#solar airship

[flyingprivate]

Solar Airship One !

Euro Airship reveals Solar Airship One mission: A non-stop world tour flight without fossil fuels!

Airship One will have 80 percent less fuel consumption and CO2 emissions than conventional aircraft.

[thealmightyemprex]

IDEAS FOR DC COMICS X-MEN

Storm: Aina Akinrotimi, aYoruba woman born in Nigéria, is a spiritual daughter and reencarnation of the orisha deities Oiá (Iansã) and Xangô, inheriting their powers to control the thunder, lightning, wind and rain.

Can also spit fire from her mouth.

Has great ability with the sword, the dagger and the double ax.

Is claustrophobic due to having been a prisoner of the Shadow King in her childhood.

Phoenix: An Alaskan born doctor in Psychology and Genetics, airplane pilot,  computer comunications officer and lieutenant of NASA, Madeline Jean Grey Pryor was born a mutant with strong telepathic and telecinetic powers. During a mission in space, the spaceship suffered an accident, and Madeline assumed the pilot duties to save the crew, doing an emergency landing that crossed trough the cosmic rays of a solar storm and falling in the planet Mars. As she recovered, Madeline discovered that the survival of her crew and herself was helped by the fact that a cosmic entity named the Phoenix fused itself with her, enhancing her powers beyond telecinetic control and reading human minds, but also reading the minds of animals and the memories of people contained in inanimate objects, flight, building and transforming objects trough the control of invisible molecules, and healing. Assuming the codiname Phoenix, Madeline started acting independently as a superheroine and political activisit for mutant rights, before joining the X-Men.

Wolverine: The 5'3 tall James Logan Howlett , who prefers to be called Logan, is a mutant with the powers of a fast healing factor, longevity, enchanced senses and bone retractible claws in his knucles born in Canada during the mid 19th century. Veteran of the American Civil War, Crimean War, First and Second World Wars and the Korean War, his longevity prowess in the battlefield made him a target of the High Evolutionary, who captured him to make a subject of his experiments, inserting adamantium to cover his bone claws (but avoiding doing the same to the rest of his skeleton, so as not to slow his healing factor and erase his agility).

Logan escaped before the High Evolutionary could furter experiment on him, living for years as a mercenary spy for the Canadian and British inteligences, until befriending and joining the X-Men, who remind him how fight for something bigger than mere survival: an ideal, to help others find freedom, justice and equality.

Nightcrawler: A kind hearted, romantic and adventurous blue fuzzy, point ears, pointy tailed man, looking like a mix between an elph and a demon, is a circus acrobat, aeriealist and trapeze artist who became the founder and leader of the X-Men. Has teleportation powers, and is a fast and graceful swordsman, who can pilot airplanes and zeppelin airships, acting as the captain of a pirate crew.

Archangel: An Earth born descendant of Tanagarians, kidnapped as a baby and raised by Apocalypse to be his Emissary of Death, a young Angel revolted against his adoptive father when he saw the complexity of human lives and how many people are determined to fight in protecting Earth and its inhabitants (even when many humans act prejudiced and ungrateful against metahumans, mutates, mutants and aliens). Behind the brave and stoic Avenging Archangel, is the adventurous archeologist, history and theology professor Warren Hal Warthington.

Dazzler: A competent, graduation diploma aprooved  lawyer, the passion of Alison Blaire always has been performing. Dreaming of becoming an aclaimed singer and actress, she naively signed a contract to perform in an underground theater.

The performance in question was actually  fighting to the death in a gladiator arena against other mutants for the amusement of rich patrons of the Hellfire Club.

Finding the situation revolting, Alison encouraged and led the other gladiators into a huge revolt.

This was the moment in which she decided to adopt the codiname  Dazzler, both as a feisty superheroine, and as a performer who uses her music both to touch listeners with beauty, and to inspire compassion, solidarity and social change.

Colossus: Born and raised in a collective farm in Soviet Russia, Piotr Rasputin is a tall, strong, yet calm and gentle man, with a great talent for drawing, spinning, weaving and sewing. Has the mutant power to transform his skin into a strong, impenetrable organic armour, similar to metal. Captured by agents of the Hellfire Club to become a gladiator, became a great friend of Dazzler after she helped him and the others to fight back and escape. Is the person who makes the clothes for her to perform on stage, as well as all the X-Men's battle uniforms.

Beast: Found trapped like an animal in a zoo cage and rescued by Phoenix, Henry 'Hank' Philip McCoy, is a mutant with long arms of large hands and long legs of large feet, that make him move with great agility, balance and dexterity, gifted with genius level scientific intelect, a healing factor, enhanced senses, super strenght, fangs, an ability to emit mood altering pheromones, and a body fully covered in thick greyish-blue fur, acompanied by black hair with shades of dark-blue and silver over his head.

Is an athlete experienced in American Football and wrestling, an expert in biology, genetics, chemistry, eletrical and computer engineering, always curious to learn speaking new languages, and a lover of classic literature and the arts.

Showing a light hearted sense of humor, overall prefers to behave in a level headed, diplomatic way ... but knows how to use violence when necessary, and his strenght in combat must not be underestimated.

Banshee: An irish woman who has powers of releasing thundering sonar waves with her scream, originally was a sailor before joining the X-Men. Is a great navigator and cartographer, and the person who gives a home for every X-Men to live, in an old Castle fused to a Lighthouse known as Cassidy Keep, located in County Mayo, Ireland.

Rogue: A young woman who survived hiding in the sewers after her parents rejected her for being a mutant. Has the power to take away other people's memories, abilities, energy and powers with the touch of her skin, along with super strenght and the gift to fly. Slowly learns to trust other people, loose her fears and insecutirities and control her powers with the help of her new friends of the X-Men. Loves trains, collecting and playing with trail models, having dreamed in her childhood of being a condutor, and plays folk, blues and rock music in an acoustic guitar that has written over its surface "This Machine Kills Fascists".

This is awesome

[valistheanshield]

@glxciated sent : [  FINGER  ]  *  my muse starts fingering your muse. Nonverbal sexual situations || Accepting!

