#i have a whole ass. RESEARCH PAPER ROUGH DRAFT a to write in TWO DAYS

[clocks-are-round]

Finally posting this long-ass post from my drafts. Was written a month or two ago. It’s a mix of bashing and trying to explain why it sucks without getting sucked too deep into the details of why it sucks because it’s already long enough goddamn it.

So uh, yeah. I got a little intense. *slides this over to you and sits awkwardly avoiding eye contact*

---warning: negativity and frustration towards RvB: Zero---

Honestly though, I heard they’re doing a second season of Zero.

I kinda don’t want to force myself through another season. At all.

Maybe they’ll finally get the hint that we want good writing again. I took a scriptwriting class two years ago. My classmates’ works in rough draft form were better than Zero’s plot, pacing, and dialogue.

The only comparison I can think of is ENGL 101. I edited some freshmen’s papers— clearly rough drafts written last minute. Atrocious grammar, filled with cliches. I had to take multiple breaks because I felt pained reading the two double-spaced page horror of a paper. That was a similar feeling to when I was watching Zero. After that big of a train wreck, I don’t think you should stand your ground and say “next season will be better, the first one just wasn’t long enough for you guys to get to know the characters” (imo it felt like the longest ten episodes of my life— or however many it was— in the worst way possible) and continue on, unless you’re retconning it all as a horrible in-canon movie. If you refuse to sweep it under the rug, at least do your research into the prior seasons, what the fans enjoyed about those, what they did and didn’t enjoy about yours, and maybe run your draft by some people before calling it good.

I understand loving your creations, but you need to do them justice if you want others to care for them too. Your subjective feelings need to be translated into an objectively solid story. You already care about them. We don’t. We need reasons to care. We need to feel them in our minds and hearts— not be given exposition dumps like there’s going to be a test on Friday. RvB didn’t invest some people fully until action started, sure. But the BGC were still enjoyed. In a purely machinima form (with a lil bit of editing but still), good writing carried those five seasons. Zero was all visuals (some unsettling to watch) no substance. I’d prefer rewatching BGC for the sixth time over watching Zero for the second any day.

Plenty of people have gone over with a fine toothed comb what exactly makes Zero so objectively bad. So I won’t prattle more.

I worry that not enough watches will suggest to Rooster Teeth that Red vs Blue as a whole isn’t profitable any more and to just stop making it. I think we’ve made our stance pretty clear, but corporations seem deaf to their audiences sometimes.

Still, RvB ending is a better alternative to me than just getting more of Zero. Don’t get me wrong, I want more RvB as long as it’s not like Zero, but the fandom still exists.

RvB will live on through us regardless.

#red vs blue

[queensdivas]

Gaelhar (Brian May Fluff and Smut

https://ohmybribri.tumblr.com/post/187487202410/johndeakys-bonus-hes-so-fuckn-cute-that-i

Before y’all even start reading. The amount of science I’ve put into this thing is not accurate! I never thought I’d have to say this but it ain’t accurate and I’m only going off what the internet tells me. (AKA NASA’s website.) But I tried my hardest and I hope y’all enjoy! 

Present Day Bri! 

Warnings: Some swearing, SMUTTY SMUT IN THE END!  and ya know. It’s a short so get some fluff up in here!

World Count: there’s a lot because I couldn’t stop writing. 

Request are open, if you’d like to be tagged in all the rest of my shitty writing let me know! I hope you all enjoy!

