#earth expedition

[cockroachesunite]

world’s saddest, sickest owl

[irenydraws]

drew this a few years ago for use as a christmas card! just your average fiskeboller dinner aboard the sy belgica

inspired by this photo of the lads: (x)

[the-golden-vanity]

RIP Belgica crew, if you knew what fanfiction writers were doing to the Terror and Erebus crews, you'd probably be jealous.

[gaesnek]

okay okay okay so i haven't been tism about this yet (publicly) but like i really need people to hear about this

for ages scientists have been trying to drill into the mantle with things like the kola super-deep bore hole and just a few days ago... they still haven't.

BUT THEY DID HARVEST ROCK FROM IT AND THIS IS WHERE IT GETS COOL!

Geologists managed to extract a kilometer long core sample of mantle rock through the Atlantis Massif and a "tectonic window" which basically means mantle rock was pushed up into the crust by tectonic shifting and got close enough to the surface seafloor that they were able to use a bore drill to harvest samples

now the reason that this is a major breakthrough for geology (and i would use all caps but i don't want to scare some of my mutuals away from this) is that this KILOMETER long sample could potentially change a lot of the things we know about plate tectonics, magma convection currents, earthquakes (falls under plate tectonics but important enough to get it's own mention), and geology in general.

What they find from analyzing the sample might change what you learn in school and that is any scientists DREAM

I am actually shaking bc of how exciting this is and i need everyone around me to be doing the same

[madlyfluffy]

Do you guys liek my toploaders

[wingedtrumpet]

2024 off to a good start (arctic expedition hyperfixation in full swing)

[butchsaint]

jfj is never beating the allegations

[kitsoa]

The Dystopia That Made Trigun

Ya'll the problem with Triguns insanely long speculative sci-fi timeline is the conundrum of trying to imagine exactly how a dystopian Earth could get so bad that massive amounts of folks needed to yeet themselves blindly into space, but could become so advanced that they single-handedly solve the energy crisis and maybe confirm the existence of god at the same time.

I am not a very skilled dystopia engineer, and there are a lot of flavors but I'd like to think the revolution of Plants on Earth has the potential to alleviate a lot of the aggregators in a full (or seemingly imminent) societal collapse. I'm struggling to work ahead of late-stage capitalism doomer scenarios right now which maybe puts me at a century out. I'm placing Trigun's timeline at 5 centuries out, But the tech advancement can pause at like 3 centuries in since 2 of those are used for space travel before the Big Fall.

So let's hash this out together

Here's what advancements Project Seeds needs to launch:

bioengineering (prosthetics and augmentations)

cloning and gene editing capabilities

cryosleep technology

advanced space travel

gravity control

supercomputing

Here's the rough and estimated environmental factors to cause them to leave Earth:

Resource scarcity

Environmental decline (like global warming and loss of land, and mass extinction)

[speculative] imminent doom from societal factors [like nuclear war and geopolitical unrest]

We know based on the society formed on No Man's Land that capitalism is probably the most familiar and default system used by the immigrants. So we can assume that Project Seeds was created with wealthy benefactors at the helm not only looking for salvation but probably power and influence (cause capitalism gonna a capitalism)-- a true colonial expansion echo despite the optimism.

The Seeds Project strikes me as unaffiliated with a specific country or culture. JuLai and some of the ambiguous ethnicities and lingering languages suggest that it's multi-cultural with English being the primary influence. So it's not a state-sponsored project, but very likely independent-- another point to the wealthy benefactor line of thought. Despite that, those shuttles alone took decades to construct and governmental cooperation to launch so it couldn't have been a completely apolitical endeavor.

Then there's the population. The project's reach is insane, not just in talent, but passenger interest. I'm assuming children were not on board, so you are talking about countless able-bodied adults abandoning their lives knowingly for the promise of a better world. The environmental factors aside, the prep-time for the project had to have been decades in the making. That's a long time to keep the propaganda circling for the promise of better. That kind of interest fades as people age into different stages of life. (Depending on the scenarios we could be looking at a mass draft? Unlikely but very interesting). We know that the survivors of the Big Fall were not specifically tailored to create a society without the comforts they were bringing along or the government of No Man's Land would look a little more stable.

So, what kind of society could form such a vast space immigration project while simultaneously on the verge of collapse?

Well, a desperate one.

The logic follows that as the resources grow scarce and the inequality gaps create vast populations of suffering among disenfranchised people-- fascism rises, which broadly stymies innovation. It's a real roadblock to this scenario. So the jumpstart out of this would be either war or a scientific breakthrough-- or both. There's always going to be interest and innovation in DNA science as a part of the medical field. Even in heavy capitalism that is going to get a lot of money thrown at it. The only thing needed to create Plants is large leaps in gene editing and cloning.

I'll throw out a number, 50 years. We've got cloning and Jurassic Park stuff. Then boom. Angel Mummy discovery. Scientists create the First Entity. But at the same time, geopolitical tensions ramp up because of the destructive potential of this entity. (I mean the First Entity has the Drain ability, that's black hole powers. We're getting wars). But the Plants are developed off of that and the First Entity is destroyed in the Julai foreshadowing lab accident many years down the line. --We've solved the energy crisis and there is probably a huge boom in advancement-- probably those physic-defying advancements to boot. But we have our militaristic flashpoint in technological prosperity, all while the earth is raining hellfire, the cities are flooding, and mass extinction events are occurring. Enough to get Trillionaires with savior complexes to start making Project Seeds.

