#COSMIC SHOCK ABSORBER

[retrocgads]

UK 1987

[umuulandito]

burnout (teaser) | jeon wonwoo

SYPNOSIS. 11 years. you’ve been loving wonwoo for 11 years. you’ve loved and supported him since you were 16. and you’re starting to wonder if you can keep living like this. PAIRING. idol!jeon wonwoo x writer!reader GENRE. angst, it’s mostly just angst. NOTES. english isn’t my first language !! para sa mga filipino, inspired by "i'm drunk, i love you" and sugarfree's "burnout". reader has done like 3 different jobs + went to college. multilingual!reader, writer!reader. WORD COUNT. (estimated) 13k DAY OF RELEASE. (estimated) august / september

“In two days, your new drama comes out. This is the… what is it?”

“12th.”

“12th drama you’ve written that’s somehow about Wonwoo.”

“And?”

“So, when will you finally confess to him?”

It’s not the first time someone’s asked you that– or specifically, not the first time Jihoon has asked you that. He’s been asking you that for years now. You can only look into your glass, staring into the abyss of soju and beer because you don’t have an answer. 

You’ve never had an answer to it.

“I don’t know. Never? I’ll get over it eventually, probably,” you say. His eyebrows raise and he can only scoff and snaps his fingers in front of you, drawing attention to his face. “Eleven years,” Jihoon remarks. “You’ve never gotten tired of whatever–” his hands point vaguely at you, “this is.”

He gives you a once over and, you don’t have it in you to be offended when he says, “And you look like you don��t plan to stop. You have had every–”

“Not every.”

“Yes, every, chance to confess but it just seems like you keep delaying it.”

Jihoon gives you that look, the look that says ‘Well?’ and you can’t say anything (again). When he lifts his cup up to drink, he looks at you expectantly, eyebrows raised and ready for your response. But it’s just silent.

“Am I wrong?” He asks.

“You’re crazy,” you say rolling your eyes and taking a sip of your own glass. 

“See! That’s not a no,” Jihoon laughs. “Well… it just seems kind of a waste,” you laugh tracing the rim of the glass. “We’re good friends… Ha! We’re good friends.”

“But?”

“But…” You sigh, “But he doesn’t love me back.”

When you look at Jihoon, he’s smug. His face says smug but his eyes say pity, they always have. Every time you have this conversation, he always reminds you of this, and well, who doesn’t like to be right? But you can always tell he pities you. 

“Timecheck!” Jihoon shouts, you flinch at the sound, what the fuck was that?

“It’s been 11 years, somehow your hopes are still up and nonexistent at the same time,” he says and you roll your eyes, snarky… as always. 

You tap your wrist with a scoff, “I know it’s been 11 years. I can read the time, Jihoon.”

He sighs again, “But that’s why it’s so… I don’t think you realize really how long you’ve been hoping.”

That kind of stops you because fuck, he has a point. 11 years… That’s a decade, probably 1/7th of your life– you spent your youth loving Wonwoo, your college years still loving him, and your adulthood continuing to love him. When you think about it, so much of a person can change in 11 years, no one is the same person they were 11 years ago. He’s changed so much over 11 years, you’ve changed so much.

And yet here you were, still loving him. Loving every version, every iteration.

It’s kind of crazy.

Confronted with the reality in your hands. What the hell am I supposed to do with this?

You’re confronted with this insane reality and all you can say is…

“Give me time.”

When you meet eyes with Jihoon, he’s looking at you like you just said you plan on quitting writing forever. His eyebrows are raised, eyes wide as saucers, staring at you in absolute shock at your audacity.

“GIVE ME TIME?!”

There we go. You close your eyes letting yourself sit and just absorb the lecture he’s about to give you.

“What type of nonsense is ‘give me time’?!” Jihoon asks. “You believe in the cosmic powers or whatever of the universe–”

You mumble, “It’s called fate–”

“Fine! Fate. God, I feel like I say this every time. You believe in the cosmic supernatural possibilities of whatever fate and the universe have given you E L E V E N years! The universe gave you all the time you could need and yet, here you are!”

You let out a small huff, fiddling with the handle of your glass. Yet here you are. 

“I don't know why,” you take a small sip again of your drink, “like, I even made like… 12 dramas about him!” Then you take a larger gulp, “Why are they all about him?!”

Jihoon can only shrug, “Maybe you’re a masochist.”

He was expecting you to deny that actually, you can get so defensive about this sometimes but you’re actually thinking about it. Your eyebrows are scrunched up in concentration as you revisit every drama you’ve made in the past 5 years. 

When you look back at him, your brows are still furrowed and you say “You know, I might be. Like, what sane normal person writes Twenty-Five Twenty-One?”

“Or Hotel del Luna. Even worse, that was your debut. So from the start, it’s really all been him.”

It’s always been him. “Everything’s always about him, like, my youth revolved around him and whatever he revolved around.”

“Because he was Seventeen, your youth was Seventeen.”

“My youth was Seventeen… Do you think he knows that like for four years straight he was singing songs about himself?”

That one brings a laugh out of Jihoon, your former partner in crime in writing. One of the only people to witness every step of your writing, which involved staring a lot at Wonwoo. “I don’t think he knows, you’re surprisingly not obvious.”

“Everything’s about him… God, maybe I AM a masochist.”

“Okay, let’s just put it this way, let’s do this differently. Let’s enumerate what your and him’s relationship was for those 11 years, each of those 11 years.”

You can only sigh, as if you haven’t done that several times this night, again when he raises his glass triumphantly. “When did you and Wonwoo first meet?”

“You ask this question but I’m sure you know the answer.”

“Should that stop me from asking? It’s about consistency.”

“Fine. Let’s start from the beginning.”

[maspers]

 As the war raged on and on across space, time, and the whole of reality, there was one thought in the back of every faction's mind.

"Who's next?"

The universe is a big place, plenty of room to wage war between those who would harness the powers of Heart, Mind, Dream, and Dark, and that was a good thing. Because, people were beginning to realize, that meant they didn't have to wage war anywhere near Planet Pop Star. A tiny little planet, sitting there in the unambiguously unclaimed territory of the Gamble Galaxy, practically ripe for the picking to be conquered. Its Inhabitants largely weak and extremely friendly across the board, and filled with lush flora and vibrant fauna to basically fulfill any need for resources you might have. And yet… 

Dark Matter had tried first, to the surprise of nobody. The black mass was always expanding and attempting to subsume all into itself. But despite its mindless devouring there was a reason it was feared across reality. Everyone expected Pop Star to be absorbed and assimilated.

Instead, the shadows sent over there were never seen again. Dark Matter, being Dark Matter, could not allow this insult to its existence to stand, so it launched a full-scale assault of the planet, and when those further attacks failed the Zero emerged from the cloud for the first time in centuries to attack the planet directly.

And it got annihilated. It bears repeating, THE ZERO, the centerpiece of a primal matter and the EYE of a GOD got annihilated. Its broken, bleeding corpse was dragged back into the mass as the shadows fled back out into space.

Those who heard about it reacted with shock, and disbelief. Dark Matter, defeated so soundly? Impossible. And due to the nature of Dark Matter, it was a story that couldn't be confirmed. So everyone just filed the reports under "look into this later, if you have the time" and went back to waging cosmic war. And things stayed quiet. For a time.

Until the tolling bells of a NOVA were heard ringing throughout Gamble Galaxy.

Everyone within reach of that horrifying sound was filled with terror, and rightfully so. After all, the clockwork wish-granting stars created by the Ancients of long ago were one of the most potent weapons in the universe, so much so that the usage of one was said to signal one of two things: the start of a massive conflict, or the end of one. But that terror was followed by confusion. After all, none of those currently capable of utilizing NOVAs were anywhere near Gamble Galaxy... Which only led to more terror. A dormant NOVA, one hidden by the Ancients in a pocket of Spacetime, had been summoned. Which meant someone with completely unknown goals had the opportunity to change the universal norm permanently. Everyone within earshot waited with bated breath.

But nothing happened. Well, nothing that anyone noticed until later. Those who monitored the crystal prison of the Galacta Knight noticed their time stream alteration detectors flicker for a brief moment as some new scars appeared on the angel's armor where there were none before, but the exact connection to the wishes granted is unknown. And it was wishes, plural. At least two, possibly more, as the chiming of the NOVA recurred. But ultimately, nothing of note occurred. Whatever the wishes did, their effects must have been local enough to not be of consequence.

What WAS of consequence was what happened next. A bright burst of light, blinding the entire galaxy. And a horrific gut wrenching sound familiar to any that had fought in the universal war long enough: the sound of a NOVA dying. But usually it took armies to take down a single NOVA, and Pop Star had no such resources. And yet, the epicenter was in Pop Star's upper atmosphere. With that bright explosion, Pop Star had unknowingly announced its presence to the whole of reality. Now everyone knew that something dangerous was there. The only question was what that dangerous thing wanted.

Naturally, that was when Dark Matter went back for round two.

Its failed previous attempt had been recuperated from. The Zero had been resurrected, Planet Dark Star had been moving itself closer and closer to Gamble Galaxy. In all honesty, Dark Matter had the entirety of the cluster in its sights, and would not accept no for an answer. As far as Dark Matter was concerned, it had not even asked a question, merely stated the fact that all would become like unto itself.

It began by creating a Miracle, a powerful shape-shifting weapon, onto the Fairy planet of Ripple Star. Located on the outskirts of the Cluster and actively participating in the war, the conflict between Dark Matter and the fairies did not raise any alarm to the other factions. But as Ripple Star gradually succumbed to the shadows people began to grow more concerned. When the fairies' greatest weapon and energy source was then witnessed being ejected from the planet entirely and deep into the Gamble Galaxy before it was fractured, those on more friendly terms with the fairies now had cause for alarm. With the local superpower taken down, it seemed like Dark Matter would finally have a new stronghold.