@mexifangorl @i-live-for-queen @leah-halliwell92 @its-funny-til-its-not @brianmydear @teathymewithben @hodgepodge-of-rog @rogahloveshiscar @bonafiderocketqueen 

~~~~~~~~

4:15 am...day two of being up for more than twenty four hours! Because if it’s the one thing I love to do is to put myself through hell for work! My body felt like putty at the moment and my eyes felt more dry than the stupid desert! God why do I do this to myself? Why? Because when you volunteer to pitch the entire project to all the head honchos of NASA you’ve gotta suffer a little bit. 

The new project is that one of the moons of Saturn actually turns out to be another Mars if the readings are correct. We all know that Mars was once a vast home billions of years ago. And it looks like one of the moons is either going through that same progress or is almost done. We call this moon S/2004 S 13...or Gaelhar is what I like to call it.  

My station of four computers were the only sort of light from the room since having these on and the regular lights were just to blinding for me. One was the entire moons structure, the second one had all the engineers layout of Rovers mechanics, the third being the layout of the ship that’s going to be delivering the rover, and the last one for music. Never thought all of Puccini’s opera would be so damn entertaining! 

“Sybil! What are you still doing here?” Ray asked as I looked up from the computer to see him and some other man in the doorway. Taking off my glasses to rub my eyes a little bit to give them a brief moment of rest. 

“Rewriting Brahes book on the galaxy because I have absolutely nothing else better to do with my life!” Realizing that my coffee cup was dry as a bone and finally got up from my office chair. Luckily my smart ass thought it would be a good idea to have a coffee machine right behind me. Coffee cup number 8..and should probably order some sort of food. 

“Dr. Bruch. This is Dr. Brian May from England. And this lovely ray of sunshine is Dr. Sybil Bruch. Basically what keeps NASA up on their toes most of the time.” I looked like a demon in front of this random scientist...but who looked extremely handsome and a comfort from staring at a screen for hours upon end. Adding a shit ton of French vanilla cream to the coffee as Ray kept buzzing around this Doctor. 

“She is working on the pitch for the new rover to land on one of the moons of Saturn.” Drinking a gulp of the coffee as Brian’s eyes widened with curiosity. 

“So we’re just skipping over Jupiter then?” He asked as I sat back down at my desk to put my glasses back on. 

“Not exactly.” Moving around in your chair to the first computer so he could start reading about Gaelhar. He was in complete focus and something about him reading this was comforting. Wait why is he even here in the first place? 

“May I ask why you’re here?” Asking him as he looked over to me with a soft genuine smile. 

“Heard about your little project from a fellow colleague of mine and..well..” Did he come to take over? Did this fucking colleague think I couldn’t handle all of this!? I don’t need some random doctor coming into my workspace to take over! WHo the bloody hell does this bimbo think he is!?

“Well I thought I’d come and take a look...not trying to take over your project or even step in. He just kept telling me how it was going..I’m sorry if I’m intruding on your..

“NO no you’re fine. Just you came out of the blue and wasn’t ready for someone else to take a look yet..” The awkwardly laughing at each other as I put my mug down then grabbing my stylist so I could show him the rover. 

“Haven’t gotten a name yet for the rover but here it is.” The 3D image of the rover appeared on the screen. He nodded as he looked closer at the Rover and smiled at it. 

“Ethos.” 

“What?” 

“Name him Ethos. I’ve always liked the name Ethos and its very unique for this little bugger to be going off to Saturn.” Ethos..definelty has a ring to it. Well if it doesn’t officially get called Ethos. I will call it Ethos, just like how I call it Gaelhar. 

“Ethos it is.” Nodding as I typed the name onto the top of the file. Ethos the Rover. 

“What’s going to power Ethos? Solar or wind?” Enlarging the picture of the wind turbine that was attached to the back of Ethos. It was a little smaller than him but would be able to power him for a few years. 

“The weird thing about Gaelhar is that it’s more windy than you’d imagine. Past satellite readings say it’s about 332 mph on average. And with that amount of power it can produce for Ethos...he could go on for a decade possibly.” He smiled at me as I looked into one of my filing cabinets for the file on Gaelhar. 

Would..would he want to read about Gaelhar? He seems genuinely interested in the whole project itself. Or it could be just the lack of sleep would be doing it. Both. Let’s go with both! 

“Were you wanting to read more on Gaelhar? On what we know at least?” Handing him the file on Gaelhar then setting up the rough draft of the powerpoint presentation of what I got so far. 

“So you say it was once like Earth?” He began the PowerPoint as I rested my hand on the desk then putting my cheek against it. Giving him a nod to his question as I slowly began closing my eyes. Maybe just five minutes of sleep and I would feel one million times better. 

*Brians May P.O.V.*

She was out like a light when I got done reading the rough draft of her presentation. With goosebumps running up and down her arms when I realized it was almost 5 am. For me I would be up and ready to go for the day. Taking off the coat I still had on then placing it on top of her shoulders so she could stay warm. Should I take off her glasses? My hands reaching slowly for her glasses to gradually take them off her face then laid them down next to her. 

It feels strange to be sitting next to someone whose work has done so much for the space community in the past few years. Reading her research papers, some of her books, and even online lectures when she would teach. Not to mention it’s shocking that she’s not going absolutely berserk since I’m.. well ya know. 

Going into the powerpoint to start editing her first slide to make sure the introduction would be very gripping. Not the first time I’ve had to stand in front of a crowd to do a presentation. Is it weird to admire someone and their work even though you’ve never gotten the chance to meet them. Till now. 

She blinked a few times as she was looking around to still see me working on her PowerPoint. Rubbing her tired eyes then reaching for her cup of coffee that was still a little hot. 

“I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to..” Trailing off as she noticed my coat was on her shoulders and formed a little smile in the corner of her lips. Going back to typing as she leaned over to see what I was working on. 

“They’re gonna ask you why they should invest in this instead of Mars.” She sighed as she got up from the chair to her phone. 

“Might as well pack it up because this won’t get any sort of funding.” She told me as I spun around in the chair with my arms crossed. Goodness! What kind of confidence is that!?

“Sybil! What sort of attitude is that to have for this project?” Her eyes widened a little as she took a sip of her coffee. 

“Well everything is about Mars now. Gaelhar would be more suitable for humans to go there than Mars and you have the evidence right here.” If it’s one thing I can’t stand in this world is when a bunch of power hungry councils decide to make stupid decisions. Like the damn council who decided Pluto not being a planet anymore was absolutely ridiculous! 

“Thank you for the confidence boost..just going up in front of them to pitch this idea is a lot harder than it sounds. Yes I did presentations in school all the time..but never had to basically tell them they need to fund this because this could be habitable for humans since we’re screwing up this world so badly..I’m sorry I don’t mean to vent..I think I if I just get back to work then I’ll feel a little better.” One last sip of coffee she took as she put her glasses back on to start reading through her notebooks. 

“Would you like some breakfast or something? I can make ray get you some delicious sort of fish breakfast or anything.” She looked up from her notebook to start flipping through her phone to find a breakfast place to deliver. 

“Anything really. Is the tires on Ethos going to last a few years on Gaelhar?” Asking her as she pulled up the material for Ethos. 

“It’s got natural rubber with steel chords wrapped around it. Not to mention we’re going to equip the little guy with spikes so if he needs to stop to collect data, the wind won’t move him away.” The image enlarged on the screen as she was pointing at its tires. 

She’s a beautiful..gorgeous genius! 

“Would..would you be willing to stay for a few days to give me a hand or so?” Asking me as I quickly nodded in agreement. 

*One Week Later. Sybil’s P.O.V.*

Okay. Okay. I can’t tell if I look okay! Checking myself out in the mirror for the hundredth time. It was a bright yellow dress that was flowing all around me till it reached the upper half of my body to fit like a glove. The neckline was tight and it allowed to show more of my back. What’s going to sell Ethos and Gaelhar? Sex. 

Slipping on my white heels as I heard the front doorbell ringing. Guess that’s Brian. He has been such an absolute doll and gentlemen with this project these last few days. Constantly staying beside me and helping to make sure this project is sellable to the board. Not to mention we spent last night going over the details and basically running through the presentation as many times as I could. 

Grabbing my clutch as I walked down the stairs of my house then fixing any last details before I expose my tired ugly self to him. Opening the door to him to see him in a dark purple and black velvet suit with a very exotic galaxy tie on. He looked..absolutely smashing! 

“Well Brian. I must say you clean up very well.” Smiling as his eyes widened at the brightness of my dress. 

“Probably should’ve worn something space related. C’mon in.” Moving out of the way for him to walk in and have a long look around my apartment. 

“I actually got you something if you don’t mind.” Closing the door behind him as he reached into his suit pocket to pull out a box. Opening it to reveal some sort of pendant. Holy shit is that real gold? 

“Brian please tell me you didn’t spend that much money on me?” It was a large circle gold pendant that had nine holes drilled out of them. He got the whole damn solar system including Pluto. (It’s a planet. Deal with it.)

“Think of it as a momento for this hectic week of constant working. Not that it hasn’t been absolutely fun because it’s been a while since I’ve worked hard like this.” It kept staring at me like some sort of apple. Do I take it? It’s gorgeous and I don’t want to seem like an absolute bitch for just taking it. But why did he spend that much money on me, and not to mention that how on earth did he get that much money!?

“Bri I..I can’t..” He was already taking it out of the box and motioned me to turn around so he could clip it on. When he clipped it together, turning back towards him as we were standing close to each other. Is it weird to be attracted to someone who you've only known for a week? I thought attraction moved slower than that..It felt so..so wonderful. My heart was bursting out of my chest, goosebumps traveling up and down my back, to finally the tip of my toes curling in my heels. 

“Thank you Brian. I really..I have no words.” My blushing face was an absolute mess as we didn’t move from our spot. Knowing that we had to go so we wouldn’t be late. 

But his kindness..his confidence..it’s so wonderfully refreshing. His lips were so lush with life..even his eyes were glowing with life. Is it bad that I want to kiss him? 

He must’ve felt the same as he reached his hands up to my cheeks to cup my face. His temple resting against mine as my hands wrapped around his wrist to feel the spark light. Till I felt something cold against my cheek to see a gold band around his left hand. Oh my god he’s married! He’s married and he’s holding my face like this!

“Oh my god I’m sorry.. I.. I had no idea you were even married. God I must look like some kind of whore to you.” Taking a step back as he turned his hand into his direction. I don’t cheat with married men.. well I don’t cheat in general mostly because I don’t have the time for it. 

“Yes we have to go.” Taking a step away from him to grab my clutch and house keys. We were carpooling but now that he’s married..I’d rather drive myself at this point. Locking the door behind us as the SUV was sitting on the curb, with the driver smoking a cigar. Might as well just get this over with...

The car ride was absolutely silent with the only radio playing to cover up the awkward silence. Glad to know I was about to kiss a married man..and that he gave me a massive galaxy pendent that’s weighing me down like a rock around my necklace! Please let us just get there faster so I can just go home and eat ice cream. My stupid ass thought he and I were about to hit off together..he’s older than me so why would I even think I would have a chance. 

We pulled up to the curb as I opened the door of my side to see Ray running up to me with his tablet. All excited and wearing his lucky peacock bow tie wrapped around his neck. 

“Sybil! Sybil! Thank every thing on the planet that you arrived. The board wanted to hear your presentation right now. Get your butt out of the car so we can start this and eat those delicious tiramisu they made!” Practically dragging me out of the car as Brian was already left behind. 

Standing on the side of the stage as I was preparing myself mentally for this presentation. Brian appeared behind me but I wasn’t turning around since the man is married! How could I even..my eyes peeked from the corner of my eye to see that..gorgeous man smiling right behind me. My fingers grabbing the pendent to turn around and give him a smile. 

“Thank you Brian. Wish me luck!” Just try to get rid of the sexual tension with just being absolutely nice. Should just go away within the speech. 

“Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you Dr. Sybil Bruch.” Oh my god everything is happening so damn fast! The heart is racing again and I think my eyes are going to roll in the back of skull! Brian put his hands on my shoulders then placed a soft kiss on the back of my head. 

“You can do this. You can be anything you want to be, just turn yourself into anything you think you could ever be.” Why the hell did that sound so damn familiar? Whatever it’s from it somehow helped. Walking out to the podium as I was giving the board a few soft smiles. Moving the mic a little as I looked upon the crowd. 

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I’m so excited that you’re here this evening to hear about this brand new project our department has been working on for many months now. Today I will be discussing one of the moons of Jupiter known as S/2004 S 13. What we call it now known as Gaelhar.” Stopping for a second as Ray pulled up the PowerPoint. My eyes drifted over to Brian as I gave him a warm smile with him sticking up his thumb. 

“Thanks to the glorious efforts of engineers, fellow astrophysicists, and even a very well known scientist by the name of Dr. Brian May. We have discovered that one of the moons of Jupiter was once just like Earth before us.” Stopping again to see Brian in complete awe to the side of the stage. My hand reaching up to the pendant to hold it for a second. 

The presentation went fantastically to the point I even got the board to clap even more than usual. Brian, Ray, and I were in a small circle talking amongst each other trying to keep myself from going in some sort in an anatomical state. Is that even the right word at this point? For once..I could give two shits if Brian were to kiss me now. He’s the only one who has been there for me during this past week and if it were to happen I wouldn’t fight it anymore. 

Ray noticed one of his friends for it to be just Brian and I downing on tiramisu which was provided for free by the board. We kept glancing back and forth..waiting for one of us to say at least something to each other. 

“I wanna apologize to you Sybil. It wasn’t right to me to try to make a move on you and being married. Wasn’t the right thing to do and..” My fingers moving up to his lips to stop him from speaking. Giving him a smile of approval as my fingers glided over to his cheek. 

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for this project this past week..I..I.

“Dr. Bruch. Have you got a moment?” Dr. Alexis Faulk came up to us as I slipped my hand down then handing him my plate of tiramisu. He’s the head of the board and if he’s coming to me this early we should be able to finally start! 

“Dr. Bruch. As much as we love this project you and your department has worked very hard. It’s just not something that’s worth our time or interest. We’ll definitely keep this on record so when the time does come for us to head out to Jupiter we now have a plan. Thank you for the lovely presentation and now you don’t have to worry about that. See ya at the office Monday morning.” He nodded to go back to the fellow board members. 

His words stung all over my body as if wasp were all stinging me at once just for the pleasure of it. My throat tightened to the point I couldn’t even breath. I refuse to cry because he’s kind of right in sense..why go out to Jupiter when Mars is right around the corner! Exactly! Now I want wine...and ice cream. God I sound so damn depressing. 

Brian placed the plates down as he came over to me. But I didn’t want to be coddled at the moment or even touched..just..I just wasted months of my life on this big project that won’t even be used in my life time! And not even in my child’s lifetime! Moving past him as I was leaving the gala to go home and get absolutely drunk! Walking out to the parking lot where the vast amount of SUVs were all over the place as I tried to find ours. 

“You okay Sybil?” Brian caught up as I found our car with the driver in smoking a cigar. 

“To my home please.” Ignoring his question to have the driver climbed into the car. Before I could even climb in Brian stood in front of the door. 

“They said no didn’t they..” Nodding to him as my eyes began to water as my throat was beginning to swell again. He reached out to me as he engulfed me in his warm embrace. It felt so damn comforting to feel his warmth but the tears were continuing to roll down my stained cheek. 

“Sybil..Sybil look at me.” Looking up as he held himself up in such confidence. 

“What you’ve done is remarkable. It is something no one else could’ve ever done in their life. Not even I could do such a thing and you’ve done the impossible. Yes it’s horrible that they said no. But you went up there against the world and you did it! Be..be..” Our lips crashing against each other as I wrapped my arms around his neck. Pulling me in closer to him for his hands to squeeze my waist. Stopping to catch my breath as I was shaking a little bit. 

“Let’s get you home.” 

Arriving back to the house as we climbed out of the car then giving the driver a great tip. Unlocking the door to the house as we walked in to throw my clutch on the ground in anger. 

“I’m sorry Brian..I shouldn’t be acting like such a child in front of you but I’m..” He was taking off his jacket as I leaned against the couch. The tension was basically to thick you couldn’t even cut it with a knife. 

“Brian..make me feel something..Please just make me yours for a night...make me feel like I’m so much better than what that ass hole board.” Attacking me like a lion. His lips were warm, soft, and tasted like beautiful rose wine. Our tongues entering each other’s mouth to swirl around each other. Moans coming from both of our mouths and our hands tracing up and down our bodies. 

My hands ripping the front of his shirt opened for my nails to dig into his chest. His beautiful lips moved from mine then onto the bottom of my ear. Nails digging into his chest as ecstasy poured over my vision. 

“You’re so damn beautiful..” I could feel his hands moving up to the back off my dress to the back of my neck, ripping the neck strap so my dress would basically pop down. 

“Mhmm...God..” His hands beginning to squeeze my breast as my legs began to wrap around him. My body was absolutely melting in his touch as his long fingers squeezing my breast, pinching my nipples. 

“I wanna..” Couldn’t even finish what I wanted to say. He was already on his knees pulling down the rest of my dress so I would be standing there in only my underwear. 

“You want me to taste you?” Asking with his eyes widened before me. Nodding as he moved my panties to the side, then lifting my leg over his shoulder. 

One little lick already made me gasp. How can such a man have that much power over me. Another little lick over my clit till he wrapped his mouth over my entrance. At first his tongue was flicking my clit with no means of stopping. Faster..faster..my hips began moving slowly as his grip around my thigh tightened. His eyes were primal as his tongue moved down to my entrance. Not entering but was acting like some damn lizard. In..out….waiting for a second. In...out.. 

“Brian..please don’t tease me..” I was begging as if my life was depending on It. His eyes glued shut as he was absolutely devouring me like a man thirsting after water in a desert. My moans were filling the house so loudly that my neighbors might be wondering what’s going on. 

“So delectable..” Whispering as I could feel it building up so quickly. 

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck..Brian..Brian so close..” The first time Ive came..fuck fuck fuck. He removed his mouth to slowly insert his middle finger inside of me to pump as fast as he could. He put his tongue back onto my clit so I would be sent over the edge as quickly as I could. 

“Just let go..let go..” He said between flicks as I inhaled a large breath. Yanking his hair by accident as it released as over his fingers and the tip of his tongue. My body shaking to the point I almost fell onto the couch itself. He popped up to keep me a little steady as I stood back up from the couch. 

“We’re going upstairs.” Dragging him by his ripped shirt up the stairs but stopping every few steps to keep kissing each other and for me to grab his humongous bulge on his pants. He kept moaning till we reached the top of the stairs..but I couldn’t even wait anymore for him. 

