#the fact it's canon they call each other their polaris

[stratfordsandthestars]

thank you, matt dahan, for thank gravity's existence

[schaladresdan]

I posted 809 times in 2022

8 posts created (1%)

801 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@story-kat

@crimson-chains

@ikimaru

@auronevardell

@miyakuli

I tagged 783 of my posts in 2022

Only 3% of my posts had no tags

#crimson chains - 178 posts

#art reblog - 157 posts

#original art - 131 posts

#oc - 128 posts

#yuri on ice - 126 posts

#yoi - 121 posts

#star crossed - 115 posts

#polaris - 105 posts

#yildun - 88 posts

#comic - 86 posts

Longest Tag: 88 characters

#he did not risk joining them because he woud've got his ass bitten by the divine puppies

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

New fic for Yuri’s birthday! Just a little bit of fluff. Story idea and art by Soulstoned (her Twitter https://twitter.com/Peridactyl5xg).

Title: Are You Kitten Me?

Rating: Teen (Yuri’s language)

Pairing: Otayuri

Tags: Video Calls, Kitten, Fluff

Summary: When Otabek found a kitten in the rain, he had no idea that his life would never be the same.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37456480

1 note - Posted March 1, 2022

#4

First Fic of the New Year!

My first new fic of the new year posted late last night (AO3 says technically it was 1/2 in my time zone, but it was still 1/1 in places, so it counts, right?). Written and posted barely in time for Asahi’s birthday, enjoy this one shot. 

Title: First Call

Rating: General Audiences

Fandom: Haikyuu!!

Pairing: Asanoya

Tags: Established Relationship, Long Distance Relationship, Haikyuu!! Time Skip, New Year’s Eve, Asahi’s Birthday

Summary: Nishinoya calls Asahi to wish him happy birthday.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36144685

1 note - Posted January 2, 2022

#3

It Started Out With a Kiss

Finally, a continuation of my Twisted Wonderland fic (but somehow it turned into a soulmate AU?). 

Pairings: Deuce Spade/Ace Trappola (aka Acey-Deucey or Hunting Season)

Rating: Teen

Tags: Soumate AU, Soulmate Marks, Boys Kissing, Misunderstandings, Happy Ending, Ace is impulsive

Summary: What happens when Ace impulsively kisses Deuce in a world where soulmate marks are revealed with a kiss?

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43053786

4 notes - Posted November 13, 2022

#2

It’s Just A Little Makeup 

My first fic for the Twisted Wonderland fandom (I didn’t need another fandom to write about, but I love these two and when I found out that the marks on their faces were makeup, I couldn’t help myself).

Pairings: Deuce Spade/Ace Trappola (aka Acey-Deucey or Hunting Season)

Rating: General Audiences

Tags: Canon Compliant, Makeup, Fluff

Summary: On his first night at Night Raven College, Deuce is worried about a lot of things. But one of his main concerns is the fact that he is expected to wear makeup, something that he has no experience with at all.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37086373

5 notes - Posted February 13, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

This year, for 18OI AU Week, I am writing a fic that will cover all of the daily prompts. It is a Soulmate Dream Sharing AU. Each chapter will have a dream that covers the daily prompt, the first one is fairy tale.

Rating: Mature (Day 4 is Omegaverse)

Pairing: Victuuri

Tags: Soulmates, Soulmate Dream Sharing, 18OI AU Week 2022, 18OI AU Week Day 1, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale

Summary: It was a chance meeting, the briefest of encounters. Neither Victor nor Yuuri can remember the moment at the World Championships when they first met. But they must have, because now they are dreaming of each other.

After soulmates meet for the first time in this world, they start to dream. They always dream of each other whenever they are apart (and asleep at the same time).

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39476496/chapters/98803950

11 notes - Posted June 6, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[byakuyasdarling]

If the Legacy Crown Championship is not the most confusing thing to read a synopsis on - I don’t know what is. 

It does not help there was another person called ‘Byakuya’ who was NOT Byakuya and was just using the name. 

I’m here thinking I will need to change quite a bit of Byakuya and S/I’s backstory to suit what is said in the championship - but it turns out Bl//ue Ink’s (Byakuya’s older half sibling and Ultimate Secretary) recollection of events is fabricated by the K2K system and none of the events told really happen.

Which makes sense as the events directly contradict with Byakuya’s account of events in canon. She describes the 15 chosen siblings killing each other while Byakuya, being part of the 93 of 108 lower ranking To//gami children, needs to cross dress (alias Polaris P. Pol//anski) to get in to the event under a paid detective and snatching the title for himself. ALL of that contradicts Byakuya’s account (which eventually proves as the correct account) where he is one of the chosen 15 siblings (rendering Polaris’ existence void) and no death happens. They simply lost the right to the To//gami name and are given a commoner’s life. 

But he is kept in character by the seems. Like the fact Polaris is unphased by dead bodies and disturbing recordings. Polaris needs to where contacts:

“Despite wearing contacts, Polaris's true identity dislikes doing so, claiming that putting such things to one's eyes is the height of human stupidity. However, she also believe that glasses don't look good on women, which is why she wore contacts instead.“

- Obviously Byakuya wears glasses, but it’s a funny titbit and most likely is a slight nod to his distaste of Toko. 

Also, Byakuya is said to be 13 during these events - but since that comes from an invalid source of information - I don’t really need to change the fact I mentioned the heir race taking place when he was 16. I should mention that he is a gold-ranking To//gami sibling though. 

[aion-rsa]

Green Lantern and Hawkgirl Team Up in Tribute to Beloved DC Writer

https://ift.tt/2zxFSkD

No celebration of the history of Green Lantern would be complete without acknowledging Dwayne McDuffie. McDuffie was a titan in both the comic book and animation industries before he passed in 2011, co-founding Milestone Comics and helping turn Milestone character Static into a successful, beloved Saturday morning cartoon (Static Shock), among a myriad of other accomplishments in both mediums. 

But to many superhero fans, McDuffie’s most iconic work was on Justice League Unlimited, the massively popular cartoon expansion of the Batman: The Animated Series universe. It was there that McDuffie paired John Stewart and Hawkgirl in what became a definitive romantic pairing for a generation of DC superhero fans. To honor his work with Stewart, Charlotte Fullerton McDuffie, his widow, and ChrisCross, his friend and former artistic collaborator, got together to jam out a John/Shayera story for June’s Green Lantern 80th Anniversary 100-Page Spectacular. 

“I specifically asked if ChrisCross could come on and draw it because we’ve always wanted to work together,” McDuffie tells us in an interview. “I love the dynamic approach to his staging that he takes.” 

He was as eager to work with her as she was with him.

“Charlotte was pretty much on the bucket list of people I wanted to work with,” Cross says. “It’s always feast or famine with this job, man. I’m working on stuff…and then this pops up. I’m like, ‘I can’t not work on this.’ I kind of owe it to Dwayne and owe it to Charlotte to work on this.”

Of course, honoring Dwayne meant doing right by the characters he loved. “Dwayne loved Gil Kane Silver Age Green Lantern,” she says. “I loved John Stewart Green Lantern and Hawkgirl together, so I wanted to make sure to do it right.” And she did: the story she and Cross produced feels like it could have fit right between the Christmas episode, with John and Shayera snowboarding and bar brawling, and the Shadow Thief episodes of the cartoon.  

The story pits Green Lantern and Hawkgirl against Dr. Polaris, who broke into the Watchtower to steal a rare element that would significantly amplify his power: Milestonium. “I read that, and I was like, ‘Does that say Milestonium?’ Cross says. 

“I got to write in an element that is now canon in the Justice League world. This is wonderful,” Fullerton adds. 

For Cross, the biggest challenge in drawing the story, both in designing the signature element and in putting Lanterns on the page, is trying to convey how to show the power and character inherent in the story through the design of their powers. “When you’re drawing certain constructs, you have to make sure that echoes the character [creating them],” he says. “Even if you’ve never seen him before, or if you never worked with him [you have to consider] what would this rabbit person with this ring, what would he put out?” 

A big part of the success of the homage is Cross’s art. The artist got his break working for Milestone, the comics company co-founded by McDuffie and others, in the early ‘90s. Since then, he’s drawn just about everything, from X-Men to Batman to Bloodshot. His art has always had a distinct style, a clean, crisp flow, but the most surprising thing about his work on this story is how successful his mimicry is. The tone matches the cartoon so successfully because, in part, the art matches the show beautifully. 

“Working with Charlotte, I don’t know. It was just a weird connection…” he says. “[When] I started working on this stuff, I was just thinking, ‘Just make it look good and make sure it has a certain way of  movement from one particular page to the next.’ When they sent me the [pages] before they put it out to the printer, I sat there and I read it and…I was like, ‘Wow, this looks like the cartoon.’”

Read more

TV

Green Lantern HBO Max Series Will Span Decades, Focus on Two Green Lanterns

By Mike Cecchini

Despite only meeting face to face for the second time during the interview, the pair vibe in person and through their work like old friends, as if they have  developed a comfort level with each other over years. In fact, Cross didn’t remember their first meeting. “I know why you didn’t remember it,” she reminds him, “because you were being swamped by fans. New York Comic Con, maybe around 2006 or 2007 you were signing for fans and Dwayne and I came up to you and he talked to you like a little brother.” 

“Yeah, he was always like that. I always called him Uncle Dwayne,” Cross says. That trust enabled them to work comfortably “Marvel style” (after the manner in which Jack Kirby and Stan Lee used to create comics during that company’s early years)  – Cross drew off of a story outline from McDuffie, and she filled in the dialogue after the pages were drawn – on a legacy tribute to the man they both clearly adored, love that shines through in the finished product. 

