#00's sci-fi

[posthumanwanderings]

[ Cybergirl (2001-2002) Full Series ]

“Cybergirl is a blue superheroine Human Prototype 6000 living under the secret identity of ordinary teenage girl Ashley Campbell. In reality, she is a ‘Human Prototype 6000′ from a distant planet. Her powers include super-human strength, super-human speed, and the ability to interface directly with electronic devices and computers; she is also able to physically change her appearance between that of the blue-haired, ethereal-looking Cybergirl and the less conspicuous, mousy-haired Ashley, and can alter her clothing at will. Not only are her powers far and above that of earlier models, she has a much wider emotional scope than her predecessors. She ran away from her planet of origin in order to explore the beings she was modeled after, namely humans.”

[cyberebel]

NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES

SHOUT OUT TO MY BADASS GIRLS ALL DRESSED IN BLACK WHO FIGHT FOR JUSTICE! 🥷🖤

Max Guevara (Dark Angel - 2000)

Sydney Bristow (Alias - 2001)

Nikita Mears (Nikita - 2010)

[arconinternet]

Orion's Arm Universe Project (Website, 2000 onward)

You can read it in the Wayback Machine here, or in the present day here.

Pictured below: a Siberoo, cultural figure Baseline Bob, and a trio of Godchasers.

[dkpsyhog]

I know this but I need you to remember that this cell phone is also an item in this exact game:

oh she can just do this

[feychannel]

So you want to play an indie otome or dating sim but don't know where to start...

Like the title says, I wanted to make a rec list for those who are more interested in indie otomes but don’t necessarily know where to start! So for those who saw the latest Nintendo Direct or maybe those who’ve just always wanted to try something new, this list is for y’all. I’ve immensely enjoyed every single title (and hope y’all do too). Without further ado... here's the short list!

Changeling by @steamberrystudio (and their sci-fi spiritual successor, Gilded Shadows): Liked "Buffy," but thought it needed more Faes? Changeling is exactly the type of contemporary otome you want and needed in your life yesterday. With several wonderful young men to romance, and an intriguing plotline that references fae mythology, you'll be set!

The Rose of Segunda: Liked Bridgerton? Thought it needed an even longer gala than canon? Then RoS (and its amazing sequel, "Thorns of War") by @blackcross-taylor is the game to play! I've been impressed with how this studio weaves political intrigue into the very plot, and how it commits to the stories it creates.

Band Camp Boyfriend: Somehow, this game is both a 00's sitcom and a thriller all in one (with all the drama of a gripping telenovela in some routes). If you missed summer camp, marching band, and/or just want to know what that's like, check out this delightful title by @lovebirdgames

3 Seasons: We love a woman with melanin!! But in all seriousness, the concept of a young woman applying for a job, only to find out she's the next Spring Spirit is delightful. Note: this is a free title (but the developer @hamiltonhour accepts payment on their itch).

Magical Warrior Diamond Heart: Precure meets Sailor Moon meets the sweetest otome!! In this house we love Valerie and her zany crew. @magicalwarriordiamondheart has truly outdone themselves with each update; the common route is free, but the developer has a Patreon you can support!

Herotome: I would be amiss if I didn't mention my current favorite superhero-themed otome, where your lovely protagonist will face pivotal choices in their quest to become a hero! While only the demo is out so far (just so y'all aren't expecting the full product), developer @herotome is a delight to follow with all their updates!!

Honorable mentions: Twisted Carnival, Titan Arum (warning: both titles contain more horror than the average otome), and Arcardia Fallen

[wordsandrobots]

IBO reference notes on . . . spaceships

@gonk2020 kindly responded to my plea for the means to procrastinate over the essay I should be finishing with a suggestion I take a look at the ships of Iron-Blooded Orphans. So I'm going to do exactly that! Warning for an image-heavy post and spoilers for the whole show and both spin-offs.

[Note: I've compiled this primarily from English-language sources, including fan-translations. There will certainly be additional details I've missed in material that hasn't received a translation.]

A dash of context

Mecha shows and sci-fi in general often revolve around an aircraft-carrier gimmick, where a larger vessel (treated in naval terms) functions as the base for various smaller craft (treated in aviation terms). Terrestrial-based shows will often make the carriers aircraft in their own right (Eureka Seven and Argento Soma spring to mind) to emphasise the advanced technology on display, while extraterrestrial adventures like Macross go full-bore on substituting ships for spaceships. It's a good conceit, providing visual diversity as well as a moving headquarters from which the heroes can operate.

Gundam falls squarely into this pattern from the start. The original anime's White Base functions in space and on Earth as a flying warship, deploying the Gundam, Guntank, Guncannon, and various 'core fighters' along what are recognisably aircraft carrier catapults. Other ships in the setting are shown to operate similarly, with flight decks, conning towers, and a sea-vessel-like aspect (albeit remixed into a weirder style for the Zeon side). Thereafter, the wider Gundam franchise has mostly followed suit. Successor series like Gundam SEED, Turn A Gundam, Gundam 00, and Gundam Reconguista in G all follow Mobile Suit Gundam in portraying flight- and space-flight-capable aircraft carriers of some variety as a key part of their fictional militaries.

Where Iron-Blooded Orphans deviates from this trend is, like fellow outlier Gundam Wing, by eliminating the terrestrial part of the equation. Gone are concessions to atmospheric travel; here, spaceships remain in space and are treated closer to a Star Trek 'tall-ship' model, with shuttles providing the necessary bridge from orbit to the ground. As in Wing, this is not a concession to physical realism: IBO features full-blown artificial gravity and functionally-perpetual sources of energy. Rather, it serves to retract the 'get out of logistics free' card previous flying aircraft carriers provided to their casts. While Gundam has always erred on the side of making logistical concerns count (damage to the White Base is emphasised alongside the frailty of its supply lines), here they are absolutely key to how the plot unfolds.

Tekkadan not having access to the unbounded resources of their opponents in Gjallarhorn matters. That they cannot take their ship, the Isaribi, with them to Earth is a highly significant step towards the desperate nature of Season 1's final battle. They have to rely solely on what they can transport down in a shuttle and then scrounge along the way. Similarly, it is significant in both seasons that one cannot simply land a spaceship where reinforcements are required. This introduces delays, heightening the tension and the stakes. It's a canny choice, for the kind of story being told.

World mechanics

For want of an official classification scheme, I'm going to group the ships that appear throughout the series based on size, function and power-plants:

Surface-to-orbit shuttles

Small non-Ahab reactor ships

Medium Ahab reactor ships

Large Ahab reactor ships

Huge pseudo-colony ships

This done, we can look at commonalties shared by some or all of these groupings in terms of how they are depicted.

Life support: The most important detail, as far as establishing the setting's technology goes, is that living in space is relatively straightforward. Ahab reactors provide artificial gravity. Concerns about oxygen, food and other consumable supplies are never raised as a serious issue. A brief moment in spin-off game Urdr Hunt even suggests that ships maintain some sort of protective forcefield (capable of resisting a lightning strike – it sort of makes sense in context), which could imply cosmic and solar radiation can also be neutralised. Basically, to all intents and purposes, space travel is a completely solved problem.

Offensive and defensive capabilities: Battles are carried out almost exclusively with conventional ammunition (shells, missiles); there are no laser/beam weapons due to the deflective effects of nanolaminate armour, which also conveys a high degree of physical resilience. In the original Gundam timeline, mobile suits are devastatingly effective anti-ship weapons; it is outright stated that ships are no match for 'suits, due to the latter's manoeuvrability and damage output. Here, the equation is somewhat more balanced. Most ships can retract their vulnerable conning towers and their missiles can target and obliterate 'suits in open combat. However, particularly powerful or well-equipped mobile suits may still threaten ships single-handed and sustained attack by more generic models is sufficient to knock out weaponry and propulsion. There is also mention of 'anti-ship napalm', a short-range weapon presumably intended to burn through hulls, and ships prove extremely vulnerable to the Dáinsleif mass-drivers, which can punch deep into their interiors. Nonetheless, it would be fair to say IBO ships are atypically sturdy for the Gundam franchise.

Toughness: Exactly how sturdy may be illustrated by Eugene crashing the Isaribi face-first into a space station in order to draw a Gjallarhorn fleet away from a battle.

This works. Spectacularly. The Isaribi leaves a massive gash around the station core, causing enough havoc the whole structure starts to lose orbit. Meanwhile, Tekkadan pull away with barely even superficial damage. And sure, the square-cube law is on their side, but at the same time, it's hard not to be impressed, especially since we are talking about a ship of Calamity War vintage. Ramming is not only feasible as an offensive tactic, it seems to be actively designed for.

Power output: In addition to their durability, spaceships show off an abundance of power and thrust, owing to the aforementioned Ahab reactors. Wisely, the writers opt not to give exact figures, simply indicating one ship towing another is no big deal. We see the Dawn Horizon Corps' flagship towing three ships of comparable mass at once, with similar feats carried out by other vessels in their fleet. This of course feeds back into the ramming tactics, since all that additional motive force enables one ship to shunt another with relative ease (presumably provided the impact goes at an angle to the direction of the target's own main drive).