Kneeling down as I unbuckled his pants to yank them down and take him straight into my mouth. I’ve never craved anyone like this in my life. His cock was glorious to have and was something I’ve enjoyed in my mouth. My tongue swirling around his tip as I sunk the rest into my mouth as fast as I could. 

“God..take it easy..” He chuckled as he had to lean against the wall. His right hand grabbing a handful of hair to start giving it a gentle pull. Nothing like how I yanked his for when I came to quickly. I want to please him...God pleasing him would give me even more pleasure in my life. Gripping his balls with my free hand which caused him to let a moan out and chuckle. 

Taking his entire length in my mouth for him to gasp as I moved my hands from his balls to the top of his chest so my nails could scratch down his chest. But stopping me to hold my hand as I continued to deep throat him. 

“Fuck fuck fuck..stop.. you..have to..stop..” My head moving as deep as it could each time so he would cause his eyes to roll in the back of his skull. His precum was beginning to pour as I stopped sucking for my tongue trail from the base to the tip, licking up his precum. Hoisting me up onto my feet as our lips began dancing around with each other again. 

Walking backwards into the bedroom as I fell back onto the bed as he stood at the edge of the bed. My hands reaching out for him as he climbed back on top of me then aimed his member towards the entrance. Waiting no time as he slowly inserted himself inside of me. 

“FUCK!” Squealing as he was stretching my walls. My legs wrapping around him to push him in further. God it hurts but it feels so fucking good my god. He placed his head on my shoulder as he began thrusting himself at a slow pace so he could stretch every inch of me. 

“God yes..Brian..” Laughing for a second as his lips began kissing my neck again with his cock beginning to pick up the pace. He’s moving to slow! I wanna ride him! My hands grabbing his shoulder to push him over onto his back. 

“Let me ride you..I wanna ride you till you fill me..” Pointing his member up as I slid down onto him. His eyes rolling into the back of his head as I began bouncing hard on his cock. Not fast. But slamming myself onto his cock for him to get completely lost. 

“Does it feel good?” Smiling as he smacked my ass hard to make me laugh. Smacking again to treat him a little as I tightened myself somehow. His eyes rolling into the back of his head as I began bouncing faster. I want him inside of me..

“C’mon Brian..Take me..” He grabbed my arms to pull me down to him so he could kiss me. Desperate kisses as he began thrusting hard into me. It felt so damn good to be penetrated so damn hard and so damn fast. 

“Yeah you slut you like that?” Nodding as I wrapped my arms around his neck as I felt myself boiling up again. He was getting so close to I could feel it! Yes yes yes. 

“Yes I love it..yes Brian please!” Our lips against each other once again as I tried to taste every inch of his lips. So soft..so damn beautiful! 

“Go go go go go..oh my god Brian yes!” He was smiling as he was smacking my ass and digging his nails into it with his final amount of thrust.

“Yes Sybil! Cum with me...cum with me please..take me as I take you!” He shoved himself as far as he could inside of me as I felt his cum pouring inside of me! HOLY FUCK!

“Brian!” I screamed as he held me close to him as he emptied himself inside. It felt so damn glorious to be filled with such a mans cum! A genius to take me to bed...to fill me..thank god. 

Climbing off him as we laid next to each other, my head resting on his bicep as we tried to catch our breaths. My body is still adjusting to the feeling of cum inside of me..the orgasm still riding my body. Looking up to him as he looked down upon me. Looking at his left hand to slip the ring off he wore to place it on the nightstand. Moving myself back up to him to place my hand on his cheek.

“You sure..?” My thumb rubbing a small circle as he grabbed it then kissed my palm. 

“Yes.” Attacking his lips with mine again as he hoisted me back on top of him. A night of ecstasy is all I need..and with him..I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

#Brian May #brian may x reader #dr brian harold may #brian may x oc #present day Bri #Daddy Bri #Brian May Smut #Dirty smut for Brian #freddie mercury #roger taylor #John Deacon #smut smut

[nalu-week]

Just Beautiful

NaLu Week Bonus Day- Gothic

Up till now, all she had experienced in life was unhappiness from behind a gilded cage because her father had kept her sequestered, no tv, no cell phone, and limited internet access.  Studying and prepping her for the rigors of the business world was all he cared about because to him, she was just a means to continue the family company.  But now he wasn’t around to monitor what she did so like an animal being released from its cage, all that repression channeled into a rebellious attitude and style that was far removed from the pink Princess good girl image he had tried to groom.               

She and the company was left in the care of his father’s main partner Capricorn along with her maid Virgo to prepare her to one day take over as CEO.  But by the time she turned 16, they had watched as Lucy’s whole being changed and turned inward.  Most of her days were spent glued to dark internet chatrooms and blogs where teenagers like her could vent about their lives.  Streaks of dark purple weaved through her beautiful golden hair… Her clothing choices grow darker; black leather, corsets, straps, boots… A choke chain around her neck…  dark colored nails… Heavy lipstick, eyeliner and shadow…  Music blares through the walls of her room, sounds they can’t even understand; screaming, ominous, foreboding melodies.    

The pretty little emo goth…  

Whenever her guardians tried to talk to her about going out, making friends; she just wants to be left alone she’d always scream at them.  But they know they can’t do that for her sake… 

“Miss Lucy, you’ve only known the walls of this house, you’ve no friends to talk to and I don’t count the people online, maybe experiencing life as a regular teenager will be good for you.”

“Capricorn, does it look like I want to do anything of the sort!”

“Well we’ve already enrolled you at Magnolia High.  It’s a couple of cities away where no one will know who you are.  A house is set up for us there and you’ll be starting next school year.”

“I can’t believe you did that Virgo!  Who told you it would be okay?!!”

“As your guardian’s it is our duty to do what is best for you until you turn 18 whether you like it or not.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Class we have a new student joining us,” Lucy stands frowning next to Mrs. Connell, “Her name is Lucy Ashley, please make her feel welcomed.”  “Lucy I’d like you to sit next to Natsu, he’ll be your partner for the year.”  She points at an open chair next to a pink haired boy.

“Ugh, great.”  She plods over and drops onto the open chair immediately putting her head down.  She has no desire to be here, and even less willingness to interact with anyone let alone a boy. 

Natsu rolls his eyes, ‘how the hell could Mrs. Connell be so cruel!’  His friend Gray snickers at him to which he responds with a classic finger wave.  Other students around the room whisper amongst themselves, especially the girls.  Natsu is a popular guy and to be stuck with the weird goth girl; to them it was so, so wrong.

For the rest of the period, Lucy doesn’t say anything to anyone.  Burying her nose in the textbook, she does her work and as soon as the bell rings, grabs her stuff and walks out.  She finds a picnic table in the quad area and opens her book; reading has been the one comfort in her life where she could run away from her reality and into somewhere make believe. 

“Mrs. Connell got you good huh, sticking you with that girl.”  The two friends walk through campus.

“Ugh, I know; that friggin’ witch.”

“I have to say under all that black she’d be pretty.”

“Why don’t you take her as your partner then?”

“Nope, Juvia would kill me if I did or her.”

“Tch.”  They keep walking.  “Look… It’s her.”  Natsu points to the picnic tables.  Virgo had dressed her that morning after a fight and some concessions.  The final outcome; a dark red corset top, black cropped jacket with bell sleeves, matching skirt, and black 4inch heeled ankle boots.  Her shoulder length hair is half up in two spikey buns with some long bangs framing the sides of her face.  Dark red lipstick and nails.  ‘I do like the color she’s wearing.…’ he thinks to himself. 

Gray pushes his friend from behind, “Go talk to her.”

But Natsu plants his feet and pushes back, “What makes you think she’d want to be bothered?  She didn’t say jack to me in class.”

“Man, she’s new, don’t know anybody, don’t know you yet.”  He stops pushing and punches his friends shoulder.  “What’d she got to talk about unless you give her something”

“I don’t know…”

“She’s a challenge to crack and I’ve never seen you back down from a challenge.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just sayin, that girl obviously needs a friend; you’re stuck with her at least in English class for the year, so you might as well try to make the best of it.”

After just a couple of days of silence Natsu can’t take it anymore and tries to strike up conversations with the quiet goth.  Mostly he gets yes or no with a few short answers in between.  But she did ask him one question, why does he wear a scarf when it’s not winter time.  He’s surprised to find out this Lucy girl is only a Sophomore but is in their Junior English because well, she’s pretty smart.  On the other hand, English is the one subject he absolutely hates so apparently, Mrs. Connell had put them together for a reason. 

Two weeks into the school year, it’s Monday again and for once her outfit is almost semi-normal; maybe because the weather was a little warmer that day.  A red and black plaid sundress with black leather straps and her hair is left down; but her make up is still the same, dark red lipstick and a heavy shadow. 

“I hope you’re ready for this class, it’s your first major assignment.” Mrs. Connell walks around the classroom handing out papers to the groans of several students.  “Along with your partners you are to collaborate on a research paper that will be due two weeks from today.” Finished handing out the papers, she walks back to the front of the class.  “The main topic may come from any period between ancient history till the middle ages.”  She writes two words on the board and points to it, “Famous Couple.  Your research paper should answer the questions I’ve listed on the assignment sheet.  Any questions?”

“Does it matter if the couple is real or not?”

“Yes, they should be real, historical figures, no couples from fairytales.  Any other questions?”  Silence from the room.  “Take the rest of the class period to decide on your topic and plan your work out.” 

Natsu sits back in his chair, “This sucks.  Why a paper so soon in the year!” he whines.  “Ugh, I was warned she’s a tough teacher; I bet she was an outlaw in her former life.”

“It’s not that bad,” Lucy whispers, “Look…”  He leans over and reads as she writes out the basic steps.  ‘Pick your topic, research the topic, write outline, rough draft, final draft’  “…See, easy.  First thing is we need to pick a couple to write about.”

He looks at her, “Yeah, easy for you maybe.  I don’t even know of any couples to choose from.”

“Well,” she taps her chin, “There’s Marcus Antony and Cleopatra.  Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn…”

“Ooh, what about Romeo and Juliet…”

“They aren’t real.”

“Oh.  Bummer.”

“There’s Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal…”

“Who?”

“Have you heard of the Taj Mahal?”

“The place in India.”

“Um yeah, Shah Jahan was the ruler and he built that for his wife.  Or how about Akhenaten and Nefertiti?”

“Okay, at least I’ve heard of them before from movies.”

She sighs, “Let’s stick with them.”  As she scribbles their names on the paper.

“Hey Luce?”  he leans in closer to her.  “Know what?”

“My name is Lucy.”

“I know, but I like Luce better.  So, do you realize something?”

“What’s that?”

“You’re being nice to me.” He grins, “And I think this is the most I’ve heard you talk, like ever.”

“I’m not trying to be mean… I just don’t like getting close to people.”

“That’s sad…”

“If I don’t get close to anyone, I can’t get hurt when they eventually leave.”

He just stares at her.  There’s likely a reason she feels that way but he doubts she’d tell him, so to break the awkward silence, he changes the subject.  “How about you come over to my house after school and we can start working on this stuff.”

She pauses, “I don’t know if I’d be comfortable with that…”

“We need to work together on this, and we only have a couple weeks to get it done.  My parents will probably be working but my sister will be home if that helps.”

“You have a sister?”

“Yeah,” he gives her a big smile.  “A little sister named Wendy.  She’s in middle school.”

“I guess it’ll be okay…”

“Great!  Give me your number and I’ll text you the address.”  She scribbles her number on a piece of paper and hands it to him.  He takes out his phone and sends her his address.  “If it’s easier, I could just meet you at the front of the school and we could walk to my house.”

“That would probably be better.”  The bell rings. 

Gathering up their belongings, “Okay, remember, afterschool.”  She nods at him.

On the way to his house, Natsu’s in a good mood now that he’s finally making some progress with the mysterious girl.  “I don’t mean to pry Luce, but why do you think people will eventually leave you?”

“Because they do.  People die, relationships break up…”

“Did something happen to you?”

She looks away, “my mom died when I was little, and my dad died last year.”

He stops walking, “I’m sorry.  I didn’t think…”

She waves her hand, “Don’t trouble yourself.  I only have vague memories of my mother and my dad, well let’s just say we weren’t close.” 

“Still, I feel like kind of an ass for even asking.”

“It’s not your fault.”

As soon as they reach the modest Dragneel home, a blue ball of fur comes running from the kitchen.  “What’s that?”  Lucy asks

“A cat,” he looks at her strangely, “for a smart girl, how do you not know what a cat is?”

“I know what a cat is but it’s blue?  Isn’t that kind of weird?”

He picks up the purring feline, “Says the girl with purple in her hair… right Happy?”

She’s about to respond when a girls’ voice calls out from another room.  “Natsu?  Is that you?”

“Yeah Wendy, it’s me.”

A pretty young girl with long blue hair walks around the corner of the hallway.  “Natsu…  Oh hi, I didn’t know he had company.”

“Wendy, this is my friend Lucy.  Luce, this is the little sister I told you about.”

Wendy- “You’re girlfriend?”

Both Natsu and Lucy blush.  “N-no” he responds, “She’s my English partner.”

Lucy- “We have to work on a research paper.”

“Oh” Wendy giggles, “Sorry I just got excited that maybe he finally managed to get a girlfriend.”

“Ugh!” he puts the cat down and grabs his sister. “What do you mean finally!” he starts tickling her.  “I can get a girlfriend if I want to!”

Wendy’s giggles turn shrieks fill the room, “Stop!  Please!” she’s laughing so hard her stomach starts to tighten, “I was just teasing!”

He stops his torture, “You just wait till you have a boyfriend, I’m gonna have so much fun getting you back!”

“Better not!” cries Wendy

“You know I will!” he laughs.  “But as much as I could keep messing with ya, we need to start studying.  Will you be okay by yourself Wendy?”

“I’m not a little kid anymore.” She crosses her arms. 

He pats her head, “To me you’ll always be a little kid.  Come on Luce, my rooms this way.” He grabs her hand and pulls her down the hall.  After seeing how he is with his sister she thinks, maybe he’s not such a bad guy…

They start off just staring at Natsu’s laptop to research their topic but it quickly becomes apparent to Lucy that he won’t be of much help unless she makes him work so she hands him her Macbook Pro, “I’ll do the leg work, you type out the notes I tell you.”

“Do I have to?” he whines. 

“That cute face isn’t going to work on me.”

He grins, “You think I’m cute?”

Her cheeks turn pink, “I-I didn’t say you were cute!” she stammers.  “I meant the act you’re putting on!”

“It’s okay if you think I’m cute,” he smirks, “cause I think I’m quite adorable!”

She rolls her eyes, “Oh brother.  Then Mr. Adorable,” she shoves the tablet in his hand, “get to work.”

“Fine.” He pouts while opening the screen, “I’ll win you over one of these days.”

“Uh-huh…” she mutters, fingers already whizzing through websites.  ‘he is kind of adorable��’        

~~Tuesday~~

The next day at lunch, she’s reading again in the quad when two guys walk up to her. 

Rogue- “Excuse me, Lucy?”

She looks up at the dark-haired male, “Yes?”

“Hey, um.  My friend and I were wondering if we could sit and hang out.”

“Why?”

Sting- “What he means to say is he thinks your cute and can he talk to you.”

She closes her book, “Come again?” she looks first at the blonde with one earring and then turns back to the first male.

“I’m Rogue, this is my friend Sting.” They sit across from her.  “Don’t mind Sting, his mouth doesn’t come with a filter.”

“Look, I’m not really interested…”

Rogue- “I think we have some things in common.”

“Such as?”

Sting- “Goth.  Just look at him, he’s into the music, the clothes… just like you.”

“Well actually, I wouldn’t call myself a goth.”

Rogue- “Neither would I.  We just happen to like the darker side of things, right?”

“And what about you,” she looks at Sting, “You into the goth scene?”

“Nah, I’m just here for moral support.  You see Rogue, he’s kinda shy with ladies but I looove talkin’ with them!”

“Look I’m not interested in any relationships right now.”

Rogue- “Neither am I,” he lies, “I just thought you could use a friend, one that might understand you more than other students here.”

Sting stands up, “Oh look, my girlfriend.” he lies.  “Rogue, I’ll see you later.  Nice meeting ya Blondie.”

“Lucy.”

“Whatever,” he waves as he runs off.

“So, what are you reading?”

“Prince Lestant.”

“Anne Rice huh; I haven’t had a chance to read this one yet but I heard he has a son in it?”

“Yeah, they were able to figure out a way for vampires to produce offspring.”

“I think Blackwood Farm was my favorite, though I like all of her stuff.”

“Really…”

That afternoon she’s back at Natsu’s to do more research and her conversation with Rogue has put her in a decent mood. 

“Good day today?”

“Yes actually, I made a new friend.”

“Oh… Who’s that?” expecting a girl’s name

“Rogue Cheney.”

Annoyance in his tone. “Sting’s friend?!”

“Um, yeah, that’s him.  Why?”

“It’s nothing.” He mutters and turns back to what he’s working on.

She looks at him curiously, ‘Is it me or does he sound irritated?’  “Then why are you quiet all of a sudden?” 

“It’s nothing.  He’s an okay guy.  I’ve known them both for a few years.” He responds without looking up.

“We have similar interests, that’s all…  You know, if I didn’t know better, you sound a little bitter that I was talking to a guy.”

“Me?  No…  W-why would I be, you can talk to whoever you want to.”  She continues to stare at him.  His eyebrows are furrowed and a frown still on his face.  “What is it Luce, I’m trying to concentrate.”

‘He’s lying to me…’  “Alright, well he wants to hang out sometime…” She sees Natsu’s mouth open as if he is gonna speak.  “…but I told him I’m busy so I’ll just see him around in school.”  He lowers his head further to hide it but she can see a smile form… 

~~Wednesday~~

The following day Sting corners Natsu outside of their English class.  “Hey pinky, I heard Lucy’s been at your house every night this week.”

“And, so what Playboy, we’ve got this damn research paper to work on.”

“Are you guys hooking up?”

Natsu narrows his eyes, “Why do you care Sting?”

“That wasn’t a no.”

“That wasn’t a yes either.”

“Look my friend likes her and I just wanna know if he’s got competition.”  Sting sees Natsu’s eye twitch.

“Lucy doesn’t want a boyfriend right now so Rogue might as well give up before he starts.”

Sting probes. “And how do you know that?”

“I just get that vibe from her.”

 “Are you sure you’re not just sayin’ that,” Sting taps his finger on Natsu’s chest, “cause maybe you’ve got the hots for her?”

“When have you seen me interested in goth girls?”

“Dude, I’ve never seen you with any girl.”

“That’s because I’d rather wait for someone special.  Now if you don’t mind, class is gonna start.”  Natsu walks pushes past.  Sting just smirks.  ‘He does have a crush on her!’

That afternoon, Lucy is on Natsu’s bed working on the outline for the paper while he just sits watching over her shoulder.  He’s so close she can feel every breath that he takes, the warm air tickling the back of her neck.

“Natsu, personal space; ever heard of it?”

“Yeah, you’re in my personal space, it’s my room remember?”

Sigh, “that’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” he leans back against the wall chuckling.  “I’m just messin with ya.”   “So, um Luce, I was wondering, if you’re willing to share, how did your mom pass away?”

She stops typing and looks at him, “She died of cancer.”

“What about your dad?”

“Heart attack.”

He’s a little taken aback by her bluntness.  “Well, did I ever tell you I’m adopted?”

A surprised tone in her voice, “No, you’ve never mentioned it before.”

“My sister is too.”

“What happened to your birth parents?”

“No clue.  The adoption agency wouldn’t tell us much, only that she died in child birth and my father I guess couldn’t cope with it all.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be, I’ve got awesome adoptive parents and a sister; I couldn’t be happier.” He smiles.  “Well…” a blush forming, “I could be happier…” he gazes intently at her. 

She stares back for a second before turning away, her cheeks are warming up.  “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I appreciate beautiful things…”

“I’m not beautiful.” She can feel her heart speeding up

“You’re right…”

“I am?”  She looks up

“You’re gorgeous.”  Now she’s really blushing

“Y-you’re just trying to charm me.”

He smirks, “Is it working?”

‘Maybe…’   “No!”  He pouts and she quickly turns her head again when she feels her cheeks flushing brighter, ‘Damn it, he needs to stop doing adorable shit!’ 

“Then why are you blushing, Luce?” he teases her

Sigh, “Why are you trying so hard Natsu?  I’m sure you could get any girl you wanted in that school…”

“I don’t want just any girl.  I’m looking for the right girl…  Isn’t that what we all want in life?”

“Perfection doesn’t exist.”

“You don’t need to be perfect, that’s quite frankly boring.”

She smiles in her head…. 

