#the book is 'claimings tails and other alien artifacts'

[erlie]

I started reading this book that I assumed to be some wack alien porn erotica, but I am halfway through, they haven't fucked once and I am pondering the impossibility of cultural exchange and difficulties of translating language when you have no unifying experiences. Also trauma.

I was tricked into reading someting insightful.

[britt-kageryuu]

Leo for some reason decided to stream at work using the AR system, he claims that it's because it's been pretty slow recently because of the relatively small amount of clients. So his model is dressed in blue jeans, black boots, a minty green shirt, a lab coat with an ID badge, his mask with shorter than normal tails, with a stethoscope around his neck. Sitting in a rolling chair next to a desk and shelves.

The stream can only see the front desk area, and all the paperwork seen looks like it written in an alien language because of a filter, and Leo wanting to mess with the veiwers. Including his Degree(s) on the hall, since they read as presented from a hidden city college/university.

River is there in her robot body disinfecting the waiting room, and organizing the books/magazines, toys, and Cafe station.

A notification goes off with a question about the comic books Donnie supposedly brought from a different reality.

"Oh The Ronin books. Yeah we all read through them, and all agreed while amazing, it was also quite horrifying to think of the scenario happening here." Leo says as he pulls a hard back book from a nearby shelf.

The cover is mostly dark gray, and black with some red. There's a figure in all black with a Katana and Bo staff strapped to their back, and a Sai and metallic Tonfa on a utility belt along with some pouches, and rope. There is a red moon with 'The Last Ronin' in white over top of it. There is some other words and the author and artists names in red and white, but the letters are unreadable, either it's to far from the camera, or the filter is messing it up.

"The other book is at home, Pops finished this one, and wanted to read the second book." Leo says as he flips through some of the pages, "Either way it's kind apocalyptic/dystopian with a mentally not Okay main character out for revenge for most of his family 'H' being killed because the other group 'O/F' didn't truly want a truce between them, or something." He stops at a page and reads it over, "Or that's what we figure, since it's implied that one of the O/F leaders claimed H broke the truce."

"Before anyone asks the reason I'm not saying the names of the families is because the H family is actually the same name as Our family name, and the O/F group are an actual group my family had a rivalry with like 500 years ago. They're still around but there's not a full on grudge anymore." Leo stresses this if only to make it clear no more answers will be given on the subject.

"Anyhoozle the family names are why Donnie believes this is from another universe, but again I don't want to look into it, or mess with things that might lead to trouble." He puts the book on the desk opened to a page with what looks like an explosion on it, "We had enough trouble with getting past our own problems with the other group. Some of their members had some screws loose, and came after us, we don't know why, just that we supposedly had an artifact of theirs. It was just a creepy teapot!" He slouches with a sigh/groan of annoyance.

Just then the sound of sliding doors opening could be heard, and Leo sits up and quickly mutes the stream. The audience is left to watch Leo talk to someone, with him leaning forward you can see his tail sticking out from a slit in the lab coat. He holds up a finger in a 'just a minute' motion, then gets up and goes behind the camera.

Someone can be seen trying to lean into frame, even wave their arm where the camera can see, but the person is not able to lean far enough into veiw. Though it's obvious when Leo returns because they jolt and jump back. Leo walks back into the camera veiw and hands the person a bag with presumably their proscription in it.

Leo talks with them for a few minutes, before the person leaves and he un-mutes the stream.

"Sorry, one of my clients who also watches the streams came in, probably because I was streaming and they thought they could sneak into veiw. Luckily I'm a nice guy, so they're not going to be blocked or banned from the stream, and our socials." Leo informs with some amusement. He sits back down with a slight bounce, and quickly checks the work computer on the desk.

"Unless another veiwer decides to try crashing the stream, let's go back to the books, now the first book, has a bittersweet end, but it leads into the second book which is like 10 to 15 years into the future. And it swaps from present day to the past to tell more of what happened with Ronin, and act as a teaching method for the next generation of the family."

Leo goes on to vaguely describe more parts of the books, all while purposefully ignoring the chat asking why they can't find the books anywhere. And some asking if Mandarin/Mikey wrote/drew the graphic novels.

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

Masterpost

The chat/audience doesn't know their real names, but just incase someone didn't know Mandarin is Mikey. The ones asking about Mikey would be their Friends/People who know them.

[lea-andres]

An Espnah oneshot/snippet thing no one wanted, yay~ I wrote this instead of finishing up the next chapter of WtDMtN, I'm sure everyone's thrilled, LMAO.

Although this does contain my lore's explanation for Smash Bros AND the Olympic Games games! Because those being canon amuses me. Along with Sonic knowing/being Santa.

Espio being a knight is not canon to my lore (...maybe... I'm tempted, tbh), it's a reference to SonicSong182. Iykyk, and if you don't you should remedy that. SS182's fucking great.

Dinah can't quite match I believe it was 17(!!!!) languages Espio apparently is fluent in according to MoStH, but she qualifies as multilingual. Latin and Japanese are the main two in here. I'm a dumbass American who only speaks one language, I cannot guarantee the 100% accuracy of anything ever.

Yes this is part of my plot to manifest Espio and Rouge as being 100% playable in the next Olympic Games game lmao. I want them, leave me alone.