Mobility: Above all, ships are of a piece with the other mobile weapons. Despite the nautical terminology, they do not always behave with stately grace, instead zooming about and engaging in manoeuvres entirely unbounded by gravity. This is what struck me the most about the show's depiction of spaceflight: it captures a sense of speed that sci-fi shows usually leave implicit out of deference to an impression of scale. Here, craft hundreds of metres long execute rapid arcs and spins with an ease comparable to the much smaller mobile suits. Furthermore, they can be operated using the same Alaya-Vijnana man/machine interface technology, with Eugene twice straining his augmentation to fly multiple ships simultaneously. The attack on Earth's defensive lines that culminates in ramming Glaðsheimr One involves using a captured assault ship as a shield to protect the Isaribi from incoming fire. It's a phenomenal sequence, showcasing the advantages of abandoning weight when writing space battles – and demonstrates that ships in the Post Disaster timeline can dance as well as they punch.

Now, on to the specifics.

Surface-to-orbit shuttles

Mars shuttle

Fittingly, we start with the vehicle that first takes our protagonists to space. Straight away we have to discuss how it is launched from Mars, namely by being shot up a large, upward-curving runway. This is an example of 'sky-ramp launch', which is pretty much exactly what you think and represents a theoretical means of removing the need for multi-stage rocket assemblies. Both parts of the process are reusable: an orange sub-flyer helps propel the shuttle up the ramp and then separates to glide back to the ground while the main body flies onwards.

It's a fascinating idea that I don't believe has ever actually been tested in real life and perhaps makes more sense in a Martian setting where the lower gravity would undoubtedly render it more practical. However, this is by all appearances the standard method regardless of planet, as the Earth-based Vingolf facility has a similar ramp. So we can assume this, like life-support, is an established, widely-practical technology.

The shuttle itself is a chunky affair, a streamlined cockpit and passenger module giving way to a wider, squarer cargo section big enough to comfortably hold two mobile suits. Its wings are articulated and kept folded vertically for launch, only opening out once it has separated from the launch vehicle (which also unfolds wings for the descent back to Mars). In orbit, the shuttle proves capable of outrunning a Gjallarhorn patrol, albeit one distracted by the sudden appearance of Gundam Barbatos, but is vulnerable to both mobile suits and the cannons of a pursuing ship.

What happens to the shuttle after the Isaribi arrives in the nick of time and Tekkadan disembark is unclear. Neither it nor its flight crew appear again, so we must assume they detached and returned to Mars while the battle raged on without them. Likely this would have been relatively easy since all hostile forces were concentrating on chasing the Isaribi and couldn't stop to deal with anything else. Those two pilots must have had quite the hair-raising story to tell when they got home.

Earth shuttle

Although it shares the same general outline, the craft that takes Tekkadan down to Earth at the other end of their journey is much larger and beefier. Comfortably able to accommodate several launches (vessels on par, size-wise, with the Mars shuttle) and with room for multiple mobile suits to attach to the hull, this is a relatively gigantic vehicle for traversing the atmosphere. The passenger module looks laughably small, stuck on the front of cargo section that brings to mind that line from Rocket Rider's Prayer about a 'highly polished brick'.

A pair of large external propellant tanks are attached to the upper surfaces of the wings, giving the impression it can achieve considerably greater thrust than its Martian counterpart, as would be necessary for ascending from Earth. We don't get confirmation of whether this shuttle also launches with the aid of a booster, although there seems no reason to assume otherwise. Regardless, its heavy-duty nature is obvious.

As the shuttle goes through re-entry, the viewports are sealed with heat-shields to protect the occupants. Once inside the atmosphere, it is capable of splashdown. I don't think we should necessarily take this as a standard procedure so much as a consequence of Tekkadan's intended destination and lack of experience with these matters. Nevertheless, it proves perfectly buoyant in the waters off Makanai's island retreat.

The shuttle was provided by the Montag Company, ostensibly in exchange for half-metal mining rights on Mars, although in reality this is just McGillis Fareed putting Tekkadan where he needs them to be. Interestingly, the Moon Steel manga has the Montag Company arranging lift-off from Earth for the protagonists at one point, suggesting there are ways to circumvent the official channels in the other direction as well. Normally, transfer to and from the ground like this would appear to go through orbital stations like Jutland One.

Two more of the smaller shuttles are seen on Mars when Yamagi and Eco deliver Gundam Flauros back to Chryse during the battle with Hashmal. One of the larger type is featured briefly early in the Moon Steel manga, while another appears on Vingolf during McGillis' uprising. Here we see it can fold its wings too (even if the angle this is drawn at makes that look a bit peculiar) and we get a look at the landing gear left unseen in previously. This shuttle is coloured an all-over grey, lacking the orange on the external tanks from Tekkadan's version, but this may be a colouring error since it or a very similar shuttle is shown later with the orange in place, as per the earlier model.

Small non-Ahab reactor ships

Launch

The boxy 'launch' is a utility craft deployed by virtually every major group we encounter over the course of the series. They are used by the Dort colonists, by Tekkadan and the Montag Company, by Gjallarhorn, by workers at the Oceanian Federation's industrial centres, and by the Turbines. In Moon Steel, a launch is even the main characters' principal mode of transport for a couple of chapters.

I'm actually making an assumption that launches do not use Ahab reactors. Given the size of the mobile suit-grade reactors, there's no reason a ship of this scale could not include one. However, we never see launches generating artificial gravity and based on that and the lack of mention of such a device (from what I can tell) in the Mechanics & World captions, I'm prepared to place them in this category. In any case, contrasting sharply with the shuttles, they have an entirely space-based design – basically a moving shipping container with thrusters facing along the cardinal axes.

Launches act mainly as transport, ferrying goods and people between colonies and ships. 25m long, they are large enough to carry mobile suits (see Moon Steel), can act as refuelling posts, and even operate in an offensive capacity. The weapons loaded during the Dort uprising are described as 'debris missiles', suggesting a role in keeping the area clear of collision hazards. Due to Gjallarhorn's sabotage, we never learn how effective these would have been in a combat scenario.

The launch belonging to the Dort Colony Network news team features an antenna on top of the cockpit and a couple of spotlights bolted to the cargo section. It also has the company logo sprayed on the side and I find it a bit of a shame this kind of flourish wasn't added more widely, since otherwise the only external variation is in colour scheme.

JEE-M103 Kutan Type-III

Manufactured by the (presumably) Europa-based Teiwaz subsidiary Euro Electronics, the Kutan is the first ship on this list to serve an exclusively military purpose. That is to say, while the official description indicates this type of craft can be used to carry a variety of different loads, we see it used exclusively as a delivery mechanism for mobile suits. Not to mention that it has a pair of inbuilt vulcan guns on its forward arms and can be equipped with additional cannons if required.

The 'Type-III' in the name refers to the configuration with large boosters and propellant tanks added on the back, plus triangular side armatures to store mobile suit weapons. The inner body is otherwise identical to the Kutan Type-I. Although it is engineered to transport a only single 'suit inside its arms, a second may easily latch on to the upper hull. A Type-III is used to return Gundam Barbatos to the Isaribi following a refit aboard the Saisei, indicating it can traverse considerable distances in a useful time-frame. We later see one reach an isolated refuelling station from Mars, when Tekkadan rush to the Turbines' aid. Though comparatively tiny, it operates on a scale similar to much larger vessels.

Unusually, this is done without an Ahab reactor. The Kutan is built instead around a hydrogen engine, which gives us some idea of how space-travel might have looked prior to the adoption of the more powerful reactor. This also has consequences for the Kutan's defensive ability, since nanolaminate armour is normally reinforced by a supply of Ahab particles. While the armour is not completely useless without that boost, the Kutan would be much more vulnerable to attack than its cargo, which explains why, Shino's stunt in Earth orbit aside, these transporters are not used as combat vehicles.

Indeed we can see from Shino attempting to fight Ein while still attached to a Kutan that it hampers his mobility considerably. The supplemental boosters are an explosive hazard and he is quickly trapped within the transporter's arms by Ein's grappling cable. There is a kit-only configuration that applies the various components from the Kutan to a 'suit in what might be a more usable layout, as a backpack and leg-extensions. But on screen, the more sensible tactic is clearly for the transporter to race in, release its cargo, and retreat as quickly as possible.

Skidbladnir

The Urdr Hunt mobile game includes another Kutan, this time in a civilian setting. Personal vessel of archaeologist Kozo Mendo, Skidbladnir is a variant that might even be a Kutan Type-II, since it shares the main body of the Type-I/III but is fitted with a different set of arms.

The ship has additional fuel tanks and what appears to be an expanded living module or cargo hold. We do not see the interior beyond the cockpit, so exactly how many amenities Mendo has crammed inside is left to our imagination. Regardless, the modular design of the Kutan has allowed it to be remixed into a craft capable of reaching debris zones or ancient shipwrecks and manoeuvring close enough to get a good look at them.

It is implied to be a somewhat ramshackle affair, breaking down twice over the course of the game and leaving Mendo and his Hunt guide Slice in need of rescue. Aside from the irony of repeated failures affecting a vessel named for "the best of ships" (Grimnir's Sayings 44.2, The Poetic Edda, Oxford World's Classics 2008, p58), this adds to Skidbladnir's outlier status. No other vessel we see is in such bad shape as a baseline (it goes without saying, this thing is useless in a fight, immediately getting downed by a pack of plumas when certain archaeological investigations prove horribly successful).

