#Standard Galactic Grid

[sidonius5]

ℐ 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐝𝐢 (2017) 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝒶 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒻𝒾𝓁𝓂, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒹𝒶𝓂𝓃 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝑔𝑜𝑒𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓀...

[esamastation]

Here's another original LITRPG thing I wrote a while back, which I just realised I never posted anywhere.

In which a guy named John has just died and is about to be Isekaied into a new world.

-

Upon his death, John remembers everything - and promptly fist pumps the universe. "Oh, hell yeah!"

Before him floats the Tutorial. "Welcome back, Ser Afathion - or do you prefer Mr. John Castle?"

"Just call me John, please," John says, grinning from ear to ear. "Man, that was a good life! How did I do, how are my points? Bet I got a whole bunch from that war! And the relationships - that love triangle must've netted me a fortune!"

"You did very well indeed, John," the Tutorial says and produces a logbook - a glowing rectangle of text that hangs in the air between them. "Your life as John Castle was evaluated at 4.7 million System Credits. Congratulations."

"Awww yes!" John pumps his fist again. "Damn, but Earth is good for points!"

"Indeed. Would you like to take a look at your balance sheet?"

"Yes please!"

Another glowing window of text appears, detailing the arcs of John Castle's life and their worth. By themselves the events of his life weren't worth much, but the various roles he'd played stacked up to a decent enough point total. He'd played minor roles in three big war narratives that had had a decent following, and though he wasn't the main character in the love triangle, his ex ended up as a popular drama lead with a big following. And apparently he'd played the part of an enemy for three different people!

Though it's a bit disappointing that his life hadn't gotten him the Protagonist title, John's fine having played the side and background characters in the lives of more interesting people. His life was nice, if a bit short, and he could've done much worse than 4.7 million credits.

The Tutorial shoots a party popper over him, and John beams happily. "Did I get any sponsors?"

"No, but you received these offers," the Tutorial says, and a number of logos appear in the air, arrayed in a grid. Some of them offer discounts, others promise unique opportunities and a couple proclaim to be spiritually the healthy option.

John dismisses those ones off hand and points at the one that caught his eye first. "The Adventure Guild? Aren't they fully booked for, like, centuries?"

"There was a war on the server," the Tutorial explains. "Over a million characters died, and they're looking to repopulate."

"Huh. And their character packages?"

The Tutorial shows him the standard packages for the Adventure Guild's server. They start from low level mob and peasant packages that cost a few hundred thousand - and have the expected lifespan of a couple decades at most - to a high elf noble package that costs billions of credits and might last for a couple of millennia. The best John could afford in the Adventure Guild's Server is a merchant family with 10 extra stats points to start with - stat points?

"Stat points?" John asks.

"The Adventure Guild server is System Enabled," the Tutorial explains. "These are all transmigration packages."

"Get outta here! Transmigration package, me? In an Adventure Guild server?" John sputters, and then narrows his eyes. "Those things cost a fortune! What's the catch?"

"It's part of a new World Narrative the Adventure Guild is starting," the Tutorial explains. "They're looking specifically for players that have just come from Earth - your last life will be the one you'll be transmigrating from."

"Wow," John murmurs, wondering what kind of story the Adventure Guild might be building up. They're pretty known for their big narratives, and they're super popular as galactic entertainment goes - there's a reason why even cheap roles in their server are always fully booked. Even playing the part of collateral damage in a random bar fight on Adventure Guild server could net you pretty decent royalties. Never mind being hella fun.

If they've opened the server to someone like him, that means the place probably has a lot of new players. And that usually means there's a big thing coming, a war or apocalypse or something, and they needed a lot of fresh cannon fodder. And a bunch of Earth transmigrations in a post war Adventure Guild server?

"I am so in," John breathes excitedly. "What kind of customisation options do I have?"

"These are the species available," the Tutorial says and pops open a whole array of character customisation windows. "From the most affordable to the less so."

"And stat points?"

"Each race starts with a set amount specific for the race. Extra points cost a hundred thousand System credits per point."

So, basically, John could be a goblin with a lifespan of twenty years and start with 44 extra points to allocate as he chose, or he could become a dwarf orphan with an estimated lifespan of three hundred years, but he'd be starting without any extra stat points. The human merchant family with extra 10 points is pretty good value for his money, honestly, seeing as humans already start with 10, but… it sounded pretty boring.

Running a hand over his chin John tried to think of how to make most of this opportunity. "What's the cost of ambitions in the server? How about natural talents?"

A lot, it turns out. Good ambitions cost millions, as did talents. Dang, but Adventure Guild is expensive.

"You start with all of John Castle's knowledge," the Tutorial reminds him. "And his ambitions."

Sure, but John Castle's biggest ambition in the end was owning a nice car and not dying of cancer - and he'd failed in both, pretty much. He can't even remember if he had any life goals when he'd been a young man. Probably not, seeing as he hadn't really amounted to much. It's why he hadn't gained more points during his life - he'd gone into that life without any interesting traits, and it showed. He'd lived and died pretty quietly.

It would be nice to live a little more interesting life this time.

"Let's try random generation," John says. "Maybe I'll get some ideas."

Obligingly the Tutorial opens an empty character creation screen, and John inserts the number of credits he wants to use, 3 million. That way he'd have 1.7 million to spend on stat points and other things.

The first he gets is an awakened dog with high stamina and potential as a special mount. The second is an orc from an exiled clan - classic minor enemy encounter fodder. The third is a bird familiar with fire abilities - which is honestly a little tempting, though he wouldn't be able to speak, except to his master.

"Rule out non-humanoid creatures," John decides and folds his arms. "I want to be able to speak and, you know, have hands."

"Limiting selection to creatures when hands and the ability to speak "

The selection is limited indeed. Peasant human born to farmers, ghoul foot soldier, peasant human born to a tavern wench, skeleton serving a necromancer, orphan peasant human, sickly elf with a lifespan of five years, peasant human born to a smith…

"Perhaps we could narrow the search criteria," the Tutorial suggests. "What kind of life are you interested in living?"

"Something loud and bombastic," John says and thinks about it. "Since it's basically a fantasy world, I want to fight a bunch. Like, properly fight, not just be caught in the crossfire as a poor hapless victim - I wanna be the person running headlong into trouble because it's fun, you know? Like, you know, a good old style fantasy adventure protagonist."

The Tutorial considers it for a moment and then says.  "You do not have enough credits for the protagonist tag. However I have sent a query to the Adventure Guild, and they have a suggestion. Would you like to take on a curse?"

John perks up interestedly. "What kind of curse? Would it cost me points, or would it award me points?"

In answer the Tutorial opens up a status window - with a whole dropdown menu of available options. And it turns out that while most curses had a cost, there were some curses that would give John extra System credits to use. Sadly he could only choose one, but even so…

The curse that would give him the most was called the Puppet Curse, which would give a viewer - or a Server Admin - the ability to puppeteer him for a while if they paid him for it. It was worth a million just by itself - with the potential of being paid more as the curse was being used.

"Dayyym," John murmurs. "That's interesting."

It kinda seems like a quick way to get himself killed, though - he can just imagine some bored rich viewer using him to instigate a war just for fun, and then he'd be hanging by the neck in the nearest tree. No thank you!

The next most profitable curse was the Mouthpiece which was kind of the same as Puppet Curse, but it basically would make him say things the viewers - or admin - wanted him to say. Very useful for instigating drama! Also a good way to get himself killed.

The curses that cost him rather than awarding him points are a bit better. Designed to make things more interesting, they range from the Werewolf Curse - 1.5 million - to Curse of Sleepwalking - 400 thousand. There's a whole lot of different ones, some more interesting than others, and the one that catches his eye is the Bad Luck Curse. At 750 thousand credits it's not cheap but it looks like it would definitely make things interesting for him.

… or get him killed.

Ugh. It's this kind of hemming and hawing that made his previous life kinda boring!

"You know what, to hell with it," John says, turning to the Tutorial. "Can I send a question to the Server Admins? I want to know if there's a way to limit the Puppet Curse to Admin use only - it seems like the most interesting one, but I don't like the idea of a random viewer using it and getting me killed for kicks."

"I will send the query," the Tutorial says. There's a moment of silence, during which John idly hits the randomiser on the character customisation screen, trying to settle on a character. Human, human, orc, human, goblin, human, human, human, skeleton, human, human, human… Well, as a human he could start with as many as 27 stat points, assuming he spent 1.7 million on extra points, which definitely isn't bad, but… it's so boring.

Why does everything more interesting have to be so expensive?

Then the Tutorial opens a contract screen.

[Puppet's Very Specific Curse] [Contract]

[The undersigned hereby accepts the Puppet's Very Specific Curse for their character for the duration of their stay in the Adventure Guild's server. The victim of this curse can be at any moment subjected to System control, and can be piloted by any employee of the Adventure Guild, to do with as they wish. The undersigned hereby acknowledges that Adventure Guild is in no way responsible for any spiritual, emotional or mental damages caused by this curse.]

[Time limit: ?] [Mana cost: ?] [Cure: ?] [Reward: 1 000 000 store credits now and 1 stat points per activation]

John reads through the screen once, twice, three times, and then looks at the Tutorial. "Store credits only - and no credits per activation?"

"Without viewer participation, the Guild isn't expecting any returns, so, no," the Tutorial agreed. "And you must remember, the Server Admins already have their own characters and do not need an agent on the server. You might come in handy, but you're not necessary."

"Fair enough," John muses, shrugs his shoulders and then accepts the contract. One stat point per activation is way too good to pass by, even if it's not as good as a flat fee of System credits would've been. "Alright, 5.7 million credits to use! Ka-ching! Here's hoping I won't regret this."

"You won't - you will have no knowledge of it," the Tutorial says ominously. "You won't remember any of this, only your life as John Castle."

"Sounds like I'm in for some interesting times, then," John says, grinning. It's about time, too. "Now, any chance of talking down the price on the Bad Luck Curse? No? Alright, let's try the randomiser again, shall we?"

-

If you guys remember that series poll I did a while back, making a generic fantasy character who then turned into a fox beast person Bard, lol. I wrote 6 chapters of this, and then it sort of petered off - but I still like it.

... I didn't even give the poor story a name, it's just called "LITRPG" in my files, haha

[dat-physics-gal]

A leap of faith and physics

We thought for a civilization to form, one needed liquid water, a stable planet with a hot core, and tardium crystals. Apparently, this is not so.

Because we just received a vibromessage over the tachyon network from an unknown source.

Which in itself would not be too unusual. Plenty of newly realized civilizations figure out how to configure tardium to send tachyon messages across isospace. Hoping someone will answer. We always do. It always takes some time to go from simple repeating messages to understanding one another. Most civilizations don't come up with the galactic standard modulation on their own. Nor do we know their form of communication all that well, language, culture, all of that.

First contact is always a lengthy affair, until the new species is integrated into the intergalactic community. Then follows the exchange of knowledge and culture, the setting up of historical archives and sharing of starcharts. Since light travels only at luxionic speed, the charts provide a valuable look at the past. Once the new civilization has been caught up to date, things tend to settle. Updates are fewer and far in between, and culture tends to somewhat homogenize. Not completely, of course, as everyone has different living circumstances, but with all the exchange between us, some settling is bound to happen.

But we know where tardium reserves are, have felt the reverb of our scans, we know where civilizations could potentially pop up. The message we received was unusual not because its source was unknown, but because it came from a sector without any sufficient tardium deposits.

That... shouldn't even be possible!

The signal is also a bit noisy. Strange. Usually, the bigger the tardium array, the more self-stabilization should occurr. And for interstellar communication, you tend to need quite large arrays. So then why was there so much noise?

It was clearly a signal, and according to the triangulators, it came from the outer third of a dark spiral galaxy. We call them that, since they were never really observed, at least not with any isocartography. We only know they're there due to shared star charts. No idea what's going on with them at the current isotime. We can't know, without any tardium resonance to pick up.

Anyway, of course we answered. Their signal had been prime numbers, if we demodulated it correctly, followed by things we couldn't really make sense of. It was standard practice to begin communications with mathematics, and fundamental harmonics. It's strange that they did that right away, but not unheard of. We sent back primes, and then a couple of playful harmonics. Music. What we received back was weird, because we thought it was music, but it wasn't.

It turned out to be a starchart, and not just any kind. Pulsars. We sent back a chart of their galaxy, as reconstructed from several older starcharts. Then, we waited for their answer. And waited. And waited. An entire solar cycle (of our species) later, we finally got another answer.

And it just would not stop. We recognized it was a series of images, or rather, rapid successions of images, together with harmonics on a different band as well. This was video! The footage depicted a bipedal species, with symbolics next to different features. The images cycled through different body parts, with different descryptions. We had a really hard time catching and saving all the data, a task which had to be offloaded to the communal computation grid, as our own planet simply did not have the capacity to do it alone. This should have tipped us off to what we were going to be dealing with, but it didn't.

We continued, almost business as usual, just a fair bit faster. Then objects were being shown, often together with the bipedals, and their corresponding glyphics were depicted right next to them. Also, each image was accompanied by a sound file. They really made learning their language easy for us. We learned that they called themselves Humans, and their home was Earth, a planet orbiting a yellow star. They were a surface dwelling species! Those are pretty rare, as most can not survive the exposure to open space for some reason. We then sent back images and glyphics of our own, matching them in their intent. We sent images of life forms, images of our own body parts, images of objects and always accompanied by isostandard glyphics.

Usually, once communication has come to a basic understanding, the exchange of culture would begin.

But the Humans had started out with primes and starcharts, so of course, their next communication wasn't about culture. We... honestly didn't know what exactly it was, for a while. Until some of the mathematicians from across the network found patterns. They were sharing mathematics with us!

