#and one of the last remains of the race you ensured the extinction of is going to get his pound of flesh!

[flatstarcarcosa]

i lied one last thing

it's very important to me you all understand eddie shep going off the handle throughout the reaper war is entirely because he didn't expect, or intend, to live to see the fallout and a lot of his fucked up choices are because he thought dying would be a have cake, eat it too moment.

it's also why out of all my shepard's, he's the only one i have post war lore for.

his survival wasn't a reward, it's just more punishment.

you made a new world. you put your name on it.

welcome to it.

[readychilledwine]

Do you think each court has their own winged fae? I read Home to Me and can't stop thinking of it.

Absolutely

The Winged Fae of Prythian Headcanons

Warnings - references to wing sensitivity in all ways, long post, sad back stories

A/n - poll at the end for giggles

Dawn - The Peregryn

Similar to the Illyrians, Peregryns are a warrior breed of winged fae

Liz personally pictured hawk to falcon like wings

Their wings allow them to be agile and very fast due to how narrow they are in comparison to Illyrian wings

Their wings are sensitive like Illyrians, but due to the protection the feathers provide, you have to be a little rougher for the same reactions.

Their wings are considered very sacred.

If you were to court a Peregryn male, if they intend to marry you, they will pluck one of their feathers, causing them pain, and offer it to you. Mainly, females will weave that feather in their hair, carrying a piece of their husband at all times.

Peregryn females offer similar tokens to their loves. Males will turn them to writing quills, signing important documents as if their wife is right beside them.

Day - The Celestine

The Celestine are a thought to be an extinct race. They were hunted down by Amarantha's forces.

She did not stop until every last one she knew of was wiped from the court, a cold and calculated move she knew hurt Helion and his father

The Celestine got their name from their wings. Feathers of pure white that glitter gold in the Day Court sunlight. They were thought to be celestial bodies until one of the former Lords of Day finally approached one and realized they were fae

They were a breed of scholars, specifically studying the pegasus. Before Amarantha's attack, you would commonly see them flying with the majestic horses and handling their care.

There are a handful left that warded themselves with the remaining pegasi. The race is slowly rebuilding, but like all fae, pregnancy is rare.

Helion has kept them secret, finding them much to valuable to his court to risk someone getting the same idea.

The Celestine do not have wing sensitivity the way Illyrians and Peregryn do. Their feathers are rather thick.

They do still use their wings as a courting symbol. They will turn a few feather into a clip for their partner's hair. The clips are traditional gold with gems.

Night - The Illyrians

Arguably the most powerful of the Winged fae, the Illyrians reside in the mountains of the Night Court

They are a race of warriors with strong bat like wings.

Due to their wings being so exposed, they are highly sensitive. You could gently run the back of your finger along the ridge and bring a grown male to his knees.

Wings are not used for courting purposes to illyrians, but they are seen as sacred. To touch an illyrian's wings is a great privilege.

Female wings are typically larger than male wings. Hince why they are clipped during a female's first cycle. It makes them non functional and stops them from overshadowing the males.

Autumn - The Leaf Folk

The Leaf Folk race is truly extinct. The Autumn Lords hunted them down like it was a sport for their unique wings.

Their wings were seen as treasures to the people of Autumn due to them being so similar to the leaves of the forest, thus making them a desired object for mating presents and a sign of wealth

They were peaceful fae. Their sole purpose was maintaining the apple trees, ensuring each and every single one was perfect and producing ripe fruits.

Their wings make crinkling noises like autumn leaves as well, giving them camouflage and protection.

Little is known regarding their courting traditions, but it is known they rarely bred or married outside of their own kind

Beron had met one. A female. It was during his youth, before he had been fully corrupted by his father. He learned firsthand how sensitive their wings were.

Just a breath could make this fae putty.

Since the last female was found, her wings now splayed in the Autumn Court throne room long after her death, there's rot settling into the court.

It started in the orchard furthest from the Forest House and has slowly spread.

The last female had whispered something in a tongue no one understood. Centuries later, Eris discovered it was a curse. One that would end when the love of the last female met his death.

Summer - The Stormmakers

The pride of the summer court.

Rich deep grey wings that spark with lightning, the Stormmakers can change the weather with just a breath of magic.

Their wings blend perfectly into storm clouds, their favorite place to play.

Touching their wings is dangerous. They carry lightning in every feather. It can make for an exciting experience if you are into that type of play, though.

They typically do not feel the touch on their wings due to the numbness the constant sparking caused

They are a thriving race, and most are found in their small community they have carved out in a cave.

Courting is not a thing amoung this race. They marry young based on deals made by their parents to ensure a strong bloodline

Spring - Flower Folk

The flower folk are treasures to the Spring Court.

Their wings come in a variety of colors, shapes, and styles, but they are all consistently irredescent and translucent.

They are very peaceful and almost always unseen. Their magic allows them to change their sizes, and most choose to live in fae gardens and houses set up by children in Spring.

They work with pollinators to keep the flowers and fruits growing and producing.

Their wings break very easily due to how thin they are. They do not partake in wing play with just anyone for that reason.

These fae learned to communicate with bees, so it is very common to see them dancing, little pieces of sparkling fae dust coming off them as they do

These are the fae humans warn their children most about, the playful pixies who will lead them into dangerous fae traps.

These fae offer each other butterflies as a courting gift. To exchange a butterfly with them is to accept their offer of marriage due to how sacred they see their winged friends.

Winter - Ice Spirits

Rarely seen and very deadly

These fae have been known to freeze others for discovering their hide outs.

They were once believed to be myth, a nightmare mother's warned their faelings about.

One was dragged to Kallias's father by her hair, and that bond snapping led to one of winter's most well-kept secrets.

They want to be left alone. Do you know how hard it is to maintain winter over four courts?

Their wings look soft, but they are actually made of snow and ice. You can't melt them, though, don't worry.

They hold a soft spot of their Lord and Lady, always willing to take a load off his shoulders and rebuild broken ice dams.

Rhys once approached them asking for more snow fall in Velaris. Mistake. Huge. Mistake.

These fae are well known for their ice sports, but be prepared to watch from a distance

They tried to teach Kal how to ice skate once, he is too muscular to be graceful on the ice and had to instead settle for what they call "hockey." The High Lord has received a few black eyes during his time playing.

These fae also tend to only marry within their own kind.

They purpose with a snowflake they hand crafted. The more intricate the pattern, the longer your love took to craft it for you.

Their wings are always numbed due to how cold they are, but they absolutely love temperature play. Warmth is such a rare thing for them to feel, and it makes their wings very sensitive.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

My little Panther; T’Challa x POC!child reader

*Author’s note*

The world is devastated right now. I had read the news last night and I’ve done my mourning, now it’s time for the tribute. I’ve had this on my Wattpad for a good couple of years but never transferred it to here. But hearing the loss of Chadwick, I knew I had to finally post this fic onto my tumblr so that you all can have a read of it. 

We all miss you Chadwick and you were taken away from us FAR. TOO. EARLY. But you didn’t let your cancer define you, you kept working and helped bring such an iconic character to life, as well as sharing the stories of SO. MANY. REAL. LIFE. PEOPLE (Marshall and Jackie Robinson) to screens worldwide. You will be deeply missed and will always be an inspiration to everyone. You and Stan ‘the man’ Lee are once again together in Heaven awaiting for the rest of the Avengers to Assemble.

Long. Live. King. Chadwick. Boseman.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural��

@ixchel-9275​

@queensdivas​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@platawnic​

____________________________________________________________

I was hiding within the den eating the food that my mother had collected. All I remember from my old home was fire and death, I remember running to find my parents but then I had gotten lost in the jungle. It was then I came upon a cave, well a den really of a black panther and her cubs. Ever since then I have lived with my mother and three brothers.

I ate the antelope just like my brothers, wrestled like them and slept like them curled up next to my mother's fur. Even though I was different than them and didn't look like them, my mother treated me like I was one of her own and treated me no less. I was currently being bathed by my mother when we heard something outside.

She went on the defense position and gathered me and my brothers up and pushed us closer to the den as she went outside and stalked to whatever it was that was close to our den. I know I shouldn't have but I got curious so I stepped out of the den and peeked over the log to see my mother roaring and swiping her massive paws at another black panther, but this one was different.

This Black Panther mainly stood on two legs, and its fur didn't look like fur and its eyes were not the pure golden cat eyes like my mother's. Mama roared and swiped her paw again at this intruding Black Panther and the other Black Panther backed away and submitted to my mother before turning and walking away but then I saw it look right at me.

I ducked behind the log and raced back into the den just as mother came back inside. She then nudged me towards her back, I got on and soon she led me and my brothers out of the den and we all searched for a new one. Knowing that we had been found, we couldn't stay in the same place for long. Mama always wants us to move if ever any predator found our den in order to ensure our survival.

*T'Challa's POV*

After arriving back to the palace, I couldn't help but think about that child I had seen in the jungle. It was a simple border patrol but what I wasn't aware was that I had stumbled upon a mother panther's den. I had activated my suit just in case but I didn't engage against the mother for I knew she was probably protecting her cubs. That's when I saw the child hiding within the bushes.

After that I had backed away from the mother panther slowly to show her that I wasn't a threat to her or her cubs. Once I was far enough from the den, I decided that it would be best to head back to the palace since there was no sign of trouble, but still my mind kept going back to that child. Who was she? How long has she been in the jungle? Did she have a family?

"Ther. Brother!" My sister's voice snapped me out of my state of mind and she sassed at me, "Did you listen to a word I said?"

"So sorry Shuri, I just—I was thinking about that child".

"A child?"

"Yes, while I was patrolling the jungle to check and make sure our borders were still safe from any weapons traders, I came across this child in the jungle".

"Was she Wakandan?"

"Possible, she definitely wasn't an outsider I know that much".

"I'll see if I can any records on any villages that have been attacked".

"Thank you Shuri". It was then my kimoyo beads activated.

"Ohh your girlfriend calling you?"

"Stop it!" I then allowed the image to come up and up came Okoye.

"My King" she stated.

"What is it Okoye?"

"Trouble by the river province, poachers are approaching the reserve".

"I am on my way". Okoye's image then disappeared. Before I walked out, Shuri stopped me. She then handed me the updated AMP beads.

"Take these with you, they are a much better improvement than the last ones".

"Thank you Shuri". She nodded then I took off running out of the lab.

*My POV*

After finding our new home, I was outside our new den playing with my brothers when I took notice of something shiny just ahead of me. While my two brothers were busy playing with each other and my mother was bathing my other one, I walked away and followed the shiny bright light.

I tried to catch it in my hands but for some reason it didn't want to be caught. I was so caught up in trying to catch the light that I didn't realize that someone was hiding behind the tall grass. As I caught the light one last time, I heard a shot and I was soon caught in a trap.

I cried and snarled out before three men picked me up and one of them spoke.

"She may not be an animal but she'll still sell for a big price".

"Put her in the trunk with the others" another spoke. I thrashed around and let out a cry for help to my Mama. The men put me in this large metal machine and soon took off. I kept crying and crying until I saw my Mama running just behind roaring up at me. She ran faster and faster until she lept in the car.

I tried to reach out for her but the metal trap they put me in kept me from reaching my mama. She managed to get herself in and she walked towards me and used her teeth to free me, but it was then one of the men held a gun in their hands and a loud bang was heard again. Next thing I saw was my mama rolling outside on the ground.

I cried out for her when suddenly the large machine stopped and I along with a few other animals were tossed around.

*3rd Person POV*

The poachers came out of the truck after their car broke down and crashed into a tree. They all complained to each other pointing the blame on the other when the leader silenced them and ordered them to get into defense position.

The men spread out with their guns drawn and as one of them held out his gun he heard a twig snap and turned to see nothing. That was until he looked up and saw a man in a cat suit.

Next thing the poachers, one of their men was tossed at the truck leaving a huge dent in the door. The Black Panther soon showed up and attacked another one of the poachers. T'Challa now stood before the remaining two and as the leader and his second in command were firing at T'Challa. He merely just walked towards them before striking the second in command.

The leader took out his knife and tried to stab T'Challa but he managed to dodge every swing until he grabbed the poacher's hand that was holding the knife and twisted it until he let go and heard it snap. The leader screamed in agony and T'Challa told him venomously.

"Poaching is illegal in these lands, you will be brought before the council and faced with the consequences". T'Challa then knocked the leader unconscious and walked towards the back to see the animals that were inside but was surprised to see another thing in the truck, or rather someone.

It was the child he had seen earlier today.

*My POV*

As I tried to get out of my cage, I saw the same Black Panther that my Mama faced earlier today come around into view. I froze in my spot just staring at him. It was then his panther face disappeared and it showed that he was actually a man.

He had deep dirty brown eyes and fur along his lips and chin and on top of his head. He almost reminded me of a growing lion. As he got closer to me, I snarled and hissed at him trying to be brave like my Mama.

"Easy, easy. I'm not going to hurt you". He held out his hands to me as he slowly came closer and closer to my cage. He then unlocked them and opened it up and proceeded to back away. "It's okay now, come on out now". I sniffed curiously and slowly crawled out of the cage. "That's it, it's okay. I won't hurt you". As I got out of the cage more, I looked between him and my way of escape.

Then like a shot I took off running as fast as I could with the Panther man behind me crying out for me. I raced down the trail until I came to my Mama. She was still down and there was red stuff around her head and fur. I walked up to her and nuzzled her fur and roared out to her. I shook her with my hands and bit into her ear but she still wouldn't wake up.

I roared at her as I felt wetness come down from my eyes then I curled up underneath my mama's paw and nuzzled her head as the wetness continued to come down my face. The Panther man soon came up close to me and I looked up at him and he looked at me with sad eyes.

"I am sorry". He then proceeded to come closer to me and my Mama but I stood over her growling and roaring at him. I let out a hiss but he raised his hands and said to me, "I won't hurt her, I promise". I glared at him. It was because of his kind that my Mama was dead.

Mama always warned us that ape-like creatures called Humans were always to blame for territory loss, stealing our food and killing us to extinction. Now because of his kind, my Mama is gone. But yet looking at his eyes, I felt like I could trust him. I ceased my snarling and just held onto my mama's body.

*T'Challa's POV*

As I looked down at this mother black panther, my heart sunk. She was only trying to save her cub, even though this was a human child, this mother panther looked at her like she was one of her own cubs. For her memory I decided to call this Pantheress "Kamunyak" meaning "Blessed One". I knew it would be dark soon and I had to get this child back to the palace to get her some warmth before the cold settled in.

Wakanda maybe the hottest places in Africa, but its nights are unpredictable. Some nights it would be cool enough to sleep outside, but sometimes they would be so unbearable cold. I gently touched her shoulders and could feel her fighting against me as I picked her up.