"So… explain to me this whole Olympics thing again." Dinah requested, as she and Espio sat down on a bench by the rink entrance to pull on their ice skates.

"Where did I lose you?" Espio got his on first, and began doing some light stretches.

"Back at 'The Super Mario Bros are real'."

"You really struggle with the whole 'other dimensions and other planets' thing, don't you?" He teased, getting up and getting out onto the ice to do more stretches. Dinah finished lacing up her skates, and looked up at him to respond.

"Yes I do, because you know how often that comes up when I'm digging artifacts out of the ground?" Espio couldn't resist, forcing himself to keep a straight face, he locked eyes with Dinah, and said as evenly as he could manage.

"Ancient aliens."

"Adversus solem ne loquitor, you fucking moron!" She practically snarled back playfully. He burst out into laughter as he returned closer to the rink, holding out his hand to assist her. Dinah got up, a little wobbly in balancing on the blades, and took his hand as she made her way to him.

Once she got onto the ice, Espio launched out more toward the center, doing several tight spins and twirls before stopping sharply. The spaniel had stayed behind back at the wall, leaning against it as she watched him with an amused smirk. He blinked in confusion. Usually Dinah was all for jumping straight into an activity with him, eager to at least keep up if not try to top him. Why was she holding back now?

"Walk me through this multidimensional Olympics thing again. How did Sonic meet a video game character again?" She asked instead. He just nodded as he skated back toward her.

"Okay, so apparently Sonic got this letter in the mail. And when he opened it, it teleported him to this nexus where many great heroes across the multiverse were hanging out and having a low stakes fight club."

"Is this at all like Sonic's claim of going into that book and becoming King Arthur?" Espio smirked at that.

"I had been meaning to ask you for your professional opinion of that. Is Sonic the one true king?"

"Sonic gets points for sheer gall, but… I significantly doubt it." Dinah smirked back. Shifting so he was now gliding backwards away from her again, Espio continued.

"Anyway, Sonic met Mario there. Apparently WE'RE a game in the Mushroom Kingdom, so he was just as floored to learn about us as we were him."

"Are Sonic's games good?" Dinah raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Plus minusve," Espio waggled his hand, shifting again to now be sweeping straight toward her again, completing the large circle. "It's a… polarizing topic over there, even amongst the fans."

"Ouch." The spaniel shook her head with a laugh.

"So, they became friends, apparently Tails and the Mushroom Kingdoms' best scientists got to work on connecting our dimension and theirs, and Sonic's friends and Mario's friends get together for a friendly Olympics inspired competition."

"And you've competed?" She continued to watch him circle back and forth before her. 

"Not… officially. Typically I've been invited to compete in a single event as a Rival, but I'm hoping to make the cut this year-"

"Whomp whomp…" Dinah giggled. Espio pointed at her in mock irritation.

"Don't make fun of me, I've been busy! I've got ninjitsu training, cases that pop up, whatever bullshit YOU throw at me-"

"Your mysterious part time job you keep vanishing to?" She continued to smirk teasingly.

"Oh right, that's related to this! So, I met Princess Peach at these interdimensional get togethers, and-"

"Is she as hot as she is in the games?" Espio studied Dinah's face for a bit, trying to gauge why she was asking that.

He decided to cover all bases: "You're not going to try to pull my boss and I will NOT invite her to a threesome."

"Your boss?" Dinah repeated, adjusting her glasses. "I didn't realize the Mushroom Kingdom was in the market for Shinobi."

"They're not, to my knowledge. Princess Peach knighted me and I've been serving as a guard in her castle-"

"No you haven't!" The spaniel interrupted in amused disbelief.

"Why would I lie about that?" 

"I take back my professional opinion of Sonic's delusions of grandeur, that wasn't the most absurd thing I heard today." She continued teasingly.

"Come with me next time and I'll prove it!"

"So do you wear the mushroom hat and the diaper, or-" Dinah cracked up laughing at that, almost knocked herself over, then flailed to catch herself on the wall so she didn't wipe out on the ice. She adjusted her glasses and smiled nonchalantly, trying to play it off.

"I don't, I have proper armor." Espio narrowed his eyes at her slightly, noting what he just saw.

"Is the Princess still getting kidnapped by Bowser all the time?"

"It's been a bit since the last one, but… I guess?"

"You're a shit knight." Dinah teased.

"HEY-" Espio himself almost wiped out at that, letting out a shocked laugh.

"Can't stop one fire breathing turtle from kidnapping the princess?" She tsked playfully.

"You should stick to ninjitsu and detective work, Onmitsu."

"Just because you study knights of olden times in our world doesn't mean you're qualified to review my performance as one in another, Himawari!" He fired back playfully, snagging Dinah's arm as he skated past, pulling her away from the wall and along with him.

She lost her balance almost instantly, dropping backwards. Espio lunged to catch her, sliding across the ice on one knee, firmly cradling her head with one hand and gripping her waist with the other as he stopped her skull from cracking into the ice. She had flung her arms around his neck in her attempt to save herself, letting out a big gasp of relief when she didn't crash hard.

"Thanks, Onmitsu…" She breathed, a little dazed from the adrenaline rush.

