#also the space shuttle simulator was Hard!

[fictionalred]

More Eurospace with Funky Twisty Machine, Space Shuttle Simulator and Moon Gravity Walkin'

[mistakenot4892]

Nebula devblog, July '24

Sneaking in this month's update two days before August due to Nova Lands eating an entire week of dev time and Warframe eating another 2 days. It's a hard life. This one will probably be a bit patchy or sparse as I have genuinely lost track of what was new this month due to leaving it this late. I am a highly trained and competent professional.

Nebula SS13 is an open source project based on the Baystation 12 version of Space Station 13. SS13 is a topdown multiplayer simulation game where you play the crew of a ship, station, colony, etc. depending on your fork and map, with the Nebula and Bay forks having a focus on roleplaying and simulation interactions.

Notable changes

The first phase of a major AI rewrite has gone in, separating AI behavior from mob type so human-type mobs can be given AI. This is mostly to support undead and skeletons on Pyrelight at the moment, but will be much more flexible in general going forward.

Simple wall-based windows/shutters have been added for low tech maps that need airflow and light. Penny's genius idea of having them cast a light cone towards the darker side of the shutter makes for some very aesthetic medieval interiors.

Spacefarers, a ship-based fork, has a new ship, and the painfully tricky shuttle rotation PR Penny has been working on is slowly progressing towards a mergable state. When it goes in, manual ship landing will be greatly expanded as shuttles will be able to rotate to match docking ports, instead of having to strictly dock in the same direction every time.

The atom temperature system has been disabled in several cases due to a lot of weird edge cases and bugs in the simulation. It needs more time in the oven. The disabled interactions include things like all of your blood congealing into black pudding if you stand on a stove, being able to instantly heat a beaker of beer to 5000K with a cigarette lighter, or all of your clothes melting off in a fire.

Penny has also put a bunch of work in to moving most of the 'classic' Baystation SS13 game modes into modpacks. This allows forks to pick and choose which are available, since as funny as it could have been, having high tech spacer mercenaries landing on Middle-Earth wouldn't fit the vibes.

Lots of small changes and features have been coming out of the Pyrelight fantasy map testing. Little things like honey being usable for wound disinfection, various crafting tweaks, and things like flooded turfs not putting out your lamp unless it's deeper than your waist.

Automated movement that previously relied on BYOND's inbuilt walk_to() procs now use a dedicated subsystem that calls the appropriate MayMove()/DoMove() proc chains. This essentially just means AI-driven mobs no longer completely ignore little things like pain, having working legs, or being dead or unconscious when chasing you.

Bugs of note

Trout were completely invisible because their main texture was accidentally named world-trout instead of world. This definitely impacted the trout population.

Undead on Pyrelight don't know how to pick up their weapons if they drop them, so disarming them literally or figuratively makes it turn into a slapfight.

Prosthetic limbs, like cybernetics or peglegs, were getting itchy or developing rashes. Maybe it's psychosomatic.

Simple animals like deer were dying en masse on the wilderness maps due to hail. We didn't intend for hail to be the size of hen eggs and covered in spikes, so deer and such are now unhurt by weather.

Current priorities

Personally my focus has been on getting through the Pyrelight feedback list after each test. Lots of small things come out of each test round and my limited time after my real-world job has cut into my space feature time. The Neb general issue list has been getting a bit long so I'll probably put a weekend into getting that cut down again this month.

Otherwise, I have three big PRs open waiting for me to find the focus to finish them: the floor rewrite (aiee), a wizard modpack and ability rework (needed for Pyrelight, eventually, but augh), and a bee rewrite (beewrite) to make bees and other insect nests available outside of one specific machine on space maps.

NataKillar has an amazing PR in the works that sounds quite mundane: separating liquid and solid reagents in reagent containers like beakers. However, this opens up a buttload of interesting chemical interactions down the track, not the least of which is finally getting ice cubes to not require a dedicated ice material.

[woodsfae]

Babylon 5 S03E01: Matters of Honor S01 table of contents • S02 table of contents • S03 table of contents

With this opening shot of the railshuttle inside B5, and Sheridan's rescue from going splat by Kosh after he jumped out of the shuttle last season, I have realized. I have just now realized that the railshuttle is inside B5. After all the times they've used it across two seasons and one episode, it took me till now to think about where the shuttle was. idk. Every time it came up I'd be like "Hmm, I wonder what planet this space elevator is over. Can't be Draal Planet. What other planet is nearby?

It makes so much more sense that it's an internal system so people in the five-mile-long space station can get from one end to the other. Except, and I think this is what tripped me up, they seem to have gravity in the shuttle. Unless I'm mistaken, a space station which generates gravity by spinning has reduced gravity as you get closer to the spinning center. Low gravity environments are hard to simulate, though, so I understand why the reduced gravity was not obvious. But it might be why I didn't realize.

Awww, John Sheridan is a good midwestern boy and took the first possible opportunity to thank Kosh for saving his life. But being observed is a strain, so Kosh has been hiding out, resting. Sheridan wants to know why Kosh would risk being exposed, even though no one connected the rescue to Kosh.

Sheridan: "After taking such care to hide what you really are, why take that chance?" Kosh: "It was… … …necessary." Sheridan: "Well, as answers go: short, to the point, utterly useless,, and totally consistent with what I've come to expect from a Vorlon." Kosh: "Good."

LOL.

And the rest of that conversation is hilarious, too.

Space battle! RIP Drasak. Is he a Drazi? B5 does space battles well. I always feel like a sense of scale has been accurately conveyed, and that the battles makes sense while also being exciting to watch.

Wow, awesome new opening! I love that it's Ivanova and that Claudia Christian's skills at voice-overs are being recognized. Also, she totally deserves to be the most recognizable voice of Babylon 5, Ivanova's been holding the station together since episode one, damnit!

The escaping pilot wants life support power redirected to the engines. Either he thinks he'll survive the seven hour journey without the ship getting cold and the air not being recycled, or the information is stored on the ship and it's more important that it get there safely than he survive.

Awww, Ivanova and Sheridan's friendship.

Air Force person David Endawi has top secret info! I'm excited to hear it. Hopefully it's interesting and not some bullshit policy decisions from Earth. And he wants Delenn, too!

Oh, the pilot survived! But he collapsed and is unconscious.

Dr Franklin: "He's not going anywhere." *turns around*

He's gone!

Fuck you, Morden. and also you, Londo.

"My people have a manifest destiny,"

Yep, the Centauri are an extremely unflattering and accurate reflection of USA Imperialism.

"We have danced our last little dance, Mr Morden. And now it is time for you to go away."

The audacity! Like Morden said, the Shadows have helped the Centauri over and over again, and the Centauri haven't been asked to pay back the favor. Their war and imperialism is helping the Shadows, but it's not in the Shadows' best interest for the Centauri to know about it.

Wait a second…are the Shadows representations of capitalist billionaires generating climate change which has the capacity, if left unchecked, to wipe out all sentient life on Earth? Being driven largely by powerful USA oligarchs and an ineffective UN represented by the Minbari and the League of Non-Aligned Worlds?? Fuck me, this whole space opera is an extended metaphor!

One more meeting with Morden, and he says he'll go away for as long as Londo wants. I do believe it. But I also believe that he'd going to set things up to become highly uncomfortable for Londo to encourage him to contact Morden again.

Mr Endawi's people pulled the footage of the Shadow in hyperspace! wtf dude.

They agree that the Shadow ship is powerful, advanced, and hostile. And they want more information on the species if possible. It does seem to be in their best interests to share some knowledge, but Delenn's long moment of pondering makes me wonder why they wouldn't want to gather human allies against the coming war.

Delenn says the ships are indestructible, and once they select a target, they never stop till they've succeeded, and they never fail. She says, looking at the video of the ship, that it is the face of their enemy.

Ma'am, it is not. Last season I saw the silhouette of a wolf-like creature, and also a video of Morden in a cell with spider-like thingies. That presumably have faces. Although, Delenn maybe didn't see recordings of either of those. I can't recall if she was in the room when Sheridan saw the Shadows in the cell with Morden.

Lennier! :)

Delenn recognized a stone pendant that looked awfully like the one our pilot who escapes hostile forces and medbays had on him.

Mr Endawi: I don't drink on duty. Londo: Centauri's are never OFF duty! fixes a drink for himself "That's why drinking on duty is also a duty!"

Londo admits to seeing a shadow ship before. In a dream. He waxes eloquent about his dream, and the lighting and camera choices are artfully selected. Mr Endawi is as skeptical as anyone would be, and he's unimpressed by Londo's mood lighting.

Delenn is in what appears to be a dive bar, and there's a thrilled bartender plying their craft in full alien makeup. No 21st c. Earth dive bar has a bartender that thrilled to be throwing bottles around.

Escaped pilot is called Marcus, and seems clever. And he's a ranger. Thrilling!

The local gang wants protection money. Marcus wants some witty banter.

It's a good thing that the religious caste gets some martial arts training, because those were quite a few thugs!

Marcus has Minbari friends who tell him about Minbari susceptibility to alcohol and give him Minbari weapons.

Hah. Sheridan's all sheepish "I should have filled you in before, but you need to know about the rangers." But Ivanova already knows everything!

"Captain, the day something happens around here and I don't know about it: worry."

Ivanova is god. I'll take it more to heart now than ever before. That's some impressive recon!

Ah, Marcus was aided in his fleeing by a Drazi! I wonder if he was assigned Green or Purple last season.

The Centauri are the ones blockading Zagro 7, and they've invaded large targets on the other side of Drazi space, too. They need help. Sheridan's on it!

Meanwhile, Londo has finished with his meeting with Mr Endawi and is failing to match with with Morden. Morden says, take this half of the galaxy, do anything you want over there, but this other side is the Shadows'. Except for Zagro 7, which Lord Refa captured for Morden. Londo has chronic FOMO, so he hates hearing that Morden has spoken to another Centauri.

Are the Shadows going to Zagro 7 because they know about the rangers? Or are the rangers coincidentally there, and the Shadows are looking for something else they find valuable?

Sheridan gets a shiny new ship! The White Star!

Mr Endawi: "Tell me stuff." Garibaldi: "Can't cuz I dunno the stuff. Too highly classified for little ole me."

When in doubt, play dumb.

Garibaldi is doing great, actually! If he can keep from beating any more civilians or stalking more women I might eventually like him in an less complicated fashion.

The White Star was made using Minbari and Vorlon tech, but it was designed to not look too Minbari. And, unlike Earth ships, Minbari ships have artificial gravity! Which also saves on special effects!

Minbari caste stuff is interesting. There are religious caste scientists and ship crew, so crewing a ship must not restricted to the warrior caste. I wonder if any occupations are specifically tied to one caste or the other, or if it mainly functions as a cultural marker. I seem to recall that certain historical and religious knowledge is restricted just to the religious caste, but we haven't really seen anything other than directly commanding troops that seems to be off-limits to the religious caste. I suspect that if I pay attention to Delenn as she and Sheridan co-lead the Rangers I might be able to deduce certain religious caste leadership norms in Minbari society, though.

Great lore dump from G'Kar!! The Narn know about the Shadows because they set up a base on Narn 1,000 years before, before the Narn were spacefaring. A great spiritual leader called G'Quan believed is was a base for a far-away war. The Narns have been perfectly copying the book G'Quan wrote ever since. They preserved the knowledge through the eons. And now Mr Endawi knows about the Shadows! But I wonder how credible the human govt will find it, since Delenn professed total ignorance and so did Sheridan and his staff.

The White Star is having its first mission! But the Centauri ditched their auto-blockade! Little do they know….they were instructed to leave.

Sheridan is stoked by his new ship's fancy tech, which can show them the disguised shadows ship! Well this might blow their alliance's cover that they don't exist and no one knows about the Shadows!

The Shadows shoot at the White Star and they miss! Which Delenn is surprised about. Sheridan thinks they will be trying to shoot to disable, not kill, for information purposes. And now he's luring the Shadows into hyperspace!

Dang Sheridan. Delenn's all freaked out and thinks they need help, that they can't harm a Shadow ship alone.

Sheridan: "With all due respect Ambassador, I've heard that before."

lol. He has earned his confidence, even if the Minbari aren't exactly at the Shadows' level.

Sheridan is going to try a maneuver that is suicidal in any Earth ship, but he thinks they might survive because the White Star is higher tech and faster. Delenn likes his confidence!

And they live! Lennier! hah! He wants the temple training program revised so that acolytes are prepared for experiences like that.

I do think that Sheridan and Delenn have damaged their cause by not admitting to knowing anything about the Shadows' ship.

Oh….I am immediately proven completely wrong. Morden is totally in with the investigation into the ship, and the whole force is in on it with the Shadows, too.

Well. Damn.

oh. The subtitles just called the Z'ha'dum "ZachDoom." asgfkhasfghksdj

Sheridan is instituting a war council! B5's senior staff, Delenn, any ranger around, and mystery future-guests.

Dr Franklin has a pertinent question. Cuz he's never been told before. What are the Shadows?

Delenn: "There are beings in the universe billions of years older than any of our races. They walked along the stars like giants: vast, and timeless. They created great empires, taught new races, explored beyond the rim. The oldest of the ancients are the Shadows. We've no other name for them."

Spooky! A great first episode for both new seasons: three, and autumn.