"Shhh, shh. Calm down, calm down" I told her in Wakandan. I had to get her calm because I didn't want her to hurt herself. She was raised to believe that she is a panther and I don't want her to bite into my suit and allow the Vibranium to hurt her. I placed her close to my chest and rubbed her back calming her in Wakandan. When it seemed to work, I kept her close and headed back to the jet to take her back to the palace.

When we arrived back at the palace, I had her put in a special room with a bed and warm food so that she could eat real food. And not knowing how long she has been in the jungle or when her last meal was, I took the liberty to give her the best and healthiest foods Wakanda has to offer.

As I observed her, my sister came back with some news. She pulled up on the screen as she stated.

"It turns out this girl comes from a village near Wakanda. It was attacked by some of Klaue's men and burned to the ground. She must've found a way to escape and has been living in the jungle since. How she's managed to survive for 5 years I do not know".

"A Mother panther raised her as one of her own cubs, it would seem Bast herself came down and decided to protect this child as if she were her own". I said out loud.

"You're telling me we have ourselves a Mowgli? Like that story and movie Baba showed us".

"It would seem so Shuri".

"What do you suggest then my King?" Okoye soon stated out.

"She is a child with no family to call her own, and her adoptive mother was shot and killed in front of her. This child needs the best care and only we can offer it".

"Brother are you suggesting that you are going to raise her?"

"I feel responsible for this child's mother's death. I cannot just let her die with no one to take care of her, knowing that we can teach her who she really is". I stated firmly. My general and sister looked at me then Okoye bowed her head and said.

"Just don't freeze when her feral stage comes back".

"What are you talking about? I never freeze" I stated. I then turned my attention back to the girl and decided to talk to her. I opened the door and shut it behind me. She instantly became alert of my presence and she got down in defense position baring her teeth at me. "Easy little one, I am not here to hurt you, may I sit down?" She seemed to understand me which was a good sign, at least then I knew she could understand me.

I took a seat far enough from her but kept my eyes on her in case anything were to happen.

"My name is T'Challa, do you remember your name?" She remained quiet and poked around the fruit and sniffing them like a cat would. I took a deep sigh and told her, "I know losing your Mama was hard, I lost my Baba not too long ago, and I would give anything to save him too. But I swear to you on my Baba's soul and that of your mother's, I will look after you and protect you. You will never be alone". She then looked up at me and I remained still as I saw her actually coming up towards me.

Slowly and cautiously, but sure enough she came right in front of me until she wrapped her arms around me and nuzzled into my chest. I placed my hand on top of her head and stroked her hair and slowly wrapped my arm around her to pick her up and place her in my lap and hold her in my arms as she nuzzled deeper into my chest.

Within several months of teaching and immense patience, I had given her the name (y/n) was soon learning how to be a human girl, learning how to eat properly, how to walk, learning the history of Wakanda, even learning how to speak both in English and Wakandan.

I along with Nakia and Shuri taught her everything she needed to know and were there to give her the love she deserved and needed. As night fell, I tucked (y/n) in after a long day of staying with Auntie Shuri in her lab while I dealt with some political matters after opening up Wakanda to the rest of the world. I stroked her hair and kissed her forehead and whispered to her.

"Goodnight my little panther cub". And as I turned off her light and was about to shut the door, I heard her voice say.

"Goodnight Baba". I let a warm smile take over me as I shut the door behind me and decided to turn in for the night myself.

[detective-with-one-arm]

Alien Verse Headcanons

Rachel

Her planet is very far from the Milky Way Galaxy. The planet Essek.

Her name is pretty much completely unpronounceable to the human tongue as is her language, but she can very easily and very quickly learn languages.

In appearance, she’s very tall. At least ten feet from the pads of her feet to the top of her head. However, compared to other members of her species, she’s actually a runt.

She’s very fascinating in appearance, having skin, scales, and carapace in various places.

Her head is very snakelike, with expressive fans on either side of her face that act as radio dishes to channel sound to her ear holes that give her an incredible sense of hearing. 

From the crown of her head grows a large protective crest that cranes off the back of her head made of a carapace that shields the waterfall of sensitive thick tentacles that drape down her long and graceful neck. These tentacles detect various subtle changes in the atmosphere, such as temperature, pressure, toxicity, and various other subtle elements.

Her mouth splits open into a set of three jaws, each with a row of teeth that can be dislocated and each with a long forked tongue and Jacobson’s Organ that gives her a very keen sense of smell.

On each side of her head is a set of three eyes that each move independently, giving her an extremely wide range of view and the ability to focus on multiple targets at once.

From her chest down is mostly made of carapace, acting as thick armour to protect her soft insides. Her limbs as well are also insectlike, having armourlike segments to protect her flesh beneath.

Her hands and feet are zygodactyl, two digits in front and two digits in back, with sharp retractable talons.

Her back has two protective shells that can be dislodged to reveal two large leathery wings nearly twice her size that allow her to fly.

From her back are two long tails that taper to stingers at the end, each equipped with paralyzing venom that can last for up to six hours.

She is also capable of breathing vapour that can do various things depending on the intent, her mouth equipped with various glands that can change the potency and effect of it. This can range from poisonous gases, to anesthesia, to sleep smoke, to a sweet perfume that lures targets towards it. There are numerous purposes to it.

Her race are all actually the exact same sex. There is no physical distinctions among sexes or genders and gender is entirely up to the individuals to discern and aren’t even always static.

Howard

The Khakhalls’ planet was destroyed. He was the only surviving member. It was an unknown planet from very far on the edges of the universe.

His only vestige is his giant ship. He had it built in case anything happened to his people that was an extinction level event. As such, his ship is meant to act as its own sort of homeworld, complete with a deck specifically for holding and raising offspring.

Which leads to how he interacts with other species of other planets.

Because his planet was destroyed, he’s solely responsible for repopulating his species. That means finding other creatures to do that with.

One would describe him as a giant golden arthropod, made of carapace and with multiple arms and legs, multiple pairs of eyes, and mandibles.

His shell is a reflective gold colour, his skin being a black inky colour between his segments. His claws and teeth are also black.

He’s vaguely humanoid from the waist up, but beyond that is his insect-like body, long and perfect for skittering and scuttling about.

The underside of his belly is completely transparent, meaning that if you were beneath him, you would see the countless eggs he carries inside of him.

His eyes are a beady black colour, but they glow a piercing green that hypnotizes and freezes his prey.

His mandibles fold over his large fangs and from between his fangs are his long tentaclelike tongues, of which there are many and they are very long.

There are two places where tendrils grow out of him, his head, simulating long hair or something like dreadlocks, and the back of his abdomen. The ones at the back of his abdomen are prehensile and act as such, designed to grab onto and hold onto things.

His mandibles are capable of injecting venom that paralyzes or renders his victims unconscious. Depending on the potency and how much he injects, this can range from sluggishness and drowsiness to complete immobility and loss of consciousness. This also affects the time it takes for the venom to wear off.

Despite his planet being destroyed, there was a hierarchy. The planet was ruled by the queen who is responsible for breeding and controlling the worker drones. All of their eggs come out as worker drones and their responsibility is to bring food and mates to the queen.

However, if the queen dies, the worker drone who happens to be closest to the queen when they die will become the new queen and begin growing larger and will start producing eggs.

If the entire species dies, if there is a survivor, they become the new queen.

NSFW

Rachel

Since there are no physical distinctions between sexes among this race of aliens, all members are equipped with the exact same reproductive functions.

They all have a cloaca which houses both an ovipositor and a receptor.

All members are capable of producing and accepting fertilized eggs. Whichever member decides to carry the eggs is entirely up to personal preference. It is not even dependent on the gender of the individual. It is simply up to personal preference.

Because of the physical nature of their reproductive systems, mating is not restricted to members of their own species and they can mate just as successfully with other sapient and intelligent species.

Howard

Queens have specifically one purpose. To breed and create more drones to build their nest and expand their empire.

Queenhood is not restricted to gender. It is purely a hierarchical role and their physical differences from the drones reflects their purpose in society.

Drones do not mate with their queen. They capture other species for the queen to impregnate with their brood.

Queens are much much larger than the drones.

While drones do not mate with their queen, they are capable of mating with the breeders they bring back for their queen, though this does not result in impregnation. Some drones will do this simply for their own pleasure and to make them more compliant and willing to be bred by their queen.

Queens have a large ovipositor concealed in their abdomen within the ‘flower’ that is the series of tendrils that protrude from their backside. It is where a queen will deposit their brood inside their mate.

Once a queen has deposited their eggs inside their brood, the queen will then pass off their brood to the drones for them to properly inseminate the eggs. The queen can do this herself, but it’s more efficient for breeding multiple broods in rapid succession.

The tentacles inside a queen’s mouth deposit sperm.

This species’ sperm and saliva acts as an aphrodisiac, ensuring that their victims remain compliant throughout the breeding process.

Aside from size, there are other differences between queens and drones.

Drones do not have as large of abdomens as the queens do and their undersides are the same colour as the rest of their bodies.

However, once a drone begins to physically change into a queen, they will start growing and shedding their carapace and their abdomen will swell in size as well their undersize carapace will begin to become transparent as the eggs begin to be produced.

The actual birthing process is quite painless. These species keep their mates in pods until it’s time to breed them or it’s time for the eggs to hatch. These pods keep them nourished so that they never starve or go thirsty.

They never insert more eggs than a body can physically handle and they can sense when the limit has been reached before stopping. Because of how many eggs a queen can produce at a time, it’s rare for them to completely empty during a single season.

[neocityfics]

2096: Zodiac

Chapter: Intro < ❝  Prologue ❞  > Chapter One

➥ Chapter List

Genre: Cyberpunk inspired, mafia-esque, not-so dystopian, angst

Pairing: Doctor! Taeyong x Reader [Sprinkle of other pairings tbd]

Summary: 2094, the disaster happens. The richest become richer with their reddened backs turned, the people around you growing more and more tired, and a certain Dr. Lee plans to change it all. Lucas unknowingly pulls you into the frenzy, and you become part of this confusing and painful process. You catch yourself floating between the conflict of twelve gangs and a world where circuits begin replacing flesh.

Warnings: Moderate cursing, death, heavy events similar to real world situations

A/N: Throughout the writing, there’ll be links (indicated by ▶ Ambience) for a more immersive experience. These are YouTube links, so it may be difficult to switch between YouTube and Tumblr (especially for those unable to have video pop-outs on mobile), so please keep this in mind. I’m also working on a Spotify playlist. I really hope you enjoy my first published piece!

▶ Ambience

The sea of neon purples, pinks, and blues drowned out whatever background activity filled the hustling life of the city. Light harshly touches the exterior of small shops endlessly lining the streets. Though full of living people, it always seemed a bit lonely. Everyone for themselves as it had been before the disaster happened, before life became even harder and resources scarce. Half the world is gone, but for whatever reason, humans continue to persevere. This strength is a unique feat, but it comes with consequences. With the remaining 3 billion people left on Earth, only the Eurasian continent remains the only habitable land thus forcing people to squeeze in tightly. It’s like this everywhere-- tiny housing, famines, and the overgrowing hunger to hold power and wealth much as we did before. The rich stay rich, the poor stay poor.

Life’s tough in Neostone. With hundreds of thousands of people and little food, restaurants struggle to keep open with enough to sell. Fresh water sources and land were replaced with tall housing structures and corporate buildings. Most have to work two or more jobs. Education is non-existent and relies on parents teaching kids different skills through child labor. Further industrialization in the little space the planet has left led to bouts of acid rain from overworked factories. The world’s leaders morph into the same guise: ties stained with blood, suits the product of cheap labor showed off status, and their white-gloved hands tightly gripped heavy silver suitcases. Corruption still plagues the broken systems that hang over society, sustained from before the disaster happened. It seems like we’ll never learn.

Sure, it’s difficult to get by day to day without much, yet the communities outside the wealthy rich businesses were tight-knit. Everyone knows each other’s names. People often trade food scraps for little luxuries to feel any ounce of happiness. Friends hang out near street food vendors where most people are, begging for any kind of calorie. While life in Neostone is tough, the citizens depend on each other for care, not anyone from above. 

I don’t think of it much-- how different life would be if the disaster didn’t happen, if the world had never been touched by so much chaos. I knew it’d be the same, that I’d end up still struggling to get from morning to morning. Even with the big drop in population, we live as sardines squished together under a layer of plastic that suffocates us. Nothing has changed. I lost everything.

Though the neons felt like home and they were all I’ve known for the past couple of years, I do remember who I was before this all went downhill. Fresh in college with a mind set on (major(s)/minor(s)), and although uncertain of the future, I was ready to break free from family and understand what it means to live a good life. Debt would hit me hard on my head but I was certain to find ways to pay it off without burdening others. Between jobs and school, I felt like there was a purpose for my movement, for my existence, to be a small gear of a clockwork world. For three years, I managed to get stuff done and become my own separate identity. I never felt more myself for the longest time. One more year to go, I said to myself as my third year comes to a close. But fourth year never came. It happened. The start of summer into my last year in college was the best time I’ve had in my life. During an internship in Japan, I’d gotten a handle of how it was in the real world as part of the workforce. A month into the most enjoyable moments of my life came the disaster.

▶ Ambience, Ambience

I watched the television screens throughout the subway, making my way to my 9am train when the static and distortions of color accompanied the shaking ground beneath me. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing as the news shifted to an emergency alert. All of a sudden, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, building collapses, and tsunamis were destroying the western hemisphere. The disaster was inexplicable, the most spontaneous event in the history of Earth. I hid in the nearest shelter in Tokyo as realization hit how horrifying everything was. Buildings toppling left and right, people being crushed beneath the debris, splatters of fresh red on the broken bits of glass and metal heaps. That was a day of absolute terror. Within twenty-four hours, half the world was gone. My heart sank as the disasters settled throughout the world, and the news focused on the western hemisphere where I had lived most of my life. That part of the world was gone. My family and college friends were gone. 

And I was left alone in Japan.

But the world didn’t change. The same evil corporate heads enforced the same evil policies and practices. The same tired faces dragged their tired bodies until no end just to, at the bare minimum, survive. No matter what form the world took, this was our fate until we went extinct. The only thing that changed perhaps was how many of us were kept in that system, and that the system favoring the wealthy became stronger. So the cycle continues.

▶ Ambience

With the scraps of money I had left on my name and picking up little jobs, I was able to get into a micro apartment. The government was eager to take advantage of the situation and make just enough housing to keep people happy and off the streets, but also enough to ensure some people couldn’t get out of the vicious system so labor was cheap. My space is dingy at best and quite small, but it’s all the comfort I have. Not a day passes where I’m not grateful for a private place to sleep, do business, and let myself feel at ease. Others aren’t so lucky, sleeping behind their food and merchandise stalls or in the nooks and crannies of back alleys. Weeks passed into months where my body ached from overwork, the same for the people I’ve been surrounded with and worked alongside. It’s only been two years since everyone had to rebuild what’s been lost, but it looked only slightly different in Neostone where Tokyo had once been. Only the mega cities were somewhat unscathed by the disaster, and businesses collectively chipped in to remodel them. Rural and suburban areas were either flooded or full of toxic waste.

