#Neptune is my favorite planet these days after Earth.

[thecurioustale]

Neptune BLUE!

I spent a day-and-a-half on Friday and Saturday researching the planet Neptune in order be able to write a scene in Galaxy Federal about a Neptunian planet.

All my fiction entails a high degree of research, since I am an expert in nothing other than writing itself yet I seek to convey great verisimilitude and accuracy in my work. One of my greatest hopes for my fiction is that people will be able to read it and, when my prose touches on their areas of expertise, they'll be able to nod in satisfaction and say "That's how it really is." And, so, I am ever researching things as I write.

But most of this stuff is just flesh for the background. When, in contrast, a scene comes around where I have to research literally every part of it, it becomes a much more demanding exercise! In this case I wanted to be able to describe Cherry standing on a platform at the top of a Neptunian world, and, while this may sound like a simple ask—"It's blue, right? And cloudy?"—it's definitely not.

What is the composition of the atmosphere? What color is the sky above? What color are the clouds? Are there different types of clouds? Are they above or below? What are their shapes? What are the wind conditions? Relative to what? What are the temperature conditions? At different altitudes? What are the pressure conditions? What consequences of extremely low-pressure environments should I be aware of? Where do all the different sky and cloud colors come from? How do the colors compare to one another? What do the near-infrared and near-UV look like? Might there precipitation? What would it be like? What would the air smell like? How would sunset affect the colors of whatever happens to be visible? Is there any relevant photochemistry affecting atmospheric conditions, and if so what is it? Can the planet's rings be inclined outside the equatorial plane? What is its gravity? How bright is its sun?

Most of these questions need to be answered not in order to literally convey the information in prose, but simply to make sure that I don't accidentally get the narrative details wrong. There are resources that describe Neptune's highest clouds as reddish; others say white; others still say bluish—and all of them are referring to those clouds as seen from above, not below.

I do have some control over the variables. A question like "How windy is it?" can be answered "Right now, it's whatever you need for it to be." But that's sloppy, and I like to minimize my slop. So, for precision, someone like me would have to go and learn a little bit about the Neptunian winds—all while taking care not to overgeneralize Neptune's specific example. (Thankfully we have Uranus for a comparison, but unfortunately Uranus isn't always so helpful, as it basically looks like a sleeping kitten.)

Another confounding factor is that the Internet seems to be becoming a worse and worse medium for doing this kind of esoteric fact-based research. Many resources are simply not reliable (being little more than unaudited discussions on message forums), and the search results are forever clogged with irrelevant or insufficiently detailed results. ("Hey, kids! Did you know that Neptune is a PLANET and that it is BLUE?!") At one point I thought about just buying a whole book on Neptune, but I discounted that because, for one thing, scope creep, and, for another thing, Neptunian planetary science is a surprisingly active area of research and we are still learning fundamentally new things about Neptune's atmosphere even today. Lots of books about it are already outdated!

I enjoy research, thankfully, and I certainly put in a tour-de-force for this one, reading dozens of webpages and watching hours of videos. I dodged a lot of bullets because of my research, like not accidentally having my characters' blood boil by setting the air pressure below the Armstrong Limit. And in the end, I wrote a good, solid, 2,500-word scene. It's beautiful, and, I hope, it's breathtaking.

But even so, for all my research I was aware that I am still not actually any closer to being an expert on Neptunian worlds, and I knew that my research was very thin by this measure, and that my depth of understanding remains poor. And so I knew the likelihood for mistakes was high—and that's not even counting the areas where I decided to give up and let slop win. (In the end I just made up an answer for the question of what the air smells like.)

Sure enough, a few hours after I had finished writing the scene on Saturday night, it occurred to me: "Wait a minute, J! What would it sound like to talk in that air, if one were to breathe it in? It's almost entirely hydrogen and helium!"

I rushed back and did a bit of emergency research, and discovered the answer that I had feared, and had to revise the scene accordingly to ensure that anyone inhaling that air speaks in a high pitched-voice. And that, my friends, is why some scenes are better in writing than in movies!

^ _ ^

[firesofdainix]

spacetime continuum is such a cool concept! how did you even create the idea? and did you expect it to grow this much? Asking because I love it, back when you first started publishing them i checked the fwndom tag every day hoping youd uploaded a new one •-• its still my favorite series of fics in this fandom

Thank you so much for reading my stories! I admit I never quite expected people to love them much less be inspired, but here we are! March me would be so happy hearing this! So, there are three things that made me inspired to write Spacetime Continuum:

1. Broken AU and its impact in the Solarballs community, such as the Earth favoritism and evil Gas Giants

2. Earth's character being watered down to an innocent planet void of nothing wrong, which frustrates me greatly

3. The Ice Giants playing at most two roles in the Solarballs universes I had seen that time: being non existent, or being victims of the gas Giants.

For more information of the origins of this AU, click read more:

I mentioned that one of the biggest reasons I created this universe was because I had yet to see an AU where the Ice Giants are just as bad as the Gas Giants, and that they go with what the Gas Giants have for them without any coercion. Uranus' personality had been the very first thing I started writing and thinking about, hence my second work for Solarballs being about Uranus, when the paint dries. He was funny to flesh out, from being the insecure planet he is today to the prideful, boisterous and hot tempered character he'd been in the Proto Era. Jupiter and Saturn were the next to follow different tweaks of their character in canon, because my goal had been turning them into complicated and morally ambiguous characters. The Ice Giants are in POWER, IN CONTROL of their horrible actions (though you can make a case for Neptune being manipulated by Uranus, but it's clear he had no qualms killing the other giants and wiping out smaller bodies) in my universe, especially during the war for the position of Celestial Monarch.

The War had already been an integral part of the story, and it was mentioned in my first, now non-canon fic "Mars, god of war" along with hypothetical planets Antichton and Phaeton, plus their relationships with Venus and Mars. But during that, I didn't know what the war had been about, all I know is that Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune were all allies (to also combat the common fanon that Uranus is afraid of Jupiter) and their enemies are Saturn and Planet X. The character of Hades was born, and this drove me to write and flesh out the aforementioned Uranus fic linked earlier, with the earliest mentions of Jupiter accidentally killing Hades, and the animosity between Saturn and Jupiter/Uranus. I didn't expect myself to see the romantic tension between Jupiter and Uranus until now, so that was my fault LMAO

Since this is a series, and not a multi chapter fic, I didn't have to commit to a linear narrative and begin writing one shots about my universe, expanding the characters and the world revolving around the planets. My third fic I've uploaded was about Titan, aka "Saturn's moons hanging by a thread," and the two fics after it about the moons and how the elder Moons were affected by the war. It was an excuse to give the readers more details and clues about what happened before I immediately hit them with the Truth, which is why Saturn merely admonished his moons' actions against Titan in "moon eater." To set up Clues about WHY Jupiter killed Hades in the first place, but making it clear that the story Saturn told IS NOT the whole thing, as we see in "history is a story told by the winners of the fight," there were other factors at play, along with Uranus's ambitious motives (it'll be seen in a fic I'm uploading tonight!) it exposes Jupiter's mental stability and Hades's abuse towards his own older brother that drove him to kill him, even accidentally. And you have to take note this fic was written AFTER plot heavy and clue filled fics such as "after the battle," where Jupiter is written as a megalomaniac that finally got what he wanted; "you didn't know?" Where we are seeing the new personality of Jupiter, and the Ganymede fic, where Jupiter's actions are INEXCUSABLE and shitty. It's fun to see readers puzzling over what the hell happened in the last billion years.

However, since the series is built upon ideas that have taken a long time to consider and new ideas keep popping up, there are times when older fics contradict my new ones, such as changing Earth and Tierra from being the same person to different entities. But I hopefully usually keep my ideas and message consistent. I love having the creativity and using a show about talking planets as my muse and a sandbox for the different kinds of characters and themes which usually play out in the story. I know broken AU gets a whole lot of flack for being the main reason why Earth, Jupiter and Saturn's characters became damaged, but honestly I saw it as an opportunity. A way to integrate the "evil" gas Giants into my AU.

My goal is to keep everyone consistent, well-rounded, and having a defining set of goals and characteristics, including those who are used to drive the story or a character forward, such as Hades, Vulcan, Theia, Antichton and Phaeton, who already have SOME established depth to them other than being the partners of existing planets. I mean... Have you guys READ Antichton in "the consequences of our actions"? He was a bastard, as well-meaning POS who thought he was doing the best. And Hades, aka the planet I created to give Jupiter a character arc, only serving as a plot device? He STILL continues to haunt the narrative. He continues to make Jupiter uncomfortable at the mere mention of him. His murder is seen as Jupiter's power play and not retaliation. That's where I've been going.

Writing the characters who are alive with complex characteristics is something I enjoyed. I enjoyed writing Earth being an unapologetic, arrogant, insensitive asshole who gets on the nerves of other rocky planets. I enjoy writing Saturn as an unrepentant, vain, and self-centered planet who can't apologize without sounding like he forced it. I love writing Sun and how his favoritism, his greenhorn nature when he's been given his system led to the downfall of the solar system and cast permanent wounds to his Giants. And I enjoy writing Planet X, Tyche, Nemesis and Iris, who are up to no good.

The main themes or lessons in my series are as follows:

1. There is more sides to a story than what is given.

2. No one is right. No one is wrong. It all depends on what you're fighting for and the beliefs you have.

3. You need to learn responsibility. You are a born leader, use your talent to the utmost power. Don't play favorites, and discipline them when they go too far.

4. Revenge is a fickle thing: will it make you feel satisfied, or will it just fill your empty heart with negativity?

5. Immortality is sacred. One wrong move against those you love the most and you'll be dead.

6. Favoritism kills.

And a whole lot more I'm not getting into because they'd be spoilers, or they're not fully fleshed out as ideas yet! Thank you for enjoying spacetime continuum, and I hope to upload something about it soon! (Tonight lmao). I... Didn't think thisd get long but IT DID

[blingblong55]

I HAVE A TOOTH ROTTING FLUFF IDEA WITH KÖNIG! a very shmol (like 4'6) y/n dancing to O Sol e a Lua (the sun proposed to the moon). Starts with könig finding y/n softly singing and dancing to it, the song coming from a speaker, and they drag könig into the room their in and dancing with him to it. Ends with one of the 141 boys finding them and recording it. PLEASE DO THIS I NEED IT DEEP IN MY SOUL! Also I'm feeling better, the fix you write helped alot. Love ya 💋💋

omg omg im in LOVE with this!!!I'm really glad my last one did some help...lots of love<333333 (translation at the end.)

this is what I think when I write abt sunshine reader and König.

gn! reader, fluff! König

Today was just a normal day at base. You were assigned to clean some of the equipment your team had been using. A few soldiers felt just..happy. So they asked around and eventually put music on. You happy sang along, as the low volumed song played around the room. König had his gun in hand, that's until he walked in and admired a scene I'm sure few in life get to experience. König and you being the few.

"O sol pediu a lua em casamento, E a lua, disse, Não sei, não sei, não sei, Me dá um tempo"

R/n quietly sang, their voice echoed around the room. By that point König had leaned against the door frame. Some soldier started dancing to your rhythm. You eventually looked up and smiled.

"Mas o astro rei, Com todos os seus planetas, Cometas, asteroides, Terra, marte, vênus, netúnos e urânos, Foi se apaixonar justo por ela, Que o despreza e o deixa esperar"

you happily continued, stopping what you were doing and danced around. Your eyes soon met König, who if it wasn't for his mask, his cheeky smile and red face would have told what words couldn't describe.

You started to dance his way, he put his hands up, "don't dance" he said, but you shook your head. Your small frame and his much bigger one complimented each other. "Join me big guy" you whispered. After very little struggle, you pulled him into the room. Your body and his dancing to the rhythm.

Your eyes looking up to his. This is the moment poets write about, he swore.

How jealous would they be, that me and r/n get to experience this, he thought.

"O sol sem saber mais o que fazer, Tanto amor pra dar, E começou a chorar, E a derreter, Começou a chover, e a molhar, E a escurecer" the speakers surrounded you two with its addicting words.

"Este é o nosso momento König" you softly spoke.

"isso é liebling" he responded. (yes...he understood and spoke Portuguese)

From afar, Soap captured the moment he swore the gentle giant of König and the kind hearted soul of r/n met, and had promised to not let go.

----

A/N: I have to admit I have now found a new favorite song...anyways I really do hope you enjoyed this depiction of my best requester<3

Tags: @g4y-gr3ml1n

Translation:

O sol pediu a lua em casamento E a lua, disse Não sei, não sei, não sei Me dá um tempo

(The sun asked the moon to marry him And the moon said I don't know, I don't know, I don't know Give me some time)

Mas o astro rei Com todos os seus planetas Cometas, asteroides Terra, marte, vênus, netúnos e urânos Foi se apaixonar justo por ela Que o despreza e o deixa esperar

(But the star king With all your planets comets, asteroids Earth, Mars, Venus, Neptunes and Uranus It was just falling in love with her Who despises him and lets him wait)

O sol sem saber mais o que fazer Tanto amor pra dar E começou a chorar E a derreter Começou a chover, e a molhar E a escurecer

(The sun without knowing what else to do So much love to give And started to cry and melting It started to rain and get wet and getting dark)

Este é o nosso momento König (This is our moment König)

isso é liebling (it is, darling)

REQUEST ARE OPEN

[jrbenvs3000f24]

Week 5: Nature Interpretation Through Science

I was glad this week to have the opportunity to decide on a topic for ourselves, especially when studying nature interpretation through science. Scientific inquiry has always been the lens I most enjoy employing when viewing the natural world. From a young age, as any parent can tell you, we are all predisposed to asking “why?” whenever observing any natural phenomenon for the first time. This natural childlike curiosity is the basis for the scientific method, and I think, one of the most beautiful and profound ways of understanding nature.