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The post Green Lantern and Hawkgirl Team Up in Tribute to Beloved DC Writer appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Comics – Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2zpv1JH

[que-pasa-calabasa]

que-pasa-calabasa’s Good Omens fic rec masterpost

In no particular order, except for the fact that I’m putting all the PWP (or close approximations thereof) together at the bottom. Some will be not be show-canon compliant as they predate the release. Summaries are copy-pasted from the ao3 summary; italics are my own commentary added. 

is it that we are dying? (5k, G): England, 1349, the middle of the 14th century. The black death rages, and Aziraphale has to help a dying demon escape from a church. Sad and sweet, completely indulgent hurt/comfort

Don’t Play With Holy Water (30k, M): When the Bentley goes missing, Crowley isn't sure what to make of it. Unbeknownst to him, a certain lurking demon is waiting to settle an old score... A wild ride full of peril and body-swapping, Aziraphale is a BAMF

Mirror, Mirror (44k, T): Adam, Eve, and Crawly flee Eden through the Western Gate, and it turns out that that simple decision makes all the difference in the world... Parallel-universe Crowley is hilariously evil, regular-degular Crowley takes a turn as the bad-ass

with my mind on my money (and my money on my mind) (3k, T): Mr. Fell was as eccentric as Tim might expect a rare book dealer with a connoisseur's knowledge of cannabis strains to be, and he couldn't help being fond of him. Aziraphale and Crowley do weed, what more is there to say?

In which Adam challenges Crowley to a drinking contest and it is a terrible idea (1k, T): It is a rather foolish thing to set a bet with the devil, or even with a devil, unless you have an ace—or better yet, all the aces in the deck—up your sleeve.But if you are the Antichrist, the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is Called Dragon, Spawn of Satan, etc., etc., well…you were born with all the aces up your sleeve, and the only admonishment you need is “Have fun, kiddo, and don’t screw him over too hard.”  Pure humor, entertaining drunk!Crowley

Game Over, Insert Coin (14k, M): An Account of Certain Events occurring in the Groundhog Day AU no one asked for, in strict accordance as shall be shewn with Narrative Interference of an (Un)predictable Nature for the Sleepless Reader. Exactly what it says on the tin, all your normal Groundhog Day AU angst

A Matter of Convenience (12k, T): “You know,” Crowley rasped as he struggled to scrape himself off the ground, “I can't shake the feeling that there must be an easier way to go about this.”A possible take on the birth of the Arrangement. There’s some sadness, some historical fun, and some Hurt Boys (tm)

Rarefied Air (3k, E): Earth is getting older, news is getting worse, and an angel has to go to extreme heights to get any peace and quiet at all. But as close as you can get to Heaven, you're still never far from Hell. (Hell hasn't frozen. Crowley nearly has.) There’s explicit sex in this but it’s so much more than PWP

Dark and Stormy Night (or Never Underestimate an Angel) (5k, T): “Hmph. I suppose you think that, just because I’m an angel, that I’m too tame to read a scary story properly?” Silly and cute, Crowley and Aziraphale are weird godfathers to the Them

The Curse of Horemheb (66k, M): “The locals call her Bibân el Molûk, but she’s better known as the Valley of the Kings.”Or: Aziraphale and Crowley run into each other in Luxor in 1908 and find themselves confronted with the consequences of actions three thousand years old. Sprawling multi-era adventure with some good fun tropes

off the record (8k, T): Crowley has to submit a biannual report, but there are some things that he often neglects to include. Cute, sweet almost-meta on the natures of Crowley and Aziraphale

A Sticker Situation (1k, G): Everyone's favorite angel and demon are innocently driving past a gas station when Crowley notices a giveaway that he absolutely must participate in. Crowley is a huge James Bond nerd

Under the Apple Tree (6k, T): Crowley finds himself in a tight spot, and Aziraphale dares to hope his help could turn into something more. Devastating, if you like tragic hurt/comfort this is the one for you

Essentially Social Chameleons (2k, G): In short, Aziraphale and Crowley are not as good at blending in with mortals as they think they are. There are better places to discover this than Newton and Anathema's baby's christening, but, well, we're here now. Very silly, one my my favorite genres (humans are confused by Crowley and Aziraphale)

the bucket list (13k, E): There was a certain look that Aziraphale wore occasionally—a pinched sort of moue that looked like he’d just taken a very large mouthful of cinnamon—which meant he thought Crowley was being ridiculous. He had put it on.“Hang on,” he had said. “You want us to do human things?” *If you're going to go native, you might as well go all the way. Crowley and Aziraphale decide to try some fun human things, there’s some obvious smut but it’s not what it’s really about

Milton Was Right (1k, T): Adam knows where most babies come from, but is pretty sure that doesn't apply to him. Aziraphale and Crowley show their usual levels of competence in explaining where antichrists come from. Just...extremely funny

it's the light (it's the obstacle that casts it) (5k, T): It's like having a curtain pulled back on something he wasn't expecting to see. A surprise punch-and-judy at an up-scale restaurant, a lobster thermidor when he's ordered an ale.Crowley's gleefully trying to wrap his head around the fact that Aziraphale is speaking Polari. Because of course he is. Or: The Patron Saint of London's LGBT Community is real, and he lives in Soho. One of my favorites

HERE BE SMUT

The One in Which Crowley Discovers Wanking (5k, E): It began, like most memorable events in Crowley’s life did, with a bad decision; like most bad decisions, it involved poor impulse control and copious amounts of alcohol. The Antichrist had been born, and he put on lipstick and kitten heels to deal with it, but knew that the clock was ticking, and at times when time was slipping away, it helped to hold onto a bottle of gin. Also what it says on the tin, Crowley jacks off while Aziraphale sort of helps

Come Fuck Me Hips (5k, E): Crowley has had a fantasy about Aziraphale for centuries now. Too bad the angel would never take him up on it. Except, as it turns out, he absolutely would. Crowley’s a bottom and Aziraphale is a service top, this is pretty much the only dynamic I accept

I Was Born to Love You (28k, E): Crowley shows up to take Aziraphale to lunch, and for the first time in quite a good while, he flashes just a bit of ankle. And that's how it all begins. Fun banter, hot sex

The Mysteries of Ladies’ Knickers (2k, E): Somewhere in the fall of 1963, Aziraphale was issued a new body. Later, he was never entirely sure if the mix-up following the assignment of its replacement was intentional or purely accidental. He had his suspicions. Crowley was not sure how to feel about it. It’s hot, Aziraphale is a woman temporarily, there’s sex, you know the drill

Love Hath Made Thee a Tame Snake (3k, E): He was the bloody Serpent of Eden, and he wasn’t going to stand for this kind of flagrant trespassing. Kind of borderline fluff/smut, the first half is mostly cute snake!Crowley

Killer Queen (2k, E): In hindsight, Crowley reflected, it was probably not one of his best or brightest ideas to introduce a six-thousand-year-old virgin to the subtle and intricate matters of sexual intercourse. Things could, frankly speaking, get a little out of hand. (Or, Aziraphale has a sexual awakening.) Oh God, hilarious and sexy, Aziraphale treats sex like food and wants to try aLL THE THINGS

Tryst on a Hot Church Roof (2k, E): Crowley has some fantasies. Aziraphale encourages him to explore them and not to be embarrassed. Neither of them can really take roleplay seriously but they still have a good time. Those nerds trying to sexily roleplay and failing is one of my fav tropes

[thestagthatlovedthewolf]

I’ve been writing this for months now, so finally posting before the season continues and this becomes less and less canon. Enjoy some domestic Marcus, Abby and Charmaine with Hope, and answers the prompt “hugs” from the @kabbyposmeme

Enjoy!!!

The city they began building when they arrived continued to grow and grow since they landed, but over the years the contact between them in New Earth and the others developed, with transportation between both places being now easy and common to a big part of inhabitants of New Earth.

Marcus, Abby and Charmaine still lived and worked in New Earth, but Hope took the metro everyday, since she had started school, taking it with Bellamy, who taught at the school, but to older years. But tonight they were crossing the camp, to the cities, Marcus did the trip more often, and that same day, he took it alone having booked some meetings there for the day; but Charmaine and Abby were coming together after her shift in the medical center.

So after his meetings, Marcus made it to the school, walking all the way, slowly, appreciating the views of the city, and stopping by a bakery to get some pastries for tonight, if Abby and Hope didn’t insist they should be eaten first (luckily Charm was coming with them and she wasn’t as easily swayed by their girls). 

Finally arriving at the school, he found himself in front of a small building with multiple people around, from all different species. He looked around, to see if he could see his six year old girl, Hope.

“Daddy,” she yelled, running on his direction, pulling a girl along with her, who he recognized to be the same species as the health inspector who sometimes worked with Abby, identified by their pink skin, short stature and three legs.

“Hi, sweetie.”

“Daddy, meet H’gary - she’s my best friend in the all world!!”

“Hello,” he said, kneeling to their height, even if it wasn’t as easy anymore, ruffled his daughter’s hair and pulled her in for a hug.

“Where’s Mama and Mom?”

“They’re coming. Mom had surgery.”

“My mom is a doctor,” his daughter said proudly, like she told everybody, after all Abby’s job as easier to explain than his or Charmaine’s.

“I’m waiting for my mom too. We can wait together.”

“Can we, Dad?”

“Of course,” he told them. There were still a few moments before the teacher-parent conferences started.

He rested against the wall outside the building, as the girls continued running around. Marcus observed from afar, and he couldn’t help but notice that he was one the older parents, at least when it came to humans, it worried him often, not being able to be here for Hope’s entire life, he didn’t want to miss anything (he had already missed her birth, having still been in a coma, and a lot of her first years, before he, Abby and Charmaine took the plunge and gave this relationship a real chance, moving in together). 