Aaaand they are probably funding the countless wars so people join the expedition.

Conclusion: Project Seeds is a corrupt colonial project manipulating the hopeful desperation of a beleaguered population, created by the ultra-wealthy to garner absolute control in a humanity reset.

Good thing Nai crashed the ships!

[clove-pinks]

I'm not done with Edward Couch (although I feel very sorry for his tragic fate). He not only looks like this but writes with the voice of an 1840s Gent in his letters home. He visits Greenland and writes to his parents: "Arrival took place this morning at 3 o’clock & one of the rummest snug little places I ever saw. x x x x x" (He uses tons of Xs in his letters, from the example in May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth).

"Old Franklin is an exceedingly good old chap." And he continues:

In our mess – we live uncommon well – too well almost – we commenced preserved meats & soups etc, a day or two ago & find them very good – in fact every thing is most comfortable – couldn’t be more so. x x x x We shall have plenty of shooting by & bye – when we arrive at our station – jammed in the ice – a regular set of game laws will come out

[astro-pioneer]

teenager in love!

he's absolutely smitten by you. is that bad? 『ace, ruggie』

ace!

an absolute simpleton

he's so giddy whenever he's around you it gives everyone whiplash

grim could be getting the slandering of his life and ace would see you walking and be like !!!! and switch up so fast

he'd leave deuce, grim, and yuu behind just to walk you to class and enjoy the small time together fjdjfjdj

definitely the type to somehow leave class early and wait for you at your class

one day he had a present for you and bashfully admitted the begging he had to do to get it made him have to feed the flamingoes for a month

riddle and trey (mostly trey) feel bad and give him the stuff he asks for with no punishment because 1) every heartslabyul student is now slacking and 2) the grovelling got on riddle's nerves quickly lmao

grim gets pissy whenever ace sits with you during lunch because it's one less person he can steal food from but that's a him problem

"This isn't fair! Who's going to give me more food now!?" It was a miracle most of the students were ignoring Grim's meltdown during lunch. His eyes were drilling holes into the back of Ace's head a few tables away. It was an amazement in of itself that the bread sitting in the monster's mouth wasn't soaked with the dramatic tears streaming down his face. "How dare they take my other supplier away from me!" Deuce and Yuu tried their best to ignore him.

Ace was sweating, holding his sandwich while trying to avoid looking behind him. It was an amusing sight to see; it wasn't every day the cat made the redhead shiver. "If you'd like we could have lunch another day? It seems like your friend doesn't seem fond of us hanging out." Ace whipped around quickly, a mean glare being sent to Grim, who screamed and dove into the magicless prefect's blazer.

Turning back around, he sent you a grin, "Never! Say, how about we also have lunch together tomorrow? Same table? I can bring you a pastry or something! Also don't mind the furball, he's just stupid."

ruggie!

four words: a piece of shit (in leona's eyes)

he has no problem going out of his way to assist you! carrying textbooks? hold the lightest one, he'll take the rest

leona's a hater because he gets ruggie's attitude after he was a literal saint with you

dude practically spends more time with you in your dorm than his own dorm (leona's room and laundry are getting out of control please give him back)

the only time he's not as sweet is when he sees you struggling with something

prepare for a whole bullying session before he swoops in and helps you

definitely would skip away like a buffoon while telling you you don't owe him anything

leona would pay to unwitness that

Leona groaned, trying to tune out Ruggie's complaints about how Crewel is on his ass about trying to get the lion beastman to attend class. Like hey, he's a pretty lazy dude, what do you expect? "Hey, Leona! At least pretend to listen, will ya'?" Leona was thinking about what to make the hyena get him for lunch.

He cracked an eye open after not hearing any nagging in his ear, only to roll and shut it again. Don't get him wrong; he doesn't hate you. His room just needs to be cleaned, is all. He could faintly hear Ruggie's conversation with you, something about test tubes or something.

Hearing footprints tap away on the tiles, he opened his eyes again. Ruggie somehow was able to forget all about his issues with his dorm leader. He rolled over, getting comfortable. He needs to thank you when he sees you later.

[amundsenxcook]

wake up babes incredibly homosexual life and death situation between frederick cook and roald amundsen just dropped

[cockroachesunite]

this is the image in my mind every time i read one of his letters btw

(Terror version)

[irenydraws]

extremely silly belgica pacific rim AU drawn shortly after reading madhouse at the end of the earth for the first time aaallll the way back in early 2022. you can tell it was early days because i was still trying to get the hang of roald and he's way too hot here

'ireny is roald's and fred's jaeger just a cone' yeah it is

guys who are drift compatible: fred and roald, raco and artocho, danco and lecointe

guys who can't drift: melaerts

[mushroom-through-the-stargate]

i love how rodney keeps calling john "kirk" when hes very clearly tom paris

[the-golden-vanity]

I was talking to my dad about antarctic exploration yesterday, and he said that Baron Adrien de Gerlache was the turn-of-the-20th-century equivalent of the OceanGate submarine morons.

I'm not sure how to feel about the fact that he's absolutely not wrong about that.

[madlyfluffy]

Because I’m always adding books to my read list, what are y’all’s favs books ? I’m especially looking for nonfiction

Also what are some like. Good polar exploration books. Looking for more to read on The Belgica expedition ofc, but anything is fair game