I think this idea is counter-intuitive to some people, who see the natural world in the same way they see a magic trick. It’s interesting because it's mysterious, and to reveal the underlying mechanisms would dispel some of its beauty. For some people, hearing a lecture about ornithology might seem a perfectly good way to ruin a peaceful afternoon of bird watching. As we’ve learned, people learn in different ways, and every individual experiences nature differently. For some, understanding nature may not be about a scientific understanding of its workings, but about a meaningful connection.

In general, when picturing a scientific approach to nature interpretation we would tend to associate this with the field of biology. After all, nature is full of living things, the domain of the biologist. For me, one of the most fascinating ways to interpret our planet is at the cosmological level, through astronomy. Though it may seem strange to study our planet by looking pointedly away from it, a consideration of our universe I think offers a profound appreciation for our incredible earth. If we stop for a moment to really consider the vast emptiness around us. The cold, unforgiving landscape of space is the starkest contrast against our home planet. A home teeming with life and natural history, the only place that we know that can support not just us, but every living thing we’ve ever discovered.

My favorite piece of nature interpretation of all time is a discussion of this contrast, of our place in the universe. It’s one you’ve likely heard before, but if you haven’t I’ll embed it here and I can’t implore you enough to spend 3:26 listening to the late great Carl Sagan. This excerpt is from The Pale Blue Dot, a book well worth reading in its entirety. But this is by far the most famous portion. Narrated by Sagan himself, it still gives me goosebumps every time I listen. 

In 1990, Sagan was working for NASA on the Voyager mission. Voyager 1 had finished its exploration of the outer reaches of our solar system and was passing out of Neptune’s orbit. Sagan was the one to first propose taking one final image of our solar system, looking back towards the earth. It was risky, the instrumentation on the craft is sensitive to solar radiation, it risked damaging equipment. Instructions sent to the craft were slow and complicated to transmit, it would be expensive. And it held no objective scientific merit. It wouldn’t tell us anything new, there was no discovery to be made. It's goal was interpretive. It was, and remains to this day, the furthest distance photograph ever taken of our planet. It was taken as a form of nature interpretation: to show humans an accurate depiction of our planet’s place in the cosmos.

[esorydoolb]

Chapter 2 of my Starfield fanfic "Rebirth: Enter the Void" is up!

This story is basically a collection of slates from Starborn!Alan's crew members and allies. Since I'm not in love with the main companions of Starfield, I'm writing a fic for all my favorite other companions. Chapter 2 is all about my favorite Vanguard and how he meets the spacefarer in another universe ... Enjoy!

Chapter Preview

Moara Otero: All in a Day's Work

No idea how I had made this mistake and not seen the result coming. In my naivety, I thought I could annoy these Spacers into running away, since it had been so easy to sneak into their base, a repurposed level of the abandoned Nova Galactic Staryard orbiting Luna. I had done it multiple times, always at night, when they couldn’t see my ship docking on the gigantic star station. Like a ghost, I had slipped away with their supplies, loot that they had stolen from independent settlers and small farms. My plan had been to exploit their lack of security and organization to make them aware that their crimes wouldn’t go unseen. That went well, until one day it didn’t.  

I was sitting in their trap. I escaped two of their sleek black fighter ships, scrambled away with a defective shield, forcing me to hide in the lion’s den, where they didn’t expect me. In the Staryard, I found enough spare parts for emergency repairs. I boarded the repaired ship with a cold trepidation clinging to my frame. Every movement felt like my limbs were made of metal, foreign objects that I forced to work for me. I climbed onto the main deck and secured the Marksman rifle I was carrying in its case, keeping the small arms at my side. Sitting down in the pilot seat, I used my metal fingers to maneuver the ship into space, leaving behind a ransacked Spacers base and a piece of bait that would lure them all the way out to the lifeless ice giant of Sol.

I had raiders and bandits on my tail, angered them enough to chase me through the whole Sol System if need be. And they would – they were already sending a group of professional Ecliptic mercenaries after me to track down my ship and extinguish me like a pestering bug. The logical outcome of this situation was a fight for survival, and the only details I could influence were the when and how. At least that way, I would know when and where they’d attack. I’d already sent out a distress call, but who knew how long until the UC stationed around Mars would respond. At this time of the year, the distance between the two planets was almost minimal. If I was lucky and the Ecliptic had more brains than brawn, they’d be careful about rushing into an ambush, giving the UC more time to arrive. And if not … then I’d be making my last stand here, in the blackest sea. They said that in Old Earth mythology, Neptune was the god of naval victories. I didn’t believe in these old tales, but I believed in a system in which justice prevailed. 

I navigated the ship into the cold orbit of Neptune, hiding in the shadow of a meteoroid field and turning off the engines. It gave me a brief moment of calm to think of a plan, but more importantly, I scrabbled about the ship for an empty audio slate. In all this time stationed in Sol, I had never sent a message back home. Not that it hadn’t crossed my mind; inevitably, I just always failed to find a purpose in it. 

This time, the sudden fear of being hunted down for elimination had me in a chokehold. There was a ring around my lungs, pressing down consistently until the guilt crushed me, and there was no escaping it. I plumped down in a corner of the ship with the slate in my hand and pressed the button to record.

I’d known the risks when I had signed up to become a Vanguard. Even when looking into the moist, glistening eyes of my little boy, and your eyes, Chianna … I was so aware of the possibility that we wouldn’t see each other again. That’s why it had to have been so hard for you two to understand why I just stood up and left. When I tried to explain what I am going through out here, I was hoping that it’d make you understand a little better. That this is my life, a purpose I am happy to fulfill. Because every time I watched your eyes, it was not only you who looked back, but I could glance the stars, the planets, and the people living out there, in their spaceships, and little homesteads … You reflected my inner soul, like a black shimmering mirror. 

I don’t know whether you still think about me at all. My biggest regret is not knowing if I would be able to come back home and still be welcomed. The only times when I feel at peace anymore are when I’m between the stars, reaching out with the sword of justice, an extended arm of the UC. So, if I was unable to perform my job, then I had failed you all, hadn’t I?

Continue reading on ao3

(or start from the beginning)

[wyrm-in-a-closet]

Science fact of the day- Saturn!

YEAAAAH GAMERS ITS MY FAVORITE PLANET WOOOOOOO- i like saturn okay. she's just really pretty for one. Also it has beautiful rings too. The origin of these rings is a bit uncertain- right now, there are three general theories, which are: 1. the rings have been around since Saturn's formations, and were initially much more massive, but are now relatively light, 2. They were formed more recently by a collision of some sort, possibly between two moons, and 3. they were formed by a single moon which fell too close to Saturn, and was torn apart by tidal forces (the Roche Limit). These later two theories generally have the rings as younger, about 300 million ish years old. That would mean these rings have been around for less time than life existed on Earth's land. We do know that the rings won't be around forever- various data gives the rings a lifetime of anywhere from about 100 million years to around a billion years, although the higher number is significantly less likely.

In many ways, Saturn is similar to it's larger and more massive cousin, Jupiter. It's almost entirely hydrogen and oxygen, it's history is similar and also tied to Jupiter's, and it's radius is within the same ballpark. However, since Saturn is far less massive, that means Saturn has a very low density- in fact, it's less than water. If you had a planet sized bath tub, then a lot of very very bad things would happen, but if you ignored those things and put Saturn in it, it would float!

Saturn has been visited by a few spacecraft. Most notably, Voyager 1 and 2 both flew by it on their solar system grand tours, although when voyager 1 saw titan, scientists were so interested in it that they changed voyager 2's course so that it could get a close flyby, at the cost of a flyby of Uranus and Neptune. The most important mission to visit Saturn, however, is Cassini. Cassini was launched in 1997, alongside the Huygens probe (which went into Titan's atmosphere). Cassini arrived in 2004, and spent years orbiting Saturn, taking picturing and preforming science on both it and it's moons. It's initial mission was only 3 years long- however, after being incredibly succesful for those three years, it's mission was extended for another 2 years, then it earned nearly 7 more, and then its finale stage which lasted four months. in total, it spent 13 years around Saturn. Cassini's mission came to a close when it was burned up in Saturn's atmosphere, to avoid the possibility of it crashing into any of Saturn's moons and contaminating them.

Cassini is my all time favorite space mission for a few reasons. It studied my favorite planet, it preformed absolutely incredibly, and it went out in a honestly tragic way that i just kinda love. But also, it took what might be my favorite image of all time: The Day the Earth Smiled. The Day the Earth Smiled is a composite image (meaning it's made up of hundreds of smaller pictures taken at slightly different times, which are then combined) which shows Saturn eclipsing the sun, with its rings incredibly visible. Many of Saturn's moons are visible, in addition to the planets Mars, Venus, and importantly, Earth. NASA made the fact that the picture would be taken public, and encouraged people to look up into the sky to wave and smile towards the camera, billions of kilometers away. we're all there! I was just 6 years old at the time, but I'm there! and so are you!!!!!

anyways so i sobbed a normal amount writing todays science fact

[urdeadpoet]

I ANSWERED THEM ALL CUZ IM IMPATIENT

angel - what’s your dream job? an actress <3 :))

swan - who’s your celebrity crush? bella rasmey, mikey madison, louis patridge, a LOT more

sea - five countries you would like to visit? italy, france, spain, canada, germany

star - what’s your favorite y2k movie? 13 going 30 and legally blonde

love - what’s your favorite aesthetic? dark coquette, downtown girl (i have more but i cant think of any rn)

sleepy - which are your favorite apps? pintrest, tiktok, spotify and tumble <3

earth - which continent are you from? USA :((

dove - pic of you. no thank you <3

sweet - what’s your favorite ice cream flavor? im a strawberry and mint choclate chip kinda girl

chanel - what’s your clothing style? comfy, downtown, oversized, dark colors

waffle - are you shy or outgoing? depends on who im with

tulip - cities you think that people should visit in your country. san Francisco and ny

home - what’s your favorite quarantine dish? grilled cheese

melody - what’s your favorite music genre? rock or pop

magic - what’s your favorite greek goddess/god? hades

cottage - what’s your favorite fruit? strawberries and green grapes

bee - what’s the last concert you went to? david grey

vanilla - what’s the next language you want to learn? spanish (know some of it) and french

cloud - what you most want to do after quarantine? im out of it sooo idk

sky - rainy days or sunny days? rainy

rose - do you want to get married? yes

moon - what’s your zodiac sign? aries

cutie - do you have any pets? 2 dogs 1 cat and im planning on getting a hamster soon

sunset - what’s your next goal? get clothing i feel fit my personality/i genuinely like

space - what’s your favorite planet? jupiter, Neptune, or earth (depends tho)

book - how’s life right now? shit but i cant wait till summer (i hate the heat but theirs no school sooo that's a win for me)

cozy - recommend us a tv show. arcane on netflix

letter - what’s your favorite barbie movie? Barbie in a Mermaid Tale

blue - what’s your favorite animal? dogs, cats, and hamsters

night - which are your hobbies? watching edits, martial arts, ice skating, baking, writing, painting, talking shit abt rude people and sleeping

[hurtramblings]

Comet- What are you currently frustrated about? That I'm not in a position to just drop what I'm doing and leave town for a week or two weeks and just go somewhere else and just take time for me to reset, reflect, and heal myself.

Black Hole- What are you most afraid of? I've only shared this with one other person... I'm a Christian and I have been saved by Christ, so I do believe there is a heaven after our time on this planet is finished... What if there isn't and we just cease to exist? What if all that we become is memories and nothing more? A friend of mine has told me that he passed away during a surgery and that when he woke up, he was in what he could only describe as Heaven. He spent a brief time there before he was brought back but he said it's some so surreal that it's hard to describe without giving too much away. 

Galaxy- Do you have any nicknames? What are they? I'm sure that people have nicknames for me, I don't remember what any of them are right now tho. 

Star- What song(s) do you feel describes you? I gravitate toward Indie, Alternative, and songs that tell real stories.

Moon- Are you currently reading any books? If so, what book(s)? Re-reading or rather listening to Twilight for the first time in a very long time.

Planets- If you could go anywhere, where would you go? I would like to find a natural hot spring, somewhere in the United States and I would like to also go to a log cabin in the winter time preferably with someone that I love and just get lost in each other and whatever is happening in the world be damned. 

Mercury- Describe your aesthetic. Let's leave a bit of mystery here... DM me and let's have a conversation. If I feel comfortable enough talking to you then I will let you see what I look like. 

Venus- What’s your favorite tv show? I have too many to list and the list is about as different than my Spotify playlist. 

Earth- If you could be anyone else for a day, who would you want to be? Someone that is smarter with their money.