[spacenutspod]

Engineering is a huge field with endless applications. From aerospace to ergonomics, engineers play an important role in designing, building, and testing technologies all around us. We asked three engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley to share their experiences, from early challenges they faced in their careers to the day-to-day of being a working engineer. Give us a look behind the curtain – what is it like being an engineer at NASA? In her early days at NASA, Diana Acosta visited her aeronautics research and development team during her maternity leave and her daughter got her first introduction to flight simulation technology. NASA/Diana Acosta Diana Acosta: I remember working on my first simulations. We were developing new aircraft with higher efficiency that could operate in new places, such as shorter runways. My team was putting together control techniques and introducing new algorithms to help pilots fly these new aircraft in a safer way. We were creating models and testing, then changing things and testing again.  We had a simulator that worked on my laptop, and we had a lab with a pilot seat and controls. Every week, I made it my goal to finish my modeling or controls work and put that into the lab environment so that I could fly the aircraft. Every Friday afternoon, I would fly the aircraft in simulation and try out the changes I’d made to see if we were going in a good direction. We’d later integrate that into the Vertical Motion Simulator at Ames (which was used to train all the original space shuttle pilots) so that we could do a full motion test with a collection of pilots to get feedback.  When simulation time came around, it was during my maternity leave and my team had to take the project to simulation without me. It’s hard to get out of the house with a newborn, but sometimes I’d come by with my daughter and bring brownies to the team. I have two daughters now, and they’ve both been in simulators since a young age. Diana Acosta is Chief of the Aerospace Simulation and Development Branch at NASA’s Ames Research Center. She has worked at NASA for 17 years. What’s a challenge you’ve overcome to become an engineer? Savvy Verma (standing) reviews simulation activity with Gus Guerra in the Terminal Tactical Separation Assured Flight Environment at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. NASA/Dominic Hart Savvy Verma: One of the biggest challenges when I started working was that I was sometimes the only woman in a group of men, and I was also much younger. It was sometimes a challenge to get my voice through, or to be heard. I had mentors who taught me to speak up and say things the way I saw them, and that’s what helped me. A good mentor will back you up and support you when you’re in big meetings or giving presentations. They’ll stand up and corroborate you when you’re right, and that goes a long way toward establishing your credibility. It also helped build my confidence, it made me feel like I was on the right track and not out of line. I had both male and female mentors. The female mentor I had always encouraged me to speak my mind. She said the integrity of the experimental result is more important than trying to change things because someone doesn’t like it or doesn’t want to express it a certain way.  I have a lot more women coworkers now, things have changed a lot. In my group there are four women and three men.  When you want to become an engineer, you must remain adaptable, hardworking, and always willing to learn something new. We’re constantly learning, critically thinking, and problem solving. Most of the time we apply mathematical concepts to the engineering problems we’re solving and not every problem is the same. If you struggle with math, my advice is to maintain the passion for learning, especially learning from your mistakes. It comes down to practicing and challenging yourself to think beyond the immediate struggle. There are so many types of math problems and if you’re not good at one, maybe you’re good at another. Maybe it’s just a hiccup. Also, seek help when you need it, there are instructors and peers out there willing to support you. Savvy Verma is an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Ames Research Center. She has worked at NASA for 22 years. Can you become an engineer if you struggle with math in school? Dorcas Kaweesa: When I introduce myself as an engineer, people always say, “You must be good at math,” and I say, “Oh, I work at it.” When you want to become an engineer, you must remain adaptable, hardworking, and always willing to learn something new. We’re constantly learning, critically thinking, and problem solving. Most of the time we apply mathematical concepts to the engineering problems we’re solving and not every problem is the same. If you struggle with math, my advice is to maintain the passion for learning, especially learning from your mistakes. It comes down to practicing and challenging yourself to think beyond the immediate struggle. There are so many types of math problems and if you’re not good at one, maybe you’re good at another. Maybe it’s just a hiccup. Also, seek help when you need it, there are instructors and peers out there willing to support you. Personally, I sought help from my instructors, peers, and mentors, in the math and engineering classes that I found challenging. I also practiced a great deal to improve my problem solving and critical thinking skills. In my current role, I am constantly learning new things based on the task at hand. Learning never ends! If you’re struggling with a math concept, don’t give up. Keep trying, keep accepting the challenge, and keep practicing, you’ll steadily make progress.  Dorcas Kaweesa is mechanical engineer and structures analyst at NASA’s Ames Research Center. She has worked at NASA for over 2 years.

[innovation008]

start-up 3D prints solar-powered bionic arms.bionic arms affordable, lig...

start-up 3D prints solar-powered bionic arms.bionic arms are affordable, lightweight and can be ready within a week. This is solar powered bionic. Lightweight. charge wirelessly by solar power. it can be printed and ready within a week. As compare to otherproviders can take months and charge $1000,000. more than 30 million people need prosthetics. only 5% have access to them or affor them. children often have to wait until they fully grown. 95 % children with a disability dont complete school . 90 or 80 of people with disabilities in developing counries are unemployed . cure bionics arm are available for cildren aged 8 and up. Martian regolith – simulated crushed rock from Mars – appears to make 3D-printed materials stronger when mixed with titanium. It could be useful in making coatings to protect equipment from rust or radiation damage. The process appears to work best when only 5% regolith is used, rather than 100%. Mixing a small amount of simulated crushed Martian rock with a titanium alloy makes a stronger material in a 3D printing process that could one day be used on Mars to make tools or rocket parts. Researchers made the parts with as little as 5% and up to 100% Martian regolith, a black powdery substance meant to mimic the rocky, inorganic material found on the surface of the red planet. While the parts with 5% Martian regolith were strong, the 100% regolith parts proved brittle and cracked easily. Still, even high-Martian content materials would be useful in making coatings to protect equipment from rust or radiation damage, says Amit Bandyopadhyay, corresponding author of the study in the International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology. “In space, 3D printing is something that has to happen if we want to think of a manned mission because we really cannot carry everything from here,” says Bandyopadhyay, a professor in the Washington State University’s School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. “And if we forgot something, we cannot come back to get it.” Bringing materials into space can be extremely expensive. For instance, it costs about $54,000 for the NASA space shuttle to put just one kilogram of payload (about 2.2 pounds) into Earth orbit, the researchers note. Anything that can be made in space, or on planet, would save weight and money—not to mention if something breaks, astronauts would need a way to repair it on site. Bandyopadhyay first demonstrated the feasibility of this idea in 2011 when his team used 3D printing to manufacture parts from lunar regolith, simulated crushed moon rock, for NASA. Since then, space agencies have embraced the technology, and the International Space Station has its own 3D printers to manufacture needed materials on site and for experiments. For this study, Bandyopadhyay, along with graduate students Ali Afrouzian and Kellen Traxel, used a powder-based 3D printer to mix the simulated Martian rock dust with a titanium alloy, a metal often used in space exploration for its strength and heat-resistant properties. As part of the process, a high-powered laser heated the materials to over 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,632 F). Then, the melted mix of Martian regolith-ceramic and metal material flowed onto a moving platform that allowed the researchers to create different sizes and shapes. After the material cooled down, the researchers tested it for strength and durability. The ceramic material made from 100% Martian rock dust cracked as it cooled, but as Bandyopadhyay points out it could still make good coatings for radiation shields as cracks do not matter in that context. But just a little Martian dust, the mixture with 5% regolith, not only did not crack or bubble but also exhibited better properties than the titanium alloy alone, which meant it could be used to make lighter weight pieces that could still bear heavy loads. “It gives you a better, higher strength and hardness material, so that can perform significantly better in some applications,” he says. This study is just a start, Bandyopadhyay says. Future research may yield better composites using different metals or 3D printing techniques. “This establishes that it is possible, and maybe we should think in this direction because it’s not just making plastic parts which are weak but metal-ceramic composite parts which are strong and can be used for any kind of structural parts,” he says. The National Science Foundation supported the research. #solarpower #bionics #artificialbody #healthcare #medicalsolution

[anneimaginesundertale]

Futuristic City AU

This was originally going to be an expansion of my version of Outertale, but honestly, there are other people who have created way better versions of Outerfell and Outerswap and so on and I didn’t want to feel like I was copying anybody. Instead, I came up with another dream simulator AU. I guess you could call this a variation of Outertale, where monsters went to Earth instead of going to look for their own planet. Can you spot the little mix up that happened? (It was on purpose, really, but was a goof in-universe.)

Centuries ago, monsters were trapped on a moon high above the planet. A human child rescued them and the monsters made their way down to the planet and learned to live with humans. Many of them settled in Ebott City. Now the year is 2421 and Ebott City has changed a lot! It’s now split into two distinct sides—the Old City and the New City—with a big Central Park in between. The Old City is more of a steampunk style, with lots of bronze, gears, and steam-powered inventions. The New City is more of a neon kind of place, with bright lights, colorful outfits, and lots and lots of shiny chrome. Our skeleton lads have their places on both sides and are doing some pretty interesting things!

In the Old City, you can find:

Red and Boss — Red is a mechanic, even in the future. He runs his own garage and works on all manner of flying cars and spaceships and futuristic vehicles, but his real passion is building his own racing pods, both for the races in the city and the ones that take place out in space. Boss is a diplomat by day. By night, in disguise, he is a famous racer. He depends on Red to build and maintain his pods and to keep his secret.

Black and Rus — Black is the captain of the city guard. He works hard to keep both sides safe, although he can’t help his preference for the Old City. His brother, Rus, works at odd jobs, but his true passion is art. He sneaks out at night to create big murals around the city on both sides. Black knows who the mystery artist is and refuses to make it a case because “it beautifies the city” (and he doesn’t want to arrest his own brother for vandalism…)

Bones and Lucky — They own a pawn shop/antique shop. Most of the stuff there is junk, but sometimes, if you ask nicely, they can find you parts you might be looking for, or a real antique.

Smiley and Grim — They run a club in the old city. If you know the password, you can get in to see the real show—duels and battles, for honor or glory or just the pure adrenaline rush.

In the New City, you’ll meet:

Sans and Papyrus — They run the Moon Shuttle, which takes tourists to the old monster Ruins on the moon. Sans drives and sells souvenirs, and Pap leads the tour!

Blue and Stretch — Blue is a guard at the Monster History Museum. He takes his job very seriously. Stretch is a journalist who digs into stories he should maybe leave alone.

Sansy and Sweets — They both have futuristic prosthetic parts! Sansy has a metal implant on his skull that covers the hole there and also gives him a false eyelight, since his doesn’t work. Sweets had his entire jaw replaced. His new teeth are perfectly straight and made of shining silver. They are really happy with their new looks. Sansy has gone back into comedy and actually runs a little comedy club. Sweets runs his own bakery where you can have special treats that have lots of interesting effects.

G and Aster - They are robots! Really cool, futuristic, skeleton robots. Well, they’re kind of robots. Except they also have emotions. They aren’t entirely sure who built them, but whoever it was left a bit of themself in the boys. (They have vague memories of an accident and a lot of yelling, but no clue what actually happened.) G runs a robot repair shop (because who better to fix a broken robot than a robot?) Aster works at the local library, where he *is* the database. He knows where all the books and other things are filed and has an encyclopedic memory.

Break and Tango — They run a zero gravity dance studio. It’s Dancing with the Stars, literally! Break runs the equipment and all the technical behind-the-scenes stuff and Tango teaches lessons and performs.

And finally, there’s one pair of brothers living in Central Park. They’re…a bit out of their depth.

Comet and Captain — They are…really out of their depth. These two are wind spirits who somehow ended up in this world. They have no idea how it happened. They were on a normal flight and things went pitch black and then…they were in a city! They’ve found a place to roost in the city park, but they’re definitely having trouble fitting in. It’s hard when you’ve got big feathery wings on your back! Both of them have black feathers that shimmer with their respective colors (blue for Comet and orange for Captain). They’re really not sure what’s going on…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Feel free to ask questions about this new AU! You can probably tell that I spent more time thinking about some of these than others, and your questions always help me flesh things out a bit more!

[pufferfishdude]

Red Dwarf: Series 6 Episode 6

In Red Dwarf’s sixth season, there’s a big change-up - the main characters have lost the Red Dwarf ship itself, which includes computer AI Holly. This season and the next is a story arc spent trying to find it, using the space shuttle Starbug as their home and base. They try and find any leads they can on where Red Dwarf is, all while contending with GELFs (genetically-engineered life-forms), Simulants (human-hating robots) and dwindling supplies. Along the way, Rimmer’s upgraded to a hard-light hologram, meaning he’s now solid and able to actually touch things now, with the big bonus of being invulnerable. He’s still a coward, though.

During the season finale ‘Out of Time’, the Boys from the Dwarf come across a time-travel device, the Time Drive, which they give a quick test-run. They’re then contacted by a future version of themselves from 15 years later, whose Time Drive is damaged, leaving them stranded in deep space only able to travel forwards, and wish to meet up for repairs. Present-day Kryten the mechanoid insists he’s the only one who meets up with them, due to his concern about potentially damaging time and space from knowing your own future, and he can erase his memory of that knowledge afterwards. Lister, Rimmer and Cat are able to secretly hack a camera to observe the meeting.

Future Rimmer is the first to appear and he’s gotten...surprisingly big, possessing a large stomach, the bottom of which sticks out from underneath his hardly-fitting and strained jacket, forcing the belt to shift down in order to actually fit him. He also looks considerably older with grey hair and a mustache, which is odd since a previous episode had Rimmer spend 600 years in jail and not age a day. It’s possible he’s able to alter his appearance so that he ages with his crewmates too, and have his weight reflect his physicality and eating habits, which is my assumption for the stomach. Present Lister describes him as being “two meals away from being a sumo wrestler”, much to Present Rimmer’s shock and confusion.   

Future Cat isn’t any better, either. Cat’s a fashionable and vain guy, and his Future self has definitely put on a good deal of weight, with a protruding stomach against his PVC outfit, which is covered up a fair bit by his jacket, save for when he’s sitting down and has his hands on his swollen belly. And his rear’s indicated to have swelled up too, as Present Cat observes and asks, “What happened to my butt? Buddy, you could park a plane in that crease!”. He’s also starting to lose his hair, which Lister describes “as bald a plucked chicken”, which Present Cat is equally terrified over.

While Rimmer and Cat have become fat and old, Future Kryten goes about disguising himself to fit in to whatever time period they’re in, including an awful-fitting toupee, while Future Lister’s reduced to a brain in a jar with his signature dreadlocks attached, much to Present Lister’s dumbstruck horror.

During this meeting with Kryten, the Future Cat and Rimmer sit next to each, which helps to show how collectively bloated they’ve become, though more obviously so in Rimmer’s case.

The Future crew quickly make it clear that they’re used to the best and have spent 15 years indulging in the finest history has to offer with some of the most prominent figures in history...it’s a pity though that from their experiences, the best just so happens to come from some of the worst people, or as they put it, “a bit dodgy”, such as the Hitlers, who they’re good social friends with. It’s clear that they’ve been corrupted by the power of the Time Drive, focusing more on satisfying their carnal desires rather than uphold their morals and be responsible, and given the fact they’re still in Starbug, they’ve abandoned their mission to recover Red Dwarf. 

Having had enough of how disgusting their future selves have become, Lister, Rimmer and the Cat break in and force the Future crew off their Starbug, though Future Rimmer ominously says that no matter what. the crew are destined to become them.

The Future crew, unwilling to live without the Time Drive, launch an attack against their past selves, ordering them to give them the data required to repair it, or be destroyed. They’re so corrupt that they’d rather not have to live like how they used to, even if it means being erased from existence. Present Rimmer, of all people, bravely spurs the crew on, and so the two crew fight. The present crew go down one by one, until it’s only Rimmer now, who makes his way to the Time Drive and shoots it, right before past Starbug is destroyed by Future fire. 

That’s how Season 6 ends. But Season 7 has the past crew alive and well now, as Lister explains. A massive paradox was made with the dead crew and destroyed Time Drive. As a result, none of this could happen, so the past crew are resurrected, the Time Drive’s back where it originally was, and their ship now has upgrades from the alternate timeline, so the crew ensure they don’t wind up becoming their horrible future selves.

[bornfromthenetwork]

✺⊰| Fractures of an extinct reality || Drabble piece | @astraldestiny

Jayla watched the celestial bubbles the holographic projection above their pink, central pool, the computer core of their ship, collecting the live feed from their sensors they had dropped that amplified their scanning range within the network. 

“U-Sector 45, B-359.” Jayla started in the jahSepp;s native language, for their logs, her eyes lingering on the small bubble they had been monitoring for the last few days. “This micro universe is on the brink of collapse. Neighbouring universeing have been ciphering off energy and mass as after it’s initial split and development. now causing a slow decay and shrinkage, I estimate 6 minutes on our time before it dissipates entirely.” She moved around the bridge, flickering up more readings from her lead scientists monitor. 

“Readings are showing the micro-nature of it was caused by a temporal disturbance a centuries prior from the immediate-side universe that caused the creation. This universe was destined to be short-lived. The universe’s convergence point, we anticipate to a last binary star system, we’ve also anticipated that the influx of energy of those two stars may cause a backwash that could breach the network’s barrier but the the network’s pathways are receding from the bubble so we should avoid picking up anything by the time it pops.” They could hope it would be a clean close; the energy would siphon off to the network and the other worlds as they typically would. 