Then, almost as soon as Ripple Star had been fully engulfed, the darkness was shattered. The Miracle Matter was dismantled. Soon after, Dark Star exploded as the power of a repaired and fully operational Crystal was deployed directly into the Zero Two. Dark Matter, for the second time, had been dealt a crushing blow. And this one was a blow it could not recover from. Its core completely dismantled, the shadows dispersed into nothingness. Not completely of course. As a primal force in the universe a total eradication of the Matter most Dark is impossible, and smaller coagulations of it would return to haunt the universe from time to time, but as far as the general populace was concerned Dark Matter had been defeated for good, and the Fairies had somehow managed to come back from what should have been complete and utter defeat.

How the fairies managed it is a secret they keep hidden, but the most likely option is they had assistance, probably from the Inhabitants of one of the planets that the crystal shards rained down upon. But of those worlds... One was Ripple Star itself. Two of them have Inhabitants too primitive for advanced space travel, much less the ability to wage war on a cosmic scale. Another planet's civilization has long since gone extinct leaving only ruins and the prismatic security system Pix to guard them. And while the Humans that once inhabited Shiver Star can still be seen throughout the universe on occasion, they're no longer the superpower they once were as their home planet was abandoned due to nuclear winter. The only option left was Pop Star.

The Fairies refuse to elaborate, but since then they've been increasingly prevalent on the war front, displaying powers and weaponry beyond what they'd previously used. And, some claim, they've been actively suppressing information about Pop Star and the surrounding galaxy from leaking out to the war at large.

Wariness of Pop Star aside, the wars continued. The universe is a big place, with lots of stuff to fight over. But every once in a while the allure of Pop Star would call to one nation or another, and they'd divert their path to the outer parts of the universe to take a crack at claiming whatever power lay there.

All of them failed.

The ambitious thieves known as the Squeak Squad likely got off the lightest. They'd attempted to rob the micronation of Dream Land blind, only to stumble across a Nebula of Dark Matter residue and be quickly dealt with. 

The Witch Drawcia made an attempt, using her powerful magicks to warp the planet against itself. It wasn't enough to stop whatever resides there, however, as soon Drawcia was forced to draw upon the insidious power of Soul to continue fighting, and even then she still fell. Her screams echoed across Space, and since then other Witch Sisters have followed her to their apparent dooms, having never been heard of again as they've encountered Pop Star itself or the remnants of its past foes.

Everyone was shocked when the Underworld made a move, when it had previously been content to watch the unending conflict and absorb the hearts of those who passed away into its own forces. Necrodeus apparently attempted to strike the mysterious force residing on the star-shaped planet directly, and has yet to be heard from since. Likely because the jaw bones that permit him to speak were disintegrated. And this defeat of the King of Hell only led more to try their hand over the years.

Even Patch Land gave it a go. Yes, peaceful, fun loving Patch Land, which has only remained independent because its food and resources can't be used by anyone else. Apparently they were undergoing a civil war at the time. Whatever happened is unclear, but afterward Patch Land became much, much harder to bully.

About the only faction to have any success in getting access to Pop Star's power is the Mirror World. Considering their nature as a dark reflection of the primary dimension it's natural that they should have their own match to whatever Pop Star has up its sleeves. And while this has started to help them perform better in their wars, it decidedly has NOT helped them in their attempts to rule Pop Star itself. Mirror World's own head, the Dark Mind, launched an Assault on the place via a Dimensional Mirror, and got soundly defeated by powers unknown. Since then the forces of the Mirror World have been (ironically) shattered. Those more faithful to their original leader have emphasized their studies of parallel magicks in desperate attempts to revive their Master. But there are also those who have been following a mysterious scarred swordsman, cold and cruel and powerful, who seems fixated on Pop Star for reasons he has yet to divulge. It doesn't seem like any of his efforts have yet borne fruit.

And so on it went until that conman Magolor took his turn... And succeeded. Sort of. 

The Lor had no interest in Pop Star. It was much too far out of their territory, and with their powerful equipment and technology they had very little reason to try and claim a planet that didn't seem worth the risk. But the rogue Magolor, who upon closer inspection has a much more mysterious past than one would assume, had no such qualms for seeking after power. He put his sights on the Master Crown of Halcandra, a device crafted by the ancients and wielded by the Halcandran dragon Lamia for its own purposes. Soon, a Starcutter was seen attacking the dragon and being rebuffed before opening a wormhole and vanishing... To Pop Star. Chasing after rumors he'd heard, of a power that could stop armies in their tracks. 

Everyone expected that to be the end of the rogue Lor. His ship was damaged beyond repair, the rest of his kind unwilling to provide assistance to one who had long since left their number. If he had ended up on the doomworld of Pop Star then he probably ended up dead. Oh well, no skin off anyone else's nose. One tiny person is nothing on the cosmic scale.

But then Magolor came back. And whatever he brought with him, it was enough to take down Lamia and get him the Master Crown. For a brief moment, his Starcutter emanated with black and red. The dream of Lor arcane works amplified by Ancient magic became a reality. The ravaging beasts of Another Dimension, the Doomers, fled in fear. It seemed like the metaphysical was Magolor's to control, and that would lead to him beginning his own conquest.

But only for a moment.

Then the Starcutter fell again. The terrifying power of Soul was invoked from within the Crown, as the rogue Lor fought back against his unknown foe. It wasn't enough. The Master Crown was shattered. Magolor was flung across space. He was found alive (with a collection of some very mysterious apples) and interrogated as to what occurred. He just laughed.

"What's happening on Planet Pop Star? That's for me to know and you to find out!"

Then he escaped, headed back to Pop Star, and no one's heard from him since. But the fact remained: until he had become a threat to it, Magolor had managed to use the secret power of Pop Star to his own gain.

The war continued, and so did the assaults on Pop Star in the background. The Haltmann Works Company had made the next serious attempt other than Mirror World's usual obsession. The HWC's nigh-endless supply of Robobot ranks and their complex mechanization technology had made them quite a force to be reckoned with, but Haltmann had always wanted more power. His exact reasons for doing so are up to debate, and now the only one around to confirm or deny anything is that nefarious secretary of his. As the magnificent Access Ark descended on Pop Star, everyone briefly paused in what they were doing with bated breath.

It all happened so fast. Haltmann was betrayed. The computer system he'd designed, a massive Star Dream OS hooked up to a NOVA and capable of mimicking Soul, proceeded to act in his stead, and declared its desire to perform genocide of all organic life. But first it had to deal with the forces of Pop Star. From what remains of Star Dream's activity logs, it summoned a failed recreation of Dark Matter first. When that failed, it then pulled out a recreation of something more local. The Kingdom of Floralia had largely been ignored due to its location in the Atmosphere of Pop Star, but from Star Dream's data it apparently launched its own assault at the planet's surface with the Assistance of Mirror World, and failed. It makes sense that an incomplete clone of the Queen Sectonia would be no more capable than the original.

So then Star Dream did something monumentally stupid and yanked the Galacta Knight out of his prison. Galacta Knight cut the supercomputer in half, forcing it to reboot and use its Soul OS to remain functional. EVERYONE panicked. Galacta Knight was loose.

And then the angelic being was soundly defeated by unknown forces, returned to his crystal cage, and abruptly tossed back through the portal from whence he came.

Apparently not even the Strongest Warrior in the Galaxy was enough.

Star Dream then attacked on its own, and the results were much the same of the previous NOVA to be a threat to Pop Star. It got soundly defeated, its core shattered. The last few readings collected by its scanners express bafflement and confusion at the forces assaulting it. Its last readings show genuine fear at a seemingly infinite power. "Conclusion: This doesn't look good" indeed.

The message was largely received. Don't send NOVAs to Planet Pop Star. Apparently it eats them.

Everyone other than the still-fixated Mirror World kind of decided to leave Planet Pop Star alone after that. Whatever resides there seemed to be staying local, so as long as no one poked it everything should be able to proceed normally. All those who desired to claim a semblance of sanity would stick to their own business and keep fighting their wars far away from Gamble Galaxy.

Unfortunately, the Officiant of Doom for the Jamba Cult, a madman known as Hyness, cannot be referred to as sane in the slightest. So the Cult set up shop in Gamble Galaxy and promptly decided now would be a good time to try and resurrect Void Termina. Nobody was fond of this. The dead god was among those that everyone would much prefer stayed dead. Void had ties to just about everything: Ancient magic, Lor arcane powers, the Galacta Knight, the primal matters... You name it, Void Termina was connected to it somehow, and the Jamba Cult had decided to mess around with it.

The ritual failed, and the fragments of it were scattered across the galaxy. And quite a few of them landed on Pop Star. In a desperate attempt to repair the ritual and perform it correctly, the Cult launched a Jambastion, a flying fortress larger than a moon, and landed it on Pop Star.

It promptly got ransacked. The Cultists there self-destructed the place in an effort to stop the forces of Pop Star, but it wasn't enough. The sleeping bear had been poked.

Against all odds and to the horror of the rest of the universe, the Jamba Cult successfully gathered enough fragments to recreate the ritual and this time succeeded. The massive form of the god of Destruction towered over the nearby planets.

Then that towering form crumpled to the ground, its monstrous form torn apart from the inside out. Its core, the Astral Birth, was expelled and blasted with an unknown light of extreme power. It was official: the mystery of Pop Star had joined the ranks of those who would be called Godslayers.

Those factions who could be referred to as "reasonable" or "rational" desperately hoped that would be the end of it. The Doomers of Another Dimension were briefly alarmed for reasons unknown, but aside from that everyone kept a wide berth from Pop Star.

Nobody expected Lab Discovera, of all people, to be next on the chopping block. Especially since they'd already been all but destroyed, split into subsidiaries and subsequently eradicated. The Haltmann Works Company had not been friendly to those they viewed as competition. The planet the company was based upon had been struck to ruin, its laboratories empty and its forgotten lands populated by a pack of beasts. The only thing left of Discovera was their bizarre tourist attraction, half of a powerful psionic demigod kept in chemically-induced slumber.