Mars- If you could change one thing about yourself, what would you change? I would give myself the ability to manage my own finances on my own without anyone having to put safe guards in place so that I don't spend every dime I have. 

Jupiter- If you had to pick one color to use for an entire week, what color would you choose? My favorite color: Deep, dark, royal purple. 

Saturn- How far would you go for those you care about? To the ends of the Earth and more, eight million times over. 

Uranus- What would you say is your greatest achievement? Graduating college and having the second highest GPA in my degree program. 

Neptune- Describe yourself in one sentence. The mystery you'll never figure out. 

Pluto- If you could meet anyone, alive or dead, who would you meet? There is only one person I would like to meet for the second time... My Father. 

Constellations- If you could have one talent, what would you want it to be? (can be magical or not) Increased metabolism, that way I could eat anything I want and never gain weight.

Asteroid- When you die, what do you want to be done with your body? I'm not sure yet.

Aquarius- What’s a topic you enjoy learning about? New technology. 

Aquila- Do you prefer to read books or watch movies? Watch movies, but I also enjoy reading books.

Aries- What is something you enjoy doing? Spending time with my son.

Auriga- If you had to pick one villain from any media, who would you rather have to face and why? Oh boy, this one is tough... I don't know, if anyone decides to read this comment below your answer.

Bootes- If you could have any animal, wild or not, fake or not, which would you want? A wolf.

Cancer- How do you want to be remembered? I don't have a specific way, I would just like to be remembered by those whose life I have made an impact on. 

Canis Major- How many friends do you have? This is a silly question, I don't count the number of friends I have. I just have them and that's good enough for me. 

Capricornus- What’s a song lyric that you relate to?  Pass... I'm really not sure.

Cassiopeia- What’s your favorite quote? "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime." 

Cygnus- If you could go back to any time period for a couple days, when/where would you want to go? Any year in the 1980's.

Gemini- Do you have any siblings? How many? I do, I have a younger brother.

Leo- If you could change the way any movie was made, which movie would you change? I'm not going to answer this question because I really have no idea... I would just like to say tho that Leo is the name of my best friend and the way we bond is over Film/TV so the fact that this question is related is so fitting.

Libra- If you could talk to your past self, what would you tell yourself? You are going to make many mistakes but you are also going to come back from them wiser than you were when you made them.

Lyra- Would you rather be feared or loved? Loved, being feared is not something I believe anyone would enjoy.

Orion- What’s your favorite type of weather? I'm usually only happy when it's dark, there's a thunderstorm and it's raining outside.

Pegasus- What’s your favorite music genre? I have several, sorry I can't just pick one. 

Perseus- What’s your favorite movie genre? Like my music, I have entirely too many and it would be too difficult to choose a favorite.

Pisces- Describe someone you love without saying their name. I can't say love but someone that I'm fond of... She has long hair, is brunette, big beautiful brown eyes, and amazing cheeks (Both above and below, lol), She has the pinkest lips I have seen on a woman. Her smile changes the mood of the day from downright awful to not-so-bad. She doesn't think her boobs are that great but I haven't seen anything I don't like yet. Her skin is tanned and kissed by the sun, I hope one day it will be kissed by me... She has gorgeous legs and thighs that I would love to spend time worshiping.

Sagittarius- What do you do when you don’t feel well? What do you eat/drink? Think about ways to get out of working, lol! I'm a really bad sick person, I don't drink or eat anything but if I did I would say "Hot and Sour" soup from a Chinese restaurant. 

Scorpius- If you had to pick someone to betray you, who would you pick? I'm not even sure why this is a question but if you must know, she's already done it.

Taurus- What makes you feel comfortable? Someone taking an interest in me.

Ursa Major- If you had to pick any job to have, what job would you want? Executive Producer/Showrunner for Drama or Sci-Fi series. 

Virgo- What do you value the most- artistic ability/creativity, musical ability, athletic ability, intellect, or work ethic? 1.) Intellect 2.) Artistic Ability 3.) Creativity

Neutron- Are you more of a leader or a follower? I've been known to take the lead on more than one occasion. So I would say leader.

Supernova- How do you feel about yourself? At one time, I had a very negative opinion of myself. It was brought to my attention by my two best friends that the way I view myself is so inaccurate... Talking with my therapist via Talkspace, I have also learned that I'm a much better person than I gave myself credit for. 

Supergiant- What’s something you like about yourself? My intelligence. 

Red Giant- Would you get into a debate/argument with someone if you heard them saying something you disagree with or know to be wrong, or would you stay silent? It would depend on how well versed I was in the subject matter of the argument or the debate.

Red Dwarf- What’s your favorite smell? What smell makes you feel most comfortable? Perfume on a beautiful woman. 

Protostar- Give a random fact about yourself. In the early 2000's myself and my family, along with at least one or two other families were the subjects of an article in "People Magazine" and if memory services the article was published in 2005.  

Space Asks

Comet- What are you currently frustrated about?

Black Hole- What are you most afraid of? 

Galaxy- Do you have any nicknames? What are they? 

Star- What song(s) do you feel describes you?

Moon- Are you currently reading any books? If so, what book(s)?

Planets- If you could go anywhere, where would you go? 

Mercury- Describe your aesthetic. 

Venus- What’s your favorite tv show? 

Earth- If you could be anyone else for a day, who would you want to be?

Mars- If you could change one thing about yourself, what would you change? 

Jupiter- If you had to pick one color to use for an entire week, what color would you choose? 

Saturn- How far would you go for those you care about? 

Uranus- What would you say is your greatest achievement? 

Neptune- Describe yourself in one sentence. 

Pluto- If you could meet anyone, alive or dead, who would you meet? 

Constellations- If you could have one talent, what would you want it to be? (can be magical or not)

Asteroid- When you die, what do you want to be done with your body?

Aquarius- What’s a topic you enjoy learning about? 

Aquila- Do you prefer to read books or watch movies?

Aries- What is something you enjoy doing?

Auriga- If you had to pick one villain from any media, who would you rather have to face and why?

Bootes- If you could have any animal, wild or not, fake or not, which would you want?

Cancer- How do you want to be remembered? 

Canis Major- How many friends do you have? 

Capricornus- What’s a song lyric that you relate to? 

Cassiopeia- What’s your favorite quote? 

Cygnus- If you could go back to any time period for a couple days, when/where would you want to go?

Gemini- Do you have any siblings? How many?

Leo- If you could change the way any movie was made, which movie would you change?

Libra- If you could talk to your past self, what would you tell yourself?

Lyra- Would you rather be feared or loved?

Orion- What’s your favorite type of weather?

Pegasus- What’s your favorite music genre? 

Perseus- What’s your favorite movie genre?

Pisces- Describe someone you love without saying their name.

Sagittarius- What do you do when you don’t feel well? What do you eat/drink? 

Scorpius- If you had to pick someone to betray you, who would you pick?

Taurus- What makes you feel comfortable?

Ursa Major- If you had to pick any job to have, what job would you want? 

Virgo- What do you value the most- artistic ability/creativity, musical ability, athletic ability, intellect, or work ethic?

Neutron- Are you more of a leader or a follower?

Supernova- How do you feel about yourself? 

Supergiant- What’s something you like about yourself? 

Red Giant- Would you get into a debate/argument with someone if you heard them saying something you disagree with or know to be wrong, or would you stay silent?

Red Dwarf- What’s your favorite smell? What smell makes you feel most comfortable? 

Protostar- Give a random fact about yourself.  

[okayto]

Mini-Review: Heaven’s Design Team

In Heaven's Animal Design Department, designers create a variety of new animals daily while contending with the unreasonable requests of their client: God. 

Oh man, this was fun.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He followed them with light, waters, and the land. Then he created the many animals that would inhabit it. Or...that was the plan. It got too tedious, so he outsourced it.”

Shimoda is an angel, whose job is to facilitate communication between the client (God) and the design team. Shimoda knows absolutely nothing about design principles or animals, so his wide-eyed curiosity functions as the vehicle for plenty of explanations about why, for example, large size often leads to problems.

Similar to Cells at Work, you’ll probably learn something while watching the show, but it’s not edutainment.

It’s primarily a comedy show. The theology, such as it is, is there only to support the setup and the jokes: there’s a client who keeps giving weird, difficult and/or vague requests to a team of designers! And the designers all have different ideas about what works or looks good, and each has their favorite pet project! It’s just that the client is “God” and the designers are...not angels, I don’t think, but definitely nonhuman beings.

You have to accept the setup as allowing the joke of the series to shine through. There are no humans, nor is the series fixed in time, as in one episode the team manages to create both an (IRL) extinct creature and a living one.

Many episodes would deal with the process of trying to refine a creation to meet “the client’s” request while overcoming design challenges: “aquatic but a bad swimmer” “cute but not cute” “a bird that looks like a precious stone.” 

And along the way, there are shenanigans: field testing, or what’s theoretically a relaxing spa day. Is this just an excuse to have character and/or animal hijinks in new settings? Yes. Does it work? Also yes.

A fun game to engage in while watching was trying to figure out what real-world creature the design would turn out to be at the end, as they refine something from nightmare fuel or incompatible-with-life quirks into something that can, ostensibly exist.

Of course, anyone who has ever tried to do any kind of brainstorming with a group knows that people can have very different ideas of what is fitting for any given assignment. Each of the designers--all named after the planets--has their own preferences and quirks. Leader Saturn, for example, came up with the horse before the series started, and now (riding that wave of success) tries to incorporate a horse design into every new brief he works on.

Venus and Mercury, responsible for birds and snakes respectively, are in a sort of evolutionary-design arms race to keep their creations from getting eaten by the other’s. Neptune, a big, burly guy who looks like a walking hug machine, likes soft, fluffy and cute things, while small, cute Pluto likes cute creatures...but her definition of “cute” usually involves deadly toxins or parasites.

(Insects, incidentally, belong to a completely different design department, so if you’re squeamish you won’t see much of them.)

Verdict

English Dub? No.

Visuals: Nice and bright! I loved how the colors had a faint texture applied that made it look like they’d been colored in with markers.

Worth Watching? Heck yes. It’s fantastically entertaining, humorous, and can also act like a palate cleanser if you’ve been watching something serious, dramatic, or even just long. (I watched with my roommate after finishing a season of Battlebots and also Snow White with the Red Hair, and we needed something that wouldn’t trap us for weeks.) Also, the theme song is a bop.

Where to watch (USA, as of January 2022): Crunchyroll & VRV

Click my “reviews” tag below or search “mini review” on my blog to find more!

[imjustexistingtbh]

hello, i am in the market for some fun space facts. i propose a trade, i give you photos of my new stuffed animal, timothy, and you give me space facts.

the boy:

timothy!! he’s adorable!!

as per our agreement, here are some space facts :)

the largest moon in our solar system (ganymede, one of jupiters moons) is larger than mercury

venus was once called both the evening star AND the morning star because it was often seen both after the sun set and right before the sun rose, and early astronomers thought it was two different “stars”

all the planets in our solar system could fit in the distance between earth and our moon. (this is one of my favorite facts, distance in space is HUGE)

olympus mons on mars is the largest mountain in the solar system, at 2.5 times the height of mount everest and almost as large as arizona

the great red spot on jupiter is shrinking, and now it’s only slightly bigger than the earth (during the late 70s and 80s it was 3x the length of earth)

the amount of radiation absorbed during a day on the surface of europa (another one of jupiters moons) is comparable to standing right next to the reactor core at chernobyl (or at least where it used to be) for a full minute. this amount of radiation will easily kill a human within a few days.

all the outer planets have rings, although neptunes and jupiters are extremely faint

uranus rotates on its side. it’s suspected that a giant asteroid “knocked it over” during the early days of our solar system

uranus and venus are the only planets in our solar system to rotate clockwise

the planets are HUGELY spaced out. the diagram below is a representation of how the planets are spaced if they were all in a line instead of at varying points in their orbits, with uranus halfway between the kuiper belt and the sun, and all the inner planets within the green area marked.

thanks for the ask!! ^-^ i always love a good excuse to infodump!!

[hana-bean]

Close to you (2/7)

Yay chapter 2! Please enjoy y’all!