While privacy was near non-existent in the Hideaway, at night it became just a slight bit more possible, if one was careful about it. Thus, did Clive seat himself in a chair, situated in the corner of the Solar, out and away from the prying eyes of those who might look within the hole blasted through the side of the airship. He was stripped to his waist, and on his lap, her back to his chest, sat Jill. Similarly disrobed, he was overjoyed to feel her skin against his own, but that wasn't what he focused oh. Instead, he was focused on the warmth of her skin under his hand, those calloused fingers slowly sliding down her stomach as she lay back against him, an arm wrapped around his neck for support while they both watched his fingers slipping beneath the hem of her skirts. His gaze shifted from his hand to her face as his fingers continued to sink lower, watching her expression as his touch finally found its destination, those folds at the apex of her thighs. Slowly, his fingers rubbed circles into her, making sure to hit her clit as well, watching as she slowly began to squirm on his lap as the pleasure began to build. His touch had met her slick from the start, but as he continued to tease her, rubbing at her up and down, circling where he could, her arousal began to soak his fingers. Gently, he moaned her name against her ear, teeth and lips brushing against the shell while his fingers slowly began to curl into her, taking his time until his index and middle fingers were spreading her open. Slowly, he pushed those fingers deeper, deeper and deeper until his knuckles were almost swallowed by her, his palm pressing her clit flat as he made sure she took every bit of those two thick fingers of his. By now, his free arm was around her waist, holding her tight to his chest so that she wouldn't squirm out of his lap, slowly pulling those fingers back from her depths until they were nearly free of her, only to sink back in nice and slow. He was teasing her something fierce, whispering to her how good she looked squirming in pleasure against him, keeping it as quiet as he could while he fingered her, enjoying the sensation of her arousal dripping off his knuckles as he worked her.

[cartoonfanaticmonsterrobotalien]

Sneak Peek to Solar Opposites in Mighty Solars Issue #39: “Danger in Blood”

The Solar Opposites, AISHA and Monica rushes towards their friends and frenemies in concern as they recovers from their fight with Qourra as the portal closes.

Human Terry: Holy shit! What the fuck just happened...?

Human Korvo: I don't know...

Human Jessie: Guys! What the fuck happen to you?! It looks like you guys fucked up for reals?

Human Pupa: Pezlie!

Pezlie: giggling

Nova: trembling in terror I-I-I was afraid th-this would h-happen... Q-Q-Qourra... h-have f-f-f-finally s-s-snapped.....

The Solar Opposites, AISHA and Monica gasp in horror as the Solars transformed back into their normal alien selves.

Yumyulack and Jesse: WHAT?!?

Pupa: gasp as he hugs his siblings

Korvo: We’re so sorry.

Phoebe MacCarthy: That lying traitorous son of a bitch!

Miss Frankie: What do we do now?! She’s too powerful!

Terry: What do you mean?

Montez: Qourra wanted to kill the man who murdered her mother four years ago.

Principal Cooke: We tried to reason with her and Kano but instead…

Kevin: She bloodbend us!

The Solar Opposites gasp in horror by this horrifying revelation.

AISHA: That stubborn teenage son of a bitch! to the Solar Opposites and Monica You Mighty heroes gotta go stop her!

Yumyulack: But she’s too powerful!

Korvo: Not for us! Us Shlorpians can’t be bloodbend because of our own DNA.

Terry: That’s right! We’re easily immune to it!

Jesse: But how do we find her?!

AISHA: I’m on it!

AISHA tracked down Qourra’s location on the airship she has stolen and it reveals her location. At a garden farm.

Korvo: Mighty Solars, time to suit up!

The Solar Opposites and Monica transforms into the Mighty Solars as the humans look on in shock and amazement by their transformation.

Montez: Damn, I had no idea their transformation would look so cool!

Korvo/Qausarblast: But first, we need to build some type of armory for you guys. Something to protect you from the blood bending. But first, we better contact Parker!

Qausarblast gets out his phone and contacts Parker quickly.

[illarian-rambling]

Happy STS!

What are some places in your world have you not really explored yet that you want to expand on in the future?

That's a great question! Short answer, lots of places. I'd love to write a bit in Seluthena, the capital of the siren empire. Sepo talks about it a little, but it's never actually explored on page. I think old Araun would be neat too, even if I'd have to jump back in the timeline quite a while to have anything set there.

Probably the main answer is The Flying City though. I made a lore post about it at some point, but long story short, during the War of Conquest, a city managed to make an airship to take them into orbit to avoid being overtaken by the Republic. They stayed there for a few centuries, perfected their flying magic, then since by that time, everyone of the current generation had been born away from the surface of Illaros, they decided to try their luck in space. They found freedom there, met and banged some aliens, and established themselves as the first interplanetary trade ship with a crew of about 20,000 by the current era. The people of Illaros have largely forgotten The Flying City's place in their history, so they just call them the Cloud People and know them as those weird blue guys who pop in every few years with unique goods for sale. It'd be fun to explore their culture and hodgepodge religion, as well as their comparatively advanced knowledge compared to the rest of Illaros. The folk of the Flying City are perhaps the only mortals in the whole solar wheel who are really aware of what's going on in this one-star universe. I think it'd be awesome to write some sort of expedition traveling past End's blockade while exploring the intersection of alien and Illari cultures blending together in these mercantile nomads.

Thanks for the ask!

[draconic-absurdism]

INTRO TO XORRYADDANS

Xorryaddans, or Xors, are a group of 5 sub-species of alien who evolved as apex predators in various niches on their home-planet. In order: diggers (vok'unek), fighters (ro'riku), gliders (vi'ivivek), jumpers (zi'ijikek), and runners (vaveer)*. Also pictured is a cityscape on their current planet, New Xorrya.

Their ocular organ is set inside their skull above their mouths. Their bones and skin function as one-way glass. This allows them to see almost 360 degrees without moving their heads. When bright light hits their head right, you can vaguely see the outline of their skull and "eye" inside their skin.

*The terms are approximate translations; their language is made up of an incredibly complex set of clicks, chirps, teeth clacks, and other sounds that can be made without a tongue. Humans would not be able to properly pronounce words from their language!

Story under the readmore:

Xorryaddan society quickly industrialized and formed into classes, and capitalist societies drove much of the wildlife to extinction within a few hundred years. Ads lined the streets, and corporations plastered their logos over the night sky. Work was hard, and pay was little. They had to quickly evolve to subsist off of ionizing radiation from nuclear waste, rather than consuming solid food. The greed of the wealthy eventually led to the total collapse of the ecosystem, and eventually, the end of the world.