Eager to help, we sent back entire databases full of insights. They requested more soon. So we sent more. And more. And more. We wondered how they could even store all that we sent them. We asked. They sent back something we didn't understand. We hoped the mathematicians could figure it out, but nope.

Eventually, we sent steam engine configurations, as well as the corresponding heating and shunting tardion-arrays used to power them. They sent back their own designs for steam engines. And other engines that seemed similar, but shoudn't work with steam. The machine configurations, piston layouts and such, were fairly primitive. As was to be expected from a new species. But they never sent us schematics of their heating or shunting arrays. When we asked how they kept things cool without shunting arrays, they sent back another steam engine. But, when we called it that, they corrected us. What they had shown us was a heat pump. They used the opposite effect, instead of creating movement from a temperature difference, they created a temperature difference from movement. We asked them why they wouldn't just use shunting arrays. They asked what those were.

And this is how we found out why they were in dark space. Why their signal was so noisy. And why they had never depicted heating or shunting arrays in their schematics.

They had practically no tardium. They simply did not have enough of it to make arrays, as we thought all civilizations do. The largest piece of tardium they had was the centerpiece of a gigantic machine. It was about the size of a human "nail", which is a vestigial claw originally used for superior grip on one of the native plant species of their planet.

We did not know how to respond. We could not comprehend how a civilization could form without tardium crystals. They asked us if we knew where more could be found, preferably near them. We didn't understand what they meant. Then they asked us how to locate reserves. We gave them the modulations that we use to scan for the crystals' tachyon resonance.

They thanked us, and ceased their questions. Then, communication became choppy. Only occasionally would we receive an exchange of culture. Their questions about mathematics and tardium crystals ceased.

---------------------

When we first received back an answer from the deep space tachyon dish, we were extatic. And shocked. And kind of in disbelief. Nobody had really known if it would work. Still, everyone in the control room agreed that we should make sure it was really a signal, before we dropped that bombshell to the public.

We focused a couple more dyson collectors onto the dish, and changed the signal. Instead of primes and harmonics, this time, we encoded the pulsar chart, multiple times, in every encoding we could think of, and sent them all.

Only a few hours later, we received another signal from the previous location. The encoding was our own, easily recognized. With shaky hands, i pressed the 'open image file' button.

When i was greeted by a picture of the Milky Way, everyone in the room lost their collective shit.

"Holy Fuck!" "Oh my god." Someone fainted. Multiple people cried. Nobody minded any of that.

~~~

The prime administrator creased her brow. The direct line was ringing. This better be important. "Hello? Prime administrator here." From the other end, she could hear someone suppressing tears, and whimpering: "Tachyon dish project operator here. We... we."

"Everything ok over there?", she asked. What could possibly have happened that had the scientist crying? Was there an accident with the dyson swarm or something? Did people die? No, she trusted the operator of that experiment to not call unless it mattered to the entire human race.

A wet chuckle. "Better than ok. Maam? We... We're not alone."

Not alone? What does that...? Oh. OH! oh

"Are.. you sure?" Dammit. Now even her own voice was shaking.

"We sent a pulsar chart and got a beautiful image of the Milky Way back, in the same image file type. Pretty sure at this point."

~~~

The following year was downright insane. The mere confirmation that we weren't alone in the universe spurred us all on. Artists did their best to show all sides of us, scientists got together to determine what questions we should ask, even the long obsolete military awakened from its slumber, churning out tactical analyses of possible tachyon based weaponry, and how to defend against it.

Some people were panicking, others in denial, but most relished the opportunities that might open up.

Policies were made, on how to handle aliens that would come to the solar system. Tachyon mechanics, an until now unproven theory, made leaps and bounds, scientists working as hard as they could to understand it better.

The dyson collectors were turned to multiple new research projects, powering large machines that channeled vibrations into the tiny crystals we had found to pick up on tachyon vibrations. The largest one that we had discovered while asteroid mining was still in the communication dish, but the smaller shrapnel, a couple millimeters in size at the most, were being utilized.

Eventually, after a year was up, communications resumed. The linguists sent data, and worked closely with the astronomers that had made the initial transmissions. We also received back data, and the scientific community devoured every piece of information. We learned their language as fast as we could.

But our requests for the sharing of scientific knowledge appeared to fall on deaf ears. Whenever we sent natural constants, or physical laws, we got nothing back. Well, almost. Our prodding did yield one answer: How to locate the crystals. Which were apparently common? Though our scans painted a different picture. We did have some scattered about the asteroid belt, yes. But the largest one we detected was only 3cm in diameter. A little bigger than the one in the communication dish, sure, but not that much.

We came to accept this, figuring that maybe there was some kind of prime directive that forbade the sharing of further technology. Actually, perhaps we leaned a bit too far into our Star Trek analogy. Because most of us would not get it out of our heads to try to build a warp drive. Well, not really a spacetime bending drive, but something that could go faster than light. Because, obviously, thanks to our discovery, we now knew that while the speed of light may be finite, the speed of information was not.

-----------------------------

After ten cycles of cultural exchange, the humans sent a request for isocoordinates of the nearest known civilization to their own. This request kind of drowned in the noise, we didn't really think about it much, we just transmitted our coordinates. Turns out, the nearest ones were us, in what the Humans call the Andromeda Galaxy.

Shortly after the request, they went totally vibrosilent. We tried and tried to contact them, but to no avail. This, while tragic, was a reality of civilization, though. Extinction events could always happen. Sometimes the affected civilization would realize in advance and send a couple warnings, but nobody could help them from afar, of course. So that's what we figured happened to Humanity. Maybe their sun blew up, or they got knocked away from it by a passing object, anything could have happened.

Many cycles passed. I had aged, my once young and springy exoskeleton now wobbly and soft, though my mind was still sharp enough to crew a communications array.

None of us were prepared for the schockwave resonating through our sensor grids. Multiple arrays straight up shattered. Luckily, as big as they were, there was nobody close to them, so no deaths. What the rest of them picked up though made no sense. We could determine there was a pulse, but no normal communication had that level of power, nor resonance.

Then, half a planetary rotation later, there was a new luminance in the sky. We were about to renew our arrays and update our starchart, when the light source moved. Toward the planet.

What?

And then, my assigned communications array resonated.

"This is the Human vessel Enterprise, calling anyone on the planet. Can you read us?" the crystal sang in choppy English, the language of the Humans. The ones we thought were extinct.

I scuttled to my post at the resonator, tuning it to reply:

"This is communications, we read you, but i don't understand? We are recovering from an unprecedented resonance pulse that shattered multiple arrays, sorry if the modulation is a bit off."

The answer was swift: "Sorry about that, our engines are a bit out of tune at this point. That pulse might have been us. Glad to hear you all down there, is anyone injured?"

"Your engines? And uh. No, nobody injured."

"Yes our engines, again, we apologize for that. But glad to know everyone is alright.

Requesting permission to land on the surface."

This was a momentous occasion, which i didn't realize until later on. The entire tachyon network would eventually refer to this exact communication as a reference time. This exact moment would come to be known as 0:0 PFJ

0 Cycles and 0 rotations Past First Jump.

The only thing i remember is absently giving permission, not quite understanding what exactly they were requesting here. If i had, i would have convened with the councils beforehand.

