#the dotted lines are orbits

[bklynsboys]

The Theory on Other Halves

pairing: spencer reid x reader summary: "there's an old buddhist saying, i once read, that when you meet your soulmate, remember that the act to bring you together was 500 years in the making." genre: fluff word count: 1k author's notes: i wrote this because this particular line of spencer's is one of my absolute favorites! i think it's really beautiful how all of the people we love were meant to be in our lives since 500 years ago. and of course, as a fan of space & constellations, i had to insert it into this fic. enjoy <3

THE AIR HUNG HEAVY WITH THE AFTERMATH OF A PARTICULARLY BRUTAL CASE—TYPICAL FOR A DAY IN THE BAU. Dust specks danced in the pale slivers of moonlight filtering through the blinds. Hotch decided it'd be best to give the team a few hours to rest in the motel before heading back home. If it were up to you, you'd be back in your bed as soon as humanly possible, but rooming with the resident genius, Dr. Spencer Reid—the object of your unspoken affections—is an opportunity you wouldn't miss.

For months, the two of you have shared a silent dance of exchanged glances and shared interests. Your colleagues, particularly the girls whom you confided in, seemed to think it was mutual. Now, you sat across from each other on motel beds, a comfortable silence blanketing the room. You traced a thoughtful finger along the rim of your empty coffee cup.

"You have a constellation," he said softly, breaking the stillness.

Your gaze flicked to Spencer, then down to your arm where his hand had landed. A faint scattering of moles dotted the inside of your forearm, resembling a modicum of stars. A small smile tugged at your lips.

"Looks like Ursa Major," he mused, tracing the pattern with his finger. "Though perhaps a little worse for wear, and without the usual bright light, of course."

You chuckled, mirroring his action on your arm. There, nestled just below your elbow, was a crescent moon birthmark, a surprise you always enjoyed revealing.

"Here's another one," you offered.

He turned his hand, examining the crescent with a childlike curiosity. " It's beautiful," he said simply.

"Did you know," Spencer added softly, his voice barely a murmur, "that the ancient Greek saw Ursa Major as a bear?"

You tilted your head, surprised by the random fact. " A bear?"

A smile played on his lip. " Apparently, the constellation's asterism resembled the animal to them. Makes you wonder what they saw in the night sky that we don't."

"Well, my mom had a different take on that," you began, a fond memory surfacing. " She used to say my moon and stars meant I'd meet a space nerd someday who'd love these marks, and we'd be orbiting each other, kind of like the Earth and the sun. She was into soulmates, you see, and space."

The conversation flowed easily, a map of your bodies sketched through shared stories. You pointed to a jagged scar on your knee, the fading memory of you running around and ending up with a scrape on your knee. He, in turn, showed you the faint line on his palm, a souvenir from a particularly enthusiastic attempt at a science experiment as a child.

Your fingers trailed down the faint scar near his hairline, so faint one wouldn't notice it if they weren't looking at Spencer's face intently. "What's this from?" you asked gently.

Spencer chuckled. " You know, how I have really bad coordination?" He sighed. " I was lost in a book, I ran straight into a doorpost. My mom called me 'Crash' after that."

You squeezed his hand gently, a silent understanding passing between you. You knew how much Spencer cherished his mom, especially with her health declining. Sharing stories about her felt like a tender offering of his vulnerability.

He returned the gesture, his thumb tracing the faint outline of a mango-shaped birthmark on your back. " My mom swears it's from all the mangoes she craved while pregnant," you said with a laugh, remembering your childhood debates about the science behind birthmarks.

As the night wore on, your exploration became a conversation without words. You ended up curled up on one bed. You ran your fingers over the slight dip in his lower back, a lingering ache from a wrestling match between an unsub gone wrong. He skimmed his thumb across the freckle dusting your shoulder, a map of sun-drenched summer days.

There was no urgency, no pressure. Just a quiet appreciation for the way your bodies, like your minds, fit together, like puzzle pieces worn from being fitted together—entangled from experiences, both big and small. In the faint intimacy, you found a deeper connection, a comfort that transcended beyond just physical.

Suddenly, Spencer spoke, his voice soft. " Maybe your mom was right, you know."

"Right about what?" You murmured, head tilting at the man's question.

His gaze met yours, a thoughtful crease furrowing his brow. " About finding your soulmate," he said hesitantly. " There's an old Buddhist saying, I once read, that when you meet your soulmate, remember that the act to bring you together was 500 years in the making."

A thoughtful hum escaped your lips. " That's beautiful, Spencer," you whispered.

He continued, a hint of a smile playing on his lips, "Plato once wrote humans used to have four arms, four legs, and two faces, but Zeus split us in half as a punishment for our pride, and we were destined to walk the Earth searching for our other half."

A soft blush crept up your neck. You hadn't expected such a personal turn in the conversation.

"Plato," you murmured, surprised." The one who wasn't a big fan of the soulmate idea, right?"

Spencer's lips curved into a small smile.

"True," he admitted. "But even a brilliant mind like his couldn't deny the undeniable pull we sometimes feel towards certain people. Maybe the Greeks weren't so far off . Maybe the stars, the constellations, these little imperfections on our skin... Maybe they all tell us a story of where we belong."

His words hung in the air, heavy with unspoken meaning. You found yourself captivated by the way the moonlight glinted in his eyes.

"So," you finally spoke, your voice barely a whisper, "are you saying we're destined to be wandering halves searching for the other?"

Spencer shook his head slowly, his gaze never leaving yours. "No," he said, his voice a smooth cadence. " Maybe... Maybe we already found each other."

The silence that followed was thick with unspoken sentiments. The air crackled with a tension that both terrified and exhilarated you. Your heart hammered against your ribs, a frantic drumbeat to the quiet reverberation of the night. Curled beside him, Spencer's arm draped casually across you, its weight a comforting presence, you drifted off to sleep.

A faint smile touched Spencer's lips as he listened to your soft snores. "Good night," he whispered into the darkness.

[todays-xkcd]

Actually, the fact that Mars is still orbiting safely over here means that it was technically an *Euler* apocalypse, not a Venn one.

Earth/Venus Venn Diagram [Explained]

Transcript Under the Cut

Title: Earth/Venus Venn Diagram.

[A venn diagram with the left circle labelled "Earth", the right circle labelled "Venus", and the center (outlined in dotted lines) labelled "shockwaves and production of impact ejecta".]

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: The Long War

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

War’s often did not last long when fought between warring galactic powers. They often fell within one of two categories.

The first would be a short but brutal war in which one side had overwhelming superiority over their rival and would decimate them within a short period of time either resulting in the defeated offering concessions for peace or being incorporated into the victors realm as a new territory.

The second and less frequent of the two would be a drawn out conflict that would reach a stalemate at some point due to the near equal power of the opposing sides resulting in a peace treaty or more likely a cease fire that would last for a few years before resuming hostilities.

These two outcomes were the most frequent as with the age of space travel often came great leaps and bounds in other forms of technology; many times said technology being diverted to respective military industrial complexes.