He was going deep into that train of thought, when his daughter interrupted his thoughts, coming up to him, followed by woman, looking like Hope’s friend.

“This is H’gary’s mother.”

“Hi, I’m H’asya. My daughter has talked about yours a lot.”

“Mine too. They’ve became close.”

“You don’t live in the city, do you?”

“No, we live in the settlement,” he answered, fearing that this would change something, since some people hadn’t accepted that well. “We’re Eartharians.”

“I suspected,” she replied with a laugh. “I like how this planet as always accepted people from everywhere.”

“It’s a nice thought. We like this new home.”

“How was Earth?” she asked, as the girls went off again. “I always love going to the Earth Museum in the city.”

“I didn’t see much of it. I was only really there for a few months.”

“I thought you... Ohh... were you one of the Eligius IV people?”

“No, Ark ones. The Station up in the sky.”

“Right. I remember that - Polaris Station was an Eligius project.”

“Correct.”

“Mama!! Mom!!” he heard his daughter yell, and saw her ran of to Charmaine’s arms, who immediately picked her up, and let her close to Abby, so she could hug her mom too.

“I imagine that’s your daughter’s mom.”

“Moms, my partners.” And while he noticed some surprise on the woman’s eyes, she took it in stride, and went with him to greet them, catching her daughter’s hand as they came closer.

Marcus immediately pecked Abby’s lips, before giving Charmaine a kiss as well, and another on Hope’s head.

“These are H’asya and H’gary--”

“My best friend!!”

“Yes,” he said, with a small laugh. “Abby and Charmaine.” They exchanged pleasantries after the fact, before starting to walk inside the school, with the girls running ahead.

“How was the meeting?” Abby asked.

“Long,” he answered. “I’ll probably have to book an entire week of meetings. I need you to come with me, Charm, probably Indra too. Bellamy or Clarke.”

“I can’t spare Clarke,” Abby spoke. “And are you two leaving me for a week?”

“Sorry, babe,” Charm said, throwing her arms around her waist. “But Hope can stay with us a few of the nights here at the hotel, and you can have a girl’s night with Clarke.”

Abby had been wanting to plan that for awhile, it wasn’t easy for her to spend time with her oldest daughter outside of work.

“I will still miss you,” Abby murmured with a pout, looking at both of them, before bringing Charm’s hand to her lips.

“Can you convince Clarke or Madi to take Hope on Saturday?” Marcus asked her. “We’ll both make your night worthwhile.”

“No doubt about that,” Abby said with a laugh. “I’ll see what I can do,” she said. “Now come on, Hope is getting impatient, and you know how she gets.” Hope was in front of the stairs, waiting for them and pacing between her two small feet, since her best friend had already gone up.

Charmaine untangled herself from Abby, with a kiss to the back of her head, before running forward, to pick up Hope and twist her in her arms.

“Mama!!! Put me down.”

“Never, baby,” she said, laying a kiss on her cheek, as Marcus and Abby walked up holding hands.

“Can we go?” she asked putting on her grown up voice, but holding onto her mother’s hand. “My classroom is right next to Uncle Bellamy’s.”

“We know, Hope,” Marcus said, ruffling her hair, or at least trying too. 

“No, don’t do that, Daddy,” she said, getting away from him, and to the other side of Charmaine. “You’re gonna ruin the braid Mom made.”

“It looks so pretty,” Charmaine told her, looking at Abby.

“I know!! Mom makes the best braids,” she said, as they started climbing the stairs. “Mama, you should let Mom braid your hair.”

“She has braided your dad’s hair, when it got awfully long.”

“She did?”

“You were too little to remember,” Abby answered. It had been too long ago, a lifetime ago. “And I’ve also done your mama’s hair.”

“When?”

“When your dad and I got married. You were really little, but Mama was there with you.”

“Who else was there?”

“You know the story, Hope...” Marcus said, but the girl ignored him.

“Was Aunt Indra there?”

“Yes, she was, right next to Daddy,” Charmaine answered. “Like I was next to Mom.”

“And Clarke?”

“There too.”

“And Madi? And Raven? And--”

“Yes. Yes.”

“And Bellamy? And Octavia?”

“Baby, everyone was there,” Charmaine said, before the girl decided to name everyone in the damn village and then the city.

It had been the first big celebratory event in the new planet, bringing everyone from Earth and multiple native people from the planet - it had brought people together in more ways than others. Abby and Marcus had been married for almost ten months, before the three of them had found themselves in bed together again. It had been hard for Charmaine to go back to just be friends when they got married, but she knew they were a team first and foremost, that was with who she had fallen in love.

“I know!!” she said, letting go of her hand, and running up the rest of the stairs, and throwing her arms around H’gary again, like they hadn’t seen each other just a few moments ago.

They took their seats next to H’asya, and with the other parents, as the kids ran around, playing with each other. H’asya let them know that each parent unit was being called on their own, and each meeting was being around five/ten minutes, and that at the end there would be a meeting with the entire group.

They distracted themselves looking at their girl, who was now in the middle of a game, not only with H’gary, but two other girls and a boy. She was good at making friends, much better than Marcus had ever been, she imagined she had Charmaine’s charm (or McCreary’s, he guessed), a girl made to lead.

“Can you believe how big she has gotten?” Charmaine whispered, looking at Hope now giving orders to two of her friends. “I feel like just yesterday I was pregnant.”

“You do realize Clarke is over thirty,” Abby said with laugh.

“Beautiful for a grandmother,” Marcus said kissing the top of her head.

“You’re a grandmother?” H’asya asked. “Sorry, I just couldn’t help but hear it.”

“My oldest,” Abby said. “I had her with my first husband when I was in my twenties, she has a teenage daughter herself.”

“Do they get along? Hope and your other daughter and granddaughter?” she asked. “Sorry her father’s wife is pregnant, and we’re bit scared how they will get along.”

“They have a lot of fun together. Hope admires them a lot, she loves following them around.”

“So they get along.”

“They do, but Clarke, my oldest, was already an adult when Hope came around, so I don’t know how it would be if they were younger.”

“But your daughter seems to do okay with friends,” Charmaine said. “Hope adores her. And I had half-siblings on my mom’s side, and we may fight a bit, but at the end we got along.”

“Okay, thanks,” H’asya said, before standing. “I think they are calling for me. Can you keep--”

“An eye on H’gary? Of course,” Marcus answered, and she left them alone.

Abby rested into Marcus’ arm as Charmaine kept looking at their daughter, and Abby reached for her leg with a squeeze.

“Baby, she’s just growing up. I know it’s fast, but you still have a long way to go.”

“You sure?”

“Clarke came to me three days ago to help her pick a shirt for her dinner with Raven. So no, you won’t stop being her mother.” Charmaine laughed at that, and she could feel Marcus doing the same behind her. 

“Thanks,” Charmaine said with a smile. “Thank you,” she said, taking her hand, and pulling her legs up to her lap.

“Hey, we’re in public,” Abby complained, trying to sit correctly as she laughed. “Save all the touching for Saturday, you two, you’ll have to pay your due before you leave.”

“I promise,” Marcus said, and Charmaine only smirked at the proposal, letting go of her legs.

[astrogeoguy]

Pointing at Polaris, Bright Pre-dawn Planets, and an Enticing Evening Moon!

(Above: Polaris, the Pole Star, is an easy double star visible in backyard telescopes. Look for a small companion near Polaris (yellow arrow) and then trace out the rest of the dim diamond ring asterism. Since the sky revolves around Polaris, the ring of stars can sit in any direction from Polaris.)

Hello, Stargazers! 

Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of March 10rd, 2019 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics. I repost these emails with photos at http://astrogeoguy.tumblr.com/ where all the old editions are archived. You can also follow me on Twitter as @astrogeoguy! Unless otherwise noted, all times are Eastern Time. Please click this MailChimp link to subscribe to these emails. If you are a teacher or group leader interested joining me on a guided field trip to York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory or the David Dunlap Observatory, visit www.astrogeo.ca. 

I can bring my Digital Starlab inflatable planetarium to your school or other daytime or evening event, visit DiscoveryPlanitarium.com and request me. We’ll tour the Universe together! 

My latest Mobile Astronomy column for Space.com is about opportunities to see all the spectacular objects in Charles Messier’s list during a single spring night. You can read it here. 

Public Astro-Events

Taking advantage of the moon, Mars, and other bright objects in the sky this week, the RASC Toronto Centre astronomers will hold their free monthly public City Sky Star Party in Bayview Village Park (steps from the Bayview subway station), starting around 7 pm on the first clear weeknight this week (Mon, Tue, or Thu only). You don’t need to be an RASC member, or own any equipment, to join them – looks are free! Check here for details, and check the banner on their website home page or Facebook page for the GO or NO-GO decision around 5 pm each day. 

Every Monday evening, York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory runs an online star party - broadcasting views from four telescopes/cameras, answering viewer questions, and taking requests! Details are here. On Wednesday nights they offer free public viewing through their rooftop telescopes. If it’s cloudy, the astronomers give tours and presentations. Details are here. 

At 7:30 pm on Wednesday, February 13, the RASC Toronto Centre will hold their free monthly Speaker’s Night Meeting at the Ontario Science Centre, and the public are welcome. This month, the speaker will be Brittney Cooper, MSc student from York University’s Department of Astronomy. Her topic, Scattering Throughout the Solar System, will cover how light reflects off objects like Saturn’s rings, planet atmospheres, and more. Check here for details. Parking is free. 

On Friday, March 15, starting at 7 pm, U of T’s AstroTour will present their planetarium show Grand Tour of the Cosmos. Tickets and details are here. 

