#also known as Florida robot

[gt-mcyt]

monsters vs aliens

(ao3)

Chapter 7: Lord Exdee

Dream groaned. He felt like he got hit by a train, or like his plane crashed … Dream gasped as everything came rushing back to him – the robot fight, the celebrations, the plane crashing. He pushed himself into a sitting position, looking around for his friends, but instead he found something even stranger than three little monsters. He looked to be in some sort of hanger, like where planes would go for storage, except it was filled with over a hundred of that giant robot he fought. There were so many of them, all standing over three hundred feet tall, looming over him and ready to be dispatched at any minute. Dream, despite knowing he stood at a hundred feet tall, felt small in the face of so much strength.

Looking down at himself, Dream found that what he was wearing had changed. Instead of the green military jumpsuit that he had worn for two months, he was wearing a skin-tight black and green jumpsuit. It had lines running up and down the arms and legs, and it glowed dimly in the pitch-black hanger. It looked almost alien in design, like the spandex a fictional hero would wear.

His friends were also nowhere to be found, despite last seeing them in his hands, which scared Dream.

Were they … dead?

The thought made his eyes sting with tears.

While Dream was distracted, something whizzed behind him, and he gasped. He turned around, only to hear the same whoosh of air behind him again. When he turned back, he came face to face with what could only be described as an alien.

The alien – for it was neither man nor woman – was just shorter than the length of Dream’s hand. It looked to be about eight inches tall, but realistically, was probably eight feet. Its skin was the colour of the night sky, with glowing starry freckles to match smattered across their cheeks and forehead. It had hair, too, that matched the same white of Dream’s, and it was long enough that it was in a complicated braid behind their back. Its face would have looked human, if not for the too-much upturned nose, long canines, and four glowing green eyes. It was also dressed in green robes that made room for the four arms it had. It floated on a hovercraft at chest level with Dream, who was still on the floor.

All in all, the alien looked ethereal.

The alien smiled. It looked like the smile of someone who had seen a human smile before, and had practiced said smile in the mirror, but didn’t truly encompass the human emotion it was supposed to convey. “You must be terrified,” a smooth, rich voice came from the alien. Dream was surprised that they spoke in English. “You wake up in a strange place, wearing strange clothes, faced by a strange being, floating on a strange hovering device. It’s all very strange, isn’t it?”

Dream glowered at the alien. “Hardly. It’s not the first time.”

“You must think you’re funny,” the alien said dryly.

“Look, who are you, and what is it that you want from me?” Dream asked.

“You may call me Lord Exdee,” the alien – Exdee, because Dream was not calling it ‘Lord’ – said. “And you have stolen what is rightfully mine!”

“I didn’t steal anything from you,” Dream protested, “I didn’t meet you until today!”

Exdee sighed, like Dream was a particularly dumb individual. “Your enormous, grotesque body,” it said, and Dream frowned. “Did you never wonder how you grew so large? Your body absorbed a considerable amount of quantonium, the most powerful energy source in the entire known universe. Did you really think you could keep it from me forever?”

“That’s what this is all about?” Dream demanded, growing enraged. “You destroyed parts of Florida, you terrified millions of people, you …” Dream’s voice got thick, and he struggled to speak. “… you killed my friends, just to get some stupid energy source?”

“Silence, Earthling!” Exdee snapped. “Your voice is grating on my ears. It’s time to go to the extraction chamber!” Suddenly, a metal platform swooped in below Dream’s feet, and another metal layer floated above him, like magnets that swayed together, and then there was a spark; a giant glowing green force-field was created between the two metal layers, trapping Dream in between them like prison bars. It hummed with power. He reached out to touch the force-field, only to gasp when it gave a powerful shock. Exdee laughed. “This is just a small bit of what one can do with a little bit of quantonium. It’s a shame that you won’t be around to see what the true power of quantonium can do in the hands of someone who knows how to use it.”

“I know how to use it just fine!” Dream spat. He stood and punched the force-field, only to gasp again because it shocked him. He shook out his fist, glaring at the alien.

“Don’t bother,” Exdee said. “That force-field is impenetra –”

Dream punched again, throwing all his strength behind it, and this time, his hand went right through the force-field, hitting Exdee’s hovercraft and flipping it. Exdee barely got a hold of its hovercraft, saving it from falling, and then gaped at Dream. “– what the hell?!”

Dream grinned, all teeth, and used his hands to reach into the force-field to pry it apart. He ignored the continuous shocks it gave him, pushing through, until he swept it all away. Without the force-field, the top metal platform fell, and Dream caught it with both hands. Rage coursing though him, remembering the plane crash and how his friends were all dead, Dream threw the platform at Exdee’s hovercraft. Exdee flew away at high speeds, and a large metal door smoothly closed behind it. The metal platform bounced off the hanger door, leaving a large dent behind. Dream got up and walked over to the hanger door, glaring through the little window provided.

Exdee, out of breath, laughed in relief. Its voice was muted through the window, but no less enraging. “That should stop you from getting to me, you freak –”

Dream punched through the metal hanger door like it was wet paper.

Exdee shrieked and flew away.

“Computer, close door hanger two!” It yelled.

Dream ran after Exdee, determined to catch it and … well, Dream had never thought of himself as a violent person, but he wasn’t sure he would be able to hold himself back from killing Exdee after all he had done. Barely thinking about the morality of wanting to kill an alien terrorist, Dream punched through the next door, much the same as he did with the first. Exdee shrieked again.

“Close door, hangar three! Door, hangar four!” But Dream kept running, punching and crawling through them all. Exdee screamed, “Computer, close all the hangar doors!”

Dream just barely missed catching Exdee as he zoomed into a smaller hallway, much too small for Dream to get through. But he could follow above, where the hallway became a small narrow tube in the floor. He used his enhanced hearing, ears twitching, to tell where Exdee was in the tube. He punched through the metal, just barely missing each time, until finally – finally, near the end, his hands grabbed hold of the flying machine Exdee used, sending him skidding out of the back end of the hallway and into a large room. Dream got up and followed, breathing heavily, watching the little alien running away from him. Dream started running, relishing in the scream from Exdee, up until –

Exdee reached the end of the walkway, pulled a giant lever, and thick glass walls shot up around Dream, surrounding the metal patterns on the floor he was standing on.

“NO!” Dream screamed. Just when he was so close!

He banged on the glass, watching it fracture beneath his fists. He pursed his lips, doing it again. More fractures. In the background, he heard Exdee shriek and yell, “Computer, begin extraction!”

Suddenly, there was a loud few beeps, and then the feeling of a vacuum being held up right against his chest. His hair started to float. A bright light – neon green – flowed from his chest and upward. Dream stumbled. He could physically feel himself getting weaker. More of the light, like hundreds of bioluminescent plankton on the water, floated through the air. Dream’s vision shrunk. He was … he was shrinking, getting weaker and weaker, as the quantonium was stolen from his body. Dream tried to keep hitting the glass – he was so close to breaking it, to getting free – but he only got smaller and smaller, weaker and weaker. His vision went fuzzy until he was left slumped on the ground, too weak to move.

He looked down at himself.

His hair was still white, his ears still felt pointed; he ran his tongue along his canines, and they were still elongated. Even with all the quantonium siphoned from his body, he was still a freak.

Dream heard a sinister chuckle, and he looked up, only to find the alien, Exdee, looming over him. Exdee had looked so small earlier – barely the size of his hand – but now he was at least two feet taller than Dream. It made Dream feel weak, it made him feel scared. All his rage was gone, replaced by fear.

“Finally, I have all the quantonium,” Exdee said gleefully. “And finally, I can rebuild my civilisation on a new planet.” Dream frowned. Rebuild his civilisation? What was that supposed to mean? “Any thoughts on where I should start?” Exdee hummed; it was an unsettling hum, like one a computer made. “Your planet, perhaps? Earth does look ripe for the picking.”

Dream snarled, a growl building low in his chest. He pushed himself to stand. “You keep your hands off my planet – ugh!”

Dream was stopped by a large hand around his neck. One of Exdee’s four arms was outstretched, holding Dream two feet up in the air. Dream’s feet dangled helplessly. Exdee snarled right back at Dream, baring his fangs, which were larger than Dream’s. “If you wanted to stop me, you should have done it when you possessed the quantonium! Now … now you’re nothing.”

“There are innocent people down there who didn’t do anything!” Dream choked out.

“There were innocent people on my home planet before it was destroyed,” Exdee hissed. It threw Dream to the ground, and Dream hit the metal, body slumping. He rubbed at his bruising neck, tears in his eyes.

“I’m sorry your planet was destroyed,” Dream said, “But that’s not a reason to kill billions of innocent people. Please …”

“It’s too late,” Exdee said, voice hollow. “My whole planet was invaded. My family were taken as slaves. My partner was killed. I barely escaped on one of the invader’s ships with the little bit of quantonium that I stole. And with that bit of quantonium, I thought I could defeat the invaders … but it didn’t work. I didn’t have enough. So, I ran away, like a coward, thinking I could come back to save my family. But it’s been years now, and I’m never going to get my family back … and neither are you.”

-

“What … what are we going to do now?” Karl asked meekly.

The three monsters stood beyond the wreckage of their plane. It was completely totalled and on fire. The only reason they had survived was because Dream had grabbed them and taken the brunt of the impact. Then, limp and nearly dead, Dream had been beamed up toward an alien spacecraft, like every cheap, tacky alien movie ever. Now they were stuck in the middle of nowhere, Dream was missing, and they had no idea what to do.

“I … I don’t know,” George said. He mostly felt hollow. Dream was gone – most likely dead – and the dread and grief were creeping up on him eagerly.

“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do,” Sapnap said. “We’re not going to let this … this cheap, stupid alien take Dream without a fight. We’re going to get up there, find Dream, and take that alien down!”

“And how do you propose we do that?” George snapped.

Behind them, someone cleared their throat. There was the sound of mini thrusters from a jetpack.

“I think I can help,” Bad said, then he gestured behind himself, where another cargo plane had landed. “I came as soon as I heard the plane went down.”

“Bad!” The monsters yelled.

-

The cargo plane took off with all three monsters and the general. In the cargo hold, Bad turned to the monsters. His brown eyes softened.

“All right, so, I know I haven’t treated you well enough over the years,” Bad began. He wiped a tear from his cheek. “But I need you to know that I … I care about you guys. And we can’t let this alien terrorise Earth and take our Dream. These jetpacks I’ve given you – they have enough juice to get you guys up there, but not enough to make it home. I’ll come get you if I can. If I don’t, it means I’m dead … or late. Don’t jump to the worst conclusion. I’ve been your warden for close to a decade now, and I would do anything to keep you guys alive.”

Bad threw each monsters a jetpack, showing them how to secure it and tie the straps, and how to work the buttons. As he was helping Karl get his jetpack on so that his Jell-O-like body wouldn’t consume it, the pilot yelled from the cockpit.

“General!” He screamed, “it’s targeting us!”

Outside the back of the plane, they could all see where a large ball of energy had been shot out of the UFO. It was homing in on their plane.

“That’s your cue,” Bad told the monsters. “Go, go, go!”

All three monsters jumped out of the cargo hold, using their jetpacks to soar toward the UFO.

“Now,” Bad said, “to deal with the other problem …” He turned toward the large ball of energy – practically a missile – heading toward them. He thought about Patches and her latest transformation. He grinned. “I have a plan.”

-

The three monsters landed in the hangar, which thankfully, had been open and left unguarded from the outside. They were quick to infiltrate the ship, following the path of destruction which could be the work of none other than Dream – after all, the holes punched through the metal? It had his name written all over it, and that elated the monsters, knowing he was still alive. They still had time. Now, they just had to find him …

-

“Slave!” Exdee called. Immediately, another alien hurried into the room. This alien looked a lot less humanoid than Exdee. They had four beetle-like wings, mandibles, and eight spider-like eyes that glowed red. They were dressed in a garb similar to what Dream was put in. The alien bowed to Exdee, and Exdee sneered at them, “Take the prisoner to the incinerator. He’s useless to me now.”

“Hail Lord Exdee!” The alien clicked out, sounding high-pitched. They then jabbed what looked like a laser gun into Dream’s shoulder blades. At the very least, they were shorter than Dream, though he wasn’t sure he would be able to take them in a fight – not with their weapon and sharp claws.

Dream had no choice but to walk forward, following the ‘slave’ further into the ship.

“So,” Dream said, trying to stall, “what’s your name?”

The alien seemed to fumble with the laser gun for a moment, as if not expecting the prisoner to talk or ask them questions. Their face didn’t display emotion very well, as insect-like as it was, but Dream got the feeling they were surprised.

“My – my name?” They asked. “Why do you want to know? So, you can steal it?!”