Weapons that could carve up continents from orbit or snap starships in two like twigs left little in room for anything else.

Humans did not share this notion.

In quite a contrast to the standard norm human military planners also considered lengthier drawn out conflicts. Data sheets and computer banks were filled with projections for supply consumption, industrial production capacities, troop conscription rates, and even the designated planetary ration levels that would be acceptable before general population revolts within their own territory.

This practice was first demonstrated when conflict broke out between the Drumengi and the Terran Republic after a series of trade disputes resulted in the Drumengi seizing several dozen human trade vessels and demanding a ransom for their return. This was a grave insult and the Terran Republic responded the next day with an open declaration of war.

While the Drumengi did not have a sizable fleet, they had invested in a wide range of defensive orbital installations that dotted their territory in what was known as the “Halo of Iron”. No fleet had ever been able to breach the defenses of the Halo and so previous wars had gone for little more than a year before a peace treaty was negotiated. The Drumengi expected as much and planned to force humanity to the negotiation table.

It was unfortunate no one had informed the humans of this plan as the terran’s had already devised a plan to crack the halo.

 Establishing a vast network of relay stations, automated satellite weapons platforms, and mobile fleet waystation’s that were brought in and placed along key trade routes into Drumengi territory, humanity established an iron halo of their own. Once the human ring was completed warning beacons were activated and a message was broadcasted in every language declaring the territory an active warzone and refused passage for any ship to try and cross through it.

Initially the Drumengi were inclined this was the prelude to a massive invasion fleet and prepared themselves, but as the months turned to years still no attack came. Human fleets patrolled the surrounding systems and intercepted all ships that tried to breach their lines with the help of the relay stations that were constantly scanning the surrounding space for ships.

Three years passed and soon every ship learned to avoid Drumengi space for fear of human retaliation; and that is when the Drumengi learned the true plan of humanity.

They never intended to besiege their defensive ring in some full frontal do or die charge. Instead they had formed a blockade that now was choking the very life of the Drumengi economy month by month.

It was never intended for the war to last more than a year, two at max, but now humanity was still showing no signs of relenting as the war dragged on to the fourth year. Critical supplies had not been stored in sufficient quantities for an extended war and while the public was assured of an eventual victory, Drumengi planners were beginning to panic. Worlds within Drumengi space were reporting that their stockpiles had dropped 32% since the war began and were increasingly demanding to open negotiations with the humans.

With little offensive capabilities the Drumengi were forced to sit behind their iron halo and continue to wait out the humans. Several delegations had been sent to other powers to open up channels and begin laying the ground work for peace talks, but each time they were informed that the talks were stalled by human counterparts who proceeded to drag their feet over every minor detail. One delegation went so far to report that a human diplomat would not accept any document unless it was written with a “Ballpoint Pen, color blue”. No one had any idea what that was exactly and even after researching it the device took another three weeks to be shipped in only for the human to reject it again saying that they had imported red pens instead.

The war dragged into the fifth year and supply levels had reached critical across the entire Drumengi domain. Supply levels had decreased by 67% for most worlds while fuel levels now were at a critical 13%. Travel was limited to military personnel, government officials, and what limited transportation still remained. Food riots had broken out in several major metropolitan areas on numerous planets and were becoming increasingly difficult to put down. In some cases the magistrates sent to neutralize the riots switched sides and joined the rioters, beckoning the military to get involved as well. That did little to settle the matter however as then the government worried how long it would be until the military switched sides as well.

With heavy hearts and empty bellies the Drumengi leadership finally came to humanity directly and offered to surrender. No terms were asked for save the resumption of trade and the dismantling of the human ring of iron.

The humans agreed to the first measure, but denied the second. Their ring of iron would remain, as a reminder of how easily humanity could cripple them again should the Drumengi ever show their hand again. They also insisted on reparations for maintaining such an extensive grid and exacted a high sum of credits as well. The Drumengi were outraged at this. They were told not only to surrender but to also pay for their imprisonment? The government would be overthrown within a fortnight when the general population heard the news.

Their pleas fell on deaf ears as the humans reiterated their demands once more.

As they had planned ahead for their long war, so too had they planned for the end result. They had changed the nature of the war and had steered it to the point where either outcome would be in their benefit. If the Drumengi agreed to the terms the current government would collapse in on itself as the general population railed against humanities demands, but if they refused their supplies would run out at the general public would once again violently rise up across their entire domain and their territory would become nothing more than mere pocket kingdoms for despots and criminals.

Regardless of the choice, the long war would finally be at an end.  

[bluebblurry]

Okay okay so the victor naming scheme with like celestial bodies (I like to think this is what the Watchers call them) is really really cool to me so i was trying to come up with more for the potential winners

(I decided I’m going to go through all of them while i wait for grian to poST HIS FUCKING VIDEO so please bare with me lmao)

Grian is the Sun, of course. It’s his series, not to mention he shares a name with the Irish goddess of the sun. Mumbo can’t win bc he’s out but like if he ever does win, i think he should also be the Sun like Grian, because they canonically share a soul (at least in hermitcraft). He could also be Icarus as a tribute :3

Scott is the Stars. Why? I dunno, fandom consensus lmao. I don’t personally keep up with his pov because he and grian don’t really cross paths much (i mostly only watch grian, mumbo, and scar 😭). He also had that little crown in Last Life that looked like stars so

Pearl is the Moon, firstly, because she is PearlescentMoon, but also because she had a strong connection with the wolves (Werewolf!Pearl my beloved). It also completes the trio lol

Now here’s where we get into the people that don’t necessarily have an agreed upon title, starting with Martyn. To me, he is Mars. The Roman god of war is a contributor to that, but he also just has the vibes (it also rhymes with Stars but atdhdbjd). Similar to Mumbo, Ren could also be Mars if he won bc his soul is shared with Martyn now (i think??). If not, then maybe Jupiter, like the king of gods, and the red dot can be Red Winter.

Scar is the Earth. He had an earthy color palette for most of the season, but that’s not the only reason. He is alone. The Earth is alone in the universe when it comes to life (as far as we know).

Now, i’ve seen Cleo as Mercury and as Venus, and I love both of those. Venus is the Roman goddess of love and beauty, and I think that’s very fun for Cleo. Mercury also is kind of just her vibe. However! I thought of Pluto, at first as a joke, because Cleo “technically doesn’t count”. But i decided it fits because Pluto is the Roman god of the Underworld, and Cleo is a zombie! :D

Okay now i’m making some up for fun for potential future winners 💀

Jimmy could be a Comet! Somehow it’s similar to a canary to me, i dunno it just makes sense lmao. If Tim ever won, it would be like he’s hurtling toward the finish line like a big flaming ball, so it’s funny. I don’t have the words to explain the symbolism i want to get across, but it’s there i promise

Lizzie could be The Void, one because ShadowLady, and two because she died to the void in Secret Life. I know it’s not exactly a celestial body, but it can apply to the dark matter of space :)

Etho could be Saturn, purely just for color and vibes. Alternately he could be Jupiter and the red storm can be like Etho’s red eye!

