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artificialqueens · 3 years

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Galactica, Chapter 69 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). And Dartmouth420…this one’s for you! 💫

Previously: Courtney was having a rough week at work, but didn’t care about any of it when Bianca uttered three magic words, and Violet’s design was chosen as the spring runway finale look.

This Chapter: A wardrobe fitting for the spring runway collection ends in a workplace rendez-vous, Violet plans to work extra hard over the holidays, and Courtney accepts a welcome invitation.

***

Raven turned in the mirror, unsure if she should put her hair up or keep it down, the hustle and bustle of all the people required to run a fitting behind her.

She was wearing the closing gown, or what would become it with time; what she had been put in for now only a muslin skirt base and a top with loose stitched sleeves.

It was normal for couture to not be finished when it was tried on for the first time, the fitting today there to make sure that Fame liked the silhouette in motion and that Raven fit in the garment since she was the closing model, but she had to admit she was curious to see Violet’s actual work and the intricate details of it that Raja had mentioned in passing.

“Hey princess.”

Raven looked in the mirror, watching as Raja walked up to her, her fiancée leaving that morning before she was even awake, a mug in the sink and the smell of coffee the only traces of her. She was wearing a blue suit with a yellow shirt, the pants cinched in at her waist, her long hair in a thick half updo.

They had been together for years, but sometimes, Raven could still get butterflies when Raja looked at her just right, few things as powerful or sexy as Raja’s confidence and how she carried herself.

“Hey,” Raven smiled, turning her head so Raja could give her a quick peck, her arms sneaking around her waist. “Hair up or down?”

“Hmm,” Raja ran a hand through Raven’s hair, pulling it to one side before resting her head on her shoulder, her gray eyes focusing in on her. “Down. Even though you do look gorgeous enough to get away with whatever you want.”

Raven smirked, a pleasant sense of pride washing over her since she had been extra careful with her makeup. Normally, Raven didn’t do first fittings, but she wasn’t going to miss out on having Raja’s undivided attention, standing completely still for an hour a price worth paying.

“My beautiful girl.” Raja kissed Raven’s neck, pulling her even closer, and that was when Raven felt it, her eyes widening in the mirror.

“Raj,” Raven hissed, keeping her voice as a whisper, “are you?”

“Mmh,” Raja nodded, a grin on her face as she gave a small thrust of her hips, a strap clearly against her thigh. “A little surprise.”

Raven bit her lip, barely hiding a whimper at how insanely hot this was, the surprise in no way shape or form little. She loved it when Raja was packing, loved it when she knew there was a chance that she could get thrown against a wall at any minute and fucked hard and fast. “Oh god.”

“I’ll see you in my office once we’re done,” Raja smirked. “Right?”

This time, Raven did whimper as she nodded. She had no idea how she’d play it cool for the actual fitting, how she’d deal with the sight of Raja leaned back in a chair, taking her notes and sharing her inputs, knowing that she had a strap ready to go.

***

“Let me see the side.”

Gigi was just about to open her mouth to reply with a yes, when she felt a stranger touch her hips, turning her, and she remembered that Sutan had told her that fittings wasn’t a talking job.

She was standing in the middle of what had to be a tailoring floor. There were the professional grade sewing machines she recognised from her mothers workshop on desks all around her, the desks piled high with fabrics and surrounded by half-dressed mannequins. Gigi tried her best not to bounce in excitement at being so close to the process, but it was impossible not to.

“Do we still like the fabric?”

Bimini had told Gigi to remember that it was rude to stare at the people doing their job before she had left that morning, but it was hard not to sneak a glance out of the corner of her eye.

She had never met Miss Fame, but she had seen her in her mom's fashion magazines, the blonde sitting at a table against the window, her legs crossed, the red Louboutin sole the only part of her outfit that wasn’t white or gold.

“You’d rather we don’t go with the angora?” A bald man took a step forward, a gigantic pink clipboard in his hand. “I’m afraid merino might be too hot for the summer.”

Gigi was wearing a delicate crop top with short sleeves, the wool on it soft and extremely fluffy.

“Actually-” She opened her mouth, almost taking a step forward. “I think-“

She wanted to give her feedback, her top already hot to wear in December, and if it was for a summer collection, that seemed like important information, but she was cut off by a finger being held up, Sutan’s sister shooting her a look that told her to zip it without a single word.

Gigi hadn’t even known that Sutan had a twin sister until she had walked in for the fitting, the two of them strikingly similar even though they were different genders, their nose, eyes and height practically the same.

Raja gave her a small smile when Gigi nodded, her eyes lingering on her for a moment to make sure that she was actually silent, before she redirected her attention to Miss Fame, the discussion of wool blends still going on like Gigi and the other staff weren’t even there.

***

Raja sat at her computer, going through some model portfolios. Now that they’d chosen the models for the opening and closing looks, she could start to fill out the rest of the show. Some of the girls they’d had in the fitting today would be great, but some desperately needed to be replaced.

Model selection wasn’t what Fame cared about most, though that could simply be because Raja was so good at it, but it was important to have cohesion amongst the models, to tell a story with the girls you picked out.

She could hear Raven before she saw her, the firm footsteps of a woman who’d stomped many runways calling out. She smiled to herself, knowing that after their little flirtation this morning, and then the long wait after she and Fame had left the fitting, that her fiancée would be in quite a state.

Raven entered the office, quickly slamming the door and locking it. Raja barely looked up, pretended to be concentrating hard on her computer.

This was all part of their game; in some ways, it was Raja’s favorite part.

A slight huff of annoyance that Raja knew was exaggerated for effect left Raven’s lips as she strode forward, finally planting herself down directly in front of Raja, preventing her from seeing her computer.

She looked fucking fantastic, and Raja leaned back in her desk chair, watching Raven slowly shed her clothes until she was naked, wearing nothing but underwear, diamond jewelry and a pair of heels, legs spread open invitingly, a wet patch already forming.

Raja rolled her chair forward, letting Raven drape one leg over the arm. She pressed a line of kisses up Raven’s delicious thigh, feeling her gasp as she moved her panties aside, breath ghosting over her clit.

One of the things Raja loved the most about Raven was her absolute inability to hold back--whether that was bluntly stating her opinions, making her feelings well known with just a look, or immediately trembling and whimpering the second she was the slightest bit turned on.

“Princess…” Raja whispered, hands sliding around her waist as she rose up out of the chair. “Do you want me to fuck you now?”

“Yes, yes,” Raven begged, reaching out to claw open Raja’s pants and shove down the panties that had been holding her dildo in place, letting it spring free.

“Turn around,” she ordered, right in Raven’s ear, and after a slight shiver, Raven obeyed, leaning over the desk with her ass on glorious display.

Raja slid her hands up that smooth, tanned skin, letting her strap slip between Raven’s legs to tease at her. She was already quivering and wet, reaching down to toy with her clit.

“Not yet, princess…” Raja laced her fingers into Raven’s and pulled her hand away, lips pressed to her neck. She was met with an impatient whine, and only chuckled, sliding both hands up to pinch her nipples.

“Oh god,” Raven moaned, throwing her head back, legs widening.

“Are you sure you’re ready, my love?”

“Yes, fucking yes,” Raven whined. Ready was quite an understatement--she was dripping wet and clawing at the surface of Raja’s desk. Her hips pushed back against Raja as she slowly, slowly slid the dildo inside her.

Raja gently cupped her tits, thumbs rubbing her nipples in circles.

“Do you want to touch yourself, princess?” Raja murmured in her ear, and was met with only a whimper of affirmation, Raven arching her back and rolling her hips, desperately trying to get the friction she wanted. “Go ahead…”

Raven’s hand immediately went to her clit once again, rubbing in furious circles as Raja began to thrust into her. She started out slow, but was soon fucking her relentlessly against the desk, the moans dripping from Raven’s lips the most beautiful music. She didn’t stop when Raven came the first time, sure she could wring a few more orgasms from her, pounding against her ass until she was lying face down on the desk with her head on her arms, body limp with exhaustion.

Raja pulled out slowly and carefully, pressing kisses to her shoulders and neck before sliding her panties back up her legs and giving her a firm pat on the ass.

“Very.”

***

“So. What’s the verdict?”

“On Symone? She’s practically perfect brother dear,”

“Raj-“

“Relax, I’m teasing you. Gigi’s…young.”

“Models tend to be, but we both know that’s not what I asked. Now come on. I’m a big boy, I can handle it.”

“She’s beautiful, eager, exiatable, and not at all ready.”

“Not at all?”

“She almost talked during the fitting. Several times, and I’m pretty sure I saw her chew gum.”

“I had a feeling.”

“You always have feelings. So?”

“She’s good, she has potential, but listening isn’t exactly her forte-”

“You should always throw her at Michael Kors.”

“What great advice.”

“Fine. Marc Jacobs then. No one says she has to be an exclusive for her first season.”

“I can live with that as long as you don’t suggest student shows. I’m too old to manage a student show model.”

“Getting too comfortable TanTan?”

“Getting tired. You know, other people take broken-in models. Models who know what they’re doing. I don’t know why I keep doing this. ”

“Because you love it, and because you’re the best.”

***

“Kat-Kat!” Pearl exclaimed, setting her bags on the kitchen table. “You’re still up!”

“Hi Pearlie,” Katya said, smiling over her cup of tea. “Whatcha got there?”

“I’m so glad you asked, madame,” Pearl said with a grin.

Just a week ago, Katya had looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders--sad and withdrawn, her vibrant personality dulled by fear and anxiety. Now, it was a whole different story.

She still clearly had concerns about the whole baby thing (which Pearl tried to understand, but she found it hard. After all, who on earth would be a better mother than Katya??), but it was a difference of night and day, and Pearl was relieved to see her back to herself.

Pearl had been out after work...skulking around the strip club again like a loser--Dahlia hadn’t even been working, as far as Pearl could tell while she waited, draining 3 gin and tonics, overtipping the girls that were actually there since she already had the cash.

When she had left, she’d walked by a Whole Foods right before closing, essentially emptying out the woman's health aisle.

She pulled the items out one by one for Katya to see.

“So, I was talking to Alyssa at work, and you know she’s had three kids, so she gave me a list of things to get for you. We’ve got multivitamins, folate, iron, vitamin D…” Pearl grinned as she twisted one of the bottles around. “All in all just a bunch of stuff to keep you and Killer healthy.”

“Awww, thank you baby!” Katya had jumped up, and now pressed a sloppy kiss to Pearl’s cheek. “You’re the best.”

“No, you’re the best, and Killer’s the luckiest baby in the whole world.”

“Wow, so glad that nickname is sticking,” Trixie said drily, walking into the kitchen, but Katya was laughing, so he couldn’t be too annoyed.

“Hey Trix.” Pearl grinned at him before opening one of the cabinets and helping Katya load up all the new vitamins and supplements. “Actually, I’m glad you’re both here, because uh…”

Pearl scratched her head, unsure of exactly how to approach the situation.

“So...listen, I know it’s not like, super urgent, but I assume that once Killer gets here, you’re gonna want to use my bedroom for them.”

“Oh,” Katya’s eyes widened. It seemed like something she hadn’t considered.

“So, you know, if you want me to start looking for another place, I can-”

“No!” Katya exclaimed, putting a hand on her arm, adding, “I don’t want you to go.”

“Yeah, I don’t think we have to worry about it yet,” Trixie said. “We’re not about to kick out our oldest just because you’re getting a little brother.”

Pearl and Katya both laughed, Katya moving a hand to her belly and asking, “You think it’s a boy?”

“Oh uh...I dunno, maybe,” Trixie grinned. “Either way, they better like pink.”

***

“So this is the girl you want me to take a look at?” Sutan put down their drinks, taking the portfolio Karl handed him, the two of them only just sitting down in a booth in the corner of one of their favorite bars.

“Mmh,” Karl hummed, a glint in his eyes as he grabbed his drink with a little umbrella. “She’s been asking and asking about doing America full time, and I think you’d be a good fit for her.”

“You think I’m a good fit for everyone.” Sutan smiled, flicking through the portfolio. They didn’t actually have to talk business, this entire exchange just as easily done in an email, but it was a long-standing tradition of theirs to make Elite pick up the tab, even though they could more than afford their drinks on their own.

“And she did British Vogue?”

“Cover and all,” Karl smirked, Sutan stopping on the printout of the pictures.

“There’s great skin, interesting eyes, good hair. All natural?”

“Not a single extension.”

“Hmm… I mean, she’s pretty, ” Sutan turned to another page, taking a sip of his whiskey.

“And?”

“She’s very pretty.”

“Ah,” Karl sighed, rolling his eyes. “And there he is, Amrull the asshole.”

“Ha,” Sutan snorted. “I resent that. All I’m saying is that I’m not sure if I have space, and I just signed Symone.”

“You can have more than one black girl in your stable.”

“Please,” Sutan raised an eyebrow, refusing to take the jab. It wasn’t something he bragged about, but he had always represented girls of color, had pushed to get them jobs and opportunities long before any of his fellow agents had picked up on fashion being more than boring blonde European girls and the occasional diversity hire. “You know it’s not that, I’m simply questioning her potential.”