“How do you steal a name?” Dream asked, genuinely confused.

“I – I don’t know!” The alien sputtered. “But you Earthlings – you’re a sneaky sort, I heard. You can do lots of things. I don’t doubt you can steal names.”

“Well, as a human, we can’t steal names,” Dream said, not disclosing that he wasn’t exactly human anymore. “And I think calling you ‘slave’ is pretty rude. Slavery isn’t okay, like, at all. Here, I’ll go first: my name is Dream. What’s yours?”

The alien made a weird clicking sound. “My name is Jurelle.”

“Jurelle is a pretty name,” Dream offered.

Jurelle went quiet and then made a high-pitched squeal sound. He wasn’t sure, but Dream got the impression that Jurelle was blushing.

“So, why do you do Exdee’s bidding?” Dream asked.

“Lord Exdee,” Jurelle corrected, “is the high and mighty lord of ours. He comes from a higher race of beings than us. He is smarter, stronger, and bigger. He came to our planet and enlightened us about the use of technologies that we couldn’t ever hope to begin to understand or make. He took us in, under his arms, and allows us to work for him for free.” Jurelle sounded like they were reciting a mantra.

“Work without pay?” Dream tsked. “You’re being taken advantage of; I hope you know that.”

“Lord Exdee would never!” Jurelle squeaked out.

“I’m just saying,” Dream said, “slavery isn’t good. He doesn’t even know your name. If I were you, I would be pissed. Do you even get sick days or dental?”

“What is …” Jurelle made another clicking sound with their mandibles. “What is … ‘dental’?”

“You don’t even have dental,” Dream said, shaking his head. “It’s where you get free services to take care of your teeth … or in your case, your mandibles. It’s basic healthcare.”

“No,” Jurelle said slowly. “We don’t get dental.”

They were silent for a second, and then:

“I would like to have dental.”

Dream grinned.

“If you help me,” he started, “I can help you get dental.”

“I …” Jurelle got quiet. “I don’t know …”

They continued to walk, turning down one hallway, only to come face to face with …

The three little monsters!

Dream felt overwhelming happiness, so much so that his eyes started to water. “Karl, George, Sapnap! You’re alive!”

He ran to them, pulling them into one big embrace. It was different than before, when he could hold them all in the palm of his hand, but it was a good different. Dream liked being able to touch and hold them like a normal human. It made him feel soft all over. Unfortunately, their reunion was cut-off. Jurelle hunched over, pointing their laser gun at the three little – or, well, not as little as before – monsters. Dream immediately stood in front of the gun, protecting the monsters.

“No, Jurelle!” He said, “It’s okay! These are my friends! They can help set you free!”

“And get dental?” They clicked.

“And get dental,” Dream confirmed. At the monsters’ confused looks, he sighed. “It’s a long story. We don’t have time for it – we need to escape first!”

-

“The only way to escape and ensure that the alien – Exdee, you said his name was? – will not come back after us and continue to terrorise Earth is if we blow up this ship,” George insisted. He was walking beside Dream, who was, in turn, beside the alien – Jurelle, he thought? George had never seen another person who looked like himself – all insect-like – but he still couldn’t take his eyes off Dream. Dream, who looked the same as always, with his beautiful white hair and bright green eyes, but was now human-sized. If he were being honest, it was throwing George off-kilter.

“So, how are we going to do this?” Sapnap asked, cracking his knuckles.

“We need to find the main power source,” George said. “Whatever it is, it must be similar to nuclear power to charge a ship this big – and nuclear power is very, very dangerous if it explodes. It would be perfect to take down an entire alien ship.”

“You need the main power source?” Jurelle asked. “That’s easy. It’s right there, above the extraction chamber.”

Jurelle pointed with one claw. Down the hallway, it opened into a large room, where the ceiling stretched for hundreds of feet in the air. The walkway dropped down into darkness and in the middle of the ceiling was a huge power source. It looked like a generator of some sort, made up of a bunch of different grey metal tubes and cubes, whirring gently and glowing faintly.

“Well, that was easy,” Karl giggled.

“Come on,” George said, “it’s time to blow some shit up.”

-

They left Jurelle on the ground with the laser gun to guard them.

Using Karl’s abilities, he jumped all the way up to the ceiling, stretching his body thin. Dream, George, and Sapnap grabbed onto his body as he bounced to the ceiling, letting them in through a crack in the generator. Once they were in, they let go of Karl and spread out, looking for main power core. Dream ducked under a metal tube and into a smaller part of the generator, only to come face-to-face with a giant glowing … brain? It had a bunch of wires attached to it, and a keypad in front with odd symbols. The brain, in a computer-generated voice, said: “Warning: intruder!”

“Dream?!” George called. He also ducked into the small space, and his brow furrowed when he saw the brain and keypad. “Huh. I guess we can try and guess the code to get into the computer.”

“You will never figure out my code,” the computer voice said.

“Artificial intelligence!” George said, looking excited. “That’s so cool –”

“George,” Dream reminded, “the power source?”

“Oh, right,” George said sheepishly.

“Your puny Earthling brain cannot possibly work around my security protocols,” the computer said haughtily.

“Okay, new plan,” George said, looking furious, “we fuck shit up until it does damage.”

George cackled maniacally before he reached out and grabbed hold of the wires, yanking at them until they ripped out the brain. The brain pulsed angrily. George started fiddling with the wires until electrical sparks flew everywhere. The computer voice started to glitch and squeal. “Warning: security protocol had been breached. Ship has been set to self-destruct. Total annihilation in t-minus seven minutes.”

Dream and George glanced at each other and grinned.

-

“What?” Exdee growled. “What do you mean the security protocol has been breached?!”

“The prisoner escaped and reunited with his Earthling friends,” the computer said, matter-of-factly. “They ruined my power source and main computer. The ship will explode in t-minus six minutes.”

“Well, launch the robot invasion, then!”

“Invasion is no longer possible. All branches of the ship have been shut down.”

“FUCK!” Exdee roared. “Those petty Earthlings! Fine! Divert the quantonium to the bridge and prepare my escape capsule! Make sure to get all possible quantonium transferred and block the slaves from using my escape route. I don’t want any of them to ruin my plan for the quantonium.”

The quantonium from the extraction chamber started to flow through glass tubes to the statue of Lord Exdee situated in the middle of the room. The statue was twenty feet tall and was the perfect likeness of Exdee, right down to its sneer and long canines. The core of the statue opened up to a pod that would protect Exdee from outer space. One of its four arms was outstretched, holding a large glass ball, which was hollow. On the inside it could be seen that the bright neon quantonium collected into the glass ball, lighting it up with a green glow. Exdee watched this with pursed lips, anger and fear growing in its heart. This would not be the first time it had to run away, but this time, it would have all the power needed to start anew.

-

Below, once Dream, George, Karl, and Sapnap had left the main power source, they found that Jurelle had disappeared. It wasn’t hard to see why; all around them was pandemonium. Slaves – all different alien species, some of them looking like insects, some of them looking like fish – ran in all different directions, screaming and crying. Weapons were forgotten on the ground.

Sapnap laughed. “Look at that! They’re all running! The monsters have won this one!” Dream elbowed Sapnap in the gut, making him choke. “You know, for not being so ginormous anymore, you’re still pretty strong …” He rasped, holding his gut.

“Sapnap!” Dream hissed. “Those are all slaves! It’s not their fault that Exdee enslaved them. And they’re not running from us, they’re running from –”

“Ship will self-destruct in t-minus five minutes,” the computer echoed.

“That,” Dream finished lamely.

His eyes locked on the large hangar door in front of them. It was slowly sliding closed and would eventually trap them in the main room of the ship, left for dead in the explosion.

“Come on!” Dream said, “we need to start running, or else we’re going to be stuck on this ship when it explodes!”

Altogether, the four monsters started running. Fifty feet, thirty feet, ten feet – they got closer and closer as the door continued to close slowly. Dream led the way with his long strides, outpacing the other monsters easily. Only a few feet away, he held out a hand before the door closed, managing to hold it open and get through right as it clicked shut.

Breathing heavily, he whooped cheerfully. “Yes! We made it!” He exclaimed. But all he was met with was silence. Dream turned. Behind him was no one – the other monsters hadn’t gotten to the door in time.

“Guys?!” He called.

Through the metal, his ears twitching, he faintly heard, “Dream, if you can hear us – get out of here while you’ve still got the chance!”

“No!” Dream cried. He tried to pry at the doors with his hands, but they wouldn’t budge. He growled, banging on the metal with his fists. “Ugh! If I was still a giant, I could do this!”

“Dream!” George said, voice urgent. “We meant it! You better be running right now!”

“No!” Dream growled, “I’m not leaving you guys!”

The little monsters obviously couldn’t hear Dream the way that he could hear them, because Sapnap’s next words were: “We were supposed to rendezvous with Bad after saving you. He’s outside the ship, waiting for us. Go while there’s still time!”

“Don’t worry about us, Dream,” George said. It sounded like his forehead was pressed against the metal crack, voice thick with emotion, but quiet, as if he didn’t mean for Dream to hear him. “You finally have a chance to get your old life back.”

“But I don’t want my old life back,” Dream said, voice meek.

“Ship will self-destruct in t-minus four minutes,” the computer echoed.

Dream could feel angry tears welling at the corner of his eyes. He hugged himself tightly, glancing down at his feet, trying to fight off the tears. None of this was fair, he thought. But that’s when he spotted it: a hover craft, just like the one Exdee had used before. It was lying on its side, abandoned by the slaves in the ship in favour of running. It hummed quietly and glowed with a faint green light. Beside it laid an also abandoned laser gun. Dream frowned, ideas starting to form in his head. If he could remember the way back to the extraction chamber, from where Jurelle took him, maybe he could find Exdee …

And he would make Exdee pay.

-

“They think they have stopped me?” Exdee growled. It slammed its fist down on the table. “Well, they have stopped nothing! I will come right back to Earth and destroy it all, just like they destroyed my home planet! Earth will know the wrath of Lord Exdee, just you wait –”

“The inferior carbon-based life form, or Dream, is no longer contained,” the computer interrupted.

“WHAT?” Exdee exclaimed. “Where is he? Send a robot probe! Crush the Earthling!”

“Sending robot probe and – oh, uh-oh,” the computer said, sounding oddly human. “He is coming your way in t-minus thirty seconds –”

The metal door behind Exdee practically melted open from the laser on the laser gun. The laser shot through the giant hole it melted, almost hitting Exdee square in the chest. Exdee barely threw up the table in front of it, the metal taking the shot instead of itself. Exdee gasped, looking over at the Earthling, who was stepping through the new hole in the door, obviously on a warpath.

“Are you crazy?!” Exdee demanded. “You could have killed me with that thing!”

-

“Then we understand each other,” Dream said darkly.

“Quantonium has been successfully diverted to the bridge,” the computer interrupted. Dream watched as the last of the statue and tubes stopped glowing, and all the bright green light being concentrated in the glass ball that the statue of Exdee held. He frowned. If that was the quantonium, then … “The escape capsule is ready for transport.”

“Hah!” Exdee said. It casually strolled over to the twenty-foot-tall statue of its likeness. The chest of the statue opened to reveal a pod, just the perfect size for someone like Exdee.

“Like I told you before,” Exdee said smugly, “you should have defeated me when you had the quantonium. Have fun exploding!”

Before Exdee could step into the pod, though, a laser was blasted directly into the pod, melting half the controls. Dream stepped forward, standing right beneath the outstretched glass ball. He leveled the laser gun at the alien, glaring. “Open the doors and let my friends go, and I’ll let you use whatever is left of your escape pod. If you don’t … well, I’m sure you can figure it out.”

Exdee looked close to having an aneurysm. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t!” It cried. “That’s what happens when you set a ship to self-destruct – everything shuts down! And now, thanks to you, we’re all going to die! And there’s nothing you can do about it, Earthling!” It finished off with a sneer.

Dream’s brain was working on overdrive, trying to think of a way to save his friends, up until he glanced up at the statue and the quantonium held in the glass ball. He smirked. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” he said, aiming his laser gun at the statue. “And the name? It’s Dream, not Earthling.”

And with that, he shot the hand of the statue, causing the large glass ball of quantonium to fall directly on top of him. Everything went black.

-

“Total annihilation in t-minus one minute,” the computer echoed.

Around them, the ship was falling apart. The walkway was slowly crumbling, electrical sparks shot from the walls, and the generator malfunctioned above them. All the slaves had long since run or fallen off the walkway to their deaths, at least sparing them from the explosion. George, Karl, and Sapnap were left alone on the wrong side of the doors, and they were getting prepared to die.

Sapnap turned to George. “It’s been an honour knowing you, Doctor Cockroach.”

George sniffled, wiping tears from his eyes. “I told you not to call me that, you fucking demon.”