Joel is Uranus. Just cause it’s funny.

Gem could be the constellation Gemini. I know it doesn’t exactly count as a celestial body, and Scott is already the Stars, but i don’t care lol

A potential one for Tango is Mercury. His blue fire form could represent Mercury’s retrograde.

Big B would probably be Neptune, for his sweater, or! Venus because of his recent Creaking stuff.

Unfortunately i don’t really have one for Bdubs, so if y’all have suggestions let me know! Maybe like, the Horsehead Nebula?

I’d like for Impulse and Skizz to be intertwined somehow, something like Alpha Centauri, which are two stars that orbit each other.

Tell me if you have suggestions! I might also be using some of these for my pirate au…. 🤫

[readyforthegarden]

Seeing Stars

A/N: just a little soft Sam blurb that came to me while talking to @joshsindigostreak about tracing constellations and freckles earlier today. i haven't done a random blurb in a while so it feels very nice to share this with you all. please enjoy!

WC: 1019

“Hang on, stay right there.” Sam got up from the floor where he was kneeling beside you, hopping over your legs from where you laid on the floor in front of him. You had asked him for a simple back tickle, something he happily obliged. But part way through, he sprang up, leaving you half naked on the floor and covered in goosebumps from the soft trail of his calloused fingertips. 

“Sam? What are you doing?” you called after him, receiving no answer as the sounds of him rummaging in a room down the hall. You bit back the slight irritation of going unanswered and reached out, entertaining yourself by tracing the brindle pattern on your dog, Rose’s, side.  

Sam padded back into the living room and you glanced up seeing him with a handful of paintbrushes in one hand and a small plastic paint palette in the other and various paints under his arm. He grinned at you as you raised a curious eyebrow. 

“I had an idea.” he knelt down next to you again and began setting down his paints. His now free hand came back to your uncovered back, and he gently dragged a finger across it, following a pattern you couldn’t see. “You have so many freckles and little moles on your back.”

“Are you going to paint circles around which ones you think may be melanoma and send me to the doctor?” you deadpanned, making Sam snort a laugh. 

“No, but I am going to paint them,” he confirmed. “They all look like little constellations.” you could hear him moving things around beside you, and the sound of paint being squeezed from a tube. You let Sam prep his tools in peace, gathering your hair forward to make sure it was out of the way and going back to petting Rose until you sucked in a harsh breath that startled the animal. 

“Oh that’s so cold!” you gasped sharply as Sam painted a thick line across your back. Your skin pimpled in goosebumps again and a shiver went down your spine. 

“Sorry, I couldn’t warm it up.” Sam chuckled. “Try and stay still, okay?” You mumbled an affirmative reply and laid your head on your folded hands, beginning to enjoy the feeling of the cool paint and the steady brush strokes on your skin. It felt almost therapeutic, lulling you back into relaxation. The movie that had been playing had long since ended, the room silent save for the occasional sounds of Sam tapping a brush against the plastic palette while mixing colors or humming gently under his breath. 

“This is the draconius constellation,” Sam murmured as he drew long, languid lines between a few freckles and a small arch happening in the middle near your left shoulder blade. “It looks like a dragon floating in the sky.” It was quiet as he paused, looking over your body for the dots he made to track where every mark was. He squinted at them, before picking out another shape. 

“What’s this one?”

“This is the love galaxy.” he hummed, slowly tracing a crooked heart shape toward the center of your back in white lines before beginning to add more colors to it. 

“Ooh a love galaxy,” you muttered, shimmying your body minimally, yet enough to cause Sam to softly chastise you for nearly ruining his work. “Sounds groovy.”

“It is groovy,” Sam agreed, his tone full of concentration. “The very center of it, there’s a planet named after you.”

“There is?”

“Mmhm. And another one that orbits it named Sam.” You grinned, though Sam couldn’t see it. 

“Are you saying the world revolves around me?”

“Mine does,” Sam answered honestly. “And then the planet Sam has two moons, and they both orbit him, and they’re named Rose and Fox, respectively.” You imagined your dogs as two round planets, circling Sam and yourself and giggled. 

Sam continued painting and connecting the various dots on your back, humming and explaining names and backstories for each constellation and galaxy he created. 

“This constellation houses a dwarf planet and only people who like good music live there.” and “this star's gasses are actually a perfume that lures space travelers toward it, then when they step out onto the lush atmosphere, they die instantly. Then their bodies decompose and the star gains the nutrients and continues its cycle.” 

“And what did you just paint?” You asked, feeling Sam paint a few circles toward your lower back. 

“Oh that’s the Dagobah system.” his reply was so simple and matter-of-fact you couldn’t help but laugh loudly. 

“Does that mean I’m carrying Yoda on my back?”

“Yes, young padawan.” Sam did his best impression of the character before joining you in rumbling laughter. 

“We haven’t watched those in forever, we should soon.” you sighed.

“We can see if Daniel wants to come over for a marathon,” Sam suggested and you hummed a confirmation as he got back to painting. After a little while longer, he finally completed his galactic masterpiece, again instructing you to stay where you were and not to move as he jumped and ran out of the room. When he came back, he had his film camera in his hand, and began messing with the lamps in the room, getting the perfect lighting between them and the Saturday mid-morning sun filtering through the gauzy curtains. 

After a few photos on the camera, a few on his phone, and two polaroids he was satisfied, and helped you stand from the floor without making a mess. 

“I hate to wash all this off,” you sighed, looking at the polaroid Sam handed you. He stood next to you, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear before placing a kiss to your cheek. 

“Well, what if I wash it off for you?” He suggested softly, taking the photo from your hands gently. “And then we can go out and get some snacks and invite Daniel over for part one of our Star Wars marathon.”

“I think that sounds wonderful,” you reply, turning your head and capturing his lips in a soft, sweet kiss. 

Taglist: (feel free to add yourself!)

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@mar-rein12@laurynnnn125@maddie-rae@eraofstardustchords@musicislove3389 @starsinmyeyes00

[acaptainbyanyothername]

The Midst cosmos is weird, right?

A gravity that spans the entire cosmos, allowing someone to theoretically drop from the Un to the Fold? An ocean of darkness with a mono-directional current? What is the gravitational source? Where does the current come from and go? These questions are not answered with the current cosmic hypotheses you may have seen illustrated in appendices. What if there was more to the cosmos that explained these questions, something that our lovely in-canon scientists have no way of knowing?

(All the credit to @druidposting for churning out these thoughts with me and teaching me about marshes. These theories are as much their brainchild as mine).

Bernhard and Gottle, this is my pitch to join your research team. Say hello to the Theorized Diagram of the Complete Midst Cosmos (a 2d vertical cross-section of the 3-dimensional cosmos):

You may be surprised. You may be off-put. “What the fuck is this?” is the scientific inquiry you may be posing. Never fear— explanations and mad ravings to be found under the cut

The Three Components of the Cosmos

The three components in the cosmos you see represented in the diagram are the Un, the Fold, and a theorized Un-like space below the Fold monikered as “????” for convenience’s sake.