Everyone was caught off guard when Fecto Elfilis awoke and regained its full power. Everyone was even more surprised when it immediately decided to tear open a portal to Pop Star and to try and force the two planets to collide. 

Everyone thought that was the end of Pop Star. The Roche Limit had been breached, collision was inevitable. Everyone had been so focused on their own war that they never expected someone to just up and try and destroy Pop Star directly. Ultimately, the universe could do nothing but watch. Either Fecto Elfilis would succeed and become yet another cosmic force that would join the war and need to be dealt with, or Pop Star would somehow inexplicably survive again and another item would be added to the list of "reasons we don't touch Gamble Galaxy with a thousand light-year long pole".

The latter happened. Fecto Elfilis was eradicated, the portal closed. But that still left the question of why it had chosen to attack Pop Star in the first place. Fecto had not been aware of Pop Star. They had been slumbering, only barely aware enough to view the Forgotten Land through the eyes of the beasts. Had they picked a planet at random or... Had they been provoked? Had the beings of Pop Star somehow ventured to the Forgotten Land and attacked them?

This idea, that Pop Star was now well and truly aware of the greater cosmos and starting to take steps, has struck fear into all. The factions have been fighting for millennia. Their desperate scrambling to obtain more power and resources than everyone else has been the centerpiece of the lives of all for as long as any can remember. The idea of someone coming out of nowhere and WINNING had never been considered. And yet now it could be possible.

There were rumors of course. Rumors of what Pop Star's true power could be. Rumors of a King with an army unlike any seen before. Rumors of Knights dressed in blue and working with deadly efficiency. Rumors of the long-dead Star Warriors returning from the grave, and rumors that the Warriors' enemy, the Nightmare, was the force truly behind it.

For a brief moment, everyone thought the puzzle was solved when the Butterfly was sighted. Morpho, the lurking god, had gone unseen for a time, but a being as powerful as it could theoretically be responsible... But no. The Butterfly was not COMING from Pop Star. It was FLEEING from Pop Star. Morpho's name was added to the list of those who had tried and failed to take Pop Star under their control. And the universe was filled with even more terror.

So now all the factions have reached the conclusion to wait. They wage their wars in their respective corners of reality and they wait. They accumulate even more territory, even more resources, even more power, and they wait. They wait to find out who is next to have a go at solving the mystery. They wait for the names of their opponents to be added to the list, ideally before theirs. And they wait to determine the one who bears a name. 

The Name. 

The Name that has been tied to nearly every rumor out there. The Name sighted only once in Star Dream's files. The Name that made Daroach of the Squeak Squad chuckle, The Name that made the shadowy swordsman of Mirror World scream in rage, The Name that the Fairies refuse to comment on. 

No one knows what The Name means. No one knows if it is truly the source of Pop Star's power. No one knows why The Name invokes the thought of the color pink. No one knows if The Name is even true. 

But The Name is one that nobody will utter, not even in a whisper. For they fear that should they say it, The Name will echo, will drift across the Cosmos like a Spring Breeze. They fear The Name will be heard, and the slumbering giant will be provoked, and bring its wrath down upon them. 

The Name

Is

K I R B Y

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

[duckieduccss]

NEW KAIJU OC?!?!

Well, yea technically. Basically i was interested in figuring out how id go with making my own kaiju. At first i wasnt sure where to go for designing one. So i chose to base it off another existing kaiju for inspiration. I kinda wanted to go for a dragon type kaiju (i like dragons) and the only thing i could think of was Ghidorah so i went with that (now that i think about it more, I could’ve maybe used Manda too prob but oh well, Ghidorah was still a good option). I added some different details to mine that make it unique to the og Ghidorah

My idea was that it could potentially be a relative to Ghidorah (being of the same species) but still far apart from one another to the point they arent all that aware of the other existing (theyre in for a shock when & if they do encounter each other lol). This version actually relies on cosmic energy derived from such sources like stars & generally anything that produce some form of energy within the vast universe (basing it off how Ghidorah themselves originally came from space & this variant being much more dependent on that factor). It stores that energy & relatively stays in a dormant stage for an extended period of time until when faced with the challenge to defend itself or fight off those it deems as a danger. Then it would release all that ginormous amount of space energy that manifests itself as a rapidly expanding glow of extremely bright light. Enough to cause extreme damage & bring down the opposition. It can gather energy by using special crystals it can grow (took that also as inspiration but from Space Godzilla) & become as some form of attracting & absorbing the energy. In a way, the energy is like its main source of food & energy to maintain itself (right after releasing a lot of it during its final attack of using that glow, it would be put in a highly vulnerable state if not recovered by regaining some energy back soon enough). For the most part, they mostly sleep (being lazy 24/7 just like me fr lmao) to keep all that energy but can be potentially dangerous if disturbed or provoked in some manner

(Here’s a better closer look at their faces. Realized the canvas’ too big to properly see each of them-)

The name of this kaiju you may be wondering???

It’s Ryudorah

(Yea i know im the most creative person out there. I combined another nickname i use for myself and just added the end part of Ghidorah’s name to make it clear it’s related to the other kaiju. I couldn’t think of anything else im sorry😭)

And also each head has its own individual name:

Do, Re & Mi

(Named after intervals in the musical scale (ex: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do)

Did i mention this kaiju can also technically sing too :)

I did have a lot of fun with coming up with the concept for them (tho it honestly took longer in designing them due to a busy schedule ive been put in as of late & finding the time to finish it) but im glad to finally be able to share this with you all. Hopefully I can share more about them soon (i have a whole google doc’s worth of lore lmao) & probably draw them again (tho maybe a lot more simplified by then). Didn’t wanna overwhelm ppl with the huge amount of info so I’ll prob slowly reveal more over time.

[Another thing too is that i still am new to the fandom (tho with more knowledge from getting to learn more from the source material) & most of this i gathered from already know stuff i knew. Tho im also open to feedback & maybe some ideas to add onto my own kaiju. So id very much appreciate it if there’s any suggestions from you guys ^^⭐️]

(I’ll only be taking constructive criticism btw. Anything hateful will obv be ignored)

[the-heart-of-a-monster]

hi hello i haven’t played sonic unleashed but i watched gameplay years and years ago but its been a minute so bear with me here

so i stayed up all night reading through this entire comic in one sitting and i absolutely adore the way you showed the panel borders distorting and even becoming monstrous themselves as Shadow reaches his breaking point (which is symbolically shown through the icy walls fracturing around them during his and Sonic’s argument leading up to the fight) and the way the influence of Dark Gaia becomes more prominent as purple flames to emanate from him, growing more and more vivid

and then the rising action reaches a fever pitch when Sonic says he has no heart and we see Shadow finally reach his breaking point when the borders of the panel shatter around him

and while he processes this the borders soften (although not entirely) and we see Sonic realize the mistake he made and his regret, but it’s already too late because we can see the color red slowly start to overtake the borders as Shadow is overcome with rage

and we can see the red borders turn to pink and the glimpses of pink in Shadow’s text bubbles take over completely as the force that’s corrupting him takes control of him in this vulnerable state

it tries falteringly to communicate with Sonic, a desperate plea for him to fix what was broken and to make Gaia whole again

in this moment Dark Gaia as an entity is effectively lashing out and it latches onto Shadow’s rage here especially because that’s something it can empathize with, or at the very least something it recognizes given its own circumstances. Dark Gaia seems to understand (at least within the constraints of its limitations as one part of a whole) that it is fundamentally broken and in order to make that right it wants to be “fixed” but it doesn’t know how and it can’t really do that on its own

I don’t know if Dark Gaia even knows that it can’t mend itself by itself and if its just sort of reacting to the cosmic existential horror that is being split into two separate entities (i’d be cranky too if that happened to me regardless of whether or not i was some sort of ancient deity)

but then in a pivotal moment, Sonic reaches out to Shadow, to Dark Gaia, and the borders straighten out once more. They’re still pink mind you, but Sonic has managed to ground Shadow/Dark Gaia or at least shock him long enough to absorb the darkness within.

Sonic promises that the lies stop here and that he and Shadow/Dark Gaia are going to make this right together and in an eruption of purple flames, we cut to Shadow’s time on the ARK.

It’s a brilliant transition and the pay off for this moment is amazing as it was set up spectacularly via foreshadowing (ha get it) in earlier issues of the comic.

The technical aspects of the comic continue to blow me away during this sequence as we as readers are able to measure the passage of time through the timestamps in the upper righthand corner of each panel.

We see Shadow’s turbulent upbringing and the unrelenting kindness that Maria showed him. We see how his unpredictable powers affected his life aboard the ARK and how his struggles mirror the ones Sonic has been grappling with throughout the comic.

We even see Shadow start to embrace his own innate capacity for violence at one point and not in a good way. After months of testing, covered in blood, Shadow calls himself a monster and to the reader (and perhaps even Shadow himself given the abstract nature of the background in this panel) At this point it’s not immediately clear exactly what he’s done, but the blood is a pretty good indicator that it can’t be good.

Finally, reality sinks in when someone begins to shout and Shadow sees the look on Maria’s face. As members of G.U.N. close in on him with their arms outstretched to seize him, Shadow’s body language (particularly his ears and his face) tell us that Shadow is horrified by what he’s become and so he runs.

Maria calls after him, desperately trying to quell his fears and I love the framing of Maria in the next page and how she stands in the doorway, surrounded by light while Shadow is hunched over in the darkness, staring at the hands that he used to take away the lives of those soldiers.

Shadow is crying when Maria approaches him and places a hand on his shoulder. The light and the dark meet and with tears in her eyes, Maria utters the very same words that were spoken earlier in the comic when Shadow comforted Sonic (well not the very same because they’re speaking german here but i digress)

Color returns to the pages anew and just like Sonic, we see Maria in a brand new light both symbolically and literally. All of this happens before the purple flames we saw earlier can even dissipate and when they do we see him holding Shadow, cradling the ultimate lifeform to his chest.