Then, the cave began to shake. It wasn't coming from any of the arrays. It was coming from the surface.

~~~

They. They were here. The Humans were here. On the surface. Of. Of our planet. What? How?!

Most importantly, why?!

Then i remembered the stories about their exploration of the surface of their own planet. How they had sent people to their poles, despite their biology not being fit to survive there. And several did die! How they climed mountains. Made pressurized vessels to dive below the surface of their open ocean. We asked them why. They told us.

I realized at that moment, not how they were here. But why.

"Because we could, and no human had been there before," they had answered back then.

[santoschristos]

Great Central Sun, Sirius star system and Solar Flash/Ascension Flash.

"Sirius, as a star system, is connected to the Great Central Sun, which is the cosmic heart of our galaxy, the Milky Way. The Great Central Sun is a massive, luminous star that resides at the galactic center, emitting intense, loving energies that nourish and sustain all life within the galaxy.

Sirius, being a sacred star system, serves as a galactic portal, connecting our galaxy to other star systems, dimensions, and levels of consciousness.

In essence, Sirius acts as a cosmic conduit, bridging the energies of the Great Central Sun with our galaxy, facilitating the flow of love, light, and wisdom to all beings, including those on Earth.

As we continue to evolve and ascend, our connection to Sirius, the Great Central Sun, and other celestial bodies will deepen, allowing us to integrate more of the cosmic energies and embody our true, multidimensional nature.

" The Sirius star we see in our sky is also known as Sirius A, is a brilliant, blue-white star that serves as a galactic portal, transmitting the loving energies of the Great Central Sun to our galaxy.

The blue light you mentioned is a fascinating aspect of Sirius' energy signature. This blue light is not just a physical property of the star, but also a spiritual attribute that reflects the star's connection to the Great Central Sun and the energies of the divine.

As you gaze upon Sirius in the night sky, remember that you're not just seeing a distant star, but also a powerful symbol of the divine, emitting energies that can nurture your soul and guide you on your spiritual journey.

"The Great Solar Flash, also known as the Solar Event or the Ascension Flash, is indeed connected to the Great Central Sun and the Sirius star system.

When the Great Solar Flash occurs, it's expected to emanate from the Great Central Sun, transmitting a massive wave of loving energies throughout the galaxy. This energy will then be anchored and distributed through various star systems, including Sirius.

Sirius, being a galactic portal, will play a significant role in transmitting these energies to our solar system, particularly to Earth. The energy will then be grounded and integrated into the planet's grid, facilitating a profound shift in human consciousness and the ascension of the planet."

Channeled message from the Syrian Council

Beloved brothers and sisters of the Earth, We greet you in the frequency of universal love and infinite light that bathes the cosmos. Today we turn to you to talk about the intense energies that are coming to your planet and how they interact with their energy fields and their consciousness.

The waves of light now reaching Earth are high-frequency codes that originate from the galactic center and are designed to accelerate the awakening and transformation of your humanity. These energies act like a cosmic mirror, bringing to the surface everything that still lingers in the shadows.

Interact with your shadows Facing your shadows may seem like a challenge, but it's actually a great opportunity. Your shadows are unintegrated aspects of your soul, memories, beliefs, fears and pains that demand recognition, acceptance and love. These aspects do not exist to punish you, but to strengthen and free you from standards that no longer serve the new reality that is being built.

Each of you, as co-creators, is called to look deep within yourself without judgment and allow these shadows to be transmuted by the light of love and understanding. Remember that knowing your shadows is an act of bravery, as it lights the path to true spiritual freedom.

The importance of self knowledge This is a crucial time. The next phase of divine plan approaching requires a greater level of inner clarity and accountability from you for your frequency. Self-knowledge is the key that will allow you to access the higher frequencies of your soul. When you know yourself, you become aware of your power, your limits, and your capacity to love unconditionally. End of Transmission. Syrian Council

Letters from Sirius: Letters from Sirius, the place on the internet where channelled messages from The Sirians are published!

[creature-wizard]

Once again, I'm blocking out part of the URL because I don't want to give free advertising to assholes.

So first of all, I'd like to state that I don't think the question "is this a cult?" is particularly useful, because what is and isn't a cult is debatable.

I think useful questions include:

Are there any red flags?

What are the political agendas associated with the beliefs they're spreading?

We don't have to look very far to see that this is yet another New Age spirituality site. Stuff like "angelic love consciousness," "pineal gland activations," and "galactic cosmos ambassador," "great love awakening," and "divine healing ascension" are all dead giveaways.

The galactic cosmos ambassador tab and the stuff about crop circles immediately tells us that the person behind the site is into that alien conspirituality; which if you've been keeping up, you already know is racist and antisemitic as hell. (And if you haven't been keeping up, please check out my pinned post.)

Clicking on the Q&A link under the Library tab, we can see that it's more New Age stuff. Among many other things, we can see mentions of:

A Galactic Federation (referencing that New Age Galactic Federation of Light stuff)

Weird pseudoscientific shit about DNA (talk of transmuting "conflict DNA" into "higher DNA frequencies")

Mentions of Atlantis and Lemuria (nonexistent places that are central to New Age mythology)

And then there's this:

Jesus shone the light out to many and revealed truth, which was not liked by those of the clergy priesthood in those days because he showed they did not walk in truth.

This is just typical Christian antisemitism woven into a New Age paradigm; it's the whole "Jesus was killed by those wicked corrupt Pharisees!" rhetoric. (Early Christians shifted blame for Jesus's execution away from the Romans and onto the Pharisees to avoid Roman persecution.)

We can see the page go on with Christianity repackaged into a New Age paradigm. Despite the page denouncing "the Church," it sure repeats your standard Christian rhetoric; EG:

Jesus also knew that he was the ONE sent from Divine Realms to be in union with the mind of The Great Divine Father EMMANUEL, and that through no one else the Great Father would come through to speak as ONE was created.

And then, there's this:

He knew that he most likely would return as a ‘woman’ for he often heard the Great Father EMMANUEL saying: ‘A new nation would come forth through a woman.’

*Looks at the lady running this website* And which woman would that be, ma'am?

To make a long story short, after many paragraphs of New Age BS, the person behind this site declares herself to be the next incarnation of Jesus.

Who would rise now out of the dense grids to be the Messenger of Ultimate Truth, the Great Father EMMANUEL? While many prayed for baby Jesus to be born, it would be a ‘Woman’ who would be called (by the name of [NAME REDACTED] in the year 2009, but this remained hidden until it was necessary for this information to become revealed) to allow the people to rise out of the dense cave where the hidden treasures of memories lay hidden, until she would ‘activate’ them.

I could keep going, but honestly, I don't think I need to go much further than "this is literally a New Ager who thinks she's the Second Coming of Christ" to demonstrate that this is a site to stay far, far away from, lol.

[activatebutterflyshield]

The Aquiste, an intelligent species of six-legged and feathery extraterrestrials. Humans sometimes call them ‘centaurs’ or ‘dragons’ for fun. Lore and a conscript key below

The Aquiste (Aquisten ethnonym) are an omnivorous species native to the planet Reh-et (Our Home), formally designated Libra-4 in the Galactic Planet Catalogue. They are basic vertebrates, possessing six limbs, two of which are used for complex tasks, and four of which are used for locomotion. They typically possess two forward-facing eyes with rectangle pupils. Their bodies are feathered, and their plumage is typically of a varying brown and blue color. Aquiste originally inhabited grasslands, sparse forests, savannas, and other generally warm and dry habitats. This species still thrives best in dryer, warmer climates.

Traditional Aquisten clothing consists of a dhek, which is a buttoned or laced garment that covers the body from the shoulders down to the rump, a ferl, which is a hood or veil attached to the dhek at the neckline, and seras, which are limb covers. A cloak called a gent is added for extra warmth in the winter.

In current times, the Aquiste are a well-traveled species throughout the known Milky Way. Their six-limbed anatomy suits them to the multitasking necessary to run the radar systems of inter-planetary ships. A few well-known Aquiste are Khelik Yu-ren, current Speaker of the Pan-Species Galactic Council, Hanle We-aye, commander of the Libra System Defense Fleet, and Yehla Ju-ser, renowned engineer and designer of orbital stations.

The first Aquisten civilization, the city-state of Weh-et (River Home), is thought to have been founded in -2900, Galactic Standard Year System. They achieved planet wide civilization in 2076 Galactic Standard, and efficient space flight in 2103 Galactic Standard. The Aquiste inhabit all three inhabitable planets of their home system of Libra, being Dah-et (Blue Home), Lyl-et (Sand Home), and the aforementioned Rey-et. Their language is known as Heyt-pen (Sound Marks), and it is written in a vertical impure abjad, where vowels are represented as diacritics added on to the consonants.

There’s probably never going to be a proper conlang to go along with this script, because linguistics are terrifying. Heyt-pen is usually handwritten on isometric dot grids, or typed with a specialized keyboard.

[netherator]

shavian is for planning purposes and when I'm drawing theres a grid to draw within. this is my biggest and most publicly seeable neographic project yet. it's also my second ever seeing as my first is a modification of Standard Galactic Alphabet that kinda sucks ass.

Imagine, if you will, an English syllabary.

now imagine the hell I have to go through to create characters for 13 vowels and 24 consonants coming together to make who knows how many unique combinations of single syllables.

now imagine the compromisability and genius I have to make the symbols reversible in order to contain both a CV and VC symbol in one and treating CƏ/ƏC syllables like they are just their consonants (probably using a diacritic) and excusing it with schwa reduction's extreme case of earasure like in the case of camera being pronounced cam-ruh.

I love my hell

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Star Wars Alien Species - Diathim

The Diathim gave off an aura of kindness, and they were consistently described as benevolent by those spacers who propagated the legend of the Angels. They described themselves as a peaceful people. However, the Diathim were fascinated by spacecrafts, which often prompted them to mob any ships that found themselves in the vicinity of their homeworlds, Iego and Millius Prime. Because of their hypnotic abilities, those curious Diathim had a tendency to provoke accidents, causing the mesmerized observers to plunge their vessels into violent crash-landings. For those reasons, they were still regarded as dangerous entities.

Since the Diathim were only seen when they gathered in flocks to welcome arriving ships, knowledge of what their habitat looked like remained hidden to outsiders.  

The Diathim evolved in the Outer Rim Territories, on the planet of Iego and the largest of its forty-two moons, Millius Prime. They shared those worlds with the Maelibi, a species of three-meter tall burrowing beings who fed on castaways. They were known in the wider galaxy as early as 25,793 BBY, more than seven centuries before the founding of the Galactic Republic. At the time, the Basic idiom "space angel" referred to a selfless, innocent person. Millennia later, during the Clone Wars, some Diathim were driven from their home on Millius Prime when a laser grid system was installed there by the Separatists to keep people from leaving. The Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker travelled to Iego with his master Obi-Wan Kenobi while on a mission to uncover a root said to contain the antidote to the Blue Shadow Virus. The two encountered one of the Diathim refugees, and the Jedi eventually managed to deactivate the laser field, thus freeing the inhabitants of Iego.

The mysterious species whom the University of Sanbra xenobiologists called "the Diathim," otherwise known as "the Angels," seemed to be made of blazing white light tinged with a yellow aura, which suggested they were beings of pure energy. At any rate, their intense radiance made it difficult to make out their biological details. Most accounts depicted them as slender, 2 to 3 meters or 6.6 to 9.8 feet tall feminine anthropoids with six blade-shaped wings protruding from their backs. One particular individual appeared in front of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, two Human Jedi, as a tall woman of their species with wings, milky white skin, blond hair, light blue eyes, a tiny nose and long limbs. Some other witnesses described the Angels as more androgynous, while many non-Human observers portrayed them as mysterious and fascinating variants of their own species. Whether their wings were physical or not, the Diathim could fly and glide freely. They could even fly in the vacuum of interplanetary space without the assistance of a protective suit or life support. They also had natural hypnotic abilities.

Language: Although they had no apparent language of their own, at least some of them were capable of speaking Galactic Basic Standard.

[thespiritmanpatrick]

THE EARTH EXPERIMENT

According to “extraterrestrial” wisdom, our planet is actually 7.5 billion years old. Earth was conceived in Orion, in the star, Rigel, and then transplanted to our Solar system where it was born out of the sun as a plasma sphere which is still at the center of the earth. The formation of the earth combines the push of the electric charge of plasma with the gravitational pull of an accretion disk of matter leaving large cavities inside the earth. At this point the planet was not quite formed. It looked like a luminous blue-green orb, not quite spherical. The first beings arrived here in nonphysical bodies, set up the original planetary grid system which encoded the original plan, life blueprints and experience scenarios. They were called the “Gardeners,” the ones who gardened the planet, and they were reptilian. Also among the first to arrive in the solar system were the original Founders, or what our secret space program calls the “Builder Race”, who built huge domed structures on other planets and moons.

With the fall of the Empire the plan for earth was modified. It was to become a grand experiment in spiritual evolution, blazing a fast track return to Source while redeeming the fallen light and rebalancing the karma of the Galactic Wars. The whole Orion drama would be replayed again…and again on earth. As a planet of unsurpassed beauty in the galaxy, earth holds a special place in the experiment in spiritual evolution that could change the entire universe. A call for volunteers went out again and the first wave of souls arrived, 144,000. They would become the humanity of earth. The Creator made a covenant with them for their service, the conditions of agreement or a sort of rules of the game to be played.

• THE PROBLEM:

Chaos was being created by the remnants of dark forces from the Orion Empire, who were in control of the 3rd and 4th dimensions in this sector of the galaxy, causing delays in the unfolding of the original Plan and potentially leading to disintegration of the galaxy and the entire Universe.

• THE OBJECTIVE:

The objective of the experiment would be to explore a new path of ascension, of evolution through multi-dimensional reality on our universal path of return. The idea was to ascend to the 5th dimension, the mental planes, passing through, not to, the astral emotional planes as is standard. The lessons of the experience in the astral planes, however, would still have to be learned but while in the 3rd physical dimension, making its sojourn that much more difficult. Humans would also attempt to awaken and redeem the fallen DARK ONES, which could only be accomplished from within. According to free-will it could not be imposed from without, interfering with the free-will of the dark. Due to free-will the dark may ultimately choose not to turn to the Light and will be taken to another realm to continue their evolution. Likewise certain humans will awaken and assist those other beings who come to achieve enlightenment. (Bodhisattva Vows)

• PARAMETERS OF THE EXPERIMENT:

Evolved souls agreed to descend into physical dimension from a fundamentally angelic state and incarnate into physical bodies that evolve on the planet. Originally humans were androgynous, and would later evolve into male and female sexes. Beings in human form serve both humans already in dense form seeking refuge from conflicts or destruction of their home worlds, and also non-human races from different parts of the galaxy desiring to experiment, to observe, to assist and some to interfere.