Saturday, March 9 marked the opening of a six-month exhibition at the Aga Khan Museum entitled The Moon: A Voyage through Time. The museum will feature installations of art, culture, history, and science pertaining to the moon. A public talk, The Moon: Mirror of Faith, Science, and the Arts will be delivered by Dr. Christiane Gruber on Saturday at 2:00pm. Details are here. 

Walking the Big Dog

If you missed last week’s write-up about the night sky’s brightest star Sirius, and its constellation Canis Major (the Big Dog), I posted it with sky charts and pictures here. 

(Above: The northern sky from mid-Northern latitudes, viewed here at 9 pm local time on March 11, features the Little Dipper / Ursa Minor and the Big Dipper / Ursa Major. The tail stars of Draco separate the two bears. The outer two stars of the Big Dipper’s bowl can be used to point to Polaris.)

Pointing at Polaris

Polaris, the North Star, is the star at the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper, the asterism we also know as the constellation Ursa Minor (the Little Bear). Contrary to popular opinion, Polaris is not a prominent star at all. It is ranked only 48th in brightness – but nevertheless it can easily be spotted with mere eyeballs in a moderately dark sky, if you know where to look. Polaris is located about 430 light-years from Earth. Its surface temperature is similar to our sun’s, but the star is much larger, and it emits 2500 times the light of our sun. 

Polaris’ fame is due to its steadfast position over the northern horizon. While the rest of the sky revolves due to Earth’s rotation, Polaris remains anchored in place because it sits less than a finger’s width from the North Celestial Pole, the imaginary point in space that the Earth’s axis of rotation points at. Due to Earth’s precession, the slow wobble of the Earth’s axis, Polaris will slowly drifting closer to the pole until the year 2101. The star Thuban in Draco (the Dragon) was the pole star when the pyramids were built. 

You can measure your latitude on Earth by counting how many degrees above the horizon Polaris is. Combine that knowledge with the fact that Polaris marks where the compass direction of north is, and you’re well on your way to figuring out your location on Earth - at least, that’s what folks did before GPS! 

The easiest way to find Polaris is to use the outermost stars in the Big Dipper’s bowl. Join an imaginary line from Merak (the bottom of the bowl) to Dubhe (at the rim of the bowl) and keep going. Polaris is the next obvious star you’ll come to. It’s about three fist diameters from Dubhe. Don’t forget that the Big Dipper, like everything else in the sky, circles around Polaris continuously. Sometimes you’ll be drawing that line upwards, and sometimes to the left or the right. In March annually, you’ll find Polaris it downward and to the left of the dipper. Merak and Dubhe are often referred to as the Pointers. I’ll put a sky chart here. 

If you have a telescope, aim it at Polaris and look for a dim, white-coloured partner star sitting near more yellowish Polaris. Once again, the little star can be anywhere on a circle surrounding Polaris. On mid-March evenings, the companion will be to the lower left, but your telescope’s optics will probably flip it to another orientation. That little star can be joined up with more stars to form a small, roughly circular ring of dim stars on the side of Polaris opposite to the Little Dipper’s bowl. It’s called the Engagement Ring, and Polaris is the diamond. Let me know if you see it. 

In mid-March at around 9 pm local time, the rest of the Little Dipper extends sideways to the right from Polaris, and curves strongly upwards towards the Big Dipper. The two dippers fall on either side of the tail stars of Draco. The magnitude 2.06 star at the outer edge of the Little Dipper’s bowl (and closest to the Big Dipper) is slightly dimmer than Polaris. This medium-cool, reddish star is named Kochab. The other five stars of the constellation may be too dim to see from the city, but binoculars will reveal them. Good luck! 

The Moon and Planets

This week, the moon will entice you to gaze upon it after dinner. It will spend the week waxing fuller while it climbs the western evening sky. When the moon is at this stage of its monthly journey around Earth, the sun is slowly rising over the moon’s eastern horizon. The slanted “dawn” sunlight casts long, deep black shadows to the west (our left) of any elevated feature on the moon – including crater rims, mountain chains, ridges, and fault scarps. For the best views, point your binoculars or telescope along the strip flanking the pole-to-pole line that divides the lit and darkened hemispheres. And remember, when the majority of the side of the moon we see is dark, the far side is mostly lit. In other words, it’s wrong to refer to the part of the moon we never see as the dark side, because it’s only dark half of the time! 

(Above: On Monday evening, the waxing crescent moon will land a palm’s width below Mars, as shown here at 9:30 pm local time. Much dimmer Uranus is in nearby Pisces. The star Menkar, to the left of the moon, is Ceti Alpha of Star Trek canon.)

On Monday evening, the waxing crescent moon will be positioned a palm’s width below Mars. The duo will set at about midnight local time. At the same time, you might notice a rough circle of medium-bright stars to the moon’s left. That’s the head of Cetus (the Whale). The brighter, warm-coloured star positioned a fist’s diameter to the left of the moon is named Menkar. That star’s formal designation is Alpha Ceti, “the brightest star in the whale”. In Star Trek lore, Ceti Alpha V was the planet around that star that James Kirk marooned Khan Noonian Singh and his group on in the Original Series episode “Space Seed”. It was later featured in “The Wrath of Khan”. Take a look! 

On Wednesday evening, the moon will land just below the triangle of medium-bright stars that form the face of Taurus (the Bull). Stargazers in western North America will see the moon approach close to the bright, orange-ish star Aldebaran (the eye of the bull) before both objects set in the west. Wherever you live, look a fist’s diameter to the right of the moon for the Seven Sisters, the small, bright cluster of stars that form the logo for the Subaru car company. The sisters were the daughters of Atlas and Pleione in Greek mythology. We also call this object the Pleiades cluster and Messier 45.  

On Thursday morning, the moon will reach its First quarter phase, when it will sit at a 90° angle from the sun and will appear half-illuminated. First quarter moons rise around noon and set around midnight, so they become visible starting in the afternoon. The term quarter moon refers not to its appearance, but the fact that our natural satellite has now completed the first quarter of its orbit around Earth since the last new moon. 

(Above: On Thursday evening, the First Quarter moon will tickle the toes of Gemini, as shown here at 9 pm local time. Orion’s raised club is at bottom centre.)

On Thursday evening the moon will tickle the toes of Gemini (the Twins). On Saturday night, the waxing gibbous moon will be positioned about a palm’s width to the right (west) of the large open star cluster known as the Beehive or Messier 44 in the constellation of Cancer (the Crab). The moon encounters the cluster frequently because the Beehive is located only 1 degree north of the ecliptic, the great circle around the sky that most solar system objects orbits are close to. To see the cluster’s stars, try placing the bright moon just outside the field of view of your binoculars. The following evening, the moon will hop past the cluster to sit a similar distance to the lower left (east) of the “bees”. 

As I referenced above, Mars will be an easy planet to see every evening this week. When the sky begins to darken, look for Mars as a medium-bright, reddish pinpoint of light less than halfway up the western sky. The Red Planet will set at about midnight local time. Mars has been slowly shrinking in size and brightness as we increase our distance from it little-by-little. 

(Above: The eastern pre-dawn sky, shown here at 7 am local time, features three bright planets. Very bright Jupiter rises first and moves into the southern sky by dawn. Brighter Venus is low in the southeast, and dimmer Saturn sits midway between them.)

The remaining bright planets have been hanging out in the eastern pre-dawn sky, and they’re putting on quite a show. Bright Jupiter will rise first, at about 3 am local time. By 7 am local time, it will be a beacon in the southern sky. Yellowish Saturn, which is somewhat dimmer due to its greater distance from Earth and its slightly smaller diameter, will rise at about 4:45 am local time and will be lost in the twilight by 7 am. 

Our sister planet Venus is now getting markedly closer to the sun and will soon disappear into the dawn twilight. Venus’ blazing brilliance will grace the lower part of the southeastern dawn sky after 6 am local time, and remain in view until sunrise. In a telescope, Venus will exhibit a gibbous (more than half-illuminated) phase. If you have trouble seeing Saturn, search about midway between Jupiter and Venus. I’ll post sky charts for the observable planets here.

Keep looking up, and enjoy the sky when you do. I love questions and requests - so, send me some!

[earthstory]

Original caption:

Orion is next to some very famous constellations and deep-sky objects like the Pleiades, the Hyades (Taurus), Monoceros (and the Rosette Nebula), the milky way, Lepus (to the south) and Gemini. Sirius- the brightest star in our night sky, can often been sighted along side Orion. Orion also contains some very bright stars delimiting the outer shape of the hour-glass: Rigel, Saiph, Betelgeuse and Bellatrix. In the center, its belt harbors Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. The Orion area also holds a great deal of colors. Even though our eyes cannot pick them up, our cameras can. As the biggest stars end their lives in a gigantic cosmic burp spewing out tremendous amounts of hot gases containing several elements they have formed by nuclear fusion, the explosion (called a supernova) propels these gases outwards. Their color is a testament of their nature (ex: blue/green is oxygen, red/brown tends to be hydrogen). They slowly cool off and in some places they agglutinate again by gravity. When the pressure and temperature get high enough in these accretion zones, a nuclear fusion starts and gives birth to a new star: nebulae are in fact a star graveyard and a nursery at the same time! In the Orion region, a lot of these nebulae can be captured with a camera: The large Lambda Orionis cloud, the famous and extremely bright shell-like Orion nebula, the running-man nebula, the flame and horse head nebulae located near Orion’s belt, but also the Monkey Head nebula not too far from all that (mistakenly called Rosette in the video)! Look at how bright and varied these hues are. 
> 
> The point of this educative and pedagogical video was also to push the limits of what single picture astrophotography can do. While most cameras cannot pick the H-alpha emissions (red glowing gasses), I used a camera capable of doing so because its CMOS sensor has been replaced by a filter that can allow a wider range of wavelengths in the reds. I also used a light pollution filter (Pure Night from Lonely Speck) to increase contrasts, as well as a tracker (Vixen Polarie) for the deep-sky scenes to increase sharpness and details. With this film (as well as some of my previous productions), I was eager to show that today’s technology allows us to show so much details and colors in the night sky. Of course it contains a lot more noise than a stacked deep-sky or wide-angle astrophograph, but the time-lapse technique can also use medium format and deep-sky to reveal the beauty of this part of the cosmos, and this novel time-lapse proves it! I used the Canon 6D Baader modded and Sony a7s, as well as range of lenses from 14mm to 300mm. I will be glad to give more precisions and details about the technique, post-processing and workflow upon request. 
> 
> In the mean time, the video also contains a myriad of hidden gems that only attentive viewers will see. You can definitely see birds, shooting stars, airglow, iridium flares, low-orbit satellites, but most impressive of all, geosynchronous satellites. The latter is a type of higher orbit satellites that hover approximately over the same point of the Earth. They are usually fixed against the night sky, but as some scenes are tracked, meaning the night sky is fixed this time, these satellites move with the Earth’s rotation. Watch closely how many they are and how they tend to ‘follow’ each other! That’s also why this type of time-lapse is relevant and a real marvel for star gazers!