Hundreds of thousands of workers hijacked billionaires' airships, locating a safe new planet with plenty of radiation to feed on: they called it New Xorrya (pictured), a planet so radioactive that the only other thing living on it were various types of radiotrophic fungi.

New Xorrya is the closest planet to the sun in the same solar system as Daeji and Pyrexia. It's a rotation-locked planet, unbearably hot on the sun-facing side and unbearably cold on the other, so Xors settled on the strip of perpetual twilight. New Xorrya provided an unexpected opportunity to restart and create a new, better society.

Xors continued to develop their technology, but this time without a profit motive. Quick and accessible public transportation between walkable cities. The ability to vote on local issues on secure mobile devices, built to be convenient rather than addictive and ad-filled. Massive housing complexes that are both communal and provide ample private spaces. In-depth storytelling and history lessons told through video games, virtual reality, and technically impressive performances with practical effects.

But they still mourn for their lost world. When called upon, they will assist other worlds in overcoming a capitalist ruling class and saving their ecosystems. They spread the message: we were a rare exception, most of you will not get a second chance. You must protect your planet. All power to the people.

[shadelostwolf]

Song Of The Day Drabble - Title: Clouds

A bit late. Decided to bring my OC Rafe out for a drabble. Also wanted to give him a bit of a preview for a story in the works.

Song: Touch the Sky -by- MALINDA, Conor Hearn, Jamie Sandel

Prompt

AO3 link

Drabble is also under the cut

Title: Clouds

Rafe yawned as he walked out of the cabin of the small cloud skipper that he lived on. He could hear the sounds of the village below him as he walked over to the rope tethering his skipper to the docks. Leaning on the railing, his tail flicked out behind him as he heard people yelling and talking to each other.

The small port sat on one of the many floating islands. The island was small and was mostly for ships to dock and rest or to do small trading. He had stopped the day before to replace the batteries in his engine. They were getting worn and were losing their charge. Something that was needed when he set his ship to coast when he slept at night.

Rafe knew he would have to stop over on one of the larger islands to restock supplies. Food wasn’t low, but he didn’t like to test his luck. He always made sure his food was properly stocked, a habit developed after years of fearing whether he would get a next meal or not. Money was never tight if you knew how to find the right jobs, and his cloud skipper was small, but he always had room to transport someone somewhere or deliver small cargo. It also helped to know the right people who could get him a decent delivery job.

His pointed ear twitched when he heard a sound. Lifting his head, he found a floating food stall. Its extinguished lanterns creaked, and the wind chimes hanging off the small roof gave a gentle sound. A person called out to him, and he lifted his hand in greeting. The stall came closer to let Rafe look at the items on her menu. After selecting his breakfast, he waited as the food was cooked.

The airship was small, but Rafe could make out a well loved kitchen setup as the woman inside quickly cooked his breakfast. He watched with honey colored eyes as clouds slowly drifted around them. His fingers traced the wood grains of his railing. When the woman called out to him, he pulled out money to hand to the woman as he took his box of food. A thank you, and she was moving onto the next docked ship.

Rafe climbed up onto the food of the small cabin to let the sun soak into his already sun warmed golden brown skin. An intricate tattoo on his upper arm and shoulder curled and weaved under his loose tanktop. The image of a shield took up the majority of his upper arm while two wolves made their way down the front of his shoulder to his chest and the other down the back of his shoulder over his shoulder blade. His nails scratched at the back of his neck over a mess of a scar that was at the base of his neck. Whatever had been there had been scratched out, and only hints of a destroyed tattoo could be seen.

Rafe’s fingers quickly opened the box as he watched the bustle of the awakening port. He used his sharp claws to pick at the seal of the honey syrup to pour over the breakfast pies. The wind blew gently as he took large bites to finish his food quickly. Once the box was empty, he tossed it into his cabin and licked the sticky honey from his fingers as he started working on untethering his ship. Once the rope was stored away, he grabbed the pole next to him and shoved it against the dock he was next to. Once he was free of the dock, he set the pole down on its hooks and rushed over to increase the power of the sleeping engines. With a spin of the wheel, he started to turn the ship so he could leave.

Once he was past the larger ships and at a point he didn’t need to worry about running into anyone, he left the engines to coast as he moved over to start raising the main sail. His hands caught the ropes to tie down as the wind caught the only thick cloth sail. He held his hand up as he closed his eye to feel the wind currents before redirecting the sail. Moving over to the solar sails, he used his tail to balance himself as he jumped onto the poles that had extended out of the side of his cloud skipper. He could feel the wind wrap around him in a welcoming hug as he yanked at the ropes keeping the solar sails stored away. Standing, he called out to the wind to help him jump back onto the skipper to fasten the sail to the rungs. He repeated these steps on the other side as the winds started to pick up.

Rafe’s tail twitched in excitement, causing the pale stone to catch in the light. He quickly walked over to grab a harness. He attached it to his waist and around his upper legs over a pair of worn shorts. A quick check made sure if he did fall, nothing tried to catch him in the wrong way. The harness was more of a precaution in the stronger wind storms, but after spending a few years on a cargo ship, it was more habit and comfort than a need.

A northern wind twisted around Rafe as he hummed a song from his childhood. Everyday was a day that Rafe spent letting the wind guide him. To where he didn’t know. Anywhere was better than where he started.

He walked back into his cabin to find his scarf wrap. The tan and brown colored fabric reminded him of his childhood home when he had seen it at a market. It had been handmade, and when he had looked closely, he could see little desert creatures embroidered along the border. To think a scarf would bring him comfort these days. Rafe quickly fastened it to his tank top to keep it from blowing away in the more violent winds.

After making sure it wouldn't fall off, he snagged an old world hat with a worn bill and tugged it down over his brown hair. He climbed out of the cabin to settle in the seat behind the wheel. Rafe tested the wheel, making sure the main sail turned with it. Flipping up some switches to turn on his navigation device Rafe reached for a map sitting in a hanging pocket near him. Unfolding the map, he looked over the thick paper. A pencil was fished out of the pocket. Rafe flicked a checkmark next to the small island that he left. The map was large, but so far, he had been to most of the islands in Ebaron, the northernmost country. Currently, Rafe was near the southern border of the country, but this wind smelled of snow and winter. It’s been a while since he had seen snow. Folding the map, he tucked it back into the pocket with the pencil.