People from all races and backgrounds who survived into the aftermath of the disaster poured into the cities. I was kindly taken into the dangerous but welcoming community of downtown Neostone, where cooking and selling food in addition to helping at clinic became my new life. At the clinic, I met someone I familiarized myself with to be comfortable and close enough. Having someone around lifted up my motivation. Going by Lucas, a name he adopted to fit in with the rest of downtown Neostone, he worked assiduously the same shifts as me at Pearl Park Clinic. Besides weekends, Lucas and I leave for work together as he lives just a few rooms down in the complex. While working at the clinic down on East Row, he comes to visit for a bite at the street food stall that keeps me busy half the week. Throughout getting to know him within two years, he revealed he also lost family he was close with-- a younger brother and sister who by the sound of his stories were needy brats that he loved so much. It hurts to know they’re gone like my friends are. I was glad I could relate to him and also be someone to lean on. On a roller-coaster of life’s tests, Lucas and I know we have each other’s back.

▶ Ambience

Today was like most days, another Friday morning. The green flash of LED at 7:00am with a loud beeping, a quick splash of cold water against my face, clean clothes, and a quick bite of fruit. The same mindless routine guides me out of the door of the room and down the hall. From my room, 716, to Lucas’s room, 718, was only a few meters away thanks to the tiny size of rooms. I knock once, twice, then thrice, but no reply. Strange. I’m used to Lucas whipping the door wide open at the slightest sound of my footsteps to poke his head out and greet me loudly. Should I knock again? Call him? My hand gravitated towards the doorknob, uncertain if we’re on the kind of terms where I can barge in whenever. “Lucas,” I decide to start softly, “I’m here now, we can leave for the clinic.” No reply. Maybe I’ll text him. Unlocking my phone, a smile cracked on my face as a photo of Lucas and I hanging out with some other friends posed in front of our favorite ice cream shop flashed across the screen. No red numbered badge on the messaging app. Today feels a little bit unusual. Typically, he texts when he needs help or won’t be at work. Inhaling in, I choose to try the knob in which a turn and a push of the door unveils the dark, musky room. A room with no Lucas. Noticing the tension in my face and shoulders, I relax them and try not to think of anything bad that could happen to him. Maybe he needed to stop somewhere before going to work. Maybe he’s just out to get groceries and whatnot. Maybe he’s just busy doing something else. I trust he’ll get back to me soon, but the weird pit in my stomach bugged my thoughts.

Down the long winding halls, unlocking my phone seemed all I could do, the worry taking over. My pace quickened. It’s 8:00am, the clinic starts up at 9:00am. It’s a long walk through a rather sketchy part of downtown, but it's one I’ve mastered throughout the couple of years and certainly made friends in. Reaching the staircase, my breath was noticeably shallower. This was always the worst part. It took much time and energy just to get to the first floor. Upon stepping into the lobby, I swiftly pick up an umbrella from the community box set near the entrance and begin my path out. The clerk at the counter peaks over his rather raunchy motorcycle magazine, riddled with messy yellow text, and he subtly waves at me. I send the gesture back, taking my leave from the complex. Rain besets Neostone often, the overcast weather permitting low fog and grey clouds to lurk the bubble that is downtown. Chatter and noise blend together from all sides with the rushing waters eagerly greeting storm drains and early risers setting up their stores. In comparison to the staircase, the lengthy walk to the clinic is always a breeze, and it helps calm the nerves as I ready myself for a busier pace of day. Every five minutes, I unlocked my phone again to see if Lucas had contacted me. Still no sign of him.

▶ Ambience

After what seems like the longest walk of my life, some staff of the community medical clinic greet me and provide a list of my duties right away. 9:00am right on the dot. I take in what needs to get done, reading off the slightly crumpled paper between my fingers. Towel laundry… Disinfect beds in the North Wing… Prepare a warm epsom salt bath for patients in the East Wing… Always busy on Fridays when the work week is over and people live out their less-than-safe life decisions. Less work, more injuries, and more patients. A voice sharply interrupts, “Hey! Where’s Lucas? You two always arrive here together.” My heart sank. So he isn’t at work. Where could that man possibly be?

Tension grows but a sigh leaves my chest as I formulate some sort of response to the nurse, “He might be sick, I’m not sure where he went. Usually he tells me, but I’m sure he has his reasons.” The lady nodded and clicked her tongue as if irritated. A pause before I ask her, “Why, are we short-staffed today?” She gives a vexed nod again, taking her leave as another staff member urges her towards a patient. Stupid question. We always are understaffed. Located on the intersection of Bear Walk and Oak Lane as suspension railways weave between buildings, Pearl Park Medical Clinic threw itself into one of downtown’s busiest and most dangerous areas. Crimes being committed everyday that send people into the clinic, drunkards finding their way through the doors to spew anger uncalled for against the staff, and the homeless just asking for a pillow or blanket while they sleep outside as they’re reminded of the cold, hard pavement soaked with rain. Of course, we must treat everyone’s needs… and wants in some cases. Only a couple dozen of us work the two-floored piece of the tall establishment which also houses struggling law firms, compact grocery stores, beauty salons, and wireless carriers. This place is a mini mall, but not for the faint-of-heart mall goers. Murder, sabotage, and sickness run rampant. However, it’s the place Lucas and I call home. From Tuesday to Friday, from 9:00am to 8:00pm, my hands pruned from washing equipment and fabric constantly, legs moved to and from wing to wing to prepare stations, mind boggled by the surprising sights of Neostone’s everyday life. The dirty white walls, gowns, and noise make me feel rejuvenation each time I clock in for shifts. Home. A place of belonging. Everyone accepted me in, even as a seemingly insignificant part of the operation. For Lucas, he tells me so often as if I forget easily, it’s a dream come half true.

Lucas aspired to be a doctor. It was his lifelong desire to help others, fascinated by how many times the human body tested the limits and broke them, and how he could save someone’s life. That was his purpose. Unfortunately, he fell into the same boat as I did, not being able to finish college because of the disaster. As per hiring policy, Pearl Park requires employees to be degree holders in biology, chemistry, biochemistry, or any other related field. Lucas was studying biochemistry with a neuroscience minor. Beyond impressive were his grades by what Lucas boasts to me, though I can’t confirm since the disaster destroyed his documents. In his third year, he already started planning his senior capstone project with research on the nervous system of several types of animals. We bonded over doing labs, the silliest or most dreadful courses we sat through, and how the university dining food sucked and ripped us all off. But it was a waste. In this new society, formal higher education is not important. Some schooling still persists, but they’re limited to small, dusty, singular classrooms led by underpaid teachers. Families tend to force children into work as it’s deemed more beneficial in learning practical home economics rather than mathematical theories, ethics, physical sciences, and so much more. The mindset of the remaining world focused on survival versus getting jobs of higher pay and better conditions. No one could blame us when authority breaks and the top 1% fully turn their back on you. Despite being turned down for medical practice, Lucas still wholeheartedly accepted the situation and embraced helping out in the clinic. Here and there with a bit of discreteness, Lucas does patch up some patients with bandage, disinfect cuts, and give advice for those with physical pain. Might I add, he’s quite popular with the patients as well, handsome and charming as he is. I’ll admit to it, I’m jealous of how he lifts everyone up in the toughest hours. Shortly after he joined, my arrival a week later brought him joy knowing I was stuck in the same sticky situation he was in. His passion could be seen a mile away. On the other hand, I just needed this job to keep myself afloat like everyone else.

I snap back to reality when one of the doctors, Dr. Lee who made a beeline towards one of the stations, bumped my side. Asshole, I think to myself. He’s head of the Pearl Park operation, so I don’t feel the desire to cause trouble by reprimanding him. This job allows me to hang onto my existence and sanity with my apartment, I couldn’t afford to lose it. His voice booms suddenly, startling nearby staff, “Is Lucas not here? I need him to help.” His voice trails off and erupts again, “With surgery preparation on Monday,” he swivels his head to one of the lead nurses, “We’re doing a skin graft for a severely burned person.” Despite the cold aura, his face contorted with concern and urgency. The patients put complete faith into him as he’s been a well-known medical practitioner since before the disaster. My imagination briefly ponders the severity of the injury as if I haven’t seen my fair share of nasty burn wounds. Shoulders shudder for a moment, and then I begin towards the North Wing where my first duty awaits.

▶ Ambience

Phew. That might’ve been the longest shift of my life. All day, the image of Lucas constantly itched at the back of my mind. It was difficult to focus, but I managed to get through the hours until 8:00pm. With my feet aching from exhaustion and a slight headache from lack of food or water, I decide to pay a visit to my other favorite place: East Row’s finest Chinese street food, Electric Egg. In my innermost thoughts, I’d hope to see Lucas there, munching away on tea eggs. That was his go-to snack after shifts at the clinic. Being on your feet all day does quite a bit of damage and leaves the stomach to growl, to fight for a delicious energy replenishment. When I arrive, one of my coworkers greets me cheerfully, shouting and waving my name as I draw closer, much to my embarrassment. “Sicheng,” my voice laced with laughter, “how’s business!” Our most common exchange, with the most common reply. With a hardy laugh, he shoots back, “The everyday thing, you know. Slow.” Sicheng’s smile invites me towards the side of the stall as he prepares what he knows are my regular dishes of choice. “Xi’an pancake and sesame tang yuan, coming right up!” As if on cue, my stomach beams in excitement and I lay my hand on it to feel the grumble, making Sicheng to laugh. “How’s work by the way, and where’s Lucas? I have his tea eggs already here.” I glanced to the side of the cart Sicheng worked away at, and indeed Lucas’s tea eggs sat prettily in a mug, waiting to be eaten.

I sigh, turning Sicheng’s grin into a straight line. He’s observant and knows how to read the room well. After a pause to gather myself, I sit down on a stool facing Sicheng and begin to tell him my worries. “I’m not sure if maybe I’m overthinking this, but Lucas always tells me if he’s not feeling well enough to work or go out somewhere. But he was gone this morning, he wasn’t in his room when I left for the clinic. He didn’t show up to the shift, and so many bad things could’ve happened, especially in the area we’re in. I’ve been checking my phone the entire day, but I’ve gotten no resp--”

“My tea eggs! You’re the best Sicheng, I really needed this after a long day, oh my god. You guys have no idea, my belly’s been howling!”

I froze. I know that voice too damn well. Anger immediately boiled within me, and it burst like the hot oil that hits Sicheng’s arms as he cooked. “You. Piece. Of. Shit,” I whipped my entire self around to face the tall man who unsurprisingly turned out to be Lucas with his disheveled hair framing his stupid little face. “Did you not see your call log? It’s just me, me, me, me, me, and oh guess who… me!” The tone in my words frightened even me, even more so realizing both Lucas and Sicheng’s widened eyes. I earned some dirty looks from customers as well. Nevertheless, I was pissed.

Lucas’s heightened shoulders steadily fall. “Hey, I’m sorry… Something really urgent came up, and it’s very personal to me. I hope you understand. I should’ve told you as soon as it came up.” His jaw clenches, his fists tightening their grip against the counter as he sternly looks at me across the food stall. I shake my head and roll my eyes, gaining a scolding expression from Sicheng who’s confusion was written all over his face. Deep within me, I know Lucas is sincere.

I start back up, loosening my voice to become gentle, “Eat your tea eggs, please. They’re getting cold and Sicheng prepared them for you early.” Silence followed, then the chewing noises from Lucas hungrily devouring his food. Maybe today was a hard day by the looks of it. Lucas took care of his appearance, so it was a shock to see him in a seemingly vulnerable state. His eye bags seem bulging and darkened, a sign of a sleepless night. Unsure of what to think, I let go of my displeasure and chip away at my pancake and rice balls. After satisfying our hunger, Lucas and I bid Sicheng a goodbye and head back to our apartment complex. The walk is painfully awkward.

▶ Ambience

This feeling is nice. To have Lucas back as we go through our nightly routine of washing our faces and brushing our teeth in a tiny community bathroom. Our mannerisms seem slightly less stiff, and though minimal, it takes a huge weight off my shoulders. He’s back and I feel secure again. But he doesn’t bring up anything about earlier. I’m about to comment on his long-sleeved shirt as he’s the biggest heat anti in the world, refusing to wear anything that isn’t a muscle tee. But the rough emotions rattled us both, so I drop it from my list of questions to ask. We get ready for bed in silence, only starting to discuss things when we finish up and plop on the floor of my apartment. I tried to figure out if I was uncomfortable from the cold floor or for the conversation that might unfold. Since Lucas has been excruciatingly quiet, I take the initiative, “I sent so many messages and calls today. Do you know how worried I was?” Disappointment heavily coat my concerns. “This isn’t like you, I was seriously going to lose my mind. Please… can you tell me what’s going on?”

It pains me to see him looking like he’s kicked down again from having an already bad day, but I needed answers. He’s the person I trust the most in the life we have now. His chest inflated and quickly deflated. “I’m about to show you something. It might freak you out.” He tugs at the ribbed cuff of his left sleeve. A tattoo? Perhaps a little smiley face or some unconventional design placed oddly on his arm that he wanted to cover since we work at a clinic? Though tattoos are normalized on staff... Or an injury? Whatever it is, I just want to know whatever he’s hiding. “Promise me you won’t make a big commotion, I will explain.”

Without much thinking, I grow irritated at him for dragging this out, so I reach for the end of his shirt and pull it up quickly, unveiling the truth. My body and mind go rigid at the sight, unable to process whatever this… contraption was. “Lucas… what the hell is this,” I ask, alarmed, taking in the faintly glowing circuits and tiny sparks of blue electricity lighting up and down tubes that poke in and out of the machinery. From his shoulder down to his fingers, metals and screws and wires replace his flesh. After a long minute of examination and curiosity, I turn my attention back to Lucas’s face which expressed great worry, fear, and uncertainty. “Is this the reason you were gone today?” He gently shook my hand off and swiftly covered his arm with his shirt again. With a dejected look, he takes his eyes off mine and pins them on the dusty floorboards. His arm is no longer human.

“Dr. Lee from the clinic.”

[swordoforion]

Orion Digest №41 - A Short Treatise on Orionist Philosophy

While not a topic broached yet, I am of the personal conviction that the methods and structure laid out for eco-socialist federation are of little use without the motive for implementing them. There are those, belonging to the movements from which ESF theory is inspired, who already have their own individual motivations and desires associated with world federalism, socialism, or environmentalism. However, if the point of these ideas is to spread and attract attention so that one day, the ideals of a united and just world may be realized, so too must there be a reason why people should concern themselves with the struggles of others.