As we return to the present, the background gradually returns, fading in from swathes of blue. Sonic expresses his remorse for his blatant misunderstanding of Shadow’s character, crying as he holds him close.

With Shadow in his arms, Sonic restores the chaos emerald and through the chaos emerald we’re able to catch a glimpse of Sonic’s daytime form shining through and we see that at the end of the day, he’s still Sonic the Hedgehog in spite of all these changes as he and Shadow exchange a friendly glance and the scene ends.

Have I mentioned how much I love this comic? I literally cannot stop talking about this comic. The fact that you’ve been working on it for 6 years is just incredible. Thank you so much for all your hard work. I love what you’ve done with the story. This is one of my all time favorite fan works and I will never shut up about it.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading my hastily made analysis on issue 7. I love your work. I don’t really know how to end this so yeah *fucking dies*

this is so wonderfully said thank you so much augh im so happy people appreciate the complex subtext i put into my art ♥

also man. that really happened issue 7 huh. time flies. i remember drwing that scene like it was yesterday

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Galaxies are much much bigger than we thought

If this galaxy is typical, then the study, published today in Nature Astronomy, indicates that our galaxy is already interacting with its closest neighbour, Andromeda. 

Where does a galaxy end and deep space begin? It seems like a simple question until you look more closely at the gas that surrounds galaxies, known as the circumgalactic medium. 

The halo of gas surrounding the stellar disc accounts for about 70% of the mass of the galaxy – excluding dark matter – but until now has remained something of a mystery. In the past we have only been able to observe the gas by measuring the light from a background object, such as a quasar, that is absorbed by the gas.

That limits the picture of the cloud to a pencil-like beam.

A new study, however, has observed the circumgalactic medium of a star-bursting galaxy 270 million light years away, using new deep imaging techniques that were able to detect the cloud of gas glowing outside of the galaxy 100,000 light years into space, as far as they were able to look.

To envisage the vastness of that cloud of gas, consider that the galaxy’s starlight – what we would typically view as the disc – extends just 7,800 light years from its centre.

The current study observed the physical connection of hydrogen and oxygen from the centre of the galaxy far into space and showed that the physical conditions of the gas changed.

“We found it everywhere we looked, which was really exciting and kind of surprising,” says Associate Professor Nikole M. Nielsen, lead author of the paper, and a researcher with Swinburne University, and ASTRO 3D and an Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma.

Other authors of the paper came from Swinburne, the University of Texas at Austin, the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, the University of California, San Diego, and Durham University. 

“We’re now seeing where the galaxy's influence stops, the transition where it becomes part of more of what’s surrounding the galaxy, and, eventually, where it joins the wider cosmic web and other galaxies. These are all usually fuzzy boundaries,” says Dr Nielsen.

“But in this case, we seem to have found a fairly clear boundary in this galaxy between its interstellar medium and its circumgalactic medium.”

The study observed stars ionizing gas with their photons within the galaxy. 

“In the CGM, the gas is being heated by something other than typical conditions inside galaxies, this likely includes heating from the diffuse emissions from the collective galaxies in the Universe and possibly some contribution is due to shocks,” says Dr Nielsen.

“It's this interesting change that is important and provides some answers to the question of where a galaxy ends,” she says.

The discovery has been made possible thanks to the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI) on the 10-meter Keck telescope in Hawaii, which contains an integral field spectrograph and is one of the most sensitive instruments of its kind in operation. 

“These one-of-a-kind observations require the very dark sky that is only available at the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea,” said one of the paper’s authors, Swinburne’s Associate Professor Deanne Fisher.

ASTRO 3D scientists gained access to KCWI through Swinburne University.

“Swinburne’s Partnership with the W. M. Keck Observatory has allowed our team to really push the boundaries of what is possible,” says another author, Associate Professor Glenn Kacprzak. “KCWI has really changed the game on how we can now measure and quantify the diffuse gas around galaxies.”

Thanks to the instrument, rather than making a single observation providing a single spectrum of the gas in the galaxy, scientists can now obtain thousands of spectra simultaneously with one image from KCWI. 

“It is the very first time that we have been able to take a photograph of this halo of matter around a galaxy,” says Professor Emma Ryan-Weber, the Director of ASTRO 3D.

The study adds another piece to the puzzle that is one of the big questions in astronomy and galaxy evolution – how do galaxies evolve? How do they get their gas? How do they process that gas? Where does that gas go.

“The circumgalactic medium plays a huge role in that cycling of that gas,” says Dr Nielsen. “So, being able to understand what the CGM looks like around galaxies of different types – ones that are star-forming, those that are no longer star-forming, and those that are transitioning between the two –we can observe differences in this gas, which might drive the differences within the galaxies themselves, and changes in this reservoir may actually be driving the changes in the galaxy itself.”

The study speaks directly to the ASTRO 3D’s mission. “It helps us understand how galaxies build mass over time,” says Professor Ryan-Weber.

The findings could also hold implications for how different galaxies interact and how they might impact each other.

“It’s highly likely that the CGMs of our own Milky Way and Andromeda are already overlapping and interacting,” says Dr Nielsen.

[mak-be-ghouled]

To Love Devastatingly

they/them Cowbell lore

I've been super busy lately so here's some unedited cowbell lore I wrote a bit ago. Its not really the angst I had intended on writing and ended up being more of a back story/origin story but oh well

Black holes. 

A seemingly supernatural phenomenon, that while fascinating, have proved nearly impossible to fully comprehend, let alone explain. 

And yet no one could deny Cowbell’s shocking similarities to these cosmic mysteries. 

In fact, they were the living embodiment of a black hole. 

The creation of black holes. A devastatingly beautiful occurrence. Only the largest of large stars, after giving up all they have to the universe, collapsing in on themselves. 

A supernova. 

Now an entirely new entity.

A new purpose. 

A new image. 

Once destined to a life of only serving. 

Now forced only to take.

A bottomless void of nothing. 

An irresistible need for something. 

For anything. 

For everything. 

Cowbell saw their effect on the others. The way they unintentionally drained the energy of their pack. The looks of pity shared between one another when they were around. 

But what could they do? They had nothing left to give. Their light was drained long ago. 

They thought maybe being topside. 

A new pack. 

A new life.

A new purpose. 

Would reignite their flame. 

But still, they had nothing to give. 

Not anymore.

They could only take. That hurt more than anything else. 

And still, the pack had fallen in love with Cowbell long before they could ever comprehend it. 

Cowbell hadn’t seen it. Too blinded by their own guilt. By the voices in their head, only spurred on by the -albeit false- accusations of strangers. 

Their resemblance to a black hole was uncanny, yes, but that made them all the more interesting. All the easier to love. 

See black holes don’t have to be these evil, soul draining, all destructive forces. 

In fact they aren’t. 

Not in the slightest.

They symbolize the wonder that is life’s unsolved mysteries,

continuous transformations, 

infinity,

eternity. 

Black holes are a brilliantly poetic representation of life and death. The wonderfully cyclical nature of the universe and all it has to offer. 

Their selflessness, 

giving until there is nothing left, 

until they collapse in on themself. 

Given a new purpose now, 

consuming and absorbing cosmic matter until finally, 

The birth of a new universe, fulfilling their final purpose. 

A purpose strikingly similar to where they started. 

So maybe Cowbell is a black hole, a void of darkness, pleading to take, to feel full. 

But they’re also beautiful, almost inexplicably so. They’re made up of so much, so many experiences, memories, emotions, thoughts. They’re deep, and interesting, and unknown. They’re blinding light and complete darkness. They are everything and nothing.

They are the physical embodiment of a black hole. 

But not only that. 

Because they are also the physical embodiment of love.

Of everything the universe has to give. 

And maybe eventually Cowbell will learn to love again.

Find their new purpose.

A purpose, no longer just to take. 

A purpose to love. 

To love wholly and everlasting,

but no longer devastatingly so.

[cherrylng]

ROCKIN’ON - MUSE (November 2009)

MATTHEW BELLAMY INTERVIEW

●"The Resistance" is an amazing piece of work. 「(Laughs) You liked it, thank goodness.」

●I think it must be a very well thought-out concept album, from the composition and arrangement of each song, to the fact that the last three songs are a suite, to the lyrics. How did you come up with the concept for this album? 「In a way, I think this work is a dramatic reflection of my real life. Because of the current situation in the UK— well, especially the political situation during the time we were making this album. Various protest actions, such as the G20 protest rally (an appeal to the world's 20 major financial conferences held in London in April 2009), the shock of the economic crisis, and the revelation that British parliamentarians were embezzling money (*the British media revealed that many members of parliament had unfairly requested additional benefits for private financial aid, housing allowances, etc. under the pretext of “public expenses”, which developed into a major scandal)… Well, it seems to have calmed down a bit now (September 2009), but at that time there was a very strong feeling among people demanding “change” - breaking down and denying the current system. It was flowing, wasn't it? That's partly because I’ve been away from England for a while now and have been living in Italy, so I guess I was absorbing information about England even more voraciously. I was probably missing England a little bit, so I watched British news on TV, read newspapers, and closely followed the coverage of various events at the time. By looking at the current situation in Britain from the outside, I was able to develop an objective perspective within myself.

At the same time, my relationship with my current lover (Gaia Polloni) is also very important to me. You could call it romance, but yeah, that’s why those two things, politics and love, were in a sense bisecting my daily life at the time. I think if you listen to the album, you can hear that there's a more dramatic, dramatized version of that happening in the album. They serve as a setting for this album. For example, the first song sings of ideas such as revolution, uprising, and a strong desire to overthrow the status quo and change, while the second song sings about an immersion into love that can almost be called a retreat. I want to feel free by being locked up in the world of two people. It is also a desire to be freed or to escape from the various problems faced in reality, such as the government, or from the many unpleasant people that one cannot trust at all. It's a feeling I've had for a while now. In this context - a romance in the midst of political unrest, upheaval, and change - each song on the album depicts a different emotional journey. This is the same thing with “1984,” and that's why I quoted a few things from that book. But the ending of the album is - what can I say, I'm not a particularly religious person, but I'm leaning towards a bit more of a spiritual direction.