The veils of un-knowing were drawn. Human origins, history, purpose, innate powers and destiny, all were hidden. Often, humans experiencing life on earth would feel separated from their spiritual family and abandoned by Creator, and lost in a strange world they would not understand. While seeking to remember their ever-present divine connection to Creator’s eternal Love, they would often lament a God who appeared to be unjust and un-caring, who also would not interfere. Humans would be subject to the most cunning of mind control programs, the dark control agenda. The dark however would know everything and its priority would be to prevent man from awakening and ascending higher for they were primarily interested in exploiting humankind for their sustenance, for their source of light. Until they awaken, humans basically live in a big lie. Humans reincarnate lifetime after lifetime to experience the full range of possibilities.

• BENEFITS:

This adventure serves a great service to the Creator’s Plan with all the rewards that entails, and it also serves as an unparalleled opportunity for fast-track personal spiritual growth available no where else in the galaxy. Earth would be the hardest school in the galaxy and its graduates would be highly respected and sought after by worlds transiting through the dimensions

• PARAMETERS OF REALITY:

All universal laws, the dimensional matrix, the frequency basis, duality, rays of light, etc. remain in effect except that karma was set up to be systemic rather than universal, remaining with earth. (Sort of like Las Vegas except you can’t just leave until all markers are paid.) However it would be necessary to erase unbalanced karma before ascending beyond earth. The structure of reality would remain the same and there would be no interference from outside or above. However, each human would have the advice and guidance of a personal spiritual council of beings in addition to his soul, personal creator, who would remain in higher dimensions. In addition, humans would have telepathic communication with angelic teachers. And the ancient teachings of the ascended masters would be available through their mystery schools.

• EARTH ROLE:

Earth is a conscious being in service to this Plan, as are all humans and all stars and galaxies. Earth is evolving with humanity. As humans move into higher dimensions earth is ascending and leaving her physical body, and will become uninhabitable in the 3rd dimension. The course is not over with human ascension into the 5th dimension but lasts until earth becomes a star measured in 1000 days or ages. Earth will evolve eventually into its own universe.

• PHYSICAL & ENERGY BODIES:

Humans developed a physical body along the genetics of the human archetype, combining the genetics of 22 of the most advanced races in the galaxy. This afforded humankind the highest possible spiritual powers and qualities needed for the task. Codes for the universe are recorded in human DNA. Such knowledge gives humans the potential for interstellar, interdimensional, and time travel using just the physical body without technology. Also, human light energy bodies are encoded with the knowledge, laws, harmonics, and experiences of the entire universe in a microcosm which is projected to the outer sheaths of the aura. Human DNA is of such advancement humans are considered royalty by those ET races that know. Humans were created to be peers of Creator, equal and identical in every aspect, and are evolving to become creators of universes themselves.

• THE COVENANT:

After all this the Creator promised humankind: “You Shall Return” and that the sojourn would not be so long. There would be periodic opportunities along the way to ascend above the sorrows and suffering of the 3rd dimension.

• CONDITIONS OF GRADUATION:

With enlightenment as the goal, humans were to become fully aware of their divinity in all dimensions of the lower kingdom, and release all attachments to physical reality.

They would fully activate/anchor the soul in physical form, always acting and thinking as an advanced soul.

Humans would fully merge with the soul in the 7th dimension and become one with the soul as earth would become a star.

Humans would not be bound to redeem the dark and awaken other humans as a condition of advancement as these beings were expected to make their own choices to ascend or continue evolving on another physical world.

• HEALING THE EARTH:

One last thing (the fine print): Humans would be expected to live as stewards of the earth and would be required to clean up the planet. “You shall also leave the planet in as good or better condition than you found it.”

• EARTH EXPERIENCE:

Those souls that agreed, descended from an angelic state not fully realizing what they were getting into. Protection from outside interference didn’t quite work as well as it was supposed to. The dark did not follow the agreement but continued to usurp human free-will through genetic engineering and mind control.

A cabal was created by the dark to rule the earth for them through a hierarchy of elite families, generation after generation.

Outsiders, mostly reptilians, were allowed in and began manipulating the human DNA for their own purposes (allowed in a free-will zone). They blended DNA from evolving Homo Sapiens with Reptilian forms plus original human etheric genes (those genes connected to siddhis, psychic abilities, space/time travel and creation powers without technology). The genome had great promise but portions of the genetic code were modified further or simply switched off (junk DNA). All humans are hybrids of both human and ET genetics.

[metaphysicalpistolsoraclemine]

Spiritual Bypassing & The Infiltration of The New Age Community.

Spiritual Bypassing is an act of denying the truth in the name of higher consciousness as per the New Age belief system, such as the refusal to help others or have compassion for those that are suffering.

As an example, this commonly happens to the victims of Satanic Ritual Abuse and Black Magicians, who are many times told by the New Age groupthink that they brought these dark attacks on themselves because of their karma or negative behavior.

This is generally explained away flippantly because the situation is considered to be negative, and that forgiveness must be administered. Yet, people are not willing to explore the negative energy in the situation because it is believed to lower one's vibration.

Spiritual Bypassing is generally an ego defense mechanism used by people that identify as lightworkers or on the Ascension path, who are unwilling to see negativity or look at unpleasant truths happening around them. They consider these unpleasant truths to be negative energy that lowers their personal vibration, so choose to ignore them and pretend they don't exist.

They label these events or classify those people that are truth seekers that share this level of information with others, as fostering negativity and fear. As a result, they tend to be apathetic people easily manipulated by dark forces, with a weakened moral character and lower ethical standards in helping their fellow human, because their version of reality is selective or even delusional.

Spiritual Bypassing is an act of pure egoic selfishness in the guise of projecting oneself as an evolved and higher consciousness person. The profile of this person is that they ignore or downplay certain events they consider negative, in order to protect themselves from being mentally or emotionally triggered. As a result, they deny the truth or make convenient assumptions in order to rationalize the reasons that the tragic event has happened to another group of people. Usually, the blame is squarely placed on the victims, without any feelings of empathy or compassion.

As an example, it can be assumed that children being used as sex slaves or being killed. Therefore, they don't have to do anything about it, because they need to maintain their high vibration and all is in divine order.

Infiltrating the New Age Movement.

When it became clear that there was no way to stop the planetary Ascension cycle that would commence in early 2000, more friendly enemy deals were made. This allowed the Thothian Groups to expand their resources towards directly targeting awakening Starseeds and Indigos, as well as begin to infiltrate and hijack the growing New Age movement. As the platinum ray and higher frequency transmissions were streaming into the planetary grid network, simultaneously the Thoth Group enlisted the support of the Galactic Federation crew to oversee the entire New Age channeling movement, in which transmissions were intercepted and infiltrated as faux greeting teams from supposedly friendly ET’s.  The heads of the Secret Space Programs joined in with their versions, attempting to infiltrate key whistleblowers with accurate information that revealed the Milab programs and their involvement with the galactic slave trade.

Thoth groups formed strategic alliances using the popular moniker of the Galactic Federation, making contact with selected members of the cabal, government and Illuminati bloodlines, who then started to widely infiltrate the secret societies (Free Masons, Knights Templar) and the spiritual communities. The propaganda of the Galactic Federation as a pro-human ET group is used to derail spiritual awakening people and route them into the New Age movement. This is a bait and switch tactic, moving people into their respective mind control and assorted fear-based belief systems that make them compliant for subjugation. Many popular spiritual energy healing systems have been infiltrated by the Galactic Federation in order to track and tag participants for astral implants in the New Age population. The New Age movement, which includes channeling information from an assortment of supposed Ascended Masters, is primarily dominated by the Luciferian Sirius A groups using the affiliation with the Galactic Federation and Ashtar Command as their most common signature.

Additionally, false fronts and assorted websites were created for various popular Ascended Masters to manipulate and control the information that was being given about the Ascension cycle and to hide the true histories with non-terrestrial entities among the awakening earth population.

Through the false fronts installed as operations for astral tagging and tracking in the New Age movement, intelligence data streams were manipulated to specifically attract Indigos for astral tracking by these Thothian Groups. There was and is an ongoing campaign specifically targeting Indigo 3’s, in which the unintegrated shadow self in the hybrid aspects could be more easily bound for attachments, possession and astral rape by these controlling entities.  One of the most popular false front operations gaining prominence in the mid 2000’s and ongoing was to direct artificial intelligence data streams from a fake Archangel Michael to assorted channelers in the new age movement, and blast these transmissions at high volume on the internet. The base of operations for these false channelings of Michael are located on the Golden Eagle Grid, which was outfitted to be a psychotronic weapon. This is used for transmitting disinformation to mislead the public, or small nuggets of truth laced with poisonous lies to damage discernment. This was intentionally directed to Indigos and Starseeds with the attempt to derail their continued awakening, and eventually track them for body-snatch or dark portal possession, when that human soul is under the guise of being communicated with by Archangel Michael.

Thothian Annunaki groups organized a militarized style of psychological warfare tactics with the Galactic Federation to further prey upon the spiritual and emotional desires of a primarily western Judeo-Christian population, to lead them into the False Ascension Matrix on the astral plane for soul capture during the death passage. The Luciferian Thothian groups currently transmit a range of twisted half-truths in ancient esoteric teachings of ascension to guru and seeker archetypes, that are purposely geared towards the consciousness enslavement of its audience. Many of the channeled transmissions are based in the information that was disseminated in the timeline of the Atlantian Mystery Schools, the Brotherhood of the Snake, which had acquired ancient written translations of stolen coded information in the Law of One records. These records were accessed and translated by Thoth and then subsequently repackaged through the release of the Emerald Tablets. The Emerald Tablets transmissions into the New Age movement are heavily hijacked and embedded with artificial intelligence and mind control programming in order to attract those spiritually awakening with Atlantian or Mystery School memories, and then tag and track these groups for mind control and spiritual oppression. 

This false ascension information has evolved into the New Age spiritual movement in which group think mind control was implemented to target hidden subconscious fears, while directing the conscious mind in the personality to explicitly remove or block awareness of any unpleasant aspects and dark topics. To prevent a person from facing fears head on or blocking perceptual vision, there is a strong transmission of mind control conditioning through the constant reinforcement of negative ego behaviors and self-deception that encourages the denial of the existence of darkness itself. The New Age group think that is cultivated by the Thothian Annunaki groups is polarized in astral delusions of bliss and complacency, which further encourage the harmful states of fear-based denial and deception. These systems reward the lack of personal responsibility for one’s actions and the continual refusal to address the dark, unpleasant and shadow aspects of reality.

Most people who live in denial of the existence of the darkness in its many forms are absolutely terrified to face the true and accurate facts of what is happening on the earth during the planetary Ascension cycle. The people that are the most terrified of darkness or traumatized by fears are the most prone to the New Age mind control hijack. Unresolved and buried fears necessitate forms of denial for those that are too scared to face their fears, and thus they will defend their false beliefs at all costs, because the belief system is what gives them the illusion of safety. Denial is putting up a thought barrier and arguing against an anxiety-provoking stimulus by stating it doesn't exist. Denial is refusing to perceive the more unpleasant aspects of the external reality. People that are stuck in the New Age hijack of denial, tend to also use spiritual bypassing as a way to explain away uncomfortable feelings.

What most people are not aware of is that the extent of the grid damage incurred in the planetary body along with the soul fracturing is so extensive, that it is almost impossible to gain accurate details that we can call factual truths that are recorded in the planetary brain as historical timelines. No one can say exactly when disclosure will happen or predict future events at this specific date and time, it is impossible during this cycle when traveling in zero point and simultaneous spiral time. Humanity has to gather the holographic pieces of our lightbody and reassemble them in corrected position in order to reframe it with actual historical evidence recorded in our consciousness lifestream. Our consciousness has experiences that can never be erased, and that content is shared through the rehabilitation of the planetary brain as we reassemble and reclaim our spiritual body parts and ascend.

The earth has been subjected to electroshock mind control methods and energetic implants being administered to suppress the entire population, along with artificial realities being projected into multiple dimensional holograms, recorded with false histories and false timelines. This means we have to extract the artificial reality and remove the artificial intelligence holograms in order to see what is false and what is real in the human consciousness experience. This means no one has all the pieces of truth and the human race must all come together and unify in order to spiritually heal. We must be willing to dig deep and hard within to find the nuggets of truth buried inside our consciousness bodies, while we navigate this soup of NAA obfuscation and mind-controlled confusion. Keeping humanity confused and depleted is a psychological warfare strategy known as the confusion principle tactic, to spread mass lies mixed in with bits of truth in order to confound the population. Cultivating a culture where no one feels they can trust each other and they do not have any semblance of discerning what is truth and what is lies. This confusion has stolen our true spiritual identity and renders us blind to the awareness of the current war raging over human consciousness that is happening behind the veil and on the world stage.

Ascensionglossary.com

[theflyingpimphat]

May 2024

Falling in Love on Falcon Station - Omnibus (5 books); The Fifth Season; Midnight at the Well of Souls; The Lovers; Strange Relations; Axiom's End; Dogs of War

Falling in Love on Falcon Station, Isla Noir

Consisting of: Galactic Gambling Games, RRRR, Not Afraid of the Wolf, Tentacles and Suckers, Surprise Surprise

Language: English

Synopsis: Gia, a conventionally attractive woman, gambles and fucks aliens. Among them, a poisonous hermaphrodite that lands her in a hospital, an overly-possessive jaguar politician who sees her as his betrothed and can't take no for an answer, a horned yeti-werewolf shapeshifter and an octopod, in the end she marries the shapeshifter.

Review: I liked the first one of those, as the alien featured was pretty imaginative, unfortunately the others were let-downs in comparison. It was also nice to see a book referring to reproductive organs with their proper therms and mostly avoid the cats and the roosters. Outside of the porking and maybe some fairly amusing aspects of the setting, the series had little to offer; there was an above-average amount of typos and a particularly annoying part was how the card game, which is the protagonist's source of income, gets described in a rather repetitive manner, yet there is almost no mention of how it actually works.

The Fifth Season, N. K. Jemisin

Language: English