> 
> Thank you for watching and I hope you enjoyed the video. Don’t hesitate to like, comment, share and of course subscribe to my channel for more 4K videos! Website: adphotography-online.com Facebook: facebook.com/AdrienMauduitPhotography/ Twitter: twitter.com/ADphotography24 Instagram: instagram.com/adphotography2410/ Youtube: youtube.com/user/amadrien21

[keenmindspodcast]

Hi, how are you? I have one question: why now they kill him? Last year they said that he is very important charakter and even gave him spin off. For me explein that this is love story liz and red not tom isn' t enough. I fell total betreyed. They drag this christopher story and cut it in the middle.

Hey there friend, and thanks for listening to us.  

I do not have a magic ball, but I think this story is going to be very intense and important.   The points perhaps to concentrate on are the overall story, which I know for Keen2 fans and TK fans is hard. 

I am an exception because I am a TK  & Keen2 fan but not a shipper, so I see things purely as a theorist, and while I will miss the character because I think his dynamic with all characters was great from the Post Office to Dembe and most importantly with Red and Liz, and I enjoyed greatly Ryan’s acting, from a point of view of the story being told, the symbols employed and the overall arc from my theory’s perspective this event was bound to happen, sooner or later.

Why spent so much time building and rounding the character and presenting all this facets to his character only to kill him?  Why bring him back from Redemption with so much of his own mythology unsolved?

From character analysis standpoint this must feel like a betrayal, and here is where being a theorist, a pure theorist, not moved by an additional emotional  fuel of either hating the character or loving the character, has advantages.  I like the character and the relationship because they personify the themes of the show.

Here I will enter in the realm of predictions and theories, so I will never be 100% accurate in my prediction, but I have a long list of predictions that have come true, so while I would never represent that the following IS WHAT HAPPENS (those of you who have been in tumblr will remember the capitals and know what I am talking about there ;-) ) I offer them as my own opinions:

Tom, a talented covert operative who fell in love with a target and stayed, is a mirror for at least Katarina, his mother in law. So since “Katarina Rostova” walked into the ocean, never to be seen again, presumed dead, it was a foregone conclusion that in all likelihood Tom will also die.  

He did have many brushes with death: he was stabbed by Zamani on Red’s orders, Liz shot him when he was trying to keep her safe (see my post about it here), then Gina shot him, then  he left on his boat in 2.22 he went to great dangers to get Karakurt back, etc.  

Was he always supposed to really die in season 1?   Maybe, and then we would not have got the backstory as we did, though I am not sure we would not at some point or if it would have been a fake death, to join the 15 others already in the show. 

But canon is what airs, so If we examine the timeline, we get a lot of  information about Tom.  His parents knew Red, the fact that Rostov hired Scottie and she accepted as survival tell us that Rostov knew something about Scottie that forced her to accept the job, though she declined killing Red. His abduction in 1988 is close in time and age to Liz’s being taken.  Their repeated emphasis of feeling like home, of feeling safe with each other, for feeling like family, and Tom’s words to Liz as they ride dying in the car “You are so beautiful. You’re the most beautiful.” and “My Liz”, I think will all come back into play. Even the choice of a song was probably already in the making when the “Elizabeth Keen Dossier was released”

the world fell silent when they met, and the sounds of silence played as their love story was coming to an end (maybe).

Remember that while Red and Liz are the most important characters, the central characters, father and daughter, I have always said the Blacklist is a love story, a family love story, and the character driving the show is Reddington, and the unseen Katarina.  We have never seen Katarina (that we know of) except as a memory, or a hallucination.  Her view tainted by the character remembering her.  For Liz she is her mother, buying a time capsule with her, for Kate is this employer for whom Kate becomes like a savior, cleaner, family unit, for Red is the hallucination to examine both  their choices in Cape May.

But is the story between Red and Katarina that is driving the story between Red and Liz, a story of family love, of acceptance and of forgiveness. 

The Blacklist is the story of Red going home. Home to Katarina, the woman he loved, through their daughter, who can teach them both forgiveness, getting even, and starting over, reclaiming the good parts and casting away the bad ones. And for Liz to teach Red the way, she has to be on the same path.

When Ressler was faced with the same situation at Audrey’s death, Red presented him with Tanida’s head to prevent Ressler from going in the same path. Ressler was a boy scout, the good agent, and Red wanted to keep that innocence, as he had come to appreciate that, form the despise he felt towards the Resslers of the world when he was on the run.

But Liz is a very different situation.  Liz has already the darkness in her.  Liz understands and functions on the concept of getting even, and then letting go.  So there is no protecting Liz from going dark, she already has it in her.  The only question with Liz is how dark she will go.

Liz finds herself now in the same situation that both her parents did:

Katarina thought Liz’s father was dead and Liz was hunted, so she left Liz with Sam and “walked her into the ocean”.

Red thought Katarina was dead, in a suicide that left him destroyed and he went in a dark revenge mission in which he lost his ability to see the light, he went so dark like the fish he became hideous.  And then I think he found her, and was so enraged by this betrayal that it took him to Cape May to really see her reasons for the suicide.  To understand she felt she had no alternatives.

So the writers needed to put Liz in the same situation as Red and Katarina, also with a child now an orphan, to guide Red through it. She had to descend to Hades to retrieve Red. So even if Red would be the one counseling her, it is Liz who is guiding Red back home. She is his Polaris because she is capable of forgiveness, and she will need the forgiveness because eventually she will understand what part did Red play in Tom’s death, and it will not be pretty. She will find all the places Red could have stop the events or be honest with her and Tom, or call for backup, or the FBI and did not to keep the secret, secrets he does not know why he cannot reveal.  Because the secrets became an object in themselves, except of means.  I think because there is shame and there is fear he will not be loved as the hideous creature he sees himself as.

There is a heavy component of a mythology of good vs evil, of redemption,  of salvation.  A mythology present in many religions, old and present. So the characters have to go through hell to be saved, and if one looks at the pictures of season 3, we see how Tom is the only one of the characters that has been delivered, that has achieved redemption, he is shown wet (as from baptism)  the only one by a window, with a round window that looks like a helm.  So I knew then that Tom would not be long for the world.  

When all the other characters where in the dark, only artificial  light (Liz, Red and Samar were the only ones by far windows) Tom was wet, by a window., with a helm at his fingertips in the light.

Yet your question is so valid. Why now? why after investing so much in developing his mythology? who would care now?  Why not give answers?

Because I think they will.  The suitcase and its occupant is directly related to Tom Keen. Who he is, what happened and what is the big mystery. They promised answers and they will answer.

Remember the following facts about the suitcase and the skeleton AKA Bones.

the tag is addressed to Liz at an address that likely is the fire house

the apple farm where it was buried under a tree with a carving is linked to the drawing of the family by an apple tree seen on fire

the CODIS search revealed an identity that meant zilch to Pete, little to Nik and which took Tom a little time working the connections to get it, and when he did he wanted to see Liz alone, did not want the FBI there, and did not want Agnes there either.  The look on his face was incredulous as if he could not believe all that pain and secrecy for such a thing, not that of I must warn Liz immediately of impending danger in the form of Reddington, or anyone.  

Ian Garvey  wanted to control Reddington and Tom was merely a way to contact him. Even though the suitcase was addressed to Liz at an different address, even though Liz and Tom shared the last name, even though Liz’s badge was used in the ID none of it mean squat to Garvey.  They were disposable cogs.

So the CODIS search did not reveal any connections to Katarina Rosotva, Elizabeth Keen, Masha Rostova or Tom Keen, the things Garvey would know, or Pete would know, because they are in the public knowledge.

So it must be the secrets still to be revealed:  the real identity of Katarina Rostova (known to Red and Dembe), or related to Tom’s real identity, Christopher Hargrave. (known in this case by him only) or maybe Liz’s middle name, Scott (known to Tom and Nik).

And/or r it could be about facts known to Nik, such as Tom having been brought with gunshot wounds.

Or a combination of all of these things, coupled with the DNA of people who had been accused or convicted of crimes and that are in the system, or as missing persons:

Liz (for the murder of Connolly), Susan Scott Hargarve (for the Halcyon mess) and Tom in a couple of crime scenes.  But maybe Liz and/or Susan under a name that would only mean something to Tom.  Like the Scott both his mother and wife share as a middle name.

