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man-monsters-and-aliens · 10 months

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the aliens from the show are difficult, I have a reboot in my head but I'll separate them for hopefully a more digestible read I also haven't seen the show in a long time so my memory is blahhh

General Headcanons

Coverton gives me amphibious vibes, tho I do think those cheek "flaps" are like. gills or something, not exactly. his chrysalis rejuvenation molting whatever is ?? helps keep his skin squishy soft and get rid of skin disease. human equivalent of a "birthday" but he only does it every 6¾ (earth) years, he's also 180 so you do the math for his human age

"Coverton" is not his real name, that's a title, as is "Coverlord" for leader of the interstellar conquering empire

loves a good mocha, I also think he would like boba tea. idk I like to imagine the aliens just trying earth drinks, I'm gonna project more and say he doesn't like soda, or champagne but does appreciate wine. the lemonade he had from the pilot was meh, whatever

from what I understand Sta'abi doesn't have a home anymore? she's a survivor of some horrid giant beast's rampage. at some point she left her planet to join an interspecies group of warriors that travel the stars, which has some association to the Coverlord Empire. so her position under this council of warriors is.. a monster hunter

her favourite kind of food is from the sea, enjoys shellfish & cephalopods the most (because her usual hunt is on land, seafood is fancy). she likes to dance despite not being very elegant, but her priority is "the mission" which excludes "having fun" (tho her idea of fun is tag)

Sqweep's skin is like. dry slime. or putty texture. she is like a sterilised marshmallow if that makes any sense. smells like roasted walnuts or a burnt almond cookie

Reboot Headcanons

concept art I love better than the og + sketches of inspired slight redesign from my ig (and a drawing I forgor)

Coverton's legs are pretty weak compared to even the average of his species, Earth's atmosphere & gravity doesn't help either. so while he can stand, it's only for a brief time, it also fluctuates how long depending on the weather. he'd use his hoverchair or just put the spacesuit on, especially for going outdoors

‌can't stand saltwater, lousy swimmer, afraid of Earth's ocean & easily seasick

‌unlike show canon, his telekinesis is artificial & enhanced with technology

weighs like a bunch of grapes, flexible & hypermobile, near-sighted so he may wear contact lense

he carries out his rejuvenation cycle in a secure chamber, symptoms include excessive sliming ("sweat"), bubbling skin (boils), and flaking (desquamation is just the beginning). like the rest of his species, he was grown in a lab

I honestly have no idea if that's natural hair or a wig lmao

concept art where I'd just combine the best ones imo

Sqweep is a nickname! she gets it from the "eep" sounds she makes when excited or surprised

idk why I feel like she has a hundred or more siblings, not many are close to each other. perhaps several parents too, at least 5

like her parents and grandparents and great grandparents she's a super rich adult scientist that works as part of an interstellar organisation dedicated to protecting life harbouring star systems

a field researcher therefore planetary explorer, her job is to document & study life on Earth

likes romantic comedies, and loves all animals on Earth, but she's allergic to fur, which is devastating

since she does have a face and therefore is able to emote, I think the antenna colour coded light emoting is unnecessary. I'd like to find another place for it in relation to her but not her biology itself. she sparkles instead

pretty sure no bones (therefore no teeth), light as a cloud so a gust of wind could send her off like a tumbleweed, but I feel the density of her own body can regulate itself, depending on certain conditions? covered in fine fuzz, her nubby hands (tentacles?) hold things like itty bitty hooks

can't digest foods unless in the form of fluids, probably likes bland foods tbh. anything too flavorful would make her head explode

y'know maybe her species is. delicious. their "flesh" tastes like space mango, but cotton candy weight & texture 💀

some of the concepts I refer to for the most challenging and frustrating of the alien bunch, and today's look of her as I also went through & played with various designs

this version of Sta'abi is dropped on Earth to manage her "anger issues". her peers decided she needed to chill out, which is coincidentally the same day a vornicarn is brought into the world. as a hunter, she would've killed on sight, but after helping to capture it and being held captive by Area 5X herself, she starts to empathize with and eventually befriend the creature

Coverton eventually gets her to somewhat roam free in the facility and offers her a way off world but only if she helps him with his plans. he's not completely transparent about them and Sta'abi just wants to leave, she's already familiar with the empire he works for so there's some trust in his word

the males of her species have wings? is that canon? I feel like it's canon.. but in modern days they're just for show, can't fly but can glide and catch wind to hover, though only for so long as they're mostly small

none of these concept art belong to me btw if that wasn't obvious I just took them from the wiki

came from the only egg that survived the initial meteor crash & wasn't frozen to death, laid dormant and got covered in the antartic ice until global warming exposed it millions of years later (which scientists soon discover but let the monster agents investigate as they have alien consultants)

instead of Link's nose I really hammed up the alien parody for my own indulgence haha (blood cw; initial drawings + non-canon chest bursting)

steals coverton's chocolate either when he's not looking or right in his face, probably doesn't like baths, loves chin/neck scratches & belly rubs (only from Sta'abi)

smells with the tip of his tongue, bipedal & quadrupedal, not great at hearing

skin is scaly like a snake, full of muscle

can and will survive in all extreme environments except the desert? for heat & hydration reasons mayhaps as he can't withstand both at once

some of these may change with time and I'd love to read everyone else's hcs! or how you'd rewrite them perhaps :]

since you made it to the very end you're obligated to tell me your favourite alien 🫵

#monsters vs aliens #mva headcanons #mva series #mva show #coverton monsters vs aliens #sta'abi monsters vs aliens #sqweep monsters vs aliens #vornicarn #yeah safe draws stuff #yeah safe answers stuff #mva reboot #this is for you anon i had much to think and scratch my head about!!#sorry it took so long 😭

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mimigamasked · 1 year

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A Word on Wet-Woods, & A Brief on Brittle-Branches

Written by Hrisk Qwolompin Grϋes, 218th Minister of Diplomacy

The establishment of the Galactic Union has been to permit interstellar species to interact through peace without threats of interplanetary wars. However, while there exist several planets capable of supporting life within our very Galaxy, not all of them may produce acceptable species

Wet-Wood Civilization: A term coined by the Galactic Union based on the old Qekochi phrase, “a wet wood sparks no flame.” The point of the phrase is that it is pointless to attempt to help others if they won’t or can’t support themselves.

The usage of the term is that for as many species that can exist and become sapient, just as many that do are unlikely to prosper given their circumstances. This predominantly refers to fully-aquatic species as they would most likely lack reasonable means to achieve space travel, such as support structures, manipulatory appendages, capability to survive extended time-periods outside of water, and respiration.

Brittle Branch: A term coined by the Galactic Union based on the old Tekeker phrase, “a brittle branch is ally to none.” The term referred to individuals that pose an active threat or greater net negative consequence to any group.

The term sees use to refer to species that, while indeed do possess the potential or meet the criteria to join the Union, are prohibited in some fashion or other due to varying causes. This could be due to violence-feuled cultures, cruelty inherent to species, capability to negatively impact long-term projects, or issues of similar root (It should be noted that religious sacrifice is not the same as wanton violence, but morally, it is a major gray area). As such, measures are put into place to prevent these species from exiting their solar systems until major cultural overhauls or specific extinction or succession.

Thus leads to a special examination for every species that displays sapience or intelligent traits. Through a set time-limit depending on yearly orbit of the native planet, as can be read under Article 346, Section 5 of the Halberd Pact, members of the GU are prohibited from interacting with any species whatsoever on these planets to minimize risk of influence over native culture. The test is designed to observe the civilization’s sustainability, progress, and predispositions. To aid in monitoring, remote observatory satellites, such as “Halley” (as dubbed by Terras Humans), will remain in orbit around the solar system to regularly gather information over long enough intervals to determine the current state of progress within the world.

The common time-period is typically 36 of that planet’s millenia, adjusted as necessary depending on distance to native star and emergence of new sapient life. Upon success, ambassadors will be sent to greet the successful species and establish embassies in certain territories, permitting they are not attacked en route such as with initial contact with the Terras nation “United States of America.”

It is likewise that treatment of the world determines the granting of terraforming permits.

#Galactic Union #humans are space orcs #microfiction #space #diplomacy

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literatureatthebowofnails · 2 years

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Under His Eye

Disclaimer: I don’t own Marvel or Viacom; mythological similarities mostly coincidental

A/N: Part 8 of the SHIELD Timeline of the Duchess series, (find masterlist here).

Series Warnings: Loki x fem!reader. Reader has nickname and backstory but no physical description. Language, angst. Fluff, cunnilingus, masturbation. Character’s childhood trauma, mention of Catholic colonization of Northern Europe

Series Summary: This series begins during Thor (2011) and generally follows along that plot. After Loki’s visit to the SHIELD encampment, the timeline branches

Timeline Warnings: Violence, reader loss of consciousness, helplessness in traumatic situations, hospitalization, flirtation with OMC, drinking, character “death”, excessive smut, edging, bondage

Timeline Summary: This timeline generally follows the Sacred Timeline

Chapter Summary: You learn new information about SHIELD's previous encounters with extraterrestrial threats

Word Count: 560

Midgard

Natasha Romanoff’s reputation may proceed her, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the reality. Though soft spoken, her calm confidence is ever so slightly intimidating and she’s frankly probably one of the most attractive people you’ve ever met.

She fixes you with her cornflower blue gaze, tilting her head to ask, “So what brings an extraterrestrial threat analyst to lying lessons?”

“Have you been briefed on the Puente Antiguo battle back in May?”

You go over what happened, explaining how you obtained your position and admit you’re still seeing Loki. “Well, that’s an advantage,” she notes.

“How so?”

“Duchess, once you learn to lie as well as I do, you’ll be able to get more information out of him than anyone.” You’re not sure how you feel about that, and it must be clear on your face. “The truth is a matter of circumstance. It’s not all things to all people all the time.

“Deputy Director Hill mentioned you have some acting experience. That’s where we’ll start.”

10.19.11

A few hours after you submit your completed report, Maria calls you into her office to introduce you to Director Fury. You thought you’d been nervous meeting Romanoff.

Coulson joins the group, closing the door behind him and Fury puts the office in secure mode. “You’re absolutely sure the information in your report is correct? That there are Aakon on Nycos Aristedes?”

“Yes. From what I witnessed; they’ve established a thriving colony over the last half decade.” You give him a curious look.

“I’m hereby raising your clearance to Level 5,” the computer beeps in recognition at his command. “Thor was not our first extraterrestrial visitor.

“In 1995 I was training a new rookie,” Coulson raises his hand as Fury goes on, “when a woman in a scuba suit fell out of the sky, destroying a Blockbuster. At the time Captain Carol Danvers was working for the Kree Empire, which controlled the Greater Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that orbits our own. She was followed into our atmosphere by a group of Skrull intelligence agents in search of this,” he presses a button on his phone and the monitor shows a glowing blue cube.

“This,” he continues, “is the Tesseract. Back in the second world war, the Nazi’s science division, Hydra, went rogue. Their leader, Johann Schmidt, found the Tesseract, which he believed was left here by Asgardians. He used it to create weapons, until it was lost. SHIELD found it and began Project PEGASUS, a joint operation with NASA, led by an ex-pat Kree soldier, Mar-Vell.

“Mar-Vell believed it could be used to assist Skrull refugees to escape the wrath of the Kree Empire by way of interstellar travel. Captain Danvers left it with SHIELD when she helped the Skrulls leave our system.”

You sit, processing the information, and glance toward Maria, who looks like some of this might be news to her as well. “What does this have to do with the Aakons?” you ask.

Coulson pipes up, “According to our intelligence, the Aakons were wiped out five years ago during an intergalactic genocide called The Annihilation.”