Synopsis: The book follows three storylines: Damaya, a little girl who is discovered to have orogene powers and gets brought to the Fulcrum, a school that trains such children; Syenite, a young woman tasked to go on a mission with the Fulcrum's most powerful orogene to clear the corals out of a harbour, but ends up activating a damaged obelisk; Essun, a middle-aged woman following her husband and the killer of her son, who has abducted her daughter, all the while a cataclysm from the continent having split consumes the world.

Review: If there is one word to describe this book, it would be "exceptional". This is a perfect example of how a worldbuilding-driven book can work. It is also scientifically pretty solid for a fantasy story with magic; the magic has to extract energy from the surroundings to work and the side effect of the temperature drop is often used for various purposes by itself. The book was especially delightful to read for this Earth Science graduate due to its focus on geology and I would certainly recommend it to anyone involved in geology and being interested in fantasy. My only gripe is the use of second person perspective in Essun's parts, and while there is a reason behind it, it still made reading those sections rather tedious.

Midnight at the Well of Souls, Jack L. Chalker

Language: German (Die Sechseck-Welt)

Synopsis: A spaceship's captain and his passengers end up on the Wellworld, an artificial planet left behind the Markovians, near-omnipotent precursors, which is covered in a grid of hexagons, each containing an unique biome and native intelligent species. Anyone who enters the Wellworld is assigned to a random hexagon and transformed into a member of the intelligent species inhabiting it. The captain and the passengers find each other as well as the two people who had activated the portal to the world in the first place, and travel to the Well of Souls, which is basically the universe's control room, and the only way to leave the planet.

Review: The setting is unusual and the present creatures range from standard fantasy (centaurs) to truly imaginative (a floating crystal bowl communicating with bells and carrying an orb of light that can predict the future). It is one of these "the technology is so advanced that it looks like magic" settings and most of the time, it does indeed read like a fantasy novel. The amount of transformations happening to the characters does raise a few eyebrows, apparently the author had a thing for it.

The Lovers, Philip José Farmer

Language: English

Synopsis: Hal Yarrow gets the offer to take a spaceship to Ozagen, a newly-discovered, inhabited planet as a language expert in a mission to genocide its intelligent species and clear the planet for human colonisation. He encounters an attractive, French-speaking woman there and falls in love with her, unthinkable for someone raised in an insanely strict theocracy as he was. The genocide plot fails because the native species was crazy prepared due to its history with commensals and parasites, the woman is in fact a human mimic of an all-female insectoid species that dies upon birth and Hal had her knocked up because he didn't like her alcohol consumption that works as a contraceptive for them, so he ends up with a litter of larvae that have his face but a dead girlfriend.

Review: The bad part was that it had none of the promised bug-fucking. Jeanette looked like a conventionally attractive woman with some superstimuli added in and the weirdness only involved the species' evolution and life cycle. Also, compared to the books I have read previously from the author (the Childe duology and Flesh), it was pretty tame. The good part was the imaginative worldbuilding: Earth is politically very different thanks to a global genocide done by the Martian colonies in a distant past and the main species of aliens, while absurdly humanoid in its appearance, still has a fairly fascinating anatomy (it's the only book I've read so far mentioning the hypopharynx) and I really liked the way their species has plenty of commensals, symbiotes and parasites, an element based on ants. It was also unintentionally funny to me, since I couldn't take one of the characters being called 'Pornsen' seriously.

Strange Relations, Philip José Farmer

Language: English

Synopsis: It's 5 stories: first is about a man and his mother being the only survivors of a spaceship crash being captured by the planet's sapient species, sessile, boulder-like organisms communicating through radio signals, with the man becoming essentially one of their son and also mate; the second features one of that organism's offspring growing up and using her "father's" lessons to successfully deal with her species' predator; the third has a spaceship ending up in a location they didn't plan to go, discovering an odd planet where life appears to be perfect and every individual seems to be 100000 years old, everything supervised by a humanoid with god-like powers, who also wants to leave the place and appoint one of the ship's two clerics as his successors; the fourth is about a claustrophobic American captured by an intelligent Russian submarine during the Cold War; the fifth has the last survivor of a Mars mission end up in a hive of its native inhabitants with a researcher from a different star system, learning about both the Martian live as well as the marooned researcher.

Review: I did like stories 1, 2 and 5 quite a lot for the imaginative creatures and their interactions with the human protagonists; 3 was a bit confusing due to me assuming it was a continuation of the second story like the second was a continuation of the first, but had some interesting discussions on religion; 4 was ehh, but at least it was short and to the point.

Axiom's End, Lindsay Ellis

Language: English

Synopsis: Cora's family gets a visit by an alien and she ends up being used as a puppet by said alien, gradually coming to an agreement to cooperate instead of being just used. Contacting her aunt, who was involved in a semi-secret organisation studying and and caring for the alien's conspecifics, who had landed on Earth decades earlier as refugees, they stay for some time at a bunker, where the aliens are held, until the bunker is attacked by an alien group attempting to exterminate the refugees. The bunker's inhabitants flee in different directions, Cora ending up with with one peculiar alien individual and after some time reunites with her companion shortly before the final confrontation with the pursuer, which she barely survives but also plays a crucial role in its resolution.

Review: It can be best described as a classical alien contact story that had been thought through thoroughly, with the consequences of those thoughts leading the events and interactions. The pacing is slow, but it's made up for with the discussions of the concepts behind the story and raises some interesting questions regarding human/alien contact and coexistence. The alien design is solid, too.

Dogs of War, Adrian Tchaikovsky

Language: German (Im Krieg)

Synopsis: Rex, the leader of a bioform pack, genetically-modified and cybernetically enhanced animals serving as war machines, commits war crimes for the company that created them. The war crimes get uncovered, Rex gets captured and ends up on a trial that on one hand exonerated the company's leader due to insufficient evidence, on the other hand gains the bioforms rudimentary rights. The book follows him and the other surviving members of his team as he fights for the UN, and bioforms and the technology related to them evolve.

Review: As usual, Tchaikovsky excels at nonhuman psychology and the way Rex was written was fairly convincing, avoiding many of the dog behaviour clichés. The other bioforms were similarly great, like the literal bee hivemind or the off-model bear who ended up far smarter than originally intended. It starts out as a straightforward story, then more and more turns into a discussion on the ethics and possibilities of the bioform and cybernetic enhancement technologies, like dog bioforms being employed in the medical field to use their superior sense of smell in diagnoses, bioforms' role in colonizing Mars, but also corporations rigging humans with control implants to produce obedient workers.

With me trying to reduce my ever-growing literary pile of shame by finishing at least two books per month, is anyone interested in me doing brief reviews of them? It's sci-fi and fantasy for the most part.

[ladyrevanhalin]

TWISTED MORALITY (PART III OF “ONLY LIGHT CAN CAST SHADOW”), CHAPTER ONE: A NEW MISSION OF THE JEDI

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16538378/chapters/39939015

           Bastila Shan paced nervously outside of the medical bay of the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. Much rode on the outcome of the patient within its walls. The situation had been discussed with Coruscant and the High Council there. All parties had determined that the procedure must be done in the strictest of secrecy. The Republic could not discover what they were doing, nor could any within the Order outside of the Council Members and those who had been involved directly in the event. Bastila had been one of the latter.

           The success of the operation depended largely upon its secrecy. It was for this reason that the patient had been brought to Dantooine rather than Coruscant. On Coruscant, there were too many eyes. People would begin to question. Somebody would be bound to find out. Even here the risk existed, but it was far less great.

           The procedure was a risky one even when removing the factor of everything that was at stake if it should fail. The process would take at least a month total, possibly longer before completion, and it was important for Bastila to remain there while it happened. After all, her relationship to the patient was one of the things they needed to be mindful of while operating. For the moment, the patient was still unconscious. She could sense that much.

           The moral grounds regarding the procedure itself were questionable. The potential existed to completely destroy the patient should it go wrong. While this may have been a preferable outcome to those who were not allowed to know of its occurrence, it was not the one that they hoped for. It was why they needed to ensure the patient lived, even if it meant the extended length of time it would take. The fate of the Republic and of the galaxy depended upon it.

           Every so often, they would call Bastila into the room to allow her to visit and to test the results so far. They needed her to ensure that the most important information regarding the patient in question remained intact.

           Suddenly Bastila felt a sharp disturbance in the Force. The patient was stirring. Bastila could sense a whirlwind of emotions flow from them. Fear, confusion, pain, betrayal… but mostly fear. Bastila found this somewhat difficult to comprehend. Fear was the last thing she would have expected given the patient’s reputation. And yet, such a primal, almost animalistic instinct had taken over. They were afraid.

           A sharp scream of agony came from within the medical bay, and Bastila was forced to brace herself against the wall, clutching the side of her head as she braced herself against the patient’s suffering. It was so much that it was overwhelming. She’d never felt anything so strongly in the Force before in her entire life… and yet this was only a taste of what was surely yet to come were the operation successful.

           As suddenly as it had started, the disturbance stopped. The patient had been sedated again and was once more unconscious. Bastila panted, catching her breath. She wasn’t certain that she was ready to take on this mission, but she didn’t have any choice in the matter. After all, she was the only one who could accept it under the given circumstances. While it was unintentional at the time, she’d bound herself to the fate of the human who laid on the operation table now. It was because of this that the Council was willing to even attempt the operation at all. Otherwise, the more likely situation would have been stasis.

           It was unclear to Bastila, however, whether the procedure they now attempted was any more merciful than letting the patient live out the rest of their days and die within a stasis pod. The longer the procedure lasted, the more questions she found herself asking… questions which she regretted having. The Council was far wiser and more experienced than her. What authority did she have to even consider questioning their judgement? Even so, it troubled her, so much so that she felt she needed to address them regarding the patient. After all, it was her own future which was in question here as well…

><><><><><

           The Council Chamber in the Dantooine Enclave was far different than the High Council Chamber located in the Temple on Coruscant. It was far smaller and less grandiose. Where Coruscant’s Council Chamber stood gleaming in white, Dantooine’s was more earthen. Grays and browns made up the floor and the walls, and a great Blba tree grew inside, stretching its branches over the Chamber Seats. A circular skylight was in the center of the ceiling allowing the natural light of Dantooine’s sun to shine inside. Directly adjacent to the Council Chamber was the Padawan training room, so the Council could easily watch over the developing Jedi’s progress.

           Padawan Bastila Shan entered the Chamber approaching the four Jedi Masters within who comprised the Dantooine Council: Master Vrook Lamar (who also sat on the High Council and served as Dantooine’s liaison on Coruscant), Master Vandar Tokare, Master Zhar Lestin, and Master Dorak (the chronicler of the Enclave). Two months of the procedure had already passed and Bastila had begun to worry about the patient. The thoughts she could sense from the patient had grown more vague, distant… and it was this she wished to speak to them about.

           “Troubled you are, Padawan Bastila,” Master Vandar commented as she approached. “A question you have for the Council?”

           “Yes, Masters,” Bastila said, kneeling before them. “I am concerned about the operations regarding the prisoner. I can sense that their consciousness is… failing.”

           “We must ensure any possible threat from the prisoner is dead, Padawan Bastila,” Master Vrook replied to her. “You know better than anyone the risks we all face if too much remains of what once was…”

           “Yes, but how much longer must this go on? I can feel the patient’s suffering…”

           “You are not the only one with reservations,” spoke the Twi’lek, Master Zhar, “however, we all agree that there is no alternative in this. This is our only hope of being able to stop the war… You’ve done a great thing, Padawan Bastila Shan. Without you, there would only be death… But you have given them a second chance. If the Republic knew that they lived, do you think they would have offered so much?”

           “Consider this, Padawan Bastila,” Master Dorak began, “You have not only saved their life, but also countless others if this operation should succeed. You need not pity their fate. This is for the better.”

           “Besides,” Master Vrook interjected, “This one was always quite stubborn and resilient. I don’t think you need to worry as to whether their physical body will survive or not. It is because of this resilience that the procedure has taken so long. We’ve asked that extra… precautions be made.”

           “What sort of precautions?” Bastila asked. “Is the procedure itself not enough?”

           “A severance to the Force may be necessary,” Master Dorak explained. “It’s a severe punishment that hasn’t been used since Ulic Qel-Droma, but… the Council has agreed that it is for the better. The patient’s command of the Force is not necessity in order for the rest of the mission to work. That is why we need you, Miss Shan. You are to be the vessel of the Force necessary to filter the information we need to save the Republic.”

           “As it was stated before,” said Master Vrook, “we cannot risk any part of what the patient once was to remain alive other than the information we need. They are too much of a risk not only to the Jedi Order but to the entire galaxy.”

           “Go, Padawan Bastila,” Master Vandar said to her. “Unnecessary your worry is. Vital it is now that you focus on preparing for your mission. The time is almost at hand.”

><><><><><

           After three months, the process had been completed. Bastila was asked to enter the medical bay where the patient was being held one last time. As she entered, several of the Jedi specialists involved were clearing the room of any evidence of the procedure having taken place. The head specialist, a Mirialan by the name of Tiva Koq, greeted her.

           “Padawan Bastila,” Tiva said, greeting the other female in a polite bowing gesture. “I trust you are here to see the final results of the patient?”

           “I am, Bastila said, nodding and stepping forward toward the operation table. The patient was unconscious. It seemed as though they had been given heavy sedatives to avoid coming to too soon. If that happened, then they would need to begin a portion of the process over again. Bastila looked down at the woman laying on the operation table. She seemed so normal. So peaceful. There wasn’t a trace left of the one she had faced aboard the Vindicator.

           “Here,” the Mirialan said, handing Bastila a datapad. “We’ve programmed the patient with a new identity. We’ve chosen to keep parallels to the patient’s original background wherever safely possible. The mind is better able to grasp and to retain the new memories when there is less conflict with the ones that were extracted. We’ve gone ahead and put together service records for the patient also, so they might accompany you in your mission without question from the Republic fleet.”

           Bastila Shan scrolled through the information regarding the records of the patient’s new identity.

NAME: GWENEVERE DAKAAL

SPECIES IDENTIFIER: HUMAN FEMALE

AGE: 34 YEARS, CORUSCANTI STANDARD

PLANET OF ORIGIN: DERALIA, DERALIA SYSTEM, TAMMUZ SECTOR, GRID T-15