Exactly how Mendo came into possession of his ship remains unexplored. According to the kit manual, Kutans are primarily operated in the Outer Sphere, so it could be that he acquired one in the vicinity of Mars or Jupiter. And perhaps the technical difficulties explain how he was able to afford to buy it. For now, we can only speculate. What is certain is that Skidbladnir is a rare example of the Millennium Falcon 'small owner-operated spaceship' trope appearing in Gundam, and thus opens up a host of possibilities for small-scale private – and extremely hazardous – space-travel within the Post Disaster timeline.

Medium Ahab reactor ships

Biscoe class cruiser

Our introduction to IBO's spaceships comes in the unassuming form of the Wilm, which delivers Gaelio Bauduin and McGillis to the Ares base in orbit of Mars. Like the Kutan, the Biscoe class is designed around mobile suits: two 'suits can be stored in the lower section of the hull and launched by folding that entire section downwards. Beyond this, the Biscoe does not carry any armaments, although it can deploy signal flares. In terms of range, the Wilm reaches Mars from Earth within the space of two weeks, a feat not to be sniffed at, although it's never clear if this being markedly quicker than Tekkadan's initial estimate for the opposite journey is due to Gjallarhorn having access to more direct routes or the Biscoe's speed relative to the Isaribi.

While the Biscoe is presented as a Gjallarhorn product, it has also found its way into civilian use. Both the Montag Company and Moon Steel's Tanto Tempo own Biscoes, with the latter's use of one in an action sequence demonstrating the ship possess the ability to fire smokescreens as well as flares. This is not the last time we'll see Gjallarhorn vessels in the hands of outside entities.

Past prominent appearances at the start and in the third quarter of Season 1, Biscoes are relegated to bulking out fleet scenes. I should note that the official designation of 'cruiser' seems a bit of a misnomer, since in modern naval parlance, this means a large, multi-role vessel. The term would surely fit the Halfbeak much better than this glorified cargo ship.

An intriguing detail translated in this Reddit post is that Biscoe can go in and out of a planet's atmosphere. This makes sense of the large landing struts built into the lower hull (kept retracted in its on-screen appearances). I raise an eyebrow at the idea of this ship descending to the surface. Scale-wise, it's smaller than the shuttle Tekkadan take down to Earth but I'm not sure how it would lift off back to orbit in the absence of anti-gravity mechanics. Then again, with the presence of 'inertial control systems' capable of cushioning a mobile suit's fall from sub-orbital heights, maybe there is a case to be made that the setting does have the necessary technology to allow something like this to move easily within a gravity well and we just don't see it happen.

Erda II

Owned by Afam Equipment, management company for the Radonitsa Colony in orbit of Venus, the Erda II is a modified Biscoe class ship. In its original configuration, it sports three additional thrusters, two on top and one below, and the pre-existing engines have been extended along the sides. The section above the bridge has also been built out, creating an additional deck. The result is still recognisably a Biscoe and retains the ability to deploy mobile suits by opening up its lower hull. However, unlike the base model, the Erda II can only hold a single 'suit. This seems mainly due to the addition of a catapult mechanism designed to quickly eject its passenger to the rear of the ship, a feature more commonly found on larger warships.

That is my interpretation of the Erda II's halved carrying capacity, anyway. The shots of McGillis' Biscoe launching his Schwalbe Graze play havoc with the scaling, such that the mobile suit appears about 50% smaller than it should be. It looks like the animators got the perspective wrong, a not uncommon occurrence in the early part of Season 1 (c.f. McGillis being portrayed as taller than Gaelio in some of the scenes on Mars). The Urdr Hunt game serves us much better for consistency, as we see several mobile suits interacting with it from the outside, such as Gundam Asmodey being forced to ride on top of the hull for a few instalments.

To address this, the ship is later retrofitted with an expanded hold – basically a large shipping container bolted on the back. This doubles the ship's length, easily fitting both Gundams and their corresponding catapults, and has its own set of thrusters to make up for the removal of the Erda II's ventral engine. It is hard to say if this has a detrimental effect on the ship's speed or manoeuvrability since it never does anything that would demonstrate either. It is equally hard to say why a company ostensibly concerned with municipal infrastructure should need to be able to launch mobile suits into battle in the first place. But that is tied to the presently-incomplete backstory of Hajiroboshi (nee Marchosias), which Erda Afam, namesake of the ship, likely piloted during the Calamity War.

Further details from the official description are that the Erda II is armed with a single machine-gun and that it dates from the founding of the company, suggesting Biscoes are quite venerable. Interestingly, the standing crew consists of only two people, the elderly Dexter and Sinister. While we might expect little manpower to be required for the Skidbladnir or a relatively small vessel like this, McGillis is able to briefly operate a full-size warship single-handed. Eugene is able to fly two or three at once. Clearly, a high degree of automation exists, as it does for mobile suits – another facet of space travel being trivialised in this setting

Large Ahab reactor ships

Calamity War shipwrecks

There isn't a lot to say about the shipwrecks shown in Urdr Hunt, mainly because they *are* wrecks and we thus do not know what they looked like when they were intact. I'm not even sure which way up the second ship encountered is supposed to go.

Doing my due diligence and checking the art-books, neither of these are based on unused concepts for, say, the Halfbeak or the Skipjack. They appear instead to be entirely new designs, depicting vessels owned by Angelica Elion and Makie Fareed, Calamity War Gundam pilots and progenitors of the 'Seven Stars' lineages to which they gave their names. The Elion ship is in a worse state, falling apart as it drifts along the orbit of a comet. Its systems are offline, its generators, barely functioning. The Fareed ship, on the other hand, retains a breathable atmosphere and enough power to allow Mendo to boot up the computers in some form of administration room. From this he learns it fought a mobile armour during the War.

We should not be surprised the power in these vessels lasts as long as it does, given they are almost certainly using Ahab reactors. Nor do I think it unexpected that warships would have played a role in defeating the mobile armours. That Mendo can access the Fareed ship's systems may speak more to his familiarity with old software than anything else, but it could also be an indication of how little has changed, technologically, since the War.

Beyond this, the wrecks do at least confirm spaceship design was once more varied than it is in the present day.

Freighter

Speaking of the present, the 300m long cargo ship is as ubiquitous as the launch. Seen in vast numbers as the backbone of the Turbines' operations and in use even by space pirates like the Brewers, this is an entirely uniform design, rarely so much as changing colour between appearances.

Utilitarian, featuring sixteen container modules arranged either side of a rounded-off rectangular core, with a bridge at one end and two standard thrusters at the other, it is an unglamorous vessel and tends to fare quite badly when it shows up in more than an illustrative capacity. See for example Akihiro's family's freighter getting overtaken by pirates, or a couple of Turbines' ships being sunk by Dáinsleifs. These ships are pretty much defenceless, requiring mobile suit escorts to stand a chance of making it through hazards.

This draws attention to something Iron-Blooded Orphans does differently from its stable-mates; to whit, spending time on everyday space-travel. In most Gundam series, civilian traders rarely occupy much of the story. The narratives focus on military action that has suspended normal life. To an extent, this is of course what IBO does as well. But it also portrays space as a realm of industry and commerce. Cargo makes up the bulk of the traffic crossing the solar system. There are designated shipping routes, the Ariadne Beacon network that allows Gjallarhorn to track, protect and (as seen in Moon Steel) charge vessels for the privilege. There are routes outside the beacon network, more perilous and tricky to navigate, allowing the Turbines to dominate Outer Sphere smuggling. There is, in fact, a whole ecosystem based around the transfer of goods, with impoverished, homeless women at the very bottom, exploited as expendable crews.

We must also consider what isn't shown. The Skidbladnir is the only ship serving a nominally scientific purpose. Tourism is a valid solution to Radonista Colony's woes, yet none of the characters have the opportunity to be real tourists. Interplanetary passenger travel – in itself, separate from VIPs getting military escort – is never touched on. Our attention remains fixed on the functional, unglamorous side of a space-based economy, as befits IBO's wider themes, with the freighter as the functional, unglamorous emblem of this strata of society.

Armoured assault ship

Our second major 'default ship', almost all the warships fielded by non-Gjallarhorn groups are variants of this fish-like type. This includes 'hero' ships such as the Isaribi and Hammerhead, which I shall cover separately, and the Mercurius, Tanto Tempo's main combat vessel. Like most other mobile weapons in IBO, these armoured assault ships date from the Calamity War. Even assuming their compatibility with the Alaya-Vijnana means they were developed during that conflict rather than prior to it, this makes them over three hundred and twenty years old. If I have not stressed it enough already, technology in the Post Disaster setting is phenomenally durable.

Armed with two sets of twin-barrelled cannons on rotating tracks either side of the main hull, several point-defence turrets behind those, missile launchers, and a pair of harpoon anchors, these ships can perform a range of combat roles, from long-range bombardment to close-quarters grappling. Naturally, they also function as mobile suit carriers, usually coming with a ventral catapult deck and an articulated 'fin' for 'suits to latch on to during recovery via a hatch in the rear of the ship. Going by the Isaribi, they have three mobile suit hangars, each accommodating three machines.