“You liked Bimini.” Karl smirked, stirring his drink.

“You’re never going to let me forget that, huh?”

It was true that Karl was the one who had scouted Bimini, that he was the one who had picked her out of the crowd at a concert he had gone to in London, but Sutan was the one who had nurtured her, who had taught her and who had defended her from Elite when she had shaved her eyebrows off.

“No,” Karl grinned, raising his drink to say cheers, Sutan clicking their glass together.

“I’ll meet her,” Sutan took the portfolio, sliding it into his messenger bag, “but don’t expect anything.”

***

“Knock knock…” Roxy said, poking her head in the doorway of Miss Fame’s office suite, where Courtney was sitting with her head in her arms. “You alright?”

“Yeah!” Courtney jumped slightly, sitting up straight and forcing a smile. “Sorry, I was just having a moment.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me, girl,” Roxy said, waving her hand, the other one holding her mug of coffee. She perched on the edge of Courtney’s desk. She’d been dying to talk to her more all week, and get some juicy details about her relationship now that it was public, but they’d both been insanely busy. Today though, Roxy had spent the morning training the temp who was covering her desk a few days next week, and the girl was quick enough that she felt secure leaving her alone for a while.

Unfortunately, Courtney didn’t look like she was in the mood for spilling any dirt. Her desk was littered with multiple projects, and she just generally looked like she was both miserable and under water.

“Rough day, huh?” Roxy prompted, hoping to get her to talk.

“Yeah,” Courtney admitted, sighing. “Rough week. And if Miss Fame doesn’t approve this holiday card list, I’m fucked.”

“I’m sorry.” Roxy tilted her head, wondering how to approach her real agenda tactfully before blurting out, “So how are things with Bianca?”

It was like Courtney’s entire mood instantly lifted, the mere mention of Bianca making her face soften into a smile, eyes shining.

“Can’t complain there,” she said, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “Actually…” Courtney glanced around, lowering her voice to say, “Maybe you can help me with a little non-work-related project, if you’ve got a few minutes?”

“You’ve got my attention!”

***

COURTNEY: I have a confession…

COURTNEY: I stole something from your apt.

BIANCA: Lol, what?

Bianca flipped her phone over quickly, hoping that no one else in the editorial meeting had glimpsed the picture of Courtney on her phone, clad in nothing but Loubs and a pair of her own lacy red panties. There were more pictures, and Bianca was dying to see them, but she’d have to get through the rest of the fucking meeting before fully enjoying them in the privacy of her office.

“...so I think that it would be beneficial if we included more-”

“Yes, yes, approved,” Bianca said, cutting Dan off with a wave of her hand. “Anyone have anything else to add, or can we move on?”

“Somewhere to be, boss?” Nina asked silkily, a knowing smile on her face that told Bianca there was a chance she’d seen her phone.

“I’m sorry, did you want to spend another hour talking about mint green?” Bianca asked, trying to cover her impatience.

“No, I’m all good.” Nina smiled again.

“Great.”

***

“Once again, thank you so so much.”

“Whatever you need, Chachki!”

Violet smiled, making her way to the elevator, her new security card safely tucked away in her pocket. She had just finished a visit with the building's security, the guys who ran it all much more pleased to see her again then she had dared imagine.

Her visit hadn’t been strictly necessary, her designer clearance more than enough to get to and from the design floor in her everyday work life, but she had wanted to make sure that she had access to Galactica over the holidays, the security team instantly unlocking the backdoors and service points for her when she had asked.

Violet knew she wasn’t working in Fame’s office anymore, and knew that she was allowed to go on vacation, but she still felt bad about leaving in January, even though the majority of the new collection work was out of the designers’ hands.

She hadn’t checked in with Sutan about whether or not he’d be working between Christmas and New Years, but if she knew him at all, he would, though the parties Sutan often called work with a smile on his lips didn’t really live up to Violet’s definition of the word.

If she was honest, she was kind of excited for some peace and quiet, to have the floor entirely to herself, the extra time hopefully enough to catch her up to the standards of the company motto.

“Remember,” Violet whispered. “Only perfection is acceptable.”

***

“Hey angel, you on the way?” Bianca asked, after answering on the first ring.

“Hi,” Courtney said. In spite of the stress she was under, and her regret at skipping the romantic dinner she knew that Bianca had planned, a smile pulled at her lips at the sound of her voice. “And no, I’m sorry, I can't make it tonight. I’m gonna be here super late.”

“You’re not really sending me those naughty pictures and then cancelling, are you?” Bianca asked, voice low and husky.

“I’m sorry, I wish I could, you have no idea how much,” Courtney said. And it was true--too true. Thinking about seeing Bianca had been the only thing getting her through the day, but there was just no way to leave now. If she thought about it too hard, Courtney knew she’d start crying, so she was trying to simply suck it up and be an adult, no matter how much she wanted to run. “But I have so much to do. Miss Fame just approved the holiday card list and if I don’t get them in the mail before tomorrow morning’s pickup, I’m gonna-”

“Bring it here. You can work, I’ll order some dinner...and then we can do all the unspeakable things that I’ve been planning ever since you sent me those pictures.”

Courtney could feel her cheeks heating up. The pull to say yes was strong, but she was still uncertain. “But what if I have to re-print some labels? I’m just-”

“I have a printer, sunshine.”

Courtney bit her lip. It had been a rough week; Miss Fame was in a worse mood than normal, and her to do list never seemed to get shorter no matter how hard she worked or how late she stayed. And on top of everything, the weather had been absolute shit, so another freezing night in her damp, drafty apartment sounded like hell. She knew for sure that being in Bianca’s arms would instantly make everything better.

“Okay. Okay, yes, I’m coming,” she said. “I just need to get everything together here and then I’ll head over.”

“Perfect.” Bianca said, and Courtney could hear the satisfied smile in her voice, imagine her dimples deepening. “I’ll see you soon, baby. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Courtney said, stomach still flipping with excitement every time she said the words.

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letsgofoletsgo · 3 years

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Nightlife of Scilica

“Okay, got it. Thanks love, bye.”

“So, what did she say?”

“Belle says she and Masa will meet us at 6:00.” Morgan said as she slid her phone into her pocket.

“Alright, that leaves us a couple hours.” Lamar stated.

“So what do you guys want to do in the meantime?” Sofia asked.

“Well, I guess we could wander around and see what we can find.” He suggested.

“Wait a sec… Isn’t Anime Reach just around the corner?” Morgan realized.

“Anime Reach? Wasn’t that that one store you guys accidentally shoplifted from?” Sofia said.

“I thought we weren’t gonna speak of that again!” Lamar retorted.

“Hey, no one got arrested, so no shade from me.” Sofia teased.

“That being said, you haven’t been there before, have you Sof?” Morgan said.

“Nope, can’t say I have.”

“In that case, you and I have a duty toward our friend here Lamar.” Morgan said confidently

“Oh yeah! As proud Otakus, we’ll guide you through one of the most prestigious anime merch stores in all of Silica!” Lamar boasted. “Er, if that’s cool with you.” “Sounds good to me!” Sofia smiled.

“Then onward we go MD-5!” Morgan exclaimed.

The three proceeded through the bustling streets of Silica City. The multitude of neon signs mounted around the buildings illuminated the city in a brilliant shower of light, sparking a sense of wonder and excitement of of the nightlife scene. Indistinct chatter coming from the crowds that populated the sidewalks perpetuated the buzzing atmosphere of the night; The signature vibe of the city that MD-5 felt truly at home in.

“We should be coming up to it now.” Lamar noted.

“Yo, look! There’s that one gaming equipment store we looked in.” Morgan pointed to a neighboring store that looked worse for wear, complete with being decked out with glaring yellow and white neon signs that appeared to be on their last legs.

“Oh yeah, Nyla Co., was it? Let me tell you, all it took was one look for us to decide to high tail it out of there- leave their shoddy products for the next poor fool to stumble upon.” He commented.

“Huh. Don’t need to tell me twice,” Sofia said as she eyed the place dubiously.

“Forget Nyla- I can see Anime Reach from here!” Morgan said.

“Let’s get a move on then!” Lamar said.

The trio made their way across the street, and they approached a large store with anime merchandise posters plastered all over the large glass windows. As they came closer, Sofia’s eyes lit up in wonder.

“Woah… I had no idea it was so big!” She marveled.

“Just wait ‘till you see it from the inside! Morgan said excitedly.

The sliding doors in front of them parted, and the entered the building. Before them was a sprawling otaku paradise; for seemingly miles the shelves were stocked with figurines, posters, cardboard cutouts, art books, disc and manga sets, anything a lover of anime could want.

“Wow, I can see why you like it here so much.” Sofia remarked as she took it all in.

“Indeed, welcome to our little slice of heaven my friend.” Lamar beamed.

“Lamar’s been here more times than I’ll have, so I’ll give him the main honors of showing you around.” Morgan noted.

“An honor it shall be! If you ladies would follow me, I’ve got the best bits of the store practically memorized.”

“I would expect nothing less.” She giggled.

Lamar led the two down the main isle, where several groups of fellow otakus were browsing the shelves. He then took a turn a little ways down, where the shelves displayed hordes of figures. The colorful figures all had a unique charm to them, and they were usually grouped with others from the same source material. While most of them were packaged in flashy but efficient boxes, there was a certain section where the figures were out in the open, and seemed to be mismatched between animes.

“Now, I like going into this aisle because you can actually find some good figures here, and they’re usually pretty hard to come by otherwise.” Lamar explained. “But there’s also a section of figures that I think are second-handed, so they go for lower than they normally would.” “Yeah, didn’t you find a decently-made Sastsuki-Chan figure here once?” Morgan asked as they overlooked the displays.

“That I did, little bud. I’m pretty sure I still got it in my room... Somewhere.”

“Hey, isn’t that Nova-Chan in there?” Sofia pointed to a figure in the bunch.

“What? Nova-Chan?? Don’t worry baby! I’ll save you!”

In a rather comical endeavor, Lamar dramatically reached for the figure Sofia identified. He grabbed the blue-haired figure and cradled it gently in his hands.

“What did they do to you, Nova-Chan?”

As Lamar expressed his lament, Sofia and Morgan just looked at each other, not quite knowing what to make at this display of weebness.

“Um… Is uh, is she okay?” Sofia asked after a moment.

“Luckily, yeah, but it ain’t right for a figure that’s so high quality to end up in a pit like that.” He stated.

“Looks like Nova-Chan wasn’t alone at least.” Morgan dug into the pile and pulled out a figure that looked similar to Nova-Chan, but had a different design scheme.

Lamar gasped. “Comet-Chan! Not you too!”

“Don’t worry, she’s a little chipped around the edges but seems alright as well.” Morgan said as she examined it.

“As much as I like this store, I wish they’d treat some of their stuff a little better.” Lamar expressed.

“You know, this actually got me thinking of that one episode near season one’s finale.” Morgan said. “Remember how the Galactica arc started?”

“Oh yeah! The Nova explorers had to fight in Galactica’s tournament to save their galaxy, and she put Comet up against Nova for the first match!” “You see, it was a really big plot point because this was where Comet-Chan’s jealousy towards Nova-Chan started to boil over, and we get to see what their friendship was like before the formation of the Nova Explorers.” Morgan described.

“Then after Nova wins, we get a moment of character development where they re-learn what it means to be apart of the Nova Explorers, and made amends to their friendship.”

“A bit cliche, but I personally think it was well done, and it solidified their friendship for the coming seasons.”

“Well now, you two are certainly well-versed in Nova Explorers lore.” Sofia joked.

“What can we say, we binged watched the first couple seasons last week.” She admitted. “Anyway, Lamar, how about I show Sofia and I look around the rest of the place, while you scour the other end for any rare merch you might have missed?”

“Sounds like a plan, little man.”

The two shared a triumphant fist-bump, then briefly parted ways. Lamar went to searching the shelves in great detail, using his keen eye to detect anything worth noting. Morgan and Sofia went about in a more casual manner, however the former continued on about Nova Explorers lore and how it all connected to the central plot. Sofia didn’t quite understand it all, but eagerly listened nonetheless. It was fun wandering around in the store, it felt like so long since they all just let loose and had a good time. The trio almost felt as though they were kids once again running about the toy store.

It may have been for that reason that they nearly lost track of time; Morgan was dramatically acting out a pivotal moment in one of the latter seasons with a couple of figurines, when she abruptly remembered the schedule they were on.

“Hold on, Sofia!” she said, realization hitting like a brick. “What time is it?”

“Uh- five fifty.” She stated, checking her phone.

“Shit! We need to find Lamar and get going!”

She nodded in agreement, and the two set off to find their Otaku friend. It took a few minutes, but they managed to spot him rummaging deeply in a shelf.

“Lamar! There you are!”

“Huh- Ack!” He cried as he banged his head on the upper shelf as he came out.

“Dude, come on, we’re meeting the others in ten minutes!” Morgan said. “Oh damn, we better get a move on!”