"You… can't actually ice skate… can you?" He accused softly, giving her a look of suspicion.

"You never asked if I could, you just asked if I've been ice skating, which I have. Once." She pointed out, grinning mischievously.

"Dinah…"

"Is it a crime to want to ice skate with your Onmitsu?" She teased, one of her hands wandering up to stroke his cheek.

"It should be, if you're going to risk spilling your brains all over the rink to do so." He chastised, shifting his grip so he could scoop her up bridal style instead.

"I can make this work." He smirked, making sure he had a firm grip on her before beginning to skate forward.

"What work? What are you doing?" Dinah demanded anxiously, clinging to his neck and shoulders.

"Resistance training for speed skating events." He started picking up speed. Quickly adjusting her glasses before returning to tightly gripping his shoulders, she teased with a grin.

"Don't crash."

"I'm far less likely to than you are." She thumped his chest lightly for that, both of them laughing.

[beabee-reads]

Book Review: Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts by Lyn Gala

Review written the 12th of August, 2021

Read: 06.08.2021

FIVE STARS

Let’s just start out this review by acknowledging that, the world-building? The world-building was stunning. I loved it, and I found myself finishing the book faster than I wanted. I wanted this to last. I’d just finished binge reading the series Baal’s Heart by Bey Deckard, which is a historical fantasy mm romance story with pirates. Rightfully so, I was in the mood for something sci-fi. This was one of the first options that came up in the tag list. I thank whatever Goodread Gods are out there because this was exactly what I needed. Actually, I’d come over this book before, in the “Readers also enjoyed” section, and I remember the cover having caught my eye at the time (it's horrendous, really... what were they thinking?). I don’t even remember adding the book to my TBR, but apparently, I did. Didn’t even bother reading the blurb, so I went in totally clueless. Which was also why this disclaimer

DISCLAIMER: Please do not try any new sexual practice, especially those that might be found in our BDSM/fetish titles without the guidance of an experienced practitioner. Neither Loose Id LLC nor its authors will be responsible for any loss, harm, injury or death resulting from use of the information contained in any of its titles. Caught me totally by surprise and made me start to worry about what the actual heck I’d gotten myself into. Not to despair though: Turns out it’s a general disclaimer that the publishing company puts in all their books. Which I appreciate, by the way. I completely agree with the fact that you should research, to be able to practice any form of sex in a safe and healthy manner. This is, after all, fiction we’re reading, and can not be used as point of reference. If you’re going into this book expecting alien porn, you might as well just close the book right now and go do something else. The story is well written and, again, the world building was just fantastic. It also gave me seriously big hurt/comfort vibes throughout the duration of the whole story. The tenderness and relationship the two main characters eventually develop, had my heart aching. This has truly become one of my favorite sci-fi books so far, and I wholly resent Gala for ending the journey so fast. I look forward to reading the other books in the series and learn more about this fascinating new world she’s managed to create.

Check out my Goodreads!

[mikiib]

The Magnus Archives: ALIEN AU (Part 2)

     Sashas heart monitor going dead surprises everyone and terrifies Tim. Tim even tries to leave the ship, but Georgie is the one to stop him before he can even get into a suit. Jon and Melanie were out there already and they were going to find Sasha. Tim doesn’t think thats really a great thing to rely on, but the radio picks up filtering with Jon and Melanie's voice. Over the com Jon and Melanie are arguing about bringing Sasha back- who had busted her cracked her helmet and acting strange. Martin calls Tim back- saying the found Sasha- Tim goes over to the communications again and demands all three of them get back to the ship immediately. Jon gives in after Tim starts yelling at him and they drag a semi delirious Sasha back to the ship. (Small dialogue scene)       “She’s coming in and out of conscious but she’s fine otherwise Jon- ” Melanie says as they enter the ship's quarantine grounds, and disrobing.

     “This is exactly why we shouldn’t have split up. If you had just listened to me-” Jon helped Sasha take off her suit. The fabric seemed to stick to her skin until he yanked it hard enough. Her skin seemed stickier- but not quite clammy.

     “OH. So this is my fault is it?” Melanie turned narrowing at Jon.

     “I never said that-” he sighed. Placing the gloves he had worked off 

     “Your tone inferred it you massive tw-”

     “Welcome back to the ship! Glad everyone is alive. Now please, if you’d all focus on entering your quarantine chambers we can focus on getting out of here sooner. Sasha, I’ll be with you first if you don’t mind,” Nikola said entering the room with them wearing a sort of hazmat suit, but more skin tight and flexible.  (Scene Ended)

