of human evolution. Because, obviously, humans are evolving today. But I don't think we can see the real effect of biological evolution in the timescale we are managing as current humans. From a quick search, there have been only 500 generations since the arrival of agriculture and thus of all recorded or remembered history as we know it. That's not nearly enough biological time to see any major changes. Yes, there have been changes. And the development of human intelligence and brain size was quick and monumental, with many things we still don't really understand (like the origin of language and abstract thought). But do notice that the body plan of a modern human does not radically depart from Homo erectus, 2 million years ago.

Some authors like Olaf Stapledon (one of the great grandfathers of science fiction) in Last and First Men (which could be considered the 1930s version of All Tomorrows, in fact All Tomorrows to me is the modern Last and First Men) thought that we would continue to have evolutive pressures like natural selection and our species will continue evolving over millions of years. This is true as all species are still evolving including us, but in just a few decades we have discovered genetic engineering, and it won't be too long before, somehow, it is used in the path of our evolution. All Tomorrows of course talks about this with the Star People and later the Asteromorphs, but I believe it leaves out the prospect of humans guiding their own evolution for the (admitedly interesting) plot twist of the Qu changing them themselves.

What would have happened (or rather, what WILL happen) if humans are left to evolve by themselves? I'm sure that we will find somewhen. And I think that cosmetic genetic modification will be part of it, which is why I personally found the depiction of the Star People so boring. Now, I don't think every human will genetically modify themselves into supermodels, for starters, our parameters of attractiveness are based on culture and material conditions, and people will always seek variety, but I do think "sexual selection" would be a major part of human evolution, and that some forms like the Star People, as practical(?) as they are, just don't have the appeal. The utopia of the Star People should have been just as interesting as the dystopia of the Qu, with people experimenting new ways to adapt their bodies and self expression. Not to mention people adapting to the many strange environments of space by themselves (an old sci-fi trope). And of course, there would always be humans who don't want any of that, preferring to stay as they are, or return as they were. None, none of the Asteromorphs desired that at all?

Even in my own biopunk setting, however, the future of human evolution is something I only can see as far as a couple centuries on the future. Anything more than that, with the infinite possibilities of genetic engineering, makes me dizzy to contemplate. So I think All Tomorrows, for daring to do this billions of years in the future, is an amazing book.

[channnel]

Since I posted my old drawing of mdhm (that and I haven't posted for a while), might as well post my very first drawing of it.

Featuring old art #2, Alan looked so different in my old art style, Claude doesn't have arms, and Jules looks like Jules.

[0oxxo]

Hot rod and optimus prime from the shattered glass universe

[thescribblings]

so, in my villain AU of Orion, he doesn't use a new prosthetic, he uses his raph prosthetic becaue that way it feels like he and Atlas are still fighting side by side. but if he were to accept a new prosthetic, he would need some aesthetic changes to Orion's arm, mainly making it feel more like his current prsthetic! which you can see that i doodled here

that is all, have nice day

[alnilaem]

https://www.tumblr.com/vanderilnde/748409892453466112/going-crazyyyy-at-the-thought-of-ghost-taking?source=share

The way I would be perfect for this khjgjgjg

lmfaoooo i just really love that idea!!! Ghost doting on a girl that’s already broken in and vulnerable he doesn’t have to do any of the work… just look at her funny once and she’s keeling over for him

additionally i feel like this prompt would work soooo well with Gaz. he probably wears his medals on his sleeve in lieu of his heart and operates the world with the undue self-discipline/“gungho” attitude of a sergeant. he tells himself he’s righteous and forthright when he takes in a stray and nurses her to full health, taking it as consent when she latches onto him when it’s really just… her scared to let him go. he tells himself he’s being nice when he capitalizes off her monotonous life to make her feel special and shepherd her into a relationship, because who else will? the spot seems up for grabs

[leet911]

Today on "I don't do AUs but here I am thinking about it anyway":

Sci-fi world where Laudna is alone drifting across the periphery of the galaxy in her decrepit spaceship. The ship's AI is named Pâté, and he's a little weird (and quite horny, even for a ship AI). Both the ship and Laudna are in a pretty sorry state, but there's a nanobot infestation on board running a variant of the Briarwood virus that's somehow keeping Laudna and the ship alive. The virus program calls itself Delilah.

And because of the virus, Laudna isn't welcome on any of the core worlds. She wanders the fringes of civilization gathering whatever she can to keep moving. She was from planet Whitestone a long time ago, but then the Briarwood blight came and eradicated most of her homeworld. Laudna was killed and somehow resurrected by the virus (she doesn't understand how any of this works). And she's heard that the old ruling family of the de Rolos have returned and reclaimed the planet, but she's so far away now that it just feels like a bed time story.