Minutes ticked by as the universe began to get smaller before the spurt of energy reached a sudden peak on their readings. 

“Captain,” Jai spoke up from her monitor, “We’re picking up readings of a mycelium breach, the binary stars did as we thought, we’ve got two ships from that universe crossing the borders.”

Jayla exhaled. “Helm, locate ship exit into the network and pursue.” 

“Yes, Captain.”

“I want to get a reading before our cousins start to break them down. Which ships are they?”

“One is a klingon vessel, or, at least half-ship. It looks like it may have been severed in half in it’s travel. No life signs, as expected. The other ship is Federation, USS....Shenzhou, I believe.” Fen responded this time, starting their scans of the wreckage.

Jayla’s head tilted at the familiar name; nor was she the only one. She knew a lot of that ship of Michael Burnham’s memories. It had been a close and personal ship for her. Her first ship, command... and she had lost it in the Klingon war. Battle at the binary stars, if she wasn’t mistaken from the woman’s memories. Jayla knew it well than the other jahSepp’s here from her time as posing as Captain Georgiou in the simulations for Michael’s adjustments if one ended up here. 

“Shenzhou, Interesting.”

“I’m picking up life signs.”

Eyes turned to Dyla, including the captains. “Not possible, most life-form dies in the crossing.”

“It seems... energy from the stars seemed to help act as a shield in the breach. The ship is heavily damaged, life signs indicate it’s still functioning well but not a full complement of crew either.”

Jayla sucked on her teeth though soon enough, their ship reached the sites; the Klingon vessel was on the network floor, jahSepp already starting the decomposition of it’s metals, others had started to go for the Shenzhou that drifted at an angle, soursa facing more upwards and it’s naccells downwards, in the almost weightless motion but it was sinking. The network did have it’s own gravity, this high up though, it wasn’t as strong. 

Letting it hit the floor, would be easy. let the rest of their kind consume the ship and everyone on it, was not the first time; it was an alien ship in their home, fragments that wasn’t supposed to be here when it’s native reality was gone but... the fact the crew had survived made her feel a little...discomforted at allowing them to eat the crew alive seemed wrong. 

Perhaps since she had had her own offspring since getting this body, the idea of ethics had formed since then. Letting them die when...they had a chance to leave them elsewhere seemed more...humane.

“Warn off our kind with soft energy pulses and grapple the Shenzhou to us and secure to the Sha’lor’s underbelly and extend shielding.”

The air of confusion was not hard to miss; though there was compliance as a light shot was fire and lit the space around the Shenzhou with blue light; startling the JahSepp that had started at the hull. Using tractor beam, began to pull it closer then but from under their wings, long smooth metallic tentacle-like arms slinked out and wrapped around the sausar  and down, physically tugging the ship as the arms continued, crossing down it’s middle and curled around each of the nascals. 

“Shields extending now.” Jai spoke.

“Send a non-visual hail, warn that the network environment is unwelcoming to alien ships and we’re here to assist, we’re not a threat but we have answers to their questions to their current situation; to stand by for further information and should make repairs in the meantime.” Jayla spoke, hoping this was enough for now. Securing the ship like this would stop emergency pods being launched; they had no where to do and this close meant their shielding was much more effective...maybe they had to be specific of the dangers. “Also tell them that leaving our shielding range will result in the consumption of the ship and any shuttle that attempt to leave. We’ll be sending someone in to talk face-to face shortly.”

Who, was the question, right now, her own face would cause up issues; if this was the USS Shenzhou run by Georgiou, then this would add to the confusion. Was a jahSepp even of a good idea? their kind was going to try and eat their ship after all...

“Can you locate Michael Burnham on that ship?”

“No, captain. it’s possible she didn’t survive.”

Jayla hummed. “We can’t keep this ship, but we should give it a chance if we can deposit it to another universe willing to take it.”

“Is that wise, Captain?” Fen asked, his tone uncertain. “We’ve never done this before.”

“We’ve never had a living ship here before. If it was dead, I wouldn’t care less on natural progression.” Jayla pointed out, her eyes  returning to the hologram of the scene around them; their ship, this human ship... the klingon one being slowly dissolved underneath.

“Michael Burnham may be a good figure head to establish a connection to this ship. They know her and she was one of them. U-Sector 40, B-320′s Michael is connected to the network, we can pull her mind back into the network and ask her to take them. Gan, see to making those preparations” They had gotten familiar with that particular one than the others they had helped once she was connected; this Michael was closer too. Though she knew that the human wouldn’t be pleased but they still had to ask. The Shenzhou’s damage would most likely would see to the demise of the surviving crew without aid on the other side.

“That universe is 32nd century.”

“I am aware, but it’s next best suited. Make a heading towards that sector, get Michael here as soon as we call”

_

“You can’t keep doing this!” Michael’s screeching of annoyance rang through the bridge before the human in question stormed straight towards her, pushing through her security, her hands lit up with low ebs of light in her mood. “I was in the middle of a briefing!”

Jayla sighed as the anger washed straight off her back, unconcerned. “It was with good reason.”

“Jayla, this is not okay. I don’t want to end up here without any sort of warning, I am a Captain, i can’t take a mind-trip and leave my crew handing, especially if I could be in a tight situation.”

the Jahsepp’s hand fluttered over the smooth pads; allowing the human to see what they had tucked into their ship on the projections. The frown staying on Michael’s face until she recognised what they had. 

“...oh...”

[i-will-physically-fight-you]

I SAW the OFFER W/ THE WHUMP PROMPTS AND dsjewifhre3t so if u can: * One taking punishment for the whole group .“Who did this to you?” w/ Whumpee Logan !!

Title: A Singular Cog in the Machine

Chapter title: Thoughtless and Empty

Summary: “It was pure logic when it came down to it. Why allow harm befall the others if Logan could stop it? Surely, it was much more beneficial for only one to be harmed than for all to undergo excruciating pain and misery. A broken cog is more easily replaced than if the whole machine fell apart.“

Logan adheres to the belief that needs of the many far outweigh the needs of the one, the latter being himself. Or in other words, Logan tries to sacrifice himself for the sake of the others. Fortunately for Logan, they won’t let him get away with that. Sci-fi AU

Chapter Word-Count: 1.9k

Pairings: platonic LAMP

Warnings: Whump (mainly more hurt than comfort in this part), torture, drowning, main character set on fire, blood, crying, partial memory loss

Present | Chapter 2

Here it is! There will be a part 2 to this, as someone sent me a prompt that works out rather well alongside this one.

-

It was pure logic when it came down to it. Why allow harm befall the others if Logan could stop it? Surely, it was much more beneficial for only one to be harmed than for all to undergo excruciating pain and misery. A broken cog is more easily replaced than if the whole machine had fallen apart.

Logan didn’t feel anything after all. He was a robot parading around in an organic body of flesh and blood. He ran on ones and zeros–seeing the world through a rigid programmed mindset. If his lips twitched upwards at one of Patton’s puns or Roman’s singing or even one of Virgil’s snarky remarks, it didn’t mean anything. It was just a coincidence.

The three of them put together had more inherent value than Logan. Logically speaking of course.

Patton was the metaphoric heart of the group. As the cook and medic, he repaired and maintained the crew countless times. He attended not only to the others’ physical needs, but also to their emotional ones. Thus proving him invaluable. 

Virgil was captain of their small space shuttle; an experienced space smuggler with a penchant for caution. He perhaps borderlined on paranoia, but it was this same paranoia that got them out of trouble. 

Roman was their cocky pilot and a shrewd marksman with a blaster. It was his big mouth that often got them into the trouble that Virgil drug them out of. Still, Roman’s loyalty knew no bounds.

A more poetic, emotional being might list other reasons the others should be considered a top priority over one’s own. 

 Patton was sunshine after a dreary, dismal cloudy day. He was the gentle breeze on a spring day. He was the warmth of hot chocolate and roaring fires during the cold of winter. He helped you reach an optimal performance with his words and actions.

Virgil was the night of the full moon, mysterious yet comforting all the same. He was the strong gale that shook tree branches and warned of the upcoming storm. He was like cough syrup and flu shots, not always appreciated but always striving to fight and protect those he loved.

Roman was the rainbow that accompanied Patton’s sunshine; exuberant and radiant. He was a sweltering midsummer day full of water-gun fights and ice cream. He was the novel you read curled up on your sofa–filled with adventure and romance.

Despite their numerous idiosyncrasies, Logan’s calculations proved their worth invaluable. They made up the world of Logan and so many others. Without them, the system would crash. It was certainly repairable, but not without a hard reset. Logan refused to allow that to happen.

So when hulking shadows threatened to end Patton’s sunshine, cover up Virgil’s moon and obliterate Roman’s rainbow, Logan stepped up.

“Don’t waste your time with those fools and their idiocy,” He said, “I know what you’re after. Take me instead.”

A thousand large pale eyes dissected Logan with their gaze. He stared back, features flat and unresponsive. Logan’s heart beat faithfully, not a second out of tune. He was an advanced AI who wore the skin and bones of a deadman. He didn’t fear anything.

Their dark tendrils shot out, curling around Logan’s form. He didn’t fight the grip even as his feet left the ground. They carried him upwards, until he came face-to-face with their numerous unblinking eyes.

“Alright.” They smiled, displaying rows upon rows of sharp, reedy teeth.

Logan blinked and within a span of that blink–he was plunged into darkness.

What happened next, was blurry and uncertain to him. This was most disconcerting. He remembered things flawlessly, right down to the nanosecond. It freaked the others out at times. It had to be a glitch or an error with his memorybanks. Why else couldn’t he recall the event with clear detail?

What he did remember was what some might refer to as nightmare material. Silhouettes of the others danced around, behaving most unlike themselves. They berated him, attacked him with not only words but physically as well. They bound him with ropes and threw him into a body of water. He flailed about from an instinctual urge as he went into overdrive trying to formulate a solution. He blacked out from it, certain his biological organs would begin shutting down.

It hadn’t been the end of it, simply wishful thinking on his part. Although Logan didn’t make wishes, spoken or not. Really, it was just a rational supposition, that was all.

It continued with Logan jerked awake by fire eating away his clothing. Fire was everywhere, in fact. Wherever he ran, it chased after him. The smoke got to him in the end. It suffocated him until he was left gasping for breath.

The memories grew more distorted and warped the longer it went on. Like an old VHS tape ruined by water. If he focused, he could retrieve flashes of those moments. There was one that stood out more clearly than the rest.

Their tendrils had pinned him down on a horizontal, metallic surface. A huge light shone above, blinding him. They were in the process of doing something but he couldn’t recall what.

“Why?” He rasped, his parched throat screaming for water.

A bemused hearty chuckle erupted from them.

“I thought you knew why,” They said, tilting their head at him, “It was never bounty money or intel I was after. It was test subjects. And what a fascinating specimen you are! A chimera of biological and artificial means.”

Logan opened his mouth to say something. What, he didn’t recall. All that he could was a scalp cutting across his skin, eliciting a scream from him. His flesh pain receptors reacted violently to it.

He didn’t feel anything. He was a machine running biological software. He could shut off the pain signals given to him by his nervous system. He could retreat into his inner programming, enacting a subroutine to take care of the body. He knew he could do this, because he did.

Perhaps this explained why the memories contained errors. The subroutine didn’t properly save them to his memorybanks. Except he started experiencing memory retrieval errors with memories prior to the subroutine activation. How strange and concerning.

It didn’t matter if it had. It’d been the only preventative measures he could take to ensure optimal processing. He ran simulations deep within his programming. Visits to coffeeshops, museums and parks with the others. The scenery of the simulations was beautiful, so life-like. He couldn’t quite get the others right, however. 

He’d spent an adequate amount of time with them, observing their habits. He knew the probability factors of Patton saying a pun in a conversation. He knew various methods of how to restart Virgil after an anxiety attack plagued his systems. He knew how to engage Roman in a dialogue that aided him in finding a solution to his problems.

Yet his stimulations couldn’t capture the exact way Patton bubbled with laughter at his own joke. Or how many centimeters Virgil’s lips curved upwards towards seeing one of them. It certainly didn’t capture Roman’s flamboyant, needless waving of his arms as he spoke. Really, Logan didn’t understand the wasteful exertion of energy. 

However, this latest stimulation was the worst yet. It made him wonder if his systems were failing. That was an absurd proposition to make, considering his software would send him warnings if such a thing was imminent. 

The stimulation started out normally. A movie night hosted in Patton’s quarters, just like they’ve done so many times before in real life. They chose to watch an Earthian cartoon. It was one that the other three were more acquainted with than Logan himself. It didn’t matter. He preferred doing things that resulted in boosting the others’ overall wellbeing.

Roman and Virgil were engaged in an animated discussion of the movie’s events. Logan watched their mouths open and close, unable to hear the words pouring through their lips. Patton looked like he was laughing at something in the movie, his mouth wide open. Logan noted absently that he must be processing auditory input at a sluggish rate than usual.

“Logan?!” A voice cried. He jolted, startled. He took a look around in the stimulation, but it appeared none of the others called his name. Had it been from the movie? He didn’t recall the movie having a character named Logan however.

“Logan, gods, Logan, Logan, please respond–” The person continued, their voice splintering and cracking with each syllable. 

Something grasped him, cradling him in a warm, secure hold. It was only the soft blanket he had since the start of the movie. That had to be it.

“Logan, who did this to you?” Another person asked, their words trembling with rage.

The stimulation froze completely, the others becoming as still as statues. Logan could almost hear his drive whirring with exertion. This was bad. If he overheated, he could possibly die. And he couldn’t die, not when he hadn’t completed his objective.

“I swear by all the gods I’ll kill them, rip their entails out and everything–krafu kniffing dulva–”

“Logan, no, stay with us, wake up!”

Logan’s eyes opened. Which was odd, because his eyes had already been open. His vision was unusually foggy and murky, despite his eyes being artificial implants. He tried moving his head, but found it difficult to do so. A sharp, electrifying shock ran through his whole body. It hurt. It shouldn’t have. Logan didn’t feel anything, emotions or otherwise.

A fuzzy grey shape entered his vision. Logan squinted, the shape crystallizing to a more recognizable image; Patton. His floggy dog-like ears laid flat against his head, an obvious sign of distress. It was then that Logan realized the titekan was the one cradling him. Another two figures flanked Patton on either side. He could only assume them to be Roman and Virgil.

“Pat–patton,” Logan croaked, “y-you’re here?”

He wasn’t sure where here was, just somewhere in the depths of his programming. It had to be a scenario, a way for him to prepare for the worst-case. Because the others couldn’t truly be with him. They couldn’t endure torture the way he could. They’d be torn to shreds, both physically and psychologically. 

The titekan bit back a sob at Logan’s words, “Yes honey, we’re here, we’re so sorry we didn’t get here sooner, but it’s okay, you’re safe now–”

“H-h-hurts.” Logan said, gasping as another pulse of pain hit him. He couldn’t shut off the pain receptors, why wasn’t his body listening to his commands? This was a stimulation, he controlled every aspect, why couldn’t he do it?