“So, it’s possible the only ones who escaped are those on Nycos Aristedes?” you ask.

“Exactly,” says Fury. “I’ve been made aware of your lessons with Agent Romanoff. Given the current situation, they’re about to involve a lot more than lying.”

Next chapter here.

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spacenutspod · 2 months

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The future of space exploration includes some rather ambitious plans to send missions farther from Earth than ever before. Beyond the current proposals for building infrastructure in cis-lunar space and sending regular crewed missions to the Moon and Mars, there are also plans to send robotic missions to the outer Solar System, to the focal length of our Sun’s gravitational lens, and even to the nearest stars to explore exoplanets. Accomplishing these goals requires next-generation propulsion that can enable high thrust and consistent acceleration. Focused arrays of lasers – or directed energy (DE) – and lightsails are a means that is being investigated extensively – such as Breakthrough Starshot and Swarming Proxima Centauri. Beyond these proposals, a team from McGill University in Montreal has proposed a new type of directed energy propulsion system for exploring the Solar System. In a recent paper, the team shared the early results of their Laser-Thermal Propulsion (LTP) thruster facility, which suggests that the technology has the potential to provide both high thrust and specific impulse for interstellar missions. The research team was led by Gabriel R. Dube, an Undergraduate Research Trainee with the McGill Interstellar Flight Experimental Research Group (IFERG), and Associate Professor Andrew Higgins, the Principal Investigator of the IFERG. They were joined by Emmanuel Duplay, a graduate researcher from the Technische Universiteit Delft (TU Delft); Siera Riel, a Summer Research Assistant with the IFERG; and Jason Loiseau, an Associate Professor with the Royal Military College Of Canada. The team presented their results at the 2024 AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition and in a paper that appeared in the AIAA journal Aerospace Research Central (ARC). Artist’s concept of a Bimodal Nuclear Thermal Rocket in Low Earth Orbit. Credit: NASA Higgins and his colleagues originally proposed this concept in a 2022 paper that appeared in Acta Astronautica – titled “Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion.” As Universe Today reported at the time, the LTP was inspired by interstellar concepts like Starshot and Project Dragonfly. However, Higgins and his associates from McGill were interested in how the same technology could enable rapid transit missions to Mars in just 45 days and throughout the Solar System. This method, they argued, could also validate the technologies involved and act as a stepping stone toward interstellar missions. As Higgins told Universe Today via email, the concept came to them during the pandemic when they were unable to get into their lab: “[M]y students did a detailed conceptual study of how we could use the kind of large laser arrays envisioned for the Breakthrough Starshot for a more near-term mission in the Solar System. Rather than at 10-km-diameter, 100-GW laser envisioned for Breakthrough Starshot, we limited ourselves to a 10-m-diameter, 100-MW laser and showed it would be able to deliver power to a spacecraft out to nearly the distance of the Moon. By heating hydrogen propellant to 10,000s of K, the laser enables the “holy grail’ of high thrust and high specific impulse.” The concept is similar to nuclear-thermal propulsion (NTP), which NASA and DARPA are currently developing for rapid transit missions to Mars. In an NTP system, a nuclear reactor generates heat that causes hydrogen or deuterium propellant to expand, which is then focused through nozzles to generate thrust. In this case, phased-array lasers are focused into a hydrogen heating chamber, which is then exhausted through a nozzle to realize specific impulses of 3000 seconds. Since Higgins and his students returned to the lab, he said, they have been attempting to experimentally verify their idea: “Obviously, we don’t have a 100 MW laser at McGill, but we now have a 3-kilowatt laser set-up in the lab (which is scary enough) and are studying how the laser would couple its energy to a propellant (eventually hydrogen, but for now argon just because it is easier to ionize). The AIAA paper reports on the design, construction, and ‘shake-down’ of our 3-kW laser facility.” Artist’s impression of a directed-energy propulsion laser sail in action. Credit: Q. Zhang/deepspace.ucsb.edu Higgins and his team constructed an apparatus containing 5 to 20 bars of static argon gas from their tests. While the final concept will utilize hydrogen gas as a propellant, they used argon gas for the test because it is easier to ionize. They then fired the 3-kW laser in pulses at a frequency of 1070 nanometers (corresponding to the near-infrared wavelength) to determine the threshold power necessary for Laser-Sustained Plasma (LSP). Their results indicated that around 80% of the laser energy was deposited into the plasma, which is consistent with previous studies. The pressure and spectral data they acquired also revealed the peak LSP temperature with the working gas, though they stress that further research is needed for conclusive results. They also stressed that a dedicated apparatus is needed to conduct forced flow and other LSP tests. Lastly, the team plans to conduct thrust measurements later this year to gauge how much acceleration (delta-v) and specific impulse (Isp) a laser-thermal propulsion system can deliver for future missions to Mars and other planets in the Solar System. If the technology is up to the task, we could be looking at a system capable of delivering astronauts to Mars in weeks rather than months! Other concepts selected for the NIAC this year include tests to evaluate hibernation systems for long-duration missions in microgravity. Alone or in combination, these technologies could enable fast-transit missions that require less cargo and supplies and minimize astronaut exposure to microgravity and radiation. Further Reading: AIAA, Acta Astronautica The post Ground-Based Lasers Could Accelerate Spacecraft to Other Stars appeared first on Universe Today.

#space #astronomy #news #science

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themovieblogonline · 4 months

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#AnthonyHopkins #CharlieHunnam #CharlotteMaggi #EdSkrein #netflix #RayFisher #RebelMoon #SofiaBoutella #ZackSnyder

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rabbitcruiser · 11 months

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Towel Day

Towel Day on May 25 is an annual holiday created to celebrate author Douglas Adams by his fans. Adams wrote the classic sci-fi novel, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” This day was organized in memory of him after he suffered a sudden heart attack at the age of 49. His fans wanted to find a way to commemorate his life’s work, and after having one towel day, its success made it a yearly event. On this day, fans carry towels around everywhere they go. Today, we are celebrating this holiday with a towel wrapped around our necks because, we too, love Douglas Adams!

History of Towel Day

Towel Day is celebrated on May 25, two weeks after the date of Adams’s death in 2001 — May 11. The day has, over time, received the status of being a kind of ‘‘geek holiday’’ due to its connection with the popular series.

Why a towel? It’s said the towel holds much importance in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Adams wrote about towels as being the most helpful item for an interstellar traveler. In chapter three of the book, he writes, “A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value — you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon…” and so the uses go on.

Adams’s strongest advice was “Never go anywhere without your towel.” This day has been celebrated now for 19 years and is a great occasion for science fiction fans all over the world to come together and rejoice … with their towels. It is said that Adams was a humorous writer and witty character and that this day reflects his lovable silliness.

Towel Day timeline

1978 An Oeuvre is Born

Douglas Adams's radio series "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is broadcast for the first time — kickstarting a long line of adaptations into other formats.

2001 Wrap It

The first Towel Day ever is celebrated on May 25, 2001, just two weeks after Adams's death on May 11.

2012 Mind Bogglingly Big

In January, the Huffington Post lists Towel Day as a cult literary tradition.

2013 The Good Towels

The Norwegian public transport company Kolumbus gives away special towels to customers.

2015 What is the Universe for?

On Towel Day, astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti signals a Towel Day greeting and reads from ‘‘The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy’’ from the International Space Station.

Towel Day Activities

Carry a towel

Use a line from the series

Visit the website

The hardcore fans of ‘‘Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy’’ will be carrying a towel around for the day, so grab your towel and join in! Just make sure that it’s clean. Take a photo of you wearing your towel, and upload it to social media with the hashtag #towelday.

Weave in some of the phrases from the ‘‘Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy’’ into your conversations. Try "Life, the Universe, and Everything", "Humans are not proud of their ancestors, and rarely invite them around to dinner", "Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so", or "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by." It may confuse folks around you, but those who know, know.

Check out the towelday.org website and see what everyone else is up to on this day. Inspire yourself and find other ways to celebrate or join in with others as a group in your area or even your country. Or be a go-getter and make your own Towel Day event that fans can attend.

5 Facts About Douglas Adams

An asteroid is named after him

He appeared in a famous TV show

He was friends with David Gilmour

He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro ... but there's more

He wrote a few "Doctor Who" episodes

In 2001, Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project discovered an asteroid and named it 25924 Douglasadams.

Adams apparently made a brief appearance as an extra called Dr. Emile Konig in an episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus — he also contributed to the writing of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

An avid musician himself, Adams owned between 24 and 35 left-handed guitars, appeared on stage at Pink Floyd's 1994 gig at Earl's Court in London, and named the band's album that year, "The Division Bell."

Adams was an environmentalist and loved animals, campaigning on behalf of endangered species for most of his life — in 1994, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in a rhino suit to raise awareness for Save The Rhino.

He was a contributing writer for several episodes of the famous British series, "Doctor Who."

Why We Love Towel Day

Online antics

Book marathon

Galaxy binge session

You can get loads of information on the day from the twitter account @towelday and the official website, towelday.org. You can find out stuff like information on the life of Douglas Adams, details on the “Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” radio series, and interact with the 7,000+ fans who follow this day.

This holiday gives us a chance to read or reread Adams's life’s work. Go back and immerse yourself in the trilogy of “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” as well as “Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency”, “The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul” and many more titles that made Adams so beloved.

This day also gives us a chance to binge on the shows linked to Adams. So watch a movie or a TV series derived from his books. Do it with your friends and carry your towels together. Celebrate this great author and come together to watch some good and classic TV.

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yanancao · 1 year

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Windows to the Stars

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When I was a kid, my favorite pastime was gazing out my bedroom window, admiring the endless expanse of stars in the night sky. Each twinkling light represented a far-off world, filled with untold wonders and unimaginable beauty. As I gazed upon the celestial tapestry, my curiosity and fascination with the galaxy grew, driving me to explore and understand the diverse array of life that called these distant worlds home.

Years later, I found myself part of the galaxy obstacle-clearing management department, working alongside my trusted companion, Qiu. Our mission was to maintain the order and diversity of the galaxy's civilizations, ensuring that each world had the opportunity to thrive and evolve. Our latest assignment brought us to Earth, a remote planet with an emerging interstellar civilization.

As we approached Earth, I couldn't help but be reminded of my childhood days spent gazing out my window at the stars. The brilliant blue and green sphere was a sight to behold, its breathtaking beauty a testament to the rich diversity of life that existed within the galaxy. Despite our duty to carry out a memory cleaning plan, which involved releasing a random virus into Earth's atmosphere, we felt a deep sense of awe and reverence for this distant world and its inhabitants.

We spent days poring over Earth's history, marveling at the incredible achievements of its people. From ancient civilizations that built monumental structures that still stood the test of time, to modern societies that harnessed the power of technology to create a global network, Earth's inhabitants showed tremendous potential. We were intrigued by their ability to create art, music, and literature, as well as their capacity for love, empathy, and kindness. At the same time, we were also dismayed by their propensity for violence, war, and destruction.

The more we learned about Earth and its people, the more we began to question the ethics of our mission. We wondered if releasing a random virus into the Earth's atmosphere would ultimately do more harm than good. After much deliberation, we decided that we would not proceed with the original plan. Instead, we would explore alternative methods to release the planet's memory without causing widespread devastation.

Through our research, we discovered a group of human scientists working on an ambitious project to harness the power of Earth's magnetic field to create a worldwide energy grid. By providing them with the knowledge and resources they needed to succeed, we could potentially release the planet's memory while also contributing to the development of a more sustainable and advanced society. This alternative plan allowed us to fulfill our duty while maintaining a sense of integrity and compassion for the life forms that call Earth their home.