With that, the trio hurried out of the store back onto the streets. After briefly arguing which would be the quickest path to take, MD-5 ended up cutting through a nearby alley way and out onto a major commercial lane. Despite nearly running into several people and maybe a lamppost or two, the friends eventually made it to where they agreed to meet. “Finally! Good thing we got here in time.” Sofia said slightly out of breath, looking intently at Lamar.

“Hey, I was on a good lead towards a limited edition, so sorry if I lost track of time a bit.” Lamar defended. “Besides, we weren’t held up too badly now, were we?”

“I’ll say. Now where-” Morgan was interrupted by a ping from her phone. After reading it over, she looked around for a moment before spotting a couple of familiar faces.

“Guys, there they are!” She exclaimed. “Masa! Belle! Over here!”

The other two members of MD-5 turned to face the rest of their friends.

“Hey there, it’s about time you all showed up.” Masa said.

“Sorry, we spent some time at Anime Reach and got a little distracted.” Morgan smirked at Lamar.

“Look, a fan’s gotta do what a fan’s gotta do, okay?” He said proudly.

“Well, what are we all standing around for? I’m dying for some food over here.” Morgan said.

“Yeah! Besides, we still haven’t covered the Quazar arc from the fourth season of Nova Explorers!” Lamar said.

“Oh boy, here we go again.” Belle said in a half exasperated tone.

“Hey, that’s what you sign up for when your girlfriend and her best friend are anime fans.” Morgan said playfully.

“Regrettably so.” She nudged her a bit before putting an arm around her.

“So as I was saying to Sofia, the Quazar arc really threw the fandom for a loop as it turned one of the main concepts of the series on it’s head-”

And thus she would nerd on, with only one other member of the group intently listening.

#meta runner #selfship #md squad #scorched feathers #scorched feathers AU #ready player two 💞#self shipper #self shipping #s/i #f/o #I swear to god my adhd ass has been sitting on this damn thing for months

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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How Babylon 5 Made Star Trek Better

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

There are a few patient zeroes for proving serialized storytelling on TV viable. Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Battlestar Galactica, and the so-called “golden era” of TV aren’t possible without a few under-the-radar precedents. Different critics will point to different examples, but when it comes to science fiction and fantasy shows, that list gets a lot smaller. Some might say Buffy’s interconnected season-long arcs are the most influential, while Trekkies tend to lean heavily on the innovation and risk-taking of Deep Space Nine’s serialization in later seasons. In fact, one prominent DS9 podcast — The Rules of Acquisition — has effectively argued that DS9 created the foundation for all contemporary TV that followed. And then there’s The X-Files.

All of these examples are valid because, clearly, in the late 1990s, there was a vortex swirling that led to a revitalization of TV conventions that was most noticeable in genre shows. Buffy and DS9 probably deserve equal credit, but in terms of its influence on science fiction, and Star Trek in particular, the series that is (sometimes) overlooked is Babylon 5. By July 1994, Babylon was wrapping up its first season, and the future of science fiction on TV would never be the same…

In retrospect, Babylon 5 made Star Trek better in the 1990s. Like Paul McCartney being inspired by the Beach Boys in the ‘60s, Babylon 5 was the scrappy ‘90s sci-fi underdog that, in a roundabout way, inspired the best of Trek to be better. Here’s why…

Did Deep Space Nine rip-off Babylon 5? (Or vice versa?)

If you were watching sci-fi TV in the ‘90s, you probably had at least an argument about whether or not the two TV shows about people living on a space station were ripping off each other. I had an ill-informed one with my dad in 1995. My dad claimed he thought it was clear that Deep Space Nine (which premiered on January 3rd, 1993) had ripped-off Babylon 5 (which premiered on January 26th, 1994), and I claimed the reverse. Neither of us was right, but it’s easy to see why fans we’re so perplexed at the time. Here’s the list:

Both shows featured a cast of humans living with aliens on a space station, trying to work out various peace deals.

Both had no-nonsense female first officers, Kira on DS9, Ivanova on B5 (though in the B5 pilot episode, “The Gathering,” the first officer was Laurel Takashima, played by Tamlyn Tomita, who very recently turned up on Star Trek: Picard.)

In the first season, both had lead characters who were “Commanders” not “Captains.”

Both of these Commanders (Sisko and Sinclair) were veterans of major battles/wars, and their characters were (initially) defined by this experience.

Both space stations were positioned next to a strategic portal through space; the Wormhole in DS9 and a major JumpGate in B5.

And finally, both shows expected the viewer to have watched some, if not all, of the previous episodes in order to know what was going on. Again, in the ‘90s, this was not common for any TV.

So, what’s the deal? Well, as Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski has gone-on record saying many, many times: “Were Pillar and Berman [DS9 creators] aware of B5 at any time? No. Of that, I am also confident. The only question in my mind is to what degree did the development people steer them?”

Babylon 5 had been in development since 1987, but there’s not really any reason to believe that camp Star Trek was super-interested in ripping off a space station show and using it for its own purposes. So, the theory floated by JMS and others is basically this: Because B5 had been pitched to Paramount before landing with Warner Bros, it’s feasible that Paramount Studio executives encouraged the DS9 team to use various elements from the B5 pitch without telling them about the existence of B5. There’s also one rumor that states that Warner and Paramount were planning on launching a joint network in the early ‘90s, and that from a studio-level point-of-view, at some point in time, Babylon 5 and DS9 WERE THE SAME SHOW, even if the people making the shows were unaware of that. That last one is pretty out-there, and also hasn’t been publicly verified, so, there’s a good bet it might not be accurate.

Bottom line: Today, most consider the similarities between B5 and DS9 to be superficial and mostly coincidental. It’s water under the space bridge, Wormhole or Jumpgate. And yet, there are more concrete connections.

The Babylon 5 + Star Trek connections

In front of the camera, Babylon 5 had a few obvious Star Trek connections. The recurring villain Alfred Bester (named after the famous SF novelist) was played by Walter Koenig, best known to Trekkies as Pavel Chekov. Patricia Tallman, who played telepath Lyta Alexander on B5, was a familiar stunt performer on The Next Generation and DS9 (often doubling for Gates McFadden, Nana Visitor, and Terry Farrell ) and also appeared in notable episodes like “Starship Mine.” On top of that, at the height of the rivalry between B5 and Star Trek, Majel Barret — the first lady of Star Trek and Gene Roddenberry’s widow — guest-starred in the 1996 Babylon 5 episode “Point of No Return.” She played a character named Lady Morella, the widow of the Emperor of the planet Centauri Prime. This cameo was a calculated move on the part of B5 creator JMS and Barret. Basically, the goal here was to send a message to all fandoms: Be cool.

Behind-the-scenes, there were a few more big Star Trek connections. Harlan Ellison was a “Creative Consultant” for Babylon 5 and Trekkies obviously know his mega-famous Trek episode, “City on the Edge of Forever.” And, JMS himself was also a big Trekkie. But we’ll get to that.

How Babylon 5 (maybe) made Trek writing better in the ‘90s

Okay. So, there’s no reason to believe that Deep Space Nine ripped-off Babylon 5 in the ‘90s, but that doesn’t mean Deep Space Nine and Voyager weren’t made better by the existence of some friendly competition. Documentaries like What We Left Behind make it clear that DS9 had its own agenda, separate and apart, from, well, pretty much anything. That said, DS9 didn’t start out as a serialized show. Those big story arcs came later. Babylon 5 on the other hand, did start out serialized, which when you consider that most seasons were 22 episodes long, that’s really saying something. DS9 always had ongoing storylines, but the heavy serialization — the types of back-to-back story arcs that happened during the Dominion War — happened years after the show got off the ground. Did Babylon 5 give the writers’ room of DS9 the confidence to go this route? Most would probably say no. And yet, B5’s serialization was its signature. With DS9, the serialization became its signature eventually.

Adam Nimoy, son of Leonard Nimoy, directed the most pivotal episode of Babylon 5, the 1996 season 3 finale, “Z’ ha’dum.” These days, this kind of thing happens all the time — Jonathan Frakes directs episodes of Star Trek: Discovery and The Orville in the same year. But back in 1996, this kind of thing was more shocking. It’s not provable, but with so many Star Trek people working on Babylon 5, it feels unlikely that the writers and producers never watched the show. Because if they had, it seems like they would have been fired-up.

How Babylon 5 saved Star Trek’s special effects in the ‘90s

In the early 1990s, real sci-fi on TV didn’t use CGI. If you wanted to do spaceships, you used models. Even the sci-fi epic seaQuest DSV got away with heavy CGI use because, in essence, the ships were half-hidden underwater. But not Babylon 5. From 1994 onward, everything about the series was CGI. Initially, the VFX company that provided these effects was a company called Foundation Imaging. Because B5 had a budget of roughly a third of a Trek series of that era, CGI effects were the only way to survive. You might not think the CGI on B5 looks that realistic now, but you have to put it in context. Outside of maybe The Last Starfighter, nobody had really dared to do outer space ship VFX with anything other than models. B5 proved it could be done. The series also pioneered virtual sets, a practice that every single sci-fi show benefits from to this day.

But this isn’t an instance of Star Trek noticing someone doing CGI and thinking that it was a good idea. Foundation Imaging literally became a part of the Star Trek franchise in 1996. After 1995, Warner Bros decided to create the CGI for Babylon 5 in-house, which left Foundation Imaging in trouble. Luckily in 1996, the company started doing CGI for Star Trek: Voyager, which led to a longtime association with the Trek franchise. Up until 1996, for spaceship exteriors, Trek almost always used models. But that started to change after Foundation Imaging began working on Voyager. Though another VFX company — Digital Muse — did a bunch of DS9’s effects, Foundation Imaging was eventually needed on DS9 as well. Remember the greatest spaceship battle in all of DS9? Yep, that’s (mostly) Foundation Imaging.

In “Sacrifice of Angels,” the scope of the starship battle was too big for models to be used, and the workload too large for Digital Muse to handle alone. And so, Foundation was responsible for the epic moment in which the USS Defiant breaks through the Dominion lines. For most DS9 fans, this exact scene defines why the series is legit awesome. And, the truth is, if Babylon 5 hadn’t employed Foundation Imaging, if Babylon 5 hadn’t relied on CGI effects, the Defiant might not have flown like that. Everyone knows great VFX can’t save a bad sci-fi movie or TV series. But, in the late 90s, it was also true that bad VFX could prevent great sci-fi from being accepted. If Trek hadn’t slowly made the switch to CGI, it’s hard to believe Voyager would have continued to be exciting. Without Babylon 5 and Foundation, you can forget “Year of Hell.”

How Babylon 5’s creator predicted a Star Trek reboot

In 2005, after the cancelation of Enterprise was announced, JMS and Bryce Zabel co-authored a treatment for a possible reboot of Star Trek. This outline wasn’t done because anyone asked them to. It was done out of love for Star Trek. The basic concept was, at the time, fairly radical — do an entire reboot of Star Trek, in fact, the pitch was called Star Trek: Re-Boot the Universe. The idea was to give a new origin story for Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the rest of the TOS crew. JMS used examples from his work in comic books: Fans can accept that this happens in a different universe. Sound familiar?

By 2009, the entire trajectory of Star Trek was redefined by the first J.J. Abrams reboot movie, which, superficially, is what JMS and Zabel pitched. True, the current Star Trek renaissance has gone away from the reboot universe. But, the viability for big-budget, cinematic Star Trek probably couldn’t have happened without the reboots. Again, we can’t prove that the JMS/Zabel pitch inspired Paramount to do their own reboot, but just like there may have been some synergy between DS9 and B5, the basic pitch is just too similar to ignore.

Conclusion

Babylon 5 was a not a Star Trek rip-off, but it did take place in the 23rd Century, and like the classic Trek, featured heroic human starship captains and their alien allies teaming-up to save the galaxy. In a sense, there was a retro-feeling to all of Babylon 5 that probably reminded ‘90s Trekkies more of TOS than of TNG or DS9. Throw Walter Koenig and Harlan Ellison into the mix, and B5 was like a tribute band for Star Trek: The Original Series. These days, fans of The Orville make similar comparisons between that series and the TNG heyday of the ‘90s. The difference, of course, is that B5 was created by J. Michael Straczynski, a guy who cut his teeth literally creating the scripts for your favorite ‘80s cartoons; from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe to The Real Ghostbusters. In short, Straczynski was someone who understood what sci-fi TV was in the ‘90s, and he knew its limitations. When he set out to make B5 he clearly did it with a lot of love for Star Trek. JMS hired Star Trek actors for Babylon 5. He attempted to bridge the divide between Trek fandoms and the B5 fandoms. He even dreamed up a way to bring Trek back from the dead after it was seemingly canceled in 2005. J. Michael Straczynski maybe never formally wrote for Star Trek, but without him, and without Babylon 5, the world of Trek would have been much, much darker.

The post How Babylon 5 Made Star Trek Better appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2CTVBvy

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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theartificialdane · 5 years

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Blue ain’t your color; Broken bones

A rewrite + addition to chapter 16 / the broken foot saga of Galactica main!