     They each get checked, one by one by Nikola as she goes through the breathing procedures, checking their vitals and cleaning them thoroughly. After that they are set to wait 48 hours before they can leave the chambers. In that time Tim is complaining to Martin about how shit of a boss he was thinking to not bring Sasha back with them. Georgie is there watching as Martin tries to reason that the atmosphere of foreign germs of a likely alien diseased ship getting inside Sasha is a fair enough reason to be concerned. But that only makes Tim more anxious about Sasha's state. Martin leaves, announcing he’s going to make everyone tea, and Georgie sits next to Tim, the Admiral jumping onto the table to try to cheer him up. She’s there now and that's what matters. Tim nodded as he stroked the Admiral gently. The cat enjoyed the attention nonetheless.      Once Tim has calmed down a bit Martin comes back to them each 2 cups of tea, and they collectively go to check on the quarantine chambers together. He recalls Tim and Sashas secret relationship they’ve hid from most everyone. He himself only found out after cleaning up the living quarters when he’d found himself useless in the mechanics department. More than once has he discovered something that should’ve been tossed out but also accidentally stumbled across them in his spare time without their notice. Martin thinks it's sweet Tim cares so much for Sasha. Once they arrive, Georgie stops to look at the monitors, seeing one of them having a system freak out. Concerned, she asks what's going on. Nikola simply brushes her off explaining it’s only freaking out from all 3 of the chambers being used at once and that Sasha so far is perfectly fine, even with ‘foreign entities’ being read from her chamber. Georgie nods slowly, but makes a note to check up on this again later when she can.       Martin overheard this conversation before he walks on; He passes Sasha and Melanie’s chambers with a wave- instead stopping at Jons to hand him tea through what is essentially feeding slots. Jon looks a bit melancholy and stressed, so Martin tries to strike up a conversation with him. At first Jon doesn’t really want to talk until Martin says he wouldn’t get to sleep with the Admiral once he gets out- picking up the cat who seemed to follow him instead of Georgie. Jon then huffs claiming Martin can be a surprisingly persuasive negotiator as he picks up the tea and starts to lay out his thoughts. He admits he feels guilty for overreacting about Sasha. And he fears Tim might try to get back at him for even considering leaving Sasha behind. Martin tries to comfort Jon, saying he was only worried and overwhelmed by the whole situation. Even saying he wouldn’t know what to do if it were him in Jons boots. Jon absently nods to this before asking Martin to bring him back a book to read while he waited. Martin complies, waving the Admirals paw at Jon as he goes. He passes by Georgie who is talking with Melanie, and hands her the Admiral, new mission on finding Jon a book he HASN’T already read on the ship.       Georgie talks with Melanie about all the amazing things she’d seen out there but also criticized Melanie for her lack of tact in the situation. Melanie takes the slap on the wrist, and apologies as she may have been too eager to see all the grim situations of foreign life. Once Melanie finished her tea she announces she’s going to bed- it’s just as Martin walks by again with 3 separate books in hand. Georgie agrees to the fact they’ve all had a long day and bids everyone goodnight but stops short when The Admiral hisses loudly and jumps from her arms as she stops to bid Tim and Sasha goodnight. Everyone is startled by this as he has NEVER been known to have done that before. Sasha plays it off to his animal instincts as she’s probably still covered with alien germs. She gives a big grin that makes everyone who sees it uncomfortable. Even Tim looks concerned. They then go off to bed- not saying a word to each other about this event but they do keep tabs on her status while the next 3 days of their quarantine go by slowly.       Once they’re deemed free to be let loose Jon immediately goes off to record all his findings and review the footage and audio they’d been able to collect. Martin and Tim after the first day of Sasha being out slowly start avoiding her- something in their brains telling them something is wrong. Tim is really upset about it- saying she’s likely still sick, but Nikola says Sasha is perfectly healthy. In fact she announces they should start prepping to go back into hypersleep if they wanted to get back to Earth quicker- scolding Jon when he walks into the room because she has noticed he hasn’t been sleeping since he got out of quarantine. Jon argues he’s cataloging and reviewing data but Nikola says Georgie should be helping him with that stuff and that he needs to get rest now. Jon stalks off but Martin brings Jon a cup of tea and The Admiral so he can get some good sleep as they start to prep the ship.       It takes them 2 weeks for the system to be fully back on course as well as to set up the autopilot for the trip back home. Jon has been consistently avoiding Nikola and Sasha, always in his office going over the recordings as well as just hiding from everyone else. He feels like something is off with Sasha, and while others Georgie and Martin agree with him- Tim and Melanie get almost hostile towards him if he brings it up. Once they’re all laid down and prepped for the hypersleep he actively fights it- and keeps his eyes open. He does this for almost 3 hours after everyone else has fallen asleep before he notices Sasha stand up and leave her pod.       He gets up and groggily follows her down to the artifacts room. Once in there he realizes the lights aren’t turning on and while he mutters that Martin needs to fix this place too he notices one of the more higher security level rooms was open. He was the only person that should have access to that room. He grabs a crowbar and slowly approaches the door, pushing it up higher to make his way in easier. He finds the room filled with some sort of eggs. 7 if them in fact- and one of them opens right then and there. Before he can make a decision to approach or leave something lunges out at him from within it. Horror stricken by this he swings his crowbar and catches it against the wall. Its tail however wraps around his neck and pulls him forward with strength he wasn't prepared for still being so groggy. It is able to extend a tube halfway towards his face- sharp teeth of sorts trying and succeeding in grazing his neck as he brings more strength into his arms and tosses it away. He gets up, the creature slightly stunned as it lands onto the other eggs, but just then he realizes his mistake. The other eggs begin to hatch just then, tops opening up with a squishing hiss and he books it just as some of the creature's fingers peek out from behind the eggs. PART 1

[tomasorban]

Alien Technology May Have Entered Our Solar System, Says Harvard Professor

Scientific ideas like the Drake Equation — an attempt to formalize wider theoretical parameters of intelligent life beyond Earth — have yet to give a solid figure to the possibility of life in our galaxy. If intelligent aliens are real, they've yet to leave a sign.