“It’s–it’s all over now. I know you’re hurting and–and–we’ll take care of you, we’ll watch all your favorite nature documentaries, how does that sound?” Patton asked, a vibrating noise rumbling in the back of his throat. Titekans tended to make soothing sounds for themselves and others in pain. Logan watched him do it to Roman and Virgil before, but never for Logan. His abnormal AI reflexes and accelerated healing kept him from grievous injuries.

“G-g-g–good.” Logan said. It was getting even harder to utter words, let alone keep conscious. He’d never experienced this before. This loss of autonomy was terrifying. Perhaps something in his face revealed this, because Roman and Virgil came closer. Roman took hold of his hand, squeezing it. Virgil gingerly touched his knee. They spoke words but Logan couldn’t process them. It was happening again. The stimulation was glitching.  So he closed his eyes, losing consciousness as his systems restarted.

[ask-de-writer]

CAPTURED BY THE CLANS : Part 10 of 10 : Science Fiction

Return to Science Fiction

Return to the Master Story Index

CAPTURED BY THE CLANS

Part 10 of 10

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

18231 words

Copyright 2020 by Glen Ten-Eyck

All rights reserved.  This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author.

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Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

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New to the story?  Read from the beginning.  Part 1 is HERE.

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All of the Feront creatures, T’cass and Lezon piled into the Feront shuttle and quickly became a vanishing speck in the sky.

The salesperson shook her head and asked, “What makes that pair so special?  I’ve never heard of anything like that.  What do they play at?”

Wryly, K’ress said, “Computerized space battle simulations, virtual reality hand to hand combat, even board games.  As far as I know, they are the only ones that the Feront plays with.”

Shaking her head, the salesperson commented, “It’s hard to imagine that thing playing.  There’s two city ships of it up there with enough fire power to knock out a battle fleet and it’s still one thing.  I can’t imagine it.”

Six hours later, tanks filled with water for reaction mass, the D’ancer was ready to launch. Beside the crew ladder M’rel calmly and K’ress impatiently waited for the Feront shuttle to land.  It was so silent in its approach that it took both of them by surprise.  

They found the explanation for that when the canopy lifted and they saw Lezon dismounting from the pilot’s saddle.  K’ress overheard her explaining, “. . . and that’s how you can avoid detection without any fancy equipment.”

The Feront replied, “Was that how you separated me in the Contact/Conflict?”

“In part.  I used some other tricks, too.”

As she and T’cass joined their friends at the foot of the ladder, K’ress couldn’t resist asking, “Does the Port know that the shuttle has come down?”

With a feral grin, Lezon replied, “They do now!  T’cass notified the Control Bunker once we were on the ground.  Let’s get going before they figure out that it was us!”

In the control room, M’rel asked, “Do you know how to lift this leaky tachyon bucket, T’cass?”

Finished strapping into her crash couch, T’cass replied cheerfully, “Nope.”  She gestured at Lezon, who was already setting up the launch sequence in the computer, “She does, though.  If anyone can get this thing up, its Lezon.”

T’cass settled deep into her crash couch and serenely shut her eyes, gone into the calm retreat of a Warrior’s Way Meditation.

K’ress noted wryly, “That’s one hell of vote of confidence.  Is there anything that I can do, Lezon?”

“Yes,” was the prompt reply. “Take the couch just to the left of mine.  It’s engineering.  I want you to monitor the pump pressure.  We need at least four hundred kg/cm^2 all the time.  We can run as high as six.  If any pump falls below four, make it up with raised pressure in the ones that are left.  Also, keep an eye on the power capsule.  We need a steady twelve meg output.”

Lezon turned to M’rel and said respectfully, “Ma’am, you know how the Comm panel works.  Strap in there and raise the Control Bunker.  Let them know that we are ready to lift, per certificate T.C. 404-GT76.  Warn them to clear the area because we are using a reaction drive.  We need a totally clear traffic lane because, after launch commit, we cannot maneuver away from our ballistic course.”

M’rel sat and secured her safety harness.  She reached out and activated the Comm.  Smiling her best professional smile, M’rel stated, “Hello, Control.  This is D’ancer, T.C.404-GT76.  We request clearance to lift.  We are on reaction drives with inertial assist.  We need a totally clear traffic lane to orbit, as we cannot deviate once we commit.  Be sure the pad zone is clear.  This thing has a hot exhaust.”

A grizzled veteran with scars visible through her mane, replied, “This is Control.  The notion that you are actually taking up that hundred and fifty year old antique has drawn news flitters and a camera crew on the ground. They have set up at the north side of your pad.  Watch out for the flitters.  You can lift at will.”

M’rel replied tartly, “Oh good!  I’ll get a lot of work out of this lift off!  I’m a reconstructive medical specialist, you know.  I’ve had to be doing Barbeque Cats from the War.  Those news tapers will make well paid private work at last!

“Um, the rest of the crew just said that we’ll give them twenty minutes to notify their next of kin or clear out to at least 800 meters.  Let the news flitters know that the wake and exhaust of something this big, driven by reaction engines, will splash them all over the field if they get closer than 900 meters.”

Control actually grinned and said, “I like your style.  I made them listen to the clearance chatter.  You just warned them.  They have twenty minutes to get clear.  I wish that you could see it.  They’re scrambling like ants when you turn over a rock.  One of the flitters is actually moving in for a close up.  I just sent them a canned get-clear warning.”

K’ress was running engineering checks on the ancient systems, familiarizing herself with them. Lezon joined T’cass in meditation.  At four minutes to lift, both Lezon and T’cass came fully alert.  

Lezon smiled approvingly at K’ress and said, “I see that you spent your time well.”

“Thank-you,” K’ress replied.  “The drive is preheated and the pumps are up to pressure. That old capsule is working better than I hoped.”

M’rel called Control again. “Time is up.  Lift Commit is initiated.  Engine core is coming up to operational heat.  Reaction mass pumps are on line.  Call you from orbit!”

Enormous box shaped air scoops opened out from the sides of the tall, ancient, winged projectile-like vehicle.  Steam began to blast out around the base of the ship.  A moment later, the steam turned to a screaming, almost totally transparent blue-white glare of flame.  The D’ancer, nearly as tall, if far less massive than a military Siege Ship, lifted smoothly, appearing to barely move at first.  Suddenly gathering way she leaped straight up into the sky.  The concrete pad where she had been sitting was cooling and cracking off glazed bits of fused, glassy blast scar.

One reckless news flitter did get caught in the supersonic wake of the monster that was screaming past on its way out of the atmosphere.  Luckily the flitter’s pilot had fast reflexes and they recovered control a good seven meters above the ground.

The D’ancer rolled out at 15.5 kilometers and began to accelerate even more.  She was eating all the air that the scoops could grab for free reaction mass along with the water that she carried.  Besides speed, the D’ancer was gaining altitude, running ahead of a big plume of vapor.  She continued to climb, coasting on inertia now.  The antique engines had shut down exactly on their mark.  On a shallow angle, the D’ancer rose up to a low orbit.

Lezon checked her course and made a low acceleration correction to regularize the orbit.  There was no onboard artificial gravity.  It was hard to realize that something so basic hadn’t even been invented when the D’ancer was built. Everyone was experiencing the sensation of free-fall.  Lezon and T’cass were moving about the D’ancer with practiced ease.  Small combat ships didn’t waste energy on artificial gravity either, so both were familiar with the feeling.  K’ress, as an engineer, was at least used to it.  M’rel was quietly curled around her tummy, being miserable.

While Lezon and T’cass were busy, K’ress noticed a ship approaching, matching their orbit.  She hit the intercom and her voice rang out through the ship, “We have company!  Intercept in fifteen minutes.”

The Feront activated the visual communicator.  Several reptilian heads scanned about, focusing on Lezon and T’cass.  “My friends!  It is good to see your entities again so soon.

“You fulfilled your promise to come and bring your ship to me for salvage and refit.  I will carry out my promises as well.  While I work on your vessel, we can play! This time, I believe that my strategy will prevail!”

M’rel opened one eye and stared balefully at the others, cheerfully chattering away and said, “I have two questions.  One, does this feeling of nausea ever actually get better?  Two, why is the Feront always saying that it thinks that it will beat you?”

T’cass responded, “You will get used to the free-fall soon enough.  Just orient by eye and forget about your ears.  

“As for the Feront, it’s simply being utterly honest.  It does think that it may beat us and says so.  It’s right about twenty percent of the time, too.  It enjoys playing and doesn’t get the chance very often.”

Just then, the Feront chimed in on the communicator, “I will be using a gravitational grapple to remove your vessel to the working and salvage area.  Please secure. Down will face my vessel.”

Lezon looked sympathetically at M’rel and requested, “This vessel was designed for gravity along the line of thrust.  Could you orient your tow that way for the comfort of one of ours?”

The polyphonic voice replied, “Certainly, friend Lezon.  Field is now building.”  Gently up and down returned.  

K’ress brought M’rel an antinausiant.  M’rel sipped gently and remarked, “Someday, somebody will invent something to stop stomach heaves that doesn’t need to go into a stomach that already can’t hold it.”  She smiled wanly.  “I like the Feront already, just for being considerate.”

“It can be, when it wants to be,” acknowledged Lezon, “but if you are going to deal with the Feront you need to understand that it will often not think of you at all.  Remember, it has been a single thing and living in space craft for at least four million standard years.  In all of that time, it had never encountered another intelligent entity that it recognized as such.  As a result, it has only a little experience in dealing with others that are not itself.”

M’rel nodded, interested and focusing on something besides her now subsiding nausea.  “I see. How can it stay one thing over interstellar distances?  Does its mind have a faster than light way to communicate?”

Lezon answered, “That is best demonstrated.  Pour some water into a drinking bowl and get a second bowl.”

Mystified, M’rel did as asked. Lezon took the bowl with the water and said, “This is the Feront.” She poured some into the empty bowl.  “This is still the Feront, only now it is in two parts.”  Pouring the two back together, she added, “Now, the Feront is one thing again.  So far as it knows, it was never two.  Both the separation and the merging are not conscious actions and are totally without trauma.  There is a particular distance at which it simply separates or merges, that’s all.”

M’rel shivered all over at the thought.  “The universe is strange,” she quoted from a Clan Precept.

Lezon surprised her by finishing, “And in that very strangeness lies all of the riches of life.”

“You know the Precepts?” M’rel questioned.

T’cass cut in, “Of course. How can you understand a conflict if you do not grasp all sides of it?”

K’ress put in, “You mean something like knowing your enemy?”

Easily, Lezon replied, “Yes, but that is very incomplete.  All of life is conflict, even friendship is the management of conflict.  Thus, you must understand all that you can of everything about you if you are to manage the conflict to the best good of all.”

“What about your enemies?  Do you consider them?” K’ress asked sarcastically.  She was not prepared for the answer that she got.

“Of course.  Their lives are as valuable as your own.  Otherwise, the conflict has no value or meaning at all.  As soon as the armed portion of the conflict is over for them, they must be protected.”

K’ress snorted at that and retorted, “What about the crew of the signal laser at K’stall? That was knocked out and helpless.  A cruiser wiped them out later.”

“Right,” agreed T’cass. “And after the battle, War Leader Lezon sent the captain home to M’cratt in disgrace.  The Empress Triad ordered the captain executed for violation of the Warrior’s Way.  We heard about it on the Strategy Board.”

About then, the Feront came onto the communicator.  “I have brought you to the place of work.  It will be best if you come into my vessel while I work on yours.  Your input will be desirable from time to time in regard to the life support system and its amenities.”

During the refit, M’rel and K’ress shivered and stayed close in their quarters.  The Feront liked cold places, arctic regions and ice worlds.  Its idea of warm was still more than a bit cool.

T’cass and Lezon didn’t seem to notice.  They went scampering off with Feront in tow.  There were games to play and mock combats to enjoy.  They showed up irregularly for meals and to cuddle up in a warm fur pile to sleep.

The Feront always seemed to have time for its guests.  It courteously answered any questions except for ones relating to how the big city ship worked.  The Feront would only say that the fusion system that drove it operated on a different principle than the ones used by either the Clans or M’cratti.

K’ress and M’rel spent a good deal of time going over the details of their ship’s refit.  Doing so revealed that both T’cass and Lezon had ideas about creature comfort that were at odds with their Clan raised partners.  The Warriors cheerfully yielded on most points but both insisted on a liquid exercise tank and a gymnasium.

The antique ship’s monster fuel tank became three cavernous holds and a serious group of maintenance shops for metal, electronic and tachyonic equipment.  The power capsule had been replaced.  K’ress’s practiced eye noted that it was one from a capital ship and far bigger than would normally be needed for a freight hauler.  The drive was one from a fast messenger ship that had been pretty badly shot up.  Her eyes widened when she saw the specs.

This vessel was no longer an antique.  The fore and aft gun emplacements were not large by most standards.  There were seven five kiloton per second weapons in each battery, the most firepower allowed to their newly assigned Class B freight designation.

They needed only to stock the galley and seek a cargo to begin their new life as the Clan D’ancer. Lezon reflected that since the war was over, so was her service to the Empress Triad.  She hadn’t surrendered, she was Submitted to T’cass.  The others came with her.  The Clan D’ancer was as good a place to be as she could find.  This new way of life would be an interesting Conflict to manage.

–THE END–    

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[slamsams-blog]

Moonraker - #24WeeksofBond

Happy Labor Day!  Here we are, the last Bond film until November’s release of No Time To Die.  In a world, and in a year where everything has seemed to slow down due to the chaos and the uncertainty of a global pandemic...this project has done what I wanted it to, which was speed things up.  I can’t believe we are already in September and only two months away from No Time To Die’s release.  This has been fun and watching all the Bond films out of order has opened my eyes and offered a fresh perspective of each film respectively.  That being said, Moonraker finishes our Bond marathon out and it actually was exactly what I remember it being, so no real eye opening, out of body experience here.

As a young adult I always rather enjoyed the humorous side of the Bond films.  I thought the dirty one liners were hilarious and the gadgets were super cool.  Which is why Moonraker had been one film I looked forward to as we would go through the Bond films in sequential order, over and over again.  These days my palate is a bit more refined.  I’ve matured and developed a taste for good story over anything else.  Moonraker offers everything on the surface, a rather “paint by the numbers” Bond film; there is nothing hidden, nothing to go back and figure out.  Not saying that that isn’t welcomed sometimes, but I would still like to try and figure out just who is behind everything rather than just being told right away.

Moonraker was a reactionary move on the part of Eon productions after Star Wars came out and after the box office numbers saw huge dollars, they decided to change gears.  It had become customary after every Bond movie to reveal the title of the next Bond film in the closing credits, after The Spy Who Loved Me the credits rolled and said “James Bond Will Return In: For Your Eyes Only”.  Whoops.  Well because Bond is being reactionary here and because they only allowed a couple years in between each Bond movie, it was hard to change pace and give each Bond movie a unique flavor like the Daniel Craig Movies; therefor we get just another run of the mill, funny ha-ha Moore Bond movie...but in space with freakin laser beams!