Til min sødeste Louise.

“Are you ready to leave?”

Violet was standing in Sutan’s closet, and on any other day, Sutan would have attempted to ravish her. She was just in her underwear, a black lace bra gently cupping her tits, thong, stockings and garter belt all in place.

“Seems like I should wake up early more often, huh?” Sutan smiled, his eyes gliding over Violet’s body, making his girlfriend giggle.

“I don’t think seven counts as early.”

“It does if you’re normal.” Sutan was already dressed, his work uniform of an Armani suit not hard to pick out.

“I don’t know what to wear..” Violet’s hair was still slightly damp, though her makeup was finished and flawless, Sutan rolling out of bed when he had heard Violet turn the shower off. It was strange to have developed a morning routine around another person, but also nice, very very nice.

“I know it’s a big day for you today.” The moment Raja had told Sutan that Violet had not only been chosen for her very first cycle in design, something his girlfriend had somehow missed informing him of, but that she was also getting shot for the Galactica website, Sutan had pulled strings instantly, switching around models within Elite until he had an excuse to go that wouldn’t look suspicious to Violet’s eyes.

“It is..” Violet smiled, her teeth digging into her bottom lip, like she was shy of her success, though Sutan could also see the intense pride she was feeling about it, her back a little straighter, her head held a little higher.

“You should wear the lilac skirt.”

Violet turned, following Sutan’s finger. “You think?”

Sutan nodded. “Pair it with a white Prada, and we’re good to go.”

Violet took the garment, grabbing a camisole before she quickly slipped into both skirt and shirt. She looked at herself in the mirror, the pop of color of the vintage skirt Sutan had noticed a few weeks ago adding a spin to the more modest feel of the rest of her outfit. Violet took her hair, twisting it and putting it into a high ponytail, a surge of lust rushing through Sutan at how entirely appropriate Violet looked, and how he desired to mess it all up.

***

Sutan’s favorite cafe was just around the corner from his apartment, and though he came there every single day, it wasn’t often, if not to say never, that Violet joined him, the woman usually long gone before Sutan even woke up properly.

“Just the usual please.”

“Yes Mr. Amrull.”

Sutan smiled at the barista, the pretty girl one he had gone on a date or two with. They had begun drifting apart shortly after, as she started to bore him, and she realised just how nonnegotiable Sutan’s work schedule was, so there was thankfully no hard feelings.

“What do you want darling?”

Violet was still looking at the monitor, her eyes searching every single possibility, and apparently not finding any of them tempting. Sutan knew she was nervous, Violet practically vibrating as they had attempted to watch TV the night before, not even a good fuck putting her properly to sleep.

“Can I have the berry parfait, please?”

The barista nodded, a smile on her face. “Sure!”

Sutan made a move to pull his wallet out of his pocket, but Violet was faster, his girlfriend already holding her Dior wallet in hand, her fingers pulling out a 20.

“Here.”

Sutan smiled, Violet insisting and demanding to pay in the strangest of circumstances.

***

“A little bit to the left. Okay, perfect. Stay there.”

Betty listened to the photographer directing a girl modeling her dress, the whole experience boring and tiresome. Betty was thrilled that her dress had been picked, of course she was. She was however, a lot less thrilled with the fact that she had had to fit it, some of the models changed out last minute, which meant that Betty had had to redo the fitting all over again, with a 16 year old that was clearly not awake.

Out of the corner of her eye, Betty kept noticing the hanger with all the clothes that still needed to be photographed, Violet damned jacket hanging on the very edge, since it was the last piece. Raja was standing there, holding it up, a man next to her that looked suspiciously similar.

***

[It’s even more gorgeous than I had imagined.]

[Isn’t it?] Raja smiled, and Sutan nodded, rubbing the fabric between his fingers.

[Did she used a suede leather or is it thick velvet?]

[Look at you brother dear.] Raja put an arm around her brother, Sutan’s glasses on as he checked out the delicate flower embroidery that covered the front of the jacket. [It’s thick velvet. Not the easiest jacket to care for, but we’re selling it at a higher price point.]

[Really?] Sutan looked up, a smile playing on his face. [Seriously? Already.]

[Yes you curious creature.] Raja knew exactly what he was fishing for, that he wanted to know how Violet was actually doing at work. If it had been anyone else, she would have shut him down instantly, told him that the internal working of Galactica wasn’t his business, but she loved her brother, and would do anything for him. [Your girl is doing very well. You’re more than allowed to be proud of her.]

[Believe me, I already am.]

***

“Max?” Violet touched Max’s arm, gently waiting for him to look away from the monitor. “I’m doing a coffee run, do you need anything?” Violet smiled, and Betty to destroy something..

Violet walked around the set, asking everyone if they wanted a coffee, and while Betty tried to look away, she kept hearing the perfect little girl scout, winner of the Nicest Bitch Award 2016, yap away.

***

“Excuse me?”

Sutan turned, just to see his girlfriend stand just behind him. Sutan had been watching the set, one of the newer girls, Ellen, having her debut with more serious work, and she was doing okay, but Sutan wasn’t trusting her yet, her rebellious spirit still playing up way too often.

“Would you like a coffee Mr. Amrull?”

Violet smiled, and Sutan smirked. If Violet wanted to play, to pretend that they didn’t know each other, he could play along too, the fact that Violet might have been simply trying to keep a professional distance between them not even crossing his mind.

“That’d be lovely miss?”

“Chachki. Please.” Violet quickly extended the offer to everyone around him, Violet jotting down everyone's orders in the little black book Sutan had seen travel in and out of her back on a daily basic.

“And you’d like?” Violet looked at Sutan, her brown eyes sparkling.

“Double espresso please.”

“Yes sir.”

Violet walked away, and Sutan watched her, the sir still like music to his ears.

///

“Do you want coffee, Betty? I’m going to Starbucks.”

“You know what, Violet? I’ll go with you and help you carry.”

“That would be very helpful, thank you.”

#blue ain't your color #galactica

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chibiauthorchan · 5 years

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The Hetalian’s Guide to the Galaxy

Wow, long time no post! I heard @alifeasvivid talk about a crossover between Hetalia (maining USUK) and the novel The Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy. The source material for this project I wrote for an English class back in high school belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya and Douglas Adams respectively. For those of you who have read the latter you will notice that yes, this is strikingly similar. But I had a lot of fun writing this when I did and putting in tons of fun Easter eggs. I hope you enjoy! (P.S. Tumblr messes with the formatting, sorry)

Contents: THGttG, Preface and about a fourth of Chapter 1 (it’s really long) Word count: 2,178 Warnings: Alcohol mention, aliens, impending destruction of the Earth Summary: Arthur Kirkland woke up hungover, thinking this was just going to like any other day. Well, it wasn’t.

This is the story of a terrible, stupid catastrophe and some of its consequences. All of which except said consequences happened on a Thursday.

This is also the story of a parody of a book named after another book that was dreamt up by an 11th-grade girl set in an alternate universe from both her own and the one of the original book named after another book. The book that the book was named after is known as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy- which is not a book that originated from Earth from any of these universes nor was it published on any of these Earths. The book named after that book is in fact found on earth, but only in the universe that this 11th-grade girl comes from as this is the only universe where such a book exists. This story that parodies the book named after the other book and shall be called The Hetalian’s Guide to the Galaxy because this girl is a lover of puns. You see, the universe this parody of a book named after a book has characters from one anime series known as Hetalia placed into the world of the book named after the book. It’s a pun as fans of this anime are known as Hetalians. A pun is a joke based off of wordplay that in fact does not originate from any of these Earths so the earth fellow who thought himself clever from inventing the joke form was, in reality, reusing a billion-year-old idea that had long died out everywhere else in any of these universes.

Nevertheless, the book that the book this story parodies is named after is a wholly remarkable book.

In fact, it was probably the most remarkable book ever to come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor- of which no Earthman has ever heard of unless one comes from the universe in which this 11th-grade girl comes from and that individual has also read the book named after the other book¹. Much of these first three pages this girl has found unnecessary to the plot and it is being skipped over. Thus one could say this is also an abridged parody of a book named after a book. The one only slightly necessary piece of information relevant to something that will come later is that there are two books. One known as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and one known as the great Encyclopedia Galactica which was only mentioned one other time in the entirety of the book named after the other book.

So, with that out of the way let’s get to the good stuff. Which follows as thus.

The story of this terrible, stupid Thursday, the story of its extraordinary consequences, and the story of how these consequences are inextricably intertwined with this remarkable parody of a book named after a book begins very simply.

It begins with a house.

¹The 11th-grade girl writing this project would like to apologize in advance for all of the ways this parody will take twists and turns and make no sense as it talks about parodies of books named after books and the different universes the worlds these pieces of the puzzle come from. It is not her intention to confuse, this is simply the format of the book named after a book that this story is a parody of. This parody will also include plenty of British English slang as in both the book named after a book and in this parody our main character is an Englishman. Yes, long only semi-necessary footnotes such as these are found in this book named after a book and the parody will follow suit in style.

This house stood alone on the edge of a small town. It wasn't very special. Thirty years old, made of brick, and had four windows with a size and proportion with the rest of the house that was anything but aesthetically pleasing. The only person to which this house held any special value was a man named Arthur Kirkland or is it Dent? For the sake of this parody and in order to prevent confusions between the main character from the book named after a book (who's first name just also happens to be Arthur) the main character of this parody is known as Arthur Kirkland. In the universe of this parody the main character's differences with the one from the original book this story parodies don't stop at last names. Arthur Dent is about thirty years old; tall; and dark haired. Arthur Kirkland, on the other hand, is younger, twenty-three on that particular Thursday. He isn't very tall either standing in at 175 cm (or 5' 9" for those who prefer the imperial system) and his hair is anything but dark being a shade of blond that was paler but certainly not dull, and when hit with certain lights his hair even gained a golden halo. His eyebrows, however... well the best way to describe them would be thick, expressive, and surprisingly well kept. Visually they were one of his more well-known traits. The similarities between the two didn't stop at first names. For starters both characters are English. Arthur Dent used to live in London and moved to this small house as London made him nervous and irritable. Arthur Kirkland outside this universe still lives in London, but for the sake of this parody he has also moved (his reason being escaping his siblings). Their personalities are similar too, both being never quite at ease with themselves and being prone to worrying. Arthur Kirkland just being a little fierier but an English gentleman nonetheless.

The night before this particular Thursday it rained quite heavily as it is known to do in England. The ground outside was wet and muddy, however, that morning the sun was shining bright and clear as it shone down on Arthur's house for what was to be the very last time.

See, it hadn’t properly registered for Arthur that the council wanted to knock his house down and build a bypass through the rubble.

That morning at eight o'clock Arthur woke up not feeling very well. He did not enjoy the sunshine. Instead, he wanted to crawl back in his blankets and curse the sun away as it was effectively making his morning much worse. Instead, he forced himself to get up which he did quite blearily. He got up, opened a window, caught sight of a bulldozer outside, found his red, fuzzy slippers and slipped them on, grabbed his favorite dark green dressing gown and slipped that on as well, then stomped off to the bathroom for a wash.

Toothpaste on the brushㅡso. Scrub.

Shaving mirrorㅡpointing at the ceiling. Arthur adjusted it. For a split second a second bulldozer could be seen in the reflection as it was visible through the bathroom window. He completely ignored this and with the mirror now properly adjusted it show Arthur his own face and his stubble which he promptly shaved off. Arthur washed his face, dried it off, then stomped off to the kitchen to find something to eat or drink for that matter.

Kettle, plug, fridge, milk, tea. Yawn.

For a brief moment the word bulldozer found it’s way into Arthur’s thoughts. He tried to find something to connect the word to.

The bulldozer outside the kitchen window was certainly a big one. Large enough to take care of a house.

For a moment Arthur stared at it.

“What an ugly shade of yellow.” He thought before stomping back to his bedroom to get dressed. He didn’t get very far.

Before he got back to his bedroom Arthur took a quick pit stop at the bathroom in order to fetch a glass of water to drink. Then he drank another. It was at this point Arthur began to suspect that he was in fact hungover. It wasn't uncommon for Arthur to wake up with an annoying alcohol induced headache but the question that crossed his mind is why? Of course in order to be hung over one had to have been drinking. So why had he been drinking? His thoughts were interrupted by a flash of color in the shaving mirror. "Yellow..." was all that was thought before Arthur proceeded to the bedroom.

In the middle of picking out his clothes memories of last night suddenly came rushing back. “The pub,” was the first thing that came to mind, “of course it was the bloody pub! Where else could it have been?!” After that short internal argument more memories returned but in a very vague fashion. He remembered being fairly upset about... something. He’d been complaining about it to other random pub goers in a drunk whining sort of fashion. The clearest visual recollection was of the glazed, drunken looks on the faces of others in the pub. What was it that made him feel the need to become absolutely smashed over? Arthur wracked his brain trying to remember. “Something... bypass...” He mumbled. Deciding that is wasn’t extremely important he resumed getting ready for his day.