The Fold’s Gravity

The Fold is the gravitational center of the cosmos— the reason why if a Phineas jumps from the Un, he is pulled down toward the Fold

This is because the Fold is a large enough body of matter that its center of mass has a strong enough gravitational pull to affect the Un

The Fold orbits its center of mass in an ellipse, which explains a) why denizens on this cosmos see its surface as something akin to a flat ocean (it is so massive that it would appear that way without the full perspective) and b) why light and the horizon seem to break down in a location such as the Delta, the point of the greatest bend in orbit

With the Fold being an ovoid, that then creates a hypotheses for an Un-Fold space to exist all around the Fold! After all, the “Un” is simply where the Fold is not. The Un therefore is not just above the Fold, as we already know from Midst-canon, but also below it (above and below are of course relative terms when dealing with gravity, but for ease of communication “above” refers to the top of the diagram and “below” refers to the bottom). This “below” space is referred to as “????” in the diagram.

Though it is important to note that the Un is not empty— it has breathable air, as does the Fold! The primary difference are the microscopic Foldlet molecules that make up the Fold, causing it to be slightly denser than the Un and therefore more amassed around the core

Think of the Fold almost as like a gas-giant planet! A huge source of gravity comprised mainly of a gaseous substance that has huge influence over its surrounding area!

Therefore, to continue this analogy, the Un is essentially the gas giant’s outer atmosphere

The ???? Area

So to recap, ???? is a theoretical area of the cosmos that no one within the canon of Midst knows about. It is similar to the Un in that there is a lack of Fold there.

What is the ???? like? Does it have mica? What does it look like? The unfortunate answer is I do not know. Your guess is as good as mine. Here’s what questions I CAN ANSWER THOUGH:

Why don’t the scientists of the Midst-canon know/theorize the existence of the ???? space? Well, imagine it this way: if you were in the Arctic, and the only way you could get to Antarctica was by tunneling through the Earth’s core, you would probably not know of Antartica’s existence either.

Anyone who would attempt to travel from the Un to the ???? would be forced to go right through/by the core of the Fold, aka its gravitational source. That intense of gravity is not survivable! You’re a pancake now, a pancake who doesn’t know there’s anything beyond this. The red dotted line of the diagram demarcates the known cosmos of Midst-canon.

(Side tangent, this is why the Fold is perceived as something more akin to an ocean in Midst-canon: there’s no way to go through it and see the whole picture that it’s a sphere. Even though the gravitational pressure drastically increases the further down you go into it, that is confused with the Midst-version of deep sea pressure!)

If you WERE to travel to the ???? area, you would still perceive the Fold as below you! That is because the perception of “down” is relative to the direction of gravity, and the direction of gravity is still pointed towards the core of the Fold

The Delta’s Cosmic Purpose

Here is where I ESPECIALLY gotta shout out my amazing co-researcher @druidposting. Mirrorhawk dip’s on me for this amazing cosmological thinking.

The Delta acts as a marsh to the greater ecosystem of the Fold! In essence, the marsh accumulates muck and detritus, but due to their good water outflow they end up serving as an excellent water cleanser— the water comes out on the other side remarkably clean!

That’s what purpose the Delta serves, but instead of water it filters tearror systems

The Fold’s Current

So the Fold flows from the Fount down to the Delta, mucking itself up in the process. The Delta accumulates the sediment of old tearror systems, but also filters the Fold so that it runs pure and clean out the other end

The current essentially orbits around the core of the Fold— once the Fold is purified by the Delta, it circles around until it’s on the ???? side. This newly purified Fold fresh from the Delta therefore acts as the Fount for the ???? side. A reverse Fount, if you will.

The process rinses and repeats on the ???? side— the Fold flows from the reverse Fount, mucks itself up, then is purified again in the reverse-Delta, where it then makes its way up to be the source of the Fount as the Midst-canon characters know it!

Therefore, it only LOOKS mono-directional with no end or beginning from a top-down view— really it makes a full circle loop!

That’s all I’m willing to type out today! There are still so many things to be explored— what is this theoretical ???? space like? How do measly isletary gravitational pulls overpower the much larger pull of the Fold? How do things float in the Fold?

Bernhard and Gottle, if you give me grant money more research can be put into answering these questions. Bernhard and Gottle please give me grant money. Please. Please. PLEASE—

[jcreauprcntissfam]

more than just scribbles.

it was a thursday evening, slow and easy, the kind that settled into the bones like a deep breath. the week had been long, but today had been good—jj had gotten off work early, and somehow, so did emily. for once, emily was happy to be able to scoop aria up from daycare. usually, she didn’t get off as early as jj - so when she was able to be the one to get their daughter, she did, every time. 

now, the sun was beginning its descent, spilling gold through the kitchen windows, catching in the fine strands of aria’s blonde hair, which still held a bit of static from where she had cuddled into jj earlier on the couch.

jj stood at the stove, barefoot, stirring a pot of pasta sauce. the scent of garlic, basil, and tomatoes filled the air, mingling with the warmth of home. she hummed softly as she cooked, moving easily around the kitchen. the boys were at their father's for the next few days, the atmosphere a little calmer without two teen boys roughhousing - even though they all missed it when it wasn't around.

at the table, emily sat with aria, watching as their two-year-old daughter colored. aria was still in her clothes from the day, her white polo shirt stained by a few drops of pink paint from art time at day school. her teacher apologized when emily picked her up, and the brunette mother laughed - stating that ‘we have stain remover for a reason, it's no issue’.

aria’s little legs kicked absentmindedly beneath the table as she leaned over the paper, completely focused, her tiny hands moving with quiet determination.

aria had always been a quiet child. observant. she spoke in words here and there, small phrases when she wanted to, but for the most part, she was content simply watching. she noticed everything—the way the wind made the trees dance, the way the morning light filtered through the blinds, the way emily and jj moved around each other so seamlessly, like they had spent their whole lives orbiting in the same space.

and she loved to color.

it had started as scribbles, uncoordinated lines that made no sense to anyone but her. but now—emily could see a shift. the shapes were becoming more intentional, the strokes more careful.

emily tilted her head, watching the way aria carefully switched crayons, choosing each one with clear intention. then it hit her.

these were not just..scribbles. 

after a moment, aria set her crayon down and picked up another, switching colors.

emily tilted her head. “what’re you drawing, baby?”

aria didn’t look up right away, just kept coloring, brow furrowed in concentration. then, after a moment, she pointed to the figure in the center of the page—a round shape with two stick-like arms, a smiling face, and dark scribbles on top of its head.

“mama.”

she had drawn emily.

emily felt something catch in her throat as she took in the details—black crayon for her hair, little brown dots for eyes. the figure stood in the center of the page, arms stretched out, unmistakably happy.

aria switched colors, grabbing yellow next.

emily watched, entranced, as she carefully added another figure beside the first. this one had long, golden scribbles for hair, a matching smile, drawn just as big.

“who’s that?” emily asked, though she already knew the answer. she had also drawn jj.