However, one scientist of note says they just did. When the unidentified object called 'Oumuamua zipped through our solar system in 2017, it may have been our first official encounter with alien technology — so argues astrophysicist and Harvard Professor Avi Loeb in his book, titled "Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life," forthcoming on Jan. 26.

Alien technology may have entered our solar system

In his forthcoming book, Professor Loeb makes a compelling case for why the object called 'Oumuamua (pronounced "oh moo ah moo ah") — an elongated, shaft-like object that sling-shotted through our solar system in 2017 — was more than just another space rock.

'Oumuamua, he says, was probably a piece of defunct alien technology.

The object came from the direction of the star Vega — a nearby star 25 light-years away — and crossed into the plane of our solar system on Sept. 6, 2017.

"It intercepted the orbital plane, within which all of the planets in our solar system revolve around the sun, on September 6, 2017," wrote Loeb. "But the object's extreme hyperbolic trajectory guaranteed it would only visit, not stay."

'Oumuamua displayed small, consistent acceleration

After passing the perihelion, the closest position to the Sun of 'Oumuamua's trajectory, "it began to exit the solar system; its speed far away — relative to our star, it was moving at about 94,800 km per hour (58,900 miles per hour) — more than ensured its escape from the Sun's gravity," wrote Loeb in his book.

"It passed through Venus' orbital distance from the sun around September 29 and through Earth's around October 7, moving swiftly toward the constellation Pegasus and the blackness beyond," Loeb wrote.

The object then displayed a small but consistent acceleration for which the sun's gravity could not account.

Strange object's acceleration baffles scientific community

Comets do the same as they release gases — which coalesce into their signature tails. But 'Oumuamua didn't have one, nor did telescopes we'd centered on the strange object find any signs of by-products typically linked to outgassing, like dust or water vapor.

Astronomers worked to exclude one theory after another, looking for ways to make sense of 'Oumuamua's bizarre motion. It hadn't collided with another object, and it hadn't received its boost in speed from solar wind.

One research group thought the best explanation for the object was that it was a "miniature comet" whose tail went undetected, as a consequence of "unusual chemical composition." A different group suggested 'Oumuamua consisted of frozen hydrogen — a modified mini-comet hypothesis.

Key to 'Oumuamua's origin lies in its brightness, says Harvard professor

However, the most interesting account came from Professor Loeb, who argued 'Oumuamua wasn't the kind of interstellar object we expected. To him, it was an artifact of an alien civilization.

"Long before we knew of its existence, the object was traveling toward us from the direction of Vega, a star just 25 light-years away," wrote Loeb in his book.

However, ground- and space-based observations following the outward trajectory of the object identified sunlight reflecting off of the surface of 'Oumuamua.

"For astrophysicists, an object's changing brightness provides invaluable clues to its shape," wrote Loeb. "In the case of 'Oumuamua, the object's brightness varied tenfold every eight hours, which we deduced to be the amount of time that it took to complete one full rotation."

Harvard professor argues object was artifact of alien civilization

"This dramatic variability in its brightness told us 'Oumuamua's shape was extreme, or at least five to ten times longer than it was wide," Loeb wrote. It seemed evidence pointed to a relatively small, cigar-shaped object.

"This is definitely an unusual object," observed the narrator of a NASA video, The New Yorker reports. "And, unfortunately, no more new observations of 'Oumuamua are possible because it's already too dim and far away."

Ruling out the possibility of a comet or an asteroid, Professor Loeb concluded only one explanation remained: the baffling object is an artifact of advanced technology from an alien civilization.

'Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence'

"Our civilization has sent five man-made objects into interstellar space: Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, and New Horizons," wrote Loeb. "This fact alone is suggestive of our unlimited potential to venture far out. So too is the behavior of our more distant ancestors."

"And if other civilizations developed out there among the stars, wouldn't they have felt that same urge to explore, to venture past familiar horizons in search of the new? Judging by human behavior, that would not be surprising in the least," concluded Loeb in his upcoming book.

Needless to say, Loeb's conclusion about the origin of 'Oumuamua is extraordinary. "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence," said the astronomer Carl Sagan — who has yet to be dwarfed by another scientist in his efforts to promote the search for extraterrestrial life.

Alien origin theory of object opens 'new vistas of exploration'

The best evidence Loeb cites for his 'Oumuamua theory is the absence of convincing alternative explanations. "It is not obvious to me why extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence," wrote Loeb, flipping the script on Sagan: "Extraordinary conservatism keeps us extraordinarily ignorant."

To Loeb, so long as the chance exists that 'Oumuamua is an alien probe, ruling out the possibility could make fools of us all. "If we acknowledge that 'Oumuamua is plausibly of extraterrestrial-technology origin," writes Loeb, "whole new vistas of exploration for evidence and discovery open before us."