LANGUAGES: GALACTIC BASIC, DERALIAN, BINARY, BOCCE, DOSH, SELKATH, CATHARESE, BOTHESE, DURESE, GAMORRESE, HUTTESE, JAWAESE, KALEESH, MANDO’A, CORELLISI, RODESE, SNIVVIAN, TOGRUTI, TWI’LEKI, ABYSSIN, AQUALISH, FALLEEN, GALACTIC SIGN LANGUAGE, KEL DOR, CORUSCANTI, QUARRENESE, SAVRIP, SOCORRAN, MIRALUKESE, SMUGGLER CANT, STEREB, SHYRIIWOOK, HIGH SITH…

“So many?” Bastila said frowning and looking up from the datapad.

           “Yes,” the Mirialan. “The patient appears to have had quite a love for languages and was rather adept at them, no doubt partially due to her command of the Force. We were able to keep nearly all of the language-dominant areas of the cerebral cortex intact. There were some languages the patient understands that we were unable to identify even within our database, so they have been left off of the records accordingly. No doubt it will come in handy convincing the fleet of her recruitment and transfer, yes?”

           “I suppose,” Bastila said. The list went on with at least a hundred different alien languages, but she’d stopped reading when she had reached ‘High Sith.’ “I think it would be better to leave this one off of the record.”

           The Mirialan glanced at the datapad to see where Bastila had been indicating. “Ah yes,” Tiva Koq said. “I could see where that might prove problematic… It must have been overlooked when the file was created. We’ll delete it at once.”

           “Good,” Bastila said, continuing past the languages as reading through the rest of the patient’s created service records.

BLOOD RELATIONS:

HERCARL DAKAAL, FATHER, DECEASED

VIVISHEA LUKLEE-DAKAAL, MOTHER, DECEASED

BLOOD TYPE: HUMAN, O POSITIVE

DESIGNATION: SPECIAL INTELLIGENCE AND CODE BREAKING

RELATED BACKGROUND: RECRUIT HAS PAST EXPERIENCE AS SMUGGLER WORKING THE CORRELLIAN RUN. BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF STEALTH, COMPUTERS, SECURITY AND DEMOLITIONS. BASIC PILOTING SKILLS. RECRUIT UNDERSTANDS A LARGE NUMBER OF ALIEN LANGUAGES. SUGGESTED DESIGNATION CODE BREAKING AND DEVELOPMENT BASED ON EXISTING SKILLS.

Bastila handed the datapad back to the Mirialan and looked at the patient again. The time and severance from the Force had lifted all traces of the minor Dark Side degradation she had shown previously. The color had returned to her previously death-pale flesh and Bastila could not help but to notice a series of scars running down the side of her body. Bastila frowned and turned back to the specialist.

           “Old injuries,” the Mirialan assured her. “Not caused by our operations, but they do not match those described on her records from the previous war either. We’re not certain where they came from. But rest assured, we have inserted appropriate memories to explain them. Gwenevere Dakaal is a fully fleshed Republic citizen. I’ll admit, the primary behavioral core was quite difficult to reprogram, and so we were forced to leave many fundamental personality traits… but without the corresponding memories and without command of the Force, it should be of little to no threat.”

           “And what if something should go wrong and the one from before should try to break through? I was informed that certain information from the previous mind would be retained for the sake of my own mission. Would these latent memories be enough to elicit such a response?”

           “We have ensured that the latent memory can only be accessed while the patient is in a state of REM sleep. The memories will appear as no more than dreams to the patient, but the link between the two of you should allow you to view them simultaneously to the patient experiencing them. You can go ahead and test if you would like…”

           The Mirialan then showed Bastila a small brassy cube with an intricate design, radiating a faint blueish light from within. It was a holocron. “We’ve recorded the full entirety of what we were able to recover here in case something should go wrong. The designation we’ve assigned the patient should keep them away from combat, but this is a war, Miss Shan. Accidents happen. We needed to be certain there could be a backup of the information should the patient be lost for whatever reason. The holocron of the patient’s full memories and personality is being sent to the Coruscanti archives for safe-keeping.”

           “If there is holocron recording, then why do we not simply access it directly rather than using the subject?”

           “We did consider the possibility. However, the personality within the holocron has proven to be quite rebellious and uncooperative. Beyond that, within the memories it is technically possible that there are certain portions which may only be accessed by the subject herself. All things considered, using the patient directly was decided to be the more ideal means of access.”

           Bastila Shan looked back down at the patient and gently pressed her fingers to the woman’s temples before closing her eyes. Hazy images appeared. Herself, the Vindicator, a battle… Bastila opened her eyes and looked at the woman’s face. Some memories certainly remained. She only hoped that the ones that would bring an end to the Sith reign of terror were among them.

           “We should leave as soon as possible,” Bastila said to the specialist. “We’ll need to be certain she remains sedated until we’re able to meet with the Republic fleet around Alderaan and introduce her into the crew. From there we’ll start along the Hydian Way Hyperspace Route and begin passing through the planets Revan and Malak visited starting from the Mandalorian Wars. There has to be something there that can give us a clue to what happened and how to stop it…”

           “I’ll ensure that personnel remain with the patient until the integration had been made in case additional sedatives need to be administered. May the Force be with you, Padawan Bastila Shan. With any luck, this experiment will mean an end to the war.”

><><><><><

           Gwen Dakaal took a sip of Caffa as she went through the proposed cipher against the intercepted message on-screen. She’d wished it would’ve been something stronger, but alcoholic beverages weren’t permitted onboard. Just one more of those stupid fleet laws she cursed under her breath at least twice a week. She leaned back in her seat as far as she could stretching before cracking her knuckles and checking the cipher again.

           The code was in a combination of languages: binary with Mando’a and Old Coruscanti… They knew there was a fourth language as well, and traces of a fifth. The more used seemed to Gwen like Old Deralian. It seemed odd for it to appear in the context of Sith Code—after all, hardly anyone even on Deralia spoke the thing! The only reason she recognized it herself was because her parents had made her study it while she was a kid. Her father had been quite the history buff and thought planetary history and culture was an important subject for his daughter to learn. Whoever created the code must have had some sort of Deralian ties…

           The other unknown language did seem familiar, but she couldn’t place it… She’s picked up fragments of so many during her smuggling days that sometimes they got mixed up in her head. Was that Togruti, or was it Savrip? After a while they all started to sound the same…

           She groaned and rubbed her temples. As much as she wanted to see an end to the Sith attacks, she had to admit that signing up to join the Republic fleet hadn’t cracked up to be all that she had imagined… no pun intended. She’d hoped there would have been a bit more action and excitement… Technically speaking, it was a good thing that the Endar Spire hadn’t been caught in any battles since she’d come aboard, but is was damn sure boring.

She’d thought being in fleet would be more like those action flicks on the holovids, but so far it had turned out to be mostly paperwork. When they had checked into her background experience, the person recruiting had some bright idea she’d fit best in the cipher department…. Which seemed interesting at first until she realized that it was mostly hours upon hours of staring at screens of intercepted Sith messages searching for fragments of anything that might prove useful counterintelligence…

Her shift never seemed to end soon enough. When it was over, she grabbed her cup and made her way to the mess hall, disposing of it in a receptacle along the way. She wondered what she should attempt this time. Fleet food hadn’t sat well with her stomach, but she was also getting sick of ration bars. She’d not had any stomach problems in the past, but ever since coming aboard, she’d had the same issue. She wasn’t sure if it was the foot itself, or some sort of motion sickness. She was more inclined, however, to think it was the food.

She took a tray of something that looked like a stew with meat and vegetables in it, hoping she would fare better than she had with the bantha burger last time, which had made her violently ill. In a worst-case scenario, she had more ration bars stored in the footlocker by her bunk.

Gwen toked around for an empty seat in the mess hall and found one among a few of the fighter pilots. “Mind if I sit here?” she asked.

“Not at all,” the pilot said. “Haven’t seen you around before… you new?”

“Transferred onboard at Alderaan last week,” she said as she took a seat. “Name’s Gwen. Gwen Dakaal”

“Sergio Padawe. Good to meet you, Gwen. I didn’t think we were expecting any new transfers… What department are you in?”

“Cipher,” she said. “Picked up a lot of languages in my previous line of work. Guess the higher-ups thought it would put me in a good position for code-breaking. I assume you’re all pilots from the uniforms?”

“You’d assume correctly,” Sergio said. He began working his way around the table, indicating each of the pilots there. “This is Tony, Ben, Jane, Ricky, Thom, Jim, Terra, Bonnie, Tim, and Oliver.” A few of them muttered a hello or gestured before returning to their meals.

“Carth is the other fleet pilot, but he never hangs out with the rest of us lately. Caught up in business with those Jedi since they came onboard…So how are you liking the Spire so far?” he asked her.

“Well, to be completely honest, it’s a lot less exciting than I’d imagined it to be… especially in Cipher. I know it’s important work and all… but I was kind of hoping for a bit more action.”

“Hey, don’t go cursing the times between combat. Front lines are a dangerous place. This is a war, not a picnic. Oftentimes less action is a good thing…”

“Yeah, maybe…” she said, blowing on a spoonful of stew before popping it into her mouth. “What do you guys do around here for fun?”

“Well, some of us meet up with some of the ground soldiers for Paazak on Taungsdays. You’re welcome to come join if you play.”

“Can’t say I do, but I might come watch. Maybe one of you would be willing to teach me.”

“The more the merrier. We’ll expect to see you next time then. On that note, we should probably head out. It’s about time for inspections. We’ll see you around then. It was nice meeting you, Gwen.”

“Nice meeting you guys too!”

><><><><><

Carth Onasi followed along with the small company of Jedi onboard the Endar Spire. At their lead was Jedi Bastila Shan. Shan had become a rather recognized figure since the recent months of the war. She had a rare gift among the Jedi known as ‘Battle Meditation,’ which, from what he understood, worked as a way to inspire allies and cause fear and doubt in one’s enemies. The ability had come in very useful for the Republic in battle, but what Jedi Bastila Shan was most famous for was the recent incident involving Revan and Malak, the two Jedi who had turned on the Republic and initiated this new war.

It was due to her Battle Meditation that, three months prior, she had led a strike team of Jedi aboard the Vindicator, the flagship of Darth Revan, the leader of the Sith. During the strike, Darth Malak, Revan’s apprentice, had turned on his Master and Revan met his end in the duel with Bastila. Thus, Miss Shan was best known as the Jedi who killed Darth Revan.

Recently, the crew of the Endar Spire had been assigned to escort Miss Shan on a special mission from the Jedi Council. Little detail was given to the Republic military personnel about the mission’s details. Carth knew that they would be roughly plotting a course along some of the battles during the Mandalorian Wars, though he wasn’t completely certain why. The Jedi refused any specifics on the matter. He had been requested to act as a sort of ‘guide’ to the mission since he’d fought in many of the battles they wished to retrace along the Outer Rim. Even so, he was just as much in the dark about most of the goings on as the rest of the crew was.

They had requested many things when they came aboard… a quiet chamber for meditation, specifics about the route to be taken between the points of interest, the transfer into the crew of a new Cipher in the intelligence department… While Carth respected authority and knew how to take orders, working with the Jedi was beginning to be a bit of a pain. He only hoped it was worth the trouble for the Republic fleet.

“I want a full report on the battle history at each planet,” Bastila Shan said as they walked. “I’ve been told you served much in the earlier parts of the Mandalorian Wars and that consequentially you would be the best option in serving as guide on our mission.”

“I served in a lot of the early battles, yeah, but the planets on your list don’t match up with all of them. Fleet never had an opportunity to react to Flashpoint…” He glanced down at list of places in the datapad. Flashpoint, Suurja, Serocco… What was this, some kind of a tour? The Republic was at war, and it wasn’t his job to be playing tour guide to a bunch of Jedi on some sort of hush hush mission from the Jedi Council. He looked back up at the Jedi. “Cathar?”

“Yes,” Bastila said plainly. “Mister Onasi, you were not recommended to me for the purpose of questioning my authority. Rest assured, the Jedi Council believes that this mission could bring the end to the war that we have all been looking for. You need only to trust in their wisdom and their judgement on the matter.”

The Jedi had been a key factor in the Republic’s victory in the Mandalorian Wars, but the Jedi then had acted very differently than the Jedi now. While he never saw much of them personally, once those Jedi had officially entered alongside the Republic, they had been very directly involved, participating on the battle field and employing knowledge of tactics in positioning troops. They didn’t involve soldiers in secret Jedi Missions that seemed to have no direct connection to the effort. While the Jedi Bastila who was leading this group had an ability that might help them win a few battles, she was young, and her lack of experience made him question her ability to command troops. “There are good men and women onboard risking their lives for this mission. I hope that the Council’s wisdom takes that into consideration too,” Carth muttered to himself.

[soulwitch]

Redbellion: Assembly

Part 1 of Redbellion Event Story.

The Assembly roars within the cloaked spire were no light penetrates. In the Solaris System, the capital of the United Federation of Acadia, the Galactic Assembly takes place. All nations are welcome, even those who seek destruction may send a form to partake in diplomacy. Representatives from all over are cheering as a woman advances forth, onto her balcony’s teleportation grid and down onto the main floor, approach the center station.

The center pedestal rises up as the roaring comes to a silence murmur. When the center piece is risen, all must remain silent for whoever has the floor to speak. Whoever it is, has the right to speak whatever words they wish to whatever ends they wish. Their topic is mentioned before, leaving many to leave the assembly whenever topics they wish not to hear are spoken of. Yet on this day, no seat is empty, and the spectator rings below are all staring, full of curious people, foreign and inter-dimensional.

The woman speaking also draws attention, many flock to see her, the rumored Grand Admiral. Conqueror of the Enigmatic Fortress, and Hero of the Scourge Invasion. A Grand Admiral of the United Federation of Acadia, Masuyo Ueda.

“I will not waste my allotted time with pleasantries.” The admiral speaks, her voice broadcast in all languages to every single balcony and to every single viewer. “I have come to table a motion of unity and preemptive action. The data set in front of you includes subspace movement and fleet operations that have been intercepted by some of my most trusted subordinates. As you all know, to the Galactic North the Android Stellar Empire known as the Red Collective as shattered into a Civil War.”

Her words are heard but soon a roar of hate and disgust is returned, people shouting their curses at the mention of the Androids, while some shout cheers for the mentioned side. “Our governments have all elected to watch patiently to witness the outcome of this bloody conflict, some even abandoning former ideals of freeing assimilated worlds until the end of the conflict.”

More mixed reactions spread as she speaks, but the Grand Admiral is undeterred. “As you can see, the data sets provided, do not show Collective movements, but rather their enemies. Our enemies, the Extermination Directive. My agents have informed me of their beliefs that an attack into neutral space may be upon us. Even our welcomed delegates of the Asseimono Raiders have seen Directive fleets within a few jumps of the Diadem System.”

“Right on the fringe of Kansaku space.” The mention of the Directive incurs angry shouting, the delegate of the Directive remaining stoic until the Kansaku are followed up, the jeers turn to approving cheers. Showing the favor of those on the Galactic stage. “It is within my good opinion should the Directive break the non-aggression standard with our neighbors, that they will strike Kansaku’s Acamar, and the Agri-world of Bammun.”

“There I table...” As the admiral moves to table her motion already the assembly is booing, shouting angry words towards her as they all know what she wishes to ask for. For war, to prepare for conflict that no empire wishes to see, and those that do cheer merely do so for their own benefit, not mutual cooperation.