For propulsion, the ships most often have two large thrusters situated where the 'tail' joins the main body, although those in the Dawn Horizon Corps' fleet have a single thruster at the tip of the tail instead. Smaller thrusters at the front of the side blocks are kept shuttered until required to alter the vessel's trajectory; they also permit flying backwards when the main weaponry needs to be aimed at a pursuing enemy. Vernier jets are placed all across the ship, with significant arrays of them stretching along the tail, providing the aforementioned manoeuvrability these ships enjoy.

One thing never clearly established is how large a crew an armoured assault ship is supposed to have. The best guess we can make is taking the Dawn Horizon's total membership (2500 people) and dividing it by the number of ships they own (10). This gives us 250, but includes both their mobile worker corps and their human debris, so may not be representative of the average ship crew, specifically. Still, the number is slightly lower than the compliment of a much smaller modern destroyer (destroyers are around 150m long; the AAS is 340m) and accounting for automation and the extra space required for life-support and supplies, seems quite a reasonable figure.

[It's not especially relevant but the original Star Trek's USS Enterprise, at 289m in length, supposedly had a crew of 203.]

NOA-0093 Isaribi

At a glance, the chief distinguishing feature of the Isaribi (formerly Will-O'-the-Wisp) is a shortened prow that renders it even more fish-shaped than its class-mates. It otherwise has all the same weapons and fixtures of a standard armoured assault ship. This leads us immediately to the question of why it has such a distinctly shortened appearance, aside from the boring Doylist answer of 'to make it stand out because it's the protagonist vessel'. Sadly, I can't think of an interesting suggestion here. We simply don't see the Isaribi doing anything that another such craft would be unable to. From Eugene's operation of the hijacked Brewers' ship, we know for certain they can all move with similar deftness, and even the ramming tactics would surely be as effective with the standard bow shape.

Perhaps ramming suggests a possibility: maybe in its former life as Will-O'-the-Wisp, it lost the forward section in battle, with the current shape being a money-saving fix. On balance, though, it's more likely this is merely another variant and the Isaribi naturally provides our clearest look at the capabilities of a ship like this. I've already alluded to the retractable bridge; during battle, artificial gravity is also disengaged so that power can be routed elsewhere. Oddly, everything then stays weightless even while the ship is performing combat manoeuvres, suggesting inertial control remains in operation to offset the varying acceleration (that's technobabble for the writers not wanting to throw everybody against the back wall every time the thrusters engage). Oh, and relatedly – via the inbuilt seat-belts that stop pots and pans floating away – the galley hob uses gas flames. I wont' talk in detail about the interiors but I find this too idiosyncratic not to mention, the replication of such a mundane (but efficient!) means of cooking in a sci-fi environment.

Other facilities aboard the Isaribi include a mess-hall, a gym, spacious single-occupant cabins, and common bunk-rooms. There is also at least one main cargo hold to go along with the mobile suit bays. The bridge aside, it is not obvious how the viewports shown in some of these rooms map to the ship's exterior when the glowing sections appear to be running lights not windows. Docking ports, though, are present, midway along the tail. Smaller craft like the Biscoe can also interface directly with the mobile suit recovery hatch. Concept art indicates the small rectangles beneath and fore of the port and starboard anti-aircraft guns are human-scale airlocks, and that there are ladders built into the hull, allowing access to the top of the ship. These are probably how the crew assembled in front of the bridge for the funeral after the battle with the Brewers.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that Tekkadan decorating the ship with their logo is far from an isolated case of 'warpaint'. Every armoured assault ship has some form of unique livery, from bland greys and whites for the Dawn Horizon's rank and file to the Rakou Pirates' skull insignia, rendered in pink on an expensive black background. Far from mere youthful exuberance, the boys are clearly engaging in a time-honoured tradition.

NOA-0132 Hotarubi

With Tekkadan's rising fortunes comes an additional ship. Combining the forward section of a standard armoured assault ship with reinforced cargo modules, this new vessel's purpose is to transport a greatly-expanded mobile suit force. The 'suits are stored in rows of containers within the modules and launched through large side hatches – a notably slower means than the Isaribi's catapult (especially since they must be recovered the same way) that trades-off against capacity

This is far from the only example of non-catapult-based deployment. While catapults certainly aren't the exception – Gjallarhorn's Halfbeaks easily skew the ratio hard the other way – they are not an essential component of space combat either. Mobile suits can produce extreme acceleration on their own, allowing them to quickly entire battle without external aid. This said, catapults and transporters like the Kutan must offer an advantage – likely in terms of conserving propellent, on top of sheer rapidity.

The Hotarubi's layout also dispenses with a tail section, replacing it with two long, vertically stacked thrusters extending directly from the forward hull. These are the same shape as the normal armoured assault ship engines, only about 50% larger. The scaling changes create a greater visual similarity to both the Kutan and the mobile suit boosters applied directly to Gundam Gusion when Tekkadan flies to the Turbines' rescue. I don't know if anything follows from most ships boasting a single pair of main thrusters beyond observing the commitment to symmetry that characterises Post Disaster ships. For the Hotarubi specifically, we can compare it to the similarly-arranged cargo freighter and note how much beefier it is, the engines' extra size allowing it to move as swiftly as the Isaribi when required. It is described as being able to make the trip from Mars to Earth in about three weeks.

Taking the brunt of a Dáinsleif barrage during the 'final battle' with the Arianrhod Fleet, the Hotarubi is abandoned, then scuttled via a self-destruct system to disperse a cloud of nano mirror chaff that blocks local laser communication and sensors. This necessitates piloting the Hotarubi via tether, then setting it loose to fly towards Gjallarhorn's lines on autopilot. Even as it provides cover for Tekkadan's retreat from the terrible situation in which they are caught, the ship's loss represents the final collapse of the success that led to its acquisition in the first place.

TIR-0009 Hammerhead

Naming conventions for ships in Iron-Blooded Orphans include the Norse origins of Skidbladnir, the familial connection of Erda II, and the Gundam mythology gag that is Mercurius. Meanwhile, Gjallarhorn's battleship class names (Halfbeak and Skipjack) borrow from types of fish, which is striking when set alongside Isaribi, meaning a fire set by fishermen to lure in larger catches. Isaribi itself is a continuation of a poetical theme set by Will-O'-the-Wisp and furthered by Hotarubi – the light of a firefly. And then, for the second 'hero' version of an armoured assault ship to appear, there's the crushingly literal Hammerhead.

Where the Isaribi truncates the standard design, the Turbines' flagship extends it, adding a wide, reinforced block to the front for the express purpose of ramming enemy vessels. The ship's main thrusters have been moved to the rear of said block, where they sit inline with the side modules. This does not appear to impede the Hammerhead's mobility at all, although it does activate additional thrusters situated at the other end of the modules (switched front to back from the normal placement) to increase its pushing power when in contact with a target. In this manner, it is able to crush one of the Brewers' armoured assault ships against a nearby asteroid.

To accommodate this hammer-head, the other weapons has been redistributed. The main cannons have been raised and lowered, providing it with a clear line of fire (something also seen on Dawn Horizon's single-thruster ships), and missile tubes have been placed on both the ram and the superstructure in front of the bridge. The bridge tower, which is slightly larger than the Isaribi's, features a unique cross-bar sensor array – each armoured assault ships sports a different kind of antenna but they are usually in the form of vertical blades. Other than this, the tower has the same functionality as on similar vessels, retracting for battle irrespective of any additional protection the ram confers. Sadly, this is not enough to save the ship from Iok Kujan's Dáinsleifs.

In keeping with its role as home to the polygamous family from which the Turbines take their name, the Hammerhead is more comfortably appointed than most ships. It is also extremely formidable, requiring Tekkadan to launch a high-risk covert boarding action during their initial engagement with it and thereafter proving its mettle against the Brewers. Under the control of a single pilot, it's reduced to a sitting-duck, taking massive damage from conventional and extraordinary artillery. Yet even after Naze is killed, it remains locked on course for Iok's forces, just barely deflecting off one Halfbeak to ram another broadside-on, destroying both vessels in the resulting explosion.

Dawn Horizon battleship

After covering the three named variants of the armoured assault ship, it is almost an anti-climax to end with one that never receives a proper designation. But I've left it to last because it represents several departures from the patterns observed so far.

The fin that on other ships appears to be used for mobile suit retrieval has been moved to the very end of the tail, suggesting it serves some other purpose; maybe as a radiator? The ramming prow has been built out to a significant degree, resembling nothing so much as a locomotive snowplough. The mobile suit deck appears to be completely inverted, with a hatch and catapult fitted atop the ship rather than below. 'Suits are launched along an extended deck, as if this was a true nautical aircraft carrier. Finally, as a consequence of that arrangement, the bridge conning tower is fixed in place, better armoured in its own right but unable to be safely stowed away.