~~~~

Thursday’s weather is gloomy so she goes to the library on her lunch break to read instead of the open quad.    

“That’s a good story.”

“I’m sorry?”  Lucy turns around to find a blue haired girl smiling at her.  “Are you talking to me?”

The girl nods, “I’m Levy.  Pleased to meet you.”  She offers a hand to shake.

“Lucy.”  Reciprocating the gesture.

“I like Anne Rice too, I love how she humanizes the vampires in her stories, makes them characters anyone can relate to.”

“Yeah,” Lucy half smiles.  “I agree. 

“Do you have a favorite character?”

“Um, Maharet.  I identify with how she’s been through so much in her life…”

“Yet she still managed to hang onto her sanity.  My favorite is Marius, I guess because he’s in a way scholarly.”  Lucy chuckles at the girl.  Levy sits down next to her, “Rumor has it you and Natsu are an item, is that true?”

“W-what!?  He’s just my partner in English class.”

“Yeah but people are talking about how you’re at his house every night.”

“To work on a research paper…”

“Hey look, I really don’t care… but I should warn you…” She looks around to make sure no one is eavesdropping.  “…There’s this girl, Lisanna.  She’s had the hots for Natsu for years but he always turns her down.  She can be a real bitch so just be careful.”

“Thanks… I guess.”

A rather large guy covered in metal piercings walks up, “Oi, Pipsqueak, let’s go, I’m hungry.” 

“Hold on Gajeel, I’m talking to someone.”

“Who’s he?”

“My boyfriend.  Don’t mind him, he acts tough,” Levy leans in closer, “But he’s really a big teddy bear.” she whispers

Crossing his arms, “I heard that.”

Lucy’s taken aback at the odd pair, the girl looks like a bookworm and he belongs in a heavy metal band.  “Um, okay…”

“Anyways, if you’d ever like to hang out, talk about books or something give me a call.”  She hands Lucy her number.

“Thanks, I’ll remember that.”

“It was nice meeting you Lucy.”

“Like wise, Levy.”

~~~~

Friday is finally here and just 8 more hours of school.  This week has had its up’s; she’s made two new friends, and her assignment with Natsu is going well.  In a good mood that morning, she’s thrown on a cuter outfit than usual, a Kei Jrock Japanese black and rose red skort, fitted black tube top with a long sleeve frilled jacket that matches the skirt.  She’s got her hair half up in pigtails and her bangs are left down to frame her face; Oshare kei.  Even her make up is a little brighter than usual.

Second period Chemistry, Natsu walks in with a smile and sits down next to his best friend Gray.

Gray- “Hey, you’ve been in a good mood lately.”

“What’s the big deal?”

“Does it have anything to do with that Lucy chick?”

“No.  What makes you say that?”

“She’s been over your house every day, anything, interesting happen…”

Natsu’s cheeks flush, “Not what you’re implying, we just work on the assignment.”

“Uh-huh, you tellin’ me you haven’t tried anything?”

“Look man, she’s very guarded about her life, doesn’t like getting close to people.  She lost her mom to cancer when she was a little kid and her dad died last year; that’s pretty tough to deal with.”

“It sure sounds like you two are growing closer.”

“Well she talks more, if that’s what you mean.”

“You know, rumors are starting to spread that you two are hooking up.”

“Let the gossip mill run, it doesn’t bother me.”

“What about her?  Some of the girls are calling her a slut.”

“What!” he almost shouts.  “She’s nothing like that!”

“Look, I’m just tellin’ ya what’s being said okay.  You know girls how they talk, they get jealous and say stupid things.”

“It’s not my fault or hers that I’ve never been interested in any of them.  But I don’t know what it is about Luce that makes me want to be around her.  She’s had a sad upbringing and… like I just wanna make her happy again, I wanna protect her.”

“Luce?  Oh man!  You’ve already got a nickname for her!” he slaps his friend in the back.  “You’re fallin’ for this one aren’t ya?”

“I don’t know… Maybe…”

Last period of the day for Lucy, she sighs as she walks into Art class and takes her seat in the middle.  Midway through the lesson she hears two girls talking behind her; Sherry Blendy and Jenny Realight; two of the most popular girls in school.  ‘Ugh!’ she laments in her head.  Most days she just ignores them but today’s conversation is meaner than usual.

“I know right, just look at what she’s wearing.” 

“Looks like something you buy at Kmart.”  Snickering.  “Stupid punk girl, she should just find another school to go to.”

“Yeah, she’s doesn’t fit in here.  Have you heard, she’s been spotted at Natsu’s house!”

“How the hell did she land him after he’s turned all of us down!  Wow, Lisanna’s gonna be pissed.”

“Maybe she’s some kind of witch and he’s under her spell.”

“Must be, I mean look at her and look at us, she’s not even in his league.”

“Or maybe she’s just a whore.” More snickering

“I’d say slut cause I’ve seen her with Rogue too.”

“Damn she gets around.  Minerva’s not gonna like that.  Double trouble!”  they giggle

Lucy can’t believe what she’s hearing.  Being teased about her clothes or looks is one thing but to be called a whore, a slut, a witch!… She wants to run out of the room but that would only give them the satisfaction of hurting her.  She holds back the tears but as soon as the bell rings she walks out and texts Natsu.

“IDK if I can study today.”

“Y not?”

“Don’t wanna talk bout it” the tears are starting to build.

“Something happen??”

She’s trying to rush to the front door.  “just don’t wanna…”  someone grabs her shoulder, she whips around.

“Luce, are you okay?”  It’s Natsu and he can see the glassiness to her eyes. 

“It’s nothing.”  She tries to walk away but he stays in step with her.

“You’re not okay.  I can see it in your face.”

“I just want to get out of here!”  A single tear trickles down her cheek, she speeds up her pace but he’s not gonna let her go that easily. 

By the time they reach the sidewalk fronting the school he manages to grab her arm to stop her.  “Luce, please just talk to me!”

“I don’t want to…”  She looks around at some students that have stopped to gawk at them.  “…not around these people.”   

“That’s fine, we can go somewhere private.  Just don’t shut me out.”

“Natsu why are you being so nice to me?”

“Because you’re my friend and I don’t like seeing my friends in pain.” 

She looks at him surprised. “You consider me a friend?”

“Of course!” he smiles his cheeky grin.  “There’s an ice cream stand in South Gate Park and you look like you could use a cone.”

Sigh, “Alright Natsu….”

He throws an arm around her shoulder and leads the way.

After getting two cones, they walk to his house talking along the way about minor things but he doesn’t broach the subject that upset her until they are safely in his room.  “So… are you gonna tell me what happened today?”

Sigh, “If I don’t tell you, are you gonna keep asking?”

“Yes.”  The serious tone in his voice surprises her in a good way.

Sigh, “Two girls were talking about me in art class,” Tears are welling up again.  “They often make fun of my clothes or makeup but today they were really mean, sayin’ I must be a witch and I’ve got you under a sp-spell.”  She weeps openly.  “They don’t under-under-s-stand w-why you’re ha-hanging with me but they a-also saw me with Rogue a-and I’m a wh-whore and-and-and a slut!”  Her chest is heaving from the heavy sobs.  “That I’m n-not in your league and…”

She stiffens when he pulls her onto his lap and into a tight hug but he doesn’t care cause she needs it.  “Luce don’t listen to those girls, they’re just jealous, heartless bitches who are mad cause I’ve turned them all down.”

“It still… hu-hurts…”  After several minutes of just letting her sob onto his shoulder her tears finally start to slow down and she has relaxed in his arms.  He looks down to see if she’d fallen asleep but her eyes are open, staring forward as if she’s thinking about something.  “I know people think I’m weird…” she sniffles.  “They look at how I dress or at my makeup…  But I just wanted to be different from my old self…”

He softens his tone, “What do you mean?”

“My mother would always dress me up like some kind of princess, and my father only allowed me to wear preppy, proper, boring clothes that he hand-picked himself.  So, after his death, I guess I just wanted to rebel against everything and everyone.”

“It’s okay to be different Luce, it’s what makes us all unique.” He tightens his embrace.  “And I know that what’s happening right now; you being here with me has caused some rumors to start going around but we know the truth, right?” 

“Yeah…”  she yawns.

“We’re just trying to write this paper for English class…” 

“Mmhm…”     

“We know there’s nothing going on between us……”  he pauses.  “…cause… you don’t have any interest in me… right?”  She stays quiet.   “Right?”  She still doesn’t say a word.  “Luce?”  he looks down and chuckles.  She fell asleep.

Two hours later a light mumbling sound causes her to stir… ‘Luce… stay…’ tightening feeling around her waist… ‘like y…’  Her eyes pop open in a slight panic; the room is dark now except from the moonlight.  ‘Did I fall asleep at Natsu’s?’  There is light snoring behind her and an arm around her waist holding her tightly.  She lifts her head to see a glimpse of pink hair.  ‘Shit! I did, was that him mumbling?’

Feeling her moving, he starts to wake up. “Luce?” he responds groggily.

She crawls out from under his arm and stands up.  “You were talking in your sleep… and why were you holding me like that?!” 

He sits up, “Talking?  Holding you like what?”

“Y-you had your arm around me, like-like…”

“A boyfriend?”

“Yes!  Like that.”

“I don’t know,” he scratches his head and yawns, “After you fell asleep I laid you down on the bed, and then I guess I fell asleep too.”

“That doesn’t explain you holding me.”

“I must have done that in my sleep.” He lies.  “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to overstep any boundaries.”

She sighs and sits on the edge of the bed, “It’s okay.  I think I’m just over reacting, especially after the comments from today…”

“Are you sure you’re okay…”

“Yeah.  Natsu… Um, I think you were saying ‘Luce stay’ and something about ‘like’ but I couldn’t understand the rest.” 

‘Oh crap I was talking about her!’  His cheeks turn red but luckily for him she can’t see it in the darkened room.  “I don’t remember, I must have been dreaming.”

She raises an eyebrow, she knows he was talking about her but didn’t hear enough to make sense of it.  “Well it’s getting late, I better call my ride.”  Standing up.  “Natsu.  Thanks for today.”

“You’re welcome.”  She grabs her school bag and is about to walk out.  “Wait Luce?”  She stops and turns.  “Do you have plans tomorrow?”

“No why?”

“Would you, um, wanna maybe…”

“Spit it out already.”

“Hang out with me at the mall?”

“The mall?”

“Yeah.  I need to, um, pick up some stuff, but the company would be nice.”

“I don’t know…”

“Please???”

“Alright.”

“Really?”

“What time?”

“Do you wanna meet here first and we can walk over?”

“Why don’t I just have my driver pick you up?”

“You have a driver?”

“Err, I mean my guardian… We can pick you up.”

“Sure, I’ll just have to take my pills but I should be okay; how about 10 am.”’

“Pills?”

“For motion sickness.  I don’t do well in moving vehicles.”

“Oh.  Ok, Well I’ll see you tomorrow Natsu.” She gives a slight wave and walks out.

“Bye Luce.”

~~Saturday~~

By 8 am Lucy’s up and nervous.  ‘Why’d I agree to go to the mall with him!’  She screams at herself.  ‘What do I wear?  Should I dress like I normally do?  Then I’d run the risk of being harassed…  But if I don’t then am I being true to myself?  Ugh, lately who I am has been a big question mark anyways!  Sigh.’  As she throws outfit after outfit around her Virgo walks in. 

“Princess, are you having a problem?”

“Could you stop calling me that??”

“Mistress, what are you doing?  Why are there clothes all over the floor?”

“Because I don’t know what I should wear!” she stomps her feet

“For once you’re considering dressing normal aren’t you?”

“Maybe…  Ugh, are you gonna just smirk or help me?!”

“Well you burned or threw away most of your old clothes.” Virgo starts searching the closet.  “How about these, it’s simple…”  she holds up a regular pair of flared leg blue jeans and a red tube top.    

“I guess that’ll have to do.”

After getting ready, Lucy pulls her hair into a single high ponytail and puts on black 3inch ankle boots.  Her customary red lipstick, but more of a strawberry color instead of the darker burgundies she normal sports, pink eye shadow and just a light black eyeliner for definition.  Frankly she looked like a different girl.  Sigh, as she stares at the mirror, ‘hopefully I’ll just blend in like this…’  

Natsu is already running down the sidewalk as the car pulls up.  Reaching over, Lucy opens the door for him from the inside and he hops in.  “Hey Lu…” He smiles before realizing… “Whoa, you look so different!” 

“Geez, hi to you too.”

“No, I mean it in a good way!”

“I just don’t wanna be harassed today that’s all… and I know how I normally dress attracts attention.”

He shrugs his shoulders, “I’m used to it.  You look pretty to me either way.”  Virgo smirks from the driver’s seat, she knows their plan is finally panning out.  She drops the two teens off in front of the mall and tells them to call her when they are ready to leave. 

“Okay Natsu, what was it you needed to do here?”

“Oh…” he cups the back of his neck.  “About that… I kinda just blurted out mall cause I couldn’t think of anywhere else in that moment.”

“Seriously?”

“I just wanted to hang out with you some more…”

Sigh, “What do we do here?  I’ve never just hung out at a mall before.”

“Seriously?  Well, um we could go window shopping, see a movie, there’s the food court…”  he grabs her hand.  “Let’s just walk around for now, maybe something will catch your eye.”

“You can let go of my hand though.”

“Wouldn’t want to lose you in the crowd.” He grins.  “Just have some fun Luce!”

The first store he drags her into is a GameStop where he’s jabbering about some new video game called Breath of the Wild she has no interest in.  After that they take turns.  She pulls him into a bookstore, the last place he’d ever shop at so he forces her into a Zumiez to check out their snowboard gear.  Having fun with this cat and mouse game she gets him back by dragging him to a Victoria Secret. 

“N-no way!  I’m not going in there with you!”  he crosses his arms.

“Why not…” she pouts

“It’s lingerie!”

“What’s the big deal, even guys wear underwear.”

“That’s not the same thing.  This is like lacy, frilly stuff.”  She laughs and pouts.  “Nope, Sorry, that cute face is not gonna work on me.”

Standing in front of him she runs a finger along the middle of his chest.  “Come on,” she leans close, “I know there’s stuff in there you’d love to see on me…”

He turns bright red, “Lucy, a-are you flirting with me?!”

“If I am, then you better take advantage before I change my mind.”

He drops his head, “If I get caught in there, the guys are never gonna let it slide.  But.  Since I like seeing you smile, I’ll do it.”

She takes his hand and pulls him into the store heading straight for reds and lacy cause she knows it’s his favorite color.  As she grabs some items to try on, holding the clothing against her body, she’d ask along the way, “Does this look nice?  How about this one?”  He’d give her short answers because he was trying not to look in the first place or rather imagine them on her.  But after choosing several she does exactly what he feared.  “I’m gonna try these on.”  Grabbing his hand again she leads him towards the dressing rooms.

“You are crazy, I can’t go in there!” he whispers.

“Yes, you can, I need you to tell me if they look okay or not.”

“No.”

A clerk walks up.  “Ah Ms. Lucy, I’m surprised to see you here during business hours.” 

“Oh hey Trevor, yeah I’m just shopping with a friend.”

“Shall I show you to the private rooms?”

“Yes please.”  Trevor leads the way

“Come on Natsu.” She pulls him along, “Please…”  She whines, “Don’t cause a scene.”

“Of all the times to…” as he shuffles his feet, “Luce are you trying to kill me?” he whispers but she just smiles.  Trevor opens one of the separate rooms reserved for specialty guests and she pushes Natsu in.  The man just chuckles at the pair and walks away. 

She gives him a sweet smile.  “You’ve never seen a naked girl before have you?” He blushes.  “Thought so.”

“How come you know that guy and why’d he say during business hours?  Do you come here after the store is closed?  And this room, it’s not one of the normal dressing rooms is it”

“Oh um… I know the owner of the store, o-old family friend…”  he can tell she’s lying but decides not to push.

“Just sit there, close your eyes if you want to.” and that’s exactly what he does.  Lucy starts to hum a little as she undresses and changes into the first bra and panties.  “Okay open your eyes now.”

“No.”

She leans down in front of him and forces his eyelids open.  “Holy shit!”  He has to quickly grip the chair to keep from falling off when the first vision that he sees is large breasts in his face. 

“What?!”     

“Don’t do that!”

“Do what?!”

“Stick your chest in my face when I’m not expecting it.”

“Oh,” she giggles, “Sorry I was just trying to open your eyes.  So?”  She stands straight and models for him, “How does it look?”

His eyes widen as something in his pants starts growing.  ‘Shit!!!!’  He snaps his eyes shut, “Looks great, buy it, let’s get out of here!”

“But I still have 2 more to try on.”

He sighs, “Luce I-I can’t do this, it was funny at first, embarrassing but funny, but now…  You…”  Exhale.  “…You’re a pretty girl and I’m a guy who likes..; don’t you realize how much of a turn on this is?”

She stares at the red-faced boy blinking.  All this time she thought he was just being charming, even the comments about being beautiful; she never took it seriously that he might have real feelings for her.  “I’m sorry Natsu, I didn’t realize you looked at me in that way.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“No one else does.  Everyone thinks I’m just the weird girl.”

He opens his eyes but quickly slams them shut again, “But no one else has gotten to know you like I have.”  Exhale.  “I’m glad that you can come out of your shell around me, I really do.  I love seeing what is probably the real you, but unless you have feelings for me too, this is just torture.”

Without saying another word and feeling like a total idiot she turns around and immediately changes back to her regular clothes.  Leaving the items on the go back rack, they leave the store without a purchase.

She looks down as she walks, “Maybe I should just go home.”

“Why?”

“I feel like a witch for putting you through that.”

“Luce don’t.  I’m fine.” He grabs her hand, “Let’s go do something else.  How about lunch?  Are you hungry yet?”

“Not really…”

“Hey.” He stops her and lifts her chin, “I didn’t mean to make you sad, and torture was too a strong of a word.” He squeezes her hand, “Please, stop worrying…” he searches her eyes. “…will you do that for me?”  His green eyes are hypnotizing her; she nods her head.  He smiles and puts his arm around her shoulder.  “How about Arby’s?”

~~Sunday~~

Sigh, ‘Girl what is going on in your head?!’  She lies in her bed trying to listen to music but despite the noise, her own thoughts are drowning it out.  ‘I think Natsu likes me…  No way, he’d probably get turned on by any naked girl standing in front of him.  I shouldn’t get my hopes up, I mean what about me would a guy like him want anyways?  Right, he’s better matched to one of the popular girls like Jenny… But he said he doesn’t like them, called them bitches.  Ugh!  It’s for his own good to leave me alone.  I mean he must be getting teased just for hanging out with me…  Except for English I think it’d be better for the two of to stop talking…’

He’s been lying in bed all morning without being able to get the images out his mind.  ‘Fuck!!!  Her body was just….Wow!’  He puts his arms above his head.  ‘I can’t believe she did that!…’  A new determination strikes him, ‘I’ve gotta make her mine!’

~~Monday~~

Mrs. Connell had given them their daily assignment to read the chapter about Romeo & Juliet and answer a few questions in the text book before she stepped out of the classroom.  “Come on; just give me one smile Luce.” He whispers to her.

“Why?”  She tries to keep reading

“Cause it’s pretty and you know I like to see beautiful things.”

Looking at him now, “Is that supposed to be a pickup line?”

“Worked on you before,” he grins.  “Come on, I’m being genuine here, Scouts honor” he puts up two fingers

She cocks her head, “What’s scouts honor?”

“Um, Boy Scouts…” she shakes her head, “you’ve never heard of it?” she shakes her head again

“No…. I was sheltered remember.” 

“Right.  Back to the smile then.”

Sigh, she puts her book down and props up her head with her hand looking at him.  “You just aren’t gonna give up are you?”

“Nope.”  He gives her the best puppy dog cutesy face he can muster.  “Pleeeeeasssse!”

She panics and covers his mouth, “Ugh fine!  If it’ll stop you from embarrassing me.” and gives him a fake half smile. 

His face grows serious, “No way, a genuine one.”

“Hey” she shouts before catching herself, “you didn’t set terms!”

“Then I guess I’ll need to change my tactics.”  She looks at the grinning boy confused but that quickly changes to shock when he grabs her left hand.  Leaning in closer to the side of her face he starts to softly whisper…  “I see past the façade you paint, the dark clothes upon your skin for beneath it all is a smart, beautiful woman waiting to be released…” his thumb rubs gently against her hand “…if only you’d see, what I can see…” a slight blush is developing on her cheeks “…a young woman who has been through something that causes her to hide.  But even if you lose everything, something remains and what I see is a star…” He moves his face so he can look directly into her now glassy eyes “…that when she is ready will burn brighter than any other star in the heavens…” the genuine blushing smile now on her face makes him smile “See, I told you… beautiful…” he caresses her cheek. 

They continue to gaze into each other’s eyes as if a spell had been placed upon them; almost forgetting they were in the middle of English class.  But the sudden realization of how quiet their classmates had become… too quiet, sets in for them both; they look around to see everyone gawking at them.  Quickly they turn back to their textbooks, both blushing and acting like nothing was happening.  But snickers and whispers and even a few snide remarks bounce around until the teacher walked back in.  The pair avoids any further contact for the rest of the period.

At the end of school that day, Lucy walks to her locker to grab a few things before heading home.  As soon as she closes it two girls stand ready to confront her, Lisanna and Minerva.  “Getting pretty cozy with Natsu and Rogue huh,” the dark-haired girl sneers.  “You best stay away from Rogue or else…”

“And I guess no one warned you that I’ve deemed Natsu off limits.”  The white-haired girl slams Lucy up against the locker.  “So here is your warning.  Stay away from him!”

“Kinda hard if we’re partners, you stupid cow!”  Lucy screams at them calling attention from other students.  “And Rogue and I are just friends!”

“Don’t call my friend a cow, friggin weirdo!”  Minerva slaps her in the face.  At this point Lucy is crying but still indignant.

“How about Bitch then, is that better!” she retorts.

“Why you little!”  Lisanna hauls back her fist to strike the sobbing blonde when her arm is grabbed from behind.

“Lis!  What the hell do you think you’re doing!”

“Natsu…  I um…” he pushes her away hard and stands in front of Lucy.

“And you Minerva!”  Rogue pulls her away.  “Leave her alone!”

Lisanna starts yelling and pointing, “She started it!  I heard all about what happened in English class today from Minerva and I know you two have been seen together outside of school!”

“I didn’t start anything!  You crazy, jealous bitch!”  Lucy screams back.

Lisanna tries to attack again, “Witch!” but this time her brother Elfman grabs her and holds her back. 

“I don’t know what you’re thinking Lis but I have absolutely no interest in you.  You can’t keep telling girls to stay away from me.”

“But Natsu…” he cuts her off.

“Leave Lucy alone!  And Don’t make me turn you in to Principal Makarov again.”  The girl hangs her head sobbing.  Natsu then turns back to the blonde.  He picks up her school bag that had been dropped next to her feet and gently takes hold of her hand.  “Let me walk you home Luce.”  Too shocked by everything that has just transpired she forgets all about her plan to stop talking to Natsu and just nods.

“Thank you.”  She mutters as soon as they’re out of the building and away from the crowds.

“For what?” 

She hesitates then squeezes his hand, “Everything…”

“You’re very welcome.” He smiles at her.  “So, um, where do you live?”

“Why?”

He chuckles, “Duh, So I can walk you home.”

There’s a brief sparkle to her eyes as she starts to laugh, surprising him, “Right, I um live on…  Oh, I’m not supposed to let anyone see where I live.”

“Is it like run down or something?”

“Err,” she bites her bottom lip, “actually the opposite.”

‘She looks so adorable right now!’  “No problem, I won’t pry.  How about we get a bite to eat instead, I’m kinda hungry.”

“That would be really nice; I haven’t been eating lunch.”

“Great, there’s a café in the mall called Fairytail I like to go to”

“Fairytail?”

He shrugs his shoulders, “The original owner I guess liked fairies.”

Lucy murmurs, “Do fairies have tails, do fairies even exist; nobody knows for sure.  An eternal mystery, an eternal adventure…”

“Hey that’s a quote they have hanging in the café!”

“It’s a line in my favorite book.”  She holds up her right hand and shows him her tattoo.

“Huh!  That’s the symbol in the bar too!  I never realized that.” He squeezes her hand grinning.  “Your favorite book, my favorite hangout spot.  What a coincidence…”

“Yeah…  coincidence…”

After being seated, Lucy excuses herself to go to the restroom and locks the door.  Sigh ‘What am I doing?  I was supposed to stay away from him…’  She leans on the counter and just stares at her reflection in the mirror.  ‘But he makes me feel so different that I don’t know who I am anymore…’  The dark eyed girl looking back at her really was a stranger, one she created to hide the pain that the real Lucy was running from, and more a stranger now than just a month ago.  ‘No, sigh, he makes me feel like the real me I’ve just forgotten…’  She unclips the choker from her neck and tosses it into the trash.  ‘I see past the façade… if only you’d see, what I can see’ Sigh ‘he hit it right on the head…’  She opens her purse and pulls out the makeup remover…

When she returns to their table, Natsu does a double take.  The girl who sits back down is still wearing the same clothes as Lucy but gone is all the makeup; he smiles, “Wow…” his voice breathy, “I think you’re more beautiful just natural like this.”  He reaches out to caress her cheek and for the first time, she doesn’t flinch from his touch but instead leans into it.

She blushes.  Exhale, “You’ve been so nice to me Natsu that I’d like to start over, with the truth.”  He looks at her confused.  She leans in and whispers, “My real name is Lucy Heartfillia, but you can’t tell anyone yet.”

His eyes widen as he remembers his parents talking about that name, ‘Heartfillia Corp… wife died maybe 12 years ago, the CEO died 1 year ago, 1 child orphaned but no description given.’    She repeats what he said to her in class, “even if you lose everything, something remains…  You made me realize, this isn’t the girl my mom would be proud of… and I wanna make her proud” she smiles.

He grins, “Now some things make more sense, like the private dressing rooms at the store, having a driver, designer clothing; yeah I know those girls didn’t catch on but I snuck a peak at a couple of the labels on your clothes and these are pricey stuff!  Like this outfit, what it cost you, $200?”

A little taken aback that he’d been putting the pieces together like this, “More like $800 for the whole outfit, $1000 counting the shos.”  His jaw drops making her chuckle.

Grinning, “Well I’m glad I could help you Luce.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll need more help carrying all the shopping bags.”

He looks confused again.  “Shopping bags?”

She just smiles and pulls out her cell phone.  With the speaker phone on, “Cancer, it’s an emergency.”

“Ebi, what do you need?”

“A complete make over.”

“Just text me when you get to the salon…”