Also a huge thank you to @hoshi-and-hikari for spearheading SeiUsa week ❤️ You’re so great!!!

~~~

I must have walked on To meet you

---

“Where is she? Is she in there?”

“Yes.”

Seiya bowed once he heard the sound of footsteps nearing. He could make out the hem of her white robe in his top peripheral vision before she stopped.

“Hello! You are the guardian from the bar?”

The voice was sweet and inviting which lowered his inner guard by a level. After straightening back up, he tried not to give much more thought that she looked just as gorgeous as she did on television and in pictures.

“Yes, I am, your highness.”

She gasped with a hand over her mouth, causing him to feel the body slam of self-consciousness.

“You’re… a man.” She moved the hand to her chest.

Seiya blinked, unsure of how to reply. But he knew he had to give her something, so he shrugged with a half-smile. “Guilty.”

Serenity relaxed. “I’m sorry. I just thought all guardians were female.”

“That’s true.” He cleared his throat. “We just use this appearance as a protective measure.”

“Huh!” Most intrigued, she then turned toward the two guardians at the door.

“Uranus, please remove his handcuffs.”

“Serenity, I wouldn’t recommend that.” The blonde started walking toward them.

“Why?”

“Because he could hurt you!”

“And I’ve never been able to take care of myself when, exactly?” Already over it, she pointed at Seiya. “Take them off.”

Uranus acquiesced with a huff, producing a small key from inside her boot and removing the shackles. Seiya didn’t waste the opportunity to give her a smug, victorious smirk whenever she was looking.

Serenity beamed. “Thank you, Uranus. That’ll be all for tonight.”

Uranus was about to protest once more, but the look from her highness already told her that her mind was made up. Scoffing and grumbling, the guardian stomped off and out the door.

Neptune, entertained by the whole scene, walked up to place the plastic grocery bag on the table.

“These are his things. Good night, my queen.” She then took her leave.

Once alone, Serenity released a breath as if she had been holding it for a while. “I love those two but they can be so intense.” She then extended a hand toward Seiya’s chair with a smile. “Please sit!”

He obeyed as she took her own seat beside him. Having carried a large crystal pad with her, she laid it aside on the table to give attention to the contents inside the plastic bag. The first item she grabbed was his cell phone, which itself was a smaller translucent rectangle of crystal. She placed it to the side before going for the next item: his transformation headset.

“Ooh, this is interesting!” Her face lit up as she turned it in all directions for inspection. Figuring out that it went on her ear, she did just that, and then put her hands on her hips and moved her shoulders.

“I feel like a pop star!”

Seiya laughed, his heart melting at her unqueenly yet endearing behavior.

She moved the mouthpiece up and down. “So you use this to transform?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“And it’s ‘Fighter Star Power?’”

His blue eyes widened, scared she was psychic. “Yes, how did you know?”

“There are videos of you transforming on the news.” She giggled as she removed the headset from her ear and placed it on the table. “That was quite a mess you were in.”

A blush appeared on his cheeks as he scratched his head. Despite knowing he wasn’t at fault, he still felt embarrassed.

“But,” she continued, “that’s also how I found out you were here. So something good came out of it at least.” She bit her lip as her eyes twinkled at him. “Are you okay, though?”

“Yes. Just a little banged up, but I’ll be fine.”

“The doctors said you should be healed in a few weeks. So you will stay here until you do.”

“Here? In the palace?” His eyes widened while he shook his head. “I couldn’t, your highness—”

“I insist. I can have doctors check on you daily to aid in your recovery.”

He gulped and kept quiet, afraid to refuse the queen again in case it carried a death sentence.

Interpreting his silence as acceptance, she grabbed her crystal pad and tapped on it to reveal a digital screen. “So tell me… Fighter… do you have a civilian name?”

“It’s Seiya Kou.”

“And where are you from, Seiya Kou?”

“All over.” He chuckled. “But our home is Kinmoku.”

“Our?”

“Oh yeah, there’s three of us!” Seiya had forgotten about Taiki and Yaten for the moment. Whoops.

She gasped in excitement. “Wow! Three of you? Where are they?”

“They’re, uh…” he scratched his head again, “in a detention center.”

“Ohh right, right…” The realization dawned on her. “I’ll make sure to have them brought here. I’d like to meet them, too.” She tapped around on the pad in different places, interspersed with some scrolling. “What was the name of your home again?”

“Kinmoku.”

“Kin… mo… ku…” After more tapping, she squinted her eyes in an effort to process the information that populated on her screen. Several moments passed before they widened in tandem with the smacking of her tongue.

“Wow… you’ve come a very, very long way, Seiya.”

“Not by choice…”

She nodded in agreement. “It says here that Kinmoku was one of the initial planets attacked by Galaxia.”

He had no words as his response, only rage, evident by his tight jaw and loud gulp.

Picking up on the heaviness of his energy, Serenity continued. “I don’t know if you know, but Crystal Tokyo has an open policy for refugees, even from an attack as long ago as Galaxia. I can have you registered as an asylum seeker—”

“With all due respect, your highness, we’re not here to seek asylum.” The sternness in his voice was palpable.

In attempts to maintain sympathy for his shift in emotion, and keep hers relatively stable, she placed her pad down and leaned back in her chair. “Then what do you seek?”

His gaze fell. “I can say what we don’t seek… is trouble. So we’ll leave this planet immediately. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

“No, please!” Serenity leaned over, placing a gentle, desperate hand on top of his as if it were to stop him should he stand up. Eagerness met ambivalence as each pair of blue eyes stared deeply into the other.

“I’m the one that called you here.” She continued. “I want to know your story.”

The power of touch was a phenomenon that made his heart pump wildly to the point of confession. But it was taking his mind a while to trust her, so Serenity resumed her verbal coaxing.

“Seiya… I want to help you and I can’t if you don’t talk to me.” She squeezed his hand and bit into her lips. “As one guardian to another, let me help you.”

He sighed, having to reach deep within to find his words and courage.

“It’s our princess. We're looking for our princess.”

Serenity nodded, resting her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands, ready to listen.

Seiya continued. “She fled when Galaxia attacked. We decided she would go first and we would follow. We had a plan to meet at a neighboring planet but… when we got there, Galaxia had already ravaged through it, just like ours. And our princess was nowhere to be found.” He rubbed his sweaty palms on his thighs, breathing through the trauma of the memories.

“And so we went on to the next planet, and then the next one… Each destination was based on hunches and hearsay mostly, looking for any hint that she was there or had been there.”

Serenity cocked her head. “How did you go about trying to find her once you were on a planet?”

“Singing. She really loves music.” He flashed a smile. “We sing familiar songs to try to draw her to us. And if they’re catchy enough, we hope that the locals might pass them along too, and maybe she’ll hear it and know we’re out there and haven’t given up.”

She nodded before looking down, almost afraid to ask. “Have you… considered the fact… that maybe she’s...”

“Yes, we have. We check for death records regularly wherever we end up.” He answered over her, sparing her awkwardness. “But we just so happened to catch a merchant on ætSe-18 who had sold a royal incense burner to someone here from Earth. He couldn’t confirm it was Kinmokian, but the way he described it—its design and scent—there’s no mistake it’s from Kinmoku.”

“How would the burner lead you to her?”

“She also harnesses the power of stars and can take on other forms. Her incense burner was her favorite hiding spot. She must have taken it with her when she fled, or at least that’s what we hope. It’s our only hope at this point.”

Moved by the story, a distant smile spread upon her lips, and she relaxed into her chair. “She must be quite a princess for you to spend ten years looking for her.”

He shook his head with a smile. “I know no other purpose.”

Serenity paused to give her mind a few moments to think before sitting upright with resolution written all over her face.

“We should get some sleep then. Tomorrow is a big day.”

Seiya’s face blinked into confusion. “Is it?”

The beam on her face lit up the whole room as she nodded and winked. “It’s the Queen’s Birthday Festival tomorrow. We’ll need our strength to celebrate.”

A smirk twitched on the side of his mouth. “Oh right. I remember that being advertised.”

“It’ll be a fun time. And I’m sure a much-needed and deserved day off for you.”

He breathed out a laugh, a twinkle forming in his eye.

“And then after that,” she continued. “We look for your princess.”

The twinkle then faded into distress. “Oh… no… no, no… It’s okay, your highness! I know you have more important things to do—”

“I’ve got people for that!” She waved a dismissive hand at him. “Plus, I said I wanted to help, so I’m going to help. You can't be going out there getting into more bar fights in your condition, and I’m sure the other guardians aren’t in that much better shape.”

He opened his mouth to speak but Serenity gave him that same look she gave Uranus earlier in the night, submitting him to speechlessness. While she seemed to make his mind spin, she also made him feel calm. Redness formed on his cheeks as he realized the subliminal control she had over him; whether it was intentional or not was a mystery, but he didn’t care.

A victorious grin spread across her face. “It’s settled then.”

---

---

Please note if you would like to follow this story, I will be updating the rest of the chapters under the tag: hanabean close to you and other iterations of the spacing. I love you all!

[shiny-parsnips]

23, 25 and 30,,, love you! <3

Haiiii thanks bestie mwah

23 - ASTRONOMY YASSSSS I’m starting to get into history more cause it’s so interesting and like goofy and silly but it also lets you compare it to modern times, y’know? See how things changed and all that jazz. But ASTRONOMT??? YASSSSS THE BEST!!!! My favorite planet is Jupiter its the most colorful and it’s so goofy like it can crush me in seconds just by entering the atmosphere?! Yasss slay!!! It has the funniest lil moons and its like wooooow we love to see that!! All the planets are amazing in their own unique way, of course. Like for example, Saturn is like..... holy shit!!! Those rings are like no joke. I’ve heard a lot of people say it’s the ”ringed planet” and it’s like YEHA YOURE NOT WRONG BUT ALL THE GAS PLANETS HAVE RINGS???? It’s just Saturn’s are more visible that’s just too silly ALSO ISNT IT FUNNY HOW URANUS IS ON ITS SIDE??? Playing a silly prank on us poor thing probably can’t get up though NEPTUNE IS SO PRETTY TOO it’s so interdesting how like........ it is itself. LIKE HUH YOU ARE AMAZING??? I’m leaving out the rocky planets sorry guys MARS IS SO PRETTY BRIGHT RED SLAYYYY they say it used to be like earth but then dried up and shit due to the sun’s solar winds and its lack of atmosphere made it worse than liiiike us so now it looks like that. VENUS IS SO INTERESTING like did you know it’s the hottest planet even though it’s only the second closest from the sun?? ITS TRUE!!!! Because its atmosphere is so thick and it traps all that heat and all those gases so it looks like what earth once was SPEAKING OF EARTH ITS THE ALMOSY THE SAME SIZE OF IT ISNT THAT CRAZY BONKERS??? Mercury... waow... A FULL ORBIT FOR YOU IS ONLY 88 DAYS??? OKAY SLAY IGGGG silly bonkers it’s called Mercury after the messenger god cause it’s the fastest ehehehehe silly!!!!!! Anyway this is getting really long lemme hurry it up. All in all APPRECIATE OUR SOLAR SYSTEM ITS SO UNIQUE!!!!!!

25 - I learn by learning.......... uh I suppose you could say I’m like.... idk a mixture of both like it really depends on what it is like if it’s like reading about something like astronomy I remember it well from there I don’t need to do anything special same with auditory learning I’ll listen fine if you don’t drone on and on but let’s say it’s like an experiment and it’s like I gotta hear it and read it to do it YOU GOTTA SHOW ME LIKE PLEASE I CANR DO IT FROM A TEXTBOOK OR WHATEVA dunno if this answers it like idk I just learn but sometimes I need it a specific way for me to perfect (or at least do well in) it and to understand it mwahah

30 - I. LOVW. READING!!!!!!!!! Reading is great if it’s something very interdestjng it’ll be a breeze but like if it’s boring as hell its like ENOUGH!!! Reading is great to take a break from the world lile with Dostoevsky I LOVE DOSTOEVSKY OMG LEMME TELL YOU ABOUT HIM HE MAKES THE SILLIEST LIL CHARACTERS BUT KEEPS THE PLOT INTERESTING AND ALL THE CHATACTERS ARE WELL THOUGHT OUT AND AHVE THEIR OWN LIL FLAWS AND SHIT BUT THEYRE AMAZING YASSS WE LOVE TO SEE RAZUMIKHIN AND KIRILLOV!!!!!!! Anyway I also really like other authors like Orwell is wonderful Camus I just got into he really made me love him because of The Stranger and I will be getting into Kafka soon eheheheh Lord of the Flies is great too mwah very good would read again and would cry to again yasss!!!! Sometimes I’m like “Okay time to start reading..... sigh“ and it’s like hard to stay invested but other times I’m like “OKAY TIME TO READ YASS!!!!” Like with the stranger I was like ugh time to read the strranger but then it got SO INTERESTING???????? Like wow dude you really did that and you still don’t gove a shit way to go bozo (affectionate)

HALP I KINDA WENT ON A TANGENT FOR MOST OF THESE MY BAD but erm enjoy if I answered a question the wrong way let me know or something ack

Thanks again Eni!! We love to see you being you and slaying life like the boyboss you are!!!!!! 💖💖💖💖

[ffamranxii]

Sailor Stars thoughts:

1. The anime does its absolute best to make the Starlights unlikable. Taiki is a fucking asshole (he won’t even give a dying girl, who he explicitly was taken to visit, an autograph, and tells a bunch of children that their grandfather’s theory about souls becoming stars is dead wrong), Seiya is a Nice Guy who hits on Usagi constantly despite being told multiple times she has a boyfriend, and Yaten is a mildly sarcastic cardboard cutout. I know the manga doesn’t expand on them much but the anime is supposed to help make these people real. Counterexample is Chibi-Chibi, who hardly speaks in the manga and relies on her cuteness alone to be likable. They gave her a very cute voice because it was literally all they had to work with, given how often Chibi-Chibi actually appears

2. The dub cast for the Starlights is frankly awful. As civilians, Taiki alternates between a woman trying too hard to make her voice deep and having a bad cold, Seiya sounds like a prepubescent boy, and Yaten sounds like a woman (which they’re not, as civilians); as Starlights their voices are VERY high pitched, especially Yaten’s. Their sub voices just sound like woman talking a bit deeply and then normal women.