To what extent this configuration alters the ship's capabilities is unclear. Functionally, the two present for the battle with Tekkadan – an orange flagship and a grey-yellow version that is disabled over the course of the fight – perform no action to make them stands out from the rest of the Dawn Horizon fleet beyond towing their single-thruster compatriots. We may assume the battleship to be somewhat tougher, at least from the front, but again, they demonstrate no special abilities, not even ramming anything over the course of their screen-time.

If we again take the Doylist meta-textual perspective, there's no deeper reason to this ship's unique appearance than creating visual interest and underlining Sandoval Reuter's position as Dawn Horizon's leader. And this might serve us from a Watsonian point of view, too: perhaps the impressive appearance is its main selling-point and the reason the pirate chose these craft as his own.

Halfbeak class battleship

At 400m long, Gjallarhorn's main warship is built on a slightly larger scale to the armoured assault ship, tapering from a pointed prow to a wide, almost bulbous stern. This gives it a more traditionally nautical outline (selected from various alternatives sketched by series concept artist Ippei Gyoubu), to my mind evoking an official and proper air; the sense this is what space warfare should look like.

I bring this up because the Calamity War shipwrecks belonging to Elion and Fareed – the most direct precursors available – do not share this aesthetic. Therefore it represents a deliberate design choice on Gjallarhorn's part, perhaps following the same concessions to appearances that can be seen in their uniforms, their aristocratic and heraldic traditions, and 'ceremonial' machines such as the Graze Ritter. This is not to claim the Halfbeak serves a purely decorative purpose; it is an effective battleship and not to be taken lightly. But I think there is room to consider it informed by the wider culture of the organisation, as a symbol in the same way that leads Lieutenant Crank to laud 'the Graze of Gjallarhorn'.

Regardless of whether there is anything to that idea, the Halfbeak appears equal and equivalent to the armoured assault ship in most particulars. Twin main thrusters allow it to keep pace with the smaller Isaribi and Hotarubi, and it possess the corresponding reverse engines. Its pointed hull is not only capable of ramming other craft, it can actively pierce their armour. Missile tubes, grappling anchors, cannons, and point-defence turrets are all present, although strangely, the latter are only placed on the upper structure, leaving the underside noticeably bereft of protection. This perhaps suggests the Halfbeak is expected to fight from range or that the designers felt overly-secure in Gjallarhorn's military domination. And, of course, the ship has a mobile suit catapult, operating on electromagnetic rather than mechanical propulsion, in a rare instance of a Post Disaster faction demonstrating ostentatiously 'advanced' (non-tactile) technology.

Speaking of ostentation, no overview of the Halfbeak is complete without looking at how the Seven Stars mark those they personally use. The ship assigned to the Bauduins is named Sleipnir, to match the Norse mythological figure present in their coat of arms, painted prominently on the hull. Similarly bedecked with her family crest, Carta Issue's flagship is identified as Vanadis in the SD Cross Rays adaptation of the show (another name for Norse goddess Freyja)*. It is later repainted with the Fareed Family crest after McGillis takes over her position.

Overall colour-schemes associate Halfbeaks with different fleets: blue for the Earth HQ Central Direction Defence Corps (latterly the Revolutionary Fleet), teal for the Outer Lunar Orbit Joint (Arianrhod) Fleet, and white and blue-grey for the Outer Earth Orbit Regulatory Joint Fleet. The Bauduins' personal vessel is, of course, a unique lilac. Beyond this the ships appear entirely identical, but there is a suggestion they vary internally, as the ship Isurugi Camice uses to reach Mars at the start of Season 2 is described as the McGillis faction's fastest. Its ID number (GHS-1889) is considerably higher than either Vanadis (GHS-0205) or the unfortunate vessel Vanadis collides with in the finale (GHS-0515), so if this tracks order of production, it could be that 1889's speed is linked to it being more recently constructed (for completeness, Liza Enza's ships is GHS-2015 and Iok's ship is identified via communications as GHS-0287).

Civilian Halfbeak

Like the Biscoe, the Halfbeak makes its way into the hands of non-Gjallarhorn groups, albeit in modified form. The JPT Trust, a Teiwaz subsidiary with connections to the Kujan Family, has possession of such a ship, which features a forward hull widened and deepened to allow it to carry an exceptional number of mobile suits. The TIR-0102 Golden Jasley – namesake of JTP leader Jasley Donomikols, with the ID following the Hammerhead's as a Teiwaz-registered ship – is the only vessel fielded in the face of an enraged Tekkadan yet manages to deploy enough machines to make for a proper, large-scale battle.

This version sacrifices the main battery and mobile suit catapult in favour of heavier armour. As with the Dawn Horizon flagship, the bridge tower is also rendered immobile, which proves fatal for Jasley once Gundam Barbatos gets within striking distance. In the absence of the catapult, mobile suits exit via a rear-facing hatch. A similar hatch is present at the stern of a normal Halfbeak to allow 'suits to re-board. Here, it has been moved forward, closer to the expanded hangars.

Despite being larger and more modern than the Isaribi or the Hotarubi, the Golden Jasley does not distinguish itself in the encounter. Beyond sheer capacity, it is entirely outmatched in the face of Tekkadan's determination to avenge the Turbines. The most remarkable thing about it, in fact, is its existence. The Biscoe we may write off as little more than glorified launch, but the Halfbeak is a formidable weapon. For it to be shared with other entities, even in diminished form, says a lot about how elements within Gjallarhorn view their responsibilities as peacekeepers.

Because this is not an isolated incident: Urdr Hunt depicts another modified Halfbeak in the hands of the criminal Zahn Clan, who are outright stated to have various officials in their pocket. Whether or not craft like this exist for legitimate purposes – as export models or a variant not widely adopted by the main forces – these examples represent highly dubious dealings between a supposed force for law and order and those they are supposed to keep in line. Hardly a shock, given what else we know about Gjallarhorn and its abuses of power.

Skipjack class battleship

Twice the size of the Halfbeak, the Skipjack is the largest craft in this category. Featuring six mobile suit catapults, each linked to a hangar with a ten-'suit capacity, and bristling with gun batteries and missile launchers, it overshadows everything else in terms of offensive power. Its grappling anchors alone are bigger than a Biscoe class. This is unquestionably Gjallarhorn's capital ship.

Chronologically, the first Skipjack we see in action belongs to the Issue Family, showing up during Urdr Hunt to menace the Afam Equipment gang outside a resort colony near Earth. At this point, it is under the command of family retainer Okina Uroka, and no explanation is offered for why such a colossal warship should be (retroactively) in the Issue's hands and not have been used by Carta when she was commanding the Outer Earth Orbit Regulatory Joint Fleet. If I were to speculate – and why stop now? – we could take this to mean the class was only rolled out after the events of Season 1. But it could equally be that the Skipjack's scale grants a range simply not required within a fleet whose primary purpose is guarding the Earth. One may have been assigned to the Issues, in accordance with their status as the most powerful of the Seven Stars, and simply reserved for ceremonial use, to escort dignitaries and the like.

The flagship of the Arianrhod Fleet, on the other hand, serves as Rustal Elion's main base of operations and like the Issues' version is marked with his family heraldry to indicate his Seven Star status. It is this ship we see the most of, including some dramatic close-ups as Gaelio and McGillis have their final confrontation. These emphasise the scale, with even the catapult tubes being huge compared to those on other vessels.

The Skipjack is not without vulnerabilities though, or rather it is left vulnerable thanks to choices made by its commander. Like the Halfbeak and the armoured assault ship, the bridge module can be retracted and covered over. Gjallarhorn military doctrine, as followed by Carta and others, would seem to be that this should be done whenever engaging in serious combat. However, Rustal's personal sense of dignity encourages standing tall in the face of opposition and he thus his bridge remains elevated as he observes the battlefield. Iok's imitation of this allows Amida Arca to score a direct hit on the main viewport of his Halfbeak during the Hammerhead's final stand, but unfortunately her mobile suit doesn't have sufficient firepower to actually break through. Rustal comes within a hair's breadth of a much more fatal impact when Norba Shino takes a shot at him with a Dáinsleif, being saved only by a last-second intervention that knocks off Shino's aim.

One wonders if he reconsidered disregarding the safety features of his own ship after that.

Huge pseudo-colony ships

Saisei

The regular O'Neil cylinder space colonies that populate the Post Disaster world are each 60 kilometres long from base to tip. At 7km, Teiwaz's 'large planetary cruiser' is positively diminutive by comparison, yet still shares more in common with them than any of the previous ships.

For one, it is constructed around a spherical core, something commonly seen on space-stations and colonies. For another, it has a rotating habitat section, simulating gravity via centrifugal force (the physics student in me is required to state that this is a pseudo-force, existing as a reaction to centripetal force, but the effect is still to make the inner side of the ring section appear as a floor). Within this has been constructed what is essentially a small town catering to Teiwaz executives. Filled with lush greenery, the tiered levels contain houses, shops, bars, and brothels, and at the ground-level, at least one artificial lake, which surrounds the mansion and grounds inhabited by the organisation's leader, McMurdo Barriston. Short of the estates of the Gjallarhorn elite and the Chyrse governor's mansion, this is the most luxurious location the series visits.