Dear God though his hangover was almost unbearable. Whatever he did he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was forgetting something extremely important. Arthur caught a glance of himself in the wardrobe mirror, proceeded to call himself an utter twat for drinking too much yet again, then attempted to fix his messy hair in the mirror. It didn’t help much, his hair was naturally a mess. He settled for the usual level of tame which meant the choppy layers of his hair laid relatively neatly. The word yellow came to mind again and Arthur tried to find something to connect the word to.

Fifteen seconds later he was outside his house laying in the mud in front of a big yellow bulldozer that was advancing up his garden path.

Mr. Raivis Galante was, as they say, only human. Which meant that he's a bipedal carbon-based life form which shared a common ancestor with apes which live on earth. Mr. Raivis Galante more specifically was in his late teens to early twenties (though he looked to be around 15), short, scrawny, and worked for the local council. On a completely unnecessary note Mr. Galante was a direct male descendant of Alexander Nevsky. He really didn't look much like Alexander and was by no means a warrior type, in fact, he was a nervous, worried man. The reason he was particularly nervous and worried that Thursday morning was his job has something go seriously wrong as Arthur Kirkland's house was supposed to be demolished by the end of the day and Arthur Kirkland was laying in the mud in front of his house preventing the bulldozers from doing their job.

“C-come off it, Mr. Kirkland,” he said with a nervous stutter, “you can’t win, y-you know. I-It’s not like you can lay in f-front of the bulldozer forever.” The small man tried to look intimidating by trying to produce a fire in his eyes but it was near impossible for him to look anything close to intimidating.

Arthur lay there in the mud unmoving as he spat back with his usual English stubbornness.

“I’m game,” he responded confidently, “we’ll see who rots here first. I know it won’t be me.”

“I-I’m afraid you have to a-accept it,” Mr. Galante said fidgeting with the hem of his jacket, “w-we have to build this bypass, a-and we’re going to do it!” He ended up shouting trying to swallow his nerves, but the effort had no effect.

"Well this is the first I've heard of it," Arthur commented casually, "why's it got to be built in the first place?"

The smaller man’s hands balled into fists but he forced them to relax. He wouldn’t be able to hit Arthur anyways. “What do you mean why?” His stutter was gone thanks to his building frustrations. “It’s a bypass, you’ve got to build it.”

A bypass is a simple structure that allows people to get to one point to another and vice versa. Arthur lived in between these hypothetical points and found no use for the bypass. Raivis wanted to be far away from any of these points especially if it meant he wasn't dealing with Arthur. However, none of this justifies the young man's logic over why the bypass must be built.

Raivis shifted his weight around uncomfortable not being able to find a suitable balance. Someone hadn’t done their job right and he could only pray that it wasn’t him.

“Y-you were entitled to make a-any suggestions or protests back when it would have b-been appropriate, Mr. Kirkland.” The small man’s stutter returned along with his nerves. He avoided making eye contact with the Brit lying on the ground as he continued to shift uncomfortably.

“Appropriate time?” Arthur mused with fake interest. “Appropriate time?” When he repeated the phrase his tone was less amused. “The first I knew about this bloody construction project was when a workman just happened to pop by my house the other day. He was the first to tell me anything about your bypass by informing me quite bluntly that my house was to be demolished. Demolished, and at first I thought he was there to clean the bleeding windows! Which I might add that he did charging me a fiver before dropping that bomb on me.” Arthur was absolutely fuming. Even laying there in the mud in his dressing gown he managed to be frightening.

"B-but Mr. Kirkland, th-the plans have been available in the planning office for the l-last nine months." Mr. Galante tried fruitlessly to reason with the disgruntled Englishman in front of him but Arthur was having none of it.

"Oh, as soon as I found out I went down to your planning office to see them. I headed straight there yesterday afternoon. They weren't exactly somewhere a normal person could find them easily. Absolutely no effort was put into calling attention to them!" Arthur's words were dripping with venom and sarcasm.

“B-but the plans were on d-display...”

“On display?! I had to go into the cellar to find them!”

“Th-that’s the display department.”

“I had to bring a torch with me!”

“Th-the lights must have gone...”

“Yes apparently so had the stairs.”

“B-but you found the notice, d-didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Arthur said seething with rage, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.’ ”

Mr. Galante frowned slightly as a cloud passed overhead casting a shadow over Arthur and his house the former of which lay in the cold mud propped up by his elbow. He just couldn’t understand why Arthur would defend such a house so feverishly.

“It’s not as if it’s a particularly nice house...” he mumbled showing off his bad habit of saying the wrong things at the wrong time. It usually resulted in making someone angry, if they weren’t angry already.

“Well excuse me, but I happen to like it.” Arthur replied with an incredibly sarcastic voice.

“You’ll like the bypass!” Raivis tried to counter.

“Oh piss off!” Arthur spat. “Just piss off and go away, and take your bloody bypass with you! You haven’t got a leg to stand on and you know it!”

Mr. Galante’s mouth opened and closed several times as he wracked his brain for something to say in response to Arthur’s outburst. His mind for a moment was filled with visions of Arthur’s house being torn apart in the most horrific of ways some of which ended in a blaze of fire with Arthur himself running and screaming from the flaming ruin. Raivis was sometimes plagued with these dark thoughts but he could never act on them being too nervous and worried to do so.

"M-m-mr. Kirk-kland?" He stuttered trying to pull his thoughts back from the dark place they accidentally slipped into.

“Yes? What is it?” Arthur had no patience left in his voice.

“J-just wondering, do you have any idea how much damage a bulldozer would suffer if I just let it roll straight over you?” The small, trembling man had no actual intention of doing such a thing, he just wanted to see if it would scare Arthur off.

“No, how much?” Arthur asked.

“None at all.” Raivis responded with bravado before storming off.

By curious coincidence, “None at all” is exactly how much suspicion Arthur held over whether his closest friends was in fact not an earth native life form. This friend was in fact from a small planet far away from Earth somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse not from a Gildford as this friend usually claimed.

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cyclone-rachel · 5 years

Text

Hope Burns Bright

part 3

read on AO3 here

There are plenty of times in his life when Querl Dox has felt small.

In fact, such a feeling could arguably dominate his life, from the beginning. He was aware of how dwarfed he felt by the other Coluans around him growing up, especially when he connected himself to them and became conscious of how little knowledge he had compared to them.

That, in turn, pushed him to be better, to learn more, as was his right and privilege given his intellect, and the capacity he had to absorb information, growing into his birthright. And indeed he had- though, in terms of physical size alone, he could only feel less small some of the time.

(though in terms of reputation, there was no way he could ever feel small- in the terms of a movie Clark had once shown him in his own time when he’d visited, “Google Earth could find him if he was dressed up as a crack on a sidewalk”, and though he didn’t know what Google Earth or sidewalks were, he understood- and, incidentally, so did Clark, though Clark found out that fact at the worst possible time.

Just his luck, though that was again a concept he didn’t believe in.)

By the time he’d grown up enough on Colu to achieve an intellect level that matched that of his ancestors, he had obtained the permission to go to Earth, and when he did, arriving in New Metropolis all by himself, he felt small all over again. Which wasn’t helped at all by the Legionnaires, even those his own age, each seeming to tower over him too. But that was only on a physical level, and not as significant as the other instances. And besides, his battle mode helped him with that, so once they were shown the extent of his powers, they treated him as though he were that height all the time. Which made him, in turn, feel bigger all the time.

Then of course he met Superman, after getting to know him as a legendary figure, and that feeling returned once more- but the moment Clark looked at him with kindness and admiration, as he hovered slightly above him… that diminished said feeling, which only went away more as the two of them began to work with one another, and with the Legion. As they became friends, despite all odds in favor of the contrary.

(Who would’ve believed it?, Querl reflected many times since their first meeting. A Brainiac and a Super working together? The idea was absurd… but somehow, Clark’s presence helped it make all the sense in the world.)

The last, and most recent, time he had felt small- helpless, really, which was a new sensation compared to the others, making that situation far more intense than the previous ones- was when he’d faced his ancestor. When he let him in, thinking only that he could give him knowledge that would assist in the worst-case scenario.

(Ignoring, of course, that the association with Brainiac was what had led to his brief and terrifying feud with Superman in the first place… but he was already planning on changing that situation, and telling him on his own terms once everything had calmed down and they escaped the bottled city.)

Brainiac 1.0 is dead, he had thought at the time. This version of him is a ghost of a program long-gone, manifesting itself as my ancestor- he could never change who I am. I won’t let him. I can’t. I’m not going to. He will never.

But how wrong he had been, for once in his life.

How dangerously wrong, as Brainiac 1.0 gradually became malware within his systems, infecting Querl and intertwining himself within those systems, going deeper inside him and challenging him again and again- and taking over. He was becoming a prisoner in his own mind, as much as he tried to deny it or wrestle control back, and soon it would be too late to regain it at all.

Too late to tell Clark what was happening, and prepare him for the inevitable.

But Clark hadn’t given up, as many reasons as he’d given him to do so. He and Kell had found Querl, at his smallest and most vulnerable, and given him a reason to fight back, to feel as powerful as he deserved to be.

To feel like Superman, really, (especially as he punched his mental manifestation of Brainiac 1.0 right through his skull- he’d never pictured his own hand as something so solid, so powerful, but it had been, if only for a few seconds), even though afterwards (after realizing exactly what he’d done, after coming to terms with what he’d lost, and what he’d won, the true aftermath of the battle he had fought) he would feel far from that.

Recently, however, especially since meeting Aya, he had started feeling less small again. He hadn’t noticed it, but he felt stronger than he had in…

He wasn’t sure how many days had passed, especially this deep in space. It could be years, for all he knew- he could return and find his friends all gone. But he’d think about that when he decided to go back. Right now, he felt stronger, and he was fairly confident that the Green Lantern ring was the reason why.

In an instant, however, as he and Aya approached the structure that was becoming visible to them, he began to feel small once more in the face of something appearing so grand, and hovered closer to her as the two of them flew towards it.

“What is this place?” Querl asks, as they land, feeling smaller still as he looks around. Their destination at first appears as though it’s floating on clouds, but in actuality is situated on the edge of a planet, or perhaps a moon or a dwarf planet or something along those lines. Whatever it is, there doesn’t seem to be any life around them at all- certainly not living beings, aside from him and Aya. “Where exactly are we, Aya?”

“According to my scans, we are currently in space sector 180- otherwise known as the edge of the known universe.” She says, looking out in front of her, standing beside Querl. “This place, in particular, was named by the Guardians of the Universe as the Vault of Shadows.”

“That is not worrying in the least.” Querl remarks, but Aya ignores the sarcasm.

“There’s no need to worry, Querl.” Aya says, one of her hands glowing to light their way. “The only known living inhabitant of this structure left it approximately nine hundred and ninety-one years ago, and has not been recorded to have reappeared since.”

“Thank you, that’s very comforting.”

Aya nods. “According to the Guardians, the primary purpose of the Vault was as a mausoleum- a place to bury their secrets, separating their history from themselves. Too many bad memories, and emotional-“

She makes a sound like clearing her throat.

“Emotional responses, they said.”

“How do you know so much about the Guardians?” Querl says, reminding himself that emotions had been significant in her life. They were why she’d saved herself, why she had fallen in love- and why she was here with him now, as she’d given her life so her love would be safe, and so would the universe. Not for the first time, he was amazed at how similar they truly were, and admired her all the more for what had happened to her. “For that matter… who are they?”

“Once you receive formal training- or if you do- I believe you will have to meet them.” Aya answers. “They are the ones responsible for my own creation, all of my knowledge- and also for creating the Green Lantern Corps, and sending out the corresponding rings. Starting with the first seven Green Lanterns, almost ten billion, one thousand years ago.”

She looks up, seeing six of the green glass coffins occupied, and his gaze follows hers.

“Which you see before you.”

“Do you know what their names are?” Querl asks, awed. The bodies, as expected, are unrecognizable- but Aya looks at them, and slowly nods.

“Alitha of Galactica, the Third World- recipient of the first Ring.” She says. “Z’Kran Z’Rann of Mars, recipient of the second.”

“Yes.” Querl answers.

Aya moves on to the two coffins on the end- one of them still empty.

“Tyran’r of Tamaran, recipient of the third Ring. He was one of the only two survivors in the first crisis faced by the Green Lantern Corps- and the only one still living, allegedly. The former guardian of this very place, and of the first rings.”

“I see.”

“The fourth recipient, Kaja Dox, of Yod-Colu.” Aya continues, then pausing. “Dox. That is your last name.”

Querl nods.

“It is- and being named such, I would assume she is a distant ancestor of mine.” He answers, staring up at her- or at least, who he thinks could be her, trying to imagine her in her prime, in a suit much like his own. “Though I have never heard of her before this.”

“My apologies.” Aya says. “Do you want a moment of silence, for her, before continuing?”

Querl lets out a breath, not once taking his eyes off the coffin.

“No.”