3. Why the FUCK did Toei think literally changing sex was less controversial than crossdressing? The Starlights are women and have always been women. Plus, them being male civilians in the anime creates a paradox, because if they’re men with sailor crystals who can become senshi, why can’t Mamoru - who is confirmed multiple times throughout the series as carrying the earth’s star seed and thus being Sailor Earth - do the same? Naoko said Mamoru can’t be a sailor senshi because he’s a man, but the Starlights don’t abide by this rule, they change their fucking biological sex

4. Why is absolutely no one concerned that Chibi-Chibi, a THREE YEAR OLD, just goes off on her own and has her own little adventures? She wanders into some strange old man’s house and they’re all “oh that’s just Chibi-Chibi,” and no one is worried that a literal stranger invites a three year old into his house where he gives her toys and candy? The 90s were WILD, man

5. Why does Chibi-Chibi, again who is THREE YEARS OLD, have a thigh gap?

6. This one’s on Naoko because it’s like this in the manga, but the anime is supposed to expand on the universe so I blame them too: Why does literally nobody question Chibi-Chibi’s motives? Some strange pink haired child who fucking falls out of the sky one day up and brainwashes Usagi’s mom into thinking she’s her second daughter, and nobody bats an eye at this? That’s sus as fuck and literally the only question anyone has is “is she your kid or Chibiusa’s?” She doesn’t even have a NAME, “chibi” is just a random word she says!

7. I am DIGGING the mobster feel of the Animamates’ civilian forms. Especially Iron Mouse and Tin Nyanko, who clearly launder money through a shady car dealership.

8. The Starlights’ only redeeming qualities are their snazzy entrance music and Seiya’s red suit

9. Why is Aluminum Siren the only Animamate who understands that a senshi has a pure star seeds? Like, y’all killed the senshi of your home planets to take their star seeds so YOU could be senshi (which is presumably why Galaxia wants more seeds, to make more Animamates with them), shouldn’t you know that?

10. Aluminum Siren/Lead Crow are trying their damn hardest to give Harumichi a run for their money in the quest to become the Best Space Lesbians.

11. So the Moon Kingdom fosters loyalty through child soldiers. I’m assuming Queen Serenity has her own senshi in the form of our senshi’s mothers, etc. (Which begs the question of if the Asteroid Senshi are supposed to be the future kids of our senshi or if they too are child soldiers from the asteroids they’re named after.) Kinmoku seems to foster loyalty by having the Kakyuu’s senshi fall in unrequited love with her. (In the manga it’s stated Kakyuu has a husband who died when their planet was destroyed.) I mean, whatever works, right?

12. I LOVE Tin Nyanko’s dub voice. She’s only around Usagi’s age and she sounds it

13. The dub actress for Lead Crow seems like she’s half assing it. Her voice doesn’t raise properly when she yells, she never sounds really angry, and it’s just so odd. I find a lot of dub voices do this, while the original Japanese VAs will scream their lungs out into the mic

14. On the reverse, Galaxia’s voice actress is a badass. She’s supposed to have a deep menacing voice but I like the one they gave her in the dub. She’s quiet, and sounds almost kind, and that’s a fucking TERRIFYING sort of villain we don’t see a lot of. Even when she’s pissed she doesn’t raise her voice.

15. Why are Lead Crow and Tim Nyanko the same height? Lead Crow is like 5’10 and Tin Nyanko is 4’11 like Sailor Moon

16. As an aside, Tin Nyanko and Lead Crow don’t like each other, which reminds me of the cats vs crows trash can showdown in Haikyuu lol

17. Haruka’s hate boner for Seiya gives me life

18. FINALLY someone calls the Starlights out on being assholes but it’s only after Makoto sees them harassing a THREE YEAR OLD (Chibi-Chibi). Literally everyone BUT Usagi thinks they’re assholes. “They sing such beautiful songs!” Bro. You can sing pretty and still be a fucking dick.

19. Lead Crow goes after Sailor Moon only after reading Siren’s notebook. Ditzy SIREN is the smartest Animamate, lord help them

20. Kakyuu’s dub voice is SO GOOD. She’s my favorite minor character, I’m still bitter they didn’t show Sailor Kakyuu

21. Seiya’s crush on Usagi was so awkwardly shoehorned in. I hate it. Jesus fucking Christ Usagi is sobbing in the goddamn rain about how much she misses Mamoru and Seiya is STILL coming onto her.

22. It is literally so fucking funny to me that Mamoru spends all of Stars fucking dead. He’s just a perpetual damsel in distress.

23. Rei literally lectures Usagi about leading Seiya on and how “you need to do the right thing and tell him you already have someone,” AS IF USAGI HASN’T BEEN DOING THAT AT EVERY AVAILABLE OPPORTUNITY. THE FIRST TIME THEY MET SHE SAID SHE HAD A BOYFRIEND, SHE’S TOLD SEIYA OVER AND OVER THAT SHE ISN’T INTERESTED IN HIM, THAT SHE’S GOT A BOYFRIEND, THAT SHE LOVES HER BOYFRIEND. The fucking MISOGYNY here, like it’s Usagi leading Seiya on instead of Seiya being a fucking Nice Guy who can’t take no for a goddamn answer. Shut the fuck up, Rei.

24. Pretty sure under Kakyuu’s headdress is a pair of odango

25. The fact that Iron Mouse and Aluminum Siren both die when their bracelets are removed yet Tin Nyanko doesn’t implies that Tin Nyanko was the original Sailor Mau. Mouse and Siren dying implies that forcing senshi powers on a civilian is dangerous and that Galaxia’s bracelets are the only thing keeping them alive (albeit brainwashed). Yet Tin Nyanko seems to revert to “good” when one of her bracelets is destroyed. Galaxia has to intervene and kill her personally. Tin Nyanko may have offered her senshi powers to spare Mau (this applies only in the anime; in the manga she’s explicitly said to have killed Sailor Mau)

26. Oooh Galaxia’s angry voice is so commanding and sexy

27. Don’t gimme that “we love Usagi but we love you Starlights just as much.” No you fucking don’t. The whole death scene in the anime is just so... ugh. Bad.

28. The Outers fighting Galaxia is hilarious. They’re supposed to be stronger than the Inners yet Galaxia never even has to get out of her chair to kick their asses. The writers were trying real hard to make us fear the worst and back the senshi into a corner but literally they’ve made this an impossible battle to win that only becomes winnable due to plot armor.

29. Rewatching Stars and classic after Eternal and Crystal makes me miss the battle damage the fuku took. The new series always has them looking pristine, but in classic they actually get roughed up and battle scarred. It makes it more real.

30. Aww how come Uranus and Neptune got to keep their names when they joined Galaxia? I wanna know what whack ass Animamate name they would’ve gotten. (Also Galaxia literally just sent them out like Pokémon, wtf)

31. I feel like Saturn dying shouldn’t be possible since she’s literally a senshi of death but... whatever, go off I guess.

32. So.... Uranus and Neptune joining Galaxia to try and take her star seed is a cool idea that absolutely did not happen in the manga, and needed more than half an episode of development. Would’ve been a cool plot if it wasn’t so rushed.

33. So much of this season was rushed so they could tie the series up at a beat 200 episodes. If they really didn’t want to go over 200, they should’ve cut the Nehelennia arc (which isn’t in the manga anyway) and and focused on developing the Animamates, this sweet Harumichi betrayal plot, and explaining Chibi-Chibi??? Her existence makes no sense without Sailor Cosmos, and they just... didn’t include her??? Wtf

[aiorevelations]

A Number, Not a Name: Part 16!

Last chapter for tonight! Feel free to share your thoughts and reactions if you like. We’d love to see them! : - )

15 years earlier:

Liana stared up at the ceiling of her room, gazing up at the stars projected by the galaxy projector. Her mother had loved astronomy or at least that was what she’d heard. She supposed she’d inherited her love for space and celestial objects from her. The stars always seemed to help whenever she was feeling sad and alone. Try her hardest to forget her father’s words from earlier, they had cut through her heart like a knife. Tears filled her eyes and a sob escaped her lips. 

She bit her lip back, trying not to cry. “Venus…” she whispered to herself, “so bright and beautiful.” Her eyes flitted over the ceiling. “And Jupiter, so large and colorful. I wish I was up there…in the sky,” her voice cracked, “away from all this.” 

Haunting images and scenes shook her. Her father lashing his hand across her face. His hand in a vice-like grip around her arm. Abusive words and insults spewing from his mouth. And her shrinking back from him in terror. 

A pang shot through her heart. Why couldn’t her father love her…if only for a moment. From the time she was born he had hated her. Make-believe - it was what had sustained her through the years. In her mind, she saw her fictional family, whose fictional details she’d memorized. Mom, obviously, was an astronomer. One of the best in the world. At least that’s how she saw her in her eyes. Every Sunday she’d make her signature chocolate cake. She and her sister would dash to the kitchen to offer her their help when what they really wanted was to get a small taste of the batter. By the time the cake was ready they, their mom, and the whole kitchen would be covered in flour. The result of one of their “famous” flour fights. Mom at first had disapproved of the whole thing and tried to put a stop to it. However, after being covered head to toe with flour on one occasion, she’d joined in on the fun. 

Dad was a botanist, and he preferred plants to people, except when it came to his family. Gumdrops and lollipops, he’d bring them home every Friday after work. Smiles would fill the living room as she and her sister would eagerly await their Dad’s arrival. He’d playfully pretend to be hurt that they only waited for the candy, not to greet him. They’d tell that wasn’t true and give him a huge hug. And he’d hug them back…both of them. 

Her sister…was the only part of her “family” grounded in reality. Her sister was Lena and Lena was her. Her voice. Her laugh. Her smile. Their epic “battles” in Scrabble. Nearly every time Milena would win to Liana’s frustration. Their happy place was Terzian lake. They’d swim and splash each other senseless. Laughs and giggles would fill the air. All their problems and troubles would melt away in the warm afternoon sun and it’d just be them…together and happy.

Liana turned over on the bed, burying her head in the comforter. Most times it was easier to just try and shut everything out, ignore the real world she was in and the ache in her heart. Tic-tock, tic-tock, the clock that graced her nightstand marked the minutes she laid there motionless on the bed. 

A soft hand gently touched her back. Rolling over Liana saw her sister glancing down at her, a worried look in her eyes. Safety, that’s what she felt whenever her sister was around. Despite his overwhelming hatred toward her, Norvan at least controlled his anger in his oldest daughter's presence.

Milena sat beside her on the bed. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be okay…just thinking.”

Milena tucked a curl behind her little sister’s ear. “Thinking about what?”

Liana looked down at her hands, her mind suddenly blank. What should she say? Tell her the truth. Shatter her view of their father. Reveal that beneath his masquerade as a supporting loving father he was a cruel monster, who she despised. Would she even believe her? For Milena, their dad was everything a girl would want in a father. He supported her and showered her with gifts and affection. He gave her the world. Worse what if Milena turned on her for saying such things. Lena was all that she had. Joy was a rarity in her life and, for her, Lena was its only source. No, she couldn’t risk losing the only light in her life.

“About…mom. I wish I knew what she was like. Do you remember her?”

Milena sighed “Not really. I mean I see her sometimes in my mind. But it’s not a memory. It’s more like…I don’t know.” She sniffed. “ Bits and pieces in time. Fragments. Like…a collection of moments and feelings. The warmth of her arms around me. The sound of her voice as she sang me lullabies. It was the only thing that could get me to sleep.”

Liana sat up. “She sounds…wonderful.”

“She was.” Milena gently rubbed her sister’s hand.

“I wish she was here.”

“Me too” Milena lied back on the bed. “When I think of Mom I feel…it’s hard to explain. It’s more like there’s something missing, an emptiness, rather than a feeling of loss. It’s hard to miss someone you can’t even truly remember.” She turned to face Liana “But I’m lucky I have you.” 

“And I’m lucky to have you.” Both girls smiled. 

“Which reminds me. Yesterday I was going through the things in my jewelry box. And found this” she held up a bracelet. 

“Mom’s old charm bracelet. I always loved the little stars on it.”

“I want you to have it.”

Liana shook her head. “No, no. Dad gave it to you on your tenth birthday.”

“And now I’m giving it to you.” She glanced up at the ceiling “I love stars but not as much as you do. I know Mom would have loved for you to have it. Also, think of it as a way to be closer to her.”

“I-I don’t know…”

“For me…please…I want you to have it.”

Liana relented and took the bracelet. “Okay…for you.” She silently placed it around her wrist and gave a small smile.

“It looks beautiful on you,” Milena commented.

“Thanks.” Liana softly replied, looking down at the bracelet.

“Hey,” Milena gently touched Liana’s shoulder causing her to look up at her older sister’s gaze. “I love you to Saturn and back.”

Liana gave a small laugh at her sister’s use of her favorite planet. “And I love you… to Venus and back.”

“No. No, don't use Venus.” Milena protested.

“Why not? It’s your favorite planet.”

“It’s closer to the earth than Saturn. And there’s no way you love me more than I love you.”

“Okay.” Liana thought for a second. “Then how about, we both love each other to Neptune and back. Since Neptune was the Roman god of the sea and the ocean, and the water is our happy place.”

Milena smiled. “I love that. To Neptune and back.”

“To Neptune and back.”

“Forever.” Milena took her sister’s hand.

Liana squeezed Milena’s hand back. “Forever.”

…..

Present-day:

Jason made his way up the bifurcated staircase to the ballroom. In the distance, he could hear Beethoven’s Für Elise resonating from the room. Some part of him felt a sense of relief that he had made it back to the confines of Dalmar’s home yet another was filled with dread. After the horrific scenes that had just unfolded before him, the last thing he wanted to do was to spend hours with the man behind it all. On the surface, he appeared exactly like any other gala attendee, animated and lively, yet inside a burning anger consumed his soul. 

He looked upon the sea of people gathered in the ballroom. How could these people wine and dine without a care in the world? While not even five miles away an innocent man had been tortured and murdered without a second thought. What he wouldn’t give to be able to take Dalmar down, right there, at that moment. To make him pay for all that he had done.

He saw now how easily what agents saw and experienced out on the field could make them slip into the darkness. Make their whole mission about vengeance instead of justice. Jason had heard stories of agents going rogue and deciding to kill their targets, rather than allowing them to be brought in. He’d told himself that he could never be that easily swayed. That no situation would ever get the best of him. He wished he hadn’t spoken so soon as he now realized that it wasn’t as easy as he had thought. It was one thing to be behind a desk, sticking to your code on the field was another. 