For standing by his convictions, Loeb risks (and has weathered) serious ridicule. On a historical basis, the odds are stacked against his theory. Yet considering the statistical likelihood of life beyond our home planet against the stark contrast of lacking evidence — known as the Fermi Paradox — it's hard to resist the exciting possibilities that could unfold if we knew technology from an alien civilization did, in fact, enter our solar system.

[crystal-siren]

Knowledge (Dad!Tony x Reader + Loki x Reader) Pt. 4

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3

@dovies666  @mymourningtea  @hams-corner  @parkerrpeterr  @desdestiny   @m4shtyx  @blackmaylovesfries

She said, ‘Never forget me’.......as if the coast could forget the ocean, or the lung forget the breath, or the earth could forget the sun. ~ Beau Taplin // A Reminder

She was the last person Tony had ever suspected of being a thief. It had been two years since he had spoken with her and heard her voice.

Y/N had left the country on what was supposed to be a business trip. It was not until she was completely out of the country, that the authorities discovered what she had done.

The American government had tasked SHIELD with the mission of finding her and bringing her back. Tony had been reluctant at first, not wanting believe that his little girl was responsible for the theft of classified documents from the National Archives. When he had learnt however, who these documents concerned, he had all the proof he needed.

For two years he and his team mates had chased her across Europe. She had evaded them at every turn, outsmarting them at every opportunity. Even Nat and Clint had a hard time keeping track of her. Y/N’s extensive knowledge of information retrieval made it hard for the Avengers to prevent her from gaining access to the various institutions that had become her targets.

London was the last place they had seen her. Their British contact had seen her, her Y/F/C hair making it easy for anyone to spot and pinpoint her. Nat had tailed her but she soon gave them the slip and disappeared, taking the stolen information with her.

Fury had ordered Tony to stay behind, believing him to be too emotionally involved. He had waited with baited breath as Nat’s steady reports came in over her com. Then came the words that Tony and Fury had been dreading. “I’ve lost her.”

She had gone dark, off the grid. Y/N had made it near impossible for them to track her. Since her disappearance from London, the Avengers had received no further reports of her location. It was not until a pattern was discovered by a SHIELD analyst that they were able to predict where she would go next.

Siberia.

The information and artifacts she had stolen all spoke of a legendary stone with ability to allow its bearer to travel to different worlds. While some argued that they should lie in wait for her, others believed that if she could not find the stone, then she would eventually give up and return to America of her own will.

Tony, who had no desire to arrest his own daughter, voted on the second option.

~ ~ ~

“Sometimes memories are the worst forms of torture.”

If he was surprised that Thor had come to visit him, Loki showed no outward sign. Standing up, he smiled nastily at his brother. “How kind of you to come. Are the realms at peace now that the mighty Thor has vanquished their enemies?”

Thor moved closer until only the barrier of the cell stood between them. “I spoke with Mother,” he continued, ignoring the jibe.

“Did you just.”

“She is worried about you.”

Picking up a nearby book, Loki pretended to read it. “She is? How very touching.”

“You know she is,” Thor spoke, his tone gentle. Taking a deep breath, he looked down at his hands before lifting his gaze to meet his brother’s. “I did not just come to speak of our mother, but also to offer my condolences.”

Loki did not answer right away. When he did, his voice was dangerously calm. “I would thank you if I knew why you offered them.”

“Do not play games with me, brother.” Thor could clearly see that something had shifted in his brother, despite the facade he had constructed.

Loki turned away from the older Prince. He clenched his hands into tight fists in order to to maintain his control over his emotions. “I have no need for such useless sentiments.”

“I do wonder,” Thor spoke after a few moments of silence. “How it is possible for you to remain so calm, even after the worst experience has befallen you?”

“What other choice do I have?” Loki challenged, turning to face him.

“The woman you love is dead,” Thor hated himself for the brief flicker of pain that flittered over his brother’s features. “And here you are, calm and collected as though nothing of importance has happened.”

“What do you suggest I do?”

Thor ground his teeth in frustration. Why was he acting so damn unaffected ?

“Lashing out in anger would hardly aid my cause,” Loki pointed out. “She was a mortal, Thor. It was only a matter of time.”

“Would you listen to yourself!” Thor could hardly believe what he was hearing. “If she meant so little to you, as you claim she did-”

“Do not presume to put words into my mouth,” Loki snapped, cutting him off. His upper lip curled in the first show of emotion Thor had witnessed since his arrival. “Do not presume to offer me comfort when you know nothing of the pain.”

Thor said nothing. What could he possibly say? His brother was right, words of comfort would have no effect on him, they were useless.

~ ~ ~

“This is not how I pictured my first trip to the Swiss Alps.”

“Really?” Nikolas shot his cousin a sideways glance, “I am truly shocked.”

“Ha ha,” Y/N unbuckled her safety harness and stood to walk to the back of the helicopter where she proceeded to strap a parachute to her body. “Very funny.”

“I still think the plane would have been better,” her cousin spoke from the cockpit.

“You know,” Y/N replied, moving back to the front and sitting back down. “If you keep saying that, I might just pull you out with me.”

“Then we would crash and boom, there goes the element of surprise.”

Y/N smirked, “boom indeed.”

“Honestly,” Nikolas rolled his eyes and attempted to glare at her. His expression softened, “are you sure you’re up for this ? I know you never liked heights much.”