Rafe reached for the controls, he slowly pressed up on the thruster, and with one hand on the wheel, he directed the skipper to follow the direction the wind was pulling it towards.

Rafe had no set path and no set dreams. His old dreams had died with his family back in their desert home. Now he just wandered. Rafe’s only care was to spend the rest of his years free to do as he pleased. So far, he would keep chasing the wind for as long as it would keep directing him. A smile pulled at his lips.

The sky was his freedom, and he refused to go back.

He would fight to keep this life.

[lhs3020b]

An observation concerning the current aliens/UFO craze: it's fascinating that it's popping up right on cue.

What do I mean by that? Simple: popular culture seems to go through a phase with being UFO-obsessed about every 20-25 years. There was, of course, the original outburst in the late '40s/early '50s (fn. 1). There was another big eruption in the late-’60s/early '70s. Then there was the first one I was personally around for, which was the late '90s UFO craze. (Full disclosure: kid!me was obsessed with this stuff.) Looking at the time-pattern here, you'd predict that the next wave would hit sometime around 2021-2024.

Oh. Bingo. Right on cue.

In a way, I find this pattern more interesting than the thing itself. (Honestly? The overwhelming majority sightings really do fall under the categories called "most normies have never heard of the planet Venus" [fn.2] and "actually that was an aircraft", though yes, in fairness there are some more-enigmatic ones like the now-famous US Navy tic-tac-toe footage and so on.) It fascinates me that this pop-culture craze pops up, regularly as clockwork, apparently about once a generation. What are we looking at here, a genuine cohort effect? (Most supposed cohort effects are actually nonsense, when you look closely at real data.) Why, of all things, is there an actual generational thing going on here, of all places?

I have no answers, but I do find this fascinating.

---------

Footnote 1: I'm leaving aside the various bits of possible "prior art" such as the "ghost airship" thing from the 1890s, and the various pre-20th Century accounts that have been suggested as UFO sightings (there's a surprisingly-long pre-history to all this stuff, though obviously all of it falls under the category of "please keep your skeptical hat on" for it).

Also, interestingly, if there was a rolling phenomenon going on, there should have been another burst of it around the mid-1920s, though to my knowledge there’s nothing in that time-period that really fits. Whatever this pattern is, the evidence does seem to suggest that it started around the late ‘40s.

Footnote 2: as an ex-astronomer I really can't wrap my brain around it, but it genuinely does seem to be true that most people have no idea about what's in the night sky, even just the planets of the solar system? Most people have heard the names of the planets at some point and do vaguely-recognise them, but they have no idea at all which object they are in the sky, even though the inner planets are some of the brightest and most-recognisable things up there. Maybe my perspective's an odd one - I guess it is? - but I just find it so weird. Does anyone know anything about anything?

[gmgray]

The Planet of Pyre

Pyre is the pyrean homeworld in Triple Strike, and while the first two books don't go into much detail about it, Pyre will feature more heavily in later books, so I'm using this as an excuse to talk about the planet itself!

The most noteworthy feature of Pyre is that it's tidally locked to the sun it orbits. Since one side always faces the star, while the other side always faces away, both sides are effectively unlivable without biospheres: one too hot and the other too cold. Life thus developed mostly along the strip of the terminator zone between them, and this zone exists in varying states of twilight having no day-night cycle.

Throughout Pyre's history, life (with the exception of extremophile bacteria) was limited to some distance along this strip of land. And given that the planet's water is mostly locked in oceans of ice on the far side, even this terminator zone supports relatively little life -- its primary biomes being desert, steppe, and mountains.

Another feature of Pyre that falls out from this is that relatively little biomass has accumulated over the millenia. Since Pyre never developed fossil fuels like those of Earth, the first several industrial revolutions of Pyre were solar and wind-based -- two resources the planet has in plenty.

A final feature of Pyre is that, while it has higher gravity than Earth, it also has a denser atmosphere. Thus airships and high-altitude balloons were both more prevalent and earlier-to-appear in the recorded history of pyreans than that of humans. Between this early means of travel and communication, the relatively small planetary footprint pyreans could occupy before the development of biospheres, and the pyreans' nomadic tendancies, the tribes of Pyre did not culturally diverge as much as humans did on Earth.

Human xeno-anthropologists speculate that this, along with a lack of natural resources, are part of why the pyreans have no formalized concept of war. That said, skirmishes and raiding were certainly common practice throughout their history, and these activities reaching their bloody peak during what the Merdael call the Dark Times.

[wyrmfedgrave]

Pics:

1. Photo of Nathaniel Ames, the most probable writer of "Symzonia" - at least, according to a computerized literary comparison program.

2 & 3. Covers for reissues of this odd sea adventure, Lost Race & utopian novel.

4. Back cover of 1 of the "Symzonia" reissues.

5. Cross section of this Hollow Earth. This chart is half of Pic # 6, which explains certain particulars on the cross section.

6. The other half of Pic # 5. It notes certain places on the cross section. Even, in 'fact', the angles of light - from the Sun & Moon - that light up this Inner Earth.

1906: The Earth (is) Not Hollow.

Intro: Just 2 years after J.C. Symmes started lecturing upon a Hollow Earth, "Symzonia, A Voyage of Discovery" was printed in 1820. It was supposed to be written by its hero, one Captain Adam Seaborn.

Its true author, however, is still a bit of a mystery. Through a meticulous computerized literary comparison, its most probable writer was found - one Nathaniel Ames.

However, several other authors (like Johnathan Seymour & J.C. Symmes himself) are still in the 'running'...

Author: Nathaniel Ames was the "black sheep" of his prominent family. (His dad turned down the presidency of Harvard.)

Ames said he was too wild for any college. So, he spurned family & fortune to become "Black Bill", a common sailor!

After 12 years at sea, he settled in Providence, R.I. - as a 'mere' merchant & author of 3 books of memoirs - with sketches...

Plot Wise: Adam builds the ultimate steam ship - specifically designed for polar exploration. He also gathers a suitable crew of sailors & scientists.

But, getting there isn't easy.

They face off against a treasonous crewman, nasty weather, food shortages & detailed bouts of sea charting, solar positioning & normal life aboard such a ship.

After visiting several run of the mill islands, they steam right thru the South Pole & into Symzonia.