Jason scanned the vast room for Tasha. His eyes landed on her in the corner of the grand room. Dalmar was twirling her around, prompting a laugh from her. How could Tasha just casually giggle and dance with Dalmar like that?

It is what I'm supposed to be doing. It just feels so…like we should be doing more to help these people than playing a role at one of Dalmar’s galas.

He couldn’t help but feel affronted, he then saw Dalmar encircle both of his arms around Tasha, pulling her dangerously close to him. 

Of course, he's attracted to her. She looks even more beautiful and attractive in that dress. Who knows it might even work out to our advantage. If he likes her there’s probably less chance he’ll suspect us. Still, Jason couldn't shake the disgust and repulsion he felt seeing her in his arms.

As Jason walked closer to her Tasha saw him come into view. Immediately a sense of relief washed over her, yet she was still angry at him for choosing to sneak off. She called out to him. “Edward.”

“Mr. Delucas. How kind of you to grace us once again with your presence. I was thinking you had perhaps gotten lost.” Dalmar added. 

“Only in conversation with a lovely blonde,” Jason responded, which was partly true.

Dalmar chuckled. “I must confess I cannot understand how Ms. Tylerson has escaped your attention.”

“Actually, we tried before. It didn’t work out.”

Tasha smirked. “It’s true what they say about mixing business with pleasure, don’t. Eventually, we had to decide whether to be partners in business or life. And well that was an easy choice.”

Jason crossed his arms. “Yeah, for the sake of my sanity.”

“I was thinking of the money” she fired back.

Dalmar was somewhat taken aback by the exchange between the supposed exes. “So…Mr. Delucas, what do you think of this evening so far?” he asked, attempting to make conversation.

“It’s fine. Though with all due respect I’ve attended better events” Jason tersely replied.

Dalmar found himself surprised by Jason’s blunt response. Upon meeting him he’d struck him as someone who kept their inner feelings closed off from others. “And what about the works by Sargayan?”

“They’re fine I suppose. I prefer Surrealism” he responded curtly. Frankly, he was sick of humoring Dalmar. Talking with him as if it were as natural as breathing. As if he wasn’t responsible for the deaths of countless individuals.

Tasha found herself getting a little unnerved and even annoyed by Jason’s aggressive demeanor. He didn't seem himself, or at least the self she had become accustomed to for the past several days. Outwardly, he appeared very much the same but in his eyes, there was a passion, a fire. Images of Jason flooded through her mind from earlier that day confirming what she was nearly sure of, that look in his eyes, it hadn’t been there before he abruptly left the gala. She felt deep in her soul that something was different now. A shift of sorts had taken place which she only now realized had occurred. Things were different now; she didn't know what to expect. One thing she knew for sure: she didn't like it. Nor did she appreciate Jason’s behavior during the evening. It seemed almost to her that he was determined to blow his, not to mention her cover every chance he got. First by sneaking off into the woods and now starting a near verbal confrontation with their target. Completion of their assignment was the only thing that mattered in the end. Especially now when all that was left was to make it through the rest of the evening without being caught. This was no time to mess things up.

Tasha interjected. “I found the pieces to be quite lovely…as well as this evening. I also told Davit that we have to return to South Africa to attend to some business, but that we’ll be back on Wednesday when the weapons are delivered.”

Paying no attention to Tasha’s words, Dalmar directed his reply to Jason. “I had planned to save the highlight of this evening for later. But since you seem to be so bored with tonight’s festivities I’d say it’s time to liven things up a little. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Jason shrugged. “It’s your party. Besides why even ask me in the first place. You do whatever you want.” A touch of anger shone through his voice. One could feel the temperature in the room begin to rise. Beethoven’s Für Elise and the dancing about the ballroom came to a standstill. Whispers from the crowd filled the tense silence as they witnessed the unfolding scene. Everyone knew Dalmar wasn’t accustomed to being addressed in such a forward manner. The glowering expression on his face confirmed that much.

Dalmar walked closer to Jason. The two of them were standing nearly eye to eye. Anger burned in Dalmar’s eyes; his jaw was visibly clenched. He turned his head to Jason’s ear and sharply whispered. “I suggest you remember who is the guest and who is the host.” Dalmar stepped back from Jason and began making his way to the center of the room.

Tasha stood, her heart pounding, recognizing how close things had been to taking a downward spiral. She laid her hand on Jason's wrist; his pulse raced against her fingers. She looked earnestly at him, hoping he’d let it go. Jason sighed and unclenched his jaw. Patience had never been his strong suit. He never could just wait and sit back. Let things fall into place. He always wanted to take action and make things the way he wanted them to be. The way they should be. It didn’t help how easy it was for him to get angry. His parents were always telling him to learn how to control his anger, yet it seemed a part of him. 

Dalmar’s voice echoed throughout the room. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to thank you all for attending tonight’s event. I hope you’ve enjoyed yourselves.” The audience spoke and nodded in agreement. “This evening I have something to share with you all. Now I’m sure you all are probably acquainted with the person I’m about to introduce. She’s an extraordinary entertainer. Her voice and songs have captured us all. May I present Krudia’s own Ms. Jemma Kazarian.”

A tall young woman, with shining brown eyes and a beaming smile, came into view. In her hand, she held a microphone which she brought to her lips. The music started and Jemma’s melodious voice filled the room. Neither Jason nor Tasha paid attention to the song. The words seemed to blur in the background; their thoughts elsewhere.

…..

Outside, the sky was as dark as pitch, the sun long since set below the horizon. Tasha and Jason bid their goodbyes to Dalmar and then headed back to their hotel. They were silent on the way back to The Chardell. Tasha glanced out the tinted window of the BMW, burning to tell Jason what she thought of his actions at the gala. They had gathered all the information they needed, their mission was officially complete, yet she knew she couldn’t just ignore Jason's rash actions and behavior. They’d been lucky this time, or at least so it appeared, but what about the next time. True the odds were she probably wouldn’t be Jason’s partner on his next assignment. But what about his next partner, their security. The security of the mission. If Jason’s reckless streak continued on his assignments it was only a matter of time before something happened. Not if, when. Lives could be lost. National, even international security could be put at risk. Jason needed to be reined in before that happened and it was up to her to do that. 

He had to understand that this incident could have resulted in deeper consequences. His passion for helping others, for bringing down the bad guys, for trying to defend the free world, that was undeniable. But along with a desire to make the world a better place agents had to be able to exercise restraint, to know when to hold back. Jason’s relentless drive to catch the bad guys would do them no good if it got them killed. And if they were killed, or worse, successfully interrogated, it could spell disaster for the NSA. At the very least, it most certainly would prevent them from stopping Dalmar, something they couldn’t afford at any cost.

Crisp cool air hit them as they exited the car. How things had changed since they were last at their hotel. Jason had noticed Tasha was unusually quiet on the ride to The Chardell but assumed she was tired from the long evening. 

Once in his hotel room, Jason carefully pulled the pen out of his pocket and placed it next to the stationary on his nightstand. When it came to ensuring its security his best bet was putting it in a setting where it didn’t appear out of place. If it was seen in a safe or hidden somewhere it would be easy to determine that it wasn’t just a pen. 

A knock came from the door. Jason opened it and found Tasha standing in front of him, a serious expression on her face.

“I guess we need to talk,”  Jason spoke.

“Yes. We do” Tasha crossed her arms.

“I was just about to take a shower. So perfect timing.”

Tasha inwardly sighed. I could really use a shower. A long and very cold one to cool me off. 

Jason turned on the shower to its highest setting. “Since it’s late and we’re both tired, I’ll cut to the chase.” Jason took a breath, eager to tell Tasha of his success. “I got it. The intel we need. I took some shots of a file on Dalmar’s laptop. His plans, where the weapons are stored, it's all there. It’s all on my pen in the other room. Not only do we have intel on his plans we also have photographic evidence. That should make it an airtight case.”

“That’s…good,” Tasha replied in an even tone. “Dalmar pretty much told me the same. Took me to a bunker, showed me the weapons.”

Jason didn’t say anything for a moment. He was surprised by Tasha’s reaction. After how she’d stressed the importance of learning this info hours earlier, he had expected her to show more emotion now that they’d acquired the necessary intel. He could tell from the look on her face that something was wrong.

“You know I’d figured you’d be… I don’t know…more excited that we have the intel we need. What’s wrong?”

Tasha glanced to the side and shook her head in disbelief. Anger trembled through her; she knew she couldn’t hold back any longer. “What were you thinking? Speaking to Dalmar that way. Sneaking off like that. You jeopardized this entire operation. You could have easily blown our cover.”

“But I didn’t.” he firmly responded. “I don’t see any reason to get all bent out of shape.”

“Bent out of shape?” Tasha repeated his words, stunned he’d even say such a thing. Why Jason couldn’t see the seriousness of the situation and even regarded it as trivial, she couldn’t fathom.

“Look, there was a good chance Dalmar wasn’t going to tell us anything. I know what I did was a bit of a risk but not as great a chance we were taking relying on him to give us the intel we needed. You’ve seen his supporters. You’ve seen what he’s capable of. An innocent man was literally tortured and murdered not twenty feet from where I was standing.” The horrific scene replayed before him. “All I could think about was how much I wanted to bring Dalmar in, right then and there. To just forget the mission and…take him down on the spot. I was sick of humoring him. Pretending to enjoy his company when I’ve seen all the suffering and pain he’s responsible for.”

“I know it’s difficult to keep up your cover when all around you see the terrible things these people are doing. But when you take this job it’s what you sign up for. We play these roles so we can catch the bad guys.”

“Exactly! We go undercover so we can bring people like Dalmar to justice. But what good is playing a “role” if we have no evidence to do that. I had to ensure we had all the evidence we needed to convict Dalmar.”

“What about our lives? Our security? You put  them deliberately at risk.” Tasha stretched out her arm, emphasizing her point.

“C’mon Tasha, no need to be overly dramatic about this. It’s not like our lives weren’t in any danger to begin with. Besides, what about the security of the free world? We can’t just sit around and wait for Dalmar to get the upper hand. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to stop these guys. Are you?”

Tasha’s voice rose. “So now you’re questioning my ability?  This isn’t even about me.”

“Who said I was questioning your ability? Frankly, I don’t get why you’re so upset. We got all the information we needed and nothing serious happened.”

“Right now I don’t care that nothing serious happened. You took an unnecessary risk!” 

Jason shook his head, his frustration growing by the second. It was obvious he and Tasha weren’t going to see eye to eye on this issue. “Look, doing good involves risk, that's how it works. I thought about it and decided that finding out the truth about Dalmar’s scheme was worth the increased danger of getting caught. I wasn’t just about to sit back and let my first field mission be a failure!” 

Donovan’s words came flooding back to her mind. In my experience I have found that oftentimes new agents are so anxious to prove their skills as analysts that they recklessly take action without thinking. And I...I worry that the same thing will happen with Jason.“Oh, I see. Everything Headman said about you was right. You wanted to prove yourself as a field agent and decided the best way to do that was by not following my plan.”

“Why can’t I try to prove myself? If I can do that, help others, and bring the bad guys to justice…what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing. As long as you stay within certain guidelines.”

“Well, I'm sorry. I don’t go by the book.”

Neither of them said anything for a moment. The steam from the shower was almost stifling, fogging up the mirror beside them. Tasha finally broke the uneasy silence between them.“Make sure you pack your things. I’m booking us a flight back to D.C. for tomorrow morning.”

Tasha left Jason behind in the bathroom and made her way to her room. She sat in the chair by the window and buried her head in her hands, exhaustion overcoming her. She was emotionally, physically, and mentally drained. Leaves scattered across the ground outside as the wind picked up. Tree branches slammed against windows on the city street, the noise threatening to interrupt her thoughts. She had hoped that Jason would see her point of view. If not recognize how his actions could have jeopardized their mission, at least understand why she was upset. 

At least we’re going back to D.C. tomorrow. The worst thing would have been if our assignment wasn’t done since we obviously don’t see eye to eye. We probably can’t stand each other right now. Hmm, tomorrow's flight is bound to be awkward. Tasha ran her hand through her hair and sighed. What am I even going to tell Donovan or put in my report? Jason was doing so well…and then this. Headman was right he has all the makings of a great event analyst. It would be a shame if he threw it all away because of his…recklessness and impulsiveness.

She stood up from the chair and went to the closet. After grabbing some pajamas she made her way into the bathroom. The warm, hot water felt especially relaxing after a long day. It seemed in a way to make her forget her problems and worries. For better or for worse she and Jason knew how the other felt about this issue. All they could do now was try to get along as best they could.

….