Y/N took a deep breath and smiled at him. “My fears are of little consequence. I made a promise and what kind of person would I be if I broke it ?”

“This isn’t just about the promise though is it?”

Looking down at her hands, Y/N shook her head.

“You really love him then?”

Meeting her cousin’s blue gaze, she took a shuddering breath and nodded. “Yes.”

“Well, then,” Nikolas nudged her shoulder. “Lets hope everything goes smoothly.”

“Yeah,” she whispered and fixed her eyes straight ahead, “I hope so too.”

Silence hung between them for the remainder of the flight. It wasn’t until the distinct shapes of the mountains came into view, that Y/N stood up and moved to door of the aircraft.

“We’re almost at the drop zone,” Nikolas reported and glanced over his shoulder. “You ready?”

Y/N made to reply when a fit of coughing racked her entire frame.

“Y/N?” Nickolas made to come to her when she waved him away.

“I’m alright,” she wheezed out and held a hand to her chest where a stabbing pain bloomed. “Just the nerves I suppose.”

Despite remaining unconvinced, Nikolas nodded. “If you’re all set?”

Y/N nodded and slid a pair of goggles over her eyes. Sliding the door open, she took a series of deep breaths to try and calm herself. “Here goes,” she murmured to herself and all but fell out of the aircraft.

The rush of the cold mountain air helped to distract Y/N from paying too much attention to the fact that she was falling rather rapidly towards the ground. Only when she pulled the parachute did she relax.

Landing somewhat smoothly in a clearing, she untangled herself from the parachute and activated her earpiece. “Nikolas? Can you hear me?”

“Still alive I see?” Came her cousin’s relieved tone.

“Alive and kicking,” Y/N replied, smirking. “I told you this would work.”

“Hang on,” he protested, “you haven’t even gone in yet.”

“Such faith, dear cousin,” Y/N shot back, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “You remember where to go I assume?”

“Please, I’ve been in this business longer than you.”

“Whatever you say,” she replied, “I’m going in.” Looking around, she began the short climb to the walls of SHIELD’s European base of Operations.

~ ~ ~

Not entirely convinced that his daughter would simply give up, Tony had elected to stay at the base in case she got it into her head to try and steal the stone.

If the past two years had taught him anything, it was that Y/N was not to be underestimated in the lengths she would go to.

Standing in front of the case that housed the stone, Tony sighed heavily, never would he have pictured his life to turn out this way. His precious daughter as a fugitive and thief was something the still sounded alien and wrong.

It was a beautiful stone to be sure, that much he would acknowledge. It was as though someone had trapped a sunset inside it. Under no circumstances could he let her get her hands on it.

~ ~ ~

Y/N was more than a bit suspicious of how easy it had been to get in. Not stopping to think why, she slipped into one of the numerous hallways and walked as silently as she could, relying heavily on her memory of the base’s layout.

The stone, if it was there, would be housed in the most secure part of the building.

Making doubly sure to avoid the cameras that decorated the walls, Y/N crept through the building like a shadow.

The sound of approaching footsteps had Y/N press herself against the wall and stop breathing, even though the stabbing pain in her chest continued to increase.

“What do you think Tony’ll do if she comes?” Natasha asked, rounding the corner. Y/N’s eyes widened, her father was here?!

“I hope he doesn’t hesitate, whatever he decides to do,” Clint replied.

Y/N waited until the two agents were completely out of sight before letting out the breath she’d been holding. She berated herself for not having prepared for this eventuality. She perked up however, if her father was here, that meant the stone was too.

With renewed energy, she headed in the direction the two agents had come from. She hoped and prayed that she wouldn’t encounter her father, she had no idea how he would react. She was a criminal after all.

It wasn’t long until a heavily guarded door came into view. Swearing under her breath, Y/N ducked into a nearby alcove, hoping that the guards hadn’t seen her.

Running her hands down her legs, she pulled out a pair of throwing knives. Nikolas had insisted that she at least go minimally armed, in case anything should happen.

Praying that her aim should prove accurate, Y/N spun out of the alcove and threw the blades. They sliced through the air and hit their mark.

Trying not to focus on the fact that she had just taken two lives, Y/N hesitantly approached one and nudged him with her foot. When no response came, she sighed with morbid relief.

Retrieving her knives, she quickly wiped them clean on her pants before approaching the door. Not wasting any time, she pulled out the device Nikolas had given her and placed it on the door. Numbers flickered across the screen until a combination was reached.

Looking over her shoulder, Y/N scanned the hallway before pushing the door open and stepping through.

~ ~ ~

Hearing the door open and then close, Tony turned around. The person that stood before him was both the first and last person he wanted to see.

“Y/N?”

Her e/c eyes didn’t seem to register his presence. They were locked onto the case behind him. “Finally,” she murmured and stepped around him.

Y/N knew full well that her father was there. She also knew that she had precious little time. The stone gleamed before her. It’s warm golden glow reflected on her features. Reaching out, her fingers brushed the cool glass.

“I can’t let you take that.”

Y/N briefly closed her eyes before turning to face him. “That’s too bad. I made a promise and I have every intention of keeping it.”

“A promise to a criminal is one that you have no obligation to keep.”