As our time on Earth drew to a close, I found myself standing in front of a window, gazing out at the stars that had captured my imagination so many years ago. The memories of my childhood merged with the experiences of my recent journey, creating a powerful reminder of the importance of preserving and protecting the diversity of life throughout the galaxy. With a renewed sense of purpose, I joined Qiu in our continuing mission, our hearts filled with the conviction that the wonders of the universe were worth preserving for generations to come.

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fly-pow-bye · 4 years

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What’s Airing On Cartoon Network? (October 2020)

While trick or treating may not be recommended, to say the very least, we can still celebrate the Halloween season in spirit with new episodes of a lot of shows, most of them premiering every weekday. Also, a certain Cartoon Network Latin America series finally shows up on Cartoon Network US thanks to a crossover with Victor and Valentino. See you after the break!

(Update: Completely missed a rather important omission: a new Gumball...clip show.)

The Amazing World of Gumball

Wait, The Amazing World of Gumball has a new episode?! Not really, it’s just another clipshow just like the Darwin’s Yearbook episodes. A spooky clipshow!

October 5th:

Gumball Chronicles: The Curse of Elmore - When Gumball's schoolfriend Leslie finds an old videotape, the creepy mystery of Elmore's ghostly past unfolds. Featuring spooky and hilarious clips from the first six seasons of "The Amazing World of Gumball."

Apple & Onion

October 12th:

The Eater - Apple & Onion take on a monster in a parallel universe in order to get back home. (7:00 PM)

October 13th:

Apple & Onion's Booth - Apple & Onion must save their favorite booth at Pizza's Diner from a Texas oil tycoon. (7:00 PM)

October 14th:

Ferekh - Apple and Onion have to get Falafel's beloved rooster back from scientists. (7:00 PM)

October 15th:

Pat on the Head - Apple must unhypnotize Onion before they can cook for a very important guest. (7:00 PM)

October 16th:

Falafel's Glory - Apple & Onion must win a trivia game to get the world's largest pizza. (7:00 PM)

Bakugan: Battle Planet

October 4th:

Bakugan Battle League, Tokyo Edition/Battle Royal - It's the start of the Bakugan Battle League - Toyko edition! The first round will be a Battle Royale style competition, where only half the competitors will make it through to the next round. Along with the Awesome Brawlers, the field of competitors is filled with familiar friends and foes. / The first round of the Bakugan Battle League - Tokyo edition continues. The Awesome Brawlers and their Bakugan battle their way through the challenge and face off against tough competitors. (6:30 AM)

October 11th:

The Second Stage Begins/Mechanoids Attack! - With half of the brawlers eliminated, the second stage of the Bakugan Battle league begins. This round will be a timed race to the finish, with all kinds of tricks and traps that will slow down even the best brawlers. / Mechanoids have crashed the second stage of the Bakugan Battle League, causing all kinds of havoc. The Awesome Brawlers will now have to race against the clock, battling competitors and mechanoids if they want to make it through this round. (6:30 AM)

October 18th:

The Other Fight - Eliminated from the Bakugan Battle League, Ajit is airlifted by drone to a massive cargo ship in the middle of Tokyo Bay. Now that he's on board the cargo ship, he must rescue Dan and Drago, and stop whoever is sabotaging the Battle League. / Dan and Ajit investigate the mysterious cargo ship that the eliminated Brawlers and Bakugan are being held on. Dan races to track down Drago, but along the way runs into a familiar face. (6:30 AM)

October 25th:

The Bakugan Battle League Dash/The Final Stage - With Dan and Ajit eliminated from the Bakugan Battle League - Tokyo Edition, the remaining Awesome Brawlers - Shun, Wynton, Lia and Lightning - race to complete the second stage of the competition. In order to make it to the final stage, the gang will have to pull together to defeat some tough competition. / It's the final stage of the Bakugan Battle League Tokyo Edition! The remaining Awesome Brawlers are ready to go, but just as the final round begins, the competitors are surprised with some unwelcome guests. (6:30 AM)

Ben 10 2016

Last month, it was We Bare Bears, this month, it’s Ben 10 2016 that’s getting a movie premiere.

October 10th:

Ben 10 vs. The Universe: The Movie - The action-packed TV movie will focus around a blast from Ben's past returning to do double the damage on Team Tennyson and planet Earth itself, forcing Ben to go interstellar to save the day. Meanwhile, Gwen and Grandpa Max team up to help protect the world in Ben's absence. But when our boy hero is confused for the villain in space, Ben must figure out a way to get back to Earth to help save it! (10:00 AM)

Craig of the Creek

October 19th:

Trick or Creek - It's Halloween at the Creek, and Craig is on a mission to collect as much candy as humanly possible, but a spooky ghoul from the Creek's past threatens his haul. (7:00 PM)

October 20th:

Fall Anthology - In an attempt to finish a school project, Craig remembers some of his favorite Fall moments. (7:00 PM)

October 21st:

Afterschool Snackdown - Craig enters a food competition in the Creek, but worries he may be out of his league. (7:00 PM)

October 22nd:

Creature Feature - Craig finds himself being chased by a monster in the Creek that's straight out of the movies! (7:00 PM)

October 23rd:

King of Camping - The Williams family goes camping and Craig helps his dad prove he's the King of Camping. (7:00 PM)

DC Super Hero Girls

October 4th:

#SchoolGhoul - When Tatsu Yamashiro asks for help at a haunted all-girls academy, Barbara Gordon and Kara Danvers find themselves caught up in something much bigger than a ghost hunt. (4:00 PM)

Ninjago

October 4th:

The Skull Sorcerer - Separated from the others, Cole must trust his instincts and make the right choices to find his way to the surface to alert King Vangelis of the dangerous Skull Sorcerer. (7:00 AM)

The Real Fall - Cole, Princess Vania and Master Wu fall down a seemingly endless tunnel, into the bowels of Shintaro Mountain. (7:15 AM)

October 11th:

Dungeon Party - Having survived their fall into the mountain, Cole, Wu and Princess Vania befriend a motley group of survivors, called the Lowly, and are told the story of how they too ended up at "Rock-Bottom." (7:00 AM)

Dungeon Crawl! - Having joined forces with the Lowly in their quest to defeat King Vangelis, Cole, Wu, and Vania have to find a way out of the bottom of the mountain, a place said to be inescapable. (7:15 AM)

October 18th:

Masters Never Quit - Pursued by a magma monster, Cole, Princess Vania, Wu & the Lowly arrive at a mysterious temple deep in Shintaro Mountain, a temple which was once a training ground for Earth Elementals including Cole's own mother, Lilly! (7:00 AM)

Grief Bringer - Nya and Kai, who have become the respective leaders of the Munce and Geckles, attempt to unite the tribes in an effort to defeat their mutual enemy, the Skull Sorcerer, who schemes against them. (7:15 AM)

October 25th:

The Darkest Hour - Forced to flee by the arrival of Grief-Bringer, the ninja, the Munce and the Geckles take refuge in the Geckle Strong-Cave. But the bitter feud between Munce and Geckles threatens to tear them apart, just when unity is needed most... when they are about to confront the Skull Sorcerer and Grief-Bringer! (7:00 AM)

The Ascent - Cole, the Lowly, Princess Vania and Wu discover that the stone-mech is fueled by Elemental Power, and attach it to the mine-carts in an effort to blast their way out of the mountain to confront the evil Skull Sorcerer! (7:15 AM)

Teen Titans Go!

October 5th:

Ghost With the Most - When the Halloween Spirit is kidnapped, the Titans must team with Beetlejuice to save the holiday. (7:00 PM)

October 6th:

Bucket List - The Titans give Starfire a bucket list of activies to accomplish. (7:00 PM)

October 7th:

TV Knight 6 - Batman is forced to go to the department store with Alfred, but runs off to watch TV with Commissioner Gordon. (7:00 PM)

October 8th:

Kryponite - When Robin explains that knowing your weakness makes you a better superhero, Starfire journeys to find hers. (7:00 PM)

October 9th:

Thumb War - As the other Titans engage in an all out thumb wrestling war, Starfire tries to broker peace. (7:00 PM)

Total Dramarama

October 26th:

Ghoul Spirit - Gwen rejects the friendship of a friendly ghost. (7:00 PM)

Duncan Carving - Duncan takes advantage of a questionable Halloween legend to steal candy from his classmates. (7:15 PM)

October 27th:

Tu Ba Or Not Tu Ba - The class tries to help Chef achieve his dream of joining the world's most famous tuba band, Tubalicious, only to regret it when they realize how much they'll miss him. (7:00 PM)

October 28th:

Dude Where's Macaw - While trying to defend his elite gamer status, Chef uses an old cheat code that brings a dangerous avatar to life. (7:00 PM)

October 29th:

Way Back Wendel - Courtney must deliberately lose a challenge or let the entire world go back in time. It's a really hard choice for her. (7:00 PM)

October 30th:

Stingin' in the Rain - When Chef gets locked outside in a storm, the kids mistakenly assume he's a robber and decide to protect the Daycare...by any means necessary. (7:00 PM)

Victor and Valentino

October 5th:

Escaramuza - When Valentino's favorite Escaramuza team loses a member, he convinces Xochi to join the squad. He becomes her coach and will do anything to win the big competition. (7:30 PM)

Los Perdidos - When Victor joins a group of nighttime skaters called Los Perdidos, Valentino becomes suspicious of Victor's strange, new, vampire-like behavior. (7:45 PM)

October 6th:

Los Pajaros - When Valentino trades Huitzi's gifts for one of his own, the birds in town start to turn on him. (7:30 PM)

October 7th:

Get Your Sea Legs - When Victor gets teased for not being able to swim, he befriends a mermaid who offers to help - but at a cost. (7:30 PM)

October 8th:

Guillermo's Girlfriend - Victor and Valentino try to cheer up a heartbroken Guillermo by reuniting him with his lost love. (7:30 PM)

October 12th:

Starry Night - When Victor and Valentino embark on a camping trip in the woods, their friends start to act suspicious and strange. (7:30 PM)

October 13th:

Fueygo Fest - When Victor and Valentino throw the biggest kid bash ever, they realize they aren't the party planners they thought they were as things start to fall apart. (7:30 PM)

October 14th:

Folk Art Friends - When Victor and Valentino accidentally release some mischievous alebrije spirits, they must enlist the help of master mischief-maker HueHue to help catch them. (7:30 PM)

October 15th:

The Cupcake Man - When Victor's bad behavior gets out of control, Chata sends him to the one man in town who can set him straight - The Cupcake Man. (7:30 PM)

October 19th:

Villainy In Monte Macabre - In a crossover episode with the Cartoon Network Latin America series, "Villainous," Victor and Valentino team up with Dr. Flug and Demencia to try to find a squid monster who is disguised as a human in Monte Macabre. (7:30 PM)

October 20th:

Charlene Mania - When Victor attempts to have the perfect day off, the town's sudden obsession for Charlene gets in his way. (7:30 PM)

October 21st:

Old Man Teo - When Victor and Valentino are tasked to volunteer at an Old Folks' Home, Valentino becomes buddies with the oldest, crankiest person in Monte Macabre and helps him reclaim his youthful power. (7:30 PM)

October 22nd:

Poacher Patrol - When Don bestows Valentino the responsibility of patrolling the lake, Valentino takes it too far and stops who he believes to be a poacher - with disastrous consequences. (7:30 PM)

October 26th:

Lonely Haunts Club 3: La Llorona - When Valentino sets out to get a little privacy in the woods, Victor is bent on pranking his unsuspecting brother - that is, until Valentino goes missing... (7:30 PM)

October 27th:

In Your Own Skin - When Valentino is mocked for his lack of style, he's determined to get a designer hoodie to prove he has a sense of fashion, which turns out to be harder than it looks. (7:30 PM)

October 28th:

Ghosted - Victor makes a ghost friend but when she interferes with his shot at being part of the cool kids' Tlatchtli team, he must choose between the two. (7:30 PM)

October 29th:

Carmelita - Chata loans Xochi a car under the condition that Victor and Valentino can get rides when they need. However, the car becomes aggressive towards Victor and Valentino and attacks! (7:30 PM)

#fpb news #apple & onion #bakugan #bakugan battle planet #craig of the creek #ben 10 2016 #ben 10 #dc super hero girls #ninjago #lego #teen titans go #total dramarama #victor and valentino #villainous #the amazing world of gumball

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letterboxd · 3 years

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Obsession.