“And I’ll see you guys tomorrow, for lunch,” Karl added.

Sapnap gave a tenuous smile. “That’s right, Karl.”

“And there will be candy, cake, and balloons, too,” George added.

“Cake and balloons for lunch?” Karl gasped. “It’s going to be the best day ever! I love you guys!”

Just then, there was a large groan from above, and the three little monsters gasped as they looked up. The generator, which was roughly a hundred feet by two hundred feet in size, had fallen from the ceiling. As it hurtled toward them, they all flinched and ducked their heads, waiting for the inevitable. But it never came. After several seconds of not being crushed, George and Sapnap exchanged glances. They finally looked upward, only to find Dream – back to his giant size, maybe even bigger – holding the generator up above his head, saving them all from being crushed. Dream’s face was scrunched up in intense concentration as he struggled to get hold of his strength.

“Holy shit …” George breathed. Dream had never looked so breathtaking.

Dream grunted as he heaved the generator over his shoulder and over the side of the walkway. He got down on his knees, reaching out to his three little monsters, who were eagerly herded into his hands.

“Come on,” Dream said, breathless. “We need to get out of here.”

“Good enough for me!” Sapnap said, laughing.

“Thank god you came along!” George said.

Dream gathered all three little monsters in his hands, holding them to his chest as he jumped off the walkway. He held out his fist, like Superman, and punched through several metal floors in the ship before they were suddenly outside, falling on the landing pad at the bottom of the ship. Dream took the brunt of the impact, grunting in pain and letting go of the three little monsters to put them down. Below them was more than a thousand-foot drop, too far for Dream to tank safely. If he jumped he wouldn’t survive, but neither would his friends.

“Total annihilation in t-minus thirty seconds,” the computer called out.

“Nowhere to go from here,” Dream gasped. “Where’s Bad? You said Bad would be here!”

“He’s supposed to be here!” Sapnap argued.

“He said the only reason he wouldn’t be here is if he was dead!” George said worriedly.

Just then, there was an explosion from behind them, blowing them all off the landing pad and into a free-fall. All four monsters screamed before, suddenly, they hit something soft and firm. Dream gasped into familiar fur. In front of him, latched onto a furry brown horn, was Bad. Below them was Patches, the cat-caterpillar – or rather, now the butterfly-cat. Sprouted from her back were two newly formed beautiful brown-red-and-white patched wings.

“I said I would be dead … or late!” Bad yelled over the wind.

Behind them, as they flew away on the new butterfly-cat, the alien ship exploded into over a million pieces. Sapnap laughed joyfully. Dream was just happy that everyone he cared about was alive and well. They slowly headed back toward Florida – toward home.

-

As soon as Patches landed safely in his parent’s neighbourhood – maybe accidentally pushing aside a car or two on the way down – Dream was quick to slide off her back. He loved Patches, truly, but he was glad to have his feet back on the ground. Dream then spotted a crowd growing on the road, made up of all his parents’ neighbours and friends. He heard the yelling from his own friends – “He’s back!” and “Dream’s the goat!” and “Did you see what happened?!” – and then he saw his parents.  

“Clay!” His father and mother called at the same time.

“Mom! Dad!” Dream exclaimed.

For all he had wished he was a giant back on the alien spaceship to help save his friends – and how he didn’t mind being this size once again – he still wished that sometimes, he could be smaller, if only so he could hug those he cared about. And, just like that, his body seemed to listen to him. With a gasp, Dream was suddenly shrinking down. He was still absurdly tall – maybe ten feet or so – but he was actually able to hug his mother and father like this. His parents’ jaws dropped at his display of power, but they still welcomed his embrace.

“Oh, gods,” his mother said. “I hope you’re okay. That – that alien didn’t lay a hand on you, did they?”

“I’m fine, mom,” Dream said. “In fact, I’m better than fine. I feel great!”

And he wasn’t lying. Ever since regaining the quantonium, his body had healed the bruises around his neck and wiped away any aches and pains he’d had.

But then his ears started to twitch as he heard a familiar voice.

“Excuse me! Hello! Coming through!” From the crowd emerged Quackity, a camera man following intently behind him. Quackity was dressed in his usual work attire, a nice suit jacket, slacks, and leather shoes, along with his hair being gelled back. Quackity turned to Dream with a smile, having to crane his neck to look Dream in the eyes. His eyes widened. “Dream!”

Dream’s eyes locked on his ex-fiancé. “Quackity?”

“Babe,” Quackity started, “I thought long and hard about what happened between us – and I want you to know … I forgive you.”

“You … you forgive me?”

“Of course!” Quackity said. He gave what was probably supposed to be a reassuring smile, but only came off as arrogant. “I decided … it wasn’t your fault you got hit by a meteor and ruined everything. And you know what? I say maybe you didn’t ruin everything – I just got a call from New York. They offered me the network! All I need to do is get an exclusive interview from you.”

“… really?” Dream asked.

“Yeah!” Quackity had stars in his eyes. “I get my dream job, and you get your dream guy. It’s a win-win for Team García!”

“Quackity, that’s … amazing. You know what – is the camera rolling?” Dream tilted his head.

“Absolutely!” Quackity gestured to the camera behind him. “All you need to do is – whoa!”

Dream quickly grew back to his hundred-foot-tall size with a mere thought, his entire body glowing a faint green. He knelt down and picked up Quackity by the back of his suit jacket, causing Quackity to have to hug himself so he wouldn’t slip out of the jacket and fall the twenty feet to the asphalt. Dream held Quackity up in front of his face, and he watched as Quackity gulped thickly. He grinned, all teeth, sharp and white.

“Good,” Dream said, “because I wouldn’t want your fans to miss this. After everything you said and did to me over the years, this is Clay Greene saying: Goodbye Quackity!”

He gently flicked Quackity, but with his increased size and strength, Quackity went flying into the air.

Dream knelt lower and whispered to Karl, “can you catch him?”

Karl nodded and quickly moved over to catch and swallow Quackity from his free-fall, eventually spitting him out. Quackity was left slumped on the asphalt, covered in purple goo and utterly humiliated. Karl stuck his tongue out and said, “bleh. You taste like a selfish jerk.”

Quackity turned toward the camera with a defeated look in his eyes. “Just … turn it off.”

-

As it turned out, some of the slaves got off the alien ship before it exploded by using the few free escape pods. Hundreds of aliens – from insect-like looking humanoids to lizard-looking aliens – came off the escape pods, seeking asylum on Earth. The American government had to deal with these asylum seekers, but it was by the persuasion of Bad that they were treated as people and not slaves. By hosting them at Area Fifty-Something for a few months, they were able to integrate the aliens into human society by giving them jobs, homes, and yes – with Jurelle as their spokesperson, they all got dental insurance, as well. And eventually, the humans in Florida got used to their new monster and alien residents.

-

“Monsters, I’m so proud of you!” Bad said, back at Area Fifty-Something. The monsters were gathered in the commons, and Bad was back in his jetpack. Patches laid on the floor, flapping her wings and swishing her tail, enjoying pets from Dream, who currently stood at three hundred feet tall for an easier time petting the new butterfly-cat. “You saved not just Florida, not just America, not just hundreds of alien slaves, but the world as a whole! While the property damage costs from your fight and the explosion may be high, my pride for you guys is even higher! But, and I hate to say this, the world needs you again.”

“What is it, Bad?” Dream asked. He turned and pulled his knees up to his chest, hugging them. Patches meowed loudly when he stopped petting her.

“It seems a snail fell into a French nuclear reactor, turning into a giant monster in the process. As we speak, it is slowly making its way to Paris.”

“Well,” Dream said, looking over at the three little monsters. He grinned and said in jest, “I’ve always wanted to go to Paris.” By now, they all knew his failed engagement and ruined honeymoon story. Sapnap snorted, George smiled, and Karl giggled.

Sapnap looked over at Patches. “I’m in if Patches is in.”

Patches meowed in agreement.

“I’m in!” Karl said.

“Count me in, too! I’ll go anywhere Dream goes!” George said, then blushed, seeming to realise what he just said out loud.

“Well then,” Bad said, “it’s time to save the world again!”

-

[iwasforcedtomakethisbytum]

Here's California as a pony, yippee i had his rough design in my head for a bit but i wasn't sure what to give him for a cutie mark after a bit of thinking i remembered that Californians live and travel everywhere, it's kinda a thing they're known for if I'm correct, so i figured a compass would work for that

i really like his design he's the first one I'm proud of right off the bat, I'm actually enjoying Floridas now but i wasn't proud of it when i finished it, and I'm still not enjoying the look of gov, but i just don't draw robots often so that makes sense

I imagine he has a similar body type to fluttershy's brother tall and lanky, idk seems right for him

Here's him in his birthday suit :) lol (i forgot to take the reference image before starting and i forgot to add the clothes so i had to put it on top of the preexisting drawing)

also i just love his ears i originally was gonna add holes for them but i ended up looking up the mlp characters in hats and i saw some of the Images had their ears like that and i just couldn't resist

And the reference image i took

[public-transportation-tournament]

Round 1!

The TCAT, Tompkins County, NY, USA vs Seattle Center Monorail, Seattle, WA, USA

M1 (or Millennium Underground Railway, but also known as "the small underground" by locals), Budapest, Hungary vs Grande Recife, Recife, Brazil

London Underground, Greater London, England vs Rotterdam Metro, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Beamish Tramway, Beamish Museum, Beamish, England vs Catbus/Nekobus, Sayama Hills, Saitama Prefecture, Japan (My Neighbor Totoro)

The New York City Subway system, New York City, NY, USA vs Corviknight Flying Taxi, Galar (Pokémon Sword and Shield)

Buenos Aires Underground (Subte), Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina vs Monte Toboggan, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

The Stargate Network, throughout the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxies (the Stargate franchise) vs the Deepsea Metro, Inkopolis Bay (Splatoon)

CAT, Perth, Western Australia vs SkyTrain, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Brolly Rail, Nevermoor (Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend) vs Métro Ligne 4, Paris, France

Tyne and Wear Metro, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom vs the REM, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (upcoming)

Jeepney, the Philippines vs Sea Train, Water 7, connecting it with St. Poplar, San Faldo, and Pucci, as well as the Judicial Island Enies Lobby (One Piece)

The MTR, Hong Kong, PRC vs the Omnibus, New York, NY, USA (1832)

SeaBus, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada vs Wuppertaler Schwebebahn, Wuppertal, Germany

Ice Highway, the Nether Roof (Minecraft) vs Battle Subway, Unova (Pokémon Black and White)

WY Metro, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom vs Tunnelbana, Stockholm, Sweden

MRT (Moda Raya Terpadu/Mass Rapid Transit), Jakarta, Indonesia vs An Luas, Dublin, Ireland

RIPTA (Rhode Island public transit authority) (it’s buses), Rhode Island, USA vs Bakerloo Line, London Underground, London, England

Mount Vesuvius Funicular Railway, Mount Vesuvius, Italy (opened in 1880, destroyed by volcanic eruption in 1944) vs AquaBus, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Yarra Trams, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia vs SEPTA (southeast pennsylvania transportation authority), Pennsylvania, United States

Cable Cars, San Francisco, California, United States vs MAX Light Rail system, Portland, Oregon, United States

Amtrak, United States vs Fenelon Place Elevator, Dubuque, Iowa, United States

Ninky Nonk, Night Garden (In The Night Garden) vs Prague Metro, Prague, Czech Republic

Polar Bear Express, between Cochrane and Moosonee, Ontario, Canada vs the Crosstown Express, Robot City (Robots (2005))

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (the T), Greater Boston, Massachusetts, United States vs Worcester Regional Transit Authority, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States

Kakola Funicular, Turku, Finland vs Angkutan Kota (Angkot), Indonesia

Galaxy Railways, the Milky Way (The Galaxy Railways (銀河鉄道物語, Ginga Tetsudō Monogatari)) vs The Ride, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

MST Trolley, Monterey, California, United States vs People Mover, Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Florida, United States

Public Transit Victoria, Victoria, Australia vs Carmelit, Haifa, Israel

The L, Chicago, Illinois, United States vs Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway, South Lanarkshire, Scotland

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT), Morgantown, West Virginia vs Helsingin seudun liikenne/Helsingforsregionens trafik/Helsinki Regional Transport, Helsinki, Finland

Gondolas, Venice, Italy vs the Trolley from the Trolley Problem (Philippa Foot came up with it originally, but in media it was also presented in "the good place")

Zahnradbahn Stuttgart (die Zacke), Stuttgart (Marienplatz to Degerloch), Baden-Württemberg, Germany vs Detroit People Mover, Detroit, Michigan, United States

Warp Pipes (Super Mario Bros.) vs SCMaglev, Yamanashi, Japan

Transport Canberra Bus Network, Canberra, Australia vs Stagways, Hallownest (Hollow Knight)

Roosevelt Island Tram, Roosevelt Island, New York, NY, United States vs NJ Transit (Northeast Corridor), New Jersey, United States

Sunrail, Orlando, Florida, United States vs Bay Area Rapid Transit, Bay Area, California, United States

Purple Route (Charm City Circulator), Baltimore, Maryland, United States vs Alderney Ferry (Halifax Transit), Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Millennium Line, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada vs MARTA, Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Dual Mode Vehicle (DMV), Asa Coast Railway, Shikoku, Japan vs Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway, Lynmouth, England, UK

Hovercraft, Portsmouth - Ryde, UK vs Funiculars, the Questionable Area (Psychonauts 2)

WildNorWester, Sodor (The Railway Series) vs Shinkansen, Japan

Métro de Paris, Paris, France vs Metro do Porto, Porto, Portugal

Deutsche Bahn, Germany vs UC Davis Unitrans Bus System, Davis, California

Vaporetti, Venice, Italy vs Harbour Bus, Copenhagen, Denmark

[phanfictioncatalogue]

University (6) Masterlist

part one, part two, part three, part four, part five

(and I spent all night) stuck on the puzzle (ao3) - carltzmann

Summary: It's Phil's first week of his final year of university, so really, he should be used to it by now. He should be able to behave normally when the cute guy down the hall is stepping out of the shower at the same time he's entering the bathroom.