“mommy.”

jj, still at the stove, turned slightly - hearing her name.

 “what’s that, baby?”

emily pointed gently at the drawing, her heart swelling. “she’s drawing us.”

jj abandoned her cooking instantly - putting a top over the pot, and wiping her hands on a towel before crouching beside them.

“oh, sweetheart,” she breathed, her eyes softening as she looked at the page. “that’s beautiful.”

aria, still fully focused, picked up a light blonde crayon and carefully added a smaller figure beside them.

“me.”

emily exhaled slowly, her chest tight. she reached out, smoothing a gentle hand over aria’s hair, feeling the slight static cling from earlier. “you drew our family,” she murmured.

aria nodded, but she wasn’t done yet. she drew two more figures, bigger than her figure. boys, blonde hair. henry and michael, her big brothers.

she looked at the drawing again - then, as if realizing something important, grabbed an black crayon.

“oh,” she mumbled to herself, before scribbling quickly. “sergy too.”

emily let out a soft laugh as aria added a small, rounded shape with four little stick legs—a cat, their cat, sergio, curled up beside them.

jj chuckled, brushing a kiss against the crown of aria’s head. “of course. can’t forget sergio.”

emily’s chest ached in the best way as she took in the details—the way aria had chosen their favorite colors, on purpose. emily’s figure had black hair, a purple shirt, jj’s golden yellow hair, a blue shirt, henry and michael with blonde hair like jj's with green shirts - and aria’s hair a pale blonde - and a pink shirt.

she had noticed.

every time jj talked about how much she loved baby blues, every time emily commented on how much she liked deep, rich purples that reminded her of grapes at the vineyards in maine—aria had been listening. even when her older brothers teased her that 'green was superior' - she listened, even if she thought it was absurd.

and then there was the most important part of all.

the smiles.

each figure was grinning, big and happy, arms stretched toward each other, touching but not clinging—free and safe, together and warm.

that was how aria saw them.

that was what family meant to her.

happiness.

emily swallowed hard, glancing at jj, who looked just as overwhelmed. 

“we’re framing this,” jj said firmly, voice thick with emotion.

aria looked up, her large brown eyes flicking with a bit of pride. she knew framing things, meant important.

“you like?”

emily nodded, pressing a lingering kiss to aria’s temple. “yeah, baby,” she whispered. “we love it.”

aria beamed at them, then, as if nothing in the world was more important than finishing her masterpiece, went back to coloring.

jj laughed softly, beginning to slowly clear the craft filled dinner table. 

“alright, break time.. let’s eat, little artist.”

emily picked up the drawing, tracing the lines one more time, her heart impossibly full.

their quiet, observant daughter had just given them a glimpse into how she saw the world, how she saw her family. 

and it was beautiful.

[gloomysoup]

@steddie-week day 4 | prompt: trade | rating: gen | word count: 858 | tags: one-sided steddie, borderline stalker behavior honestly (on eddie's part) | ao3

(i know i'm behind. we're ignoring it, right? life has been life-ing, and i have been struggling..)

how i fell in love with you

Several years ago, Eddie was asked a question.

“If you could trade places with anyone else in Hawkins, no holds barred, who would it be?”

Eddie’s answer had come easily back then. Steve Harrington had it easy. Two parents, a nice house, money, popularity. He never had to worry about paying the electricity bill and affording food for the month. He had other rich friends, and a guarantee to go to college on his daddy’s dollar. Who wouldn’t want to trade places with Harrington?

It wasn’t until about two months after spring break of ‘86 that Eddie started to learn that Steve Harrington’s life wasn’t quite as glamorous as he always thought it was. Steve didn’t talk much about himself. Eddie noticed that pretty quickly. Any question about himself would almost instantly transition into something about someone else, usually Robin. Steve liked to talk about Robin. It always happened so smoothly that, most of the time, no one even noticed he never actually answered the question.

Steve Harrington was good at pretending. So good, in fact, that it took Eddie a while to even realize it was happening. When he did notice, though, he was determined to get down to the real Steve. It turned out to be harder than he expected. Steve was very much a closed book. He didn’t share anything with anyone; well, except maybe Robin, but Eddie knew she wouldn't say a word. Eddie had to go straight to the source, even though he knew the source would be very uncooperative in his investigation. He had to play it smooth, careful. Hide his true intentions as deeply as he can, lest Steve catch on and shut down again.

It took several more months of slightly shady investigation for Eddie to get much of anywhere, honestly. It was a slow game, and Eddie was in it for the long haul. His sheer determination truthfully concerned Wayne, who told Eddie several times that he should just mind his business.

“If Steve ain’t told you anythin’, it’s pro’lly ‘cause he don’t want you to know.”

Eddie ignored Wayne, obviously. He never was very good at listening to authority. He kept investigating, keeping a little pocket-sized notebook of ‘Steve Harrington Facts’. He wrote down every little thing he learned in the hopes of connecting some dots down the line and discovering the real Steve. It contained everything from favorite foods to common phrases to the little, mundane, subconscious stuff he did. Like, for example, he always puts his right shoe on first. Every time. He always wears socks, unless he’s going for a swim, and he flicks his fingers five times after washing his hands before reaching for a towel to dry them.

Eddie hadn't even realized he was falling in love with Steve until it was too late. He was in too deep, ass over tits for Steve Harrington in a matter of months. Ready to spend the rest of his life with the man, if he'd let him. Eddie Munson was a coward, though. He didn't say anything. He couldn't. And the more he learned about Steve, the further he fell. It was the little things, really, that made him love Steve. Everything in his little notebook swirled together to create someone Eddie couldn't stop himself from loving even if he tried.

Slowly, as he found himself drifting further and further into Steve’s orbit, he learned the deeper things. The things Steve kept hidden. The things that really made Steve who he was. He learned about his parents, and the way his relationship with Nancy affected him. He learned about the migraines, and the buzzing in his ear that he never told anyone else about. He learned why Steve gave up weed, and how he didn't smoke cigarettes as much as he used to anymore. Robin didn't like it, so he tried not to smoke around her. And still, the more Eddie learned, the more he fell in love.

Steve Harrington was a complex person. He was made up of so many layers. Way more than Eddie ever thought before he got to really know Steve. He lives his life for other people, for the kids and Robin and even Eddie. Everything he does, he does with someone else in mind. He's selfless to a fault, never even considers himself before making a decision. He cares. Steve Harrington cares so much about his friends that he would do anything they asked with very little complaint. He's protective and strong and brave. He's never afraid to step in if someone is bothering Robin on their nights out, or even at work.

Steve Harrington is a wonder, but Eddie knows, deep down, not everything is quite as it seems. No one sees Steve when his parents are around more often, demanding his presence. They don't see the way he scans every room or building they enter. They don't see the way he flinched at loud noise. Eddie sees it all.

Eddie is in love with every part of Steve Harrington. He would trade the world if it meant keeping Steve forever. He's never going to say it, though.