In the first half of the album, I use love or romance as a means of escape, but at the conclusion of the album, I objectify the world and the people who live in it, and it becomes very objective. So, so to speak, I'm trying to objectively view the Earth and the people living on it over a longer period of time. In that sense, that last suite can almost be called science fiction, but in a sense, it's a song that starts from the perspective of the universe as evolution. Evolution is a process that progresses on a cosmic scale, and probably occurs all over the universe. Part 1 of that song has a character with a distant, bird's-eye view, looking at everything from a distance. It's almost as if the person is just gazing at various problems, problems for which there seems to be no way to solve them, from afar. So, in Part 2, the idea of escaping from that planet is depicted, and some of the inhabitants of that planet escape to outer space. So, well, we're stepping into a bit of a science fiction world (bitter smile). But then I realized that I really like that movie, Stanley Kubrick's "A.I." (*Kubrick's legacy project, adapted by Spielberg). The first half of the film depicts a typical everyday story, but towards the ending, it becomes very dramatic and reaches the level of a sci-fi drama. I really like that development. So I guess that movie may have partially influenced me. Although the majority of his (Kubrick’s) work depicts extremely mundane and “global” topics such as various problems faced by humans, love relationships, happiness, and the joy of love, in the end he depicts a completely different and spiritual place. I like the idea of making an album that goes somewhere far away from everything and is cut off from this world.」

● At the end, in the eleventh song, you sing, “Let's start over again.” This work, which opens with the order of the revolution and describes the path to its defeat, seems to contain an eternal cycle in which the revolution begins again, returning to the beginning at the end. 「Yeah, yeah. It is a kind of loop! (laugh). It's a kind of cycle of life, of things. I have also studied the work of Richard Dawkins (a Darwinist sociobiologist. He advocates memetics, which compares the spread of culture to genes. His representative works include The God Delusion). I was reading about evolution and Darwin's theory of evolution, and that influenced me a lot. Was it last year? The Darwin Memorial Festival (*Charles Darwin's 100th anniversary) was held.」

In the album's conclusion, I try to objectify the world, or rather, the earth and its inhabitants, in a longer term.

●I think it was this year. 「Yeah, yeah. That's one of the things that brought me into contact with Darwin's research and literature. I read it, and I got really into it. I read that the inside of a human being is almost like a computer program, that the inside of DNA is a storehouse of information from the past, and that the genes are basically spreading this information. In this way, some information survives, while some is eliminated. In a sense, genes are the main force controlling our lives. In this way, we are almost a shadow or reflection of something else. I think that is a very interesting way of thinking.」

●Do you think the human race is still evolving? Are we on the right track? 「Yes, of course! I think we are still in the process of evolution (laughs). But are we going in the right direction? If you ask me, I don't know. I mean, if you read books about evolution, you realize that some parts of the species are always surviving. So, for example, the way we are now, the framework within which we live, the way we live, all of these things may eventually disappear completely. There are even some people who think that the current human species does not have much longer to live! (laughs) Well, I personally sometimes feel that evolution is something very spiritual. The inner workings of evolution are actually very exciting, and through it we can gain a different perspective on time, and a different view of life. For me, it's much more rewarding to learn about it than religion, or, you know, it gives me a peace of mind.」

●As you mentioned earlier, Orwell's “1984” is the basis of the story of this work, but why has the motif of “1984” emerged in your mind now? Why did “1984” have an immediacy in your mind? 「The current British government (Labour) seems to be experimenting a lot with new technologies and things like that in their own country. For example, the newly developed technology of large CCTV surveillance cameras. Nowadays, when you go to the airport, your eyeballs are scanned (laughs).I don't know what to say. It's like the government is trying to be more sophisticated and control the people, using the excuse of "anti-terrorism" as a cover. I think we are moving towards a new period. At least in the UK. Many people (in the U.K.) have a sense that "someone is always watching" and a certain kind of Big Brother (*The dictatorial ruler/politician depicted in "1984". He is a symbolic figure who controls and suppresses people's lives and thoughts through television and wiretapping.). I think that motif is very contemporary, especially for the British. I think it is true that our freedom as human beings is slowly being taken away.」

●Is it a warning to the people? “Beware, our freedom is being taken away”? 「Yes, I think so, but hasn't it always been that way? In the past, the majority of people have always been optimistic, not worrying too much and not thinking too deeply about things. I think that's why it's important for artists to try to influence popular culture, to try to convey some of their ideas and perspectives. It might be an opportunity to make some people think about things that they have never thought about before. And, yes, I think that what I am expressing in this work is probably worth issuing a warning.」

●This is your first full-fledged self-produced album. Why did you decide to self-produce at this time? 「We have been using various studios in Europe as well as some studios in the U.S., and we got a little fed up with working in "rented" places. There are time constraints, you have to finish in a few weeks, and there are other people using the same studio, so it's very difficult in terms of time and freedom. I think it was during the recording process of the last album that the idea of "building a home studio" came to me. I learned a lot about recording technology in the process of building that studio. We bought and installed all the recording equipment ourselves. And through the process of setting up, I became aware of the recording and engineering side of the business. Until now, that part of my life has always been a bit of a mystery to me. I just watched the other people doing all this complicated stuff (laughs), and I thought, "This must be really hard work." But through the studio construction work, some of the mystery was taken away, and I was able to understand exactly what they (engineers) were doing.」

●What, if any, characteristics of the band Muse did you discover in this process of being left to make all the choices? 「Well… I don't know why we didn't do that before - it was pretty tough when we first started recording. But once we got through that phase, we realized that we were really enjoying the recording process. We laughed a lot, and I don't think we've ever had so much fun in all the albums we've made. Because with the previous albums, we were under a lot of pressure in terms of time, because we were only booked in the studio for two weeks or a few weeks, and we had to work really hard while we were there. So, yeah, I think if there's anything we've discovered about Muse, it's that we don't take ourselves too seriously (laughs).」

●Ha ha ha! 「(laughs) Especially while we are in that kind of production environment. Some of the songs are pretty heavy, and I think that's part of what made our creative environment so enjoyable. The three of us had a lot of laughs about the music we were doing, about ourselves, and about everything else. So in that sense, it was a much lighter and more relaxed experience than before. And if there's one more thing I've discovered, I think (with some emphasis) it's that this is the best way for us to record. It's probably the best creative environment for us, and it allows us to be more bold and not be afraid to try out ideas as they come to us. Because when everyone is happy and enjoying what they're doing, it sometimes gives you more courage to try something, even if it's a pretty crazy idea.」

●This album is a concept album, but at the same time, it is a work with an amazing variety of sounds, and is filled with various genres of music that are not all the same. What was the process of songwriting for the 11 songs? Did you compile songs that were born from different triggers and clues, or did you create them in order from the beginning, as if the lyrics depicted a universal story? 「Yeah… It's funny, but as far as the recording goes, we recorded the songs in the order they were recorded. We recorded "Uprising" first, and the symphony was the last song we recorded. But the songwriting process was pretty random, and there was no process. For example, I remember playing some of the piano parts in the final suite on a whim for three or four years, but I never thought they would become songs, or even something for Muse. On the other hand, songs like "Undisclosed Desires" were written almost entirely in the studio. "United States of Eurasia" was probably written a little before we started working on the album. I had a feeling that it was going to be one of the cornerstones of the album. It's a core song. That song was already ready before we recorded it, or rather, it was well-developed, and I had a clear idea of how I wanted the song to turn out. I knew exactly how I wanted the song to be recorded. But for the final suite, even though some of the piano parts were already there, the idea of making it a three-part suite, or adding bass and drums to make it a Muse song, came after I went into the studio and was not part of the plan. So "Uprising," "The Resistance," "United States," and "MK Ultra", which were already with us before we started recording, and most of the others came out of the studio as we continued working on them. Some of the songs had ideas from before, like the piano parts, and some of them were new versions of old ideas.」

●In terms of excitement, “United States of Eurasia” has a structure that has several “chapters” within one song. I think this song, which changes from an operatic melody to a Middle Eastern melody, and has an outro of Chopin's Nocturne, is a number that encapsulates the eclectic charm of this work, but where did the idea for this song come from? 「(laughs happily) That's right, maybe it's a Middle Eastern-ish “♪Dun dun dun dururu~♪” melody part, but didn't that already exist before the Wembley Stadium performance? How did it go? (Thinks for a moment) No! Around the time we performed at V Festival last year, we played a live show in Dubai, and we were able to experience a lot of cool music there. Shortly after that, I went back to England and performed at V Festival, and I remember playing a little bit of that melody during the break between songs, and Dom's mom came to see the show after the concert. But (bitter smile) she said to me, “What's that melody you were playing earlier? It was amazing.” So I thought, oh well, it might be a good idea to write some songs using that, and I thought I'd give it a try.」

●It's Dom's mom's favorite song (laughs). 「(Explosive laughter) Yeah, yeah! And, yeah, that Middle Eastern-style melody was the starting point for that song. And for some reason, I played it in the black key, the key of E flat. Because it is easy to play a melody like that (pressing the piano keys with fingers) like this. So that automatically led me to the key of E flat, which is a scale I don't normally use. My vocal range is usually D, E, C, or A, but I was not familiar with the E-flat, black key. So I had to work with a different chord arrangement than usual, and as a result, I had to build a song around that Middle Eastern groove to match it. And so the song gradually developed into a strange shape, a different type of chord shape, independent of the Middle Eastern melody that started the song in the first place. So, after I finished writing the main part of that song, I was listening to a piano piece. I think it was when I was looking at my iPod playlist, and that Chopin piece, “Nocturne/E Flat Major,” came up. It is one of my favorite pieces of Chopin's, along with the C-sharp pieces, and I thought, “Oh, this is an E-flat piece too, how interesting (laughs)!” I had never played it before, so I bought the sheet music, read it, and learned the notation so I could play it. Then I found that I could play it exactly the way it ended (laughs).」

●(laughs) I wonder if the meaning of the "song" as a unit, or the way you view it, has changed drastically since your last album. The amount of information contained in a song is completely different from your previous works. 「Yes, that's true for "United States" and especially for the symphony at the end. Of course, we try to incorporate new ideas and techniques into our music on every album, but one of the things that happened on this album was definitely a drastic change in the structure of the songs. I'm sure that will influence the next album as well.」

Dom's Interview

Translator's note: I actually finished translating Dom's interview first before tackling Matt's. The reason why? If you see the original interview itself as shown in the second image, his second answer alone took up almost the whole page of the magazine. And I had to split it into 3 text blocks simply because it exceeded the maximum of 4,096 characters that can be contained in a single text block.