Evidently not.

begin and never cease (ao3) - palomeheart

Summary: Dan is a grumpy second year law student living with reclusive, perpetual grad student named Phil. When the holiday season brings out a side of Phil that Dan’s never seen before, Meanwhile, when Phil finds out Dan hates all things festive, he makes it his goal to change Dan’s mind before Christmas. And also to find the perfect mince pie.

Change Will Come (ao3) - rainbowchristy

Summary: Dan’s a depressed university student. Phil’s just a cute coffee shop barista who writes notes on Dan’s hot chocolates.

Electrify My Heart (ao3) - counting2fifteen

Summary: Dan Howell picks his college major almost at random. Even after a gap year, he doesn’t know what he wants to do, so he supposes he might as well pick whatever will make him the most employable and impress the largest number of his relatives. Within his first semester, he knows he made a mistake and switches out. Except Dan’s major isn’t law. It’s computer science, and Phil is his TA.

Five Seconds (ao3) - starboydjh

Summary: Five seconds in a dusty university bookshop one night is all it takes to change Dan the work study master's student and Phil the PhD candidate’s lives for the better.

Flatmates (ao3) - intoapuddle

Summary: oh my god they were flatmates / the fuckboy!phil au we all deserve

give me all your hopeless hearts (ao3) - itsmyusualphannie (itsmyusualweeb)

Summary: Dan is a university student who doesn't believe in love, but when Valentine's Day rolls around, he feels himself suddenly falling for the boy who sits next to him in his writing 101 class. When they're assigned a project together, Dan has the brilliant idea to ask Phil out - for research!

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,

And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”

i don't know why (i can't keep my eyes off of you) (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Starting a new university is hard enough without Phil having to convince his best friend PJ he doesn't have a crush on their other flatmate, Dan. He definitely does not have a crush on Dan.

knowing the way (ao3) - watergator (orphan_account)

Summary: dan meets phil at a party

based on the line in BIG, "trust me, i've known a lot of straight guys until a couple of drinks, some deep conversation and lingering eye contact, and suddenly they just start leaning in."

light through an open door (ao3) - queerofcups

Summary: The only thing Dan’s trying to do is finish grad school and avoid talking about the very public crash and burn of his last relationship as much as possible. Meeting Phil, who’s working on his PhD in Philosophy, just like Dan’s ex was, is a coincidence. Now Dan’s just trying to finish grad school, avoid talking about his very public break up and try his hardest not to fall for a man who might hurt him the same way he’s been hurt before.

Pictures Of You (ao3) - CanDanAndPhilNot (enbycalhoun)

Summary: Punk Phil and (softish) Dan find out they are roommates after a couple stressful encounters.

Project with Phil (ao3) - Cuddlelester

Summary: Dan is an art student in his second year of college when he meets Phil, a film student in the same school. After getting paired for a project about queer expression they begin to grow close. Even though falling in love wasn't in the outline for the project, it had definitely happened.

robot in the dorms (ao3) - itsmyusualphannie (itsmyusualweeb)

Summary: dan goes to university in florida and meets his roommate phil. after a few months, and despite dan's facade of disinterest, he begins to actually like phil and his nerdy ways. the robot that phil designs doesn't help.

or: another "oh my god they were roommates" fic but COOLER because robots

snails kissing (ao3) - cloud-gays (wind_brewed)

Summary: Phil wants to be smooched and Dan wants to rescue snails.

Also called: Dan: the snail saviour; and Phil: the “maybe the real snails saved were the cuties we met along the way” guy.

snuggle up close, let me hold your pieces in place, even if just for a night (ao3) - natigail

Summary: It was just one thing after another really.

Broken down bus with a whole class of freshers.

Dingy hotel room that was cold as fuck.

No one wanting to share a room with Dan.

But then the TA Phil stepped up to the plate and defended Dan. Of course, it meant that the two of them ended up sharing a bed, and then the heater had to break. It's the perfect excuse for sharing body warmth and confessions.

Soft Speak with a Mean Streak (ao3) - Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)

Summary: Phil was a lonely film student; Dan was a mysterious new classmate he got stuck in with for a big project. It was only a matter of time and the right circumstances.

The Literal Other Half (ao3) - Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)

Summary: Dan arrives at Manchester University and feels a bit lost, luckily he gets an upperclassman as a tour guide and mentor of sorts. Coffee dates, friends and a lot of laughter finally enter his life - along with love.

This Could be the End of Everything (ao3) - rainbowchristy

Summary: Dan’s finally starting university, the phase of his life he’s been waiting for since he was a small child. His first real chance at freedom, away from his parents. Unfortunately, the universe has other plans for him.

time won't be enough, to make you fall in love (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: phil lester's first year of university, and how he's oblivious to how much he and dan howell like each other

Unlocked Doors (ao3) - TearDrop1234

Summary: Prompt: a university getting together au

What Phil Saw (ao3) - counting2fifteen

Summary: After their first night together, Phil knows he made a mistake sleeping with one of his students. Dan disagrees, but he's too busy having a crisis about his major to press the issue too much.

Or, the conversation Dan and Phil had after their first night together in Electrify my Heart, from Phil's point of view.

When the Weather Breaks (ao3) - sierraadeux

Summary: Sitting across from Phil on that worn out velvet Starbucks sofa, sharing sickeningly sweet coffees and what they would like to think were hushed giggles, was the first time Dan felt a glimpse at what real love could feel like.

or

Perception checks, pining, and peppermint mochas.

with a bullet (ao3) - waveydnp

Summary: phil returns to his room after a party thrown by his housemates only to discover that there’s already someone in his bed

[maguro13-2]

Winry : So, Lan. Since you amputated your legs in a not-so kind of accident. I decided to give you a replace for your arm.

Lan Fan : A good replace for my arm. That's my right arm, this is my left arm that I cut it off.

Winry : So when did you had it happen, to have your arm cut off?

Lan Fan : Uhhh....

*flashback*

Lan Fan : Okay.

*looks both ways to make sure the coast is clear*

Lan Fan : This is going to be the biggest challenge. Hope I don't touch his sausage.

Ling Yao : Hey, Lan Fan. Dinner will be ready, don't do anything stupid okay. Also, that Bradley guy just had to make your day worsen.

Lan Fan : I'll be fine! I'll be right there! Well, here goes nothing. Time to do the old Zoro sword trick.

*pulls out a sword*

*scene changes back*

Lan Fan : Fighting gators in the state of Florida.

Winry : Oh. Well, in that case. I decided to give you a new arm for your old one to be replaced.

Lan Fan : Like what did you give me?

Winry : What I given you is a new left arm...for a pair of MOTHERF***ING ROBOT ARMS!

Lan Fan : Oh that's real classic of you, Winry. Having a robot for an arm does not make you look good when you--

*Lan Fan reveals her mechanical robot arm*

Lan Fan : Woah! What the hell is this!?

Winry : It's your new left arm? Do you love it?

Lan Fan : It's kinda that cool and metallic. What kind of Mechanical arm is this?

Winry : Giant robot arm! Also known as Mecha arms!

Lan Fan : *sinisterly* Good...!

*later*

King Bradley : WAIT! STOP! I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO STAB YOUR ARM OFF! I WAS JUST CHECKING TO MAKE SURE OF IT!

Lan Fan : PAYBACK'S A B*TCH, EVERYONE! I FEEL EVEN BETTER WITH THIS ONE!

Winry : Merry Christmas, C*cksuckers! Hope you like the smell of your defeats!

[sakurachan7734]

Love in my dreams and in real life to

Chapter 3: new student

Few minutes before class starts

Zachary: hay Jackson did you hear that a new kid is coming to school today?

Jackson: yea that’s all everyone is talking about apparently they are a well known model and the kid of a famous actor

Zachary: I can’t wait to see them

Mr Dwight: ok everyone quit down we have a new student today why don’t you introduce yourself

Aristotle: my name is Aristotle polonoi and I am going to be with this class from now on

Mr Dwight: ok Aristotle go sit next to Zachary dove the one in the green

Both Aristotles and Zachary’s mind “I have seen you before”

Aristotle goes to sit down next to Zachary

Jackson:* whispers and pokes Aristotle in the arm of the pencil* psst what’s with the goo dripping from your face?

Aristotle:* whispers* I was born with it what’s with your unnaturally skinny body? 

Jackson:* whispers* some reason as you I was born like this

After a few classes lunchtime starts and Aristotle goes to find Jack to go talk to it 

Aristotle: hey so I know our first interaction was kind of weird, but I wanted to know you better

Jackson: nah it’s fine 

Aristotle: good so what’s your name and do you know Zachary? 

Jackson: I’m Jackson and yes I know Zachary we have been best friends since middle school why do you ask?

Aristotle: nice and he was acting a bit weird when I sat down

Jackson: oh he has been having a dream about his future soulmate or something and he said you look a little bit like who he saw also sorry if this is rude, but are you a guy or a girl? 

Aristotle: interesting and I’m neither I’m non-binary

Jackson: cool!

Aristotle: do you have any siblings that go here?

Jackson: no but I have a little brother and sister my brother goes to the school right down the street from us and my sister goes to the daycare a few blocks from here you?

Aristotle: I have a little sister and that goes to the elementary school by the church 

Jackson: nice so where are you going to lunch?

Aristotle: oh i’m just gonna look around at lunchtime

Jackson: well do you want me and Zachary to show you around?

Aristotle: yes

Jackson: alright follow me

Jackson shows Aristotle the entire first floor and stopped at the cafeteria to get Zachary

Zachary: oh hay Jackson and Aristotle!

Jackson: hay Zachary can you help me show Aristotle around the school? 

Zachary: sure! I’m done eating anyway

Zachary and Jackson bring Aristotle up to the second floor and they all start talking

Zachary: so where did you move from?

Aristotle: I moved from Florida

Jackson: are you from Florida? 

Aristotle: no I’m from Paris I moved a bunch when I was 11 until now 

Jackson: how old are you anyway? 

Aristotle: 16

Zachary: hay Jackson do you want to introduce Aristotle to Charlie? 

Jackson: yea we should

Aristotle: who is that?

Zachary: another one of our friends he’s a robot lizard though

Aristotle: I don’t mind 

Jackson: ok to the computer lab!

Zachary: Jackson we are already here

Jackson: oh

They enter the computer lab and go to a computer in the back of the room and Zachary sits down in the chair

Zachary: can you hear me Charlie? There is someone we want you to met

Charlie:* wakes up* initiating greeting protocol 47: hello Zachary and Jackson who do you want to introduce me to?

Aristotle: hi I’m Aristotle polonoi

Charlie: are you the child of the famous actor dýo polonoi? Who played in many award-winning movies? And a model?

Aristotle: yes that’s me

Charlie: why aren’t you wearing your mask?

Aristotle: I can’t wear it to school because I will get in trouble

Charlie: makes sense

Zachary pov

I almost forgot that they had a mask. The first time I saw them now that I’m getting a better look at them I see that they have a nose ring on the side and they have some eyeshadow and eyeliner and they have long gold earrings high cheek bones and since I am standing next to them they are about a foot taller than me how the f**k is somebody straight out of my dreams exactly my type?! I mean I expected some things being different but they are perfect just perfect

Charlie: Zachary!

Zachary: what?!

Charlie: are you ok? You were staring at Aristotle for like 8 minutes

Zachary: yes i’m fine.