And if Katarina had a few identities what happened to those as she “walked into the ocean”  Were they declared dead? missing?

So you see, Tom will continue to drive season 5, until Katarina’s thread is out.

Tom, and his story, is linked irrevocably to Liz’s and Red, because they are all a big family, and I stand by my theory that Tom and Liz knew each other as children and were sweethearts or were related, the whole thing a big mess of Russian origins, a dying Russian dynasty of which now Agnes is the hope.

Is Tom really dead?  I am not 100% convinced. Tom Keen is. But is Christopher Hargrave or whatever his name really is, because one thing is certain, Hargrave was not Howard’s original name either, as I have never been certain Reddington was Red’s original name, even if I am convinced is the one he has been using since he  went at least into the Naval Academy.

It is possible the character is dead, it all depends of 2 things:how much time is left to tell the stories and how dark they want to take the story.

So hang in there, I think the ride will get intense, and is one I am eager to continue, as much as I enjoyed Ryan’s performance on the show.

So they had to build the story up, because it is an essential part of the mythology, so they had to build it to connect it.

P.S.  @takadasaiko just told me people have no way who answered the ask.  silly me.  it is answered by @tessabltheorist   i am sure @takadasaiko will add her piece to it from the perspective of a shipper and a character analyst much better than me. ;-)

[beanabouttown]

...........okay so. @brightbluedot and i have been thinking about a fusion of black sails and stardust

where it's like canon except james is a star

and stars are known about and hunted and james has managed to evade detection for years and years bc when he fell he landed in the sea

james who is such a good sailor partly bc the stars literally talk to him when he's navigating

thomas and miranda noticing that james starts to glow sometimes

when thomas gets close, or praises him, or touches him

thomas would be so goddamn happy - he knows he's not imagining it, and he knows what it means, what it has to mean - but he'd also be afraid for him, because dear god, there are people who would carve out that heart of his

but james doesn't know that they have worked it out until he starts glowing when thomas kisses him and james is like 'oh god no' and thomas is just. 'i always knew'

james hadn't even noticed he was glowing before this point though

and that really did worry thomas a little

james and thomas can't touch around other people bc james will start glowing

thomas has so many nightmares about someone - usually his father - carving out james' heart

then after they get together, when he wakes up, james is there, glowing faintly, and thomas can just pull him closer, hand over james' heart like he's going to protect it

thomas calls james 'light of my life'

think about them looking out thomas's bedroom window, and james showing him where he used to be in the sky, guiding his outstretched finger right....there. and thomas would just. be so awed. he'd have to ask 'do you miss it?' and james would reach out and hold the hand thomas had pointed at the sky, bring thomas's knuckles to his lips and tell him that no, he doesn't. not anymore.

thomas asking if james would go back, if he could. james saying that he doesn't ever want to leave him

but: thomas loves james so much. more than his own life. 

…….of course thomas found him babylon candle 

because he never believed the stories about the hearts of stars making the person they love immortal. because he thought james would one day be left alone. and wanted him to have a way to return home

and so he keeps it somewhere secret and safe. and when they come to take him he tells miranda where it is and tells her to give it to james

AND OHHHHH THERE WOULD DEFINITELY BE A LETTER

'James, my truest love, you must not grieve for me. For having loved you, I never spent a moment in darkness, and my life was happier than I ever could have wished for. As a final gift, let me give you a light of my own. Light the candle and think of home, and you'll be returned to the sky, where you might watch over the world, as I shall watch over you. As I write these words, I love you, and as you read them, I love you still.' ( @brightbluedot)

from when thomas kisses james, to him being taken, he never knows darkness

thomas is desperate when alfred's men come to take him that they don't get james because if they do - god, if his father finds out….

and imagine when peter comes to see him, peter says something like 'it doesn't matter, he's useless now' meaning of course that his heart is broken, and thomas just. wants to kill peter for it

'get out.' 'I only meant nobody would want to - ' 'GET OUT.'

because more than anger at anybody calling him USELESS - how can he be so goddamn blasé about james's heart being SHATTERED

peter makes sure that in the plantation, thomas is never allowed outside during the night. he is never allowed to see the stars

because if the stars see him, they might be able to tell james

after thomas is taken james almost destroys the hamilton's house before miranda calms him down

then he doesn't shine for ten years

well. a little bit when he decides to agree to peter's plan

when he does that little smile

just the tiniest glimmer

and in that moment miranda knows she's lost him - he’s decided to die for thomas’ dream

maybe one or two people realise that james is a star during the ten years but. his heart is irreparably broken so he's 'useless'

but he can still hear the stars whispering to him sometimes

they say 'you are not alone'

sometimes the stars whisper for james to come home

but he just. he can't.

so many times during his career as a pirate he must try to use his powers for destruction

but he can't

he can't even shine

also like. stretching the mythology a bit. what if once or twice someone tries to stab or shoot james in the heart

only it obviously doesn't kill him

because his heart. it isn't his anymore. and it's dead (or at least that's what he assumes)

also going off the fact that in the film the witch was going to use this weird magic dagger to cut out yvaine's heart and one assumes there was a reason

BUT ALSO I SHOULD REMIND PEOPLE AT THIS POINT. 

NO MAN CAN LIVE FOREVER, EXCEPT HE WHO POSSESSES THE HEART OF A STAR-

AND JAMES HAD GIVEN HIS TO THOMAS COMPLETELY-

SO HE. SURVIVED

WHEN HE SHOULDN'T HAVE

and during the reunion….. thomas would have to squeeze his eyes shut because james would just be blinding

he destroys the plantation in that moment 

HOWEVER. a part of me wants to have instead of what happens in canon, someone working out james is a star who also knows about thomas. and doing what they do in the film

probably peter 

'oh hey this star just rolled up that might be useful'

'and i know how to fix his heart isn't that convenient'

'and im meant to execute him anyway so why not get something useful out of him'

he could rationalize it with his hatred of pirates, etc

also i think that the general consensus would have to be that stars are subhuman, otherwise how could people justify cutting out their hearts

imagine james all bound up and enraged and terrified, then seeing thomas and shining properly for the first time in a decade

for a moment he's so happy

also this would have to be after vane arrives. just so someone can be all '.....wtf'

but thomas would scream

HE'S LITERALLY HAD NIGHTMARES ABOUT THIS

THAT JAMES'S LOVE FOR HIM WOULD GET HIM KILLED

THEY ARE GOING TO BUTCHER HIM IN PUBLIC

yeah he'd be fucking terrified

and then vane's men start firing on charlestown so james can escape

and he and thomas run to each other

james tells him to close his eyes, so thomas tucks his nose against his neck and holds on tight

and he's so bright they can see him from the man of war

vane would just be like. um

he's been like 'um' since the fucking governor of carolina tried to cut out flint's heart

'i mean, im not a fan of the guy but?? overkill much??'

and then james destroys charlestown almost singlehandedly and vane is just. okay i APPROVE

that first night after they reunite, thomas wouldn't be able to sleep until james did - he'd still be shining too brightly until sleep dimmed it somewhat

and like. they would still be on the ship at this point. so no one's sleeping until james does

men belowdecks just look up at this brilliant light slanting through the cracks in the ceiling like. fuck.

also. hoo boy are we gonna brag about our captain when we get back to nassau

People assume it's been exaggerated somewhat - but EVERY MAN on the crew tells the same story

and they can also see it - every time flint smiles - and he smiles now, jesus fuck - he glows

when they get back to nassau and people are like 'hey a star.....could get some good money for-' james sees not only thomas step in front of him (which is gratifying, if unsurprising), but also Charles Fucking Vane

honestly it's probably just jack being jack and not really meaning it, but still

jack: ’…I feel compelled to point out that - '

everyone: ‘fuck you, jack’

james, who now knows he's capable of vaporising the entire island again, is more amused than anything

people start referring to him as captain flint, star of the sea

many years later, sailors - pirates and non-pirates alike - talk about him actually being polaris, the pole star - when james hears these stories he's like 'but How - polaris is in the sky RIGHT NOW' and thomas just grins and kisses him and says 'does it really matter? you're remembered. generations see you as a sign of hope, a sign of home. as i do'

(that’s a strong point in favour of this version, if im honest. james gets to be remembered as more than a monster) 

and then. years and years later, james and thomas light the babylon candle together

[sebastianshaw]

9, 12, 33.