In this internal continent, they find a # of subterranean animals & people. And, an exchange in cultural satire vs utopian ideals follows.

Adam represents a warlike, greedy & vice-ridden external world. Yet, the wise & peaceful Symzonians educate the Captain on their society.

Their social structure is basically, an extreme form of Marxism!!

Sadly, this is when racism rears its ugly head. These 'perfect' beings are all "alabaster skinned."

But, the external world bears various 'shades' of 'swarthiness!' The Inuit, for example, are sinful outcasts ejected into the icy Northern wastes.

The further you get from this interior world, the darker a person's skin - & the worse their 'habits' get...

Surprisingly, Adam advocates for the abolition of slavery.

Criticism: Some readers found this novel to be a long, boring comparison of a corrupt society vs an utopian one.

Others say this story engages in social satire. Or, that the book is just a silly parody.

Even that it's penned by a true believer is in question. The earnest silliness makes it hard to tell...

The best parts mix fear with the marvels of Symzonia. Such as the "portents of doom":

1. The compass spinning wildly as they pass the Pole.

2. A shipwreck of alien design.

3. An unknown mammoth beast.

4. The Symzonian's airships...

Anyway, Adam soon becomes involved in the Symzonian 'problem' with the Lovecraftian sounding Gnophkehs...

Legacy: It's said that "Symzonia" inspired Edgar Allen Poe to write 2 stories:

1. "Message in a Bottle" &

2. "Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym."

The last of which, in turn, inspired Lovecraft to write "At the Mountains of Madness."

"Symzonia" was reissued around 1979.

Then, Seattle KRAB radio station aired this book's only known adaptation - an 8 part, 4 hour series.

Plus, the New England Quarterly was the 1st to posit Ames as the possible author of "Symzonia."

Finally, the book sank back into literal obscurity. Ames, just like his fictional Captain Adam, died poor & forgotten.

[liam-and-co-ideas-universe]

Mainland oc's Part 2: Liam's Servants

Name: Arthur Chambers

Age: 25

Role: Right hand man

Personality: Loyal, Flirting

Likes: His Lord, Gum

Dislikes: Descending as fast speeds

Weapon: Sword, Gun.

Secret crushes: Liam Bourgeois.

He always had a secret crush on his lord when he was hired, and he proved his strength and loyalty to Liam. He approved of his strength and loyalty. He makes sure that his lord is protected. He had an incident that would cost him his eye. He secretly practices his charm and maintain his looks to one day, try to ask Liam out on a date.

Name: Victor Barker

Age: 30

Role: Pilot

Personality: Charming, flirty

Likes: Arthur Chambers, Letting Liam pilot for a bit

Dislikes: being tied up while piloting.

Weapon: Sword.

Secret crushes: Arthur Chambers

While everyone else thinks that he is a ladies man due to him flirting with a lot of women a lot. It’s not confirmed that he has dated a woman before but to only nurture these skills to be able to date a man instead. Victor has piloted many airships before Liam recruited him. After he was recruited by Liam, he had an romantic interest in Arthur. Sometimes, he lets Liam pilots the airship so that he can have some fun for a bit.

Name: Jaylin Melton

Age: 19

Role: Navigator

Likes: Victor (Friend), Modern technology.

Dislikes: Storms, Solar storms, Power outages, Getting lost.

When Jaylin was younger, he tends to get lost a lot. He holds a compass that would help him navigate his surroundings to help him get back to society before sundown. as the years go by, so does technology. He helps people navigate with the current technology that is currently available. He was then recruited by Liam to help him and Victor navigate Liam’s airship, especially in harsh weather conditions.

Zellova: Liam’s Maid

Orinixia: Liam’s Maid

Zaranarax: Liam’s Bulter

Zarantaran: Liam’s Bulter

[tnc-n3cl]

C, project 47 👀👀👀👀👀

Thanks for the ask!

"Project 47" is the code name for a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid story derived from really, really, really old Final Fantasy/Legend of Zelda crossover ideas I had. Somewhere along the way, I dropped the Zelda stuff and it was pure FF (though I did salvage some ideas for "LoZ: The Realm Walker") and a few years ago I decided to cut the overt FF references from it and spin it off into an original work. Using Hollywood "High Concept" terminology, it's like The Expanse meets Final Fantasy (tones and vibes and aesthetics wise). The idea runs on tropes such as Anachronism Stew, Schizo Tech, Magic A is Magic A, and Minovsky Physics.

This is going to be long so I'm going to put it under the cut. Also here's a link to my DA gallery for Project 47, which contains not only drawings but lore (some of it is also in my "Scraps" folder cause I was going to go back and edit some of it before the Zelda brainrot took over).

So it's set in a fictional star system called the Kerasik System, namely focusing on the third planet Calisku. Calisku is a gas giant twice the size of Jupiter orbiting Kerasik at what would be exactly in between the mean orbital distances of Earth and Mars in relation to our own solar system, or 192,464,437 km. Around Calisku are five moons, two of which are Earth sized and inhabited.

The outermost moon, Taklara is where most of the main cast would be from, while the third moon from the planet (Serov) is where most of the action takes place. One of the nations on Taklara develops an intersystem space craft, named the Korus after one of the local deities (which is in fact an energy being known as a Scion), and sends it off on an eight year, two part mission. Mission A is a long term survey of Serov (think how in Star Trek they send disguised people to pre-Warp civilizations), while Mission B, is a trip to the edge of the solar system to investigate the wreckage of an aerospace ship (fantasy airship tech that can also go into space, like the Korus) that one of their probes detected. Before the probe detected this BTW, it was a five year mission and the ship would be there to support the ground team on Serov, now they're on their own and the three years was to cover the travel time to the edge of the system and back. Ship crew is going to be running on fumes by the time it's all over.

Taklara as at roughly a modern/near-future level of tech, supported by fantasy physics/magitech. The Korus itself is a joint project between the Takara Alliance Air Defense Force (TAADF or AADF) and the Takara Alliance Space Administration (TASA). So it's like if the USAF and NASA built a spaceship together. So there's a military crew operating the ship more or less, while the civilian researchers are in charge of the overall mission.