[theriverbeyond]

this is such a random question, but on the subject of theories i was wondering what would have happened if john and the erebos had arrived at the aftermath of canaan house before boe and found the non-lyctor survivors. like would he have just let corona, judith, and camilla go home or get rid of them because they knew too much? is “knowing too much” even a concern for john? for some reason neither option feels totally right to me, but i would love to hear your thoughts!

I honestly think he would let them go home! I think one of John's major flaws is he fundementally both misunderstands and underestimates the people he sees as "his", and I think this does extend into the houses.

I don't think he would see non-Lyctors as any kind of threat, even if he knew that said non-Lyctors had figured out the secret to Lyctorhood. At most I think he would sew their tongues but honestly I think he would take one look at Judith "on life support from catastrophic gut wound" Deuteros, Camilla "catatonic with grief" Hect, Coronabeth "inconsolable because Ianthe age Babs and not her" Tridentarius and be like wow! these kids are having a bad time I should send them home to their parents.

Remember -- if John had arrived at Canaan House before BOE, this is *before* BOE took out 18,000 soldiers with orbital radiation missiles. this is *before* Augustine's betrayal, and Mercymorn's, and *before* the Sixth House defected. The only betrayal John would have felt was Cytherea's, and she failed, and as we see in HtN he mostly pities her.

I do think this could lead to a very interesting AU wherein Camilla is sent home (with the bones in her pocket), Judith is fixed up with proper medical care from the start (and then packed back off to the cohort), and Coronabeth is probably (on request) taken to the Erebos with Ianthe.

I can see this leading to Camilla spending a lot of time trying to free Palamedes' soul while on the Sixth, potentially needing to join the cohort (Alexandrite Cam, anyone?) so she can reconnect with Judith, who despite having several sticks up her ass is the only person Cam feels she can really go to about this (due to them both being the only people left in the Dominicus system who actually know what happened at Canaan House). Maybe Camilla convinces Judith to poke around in the skull bones -- Judith isn't as good as Harrow, but maybe they do bring back some shadow of Palamedes into the bones.

THEN maybe eventually they run into Coronabeth, who perhaps was not allowed all the way to the Mithraeum, but WAS given some sort of very strategic and fancy seat in the cohort so Ianthe can keep tabs on her. A very nepotism hire situation, and despite Ianthe's desire to keep her safe Coronabeth HATES it all because she was once again left behind. When the opportunity to track down Ianthe arises, she takes it.

I see this unfolding over several years post GtN timeline. Perhaps the three of them end up collaborating with other characters along the way that they feel they can trust, some more likely than others -- Mia (Pro's wife) and her children, now grown enough to want more information about their father's death. Ram and Capris Asht, who don't believe that their brother would kill the eighth house heir he had sworn to protect. Kiana can get in here too. maybe the Third house Boy Who Loved Shuttles helps them with a getaway once. Abigail's younger brother, who she named as her heir -- maybe he helps with Palamedes' soul. Jeannemary and Issac's younger siblings. A neo-niner or two -- John renewed the house, and involving a character or three that was ressurected from our modern times would be super interesting and also fill out our merry band. Maybe the neo-niners Remember Things that make Cam connect some dots.

Harrow is still out there, obviously, and in this AU I am imagining Number 7 as NOT speeding up and really taking 5 years to get there, just to even out the time line and allow all that to happen before Number 7 comes and Augustine drowns the Mithraeum.

anyway. events occur, things happen, and intrigue abounds. Alecto awakens, Harrow Remembers, Ianthe doesn't get the girl. Cam is on a warpath. Judith is dragged alongside. Coronabeth isn't going to be left behind again.

what was your question again? this answer has gotten deeply out of hand

[bropunzeling]

oh mannn inspired by your last ask, we all knows the oilers!matthew takes, but your thoughts on Florida!leon?

the thing is........ a future fic where through the twists and turns of fate leon somehow ends up in florida....... it could be so TASTY. it very much folds into a future fic concept ive been pawing at (and have probably talked about before but guess what and you'll hear it again dot gif):

so. for a while there, they were having sex. a lot of it. the kind of sex you can have with someone whose opinion won't change about you, or so you think -- mean, with an edge. sex that sometimes rode the line of too much, too intense. sex that, as it kept happening, kept creeping closer and closer to exposing a part of leon he wasn't sure he wanted to reveal. and yet he kept doing it. and yet, two years in, he was uncomfortably aware of all the shit he'd do and let matthew do to him.

then: a very messy not actually a break up around the trade (maybe matthew didn't tell leon he was going to leave because, like, it's not like they're together together. maybe it wasn't until matthew left that leon figured out how close to together he thought they were). and of course losing the cup final would only make leon dislike and resent matthew more (made worse by the flicker of softness he can't bring himself to blow out). the point is by summer 2024 leon is pretty sure he hates matthew's guts. would be happy to never see him again.

shenanigans. tomfoolery. leon gets traded somewhere? a couple seasons in the wilderness. the point is it's been a few years -- more than a few -- when he winds up in florida as he tries to chase down a cup. back in matthew's orbit again.

it's brutal, and weird, because it's like -- it's like matthew's managed to move all the way on (which makes sense. he left, after all. he won.) and leon would like to think he has, but quickly realizes that he hasn’t. he doesn't appreciate matthew treating him with such impersonal amiability. he doesn't like when matthew invites him to stuff. he doesn't like the way barkov looks at him sometimes, like he’s in on a secret. he doesn’t like how often he keeps catching himself staring at matthew, wondering if matthew remembers how it used to be. if matthew can still make it so he doesn't have to think anymore.

of course they're going to fall into bed together. and fuck -- it's not how it used to be. it's better -- worse -- it's matthew being careful with leon in a way he never used to, back when they were young, back when leon told himself all that mattered about what they did was if he could still come out on top on the ice. leon wants it to hurt and it does but not the way he remembers it.

even so, he wants to do it again. brings it up the next morning, poking at the bruises on his torso, rumpled and creased in matthew's sheets.

matthew blinks. swallows. says, hoarsely, i don't think we should do this again.

(bc matthew wants to make sure leon can get his cup but leon takes it all the wrong way and they have some horrible cathartic fights before working their way towards something they can build on but also don't worry they'll still have highly undernegotiated weird sex and maybe leon cries!!!)

[todays-xkcd]

Their calculations show it will 'pass within the distance of the moon' but that it 'will not hit the moon, so what's the point?'

Asteroid News [Explained]

Transcript Under the Cut

[Close-up of Blondie as a newscaster speaking, alongside an image to the left of an asteroid passing by Earth. The path of the asteroid is shown as a dashed line near the top-left, with the Moon orbiting the Earth below it.] Blondie: Astronomers initially said there was a one-in-6,000 chance that the newly-discovered asteroid might "do something cool" in 2063, but further observations determined it will be "just a boring dot like all the others."