9: What power do you wish you had?Reality warping. I could just make myself and my life be exactly how I want to be, and fix lots of other problems in the world too. And if I wanted any other powers, like flight or time-relapse, I could just change reality so I had those.12: What character do you dislike the most?I really, really hate Sabretooth. He’s one of the few characters that I just full-stop won’t even RP with, and I frankly can barely read anything with him in it. 33: Which character deserves more attention than they get?So many! Probably more than I know! These are a few of my own underrated faves though (and it’s a very biased list, I RP as several of these characters)Fabian Cortez - Fabian was a major villain during the first half of the 90s, and remained an important character in relation to Quicksilver and Magneto even after he lost his “major villain” status overall. He’s the asshole that manipulated the retired Magneto back into villainy for his own ends before then killing him off so he could use his image as a martyr to lead a cult, and he also was a constant thorn in the side of Quicksilver, even kidnapping his daughter during the Blood Ties event. He’s very devious, very competent, and very…hilarious? The guy is definitely intelligent and dangerous, but he’s also RIDICULOUS. Like he’s the thirstiest fucker alive, he does shit like lying to birds and wrapping his cape around himself when he’s scared, he’s a huge diva, he’s just super duper awful with no redeeming qualities whatsoever and he’s so much fun to read. Add that to being a part of some major stories and connected to such popular characters (Magneto and Quicksilver, plus Apocalypse in the cartoon series) and I think more people should be aware of this guy.Madelyne Pryor- She’s not what I’d call unknown, but I’d like to see a bigger tumblr fandom for her. Most of tumblr is only familiar with the movies, but Maddy’s tragedy and pathos and spiral downwards are all super compelling and something I think a lot of people would find engaging. Claudette St. Croix- There’s a lot of demand on tumblr for autistic representation. Claudette is the only canonically autistic mutant in the X-Men series. What’s more, she’s also female and POC, and I’ve never seen someone with autism in media before who wasn’t white and male. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have much of a character/personality, and her “autism” was written as just being completely non-verbal (not that there’s anything wrong with that, some autistic people are, but she never really communicates in any way and we never see her thoughts either, so her personality never gets shown) and staring at nothing, but I feel like if a new writer picked her back up and expanded on her with care and accuracy, she could become a really good character, both in terms of autistic representation and in general. Haven- Haven was a seven-issue X-Factor villain in the 90s and she’s unique for being the kindest, most benevolent “villain” that any X-Men team ever faced. Her story and design are very interesting and unusual, and also stuff that happened to her is actually pretty relevant to things going on now (government team gets sent after a brown woman with a funny religion because well she MUST be a terrorist, and of course they turn out to be right so that makes it okay they opened fire on her immediately before even telling her she was under arrest)Shinobi Shaw- Sebastian’s illegitimate son, and a barrel of laughs. Exploits include trying to drunkenly seduce a yakuza boss and the X-men bursting in on him TWICE while he’s in the bath. He’s not competent or threatening at all, but his flamboyancy and stupidity are just wonderful to read. He also has some unexpected pathos due to his abuse by Shaw, and the glimpses we get of what’s going on under his shallow stupid playboy surface are really profoundly painful. Also, he’s very openly bisexual. Like, blatantly. It’s not GOOD bisexual representation, as it’s used to play up how decadent he is and relies on some nasty stereotypes of bisexuals as sex-crazed hedonists who are probably evil, but, well, it was the 90s. The Hellions - These were a team of young mutants being trained by Emma Frost in the 80s while she was still with the Hellfire Club, but most of them weren’t evil. They were just kids that she got to before Xavier. They were really great, engaging characters with lots of potential, and it was a shame they were killed off. There was surprising complexity and depth to them, and there was surely even more going on we weren’t aware of because they weren’t the focal characters. Between this and their connection to a majorly popular canon like Emma, I think more people should know about them.Zaladane- Given how popular Magneto’s family is, how much fanart I see of them, I think more people should know Zaladane/ Zala Dane. She’s a sorceress from the Savage Land who claimed to be the long lost sister of Lorna Dane aka Polaris, and she used a machine to steal her powers. Lorna dismissed her claims, but Moira MacTaggert confirmed that the machine could only have been used to transfer powers between genetic relatives. Zala then later used the same machine on Magneto to add his powers to what she already took from Lorna. Meaning, she must be related to BOTH of them. The math kinda does itself—she’s got to be Magneto’s daughter. Later changes to continuity makes that impossible, however, but who knows, maybe she came from an alternate universe or something and that’s why Lorna didn’t know about her, how she wound up in the Savage Land, etc. Zala’s admittedly not really noteworthy in her own right, but she intrigues me as a long-lost-Magneto-spawn, and given how much fandom loves the Magnet clan, I think she oughta get some attention.Selene- Like Maddy, she’s not what I’d call unknown, but there’s not a lot of love for her in the tumblr fandom. She’s not really a compelling character as a person, but she’s a lot of fun as a villain who just relishes in being evil. Her ridiculously overt predatory lesbianism is also downright hilarious in terms of how much Claremont was clearly enjoying writing her.Kwannon- Everything Psylocke is today is due to Kwannon. Psylocke was originally a white British woman, a model and not much of a fighter, but a body-swap with a Japanese ninja asassin named Kwannon turned her into the Psylocke we know today. Kwannon suffered tragically for this, and I think she ought to be remembered, especially by any fan of Psylocke. Moira MacTaggert - If you’re imagining a sexy young American CIA agent, stop it right now. I’m talking about comics Moira. Comics Moira is around Charle’s age, very Scottish, and she is actually DOCTOR MacTaggert, a world-renowned leading geneticist whose area of specialty is mutants. She’s badass, she’s smart, she calls Charles out on his shit when no one else does, she has dark issues of her own, and she goes after a kelpie with a giant gun. She’s a longtime ally of the X-Men and friend to mutantkind, she lives at the mansion and forms a relationship with each team member of the time, and even forms/leads her own team of X-Men on Muir Island (the site of her research center) when it appears the original team has been killed. Moira debuts at an early point in the comics, and is an important player in numerous stories for years to come up until her death at the hands of Mystique, but not before she discovered the cure to the Legacy Virus, saving the lives of countless mutants. Moira definitely needs more appreciation, and I’m not even a Moira fan. (I don’t dislike her, obviously, she’s just not an area of focus for me)Exodus- A super powerful mutant from the 11th century awoken by Magneto in modern era, Exodus was a Crusader during his own time and remains one today for Magneto’s cause. He’s so powerful, writers tend to just...ignore he exists, because he can do SO MUCH it’s hard to write him. But I really love his well-intentioned extremism, the fact he really means so well, is often noble, and his really unsubtle gay crush on Mags.And, of course, Sebastian Shaw here. He’s hardly a D-lister in the comics, but all fandom seems to be aware of is movie Shaw and it makes me sad :C

[miyaio]

desu2!!

desu 2 meta brings out the tl;dr beast in me b/c i’m always thirsty to talk excessively abt this game.

My favorite parent-child relationship

- i think otome and koharu win by default, tho io’s brief scene w/her mother and the background we get on her relationship w/her parents is v heart-wrenching.  i love the way otome’s single mom status is depicted–it feels very nuanced and sympathetic, without shying away from the way having parenthood thrust upon her would realistically impact otome’s life and koharu’s.  when otome mentions in tri arc that she misses being koharu’s mother, despite how selfish that would be (as it would come in exchange for her cousins’ lives), i teared up, ngl.  koharu herself is also really precious, tho i wish we had a consistent appearance for her–it seems to change between vanilla desu 2, ds2a, and tri arc?  

runner-up goes to airi and her dad, despite the fact that she thinks he’s dead.  the dera-deka sub-arc is well-worth doing at least once, imo.  it made me bawl, and it’s also necessary for 100% compendium completion.

My favorite sibling relationship

- can i say saiduq and the other septentriones?  yamato and miyako are the only sibs we see onscreen (tho airi mentions having a little brother), but tbh, i’m more interested in miyako’s side than i am in yamato’s.  what goes on in the septentriones’ minds–if they even have “minds” as people would perceive the concept–is fascinating to me, and i really wonder what saiduq thinks abt his former “siblings”.  does he simultaneously pity and envy them for lacking his autonomy?  does he see them as extensions of polaris’ will that deserve to be beaten down by humans?  the denizens of the akasha stratum are one of my fav aspects of desu 2′s worldbuilding, so i’m always hungry for meta on them.

My favorite family relationship (other)

- airi and ronaldo in a found family situation………  i love the way their dynamic develops, w/neither one aware of how strong a connection they really share.  i do wish we’d had more of them bonding over their memories of airi’s dad (which i’ve always hc’d as happening at least on egalitarian route), but seeing how similar the two of them really are is always cute.  airi loves her gay uncle 2k17

My favorite friendship between two people

- uffff this is so hard b/c i like a lot of my ships b/c of their friendships……..  ig i’d make it a tie between hibiki + daichi and jp’s trio’s dynamic as a whole?  even tho jp’s trio isn’t two people, haha.  one thing i really like abt hibiki in comparison to like, every male protag ever, is that it’s p heavily implied that he’s not popular at all.  the one thing ds2a did right was hibiki’s backstory, which i think still fits in w/gameverse!hibiki’s description as someone w/a “blank” past.  his friendship w/daichi and the relationships he forms w/the main cast mean a lot more in the context of daichi really being his only close friend at the start of the game, imo.  s/t i love abt hibiki + both daichi and io is that their friendships are based on equity, abt hibiki supporting the others and working w/them as equals to help them realize what wonderful ppl they are in their own right, rather than him being the ultra-charismatic authority who’s always Cool and in control.  like, this is the guy who has such Serious dialogue options as “RAINBOOOOOOW!!” and “tell everyone yr gay for yamato”.  hibiki being really isolated from most ppl aside from daichi feeding into his decision to pursue the human admin end of br is a meta for another time, ig.

jp’s trio’s various relationships are all v interesting, in terms of the spokes of the triangle and all three of them together.  it’s really refreshing to see that kind of dynamic between adult women who are professionals–their bond feels a lot less??  transient than it might between yet another group of high schoolers.  you get the sense that all three of them being adults is what lets their friendships bloom and be so important to them, as the people they were in high school are hardly the same people they are now.  the event in tri arc where fumi and makoto take care of a fatigued otome and tell her that she can lean on them, too, really made an impact on me.  all three of them play off of each other so well in a variety of settings, and it lends a v mature, multifaceted air to their dynamic.  otome taking a different faction than fumi and makoto, and how different fumi and makoto’s own reasons for joining yamato are, is also worth mentioning in that the three of them aren’t always in agreement, and that’s a part of friendship, too.  