Serov is tidally locked with Calisku, so one side always faces the planet. This is the "dark side" and they're at a roughly modern level of tech. They don't use magitech much cause Serov's magnetic field interacts with Calisku's magnetic field to interfere with the fantasy physics that govern magic. (Specifically, there's something called aether which can be manipulated by any living being with sufficient intelligence. Not just humans and other sapients, but animals like dolphins and parrots and ravens and maybe even octopus and the like. The most common form is Geomancy, manipulating the physical realm, so a parrot might alter wind currents behind it to knock an attacking hawk off course for example. Humans and Sapients can do Elemancy, which is more like classical magic but lasts only as long as the caster is focusing on the effect (so I guess it's also kinda like sci-fi mind powers, complete with nosebleeds etc. if you do it to long). There's also Blood Magic, which involved manipulating the body, but that's a lost, forbidden art in the time frame I was working on. Healing magic did branch off from it, but it's so difficult to master that experts are rare and so people rely on conventional medicine.

Non-living things don't really interact with aether except for gravity attracting it, and some types of radiation and electromagnetic fields manipulating it. This is how the magitech works.

Anywho, the "day side" of Serov is at a more or less iron age of tech, but one country in particular is advancing shockingly fast. Which is obviously a major plot point. The Serov survey team bumps into one of the locals and is force to reveal their identity because of discoveries leading to an unexpected link between the peoples of Taklara and Serov and artifacts dating back to The Celestial War. The Celestial War being a mytho-historical event in which the Scions fought with another group of energy beings called Gureri, while mortals were stuck in the middle and picked sides fighting for their "gods." Legends say that whole worlds burned, etc. etc. It ended with an armistace between the Scions and Gureri and the mortals were taken from their dead and dying worlds and settled in the Kerasik System (Kerasik translating into "The Light of Hope")

I do have some teasers I was going to post on DA, one of which I took down cause it wasn't what I wanted it to be and the other I just never finished. I'm going to post what little of that bit I wrote, "The Opportunity of a Lifetime."

A Human woman with light skin and black hair wearing a black business suit sits in the back of a car, reading something on a tablet with an open briefcase on the seat next to her.  She has a name tag and picture ID on her suit that reads “Dr. Jiwoo Byon, Takara Alliance Space Administration, Project Lead”.  An inhuman voice, like a parrot mimicking Human speech, breaks her concentration, “We’re almost there.”  She looks up at the source of the voice, the car’s driver, a humanoid bird glancing back at her, an Avestren.  The Avestren has a yellow, eagle-like beak and head, gray feathers on the top of its head and white feathers on its throat.  The gray feathers are a clear sign it is female.  She has green eyes and a stripe of dark blue feathers around the eyes and extending back and running down the sides of her neck, the skin around the eyes are the same color as the stripes.  The Avestren turns her focus back to the road, the steering wheel looking much the same as a regular car, but with acceleration and breaking controls on it.  This is because Avestrens do not sit as Humans do, the chair is but bar on the floor for her to perch on with a backrest and head rest attached.

[valistheanshield]

@carrotsaversion - a plotted starter

Time was often something they did not have. The Hideaway functioned on the clocks of the rest of the world, not the other way around, and yet, today there was no pressing need. No Stolas from an ally requesting aid, no new developments for the Cursebreakers, not even an argument at the Hideaway to pull Clive from his thoughts. That was what he used this unexpected downtime for, to think. To process the events that had led to this point and hopefully to understand them better. And yet, there was one thing that just continued to plague him, and had ever since he had returned from Twinside with his brother, Jill, and Prince Dion.

The moments right before the fall of Drake's Tail, where he and Joshua stood before their mother. Where she had taken her own life rather than take Joshua's offered hand. That memory, that instance, repeating in his head. It was always difficult to watch someone die, but it was worse when that someone was family, and it was done by their own hand. Part of him wanted to dismiss it, it was over and done with, and there were no answers to be had by ruminating on it. She had taken them with her when she died. But another part of him wanted closure, wanted to wrap it up with a bow. And then his thoughts drifted to his brother. They hadn't had a conversation about this yet, despite the weeks it had been, even excluding the time Joshua had needed to recover from the ordeal of Twinside.

"So be it then." Clive muttered to himself, pushing himself up from the desk and to his feet. It was still rather early in the day, but this was likely to eat up what time he had. Footsteps brought him from his Solar to the main hall, and from there Clive took his time meandering about the Hideaway, checking in on those he passed by, at least superficially. His path led him almost all the way around the airship they called home before he caught sight of his brother. Joshua didn't seem busy, thank the Founders, and thus Clive approached, announcing himself by clapping a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Joshua, do you have a minute?" The question came, though he knew full well what he was about to open up would take more than a minute for them to speak on.

"Care for a drink?" A follow-up question before Joshua could even answer the first, intentionally alluding to this taking more than the minute he had asked for. Sure, it was a bit early to drink, he supposed, but it wasn't necessarily uncommon for the Cursebreakers to have a bit of ale by noon, why would Clive restrain himself further? Though, he had to admit his plan was to share a bottle of wine with Joshua while they discussed an admittedly rough topic.

[cartoonfanaticmonsterrobotalien]

Solar Opposites in Mighty Solars Issue #39: “Danger in Blood” Ch. 4

Back at the hospital, Phoebe takes Human Yumyulack, Human Jesse and Human Pupa to the hospital to meet up with their dads.

Human Yumyulack Solar-Opposites: Korvo! Terry!

Human Jesse Solar-Opposites: We heard about what happened! Is Sonya okay?!

Human Terry Solar-Opposites: Yes and kids! We have some wonderful news to tell-

Suddenly, human AISHA shows up.

Human AISHA: GUYS!

Human Korvo Solar-Opposites: AISHA! What’s wrong?!

Human AISHA: We have to get home! Stat!

Later back at the Solar Opposites’ home

Human Korvo Solar-Opposites: looking up at the destination screen Holy shit! What happened to our friends?l

Human AISHA: Quorra happened.

Human Terry Solar-Opposites: What? She did this?…..

Human Terry looks down worried. AISHA then turns back into her Shlorpian form.

Phoebe MacCarthy: AISHA! Quick! Transport them here!

AISHA: On it!

Aisha then transported the Solars’ human friends to their house. The Solar Opposites, AISHA and Monica rushes towards their friends and frenemies in concern as they recovers from their fight with Qourra as the portal closes.

Human Terry: Holy shit! What the fuck just happened...?

Human Korvo: I don't know...

Human Jessie: Guys! What the fuck happen to you?! It looks like you guys fucked up for reals?