[laricht]

I share a drawing I made for a Facebook collab. It was a vow renewal with OCs/guest characters, and I made my insert with Kakashi and their little one, Shiov ( ´ ▽ ` )

The theme of the event was space, so here’s a description of the outfits: After doing a bit of reading, I found out about close binary stars. From what I understood, they come in either one or two colors (blue for young, high-temperature stars, and red for older, lower-temperature stars). In this case, I didn’t follow the meaning of the colors strictly, I just wanted to include both to represent them, because in the lore Kakashi and my insert are the same age. The idea is that when these two stars unite and share energy, they create a nova (an explosion), resulting in a young star, which is an analogy for Shiov, the youngest and the only daughter (she’s adopted, just mentioning that so you can get familiar with the lore). That’s why the outfits of both have two types of stars: binary stars (✦), and in Shiov’s outfit, there’s a young star (★). And finally, the little dots represent other celestial bodies in space, and the curved lines are orbits, which are typically drawn like that :)

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Military Industrial Complex

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

Summary report of Terran Republic

Homeworld: Terra. Alias: Earth

Territory: 23 Planets 16 Star Systems 54 Orbital Stations 267 Asteroid Mining Operations

Population: 20.9 Billion

Military Threat Level: Red

Technological Level: Yellow

Personal Log from observer Nul Yand

“On the surface the Terran Republic should not even exist.

Their technological level is far below their neighbors such as the Olon Alliance or the Fenrar Empire.

They barely have the means to travel between their worlds and even then it requires months when the previously mentioned governing bodies can do it in days.

The one quality these humans have that has kept them alive for so long is the scope of their military; or more accurately their military industrial complex.

One could be forgiven for equating the two to be one in the same, but the distinction is made quite obvious when dealing with humans.

Their military operates under three branches known as the Fleet, the Army, and the Home Guard.

 The fleet maintains the various orbital and suborbital craft almost completely. This ranges from the kilometer long Kepper Warships to atmospheric attack craft and is the primary partner for the second branch as a means to travel between worlds.

The army is made up of ground forces ranging from standard infantry to heavy mobile assault tanks. During times of war they are the spear tip and conduct numerous covert operations against human aggressors. When these operations are not enough the ground forces are then deployed which conduct full scale planetary invasions or man the numerous defensive forts dotted throughout their territory.

The final branch is the least militaristic of the three but serves a crucial role nonetheless. Home Guard serves as the eyes and ears within the human domain as a sudo military surveillance force. They enforce the laws while also rooting out enemies to said laws such as common gang members to spy’s and collaborators.

All three of these organizations are supplied through what is known as the human Military Industrial Complex.

The MIC is not a single entity but a collection of private corporations, weapon manufacturers, scientific committees, political lobbyists, and countless other unnamed groups who have saw fit not to make themselves known. 

They provide the human military with a near endless supply of weaponry, ammunition, vehicles, ships, and more ensuring that at no time are their forces underequipped.

Research divisions conduct numerous lines of inquiry which include biological and advanced robotics. This has resulted in the military having a wide variety of advanced war machines such as the attack bot 5000, and the UAV dubbed “Seekers” which are capable of tracking down individual targets across an entire planet.

 The biological division has made several advances in medical technology which have equally contributed with the production of Healing Pods which can induce accelerated healing process for even the most injured soldier. On the more questionable front they have also created several strains of lethal viruses to be used against enemy combatants. Rumor is that the Red Vein Plague was one such concoction when the war against the Tumari began taking a turn for the worse against humanity.

With this vast network of resources, the Terran military has been able to adapt to nearly any situation it has faced allowing it to survive even against impossible odds.

When the vast fleet of organic Milnani ships invaded human borders it was expect the human fleets would be wiped out within the first week. The first few engagements resulted in losses, but by the third engagement the humans had deployed new boring missiles that chewed through the thick hide of Milnani ships and dispersed a lethal toxic into the ships bloodstream. Within minutes the ships were violently convulsing as entire portions were torn open from muscle spasms, exposing the passengers to the cold void of space.

When the Tucmal used their advanced weaponry advantage to conquer an outlying colony, the human military dispatched a covert strike team to capture one of the weapon platforms and return it to a research lab on Omega VI. A month later effective shields had been deployed to counteract Tucmal weaponry rendering it useless. A week later the first phase plasma canons were being deployed that could burn through Tucmal armor protecting weapon platforms

When a War Sphere was deployed to obliterate the human homeworld a relay station was deployed to follow it just outside of weapons range. A cryptology team intercepted all incoming transmissions and was able to decipher the communications from the war sphere back to whoever was controlling it thanks to a recently acquired quantum gen III computer and over two dozen alien speakers who had been “invited” to a private facility. The team was able to interject into the transmissions and send a new command to turn around, return to its point of origin, and destroy the planet it came from. They then ordered it to turn off its transmission center so the human command could not be countermanded. In short order the war sphere followed its new directive and returned to its point of origin somewhere in the Ocares Sector.

This shadowy collective has been a backbone of human survival and though many have sought to remove this bountiful source of progress none have been able to completely destroy the MIC. Research groups have been tracked down and their teams wiped out to the man only for another group to take up the notes half a sector away. Factories and facilities obliterated in orbital bombardments were relocated to space stations orbiting no stars in the space between systems off all charts and maps.

It was deemed that only an overwhelming force of unprecedented vastness striking all at once would be sufficient to deal a crippling blow to the MIC. This in of itself however has proved a problem as to gather such a force would almost immediately be noticed and countered before it could even be put into motion.

My recommendation would be to isolate humanity and avoid combat as much as possible.

If conflict is inevitable then it must be prevalent that all significant technology not fall into their hands lest it be deconstructed and used against us.

Only then do we have a slight chance of victory."

[azadrithaanatheme]

Question, are there any humans left on Copper-9, specifically an intern that I’m rather emotionally attached to for some reason even though he’s got basically no screen time, and what is their opinions on Drones and vice versa. Keep in mind the book shown in the foreground of Ep. 8 and the questions it raises regarding humans thoughts on Drones (https://www.tumblr.com/sillylittleguy-dot-gif/759684173377273856/transcript-for-this-book-in-murder-drones-episode)

Assuming this ask is about my Crawling Chaos AU that I've been expositing and doing art about, I'm honestly kind of torn on how I want to handle that - on the one hand, Mitchell was literally just a squishy meat human at ground zero for a planet-shattering gravitic/eldritch calamity explosion that I'm convinced Nori and Yeva only survived because worker drones can canonically make unshielded drops from high orbit without a scratch.

On the other hand, I think it would be really, really funny if he made it somehow. Maybe there was, iunno, some kind of panic room in the mines for surviving nuclear blasts, kinetic bombardments, or other planet-wrecking phenomena? Equally crazy things have happened, and the Murder Drones universe is at least half powered by awesome. Idk, I'll have to mull that over.

As for the other half of the question: hooo boi, I have thoughts. In the (totally purely and very definitely hypothetical) event that there are surviving humans on Copper 9 or anywhere else in the universe wait who said that?, I think peoples thoughts on worker drones would probably be pretty mixed.