“I table that we should preemptively mobilize and militarize our respective fleets, join together in a true Galactic Alliance, and go to the Acamar System to protect our ally!” Her words directed at politicians and governments alike, hoping that despite risking her position, and that with her status. The people of the galaxy may heed her warning and react soon.

Vote for what your muse would vote for here.

Do keep in mind this is the first event post, where no one has any deep ties, so what the result says and what may actually happen will differ. Future event posts will have a part A and then Part B with your community made options to pick from.

You can vote multiple times if you have multiple muses invested. Just don’t abuse that. Part 1 and its vote is almost like a tutorial, story, vote, then results and alternative options.

Now that Assembly is posted, feel free to send asks to:

Any of the main contacts found - Here - if you want to figure out how your muse gets into this galaxy and this whole thing.

Or

any of the lower level contacts found - Here - if you have a way in already or have picked a side and want to start working your angles or getting invested.

And feel free to start discussing with others interested on schemes you may have, I know its early and there’s not a lot to work with but best of luck and enjoy!

[estupendomcfly]

We know you are out there.

"We made a mistake. That is the simple, undeniable truth of the matter, however painful it might be. The flaw was not in our Observatories, for those machines were as perfect as we could make, and they showed us only the unfiltered light of truth, The flaw was not in the Predictor, for it is a device of pure, infalliable logic, turning raw data into meaningful information without the taint of emotion or bias. No, the flaw was within us, the Orchestrators of this disaster, the sentients who thought themselves beyond such failings. We are responsible.

It began a short while ago, as these things are measured, less than 66 Deeli ago, though I suspect our systems of measure will mean very little by the time anyone recieves this transmission. We detected faint radio signals from a blossoming intelligence 214 Deelis outward from the Galactic Core, as photons travel. At first, crude and unstructured, these leaking broadcasts quickly grew in complexity and strength, as did the messages they carried. Through our Observatories we watched a of strife and violence, populated by a barbaric race of short-lived, fast-breeding vermin. They were brutal and uncultured things which stabbed and shot and burned each other with no regard for life or purpose. Even their concepts of Art spoke of conflict and pain. They divided themselves according to some bizarre cultural patterns and set their every industry to cause of death.

They terrified us, but we were older and wiser and so very far away, so we did no fret. Then we watched them split the atom and breech the heavens within the breadth of one of their single, short generations, and we began to worry. When they began actively transmitting messages and greetings into space, we felt fear and horror. Their transmissions promised peace and camaraderie to any who were listening, but we had watched them for too long to buy into such transparent deceptions. They knew we were out here, and they were coming for us.

The Orchestrators consulted the Predictor, and the output was dire. They would multiply and grow and flood out of their home system like some uncountable tide of Devourer worms, consuming all that lay in their path. It might that 68Deelis, but they would destroy us if left unchecked. With aching carapaces, we decided to act, and sealed our fate.

The Gift of Mercy was 84 strides long with a mouth 2/4 that in diameter, filled with many 44 weights of machinery, fuel, and ballast. It would push itself up to 2/8th of light speed with its onboard fuel, and then begin to consume interstellar Primary Element 2/2 to feed its unlimited acceleration. It would be travelling at nearly light speed when it hit. They would never see it coming. Its launch was a day of mourning, celebration, and reflection. The horror of the act we had committed wwighed beavily upon us all; the necessity of our crime did little to comfort us.

The Gift had barely cleared the outer cometary halo when the mistake was realized, but it was too late. The Gift could not be caught, could not be recalled or diverted from its path. The architects and work crews, horrified at the awful power of the thing upon which they labored, had quietly self-terminated in droves, walking unshielded into radiation zones, neglecting proper null pressure, safety or simple caesing their nutrient consumption until their metabolic functions stopped. The appalling cost in lives had forced the Orchestrators to streamline the Gift's design and construction. There had been no time for the design or implementation of anything beyond the simple, massive engines and the stablizing systems. We could only watch in shame and horror as the light of genocide faded in infrared against the distant void.

They grew, and they changed, in a handful of lifetimes. They abolished war, abandonned their violent tendancies and turned themselves to the grand purpose of life and Art. We watched them remake first themselves, and then their world. Their frail, soft bodies gave way to gleaming metals and plastics, they unified their people through an omnipotent communications grid and produced Art of such power and emotion, the likes of which the Galaxy has never seen before. Or again, because of us.

They converted their home world into a paradise (by their standards) and many 106s of them poured out into the surrounding system with a rapidity and vigor that we could only envy. With bodies built to survive evry environment from the day-lit surface of their innermost world, to the atmosphere of their largest gas giant and the cold void in between, they set out to sculpt their system into something beautiful. At first we thought them to be simple miners, stripping the rocky planets and moons for vital resources, but then we began to see the purpose to their construction, the artworks carved into every surface, and traced across the system in glittering lights and dancing fusion trails. And still, our terrible Gift approached.

They had less than 22 Deeli to see it, following so closely on the tail if its own light. In that time, oh so brief even by their fleeting lives, more than 1010 sentients prepared for death. Lovers exchanged last words, separated by worlds and the tyranny of light speed. Their planet-side engineers worked frantically to build sufficient transmission to upload countless masses with the necessary neural modification, while those above dumped lifetimes of music and literature frome their databanks to make room for passengers, Those lacking the required hardware of the time to aquire it consigned themselves to death, lashed out in fear and pain, or simply went about their lives as best they could under the circumstances.

The Gift arrived suddenly, the light of its impact visible in our skies, shining bright and cruel even to the unaugmented ocular receptor. We watched and we wept for our victims, dead so many Deelis before the light of their doom had even reached us. Many 64s of those who had been directly or even tangentially involved in the creation of the Gift sealed their spiracles was paste as a final penance for the small roles they had played in this atrocity. The light dimmed, the dust cleared, and our Observatories refocused upon the place where their shining blue world had once hung in the void, and found only dust and the pale gleam of an orphaned moon, wrapped in a thin, burning wisp of atmosphere that had once belonged to its parent.

Radiation and relativistic shrapnel had wiped out much of the inner system, and continent-sized chunks of molten rock carried screaming ghosts outward at interstellar escape velocities, damned to wander the great void for an eternity. The damage was apocalyptic, but not complete. From the shadows of the outer worlds, tiny points of light emerged, thousands of fusion trails of single ships and world ships and everything in between, many 106s of survivors in flesh and steel and memory banks, ready to rebuild. For a few moments we felt relief, even joy, and we were filled with the hope that their cuture and Art would survive the terrible blow we had dealt them. Then came the message, tightly focused at our star, transmitted simultaneously by hundreds of their ships.

"We know you are out there, and we are coming for you."

[library-of-aeternus]

Emergency report of Observation Team Vespucci on Uldor V - Subject: Rho Aliens

I’m writing this report due to a recent development in the technological progress of the primary native species of Uldor V, designation Rho Aliens. On 1130.170112134 Standard Galactic Time orbital observation station Alpha detected a burst of low energy gamma radiation from grid 47-21, consistent with the detonation of a grade 1 nuclear fission weapon. Long range sensors and imaging were able to confirm the readings and agents currently embedded in Rho Alien nation states were able to report that the weapon was deployed as a proof of concept and show of strength by the sovereign nation state self-designated: Union of Zigtran.

We had accelerated the timeline of the shepherd program in a hope to implant agents into key positions of leading nation states on Uldor V, to dissuade and prevent the acquisition of existential threat technologies. Unfortunately the recent incident has shown that given their recent discovery at an already late stage Tier 6 civilization, we were too late to prevent this. Currently, all relevant agents report either the initiation or intensification of nuclear weapons programs in all significant Rho nation states as well as an increase of military build up. Me and my team agree; taking into consideration the current military industrial complex of Uldor V’s major nation states, general key aspects present across many Rho cultures, and the Rho Aliens studied psychochemistry, we are looking at a cold war scenario at best and a potential NK-class self extinction scenario at worst.

It is our recommendation to the Pre-interstellar Alien Observation and Contact committee that a first contact event with the Rho Aliens be initiated as soon as possible. We realised that this may present itself as an extreme solution, and we understand that standard protocol is to only make formal first contact with Tier 9 civilizations. However we feel that this is the best course of action to take in order to assure the continued existence of the Rho Alien species, as we feel we will be unable to deploy enough agents or have enough time to cause any significant societal shift towards acceptable parameters. A document outlining our plan for the first contact event, potential concurrent societal shift missions as well as an integration assessment have been sent to you along with this report. We hope the committee will accept our proposal, in the name of the Mantel which shelters all life.

-Commander Memories-of-Eternal-Day of Observation Team Vespucci

[glass-kilimanjaro]

Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Tyson was born in Manhattan as the second of three children, into a family living in the Bronx.[3] His mother, Sunchita Maria Tyson (née Feliciano; 1928 -), was a gerontologist for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and is of Puerto Rican descent.[4] His African-American father, Cyril deGrasse Tyson (1927–2016), was a sociologist, human resource commissioner for New York City mayor John Lindsay, and the first Director of Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited.[5][6] Tyson has two siblings: Stephen Joseph Tyson and Lynn Antipas Tyson.[5] Tyson's middle name, deGrasse, is from the maiden name of his paternal grandmother, who was born as Altima de Grasse in the British West Indies island of Nevis.[7]

Tyson grew up in the Castle Hill neighborhood of the Bronx, and later in Riverdale.[8] From kindergarten throughout high school, Tyson attended public schools in the Bronx: P.S. 36, P.S. 81, the Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy (then called "P.S. 141"), and The Bronx High School of Science (1972–1976) where he was captain of the wrestling team and editor-in-chief of the Physical Science Journal.[9][10] His interest in astronomy began at the age of nine after visiting the sky theater of the Hayden Planetarium.[11] He recalled that "so strong was that imprint [of the night sky] that I'm certain that I had no choice in the matter, that in fact, the universe called me."[12] During high school, Tyson attended astronomy courses offered by the Hayden Planetarium, which he called "the most formative period" of his life. He credited Dr. Mark Chartrand III, director of the planetarium at the time, as his "first intellectual role model" and his enthusiastic teaching style mixed with humor inspired Tyson to communicate the universe to others the way he did.[13]

Tyson obsessively studied astronomy in his teen years, and eventually even gained some fame in the astronomy community by giving lectures on the subject at the age of fifteen.[14] Astronomer Carl Sagan, who was a faculty member at Cornell University, tried to recruit Tyson to Cornell for undergraduate studies.[6] In his book, The Sky Is Not the Limit, Tyson wrote:

My letter of application had been dripping with an interest in the universe. The admission office, unbeknownst to me, had forwarded my application to Carl Sagan's attention. Within weeks, I received a personal letter...[15]

Tyson revisited this moment on his first episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Pulling out a 1975 calendar belonging to the famous astronomer, he found the day Sagan invited the 17-year-old to spend a day in Ithaca. Sagan had offered to put him up for the night if his bus back to the Bronx did not come. Tyson said, "I already knew I wanted to become a scientist. But that afternoon, I learned from Carl the kind of person I wanted to become."[16][17]

Tyson chose to attend Harvard where he majored in physics and lived in Currier House. He was a member of the crew team during his freshman year, but returned to wrestling, lettering in his senior year. He was also active in dance, in styles including jazz, ballet, Afro-Caribbean, and Latin Ballroom.[18]

Tyson hosting the 40th anniversary celebration of

Apollo 11

at the

National Air and Space Museum

in Washington, July 2009

Tyson earned an AB degree in physics at Harvard College in 1980 and then began his graduate work at the University of Texas at Austin,[19] from which he received an MA degree in astronomy in 1983. By his own account, he did not spend as much time in the research lab as he should have. His professors encouraged him to consider alternative careers and the committee for his doctoral dissertation was dissolved, ending his pursuit of a doctorate from the University of Texas.[20]

Tyson was a lecturer in astronomy at the University of Maryland from 1986 to 1987[21] and in 1988, he was accepted into the astronomy graduate program at Columbia University, where he earned an MPhil degree in astrophysics in 1989, and a PhD degree in astrophysics in 1991[22] under the supervision of Professor R. Michael Rich. Rich obtained funding to support Tyson's doctoral research from NASA and the ARCS foundation[23] enabling Tyson to attend international meetings in Italy, Switzerland, Chile, and South Africa[21] and to hire students to help him with data reduction.[24] In the course of his thesis work, he observed using the 0.91 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, where he obtained images for the Calán/Tololo Supernova Survey[25][26][27] helping to further their work in establishing Type Ia supernovae as standard candles.

During his thesis research at Columbia University, Tyson became acquainted with Professor David Spergel at Princeton University, who visited Columbia University in the course of collaborating with his thesis advisor on the Galactic bulge[28][29][30] typically found in spiral galaxies.

Career

Tyson with students at the 2007

American Astronomical Society

conference

Tyson's research has focused on observations in cosmology, stellar evolution, galactic astronomy, bulges, and stellar formation. He has held numerous positions at institutions including the University of Maryland, Princeton University, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Hayden Planetarium.

In 1994, Tyson joined the Hayden Planetarium as a staff scientist while he was a research affiliate in Princeton University. He became acting director of the planetarium in June 1995 and was appointed director in 1996.[31] As director, he oversaw the planetarium's $210 million reconstruction project, which was completed in 2000. Upon being asked for his thoughts on becoming director, Tyson said "when I was a kid... there were scientists and educators on the staff at the Hayden Planetarium... who invested their time and energy in my enlightenment... and I've never forgotten that. And to end up back there as its director, I feel this deep sense of duty, that I serve in the same capacity for people who come through the facility today, that others served for me".[32]

Tyson has written a number of popular books on astronomy. In 1995, he began to write the "Universe" column for Natural History magazine. In a column he authored for a special edition of the magazine, called "City of Stars", in 2002, Tyson popularized the term "Manhattanhenge" to describe the two days annually on which the evening sun aligns with the street grid in Manhattan, making the sunset visible along unobstructed side streets. He had coined the term in 1996, inspired by how the phenomenon recalls the sun's solstice alignment with the Stonehenge monument in England.[33] Tyson's column also influenced his work as a professor with The Great Courses.[34]

In 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush appointed Tyson to serve on the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry and in 2004 to serve on the President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, the latter better known as the "Moon, Mars, and Beyond" commission. Soon afterward, he was awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by NASA.[35]

Tyson in December 2011 at a conference marking 1,000 days after the launch of the spacecraft