Concept art shows a standard-looking bridge module tucked away in the block at the twelve o'clock position (when view front-on), albeit one that must be larger than normal given its relative scale. There is a single main engine at the rear surrounded by four smaller ones, which are in turn counter-balanced by forward-facing thrusters mounted on the pylons surrounding the ring. The same principles of spaceship design persist all the way up from the launch to this.

Part mafia status-symbol, part corporate headquarters, the Saisei displays artistry not found in any other ship, its huge, decorative windows and curving superstructure providing a degree of grandeur beyond mere size. Rather intriguingly, its name translates as 'reproduction' or 'restoration', raising the possibility it was created in an act of reclamation. Is this a former mining base or tool of colonisation re-engineered as a show of wealth? Certainly there is a less glamorous side to the place, engineering facilities for mobile suit upgrade and maintenance, as well as a space-dock that can hold multiple regular ships. But that fits Teiwaz's business, so need not represent any hold-over from a previous life. I like the idea, though, that Jupiter's most powerful organisation reworked some huge industrial facility in order to lord it over the Outer Sphere.

—–

*Throughout this, I've referenced data files from the SD GUNDAM G GENERATION CROSS RAYS game, as documented by Steam user Ralen at https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1973868125. I use this information only where it does not contradict the text of the anime itself (see for example the game stating there were nine single-thruster armoured assault ships in the Dawn Horizon's fleet, when there were in fact only eight, owing to the second battleship). Cross Rays' occasionally loose adaptation of canon events means it's worth being a little cautious when using the game as a source.

Anyway, thanks to @gonk2020 for suggesting this topic. I can honestly say there was a lot more to talk about here than I ever expected!

[Index of other writing]

[wherethewhumpthingsare]

Kairos (카이로스) Whumplist

Image Source

Whumpee: Kim Seo Jin (김서진) Portrayed by: Shin Sung Rok (신성록)

Synopsis: A woman, looking for her mother, and a man who lost his family, work together each day to save their loved ones from their tragic fates. (Google)

Genre: Action, Thriller, Drama, Sci-Fi

Where to Watch: Viki.com

Note: This drama had whump in just about every episode, both emotional and physical.

TW: S*icide (especially episode 1)

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Episode 1: anxious, building suddenly crumbling around him, waking abruptly, anxious & taking meds (00:44); panicked, worried for his daughter (20:40); exhausted, chapped lips, been awake all night, desperate, upset, shouting, crying (24:35); looking exhausted, receives alarming call, upset, scared (41:20); speaking to his daughter’s kidnapper, scared (45:40); restless, getting upset, panting, sees something deeply disturbing, shocked, weeping (50:20); told shocking news, weeping, argument with wife, weeping (57:25); worried, listening to wife's s*icide voicemail (1:04:00); trying to search for wife in the river, grabbed & stopped, in denial, weeping, in shock, almost leaping from bridge (1:06:00))

Episode 2: repeat of last scene from previous ep, crying, almost leaping from bridge (0:00); agitated (5:20); looking exhausted, baggy eyes (10:08); looking at old photos of daughter, distressed (14:40); woken from sleep, exhausted, baggy eyes, chapped lips, shocked, furious, attacking someone he thinks killed his daughter, pulled away (18:35); crying, feeling useless, nightmare: building collapsing around him, waking covered in debris, waking up panting, medicating, distressed while listening to upsetting recording (22:00); frustrated (37:00); talking about almost getting killed (52:50); shocked, relieved, crying (1:00:40))

Episode 3: lunging at someone in anger, held back, shouting, having a breakdown, weeping, shaking (9:00); frustrated, distressed, panting (17:00); sad memory, crying (27:50); red-rimmed eyes, looking sick & exhausted, crying (31:50); past self told about his daughter's future death (35:00); sudden head pain, new memory surfacing (40:25); alone, crying (53:15); upset, hearing shocking news (56:30); worried for someone (59:07)

Episode 4: coming upon a murder scene, frustrated (3:35); speaking to his daughter's killer, crying, angry (22:30); interrogated (30:40); sudden headache during interrogation, groaning (36:35); still being interrogated, headache (44:05); frustrated, headache, worried (54:00); angry (57:00)

Episode 5: angry, headache, memory surfacing (13:15); headache, memory surfacing (23:40); startled, falling & panting, scared (1:05:40)

Episode 6: waking from nightmare, panting (10:10); suffering from insomnia, asking for stronger meds (17:45); shocked, panting, upset (22:50); stressed, medicating (59:20); sleeping, accused of murder, fleeing, jumping from balcony, injured knee, shouting in pain, limping, arrested, pushed down on his injured knee (1:01:20)

Episode 7: sudden headache, memory surfacing (31:55); shocked by betrayal, teary eyed, hit in the back of the head twice, bleeding, slowly passing out (1:04:20)

Episode 8: pretending to be unconscious, face covered in blood, crying, you can see his pulse jumping like crazy in this scene (0:25); past self drunk, stumbling, arguing, shouting (2:30); still lying in bed, bandage on his head (7:20); still unconscious (20:10); 25:38(almost drugged, disintegrating (25:38); worried, panicking, crying (52:20); traumatic memory triggered, panicking, teary eyed (1:02:50); future self dying in car crash, bleeding, slowly passing out (1:06:30)

Episode 9: future self in hospital unconscious, oxygen mask, cuts & bruises on his face, head bandaged (16:00); memory triggered, panicking, taking meds, in a cold sweat, worried over, future self still in hospital, crying in his sleep (29:25); talking to doc about suffering panic symptoms, told he's having delusions (34:40); talking about his past, teary eyed (44:30); future self in hospital unconscious (49:20); talking about his past (1:00:00); future self still unconscious in hospital, threatened (1:07:15)

Episode 10: flashes of memory, sudden head pain, grunting, panting, worried over, medicating, scared (37:50); future self still unconscious in hospital, hand moving to grab someone while still unconscious (56:33); future self finally waking up (1:07:20)

Episode 11: future self unconscious in hospital (8:50); waking, groaning, crying, interrogated & accused, panicking (17:40); struggling out of hospital bed, groaning in pain, almost falling down steps, limping, chased (25:30); having trouble remembering things, panicking (30:30); on bathroom floor crying, flashbacks to the car accident, drugged, angry, shouting (48:10); angry, deliberately hitting his family's killer with a car, pulled away, shouting, trying to kill the culprit (1:02:15); flashback to being in hospital, covered in cuts & bruises (1:06:00)

Episode 12: shocked, teary eyed (0:00); sudden headache, new memory (58:00); sudden pain, clutching head, new memory (59:40); crying (1:05:35)

Episode 13: future self in pain from new memories, speaking to his past self (10:00); slammed on the ground, choked, punched, gasping, arrested (32:00); past self interrogated (48:40); in a cell, disappearing, waking up panting, dropping to his knees weeping (59:40)

Episode 14: panicking, worried for someone (00:50); angry (7:00); argument (26:10)

Episode 15: past self remembering future memory of being betrayed & hit in the head with a bat, shocked (24:20); pain from past memory surfacing (56:00); manhandled, punched, mouth bleeding, thrown off roof, lying dead in a pool of blood (1:03:35)

Episode 16: manhandled, punched, dropping to his knees, clutching side in pain, fought, slashed with knife, helped (34:10)

[jonathanbrandisarchive]

Jonathan Brandis—Is He In For A Bumpy Ride? The Behind-The-Scenes Scoop On His Own Private Waterworld!

Nineteen-year-old Jon predicts this is going to be seaQuest 2032’s best year yet! Plus! Win His Signed Tee!!

Superteen, 1995

Is the quest over? Has Jonathan Brandis' futuristic sub finally run aground? Well, that's the question lots of Hollywood insiders are asking now that seaQuest 2032 (how 'bout that for a title change!?) has sailed into its new season in uncharted waters. Now seen at a different time—Wednesdays at 8:00 PM—the seaQuest is light a few crew members. Roy Scheider, who plays Captain Nathan Bridger, will appear in only a few episodes; Mario Sanchez, Sensor Chief Miguel Ortiz, will not be returning at all, nor will Rosalind Allen as the Doctor. What's more, one of the more seasoned actors has been telling reporters that morale on the seaQuest set is at an all-time low.

S.O.S.?!

Even Jonathan has made a comment or two about the direction of the series when it went from being sci-fi to fantasy, observing, "I think we went a little overboard with some of the shows last year." And to top it off, when the remaining cast—and newcomers Michael Ironside as the new captain, Michael York as a recurring villain and John D'Aquino, who returns after a year off, as Benjamin Krieg— returned to the Orlando, Florida set, they were faced with a shut-down due to Hurricane Erin! Not a very good beginning!

The Positive Side!

Don’t despair! seaQuest still has a lot going for it (Jonathan Brandis, for one!) and Jonathan thinks things will turn around. First of all, your fan mail to Jon and the rest of the cast helped bring back the series for another season. And Jonathan is determined to reward your loyalty. Last season he wrote "The Siamese Dream" episode and he's hoping to not only write but direct an episode this year. "Writing and directing are both really my first loves," he explains.

Jon would like to see his character, Lucas, grow up a bit this year. "I'd like to see him wear a uniform, maybe have a little more com-mand—and get a girl once in a while," he says. On that note, Jon is giving his all to seaQuest and sees everyone else on the set responding in kind. Since there are whispers that this may really be seaQuest's last year, Jon urges: "It would be nice to put in a good season before we go out."