It was no wonder Matt's interview took up 3 pages while Dom's only took up 2 pages.

At this point in time, I'm tempted to just set up a Ko-fi or something because this took up so much of my free time to get this scanned and translated, on top of wrangling with Tumblr itself to get this posted. Someone let me know if that's an idea to follow through or not.

[8bitsupervillain]

Ok mild leading! You may have already gotten this in the interim but, what about the other main question of 6 - why can only one of Shannon and Kanon find love, and the other must disappear? Other questions, what is Battler's sin, and other than the sin, what is the culprit's motive? Why does everyone die at the end each time, and why can it not be proven that a crime even occurred (they all call it an accident) in the future timeline? (you actually already have the answer to this last one available but you may not have noticed it)

Please forgive the extreme length of my reply.

In regards to why only Shannon or Kanon can receive the magic power of love, Zepar and Furfur say that it's because of their status as "furniture." They're somehow, cosmically I suppose, less than human and they need the magic to become a whole person so they can actually make something of their romantic situation. So when Kanon, and Beato (the one who called Battler Father multiple times, and didn't seem to have magical powers) disappeared they were absorbed into Shannon making her a complete person. Is what I would like to say because after the duel to the death Shannon never actually appears until the next episode in any capacity.

I know this isn't exactly the question, but I think that somehow the Beatrice fragments (or specifically onee-Beatrice) were able to take the souls of Beato, and Kanon to fulfill Beato's love trial to save Battler from the wedding at the end of Episode Six. Further, and I might be completely wrong for thinking this, but I'm pretty sure that there is no actual separate Kanon and Shannon. I'm going to have to go back and check, but I'm fairly confident there's never any scenes where the two appear to anyone who isn't somehow tied to magic. It's always either Shannon on her own, or Kanon on his own with the cousins, or the adults. I think that Shannon and Kanon are in some sort of Tyler Durden/Fight Club scenario where based on whoever they interact with that's the persona that comes out. Shannon is the more optimistic and romantic mind, and Kanon is the pessimistic, skeptical front. I'm all but certain that the "Beatrice" that Rosa says she killed in Episodes Four(?) and Seven and the baby that Natsuhi threw from the cliff might be the same person. Or at least that's what I think might be the case otherwise that cliff has a pretty impressive body count.

Battlers sin definitely has something to do with the fact that he knew Beatrice in some form or other back when he was twelve or so. Part of me wanted to theorize that he was somehow a witness to the incident in 1967 with Rosa, Beatrice, Natsuhi, and the baby but I can't think of anyway in which a two or three year old Battler could be held responsible for a freak double murder from that long ago. I think I can say with some confidence that whatever the sin actually is it most likely involved either the death or mutilation of Kanon or Shannon. Whether he's directly involved with said death and/or maiming I can't say for certain. Perhaps it's as simple as he did indeed witness the events but he got threatened/cowarded out from confessing what he saw. Because whatever it was definitely severe enough for him to cut ties with his entire extended family for six years. The culprit is trying to shock Battler into facing the terrible event that scarred him all those years ago. To force him to come to grips with it, and they keep making him relive the gruesome murders of the entire Ushiromiya family, and those that helped cover it up (Nanjo, Genji, Kumasawa, and Gohda) until he accepts what happened.

I think the reason why everyone dies in every fragment, except for Episode Four just has something to do with the boiler system in the mansion. It might seem like a really mundane and anti-climactic thing, but in a couple of the other episodes they find the corpse of Kinzo charred to a crisp in the boiler room. I don't think you could actually burn someone with steam, so I think this might be a hint that there's something faulty with the system in the house and it just so happened to explode during October 4th-5th. It somehow combined into a gas explosion that just shredded the bodies in the mansion and guest house and that's why Eva was able to survive in Episode Four when she was in Kuwadorian. A faulty heating situation leading up to a massive fireball explosion is theoretically possible due to the instances when Genji or another servant mentions that the phone lines are old and in disrepair, so it's entirely possible that the boiler/heating system is in similarly rough shape. They also mention that the stoves in the mansion are gas powered so a faulty boiler could cause a massive explosion that shreds the corpses to bits. Because at least in Episode One it's mentioned that they only found fragments of Maria's jaw, and other assorted bits of the other family members.

I have yet more I desperately want to add to this, but I don't know if I should edit it in here, or make it a separate post.

[a-drop-of-nightshade]

||Of Stars, Blood & Bones||

Closed RP W/@twinthricekings

It all happened so fast, but then again how could anyone expect the sky to be split asunder all of a sudden?

He wasn’t quite sure what happened, he had been out in town going to do some shopping but all of a sudden pain erupted in his chest he gasped as his eyes seemed to ignite, twisting and changing to form what could easily be mistaken as stars. An energy surged out from his very centre as chaos erupted all around him, he fell to his knees purple light bursting and swirling around him before he was suddenly falling.

The man let out a scream of shock as he tumbled through a tunnel of swirling shades of purple, stars shooting past him whizzing and dancing before a tear opened beneath him and instead of falling down he was thrown forwards and he stumbled before immediately falling flat on the floor. He forced himself up with a pained gasp, “what the fUCK?!” He exclaimed before flinching as he realised he was somewhere he didn’t recognise, but more importantly he was surrounded by people.

That pain wasn’t going away, if anything it was suddenly getting worse as instead of the energy rushing out he felt all different kinds of energy rushing in so fast as the man’s body began to absorb all the magic from around him, be it from the air to the people or even inanimate object that either got enchanted with, or were naturally existing with magic, it did not matter it all got drawn into the growing core inside him that pained him so.

Dazed, confused and scared he didn’t know what was going as he scrambled to his feet, his head span and his legs buckled but he stayed up, his breath came hard and heavy, some strange people in what looked like armour were yelling at him in a strange language he didn’t understand and as his panic consumed him, that energy began to rise again. He grasped at his chest in pain this time his legs went and he collapsed to his knees purple magic like nebulas and cosmic dust began to rise and stream from his body uncontrollably.

L was terrified, he didn’t understand, he didn’t know what was going on but it hurt, and then there were men weapons drawn and pointed shouting and chaos, he couldn’t even get another word out before fire was thrown at him. Without thinking his hand came up and where he expected pain and burning instead he felt the rush of energy as the flames melted into his hand the spell consumed and drawn in, he gasped in pain as he felt the flames rip through him and circle around this core, the magic grew around him before he felt it coming a surge unlike before and he didn’t understand.

The terrified human just threw his hand up and the energy flowed and what went in, came back out, fire burst and raged from his hands but this time it was coloured purple a deep royal purple, the flames had grown in size and fury striking the ceiling of what appeared to be a throne room, spreading across it was clear to those who understood it was the same spell that had been thrown at the man, but it had been amplified.

Trembling and aching, pain tore through his body as L stared at his hand confused and shocked, he didn’t notice the blood dripping from his nose before he suddenly doubled over and coughed, blood splattered to the floor, “wh…at…?” He barely got out before everything went black and the man slumped sideways, falling unconscious to the floor.

[retrocgads]

UK 1987

[godfrey-industries]

Muse Profile.

Rules: Repost with information about your muse, including headcanons if needed. If you don’t know some of the answers, feel free to add some other categories of your own! When you’re done, tag 15 other people to do the same!

Tagged by: @jocundcompany​ Tagging: YOU!

B A S I C S .

Name: Yarbert J Godfrey

Age: Around Early 30s

Birthdate: April 4th

Species: Human Esper

Gender and Pronouns: Male He/Him

Orientation: Pansexual Demiromantic

Profession: Scientist, Engineer, and Adventurer

P H Y S I C A L  A S P E C T S .

Hair: Black at shoulder length kept in a bun and under a hat. Has two kiss curls that poke out of the front

Eyes: Black but turn green when using psychic powers

Skin: Dark skin

Height: 5 ft. 10 in.

Weight: 180 lb

F A M I L Y .

Siblings: Yarbrough Godfrey (Late Thirties) Yarbert’s older brother and the original creator of portal technology. Was sent to another dimension by Yarbert in a fit of jealousy and is currently a transcended cosmic being.

Parents: York and Yvette Godfrey. (Age Unknown) An old eccentric couple from a bygone era and heads of many legitimate and illegitimate businesses.

Grandparents: Unknown

Other Relatives: Unknown

Any Pets?: A few Pokemon he’s been given over time.

Any Kids?: (Let’s stick to the main kids) Alouette Garnier Godfrey (Age 5) A young girl with an electronic brain and immense psychic power. Rena 31 Godfrey (Age set to 22) A magitech android with an artificial soul that Yarbert found in his travels. He recently adopted her as his daughter

Relationship Status?: Depends on the timeline.

S K I L L S .