We open up in the pre-title sequence with an airplane carrying a space shuttle called the Moonraker, but gets hijacked mid air.  This causes alarm so Bond is called in, but before he reports for duty Bond is accidentally thrown from the airplane he is in by the returning Jaws!  Yes, Jaws had been so incredibly popular that he had to come back, but this time...he’s pretty much a clown, but I’m kinda into it.  Not the creepy ass clown we see in a dark alley which was horrifying...but just a regular clown that entertains kids at barbecues.  I think it really would’ve worked better had they not re-introduced Jaws until after Drax’s man Cha dies.  

Back to the film...Well, Bond says the shuttles are made by Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) so that must be it.  And yep, it is.  Pretty simple.  I wonder if they could’ve at least gave us a few scenes with Drax to speculate if it is him, or if he is being set up before we see Drax’s evil side.  Drax and Bond have tea and Bond can’t even get out the door before Drax is telling his guy to F him up.  So the plot is pretty much spelled out for you, the only thing we have to wonder...is why?  Before we come to that answer, we are pretty much taken on a 2 hour ride of Drax’s people trying to kill Bond, but failing.  Seriously, Drax has someone around every corner, how does he get these people to go along with these plans??

One heart wrenching scene in this film is when Bond discovers a safe, and Cha finds Bond with the pilot who took him to the property.  They then stick the dogs on her, this poor girl is running through the woods like she is in “The Grey” trying to get away from the dogs, but ends up getting ripped apart.  Unfortunately Bond never finds out that he had a hand in her death by getting her to help him - this could’ve added a little weight and dramatics to the film.  But I love the part in that same scene where Drax wants Bond to shoot a pheasant from the sky for sport, but instead Bond shoots a gunman out of the tree, and as Drax says “You missed Mr.Bond” the shooter falls out of the tree and Bond retorts “Did I?”.  Love it.

Bond eventually finds a laboratory where some vials are being filled with some toxic gas but Drax tries to throw everyone off the scent by replacing the lab with a giant office.  Bond convinces M that the Lab was there, and M keeps Bond on the mission - but on the DL.

Along the way Bond is introduced to one Holly Goodhead, oh those funny sex pun names for females that have not aged well...Goodhead, played by Lois Chiles, is an undercover CIA operative working for Drax as a cover.  When we first meet her she takes Bond to the flight simulator where all our worst nightmares about amusement parks come to life.  Cha takes over the controls and damn near takes Bond’s face skin off before the wrist dart gun comes in handy.  Pretty intense stuff there.  Bond finds out she’s CIA and they begin working together.  There’s nothing special about Chiles performance here...she skates by.

They follow the trail of crumbs until they are eventually finding themselves on one of the Moonraker space shuttles lifting into orbit and inside a space headquarters that will be used as a sex pit....yes, Drax is scheming to kill everyone on earth and replace them with men and women who are physically superior, and they are to breed and make babies so that the new world will be physically fit and sexy and Drax will become God.  Hot.  Well, of course Bond is not about that...even though maybe he could’ve prevented COVID-19 had he let Drax wipe out the population?  Thanks a lot Bond!

Another funny avenue they take with the Jaws character is that he finds love in a woman we are supposed to believe would fall for someone like him...because she has pigtails and glasses?  If she had had braces it would made sense...two metal mouths, ya know?  But because Jaws finds love, he turns babyface and starts helping Bond kill Drax, because Jaws fears Drax is going to eliminate him for not being genetically superior.  This ends with Bond and Goodhead trying to escape but can’t, so they enlist Jaws to break then free, and Jaws and girl fly off into the sunset...literally.

All in all, Moonraker is meant to just be a fun ride.  I don’t mind that every once in while, and I do find a lot of Moonraker’s bits to be amusing, but because there is a lack of depth in the story and a lack of interesting personalities in Goodhead and Drax, this movie falls a little short.  Not Moore’s worst, but not his best - just very middle of the road.  And while it does have it’s moments of suspense with Bond and Goodhead being trapped underneath the ignition of the shuttle, and the cable car scene with Jaws - we are also taken for idiots with the gondola scene where Bond is driving it through the city - forcing birds to do double takes.  Yeah you read that right.

Thank you to everyone who followed this little blog of mine closely, this was super fun for me, and I am going to use this as a way to rank all the Bond films once and for all!

Sound off, what did you think?

Reviews from Friends:

Curtiss Frisle

Pretty great until they get to space. 

24 Weeks of Bond will return in November with - 

No Time To Die

[firelxdykatara]

Alright, so I’ve finished the first season of VLD and had time to let things stew and simmer. Here is how I envision the Lion-Paladin bonds playing out (with bonus Castle inhabitants), and why, with the caveat that I am loosely adapting the VLD lore to fit the story, so if later information comes up as I continue the series I may either adapt it to what I’m building now, or disregard it entirely (so I don’t care if anything here is ‘wrong’ because it’s right for the story I want to tell).

Disclaimer: I’ve given the Gaang surnames (except Toph, who already had one), for worldbuilding purposes. This whole thing is like a giant Modern/Sci fi AU, I haven’t fully decided how the world of Avatar fits and I’m still on the fence re: bending, which wouldn’t be super useful in protracted space battles, they they may retain lesser bending abilities. Depends on how things shake out as I get further into the planning stages.

Black Lion: Sokka Nutarak

I know, I know, Lance is supposed to be the ‘Sokka’ of VLD, but hear me out. Sokka may have started the series as the comic relief in dire need of a whole lot of Respect Women juice, but by the end of the show he had truly come into his own as a brilliant strategist and leader. He didn’t start out perfectly suited to the Black Lion, but it was the one for whom he had the most potential. It seems to me that the Lions sort of function like the Sorting Hat--it’s not just about happening to find someone who starts out perfectly suited to pilot them, but who has the best potential to thrive with them. Sokka, who at the start is a bit of a joker who has a hard time taking his responsibilities seriously (he was This Close to washing out of command school entirely), truly comes into his own when thrust into the position of a leader. He has to learn to not only respect his teammates and their abilities, but to respect his own skills and potential, and it’ll culminate in him becoming a true leader who is capable of seeing the abilities of his people and directing them where they’d be best utilized, but also recognizing when to take a step back and trust that they can handle some situations themselves.

Red Lion: Zuko Himura

This one is a little more obvious than Sokka’s placement, but listen, the parallel between needing to earn the respect of his lion and needing to win back honor he’d lost is just too delicious to pass up. Obviously, since Zuko is starting out as part of the Voltron team, his personal story is going to be considerably different than it played out during AtLA. He’s carrying a deep, dark secret that’s going to come pretty close to tearing the team apart later down the line, and may have a moment of making the Very Wrong Choice (I know that Keith is revealed to be half-Galra later on, but Zuko starts out knowing full well who his father is [he still has the scar, and he’s very sensitive about it for obvious reasons] and struggles a great deal with the knowledge that he was sent to retrieve Voltron for his father and was never supposed to pilot one of the lions), and part of coming into his full abilities as a paladin and bonding fully with his lion is discovering and accepting his own self-worth.

Blue Lion: Katara Nutarak

This one was probably the hardest for me to place. Personality-wise, Yellow might seem like a more obvious choice, but in keeping with the theme of the lions choosing a paladin who would have the most potential to thrive and come into their own as they bonded, I went with Katara. I think her personal arc fits more with what I see as Blue’s--she is confident in herself and her abilities, but has trouble allowing herself to express it because she’s so used to being the Woman of the House that she never really had a chance to let herself be anything else. She wanted to leave home and go to flight school and learn how to fight, but her father was already gone to the front lines with the rest of the adults in her family, her brother was on the verge of flunking out of the command track, and she had the rest of her family to think about and provide for (giving her and Sokka a slew of younger siblings and cousins standing in for the SWT). She only wound up out on the edges of known space with the rest of Team Voltron because she heard that Sokka had taken a shuttle and hadn’t been heard from in over a day and she was planning to find him, kick his ass for scaring her like that, and then bring him home.

But damn if it didn’t feel so fucking good--no, so RIGHT--the second she slid behind the controls of big Blue and shot out into open space for the first time in her life, demonstrating a natural, raw talent she’d never gotten a chance to explore outside the crappy flight simulator in her room back home. And suddenly she was on a mission to save the universe. Her personal arc for the purposes of this fic is one of self-discovery and awareness, of finally shedding the shackles she placed on her own life since the day her mother died, of accepting her own strengths and using them not just to save the world, but for the sheer thrill of it. Of learning the joys of letting loose and being free. And of discovering she’s a damn good pilot.

Yellow Lion: Toph Beifong

As tough as Blue was to place, Yellow was arguably harder, because if not Team Mom, then who? But then, that was always supposed to be intrinsic to Toph’s character arc, wasn’t it? Going from this gruff loner who didn’t need help from anybody ever, to learning to rely on others and put their needs before her own? Learning to work as a team, learning to be the bedrock on which the others could always depend to be firm and steady. Yellow picked Toph not because she started out as the heart of the team, but because she needed to open up her heart in order to realize her true potential. And the thing about being the leg of Voltron, lifting them up and holding them together? That’s where Toph is truly going to shine, when she learns not to try and solve every problem herself but to give the others a rock-solid foundation, and to trust that they will carry out their parts just as efficiently.

Green Lion: Suki Park

Last, but certainly not least, there’s Suki. (I know, ‘what about Aang?’ Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten him--he’s coming up later.) Green is inquisitive and daring, and of the five of them, Suki is the one who has the easiest time bonding with her lion because she’s the closest to being self-actualized. I’m not sure how I’ll adapt the Kyoshi Warriors, but by the time Team Voltron forms, Suki is the one who is most secure in herself and her abilities, position, and worthiness to be on the team. Her personal arc, then, is going to be more external--she’s used to leading, not following, and will butt heads a lot with Sokka, as she doesn’t think he has what it takes to be a leader in the beginning (and it takes him a while to really start guzzling that Respect Women juice). Further, she’s got a great deal of pride (as she should, but pride goeth before the fall and all that) and even more than not trusting Sokka as a leader, Suki is used to doing things her own way and doesn’t hesitate to rush off on her own--daring can be a good quality, but it also veers all too easily into brash recklessness, and Suki has to learn to be a team player and consult with everyone before making decisions and haring off on her own.

Now, what about Aang, you asked? Which brings me to....

Avatar Castle: Aang, the lost prince

Aang: I slept for a hundred years in an ice berg! Allura: hold my fucking beer

No, but all jokes aside, this actually made the most sense to me. Like Allura, Aang is the one who, because of his past and his destiny, brought Team Avatar together. This is the aspect of the story I’m the least sure on at the moment, though I think he’s essentially the last remnant of the his planet which will be, functionally, the ‘original world’ of Avatar. His people had bending abilities, a la the original show, and the royal family was what brought the four nations together, and were the only bloodline capable of bending all four elements. They were a planet of peace, and Voltron was originally created by all four nations in concert with the royal family as guardians, once they attained space travel and discovered the brewing war. Voltron was a neutral party, meant only to protect its home planet, but the Royal family couldn’t just stand by and watch as planet after planet fell to the onslaught of darkness, so Voltron was ‘upgraded’ with offensive capabilities, and then bonded--meaning each lion would find and bond with a single paladin, to prevent it from being used for evil.

Aang was very young, only fifteen (aged up slightly, as everyone else is too) when the tide of war finally overtook his people. His parents fell in battle, followed quickly by the paladins, and in a panic (as his parents’ last words were to keep Voltron from the enemies hands by any means necessary) he scattered the lions and fled in the castle--but something went wrong. Instead of making it to safety, recalling the lions and searching for new paladins, the castle shut down, and Aang went into stasis, and would remain there for several centuries, until the new Team Voltron manage to find and wake him up. (I’m still fuzzy on the details, and some of this may change when I finish hashing them out, but anyway.)

AND THAT’S HOW I PICTURE ATLA!TEAM VOLTRON.

Good gods, I rambled on so much I fucking better sit down and write this fic at some point lmfao.

[missionspecialist]

Hey I was wondering if you had any halfway decent pictures of the original blue pre-LES space shuttle suits with the awesome helmets? It's so hard to find pictures of both the suit and the helmet being worn together instead of individually

Hi! I also love the blue pre-Challenger launch suits and especially the helmets (you’re right, they’re awesome). I didn’t have any pictures of them saved but honestly I like this Look™ enough to go out and search for some pics for you! Some of these aren’t super high quality/resolution images (I hope they’re still “halfway decent”?) bc I found them on some old version of NASA’s image archives. I’m gonna include NASA’s image IDs when I can in case that’s helpful?? idk??

This is a joke/outtake crew photo from STS-61-C. Tbh it’s kinda eerie.

Here’s Sally Ride in the blue flight suit + helmet with the visor up.

STS51I(S)002 – Here’s Covey and Engle during launch pad egress training for STS-51-I. There are actually a bunch of pics of astronauts wearing the whole blue suit + helmet combo while doing egress training, but as you can see the upper part of the suit is slightly different, it’s got this like…boxy vest part over top of it? I’m not sure why they specifically had this extra piece during egress training, because I don’t think it was flown/actually worn during launch and re-entry, so…??? 

S86-25182 – Christa McAuliffe wearing the helmet, also during egress training. Again you can see the vest. I’m pretty sure this is a training-only helmet because it doesn’t have the red and blue stripes on the lower part (which, imo, are like 50% of what make the design so cool).

S85-46207 – STS-51-L crew in a flight simulator.

S85-46208 – some of the 51-L crew again but from a different angle. Looking at these pics makes me kinda sad but I’m including them because I think they’re good examples of the outfit…even if this mission was the last time it was worn, for good reason.

S85-36942 – More egress pics, this time from STS-51-F. This pic and the two afterwards are some of one of the ones I could only find on the old JSC shuttle image archives website that looks like it hasn’t been updated since like 2000 or something (look NASA, why do you have like 10 separate image archives…I know they’re supposed to have one integrated database now but that one still doesn’t include these images or a bunch of ones from Gemini + Apollo…why….can NASA go to the moon but not get its image archives in order…), hopefully you can accept the 1985 quality level. 

S85-32002 – This is from training for STS-51G.

STS61C-01-007 – Here’s Charles Bolden during STS-61-C. According to the image caption this is before re-entry so this is one of the few pics of the suit + helmet actually in use in space during a mission.

There are a bunch of other pics, you can go through the archives if you’re really that interested (just fyi, if you go to the old site you have to manually type in the mission name into the URL because a lot of navigation links are broken lmao), but I thought these were the best. You can probably also find some by just searching like, “shuttle egress”?? Finally, I just want to include this picture because it is one of my all time faves and was what immediately came to mind when I saw this ask:

41G-20-032 – STS-41-G Commander Bob Crippen on Challenger’s flight deck during re-entry. This is just so good…the original pale blue flight suit and striped helmet…the orange glow of the atmosphere and the green glow from the displays…yes!!! It literally looks so otherworldly, like this could be a movie scene or something and I just love it so much!!! 