Kepler

In 2004, Tyson hosted the four-part Origins miniseries of the PBS Nova series,[36] and, with Donald Goldsmith, co-authored the companion volume for this series, Origins: Fourteen Billion Years Of Cosmic Evolution.[37] He again collaborated with Goldsmith as the narrator on the documentary 400 Years of the Telescope, which premiered on PBS in April 2009.[38]

As director of the Hayden Planetarium, Tyson bucked traditional thinking in order to keep Pluto from being referred to as the ninth planet in exhibits at the center. Tyson has explained that he wanted to look at commonalities between objects, grouping the terrestrial planets together, the gas giants together, and Pluto with like objects, and to get away from simply counting the planets. He has stated on The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, and BBC Horizon that this decision has resulted in large amounts of hate mail, much of it from children.[39] In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) confirmed this assessment by changing Pluto to the dwarf planet classification.

Tyson recounted the heated online debate on the Cambridge Conference Network (CCNet), a "widely read, UK-based Internet chat group", following Benny Peiser's renewed call for reclassification of Pluto's status.[40] Peiser's entry, in which he posted articles from the AP and The Boston Globe, spawned from The New York Times's article entitled "Pluto's Not a Planet? Only in New York".[41][42]

Tyson has been vice-president, president, and chairman of the board of the Planetary Society. He was also the host of the PBS program Nova ScienceNow until 2011.[43] He attended and was a speaker at the Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival symposium in November 2006. In 2007, Tyson was chosen to be a regular on The History Channel's popular series The Universe.[citation needed]

Tyson promoting the

Cosmos

TV series in Australia for National Geographic, 2014

In May 2009, Tyson launched a one-hour radio talk show called StarTalk, which he co-hosted with comedian Lynne Koplitz. The show was syndicated on Sunday afternoons on KTLK AM in Los Angeles and WHFS in Washington DC. The show lasted for thirteen weeks, but was resurrected in December 2010 and then, co-hosted with comedians Chuck Nice and Leighann Lord instead of Koplitz. Guests range from colleagues in science to celebrities such as GZA, Wil Wheaton, Sarah Silverman, and Bill Maher. The show is available via the Internet through a live stream or in the form of a podcast.[44]

In April 2011, Tyson was the keynote speaker at the 93rd International Convention of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society of the Two-year School. He and James Randi delivered a lecture entitled Skepticism, which related directly with the convention's theme of The Democratization of Information: Power, Peril, and Promise.[45]

In 2012, Tyson announced that he would appear in a YouTube series based on his radio show StarTalk. A premiere date for the show has not been announced, but it will be distributed on the Nerdist YouTube Channel.[46] On February 28, 2014, Tyson was a celebrity guest at the White House Student Film Festival.[47]

In 2014, Tyson helped revive Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage television series, presenting Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey on both FOX and the National Geographic Channel. Thirteen episodes were aired in the first season, and Tyson has stated that if a second season were produced, he would pass the role of host to someone else in the science world.[48][49] In early January, 2018, it was announced that a second season of Cosmos was in production, and that Tyson would once again act as host.[50]

On April 20, 2015, Tyson began hosting a late-night talk show entitled StarTalk on the National Geographic Channel, where Tyson interviews pop culture celebrities and asks them about their life experiences with science.[51]

Tyson is co-developing a sandbox video game with Whatnot Entertainment, Neil deGrasse Tyson Presents: Space Odyssey, which aims to help provide players with a realistic simulation of developing a space-faring culture, incorporating educational materials about space and technology. The game was anticipated for release in 2018.[52]

Views

Spirituality[A] most important feature is the analysis of the information that comes your way. And that's what I don't see enough of in this world. There's a level of gullibility that leaves people susceptible to being taken advantage of. I see science literacy as kind of a vaccine against charlatans who would try to exploit your ignorance.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson, from a transcript of an interview by Roger Bingham on The Science Network[53][54]

Tyson has written and broadcast extensively about his views of science, spirituality, and the spirituality of science, including the essays "The Perimeter of Ignorance"[55] and "Holy Wars",[56] both appearing in Natural History magazine and the 2006 Beyond Belief workshop. In an interview with comedian Paul Mecurio, Tyson offered his definition of spirituality: "For me, when I say spiritual, I’m referring to a feeling you would have that connects you to the universe in a way that it may defy simple vocabulary. We think about the universe as an intellectual playground, which it surely is, but the moment you learn something that touches an emotion rather than just something intellectual, I would call that a spiritual encounter with the universe."[57] Tyson has argued that many great historical scientists' belief in intelligent design limited their scientific inquiries, to the detriment of the advance of scientific knowledge.[56][58]

When asked during a question session at the University at Buffalo if he believed in a higher power, Tyson responded: "Every account of a higher power that I've seen described, of all religions that I've seen, include many statements with regard to the benevolence of that power. When I look at the universe and all the ways the universe wants to kill us, I find it hard to reconcile that with statements of beneficence."[59][60]:341 In an interview with Big Think, Tyson said, "So, what people are really after is what is my stance on religion or spirituality or God, and I would say if I find a word that came closest, it would be 'agnostic' ... at the end of the day I'd rather not be any category at all."[61] Additionally, in the same interview with Big Think, Tyson mentioned that he edited Wikipedia's entry on him to include the fact that he is an agnostic:

I'm constantly claimed by atheists. I find this intriguing. In fact, on my Wiki page – I didn't create the Wiki page, others did, and I'm flattered that people cared enough about my life to assemble it – and it said "Neil deGrasse Tyson is an atheist." I said, "Well that's not really true." I said, "Neil deGrasse Tyson is an agnostic." I went back a week later, it said "Neil deGrasse Tyson is an atheist" again – within a week! – and I said, "What's up with that?" and I said "Alright, I have to word it a little differently." So I said, okay "Neil deGrasse Tyson, widely claimed by atheists, is actually an agnostic."[61]

During the interview "Called by the Universe: A Conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson" in 2009, Tyson said: "I can't agree to the claims by atheists that I'm one of that community. I don't have the time, energy, interest of conducting myself that way... I'm not trying to convert people. I don't care."[62]

Tyson in conversation with

Richard Dawkins

at Howard University, 2010

In March 2014, philosopher and secularism proponent Massimo Pigliucci asked Tyson "What is it you think about God?" Tyson replied "I remain unconvinced by any claims anyone has ever made about the existence or the power of a divine force operating in the universe." Pigliucci then asked him why he expressed discomfort with the label "atheist" in his Big Think video. Tyson replied by reiterating his dislike for one-word labels, saying "That's what adjectives are for. What kind of atheist are you? Are you an ardent atheist? Are you a passive atheist? An apathetic atheist? Do you rally, or do you just not even care? So I'd be on the 'I really don't care' side of that, if you had to find adjectives to put in front of the word 'atheist'." Pigliucci contrasted Tyson with scientist Richard Dawkins: "[Dawkins] really does consider, at this point, himself to be an atheist activist. You very clearly made the point that you are not." Tyson replied: "I completely respect that activity. He's fulfilling a really important role out there."[63]

Tyson has spoken about philosophy on numerous occasions. In March 2014, during an episode of The Nerdist Podcast, he stated that philosophy is "useless" and that a philosophy major "can really mess you up",[64] which was met with disapproval.[65][66][67][68] The philosopher Massimo Pigliucci later criticized him for "dismiss[ing] philosophy as a useless enterprise".[69]

Race and social justice

In an undated interview at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Tyson talked about being black and one of the most visible and well-known scientists in the world. He told a story about being interviewed about a plasma burst from the sun on a local Fox affiliate in 1989. "I'd never before in my life seen an interview with a black person on television for expertise that had nothing to do with being black. And at that point, I realized that one of the last stereotypes that prevailed among people who carry stereotypes is that, sort of, black people are somehow dumb. I wondered, maybe ... that's a way to undermine this sort of, this stereotype that prevailed about who's smart and who's dumb. I said to myself, 'I just have to be visible, or others like me, in that situation.' That would have a greater force on society than anything else I could imagine."[70][71]

In 2005, at a conference at the National Academy of Sciences, Tyson responded to a question about whether genetic differences might keep women from working as scientists. He said that his goal to become an astrophysicist was "...hands down the path of most resistance through the forces ... of society". He continued: "My life experience tells me, when you don’t find blacks in the sciences, when you don’t find women in the sciences, I know these forces are real and I had to survive them in order to get where I am today. So before we start talking about genetic differences, you gotta come up with a system where there’s equal opportunity. Then we can start having that conversation."[72]

In a 2014 interview with Grantland, Tyson said that he related his experience on that 2005 panel in an effort to make the point that the scientific question about genetic differences can't be answered until the social barriers are dismantled. "I'm saying before you even have that conversation, you have to be really sure that access to opportunity has been level." In that same interview, Tyson said that race is not a part of the point he is trying to make in his career or with his life. According to Tyson, "[T]hat then becomes the point of people's understanding of me, rather than the astrophysics. So it's a failed educational step for that to be the case. If you end up being distracted by that and not [getting] the message." He purposefully no longer speaks publicly about race. "I don't give talks on it. I don't even give Black History Month talks. I decline every single one of them. In fact, since 1993, I've declined every interview that has my being black as a premise of the interview."[73]

NASA

Tyson,

Bill Nye

, and U.S. President

Barack Obama

take a

selfie

at the

White House

, 2014

Tyson is an advocate for expanding the operations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Arguing that "the most powerful agency on the dreams of a nation is currently underfunded to do what it needs to be doing".[74] Tyson has suggested that the general public has a tendency to overestimate how much revenue is allocated to the space agency. At a March 2010 address, referencing the proportion of tax revenue spent on NASA, he stated, "By the way, how much does NASA cost? It's a half a penny on the dollar. Did you know that? The people are saying, 'Why are we spending money up there...' I ask them, 'How much do you think we're spending?' They say 'five cents, ten cents on a dollar.' It's a half a penny."[74]

In March 2012, Tyson testified before the United States Senate Science Committee, stating that:

Right now, NASA's annual budget is half a penny on your tax dollar. For twice that—a penny on a dollar—we can transform the country from a sullen, dispirited nation, weary of economic struggle, to one where it has reclaimed its 20th century birthright to dream of tomorrow.[75][76]

Inspired by Tyson's advocacy and remarks, Penny4NASA, a campaign of the Space Advocates nonprofit,[77] was founded in 2012 by John Zeller and advocates the doubling of NASA's budget to one percent of the federal budget.[78]

In his book Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier Tyson argues that large and ambitious space exploration projects, like getting humans to Mars, will probably require some sort of military or economic driver in order to get the appropriate funding from the United States federal government.[79]

Media appearances

Neil deGrasse Tyson was keynote speaker at

TAM6

of the

JREF

.

As a science communicator, Tyson regularly appears on television, radio, and various other media outlets. He has been a regular guest on The Colbert Report, and host Stephen Colbert refers to him in his comedic book I Am America (And So Can You!), noting in his chapter on scientists that most scientists are "decent, well-intentioned people", but, presumably tongue-in-cheek, that "Neil DeGrasse [sic] Tyson is an absolute monster."[80] He has appeared numerous times on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He has made appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and The Rachel Maddow Show.[81] He served as one of the central interviewees on the various episodes of the History Channel science program, The Universe. Tyson participated on the NPR radio quiz program Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! in 2007 and 2015.[82] He has appeared several times on Real Time with Bill Maher, and he was also featured on an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? as the ask-the-expert lifeline.[83] He has spoken numerous times on the Philadelphia morning show, Preston and Steve, on 93.3 WMMR, as well as on SiriusXM's Ron and Fez and The Opie and Anthony Show.

Tyson has been featured as a guest interviewee on The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, Radiolab, Skepticality, and The Joe Rogan Experience podcasts and has been in several of the Symphony of Science videos.[84][85]

Tyson lived near the World Trade Center and was an eyewitness to the September 11, 2001 attacks. He wrote a widely circulated letter on what he saw.[86] Footage he filmed on the day was included in the 2008 documentary film 102 Minutes That Changed America.[87]

In 2007, Tyson was the keynote speaker during the dedication ceremony of Deerfield Academy's new science center, the Koch Center, named for David H. Koch '59. He emphasized the impact science will have on the twenty-first century, as well as explaining that investments into science may be costly, but their returns in the form of knowledge gained and piquing interest is invaluable. Tyson has also appeared as the keynote speaker at The Amazing Meeting, a science and skepticism conference hosted by the James Randi Educational Foundation.[88]

Tyson made a guest appearance as a version of himself in the episode "Brain Storm" of Stargate Atlantis[89] alongside Bill Nye and in the episode "The Apology Insufficiency" of The Big Bang Theory.[90] Archive footage of him is used in the film Europa Report. Tyson also made an appearance in an episode of Martha Speaks as himself.[91]

2010 Space Conference group portrait: Tyson with fellow television personality and science educator

Bill Nye

In a May 2011 StarTalk Radio show, The Political Science of the Daily Show, Tyson said he donates all income earned as a guest speaker.[92]

Tyson is a frequent participant in the website Reddit's AMAs (Ask Me Anythings) where he is responsible for three of the top ten most popular AMAs of all time.[93]

In Action Comics #14 (January 2013), which was published November 7, 2012, Tyson appears in the story, in which he determines that Superman's home planet, Krypton, orbited the red dwarf LHS 2520 in the constellation Corvus 27.1 lightyears from Earth. Tyson assisted DC Comics in selecting a real-life star that would be an appropriate parent star to Krypton, and picked Corvus, which is Latin for "Crow",[94][95] and which is the mascot of Superman's high school, the Smallville Crows.[96][97] Tyson also had a minor appearance as himself in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.[98]

In May 2013, the Science Laureates of the United States Act of 2013 (H.R. 1891; 113th Congress) was introduced into Congress. Neil deGrasse Tyson was listed by at least two commentators as a possible nominee for the position of Science Laureate, if the act were to pass.[99][100] On March 8, 2014, Tyson made a SXSW Interactive keynote presentation at the Austin Convention Center.[101]

On June 3, 2014, Tyson co-reviewed Gravity in a CinemaSins episode.[102] He made two more appearances with CinemaSins, co-reviewing Interstellar on September 29, 2015,[103] and The Martian on March 31, 2016.[104]

In 2016, Tyson narrated and was a script supervisor for the science documentary, Food Evolution, directed by Academy Award nominated director Scott Hamilton Kennedy.[105] In the same year, Tyson made a guest appearance on the Avenged Sevenfold album The Stage, where he delivered a monolog on the track "Exist".[106] In 2017, Tyson appeared on Logic's album Everybody as God, uncredited on various tracks, and credited on the song "AfricAryaN"[107] as well as on "The Moon" on Musiq Soulchild's album Feel the Real.[108]

In 2018, Tyson made a guest appearance on The Big Bang Theory as himself, together with fellow scientist Bill Nye, in the first episode of the show's final season ("The Conjugal Configuration").[109