Y/N stared at her father. “How can you say such a thing? A promise is a promise, regardless to who it is made.”

“He is dangerous, Y/N. You above everyone would know this.”

Y/N nodded. “You’re right, I do know and I love him despite it.”

“I can’t let you do this,” Tony continued as she moved closer to the case.

Turning away from him, Y/N faced the glass and clenched her right hand into a fist before slamming it through the case. The glass sliced at her knuckles but she didn’t care. Her slender fingers curled around the stone and drew it to her. “You thought to steal my chance at happiness. You and those people you call friends.” Turning to face him, she continued, “I will make each and everyone of you pay for that.”

The moment she had smashed the glass, alarms had sounded. Panic coursed through her but she refused to show it. “You made me lose my love once, now you will lose yours a thousand times over.” Her voice was dangerously calm.

Shocked into silence, Tony stared at her. What had happened to his sweet girl? His Y/N? What being had possessed her?

Taking advantage of his stunned state, she sprinted from the room. Clutching the stone to her chest, Y/N ran.

The sound of the alarms seemed to follow her. The hallways all looked the same as she struggled to remember the way out. The heavy sound of running feet soon reached her ears and her panic increased. Touching her earpiece, Y/N activated it and tried to keep her voice calm as she addressed her cousin. “Nikolas? Nikolas? You there?”

“That was quick,” his surprised voice filtered through the com. “Was it there? The stone ?”

“Yes,” she answered quickly as her pursuers gained ground. “I have it with me. I need you to get me out. Now.”

“Something happened didn’t it?”

Y/N sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose before answering. “My father was there and I may have said some horrible things to him.”

“Well, did you?”

She bit her lip before answering and looked over her shoulder. “I kind of threatened him.”

“You WHAT?”

“I wasn’t thinking, alright!” She protested and ducked around the next corner when she heard them getting closer. “We can talk about this in greater detail later, but right now, I need you to get me out.”

She heard him sigh heavily before replying. “Alright, as we planned.”

“Agreed.” Taking one more breath despite the pain in her chest and hand, Y/N ran as fast and as quietly as she could.

Finally the route began to look familiar, this alone helped to spur her on. Skidding to a halt just before an emergency exit, she pushed the door open with her good hand and was greeted with a rush of cold mountain air.

“Y/N.”

Freezing at the sound of her name, she slowly turned around and faced her father, who in turn was flanked by Agents Barton and Romanoff.

“Dad,” she acknowledged and unconsciously held the stone closer.

“Give us the stone,” Clint stepped forward and held out a hand.

Curling her upper lip, Y/N shook her head. “I would sooner cut off my right hand than give this to you.”

“Come now,” Tony stepped in. “There is no need for that. Y/N, sweetie, please. I know the promise you made, we were all there.”

“Then let me keep it,” she pleaded, “let me be happy.”

“He will not make you happy,” Natasha tried to reason with her.

Y/N turned her attention to the young Russian. “Who are you to say such a thing? How do you know that ? Hmmm? Who are you to say who and who won’t make me happy?” She then turned to other two. “Who are any of you to determine that? You all hate him! Especially you,” she pointed a bloody finger at Clint.

She opened her mouth to continue when her cousin’s voice sounded in her ear. “Whenever you’re ready, cuz.”

Sure enough, the cold rush of wind that accompanied the arrival of a helicopter blew the few stray strands of Y/F/C hair loose of the braid she had put it in. Turning around, Y/N saw the craft only a short distance away. Her cousin was beckoning her.

Not even sparing a glance for those behind her, Y/N ran and leapt on board, one of Barton’s arrows skimming the air just below her leg. Slamming the door shut, she climbed into the cockpit beside her cousin.

Nikolas’s keen eyes soon landed on her injured hand that still clutched the stone. “What on earth happened to your hand?”

“Later,” was all she managed to gasp out. Her chest heaving with the effort to breathe normally.

“Brilliant,” she heard Nikolas mutter in a worried tone, one hand resting gently on her heated forehead.

To be continued...

Part 5

[sweetfirebird]

iwillcrushmyphonesomeday replied to your post: Hi, on the subject of alien dicks. I have read one... Just in case you were wondering - I think the book your Anon was referring to was Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts by Lyn Gala. It’s good m/m sci fi romance. Gala also wrote Turbulence which has one of my favorite characters of all time in it (Jacqs) and plethora of fun sexualities.

I am personally so flipping delighted that several people have now talked about this book with truly alien peen with complete joy and love. 

Take that as a rec, everyone. Take it as a rec and read this book if alien naughty bits are even a little bit your jam!!

[beabee-reads]

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[eloreenmoon]

Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts (Claimings Book 1) by Lyn Gala #Audio #LGBT #SciFi #Review #MMRomance

Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts (Claimings Book 1) by Lyn Gala #Audio #LGBT #SciFi #Review #MMRomance

Erryn reviews Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts (Claimings Book 1) by Lyn Gala published May 19, 2018 and is 198 pages. The audiobook was released by Tantor Media on October 22, 2019, is 6hrs and 57mins and is narrated by John Solo. A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Why I read the book: I’m always game for something new.

Liam loves his life as a linguist and trader…