Ella Kemp dives into Letterboxd’s 100 highest-rated, obsessively rewatched films of 2020 to find out why we love them—and to give Hollywood a heads-up on what we want to rewatch again and again.

Take note, development execs: we want to watch more of everything that makes us feel alive; that makes us feel thankful to be. To bottle that feeling, and drink it up as often, and as obsessively, as we like. We also want: more singing, more dancing, more drugs, more talking animals, more of whatever Director Bong is serving—and make everything gayer.

We know this because, a few years back, the Letterboxd team asked one very simple question: what’s the highest-rated film of all time, when the criteria is that you must have seen it five or more times? Not the ‘guilty’ pleasures, not the ‘so-bad-it’s-good’ gems, but the already-excellent films that are also inherently rewatchable. The resulting top 100 from back then are all extremely, objectively good. What can we say—you have great taste.

Because 2020 is, well, 2020, we revisited this idea to see how four years and an endless quarantine might have changed things. The usual suspects have been rounded up (Christopher, Quentin, Ridley, Damien, David and company), but a lot has shifted in the Highest Rated Obsessively Rewatched Club for 2020.

The top ten in the 100 highest rated, obsessively rewatched films of 2020.

Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire is now top of the heap, where Spike Jonze’s Her was number one last time around. In fact, only Jaws and Carol remain from the last top ten. The Letterboxd community favors a wider world view: in 2017, the top 100 had only one film by a female director; in 2020 there are eight. The list has gone from exactly zero films entirely in languages other than English, to two (Portrait and Parasite), with several more containing a portion of non-English dialogue. Not quite leaping the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, but it’s progress. And, there is substantially more LGBTQ+ representation all round.

This year’s top 100 shows that we still like to return to the idea of the auteur, and the challenge of a franchise. In 2017, Christopher Nolan was the filmmaker with the highest number of highly rated, obsessively rewatched films; in 2020 Quentin Tarantino has taken the lead, just ahead of Nolan. Joining them in the multiple-titles group are Edgar Wright, Peter Jackson, Joe and Anthony Russo, epic-scale filmmakers from whom we’ve learned so much, and whose films have more to offer the viewer on every watch. (When ratings are not part of the equation, Avengers: Endgame—still with a respectable 3.9 average—was the Most Obsessively Rewatched title of 2019. “You give me someone flying, turning invisible, super speed… that’s where I live,” explains obsessive rewatcher Max Joseph this Letterboxd interview. “In Endgame, I get a little bit of every genre and mood.”)

Obsessed with obsession

What is “obsessive”? To put some kind of parameters around the search for this year’s top 100, our team looked for the feature films that had five or more rated watches from a minimum of 150 Letterboxd members each, then we sorted that list by the ratings of those members.

But that word—“obsessive”—got me thinking. Just how obsessive are we talking here? It’s reassuring to know that Parasite is, naturally, a film we enjoy returning to, but when we’re talking about rewatches plural, what happens when we sort these 100 highly rated titles by another value: the number of diary entries logged by these obsessive members. And what would that list say about our tendencies as watchers?

Spoiler: we also pulled those numbers, and found an entirely different top ten:

The most obsessively rewatched, highest-rated films of all time, as at 2020.

Look at that image. Compare it with the inarguable cinephilia of the ratings-based top ten, which soars on critical strength. What are we seeing here? That’s not the question. The real question is: what are we feeling? What do these ten films do to us so consistently, that helps them to retain high ratings across many, many, many rewatches?

You see, in the top 100, members typically log their favorites between five and seven times—but there’s a select handful of titles that see an average of up to 24 viewings per obsessive member. You read that right. There is a film on Letterboxd that multiple obsessive members have watched 24 times or more, at the time of writing.

Comedy that never gets old

The film in question is Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s What We Do in the Shadows, a genre-smart mockumentary about three vampire housemates just, well, pure vibing. It’s entirely in a league of its own, no doubt helped by a spin-off series, with the next entry, The Lonely Island’s Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping racking up an average of 17.7 rewatches per obsessive member.

These top two most obsessively rewatched titles make sense. When you’re feeling low, or when there’s some time to kill, what better place to turn than somewhere where the jokes never get old? As James writes on Letterboxd, Shadows “never fails to make me laugh”. Never fails. Taking a chance on a new comedy harbors its risks, so when you find the ones that work, you have to hold onto them like gold dust. It’s the sense of familiarity that comes from the same sharp, self-aware sketches, the endlessly quotable one-liners and screenshots that make memes feel like works of art.

(On that note, I asked the team: what were the highest-rated, obsessively rewatched comedy specials? No surprises: Bo Burnham’s masterful 2016 Netflix special Make Happy, and John Mulaney’s Kid Gorgeous at Radio City. Comedy is good when it catches you off guard—but in a pandemic, it’s even better when you can rely on it to deliver that same rush of endorphins, every time.)

Thank you for the music

Speaking of pick-me-ups, ever notice how much better you feel after karaoke? Or, when you know everyone else has gone out so you can let rip across every inch of the house with ultimate privacy? The cathartic thrill that comes from a sing-along is what keeps our obsessive members returning to musicals, increasingly. There’s comfort in memorized lyrics; the words we yell and hold dear.

You’ve got this in Popstar (‘Finest Girl’, anyone?) and, crucially, in a double-bill of jukebox musicals celebrating ABBA’s greatest hits: Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. With fifteen rewatches on average for the former, and almost seventeen for the latter, the sequel’s slight upper hand proves the film’s triumphant formula—there really is an endless supply of ABBA bangers—but also that the repurposing of the most pivotal tracks (‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘Waterloo’) will work even better the second time around, due to the familiarity, both of the songs and now their new-found purpose in this world.

The feeling of singing along with Lily James as Donna, as she dances around Paris with her young Harry, of latching onto Cher’s every breath as she reunites with the eponymous Fernando—these moments become part of our own memory, and the satisfaction that comes from performing them again and again never fades. It’s also why so many musicals are rewatchable staples. Singin’ in the Rain, Rocketman, Bohemian Rhapsody and Pitch Perfect all feature in the top 100.

Out of interest, I asked the team to lift the curtain on non-narrative music films to see which greats we return to. Again, zero surprise (to me, at least): Jonathan Demme’s transcendent Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense is, and has long been, the highest-rated, most obsessively rewatched concert documentary on Letterboxd. And it’s only been a few months, but the Disney+ filmed version of Hamilton is up there, along with Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé. #BEYHIVE, come in.

Maybe we should trust love

At the other end of the spectrum, two titles in the most obsessively rewatched top ten point to our tendencies to find catharsis in our most extreme, most vulnerable expressions of emotion. Our two revealing films here are Love, Simon and Interstellar—one a grounded and sensitive coming-of-age picture of a teenage boy’s coming out, the other an epic space-travel thriller. Still, both films understand that, ultimately, love transcends all.

These films make room for us to revisit these most searing feelings, of love hidden, lost, afraid or universal, they let us cry out what we relate to, and escape into whichever onscreen emotions we prefer to project ourselves into beyond our own lives, time and time again. Because however much changes, you know you’ll always crave and be rewarded by love. (And by the existential exploration that often accompanies these big feelings: Don Hertzfeldt's World of Tomorrow is the highest-rated, most obsessively rewatched short film with Letterboxd members.)

Ink spots and needle drops

The idea of projection—of escape beyond our own lives—comes back often when thinking of the rewatch. But certain titles reveal how we choose to find escape in a quite literal form; observe the love for Tangled, rewatched on average ten times per obsessive member.

And then there’s Shrek 2, revisited on average 7.9 times (more on this bizarre, outstanding oddity on its own soon). The leap of faith into an animated world is one that offers a blank canvas painted over with new colors: the pastel pinks and soft peach oranges of sunset skies in Tangled, the rich purples and blues of the twinkling lights of the afterlife in Coco, the playful blue waters of Moana, with the sun giving everything a new glow. Animation works as relaxation here, clearing the mind and coloring it calmly time and time again. Elsa said it first: you can, and should, let it all go.

It is entirely probable, of course, that no Letterboxd parent is logging the Frozens—or any other animated family film, for that matter—as often as their household is actually watching them, the truth of which would completely upend this data. We know the math underpinning this whole exercise is somewhat arbitrary, but it’s an interesting starting point from which to analyze why certain things just work, again and again.

Take the oddity that is Shrek 2, deserving of its own dissection purely because of how masterfully it combines so many of the previously established elements. This film and its predecessor create so many vivid images that fit into the category of animated escapism, but music plays a major part, also. ‘Accidentally In Love’ by Counting Crows as Shrek and Fiona blissfully enjoy their honeymoon period; ‘Funky Town’ by Lipps Inc. as Shrek, Fiona and Donkey roll into Far Far Away; Jennifer Saunders as Fairy Godmother, with her sublime cover of Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Holding Out For A Hero’. There are too many perfect needle-drop moments to count, and every time the rewatch comes around, they feel new.

Add to the comforting visuals and euphoric music the countless one-liners, perfectly performed by Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers, but really, here, Rupert Everett as Prince Charming—a squirm-inducing, note-perfect pantomimic performance. Shrek 2 might just be the defining example of what makes a good movie the best movie, and one that only grows greater with every rewatch. Lucky us.

Festive fever

The inclusion of A Christmas Story, the second-last in our most rewatched top ten, makes sense when considering the times in our lives when we turn to movies for comfort (and discomfort: note the Hallowe’en-related rewatchables in the top 100). A Christmas Story might not be your first festive choice, but you will have your own equivalent. The Muppet Christmas Carol also made the top 100, with Elf, Love, Actually and the Home Alone movies bubbling under. We recognize all the beats, and seeing as the holidays return each year, it’s natural that we return to the titles that make us feel most at home within them.

Like Carol. Darling Carol. The last of our top ten most most most rewatched. Flung out of space into our eyeballs by Todd Haynes as some sort of Christmas miracle, its rewatchability as much seasonal as it is about love, representation, vintage glamor and that final scene. Let’s see where Happiest Season sits this time next year, shall we?

And so, what can filmmakers and distributors learn from what we want to see, not just once, but again and again? In just four years the list of titles the Letterboxd community has chosen to revisit and protect has blossomed with an open heart and feverishly enthusiastic mind.

Looking over the top 100 highest-rated, obsessively rewatched films in 2020, we want more queer love: Portrait, Moonlight and Carol but also Booksmart, The Favourite, Call Me by Your Name. We definitely need more singing and dancing: Suspiria, La La Land, Singin’ in the Rain, Mamma Mia and beyond.

We want more adventure, more time travel, more mind-melters, more drinking, exploring, investigating, more talking animals, more drugs, more laughs, more tears, more goosebumps. We want more full-body feelings of falling in love with a movie you know you’ll hold onto with everything you’ve got.

In the end, numbers can only tell us so much, and these numbers are drawn from what we’ve already seen, which is what’s already managed to make it through the system. There’s as much to learn from how these films were made as there is from what they’re about. Because, no matter how many AI tools people dream up to help with the green-lighting process, moviemaking is fundamentally about magic. And when all the right ingredients make it into the cauldron, the spell can be so strong that a film will win our hearts forever.