[sciencespies]

Human Spaceflight In 2020: What Lies Ahead

https://sciencespies.com/news/human-spaceflight-in-2020-what-lies-ahead/

Human Spaceflight In 2020: What Lies Ahead

Last Thursday, NASA confirmed that The Boeing Company had completed readiness reviews for a December 20, 2019 launch of its uncrewed CST-100 Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). This launch will be the first flight of Boeing’s Commercial Crew vehicle, and the second flight overall for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program following SpaceX’s uncrewed Dragon 2 launch in March. Pending a successful uncrewed Orbital Flight Test (OFT), Boeing plans to launch a crewed mission aboard its Starliner spacecraft early next year. Similarly, SpaceX plans to launch crew to the ISS using its Dragon 2 spacecraft in the near future, pending a successful In-Flight Abort Test in January.

For years, the industry has eagerly awaited the first Commercial Crew launches, as the last spacecraft to receive human-rating certification was NASA’s Space Shuttle in 1981. Since then, space agencies and private companies around the globe have poured significant money and resources into developing new crew vehicles, but none of these efforts have yet resulted a crewed mission.

As the year draws toa close, space agencies and companies have begun to turn their sights towards 2020 for crewed flight. Below is a peek at what we can look forward to in the next year.

1. Crewed launches from both NASA Commercial Crew Program providers

NASA introduced to the world on Aug. 3, 2018, the first U.S. astronauts who will fly on … [+] American-made, commercial spacecraft to and from the International Space Station – an endeavor that will return astronaut launches to U.S. soil for the first time since the space shuttle’s retirement in 2011. The agency assigned nine astronauts to crew the first test flight and mission of both Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. The astronauts are, from left to right: Sunita Williams, Josh Cassada, Eric Boe, Nicole Mann, Christopher Ferguson, Douglas Hurley, Robert Behnken, Michael Hopkins and Victor Glover.

NASA

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) has provided funding to U.S.-based private companies to develop orbital human spaceflight capabilities since the first phase of program awards (Commercial Crew Development 1, or CCDev 1) in 2010. The program was created in order to reduce U.S. reliance on Russia for human spaceflight capabilities after the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011. Since 2011, NASA has paid Russia approximately $86 million per seat to launch astronauts to the ISS aboard its Soyuz spacecraft.

After supporting 6 companies through the initial development and proposal phases of the program, NASA ultimately selected Boeing and SpaceX for Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts in 2014. The multibillion dollar CCtCap contract provides funding for each provider to complete an uncrewed mission to the ISS, verify its vehicle’s in-flight abort capabilities, and finally complete a crewed demonstration mission during which two NASA astronauts are successfully ferried to and from the ISS aboard the company’s vehicle.

Though the program has experienced the delays common to human spaceflight development, it had a productive year in 2019, with one uncrewed test flight complete and another on the books for this month. While the program has not publicly released specific launch dates for its crewed flights, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has expressed confidence that the providers will launch crew in the first half of 2020.

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner

Boeing’s first CST-100 Starliner spacecraft sits atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on pad … [+] 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on December 4, 2019 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Starliner crew capsule, designed to carry as many as seven astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), is scheduled to make its first unmanned test flight to the ISS on December 19. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

NurPhoto via Getty Images

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is scheduled to launch its OFT mission to the ISS aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on December 20. According to NASA’s press release, the spacecraft will dock to the ISS on December 21 and will remain attached for approximately a week. On December 28, the spacecraft will undock from the ISS and re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere before performing a parachute and airbag-assisted landing at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

The OFT launch comes on the heels of the Starliner Pad Abort Test, which the company successfully completed at the beginning of November. Boeing previously experienced a setback when during a 2018 attempt at the test, a propellant leak occurred during engine shutdown. Based on the results of the subsequent anomaly investigation, Boeing implemented an operational control to prevent the leakage from re-occurring.

As Boeing has chosen to verify its vehicle’s in-flight abort capabilities via analysis rather than test, the OFT mission is intended to be the vehicle’s final test flight before its first crewed launch early next year. The vehicle’s crewed flight test (CFT) will provide ISS transportation for 3 crew: NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Edward “Mike” Fincke, as well as Boeing Commercial Crew Director and former NASA astronaut Christopher Ferguson. Pending successful execution of the mission, Ferguson could become the first individual in history to travel to the ISS in both a government and commercial capacity.

SpaceX’s Crewed Dragon 2 Spacecraft

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft which is designed to carry people and cargo to orbiting destinations … [+] such as space stations, is displayed at the SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles on July 21, 2019. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP) (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

SpaceX’s Dragon 2 vehicle (sometimes referred to as “Crew Dragon”) launched to the ISS for the first time this March, when it successfully completed an uncrewed 5 day mission before splashing down safely in the Atlantic Ocean. Shortly afterwards, the company experienced a setback when the same vehicle used for this mission exploded on a test stand in Cape Canaveral during a capsule static fire. SpaceX has since completed a full investigation of the anomaly, which traced the fault back to a leaky component that has since been replaced on its other capsules. A newly assembled capsule completed a successful static fire earlier this month, and the company remains on track for a January 2020 launch of its In-Flight Abort Test ahead of its crewed Demo-2 mission early next year.

SpaceX’s Demo-2 mission will provide ISS transportation for NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, who have undergone training with the company at their Hawthorne, California headquarters for several years. Though the company has been given the option to transport a SpaceX employee or private passenger to the ISS on this test flight in addition to the two NASA astronauts, SpaceX has not publicly announced any plans to do so.

2. Crewed launches of commercial suborbital vehicles

Suborbital human spaceflight has captivated the imagination of the American public since the 1990s, when renewed interest in space tourism from the investment community began opening the door to the development of new ventures. For the low price of “only” $100,000 to $1M USD, companies such as XCOR Aerospace, WorldView and Armadillo Aerospace promised private citizens a taste of the astronaut experience with short “hops” into space. Though the experience would only last several hours and provide only a few minutes of weightlessness, the substantial price reduction from orbital tourism opportunities (which often cost upwards of $20M USD) gave hope to those who dreamt of bringing spaceflight to the masses.

Space is hard, and unfortunately many of the early players in the commercial suborbital market faced technical and financial setbacks that led them to shut their doors. Over time, the field of competitors has been whittled down to Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, who have emerged as the pack leaders with their New Shepard and SpaceShipTwo vehicles. While both companies have experienced repeated delays in their flight schedules, both continue to launch successful test flights on a regular basis, with company executives publicly stating this year that they expect crewed flight to occur within the next few months. If things continue as planned, 2020 could finally be their year.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard

Participants enjoy the Blue Origin Space Simulator during the Amazon Re:MARS conference on robotics … [+] and artificial intelligence at the Aria Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 5, 2019. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP) (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket and capsule have been under development since at least 2006, when the program’s first subscale demonstration vehicle first flew. Since April 2015, the full New Shepard system has visited space regularly, and on its second flight the rocket became the first to land vertically on Earth after visiting space.

Named after Alan Shepard, the first American man to visit space, New Shepard was intended from the start to be a crewed transportation system. However, to date, the vehicle’s flights have carried only cargo beyond the Karman line. As of December 2019, Blue Origin has completed 12 test flights of the vehicle, 9 of which have carried commercial payloads. Recent tests have also carried a dummy named Mannequin Skywalker, which is outfitted with sensors to measure how future commercial passengers could be affected by the flight.

Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith has talked about the first crewed flight of New Shepard happening as early as 2018, but this date has repeatedly been pushed back. Smith has attributed these delays to the company’s desire to be “cautious and thorough,” so as not to jeopardize passenger safety.

As of December 2019, the company has not publicly announced a date for the first crewed flight of the capsule, but founder Jeff Bezos has hinted that he expects it to occur in the near future. The first passengers on New Shepard are likely to be Blue Origin employees, and the company has stated that it will not begin taking deposits for commercial passenger flights until these initial crewed flights have occurred.

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo

MOJAVE, CA – FEBRUARY 19, 2016 – Sir Richard Branson, center, poses with the employees for photos … [+] by the new Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo at its roll out in the Mojave Desert, about a year and a half after Virgin’s last rocket plane broke into pieces and killed the test pilot. (Photo by Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Virgin Galactic’s human spaceflight capabilities have technically been in development since 1996, when the Ansari XPRIZE was created to award $10M USD to a team who could launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice in two weeks. Mojave Aerospace Ventures (MAV), a joint venture between Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites, ultimately won the prize with its SpaceShipOne reusable spaceplane design and White Knight launcher. Following the award, MAV signed a contract with Virgin Galactic to develop a suborbital spacecraft based on the XPRIZE-winning technology for space tourism. This deal resulted in the formation of The Spaceship Company, a joint venture between Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites, to manufacture the spacecraft.

Since 2004, the team has been hard at work developing Virgin Galactic’s spaceplane and launcher, dubbed SpaceShipTwo and White Knight 2. A mockup of the design was revealed to the press in January 2008, with a company statement that the vehicle itself was around 60% complete at the time.

UNSPECIFIED – JANUARY 24: Virgin Galactic Flight Simulator in January 24th, 2008 – Test pilot Brian … [+] Binnie in the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo flight simulator, which will take passengers a year to just over 100 km altitude; Virgin Galactic’s first world is the spaceline owning an (Photo by Thierry BOCCON-GIBOD/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

The vehicle’s development has not been without hiccups. In July 2007, an explosion occurred during a SpaceShipTwo oxidizer test at Mojave Air and Space Port, killing three employees and injuring three others with flying shrapnel. The company suffered an additional setback in October 2014 when a SpaceShipTwo vehicle broke up during a crewed test flight and crashed in the Mojave desert. The vehicle’s co-pilot was killed and the pilot was seriously injured. A subsequent inquiry by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that the crash was caused by the co-pilot’s premature deployment of the spacecraft air brake device for atmospheric re-entry. The board also cited inadequate design safeguards against human error, poor pilot training and lack of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight as contributors to the accident.

Since conclusion of the NTSB investigation in 2015, the SpaceShipTwo team has conducted 13 successful crewed test flights using its upgraded VSS Unity spaceship. These tests are in addition to the 54 successful test flights that occurred using the VSS Enterprise ship prior to its 2014 crash. Since the crash, Virgin Galactic has also taken over construction of the spacecraft from Scaled Composites, and has redesigned critical components in house to ensure passenger safety.

To date, more than 600 individuals have put down deposits for crewed tourist flights onboard SpaceShipTwo. The total price tag for a flight is $250,000 USD, and customers are asked to front half the ticket price to reserve their spot in advance. A specific launch date for the vehicle’s first commercial passenger flight has not been announced, but founder Sir Richard Branson said earlier this year that he hoped it would occur “in months not years.” Earlier this year, the company commenced its “Astronaut Readiness Program,” a preparatory course for customers that have reserved seats onboard one of the company’s first passenger flights.

3. Steady launch cadence for Russia’s Soyuz

KYZYLORDA REGION, KAZAKHSTAN – JUNE 6, 2018: A Soyuz-FG rocket booster carrying the Soyuz MS-09 … [+] spacecraft with the ISS Expedition 56/57 prime crew members, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Alexander Gerst, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev, and NASA astronaut Serena M. Aunon-Chancellor, aboard blasts off to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)

Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

As NASA’s Commercial Crew providers continue to work towards operational crewed missions, Russia’s Soyuz vehicle will continue to be the sole low-Earth orbit transportation option for all ISS partners, who must purchase each seat from ROSCOSMOS. Launching from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz program has been transporting astronauts and cosmonauts into orbit since 1968. With a fatality rate of 1 in 63 people sent to orbit, Soyuz is thus far the safest human spaceflight system in history. (In contrast, the Space Shuttle’s fatality rate was approximately 1 in 56.)

As of December 2019, Soyuz Expeditions 62 and 63 are on the books for April and May 2020 launches, respectively. Each mission will ferry a crew of 3 astronauts between the Earth and ISS. While NASA hopes to reduce its dependence on the Russians for ISS transportation in the near future, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine stated in October 2019 that the agency was looking into purchasing an additional Soyuz seat for fall 2020 or spring 2021 to protect for additional Commercial Crew delays. Although both Commercial Crew partners are expected to launch crew in early 2020, Bridenstine noted that when it comes to human spaceflight development, “usually things don’t go according to plan.”

4. China’s Shenzhou 12 mission and Tiangong Space Station

BEIJING, Oct. 19, 2016 — Photo taken on Oct. 19, 2016 shows the screen at the Beijing Aerospace … [+] Control Center showing a simulated picture of an automated docking between the Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft and the orbiting space lab Tiangong-2. The Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft successfully completed its automated docking with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab Wednesday morning, according to Beijing Aerospace Control Center. (Xinhua/Ju Zhenhua via Getty Images)

2016 Xinhua News Agency

As of 2019, China is the only nation with human spaceflight capabilities that is not a member of the ISS program. The Chinese manned spaceflight initiative, called the Shenzhou program, successfully sent its first crew member into orbit in October 2003. Since then, the country has successfully completed 5 other crewed missions using its Shenzhou spacecraft and Long March rocket.

The last of these 5 missions – Shenzhou 11 – was launched in October 2016. After a 4 year hiatus, China plans to send its next crew up in 2020. As China does not participate in the ISS, the country plans to construct its own Tiangong Space Station, which will be constructed, owned, and operated solely by the Chinese government. Tiangong is expected to have an orbital lifetime of at least 10 years and to be able to accommodate 3 to 6 astronauts at a time, making it a project of similar scale to the ISS. The Chinese government has stated that it aims to complete construction of the station by 2022.

Looking beyond 2020, the rest of the decade appears rife with opportunity for both the commercial space industry and for government programs with deeper space ambitions. NASA’s Artemis program aims to send “the first woman and next man” to the Moon by 2024. The program has yet to announce a launch date for its uncrewed Artemis 1 test flight, but earlier this month, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine stated that he believed it would be sometime in 2021 based on the current Space Launch System (SLS) development schedule.

A model of the SLS rocket on display during the 35th Space Symposium at The Broadmoor in Colorado … [+] Springs, Colorado on April 9, 2019. – NASA is preparing to use the SLS rocket to send US astronauts to the moon in 2024. The four day symposium is the largest space trade show in the world, attracting leaders focusing on space technology, satellite development, rocket design, and space policy. (Photo by Jason Connolly / AFP) (Photo credit should read JASON CONNOLLY/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

SpaceX, in turn, looks to continue pushing the boundaries by exploring destinations beyond the ISS. The company’s #dearMoon project, which is scheduled for launch no earlier than 2023, aims to send Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa to orbit the Moon in a SpaceX Starship vehicle along with a crew of several artists. One of the project’s major goals is to inspire the creation of new art to promote peace across the world. Initial tests of the Starship system have commenced in Boca Chica, Texas, using subscale models of the spacecraft.

The successful certification and operation of any of the aforementioned vehicles will be a huge milestone, both for the space industry and for humanity as a whole. If the 2010s were the decade of SpaceX, perhaps the 2020s will be the decade where space tourism finally becomes a reality. With a little luck, it could even be the decade where humans once again venture beyond low-Earth orbit.

#News

[sillygurl1021]

Plance Mega Meta

Attention all Fellow Gardeners! LOOOONNG Post Ahead!!!!

This was a pain in the butt to make but well worth it! It's all over the place but it still presents my point of the many reasons why Pidge and Lance is most likely Endgame. Some may be a stretch but most of them have meaning! I know I missed some but it was hard to fit all this together and still remember everything lol

Ofcourse, whether your for Plance or just scrolling around, it's your opinion to agree or disagree! It's fine! This is just an analysis of mine and other gardeners of why Plance may be endgame in our eyes! :)

Alrighty Then!