A more philosophical piece than others, below is what I consider to be a combination of previously introduced theories as well as an observation on human existence itself, and what I have come to consider the essential theory of Orion - the responsibility we have, as humans, to help others, and the resultant fight for eco-socialist federation that Orion is pledged to take on. I had written this separately from the Digest as a personal essay for purposes of elaboration and cohesiveness between the content of the Eco-Socialist Federalist Handbook and the Orionist's Creed, but I believe it fitting and necessary to publish publicly.

------------------------------------------------

The purpose of Orion is to protect the survival and prosperity of the human race, and should our world expand, all sentient life. We were founded upon the desire to alleviate the suffering of the world, and what followed naturally from that desire were both the means of doing so and the reasoning behind the goal – the ‘how’ and the ‘why.’ The former is our founding political theory – eco-socialist federalism, and the latter our essential moral philosophy – Orionist thought. Both are essential to each other – federation cannot be established unless people believe in the cause, and mere intentions are hardly useful without the necessary action.

Eco-socialist federalism is a synthesis of previous theories of environmental policy, economy, and government, designed to both tackle the problems of our current age and remain as a stable structure long after they are solved. The developments of the Industrial Revolution resulted into an economic structure that has a) grown at an exponential rate at the cost of damage to our ecosystem, and b) shifts power over time to a small population of elites and owners without political confines to implement moral restrictions. Incapable of dealing with the consequences are the various governments of the world, that fight for power through force or policy, and usually side with the wealthy that grant them advantage in the game of nations. The constant threat of war and the economic divide that thrusts many into unlivable conditions feeds into the social divisions that pain humanity, and all the while, the damage we’ve done to the natural resources upon which we depend threatens to wipe us out while we fight amongst ourselves.

Thus, the theory poses political and economic reform on a global scale, in order to strike back at abuses against human rights (prosperity) and to stave off our extinction due to the climate crisis (survival). A democratic government between nations would be formed, with members required to conform to the constitutional standards of rights and freedoms, as well as standardized economic structure. This structure would involve the public ownership of means of production via the democratic state, which would lease resources for use to registered businesses, following a worker cooperative model and required to meet labor and wage standards. The chief policy of this new government would be to aid impoverished areas of the planet while de-escalating the production rates of the most industrialized nations in waves, until the course of every nation’s production was kept low enough to cut back on emissions, until public research and revitalization programs yielded positive results.

The combination of the three approaches would be necessary – economic reform would put some nations at risk of conflict with other nations were it not for federation, ecological action would be ineffective without a long-term change in industrial practices, and a federation alone would still be at the will of those with large pockets without removal of private ownership. While it borrows from environmentalist concerns, socialist theory, and the cause of world federalism, it recognizes that each must rely and feed off of the other if effective change is to be established.

However, while the implementation of such would be beneficial for the whole of humanity, it would still require great effort and cost to do so, and the question arises of why we should bother with taking a fresh start, rather than just letting the snake eat its own tail and to have the species die off. More specifically, some wonder why they should bother themselves with helping others at all. In comes the second theory of Orion, which is properly known as Orionist thought, or Orionism for short.

From the second we are born, we are observing and discovering the world around us, and to know joy is to see the beauty in the world around you. Different people see and appreciate the world differently, but we all have things we hang onto, things we value, and we all try to find some meaning or answer about ourselves from the universe around us, as well as the people we meet. Every person will experience some combination of pleasure and pain in their unique journey that leads them in pursuit of some sort of satisfaction, whether it be to write a book, to see sights, or simply to find peace and understanding. It varies for everyone, but all find whatever they believe to be their meaning and purpose, and learn about themselves in the process. As we possess the ability of empathy, we are able to understand and relate to others, and in them, we can see elements of ourselves – their hopes and fears, their habits and desires.

Since we can understand others, we can understand also why they might shrink from pain, and why they might experience elation at comfort. As we all seek to fulfill our various needs, from physical to psychological, we may sometimes be blinded to the fact that others are like us as we struggle against each other to assure our survival, but if we look past that, we can see others, like ourselves, trying to survive and figure out the puzzle of existence. Realizing that we’re both just trying to make it, we can find some joy in helping others with their own experience, as it is a helping hand that we would want in our own lives. If we would want the pains and burdens to be a little lighter, and for the highs of life to be a little sweeter, we can understand why they would want it as well.

By showing kindness and improving the lot in life of others, we demonstrate the basic concept that we are not alone in this journey, and that kindness does exist. People can work together to fulfill their needs, to understand themselves and each other, and to find that personal happiness. It is not simply about personal benefit – helping others does not necessitate that they help you back. Rather, making the world better is something we must do because we see ourselves in those that suffer, whether we suffer ourselves or fear the possibility of suffering, and we act in solidarity as the change we want to see, as the voice we would want to hear, the hand we would want to lift us up. As we would want our burdens lessened, we work to lessen the burdens of others like us.

It is our responsibility, if we be able, to save the world from destruction and division, for the sake of our fellow citizens today, and for the future generations to come. To do this, we must strive for the establishment and protection of eco-socialist federation, as well as assistance and security to those in need of it. To serve others who, used to the constant fight for survival and the age-old bid for power, might never show us the same courtesy, and to push down our own desires for comfort, we must possess discipline to tame and hone our passions. Anger must become drive, greed must become temperance, restlessness must become patience, and so on. We must be willing to stand kind and firm in the face of the misguided and the grieving.

The final level of Orionist philosophy follows necessarily from the others – if we hold a responsibility to help others, it will require sacrifice to fight and change the world. It is not an easy task to convince others so set in their ways, to take on titans that burn the world and chain the people, to approach age-old empires and get them to side with ancient enemies in one fight, as one people. We cannot wait for gradual improvement, for our devastation of the environment has ensured that we are facing a ticking clock. Thus, it will take dedication beyond a simple afternoon of effort, and very likely, sacrifice of those willing to give their happiness so that many others can appreciate the beauty that they dream of seeing. Our dreams of a united and peaceful world will be lived out by those that succeed us.

The envisioned Orion is an organization that stands from now until its last member, dedicated to upholding and, whenever necessary, fighting for the survival and prosperity of humanity. Its charge is the world; not one specific people, not a select few, but all the world. Its members see the beauty in the universe around them, use empathy to understand the thoughts and dreams of others, take on the responsibility of bettering the world, temper their passions through discipline to better help the people, and are willing to sacrifice so that others may be free to explore themselves and the unending cosmos.

- DKTC FL

[wackygoofball]

Moodboard: Jaime x Brienne - The Host AU

Jaime knows his days are counted when he is brought into one of those white-tiled rooms at the enemy’s HQ.

The Souls be damned.

At least the others escaped, he saw to that when the Souls stopped them on a mission. Tyrion and Davos will have taken Arya, Pod and the rest back to the hideout by now, so at the very least the rebellion can continue without him.

While not surprised, Jaime is still less than pleased to meet Stannis Baratheon, one of those bastards who decided to side with this alien race that invaded Planetos and takes over people’s bodies as they please to assume leadership over the world as they know it. Stannis let a Soul willingly take over, a Soul known as Melisandre, or as the rebellion calls her, “the boss bitch”. While Melisandre leaves him more or less in control over his actions, Stannis is just like them, and that means to Jaime that he has to go like every other bloody Soul.

Though sadly, that will soon include himself, as Stannis informs him. They will make him a Host as well. Jaime fights against the procedure as best as he can – because sure as hell will he go down fighting – but as he finds the Soul they brought in manifest itself inside him, he suddenly hears a none too kindly voice cursing him to stop the folly.

Listen. If you let me in, I will get you out of here, the voice tells him. But of course, Jaime doesn’t buy into that cheap kind of trick.

Because that’s some bullshit, lady.

You must understand this one thing: They will have a Soul inhabit your body no matter what you do. The only choice you can currently make is to let me in or wait for someone who does not ask first. I understand that you have no reason to trust me. And I don’t ask you to. I am asking for a truce.

How would I have a truce with some alien I don’t even know?

The name is Brienne and I am trying to help you – but all of that will be over soon if you don’t do anything. You can’t withstand much longer.

I am strong enough.

Right now you are not. I can ensure that you will remain conscious, just inside your own head, but I have to take over or they will realize the ruse. That’s all I have to offer, but I can promise you that I will bring you back home, even if it kills me.

Well, funny enough that will kill me as well, so I don’t fancy that alternative much.

Jaime, well aware that he is out of alternatives, lets “Brienne” take control, which puts him into the “backseat” of his own mind while Brienne calls the shots, telling a very pleased Melisandre and Stannis that she completed the mission and awaits new instructions.

“I am glad to see that you finally prove to be the god soldier you are supposed to be, Brienne, one who knows her place.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Though actually, not so much. Brienne stands true to her word and flees from the HQ the first opportunity she gets. And contrary to what Jaime feared, his mind remains alive, as Brienne did not seek full control over his mind and body, even though he will make sure to use any opportunity to be an ass about it.

And so, the long walk back home begins. In the middle of the Dornish desert, the rebellion built an underground haven to live and plan future strikes against the Souls taking over.

Though I still don’t understand why you are helping us.

Haven’t you heard? I am more of a rebel myself.

How comes?

Disagreements with the management.

Just that? Really?

I wasn’t the only one. We rebelled against Melisandre. She betrayed all ideals us Wanderers used to stand for.

Wanderers?

That was what we were before she made us nothing but Souls. We wandered across galaxies and tried to save life as we knew it.

By playing puppet master with people?

By learning what it takes to be human.

Jaime cautions Brienne that she won’t have an easy welcome, granted that they even make it to the desert without being caught – or nature killing them before they reach the hideout. He tells her that they have better chances by not telling the rest of the team that he is still in there but instead inform them that she took a hold of his body and that his consciousness supposedly faded in the process but that she wants to join their side and help them take down the HQ. As things currently stand, Jaime can’t take possession of his own body again, and until he can – which is a big what if – they’d do best not to upset the others any more than they will be anyway.

After all, Souls are not to be trusted.

On the verge of dehydration, the two reach the hideout. Though there is, as expected, no warm welcome, even less so when Arya decides to knock them in the back of the head when she catches the silver circle in Jaime’s eyes, which is a sure sign that a Soul took possession of a Host. Davos tells her to leave him and bring him to the hideout instead. As expected, Brienne is the hideout’s most wanted, and not in a good way.

Arya is perhaps most against them. As Jaime explains to Brienne, the reason why she has even more misgiving for the Souls than most others is that they killed nearly all of her family, safe for her “stupid sister” who joined Stannis for all they know.

As the two try to make a plan for how to go about their new situation, Brienne makes a point that they won’t ever trust her intentions to actually start a revolution amongst her own kind if she doesn’t do anything to prove her loyalty to their cause. Jaime is at a loss, but Brienne eventually comes to the conclusion that Sansa may be the key. She saw Sansa at the HQ and hopes that maybe they can convince her to come back with them. She may have important intel and it would help them to get Arya onboard.

Maybe.

You don’t know how to inspire confidence, you know?

I am just not fond of lying.

Which explains why you are so piss-poor at it.

While the mission proves more than dangerous, they eventually succeed in bringing Sansa Stark back home. And along the way, the two have to realize that they fight much better together than apart, even though it demands of Jaime to adapt his ways of fighting and support rather than lead.

Arya actually starts to trust Brienne thereafter, if cautiously so, even though things are tensed between the sisters even after the reunion. And while those two work through their issues, Jaime demands some hard truths from Brienne at last, as she tends to evade questions about who she truly is and what this is all about. In the end, Brienne has to give in.

We were very much like you. A humanoid race from a faraway planet, trying its best to live our lives.

Wait, you had an actual body before? You weren’t always those white, glowing parasites?!

While I tend to disagree with the description, yes, we weren’t always like that.

Then why did you all decide it was time for a makeover?

Not all of us took on this shape. We were selected few. The Wanderer Program was founded to save our world from extinction. Fewer and fewer children were born in every generation until we reached the breaking point. Our race grew sterile, if you will. And life as we knew it was on the verge of destruction. The Wanderers were meant to travel to faraway galaxies and find species like us, analyze their physiologies and social interactions and find out how they manage to battle global sterility. For such travel, we had to give up our bodies. They couldn’t possibly survive such a long trip across worlds. We wanted to find life again. Or so we thought… because some of us had a different idea. They wanted power. They wanted to exploit life. And they realized that the Wanderer Program, which succeeded to alter DNA in such a way that the soul could transcend the body, were the means of gaining control.

Power is a bitch.

I believed in the program, in what we did. Until I saw what they did to Renly.

Renly Baratheon?

Yes, he was my Host before we two… teamed up involuntarily.

To put it mildly. What of Renly, then?

He was no part of the rebellion, you may know. Yet, he was against Stannis and his practices. Through Renly, I learned more and more about what was behind the program I once joined in an effort to preserve life, not destroy it. Other Souls of the program formed a group, but one of them reported us… and as a result, the Hosts were all brutally murdered while we were still connected.

So you… witnessed Renly’s death as your own.

Yes. He died because of me. And after that, they put me in detention, telling me that I’d only ever get out if I learned my place. Until the day I met you. And that changed everything.

So what’s the goal for you now? Once we take on the HQ? What’s the next step?

Go back home and fix our problems. Pick up with where we left off with our mission. I found such goodness in people. I saw human compassion, friendship, love. And that is what I’d want to take home, even if I failed to find a solution to my race’s plight.

You are definitely the strangest Soul I ever met.

And you are the strangest Host I ever met.

Perhaps a truce is possible after all.

Only time will show.

And while Jaime and Brienne continue to bond, crisis is underway when Brienne learns of Tyrion’s “experiments” to separate Host and Soul, killing both in the process. Brienne is absolutely mortified, as Jaime knew about this, but didn’t ever tell her.

Though they soon have to leave that aside as well as the rebellion’s next strike is moving forward fast. Along the way, they learn some shocking news that may transform the very nature of their mission to a full-fledged rescue mission of a kind no one ever thought would happen as Souls have to fight for Hosts and Hosts for Souls.

Brienne and Tyrion form a fragile peace, though she leaves Tyrion with a baffling message before she heads out:

“I can help you complete your research, but only to my conditions. Once it’s all done.”

Though only time will show if she can reveal that information to him and if, indeed, the soul can transcend the body.

Or rather, if love can.

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: Captain Marvel

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Where Today We're Continuing Our Look At The Marvel Cinematic Universe...

Where Today We're Looking At The Film That Angered 1,000 Anti-Feminists, Captain Marvel...