“In that case, Kaja was the other of the two survivors- and she went on to have two children with her wife, Ginger Mahtba-Dox, before passing away of old age sometime later.” Aya answers.

“Do you think this ring is hers?” Querl says, holding it up. “Is there any way you can determine that?”

“I do not believe so, but I will try.” She says. “The fifth-“

He hears the names of the last three- Calleen of Alstair, Brill of Grenda, and Jan-Al of Krypton, the last one being especially interesting and sad (I should tell Clark about her, if I see him again)- but he’s still distracted, thinking about Kaja. Imagining her, alive and well, first becoming a Green Lantern, and then reuniting with her wife, after the crisis was over, having a life with her together after the war- or whatever crisis they faced, Aya hadn’t been clear. And then, finally, with her family.

Where did we go wrong?, he thinks. When did our family fall? When did our legacy become… become Brainiac?

He knows he can answer those questions, mathematically. But he also knows that he can reverse said legacy, for the better- and do Kaja justice, even if nobody else knows the reason why he’s fighting so much for said cause.

“Do you think she’s proud of me?” Querl asks, out loud.

Aya, in the middle of explaining the last time people visited the Vault- human Green Lanterns, apparently, accompanied by a Guardian named Rami- pauses, turning to look at him.

“Please clarify.”

“Or, do you think she would be?” he says. “Kaja, that is.”

“Oh.” Aya answers, avoiding his eyes. “I cannot claim to speak for her, especially given that she is already deceased… however, from what you have told me about yourself, and your heroic journey- in addition to the training you will certainly receive- there is no reason to believe she would not.”

Querl smiles at her, and she smiles back.

“Thank you.”

“You are very welcome.” Aya says. “Without further ado, shall we begin your training?”

“Yes.”

Querl exhales, taking one more look at Kaja, imagining the family he should have had. Then, he turns to Aya.

“Very well.”

“Although, if I have one request…” he starts.

“What is it?”

“I think we should move away from here, a little bit. I wouldn’t want to disturb them.”

He gestures at the corpses, and Aya nods.

“Of course not.” She says, and leads the two of them over to an empty space, far from the main part of the mausoleum.

Then, finally, Querl’s training starts, and not for the first time that day, he lets one thought track wander to Kaja.

Specifically, her experience in training as a Green Lantern, and what she must have been feeling, when she did so.

Was it this exhilarating, this freeing, for her? Had she felt like this, when she made her first constructs, flew for the first time with no assistance, said the oath that powered her ring? Felt those words, reverberating in her bones, hands tingling as the ring increased in power?

She must have.

Of course, at some point the colloquial rose-colored glasses wear off, and Querl’s left with unstable constructs and a ring that’s rapidly losing power, as Aya notices, sitting by his side when he can’t make anything at all.

“Querl?” she asks, voice gentle. Like she’s giving him a hug with her words, even though at this point, the last thing he wants is to be touched. “What is wrong?”

Nothing, I’m fine, would be his typical response before. Before her, and even before becoming human. But in this moment, since that moment, vulnerability is something he’s gotten more familiar with, that he’s worn like a new uniform.

It’s okay to not be okay, he can imagine Clark saying. Go ahead, tell her.

“I’m not… what if the ring chose wrong?” he says, feeling as small as he had when he’d first entered this place. Though now, as his doubts come rushing out of him, said feeling is even more intensified. “I know I’m not the only member of my family to become a Green Lantern, but was I chosen because of that? What if I, on my own- along with you, of course- cannot stop whatever crisis happens? How can I even know what that is? How do I properly understand my abilities, or my capability to create these constructs, as you call them? What if I am not creative enough, for lack of a better word? What if I-“

Fail, he thinks. What’s there left for me to lose?

Aya sighs, giving him a proper hug.

“These questions are important, and will be answered in time. But first… let me show you something.” She says, after sitting in silence with him.

“Very well.” Querl says. “Go ahead, show me.”

She stands up, putting her hands out in front of her, and slowly, something forms- a construct he hasn’t seen before, and doesn’t know if he ever would have thought of.

Rubbing in my uncreativity, he thinks. Thank you so much.

“I do not mean to discourage you, Lantern Dox.” She says, as the object in front of her grows, glowing brighter as it increases in size. As it takes shape, he can see it forming a star, or rather someone’s idea of a star- with countless points, many dimensions, shining even when she seems to have finished forming it, as she sits down beside Querl once again. “Rather, the exact opposite.”

Querl keeps staring at the object, trying to comprehend what he’s seeing. It’s difficult, even for him- an accomplishment, on Aya’s part. Yet he can’t ignore that he’s feeling just a little bit better, looking at it, though despair still clouds his vision.

“What is this, Aya?” he asks. “What exactly are you showing me?”

“Another concept developed by the Guardians, in their training of the Green Lantern Corps- that Lanterns have taught each other for generations.” She says. “It is known, by them, as the Emerald Sun.”

“What does it do?”

“It does not do anything.” She answers. “It is a representation of one’s own willpower and courage- the emotion that the Green Lanterns draw their strength from. It manifests in this form, as they would say, because said strength is always inside oneself, no matter what. Shining like a star.”

“And?”

“And you can create your own Emerald Sun.” she says. “You just have to imagine it.”

“What if I cannot?”

“Then you must only try.” Aya answers, gently. “Close your eyes. Can you see it?”

She dissolves her own construct, and only watches as he closes his own eyes, taking slow, deep breaths. Then, the construct begins to form in front of him, as he keeps his eyes shut, despite how bright it’s becoming.

Finally, he opens his eyes, looking at the beacon of light in front of him- an Emerald Sun that almost touches the ceiling of the Vault of Shadows.

“It’s beautiful.” He says, awed, reaching out towards it. It’s the same color as Kryptonite, though feels like its exact opposite- Kryptonite causes pain, and hurt, and sickness. Kryptonite is a weapon, a precision-strike, a poison. He knows he’d kept it before, but that was in a last-case scenario, and he’d never dream of using it any time otherwise. But this is something else entirely. Full of life, and symbolizing what he needs most in that moment.

It feels like hope, and he can’t touch it directly, but he imagines taking it and opening himself up, putting it around his heart so it’ll never go away.

Aya places a hand on his shoulder.

“That’s it.” She says. “You are capable, Lantern Dox- of anything you decide to do. And you will be great. Especially once you receive official training.”

“Right.” He answers, mindlessly- still captivated by the star before him. “Before whatever great crisis is supposed to befall me.”

“Befall us.” Aya corrects, lightly. “I admit; I wish to return to my own time- but I am not about to abandon you at your time of need. So I won’t leave this time period. Not before helping you with what you are meant to overcome.”

Thank you, Querl is about to say, but a loud thudding noise elsewhere in the Vault distracts him, and the construct abruptly dissolves.

“Brainiac 5 will not overcome his destiny.” Says a voice, that sounds like his own, but also sends a chill down his spine with elements of Brainiac 1 as well.

“As the humans would say, ‘speak of the devil’.” Querl says. “Aya… we were followed.”

“Yes. Thank you, that is quite obvious.” Aya answers, glaring at their new visitor. Brainiac 6, meanwhile, doesn’t make a sound, powering up their arm cannon as they prepare to strike- and as he aims at Querl himself, he feels more than just small.

He feels worthless.

#papa don't look #fanfics #legion of superheroes #gltas #green lantern the animated series #losh #querl dox #brainiac 5 #aya #losh au #au: ready to go right now #gltas au

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myassbrokethefall · 6 years

Note

Do you have any favorite scifi shows? Or any recommendations?

Well! This is a fun ask. Let me see…

So, I really like sci-fi, but sometimes I also don’t like sci-fi. I overdosed a little bit on spaceship stuff after my years of Star Trek obsession and then BSG (and like, I hear The Expanse is great but I just…haven’t been in the mood), and these days my favorite sci-fi is talky, high-concept atmospheric mystery stuff in a fairly realistic world where something is a little bit weird. What I really DON’T like is violence/shooting/chasing/action, and a lot of sci-fi, unfortunately, is that. (Westworld, I am looking at your ass.) I also am a LITTLE bit over sci-fi as sledgehammery social parable, again a la Star Trek. Even though I’ll always love Star Trek (and will get around to watching Discovery one of these days).

Some sci-fi TV that I’ve enjoyed recently includes:

(hey surprise, this got very long! so it’s under a cut)

Dark. There’s just one season of this on Netflix right now, but I LOVVVVVED it. Talk about atmospheric. It made me want to move to Germany and live in a forest where it rains all the time. It’s in German – this isn’t a bother to me because I like subtitles, but it’s available dubbed as well if you prefer that. It takes place in a small town and starts with a missing child, and it quickly becomes clear that something strange is going on. Time travel is an element. A central part of it becomes about the way all the characters in the town are interconnected and how the events of the past affect the future. It’s part Lost, part Stranger Things, part Back to the Future.

The Returned/Les Revenants. So there’s an American show called The Returned as well, and this is not that one – the one I’m talking about is in French (sorry…I swear some ones without subtitles are coming) and was on uh, IFC or something like that. One day in a(n extremely attractive and cinematic) French town in the mountains, a girl comes home from a class field trip…except she died on that field trip years ago, in a bus accident, and her family is completely shocked and freaked out. The same thing is happening all across town. Includes one (1) very creepy child. Very spooky and also super atmospheric. (One reason I loved Dark so much was that aesthetically it reminded me of Les Revenants.)

The 4400. I binged this show and had a window of time in my life where I was super obsessed with it. Premise is similar to The Returned, actually: A bunch of people (4,400 of them to be precise) who were believed to be the victims of alien abductions – across many years – are returned to earth all at the same time, all at the age they left. So you have a man who was taken in the 1950s (Mahershala Ali!) and a little girl from the 1930s, etc., all dropped back into modern-day America – and most of them (all of them? I forget) have mysterious powers of various kinds. Two police detectives (am I predictable or what) investigate. Things escalate from there. It is a little XF-y in a way I appreciate, while also being totally different (and much less arty than something like Les Revenants).

Stranger Things. I might as well list it…everyone knows about this show but it really is pretty great. Season 1 especially. Huge ET vibes, creepy/Spielbergy, not a cop-out where it’s all a metaphor or something (pet peeve).

Fringe. This isn’t so recent (well, neither is The 4400), but if you like sci-fi and you haven’t watched it, you should! It starts out being a liiiiiiittle bit of a less-hooky ripoff of XF (a group of FBI folks, including a retired mad scientist basically, investigate paranormal cases), but after a few episodes it finds its groove and it becomes its own weird and wonderful thing. It was a show I really enjoyed and it ended satisfyingly. John Noble as Walter Bishop is fantastic, and one thing I really loved about it was that it was not afraid to make things happen and shake up the premise if needed.

Jessica Jones. I really, really am not into Marvel or any of the superhero stuff, but I like this show a lot. It puts the idea of having “powers” in a very grounded kind of gritty, cynical, noir-y setting and I enjoy that. It’s also woman-focused, which is nice, and it’s just different from other stuff on TV. I dig it.

Orphan Black. Man, I loved Orphan Black. What a fun show, and – not necessarily the most important thing to me in a show, but hugely refreshing nonetheless – it’s also very woman-centered. The premise is that a woman named Sarah sees someone who looks exactly like her – right before the doppelganger throws herself in front of a train. And in unraveling the mystery, Sarah learns that she’s a clone and she has a bunch of “sisters.” Tatiana Maslany is FREAKING AMAZINGGGGG as all the various clones. It is definitely sci-fi, but it’s also a lot of fun and just a fast-moving, action-packed (but not in a way that makes my eyes glaze over) cool-ass show.

Grimm. Grimm was a pretty silly network-y show, but my affection for it really never waned (though it also never really went too far above “mild”). Premise: Basically, that fairytale monsters (broadly speaking) are real and walk among us (disguised for the most part), and there are these people called Grimms who can see them and are supposed to fight them. Lots of ancient documents, old books, mysterious keys, etc. This one dude who is a police detective in Portland (it was shot in Portland and is basically the second Portland-iest show after Portlandia, as far as I can tell) finds out that he’s a Grimm, and he meets this guy who is one of these monsters but also a delightfully civilized clock nerd who becomes his friend and helps him learn about this hidden world, and it’s pretty much monster-of-the-week episodes every week (though there is a mytharc of sorts involving an evil cabal of European royalty or something, snore). I think it’s the people who did Angel (which I never watched; I’m not a Buffy person). It also started the same year as Once Upon a Time, so it was the “other” fairytale show.

The Leftovers. Technically, it’s sci-fi. It’s also just very imaginative storytelling, and is a good example of what I mean by high-concept and atmospheric and something being a little bit weird in an otherwise contemporary setting. (This is a post-Lost Damon Lindelof, and Damon Lindelof has learned from his Lost mistakes, with wonderful results.) The central premise is a sci-fi one (2% of the earth’s population mysteriously vanishes), but aside from that there are also just a lot of kind of fantastic imaginative leaps and surreal settings and…ah, The Leftovers. My standard intro/warning: Season 1, while really good, is VERY depressing; Season 2 becomes marginally less depressing while also changing things up considerably and in my opinion becoming much better; Season 3 is even better than that. Love you, show.