The older man's eyes felt heavy and sleep called to him. He and his associates had been watching The Chardell for hours. He had to admit this was one of his most boring assignments but at least it paid well. He stifled back a yawn and reached for the car microphone. "White Falcon here. The targets have entered The Chardell.”

Red Sparrow’s reply came through the speaker. “Affirmative. Stay in your current position. In two hours bring them in. Understood.”

“Roger.”

[chibinightowl]

First Contact

Inspired by @tanekore‘s utterly amazing Jason Todd piece, Freedom Fighter. I meant to have this up last week, but life threw me a ton of lemons, so I had to deal with the influx first. The story is set a few years in the future of a JayDick piece I wrote last year, which can be read here (forewarned, it’s E). This story is most definitely not. ^_^

---

The quiet ping from Tim’s comm put him on instant alert. And what a time for it, right in the middle of a conference vid with Federation High Command. Thank the stars he was alone in his office on board the Titan because otherwise, someone would undoubtedly notice the quiet shift of his hands as he brought up a holoscreen beneath his desk.

Normally, he wouldn’t go through the effort during a meeting such as this, but the alert was one he’d been waiting, no, hoping for since he lost contact with the merchant vessel his ultimate trump card was carefully stashed away on. The AI was his greatest accomplishment, so the loss of the ship and his agent were devastating to his plans to regain control over the hijacked Unternet, the sub-particle web that connected all the planets and colonies in the system with Earth. Anything was possible on those data streams and the government needed to regain control before Ulysses Armstrong realized exactly what he now had access to.

Tim suspected Moneyspider was involved somehow and Oracle concurred. Between them, they knew just about everything worth knowing in the Earth Federation; their respective roles in the Intelligence Service giving them more power than that fool of a President could ever dream of. Unlike the Penguin, he and Barbara Gordon were determined to use this knowledge for the betterment of all.

There were plans in place to overthrow the current regime, plans that they’d been ready to implement at the start of the next election cycle. Plans that were now crashing around them because of Armstrong. The AI had been key and now, despite all the odds, it was signaling it was back online.

How was Tim’s main question as his fingers flew over the small screen while maintaining eye contact with Admiral Wayne and the other Commanders of the six fleets that made up Naval forces protecting the solar system. From what was always a favorite unvoiced question of his since most of their turmoil came from within rather than from beyond. Case in point, right here as Armstrong was one of theirs, a former Naval officer with a massive chip on his shoulder that was often directed right at him.

Humans and their drama, he’d heard a Kryptonian say with derision once where he wasn’t supposed to overhear. It wasn’t entirely wrong, especially since humanity seemed to carry with them eons of history that they behaved as though occurred yesterday. Always looking to the past, the Kryptonian had added before changing the topic. 

Like they were ones to talk. There was a reason they were banned from this system. Or any other system with a yellow star. 

Tim swiped at the small holoscreen, tapping in the codes to receive data from the AI. Where was it? 

Streams of information flooded the screen, so fast his cybernetic-enhanced eyes could barely keep up. Dammit, this vid needed to end now. He could only listen to Ogilvy and Lark rehash the same stupid event for the third time. Neither of them came out of that looking great and both were determined to blame the other while trying to regain face with the Admiral.

Apparently, Admiral Wayne couldn’t stand to listen to it again either. “Alright, I think we’ve reached the end of the walk-ons,” he interrupted when Ogilvy paused for breath. “I expect to see all of you planet-side for the Naval graduation in three weeks. Until then, standard channels unless an emergency crops up.” 

He didn’t give the others a chance to reply and disconnected the vid, ending the conference. 

“Thank you,” Tim breathed, sending his holos to eye level with a flick of his wrist and expanding them. “TIM, load a chart of your current location.”

“Loading.” 

A large blue orb appeared on a third holo above the other two. 

Tim narrowed his eyes. “Neptune? How under the sun did you arrive there?”

The lost shuttle had been traveling between his base above Jupiter and Mars, using the interplanetary gates. Neptune’s current orbit could not be further away if it tried. 

A new stream of data appeared, complex figures and symbols that only someone with cybernetics could understand. What Tim read made him grimace because Oracle’s suspicions were now confirmed. Armstrong had used the Unternet to interfere with the interplanetary gates.

This was not good. At all.

“Current status?”

“Power cells at 15%, no exterior damage, and my scans indicate no internal damage either. However, I am in the hands of a human male who claims to be one of the greatest hackers who ever lived and he’s on the verge of cracking my HUD.”

“Son of a bitch,” Tim swore, fingers flying across the screen as he attempted to narrow in his own satellites and scanners on the AI’s location. “Any chance to draw power from elsewhere?”

“I’ve got enough power for a self-destruct. Should I initiate?”

Good question. Tim frowned and glanced back at the screen showing Neptune.

“Get me a visual on your hacker.”

The image flickered and a face appeared, framed by untamed red hair and a grungy cap that should have seen the trash bin ages ago. He was human alright, and smart enough to wear protective goggles as he poked around at TIM’s HUD. There was something familiar about him, but with his eyes concealed, it was up to facial recognition to narrow the possibilities. 

A list of possible names popped up, and Tim honed in on one immediately. Roy Harper, alias Arsenal. Member of the antigovernment group the Outlaws and listed as their resident munitions and technology expert. Hacker could probably fall under that category, although Tim suspected the man’s claims to be exaggerated unless things had drastically changed since the last time their paths crossed. 

It was times like these that Tim missed the relative simplicity of his Academy days. Dick would not be happy if he were to learn about this. 

Best not to tell him then. 

“No need for self-destruct yet,” he instructed the AI. “The Outlaws aren’t as antiestablishment as they’d like the press to believe. In their own way, they’re trying to take the Penguin down too.”

Not that they were doing a good job of it. They needed a plan, structure. A leader who didn’t fly off the handle and blow things up at the drop of a hat.

“Standby then, sir?”

Tim watched as Harper leaned in closer. Another figure stood behind him, just over his shoulder, but wearing a full-face mask as opposed to Harper’s goggles. He zoomed in and stepped back in surprise. 

It was an oni mask, grim and fearsome, and as red as the eyes of the man whose face it concealed. The thing was, he wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near this sector of space. In fact, if he remembered correctly, the file stated he was near Venus on the New Arkham penal colony, sentenced for a lifetime of hard labor in the mines for more murders than Tim had fingers and toes. 

Jason Todd. The Red Hood. 

What the hell was he doing here? 

Tim’s nearly obsessive need for answers had him sitting back down in his chair, eyes locked on the vid. “Yes. Standby and observe.”

---

Ghost ships never failed to give Jason the creeps. Death and him were old friends, but it didn’t make it any easier when the people bumping into him in zero-g never had a chance. An interplanetary gateway malfunction, Roy had guessed when they came upon the ship hanging in Neptune’s gravity-well. The large shuttle definitely wasn’t the type to travel long distances, and there wasn’t much out this far unless a person was readying to leave the system altogether. They were lucky the Starfire was of Tamaranean design, otherwise there would be no oxygen slowly filtering in from the docking port. This shuttle wasn’t the biggest he’d ever seen, but it was large enough for a good fifty or so passengers.

Where had it come from?

Jason pushed another drifting body away from where Roy crouched on the floor, the magnetic pull of their gravity-boots allowing them to stand still. “Seriously, let’s get out of here already.”

“Someone afraid of a bunch of dead people?”

“I see dead people all the time. You’re next if you don’t move your ass.”

Roy ignored him, entranced with the new toy he’d found drifting amongst the other detritus. “You don’t get it, Jaybird. This is DI tech. Drake Industries. We’re talking top-of-the-line, best of the best, tech here. It’s so expensive I can’t even afford it in my dreams.”

“You can’t even afford a new hat.”

“Go poke through the engine room. If there’s any charge left to those ion batteries, we’ll be sittin’ pretty for a cycle or more.”

Jason sighed as he wandered away. This was what he was reduced to, sifting through wreckage of dead vessels and scavenging for goods that would put food in his stomach and recharge the fuel cells on Kory’s ship. The last attempt to gain a foothold in the Federation had crippled the Outlaws more than the government likely realized, and it wasn’t just because they’d captured him.

No, even after his rescue by the two most incredible people he’d ever known, it all boiled down to one thing.

Money.

Well, money and information. Neither of which were in great abundance at the moment.

So here they were, out in the back of beyond licking their wounds and biding their time. Another opportunity to take a stab at the Penguin would come again. It had to, because otherwise, what was the point? What had he given everything up for if not for that one chance to make things right, better for everyone in the Earth Federation?

Not for the first time, an image of Dick flashed before his eyes and Jason shoved the thought away with a grimace. Fuck memory lane and fuck Dick Grayson. The past was the past and he’d more than learned from the mistakes he’d made there.

The engine room proved to have nothing but inert batteries, the charge to them utterly neutralized by the energies of a malfunctioning gateway. Jason shoved the last tube back into its casing and scowled. There went any chance of a decent meal unless he wanted to sift through the luggage in the hold.

Why the fuck not? It wasn’t like he had anything better to do, not with Roy still poking and prodding at that piece of DI tech.

The cold, dark air in the storage compartments made Jason shiver as soon as he entered. With all the pods, it reminded him of a tomb. In a way it was, as everything down here wasn’t needed by the people floating up above. Chances were likely all the passengers died when the gateway created the wormhole that sent them out here, but there might have been a few stragglers who slowly suffocated as the air ran out.

He got to work, switching on a light-stick to see by, and sorted through the luggage pods. There were a few promising items. Earth gems always garnered some decent creds outside the system, so the jewelry he found was stashed away quick enough. A silken robe he set aside for Kory, and in the depths of one suitcase, he found a stash of physical cred chips.

Maybe there would be some beef to add to his broccoli after all.

“Hey, Jay!” Roy called from above. “You down here?”

“Yeah!” Jason returned to the stairs so he wouldn’t need to shout. “The engine room was a bust, but you might want to check it out, just in case. Got a few things in here that might be worth something if we head over to Vega for the exchange.”

Roy clomped down the stairs, the pull on his boots against the metal making it ring with each step. “You won’t believe what this is.” He held out the thick, circular disc he’d been messing around with earlier.

“Something we can trade for a shit ton of creds?”

“Technically, yes. However, I think we might want to keep it.”

Jason frowned, not sure what his best friend was getting at. “Why?”

“Because this isn’t just DI tech. This is Drake Industries AI tech.”

Well now. Even he’d heard rumors about the kind of artificial intelligence DI was involved with. All military grade stuff too, the kind that required the highest of clearances to even be in the same room with it.

And now, here they were with what could be one of the most cutting-edge AIs in the system.

He sighed, not looking forward to poking through the bodies upstairs to see who it might have belonged to. “What have you done to it?”

Roy laughed, eyes a little wild as he slipped his shades back on. It didn’t matter that it was darker than the murk that constantly surrounded New Gotham, the man could see perfectly with them. “Charged the battery a bit. It was almost dead.”

“Are we gonna die if we turn this thing on?”

“Probably not.” Roy handed the disc to him. “At least, I’m 60% sure.”

Jason had lived through worse odds, but because he had a reputation to maintain, he still gave his friend shit. “Gee, that’s reassuring. And since you’re just so goddamned skilled at putting me at ease, I’m covering my face. The last thing we need is the Federation on our asses right now.” 

Roy shrugged and took a few steps back as Jason slid his oni mask on. It used the same lens technology as Roy’s shades. “Your funeral.”

“Yeah, it is.”

It wasn’t that Jason didn’t trust Roy. He knew in the coldest cockles of his heart that the man would never betray him. The problem was, his best friend was erratically brilliant and if what he said about this piece of tech was in anyway accurate, then they had a treasure trove of information and access into the inner workings of the Federation in their hands.

This was the edge the Outlaws needed to get back in the game. 

If he wasn’t, then chances were likely they were about to get fucked because that was the way their luck had been of late.

“Here goes nothing.” Jason pressed lightly on the activation sensor. 

The device illuminated and spun in his hand, glowing with a faint blue light as it hovered before them. A hologram appeared, about ten inches in height, of what appeared to be a human male. A rather attractive one at that, with fine features, sharp cheekbones, and an even sharper jaw. 

Whoever made the AI, they were definitely projecting a fantasy because no man could be that good looking. 

The hologram’s eyes narrowed. “I am TIM, designation 003-07-19. Who are you?”

Was that a bit of sass Jason’s ears detected? “Who do you think we are?” he asked instead, wanting to see what this thing could do.

A small HUD light up in front of TIM the AI. “Visual scans indicate Roy Harper, known as Arsenal, and Jason Todd, the Red Hood. Members of the antigovernment group the Outlaws.” Those eyes narrowed again. “Such an original name,” he muttered.

“Hey, who’re you to judge?” Jason shoved his mask up over his head because there was apparently no point in hiding behind it. With the light the AI was giving off, he could see just fine. “What kind of AI are you?”

“I am TIM,” the hologram replied. “Tactical Information Manager. Series 003-07-19.”

At least he answered direct questions. Why wasn’t he checking for clearance codes? Was this a private piece of tech rather than Navy? If so, whoever created this was a goddamned genius.