Related content

The Highest-Rated Obsessively Rewatched Club for 2020

Follow Ella on Letterboxd

#letterboxd #movie rewatches #portrait of a lady on fire #portraitnation #cinephiles #movie obsessives #top 100 films #100 most rewatched films

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berlysbandcamp · 3 years

Audio

Clipping formed in Los Angeles in 2009. Initially conceived as a remix project, Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson began pairing noise and power-electronics inspired tracks with (stolen) vocals by commercial rap artists. Jonathan and William did this mostly to amuse each other and the duo earned very few fans. However, the band began in earnest in early 2010, when rapper and friend Daveed Diggs joined the group. Clipping was their first project as a trio, building on both their long friendship and their many shared obsessions: rap, experimental music, and genre fiction, among others. Clipping released Midcity on their Bandcamp page in 2013 and signed with Sub Pop three months later. The band described their debut as “party music for the club you wish you hadn’t gone to, the car you don’t remember getting in, and the streets you don’t feel safe on.” In 2014, they released their Sub Pop debut, CLPPNG, omitting “I” in the title and lyrics to vacate rap of its traditional center, revealing instead a collage of recurrent rap themes. 2016’s Wriggle EP, released after Daveed’s Tony award for his role as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the acclaimed Broadway musical Hamilton, included “Shooter,” which used gunshot sounds as the beat for an imagistic narrative of three different violent encounters. Since the release of CLPPNG, things have changed for the band—William finished his Ph.D. in Theater and Performance Studies with a dissertation on experimental music, Jonathan composed scores for the films Starry Eyes, The Nightmare, Excess Flesh, and Contracted: Phase II, and Daveed hit Broadway. Their activities outside Clipping have always influenced their work in the band, but never as much as in the creation of Splendor & Misery. Splendor & Misery is an Afrofuturist, dystopian concept album that follows the sole survivor of a slave uprising on an interstellar cargo ship, and the onboard computer that falls in love with him. Thinking he is alone and lost in space, the character discovers music in the ship’s shuddering hull and chirping instrument panels. William and Jonathan’s tracks draw an imaginary sonic map of the ship’s decks, hallways, and quarters, while Daveed’s lyrics ride the rhythms produced by its engines and machinery. In a reversal of H.P. Lovecraft’s concept of cosmic insignificance, the character finds relief in learning that humanity is of no consequence to the vast, uncaring universe. It turns out, pulling the rug out from under anthropocentrism is only horrifying to those who thought they were the center of everything to begin with. Ultimately, the character decides to pilot his ship into the unknown—and possibly into oblivion—instead of continuing on to worlds whose systems of governance and economy have violently oppressed him.

#hip-hop #rap #harsh #noise

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tracybirds · 4 years

Text

okay it’s midnight but I promised @gumnut-logic some fluff to say sorry for continuously hurting the Tracys xD No spoilers, just the oldest three sleeping out under the stars as kids

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The crackling campfire was accompanied by the summer song of crickets and the soft groans of three boys who had probably eaten more s’mores and burnt marshmallows than would be advised by their parents had they known the quantity.

“Do we have any left for tomorrow night?” asked Virgil.

“Maybe,” said Scott. “We have graham crackers?”

“I packed an extra bag of marshmallows,” said John with a yawn. “I think we’ll be fine.”

Virgil hummed in response and leaned back to gaze up at the embers rising to the sky. Every now and then he caught sight of a lightning bug dancing on the edge of his vision, the thrill of summer that they brought ever present.

“What do you reckon, Johnny?” asked Scott. “Best holiday ever?”

“Yeah,” he sighed happily. “Thanks for letting me come along.”

At fourteen, John had been deemed old enough to join his older brothers on their annual camping trip for the very first time. Three days with his brothers and two nights spent under the stars, no adults around with expectations on how he needed to act or speak or be.

“It’s so beautiful,” he said, looking over at Scott with a bright smile. “Can I sleep out here instead?”

Scott and Virgil exchanged an amused look, both knowing how deceptively inviting the outdoors appeared. The warmth from the fire had yet to give way to the chill of a clear summer night and it was difficult to imagine the way the grass would flatten by morning, complete with sharp rocks digging into skin and the hard, unforgiving ground making it impossible to find a comfortable position.

“John, there are no adults here,” said Virgil with a grin. “You can sleep wherever you like.”

“Great,” said John brightly, rushing over to the tent and dragging out his sleeping bag and mat.

The older brothers turned away to leave John to fuss over his sleeping arrangements, the talk turning to girls and boys and everyone else besides.

“What about you, Johnny?” called Scott. “Found anyone special? You’ll be starting high school next fall, it’s an exciting time.”

“Ugh, no,” said John, looking up at them with an expression of mild disgust. “We had to do our sex education course last term and it just made everyone go nuts. You should have seen the way Jake started drooling over Martha, we nearly failed our group project.”

“You just let us know when it’s time, Johnny boy,” said Virgil lazily. “No big deal.”

The light from the campfire was definitely dying down when John wriggled into his sleeping bag. The dark forms of his brothers moving in sync as they prepared for bed was comforting as he snuggled down and stared up at the night sky with a smile on his face.

He startled at the sudden noise of Virgil dumping his night gear by his head. Scott soon followed suit on the other side.

“You were right,” said Virgil. John couldn’t see his face but he could hear the smile in his voice. “It’s too beautiful to sleep in the tent tonight.”

“I may regret this in the morning,” grumbled Scott.

“Only because you’re an old man,” said Virgil, hitting him with a pillow.

Scott squawked and reached out to retaliate, until John was shrieking with laughter between them and fending off every stray blow.

The three collapsed in giggles and yawns, the night beckoning them into sleep at last.

“I’m gonna go out there,” said John suddenly, looking intently up at the stars.

“You’re damn right you are,” murmured Scott sleepily. “Where in space are you gonna go, spaceman?”

“The Moon,” he said immediately. “Mars, Enceladus, Io.”

“Isn’t Io the one with all the volcanoes?” asked Virgil.

“Yeah,” said John excitedly. “Can you imagine, real volcanoes all the way out there! All its rock chewed up on the inside and melted into magma just by the power of gravity.”

The awe was unmistakeable in his voice. “That would be so cool to see.”

“Anywhere else?” prompted Scott.

“Just, you know, out there,” said John, gesturing upwards. “Further than we’ve gone before. Beyond Mars, beyond the Kuiper Belt, maybe even all the way to the Oort Cloud. And if we get to interstellar travel in our lifetime, I want to make sure I’m on board.”

“Big dreams Johnny,” said Scott. “That’s awesome.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“Look after you,” he said with an eye roll. “What else?”

“You can’t do that forever,” replied John, giving him his best unimpressed look. It was wasted in the dark. “Really, what are you going to do?”

Scott huffed. “Fly. I’m gonna fly as fast and as high as they’ll let me. And it’s the air force, so that’s pretty fast and pretty high.”

The brothers were silent for a moment longer, each lost in their dreams of the future.

“Virg, what are you gonna do?”

For a moment, there was no reply. Then a deep snore reverberated in the air.

John gasped and giggled as Scott groaned loudly.

“Don’t Scott, he’s asleep.”

“Yeah, so he’ll never wake up now,” grumbled Scott. “We could yell in his ear, see how much noise it takes to wake him. My money’s on a helicopter.”

“I reckon it’ll take a rocket engine.”

In the end, it’s not a helicopter or a rocket engine that wakes him, but a spider scurrying across his hand.

The cheerful chatter of two boys, and then a third, that fills the atmosphere can be heard from a mile away, and the warmth of mounting laughter that has replaced the campfire, keeps them awake into the grey light of pre-dawn.

#scott tracy #john tracy #virgil tracy #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #sometimes i fic #i'm not quite back in the fluff mood plus it's late but :D gotta try to get places right?#i'm sure that makes more sense in my head #be well folks!

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deadlymaelstrom · 4 years

Text

Kaidan Shepard

Biographical information

Homeworld: Earth

Born: November 18, 2187 Huerta Memorial Hospital, Presidium Commons, Presidium, the Citadel

Birth name: Kaidan Anderson Shepard

Nickname(s):

Junior

Kay

Agent Shadow (codename)

Physical description

Age: 11-24 (2198-2211)

Species: Human

Gender: Male

Height:

5'1" - 5'4" (154.9 - 163.8 cm) (child)

6'1¼" (186.1 cm) (adult)

Weight:

102 lbs. (46.2 kg) (child)

194 lbs. (88 kg) (adult)

Hair color: Brown

Eye color: Blue

Skin color: Light

Cybernetics: L3 implants

Relationships

Significant other(s): Andrea Taylor (girlfriend)

Relatives:

General Williams † (great-grandfather)

Mr. Williams † (grandfather)

Mrs. Williams (grandmother)

John Shepard (father)

Ashley Williams (mother)

David Shepard (brother)

Ethan Shepard (brother)

Carolyn Shepard (sister)

Levi Shepard (son)

Leanne Shepard (daughter)

Abby Williams (aunt)

Lynn Williams (aunt)

Sarah Williams (aunt)

Character information

Rank(s):

Field Agent (Intelligence)

Commander (Military)

Class: Slayer

Status: Alive

Alignment: Neutral Good

Voiced by:

Colleen Clinkenbeard (child)

Scott Porter (adult)

Chronological and political information

Era(s): Post-Reaper War

Occupation:

Student (formerly)

Spy

Information broker

Strategic Intelligence Officer

Alliance Intelligence liaison to the SSV Normandy SR-2

Affiliation:

Shepard family

Williams family

Systems Alliance

Ascension Project

Alliance Intelligence

Alliance Clandestine Service

AIS Operations Group

Department of Analysis and Operations in the Attican Traverse

Alliance Military (honorary member)

N7 Special Forces

Mentors:

John Shepard (N7 instructor)

Liara T'Soni (informal)

Garrus Vakarian (informal)

Tali'Zorah vas Rannoch (informal)

Jack (Biotics instructor)

Miranda Lawson (informal)

James Vega

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Kaidan Shepard—often called "Junior" by his friends, and known by the codename Shadow—is an elite Systems Alliance Intelligence Services field agent and the eldest son of the legendary John Shepard and Ashley Williams. He is one of the main protagonists of Mass Effect: A Hero's Legacy.

Born on the Citadel in 2187, he grew up during the galaxy's reconstruction effort during the post-Reaper War era. Because of his relationship to his father, Kaidan had a life of great privilege and affluence, causing him to struggle with his father's legacy and feeling pressure that was heaped upon him by others; these expectations fueled his desire to be his own person and not simply as Shepard’s son.

In 2198, when he was eleven years old, Kaidan grew up during the early stages of the Great Galactic War between the Interstellar Republic and the Yahg Empire when the yahg launched a full-scale invasion, during which he was the target of multiple kidnapping and assassination attempts. Because of the threats against his life, Kaidan and his siblings were taken care of by their aunt and grandmother while his parents led the war effort. Later, several individuals, including Dr. Liara T'Soni, received a vision in which an older Kaidan was a prominent leading figure. As the batarians wanted to dominate the galaxy for themselves, they saw Kaidan as a threat to their plans.

While some initially expected him to continue the family tradition, Kaidan instead joined the Systems Alliance Intelligence Services and became one of Director Miranda Lawson's best agents. The batarians knew Kaidan as Shadow after he assassinated two of the Revolutionary Order of Khar'shan's best operatives, Pranim Goccakk and Ran'gelor Craphi. He was later reassigned to serve as the AIS's liaison to the Normandy SR-2. Utilizing a mixture of stealth, firearms, hand-to-hand combat and biotic abilities, Kaidan often volunteered to lead infiltration teams to gather intel deep within the hostile Nemean Abyss before being captured by the extra-galactic targariums. Kaidan spent nearly a year in captivity, during which he was tortured for weeks at a time. He later escaped and returned to warn the Alliance and Republic about the oncoming threat, finding himself fighting on the frontlines alongside his father. In the final battle of the war, Kaidan proved crucial in defeating Emperor Rudali Mashan and protecting the galaxy. For his efforts, he received an honorary promotion to Commander and was given new orders to report for N7 training.