My favorite friendship between a group

- team nagoya………  i’ll be the first to say that i dislike both the extremist routes.  whether or not the writers intended to make the player feel that way is subjective, and may well depend on where a player falls on the smt alignment continuum, or even on desu 2′s version of that continuum.  either way, i at least liked egalitarian better than meritorious b/c team nagoya has such a strong rapport w/one another, compared to the cognitive dissonance-riddled mess that is team osaka.  based on their dialogue from any daichi route, the members of team nagoya definitely know they’re not necessarily vying for the best solution to their very legitimate concerns.  they’re a lot easier to sympathize with b/c their grievances are very real–as joe says in “dream’s end”, while society may be growing less prejudiced over time, for many people, there is no time to “wait for things to get better”.  the problem lies much more in going thru polaris to make a change, as the ending p clearly (and horrifyingly) demonstrates that polaris just uses team nagoya’s passion for its own ends.  

at any rate, the interactions between the four of them are great, from ronaldo and airi’s aforementioned dynamic, to joe and otome’s complimentary playful attitudes, to how airi represents the future that all three adults are fighting for.  it’s really telling that team nagoya consists of three adults and one teenager–otome puts it most clearly in her post-defeat dialogue on daichi routes when she says that she was fighting desperately (yet short-sightedly) for the future of the world’s children.  imo, airi really represents that future to the three adults, as a teenager who has already had so many doors closed in her face due to inequity.  airi’s own stubbornness, selective self-flagellation, and issues w/moving on aside, schooling in particular really is s/t that can shape a child’s entire life, and i’m sure ronaldo, joe, and otome realize that.  so seeing how well all four of them interact w/each other and how airi represents both the best and the worst of team nagoya’s ideals def makes them my fav faction.

My favorite mentorship

- speaking of airi’s interactions w/the adult cast, makoto + airi is so good…..  i love how constructive makoto is w/airi, giving her the tools she needs to move forward in life w/o telling her to get over it, or denying that airi’s been screwed over by forces well beyond her control.  makoto’s not a perfect mentor, but (as her name suggests), she’s honest w/airi, and owns up to it when she reacts too harshly.  i think it’s great to see makoto helping someone in a way she knows for sure is right, in contrast to how uncertain her cognitive dissonance abt other issues in sep arc must be making her feel.  on the flipside, airi gets to begin moving forward w/life again, which in turn contributes to helping her reconsider her own alienating abrasiveness (can you tell i like airi b/c she and severa are so similar……).  the moral of airi and makoto’s mentorship isn’t “never ever give up on yr dreams b/c you can only ever have one True goal in life”, nor is it “there’s no need to challenge injustices done unto you b/c if you don’t rock the boat, life will move on eventually”.  airi’s sub-arc comes to a more nuanced conclusion, and i don’t think she could’ve gotten there w/o makoto’s influence.

My favorite rivalry

- does hinako and yamato count?  i love how often she calls him out, and how she’s not afraid of him in the least.  while i doubt yamato sees hinako as much of consequence, she makes her beef w/him plain, w/o going “DIE HOUTSUIN MY JUSTICE IS SCREAMING” ala ronaldo www  her voice is much-needed in a lot of situations, too.  her confrontation w/yamato over whether or not he cherrypicked the results of the medium compatibility tests to get rid of io is really well-done, esp if you infer that hinako knows abt io’s own disastrous confrontation w/yamato earlier on friday.

My favorite hatred/antipathy

- while i know miyako and yamato don’t straight-up hate each other, their dynamic as enemies (or at least in opposition to one another) is great.  i’m not just saying this b/c i love seeing yamato get dragged, i promise–there really is just s/t satisfying abt miyako not taking his shit at all, despite her own cognitive dissonance and his valid points abt the futility of her plan.  yamato -> saiduq is also fairly interesting, tho ds2a bloated itself so much w/a tepid exploration of how their dynamic could potentially be explored that i’m not too keen on meta-ing it more.  yamato is kind of a hate sink amongst the cast, tbh www  saiduq’s own rebel angel-turned-usurper dynamic w/polaris is p unambiguous hatred, but it’s v interesting, given how saiduq feels he has no choice but to die as polaris’ sword on every other route.  really seeing him shuck that alcor designation (ppl who call saiduq by that name when he explicitly says he dislikes it still drive me bonkers in 2017) and take up heaven’s throne is v satisfying.

My favorite potential relationship between characters who never talk in canon

- do u have a moment to talk abt how we were robbed of more io-joe interactions………  if anyone’s actually read this far, you probably do lmao  in any event, i think this is mostly a limitation of how the fate system is constructed, and you can see the writers stretching and experimenting w/it in tri arc.  if future desu games expand into s/t like fe’s support system, where you can see the fate system-equivalents between all characters, sometimes w/o the protag even present, i think that’d be a great step forward.  i bring this up for one area in particular where i really wanted to see more joe-io interactions: on tuesday, after io’s parents die.  joe has a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it line in his own fate system w/hibiki abt how his own parents are dead, but it’s not framed in a more genre-typical “tragic orphan backstory” way.  it really raises the question about when someone whose parents have died is too old to be called an orphan, given that joe is only 25.  

this dialogue suggests that the losses are then fairly recent, tho joe writes them off w/his patent-pending brand of escape-avoidance.  for all his flakiness (his term), tho, joe really does try to fill a big brother role for tokyo trio, and this is where i think he and io could have some v fruitful interactions.  i think that most of the cast isn’t really faced w/the immediacy of the high likelihood that their families are dead, w/the exception of chars like joe, jungo, airi, and keita, who all lose parents prior to the game.  io, on the other hand, watches her mother die in her arms.  she displays astounding resilience and focus in how quickly she draws herself back together after the loss, despite her r5 confirming that she had pretty constant suicidal ideation throughout the rest of the week (and quite possibly before the game, too).  as joe is the closest to io out of the four aforementioned characters at that point in the game, i really, really would’ve loved to see his take on providing her comfort and guidance in the wake of her sudden loss.  i think it would’ve been a good set of conversations for both of them, especially if you buy into the reading that both joe and io let themselves die should the player fail to prevent their death clips.  in this respect, i’m interested in the similarities between joe and io, and i think a good heart-to-heart between them early on in the game would’ve led to a variety of other interactions.

[lamathryf]

ORION: The Hunter - 4K (UHD) from Adrien Mauduit Films on Vimeo.

A strange rectangle formed by bright stars in the winter sky, with three aligned central stars, that’s no ordinary shape for a constellation! You’ve probably seen it on a winter night sortie. If you are in the northern Hemisphere, these stars tend to rise in the south east in the Fall and set in the south west in the Spring, and linger during cold and long hours throughout the winter darkness. It’s undoubtably Orion, one of the oldest and most recognizable constellations in the night sky. According to the Greek mythology, the constellation was given the name Orion because it resembles a hunter holding a bow, as a reference to the son of Poseidon (the sea God) and Euryale.

Orion is next to some very famous constellations and deep-sky objects like the Pleiades, the Hyades (Taurus), Monoceros (and the Rosette Nebula), the milky way, Lepus (to the south) and Gemini. Sirius- the brightest star in our night sky, can often been sighted along side Orion. Orion also contains some very bright stars delimiting the outer shape of the hour-glass: Rigel, Saiph, Betelgeuse and Bellatrix. In the center, its belt harbors Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. The Orion area also holds a great deal of colors. Even though our eyes cannot pick them up, our cameras can. As the biggest stars end their lives in a gigantic cosmic burp spewing out tremendous amounts of hot gases containing several elements they have formed by nuclear fusion, the explosion (called a supernova) propels these gases outwards. Their color is a testament of their nature (ex: blue/green is oxygen, red/brown tends to be hydrogen). They slowly cool off and in some places they agglutinate again by gravity. When the pressure and temperature get high enough in these accretion zones, a nuclear fusion starts and gives birth to a new star: nebulae are in fact a star graveyard and a nursery at the same time! In the Orion region, a lot of these nebulae can be captured with a camera: The large Lambda Orionis cloud, the famous and extremely bright shell-like Orion nebula, the running-man nebula, the flame and horse head nebulae located near Orion’s belt, but also the Monkey Head nebula not too far from all that (mistakenly called Rosette in the video)! Look at how bright and varied these hues are. 

The point of this educative and pedagogical video was also to push the limits of what single picture astrophotography can do. While most cameras cannot pick the H-alpha emissions (red glowing gasses), I used a camera capable of doing so because its CMOS sensor has been replaced by a filter that can allow a wider range of wavelengths in the reds. I also used a light pollution filter (Pure Night from Lonely Speck) to increase contrasts, as well as a tracker (Vixen Polarie) for the deep-sky scenes to increase sharpness and details. With this film (as well as some of my previous productions), I was eager to show that today’s technology allows us to show so much details and colors in the night sky. Of course it contains a lot more noise than a stacked deep-sky or wide-angle astrophograph, but the time-lapse technique can also use medium format and deep-sky to reveal the beauty of this part of the cosmos, and this novel time-lapse proves it! I used the Canon 6D Baader modded and Sony a7s, as well as range of lenses from 14mm to 300mm. I will be glad to give more precisions and details about the technique, post-processing and workflow upon request. 

In the mean time, the video also contains a myriad of hidden gems that only attentive viewers will see. You can definitely see birds, shooting stars, airglow, iridium flares, low-orbit satellites, but most impressive of all, geosynchronous satellites. The latter is a type of higher orbit satellites that hover approximately over the same point of the Earth. They are usually fixed against the night sky, but as some scenes are tracked, meaning the night sky is fixed this time, these satellites move with the Earth’s rotation. Watch closely how many they are and how they tend to ‘follow’ each other! That’s also why this type of time-lapse is relevant and a real marvel for star gazers!



Thank you for watching and I hope you enjoyed the video. Don’t hesitate to like, comment, share and of course subscribe to my channel for more 4K videos! Website: adphotography-online.com Facebook: facebook.com/AdrienMauduitPhotography/ Twitter: twitter.com/ADphotography24 Instagram: instagram.com/adphotography2410/ Youtube: youtube.com/user/amadrien21