JON TEE-SHIRT CONTEST!

Get up-close-and-personal with Jon—win one of his very own super Radio Aahs tees (they're from Jon's favorite kids' radio network!). The tees are autographed by this blue-eyed babe, and SuperTeen has two to give away! All you have to do to enter is fill out the coupon above and mail it back to us. We'll choose two winners at random and their names will be announced in an upcoming issue! Good luck!

[gunnrblze]

Thinking about writing teen Kick fanfic and I got very vivid ideas for the vibe but I am like so shit at outlining the plot and detailing it to late 90s-2000s tech cuz I was in the desert sand during that time

And since I love your aesthetics with the ghost boys, what do you think about;

Teen Kick:

owns a camcorder, takes it nearly everywhere he goes outside and enjoys making vlogs on tapes, mostly consisting of abandoned place explorations and attempts of paranormal activity caught on camera. (Marble hornets and analog horror inspired)

Obsessed with cryptids and critters, might not actually believe they're real but thinks they're such neat concepts and they're fun to talk about.

↑explains why he found himself exploring the woods and forestry around his mid-late teens

fascinated by weird sightings and loves recording shit to show off and ramble about to his friends, just passionate about his interests

Owns a flip phone or whatever good old fashioned cellphone during that time, would try to invite his friends over to go cryptid hunting, alien watching, or explorations w/ him

I'm stumped cuz I have a few stuff thatll be purely HCs like:

Nickname for him in his teenhood if Kick was his military callsign

Headcanon about which part of America he's from to pinpoint location and setting of the drabble

Tf happened in 90-2000s

Could you help me please🙏🙏 need headcanons<33 a lot of them

Ahh I love this idea! This all sounds so accurate for a fic like this. Teen Kick that takes a camcorder everywhere sounds so on brand, I can definitely see him having that ‘let’s go to this haunted/abandoned house…what do you mean why? Cause it’s fun’ energy lol. Alien/ghost hunting and cryptid sightings seem right up his funky alley.

As for his name/location, that can be difficult since you can literally make up anything you want lmao. But I like to hc him as being from somewhere around northeast USA that starts to teeter into the south, think Pennsylvania/New Jersey/West Virginia/etc. That would also explain his cryptid/alien/ghost loving behavior since there’s a lot of sightings and happenings in those areas. He gives me slight city kid vibes, but lived enough near the outskirts of whatever town to have been doing a bunch of rural exploring.

Since it’s implied that he’s a tech specialist for the Ghosts, I hc that growing up during the rise of technology was very influential in his career choices, and he probably spent a lot of time with stuff like this. I definitely see him with the camcorder here, and maybe a flip phone right around the turn of the century/early 00’s when they became popular. Probably spent a lot of time on some old clunky ass computer setup lol, gets flashbacks from the dial up internet sound like a true 90s kid. I think as tech kept advancing, he was always right on that shit, or at least he kept up with it.

Just some tidbits, but similar to Ghost/Simon Riley in the comics/‘09 Modern Warfare, I like to think maybe seeing 9/11 take place inspired his reasons to join whatever branch of the military he joined, seeing that as a teen would’ve def been very surreal, especially if he lived around that area. He also gives me big nerd vibes, was into all the sci-fi stuff around that time&prob played a lot of video games, had like a GameCube console or something lol.

Hope some of this helps! I love this fic idea and I hope you write it! <3

[beardedmrbean]

Hey I been thinking like how the Native Americans had slaves (okay not all), how black peoples are shocked to have slave owner ancestry, or how in Canada, they were surprised that a tribe who got their land back decided to make condos on it

Wait did they check the economic backgrounds? I sure hope the leftists don’t think that the natives never had any form of economy/ holy shit

Dear god ac3 and prey 2020 represented native Americans better leftists mindset?

But do leftists think that history is like a Disney cartoon?

Like we must abolish the electoral college because it was created during the time of slavery

Because leftists never show how out of they are

You probably seen it, but people say we should treat shit like DoorDash like vaccines….

Would like a slice of Antonine cake?(yes I know that propaganda) no wait the nobles would treat me better that these Americans aristocrats

Also this https://x.com/fuckkoroks/status/1773690311341986038?s=46

So as you know Shogun take place in the Tokugawa era. And funny enough, I suspect the reason why Yasuke will help unify Japan so the Japanese won’t be at the mercy of the growing European colonial empires in ac red

I’m just wondering how many college educated people have the mentality that they learned the bad stuff white people did in middle school?

But dear white people I don’t hate you…probably because of my dysfunctional white stepfamily and the trainwreck of my stepmom

But this tweet https://x.com/thestrxggler/status/1773497095774974416?s=46

Okay I grew up in the 00’s and 10’s and fortunate to have a black family that value academics

But when you say liking sci-fi, fantasy, speaking proper English, like animation, or preferring to have good grades is talking/acting “white”

You doomed yourselves trying to put me into tribalism bullshit.

Hey I been thinking like how the Native Americans had slaves (okay not all), how black peoples are shocked to have slave owner ancestry, or how in Canada, they were surprised that a tribe who got their land back decided to make condos on it

One of if not the first person to gain lifetime bondage of another human being in the land that would become the United States was a black man.

Not many cultures in the world that did not practice some form of slavery. You win a war you have your choice of, POW's which need to be fed and housed so now they need to earn their keep, crippling the opposing army like they did with the Bulgarian army when they blinded 99 out of every 100 men and the 1 only got to keep one eye, hostages which whatever counts as nobles or their family members, there's the mass slaughter method which was Vlad Tepes fav he was a hostage so he got 2 of those.

Because you ain't just going to let your defeated foes walk home, unless it's the US civil war, and they even got to keep their guns because 2A is for everyone USA USA USA.

But do leftists think that history is like a Disney cartoon?

Lord no, you should see what they say about Pocahontas, lol.

Like we must abolish the electoral college because it was created during the time of slavery

3/5 compromise, ya south wanted to inflate it's population with people it didn't consider human so, to put it crassly and bluntly, they fought for the right for their farm equipment to be counted as people, but just for the numbers to increase their representation.

Illegals being counted on the census accomplish the same end.

This'll go right up there next to Russia wasn't an empire because it shared land borders with the territories it conquered.

Maybe Jacobin would also like to discuss the Ainu and see how that works out in terms of colonization. Granted both groups have been there for so long there's not really much to say about colonization likely more just human migration to the same place.

So as you know Shogun take place in the Tokugawa era. And funny enough, I suspect the reason why Yasuke will help unify Japan so the Japanese won’t be at the mercy of the growing European colonial empires in ac red

Haven't seen the new one, love the one from the 80's one of the best ways to start to learn Japanese imho, since a fair chunk of the dialogue is in Japanese. 10 of 10 highly recommend watching the whole 8+ hours of it, fairly historically accurate even down to the pederasty being a thing.

I’m just wondering how many college educated people have the mentality that they learned the bad stuff white people did in middle school? But dear white people I don’t hate you…probably because of my dysfunctional white stepfamily and the trainwreck of my stepmom

Likely a fair number, as for the dear white people you have self awareness and can differentiate between a individual and a group

Oh that's gonna hurt some feelings, lol.

Be interesting to get the response to, stop acting white, to be a accusation of racism, especially when it's things like doing well in school and speaking in standard english.

Okay I grew up in the 00’s and 10’s and fortunate to have a black family that value academics But when you say liking sci-fi, fantasy, speaking proper English, like animation, or preferring to have good grades is talking/acting “white” You doomed yourselves trying to put me into tribalism bullshit.

See comment above this section for my response,

and good timing finished just as I need to leave for Good Friday service.

[posthumanwanderings]

[ Cybergirl (2001): S1E4 Four pt.3 ]

[cyberebel]

We need MORE assassin-turned-hero female tropes that turn against the very company that made them who they became, PLEASE!! PLEASE DON’T LET THIS TROPE DIE!!! 😭😭💔💔

[enigmatist17]

John Crichton is quickly becoming one of my favorite sci-fi characters 🥰

He gives me big Daniel Jackson vibes which I am 100% here for, and the fact I missed this show somehow when it was going on around the same time SG-1 is kind of lame on my part :(

Then again I'm watching it now, and I am here for the 00's vibes 🙏

[aprillikesthings]

Idk if this is insensitive to ask about so I apologize if it is, and triply so if I've asked before and forgotten which I may have.

I'm really curious if you in the capacity of a religious person have any at all She-ra related thoughts about divinity. I've thought a bit about that recently, mostly in the context of trying to come up with explanations for what She-ra herself is. And having no faith of my own to speak of to rely on, not that I understand as religious anyway, I feel my perspective is limited.

I seem to tend to end up with a kind of christian-ish model common in sci fi and shows like Xena during the 90's and 00's, which I think is also similar to how some early christians talked about the old religion: underneath the apparent reality of the many gods and magics and matters of the world is one single ineffable will, guided by ineffable morality but fundamentally benign. That might be Etheria but it might just as well be the universe itself. Either way, it's beginning sounds an awful lot like capital G God to me. But somewhere in the back of my mind that seems like a hopeless attempt to eff something which should be ineffable.