Some people would see WDs as fellow sapients deserving of rights and autonomy and respect. Just based on the book you mentioned, there was clearly some in-universe recognition going on that "yeah, we created a whole-ass new form of sapient life, and it's a little messed up that we're treating them like this." To me, it looks like that was created in response to employee complaints and possibly even employee direct action - you don't make something like that unless you need to convince people it's okay to think that way. It's propaganda 101. Now whether or not that convinced any JcJenson employees, or got them to shut up and tow the company line, or just made them more pissed at the company, is purely speculative.

Others would outright see WDs as subhuman objects; hollow, empty things with only cheap simulacra of "real human emotion" designed to follow orders and assist humans, not have inner lives. At best, these people would see drones as tools - powerful, adaptive tools certainly, worthy of the same respect and care you'd give any other useful and potentially dangerous tool, but tools all the same.

I think there'd probably be a pretty stark class divide in play too. People at the bottom - the ones who directly work with drones on the regular - would be more likely to see them as people and empathize with them, while people at the top - corporate executives, politicians, herditarily wealthy failchildren, etc. - would absolutely look at worker drones the same way they look at their human underlings: faceless, impersonal masses of numbers to be counted and sorted and managed and shifted about in order to maximize profit and personal gain, or possibly trinkets to display their egregious wealth ("Ooh, look at me and all these adorable little machines I've purchased to serve me and keep my magnificent Victorian-recreation manor perfectly tidy and spotless at all times!").

Some people at every level might come around to the "worker drones are fully-actualized sapient beings" thing if they weren't already there. Others wouldn't.

On the worker drone side of things, even before you take the everything that was the Cabin Fever project into account, the drones were actively being "exploited in the name of Windex," so there's definitely going to be a lot of leftover resentment and trauma there, and probably a healthy amount of paranoia as well. At the same time I can't imagine that the treatment of worker drones was universally horrible - again, you don't create a pamphlet called "A How-To Guide of Overcoming the Existential Dread Evoked by Murdering Innocent Sentient Robots Capable of Emotion and Independent Thought" in the first place unless you want your employees to get back to work and stop complaining (probably very loudly) about how they're being forced to abuse and/or murder the obviously sentient robots capable of emotion and independent thought, and at least some of the worker drones had to have seen/heard about humans coming to their defense somehow.

So while I do think the average worker drone would be justifiably suspicious and mistrustful of a human, I also think that, unless the human(s) in question were being openly condescending, bigoted wankers about it, the drones wouldn't go to irreconcilable hostility right from the jump. They might even be able to work with humans, especially if they have a common goal or enemy like the Solver (see: Uzi "kill all humans" Doorman being willing to work, grudgingly, with what she thought was Tessa). Once that foot is in that door, it opens things up for experiences to shift perceptions and move humans and drones opinions of/relations with each other in a more positive direction. Possibly resulting in a bunch of corporate executives dying badly.

Wow, okay, that got way longer and more rambly (and way more real) than I meant it to and if I keep re-reading it I'm going to be here all day, so tl;dr: the spectrum from "local girl saves drones from scrap heaps and gives them robot medical care" to "twit idiot billionaires casually abuse and carelessly murder obviously sentient beings" is vast and humanity is scattered all across it. Likewise, the spectrum from "are we sure killing all humans is, y'know, "morality"?" to "just kill them, they won't even bother to talk to us" is equally vast, and the potential for interaction and growth there is absolutely fascinating to me and definitely something I'm thinking of exploring to some degree, if I can find a way to work it into the story.

So yeah I guess there are probably going to be surviving humans somewhere out there. Since it'd be hard to write human/robot interactions without any humans.

Still haven't decided if Mitchell the intern is going to be one of them though.

[historysurvivalguide]

How Do We Know Planets Aren’t Stars?

We'll start with a strange question, but from Earth, how do we know that one bright dot is a distant star and one is a not-so-distant planet?

Without advanced instruments like telescopes, how can be tell them apart and if there was a new bright dot in the night sky how would be know if it was a new star or a miraculous new planet?

One tool we can use to our advantage is time. Stars transition across the night sky throughout the year in a very predictable pattern, circling around Polaris (the northern star, or specifically, the north pole)

Planets move entirely differently! Sort of!

You might have heard the term "retrograde" before, like "Mercury is in retrograde". Putting aside for the moment how the term is used in astrology, this term simply refers to the idea that in the night sky most objects like stars move in a straight predictable path through the night sky through the year. However, some bright dots don't follow along, they can move back and forward in albeit predictable, but entirely separate ways to their star companions

Here we can watch the position of Venus at the same time every night over a few months appear to turn around!

The term "planet" is from the Greek term planḗtai, or "wanderers" since they move in a wandering pattern around the sky

In fact, this is not a feature of the planet itself, but just the distance that a planet is from Earth. Stars are so far away that their orbits are largely negligible and impossible to see without advanced instrumentation. However, we can literally watch Mars or Jupiter orbit the sun alongside us!

However, two objects orbiting the same point at different speeds due to their distance from the sun creates very strange paths. The outer planet will appear to turn around on its own path and move in "retrograde"

Orbital mechanics can be complex to mathematically predict, but are simple to observe. If you mark the position of a bright possible-planet at the same time every night you will observe it move back and forward along its apparent path

This is also part of the reason for the length of daylight hours on Earth, but we will save that for a future problem. Just know that the as the Earth orbits the sun, the sun's position in the sky at noon will vary and sometimes will be entirely below the horizon

Composite pictures can show how varied this position can be through the year. With a little imagination you can see Earth's orbit around the sun throughout the year!

But you don't have to believe me, try it for yourself!

If you don't have a few months to wait, we can show this would have to be true for any object close to the Earth. If we draw a circle around the Sun that represents the Earth and split it up in any equal parts (for example below 16) we can compare that to any other orbit. Jupiter is far enough away that the same 16 time intervals it won’t move as far in its own orbit. So drawing a line from Earth to Jupiter we can see where its position will look like from where the lines intersect. We end up with the apparent path of Jupiter from Earth’s perspective!

So, we can tell a planet apart from a star based on its visible path through the night sky

For now, our solution for what is a planet relies on a planet being:

Not the sun

Visible in the night sky

Close enough to the Earth that it will appear to move in retrograde motion

[mortelum]

Watchersatelladeo

[ pt: Watchersatelladeo /end pt ]

[ id: two identical rectangular flags with nine horizontal stripes, in the following colors, from top to bottom: near-black purple, very dark indigo, moderate blue-purple, blue-purple, vivid blue-purple, blue-purple, moderate blue-purple, very dark indigo, and near-black purple. The left flag has the satelladeo symbol in a very dark purple; A thick circle with a dot inside and a split design around it. The left half has two semicircles with orbiting planets on them, and the right has a thin semicircle which radiates rays of sunlight. /end id ]

[ id: a thin divider made up of an image multiple dark red flowers scattered on a dark background. On the top and bottom of the image, there are thin dark red lines that act as a border. /end id ]

Watchersatelladeo: An alterhuman term under the satelladeo (link) umbrella where one is a satellite of the Watchers (Life Series / Evo SMP). This can be due to being a devotee, a manifestation of their powers, being influenced by them, or any other reason one can think of.

@radiomogai

Divider credit (link)