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Personality and traits

Childhood

"Kaidan’s not just any normal kid. He’s a good boy, but he has too much of his father in him. That worries me sometimes, you know?" ―Ashley Williams, about her son

Kaidan’s personality is derived from both his parents, although Liara T’Soni noted that he takes more after his father than his mother. Being generally well-spoken, friendly and polite, he shows a great maturity for his age. Kaidan is also strong willed and determined like his mother; he even has a fascination of poetry.

At the same time, however, Kaidan has a fierce temper similar to his mother and is quite stubborn, often causing him to not back down from an argument unless proven otherwise. Kaidan apparently doesn’t like being teased, as he finds it irritating when he’s called "junior" instead of his given name. Despite their similarities, Shepard and Kaidan differ in a number of ways: whereas Shepard grew up as an orphan, Kaidan’s family is always there for him; whereas Shepard had no friends as a child, Kaidan has many friends; whereas Shepard had to work hard to get to where he was at, Kaidan's talents come to him naturally. Kaidan has a close attachment with his parents, having great respect for his father and was even pleased to hear from Liara, Tali’Zorah and Garrus Vakarian about how he physically resembled Shepard.

However, it is also shown that Kaidan has a close yet distant relationship with his mother ever since Ashley’s career as a soldier changed with her captaincy. He loves his mother and is overjoyed whenever they spend time together, but life in the military sometimes prevent Ashley from being around all the time. Although Kaidan is understanding of his often absent-mother, deep down he resents the idea of carrying on the Williams family tradition and opted to follow a different path than hers. Because of all this, Kaidan initially questioned the meaning of being a soldier due to the fact his mother’s duties kept her away from home for extended periods of time. Eventually, when Kaidan is finally exposed to the horrors of the Great Galactic War during the Scarlet Festival and realizes the sacrifices soldiers had to make, his relationship with his mother improves significantly.

Despite having let go of his disdain, he openly states that he has no intention of becoming a soldier, noting that it would just be another continuation of the Williams family tradition that his mother, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandmother have followed. He opts instead to walk his own path, carrying on his father’s resolve of protecting the galaxy’s newfound era of peace he helped establish.

Adulthood

As a young adult, Kaidan displays a calm and composed demeanor even under pressure whilst maintaining a strong sense of morality. Although his exceptional intellect and extensive experience make him wise, they also make Kaidan slightly vain (depending on the situation), as he notably condescendingly calls the young, hot-headed Alliance recruit Raleigh Thorndyke "kid" upon first meeting the latter. As a field agent, Kaidan is a natural leader much like his father, using his skills to analyze a situation, plan his next move, and follow his better judgment to allow him to escape dangerous situations both before and after they occur.

Thirteen years after the Great Galactic War, Kaidan still feels grateful for the presence of his surrogate aunts and uncles in his life, not just for their training, but also their love, protection and guidance. Though often contemplative, Kaidan lets such emotions smolder in his heart, reminding himself that he now has his own life to live and an important role to fulfill.

While usually serious and prim, Kaidan occasionally demonstrates a dry, sarcastic sense of humor.

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Appearance

Kaidan has a light skin complexion and dark brown hair, both of which he inherited from his mother; in addition, he has the shape of his father’s face and blue eyes. He has straight hair with one side parted on the left side of his face while the other part is banged on the right side of his forehead. As noted by Liara T'Soni, he bears a striking resemblance to his father.

As an adult, Kaidan stood at an impressive 6 feet and 1-and-a-quarter inches tall and is normally seen dressed in the most expensive and impressive outfits tailored from the most rated names in fashion.

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Trivia

He is named after Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, an L2 biotic who accompanied his parents John Shepard and Ashley Williams during the Eden Prime War.

Kaidan inherited his father’s facial features and eyes, as seen when Liara remarked that both Shepard and his son looked almost identical.

Kaidan apparently has a close bond to the Normandy crew, both past and present, as they played a part in his upbringing:

He calls Tali'Zorah vas Normandy "Aunt Tali", and freely accepts hugs from her.

Whenever he visits Tuchanka with his family, Wrex asks Kaidan to call him "Uncle Urdnot".

James Vega calls Kaidan "Little Loco", and taught him how to speak Spanish.

He refers to Garrus Vakarian as "Uncle Garrus".

Joker bought Kaidan toys and candy.

He is close to Jack, as she taught him how to effectively hone his biotic talents.

Dr. Karin Chakwas occasionally does Kaidan's medical examination.

Liara T'Soni and Miranda Lawson are Kaidan's tutors in history, science, literature and mathematics.

He is childhood friends with Jacob Taylor's daughter Andrea Taylor.

Grunt, Samara and Zaeed Massani often protected Kaidan from danger.

Kasumi Goto sometimes sneaks Kaidan cookies and pastries from the bakery shop on the Citadel, and also taught him how to speak Japanese.

He enjoys playing chess with Samantha Traynor; according to Sam, Kaidan beat her on his first try.

Steve Cortez showed Kaidan how to fly a UT-47A Kodiak drop shuttle during one of his visits; both he and Steve were later scolded by Ashley.

Javik was insistent on teaching Kaidan how to fight, although he did receive informal N7 training from his father and learned aikidō from his maternal aunt Sarah Williams.

Kaidan considers the asari to be quite attractive.

The Shadow Broker has files on Kaidan which can be accessed aboard the Normandy SR-2.

#mass effect #ocs #text post #original character #queued post

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marvelloussynergy · 5 years

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COMIC BOOK REFERENCES & EASTER EGGS - Captain Marvel (2019)

Carol Danvers has a long and complicated history in the comics, much of which would be very difficult to adapt for the big screen. Thankfully, though, for comic book fans, there are many allusions to the source material instead. The following is a guide to all the ones I’ve spotted along with any deviations from the source material (I will update this as more come to light). Note that owing to the convoluted and complex nature of comic books, I’ve tried to include only the most essential information regarding a character’s history and backstories.

Though not a direct adaptation, the general story of the “Kree/Skrull War” (The Avengers #89-97, 1971-72) is used as the basis for the film—the Kree and the Skrulls fighting each other with Earth caught in between.

A former US Air Force pilot, Carol Danvers gained her initial powers of flight and enhanced strength after being caught in the explosion of a damaged Kree Psyche-Magnitron. This was amidst a fight between the Kree warriors Mar-Vell/Captain Marvel and Yon-Rogg (Captain Marvel #18, 1969). The Psyche-Magnitron—a machine that converts thoughts into reality—alters her genes and turns her into a human/Kree hybrid, granting her the abilities possessed by Mar-Vell. Danvers would later develop the ability to absorb energy and fire them as blasts from her body. A slight retcon to her origins would occur in The Life of Captain Marvel #4 (2018), in which it is revealed that Danvers is in fact half Kree, and that the Kree Psyche-Magnitron merely activated her latent powers. Originally going by the code name Ms Marvel, Danvers would also go on to use the names Binary and Warbird, before taking on the mantle of Captain Marvel in Captain Marvel #1 (2012).

In the film we briefly see Carol’s father (Joseph Danvers) and brother (Steve Danvers), though in the comics she has an additional sibling, Joseph Danvers Jr. At one point in the film Carol says “Higher, further, faster, baby,” a nod to the Captain Marvel comic arc titled “Higher, further, faster, more,” as well as being words Carol’s mentor, Helen Cobb, wrote to her to describe their similar mindsets and desire to push boundaries.

While Maria Rambeau is a character taken from the comics, it is her daughter—Monica Rambeau—who is friends with Carol in the source material. A hero in her own right, Rambeau has the ability to convert her body into various types of energy. Monica has also used various code names throughout her career, including Captain Marvel, Pulsar, and Photon (Maria’s call sign in the film is a nod to this). Carol affectionately calls Monica “Lieutenant Trouble,” which in the comic books is a nickname she gives to a young friend and fan, Katherine Renner.

Carol and Maria not being allowed to fly in combat missions bears a resemblance to Helen Cobb’s situation from the comics. In 1961, Helen is told that she and her fellow female pilots are not permitted to become astronauts as they lack military jet experience, experience they cannot obtain as women were barred from flying jets.

Early on in the movie we see Starforce dispatched on a mission to Torfa. The planet is a relatively minor one in the comics, known for its poisonous atmosphere resulting from vibranium extraction.

The Kree are an alien race known for their military prowess and advanced technology. Their home planet is Hala, which is located in the Greater Magellanic Cloud Galaxy. The Kree have blue skin, but breeding with other alien races has resulted in pink skinned (also referred to as white) Kree.

In the comics, Starforce are a group of Kree warriors tasked with protecting the Kree Empire. Formed by the Supreme Intelligence, the initial comic lineup consisted of Att-Lass/Captain Atlas (a soldier trained in many forms of combat), Minn-Erva/Doctor Minerva (a pilot and gifted bio-geneticist; in the film she’s Starforce’s sniper), Korath the Pursuer (a cyber-geneticist; he was previously in Guardians of the Galaxy), Shatterax (cybernetically enhanced warrior; not present in the film), Supremor (an android housing the Supreme Intelligence’s consciousness; doesn’t appear in the film), and Ultimus (has the ability to manipulate cosmic energy; not present in the film).

The comic book incarnation of Bron Char (rendered as Bron-Char in the film) is a member of the Lunatic Legion, a group whose goal is to destroy the human race. Though a scout in the movie, in the comics Soh-Larr was a Kree warrior who fell in love with a Skrull, Ryga’a, with whom he had a child, Dorrek Supreme.

Yon-Rogg was a Colonel in the Kree army, unlike his cinematic counterpart who is the commander of Starforce. His antagonistic relationship with Mar-Vell from the source material has been carried over to the film.

In the comics, the Supreme Intelligence is an organic computer created by the Kree Science Council, initially designed to help the alien race create a Cosmic Cube. Upon gaining sentience, however, the Supremor refused, knowing the danger such an object posed. Composed of the brightest Kree minds, it served as the leader of the Kree Empire for many years. In the source material it’s depicted as a large green floating head, it’s true form in the film, however, has yet to be revealed.

Mar-Vell has been changed from a male to a female for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The comic book incarnation of Mar-Vell was sent to Earth to spy on humanity. Adopting the identity of Dr Walter Lawson (the name of a scientist Mar-Vell encountered who had passed away; changed to Wendy Lawson in the film) he began working at the Cape Canaveral military base, where he would meet the facility’s security chief, Carol Danvers. Mar-Vell would go on to defend humanity many times despite his mission, before dying of cancer as depicted in the graphic novel The Death of Captain Marvel (1982).

The aircraft Wendy Lawson designs is called the Asis. This is a reference to the Asis program from the Ultimate Universe. Mahr Vehl (the Ultimate Universe version of Mar-Vell) joins the program in an effort to help humanity with interstellar travel.

In both the comic books and the film, Skrulls are a green-skinned reptilian alien race with the ability to shape-shift. Originating from the planet Skrullos, Skrulls have a warrior culture and, like the Kree, have conquered many worlds throughout the galaxy.

Unlike his cinematic counterpart, Talos wasn’t born with the ability to shape-shift in the comics. A skilled combatant, parts of his body have been cybernetically enhanced giving him super strength.