Okay, I’m starting off with all the comics of them that I know of!

“Lance’s Guide To Falling in Love” explains that you need activities that you both like to do each other. That sounds a lot like Pidge and Lance with the Game Console they both got! That’s a similar activity they always do! “Love is about feeling vulnerable. [. ] finding your best friend. That’s why you have to create opportunities to fall in love.” That whole line pretty much explained Lance and Pidge’s relationship. They are pretty much best friends and I’m so sure they have been vulnerable towards each other in many ways that I will explain later on as well.

That second image on the right is just so cute because Lance is holding her shoulder for reassurance as she plays that chess game they’re lives depend on!

The second two images I put an arrow on so u guys can see which scene starts first. On these two panels, first, Pidge had forgotten a lot of things when she put on that crown. I think it was that it gave her too much knowledge that it made her forget things or something but slowly started remembering and the first thing she remembered was Lance. If that doesn’t show she cares about him, aside from her actually saying she’s glad he’s not dead, then I don’t know what is! I'll also add that the last bit where he said "I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me" and she replies "Is that true?" maybe made her question herself because maybe she thought, Why would I be mean to him if I know I like him? Who knows. Lol.

So the third row of two pictures with Pidge, we all know she super smart and loves intelligent puns and Lance, well he tries to catch on. On the second picture he made a pun that Shiro caught onto so what is his reply? To not tell Pidge lol That just shows how much of an influence she’s become in him!

The fourth picture going down, we have Lance and Pidge saying some sort of jokes where they switch it up the next time they use those phrases again but I just love how close they seem and how gentle of expressions they seem to give each other on the second half of the panels!

As for the famous picture where Lance and Pidge are playing their game, well, Lance says that after seeing his family and so on that the next thing he will do is be with Pidge, and not just that! Take her her favorite cookies as well! That’s a great boyfriend right there! ;)

The last picture all the way on the bottom left is just cute banter and oh gosh. They are so cute!

Now, the final picture on the bottom-right, we have a page of Kaltenecker. But wait, his name is colored in a shade of Cyan… Cyan is a greenish-blue color, the color of the two Paladins who own her! Pidge and Lance! That’s just so darn… ugh! And the fact that Lance replied “Moo” for all the answers and the part where he said “we presume” only means they did all this together! That’s just so boyfriend/girlfriend of them!!! Lol

I’m sorry ahead of time if this gets confusing. I added what season/episodes some are in that I remembered.

The first four I want to talk about (First Two Screen Caps on the first and second row) are from 1x1 (Season 1 x Episode 1) where they are talking about a ship entering earths atmosphere. The fact that they didn’t say spacecraft or shuttle but chose SHIP makes it feel that DW (DreamWorks) did this on purpose because as soon as Pidge says it’s a ship then Lance snatches the goggles, that she is still holding, and uses them! And then she says “We gotta see that ship!” and Lance FOLLOWS! Only Lance! Hunk stays behind!

Top Right>> Okay so now I’m doing this to make it easier lol. This SC (Screen Cap) is Lance noticing that the Kurboros Mission is a touchy subject for Pidge. He’s been close to her since they met so that only makes their bond stronger. That and Lance has amazing Intuitive Skills that we all know of which I will bring up again later!

R2 SC3 (Row 2 Screen Cap 3)>> Pidge is annoyed of Hunk touching her equipment. You know who she isn’t annoyed of touching her things? Lance. 😏

R3>> This whole row is just dedicated to their lack of personal space towards each other! Just a few from many SC! This has to be another foreshadowing man lol

R4 SC1-2>> 7x6 The episode that gave us all heart attacks lol I’m sure you all have heard this already but this episode had so much Plance/Kallura. The cinematic perspective of this whole episode just yelled Plance and Kallura. In these two scenes both couples specifically grab onto each other, there being SC of only when Keith grabs Alluras hand and Lance grabbing Pidge's. The shot where those light creatures come around them, you see Pidge, while holding Lances hand in the sweetest way in the back and same with Allura with Keith. Its just so… so… cinematically pleasing if you go for either ship lol

R4 SC3>> This was just a cute shot of them I put in to fill in the gap lol but its great!

R5 SC1-3>> 1x4 This episode was when Lance saved Coran from the explosion the fake Rover made. When Shiro and Lance are captures by Sendak, Pidge goes to save them only to be captured by him but Lance suddenly woke up from his unconscious state to shoot Sendak and save Pidge. He then falls back to the floor. I think this shows so much. Sure, he has yet to know Pidge was a girl at that time but he’s so close to her that he wouldn’t let anyone hurt her, even when he’s unconscious lol.

R6 SC1-2>> 1x1 Going back to this episode. I had seen this since I started watching the series but didn’t think much of it until I really put attention to the scene the second time around. Lance was showing off to Pidge, calling himself “The Tailor” and what not. Pidge in response gave a small blush, even of he did fail the simulator test. Sure, he obviously has yet to know she’s a girl but whose to say that’s just how their relationship has unknowingly built up? ;)

R6 SC3>> 2x6 This is interesting because Lance made fun of Pidge first saying her fancy Galra Finder didn’t work, then her showing her annoyed face. It then changes the scene to Shiro talking to one of the Aliens telling them the Galra were there only to change the scene back to Lance and Pidge, Pidge saying “So the Galra were here, Lance.” With a smug expression causing Lance to blush. Why would DW go back to this scene? It’s just playful banter BUT playful banter of them hinting us of a relationship to be maybe!

R1 SC1-2>> It’s cute how Lance is all excited telling Pidge “That’s my thing!” when she didn’t believe he was a good shot haha like he gets excited telling her things!

R2 SC1-2>> These both are from different episodes but are of both Lance and Pidge blushing. Lance from him acting cocky and Pidge from seeing Lance in a body suit (at least that’s what I think) where she can see all the toned parts of his body ;) She is a teenager after all lol

Top Right Down Three>> All these SC are symbolic to me. A foreshadowing because these are a few of many where it shows them together in a single scene or doing the same. This shows me that they can’t be any more similar than they already are! They are one in the same honestly.

Last Three Down>> 5x6 This scene is one of my Favorites! Allura and Lotor had left to check out where Altean Alchemy is held along with the knowledge of Alteans and Lance is freaking out talking to everyone asking if she will be alright or if they are doing anything as Pidge and the rest try to turn the Castle back on. This whole time Lance interrupts them as Pidge works on the castle. Sure it sounds that she’s simply annoyed but if you listen to the tone she sounds more than annoyed! It’s like she’s annoyed, not just because he’s interrupting them, but because he’s over exaggerating about Allura. Obviously everyone is worried but Lance just goes overboard causing Pidge to also go overboard as everyone just stares at both of them back and forth. Haha.

Last 3 Second Row Down>> These three shots are from different episodes but you can see that it’s Hunk and Pidge doing their Team Punk Bump as Lance watches. I don’t exactly remember the order of it and some scenerios are different than others but you can see that he’s not always keeping a big smile. Almost like he’s jealous that they have a ‘Thing’ while he doesn’t have one with either of them *cough* Pidge *cough*.

Last 3 Third Row Down>> This could kind of be related to the last point. 6x3 When they are done playing M&M, Pidge and Hunk got out of their stump from what they are doing, make an explanation of what to do next and run off. Meanwhile Lance looks somewhat annoyed, saying that he doesn’t understand the science words as much as the fantasy ones but his expression from looking at them then look away seems to show otherwise!

R1 SC1-2>> These two scenes have Lance with Pidge’s stuff! Her headphones and some of her pillows! Strange that she’s okay with Lance getting her stuff but not Hunk lol

R1 SC3>> 1x6 Where Pidge reveals she’s a girl and everyone BUT Lance knew. It’s weird that he didn’t know because he has amazing intuition. It kind of feels to me that maybe he’s playing dumb? Maybe he DID know? That’s why he’s always been ‘show offy’ with Pidge. Maybe… just maybe… that’s a big stretch right there but an interesting thought lol.

R2 SC1-2>> These two are a little different. The first one, Hunk and Pidge are teasing Lance because Allura is with Lotor but Pidge is kind of teasing in a ‘Haha she won’t return your feelings’ kind of way because she likes him. In the next one Lance and Pidge are teasing Hunk with Shay but her expression is more playful. Hmm. Interesting. ;)

R2 SC3/R3 SC3>> 7x1 “Wow. They’re a lot uglier than I thought they’d be.” “I think it’s cute. You know, in a creepy hideous sort of way. Like you Lance.” The fact that Pidge acknowledged Lance was even remotely cute shows she likes Lance! C’mon y’all! The look that Coran gives Pidge after that comment just kills me haha. He’s like “Ahhh. I see you Numbah five.” 😂 but really. The fact that Pidge says that right after Lance talks shows it even more!

R3 SC1-2>> So I actually have these two flipped wrong but the one with him by himself is when Pidge calls him the goofball of the team. At first it seems like he didn’t care much, since it’s their usual banter but then when Lance talks to Allura, it seems that Pidge’s words do somewhat get to Lance. Not in a mean way but Lance is vulnerable when it comes to Pidge.

R4>> 2x4 It’s taken me a while to figure this scene out because it was always strange to me how Pidge’s tone is. (Also, sorry I cut off some of the subs 😅) Pidge is amazed by how beautiful the tech is while Lance replies saying “It’s not a sunset Pidge” because maybe he loves sunsets. In that, Pidge replies “Your right. A billion sunsets just happen every day” with a kind of somber tone. Maybe she’s never really cared for sunsets? But in that third SC in the row, there is a small picture of a sunset on a beach on her wall. Maybe she’s coming to enjoy sunsets because of Lance? Maybe he’s talked to her about it? Maybe it reminds her of him? Interesting. There is also one more piece I will bring up in the next set of SC’s.

R5>> These! 1x4 Lance sees Rover but right away wonder where Pidge is because he knows she’s close to it. 7x4 The third SC is from The Feud when Lance is trying to remember Rolo's name. Interesting that right after trying to remember Rolo he says “Yeah. Pidge loved that Robot.” Not “Nyma was awesome.” Or “They tricked us”. He could have said any of that but chose something that reminded him of Pidge!

R6>> 2x2 Lance mentions he likes mermaids (maybe because he’s always loved the beach) and in 4x2 in Pidge’s room, she has a stuffed Mermaid!

Out of context but I just realized that for the whole Rover thing, its on Ep 4 of S 1 & 7. For the mermaid thing it’s on Ep 2 of S 2 & 4. What a weird coincidence lol.?

R1 SC1>> 6x2 Chulatt and Chuchule making a heart with their cute little mice tails! This scene is where the mice tell Allura Lance’s secret of him liking her. What I feel gives away plance, and is ironic, is that those two specific Space Mice create the heart! The little one (Chulatt) is Pidge and the pink one (Chuchule) is Lance. We know this because there was a photo of the mice in Paladin Armor and they were in those specific colored armors. If anyone wants to add that picture in the comments, knock yourself out lol.!

R1 SC2-3>> 2x7 Hey look! Another sunset! And not just that. In the store they got a game console that they worked hard to get together, along with their Moo Child, Kaltenecker! 😏 Lol. This episode really brought out the relationship they have in full bloom! First! Lance was originally going to go with Allura and get her something pretty and shiny BUT instead, he stopped flirting to go and help Pidge get something she really wanted! Plus, had a blast doing it! The tender look he gives her when she’s holding the game is so heartwarming and he’s just as excited as she is to start the console up! Remember what he said is a point to falling in love? “Love is about finding your best friend.” Welp. There ya go Lance.!

R2 SC1-2>> 4x3 Before this scene Matt had complimented Pidge for being smart, so she responded with a goofy smile. Lance also compliments her intelligence right after Matt. She gives him this soft look. I rest my case. Lol.

R3 SC1-2>> 7x9 The Paladins arrive back on earth where their loved ones await them. The most anxious is Pidge as she jumps to her mom and who, you may ask, does it change to right afterwards? Lance. The shot has Lance and Hunk but it’s more zoomed in on Lance with the gentlest look that I believe he’s ever gave honestly. He then gets interrupted by his family running to him, him in tears of the joy in seeing them. THIS is another reason why I believe they are endgame because both love their family so much, who reside on earth. I can’t imagine them wanting to stay in space once the war is over. They are made for each other honestly haha.

Top Right going Down SC 2-3>> These two scenes are parallels. They both have strong feelings for eachother and are extremely protective of one another. 7x3 First Lance with his “Don’t you touch her!”. His choice in words just scream I’ll kill you! Because of how protective of her she is. Knowing he is tired up and unable to do much, he still tried to rescue her. 2x10 Pidge’s “Lance! No!” Just tells me she has liked him for so long. Her feelings were already strong since the beginning. This scene didn’t need to emphasize on her wanting to save Lance and showing emotion but DW did it this way on purpose! ;)

R4>> 6x3 Ahhh. Monsters & Mana again! You know how we’ve all found out that the filler episodes aren’t actually fillers but a foretelling of future things? Well, look at these cuties once again having lack of personal space! And then the second SC is of Pidge looking up at Lance instead of looking at the view like the others but still enjoying herself with her big smile! The third SC is now of Lance giving her that gentle look once again. Instead of looking at the view, he looks at Pidge as she is having the time of her life!

R5 SC1-2>> 5x1 I kind of messed up on my choice of SC but I’m sure you all will still understand. This episode is when Matt and Pidge failed in saving their dad. Pidge is there hugging her legs from the thought of her dad not being around anymore. Lance is the first to turn to see her and then Hunk. What I see though is Hunk having a worried expression and Lance looks a little worried for her as he is turning but once he is standing and looking her way, he looks more determined. Determined for her to get her father but for her to also be safe maybe? Last thing is that on the SC where it shows her hugging her legs, Lance is still in the shot. I would say that this is a vulnerable scene for Pidge because she is so in distress because of her father.

R5 SC3>> 6x7 Just a simple SC of Pidge looking back at Trash Lance as they get ready to leave the Castle of Lions. Trash Hunk is there too but she looks over Trash Lance lol.

R6>> 4x3 This whole row scene is just so cute. Lance and Hunk run to Pidge as she lands. Lance being the first one to get to her just smile at seeing his girlfriend back lol. She gives them all a smile as she holds her little space mouse.

R1 SC1 Down First Two SC>> 1x10 I don’t think many think much of this scene but how can you not? The first SC Pidge messed up the robot and said “Whoops” but the second one was after Lance was asking about Allura, giving off a goofy smile until Pidge’s robot smacked him in the face. Afterwards she said “Whoops” again but in a more sarcastic tone. That’s jealosy at its finest lol.

R1 SC2 Down First Two SC>> Lance is showing off the pictures of him with the alien girls but to Pidge. I sometimes wonder if he did it on purpose to get a reaction from her because she was smiling before he showed her the picture. Jealousy moment numero dos! Lol

R1 SC3 Down First Two SC>> 1x10 I love this scene because as soon as Keith leaves after Lance told him to not leave, he glances over to Pidge who is very unimpressed. Afterwards he turned his head with a smug expression saying “I think I told him” and Pidge responding with the most sarcastic “You are the paragon of leadership, Lance” with him still being all proud. Its all just ugh. I love their relationship hahaha.