~~~~~~~~

The next day in class, a stunning girl with golden blonde hair walks in on Natsu’s arm.  Gone are the purple streaks, the punk clothes, the dark makeup…  She looks like she just stepped out of a glamor magazine.

Sting- “Whoa, who’s the babe with Natsu?!”

Gray slaps him, “That’s her stupid, that’s that Lucy chick!”

Everyone in the room- “No way!!”

“I told you…”  He grins at her smiling face, “…just beautiful.” 

#bonus day #gothic #fanfiction #submission

[tortuga-aak]

'The Martian' author Andy Weir solved moon economics to make his new book 'Artemis' believable

Samantha Lee/Business Insider

"The Martian" author Andy Weir has a new novel about a heist on the moon called "Artemis."

The book, which goes on sale Tuesday, strives for a high level of scientific and economic realism to make its story believable.

The author used real-world economics to create a reason his fictional moon colony might exist.

According to Weir's calculations, in a few decades it may cost $70,000 for a two-week vacation to the moon.

Editor's note: "Artemis" is the second sci-fi novel written by Andy Weir, author of the blockbuster sci-fi novel "The Martian." The new book goes on sale Tuesday. Just as Weir accomplished with "The Martian," he strived for a high level of scientific realism with "Artemis."

But his new story is not a tale of survival like the first.

Instead, "Artemis" is a fictional heist story that takes place at the moon's first city (also called Artemis). Weir wanted to make the plot as believable as possible, so he became an "armchair economist" and drafted an in-depth financial argument for his lunar colony based on real-world market forces.

When Weir offered us a 3,000-word (and spoiler-free) treatise laying out the economics behind his fictional moon city, we couldn't resist. Here's why he thinks lunar vacations just might make the first permanent lunar colony a reality.

Introduction

Crown PublishingAre you a pedantic little s---? Do you ask questions like "Why does the Federation have starships if they can beam people hundreds of light-years?" or "Why don't the Galactic Empire and Rebel Alliance just mass-produce droids with piloting skills instead of risking their own lives?"

Well, good. So am I.

"Artemis" takes place in a city on the Moon. Lunar colonies in sci-fi usually have medium to high levels of bulls--- in their economics. Yeah, I know, nobody reads sci-fi for an economics lesson. But I want it to at least make sense.