Aristotle: where else are you going to show me?

Jackson: the roof but it’s nothing special though so we can just say here

Aristotle: ok

A half hour later lunch ends Zachary and Aristotle head to science class

Aristotle: so what are we doing?

Zachary: looks like we are cutting open a frog

Aristotle: oh that seems fun

Zachary: what do you mean fun?! that’s gross!

Aristotle: don’t worry I have done this before

Zachary: what?

Aristotle: nothing hand me the scalpel

Zachary pov

I watched Aristotle operate on the frog and I was pretty impressed they knew what they were doing even though they mentioned that t were homeschooled and I’m scared to ask how they learned this but then I went to the bathroom and somehow they brought the damn frog back to life!

Zachary: how the f**k did you do that?!

Aristotle: it’s simple I just rewired the veins, the brain and sewed it back together

Zachary: hmm hot

Aristotle: What?

Zachary: nothing

A few hours later the school day ends

Zachary: hay Aristotle! I was wondering if I could your number? So we can hang out sometime.

Aristotle: yea I would love to!

Aristotle and Zachary exchange numbers and Aristotle walks all the way home

Florence: welcome home

Aristotle: hello father

Florence: how was school?

Aristotle: it was good I made some friends

Florence: really already? What are their names?

Aristotle: Jackson, Charlie and Zachary 

Florence: that’s great i’m glad you’re making friends oh by the way your grandparents and extended family, and your father side of the family are coming over in two months 

Aristotle: why?

Florence: because it’s been decades since we seen them and you and your sister haven’t gotten a chance to meet them yet

Aristotle: ok father

A few hours later Aristotle is reading and gets a call from Zachary

Aristotle:* answers* yes?

Zachary: so I was wondering if you wanted to go to somewhere with me this weekend

Charlie:* in the distance over the phone* I SAID INVITE THEM TO THE PARK DUMB A$$!!!

Zachary: calm down, Charlie I will!! Sorry I meant the park this week or next weekend

Aristotle:* laughs* I would love to I don’t have anything to do this weekend

Zachary: good it’s a date!* hangs up*

Aristotle: a date?

End of chapter







[cyberb07]

Good day, my fellow readers ~ 🤲

I'm in need of comfort. Know of any good comfort scenarios involving some of my fave crushes? 🙏🩵

Loki or Vision (Marvel) | Hobie (Spider-Punk)

Ishimaru (DR1) | Twogami (SDR2) | King Cold (DBZ)

The Duke (RE8) | Mr. Burns | Horned King (Disney)

Ennard or FT Freddy or Monty or Sun/Moon (FNAF)

Oogie Boogie (TNBC) | Cagney Carnation or Devil

Lord Royal Highness (SpongeBob) | skekZok (TDC)

Psycho Weasel (ft. Smartass) | Caine (TADC) *latest*

What's my scenario?

Well, I competed, wholeheartedly, in my office's Halloween costume contest this year... and I lost.

This. I was Withered Chica. How did this lose? Against a girl in a black lolita dress with platforms and a white mask with blood tears? Against an OC??

So, any comfort scenarios you can link me to? Or, if you're bolder, could someone write my scenario?

If you want more details, read below ~

(warning; a bit whiny, which I try not to do, sorry)

I'm known by most as being a sweet, reserved, and devout worker; but also with a reputation for going all-out on dress-up days. Especially for Halloween. 🎃 I have for years.

Like always, I stayed up late and worked for weeks on my costume; compiling clothes & props and painting into the midnight hours. Was hard work, but it's always worth it when I step into my building and everyone flinches. My colleagues said I was a shoo-in to win Scariest Costume. In the office & out in the parade, I walked robotically everywhere. I had a sound box tucked away so I could make her groans & jumpscare noises. And mind you, I live in Florida! ☀️ I did all this, without eating anything after a light breakfast, and barely sipping any water through my under-mask's mouth slots. (Yes I had a 2nd mask on, of Nightmare Chica, for its second row of teeth!) But I didn't complain about it. I relished in it~

It's a personal thrill of mine. Performing in costume, either using my hip-long hair or hiding it in a net, especially to scare. ^^ I scare because I care, lol. (Monsters Inc/University scenarios are great too)

This time, I thought I had it in the bag. For years, the judges wouldn't choose me because my costumes, while very scary to my coworkers, were too obscure for the judges. I thought, surely, Chica would be scary *and* recognizable. And some of them did know what I was from. But alas~ 💔

I went back to my office desk sad, tearing up behind my mask. No one in my office has ever seen me cry, and thanks to my double mask, no one would. Several of them gave me sympathies, which I appreciated, but I kept my thanks short. I'm the nice level-headed trainer, and yes, there have been close moments before, but they couldn't see me like this. It was foolish to cry, I know, but I was hurt, and I never make a fuss or ask for anything. I just wanted.. Thankfully, everyone was excused to leave work early if they wished. So, I took my time peeling off my costume in the restroom as most everyone left. To the few left behind, I tried to excuse my flushed face and shiny eyes on the 1pm high hot sun. I stuck around just a little more, to finish a job. A half hour later, I was the 2nd to last one out. Drove home, listening to my Toon Patrol & The Duke playlists. Once home, I got myself a poké dinner, chugged bottles of water, took a pill for my aching head, and retired for a nap. X3 Imagining comfort scenarios, and passed out in minutes.

So, after all that, if I could be linked to a comfort fic for my situation, 😌 it would be much appreciated. Yes, I'm feeling better, but it'd still be nice, ya know? 👏 And I do enjoy reading new x reader scenarios.

Thank you for hearing me out ~

[concerthopperblog]

K-Rockathon Reboot 7.27.2024

The 2024 K-Rockathon made a triumphant comeback after a 6-year break to "reboot" the festival. Although the show may not have been sold out, the turnout was fantastic. This year's K-Rockathon featured Puddle Of Mudd, Hoobastank, Nonpoint, Stabbing Westward, Boy Hits Car & Brand New Sin, all of which are alumni of this event. When I arrived at the venue, I was greeted by a huge crowd of fans eager to see what the day had in store for them. Between each set, one of the event sponsors, Sweet Grass, handed out free drink cozies, bracelets, keychains, and T-shirts. There were also various food vendors offering options ranging from ice cream to cheesesteaks and more. Additionally, Monster Energy provided free water and energy drinks to keep the fans hydrated. Towards the end of the show, anyone who purchased a ticket was entered into a raffle to win a Monster Energy-branded bicycle. But enough about the vendors—let's dive into the main part of the show.

Brand New Sin opened the show, hailing from Syracuse, NY. They were the only local band on the bill and alumni of the K-Rock Festival. The band members are Kris Weichmann, Chuck Kahl, Joe Altier, Brian ("Slider") Azzoto, and Mike Rafferty. They have performed alongside well-known acts such as Slash, Godsmack, Dope, Chris Cornell, Deftones, Drowning Pool, Audiovent, and Dillinger Escape Plan. In 2006 Brand New Sin recorded Big Show's theme song "Crank It Up" for WWE Wreckless Intent. Despite having released 6 albums, they have not put out new music since 2011. Hopefully, they are working on some new material. I enjoyed their energy and sound at KRock; I hope that I can catch these guys again at another show.

Boy Hits Car is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1993. They have released 4 albums to date, with the latest one being Stealing Fire. The band's setup is noteworthy: the singer, Cregg Rondell, had his acoustic guitar set up on a stand so that he wouldn't have to keep picking it up and setting it back down each time he wanted to move around the stage. Cregg was very energetic, jumping around the stage and at one point even had to put his shoes back on due to the high temperature of the stage, which was absorbing the hot sun because of its black color. However, this didn't stop the band. My favorite song from this set was “Man Without Skin” The next day, they performed again at The Jugg on Teall. At the end of their set, Cregg even got on top of the crowd to connect more deeply with the audience.

Stabbing Westward is an American industrial rock/alternative rock band. Christopher Hall and Walter Flakus formed the band in 1985 in Macomb, Illinois. Stabbing Westward has released five albums to date. The band has not released any new music since 2002, apart from their most recent single "Hex." During a recent performance, the band displayed great passion and energy. Despite lead singer Christopher Hall being injured, he still gave his all during the performance. He even apologized to the crowd for not being able to give more but made light of his injury. Nevertheless, the show went on. At the end of their performance, a person climbed into a large bubble ball and crowd-surfed on top of the fans, which was a definite highlight of the day.

Nonpoint is an American nu-metal band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The band currently consists of vocalist Elias Soriano, drummer Robb Rivera, rhythm guitarist Rasheed Thomas, bassist Adam Woloszyn, and lead guitarist Jaysin Zeilstra. The last time Concerthopper covered Nonpoint was on the Kings & Queens Tour with Butcher Babies. Seeing Nonpoint on this bill was exciting for me. I remember them having a lot of energy and amazing stage performances. Since their debut, they have released 11 albums, with the latest one being To The Pain (Deluxe Edition), and their latest single “Underdog” dropped earlier this year. During their performance, Rasheed Thomas started doing the robot while he was playing his guitar. Before they ended their set, Elias Soriano, their lead singer, said that he wanted to hear everyone sing to the next song, "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins, as he believed everyone should know this song regardless of whether they had listened to Nonpoint before. Everyone sang along in response to his request.

Hoobastank, sometimes stylized as h∞bastank and originally known as Hoobustank, is an American rock band formed in 1994 in Agoura Hills, California. The band consists of lead vocalist Doug Robb, guitarist Dan Estrin, drummer Chris Hesse, and bassist Jesse Charland. I couldn't contain my excitement all day in anticipation of seeing these guys come on stage. When I was younger, I vividly remember hearing the song “The Reason” when it came out and was on MTV during the days when they still played music videos (I was only 5 at the time). The band played for a whole hour, and right before they started playing “The Reason,” they asked the crowd how long they had been listening to the band. They found out that some of the younger fans only knew about the band because of their parents. Once they started playing, I noticed that many couples began singing and dancing together, which filled me with joy. While we were in the pit taking photos of the bands I turned around and saw a ton of green balloons being bounced around on top of the fans. Monster Energy had a bunch of balloons at their stand and threw them onto the crowd. They even had “Rock On” hands and I saw a little boy holding them throwing his hands up inside the balloons showing how much of a good time he was having to each set.

Puddle Of Mudd is an American post-grunge band formed in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1991. The band has sold over seven million albums to date and has been nominated for, and won, several awards for "Song Of The Year," "Best Album," and "Favorite Pop/Rock Album." After numerous lineup changes, the band's current lineup consists of Wes Scantlin, Josh Gilbert, Michael Anthony Grajewski, and Marc Slutsky. During a recent performance, Puddle of Mudd received a warm reception from the fans. Lead singer Wes Scantlin made a grand entrance onto the stage dressed as an old man, creating an element of surprise for the audience. The crowd's energy reached new heights when he revealed his true identity. The band played from 7:30 to 9:00 PM, treating the audience to a mix of older and newer songs, including classics like "She Hates Me" and "Blurry.". Wes also made a lighthearted joke while tuning his guitar, pretending they were about to play a new song called "Pitchin’ a Fit," even though the song was released back in 2009.

Who else is ready for K-Rockathon 2025? I can't wait to see who will be performing next year. Stay updated on the latest music events and concerts by following Concerthopper on Instagram and Facebook. Join our community today to make sure you never miss out on the most popular music experiences. Immerse yourself in the heart of the action and be a part of unforgettable music moments with Concerthopper!

[medicaldeviceexecutives]

Innovative Staffing: Empowering Talent in Medical Technology

In the fast-changing world of medical technology, recruiting and fostering talent is critical for driving innovation and enhancing patient care. The Medical Device Recruiting Agency specializes in enabling talent in the medical technology industry by bridging the gap between qualified people and cutting-edge advancements. Florida, known for its sunshine and tourists, is quickly becoming a centre for medical technology innovation. With a booming population, a strong healthcare sector, and an emphasis on research and development, the Sunshine State is an ideal location for developing medical technology skills.

An Innovative Medical Technology Ecosystem

An innovative medical technology ecosystem is a dynamic network of interconnected pieces that work together to drive advances in patient care, expedite operations, and improve outcomes. At its foundation, Medical Device Recruiting Firms relies on innovation, collaboration, and cutting-edge research to bring innovative answers to present and future healthcare concerns. Some key points are given below:

 Thriving Startup Scene: Florida has a thriving startup ecosystem, particularly in healthcare and medical technology. Cities such as Miami, Orlando, and Tampa are seeing an influx of inventive startups manufacturing cutting-edge medical gadgets.

Strong Academic Foundations: The state is home to famous universities and research institutes, including the University of Florida, the University of Miami, and Florida International University, all of which are actively involved in medical device research and education. These colleges consistently produce highly skilled graduates who are ready to contribute to the industry.