Nick Fury tells Carol that he was born in Huntsville, Alabama, though in the source material he hails from New York City. His middle name of Joseph, however, is something both incarnations share. The comic book version of Fury loses the ability to see with his left eye as a result of a grenade blast, whereas his film counterpart has the misfortune of losing it after Goose scratches it.

In the comics, Carol calls her pet Chewie (named after the Star Wars character Chewbacca, since Danvers is a fan of the franchise), whilst in the movie the cat is named Goose (referring to the character of the same name from the 1986 film Top Gun). Both Goose and Chewie aren’t real house cats, but rather an alien species known as Flerken (Rocket Raccoon reveals this to Carol in Captain Marvel #7, 2014) that look like domestic felines. Flerkens possess tentacles that are released from their mouths, lay eggs to reproduce, and contain pocket dimensions within their bodies.

Carol’s call sign in the MCU is “Avenger,” though her comic book counterpart has the decidedly less cool call sign of “Cheeseburger” (she got the name after vomiting during a g-force simulator exercise).

The various costume colours Carol cycles through are references to costumes she’s worn in the comics. The black, red, and yellow combination allude to Carol’s Ms Marvel outfit; the black and silver colour scheme could refer to the Warbird costume; while the green and white one is a nod to the classic Kree uniform.

Being set in the past, it comes as no surprise that there are many nods to the MCU. The space-jumps through honeycomb-shaped portals is a design first established in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. S.H.I.E.L.D. once again has a presence in a Marvel movie, although a slight continuity error sees the organisation’s name pronounced as it appears, despite Coulson saying the full acronym in Iron Man, only shortening it towards the end of the film. At one point Carol flies a Quadjet, a precursor to the Quinjet. We see an early version of Project Pegasus, the facility where it’s held making appearances in Thor and The Avengers, and in turn, the Tesseract is seen on screen once again. Carol Danvers gives Fury a modified pager to contact her with, a device we see him use at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. Fury puts into motion his “Avenger Initiative,” originally naming it the “Protector Initiative.” Lastly, for the mid-credits scene, we get a sequence depicting Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner, and James Rhodes monitoring the pager, culminating in Carol’s arrival back on Earth, which appears to be taken from Avengers: Endgame.

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spacenutspod · 8 months

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This summer, experts in fields ranging from astronomy anSymposiumysics to astrobiology, astrogeology, and cosmology all convened at the University of McGill for the 8th Interstellar Symposium: In Light of Other Suns. In partnership with McGill, this event was hosted the Interstellar Research Group (IRG), the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), and Breakthrough Initiatives. Between July 10th and 13th, students, press, and space enthusiasts attended presentations and outreach events that addressed the big questions on interstellar spaceflight exploration. To learn more, Universe Today sat down with NASA technologist, author, and engineer Les Johnson who attended the event and hosted many of its panel discussions. This included the public outreach event “Interstellar Travel: Are We Ready?” where he and a panel of experts (including Alan Stern, AJ Link, Prof. Philip Lubin, Erika Nesvold, Trevor Kjorlien) discussed the technological, social, and ethical dimensions of travelling nearby stars. He was also a featured guest for the Science Fiction Author Panel where he was joined by fellow SF authors Karl Schroeder, Eric Choi, and Sylvain Neuvel. We covered some interesting topics in a relatively short amount of time. Among them was the rently-released anthology of short stories and essays, The Ross 248 Project, published by Baen Books in May 2023. This volume was the latest in a series edited by Les Johnson and professional engineer Ken Roy (inventor of the Shell worlds concept), to which I had the honor of contributing the essay titled, “”. The following is the transcript of the interview between Mr. Johnson and myself Symposiumliams), hereafter denoted as LJ and M. The 8th Interstellar Symposium was held from July 10th to 13th at McGill University. Credit: Interstellar Research Group (IRG) Matt: Can you give us a sense of the structure of the Symposium? How did things kick-off? Les Johnson: A tradition of the Interstellar Research Group symposia is that we try to have classes before the meeting begins. These three-hour seminars taught by experts in their field are intended for the literate audience, but not necessarily a heavily-technical audience, because we offer continuing ed credits for teachers. So this year, we had three seminars, and they were a fairly good turnout. There was one provided by Laura Montgomery, who used to be a space law person with FAA regulating spaceflight launches. And now she teaches space law. And she did a class all about space law: overview, past, present, and future. And so everything about the Outer Space Treaty, the Moon Treaty, and the new recently passed legislation in the U.S. that lets companies profit from asteroid mining and all that was part of her discussion. And Alex Ellery, who is a professor of aerospace engineering, did a talk on self-replicating technology and how that might lead to space industrialization. So the whole idea of programmable von Neumann machines, though not as microscopic. And then, Brent Ziarnick, who is a teacher at the Air University, that thy have for up and coming air force officers and space force officers, he teaches at that. He’s in the DOD. And he gave a seminar called the “Role of National Space Forces, and Security, Safety, and Prosperity through Space Exploration.” Which was all about how we’re going to evolve the Coast Guard-like aspects of the Space Force to protect the space lanes. So anyway, we had those three seminars that people attended before the symposium actually began. “[I]n space, we run the very real risk that whoever gets there first, that they might set the rules of engagement that other people have to play.” M: Now, in terms of what Brent was talking about, what do you see as the likely threats and scenarios, the things that we need to be discussing today to be ready for tomorrow? LJ: I’ve had a lot of discussions with him about this. And he also wrote an essay for the anthology you and I are in. And he’s also writing a paper on this for a technical anthology that Ken and I are editing for Elsevier. So he’s given a lot of thought to this. And I think the big issue is, if you look at history on Earth, the nation states that are the first to do something set the rules for how the game will be played. So right now, there’s a big issue in the Taiwan Strait about freedom of navigation and what we consider to be international waters, whereas China doesn’t consider it to be international waters. The norm is what the rest of the world currently does, which assumes it’s a free passage in international waters because they were the first to get there. And in space, we run the very real risk that whoever gets there first – wherever there is, whether it be to a certain asteroid to a certain part of the Moon or otherwise – that they might set the rules of engagement that other people have to play by. And so I think one of the things we have to be careful of is making sure that the principles that we tend to hold dear – which are free travel, free expression, equal access to resources – that kind of thing is upheld by law. And part of how you do that is you set the precedent in space. So I think that’s what a lot of his talk probably was about who’s going to be the one to set the norms for how things are done. Artist’s impression of the orbital debris problem. Credit: UC3M M: Yeah, I can see a lot of overlap with what Montgomery was talking about there and from what I’ve learned about space law from the Space Court Foundation and Space Generation Advisory Council. We need to set the precedents and establish rules ahead of time so that we don’t end up trying to figure this out as we go along and having a “Wild West” -type scenario. LJ: Well, plus, from a national security point of view, right now, our Space Forces have a really good handle of what everybody in the world is doing in LEO, MEO, and GEO because we have spacecraft there that are watching everybody, and we have the capability from the ground to look up and watch everybody. And we know what everybody’s doing. Right now, in cislunar space, that capability doesn’t exist. And there is a Chinese lander on the lunar farside right now that we don’t have a clue what it’s doing. And I’m sure that’s causing great consternation somewhere, not that it’s necessarily anything more than just a science mission, and they’re just doing science. But that’s not the point. The point is, there’s no way to confirm that’s what’s happening. And nobody really knows that that’s what’s happening. So you have to ask the question, “Hmm, how are we going to fix that problem?” And I’m sure that’s something that’s high on the list for the Space Force people. M: Alex Ellery and I have actually talked when I did an article on his work, and I immediately tried to rope him into doing a podcast on Von Neumann Probes. And he agreed. It helps that he’s a professor at my alma mater, Carleton University. I saw that Frank Tipler was there too. LJ: Oh, that was great. I had a great time talking to him. I have some of his books that he autographed. I was a fanboy. His talk was a great way to start the symposium because he thinks big. Right. And his claim to fame, the whole Omega Point thing, and the fact that he believes that he has shown through the fundamental laws of nature that there will be a point in the future when we’ll be able to simulate the Universe and recreate everyone whose ever lived and ever will live and can live for eternity in that future. And the fact that we exist now, he has a mathematical way of showing that that’s proof that we’re going to be successful in the future. And I have to admit, I didn’t really fully understand all of it. But he is really big on basically not just anti-matter, but this whole notion of how we understand the Universe and what that tells us about how the future clock of the Universe is going to unfold. And it was a really upbeat, optimistic, but incredibly technically detailed presentation. So I can’t do it justice in explaining it because I think there’s only one Frank Tipler. It was really a nice optimistic way to kick things off. The next talk was given by another person you probably should talk to, Joseph Gottlieb, who gave a really nice humanities paper on the ethics and morality of, “Should we explore space?” And he really delved down into the questions of, “Do we as a species have a right to export our species elsewhere? What’s the basis by which we’re going to make the decisions regarding that? And what are the philosophical presuppositions that go into that whole discussion?” And his bottom line was “yes.” But he also made a point that there are other people out there that are of the belief “maybe” and some that are “no,” right? So there are different [opinions]. I’m not surprised there’s disagreement, but he makes a pretty compelling case in his presentation and in his paper that there is a good philosophical basis for space exploration and the expansion of the human species into space. So pretty cool stuff. It was very down to Earth after Tipler. (laughs) Artist’s impression of the proposed Solar Gravity Lens telescope. Credit: The Aerospace Corporation M: (laughs) Yeah, “let’s get back to things that are a little more… now!” LJ: Yeah. Well, even stuff that was far out [like Claudio Maccone]. I’ve known Claudio Maccone for 20 years now. He’s the one who really – he and Greg Matloff are the ones that really got me sucked into the interstellar community. And Claudio is a mathematical savant. I mean, he’s just amazing. But his whole thing now is this whole gravitational lensing for communications and for looking at exoplanets. Now, you may have heard of the work that Slava Turyshev is doing at JPL on the exoplanet imager at the Solar Gravity Lens. Do you know anything about that? M: Yeah. It was a little while ago, but I do remember that – basically, using the Sun as a gravitational lens to image exoplanets that would provide insane resolution? LJ: Right. Yeah, there were two people at the conference who talked about that. One was Claudio, and the other was Victor Toth, who is actually a part of Slava’s [research]. He gave a talk in the afternoon, “Look before you leap: using the solar gravitational lens to explore exoplanets.” That’s where he really delved into the whole exoplanet imaging kind of thing. Claudio actually talked about using it as a communication system, kind of the Galactic Internet. He says that what we need to do if we’re going to send a colony or a settlement ship to Alpha Centauri, and we want to have high-bandwidth communication from there to home, you can’t do anything about the speed of light with the lag time. But you can sure do something about getting the communication strength up. So you have high bandwidth because bandwidth is determined by the size of your antenna and the size of your receiver, and the power of your transmitter. And it turns out that not only does the Sun act as a gravity lens for light, but it also acts as a gravity lens for radio. We shouldn’t be surprised because both are photons, right? They’re just different energy. So if you take a spacecraft with an existing transmitter that’s not gigawatts but might be hundreds of watts, and you put it at the Sun’s gravity lens point that aligns with Alpha Centauri. And you put another one in the Alpha Centauri system so that it’s at the point where it looks back at Sol (our star). You have two nodes. And then you send whatever data at Alpha Centauri that you want to send back to Earth to the Solar Gravity Lens satellite that they have. And then they use this very modest transmitter to send it back or back to Earth, and the Solar Gravity Lens focuses all that energy back onto our receiver. So you no longer need a gigawatt transmitter to get high bandwidth. You can do it with just a conventional few 100-watt spacecraft transmitters. So it’s sort of the equivalent of imaging, but you’re doing it with radio, and you have a communications network. And Claudio postulates that, given the amount of time that the Universe has existed and how long it takes spacecraft to travel these distances, even if we have cultures that are spreading throughout the galaxy at some small fraction of the speed of light, they’ve had a long time to do it. The reason why we may not be picking anything up on SETI is because these different civilizations are all talking to each other from the gravity lens point. And there’s no leakage. And in order to join the network, you have to get one of them to recognize that you’re there and beam something to your surrogate Solar Gravity Lens region. So it’s potential that we could send a probe to the Solar Gravity Lens with a radio tuned to SETI frequencies and suddenly find out there’s somebody else out there. And Claudio really developed that mathematically and did a very, very nice job. Showing that it’s not only possible but how it could change our paradigm of doing SETI and how there might actually be a galactic internet that we just haven’t got a cell phone to tap into yet. So that was one of the more mind-expanding lectures of the morning. The 8th Interstellar Symposium was held from July 10th to 13th at McGill University. Credit: Interstellar Research Group (IRG) M: The event you were part of, “Interstellar travel, are we ready?” There was a lot of “who’s who” there. Right off the top, Alan Stern and Phillip Lubin were both there and bringing quite a bit to the table. And you yourself, you were hosting? LJ: Yeah, I introduced all the panelists: AJ, Allen, Phillip, and Erica. And then Trevor was like the MC. He’s apparently a popular host in Canada, and he does this kind of thing all the time. He’s witty and personable, so he interacted with the audience and had a list of questions. And we on the panel kind of batted around the answers. Some were specific to us, and some were general. And it all centered around this notion of – “How do we plan for something that’s far out?” “Why are we doing it?” “Can we really afford to do it?” And, “What’s the scale that it will be?” And there were differences of opinion. We had a few points of disagreement, notably between most of us and Philip Lubin. Phil had just done a recent cost analysis, just in energy costs, of how much it would cost to send an interstellar ship. And that caused quite a discussion. Because I personally, I think it’s an irrelevant number because by the time we do this, what is the energy price going to be? And what is money going to be? So there are some definite differences. Erica and AJ really brought the perspective of “Who’s going to go?” and “How do we decide who goes?” and “How do we make this community less ‘pale, male, and stale’?” which I thought was very valuable. Erica [is] a successful social media podcaster kind of person, and AJ is really big on working to get diversity into space, and the space thinking, and space workforce. So it was, it was really a nice interplay between technical, social, and political kinds of discussions, and it was the most well-attended public outreach event we’ve ever had. The audience had over 400 people in it. So it was really awesome. Yeah. M: Was there any consensus when it came to this event? Was there any sense of, “Yeah, we think we are,” or “We’re gonna have to wait and see,” or…? LJ: No, we’re not ready (laughs), and it’s technology that’s the prohibitor. We’re really not ready technologically. But we did conclude that being ready, at least for small robotic missions, is within reach. With the work that Breakthrough Starshot is doing and the spin-offs that might come from that, we all kind of envisioned that it might be possible to send a robotic probe within the next 100 years, give or take. So we’re not as far away from being able to do that as I thought we were when I began my career and looked at interstellar stuff like 20 years ago. I was thinking it was 200 to 300 years. We might actually be within 100 years of our first robotic probe, which is amazing. So the answer is, “Technically, we’re ready.” I think AJ and Erica might take issue with us being socioeconomically, sociologically, and psychologically ready. But that’s an important question, “Are we as a culture ready to do this?” And I think there’s some legitimate debate to be had here. Project Starshot, an initiative sponsored by the Breakthrough Foundation, is intended to be humanity’s first interstellar voyage. Credit: breakthroughinitiatives.org M: I was wondering about that very thing. I would assume the psychological and sociological impacts that such a mission would have had to have come up. So, did they [say] we’re ready that way, or they do they not believe [we are]? LJ: They believe we’re on a path to being ready and that we should try to do it. They were not negative. They were questioning our readiness today but not doubting that we will if that makes sense. M: Perfect sense. And so, the thing that we’re not ready for, I take it then, is we cannot foresee crewed interstellar missions within our lifetime. There’s like a lot to work out there? LJ: Well, here’s where you have to be real careful. There were a lot of students in the audience who are 40 years younger than me. So when we say our lifetime, whose lifetime are we talking about? In my lifetime? No way. Robotic missions in my lifetime? No way. Robotic missions in the lifetime of a baby born today? Maybe. I don’t think a 40-year-old is gonna see it. I think a two year old might. M: Well, that counts me out. LJ: Sorry (laughs) M: I should point out that they’re doing a lot of good work in longevity cures these days. So, I wanted to definitely get into the science fiction panel. And it was you, Karl Schroeder, Eric Choi, Sylvain Neuvel? LJ: They’re all Canadian science fiction writers except me. And Karl Schroeder has written quite a few. He’s written a lot more stuff than I knew about. And I saw it, I really, I’m going to read some of his stuff. Now. We had side discussions because he and I have a common interest in developing planetary sunshades to mitigate climate change, and he and I’ve been talking about that offline. But this panel is centered a lot in a direction that I kind of inadvertently, well, probably not inadvertently. I did steer it that way, a bit, maybe a bit too much. And that is how science fiction has changed. It used to be optimistic. And today, it’s very pessimistic and dystopian. And why? What does that mean? And is that a good thing or a bad thing? And or is it something we ought to try to change? And we had a lot of audience interaction with the younger people. And there are quite a few younger people at this meeting, more younger people than we’ve ever had, who were explaining why they think dystopian. And then me and Carl and the others telling them, “Well, your generation has challenges like every other did. Roll up your sleeves and get busy, right?” And we all agreed that the tone of the literature can set the tone of the culture and that it’s been negative for too long. The pendulum needs to swing back to people writing about futures where we can actually solve our problems. And so we had a lot of discussion about that, not a lot about the writing process or what it means to be a writer. We did talk about some of our works, but it was primarily the philosophy of directions of where we are in science fiction. The Ross 248 Project, by Les Johnson and Ken Roy (eds.) Credit: Baen Books M: Well, that certainly sounds interesting. So was that sort of the main subject, the tone of science fiction today versus [the past]? LJ: That’s how it ended up being. There were other questions asked, but most of them centered around that, and that’s what got the most audience interaction. M: During your panel and also the public outreach event, did The Ross 248 Project come up? LJ: Oh, yeah. I made sure it came up. It came up in the science fiction panel, and they had 10 copies of the book for sale in the room. And they sold out. I wish they’d had more. I think they could have sold twice that many. So yeah, I did. And a lot of people who said they couldn’t get it told me they were going to order it. So I think they will. Yeah, came up. Are you kidding? I had a copy up there with me! (laughs) M: I wish I could have been there. I’d have brought my copies too. LJ: Well, our next meeting will be in Houston. And June of 2025. M: I think my schedule is clear. (laughs) LJ: Believe it or not, I had to put it on mine to make sure it stays clear. M: Les Johnson, thank you so much for joining us, and best of luck with your future endeavors. The post Universe Today Interviews NASA’s Les Johnson About the 8th Interstellar Symposium appeared first on Universe Today.