So this paper is all about Artemis's economy and how it works. There are no spoilers for the story, so you can freely read it beforehand if you're the sort of person who likes bonus material so much you'll read it before you read the actual story.

Why isn't this in the book?

Because it's boring. Hell, if we learned anything from "The Phantom Menace" it's this: never start a sci-fi story with a description of complex macroeconomics.

You might not even make it through this paper. That's okay, it's not supposed to be entertaining. If you get bored, stop reading. This paper is for the one percenters — the folks who have nagging doubts in their suspension of belief because something sticks in their craw. I'm one of those people, and for me the economics has to make sense for a setting to work.

Price point

NASA/James Blair and Lauren HarnettIf you could have a lunar vacation for $70,000, would you do it? Many people would jump at the chance. They'd get a second mortgage just to pay for it. This, in a nutshell, is the economic foundation of Artemis. It's all about tourism, and it's based on the presumption that the price for that tourism can be driven down to the point that ordinary people can afford it.

The pricey part of anything space-related is getting it to space in the first place. It's incredibly expensive to put mass into LEO (Low Earth Orbit). And if you want to put something on the moon, you have to get a whole ship into LEO that can then travel to the moon. If that impediment were removed, or greatly reduced, we'd have a thriving space tourism industry.

My belief is that we are already on track to a commercial space industry that will do just that.

Money? What money?

I did the research for this in 2015, so all the monetary references in this paper refer to prices and values in 2015 US dollars.

Current cost to LEO

NASA

Before I talk about predictions, let's talk about reality. How much does it cost to put mass into LEO right now?

First off, I start with the assumption that this has to be an actual profitable system. Not something that only exists on government support or subsidy. So I'm disregarding launch systems that are government-run. They have no profit motive, so even if they charge for freight to LEO and even if that charge is low, those are not real economic values. The system would not scale or sustain itself.

The cheapest way to get mass to LEO (at the time of this writing) is with a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster. They charge $61.2 million for the launch, and it can put 13,150kg of mass into LEO. So right now, that means it costs $4,653 per kilogram.

Now you have some context for comparing the real world to the imagined one I'm about to show you.

My bulls--- assumption

REUTERS/Andy Clark

I have absolutely nothing to back this up but instinct. But here it is, the core assumption I have made that enables the world of "Artemis."

Assumption: The commercial space industry, through competition and engineering advances, will settle down to the same fuel-to-overhead ratio as the modern airline industry.

Okay, so what do I mean by that? How did airlines get into this?

The airline industry is a good parallel for the space industry. Both involve transporting people and freight. Both require extremely expensive, complex vehicles with maintenance overhead. Both consume fuel.

So I have assumed, right or wrong, that a fully profitable commercial space industry would eventually become very much like the commercial airline industry. So let's look at the airline industry for some clues as to what things cost.

Fuel overhead ratio

Airlines need staff to fly and maintain their aircraft. They need to pay applicable taxes and gate fees. They need to buy new planes, repair worn-out parts, manage their company pension plan, and everything else a service industry has to do. But by far, the largest chunk of their non-payroll operating budget goes to fuel. That's what costs the most for any given flight.

So the question is this: What percentage of an airline's total revenues ultimately goes toward buying fuel? That's what we're going to work out first.

I have no special understanding of the airline industry. I just went online and did my own research. I looked at ticket prices, noted the price of jet fuel, etc. This could be wildly flawed, but it's a good place to start.

First off, I had to choose an aircraft to work with. I selected the Boeing 777-300ER. It's one of the most popular aircraft in the world, servicing long-haul flights be all the major airlines. It's fuel efficient, effective, and has a stellar safety record.

Here are some stats for the 777-300ER:

Samantha Lee/Business Insider

The next thing I did was look as some long-haul flights around the world. I wanted to get an even spread of information, so I looked at three different routes, of differing lengths, flown by three different airlines. A more comprehensive study would have to include dozens or maybe hundreds, but I just did three — I'm just trying to make a foundation for a story, not get investor money.

So, to that end, I looked at a United Airlines flight from New York to London, an Air France from Paris to Tokyo, and a Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Sydney. Each of these flights are on 777-300ER aircraft, and their ticket prices are all for the same day in late 2015. Note: the United flight prices are rough averages based on samples of different rates – their web page at the time was cagey on actual ticket prices.

Here's what I learned:

Samantha Lee/Business Insider

For each flight, I noted the price of each class of ticket, then worked out the take — the total amount of money the airline gets if every seat on the plane is sold at its listed cost. The fuel consumed is based on the flight duration and the fuel consumption rate of the aircraft. The cost of that fuel is based on the market price of jet fuel on the day I looked up those tickets, which was $0.475/kg. (Actually, the price was 38 cents per liter, but I wanted price per kg and jet fuel has a density of 0.8kg/L).

I was surprised to see that they all has such similar fuel overhead ratios. It makes me feel like my crackpot theory might actually work out.

Yeah, I don't have enough data, but screw it. I'm going to use the value 16.5%, which is roughly the average of those three. So for the rest of this paper I'll assume a commercial airline spends 16.5% of its take on fuel.

A commercial spacecraft

SpaceX/Flickr (public domain)

Okay, great. I have a rough idea of fuel overhead. So what? What the hell would an efficient commercial spacecraft be like? What would it weigh? How many people could it carry? What would it use for fuel and how much would that fuel cost?

I don't have answers to any of that, of course. So I'll just pull a couple more assumptions right out of my ass.

Assumption: A passenger spacecraft would weigh the same as a passenger aircraft capable of carrying the same number of people.

Okay, yeah. That's a big assumption. But, to be clear, I'm talking about dry weight (not including fuel). And aircraft are pretty similar to spacecraft in a lot of ways. They're pressure vessels, they have life support systems to keep everyone on board alive, they have big heavy engines, pilots, etc. So that's what I'm going with.

And for my comparison I'll use, of course, the Boeing 777-300ER. Same as before. I'm also assuming this is a trip to a transfer ship or space station. So the spacecraft itself doesn't have to serve as home to the passengers. All it does is get them to orbit. This means there's really no need for first class at all. The 12-minute trip to orbit does not require high-end seating for anyone. So instead of its normal configuration, I'm going with the high-density version that can seat 550 people.

And now on to the final bit of guesswork.

Assumption: The commercial space industry will use hydrogen-oxygen fuel

The thing that matters most about rocket fuel is a property called "specific impulse." I don't want to bore you with physics (I'm here to bore you with economics) so I'll just say this: specific impulse is a measure of how efficient a rocket fuel is. The higher a fuel's specific impulse, the less of it you need to get a ship moving a given velocity. And hydrogen-oxygen fuel has the best specific impulse known. Also, it creates water as its exhaust, so there are no pollutants. And finally, it's cheap to produce.

Right now, there are engineering limitations to using hydrogen-oxygen fuel. The main one being that it burns very hot — hotter than any engine can handle. But again, I'm assuming all these challenges get researched and solved by a profit-hungry industry.

The final piece of the puzzle is the cost of hydrogen and oxygen. This was a little harder to find. I was able to find reliable data on the 2002 price of bulk hydrogen, so I adjusted the 2002 dollars into 2015 dollars and got $0.93/kg. As for oxygen, I used the publicly available data on what NASA pays for it — $0.16/kg in 2015 dollars. The reaction requires one part hydrogen and eight parts oxygen (by mass), so the total fuel cost is $0.245/kg.

That's the last bit of information we needed to calculate the…

Price of getting a person into space

NASA

Okay, we have a ship that weighs 165,500kg and we're going to put 550 passengers on it. We'll give them 100kg each for their bodies and luggage. That's a total mass of 215,500kg.

The specific impulse of hydrogen-oxygen fuel is 389s (yes, the unit for measuring specific impulse is "seconds". It makes no intuitive sense, just roll with it). To get to LEO you need to accelerate by 9,800m/s. LEO actually only requires 7,800m/s, but you lose around 2,000m/s during the ascent to air resistance and other inefficiencies.

Again, I'm skipping over the physics (Tsiolkovsky's Rocket Equation, if you're curious) but those numbers mean we'll need 12.04kg of fuel for every 1kg we want to put into LEO. We want to put 215,000kg into LEO, so we need 2,594,620kg of fuel.

At our calculated fuel cost ($0.245/kg) that means the total fuel cost for the launch is $637,200.

Now I get to use my airline fuel overhead figure. Airlines have 16.5% fuel overhead ratio and we're going to assume the space industry will as well. So $637,109 is 16.5% of our total ticket take. And that means our total take is $3,861,266.

Our ship carries 550 passengers, meaning each passenger will have to pay

$7,020.48

Sorry to put that in dramatic bold print with a box around it, but I thought it was exciting. Would you pay seven thousand bucks to go to low Earth orbit? Millions of people would say "yes."

What about freight?

I looked around at the prices for air freight and found that, on average, you can air mail 200kg of cargo for about the price it would take to send a person. This means people cost twice as much to ship as cargo. That makes sense — cargo doesn't need seats, air pressure, bathrooms, or complimentary peanuts. For space travel, the cargo ships also wouldn't need anywhere near as much safety. If a shipment of frozen food blows up on launch, replacing the cargo is trivial.

So I followed the aviation industry's general pattern and decided that freight to LEO would end up costing about half as much as a human. Or, more importantly, would cost $7,020.48 per 200kg. So that means you can get mass to LEO for

$35.10 per kg!

Again, I apologize for the drama, but holy s---! That's a hell of a lot less than the $4,653/kg it costs today.

Are such advances reasonable? Well, "Artemis" takes place in the 2080s, which is over 60 years from the time of this writing. Consider the advancements in the aviation industry from its beginnings in the 1930s to the 1990s. Yes, it's possible. When enough money is up for grabs, anything's possible.

What about getting from LEO to the Moon?

NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center

Okay, so we have people and cargo in LEO. So what? We want them on the Moon. Well, here's where things bifurcate.

To get people to the Moon, they would make lunar cyclers. These are space hotels in a ballistic orbit (meaning: it doesn't require fuel to maintain) that regularly visits Earth and the Moon. It would take 7 days to get to the Moon with this system. You still have to accelerate the people to catch up with the space hotel, but at least you don't have to accelerate the hotel itself over and over. So the fuel cost is minimized.

It's hard to say how much that would cost. But with a $35.10/kg cost to LEO, the mass of the hotel wouldn't be too much of a financial burden for whatever company built it. I admit I didn't work out the economics of the space hotel or what it would cost for your stay. But considering how cheap the cost of freight to LEO is, I'm sure it would be small compared to the rest of the trip. On the order of an actual hotel stay (and a hell of a lot more awesome).

But you still have to accelerate people up to the cycler and then decelerate them to land on the Moon.

According to my research, it takes a total of 5,930m/s of delta-v to get from LEO to the surface of the Moon. More physics and math happens here, but it means that for every kilogram of cargo you want to put on the lunar surface, you have to put 4.73kg of mass into LEO. 1kg of actual cargo, and 3.73kg of fuel to get that cargo to the Moon.

So what's it cost to put freight on the Moon? Well, it would cost 4.73 times what it would cost to put the cargo in LEO. So, while it costs $35.10 to put a kilogram into LEO, it would cost $166.02 to put it on the surface of the Moon.

So what's it cost to go to the moon!?

SpaceX/YouTube

You have to get your body to LEO ($7020), and then soft-landed on the moon. So you end up needing the same overhead – 4.73 times the LEO cost.

$33,206.87

Yeah, I did the box/bold thing again. Call the cops, I don't care. People would be very willing to pay $33,000 for a trip to the Moon.

What about the trip back? Well, it's much cheaper, because you're leaving the Moon's gravity, not Earth's. Plus, you don't have to use rocket fuel to dump velocity at Earth — you can use the atmosphere to brake with. And you would probably also be using fuel generated on the Moon (aluminum and oxygen, both in massive supply on the Moon, make a good monopropellant), so even it wouldn't have to be imported.

I didn't do the math on the return trip, but let's approximate it to half the trip out. So the round-trip is clocking in at about $45,000 (not including a total of 14 days' stay in the space hotel).

What does it cost to stay on the Moon?

Copyright of Andy Weir, "Artemis"/Crown Publishing

You have to eat. You can eat Gunk if you want — that's a product created right in Artemis out of algae. It's nutritionally balanced and grown locally, so it's nice and cheap. But if you want real food, you'll have to eat imports. A typical person will eat 500 to 1000 grams of food per day (not including the water weight). We've established that lunar freight costs about $166/kg. So you'll spend $80 to $160 every day just to eat. Not bad for an extravagant vacation.

Total cost

Accommodation and meal prices would be comparable to high-end hotels and restaurants on Earth. Say $160/day for food and $500/day for a hotel. Of course you'll want to do stuff while you're there, which will cost more money. So call it $800/day.

However long you want to stay on the moon, add 14 days (for the space hotel that takes you there and back) and multiply by $800. That's your expenses on the trip itself. So let's say you want a two-week stay. That's a total of 28 days of expenses at $800, so $22,400. Round that up to $25,000 because vacations always cost more than you expect. That plus the $45,000 travel costs totals $70,000.

So I ask again: Would you pay $70,000 for a lunar vacation?

Copyright 2017 by Andy Weir.

NOW WATCH: This company wants to mine the Moon using robots — and they could be doing it within three years

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[ramialkarmi]

'The Martian' author Andy Weir solved moon economics to make his new book 'Artemis' believable

"The Martian" author Andy Weir has a new novel about a heist on the moon called "Artemis".

The book, which goes on sale Tuesday, strives for a high level of scientific and economic realism to make its story believable.

The author used real-world economics to create a reason his fictional moon colony might exist.

According to Weir's calculations, in a few decades it may cost $70,000 for a two-week vacation to the moon.

Editor's note: "Artemis" is the second sci-fi novel written by Andy Weir, author of the blockbuster sci-fi novel "The Martian." The new book goes on sale Tuesday. Just as Weir accomplished with "The Martian", he strived for a high level of scientific realism with "Artemis".

But his new story is not a tale of survival like the first.

Instead, "Artemis" is a fictional heist story that takes place at the moon's first city (also called Artemis). Weir wanted to make the plot as believable as possible, so he became an "armchair economist" and drafted an in-depth financial argument for his lunar colony based on real-world market forces.