This Film Follows The Journey Of Carol Danvers As She Becomes One Of The Universe's Most Powerful Heroes As An Intergalactic War Between 2 Alien Races Reaches Earth...

Will Danvers Save Earth From War?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Captain Marvel...

The Film Starts In 1995 On The Planet Hala, When A Human/Kree Hybrid Named Vers (Played By Brie Larson) Has Constant Nightmares Of An Aircraft Crash And A Woman Being Murdered By What Looks To Be A Skrull...

Telling Her Mentor, Yon-Rogg About This, He Helps Her Train To Become A Member Of The Starforce...

Is That Anything Like Star Command And If So I Wonder If She's Ever Met Buzz Lightyear...

Even Though He Believes She's Ready...

Then Why Are You Training Her?

Taking Her To See The Supreme Intelligence, Who Is The Artificial Intelligence That Rules The Kree Empire...

And Is In No Way Related To The Great Intelligence From Doctor Who...

It Allows Gets On The Starforce Which Consists Of Yon-Rogg, Minn-Erva, Att-Lass, Bron-Char And Korath The Pursuer From Guardians Of The Galaxy...

As Yon-Rogg Gives A Briefing To The Starforce, Who's To Rescue A Kree Operative Named Soh-Larr...

Hang On A Minute, Minn-Erva, Att-Lass, Soh-Larr? Are Kree Names Just Regular Words Or Names That Are Just Expanded By A Hyphen?

He Informs The Team That He Has Been Captured On The Planet Torfa And Instructs The Team To Perform An Incursion On The Planet...

Landing Underwater And Their Suits To Reach The Surface, They Soon Realize That The Torfan Natives Are Skrulls And That...

(Start At 0:28, End At 1:33)

Abducted By The Skrull General Talos (Played By General Krennic) He Takes Vers On Board A Skrull Spacecraft While Yon-Rogg And The Starforce Retreat. On Board The Skrull Spacecraft, Talos Gains Access To Vers' Memories From Various Points Of Her Life...

But She Awakens Just As Talos Gets What He Wants From Vers Pertaining To A Light Speed Engine...

If That's What You Want, They Sell Those Easily On Tatooine...

But Vers Manages To Escape...

(Start At 0:08, End At 1:28)

(End At 1:13)

Followed By Talos, Norex And 2 Other Skrulls, Vers Crash Lands On A Planet Called Ee-Arth (Otherwise Known To Us As Earth...

Hey, Blockbuster! This Isn't Dated At All...

Anyway, While Vers Crashes Into A Blockbuster, Talos And The Skrulls Land On The Beach And Assume The Identities Of Surfers They See There...

Managing To Reach Yon-Rogg, Vers Learns That She Will Stranded On Earth For About 22 Hours...

Well, At Least It's Better Than 7 Zuurls...

Attracting The Attention Of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agents Nick Fury, Phil Coulson And Keller Arrive On The Scene To Interrogate Vers And Dismiss Her Claims About The Kree And The Skrulls Arrival On Earth...

But Before They Arrest Vers, Their Interrogation Is Interrupted By One Of The Skrulls Which Leads Her To Chase It To A Subway Car Where We Get Our Stan Lee Cameo...

Stan Lee Cameo!

(Start At 0:33, End At 1:27)

(End At 1:13)

During The Fight On The Subway Car, Fury And Coulson Attempt To Pursue Vers, But When Fury Realizes That Coulson Stayed Behind At The Shopping Complex It Leads To A Fight Between Fury And The Skrull Imposter..

Eventually The Skrull Imposter Is Killed When Fury's Car Crashes Into Oncoming Traffic...

Utilizing A Skrull Crystal That Contains Her Lost Memories, Vers Begins Recollecting Them By Dressing In A Civilian Outfit Which She Takes From A Display And Stealing A Motorcycle So She Can Go To Pancho's Bar In The Nearby Town Of Rosamond...

Fury And Keller (Who Has Been Replaced With Talos) Take Possession Of The Deceased Skrull And Perform An Autopsy On It. Going After Vers, Keller Tells Fury To Do It Alone As They Can't Trust Anyone...

Finding Vers At Pancho's And Now Fully Convinced That The Skrulls Are A Threat, Fury And Vers Question Each Other To Ensure That They Not Skrull Imposters...

Once They Realize That They're Not Skrulls, Fury Takes Vers To The Joint NASA USAF Facility In Nevada To Confirm The Claims Of Her Origins On Earth. She Learns That She Was A Fighter Pilot For The Air Force Who Flew With Maria Rambeau...

Oooh, Monica Rambeau Foreshadowing...

And Were Under The Tutelage Of Doctor Wendy Lawson For Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Who Surprisingly Looks Like The Supreme Intelligence And Is The Woman That Was Murdered In Her Dreams...

Calling Yon-Rogg, He Tells Vers That Lawson Was A Kree Operative Named Mar-Vell...

Okay, For Those That Don't Know Who Mar-Vell Is, He Is The Original Person To Go By Captain Marvel...

And Is Also The Person Who Gave Carol Her Powers..

Yon-Rogg Also Reveals That Mar-Vell Was Working On A Unique Energy Core And Experimented With Tech That Was Going To Change The War...

However, Upon Telling Him About Her Life Here, Yon-Rogg Believes It To Be A Skrull Simulation And Tells Her To Remember Her Training And That They'll Be Arriving Soon Before Hanging Up...

Reporting Their Location To Keller Who Brings A Posse Of Agents With Him, Including Coulson. Fury Realizes That Keller Is Not Keller But A Skrull...

Going Rogue With Vers, Coulson Allows The 2 To Escape With A Cat Named Goose On Board A Prototype Quinjet Which They Take To The Rambeau Residence In New Orleans...

Surprised To See Vers Still Alive, Both Maria (Who's Played By 007?) And Her Daughter, Monica (Again, Foreshadowing) Identify Vers As Carol Danvers, A Fighter Pilot Who Was Seemingly Killed With Lawson In A Test Flight Gone Awry And That The Cat, Goose Is Lawson And Her Pet...

Followed By Talos And Norex Who Negotiate A Temporary Alliance After Talos Reveals That He Was In Possession Of A Black Box That Survived The Crash. He Also Reveals That Danvers Was Deceived By The Kree And That They Are Homeless Refugees That Are On The Brink Of Extinction And Constantly On The Run From The Kree...

Which Is Actually An Interesting Turn For The Skrulls...

Usually Seen As Bad Guys Who Replace The People They're Conquering When They Try To Take Over A Planet, (Hell, They Created Super Skrull To Fight The Fantastic Four) This Is Actually A Great Reveal Probably One Of Best I've Seen In A Marvel Movie As The Skrulls Are Usually Seen As Bad Guys...

Hearing The Recording From The Black Box, Carol Finally Remembers What Happened, Turns Out Mar-Vell's Death Was An Assassination That Was Orchestrated By Yon-Rogg...

Instructing Carol To Destroy The Energy Core That Powered The Engine, Carol Attempted To But In Doing So She Gained Cosmic Abilities When Absorbing The Energy From The Engine With No Memory Of Her Life Whatsoever...

Afterward, Yon-Rogg Was Authorized By The Supreme Intelligence To Train Her As A Kree Operative...

Talos Reveals That Mar-Vell Was Actually A Kree Double Agent Who Was Attempting To Help The Skrulls By Testing The Light Speed Engine Which Will Help Them Flee Kree Occupation Forever And That The Black Box And Her Memories Contain The Coordinates To Mar-Vell's Lab That's Cloaked Above Earth's Orbit Which Contains Not Just The Energy Core But The Last Of The Skrull Refugees...

The Next Day, Yon-Rogg Arrives On Earth To Confront Carol Where He Quickly Realizes That The Carol He's Talking To Is Actually Norex Who He Quickly Executes As Danavers, Fury, Maria, Talos, And Goose Take The Quinjet To The Lab Where Danvers Finds The Energy Source Which Is Revealed To Be The Tesseract....

The Tesseract?...

Okay, I Got To Talk About This Now, In Captain America: The First Avenger It Was Revealed That After The Red Skull Flew Off To Vormir And Captain America Was Frozen Today

That The Tesseract Was Found In The Ocean By Howard Stark Who Gave It To S.H.I.E.L.D....

But Aside From That Story Killer, Talos Is Reunited With His Wife And Daughter...

So If Howard Stark Had It, How Did Lawson Get Ahold Of It?...

It Doesn't Make Sense!

But Yon-Rogg And The Starforce Ambushes Them And Places Carol Under Stasis So She Can Talk To The Supreme Intelligence But In Removing The Inhibitor That Has Been Limiting Her Powers Carol Fights The Supreme Intelligence...

(End At 1:44)

Taking The Tesseract, Carol Reunites With Fury And Monica Who Watch As Goose Reveals Himself As A Flerken When He Eats The Tesseract And A Bunch Of Kree Soldiers...

In A Battle For The Tesseract, Danvers Fights Her Former Starforce Allies And Quickly Overpowers Them, While Fury And Monica Get The Skrulls On Board The Quinjet, But As They Do, Talos Is Shot By Yon-Rogg, Who In A Rage, Called The Accusers Led By Guess Who?...

Nice To See You Again, Ronan...

Anyway, Yon-Rogg Called Ronan To Tell Him To Dispatch Kree Ballistic Missiles On Earth In An Attempt To Kill Danvers And The Skrulls After Him And Minn-Erva Fail To Kill Them In Their Jedi Starfighters When Carol Knocks Them Out Of The Sky When She Discovers "Oh, I Can Fly"...

(Start At 0:39, End At 1:20)

(End At 1:32)

Returning To Earth, Danvers Faces Yon-Rogg One Last Time...

(Start At 0:13, End At 1:53)

In The Aftermath, Goose Claws Fury's Left Eye And Blinds It While His Guard Is Down...

So, I Guess When Fury Said That The Last Person He Trusted Cost Him His Eye, He Was Bullshitting?...

The Skrulls Take Temporary Shelter At The Rambeau Residence Where Talos Recovers From His Injuries And Once They Decide To Leave, Carol Decides To Go With Them To Help Them Find A New Home...

But Before She Leaves, She Gives Fury A Modified Transmitter/Pager To Call Her In The Event Of An Emergency As Fury Drafts The Protector Initiative Which Is Quickly Changed To Avenger Initiative When He Sees That Danvers Call Sign Was Avenger...

We Get A Mid Credits Scene, Which Sees The Remaining Avengers (Banner, Widow, Cap And Rhodey) Finding Fury's Pager And Analyzing It At The Avengers Facility Before Carol Herself Shows Up Asking Where Fury Is...

We Also Get An End Credits Scene Where We See Goose Spit Up The Tesseract On Fury's Desk While He Wasn't In His Office...

Which Still Doesn't Help The Continuity Problems In This Movie...

And That's Captain Marvel And...It's Okay...

While The Story Is So-So, The Characters Were Well Written (Despite Billions Of Anti-Feminists Hating On Brie Larson So Much That There's A Petition On-Line To Get Marvel To Fire Her)...

The Effects Were Great I Loved How Well They De-Aged Both Clark Gregg And Samuel L. Jackson And The Villain Was All Right With The Supreme Intelligence However I Would Have Preferred It If Jude Law Had Played Mar-Vell Instead Of Annette Benning...

Either Way Though I Say Don't Listen To The Haters And See It....

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off

[supernova1us]

Makuta Nova Bio

this is the full life biography of makuta nova, one of my OCs. decided to write it like one of the online serials from G1. points to anyone who can find the reference to g2 in here(and its not the one you might think it is)

Since her creation, Makuta Nova was highly proud of her race and dedicated to the brotherhood as a whole. She was always a fierce warrior but mostly analytical, preferring command and tactics to combat.

Physically, makuta nova was tall and elegant but intimidating in appearance. Her size was average, not towering, among her own kind but most beings of the matoran universe would be looking up to meet her gaze. She wore bulky armor on her upper body to belie her slender frame and present a more intimidating visage. She wore the sleek mask of probability, its curves and points sweeping backwards. It was black save for a pointed red crest at its tip. Its power enhanced her already cold decision making. From behind her mask she had long, triangular antlers protruding straight outward on each side of her head. Her armor was black with white and red highlights; a battle skirt, open in the front, hung from her waist. When forced to partake in battle, she typically wielded a double bladed sword in combat, her signature weapon, as well as a long bladed whip on occasion.

In the brotherhoods years of their assigned role of creating rahi, she is credited as the designer and progenitor of the Manas and Kikanalo, for which she was very proud. Early in the makutas history she had a decent, though like all makuta, distant, relationship with the toa and matoran. She was made the "guardian" of Iron-Forge, a small island set in the silver sea between the northern and southern continents. It was the home of a large settlement of Fe-matoran. Proud of her rahi creations, she saw many of them brought to the island. She also developed a fondness for collecting rare or powerful Kanohi masks, often hiring dark hunters, lone toa or other rogue beings to seek them out for her. The jewel her collection was the powerful, Cephalopod-like mask of control.

Eventually, the fateful day came which changed the destiny of the makuta forever more. Teridax, the makuta of metru nui and closest confident to both their leader miserix and the great spirit himself, inproduced "the plan". Said plan was the overthrowing of mata nui himself and for the makuta to take control of the matoran universe. This was also a clear attempt by teridax to wrest control of the brotherhood for himself. She was one who intended to side with Miserix against the plan, sensing it a folly to attempt. It was clear where such thought had crept in from, with the failed attempt at the same by the barraki warlords, teridax regardless apparently found himself inspired. The two battled, and teridax stood triumphant. Miserix was intelligent and cautious, but lacked the ferocious drive teridax could achieve when pushed. Afterwards, she did wish to stand with miserix against Teridaxs coup' but passed due to using her mask to sense the result that it would produce. Teridax was ambitious and brutal but also intelligent, charismatic and seductive. For whatever their many reasons for doing so, the majority of the brotherhood rallied behind him.

Of the 100 makuta that existed, only 5 foolishly chose to stand with miserix in his defeat. They paid for that decision with their lives, as she would have if she were not as wise as she was. Teridax took command of the makuta, and preporations for "the plan" were set in motion. Miserix of course needed to be dealt with, and Krika was made responsible for his termination. A short time later she did learn of krika's sparing of miserix and, holding both makuta in high regard, and believing it to be a wise decision, concealed the truth. Miserix might very well prove to be an important factor someday.

She was one of the only makuta who voiced against their transformation into pure energy forms. Despite that their bodies were evolving to this state on its own, she hypothesized the possible future risks it presented but was overruled by teridax. Now an energy form, she had the Nynrah Ghosts reinforce her armor but ensure her appearance remained unchanged. She joined in the collective deceicion by the makuta to shun their inner light, making them pure being of shadow. This would make them stronger and ensure greater success to their ultimate goals in her mind. She rather enjoyed the power over shadow that this change gave her.