Industry Collaborations: Florida's MedTech recruiters are forming strong partnerships with healthcare providers, research institutes, and government organizations. These collaborations encourage creativity and speed up the development of innovative medical equipment.

Favorable Business Climate: The state provides a business-friendly climate, including lucrative tax breaks and a streamlined regulatory system. This makes Florida an enticing location for medical technology companies looking to start or expand their operations.

Empowering Talent in Florida's Medical Technology Sector

Talent Attraction and Retention: In order to draw in top talent, medical device recruiting agencies in Florida are emphasizing career progression prospects, competitive pay packages, and supportive work environments.

Focus on Education: Florida is investing in education programs to create a pipeline of skilled workers for the medical technology industry. Initiatives like robotics competitions, coding workshops, and summer camps are encouraging young people to explore professions in science and technology.

Mentorship and Networking Opportunities: Experienced medical technology specialists regularly advise and guide young entrepreneurs and researchers. Networking events and business conferences enable knowledge sharing and collaboration.

Joining the Innovation Journey

Although there are many opportunities on the way to innovation, there are also obstacles to be overcome, including navigating regulatory environments, obtaining money, and overcoming technological barriers. The medical device recruiting agencies in Florida continue to grow due to a number of factors, such as a robust startup ecosystem, reputable universities, industry partnerships, and a welcoming business climate. Florida is establishing itself as a leader in medical technology by making investments in personnel development, encouraging innovation, and building a supportive environment.

The Medical Device Executive is driven by a commitment to excellence in medical technology recruitment. It invites you to join their community. Explore comprehensive services and discover how they can help you achieve your career or organizational goals in the dynamic world of medical technology.

[egregiousderp]

This is parallel to this, but my sister’s doing job hunting now that she has her degree. It’s Sustainability—there were some pretty cool marine bio doctorates at the same ceremony because this is Florida.

She left her Robotic Engineering path so she could switch to sustainability because all the cool robot related jobs asked you to have military training.

I just at there for a second with her looking at salaries on things and it seems like…

The better paying the job, the catch is that you’re always hurting people. Somehow.

Medical insurance billing will pay you like an adult, but…you’re billing people in one of the cruelest care systems on the earth.

Be a CEO? Play with numbers? No, those numbers are connected to lives. Firings. Tough days.

Even doctors, ostensibly there to help people, brag about the types of hours they pull, the lack of sleep, the grueling knowledge, the pain they do to themselves for the idea of status, and they deal with pain of others all day until suffering becomes almost an abstract of symptom.

There’s a shift of this idea that wealth and status mean you have something valuable that you do. But straight economics cuts out all the surrounding factors it doesn’t like, business models consider a successful person someone who can squeeze as much blood from a stone as they can.

After graduation, we went to a restaurant. Sat for a few hours. Talked.

After the meal, my family stared at me yesterday, pulling all the mugs together at the table we sat at, trying to move all the plates to one spot, so the table was easy to clean:

“Why? They have people to do that.”

“So I can leave a paper tip.”

“They share tips though don’t they?”

“Sometimes, but we’re a big party and we were there for a long time, and there are probably places in here that tip way better than others. Hierarchies. You think the bartenders want to share their tips with the busboys? And what about the dishwashers? Always in the back? You really think they cut them in fair with all the front-facing people that have to pull Barbie smiles and make small talk all day?”

Intelligent people just stared at me. People I’ve known my whole life. Not unkind people. People who just hadn’t considered.

“Yeah, it’s the job, I want them to have one that feels easy for once. I don’t want those people at the bottom to have a bad day and feel invisible, and I want them to have the option to pocket something that won’t even buy them the lunch special in a place like this.”

“Don’t hurt people” is all well and good, but there has to be an awareness first, of the ways little hurts add up. A little hurt doesn’t get counted in the same way of life is one big hurt, but sometimes the little hurts add up.

A person with sciatica and chronic nerve pain won’t necessarily think you’re the worst thing in their day for giving them a papercut, but they would probably feel a certain way if you snatched the paper out of their hand super fast with intent to paper cut and then added “this is your job” when they complain.

You aren’t as good a person as you CAN be.

This is true of all of us.

None of us are as good as we can be.

It’s not really a Peak thing you can get the best grade at because there’s plenty of people who have pet causes and then treat the bagboy horribly at the supermarket after a long day at the nonprofit, or who don’t make eye contact with the guy with the sign on the side of the road.

But subconsciously there’s usually a sliding scale.

And it’s “how kind can I be without being thought of as stupid. How good can I make myself look doing this.”

But it’s also partially an awareness of impact and how all the little factors we cut into neat statistics adds up.

“Please, you’re hurting people.” Doesn’t work on people who think people lower than them deserve to be hurt.

And there’s all different sorts of ways that manifests.

“But that’s what they get for choosing this kind of lifestyle!”

Buddy, sooner or later someone is going to take offense to the way you live life no matter how you live it. Outnumbering these people isn’t going to really change their minds unless they’re incredibly easily led. (Possible, but let’s not hope, because it’s worse if it’s true.)

But you can control your own actions.

You can go out of your way to make things easier for the people you know are getting hit or are going to be hit.

And if you do that for long enough, if you treat people well wherever you go, it brings a very…different feeling to a place.

You have to build your communities and communicate with one another to be one another’s support.

You’re tired, I know, and the enemy is at the gate, and the world is burning. And those times are when it’s most important to have warm bread made for you, and handed to you by another human hand.

Get anchored.

You’ll wear yourself out fighting if your support’s no good.

I'm so *tired* of trying to follow bigots down their rabbit holes of nonsense to scream reason at them. Showing them the logical fallacies, the contradictions, the lack of evidence, the misinformation in big block letters. I'm so so so tired of approaching hatred as though it is just ignorance, as though if you can walk them through the logic, they'll deradicalize.

You're hurting people and that's bad.

That's it. That's the whole debate. Attacks on reproductive freedom, attacks on queer folks, profit first health care, 2nd amendment nuts,all if it.

You're hurting people. That's bad. You've come up with a thousand buzzwords and talking points and twisted little arguments to tell yourself that it's good, but it's not and that's it.

It doesn't matter how you define a woman or if the founding fathers would have supported AR15 ownership or if the primary purpose of sex is conception or whatever dumb little arguments get thrown around. People are being hurt and thats bad. That's the whole issue and I'm so tired.

[the-firebird69]

Thingsare going well so far

So we have major announcements

-space wars continuing there's massive casualties massive amounts of dead huge amounts of people are missing and giant numbers of ships are gone and people are distraught and having trouble. We need to assess the situation more so we need to control it so we're going to come in and control it and we have a system we're going to follow but we need to amp it up

-also we need to get information and Intel and you tell right now

-their fleets are pretty much wiped out all together they have around 100 billion ships but they're trying to get to the world here Earth and the pseudo empire the intercepting and taking whatever is left and they're sitting out groups of billions to meet them and everywhere and they're going to shut it down and that's what's going on right now plus

-the rebel Force known as the Mac morlock our floundering and their going rapidly to try and get ships out of the ground the ones they took out where ready and in tunnels and fueled or they're being built in space mostly the ladder. Now there's trillions of ships in the earth and they're all small and then there's some really really big ones hey not too many in between there's a few but not that many several billion that are in the same for 100s and 200. We're going to go ahead and start competing we don't want them out there there's other stuff happening

-the max morlock her eyeballing the minority more luck islands for their ships spaceships that is they have around 800 billion and they are going to try and take them over and say if we had those in our Stone chips we would have enough to knock out these pseudo empire and they're moving fast and they're going to get beat up real bad and Trump and company have been over there trying to test it and act this is another more like a even though you act weird because they're stupid and they say back we don't know what you're talking about and said who gives a s*** and then the'll look at it differently won't they. Let's start mumbling but they realize it's kind of dumb and they keep doing it but they're going to get beat up and so are the morlock and the pseudo empire are going to take the ships in between and the clones are going to be trying. And the pseudo empire is building up defenses the whole time and eventually they will have to face these guys and it's not pretty and it's coming up real soon but today they're looking at the islands and we'll probably go after after them and the limited basis shortly it's night time on half of them in 4 hours at noon for 1:00 p.m.

-along with that there's some big actions on the ground and they are regarding caverns and bunkers and weapons stashes and they are heating up right now all over the world daytime and night time and people are moving on them and add in the Giants and other curiosities like the nozzles and they are going hog wild the armies are pretty big ger by the hour there's going to be a massive army formed up even in Florida to go down because he's right we're sitting here being an assholes and they're getting us to be it's an embarrassment but we have to do this and they're all saying we we got to get out of the way and get going I'm trying to remember is in the way John remillard is still in the way they say and hit him if he gets in the way and he says he's going to have robots take over and it's stupid cuz usually people have the robots coming later so they're going after those with every breath that this idiot takes about it in the idiot can't figure it out and he's getting vanquished soon there won't be anything left of his and the robots are now being tapped and robot hardware the East hemisphere and is down below 20% to around 18% and in the West it has begun as well it's still in around 24% but they did start pulling them out it is a lot of them but they have methods of grabbing tons of them and what's going on now all day and all night they're going to be emptying these out and the poor guy is going to be thinking that he's doing it and he said it too and we don't have time to listen to this garbage anymore but these surface armies are getting to be very big and you're going down in very large numbers they are probably five times the size of what they have been in the past few years that's pretty damn big of big army is moving around and in each location and they're going to watch Major assaults on down below and it's coming up right now the gearing up right now for an assault and it is a welcome thing on the islands there are 0.3% and there's several groups ready at that size and they're going to start moving momentarily

Thor Freya

Olympus

I like my husband's idea if this fizzles were going to move in it's so damned annoying and it's nothing else to really fight for

Hera

We're going to have to do this and right now and we meet it we have to go in and have to start doing things here so I'm sending the orders

Thor Freya

And we're going to follow them and we're ready we got huge teams ready

Savage opress

Those are the orders and we're getting ready to move it's because the pseudo empire

Thor Freya

[ainews]

It may seem like an odd combination, but researchers have found that cantaloupes, the juicy, sweet fruit typically associated with summer, could hold the key to understanding tides for robots. The reason? It all comes down to their prehistoric origins.

Cantaloupes, along with other fruits like pumpkins and watermelons, are part of the Cucurbitaceae family, which can be traced back to the Jurassic period, approximately 145 to 201 million years ago. This makes them one of the oldest known fruit families, and their evolutionary history has some intriguing connections to tides.

During the Jurassic period, the Earth was experiencing high levels of volcanic and tectonic activity. This resulted in frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, which in turn caused large waves and tidal movements in the oceans. The Cucurbitaceae family, with its unique floating abilities, was able to thrive in this tumultuous environment.

The plants adapted to these conditions by developing buoyant fruits, like the cantaloupe, which could float on water and be dispersed to new areas. This strategy proved to be successful, as the Cucurbitaceae family is now one of the most diverse and widespread plant families on Earth.

So how does this prehistoric adaptation of floating fruits relate to modern-day robotics? In recent years, engineers and scientists have been studying the unique properties of cantaloupes and other Cucurbitaceae fruits for inspiration in designing robots that can navigate through water.

The buoyant and self-righting qualities of these fruits have been a major focus for researchers, as they could be used to develop robots that can withstand strong ocean currents and rough conditions. This could be especially useful for deep sea exploration or disaster response scenarios.

One team of researchers from the University of Florida has even created a robotic mimic of a cantaloupe’s buoyancy, using a flexible, lattice-like outer structure filled with gas to mimic the fruit’s air-filled cells. This design allows the robot to float on the water's surface and adjust to changes in water pressure, just like a real cantaloupe.

Additionally, the elliptical shape of cantaloupes and other Cucurbitaceae fruits has been studied for its hydrodynamic properties, which could also be used in the development of underwater robots. The shape helps the fruit move efficiently through water, as demonstrated by the success of marine animals like penguins and dolphins.

Overall, the evolution of cantaloupes and other Cucurbitaceae fruits in the Jurassic period has proved to be instrumental in understanding the dynamics of tides and inspiring modern-day technology. Who knew that a simple fruit could hold such significance in the world of robotics?

[tipsycad147]

5 Ways to Forge Communion with Crows

MARCH 18, 2024 BY RICK DE YAMPERT

Some 17,000 years ago, a human ventured deep inside Lascaux Cave in what is modern-day France, and painted a therianthrope (a human-animal hybrid) that some observers believe is a crow-headed shaman. It's the earliest evidence we have of how long crows and their cousins the ravens, part of the family of birds known as corvids, have enchanted humankind.