So she's drifting through the periphery when she comes across the planet Gelvaan, which is quite low-tech in comparison to the core worlds. They don't have sophisticated scanners, so Laudna can hide out in system, recharge her ship and resupply. Then she meets Imogen, another loner who leaves the planet surface every now and then to get away from the people. Imogen's ship is named Flora, and Flora isn't a true AI, more like a finicky navigation system. Flora doesn't even talk.

And Imogen is human, mostly. She says her father was a regular guy, but her mother must have been augmented or gene-modded. Because Imogen's mother had some wild mind powers, and Imogen has them too. Imogen dreams of red moons and red storms, she can hear the thoughts of other people, even without trying sometimes, so staying on the planet is very hard on her. Imogen thinks of leaving Gelvaan, of venturing out into the galaxy to learn about her mother.

So when Laudna says they should go together, Imogen leaps at the chance. Here's someone whose thoughts don't hurt. And sure, maybe Laudna can look a little scary sometimes, but she's a nice person, even if Pâté is a little weird. And Laudna is thrilled, because no one has ever wanted to stay with her before. So yes, Laudna will take Imogen to Jrusar, even if it's light-years away and she has no idea how to get there. She will risk going to one of the core worlds if Imogen wants to go.

[bordonfreeman]

TADAAAAA, THEY'RE FINISHED!!!

I think this is the most colorful character i have rn lol

[totaleclipse573]

First and eldest of Doleon’s six other brothers, Akmad! He’s…let’s just call him the most strict when it comes to the Supreme’s “will” and what he and his brothers were placed here to do. He knows that, and is the most dedicated to making sure it’s done right.

[orionshounds]

in honor of my lightbulb plush arriving, i had to draw her goofy ass run :3c

[last-flight-of-fancy]

listen i know the reason you cant actually carry people and hug the characters is due to game coding and the wide range of player characters sizes but. in my head it's WoL who picks up alisiae. why am i big and strong if i cannot pick up my new baby sister. this is a travesty. also i am emotionally compromised.

started shadowbringers and wow i can't beleive how fast that chemistry developed

Update:

so uh. that happened.

[elbiotipo]

There was (is) this hard sci-fi worldbuilding project (Orion's Arm) which was a huge inspiration for me as a writer.

And it also, like many sci-fi works after the Cyberpunk genre consolidated, it had megacorps. What's interesting though is that the writers of Orion's Arm were (are?) very libertarian transhumanist extropian silicon valley kind of people, so to them megacorps were actually kind of good.

They toned it down in later revisions (it's still an ongoing project) but I remember when I was a teen and how odd it seemed to read their encyclopedia entry on megacorps and be described as "the largest institutions of modosophonts" (a 'modosophont' is a normal human, someone who is not a transhuman or an AI god, intelligence in Orion's Arm is measured in quite literal super-sayain levels) The setting assumed, by default, that capitalism is the natural system of humanity and it's the best thing until AI Gods rise. In fact, I looked it up in the Internet Archive, and that's exactly what they said:

There's just... so much to unpack there. (the new article is a lot better and interesting, though it remains surprisingly pro-megacorp, which on itself is rather unique)

Also, in the deep lore, I believe there is a mention that Indonesia reformed to be the first corporate state or something, with a cheesy name like Corporate Republic of Indonesia. Which, from a third worlder perspective, doesn't make sense; we don't elect someone to turn us into libertarian dystopias, the megacorps are real and they intervene in our countries without that. Or at least I thought, until we elected fucking Milei.

[haxxydraws]

Just some guys being dudes being guys being dudes being guys

[nat-of-personifs]

the urge to make sephirotic personifs is there. i do not have the skills to depict metaempires spanning galaxies composed of literally trillions of sophont things that trade star systems like cards as anything. i try to ignore the urge

i may not be able to draw them but i can like. talk about them

no the archai do not count as personifs, but they do manage their exchange through meme bullshit enough that for all intents and purposes they’re puppeteering them. all the toposcophic levels with significant enough populations for exchange to happen have generated different personifs for the same things because a modosophont personif cannot process transapient exchange. transapient exchange is like shrimp colors. you need a shrimp personif to understand that

personifs can shapeshift as much as anyone who has exchange with them which is to say they can look like anything they like and the translation morphs onto all their bodies. scions are familiar they’re literally subavatars.

the modosophont consciousnesses of the metaempires spend very little time embodied. there’s just very little that could prompt that large of a polity to do anything as a collective. the archai sing them to sleep every 16 hours with memetic lullabies.

i do not know what the transapient consciousnesses are doing because i am not transapient.

i might end up drawing nearbaseline avatars of some smaller polities if they have themes that compel me that’s still on the table

[pencil-for-a-dog]

So, the golden enclaves.... They were... Qn experience