Intellect, Yarbert’s greatest strength is his mind. He is a polymath and his knowledge is so great that he has mastery over almost every science. he has made breakthroughs in such varied fields as space travel, extra-dimensional travel, biochemistry, robotics, computers, communications,  transportation, holography, energy generation, and more. He is an expert on other dimensions and the methods by which to travel to and through them. He also has a photographic memory.

Being a cyborg, Yarbert is stronger than the average human. his cybernetics granted him armored skin as well as enhanced muscles and organs. His lungs were modified to be capable of underwater breathing

His most powerful cyborg ability is the Acceleration Mode. Using this device, Yarbert can move at incredible speeds, making everything around him stop to a stand still or move very slowly.heritage

Lastly is his psychic abilities which comes from his Esper heritage. Such as the ability to absorb and store all manners of energy and release as powerful shock waves. He can also generate and manipulate electricity.

T R A I T S .

Strengths or Positives: As previously stated, Yarbert’s greatest strength is his mind. He’s an observant and pragmatic man. Someone who prefers to plan things out instead of rushing into a situation recklessly. Even when forced to be reckless, Yarbert can show his resourceful and cunning side, quickly making back up plans and strategies for when things go south. He is not the best at controlling his emotions but he’ll try to keep up his calm and relaxed attitude. Wishing to present himself as a civil polite traveler just passing through the area. While he does not consider himself to be, Yarbert is kind and gentle man who values the relationships that he builds. No matter how smart people think he might already be. Yarbert is always trying to expand his understanding and knowledge to find the best answer to solve any problem.

Weaknesses or Negatives: Yarbert has a tendency to be controlling or complicate simple obvious answers and will make huge errors of judgement. He can come across as patronizing or dismissive and doesn’t always carry himself in the most respectable way. He can become irritated or livid to the point where he can take on a cold composure. Still keeping a polite civil tone of voice that can across as condescending and patronizing. But even that can’t last as that cold calmness can explode into a blind rage with a flurry of insults and threats the more ground he loses as his biggest flaws that he tries his best to keep in control, his ego and vulnerability are quickly put on the spot. Yarbert’s belief in truth is also why he is so self critical and why he is so driven to always having all the facts and answers. He knows every choice comes with unintended consequences as the last time he made a choice based on his ego and not the facts caused the accident with his brother Yarbrough and he is desperate to not let that happen again.

L I K E S .

Colors: Green and Gold

Smells: Cinnamon and Chocolate

Textures: Wood, Porcelain, and Steel.

Drinks: Coffee, Cola, and Brandy

O T H E R  D E T A I L S .

Smokes?: No

Drugs?: No

Driver’s License?: Yes.

Ever Been Arrested?: This man has committed so many crimes but somehow has yet to be arrested...or he has and he just forgot.

[thewul]

so no it's not Segway that does all of it, Segway patents for the two wheels, basically like a Segway the vehicle has to maintain a correct angle on slopes, it's some heavy machinery maker

Remember Hyster, Bombardier acquires Hyster in BCS, because Hyster is way smaller than Caterpillar, because Caterpillar is a strong brand, there's many considerations, so this vehicle would be a Hyster

There's different options to make it a real thing, maybe the best option even is to give Caterpillar parts in Hyster, up to 40%, in order to beef up Hyster in terms of know how and expertise, now why would Caterpillar set up a concurrent is that owning 40% of a concurrent is better than having just another concurrent

From the standpoint of Caterpillar, ok but if BSF picks up Caterpillar is going to become meaningless next to Hyster, it's true, it's also true that you cannot just gobble up everything else it's not how business is done, the working agreement with Caterpillar would be to split things 60/40 with Hyster, meaning BSF would procure 40% of its heavy machinery from Caterpillar

Figuring out how things work, this massive inner structure that BUMPER RV has overall, maybe it's not to make it armored, rather with the huge shock absorbers that it has and if you strip everything else from the roof this vehicle can carry massive loads over difficult terrain, now it's not going to put there but it can, even the roof racks extend from that inner casing

design notes: so it's a slidebox like for EVO 8, we also have rear lights, and the large drain ducts for flushing all of it

in another configuration BUMPER becomes a tanker, minus living quarters that become tanks on both sides of the central section, minus the septic tank, for carrying water or liquid hydrogen, it's equivalent to gold in space, over vast distances and difficult terrain

because these ducts are heavy duty it can unload quite fast, and these would be convoys with other vehicles for accommodation, like the one we have here

it's a pretty smart vehicle, it's not just thick or stocky, for example it has lasers that lets it know if it is going to clear the terrain or rocks in front between its wheels or not, that said the slidebox is still useful to have

even if we would think it's a monster in terms of weight, actually not, most of that gray stuff between its inner structure and its exterior is insulating foam, as for its steel frame it's not nothing but still reasonable

acclimation wise it's split two ways, we have seen the aircons in front of living quarters, for air cooling, heating is another matter, BUMPER RV has floor heating, or cooling

well the whole thing turned out into the ultimate zombie apocalypse vehicle, why is that, I don't think we should question why it is what it is, rather what is more interesting is what it's capable of, even its insulation makes a lot of sense of space where we have cosmic radiation

steadying the comments because things moved on, and PSD's to clean up even if we have tried to keep them ordered, I don't think engineers use Photoshop anyways

will it sell, there's no reason why people that would like to have it couldn't, as for the price it's well worth it, extremely strong and built to last, you could have it for generations

if it's not steel it's alumine ceramics, the vehicle comes with a lifelong supply of plastic or rubber parts that gets renewed when ownership changes, there's a list of them labelled wear and tear and that's basically everything except the bumpers

BUMPER RV is not like anything else and it doesn't have to be overly expensive either

does it have 4 motors since it has 4 wheels, no we already have the madman's vehicle, rather we are looking at 3 living quarters decks, a duplex in front, and double the number of seats in the navigation deck

with the platform making the junction between both sides

…and it has 4 motors, it's another monster, a bigger one

someday soon we will make that monster

it's such a monster that it has full height alleys between its front and rear section, where the roof hinges are, batteries in between below the central frame, elevating platform in the rear section, it has double the solar roof area, also the crane can go full length with the antenna in the rear section, the remainder height beneath the alleys, exterior seating decks, a thrilling monster really

no longer than a bus, it already needs a bit more than one lane, but that's monsters in general, you're always looking for that next thing, so if we take the full width of that door hinge and multiply it by 3 we have it, the alleys length, take it from there

this is one of those instances where over equipped allows you to do something else, basically just rearranging it, it's the same number of flat batteries, and of batteries, double the motors well it's needed, same for the water tanks it's also double the passengers

and you would think that the 4 wheelers should come first but no, doing something as wild as BUMPER RV allows you to do the next one easy like that, because it is more difficult to start with

Thank you for having followed

[sweetyart]

Celestial.

Stages:

1. Part of God. 2. Departure of God. Appearance of "Paradise". 3. First War. Fall of "Lucifer". 4. Appearance of the soul. People. 5. Loss of Cosmic power. Appearance of "Ordinary" angels. 6. Appearance of "Hell" 7. Appearance of "Punisher". Second War. 8. Rise of the Black Sun. Third War. 9. Current time.

Celestial — the first creations of God, who appeared as accidentally as he himself. Having received form and reason, the grateful entities are followed by their creator. They studied together with him, learned what he himself learned, learned to create stars and a planet. But the more God himself learned, the more he turned emptiness into a beautiful canvas for creativity, the quieter his voice became for his own creations.

In the place where God had spoken his last word, the Celestials made their home. Frightened and confused, they gathered there. People call this place "Paradise." Then one of the Celestials rose above the crowd and offered himself in God's video. It was Dennitsa. He was one of the first Celestials, and naturally knew God more than the others, which meant he was better suited for the role of creator. But he was not like God, he was not able to change and comprehend the boundaries of knowledge. And Dennitsa offered something that shocked everyone - to absorb another Celestial. He showed his newfound power, and some Celestials bowed before him, believing that a sufficient amount of Celestial blood would help him become the new God. But others were even more horrified and refused to take his side. Then Dennitsa decided to do it by force for the sake of those who decided to go with him.

This was the first war in the history of the world. The self-proclaimed God was banished and locked away along with those who had decided to become his challengers. The remaining Celestials divided the world, limiting it to "Paradise", "Reality" and the future "Hell".

The turmoil did not disappear inside "Paradise". The deceased Celestials did not return to life in their new form. These were the first deaths in the history of the world.

Subsequently, souls were discovered - transformed drops of the Celestials' blood in living beings that appeared as accidentally as the Celestials themselves once did. Pure souls were suitable for the emergence of New Celestials. This made the Celestials extremely happy, and they began to look after the People. To do this, they became like them, taking on an external appearance.

However, the new Celestials that appeared with the help of the soul did not have cosmic power. They could not create stars and a planet. However, the Ancient Celestials did not abandon them, but decided to teach them so that they could find other uses for their abilities. The generals picked them up under their wings and commanded them. This is how the "Ordinary" angels and Archangels appeared.

The angels became frequent guests on earth. Noticing this, the "Fallen" began to encroach on the soul's consciousness. They "spoilt the blood" and carred "rotten fruit" for their new God, sometimes bringing unwary Celestials to him. And soon Dennitsa got her way. He filled the void, fulfilled his promise. He created "Hell". His rotten actions gave birth to rotten children. And just like their parent, they asked for more food. The "Fallen" obediently carried it. This is how the "demons" appeared.

When there were too many rotten souls, the children themselves began to follow their smell. And then the "Punishers" descended to cleanse the rot and protect the pure. The second battle ended in favor of the Heavenly Ones. The demons were locked in darkness along with their parent, and it was only a few of them who were able to find a way out of the eternal kingdom of darkness. However, the losses were considerable.

Suddenly, the quiet voice of God was heard, he was calling for himself. And the heavenly ones, remaining with cosmic forces, followed the voice. The rest remained in “Paradise”, remained to help the new Heavenly Ones, and remained to maintain order on Earth, as in Heaven.