When Weir offered us a 3,000-word (and spoiler-free) treatise laying out the economics behind his fictional moon city, we couldn't resist. Here's why he thinks lunar vacations just might make the first permanent lunar colony a reality.

Introduction

Are you a pedantic little s---? Do you ask questions like "Why does the Federation have starships if they can beam people hundreds of light-years?" or "Why don't the Galactic Empire and Rebel Alliance just mass-produce droids with piloting skills instead of risking their own lives?"

Well, good. So am I.

"Artemis" takes place in a city on the Moon. Lunar colonies in sci-fi usually have medium to high levels of bulls--- in their economics. Yeah, I know, nobody reads sci-fi for an economics lesson. But I want it to at least make sense.

So this paper is all about Artemis's economy and how it works. There are no spoilers for the story, so you can freely read it beforehand if you're the sort of person who likes bonus material so much you'll read it before you read the actual story.

Why isn't this in the book?

Because it's boring. Hell, if we learned anything from "The Phantom Menace" it's this: never start a sci-fi story with a description of complex macroeconomics.

You might not even make it through this paper. That's okay, it's not supposed to be entertaining. If you get bored, stop reading. This paper is for the one percenters — the folks who have nagging doubts in their suspension of belief because something sticks in their craw. I'm one of those people, and for me the economics has to make sense for a setting to work.

Price point

If you could have a lunar vacation for $70,000, would you do it? Many people would jump at the chance. They'd get a second mortgage just to pay for it. This, in a nutshell, is the economic foundation of Artemis. It's all about tourism, and it's based on the presumption that the price for that tourism can be driven down to the point that ordinary people can afford it.

The pricey part of anything space-related is getting it to space in the first place. It's incredibly expensive to put mass into LEO (Low Earth Orbit). And if you want to put something on the moon, you have to get a whole ship into LEO that can then travel to the moon. If that impediment were removed, or greatly reduced, we'd have a thriving space tourism industry.

My belief is that we are already on track to a commercial space industry that will do just that.

Money? What money?

I did the research for this in 2015, so all the monetary references in this paper refer to prices and values in 2015 US dollars.

Current cost to LEO

Before I talk about predictions, let's talk about reality. How much does it cost to put mass into LEO right now?

First off, I start with the assumption that this has to be an actual profitable system. Not something that only exists on government support or subsidy. So I'm disregarding launch systems that are government-run. They have no profit motive, so even if they charge for freight to LEO and even if that charge is low, those are not real economic values. The system would not scale or sustain itself.

The cheapest way to get mass to LEO (at the time of this writing) is with a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster. They charge $61.2 million for the launch, and it can put 13,150kg of mass into LEO. So right now, that means it costs $4,653 per kilogram.

Now you have some context for comparing the real world to the imagined one I'm about to show you.

My bulls--- assumption

I have absolutely nothing to back this up but instinct. But here it is, the core assumption I have made that enables the world of "Artemis."

Assumption: The commercial space industry, through competition and engineering advances, will settle down to the same fuel-to-overhead ratio as the modern airline industry.

Okay, so what do I mean by that? How did airlines get into this?

The airline industry is a good parallel for the space industry. Both involve transporting people and freight. Both require extremely expensive, complex vehicles with maintenance overhead. Both consume fuel.

So I have assumed, right or wrong, that a fully profitable commercial space industry would eventually become very much like the commercial airline industry. So let's look at the airline industry for some clues as to what things cost.

Fuel overhead ratio

Airlines need staff to fly and maintain their aircraft. They need to pay applicable taxes and gate fees. They need to buy new planes, repair worn-out parts, manage their company pension plan, and everything else a service industry has to do. But by far, the largest chunk of their non-payroll operating budget goes to fuel. That's what costs the most for any given flight.

So the question is this: What percentage of an airline's total revenues ultimately goes toward buying fuel? That's what we're going to work out first.

I have no special understanding of the airline industry. I just went online and did my own research. I looked at ticket prices, noted the price of jet fuel, etc. This could be wildly flawed, but it's a good place to start.

First off, I had to choose an aircraft to work with. I selected the Boeing 777-300ER. It's one of the most popular aircraft in the world, servicing long-haul flights be all the major airlines. It's fuel efficient, effective, and has a stellar safety record.

Here are some stats for the 777-300ER:

The next thing I did was look as some long-haul flights around the world. I wanted to get an even spread of information, so I looked at three different routes, of differing lengths, flown by three different airlines. A more comprehensive study would have to include dozens or maybe hundreds, but I just did three — I'm just trying to make a foundation for a story, not get investor money.

So, to that end, I looked at a United Airlines flight from New York to London, an Air France from Paris to Tokyo, and a Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Sydney. Each of these flights are on 777-300ER aircraft, and their ticket prices are all for the same day in late 2015. Note: the United flight prices are rough averages based on samples of different rates – their web page at the time was cagey on actual ticket prices.

Here's what I learned:

For each flight, I noted the price of each class of ticket, then worked out the take — the total amount of money the airline gets if every seat on the plane is sold at its listed cost. The fuel consumed is based on the flight duration and the fuel consumption rate of the aircraft. The cost of that fuel is based on the market price of jet fuel on the day I looked up those tickets, which was $0.475/kg. (Actually, the price was 38 cents per liter, but I wanted price per kg and jet fuel has a density of 0.8kg/L).

I was surprised to see that they all has such similar fuel overhead ratios. It makes me feel like my crackpot theory might actually work out.

Yeah, I don't have enough data, but screw it. I'm going to use the value 16.5%, which is roughly the average of those three. So for the rest of this paper I'll assume a commercial airline spends 16.5% of its take on fuel.

A commercial spacecraft

Okay, great. I have a rough idea of fuel overhead. So what? What the hell would an efficient commercial spacecraft be like? What would it weigh? How many people could it carry? What would it use for fuel and how much would that fuel cost?

I don't have answers to any of that, of course. So I'll just pull a couple more assumptions right out of my ass.

Assumption: A passenger spacecraft would weigh the same as a passenger aircraft capable of carrying the same number of people.

Okay, yeah. That's a big assumption. But, to be clear, I'm talking about dry weight (not including fuel). And aircraft are pretty similar to spacecraft in a lot of ways. They're pressure vessels, they have life support systems to keep everyone on board alive, they have big heavy engines, pilots, etc. So that's what I'm going with.

And for my comparison I'll use, of course, the Boeing 777-300ER. Same as before. I'm also assuming this is a trip to a transfer ship or space station. So the spacecraft itself doesn't have to serve as home to the passengers. All it does is get them to orbit. This means there's really no need for first class at all. The 12-minute trip to orbit does not require high-end seating for anyone. So instead of its normal configuration, I'm going with the high-density version that can seat 550 people.

And now on to the final bit of guesswork.

Assumption: The commercial space industry will use hydrogen-oxygen fuel

The thing that matters most about rocket fuel is a property called "specific impulse." I don't want to bore you with physics (I'm here to bore you with economics) so I'll just say this: specific impulse is a measure of how efficient a rocket fuel is. The higher a fuel's specific impulse, the less of it you need to get a ship moving a given velocity. And hydrogen-oxygen fuel has the best specific impulse known. Also, it creates water as its exhaust, so there are no pollutants. And finally, it's cheap to produce.

Right now, there are engineering limitations to using hydrogen-oxygen fuel. The main one being that it burns very hot — hotter than any engine can handle. But again, I'm assuming all these challenges get researched and solved by a profit-hungry industry.

The final piece of the puzzle is the cost of hydrogen and oxygen. This was a little harder to find. I was able to find reliable data on the 2002 price of bulk hydrogen, so I adjusted the 2002 dollars into 2015 dollars and got $0.93/kg. As for oxygen, I used the publicly available data on what NASA pays for it — $0.16/kg in 2015 dollars. The reaction requires one part hydrogen and eight parts oxygen (by mass), so the total fuel cost is $0.245/kg.

That's the last bit of information we needed to calculate the…

Price of getting a person into space

Okay, we have a ship that weighs 165,500kg and we're going to put 550 passengers on it. We'll give them 100kg each for their bodies and luggage. That's a total mass of 215,500kg.

The specific impulse of hydrogen-oxygen fuel is 389s (yes, the unit for measuring specific impulse is "seconds". It makes no intuitive sense, just roll with it). To get to LEO you need to accelerate by 9,800m/s. LEO actually only requires 7,800m/s, but you lose around 2,000m/s during the ascent to air resistance and other inefficiencies.

Again, I'm skipping over the physics (Tsiolkovsky's Rocket Equation, if you're curious) but those numbers mean we'll need 12.04kg of fuel for every 1kg we want to put into LEO. We want to put 215,000kg into LEO, so we need 2,594,620kg of fuel.

At our calculated fuel cost ($0.245/kg) that means the total fuel cost for the launch is $637,200.

Now I get to use my airline fuel overhead figure. Airlines have 16.5% fuel overhead ratio and we're going to assume the space industry will as well. So $637,109 is 16.5% of our total ticket take. And that means our total take is $3,861,266.

Our ship carries 550 passengers, meaning each passenger will have to pay

$7,020.48

Sorry to put that in dramatic bold print with a box around it, but I thought it was exciting. Would you pay seven thousand bucks to go to low Earth orbit? Millions of people would say "yes".

What about freight?

I looked around at the prices for air freight and found that, on average, you can air mail 200kg of cargo for about the price it would take to send a person. This means people cost twice as much to ship as cargo. That makes sense — cargo doesn't need seats, air pressure, bathrooms, or complimentary peanuts. For space travel, the cargo ships also wouldn't need anywhere near as much safety. If a shipment of frozen food blows up on launch, replacing the cargo is trivial.

So I followed the aviation industry's general pattern and decided that freight to LEO would end up costing about half as much as a human. Or, more importantly, would cost $7,020.48 per 200kg. So that means you can get mass to LEO for

$35.10 per kg!

Again, I apologize for the drama, but holy s---! That's a hell of a lot less than the $4,653/kg it costs today.

Are such advances reasonable? Well, "Artemis" takes place in the 2080s, which is over 60 years from the time of this writing. Consider the advancements in the aviation industry from its beginnings in the 1930s to the 1990s. Yes, it's possible. When enough money is up for grabs, anything's possible.

What about getting from LEO to the Moon?

Okay, so we have people and cargo in LEO. So what? We want them on the Moon. Well, here's where things bifurcate.

To get people to the Moon, they would make lunar cyclers. These are space hotels in a ballistic orbit (meaning: it doesn't require fuel to maintain) that regularly visits Earth and the Moon. It would take 7 days to get to the Moon with this system. You still have to accelerate the people to catch up with the space hotel, but at least you don't have to accelerate the hotel itself over and over. So the fuel cost is minimized.

It's hard to say how much that would cost. But with a $35.10/kg cost to LEO, the mass of the hotel wouldn't be too much of a financial burden for whatever company built it. I admit I didn't work out the economics of the space hotel or what it would cost for your stay. But considering how cheap the cost of freight to LEO is, I'm sure it would be small compared to the rest of the trip. On the order of an actual hotel stay (and a hell of a lot more awesome).

But you still have to accelerate people up to the cycler and then decelerate them to land on the Moon.

According to my research, it takes a total of 5,930m/s of delta-v to get from LEO to the surface of the Moon. More physics and math happens here, but it means that for every kilogram of cargo you want to put on the lunar surface, you have to put 4.73kg of mass into LEO. 1kg of actual cargo, and 3.73kg of fuel to get that cargo to the Moon.

So what's it cost to put freight on the Moon? Well, it would cost 4.73 times what it would cost to put the cargo in LEO. So, while it costs $35.10 to put a kilogram into LEO, it would cost $166.02 to put it on the surface of the Moon.

So what's it cost to go to the moon!?

You have to get your body to LEO ($7020), and then soft-landed on the moon. So you end up needing the same overhead – 4.73 times the LEO cost.

$33,206.87

Yeah, I did the box/bold thing again. Call the cops, I don't care. People would be very willing to pay $33,000 for a trip to the Moon.

What about the trip back? Well, it's much cheaper, because you're leaving the Moon's gravity, not Earth's. Plus, you don't have to use rocket fuel to dump velocity at Earth — you can use the atmosphere to brake with. And you would probably also be using fuel generated on the Moon (aluminum and oxygen, both in massive supply on the Moon, make a good monopropellant), so even it wouldn't have to be imported.

I didn't do the math on the return trip, but let's approximate it to half the trip out. So the round-trip is clocking in at about $45,000 (not including a total of 14 days' stay in the space hotel).

What does it cost to stay on the Moon?

You have to eat. You can eat Gunk if you want — that's a product created right in Artemis out of algae. It's nutritionally balanced and grown locally, so it's nice and cheap. But if you want real food, you'll have to eat imports. A typical person will eat 500 to 1000 grams of food per day (not including the water weight). We've established that lunar freight costs about $166/kg. So you'll spend $80 to $160 every day just to eat. Not bad for an extravagant vacation.

Total cost

Accommodation and meal prices would be comparable to high-end hotels and restaurants on Earth. Say $160/day for food and $500/day for a hotel. Of course you'll want to do stuff while you're there, which will cost more money. So call it $800/day.

However long you want to stay on the moon, add 14 days (for the space hotel that takes you there and back) and multiply by $800. That's your expenses on the trip itself. So let's say you want a two-week stay. That's a total of 28 days of expenses at $800, so $22,400. Round that up to $25,000 because vacations always cost more than you expect. That plus the $45,000 travel costs totals $70,000.

So I ask again: Would you pay $70,000 for a lunar vacation?

Copyright 2017 by Andy Weir.

SEE ALSO: 'The Martian' author Andy Weir is convinced we'll colonize the moon — but says colonizing Mars doesn't make any sense

DON'T MISS: Here's the full presentation Elon Musk gave about colonizing Mars

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This company wants to mine the Moon using robots — and they could be doing it within three years

#Tech Insider #Arab #Entrepreneurship #sillicon alley insider

[tortuga-aak]

'The Martian' author Andy Weir solved moon economics to make his new book 'Artemis' believable

Samantha Lee/Business Insider

"The Martian" author Andy Weir has a new novel about a heist on the moon called "Artemis".

The book, which goes on sale Tuesday, strives for a high level of scientific and economic realism to make its story believable.

The author used real-world economics to create a reason his fictional moon colony might exist.

According to Weir's calculations, in a few decades it may cost $70,000 for a two-week vacation to the moon.

