#up with the star

[ialpiriel]

Six years ago, after killing her father, she was stripped of her name, then sold into gladiatorial slavery in the Dead Nation, an imperialistic slaver nation consuming huge portions of the Midwest. Now, three days after a coup that started with the Iconoclast's cannibalistic destruction of the previous Warlord, the Iconoclast asks her--wouldn't you like like to make everyone have to respect you? Wouldn't it be nice to have power and make them all listen? She agrees, and ascends into power as the Nameless Warlord. And then the assassination attempts start.

Paperback | Kindle | Gumroad (PDF) | itch.io (PDF) | itch.io (audio)

My novel Up With the Star comes out today, Friday, September 8! It features a whole cast of queer characters and is set in an America that has fallen apart and reformed itself into scores of smaller states, some at war with each other, some at peace, some federated, some not. The main character is one of the Nameless, a manufactured underclass produced by one of the largest political bodies on the North American continent. She hails from a small state that was formed by christofascist secessionists around a century before the story starts, and was cast out after her values failed to align with those of her birthplace, in a rather spectacular manner.

After the Iconoclast's violent assassination of the previous leader of a different political body, she's nominated to take his place by the Iconoclast, as well as her friends Conway--an ex-POW who now works in commerce--and Marta--a highly-regarded trauma surgeon at the gladiatorial pits, the home of post-dissolution America's favorite sport, the site of quite a lot of augury and oracular functions, and the main characters "workplace." She takes the job on the offering of being able to spite the people who made her Nameless. Wouldn't it nice to be powerful and respected? Wouldn't it be nice to be in charge, just once?

Great for people who like adult transmasc characters, characters who are struggling with christianity, doctors, scenes about food, estranged families, fictional grandmas, and people motivated by spite, and can tolerate suicidal ideation, blood, violence, christianity, and sex scenes.

[sadmages]

Having ocs is fucked up they make you wake up and think stuff like what if i learn to code in renpy and make this into a visual novel. Who said that

[startrekvsfaceapp]

[artsymeeshee]

Slowly planning out ideas for the winter themed Pines family bonding moments so here’s their winter outfits! (Well. Specifically for inside)

[qrbits]

penacony game night! 🍕🎮 (zoom in for a bunch of easter eggs :])

[markscherz]

Meet the seven new frog species we just named after iconic Star Trek captains!

Artwork by A. Petzold, CC BY-ND 4.0

At the right time of year along rushing streams in the humid rainforests that stretch the length of Madagascar's eastern and northern mountain ridges, otherworldly trills of piercing whistles can be heard.

Are they birds? Insects? Communicator beeps? Tricorder noises?

No, they're little treefrogs!

Boophis janewayae. Photo by M. Vences, CC BY-SA 4.0

Until recently, we thought all of the populations of these little brown frogs across the island were one widespread species, Boophis marojezensis, described in 1994. But genetics in the early 2000s and 2010s showed that there were several species here, not just one.

Now my colleagues and I have shown that they are in fact eight separate species, each with unique calls!

These whistling sounds reminded us so much of Star Trek sound effects that we decided to name the seven new species after Star Trek captains: Boophis kirki, B. picardi, B. janewayae, B. siskoi, B. pikei, B. archeri, and B. burnhamae.

Photos of all new species described by Vences et al. 2024. CC BY-SA 4.0

I subtly and not-so-subtly built some Star Trek references into the paper, but probably the best one is this one:

'Finding these frogs sometimes requires considerable trekking; pursuing strange new calls, to seek out new frogs in new forests; boldly going where no herpetologist has gone before.'

— Vences et al. 2024

There’s a real sense of scientific discovery and exploration here, which we think is in the spirit of Star Trek.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that there are at least two Trekkies amongst the authors (including yours truly). As fans of Star Trek, we are also just pleased to dedicate these new species to the characters who have inspired and entertained us over the decades.

On a personal note, this marks a milestone for me, as it means I have now described over 100 frog species! I am very pleased that the 100th is Captain Janeway's Bright-eyed Frog, Boophis janewayae (if you count them in order of appearance in the paper)—she is probably my favourite captain, and I really love Star Trek: Voyager.

You can read more about the discovery of these new species on my website! You can also read the Open Access paper published in Vertebrate Zoology here.

[askfordoodles]

Mages when they run out of mana 🤣

[supertaliart]

A continuation of my previous Skywalker Twins comic - feat Yoda part 3

[evercelle]

bust... or maybe i'll take it all!

[time-woods]

something about stars and the curiosity of man

also feel free touse this as a wallpaper ! no worries 4 those asking !

[jedi-starbird]

Palpatine: My boy, I'm afraid to report that Master Kenobi is very likely sleeping with your wife.

Anakin, who knows for a fact that Obi-Wan is sleeping with his Commander, a good chunk of Ghost company, the Organas and Quinlan Vos: ...where is he finding the fucking time???

Palpatine, oblivious: Oh I've heard from some very reliable sources that-

Anakin: *pulls out a spexcel spreadsheet, the 3rd System Army's shared spoogle calender and a calculator*

Anakin: Your Excellency. That's just. not logistically possible.

[isjasz]

Stellar death

[wwillywonka]

hey so what the actual fuck

edit: that's the link to the video btw^^

[velinxi]

HSR fan art

[charmwasjess]

I’ll never quite get over just how integrated kids are into daily Jedi life and the implications of that.

Dooku’s Temple "job" for years seems to have been “teaching lightsaber preschool.” Sifo-Dyas, the guy with the scary doom visions? Oh yeah, they have him working with infants, bringing babies to the Temple as a Seeker. Jocasta Nu is constantly depicted interacting with the younger generation of Jedi, teaching, helping, or mentoring. In TCW, she knows all the Padawans on sight. 

There’s just something really ordinary and charming to me about this. Sure, Dooku is a terrifying 2m of spider limbs in a robe, but he’s still going down on one sinister knee to check out the little crying kid who got a finger crunched by one of those wooden training swords. How many of the TCW-era Jedi were once babies who played with Sifo-Dyas’s hair loopies or cuddled on his chest as he pointed his T-6 back toward the Temple after another successful Seeking mission? (Space is, after all, cold. 🥺) You just know Jocasta is in very reluctant possession of knowledge of every single teen Padawan drama, crush, or breakup. She tries to stay out of it, but she’s broken up fights and pulled particulars into her office for tea and a gentle lecture on the inherent self-destructiveness of gossip. 

And these are not “just some” Jedi - they are all combat trained, politically important, at the top of their rank and even each sit on the Council at some point in their lives. The Jedi Order really went “super powerful space wizards with laser swords, yeah, but they should also all definitely know how to change a diaper." 

[rochenn]

Arguments about what's canon and what's not in SW fandom are kinda pointless, I know for a fact that every fan has their personal frankensteined version of canon based on what's best for their own blorbos. I love picking up a random licensed book to sneer at half of its ideas and then steal the rest. Some shows and books and comics and whole movies are simply not incorporated into my belief system. That's how we roll