Human Pupa: Pezlie!

Pezlie: giggling

Nova: trembling in terror I-I-I was afraid th-this would h-happen... Q-Q-Qourra... h-have f-f-f-finally s-s-snapped.....

The Solar Opposites, AISHA and Monica gasp in horror as the Solars transformed back into their normal alien selves.

Yumyulack and Jesse: WHAT?!?

Pupa: gasp as he hugs his siblings

Korvo: We’re so sorry.

Phoebe MacCarthy: That lying traitorous son of a bitch!

Miss Frankie: What do we do now?! She’s too powerful!

Terry: What do you mean?

Montez: Qourra wanted to kill the man who murdered her mother four years ago.

Principal Cooke: We tried to reason with her and Kano but instead…

Kevin: She bloodbend us!

The Solar Opposites gasp in horror by this horrifying revelation.

AISHA: That stubborn teenage son of a bitch! to the Solar Opposites and Monica You Mighty heroes gotta go stop her!

Yumyulack: But she’s too powerful!

Korvo: Not for us! Us Shlorpians can’t be bloodbend because of our own DNA.

Terry: That’s right! We’re easily immune to it!

Jesse: But how do we find her?!

AISHA: I’m on it!

AISHA tracked down Qourra’s location on the airship she has stolen and it reveals her location. At a garden farm.

Korvo: Mighty Solars, time to suit up!

The Solar Opposites and Monica transforms into the Mighty Solars as the humans look on in shock and amazement by their transformation.

Montez: Damn, I had no idea their transformation would look so cool!

Korvo/Qausarblast: But first, we need to build some type of armory for you guys. Something to protect you from the blood bending. But first, we better contact Parker!

Qausarblast gets out his phone and contacts Parker quickly. Parker picks up the phone.

Parker: Korvo! What is it?!

Human Korvo Solar-Opposites: No time to explain!

Parker gasp and sees Human Korvo as she hangs up the phone. Later, Parker and Human Korvo head inside the restroom to change as Korvo transformed back into his Shlorpian form and then turns into Quasarblast. Parker then turns into Venus Tip.

Parker/Venus Tip: What is going on?

Korvo Solar-Opposites/Quasarblast: Long story! But we must stop Kano and Qourra. suddenly sees a ruined small familiar crest as he picks it up and gasp Oh… my… God…

Parker/Venus Tip: What is it?

Quasarblast shows the family the badge and they gasp.

Jesse Solar-Opposites/Fung-irl: Oh my God… it can’t be…

Yumyulack Solar-Opposites/Vil-Gil-An-T: Impossible. He vanquish last year!

Terry Solar-Opposites/Mighton: Honey?

Korvo Solar-Opposites/Quasarblast: Meet me up there guys!

Mighton is concerned. The scene changes to a shot of the ground where Zander rakes the soil with a trough. Cuts to a side-view shot of a familiar mansion where Zander is tending to his garden. The sky is dark and gray with storm clouds. Brandy walks up to the open door of the house behind him.

Brandy: My, what a lovely garden. Thank you so much Zander.

Zander: No problem.

Brandy: Oh by the way I have a task for you.

Zander: Oh, what is it?

Brandy: The tomato planting is running low. Can you please head down to the marker and get me more seeds.

Zander: Got it. Be right back ma’am. leaves

As soon as Zander leaves, Brandy heads back inside her mansion. Brandy then sits down and sighs. Suddenly, she hears a crash and screams a little upon seeing Kano and Qourra.

Brandy: Hey! You’re not allowed to be here! SECURITY!

Qourra uses her blood bending powers and throws Brandy to the floor as she gasp.

Brandy: What the fuck is happening?!

Qourra: Zander?! WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?!

Brandy gets out her own cane and gets into a defense mode.

Kano: Stand aside! He is the man who killed this girl’s mother. Mrs. Brandy... Qourra has given up on everything. Her dreams, her ambitions, her fears. But she never gave up on finding the man who kill her mom. He only have a few hours left now... but nothing will stop us from seizing Zander’s. Qourra shall have her revenge.

Brandy: I can't let you do that... if you kill that man, that will make feel empty inside. Plus, I don’t think your mother would never have wanted this!

Qourra growls and finally snaps.

Qourra: Do you think I'd be monstrous enough to finally get revenge in the man who took my mom’s life away? This is bullshit! The last four years have been hell for me and you really think that I'm a monster?

Then, Kano walks towards Brandy. She backs off, terrified. He smiles at her compassionately, but suddenly... Kano poisons Brandy as she gasp and falls down in pain. Kano laughs.

Brandy: starts coughing out blood as her skin turns pale What… have you… done…

Quasarblast flies and sees what is happening and gasp. Qausarblast then comes up with a solution as he turns back as Korvo and then into his human form offscreen. Just before Qourra could bloodbend Brandy….

Human Korvo Solar-Opposites: QOURRA! KANO! ENOUGH!

Human Korvo heads inside the mansion as he shuts the door right and furiously in disgust walks towards Kano and Qourra.

Kano: You?!

Human Korvo Solar-Opposites: That’s enough Qourra. You’re a kid and a water bender, not a murderer!

Qourra: But my mother would’ve wanted this!

Human Korvo Solar-Opposites: This isn’t the answer! Revenge is wrong! Kano is just using you!

Kano: Silence! Qourra! Follow Zander! I’ll deal with this smartass prick!

Qourra nods and runs off. Human Korvo removes his hair tie and let his hair down. Human Korvo then gets into a fighting stance as Kano laughs evilly.

Kano: Well, I see you still got the moves… Quasarblast!

Human Korvo gasp in shock.

Human Korvo Solar-Opposites: How do you-

Kano: Oh please. You think I would never forget my old nemesis, who destroy me on the first day you become that stupid fucking hero and disintegrate me?!

Human Korvo Solar-Opposites: Wait. DARKNESS?!

Kano then grabs the badge out of Human Korvo’s suit jacket as he gasp and then Kano transforms into the monster dangerous foe on Earth… Darkness!

Darkness: That’s right! Longtime no see Quasarblast!

Human Korvo growls as his eyes glow.

Human Korvo Solar-Opposites: It’s impossible! I fucking killed you!

Darkness: Sorry but you didn’t! When you became Quasarblast and disintegrate me into ash, I actually become a human and decided to one day get back to you for ruining my chances on conquering Earth. But, then your family and those two girls came along and that’s when I knew I need a better plan!