Editor's note: "Artemis" is the second sci-fi novel written by Andy Weir, author of the blockbuster sci-fi novel "The Martian." The new book goes on sale Tuesday. Just as Weir accomplished with "The Martian", he strived for a high level of scientific realism with "Artemis".

But his new story is not a tale of survival like the first.

Instead, "Artemis" is a fictional heist story that takes place at the moon's first city (also called Artemis). Weir wanted to make the plot as believable as possible, so he became an "armchair economist" and drafted an in-depth financial argument for his lunar colony based on real-world market forces.

When Weir offered us a 3,000-word (and spoiler-free) treatise laying out the economics behind his fictional moon city, we couldn't resist. Here's why he thinks lunar vacations just might make the first permanent lunar colony a reality.

Introduction

Crown PublishingAre you a pedantic little s---? Do you ask questions like "Why does the Federation have starships if they can beam people hundreds of light-years?" or "Why don't the Galactic Empire and Rebel Alliance just mass-produce droids with piloting skills instead of risking their own lives?"

Well, good. So am I.

"Artemis" takes place in a city on the Moon. Lunar colonies in sci-fi usually have medium to high levels of bulls--- in their economics. Yeah, I know, nobody reads sci-fi for an economics lesson. But I want it to at least make sense.

So this paper is all about Artemis's economy and how it works. There are no spoilers for the story, so you can freely read it beforehand if you're the sort of person who likes bonus material so much you'll read it before you read the actual story.

Why isn't this in the book?

Because it's boring. Hell, if we learned anything from "The Phantom Menace" it's this: never start a sci-fi story with a description of complex macroeconomics.

You might not even make it through this paper. That's okay, it's not supposed to be entertaining. If you get bored, stop reading. This paper is for the one percenters — the folks who have nagging doubts in their suspension of belief because something sticks in their craw. I'm one of those people, and for me the economics has to make sense for a setting to work.

Price point

NASA/James Blair and Lauren HarnettIf you could have a lunar vacation for $70,000, would you do it? Many people would jump at the chance. They'd get a second mortgage just to pay for it. This, in a nutshell, is the economic foundation of Artemis. It's all about tourism, and it's based on the presumption that the price for that tourism can be driven down to the point that ordinary people can afford it.

The pricey part of anything space-related is getting it to space in the first place. It's incredibly expensive to put mass into LEO (Low Earth Orbit). And if you want to put something on the moon, you have to get a whole ship into LEO that can then travel to the moon. If that impediment were removed, or greatly reduced, we'd have a thriving space tourism industry.

My belief is that we are already on track to a commercial space industry that will do just that.

Money? What money?

I did the research for this in 2015, so all the monetary references in this paper refer to prices and values in 2015 US dollars.

Current cost to LEO

NASA

Before I talk about predictions, let's talk about reality. How much does it cost to put mass into LEO right now?

First off, I start with the assumption that this has to be an actual profitable system. Not something that only exists on government support or subsidy. So I'm disregarding launch systems that are government-run. They have no profit motive, so even if they charge for freight to LEO and even if that charge is low, those are not real economic values. The system would not scale or sustain itself.

The cheapest way to get mass to LEO (at the time of this writing) is with a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster. They charge $61.2 million for the launch, and it can put 13,150kg of mass into LEO. So right now, that means it costs $4,653 per kilogram.

Now you have some context for comparing the real world to the imagined one I'm about to show you.

My bulls--- assumption

REUTERS/Andy Clark

I have absolutely nothing to back this up but instinct. But here it is, the core assumption I have made that enables the world of "Artemis."

Assumption: The commercial space industry, through competition and engineering advances, will settle down to the same fuel-to-overhead ratio as the modern airline industry.

Okay, so what do I mean by that? How did airlines get into this?

The airline industry is a good parallel for the space industry. Both involve transporting people and freight. Both require extremely expensive, complex vehicles with maintenance overhead. Both consume fuel.

So I have assumed, right or wrong, that a fully profitable commercial space industry would eventually become very much like the commercial airline industry. So let's look at the airline industry for some clues as to what things cost.

Fuel overhead ratio

Airlines need staff to fly and maintain their aircraft. They need to pay applicable taxes and gate fees. They need to buy new planes, repair worn-out parts, manage their company pension plan, and everything else a service industry has to do. But by far, the largest chunk of their non-payroll operating budget goes to fuel. That's what costs the most for any given flight.

So the question is this: What percentage of an airline's total revenues ultimately goes toward buying fuel? That's what we're going to work out first.

I have no special understanding of the airline industry. I just went online and did my own research. I looked at ticket prices, noted the price of jet fuel, etc. This could be wildly flawed, but it's a good place to start.

First off, I had to choose an aircraft to work with. I selected the Boeing 777-300ER. It's one of the most popular aircraft in the world, servicing long-haul flights be all the major airlines. It's fuel efficient, effective, and has a stellar safety record.

Here are some stats for the 777-300ER:

Samantha Lee/Business Insider

The next thing I did was look as some long-haul flights around the world. I wanted to get an even spread of information, so I looked at three different routes, of differing lengths, flown by three different airlines. A more comprehensive study would have to include dozens or maybe hundreds, but I just did three — I'm just trying to make a foundation for a story, not get investor money.

So, to that end, I looked at a United Airlines flight from New York to London, an Air France from Paris to Tokyo, and a Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Sydney. Each of these flights are on 777-300ER aircraft, and their ticket prices are all for the same day in late 2015. Note: the United flight prices are rough averages based on samples of different rates – their web page at the time was cagey on actual ticket prices.

Here's what I learned:

Samantha Lee/Business Insider

For each flight, I noted the price of each class of ticket, then worked out the take — the total amount of money the airline gets if every seat on the plane is sold at its listed cost. The fuel consumed is based on the flight duration and the fuel consumption rate of the aircraft. The cost of that fuel is based on the market price of jet fuel on the day I looked up those tickets, which was $0.475/kg. (Actually, the price was 38 cents per liter, but I wanted price per kg and jet fuel has a density of 0.8kg/L).

I was surprised to see that they all has such similar fuel overhead ratios. It makes me feel like my crackpot theory might actually work out.

Yeah, I don't have enough data, but screw it. I'm going to use the value 16.5%, which is roughly the average of those three. So for the rest of this paper I'll assume a commercial airline spends 16.5% of its take on fuel.

A commercial spacecraft

SpaceX/Flickr (public domain)

Okay, great. I have a rough idea of fuel overhead. So what? What the hell would an efficient commercial spacecraft be like? What would it weigh? How many people could it carry? What would it use for fuel and how much would that fuel cost?

I don't have answers to any of that, of course. So I'll just pull a couple more assumptions right out of my ass.

Assumption: A passenger spacecraft would weigh the same as a passenger aircraft capable of carrying the same number of people.

Okay, yeah. That's a big assumption. But, to be clear, I'm talking about dry weight (not including fuel). And aircraft are pretty similar to spacecraft in a lot of ways. They're pressure vessels, they have life support systems to keep everyone on board alive, they have big heavy engines, pilots, etc. So that's what I'm going with.

And for my comparison I'll use, of course, the Boeing 777-300ER. Same as before. I'm also assuming this is a trip to a transfer ship or space station. So the spacecraft itself doesn't have to serve as home to the passengers. All it does is get them to orbit. This means there's really no need for first class at all. The 12-minute trip to orbit does not require high-end seating for anyone. So instead of its normal configuration, I'm going with the high-density version that can seat 550 people.

And now on to the final bit of guesswork.

Assumption: The commercial space industry will use hydrogen-oxygen fuel

The thing that matters most about rocket fuel is a property called "specific impulse." I don't want to bore you with physics (I'm here to bore you with economics) so I'll just say this: specific impulse is a measure of how efficient a rocket fuel is. The higher a fuel's specific impulse, the less of it you need to get a ship moving a given velocity. And hydrogen-oxygen fuel has the best specific impulse known. Also, it creates water as its exhaust, so there are no pollutants. And finally, it's cheap to produce.

Right now, there are engineering limitations to using hydrogen-oxygen fuel. The main one being that it burns very hot — hotter than any engine can handle. But again, I'm assuming all these challenges get researched and solved by a profit-hungry industry.

The final piece of the puzzle is the cost of hydrogen and oxygen. This was a little harder to find. I was able to find reliable data on the 2002 price of bulk hydrogen, so I adjusted the 2002 dollars into 2015 dollars and got $0.93/kg. As for oxygen, I used the publicly available data on what NASA pays for it — $0.16/kg in 2015 dollars. The reaction requires one part hydrogen and eight parts oxygen (by mass), so the total fuel cost is $0.245/kg.

That's the last bit of information we needed to calculate the…

Price of getting a person into space

NASA

Okay, we have a ship that weighs 165,500kg and we're going to put 550 passengers on it. We'll give them 100kg each for their bodies and luggage. That's a total mass of 215,500kg.

The specific impulse of hydrogen-oxygen fuel is 389s (yes, the unit for measuring specific impulse is "seconds". It makes no intuitive sense, just roll with it). To get to LEO you need to accelerate by 9,800m/s. LEO actually only requires 7,800m/s, but you lose around 2,000m/s during the ascent to air resistance and other inefficiencies.

Again, I'm skipping over the physics (Tsiolkovsky's Rocket Equation, if you're curious) but those numbers mean we'll need 12.04kg of fuel for every 1kg we want to put into LEO. We want to put 215,000kg into LEO, so we need 2,594,620kg of fuel.

At our calculated fuel cost ($0.245/kg) that means the total fuel cost for the launch is $637,200.

Now I get to use my airline fuel overhead figure. Airlines have 16.5% fuel overhead ratio and we're going to assume the space industry will as well. So $637,109 is 16.5% of our total ticket take. And that means our total take is $3,861,266.

Our ship carries 550 passengers, meaning each passenger will have to pay

$7,020.48

Sorry to put that in dramatic bold print with a box around it, but I thought it was exciting. Would you pay seven thousand bucks to go to low Earth orbit? Millions of people would say "yes".

What about freight?

I looked around at the prices for air freight and found that, on average, you can air mail 200kg of cargo for about the price it would take to send a person. This means people cost twice as much to ship as cargo. That makes sense — cargo doesn't need seats, air pressure, bathrooms, or complimentary peanuts. For space travel, the cargo ships also wouldn't need anywhere near as much safety. If a shipment of frozen food blows up on launch, replacing the cargo is trivial.

So I followed the aviation industry's general pattern and decided that freight to LEO would end up costing about half as much as a human. Or, more importantly, would cost $7,020.48 per 200kg. So that means you can get mass to LEO for

$35.10 per kg!

Again, I apologize for the drama, but holy s---! That's a hell of a lot less than the $4,653/kg it costs today.

Are such advances reasonable? Well, "Artemis" takes place in the 2080s, which is over 60 years from the time of this writing. Consider the advancements in the aviation industry from its beginnings in the 1930s to the 1990s. Yes, it's possible. When enough money is up for grabs, anything's possible.

What about getting from LEO to the Moon?

NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center

Okay, so we have people and cargo in LEO. So what? We want them on the Moon. Well, here's where things bifurcate.

To get people to the Moon, they would make lunar cyclers. These are space hotels in a ballistic orbit (meaning: it doesn't require fuel to maintain) that regularly visits Earth and the Moon. It would take 7 days to get to the Moon with this system. You still have to accelerate the people to catch up with the space hotel, but at least you don't have to accelerate the hotel itself over and over. So the fuel cost is minimized.

It's hard to say how much that would cost. But with a $35.10/kg cost to LEO, the mass of the hotel wouldn't be too much of a financial burden for whatever company built it. I admit I didn't work out the economics of the space hotel or what it would cost for your stay. But considering how cheap the cost of freight to LEO is, I'm sure it would be small compared to the rest of the trip. On the order of an actual hotel stay (and a hell of a lot more awesome).

But you still have to accelerate people up to the cycler and then decelerate them to land on the Moon.

According to my research, it takes a total of 5,930m/s of delta-v to get from LEO to the surface of the Moon. More physics and math happens here, but it means that for every kilogram of cargo you want to put on the lunar surface, you have to put 4.73kg of mass into LEO. 1kg of actual cargo, and 3.73kg of fuel to get that cargo to the Moon.

So what's it cost to put freight on the Moon? Well, it would cost 4.73 times what it would cost to put the cargo in LEO. So, while it costs $35.10 to put a kilogram into LEO, it would cost $166.02 to put it on the surface of the Moon.

So what's it cost to go to the moon!?

SpaceX/YouTube

You have to get your body to LEO ($7020), and then soft-landed on the moon. So you end up needing the same overhead – 4.73 times the LEO cost.

$33,206.87

Yeah, I did the box/bold thing again. Call the cops, I don't care. People would be very willing to pay $33,000 for a trip to the Moon.

What about the trip back? Well, it's much cheaper, because you're leaving the Moon's gravity, not Earth's. Plus, you don't have to use rocket fuel to dump velocity at Earth — you can use the atmosphere to brake with. And you would probably also be using fuel generated on the Moon (aluminum and oxygen, both in massive supply on the Moon, make a good monopropellant), so even it wouldn't have to be imported.

I didn't do the math on the return trip, but let's approximate it to half the trip out. So the round-trip is clocking in at about $45,000 (not including a total of 14 days' stay in the space hotel).

What does it cost to stay on the Moon?

Copyright of Andy Weir, "Artemis"/Crown Publishing

You have to eat. You can eat Gunk if you want — that's a product created right in Artemis out of algae. It's nutritionally balanced and grown locally, so it's nice and cheap. But if you want real food, you'll have to eat imports. A typical person will eat 500 to 1000 grams of food per day (not including the water weight). We've established that lunar freight costs about $166/kg. So you'll spend $80 to $160 every day just to eat. Not bad for an extravagant vacation.

Total cost

Accommodation and meal prices would be comparable to high-end hotels and restaurants on Earth. Say $160/day for food and $500/day for a hotel. Of course you'll want to do stuff while you're there, which will cost more money. So call it $800/day.

However long you want to stay on the moon, add 14 days (for the space hotel that takes you there and back) and multiply by $800. That's your expenses on the trip itself. So let's say you want a two-week stay. That's a total of 28 days of expenses at $800, so $22,400. Round that up to $25,000 because vacations always cost more than you expect. That plus the $45,000 travel costs totals $70,000.

So I ask again: Would you pay $70,000 for a lunar vacation?

Copyright 2017 by Andy Weir.

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