Crows and ravens are the most intelligent animals that most people will ever encounter, given that they are far more ubiquitous and "accessible" worldwide than those very smart apes and dolphins, and far more intelligent than dogs or cats. Renowned wildlife biologist John Marzluff calls corvids, "feathered apes." And, crows and ravens are the most magical animals that most people will have a chance of encountering.

As evidenced in myths, legends, and even historical accounts, the uncanny abilities and behaviors of crows and ravens have led cultures around the world to regard the birds as supernatural creatures, as emissaries from the gods, goddesses, and Other Realms. Tales from the ancient Norse, Celts, Native Americans, and other cultures have revealed how those peoples forged mystical connections to corvids, while contemporary accounts from individuals tell of synchronicities, eerie encounters, and even magical manifestations involving the birds.

At the most basic level, just intently observing crows and ravens will remind one—whether you're a birder, amateur naturalist, or just taking a break in a park—that nature, the earth, the universe are more fascinating and mysterious than we realize.

For myself and others on a Pagan spiritual path, crows are sacred creatures: they are the living embodiment of an aspect of Gaia the great Earth Goddess.

There's more.

Corvids can offer us a way, in conjunction with various shamanic techniques, to wake us out of what British metaphysical-occult investigator Colin Wilson called the "robot mind" of mundane consciousness, and stop the chattering of what the Buddhists call the "monkey mind." By attuning ourselves to the extraordinary, even supernatural abilities of corvids, we can better alter our consciousness so that we can open our Third Eye and access the divine realms.

All this while knowing that Gaia the Earth Goddess, in her joy and whimsy, has placed these creatures right there in our backyards.

Here are five ways—some practical, some magical—to forge communion with crows. (For a deeper dive, see my book, Crows and Ravens: Mystery, Myth, and Magic of Sacred Corvids.)

As noted by both science and anecdotal evidence, crows are more "human gregarious" (my term) than their somewhat shyer cousins the ravens. Given that and the fact that ravens are not found in Florida, where I live, the followings tips are drawn from my experiences with crows. Still, I suspect that these practices apply equally to both corvids.

1. To quote the musical Oliver!: Food, Glorious Food! Ok, duh. Of course if you feed them, they will come. However, crows offer a special case. A scientifically controlled experiment by John Marzluff demonstrated that crows remember specific human faces, especially the face of a human who has shown them a kindness, or the face of a human they perceive as being aggressive or harmful toward their kind.

It gets freakier: Crows can communicate to other crows the nature of a particular human, even if those other crows did not witness the initial behavior that caused a crow to mark said human.

So, whenever you feed crows, be sure to tilt your head toward wherever they may be, to give them the best chance to see your face and recognize you as their benefactor. I also speak a mantra out loud each and every I time I feed them. My mantra is, "Crackers for crows! Crackers for crows!" The goal is to give the crows a consistent audio as well as visual touchstone.

As for food, I use dried corn for my rituals or magical workings involving crows, but for everyday feedings (my clan of five to nine crows visit me daily in the backyard of my Florida home) I use tortilla chips, popcorn, saltine crackers, or any brand of those big brown, round crackers. Crows are omnivores: they'll eat just about anything, but keep it simple.

How to attract crows initially and establish a feeding regimen? Years ago I began this way: each and every time I heard crows cawing in my backyard, I would take crackers and place them on the lower branches of the Chinese tallow tree that grows naturally at the edge of the woods behind my home. This became my "Crow Spirit Tree" because the crows loved to perch there whenever they came to visit.

Whenever I approached the Chinese tallow to place crackers on the lower branches, any crows in the tree would flutter to its highest branches, but they would return to snack after I retreated to my back patio.

In the following weeks and months, I allowed the crows to "train" me by taking them crackers each and EVERY time I heard them caw. If they said, "Jump!" I said, "How high?" After a few months I began tossing tortilla chips and popcorn on my lawn. The crows were skittish at first, but after a few weeks they overcame their wariness and began alighting on my backyard to snatch their treats. I also began to notice a crow high in a nearby slash pine, keeping a lookout for red-shouldered hawks or other possible menaces while his clan would feed.

2. Get to know your neighborhood crows— as individuals. But how can that happen, you say, crows all look alike! True enough, and even discerning between male and female crows by sheer, casual observation is very difficult. Males typically are slightly larger than females, but even that is not a reliable indicator. I simply intuit whether a specific crow is male or female, and move on.

However, observe the same crow clan over a period of time and you will see that individual crows' behaviors differ, and can be downright idiosyncratic. (By the way, I'm not a fan of referring to a group of crows with the traditional term "murder," but feel free to do so if you choose.)

It's simple to see why I gave the name Rockette to one of my crow visitors from years ago: whenever she walked, one of her legs had a peculiar high-kick motion that resembled those famous show dancers at New York City's Radio Music Hall. I surmised Rockette's strange gait was the result of some past injury.

Lord Valient the Bold was an alpha crow who was noticeably larger than his fellows, and was the only one brave enough to come with 10 yards of my back patio. Mr. Piggy was the first crow I ever saw who would pick up and pack five or six medallion-sized crackers in his mouth at one time.

Boga and Bacca, a crow couple I named after Hollywood lovers Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, would scoop crackers off my lawn and fly to my home's rooftop to munch on them. (By the way, crow couples mate for life.)

Like more than half of all bird species, crows are passerine, which means they have feet that are adapted for perching. While cardinals, robins, and Carolina wrens dart and flutter through my backyard, crows will perch and stay awhile on the branches of the Chinese tallow, slash pines, and bluejack oaks, thus rewarding human watchers—especially ones with binoculars.

And yes, as you can see, I name my frequent crow visitors.

3. Compile a crow vocabulary list. One of the fun aspects of crow encounters is crow talk! Yes, crow talk is communication. OK, that's true of a broad spectrum of animal vocalizations, but crows have an ample vocabulary beyond their common "caws" and beyond that of other creatures. This brings up one of the best ways to distinguish between crows and ravens: Typically, a crow "caws" and a raven "croaks" or "gronks." (See the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's excellent video, "Caw vs. Croak: Inside the Calls of Crows and Ravens.")

As you encounter crows, note how they converse with other crows nearby. Once you hear a crow call, listen for a reply. Sometimes the distance of their call-and-response is astonishing: a crow will shout a staccato burst of caws, and a not-too-faint reply will echo from several blocks away or far across a nearby field, park, or patch of woods.

Devise your own onomatopoeia for the corvid talk you hear. My own crow dictionary includes, of course, "caw"—the all-purpose, readily recognizable, stereotypical crow word . . . except that it's not. Spend some time with crow kind and you will quickly learn there are different types of "caws." The typical one is a muscular, robust, even jarring burst that is a bit raspy or guttural. But crows also frequently voice a less harsh sound that I call a "soft caw," and a third type that I call a "yip caw," which has a similar tone to a dog's lighthearted "yip."

All these "caws" are vocalized in any number of repeats, different rhythms, and/or degrees of forcefulness, thus creating an astonishing variety of crow communications.

There's more. My crow vocabulary list also includes a guttural, cat-like caterwaul (which I mistook for an actual feline the first time I heard it), the rarely heard but beautiful "dove-murmur," the "hoot-murmur" (which I mistook for an owl the first time I heard that call), the "clicky-clack," and more.

As you begin to notice and catalogue various crow sounds, make note of the surrounding circumstances: time of day, how many crows are present, whether it's before or after you've fed them, the presence of other birds, etc. Soon you may be able to match particular vocalizations with specific conditions.

For example, I've noticed that a robust burst of three "caws" is typically the first crow sound I hear coming from my backyard in the morning. I'm convinced that call means one of two things: either, "Come feed us, Rick!," or perhaps it's a summons for other crows to come join the impending feast.

4. Do a tarot reading with crows. The ancient Norse of the Viking Age (793–1066 CE) created raven banners to prophesy their success in battle. The ancient Irish and ancient Tibetans devised divination systems based upon corvid speech. Here's a way to bring Crow Spirit into your divination practices.

If I'm in the mood to do a tarot card reading, I often will seek an assist from my crow visitors: I will count the number of crows the next time they arrive in my backyard, or alternately I will decide to note the number of "caws" the next time I hear a crow call nearby. Whether the number is one, five, seven, or whatever, that number becomes my "shuffle number." Let's say I heard three caws. After I complete a traditional shuffle of my selected tarot deck (usually Crowley's Thoth or the Morgan-Greer deck), I will count down to the third card in the deck and place that card in the first position of my chosen tarot layout, whether it's the Celtic Cross, a basic three-card spread, or another. Then I will count down to the third card of the remaining deck, and place that card in the second position. Count down three more and so on until all the layout positions are filled. Thus, the crows have provided the final shuffle for my reading.

As with all your tarot readings, keep a detailed journal of the cards revealed in the layout, your immediate interpretations, and any results that manifest, or not, in later days. After doing several "crow tarot" readings, see if you can discern any repeated cards or other synchronicities.

5. Add Crow Spirit to your altar. Several years ago, I was in the backyard of my Florida home and I heard a bustle high in a slash pine, and as I looked in that direction I saw a hefty branch crash onto my lawn and break into several pieces. A nano-second later I heard a crow caw. I looked up and in that very same tree I spied a crow.

No matter whether the crow physically caused the almost-dead branch to fall, I knew immediately that I had a natural talisman—one piece of the branch—to place upon my sacred Pagan altar. (I used another piece to create a Crow Spirit Wand, replete with a quartz crystal, an Apache tear, and crow images created with a woodburning tool, but that is a more involved process that I cover in my book.)

The piece of branch on my altar is a classic example of one of the most basic forms of magic: contagious magic, which holds that things once connected or associated are able to affect one another when separated.

No need to wait for a serendipitous falling branch. Find a tree favored by crows and, after asking the tree for permission, harvest one of the fallen branches, twigs, leaves, or needles that inevitably rest under the tree's canopy.

Even if you have no altar, place the branch or leaf in your home to serve as a palpable daily reminder of Crow Spirit.

[spacenutspod]

Now it’s Intuitive Machines’ turn to try making history with a robotic moon landing.Today’s launch of the Houston-based company’s Odysseus lander marks the first step in an eight-day journey that could lead to the first-ever soft landing of a commercial spacecraft on the moon. Odysseus would also be the first U.S.-built spacecraft to touch down safely on the lunar surface since Apollo 17’s mission in 1972.The lander — which is as big as an old-style British phone booth, or the Tardis time portal from the “Doctor Who” TV series — was sent spaceward from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 1:05 a.m. ET (0605 UTC).Liftoff was originally scheduled for the previous night, but was postponed due to concerns that arose while getting ready to load methane fuel onto the lander. The concerns were resolved, and tonight’s countdown proceeded smoothly.After launching Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission, the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster flew itself back for a touchdown on SpaceX’s Landing Zone 1, not far from its Florida launch pad. Meanwhile, Odysseus separated from the rocket’s second stage and pressed onward to the next phase of its lunar odyssey.Last month, a different company called Astrobotic had been in line to achieve the first commercial moon landing, but its Peregrine lander suffered a propellant leak after liftoff — a setback that forced the company to cancel the moon mission and instead send the robot to its fiery doom during atmospheric re-entry over the Pacific Ocean.“Landing on the moon is extremely challenging,” Joel Kearns, NASA’s deputy associate administrator for exploration, told reporters in advance of Odysseus’s launch. “You’ve probably seen that, over the past year, success of every landing was never assured.” (Those landing attempts included failures by Russia and a Japanese private venture, as well as successes by the Indian and Japanese space agencies.)Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said he’s confident his company’s attempt will be successful. “We learned from others … but in addition, we bring things together quickly. We bring hardware and software together in the early stages of development and testing, and we test often,” he said during NASA’s webcast.“Test, test, test like we fly — that’s the key to success,” Altemus said.If all goes according to plan, Odysseus will power its way to a Feb. 22 landing in Malapert A, a crater near the moon’s south pole. The south polar region is a key target for exploration because many of its craters are thought to hold reservoirs of water ice — a potential resource for future moon bases.Like Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander mission, the IM-1 mission is principally supported by funding from NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, also known as CLPS. The program is meant to leverage private enterprise — and reduce NASA’s costs in the long run. Kearns said NASA has agreed to pay as much as $118 million to have Odyssey deliver its science payloads to the lunar surface.Those payloads include cameras that will document the plumes of dust kicked up by the landing, an experimental radio navigation beacon, a radio-based fuel gauge, a laser range finder, a set of laser reflectors and a sensor that will study the moon’s electron plasma environment. Data from the experiments will help NASA plan for the Artemis program’s crewed lunar landings, which could start happening as soon as 2026.In addition, Odysseus is carrying an array of commercial payloads. One payload is a camera system that will be dropped off during the lander’s descent to take “selfie” pictures of the touchdown. Another payload is a mini-observatory that could capture pictures of the lunar surface and the first image of the Milky Way galaxy’s center as seen from the moon.There’s also a miniaturized information archive from Galactic Legacy Labs, a digital data storage device from Lonestar Data Holdings, a box of 125 marble-sized moon sculptures created by Jeff Koons, and a test swatch of thermal reflective material from Columbia Sportswear.Odysseus’s science mission is scheduled to last about a week. The end will come when the sun drops beneath the moon’s horizon, cutting off the solar-powered lander’s ability to charge up its batteries.But that won’t be the end for commercial moon missions: Intuitive Machines is already working on another lander that will drill for ice in the moon’s south polar region. Meanwhile, Astrobotic is getting set to send NASA’s VIPER rover to a spot near the south pole, and Firefly Aerospace is due to deliver 10 NASA payloads to Mare Crisium aboard its Blue Ghost lander.The post Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus Lander Begins Its Moon Odyssey appeared first on Universe Today.