Lost. I suppose I should mention it even though it’s another obvious one. I have rarely been hooked as hard as I was by the pilot of this show. It doesn’t necessarily deliver on everything it promises, and it’s interesting to think of it in terms of it being one of the first shows to, basically, cancel itself – to choose to end so that it could pace its story effectively and lead to a deliberate ending instead of just vamping forever and trying to keep sucking the audience in for one more season until that stopped working and it was canceled. However, before that happened there was some time-killing, and I think that maybe contributes to people’s perception that it didn’t know what it was doing half the time. A divisive ending that I did not have a problem with. If you watch it in the spirit of being taken on a ride and enjoying the feelings that the twists and turns give you in the moment, you’ll find it more satisfying than if you’re trying to solve every mystery and trying to make it all work out perfectly with every loose end tied up.

The OA. This was a weird-ass motherfucking show on Netflix and I still don’t know what the fuck it was about. I feel like I dreamed it. It maybe involves angels? And stuff.

Carnivale. Lord, talk about atmosphere. This was an HBO show several years ago now about a creepy traveling circus in the 1930s. Being on HBO, it’s very violent and dirty and twisted and stuff. I was obsessed with it, and loved watching it although I vaguely remember the ending being not super satisfying? I should rewatch it, really, because I have forgotten a lot about it beyond impressions (it started in 2003). It’s not that sci-fi, but it has kind of mysterious portents and shit like that all over the place. Anytime I see anything remotely carnival-y I’m like AAAHHH CARNIVALE

Westworld. Sigh…I’m having a lot of trouble connecting to the season of Westworld that’s currently airing (Season 2, on HBO). I loved Season 1. My opinion is that they blew their premise too quickly and now they have nowhere to go – it’s just been violent chaos of the sort that puts me to sleep. Literally – one episode a couple of weeks ago I tried to watch and fell asleep during TWICE – two evenings in a row – before I finally got through it on Day 3. Because it was just a bunch of shooting. But the premise is cool – in the undetermined nearish future, there is a giant elaborate theme park where extremely realistic robots interact with the superrich guests who pay to come and basically be super destructive and violent (this show doesn’t have a particularly high opinion of humanity) in an Old West-themed setting. Like Disney World if your dream was to fuck and murder everyone in the Hall of Presidents. It’s made by one of the Nolans so there are lots of twists and also you don’t know what the hell is going on half the time. But there are some high-budget groovy sci-fi set pieces in it, and if you like amazing piano covers of popular songs (sometimes but not always in the in-show context of the player piano in the saloon), that is a fantastic bonus (the music is terrific overall). ROBOTS.

Battlestar Galactica. Speaking of robots. I loved the hell out of this show, although I have my issues with it. I felt when I first saw it (this is the 2000s remake I’m talking about, not the 1970s original) that it was like Star Trek had grown up. It gets more and more high-concept the longer it goes on, and some people weren’t fans of where it ended up (I, again, was fine with it), but it starts out with a hell of a premise: Cylons (humanlike robots originally created by humanity, which then evolved) destroy almost all of the human race except for a few stragglers in a few scattered ships, who have to pull together and somehow survive. Great acting, great writing, big themes, Laura Roslin.

Black Mirror. This is an anthology series, meaning each one is a short story basically, with different characters, a different near-future setting, and a different premise (often having to do with technology going wrong. In the words of Mallory Ortberg: What If Phones, But Too Much?) Some of them are better than others but if you can take some upsetting conceptual stuff, it’s really a super interesting show. Your bingeing tolerance may vary, but I personally could not handle more than a couple of episodes a night.

Roswell. Holy shit I was so into this fucking teen soap opera about aliens. Also not recent. They might do a remake of this I heard?? MAX + LIZ 4EVA

Millennium. Yes…Chris Carter’s Other Show. I’ve said this before, but in a weird way I feel like this show is…CC’s best work???? Without the chemistry supernova of Mulder and Scully dimming everything around it, the “scary stories” he’s always talking about actually have room to be kind of interesting. It also works with his inclination to do what is essentially an anthology series loosely connected via recurring characters that are almost more narrators/observers than participants. In XF, this makes me want to break things when it results in stagnated character growth and no continuity and endless reset-button-pushing. In Millennium, Frank wandering grimly through the show universe encountering fable after fable (grimmer than XF – less on the stretchy mutants and fat-sucking vampires and lake monsters and Reticulans and spooky green bugs; more serial killers and cults and angels and apocalyptic stuff) actually worked pretty darn well for me. It’s not that the characters aren’t good, but they are VERYYYYY archetypal (kind of like how M&S could have been if not given such aliveness and humanity by David and Gillian, and Morgan and Wong and Vince Gilligan at that). Frank Black is the tormented detective, he has a beautiful kind wife and an innocent young daughter and they live in a beatific yellow house and he has to keep them safe from the evils out in the darkness. You might say this is hammered home a lot. But: the kind of mythic tone of it is a much better fit here than on XF. Lance Henriksen is perfect as Frank, and some of the stories are really absorbing and emotional. I cried during WAY more Millennium episodes (I can think of three or four off the top of my head that I remember WEEPING openly over, one of which stars Darren McGavin) than I ever have at XF.

Everything changes in Season 2 when Morgan and Wong take over as (I believe) showrunners – things lighten up considerably versus S1; there’s even a Darin episode! With Jose Chung! And the Spotnitz Sanitarium! – and then everything changes again in S3 when they leave. The show does suffer from a lack of cohesion in that sense, and frankly the “mytharc” parts never did a lot for me (loosely, the world is going to end in the year 2000 and a cabal of mysterious dudes something something). But there is a lot of cool shit in this show. There really is. Every few years I attempt a rewatch and never finish; I should try again. In late fall, which is the only time Millennium should be watched.

BONUS

Face Off. This isn’t sci-fi per se (it’s a reality competition show, on Syfy), but if you’re a sci-fi person you might love it. The way I describe it to people is very simple: It’s the exact same premise and structure as Project Runway, except instead of fashion, it’s FX makeup. The best thing about it is that everyone is NICE and HELPFUL to each other. It’s a bunch of creative nerds making monsters together and the competition element is there but no one is a dick and there’s no fighting and drama. Michael Westmore, who did the makeup on Star Trek: TNG among many other acclaimed projects, is the mentor (and the dad of the show’s host, McKenzie Westmore), and he pops in to give dad advice to all these starstruck dorks. The new season just started and it’s just a fun show. I have, at times, thought of it as my FAVORITE show on TV.

Well, that was probably more than you wanted, anon! I feel like I’m missing some, too. TV! I like it.

#scifi #this is very long #hit me up with your faves!#how did it get to be 12:30? i might reblog this tomorrow since no one is awake lol #ask: can you recommend any scifi shows?#me: transcribes every thought i have ever had about any scifi show in my entire life #i feel like these answers are all super basic oh well #Anonymous

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the-firebird69 · 3 years

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We have a winner these people are so quiet they're all screaming about what they used to do to you telling everybody what they used to do and what it was for and they're making all sorts of faces and and screaming they're going to do this again and that and they yell at the time but it's for and I'm going through their people like crap through a goose to get to him here just had enough of them already I don't want to hear about it so I'm going through and I'm attacking him and I can hear some of them saying would you shut up and say it to us and we're not saying anything and they're not hearing anything and they're screaming it so grab them when they're not see now they're just being assholes and we say would you shut up you don't have any thorium they give it all up to sit here and scream and yell like a baby and act like jerks you primarily are but now you're insisting on the idiotic behavior and it's killing you you don't seem to care that's him say we didn't realize that was happening said we're screaming at you and I guess you scream at each other all the time and never pay heed so make sense you know you're dead and we kill them. They're a huge parties that are up at the chasms gigantic and I think he's going to be back for purgatory chasm as we are cuz we know what it means and you just jumping in there like it's just the best thing to do so you have gear that's ridiculous to watch the whole bunch of morons jumping into a hole it's full of dead ground up people and you end up dead quickly and some people are trying to fool around in it and they die huge words pushed in so people can see in the back and some who want to do testing and go down into it and survive it somehow with new contraptions made out of phenolic material and they do last a little bit longer till someone smashes into them with another machine it's been watching this for a few days now about a week and we can hear you have this massive attitude about it because it's an open pit and you used to open pit mining so awesome what they think they're mining I think there's gold or diamonds at the bottom they said no it's kg like he says they run off snickering thinking of hiding something let me say we've never seen this before they say that let me see how why would you think there's gold and diamonds at the bottom of the seathin pit. They look up at us and say because we were told that by someone. I have to formulate an opinion that you're stupid but that's fine you don't know what to set the bottom with it and you have to know for some reason you think jumping into it and continue to cause a problem for yours will of course make something else happen for some unknown reason that alone should tell you that you people are not very Swift and you're not really organized there's so many people that went in there you should be gone start attacking cleaning in a big way and it's almost gone and you will be.

Several projects are underway when is clearing out planetoids of your existence and taking them over a fully and clearing space those two are going along nicely the third project it's nearing completion and so far as success and we will have it the way we want it fairly soon and you will not be incurring any damage on us due to it it will encourage damage on you and a great way there's a moment that we've been waiting for and it's his people in his race who are spearheading it and it's a moment of greatness for all of us is the largest thing that has happened in a lot and a great many years.

We have tons of other projects on Earth you're going to go ahead and get green lighted shortly and one of them is momentarily once ready I'm told this afternoon and we're going to bring it here and start work here with it and it will be the best thing we've ever seen because it will motivate tons of people will see it all people will and you'rswill not. It's a huge project and it's multifaceted and it has components that are just incredible and his idea and his making and people are different with them right now that sounds stupid because he blocks it simply with not much effort and it's my brother-in-law and he's requesting something so I can't do that he's got another line talking I'm going through it and he doesn't want to be involved because most of the time it's the stuff that secretive. But here we are with you sitting there staring don't understanding anything and we keep saying we are so stupid it's gross that chimpanzee this is very similar I need to be exterminated and we will other projects we have going and going along fine and we have things and objects that have to come out and you have to get out of the way and we have to move you Galactus Galactica pyramids and ships and other objects other kju and the things that will force you to move are now being looked at to be removed in order to complete a set especially the pyramids and ships he wants us to get going on the Phoenix so we have to raise the Phoenix love two of them and we have to do it with care and fast immediately it says because we want to show that we're doing that and needs assistance and I'm going to put forward that we do that because it shows that we're putting an effort forward and we need help with it that's a great idea comes from a meeting like this also trying to get him stuff and on that front Bitol and Goddess Wife have good news.

And another note tonight will probably be the night for sleepy hollow and tons of you to check out and Tuesday afternoon we'll have to be in the election because I can't stand you people anymore another week is unbearable and he says it probably will be can't imagine why across is up there so I figured out something it's kind of going on full Steam these haven't gone up there and the place is total disaster so all of a sudden they made sense we have to move it and protect where it is and not tell anyone and then they go up there and that's what takes the time so we're going to move it shortly to another place in Massachusetts probably near a base force them to protect it

Thor Freya

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wazafam · 3 years

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Apple TV+'s For All Mankind has provided an exciting alternate glimpse into world history through its first two seasons. The show, helmed by Battlestar Galactica vet Ron D. Moore, chronicles what would have happened in history had the Soviet Union beat the United States to landing on the moon in the 1960s. Those aren't the only changes to history, though.

RELATED: For All Mankind: Which Character Are You, Based On Your Zodiac Sign?

The point of divergence with the moon landing creates a ripple effect through modern history, altering world events in subtle and obvious ways. The show rarely showcases the changes, rather making them part of the overall fabric, which makes them a little more fun to discover as the series progresses.

10 The Soviet Union Landed On The Moon First

The entire premise of the series is launched when history diverges in a massive way in June of 1969. Instead of Neil Armstrong being the first man on the moon, it's Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov. His success crushes American morale, much as the Soviet success with the first satellite, Sputnik, did in the early 1950s.

The show goes on to show that Apollo 11 crew Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did land on the moon, but it wasn't perfect. They crashed and were feared dead, but later were revealed to have survived.

9 Jamestown

The fear and embarrassment that follows the Soviet landing motivate NASA to accelerate their plans in regards to the moon. In the show, NASA plows forward with the Jamestown moon base, which never existed in actual history. This base, launched in 1973, became the centerpiece of the American lunar program. It was added on to and expanded into the 1980s.

In real life, NASA abandoned the Apollo program after a few landings, when public interest dwindled. Apollo 13 was one of the last flights of major interest to the American public, largely because of its in-flight accident, which became the subject of a movie about the real-life space crew.

8 Women Become Astronauts Sooner

From the beginning, the Soviet cosmonaut program was far more inclusive when it came to using both men and women. The first American woman in space, Sally Ride, didn't reach orbit until 1983 when she was part of the crew of the space shuttle Challenger.