Over the many years of preparation of the plan, she filled her role, ruking her designated island. As the fe-matoran, as toa, were soon considered a threat to the makuta, she kept a strong authoritative hold on them. She eventually grew to resent teridax and vindictively fostered advancement in the matoran on her island as a form of defiance. It was her belief that the toa of iron, which the brotherhood had begun to closely monitor and even kill, could be properly used by the makuta rather than seen as threats. However, upon hearing that there was a surviving toa of iron, zaria, who had slain another makuta, she personally dispatched dozens of rahkshi to hunt him down. She feared that the toas existence would somehow be blamed on her and all that she had worked towards on her island would be torn down. The rahkshi always returned empty handed, for which she terminated them herself.

She remained on her now fortified island, overseeing the safety of her matoran on the day of the great cataclysm. The result of its effects left her island in perpetual night from that day on. She forbade contact with other islands in attempt to keep the matoran of her island unaware of the makutas treachery against mata nui. She wisely protected herself during the brotherhoods war with the order of mata nui by misleading and militarizing the fe-matoran to be hostile to the order.

She survived to see the completion of "the plan"; teridax taking control of mata nuis body and the entire matoran universe. This however led to the loss of the matoran of her island, who fled to metru nui, no doubt learning finally of the deeds of the makuta there. With the deaths of many of the brotherhoods high ranking members on Karda nui, and mourning krikas death, nova was promoted to chief of the remaining makuta under teridax. Many had been killed also in the war with the order of mata nui, and their numbers were now only at 42 makuta, including teridax. She reluctantly but dutifully abandoned her island and followed his commands, advising the inexperienced new turaga ahkmou and leading the other makuta in producing more kraata to bolster the rahkshi army. Sensing the inevitable treachery of teridax, she gathered a small group of like-minded makuta members to escape into hiding when their task was complete.

They did, and none too soon as teridax indeed moved ahead with terminating the other makuta very soon after his takeover. Though they escaped, they were not free of his gaze or his omnipotent power. With destral no longer safe, they fled to Iron Forge, only to find it in ruin and overrun by hordes of the now corrupted rahi, a cruel jest by teridax. He personally slew the other makuta, maliciously leaving nova for last to perish at the claws of her rabid creations. She fought fiercely and without mercy, slaying many but was overcome by the wild horde. Though her body was destroyed in the gruesome onslaught, her antidermis survived and possessed the body of a kikanalo she had disabled. She was only spared complete obliteration by teridax as unseen goings on drew his attention. She did sense the survival of another makuta; miserix. Perhaps that he is what had drawn the new gods attention, or he could proave a valuable ally against teridax. Regardless, alive for the time being, she chose to remain in this form, hidden and in exile, allowing the matoran universe to believe the remainder of the makuta were now extinct. With her original mask destroyed, from her ruined palace she retrieved the mask of control, anticipated its possible future use.

Sometime later, with the long awaited death of teridax having come, and sensing the survival of miserix, she migrated to spherus magna in her rahi form. Her goal was finding The Nynrah Ghosts to rebuild her a proper body. After some months, amid the chaos of the exodus and merging of the peoples, she did locate them. They were of course less than reluctant to help a makuta, but the mask of control as a bartering chip proved impressive enough to convince them. A new form, modelled on her original body, even with a new mask, was built and her antidermis transferred to it. She then used her shadow powers to render all the ghosts temporarily comatose, only so she could take back the mask and leave. This was the first of many dangerous, calculated risks she would need to take to survive.

She covertly managed to locate the matoran of her former domain, and through pretty words and manipulative truths, won back their loyalty. She then appeared before the new government of spherus magna; the toa mata, turaga, agori chieftains and glatorian leaders. She made her intentions clear; she wished to have place in the new world, free of past misdeeds of the makuta. There was not full truth to that but it was enough. There was still mistrust, hate and a mind for vengeance in these who she was beseeching to. She had brought her loyal matoran with her as a show of her "better nature" and as her trump card, presented the mask of control. Tempting that she was handing over a means for them to control her if they chose, and giving in to that as an act of good faith.

These events managed to gain her what she desired; amnesty, a small kingdom of her own in which her matoran can live and a voice in the new government. She was no fool or lover of peace time; there were always plans and always threats. She had recruited a horde of the nomadic skrall, both male and female, to act as her countries military and enforcers. The glatorian strakk, an outcast of his kind, she also took in, making him her bodyguard, finding his greed and battle lust easy to manipulate.

While she relished her new lordship, always her mind was on what troubles may come her way. Toa, the order, miserix; so many with a mind for vengeance may come looking for her. Precautions were set in place for quickly summoning the toa for aid, but for now, the "mistress of shadow" as she came to be known, intended to relish her days under the sun.

[kyndaris]

2019: The Hits and Misses

Happy New Year, one and all. 2020 has finally arrived! And the Earth enters another decade. With 2019 solidly in the rear-view mirror, I thought it was apt to look back on the end of a decade. If I’m being frank, though, it seemed like only yesterday when I graduated high school and headed to university. Yet, so many things have happened since then. Some of it good and rewarding. Others have rung alarm bells for the state of the world. Say what you will of 2019, but it felt like for the first time in a long while when people became fed-up with their respective government and finally began standing up for what they believed in. Whether that was climate change or democracy.

Let us begin with the month of March - wherein the entire world was shaken by a callous mass shooting in New Zealand. Unlike previous attacks reported in the media, this vile act was committed by a right wing extremist against Muslims attending Friday prayer at their local mosque. What stood out the most during this terrifying event was how New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, handled the fallout. Wearing a headscarf, she reached out to the Muslim community and encouraged others to do the same.

Yet, only a month later, three churches and luxury hotels were bombed in Sri Lanka as a supposed retaliatory attack. It was yet another heart wrenching event that shook the world. For as everyone knows: an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

And though Western forces dealt a severe blow to the ISIS caliphate, which saw them ousted from the territory that they had seized from Syria and Iraq, many nations struggled with accepting the women and children of jihadists. Yes, the men might have fallen in the fighting, but they had left behind broken families that only wished to find a place to return. As conditions worsened in refugee camps, there were many that questioned why governments did not take responsibility for their citizens and mount rescue attempts for the innocents that had been dragged into a fight they had not asked for.

In other areas of the world, the climate crisis became a major tipping point in politics. With tightened water restrictions and drought impacting many parts of the world - people took to the streets to protest what they saw as a race towards extinction. Climate change was here and governments had done little to curb its effects on the world. In Australia, demonstrators stopped traffic and buried their heads in the sands. This was further exacerbated by news of the shocking state of the Murray-Darling basin as well as the catastrophic bushfires that had Sydney in a severe smoke-haze for several months.

On the other side of the world, impeachment proceedings began for President Donald Trump of the United States of America. Whether or not he is removed from office remains to be seen. Although, let’s be honest, the 2020 elections might have also seen the businessman turned politician pushed out into the cold (at least judging from some of his more vocal critics).

The United States was also no stranger to mass shootings. And in August, there were attacks in both Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas. These, at least, were the ones that took international headlines by storm. A quick search on Wikipedia quickly revealed that up to the fourteenth of December, there were a total of 409. And if people thought this was due to only violent video games or mentally ill people, then they have another thing coming. 

Wake up America! It’s outrageous that your  schools have metal detectors at their entrance. And that so many of them are designed to stop lone gunmen from infiltrating places of learning: https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/09/how-schools-are-being-designed-to-minimize-the-number-of-deaths-during-a-mass-shooting/

This isn’t right! Just look at New Zealand. One mass shooting in a place of worship was enough to have Jacinda Arden ban the use of military style semi-automatics and assault rifles.

Just across the Atlantic Ocean, the United Kingdom struggled to ensure a smooth departure from the European Union. Theresa May, defeated once again with her proposals for Brexit, stepped down. In her place rose a dishevelled blond man that many people saw as the Donald Trump of Britain: Boris Johnson. And while his Brexit deal for October was thrown out, his party managed to secure victory at the very recent general elections. And considering how Australian politics went last year, it came as no surprise that once again a Conservative government managed a snatch victory away from what should have been a win from more liberal parties.

Hong Kong also suffered through several months of civil disobedience that erupted into violence. What first had been demonstrations against a controversial extradition bill turned into, what many believed, for a fight for the people’s very democratic freedom.

And while Hong Kong was the more prolific of these protests, they were not the only ones. Chile, Lebanon, Catalonia, Iraq and Pakistan also saw people rising up to make their feelings known. 

Online, many YouTube channels were shackled again by archaic legislation that threatened to have their entire livelihoods stripped away. At the moment of writing, it is difficult to say exactly how the myriad of channels I follow will be impacted, but I do know it won’t be good. For so long, advertisers pulled the puppet strings of many a YouTube celebrity, ensuring that they conformed to certain standards. But if such standards make them too family-friendly, it may also mean a hit in revenue that isn’t affordable.

And finally, again to New Zealand. On the 9th of December, 2019, a tour group from the Ovation of the Seas stepped foot on White Island. What they did not know was that the volcano would erupt so suddenly and cause such devastation. As of the time of writing, there are still many families missing and unaccounted for. 

2019 has been a roller coaster of a year with many ups and downs. But even though the year has come to a close, I can’t believe how quickly it has gone by. Hopefully 2020 and the new decade that it promises will see resolve some of the major issues plaguing humanity. Or maybe it won’t. The world is on the cusp and if we want to maintain our current standards of living, there are many things that need to be changed. Let’s just hope it’s not too late.

[imagine-loki]

Imagine that you were part of a dragon race that was being ravaged by Thanos.  As an attempt to preserve the race, the remaining dragons travel to earth to protect themselves using their magic to hide their true form; but due to hunting throughout centuries and enemies, they had gone extinct.  Your parents try to save infant you by locking your draconic powers with their magic. Your father leaves you one of his scales, that harden to form a crystal, in order to lock your dragon blood. Your mother putting a spell above your neck in the shape of a birthmark, as a last act of defense, to ensure that your magic would not surface. Trying to mask your true form, they conjure an illusion that makes you look as if you are human.  They abandon you and wait until you are found then adopted.  

During a car accident (or any sort of physically traumatic experience), you are severely injured resulting in the crystal embedded within your body to glow. Your magic begins to strongly manifest itself regardless of the precautions by your parents. The Avengers come thinking you’re a mutant threat, but understand you’re confused and they offer to help you.  

Thor returns to Earth with Loki, who comes as punishment for New York. Midst the Avengers reunion, Loki sarcastically chuckles asking how you got to get away with hiding your true form. Everyone finds out you have magical powers of some sort and it’s Loki’s job now to use his magic intelligence to unlock your true form and help teach you to control your powers.  

[csnews]

Are we watching a real-time extinction of southern resident killer whales?

Randy Shore - October 9, 2018

Images of the orca J35 Tahlequah carrying her dead newborn for a heartbreaking 17 days over 1,600 kilometres were seen around the world. Canadian and American veterinarians and biologists then joined forces in dramatic fashion to diagnose and treat the ailing three-year-old J50 Scarlet from the same pod, but failed to save her life. Three deaths this summer — including the young male L92 Crewser, which disappeared in June — have focused the world’s attention on the difficulties facing southern resident killer whales like never before.

Now, the world will watch as we bring the 74 remaining community members back from the brink, or witness their extinction. Biologists and conservationists hope the celebrity of the Salish Sea’s orcas can be used to save them.

“They are a symbol for a lot of species that share their ecosystem and some of them are doing poorly, too,” said Vancouver Aquarium veterinarian Marty Haulena. Sea stars, chinook and sockeye salmon and rockfish populations are all in distress, but considerably less photogenic than orcas.

“Hopefully the southern residents have the star power to get some attention,” said Haulena. Orcas have strong family bonds, they play, and apparently grieve their losses, making them uniquely relatable.

“That is why we take their deaths so hard,” said Mark Leiren-Young, director of The Hundred Year Old Whale and author of The Killer Whale Who Changed the World.

“The photos of a baby orca leaping through the air that went viral — captioned ‘learning to fly’ — that was J50 Scarlet,” he said. “She was the symbol of a baby boom, the symbol of hope. And this is the whale that we just watched die.”

Scientists who study the West Coast’s killer whales identify individuals by their dorsal fins and a unique white saddle patch. Each gets a number and then a name, and hence a public persona. Vets and biologists are now gearing up to provide personalized medical attention to the southern residents.

Veterinary researcher Joe Gaydos of UC Davis, working with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has created individualized health records for every member, like you and I have with our family doctor.

“We need to know a lot more about the individual health of these animals,” said Haulena. “We can’t treat them as a population anymore. We have so few left that we need to know why every individual has died. And we don’t.”

Gaydos has adapted an approach developed for a closely monitored group of mountain gorillas in Uganda and Rwanda.

“(The gorillas) each have a health record, they are all vaccinated, and they are treated medically when something goes wrong,” Haulena said.

American researchers are able to collect feces, breath samples and “snot” from the southern residents, and use darts to collect samples of skin and blubber, according to Lynne Barre, southern resident killer whale recovery co-ordinator for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“We slice and dice these samples and cross-reference it with other data in every way we can think of to get a full picture,” she said.

The physical condition of the whales is assessed from photographs and video taken from the water’s surface and from aerial drones.

“So we watch and listen and sometimes even smell their breath,” she said.

Blubber samples in particular reveal the presence of toxins, from long-banned DDT and PCBs to newer threats such as PBDE flame retardants.

“Some of these are endocrine disrupters that are persistent in the environment and accumulate over time, affecting reproduction and the immune system,” said Barre.

A study published last week in the journal Science found that southern residents are moderately affected by PCBs compared to killer whale groups in Brazil and Europe, yet the contamination is predicted to negatively affect their ability to reproduce.

PCBs accumulate and concentrate in fish-eating fish such as chinook.

One sign of hope is that the whales continue to mate and conceive.

Females from J, K and L pods are showing signs of pregnancy and in mid-September the southern residents from all three pods merged into a super-pod near Race Rocks on Vancouver Island.

“We heard that there was a lot of social activity going on,” said Barre.

Time for action

The southern residents that make their summer home in the Salish Sea between the Fraser River and Bamfield on the west coast of Vancouver Island haven’t successfully produced a calf in three years.

Three members died just this summer, including the male L92 Crewser, who was declared missing in June. He was just 23 and in his prime.

Just a decade ago, surviving calves were being born at a rate of three, four or five per year. But since November of 2015, not a single one has survived.

Forty surviving calves have been born to the group since 1998. Over the same period, 73 southern residents have died.

Most cetaceans have a higher mortality rate in the first year of life, said Haulena.

But many of the other 17 orcas that perished since 2012 were in their prime — 13, 18, 20 and 23 years old.

“Orcas in their prime absolutely should be surviving,” he said.