When the Peace seemed an indestructible truth, "Reality" was unattainable for demons, the darkness of their world kept monsters in its prison, then the Black Sun rose. And the creatures of the abyss found a way out, and began to commit riots, and all living things were threatened with extinction. Then the Heavenly army descended again, and stood up for all living things, and the White Sun rose and blinded the children of Dennitsa. Years of bloody war passed, and the earth was dried up by three suns, and the demons became stronger with each fallen warrior of Heaven. In the end, "Reality" was given to demons, but not abandoned by angels.

Now, the earth is a huge desert, in which it is easy to perish, if not from the claws of monsters, then from the incinerating three suns. But all living things have adapted to such a life. Some seas and oceans, underground waters, special oases were partially saved from drying out - they generate rain. Countries have disappeared, cities and settlements near waters remain, where you can often find shade, food, water, work. There are few people, and demons are everywhere. Now they are part of the world of "Reality"…

All pictures taken from Pinterest

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[zara24smit]

ALLATRA: Antarctica's Unique Ecosystem Under Threat

SHOCK! Antarctica, the last bastion of pristine nature, is under threat! Invasive species, carried by streams of plastic waste, are invading the fragile ecosystem, threatening to destroy its unique flora and fauna. 

Antarctica's unique ecosystem has come under threat due to invasive marine species and pollution entering from the Southern Hemisphere.

                      ***

Researchers from the University of New South Wales in Australia have found that floating debris, including both plastic and organic matter, can carry species invasive to Antarctic waters.

Previously, Antarctic marine and terrestrial habitats have been isolated from the rest of the planet for millions of years. This isolation implies that local species are not adapted to competition and may not be able to compete with widespread species from different parts of the world that are encroaching on their territory.

According to scientists, invasive species, particularly small marine invertebrates, can reach the shores of Antarctica on floating objects such as:

algae,

Driftwood,

pumice, or plastic.

And not only from remote islands of the Southern Ocean, but also from Australia, New Zealand, as well as South Africa and South America.

Scientists warn that the growing amount of plastic and other human-made debris in the ocean is increasing the chances of biota reaching Antarctica, and the consequences for local marine ecosystems could be quite significant.

It is noteworthy that according to experts, starting from 1979, every decade, due to invasive species displacing regional species, economic losses in the world have been increasing fourfold.

In total, such species cost the global economy more than $423 billion per year. Moreover: it is invasive species that have led to the extinction of 60% of animals and plants. The main reason for this is climate change.

Our planet, in the period of the approaching 12,000-year cycle, needs protection from external cosmic influences. As well as global cleaning from waste and plastic, which we, humans, have been irresponsibly mass-producing and dumping into the ocean for decades.

This is just one of the alarming signals that our planet is sending. Climate change is relentlessly bringing us closer to the point of no return. But there is hope!  

ALLATRA International Public Movement and the partner project Creative Society are uniting scientists and volunteers around the world to counter climate collapse. 

"We are facing a huge problem," say ALLATRA volunteers. "We need to urgently combine all the knowledge and resources of humanity to save the planet and people from disaster."

ALLATRA not only warns, but also offers solutions.  

On May 11, 2024, at the Prague Summit, ALLATRA volunteers presented an innovative technology that could become a key element in the fight against global climate change: atmospheric water generators (AWG).

AWG is not just a technology, it's a survival strategy.

It is important to know that the ocean is largely the "kitchen of weather," it also shapes the climate over land.

The ocean's function is similar to an air conditioner - to remove heat from the atmosphere into space. However, due to the fact that the ocean is completely polluted with plastic, it has lost this function, which is why there is an abnormal heating of the Earth's core with all the consequences that follow.

                   ***

So, what will such technology as AWGs allow to do:

Cleaning the ocean from microplastics: AWGs will help restore the ocean's heat-conducting ability to absorb heat from the atmosphere and clean it from plastic pollution that is killing marine life. 

Reducing extreme weather events: Thanks to AWGs, the climate will become more stable, and extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and hurricanes will become less frequent.

Improving atmospheric thermal conductivity: AWGs contribute to improving atmospheric thermal conductivity, which helps to stabilize the climate and reduce the risk of global warming.

The use of AWGs is a contribution to the implementation of the UN SDGs, based on the principles of sustainable development and care for the planet. 

ALLATRA is not just fighting for survival. ALLATRA is fighting for the future, for a planet where we can live in harmony with nature, where beautiful Antarctica will remain an oasis of life, and planet Earth will be home to all of us.

Join us! Together, we can change the course of history and create a Creative Society where science and technology work for the benefit of all humanity.

Spread this information on social media.

Like, share, comment, and applaud. By doing so, you are saving people and the planet.

#ALLATRA #ClimateCrisis #CreativeSociety #Technology #UnifiedScientificCenter 

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Near-earth microquasar a source of powerful radiation

Modern astronomy has clung to the belief that the relativistic outflows or jets responsible for the existence of electromagnetic radiation of particularly high energies are located in the nuclei of active galaxies distant from Earth. However, a different picture of reality is emerging from the latest data from the HAWC observatory: also jets launched in astrophysical sources from our own intra-galactic ‘backyard’ turn out to be sources of gamma photons of extremely high energy.

Electromagnetic radiation of extremely high energies is produced not only in the jets launched in active nuclei of distant galaxies, but also in jet-launching objects lying within the Milky Way, called microquasars. This latest finding by scientists from the international High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Gamma-Ray Observatory (HAWC) radically changes the previous understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the formation of ultra-high-energy cosmic radiation and in practice marks a revolution in its further study.

Since the discovery of cosmic radiation by Victor Hess in 1912, astronomers have believed that the celestial bodies responsible in our galaxy for the acceleration of these particles up to the highest energies are the remains of gigantic supernova explosions, called supernova remnants. However, a different picture is emerging from the latest data from the HAWC observatory: the sources of radiation of extremely high energies turn out to be microquasars. Astrophysicists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN) in Cracow, co-financed by a grant from the National Science Centre, played a key role in the discovery.

The HAWC observatory was erected on the slope of the Sierra Negra volcano in Mexico with the aim of recording incoming particles and photons from space at particularly high energies. The facility consists of 300 steel water tanks equipped with photomultipliers sensitive to fleeting flashes of light, known as Cherenkov radiation. This appears in the tank when a particle travelling faster than the speed of light in water falls into it. Typically, the HAWC captures gamma photons with energies ranging from hundreds of gigaelectronvolts to hundreds of teraelectronvolts. These are energies up to a trillion times greater than the energy of visible light photons and over a dozen times greater than the energy of protons accelerated at the Large Hadronic Collider (LHC) accelerator.

The supermassive black holes within quasars, i.e. the active nuclei of some galaxies (objects with enormous masses, numbering in the hundreds of millions of solar masses) accelerate and absorb matter from the accretion disk that surrounds them. During this process, very narrow and very long streams of matter, called jets, are shot out from near the poles of the black hole, in both directions along its rotation axis. These move at velocities often close to the speed of light, resulting in shock waves – and it is there that photons of extremely high energies, reaching up to hundreds of teraelectronvolts, are produced.

Located in the nuclei of other galaxies, quasars are among objects that are very distant from us: the nearest (Markarian 231) is 600 million light years away from Earth. This is not the case for microquasars. These are compact binary systems, made up of a massive star and its matter-absorbing black hole, which emit jets with lengths of hundreds of light years. Several tens of such objects have so far been discovered in our galaxy alone.

“Photons detected from microquasars have usually much lower energies than those from the quasars. Usually, we are talking about values of the order of tens of gigaelectronvolts. Meanwhile, we have observed something quite incredible in the data recorded by the detectors of the HAWC observatory: photons coming from a microquasar lying in our galaxy and yet carrying energies tens of thousands of times higher than typical!” says Dr. Sabrina Casanova (IFJ PAN), who, together with Dr. Xiaojie Wang from Michigan Tech University and Dr. Dezhi Huang from University of Maryland were the first to observe the anomaly.

The source of photons with energies of up to 200 teraelectronvolts has been found to be the microquasar V4641 Sagittarii (V4641 Sgr). It lies in the background of the Sagittarius constellation, at a distance of about 20,000 light years from Earth. The main role here is played by a black hole with a mass of about six solar masses, pulling in matter from the stellar giant with a mass three times that of the Sun. The objects orbit around a common centre of mass, circling each other once in just under three days. Interestingly, the jet emitted by the V4641 Sgr system is directed towards the Solar System. In this configuration, an Earth-based observer has a relativistically distorted perception of the time of the matter at the beginning and end of the jet: its front begins to appear younger than it actually is. As a result, the jet seems to propagate through space at superluminal velocity, in the present case as much as nine times the speed of light.

“Significantly, the V4641 Sgr microquasar turns out not to be unique. Extremely energetic photons are meanwhile detected not only from this but also from other microquasars, detected by the LHAASO observatory. It therefore seems likely that microquasars significantly contribute to the  cosmic ray radiation at the highest energies in our galaxy,” adds Dr. Casanova.

The latest discovery is of interest not only to cosmic ray scientists. It proves that at a relatively small distance from Earth, mechanisms of jet formation and production of ultra-energetic photons must be at work analogous to those in the nuclei of active, distant galaxies, scaled appropriately to the mass of the black hole. These processes in microquasars occur on a much more human-friendly timescale – over days, not hundreds of thousands or millions of years. Moreover, the photons emitted by microquasars do not have to make their way through the millions of light-years of the cosmic vacuum, where they can be scattered or absorbed during interactions with photons of the ubiquitous cosmic background radiation. All this means that astrophysicists have, for the first time, gained the ability to make comprehensive and virtually undisturbed observations of processes crucial to the evolution of galaxies.

IMAGE: Sources of high-energy cosmic rays in the vicinity of the microquasar V4641 Sag, on the left with energies above a teraelectronvolt, on the right – hundreds of teraelectronvolts. The location of the microquasar is marked with a yellow dot. Credit IFJ PAN / HAWC