#space #astronomy #news #science

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josie-cd · 5 years

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First Verse of the Living Song

Here’s the first prompt for the 30 day Halo OTP challenge myself and a bunch of of other Halo Buddies are doing!

Day One: Meeting

It is the height of Grand Star Season and, as is tradition, the streets of Maethrillian are flooded with Forerunners of every caste from throughout the Ecumine. For one day out of the annual cycle, Rate is set aside and all celebrate as one people. The Capital is brimming with life, the scent of festival food perfumes the air, young Manipulars partake in their games of dexterity and chance, and adult Forerunners gather and share their stories of the past cycle. Two Warrior-Servants stroll through one of Maethrillian’s recreational gardens both wearing intricate hats woven from synthetic reeds and adorned with hard light flowers. “I’m sure you’d very much like to see the new model of Armiger we are planning, Didact!” the shorter, stockier Forerunner exclaimed. “Our ancilla projects a 2.5% increase in efficiency from our current model of Soldier, though Forceful-River swears she can push it to 5%. Normally I’d be inclined to believe her but-” The taller Warrior-Servant places a hand on his companion’s armored shoulder.

”Sharp-by-Striking, my friend, for just one night take your mind off of the necessities of our Rate. Your duties will be there tomorrow. I say this as the commander of the Prometheans. Enjoy the night. It’s not often Maethrillian is this vibrant and welcoming.

“Aya. As you say, so I shall follow your orders, Didact.” and to punctuate his sentence, Sharp-by-Striking takes an enormous bite of the fried fruit pastry he carried. Amused at the antics of his fellow Warrior-Servant, the Didact turns his gaze upward, staring up to the field of stars beyond the rim of this level of the Capital. The vast interstellar expanse is a sight that never grows old to him, and the Didact values every moment he can gaze upon the stars uninterrupted. And as if on cue to interrupt his contemplative moment, a conversation from a neighboring group of Forerunners escalates suddenly in volume. “It’s fascinating, the flora that’s evolved on their world! Their trinary star system provides so much fuel for photosynthesis. And the algae blooms in their oceans? Absolutely remarkable.” The Didact pauses and turns to study this lively speaker. Such passion in her voice! Practically unheard of, her levels of enthusiasm are bordering on social faux pax. The Didact must have been staring for longer than he thought, as Sharp had overtaken him along the path. Turning around he called out “Didact! Something caught your eye?” Coming to his senses, he notices the energetic Forerunner has turned to greet her two new guests in response to Sharp’s call. “Prometheans! Come to join our conversation? I was just telling my compatriots about this lovely world we’ve begun to study! The indeginous sapients call it Sangheilios.” Her voice was soothing, almost song like. And there was a faint curve to her lips… A smile! Now the Didact was sure this Forerunner held certain facets of the social norm to lesser levels of regard. How endearing, he mused. And judging by her attire and topic of conversation, se must be a Lifeworker. Interesting. “I don’t see why not. Sharp, will you join us?” Taking another bite of his pastry, Sharp-by-Striking makes his way to the Didacts side as he joins the group of life workers. The Lifeworker’s eyes lit up, further emphasizing her slight smile. “Do go on, tell us more about this Sangheilios.” As the Lifeworker spoke, the Didact studied her. Her attire was plain, even on this festival. Her form as well was interesting. There were slight imperfections and asymmetry to her face. Her eyes were slightly off center to one another, her nostrils of slightly different size and laugh lines on her face. Her appearance was natural. Incredibly uncommon, even among Lifeworkers, and yet there was an elegance to her. Fascinating indeed. He returns his attention to the conversation half way through the Lifeworker’s sentence.

“-thanks to their binary circulatory system. It’s a remarkable evolutionary trait! I hope to have a specimen to examine in more detail soon. I’m curious to examine how their respiratory system differs from other saurian species we’ve encountered.” “Gross, and bloody minded…” The Didact whispers under his breath. “My apologies, Promethean. Is this conversation too off color for you?”

“Oh not at all. I’m enjoying it immensely.” he glances at Sharp-by-Striking, who seems to have lost his appetite. Clearly he does not share the Didacts sentiment. “Lifeworker, might I know your name?” he asks.

“Lifeshaper, actually” if the Didact could blush he would. Lifeshaper? What sense of humor the cosmos had, to have the Promethean Commander cross paths with the Lifeshaper. “My title is Librarian, but my name is First-Light-Weaves-Living-Song. And may I have your name, Warrior-Servant?” there was that smile again. How daring! The Librarian undoubtedly recognized who he was this entire time. “I am Shadow-of-Sundered-Star. The Didact.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Didact. Ah, unfortunately my ancilla is informing me there is an urgent appointment I must attend to. May our paths cross again soon, Didact.”

“Aya, Librarian. Be well.”

#30dayHaloOTP #halo #halo fanfic #ur-didact #the librarian #forerunner #josie writes

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