R3>> Dancing buddies? I think Yes! Lol how much more perfect can they be for eachother? Hahaha

R1>> 2x4 Yet another scene I love because in this scene Lance and Pidge are kind of moving in sync. Lol. It’s so them haha.

R2&3 First SC>> 7x10 This is another scene that I don’t think that a lot of people take too in depth but Allura and Lance just had a moment where they both blush. Afterwards, all the paladins head out to their destination as they concentrate but Pidge looks like the only one that’s a little… sad? Distressed? The little lines under her eyes show a different emotion than the other paladins. She looks like she’s just thinking. I think she may have seen Allura with Lance and now is torn by her feelings because Allura might reciprocate his feelings. Right after her shot of the green Lion arriving to her, it turns to Lance who is calm and ready but we all know that scene that red showed up just in the Knick of time. I think red knows that Lance is meant to be with another, not with the one he wants but someone he will need.

R2&3 Second SC>> 6x2 This is where Lance is trying to get Alluras attention but she’s too into Lotor to care. Lance says “She’s smart, courageous, and makes me want to be a better person”. Adding on that aside from being an alien princess, she’s those things but that he isn’t a prince like Lotor so what does it matter. The first SC he honestly explained Pidge so if that’s what he is looking for in someone then maybe that was a hint to us. And then he goes on saying that Allura won’t take his feelings seriously and that he has nothing to offer. Maybe this is another foreshadowing that Pidge is going to take it super serious and he doesn’t need to offer anything with her because the way is is already everything she wants ;) That is a stretch though lmao.

R2&3 Third SC>> I’m just going to show you guys and not explain to much with this haha The Plance Nebula! We all know it but I don’t think we all yet know that it’s been in front of our faces all this time! In the intro of every episode when the screen pops up. That’s the nebula just on its side! Now answer me this. If it wasn’t important then why would it be right after Pidge’s Nebula in the trailer for S8???? That’s the only different nebula aside from all the others being the Paladins themselves!

I’m telling Y’all that alllllll this is what makes me think that Plance is Endgame!

This I needed to add alone because they are so cute! They are the only onea that did this lol

7x13 If these scene itself isn't enough to have you think they are foreshadowing them together then man. I don't remember seeing any other two Paladins do this when they use their bayards at the same time on voltron. Its just such a powerful scene for a super power couple!!!

Omg guys I can't believe I finished this. If you read all this then kudos to you! Please let me know what you guys thought or what your opinion is because I put alot of work into this for everyone to have their plance super watered lol

Thanks for the help guys!!! :) @callmesath @ohfishwall @truegryffindorforever2 @gracekogane

💦💚🌱💙

[tomasorban]

THE ZODIAC: SAGITTARIUS THE ARCHER

Date of Rulership: 21st November-21st December; Polarity: Positive, male; Quality: Mutable; Ruling planet: Jupiter; Element: Fire; Body part: Thighs and hips; Colour: Dark blue, purple; Gemstone: Topaz; Metal: Tin.

In my mind Sagittarius is proof of the Aristotelian teleology concerning God as the instigator, primal mover and consummator of a hierarchy of purposes; as the last and the most evolved of the fire signs, the mutable energies of this zodiacal sign draw attention to the natural philosophy that the essence of all things that have been created are forever striving towards a higher and more perfect form. Sagittarius will religiously profess that everything is predetermined and that formed matter contains within itself bits of genetic corpuscles encoding the final purpose and mode of expression. How do we know this? Well, does the seed not sprout and become a tree? Does the human personality not grow, expand, and increase the field of its perceptive, intellectual, and spiritual vision by dissolution and death of the ego during the course of one’s lifetime? Does the egg not hatch to become a chick after a period of incubation in the nest? Does the bland-looking caterpillar not undergo a physical transformation during its lifecycle that sees it pass through individual and distinct phases of growth until it becomes a supernal butterfly? Does carbon, a gloomy and lacklustre element, not fuse to become a sparkling diamond inside the womb of Mother Earth? What more proof of God’s benevolent intent to perfect the forms and products of Mother Nature could one want than the existence of subatomic particles in various stages of interaction and evolution? What proof could be more convincing than the vestiges of that cosmic beginning known as the Big Bang (or perhaps the Big Crash, an alteration of the primal substance spurred by the collision of two universes as put forth by the “unified theory” of superstrings)?

Wherever Sagittarius is in our chart, we become seized, possessed and driven by the big picture. This archetypal power has a knack for stepping outside the microscope of the human senses, getting its hands on a state of the art Skywatcher 16” Synscan GOTO Dobsonian telescope and scouring the heavens for journeys of intergalactic discovery that will simulate sensual delights and tease the intellect. There is nothing more satisfying in life than a physical pilgrimage that tempts the mind to grow bold and question, if not reject outright, its learned biases and attitudes concerning established societies at large. Thus, it would be safe to say that Sagittarius isn’t content being the passive observer of interstellar and deep space mysteries that it will never get to examine under the auspices of scientific investigation. No, that will never do! Seeing might be believing but it will never be enough, not when it comes to understanding the true nature of reality. Sagittarius would rather be one of the lucky astronauts that gets to experience weightlessness and associated gravitational anomalies, walking on the moon, and a throng of other unusual and exhilarating things that most people could only envision in their wildest fantasies. That way it can kill two birds with one stone; it can collect bits of vital information concerning the universe to be used in its philosophical musings at a later stage and concurrently enjoy the finer things that life has to offer. The trajectory of outer space provides the Sagittarian with an adrenalin rush akin to the ride an intravenous drug user experiences after a good hit, one that he or she doesn’t want to lose any time soon by coming back to Planet Earth.

Even after the Sagittarian shuttle uses up all its fuel and is forced to re-enter the atmosphere of Earth, it brings its wide-angled perspectives and some of the heavenly Aether with it. Having already scanned the surface of our planet for the existence of Others whilst it was in orbit, Sagittarius is keenly bent on travelling to these places to interact with the various cultures abounding there. It wants to try out new and exotic foods and customs, meet, interact, and even share a beer or two with members of the indigenous population, explore religious and theosophical beliefs different to its own, learn different languages, and juxtapose moral and socio-political standards quite alien to its own mode of being with those of its own culture. Unlike some of the other zodiacal signs, Sagittarius will never scoff at the opportunity to connect with minority groups or support causes it deems are of utmost important in the human plight. A Sagittarian is likely to be a sponsor for a homeless child in Africa, to donate to cancer charity, to campaign for animal rights and equality in the workforce, and to vouch for the cessation of activities that have contributed to global warming like deforestation and urban carbon emissions.

This sign has a strong sense of identity and is not frightened, intimidated, or overwhelmed by people who are different physically, psychologically, culturally, or in their spiritual groundings. From an academic standpoint they are fascinated by how social perceptions are moulded, group and nonverbal behaviour, conformity and its polar opposite eccentricity, chauvinism, and hostility. How does one’s formative environment and culture actually mould the outer personality, the mirror which one uses to confront the world? Sagittarius wants to know how the abovementioned phenomena affect social cohesion as a whole and will go to any lengths for the sake of understanding the psychology behind it. Above all it wants to see change unencumbered by authoritative limitations that will spur society towards the classical ideal of utopian perfectionism (i.e. Atlantis or Shangri-La), a belief that it can be whimsically optimistic and fanatical about at times. Because much of its time is spent exploring the underlying psychosocial principles from which cultural groups and attitudes form, the Sagittarian can be disconcertingly accurate about any prophecies it makes or visions it has relating to societal change.  

A condition of tempered mutability pervades the last of the fire signs. Aside from drawing attention to the Sagittarian aptitude for adaptation, this quality reveals a heartfelt desire to be in constant motion. Sagittarians will prefer to ride a bike, walk, or jog to work rather than drive a car in or arrive via public transport. Activities and pastimes that get the heart rate up are also high on the festivity list of Sagittarius; instead of sitting in an air-conditioned unit and watching serials and full-length Hollywood movies, the Sagittarian psyche prefers to bide time amidst other inhabitants of the Great Outdoors where it can sail a yacht, swim, walk, and hike to the nearest waterfalls for a refreshing dip in the mountain waters. Risk-taking and a certain level of recklessness also appeals to this sign, and it isn’t uncommon for them to seek contentment in white-water rafting, skydiving, shooting, hunting, deep diving, hand gliding, and mountain climbing.

Despite the magnanimous and carefree sentiments indigenous to the depth of its being, the Sagittarian sign does have its shortcomings. First and foremost fire is an expanding and rising element that can lose track of its own relentless activity and protean elasticity. Hence, all fire signs lack a degree of objective grounding that keeps sensory perception tightly bound to an understanding of reality that is detached and unencumbered by prejudice or emotion. Similarly, the Sagittarian man or woman encompasses a proclivity to stubbornly hold onto any established creeds with zealous resolve and even attempt to impose them on others, a deed that can be easily mistaken for the narrow-mindedness and intolerance it yearns to decimate. Unlike the earthy Libra, Sagittarius finds it hard to detach from its intuitive streaks and ascend to a bird’s eye position above its own body from where it can tune into tho the cosmic powers of percipience and good judgement. This can result in unruly situations where the Sagittarian might become indecisive in pursuing a requisite course of action, slumber into a protracted state of repose, or renounce its obligations. When it inevitably comes to a situation of flight or fight, Sagittarius will take the easier option in an attempt to jettison the discomfort that comes when one is embroiled in commitment.

If the Sagittarian generative power could speak, it would utter, “God is a reality my friends, did you know that? Encountering God is as simple as taking a glass of water or as taking a breath of fresh air. How do I know? Um, well… I know because the creative force and imagination that moves everything in the universe towards a state of completion was born within me! That is how I know and you better believe me! That doesn’t mean I’m not empirical in my rigorous investigations of the paraphysical realms and the ethereal energies that infuse the cosmos. Limitations and problems associated with the scientific method are ample and will reveal themselves in time. Nonetheless, I do conduct my experiments within its concrete framework for the sake of contemporary credibility and acceptance. In my philosophical speculations, I’ve learnt that karma is not a theory but a reality. If you, my friend, wish to attract plenitude and fecundity in all areas of your life you must put out the right energy to the universe and the universe will answer. The answer might not be instant, but I assure you that it will come and it will be as revelatory as the day you woke to realise that it was your parents and not Father Christmas laying presents beneath the perennial Christmas tree. Isn’t that proof enough of the existence of divine providence and a fate for both the individual soul and the cosmos?

Feel good about yourself I say, and give, give, give! Give of yourself to everything and anyone, for we are all conscious extensions of the same divine spark and part of the same Truth. We all deserve love, happiness, and contentment, and anyone who dares to state otherwise is an ignorant and insular fool. Your generous acts will return to you when you least expect it and usually in a way that will sweep you off your feet. I’m not one for an orthodox way of doing things, although I do hold religious and pastoral practices of all cultures in high regard. What would day-to-day life be without festivities that honour the great cosmic cycles and bring us together? Boring and monotonous, no doubt. Know that faith is a powerful thing, an overwhelming force to be reckoned with; it can move mountains, render itself into a panacea that heals all ailments, creates serendipity and freedom, and enact feats that manpower and muscles could only dream of.”    

Sagittarius the Archer is connected with two beautiful symbols, both subordinate to the overarching activity of hunting which the constellation has personified from the earliest of times. The first, an image of a centaur drawing his bow, symbolizes duality of being and the noticeable intercourse between the physical and paraphysical realms. It appeared in the second millennium BCE during a phase of Mesopotamian history known as the Old Babylonian Period. When trade routes between the Orient and the Mediterranean world were finally forged, the image of a celestial deity wielding a bow and arrow travelled all the way to Greece proper whose city-states then weaved it into their image of the virgin goddess Artemis. For the Greeks, centaurs were composite creatures whose physiognomy comprised the head and torso of a human joined to the hindquarters of a horse. They were, for the most part, of a savage disposition and enjoyed cavorting about with humans and initiating pandemonium. Chiron was one of the few centaurs of superlative character; sired by the wily Cronus, he spent much of his time healing the sickly and raising orphaned children on Mount Pelion. Despite their relegation to a carnal sphere of impulses, the Greeks seem to have taken favourably to the mythical centaur because they crop up frequently in innumerable classical episodes. Perhaps the most famous of these is The Battle of the Lapiths and the Centaurs, a battle deemed so numinous, violent, and memorable in the Hellenic mind that it was transcribed onto the metopes of the southern wall of the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens. In the said encounter a horde of centaurs were invited to a nuptial festivity in Thessaly honouring the union of their half-brother Pirithous to Hippodamia, daughter of Atrax. During the course of the event the centaurs became quite inebriated and attempted to abduct and rape other guests that included women and boys. One of them by the name of Eurytion went so far as to attempt to ravish the bride herself. A fierce altercation ensured, whereby Pirithous and the Lapiths fought against and swiftly subdued the centaurs with the aid of his best friend Theseus.

The second of the symbols, a shorthand for the zodiacal sign utilized by astrologers in the creation of astrological charts, consists of an upturned arrow. Being an implement of war, the arrow connotes dexterity, litheness, and mercurial wit but it is also the potent instrument of Divine Love (Eros or Cupid) that pierces the wellspring of the heart and sets free the torrential will for union and interconnectedness in one’s life. The latter decrees that the arrow is also a symbol of spiritual transcendence. In the Sagittarian sygil, the diagonal determining the direction of the arrow is crossed by a horizontal line to establish the figure of a cross. Proceeding from a metaphysical angle, the cross can be interpreted as the first irruption of the primeval origin, singularity or chaos that created matter, the four elements, the four cardinal directions, the substances, the objects, the beings, and the physical plane in general. The tip of the arrow, on the other hand, is the desire to transcend the limits of the physical body and the five senses and travel to other worlds and other dimensions. Hence the entire arrow could denote the condition of a spiritual inner quest whose final cause is contingent on circumstances generated by the formative environment and by time itself.  

In the northern hemisphere the constellation of Sagittarius appears in the sky at a time when the moisture of autumn has surrendered its place to the aridity of winter. The transitory nature of this period of the year when Mother Nature has withdrawn to the cavernous depths of the earth to ruminate makes it especially suitable for nomadic ventures like hunting and travel. Sagittarians are innately wired for exploration and evolution, and so a talent for expressive and action-orientated activities such as the just mentioned comes naturally to them as what hunting does to an apex predator. In this, the last of the fiery signs governed by an expansive planet and heeded by a protean aptitude for adaptation and change, elemental fire has become tame, measured and tempered. This is the flame that forms the sun discs that crown the heads of the Egyptian gods and the golden halos over the Christian saints, as well as the hermetic fires that burn beneath the alchemical alembic to bring the Philosopher’s Stone to fruition. Infused by the forces of this energy, Sagittarians exhibit idealistic and spiritual qualities much desired by the corpus of the human populace but seldom wrought. They partake in far-reaching philosophical questions and are drawn to travel, an activity that spurs them towards the universal notion of freedom in all its colours, shapes, sizes, and guises. The Archer is a godsend, wishing to orientate the world to optimism, quash moral and religious fanaticism, and exercise compassion and understanding in its day-to-day dealings with all projections of life, human or otherwise.