“Okay, TIM. Here’s the deal. We found you on board a ghost ship. There’s not a living soul out here except for me and Roy. You do what we tell you, we’ll bring you back to the inner ring.”

Eventually. Jason crossed his toes in his boots, a habit from childhood he never quite grew out of.

“My files indicate you are supposed to be on the New Arkham penal colony.”

Jason smirked. Looked like the government didn’t want to admit they’d fucked up and lost him. “Does it look like we’re on New Arkham? I don’t think so.”

“No, coordinates indicate we are orbiting Neptune.”

Looked like TIM’s data relays were connecting to the Starfire’s mainframe. Whether that was a good thing or not was for Roy to decide. Although, Kory would be pissed if they’d managed to fuck up her ship while she was undercover on the Titan.  “Yeah, it’s a real gas.” 

The humor was lost on the AI. “Did you escape then? Please tell me how so that I can update my files.” 

“Don’t think so, Timmy. If the government wants to believe they still have me all safe and sound in that hellhole, let them. It’s their fault they couldn’t keep me there in the first place.” Not that he ever made it there, but the AI didn’t need to know that.

“My name is TIM, not Timmy.” The AI sounded almost prissy. 

Jason leaned forward. “Your name is whatever I feel like calling ya.”

“Then that will make it hard to determine if you need my services or are speaking to the bots.”

“What the fuck kind of AI are you?”

“The best kind.”

--- Behind the HUD, the real Tim snickered as Todd’s posturing turned more and more into bewilderment the longer he bickered with TIM. Or maybe it was his makeshift uniform because who under the sun finds a man with an ice cream pin tacked onto his jacket intimidating? It even smiled. 

Still, this was a unique opportunity and one that he wasn’t about to waste. The Outlaws were working toward a similar goal as he and Oracle, even if they approached it from a different angle. How did that old adage go? The enemy of my enemy is my friend? 

Yes, he could make this work. Possibly even use these men to further his own goals and take out Armstrong. Wasn’t there a third person who was part of the main crew, a Tamaranean female? He’d have to check.

“The best kind,” Todd repeated, mocking while Harper snickered beside him. “Someone’s got a massively high opinion of himself.”

“Says the man who’s holding his life and jacket together with safety pins and duct tape,” Tim replied, and the AI repeated the words.

Todd’s face turned red and he pointed a gloved finger at TIM. “Listen here, TIM. I recognize DI tech when I see it. That shit’s top notch and so are you. And right now, you’re mine. So whatever backtalk you’ve got programmed into your behavioral patterns, forget it.” 

“I’m afraid you’re sadly mistaken,” the AI stated on its own. “Part of my programming includes the ability to verbally spar. My maker designed me so.”

Yes, and he was rather proud of that little fact. TIM was an extension of himself after all, designed to go where he could not.

“They programmed you to annoy the fuck outta people?”

“You are not my maker and I am not being used for my intended purpose. As such, anything I can do to complete my mission, I will.”

Harper whistled, low and slow. “Wow. I had no idea AI technology was this advanced. Those are subversive behavior patterns, right there.”

But Todd grinned slowly and held TIM higher. This close, Tim found himself face to face with a pair of stunning teal eyes, not red at all like the file stated. Were they his real color? He mentally smacked himself. Now was not the time to fixate on a pair of attractive eyes.

“I wouldn’t worry about it, I think we’re gonna get along just fine.”

The sad thing was, Tim was highly inclined to agree with him.

[cosmicloveastro]

Billie Eilish: Music Queen of 2019

Only entering into her adult life in a few days, Billie Eilish has accomplished a lot before her 18th year around the Sun. Just this year, at age 17, she was awarded New Artist of the Year and Favorite Artist in the Alternative Rock category by The American Music Awards as well as Billboard's Woman of the Year. She is also the youngest artist to be nominated for all four main categories for the upcoming 2020 Grammy Awards (and potentially the youngest ever to win Album of the Year as well). So how did this anonymous homeschooled Los Angeles girl go from posting tracks on SoundCloud to partnering with Apple Music in only 4 short teenage years? Before I dive into the astrology behind her success, I'll start with a summary of her unanticipated rise to fame.

Billie Eilish began singing in choir at age 8, (when Pluto reached her Midheaven by transit) and writing songs with her brother at age 11 (when Pluto reached her Sun by transit), but this Sagittarius superstar took aim for the spotlight back in 2015 when she was only 13, recording the song "Ocean Eyes" in October that year. She posted the track on SoundCloud on November 18, 2015, unaware of just how successful she was about to be. The song quickly blew up online, and she followed up by releasing a music video and a dance video to the song in 2016, gaining her a significant following. Exactly a year after the release of the original recording of "Ocean Eyes" on SoundCloud, she re-released the song through Darkroom and Interscope Records, and then in August of 2017 she released her debut EP Don't Smile at Me through Interscope Records. Following the release of the EP, she went on her first tour (the Don't Smile at Me Tour, which sold out within a minute of announcing) for the month of October that year.

In February of 2018 she began the Where's My Mind Tour, which also sold out extremely fast, and came to an end in April that year. She continued to release hit singles throughout the year, and in November of 2018 she was featured on the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 list - at age 16. On March 29, 2019, Eilish released her hit debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? which entered at number one on the Billboard 200, making her the first artist born after the year 2000 to have a number one album in the USA. In April 2019, she began her When We All Fall Asleep Tour, which just recently came to an end last month. Only last week she appeared with the great Alicia Keys on the Late Late Show to perform a chillingly beautiful piano duet of her song "Ocean Eyes."

So now that you're caught up on the highlights of her career, let's look at Billie Eilish's birth chart. Here's an image of her natal chart below.

One can't help but notice her stellium in Sagittarius in her 10th house surrounding her Midheaven right off the bat. Eilish clearly embodies the fun-loving Sagittarius spirit, and because of that stellium placement, Sagittarius is the strongest sign in her chart by a landslide. Her Sagittarius planets are very powerful and highly elevated in her chart, including the Sun, Venus and Pluto, making them very important, and indicating fame, success and a strong reputation. Venus being so close to her Midheaven as well, with Venus being the ruler of her 3rd house of siblings, immediately nods to her brother, writer of the song “Ocean Eyes” which contributed so much to Billie’s success. She probably views her brother as a bit of an authority figure, someone she looks up to, because of this Venus placement in the 10th house. Jupiter is also majorly influential, being the ruler of her 10th house/Midheaven as well as her Sun and the traditional ruler of her Ascendant. Not to mention it's exalted in Cancer (a friendly sign for Jupiter) in her natal chart. Jupiter is also her most benefic planet, due to the fact that she was born during the day.

Jupiter transits have consistently been some of her biggest moments in her career so far. Jupiter was making an exact trine to her Midheaven on her 13th birthday, which was the year she recorded "Ocean Eyes" and posted it online. Jupiter was opposite her Ascendant when she released the music video for the song on YouTube, and then formed a trine to her Moon and a sextile to her Pluto when she released the dance routine video later on. When she released her Don't Smile at Me EP, Jupiter was trine her natal Uranus and making a sextile to her 10th house Venus and Pluto. Jupiter had just entered into her 10th house of recognition when she was placed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List in late 2018. Then when she released her debut full-length album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? Jupiter was conjunct her 10th house Midheaven/Sun conjunction, which was when her major fame really kicked in and she became the first artist born after 2000 to have a number one album in the USA. Jupiter and Venus were both conjunct her natal Midheaven/Sun conjunction recently when she was nominated for six Grammy awards as well as crowned 2019 Billboard Woman of the Year.

Despite the fiery Jupiter-influenced Sagittarian overload in her chart, she does have a few water and air placements. She even has an earthy Capricorn Mercury, and I definitely would call her writing style a blend of light-hearted upbeat Sagittarius humor with a darker Capricorn twist. In fact, speaking of her writing, notice that Venus, the ruler of her 3rd house, the house that rules communication and writing, is placed in her 10th house with her Midheaven. She writes music as a way of venting, a form of therapy (note that her 5th house ruler, the Moon, is in her 12th house of the subconscious mind), but it’s gained her significant success as well. Venus also represents music and singing, and she’s clearly gained recognition through her lovely voice. Venus also rules her 8th house which is often called the house of death as well as the house of other people's resources, so with Venus being in her 10th house of publicity and public reputation, she incorporates deeper darker meanings into her growingly popular music. Major issues she has brought up in her music include climate change (the resources of the earth), teenage suicide, and living with depression. Her reputation is also tied into her 5th house of creativity, because Jupiter, the ruler of her 10th house is in her 5th. She has built a reputation surrounding her creative self-expression in music as well as with her dancing abilities, and though she aims against sexualizing herself, she may develop a reputation as a bit of a flirt due to her natal Jupiter being in the 5th house of romance.

I found it interesting also that Eilish’s Mercury and Saturn are in mutual reception, meaning they are in each other’s signs of rulership, so they help each other out. Mutual reception is very similar to a conjunction aspect. It’s interesting though because while Saturn is in her 4th house of home and family in Gemini, Mercury is in her 11th house of friendships and audiences in Capricorn, meaning she considers her fans to be a part of her family, and her family to be a part of her fan base. The two areas blend together, which is interesting because her family is a huge part of her music career - her brother Finneas was the one who wrote “Ocean Eyes” as I mentioned earlier, and he also co-writes with her, produces her music, and performs with her during shows. Her musically talented parents encouraged her to pursue music in the first place, and they've become very important to her career by taking up positions to help her manage her life and her fame. Mercury also rules her 7th house of relationships, so her relationships are very blended with friendships. She’s still pretty young, so it’s hard to tell right now, but she, like many Aquarians (her Moon placement), may choose friends as lovers over other people or strangers, and may “friendzone” potential matches if she doesn’t already have a sturdy friendship with them. I also think that Saturn being in her 4th house brings a bit of restriction or maybe that Saturnian sense of stern discipline to her household. One verse that I keep catching in her song “Bad Guy” goes like this, making me think maybe her parents didn’t always approve so much of her odd style choices or even how she expressed herself in her music…

“My mommy likes to sing along with me

But she won't sing this song

If she reads all the lyrics

She'll pity the men I know”

She has a few planets in her 12th house as well, including her modern planetary ruler, Neptune, and the Moon, another important placement in any birth chart. Interestingly enough, Neptune represents movies, cameras and glamour, so it’s no surprise that as a Pisces Ascendant, she enjoys photography and videography, and is credited as the mastermind of her artistic music videos. A 12th house Moon in Aquarius may also contribute to her mental health as well. She states in interviews that she has dealt with depression her whole life, and has always been a "melancholy person." A detached Aquarius Moon in the 12th house is a bit of an unfortunate placement as far as emotional health goes, causing depression and difficult-to-identify emotional reactions. She mentioned in another interview regarding her songwriting that she writes lyrics from the perspective of different characters, which is fitting to me because the 12th house rules escapism and fantasy, which is what her songwriting seems to be to her, a fantastical escape. Her Moon rules her 5th house of creative ideas, so her creative ideas seem to come from her own fantasies. These 12th house placements, as well as her watery Cancer Jupiter, Pisces Ascendant and Mars combination, all contribute to her need for mystery in her appearance as well. In interviews, she claims to wear oversized clothing as a way of distracting people from her physical body, or as a method of “self-defense” as she calls it. In an interview with Vogue Australia, she states, “I never want the world to know everything about me. I mean, that’s why I wear big baggy clothes. Nobody can have an opinion because they haven’t seen what’s underneath...And I want to be mysterious.”

Well, don’t worry Billie, you’ve got that down. Pisces Ascendant people tend to have an aura of mystery around them at all times to begin with. They blend easily with their surroundings, and are very adaptable to change. Though with a 12th house Moon, she likely feels more safe and secure when she’s physically more “hidden” from view. In addition, her Mars, being the ruler of her 2nd house and placed in the 1st house, creates a need for security that, as a result, alters her physical appearance. Hence, the baggy clothes, and often large sunglasses too, as a style choice for the benefit of her own comfort. This Mars placement could also indicate making money off of her style choices and appearance, which she does through her partnership with Siberia Hills, and she’s mentioned in interviews that she’d like to design shoes (interestingly as well, Neptune and Pisces also rule the feet).

Billie Eilish is a unique case of superstardom, which is what makes her chart so fascinating to me. Her powerful 10th house placements make her a prime example for fame in a birth chart. She made a name for herself online using her own (and her brother's) musical/songwriting talents, rather than performing covers of other artists' songs. She rose to worldwide fame incredibly quickly, and at a very young age, as few celebrities are lucky enough to do on their own. Her songs are undeniably catchy and unique, and with the help of her fans and her family, I'm confident that Billie will go on to do great things with her talents and career, including winning a few Grammy awards at the 2020 ceremony coming up next month!