So idk like, if you ever think about she-ra and your faith in the same sentence I would drink that sentence like ambrosia

oh, Lord (pun intended)

so, disclaimers: I'm not a theologian and also, I'm tipsy right now lol

BUT

The 2018 She-Ra, as created by ND Stevenson, is in part a response to the specific kind of Christianity he was raised in: Adora's storyline is a refutation of the idea of a destined savior, and Catra's storyline is a refutation of ...well, Calvinism.

WAY more nerdy discussion of She-Ra being a response to Calvinism over here and I know I link that essay a LOT but it's just good

--and the thing is, it's nearly impossible to talk about She-Ra from the perspective of Christianity without asking "which Christianity?" Because as the link above points out, Calvinism is a specific (if well-known and highly influential) branch of it, and one that a LOT of people disagree with.

THAT SAID:

I seem to tend to end up with a kind of christian-ish model common in sci fi and shows like Xena during the 90's and 00's, which I think is also similar to how some early christians talked about the old religion: underneath the apparent reality of the many gods and magics and matters of the world is one single ineffable will, guided by ineffable morality but fundamentally benign. That might be Etheria but it might just as well be the universe itself. Either way, it's beginning sounds an awful lot like capital G God to me. But somewhere in the back of my mind that seems like a hopeless attempt to eff something which should be ineffable.

That was actually a common paradigm back in that era (90's/00's) among Wiccans/Pagans: that all of the gods were just facets of a singular, larger concept of The Divine, that all gods were just humanity putting faces on the ineffable, and I'm still not sure that idea is entirely wrong.

But you can't really apply that to the idea of the Trinity in Christianity without doing A Heresy--if you can explain/understand the Trinity, you're likely fucking it up. It's meant to be A Mystery.

(In both cases, I think if God is real, God is much bigger than our minds are physically capable of understanding, in much the same way that we struggle to understand, for instance, the size and timescale of the universe. One of my absolute fave lines from Paul's epistles is from First Corinthians 13:12, and probably the only time I prefer the King James Version: "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." Which is to say, we can't really understand God while we're alive but only catch glimpses. This link is to the Common English Bible translation of 1 Corinthians 13, and the CEB is more conversational than poetic, but tbh that whole chapter of 1 Corinthians is popular for a reason, and even in the CEB I can't read it without getting emotional.)

BUT

In my denomination (among others), there's a lot of emphasis on the Incarnation--which is to say, that God decided to be born as Jesus, from Mary's body, to live as a human being like us, so that God had first-hand knowledge of what it was like to be human--but ALSO so that humans could know that God had lived and suffered as we have. A lot of us (hi!) find the Incarnation to be a huge comfort. Like, no matter what I deal with, suffer, or go through; God has also experienced it, as a human being in a human body, and can empathize with me. Because it's one thing to think "well obviously if God is omniscient, God knows what it's like to be human," but it's another thing to believe that God has lived in a human body.

And a huge part of the Incarnation was that God chose to do that--and so did Mary, for that matter. God didn't have to be born from a human body, but he was; and Mary said Yes.

THAT ALL SAID

I ...don't think there's a concept of God or divinity in She-Ra. If anything I think ND would reject that notion outright, and I'm fine with that. ND, like a lot of people, has every reason to reject the idea of God, especially as defined by the faith they grew up with.

I think the closest thing to Divinity in She-Ra is the idea of magic--and it's not an exact metaphor. Magic, in She-Ra, is a neutral force on its own, but taking it away or destroying it is evil.

Shadow Weaver's supposedly dark magic can be used for good purposes (for instance, SW and Catra using it to teleport inside the Crystal Castle with the intent of finding and helping Adora). But also, Glimmer's supposedly good magic can be used to hurt/fight people (her offensive "sparkle" things used in fights).

But destroying magic is portrayed as evil. That's what Horde Prime did on Krytis, for instance; and the Heart was bad in part because it used the magic of Etheria towards destructive ends--saving the universe meant not JUST preventing anyone from using the Heart as a weapon, but releasing all the magic it had been storing for a thousand years, which brought a ton of new life to Etheria.

And I hope some of this made sense???

[kidcooperart]

I LOVE YOUR 2000'S AU SO MUCHHH

can you give us some hcs about it

Also, in this au harumi and hanzo are friends(or more?) with kuai ??

Love your character designs and the 00's fashion chices hope you make more 😍😍

Thanks! I can give some general stuff my sister and I have for the au 🫡 It's been fun making these designs for everyone and researching back on 2000s fashion. It's my favorite type lol, growing up I wished I could dress like all the older girls, and now I can dress up characters like it!

Mileena has a booked schedule; AP classes, soccer, fashion club, and student body president duties. She likes to keep herself busy as well as make her parents proud. She's an awful driver but hasn't gotten into an accident yet so she has a lot of false confidence lmao. Her best friends are Tanya and Rain, they give off gay friend group vibes but they gotta be in the closet I think (big inspirations for Mileena is late 2000s fashion, dipping into the mcbling era, a bit of scene as well. Total Millionaires influence as well)

Kitana is in cheer and photography! She likes being active in a way that works her whole body and keeping some grace to it. She enjoys taking photos of her friends and family, not wanting to forget a moment. She's top of her class while still finding time to roam the mall and enjoy her youth. She spends a lot of time looking out for her sister, however. (Also we hc she has a bit of a crush on Kuai Liang) (inspirations for Kitana are Britney Spears in her prime. Very girl next door, Michelle Branch inspo)

Bi han does shot put for the track & field team, and hates having to wait for Kuai Liang to finish his runs. He plays on his Xbox at home, co-op Halo matches with his friend Sektor. He's the designated driver of the group and he hates being chauffeur. Into divorced dad rock crush on kitana btw (inspirations fashion wise was lowkey LeoDicap for some reason? He's also my outlet to express how much I love grungy emo rock of the 2000s)

Kuai Liang does long distance runs for the track & field team, incredibly thankful Bi Han waits for his practice to end to drive him home. He's into skateboarding as well, often hanging at skate parks with his friends Hanzo and Harumi. He plays guitar as well, picking it up to play his favorite rock songs. He does a lot of house maintenance, going grocery shopping and cooking for his brothers. (Inspiration fashion wise was Fred Durst lmao idk why it just fits him in my brain. Also the guitar stuff comes from us just thinking Kuai being a Santana fan makes sense)

Tomas is in 5th grade and likes hanging out with his brothers and their friends, it makes him feel cool and included. He, Syzoth, and Ashrah are a little friend group of outcasts, he doesn't care and will defend his friends. He loves movies, especially ones of up and coming actor Johnny Cage. He dips his toes into the early internet, playing online games like Neopets and checking out cool websites. (Inspiration is Dewey from Malcolm in the Middle lol and really myself growing up in the 2000s. I'm projecting your honor)

Some miscellaneous stuff is these guys mentioned above are neighbors! They've known each other a long time and get along...decently. Shao is business partners with Sindel and Jerrod, often leaving Reiko to be babysat by the twins (to their dismay). Reiko is one of the kids who picks on Tomas and his friends, finding it irritating they aren't afraid of him.

Jade is Kitana's close friend, she's a member of the field hockey team and loves shopping. Tanya and Rain are in color guard! Skarlet plays bass guitar and is trying to start a band. Nitara has a reputation of dating people and stealing their wallets, also rumored to be a vampire. Sektor and Cyrax are friends with Bi Han, they're Sci Fi fans and kinda geeky but they hide it well. (Sometimes).

Johnny is a fresh actor with a breakout movie under his belt, he's a little excited about how quick his career caught wind and is signing up for everything. He makes tons of appearances, loves interviews, signs up for the smallest of projects, and answers every fan letter. He moved out to LA with his girlfriend Cristina, and she hired 3 bodyguards since worries about Johnny getting lost in the excitement. Jax, Sonya, and Kenshi work for Johnny and are exasperated at how much he revels in his fame, but also how he stays genuine and kind.

(As for the Harumi, Hanzo, and Kuai thing...the three are definitely friends. I could go either way about the dating stuff, whatever is more fun lol)

(Also, additional hcs, the Lin Kuei Brothers are half Chinese half Mexican. Tomas is still Czech and adopted but he is my honorary Mexican. The Twins are Vietnamese and...something. Haven't decided if they'll also get hit with the Mexican beam through Jerrod or if Jerrod to me is just South Asian, haven't deciphered something specific yet)

[eggcompany]

I love movies, I love watching classics, thrillers, horror, romance, sci-fi, westerns, animated, live actions, anime, documentaries, fantasy, all of it. I watch a lot of movies.

Some of my favorites that I have EVER watched are newer. (just ones I like that are like 2000 and beyond)

Paddington and Paddington 2, they're so good, they make the old live action show proud.

2005 King Kong movie with Jack Black, it was GREAT, It's long but it's not got too much filler film. The soundtrack is fitting and it's an amazing movie.

THE SONIC MOVIES !!!! I do not need to elaborate. The last one fucking murdered me in the street with a shotgun.

There's a lot of 90's and 00's movies that I really liked too. And the movies that changed me as an actual human being are different than the ones that I can rewatch over and over again. Ya know