[hobbyspacer]

Space habitat reports – Feb.5.2024

Here is this week's selection of videos and news items about space habitats, living in space, and space settlement. Starts with NASA's latest Space to Ground report for the International Space Station: https://youtu.be/g8MrUHwvlLU ** Expedition 70 Northrop Grumman Cygnus Cargo Craft Arrives at Space Station - Feb. 1, 2024 - NASA Video Loaded with food, fuel, and supplies, the unpiloted Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft arrived to the International Space Station Feb. 1 where it was installed to the Earth-facing port of the Unity module. Dubbed the “SS Patricia (Patty) Hilliard Robertson” for the late NASA astronaut who succumbed from injuries sustained from a plane crash, Cygnus launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Jan. 30 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and will remain docked to the space station for approximately six months. The mission is the 20th Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services flight to the space station for NASA. https://youtu.be/fb_pzLQ-ujE ** Expedition 70 Northrop Grumman Cygnus Cargo Craft Secured to Space Station - Feb. 1, 2024 - NASA Video https://youtu.be/Hj2cSf9HG1s ** Expedition 70 Space Station Crew Answers California Student Questions - Feb. 5, 2024 - NASA Video Aboard the International Space Station, NASA Expedition 70 Flight Engineers Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara discussed living and working in space during an in-flight event Feb. 5 with students attending the Emblem Academy in Saugus, California. Moghbeli and O’Hara are in the midst of a science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies. Such research benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for future human exploration through the agency’s Artemis missions, which will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future expeditions to Mars. https://youtu.be/b1iq7vQiXS0 ** What happens to astronauts during space station reboosts? Crew demonstrates - VideoFromSpace International Space Station crew members demonstrate their motion during a recent reboost of the oribal outpost. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli explains. https://youtu.be/ClkXSx6_-OM ** Window to the world in 360° | Muninn - European Space Agency, ESA Join ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt inside the seven-windowed cupola, the International Space Station's "window to the world" and and pan around to enjoy the view. The ESA - European Space Agency-built Cupola is the favourite place of many astronauts on the International Space Station. It serves not only as a unique photo spot, but also for observing robotic activities, arriving spacecraft and spacewalks. Marcus was launched to the International Space Station on the Dragon spacecraft as part of Axiom Mission 3 on 18 January 2024. His two-week mission on board is known as Muninn. Follow Marcus’s journey on the Muninn website, check our launch kit in English or Swedish and connect with Marcus on his Instagram and X accounts. Muninn website: https://www.esa.int/Science_Explorati... Marcus Wandt's Instagram: / esaastro_marcus Marcus Wandt's X: / astro_marcus https://youtu.be/jc7psvWue0I ** Hassell and ESA unveil their concept for a permanent base on the moon - New Scientist The European Space Agency has unveiled its Lunar Habitat Master Plan, a conceptual design for a scalable moon base. Commissioned by ESA’s Discovery programme and designed by architectural firm Hassell, the ideas will guide the agency's technological development of such structures, so it can solve some of the issues moon dwellers could face in a future where research, exploration, tourism and prospecting may all form part of a lunar economy. “More people on the moon in a sustainable way. This is a good picture to have in mind,” says ESA advanced manufacturing engineer Advenit Makaya, who was involved in the design process. The concept aims to address problems that might arise from having people on the lunar surface for extended periods. This includes protecting astronauts from the harsh environment, such as radiation and dust, and dealing with extreme temperatures, lack of water, oxygen and power. The habitat is designed around a series of inflatable pods that would make minimal contact with the surface, reducing issues with abrasive dust. These would then be protected by a shell made of blocks, 3D printed using lunar soil, known as regolith, that can be interlocked into place over the pods to absorb radiation. We might also be able to get water or oxygen from the regolith. And to mitigate temperature fluctuations, and maximise solar power efficiency, the base would be built on the edge of Shackleton crater at the moon's south pole where it would face the sun for longer. Both ESA and Hassell admit their design is some way from becoming a reality, but flexibility is at the heart of it. "Is it a case of running before we can walk? I don't think so. These things take a long, long time to plan,” says Xavier De Kestelier, the global head of design for Hassell and the lead architect on the project. “We need to keep on exploring the science.”   – Learn more ➤ https://www.newscientist.com/article/... https://youtu.be/9t0kO-mFLfQ ** Ax-3 Mission | On-Orbit Science Briefing - Axiom Space Since arriving at the International Space Station, the Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) crew has been hard at work. Join Dr. Lucie Low, Axiom Space's Chief Scientist, to discuss the various research projects being conducted onboard during this mission. https://youtu.be/nmcIkKKb1y4 ** Expedition 70 Axiom Mission 3 International Space Station Farewell Remarks - Feb. 2, 2024 - NASA Video Aboard the International Space Station, Axiom Mission-3 crewmembers Michael López-Alegría, Walter Villadei, Alper Gezeravcı, and Marcus Wandt provided farewell remarks February 2 ahead of their scheduled undocking from the space station February 3. The crew has been living and working on the International Space Station since January 20 following a launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 18. Axiom Mission-3 is the third private astronaut mission to the space station. https://youtu.be/qa9jU0b7Fz4 ** Gravitics - Latest posting on X: On January 5th, NASA announced that the agency will increase its investment in next generation space stations by $99.5 million, in another step towards Low Earth Orbit (LEO) commercialization. Blue Origin and Voyager Space, along with Axiom Space are NASA’s primary partners in… pic.twitter.com/Hc2z4ld8qc — Gravitics (@GraviticsInc) January 27, 2024 ** VAST update on X: We have officially surpassed the 300 employee mark! We recently held our first all hands of 2024. We continue to be full speed ahead on the development of Haven-1, scheduled to launch no earlier than August 25. Check out our careers page for more information on our culture,… pic.twitter.com/9KkCU6ju8j — VΛST (@vast) January 31, 2024 ** Starlab Sizzle Reel - Voyager Space on Vimeo Starlab is a new-era space platform, set to serve a global customer base of space agencies, researchers, and companies. Our space station will ensure a continued human presence in low-Earth orbit and a seamless transition of microgravity science and research from the International Space Station into the new commercial space station era. See latest announcement: Starlab Space Selects SpaceX’s Starship for Historic Launch | Voyager Space - Jan.31.2024. Starlab Space LLC (Starlab Space), the transatlantic joint venture between Voyager Space and Airbus, today announced the selection of SpaceX to launch the Starlab commercial space station to low-Earth orbit (LEO). Starship, SpaceX’s fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond, will launch Starlab in a single mission prior to the decommissioning of the International Space Station. “SpaceX’s history of success and reliability led our team to select Starship to orbit Starlab,” said Dylan Taylor, Chairman and CEO, Voyager Space. “SpaceX is the unmatched leader for high-cadence launches and we are proud Starlab will be launched to orbit in a single flight by Starship.” See also: Starlab—with half the volume of the ISS—will fit inside Starship’s payload bay | Ars Technica - Feb.1.2024. https://vimeo.com/889731242 ** Shenzhou-17 Crew Displays Scientific Research Facilities at Tiangong Station - CCTV Video News Agency The Shenzhou-17 crew members displayed various scientific research facilities at China's Tiangong space station recently. https://youtu.be/5zO4I4M8g40 ** Other news and articles: - Ax-3 Nears Departure as Station Crew Picks Up Research | Space Station/NASA - Feb.5.2024 - NASA and Partners Now Target Tuesday for Ax-3 Mission Departure | Space Station/NASA - Feb.4.2024 - Tech for space development: - NASA’s Laser Navigation Tech Enables Commercial Lunar Exploration | NASA - Feb.5.2024 - The First 3D Printer to Use Molten Metal in Space Is Headed to the ISS This Week | Singularity Hub - Jan.31.2024 - NASA is One Step Closer to Deploying Fission Reactors on the Moon | Universe Today - Feb.5.2024 - NASA’s Fission Surface Power Project Energizes Lunar Exploration | NASA - Jan.31.2024 ** Highlight: Winter over Utah - SLC - Provo - Uinta Mtns - Feb 4, 2024 - 11:26 MST -   ISS Above NASA EHDC6 Live views of the Earth from the International Space Station https://youtu.be/7-5iorwys8U ** Highlight: Colors of the Sahara - Chad - Egypt Feb 3, 2024 8:12 UTC -   ISS Above https://youtu.be/UVpjmdldGiY ** Live Video from the International Space Station (Official NASA Stream) - NASA Watch live video from the International Space Station, including inside views when the crew aboard the space station is on duty. Views of Earth are also streamed from an external camera located outside of the space station. During periods of signal loss due to handover between communications satellites, a blue screen is displayed. The space station orbits Earth about 250 miles (425 kilometers) above the surface. An international partnership of five space agencies from 15 countries operates the station, and it has been continuously occupied since November 2000. It's a microgravity laboratory where science, research, and human innovation make way for new technologies and research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. More: https://go.nasa.gov/3CkVtC8 Did you know you can spot the station without a telescope? It looks like a fast-moving star, but you have to know when to look up. Sign up for text messages or email alerts to let you know when (and where) to spot the station and wave to the crew: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov https://www.youtube.com/live/xAieE-QtOeM?feature=share ==== ISS after undocking of STS-132 === Amazon Ads === Lego Ideas International Space Station 21321 Toy Blocks, Present, Space, Boys, Girls, Ages 16 and Up  ==== Outpost in Orbit: A Pictorial & Verbal History of the Space Station  Read the full article

[jcmarchi]

Professor Emeritus Igor Paul, an expert in product design and safety, dies at 87

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/professor-emeritus-igor-paul-an-expert-in-product-design-and-safety-dies-at-87/

Professor Emeritus Igor Paul, an expert in product design and safety, dies at 87

Professor Emeritus Igor Paul ’60, SM ’61, PhD ’64, an influential professor of mechanical engineering, passed away on Dec. 17, 2023 at his home in St. Petersburg, Florida. He was 87. 

Paul was a member of the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering faculty from 1964 until his retirement in 2003, and helped to develop the department’s design and manufacturing curriculum, which continues to thrive today. His research interests included product and machine design, safety, and risk analysis; robotics; biomechanics; and dynamic systems modeling. 

A leading expert in product design and safety, with a particular focus on sports devices like helmets, Igor served as an expert witness in many landmark product liability cases. He also contributed to the development of artificial joints and the development of inertial guidance systems for NASA and provided consulting services to a number of area hospitals and medical centers. 

Paul was known for his good nature, quick wit, and pleasant disposition, and his deep passion for teaching. Among the courses he instructed through the years were 2.72 (Elements of Mechanical Design), 2.70 (now 2.007, Design and Manufacturing I), and 2.009 (Product Engineering Processes). He served for many years as the faculty advisor to the student chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. 

He also co-authored more than 80 publications and won numerous awards in the areas of design, bio-engineering, and education, including the DeFlorez Award for Creativity in Design (MIT, 1960); the Ralph R. Teetor Distinguished Educator Award (SAE); Outstanding Orthopedic Research Award (Orthopedic Research Society); and the Carl Soderberg Distinguished Service Award (MIT, 2003). 

Paul was born on Oct. 28, 1936, in Kharkov, Ukraine, and migrated across Europe during World War II, arriving in the United States eight years later on Christmas Day 1951. After gaining admission to MIT, he earned all three of his degrees in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

He is survived by his wife, Natasha Paul (Gruzinov); his daughter, Tahisa Southwell of Las Vegas, Nevada; his son, Victor Paul of Zurich, Switzerland; and four grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Leo and Lily Paul; his sister, Nina Karouna; and his beloved daughter, Tanya Paul.

Outside of his professional achievements, Paul enjoyed tennis, golf, and traveling the globe. After his retirement in 2003, he and Natasha moved from Andover, Massachusetts, to New London, New Hampshire, then recently settled in St. Petersburg, Florida. 

Paul leaves behind a legacy of scientific contributions, dedication to education, and love for his family.