Human Korvo then gasp as he realizes something.

Human Korvo Solar-Opposites: That’s why you’ve been butting heads and snooping on Qourra, to keep a closer on me and my family!

Darkness: That’s right! And now you will die!

Human Korvo Solar-Opposites: What?! What are you talking about?! What were you really doing with Qourra?!

Darkness: I knew that pathetic fucking brat would still stomach vengeance over losing her stupid mother, so I decided to trick her into finding her mom so I can groom her into a villain like me!

Human Korvo Solar-Opposites: And now you’re turning her into a vengeance-thirsty bloodbending monster! She’s just 14-years old! She’s gonna ruin her life if she kills that guy!

Darkness: I was supposed to be a great ruler! Until, you came along and now your family are superheroes too along with those two young women! Besides, it’s too late! Qourra is going after the man! And there is nothing you can do to stop me!

Human Korvo turns into his Shlorpian form and then into Quasarblast

Korvo Solar-Opposites/Quasarblast: I won’t let do this! This isn’t about Qourra anymore! This is about vengeance! Please! Think about what you are doing that poor girl’s mind! She’s gonna ruin her life! Find another way!

But then, Darkness shoots a tranquilizer dart at Quasarblast who falls down unconscious as he moans.

Darkness: You’re mine now.

Darkness picks up an unconscious Quasarblast as Brandy gasp but keeps coughing and wheezing blood. Meanwhile, the other Mighty Solars arrived with their friends and AISHA, as the humans look surprised to see her for the first time.

Kevin: So, you’re the family’s AI?

AISHA: Pretty much.

Nova: They said you used to be an orb? What happened?

AISHA: Oh Venus Tip happened. She gave me an upgrade after my chip was shattered by Pinball Brat!

Jamie: Oh. Really? What a bitch!

Parker/Venus Tip: Guilty as charged.

Darcy: Well, at least Pinball Brat has been sent to juvie. But, are you sure this is the way AISHA?

AISHA: Yep. Unfortunately, we have no other option.

Janice then sees the heroes and gasp. Then, she went to tell Louise, who is having homemade tomato soup with Stacy G. The mother and daughter gasp as they rush outside but then notices a storm coming.

Louise: What the hell?!

Stacy G: Holy shit! We better find our friends! sees them There they are!

The three women rush over to the Mighty Solars and the rest of their friends as they meet up.

Jesse Solar-Opposites/Fung-irl: Stacy G!

Stacy G: Jesse! hugs her while blushing

Monica Miller/Lightspeed: What are you doing here?!

Louise: Well…

Then, suddenly, a twig was heard that snapped.

Terry Solar-Opposites/Mighton: Hello? Anyone there?

Mighton looks around. Suddenly, a woman approached them slowly in a red-Violet ran coat, then she removes her hood and reveals for it to be none other than the Mighty Solars’ old friend… Cheery Smithers.

Terry Solar-Opposites/Mighton: Cheery?!

Cheery Smithers: Miss me? holding out for a hug

Mighton smiles tearfully. Then, he embraces Cheery as Vil-Gil-An-T, Fung-irl, Mighty Pupa, Starburst and Lightspeed joins in on the hug as the others grow surprised. So did Venus Tip.

Miss Frankie: Cheery form the Emeralddon event?!

Phoebe MacCarthy/Starburst: You have no idea how good it is to see you!

Cheery Smithers: Me too! then notices Jamie, Darcy, Kevin and his family, Stacy G, Louise, Trevor, Janice, Cherie, Pezlie Mia Montez and Nova Oh and are these the rest of your friends besides Frankie, Cooke, Perez, Randall and Sherbet?

Kevin’s Wife: It’s so nice to meet you.

Kevin’s Daughter: Hi Mrs. Cheery!

Cheery Smithers: It’s nice to meet you too.

Terry Solar-Opposites/Mighton: Cheery, what’s going on?

Cheery Smithers: Okay, I want to tell you guys something and you are not gonna like it! I think Kano is a super villain!

Vil-Gil-An-T is confused.

Yumyulack Solar-Opposites/Vil-Gil-An-T: What do you mean?

Cheery sighs.

Cheery Smithers: Last night, I saw Kano making a dark flame that has amounts of bursting energy that is dangerous. It looks like the one the first villain Quasarblast fought, Darkness had.

Mighton gasps.

Terry Solar-Opposites/Mighton: Oh no! That can only mean one thing… Kano is Darkness and that means Darkness is alive! Oh my God!

Mighton starts to have a panic attack. But then calms down after Fung-Irl gives him a daughterly cooldown hug.

Jesse Solar-Opposites/Fung-Irl: Feeling better now Terry? Because I think we need to go help Quasarblast!

Mighton takes a deep breath, and looks determined.

Terry Solar-Opposites/Mighton: Right! Come on guys! Oh and Fung-irl! Vil-Gil-An-T! Mighty Pupa! Pick up Sonya! We need her!

Jesse/Fung-irl: Okay! Come on boys!

Yumyulack Solar-Opposites/Vil-Gil-An-T and Pupa Solar-Opposites/Mighty Pupa: Right!

As the kids run off, the other head into the mansion.

Terry Solar-Opposites/Mighton: Let’s do this baby!

[futuristech-info]

Solar-powered airship will circle the world non-stop without fuel

---

[man-and-atom]

Probably the last new show until August 12th, although I might be able to use the call–in feature while I’m at the beach in Manitoba. Mostly I talk about transport ― filling stations for motorcars versus charging stations for battery–electric cars, hydrogen propulsion for trains or perhaps airships, and especially the remarkable scaling properties of steel wheels on steel rails with overhead–wire electrification.

Direct archive link

Supplementary Show

2023–07–11 Dialing in this time, to check that this should work for ASFO shows while I’m in Canada the next few weeks (I’ll leave the HNtW timeslot for repeats), I finish the Hoyle et al piece from last time, and then read Nuclear Reactions in Stars Without Hydrogen (Astrophysical Journal, 1952) by EE Salpeter and Primeval Helium Abundance and the Primeval Fireball (Physical Review Letters, 1966) by PJE Peebles, from the same source, and a bit of Hans Bethe’s famous 1938 “Solar Phoenix” paper, Energy Production in Stars (Physical Review).