A 27-year-old male, K25, has recently showed signs of decline in aerial photos, which Barre characterized as a “warning signal.”

Evidence points to a lack of food — mainly chinook salmon — as a threat to the orcas’ survival. Underwater noise from shipping, ferries, commercial and recreational fishing boats, and whale watchers interferes with their ability to locate what little prey is available.

Six groups, including the Raincoast Conservation Foundation and the David Suzuki Foundation, asked the courts on Sept. 5 to compel the federal government to issue an emergency order under the Species at Risk Act to protect the southern residents and their main food source, chinook salmon.

The chinook are themselves in deep crisis. The Columbia River chinook are listed as endangered in the U.S., and last week Fisheries and Oceans Canada released data showing this season’s chinook returns in the Fraser River were well below the historical average.

The southern residents, too, are listed as endangered under the Species at Risk Act. The next status after endangered is “extirpated,” meaning they are reproductively non-viable, or dead. Ottawa is taking public input on the Species at Risk Act recovery strategy for northern and southern resident killer whales until Nov. 3.

Earlier this year the litigating groups asked Ottawa to curtail sport fishing and whale watching in critical feeding areas. The government responded by reducing the chinook catch by 25 to 35 per cent and increasing the buffer zone for whale watching to 200 metres.

Parts of the most important foraging areas in the Gulf Islands and the Strait of Juan de Fuca were closed to all fishing and partial closures were implemented at the mouth of the Fraser River.

“Since the death of three whales, including J50, we have upped our ask,” said Misty MacDuffee, a biologist for Raincoast. “Now we want the closure of all marine-based commercial and sport chinook fisheries.”

The groups are also calling for a full ban on whale watching for the southern residents.

Up to two dozen whale-watching vessels follow the group daily in their main feeding areas on the Salish Sea, she said.

Whales or oil?

The plight of the southern residents is now central to the progress of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

In overturning the pipeline approval, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled that the National Energy Board should have considered the impact of increased tanker traffic on southern resident killer whales.

Federal Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson hinted this week that further protections for killer whales could come before cabinet decides whether to approve the pipeline again, after the National Energy Board’s do-over review is complete.

The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion would increase the number of large vessels entering the Port of Vancouver by about six per week. The port currently serves 3,200 vessels a year.

Ottawa’s $1.5-billion Oceans Protection Plan — created in advance of Trans Mountain’s original approval — included plans to improve prey availability for the whales and to reduce underwater noise that interferes with the their ability to communicate and locate prey.

The government will invest an additional $167 million over five years in the Whales Initiative, supporting research, enforcement and education, and adding fisheries officers to ensure compliance to new regulations by anglers. Aerial surveillance over critical habitat has been increased by 30 per cent, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is spending $9.5 million on chinook habitat restoration on the Fraser, Thompson and Skeena Rivers and salmon streams on Vancouver Island, much of it in collaboration with First Nations.

A $150-million industry-funded oil spill protection plan was suspended when the pipeline approval was overturned.

A recent study published in the Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology suggests that a major oil spill near the orcas’ summer feeding grounds could affect up to 80 per cent of their critical habitat.

Animals such as orcas that spend a lot of time at the water’s surface are most likely to suffer from contact and ingestion of diluted bitumen, the main product to be exported by the proposed pipeline expansion, the authors said.

The port has implemented two programs aimed at reducing the impact of shipping on the southern residents.

Vessels travelling through the Strait of Juan de Fuca have been asked to shift their route as far south as possible within the shipping lane to create more distance between the ships and foraging areas.

In its fourth year, Enhancing Cetacean Habitat and Observation is a voluntary program in which ships are asked to reduce their speed through the Haro Strait to reduce underwater noise.

Underwater microphones installed in the Haro Strait found that noise created by slower vessels was “significantly” reduced, by about 6 to 11 decibels.

“We asked vessels to slow down to 11 knots,” said Carrie Brown, the port’s director of environmental programs. “We’ve had 87 per cent participation by ships in the current slowdown period.”

The program doesn’t have a specific threshold or goal for the level of underwater noise; instead it operates on the notion that any reduction in noise will be of benefit.

American authorities are considering dramatic action to improve chinook stocks and there is real public pressure to demolish four Lower Snake River dams.

Washington Governor Jay Inlee’s Southern Resident Killer Whale Recovery Task Force has just released draft recommendations that include expanding hatchery programs, real-time orca monitoring to close active fisheries when the southern residents are in the area and removing barriers from a river system that has 14 hydroelectric dams.

After the removal of a dam on the Elwha River in 2014, chinook are returning to spawning areas above the former dam site, according to the Klallam Nation.

A massive increase in local populations of harbour seals and sea lions is also contributing to prey scarcity, because they also selectively eat chinook, according to recent research published by the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.

The report also contemplates “management actions” to control the number of harbour seals in Puget Sound. Earlier this summer, the U.S. federal government authorized a cull of sea lions in the Columbia River.

“If we don’t increase the availability of chinook and lessen the toxic load in the chinook population then we are watching (the southern residents) vanish,” said Leiren-Young.

[koszmar-zycie]

Hope Against Hope

(This is just a one-off mini-fanfic I had slam into my head, regarding my two mains; Forsaken Warlock Koszmar, and Death Knight Rahab Icetide)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The halls of the building used as a base of operations for the small Horde-based guild known as the Phoenix Accord sat almost entirely empty, dim candlelight from towering candelabras and hanging lamps gave a mild and soft illumination to an otherwise unlit quarters. Heavy footfalls from metal plated boots echoed. The Death Knight, usually firmly entrenched with his brethren in Acherus, had returned to the guild hall.

Sitting against the wall, though squarely in the center, the Warlock Koszmar wrote notes on a sheet of parchment. Rahab Icetide crossed through the room, avoiding chairs and tables, and ultimately standing nearby to the Forsaken. The irony that they two should be the only ones in the hall was not lost on him. Koszmar did not know their past, and Rahab intended to keep things that way. Instead, the Death Knight pulled a chair from the table, and set it against the wall beside Koszmar, though away by a small handful of feet.

Acknowledging the Sin’dorei with a nod and raise of the brow, the Warlock continued writing. “You’re out of the Ebon Hold, I see. Good to see you around. As if our tiny crew weren’t sparse enough, these recent events have certainly drawn the life out of this place.” Ko considered his words, gave a smile of genuine amusement at the irony, and then shook his head once before continuing to write while talking to the Knight. “In a manner of speaking.”

Rahab folded his arms. The Knight wore nearly all his armor, though the helmet was missing, allowing long, inky blue hair to cascade around his ears. There was a sigh from the armored elf. “It’s not surprising, is it?” He spoke, his blue eyes flickering with red now and again. “That’s what everyone here signed up for, right? Aiding the victims of war, regardless of who or what the cause. Congratulations on the promotion, by the way.” Rahab’s words were sincere. He felt a kinship for the group, but could not give the sort of dedication and time that someone like Koszmar could.

“Thank you.” Ko answered simply. A short period of silence hung between them, before Koszmar spoke up again. “So, I imagine that it would need to be asked sooner or later.”

Rahab’s face remained stoic and unchanged, but his eyes turned to look at the Warlock. 

Koszmar continued, “About this ‘new war’. What is your take on it all?”

The Death Knight’s folded arms loosened, and a hand reached for his head. “To be honest, Zycie, I don’t think that any more talk of politics is wise.” Fingerless gloves set a massive, smooth axe against the nearby stone wall, axe head on the floor, with the grip pointing upwards at a painting of Silvermoon city. Koszmar set his handcrafted Lordaeron-made pen down on the table, and sat upright in his chair. “But surely that is why you’re here, isn’t it? What brings you down from Acherus? I can’t imagine it’s the conversation.” The undead ended with a self-directed dismissal at his own social amicability.

“Perhaps.” Rahab answered quietly, eyebrows narrowed but the slightly degree, and the lines defining his cheeks, nose, and mouth turned in such a minor way that most would hardly notice the change. “What about you? What do you feel towards your faction? Your Warchief?” Koszmar frowned, and crossed his own arms in turn. Rahab’s head now turned to face his comrade. The warlock had clearly pondered for a moment, but began to reply carefully. “I will follow our leaders, within reason. I suppose what the Dark Lady has said has some ugly truth to it. Even though I detest the burning, we will always be prey to the bigoted views of far too many of the Alliance. I don’t agree, but at the same time, how can we allow ourselves to disappear?”

Rahab’s eyes conveyed more emotion than intended, and he held a respect for the Warlock’s thoughts. The two had never been friends, and while only Rahab could recall their long buried history, he had always stayed clear of the Forsaken while in their shared hall. “And what of the Alliance? While it’s true that their opinion of many of our joint races are based purely on bigoted bias and ancient misplaced faults… do the Kal’dorei deserve extinction? Do the Dwarves? Or the people you came from under Stormwind’s banner?”

Koszmar stood with a speed that belied his mildly decayed form. A hand planted on the table, not with force, but with statement. “Of course not! That is why I said that I did not feel that the burning was appropriate. Surely there were other-“

“Other ways? Other options?” Rahab stood in turn, although his motion was fluid, and militaristic. “Do you truly not understand, Warlock?”

Koszmar’s eyes narrowed. What was the Death Knight trying to say? The Sin’dorei walked forward, and planted a heavy, midnight clad arm forward, gripping the Warlock’s shoulder in a firmness that intended to convey reason, but also held something else. Support? Sympathy?

“Don’t you see?” Rahab spoke, his words carrying a gentle sound of melancholy on it’s breath as he released his grip. “We’re the same. Not you and I. The Alliance and Horde. Haven’t you seen how both factions rally? Many roil with disgust and hatred at the actions that have been carried out. Of course not all Horde citizens approve of the burning of Teldrassil. Do you think for one minute that every… last… human agreed with the Orc internment camps? Do you believe that every single Alliance citizen supported Greymane sacrificing his own people to try and kill Windrunner in Stormheim?”

The Death Knight turned away for a moment, looking at the flickering flames of the nearest candelabra. “Did you know that long ago, Proudmoore herself argued to Varian Wrynn that the Forsaken be taken back into the Alliance? Did you know that she defended Sylvanas and the Forsaken? And Wrynn turned your people away.” Rahab’s eyes noticed that this caught Koszmar’s attention. “Ah. Now you understand. Unfortunately, despite all the talk of truces and peace, nobody wants to admit it.”

Koszmar sat back down in his chair, and stared down at the list of names and resources that he had been carefully cataloging. A sort of inventory of people and resources that might be used to give relief to those on both sides of the war. Their little group was Horde-based, but they did their best to play the role of aid for any who might need it. The Death Knight lowered his head, before standing before the Forsaken Warlock.

“And that admission that everyone wants to avoid, is that we’re all the same. It doesn’t matter what banner we live under. Everyone wants to survive, and everyone blames their enemy colors with an undying rage and blind fervor. They refuse to acknowledge the wrongdoing of their own people and governments, while trying to play the noble little hero who loves all.” The words came out harshly, but not mockingly. They were genuine and heartfelt, if not accompanied by a worrying tone of surrender.

“What of you?” Koszmar asked again. “You still haven’t told me your opinion.”

Rahab once again sighed, planting his hand on the armored straps along his waist and hips. “There’s a reason I stay in Acherus, Koszmar.” He allowed a fingerless gloved hand to reach below the neck of his chest plate, and draw out a pendant with the leather cord it was attached to. A cracked, dull Sin’dorei crest hung at the end. it was very aged, but clearly important to the knight. “I will always live for my people. The Sin’dorei people are my heart. But this war? All this outrage? it’s a tired old game that everyone is far too keen to repeat over and over. It doesn’t matter how many kindnesses you show. The other side will always find, embellish, or fabricate faults so that they can eliminate their enemy and be the victors through bloodshed.”

“If you really must know, then the truth is that I have lost my love for the Horde and the Alliance both.” Rahab’s words echoed with a strange fluctuating tenor. “I stay in Acherus with my Death Knight brothers and sisters, because I do not believe that Azeroth can be saved. The Alliance in it’s self-righteous delusion has damned itself to blind slaughter of it’s own, just as much as to the Horde. No differently than the Horde has allowed itself to pretend that it’s confederation of desperate races is anything but a coalition to ensure survival in it’s attempts to violently wrench the land from the Alliance.”

An equally troubled and heavy breath emerged from the Death Knight’s lips. Koszmar could hear it this time, whether Rahab had intended it or not. Rahab’s voice sounded heavy with concession. “You are brave to believe that there is a chance that this world can be saved, my friend. But I do not believe it so. We never needed a Burning Legion to destroy Azeroth. We only needed time.”

Rahab lifted his axe from the wall, and slung it in to the weapon-frog that kept it mounted on his back. His armored footsteps carried him to the front doorway, slowly and somberly. Koszmar could not find words. Just as Koszmar believed that there might one day be peace, it seemed that Rahab had resigned the world to oblivion in a sort of depressive fatalism. His head turned, and for a moment the ice blue eyes lingered on the Forsaken. It seemed as though he was about to speak, but instead he turned away and shut the door gently, leaving Koszmar alone in the hall with only his list and his thoughts.

[minrcrafter]

SavvyTech RP [Modded] {Factions} {1.12.2} {Serious Roleplay}

Overview:

(Mods remove if this isn't allowed)

Savvytech, the working in-dev name, is the combination of a community-written curated lore, Semi-serious post-apocalyptic role-play environment and a 1.12.2 mod-pack, all functioning under the same name. Focusing on tech-based mods with a sub-theme of large-scale combat and industry, we are just opening to the wider public now from our test groups and are seeking to expand the player-base through advertisements on several forums, with staff more than eager to answer any questions available. We are by no means a professional team, like those operating for several years without major issue, but we are a passionate one, and I personally emphasize a community-staff communication and relationship above all else, building our foundation on a strong open-communique between any players and staff. If i had to capture the essence of what makes our focus unique, its the following adage, which i try to run all facets of the community on.

"The player has an equal if not inferior obligation to uphold and maintain the rules and regulations of the community to the staff/administrator/owner, who has the superior obligation to ensure that the services provided are satisfactory to the player, and available sufficiently to the community."

​

Disclaimer: To this effect the server, discord and community are all run strictly along guidelines which are consistent with the Mojang EULA, Curseforge guidelines and an active staff team who consistently ensure that the community remains free of any toxicity, uninterested parties and otherwise players detrimental to the experience/community.

Role-play:

I personally come from many years of DND campaigns and 'serious' Minecraft RP servers, and this can be seen in my tendency to write in-depth lore, character applications and the general seriousness of tones in the Roleplay context. However this isn't so necessarily enforced, and light-RP is the general norm among players. Both the discord forum and the server are open to those wanting to RP , within the relevant channels on the former, however it isn't forced in gameplay or the discord.

​

Setting:

The year is 2319, almost 300 years into our future and man kind has been blasted by a catastrophic

thermonuclear event. The present takes place almost 80 years after the bombs fell, proceeding waves of bio-weapons, radioactive release and toxic decay. The world we knew is gone, but there is a hope... Mankind left the seeds to its rekindling in many places, hoping that with redundancy would be an assured immortality by design. The nature of conflict however, is that it is not always so rational, or intermittent. From the sky drop great iron men, the scions heralding the return of the long dead gods of science and logic, upon the ground, and indeed beneath it are the twisted remnants of a society leveled by atomic fire and contorted in the death-throes of a radioactive contagion - Mutants. On foreign worlds, civil wars and similar apocryphal endings have met the seeds of man, and we know look on to the final moments of an interplanetary golden age, will humanity fall that final step into the abyss, or will they grasp onto a thread, and pull themselves once more from this grimdark into the light again?

With a standing Wiki, and over 20'000 words in curated and canonized lore, the focus extends beyond the will of the writers with an open submissions system, adapting and canonizing elements suggested by the community, with such extensively written branches of lore as a race of sentient mutant Mermen in the pacific ocean, the 'city of blood' - housing ancient cybernetic vampires, Cosmic entities of unimaginable power stemming from an energy rift in what was the UK, and thousands of words of adopted lore regarding factions of player design and import.

The Fundamental focus of the server and story-line and arc is the factions emergent in this post-apocalpse world, with a total of 6 'canon' spots for factions, four of which have been successfully written and filled with submissions open for the final two, these factions will dictate the precise nature of the story arc and themes presented with the emergent politics and their reactions to various events and developments in the global arc, the story is for the most part, written by the players. Currently the following factions have entered the fray :

​

The Ghost Legion:

A remnant of something once greater, this neo-soviet empire of space stations and vessels in orbit around earth has begun landfall in the hopes of recapturing their mother planet, they come with the iron will and singular focus of the red nation, and intend to subjugate all of man in an attempt to bring us back from extinction.

​

The Collective of Mercurial Researchers:

A desperate escape, a city of genius's and prodigies and a battered stripped-down cruiser hull, these are the base elements, what remains is the story to be told. The CMR are the survivors of the Prometheus Research base who made it back on a last ditch decades-long attempt to escape their slowly frying research station. Many expired on the journey hope, their ship systems slowly failing and causing power outages in cryopod life support, but those that did make landfall intend to rebuild with the democratic vision of the pre-bombing world, combining a drone security force and data cores housing schematics for thousands of experimental designs.

​

The Hive-Mind:

A collective of sentient robots living in the converted remains of an underground city-made-bunker, they live a benignly-racist isolation from their creators, following their logic-dictated religion of Alpha-Binary Stationlism, they hoard knowledge and artifacts, trading with any outsider willing to do business, but have thus far been spared of attack because of a cultured bacterial contagion which infects their surrounding region. It absorbs thermal energy exponentially and used it to reproduce, cocooning kinetic projectiles with a spongy exterior and dissipating energy discharges. It also is fatal to many breathing organisms, growing inside their longs as it slowly absorbs and lowers the internal body temperature.

​

The IAAF (Imperial Autocratic Australian Federation ) :

Once a series of military bunkers, the federation is the military heavy-weight of the remaining Terran peoples, forging a war-machine from advanced mechanized walkers and artillery, and boasting several distinct pan-Asian conquests outwards, they are not to be trifled with. Despite this, their soviet tendencies and imperial rule have caused a cultural and somewhat technological decline, resulting in a reliance on analogue, but inferior technologies to more forward-looking peoples.

​

Important Information:

The Discord server containing most important information, rules , lore and communication channels :

https://discord.gg/BwqNhvx

The Server IP :

Play.retg.net:27747

The Technic Mod-pack Link :

https://www.technicpack.net/modpack/savvytech-alpha-test.1272875

​

State of Development:

The server and mod-pack are both in an Open Beta, pending official release with the canon map, however steps will be take to ensure any bases, items etc are not lost in the transfer over, so as to provide a continuity of play. The lore is being openly written and expanded on, and the staff team has available vacancies, although i'll only accept applications on discord via a DM. As of the moment, the official release will also see the finalization of all canon factions, and the implementation of the main story line, right now, the story is entirely emergent to the actions of factions and the individuals of said factions. Modpack updates occur on a nearly monthly basis, consolidating major changes over having continuous, minor updates.

IF you any have questions, feel free to hop on discord and ask :D

Whilst i understand this isn't strictly FeedtheBeast, the modpack and practices of the community are completely compliant to the stipulations of FTB, as far as i'm aware anyway, and in the future i intend to port this modded pack to either FTB or Twitch, or both dependent on where i'm at , at the time.

Thanks for Your time ladies , gentlemen and non-binary individuals,

Sincerely, Blockaxe333

[sketchiedetails]

I started a write-up of Darling in the FranXX a while back and I left off just before talking about the relationship between humans and klaxosaurs. I wanna go in depth about that and compare the parasite squads.

The big twist in Darling in the FranXX is that the klaxosaurs were the original inhabitants of the planet and they become a foil for the human race. Both of their histories fall into the same trajectory and it’s another element of the show that reminds me of NieR’s story telling, where opposing factions initially appear to have nothing in common but as the story develops it reveals that they have a deeper connection than previously shown and the overall tragedy in the conflict is both’s party’s failure to acknowledge and re-establish this connection.

Parallels and foils are a recurring theme in the show, and it’s more apparent when you compare Squad 13 to the rest of the parasite units. From the beginning, the show establishes that Squad 13 is an unorthodox unit and a pet project for Dr. Franxx where he subjects them to situations and stresses that other squads wouldn’t have to experience. The first group that Squad 13 meets in the show is Squad 26, a group similar to 13 but revealed to have less privileges and it’s expressed most obviously in how their Franxx units look more mass-produced and show less personality. While Squad 13 looks like they live in a gilded cage, Squad 26 has suffered losses due to klaxosaur attacks and even from negligence on Zero Two’s part in a past mission. During the assault at the Grand Crevasse, Squad 26′s plantation had been destroyed and they were commanded by Papa himself to self destruct their units in order to thin out the klaxosaur horde help out the rest of the parasite units. They’re very clearly jobbers for Squad 13, and a reminder that they’re considered nothing more than bodies to be thrown at the enemy.

The other group Squad 13 encounters in the show is the Nines unit, a special parasite force where Zero Two originally belonged and they share the same red pilot suit Zero Two originally had before she had been officially accepted as part of Squad 13. Compared to the mundane feeling Squad 26 evoked, the Nines feel like an elite unit and the members of the squad carry that air of superiority among the other pilots. They’re also shown to do things other squads can’t, like have male pistils and they sprout horns when they synchronize that resemble Zero Two’s. They’re revealed to be clones of Zero Two, who is a clone herself of the Klaxosaur Princess, the last survivor of the klaxo race.

In the beginning the Nines are presented as almost a boss squad to Squad 13, a group of antagonists that they will eventually have to face. But the eleventh hour reveal that Papa and another subordinate were actually part of the alien race that fought the klaxos eons ago and that they had worked their way into humanity’s influence to groom them to face a similar fate throws all of those expectations out the window. The Nines are in the same state of abandonment that Squad 13 and the rest of the parasites faced. Everything they were taught to believe had been a lie and now they had to look to themselves if they wanted to survive.

It turned out that Dr. Franxx’s social experiments on Squad 13 helped them become more self-reliant than the other parasites and gave them the ability to learn how to maintain their livelihood and teach the other parasites so that they could save humanity from the brink of extinction. The early parts of the show where the kids were shown to interact with one another in a way that other people in the setting couldn’t paid off in the end when they all took part in reteaching society about agriculture and re-establishing family units. The Nines literally couldn’t function without the amenities APE had given them, and in the end decided to fight one more time in order to help Squad 13 reach Strelizia Apath.

I think it’s important to point out that Squad 13 doesn’t save humanity by taking down the establishment, but by actually doing things to ensure the survival of the human race. They look for the remaining parasites who were missing in action and revive them from their suspended animation, they teach the rest of the parasites how to be self-sufficient and bring order back to society without relying on thermal energy which almost killed the planet. Even the notion of that eventual fight with the Nines dissipates when it’s made clear that there’s no longer any need to look to Papa and APE for guidance and approval, since it’s heavily implied that the tension between parasite units stems from some twisted version of sibling rivalry.

I think it’s also interesting that Mistelheinn, the gilded cage that housed Squad 13, is instrumental in restoring the planet’s ecology. It had been closed off from the barren wasteland of the planet but its role has been redefined as a Garden of Eden that will eventually spread and give new life to the planet.

I like Darling in the Franxx not so much for the romance angle*, because Hiro and Zero Two’s relationship is solidified by the end of the Grand Crevasse arc and it’s mostly just on cruise control up until the end of the series, but because of its core theme that it’s important for people to establish strong social bonds with one another, be it friendship, camaraderie, or love in order to keep going.

Also, it’s super important to keep on fucking so that humanity perseveres.

*Surprisingly, the darkhorse relationship of the show was indeed Kokoro/Mitsuru, and it’s one of the strongest examples of the show’s core theme of having strong bonds from the most unexpected couple. I have some issues with how they were treated by APE, but I might go into detail about that in a later post.

[swordoforion]

Orion Digest №22 — Eco-Socialist Federation: Colonies

It’s been many years, and we have managed to keep population and economic growth within manageable enough levels that the human race did not go extinct. We’ve put resources and focus into research into how to both keep this planet alive, as well as how to reach others, and one day, we crack the code. We send a ship full of colonists out to a new planet, with the right conditions to develop a new civilization full of people, waiting to explore their new home, and humanity’s backup in case Earth ever meets its end. But as one problem is solved, another is created — how does our future federation handle space colonies politically?

In the past few centuries, colonialism has often resulted in inevitable revolution or abdication of the territory, as we have realized the inherent immorality in one nation domineering over another people without granting them the same measure of authority and representation. Large superpowers have maintained their connected stretches of land, but the tendency of a nation to retain territory separated by hundreds (or even thousands) of miles has decreased due to the logistical difficulty in management and coordination. Though the advent of the Internet has made communication easier across the globe, when looking at interplanetary or even interstellar distances, the time it would take signals to travel would extend days, weeks, months, even years, intensifying the issues colonialism brings about.

A world federation that already has to manage Earth likely would find great difficulty in repeating that job across multiple planets — the more you expand a nation, especially when communication is an issue, the more unstable it becomes. If the needs of people within your nation are not met due to resources and attention being stretched thin, they may secede and focus on their own problems, ripping a federation apart. New lands, far from our own world, would be incredibly difficult to govern from Earth in peacetime, and if crime or revolution were to break out, policing or waging war would consume more resources than it would be worth, especially as potential interstellar colonies would potentially stretch journeys into the decades. (Current estimates put our fastest ships that we could produce as taking many years to make it to other star systems; while the possibility of finding a way to circumvent our limitations is something to keep within consideration, this hypothetical scenario deals with a time before the Federation developed anything close to Faster-Than-Light travel.)

However, this does not mean the creation of colonies in space is worthless — on the contrary, exploring the stars is the next step in human innovation. Even with difficulties in the way, the distance and effort required to discover new worlds is simply the next obstacle we must face as a species, in the same way that uniting our world proves an issue now. From a practical perspective, the acquisition of new territory means that we can acquire new resources for Earth’s economy without the difficulties of conventional imperialism — before, expanding a nation’s territory was an issue because of the existence of other nations; the two had to fight to maintain their property. Now, as far as we know, the rest of the universe is an empty frontier, free for respectful use.

But whether or not we can actually use those resources for a federation of Earth is questionable, given the issues laid out above. The travel to and from a colony planet will be expensive and will require ample time for transportation, to speak nothing of the balance between carrying capacity and speed. The space between Earth and the colony would make the harvesting of resources difficult both practically and ethically, as the colonists would have little reason to become workers for a faraway nation, especially given they have other problems to deal with. In the midst of starting a new civilization on an empty planet, having to put aside resources for transportation back to a different world could seem illogical to people trying to use those resources to live.

If there exists a surplus of resources beyond the scope of a colony’s needs, it could be used as a means of trade with Earth, because while currency and payment from the Federation would have little use, practical goods used as barter would be immensely valuable on a frontier planet. Machinery and technological advancements would be well worth the quota of raw resources, and thus, a trade between planets could be established, with the colony becoming it’s own separate entity, and the Federation focusing on Earth. In the beginning, after Federation colony ships are sent out to new planets and the seeds for civilization are sown, this could work out to ensure that Earth still received enough influx of resources to maintain its economic growth.

From a political point of view, independence would serve a colony well in its early stages of growth. While the Federation would develop and send out the original mission, they could be sent to live not under the command of Federal jurisdiction, but simply under a trade charter on the other planet, provided with a investment of resources sufficient enough to set up civilization and begin harvesting the resources, if possible, of another planet, and trading back with Earth once the foundation is established. Until the point at which the colony is capable of producing more than it needs, it can send surplus back to Earth in exchange for technological aid and benefit, and would at this point act as its own, independent state, as disrupting the trade would hardly be in the interest of Earth, nor in the interest of the colony while it relied on Earth-built technology. The Federation’s tenets of democracy and equality, as well as overall structure could be replicated by the colonists of the state, making every colony a miniature replica of the original nation.

However, the phase of societal development where the colony will rely on Earth to produce machinery will not last forever, and there may be a point at which the colony stands nothing to gain in trade with Earth, while Earth would still stand to gain from trade with the colony. This would not mean an automatic shut-off of trade, but the option would be there, and from then on, we’d be back at square one in terms of separation of nations. When we are in the dependence phase, it is less of a risk, but when a colony is truly independent and self sufficient, how does a Federation morally manage the situation?

As our capability to travel large distances increases, so will potential contact between both colonies and Earth, and we could see history begin to repeat itself if the lessons of today do not stick tomorrow. An increase in mobility could spell the formation of a Galactic Federation, or it could spell a new era of war. On the other hand, if our capability to travel the stars remains forever limited by the speed of light, the physical distance will mean that we rarely come into contact with other colonies, and therefore, conflict could easily be avoided, as there would be little point. Any changes made through violence could not be enforced, if violence was possible in the first place. However, at any rate, we must always seek peace, and while we must honor the sovereignty of planetary colonies, we should strive for unity and democracy whenever possible.

History tells us a cautionary tale of what happens when we use other people in other lands like resources. While maintaining democracy as our world expands is crucial, the flipside to being united is to also ensure everyone’s needs are met, everyone’s opinions are heard. Space colonies could provide the promise of new resources, but we must remember that they don’t come for free, not when we rely on others. Equity and diplomacy will always be necessary, even in the far reaches of space and the future.

- DKTC FL