In the show, the Soviets send a woman to the Moon after the US lands there. This leads NASA to be more ambitious in including women in the astronaut corps as well. Molly Cobb became the first woman in space in the show, with Apollo 15. Danielle Pool, Tracy Stevens, and Ellen Wilson are among the others to go as well.

7 President Kennedy

Senator Edward Kennedy ran for President of the United States in 1980 against incumbent Jimmy Carter but failed to win the nomination. In the series, he becomes President in 1973. Kennedy leaves a party on Chappaquiddick Island in 1969 due to the Soviet moon landing and avoids a tragic historical event that forever tainted his political prospects.

RELATED: For All Mankind Season 2: 5 Things Episode 1 Answered (& 5 Questions We Still Have)

Kennedy succeeded in becoming President in the alternate history of the show, but his fortunes didn't continue. His personal troubles and the successive failures of the early Apollo program doomed his re-election and led to another change in history.

6 Reagan Becomes President In 1976

Ronald Reagan was elected President in 1980 and oversaw the end of the Cold War, depicted in many excellent Cold War-era movies. In the reality of For All Mankind, he becomes President four years earlier after he defeats Kennedy in 1976 in a massive landslide.

Reagan is said to have won re-election in 1980, but the circumstances of that campaign aren't known. In the show as in real life, Reagan was bullish on militarizing space, particularly through his 'Star Wars' SDI program, which many feared would lead to nuclear war.

5 John Lennon Is Still Alive In 1983

Former member of the Beatles and legendary musician John Lennon tragically died in 1980, assassinated in front of his home in New York City. He survived in the world of the show and is shown in the second season of the series to be the advocate for peace he was in real life.

He calls for peace as the world hurtles toward nuclear conflict in the early '80s. While the outcome of the Cold War is expected to be somewhat similar, given there will be a season three of the show set in the '90s, it's not clear if events transpired exactly as they did in real life.

4 America Withdraws From Vietnam Sooner

Though the conflict with the Soviet Union becomes more pitched thanks to the moon landing, America's involvement in the Vietnam War deescalates. America withdraws from Vietnam much earlier, in 1970, a full five years before it did in actual history.

President Nixon does this in order to allow America to focus more on the space race, which they are seen to be lagging in. The fate of Vietnam is not known in the show past this point, though it likely mirrors that of real-life somewhat as the rest of the show's alternate history does.

3 Charles And Diana Don't Marry

The fourth season of The Crown depicts the historical fascination with the marriage of Charles and Diana in 1981. In the world of For All Mankind, this never happened. The show's alternate history has Prince Charles marrying Camilla Parker-Bowles, his eventual second wife, rather than Diana Spencer.

RELATED: Apple TV+: 10 Shows To Watch If You Like For All Mankind

This of course would have major repercussions to established history not yet explored by the series. The couple's two sons, William and Harry, would never be born in this scenario, altering the trajectory of the royal family into the 21st century.

2 The Wrath Of Khan

This change is fairly subtle. In episode five of the second season, “The Weight,” viewers discover that one of the greatest Star Trek movies ever, The Wrath Of Khan, has just come out in 1983. This is a slight change from real history, where the movie came out in 1982.

The movie famously changed its original title of The Revenge Of Khan due to the impending Revenge Of The Jedi, which of course was then changed to Return Of The Jedi. This suggests that Return Of The Jedi happened as is in the alternate timeline, though maybe not in 1983.

1 Mankind Lands On Mars In The 90s

A major consequence of the Soviet moon landing in 1969 is President Kennedy's commitment to beat the Soviets to Mars. This happens in the final moments of the second season finale when the show flashes forward ten years into the '90s. Fans see an American astronaut on Mars, fulfilling Kennedy's ambition and marking a massive departure from actual history.

Humanity has placed several rovers and probes on the Martian surface but remains far away from the prospect of landing a crew there any time soon.

NEXT: Chernobyl: 10 Other Historical Events From The Soviet Union That Deserve Their Own Miniseries

For All Mankind: 10 Things Different In This Alternate History from https://ift.tt/33aY0fz

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uomo-accattivante · 6 years

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A long time ago, a grade-schooler got his hands on a spaceship. He followed the assembly instructions as best he could, snapping on the cannons, the landing gear, the tiny interstellar-chess table. Soon enough, Rian Johnson was holding his very own Millennium Falcon. “The first thing I did,” he recalls, “was throw it across the room, to see how it would look flying.” He grins. “And it broke.”

Johnson grew up, went to film school, made some good stuff, including the entertainingly twisted 2012 sci-fi drama Looper. He’s nearly 44 now, though his cherub cheeks and gentle manner make it easy to picture the kid he was (too easy, maybe – he’s trying to grow back a goatee he shaved); even his neatly pressed short-sleeve button-down has a picture-day feel. In late October, he’s sitting in an office suite inside Disney’s Burbank studios that he’s called home for many months, where a whiteboard declares, “We’re working on Star Wars: The Last Jedi (in case you forgot).” Johnson is the film’s writer-director, which means he ended up with the world’s finest collection of replacement toys, including a life-size Falcon set that nearly brought him to tears when he stepped onto it. He treated it all with what sounds like an intriguing mix of reverence and mischief – cast members keep saying nothing was quite what they expected. “I shook up the box a little bit,” he says, with that same grin.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, everything is broken. In the months since the franchise stirred back to life in 2015’s The Force Awakens, it has felt rather like some incautious child grabbed civilization itself and threw it across the room – and, midflight, many of us realized we were the evil Empire all along, complete with a new ruler that even latter-day George Lucas at his most CGI-addled would reject as too grotesque and implausible a character.

Weirdly, the saga saw it all coming – or maybe it’s not so weird when you consider the Vietnam War commentary embedded in Lucas’ original trilogy, or the warnings about democracy’s fragility in his prequels. In the J.J. Abrams-directed The Force Awakens, a revanchist movement calling itself the First Order assembles in Triumph of the Will-style marches, showing the shocking strength of an ideology that was supposed to have been thoroughly defeated long ago. What’s left of the government is collapsing and feckless, so the only hope in sight is a band of good guys known as the Resistance. Familiar, this all sounds.

“It’s somewhat a reflection of society,” acknowledges the saga’s new star, Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey, and who has gone from unknown London actress to full-blown movie star nearly as fast as her character went from desert scavenger to budding Jedi. “But also it is escapism, because there are creatures and there are people running around with fucking lasers and shit. So, I think, a wonderful mix of both.”

And the worse the world gets, the more we need that far-off galaxy, says Gwendoline Christie, who plays stormtrooper honcho Captain Phasma (as well as Game of Thrones’ Brienne of Tarth): “During testing times, there’s nothing wrong with being transported by art. I think we all need it. Many of us are united in our love for this one thing.”

The Last Jedi, due December 15th, is the second episode of the current trilogy, and advance word has suggested that, as in the original middle film, The Empire Strikes Back, things get darker this time. But Johnson pushes back on that, though he does admit some influence from the morally ambiguous 2000s reboot of Battlestar Galactica (which is funny, because Lucas considered the Seventies TV show a rip-off and urged a lawsuit – long since settled – against it). “That’s one thing I hope people will be surprised about with the movie,” Johnson says. “I think it’s very funny. The trailers have been kind of dark – the movie has that, but I also made a real conscious effort for it to be a riot. I want it to have all the things tonally that I associate with Star Wars, which is not just the Wagner of it. It’s also the Flash Gordon.”

As of late October, almost no one has seen it yet, but Johnson seems eerily free of apprehension about its prospects. He exuded a similar calm on set, according to Adam Driver, who plays Han and Leia’s Darth Vader-worshipping prodigal son, Kylo Ren. “If I had that job, I would be stressed out,” he says. “To pick up where someone left off and carry it forward, but also introduce a vocabulary that hasn’t been seen in a Star Wars movie before, is a tall order and really hard to get right. He’s incredibly smart and doesn’t feel the need to let everyone know it.” (“It felt like we were playing the whole time,” says Kelly Marie Tran, cast as the biggest new character, Rose Tico.) A few weeks after we talk, Lucasfilm announces that Johnson signed on to make three more Star Wars films in the coming decade, the first that step outside of the prevailing Skywalker saga, indicating that Disney and Lucasfilm matriarch Kathleen Kennedy are more than delighted with Last Jedi. And Kennedy’s not easily delighted, having recently replaced the directors of a Han Solo spinoff midshoot and removed original Episode 9 director Colin Trevorrow in favor of Abrams’ return.

The Force Awakens’ biggest triumph was the introduction of new characters worth caring about, led by Rey and Kylo Ren, plus the likes of John Boyega’s stormtrooper-defector Finn, Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron and more. Kylo Ren (born Ben Solo) lightsaber-shanked Harrison Ford’s Han, depriving Johnson of one coveted action figure – but the film left us with Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia, now the general who leads the Resistance, and the climactic reveal of Mark Hamill’s now-grizzled Luke Skywalker.

The Last Jedi will be Fisher’s last Star Wars movie. In the waning days of the cruel year of 2016, she went into cardiac arrest on an airplane, dying four days later. Less than a month afterward, 500,000 or so people assembled in Washington, D.C., for that city’s Women’s March, and Leia was everywhere, in posters bearing her doughnut-haired image circa 1977, with accompanying slogans (“A Woman’s Place Is in the Resistance” was, perhaps, the best).

Johnson had grown close with Fisher, and is glad to hear that I visited her psychedelically decorated Beverly Hills house a couple of years back, where she did almost an entire hilarious interview prone in bed. Afterward, she cheerily cracked jokes about drugs and mental illness in front of a visiting Disney publicist. “You got to experience a little bit of that magical sphere that she created,” says Johnson, who went over the script with her in that same bedroom. “I’m happy I got to poke my head into that, briefly, and know her even a little bit.”

He left her part in the film untouched. “We didn’t end up changing a thing,” says Johnson. “Luckily, we had a totally complete performance from her.” So it is now Abrams who has to figure out how to grapple with Fisher and Leia’s sudden absence. (He is characteristically gnomic on the matter: “It’s a sad reality,” he says. “In terms of going forward … time will tell what ends up getting done.”)

Overall, Johnson enjoyed what seems like an almost unfathomable level of autonomy in shaping The Last Jedi’s story. He says no one dictated a single plot point, that he simply decided what happens next. And he’s baffled by fans who are concerned by the idea that they’re “making it up as we go along”: “The truth is, stories are made up! Whether somebody made this whole thing up 10 years ago and put it on a whiteboard and we all have to stick to that, or whether we’re organically finding it as we move forward, it doesn’t mean that any less thought is being put into it.”

Mark Hamill’s single scene in The Force Awakens lasts all of one minute, and he doesn’t say a thing. But it’s an indelible piece of screen acting with real gravitas, from an underrated performer who had become better known for Broadway and voice-over work – he’s been the definitive animated Joker since the early Nineties. (“With voice-over,” Hamill says, “I thought, ‘This is great! I can let myself go to hell physically! I don’t have to memorize lines!’”) As Rey approaches him on the lonely mountaintop where’s he’s presumably spent years studying the Jedi equivalent of the Talmud, Luke Skywalker’s bearded face cycles through grief, terror and longing.

“I didn’t look at that as ‘Oh, this is going to be my big chance,’” says Hamill, who has just shown up at Johnson’s offices and plopped down next to him, carrying a large thermos of coffee in the right hand that Darth Vader once chopped off. He has a trimmed-down version of his elder-Jedi beard, which he’s grown to appreciate: “I shaved, and I thought, ‘You know what, the beard does cover up the jowl.’”

Hamill is a charming, jittery chatterbox – turns out that even at his youngest and prettiest, he was a geek trapped in the body of a golden boy. He is excitable and wild-eyed enough to give the vague sense that, like Luke, he actually might have spent a few solitary years on a distant planet, and is still readjusting to Earth life, or at least movie stardom.

He admits to having had “frustrations over being over-associated” with Star Wars over the years – his Skywalking cost him a chance at even auditioning to reprise his stage role as Mozart in the film of Amadeus – “but nothing that caused me any deep anguish.” He still spent the decades since Return of the Jedi acting and raising a family with Marilou, his wife of 39 years. And as for his current return to the role of Luke? “It’s a culmination of my career,” he says. “If I focused on how enormous it really is, I don’t think I could function. I told Rian that. I said, as absurd as it sounds, ‘I’m going to have to pretend this is an art-house film that no one is going to see.’ ”

For his Force Awakens scene, he says, “I didn’t know – and I don’t think J.J. really knew – specifically what had happened in those 30 years. Honestly, what I did was try and give J.J. a range of options. Neutral, suspicion, doubt … taking advantage of the fact that it’s all thoughts. I love watching silent films. Think of how effective they could be without dialogue.”

Abrams had some trepidation over the idea of handing Hamill a script with such a tiny role. “The last thing I wanted to do was insult a childhood hero,” he says, “but I also knew it was potentially one of the great drumrolls of all time.” In fact, Hamill’s first reaction was, “What a rip-off, I don’t get to run around the Death Star bumping heads with Carrie and Harrison anymore!”

But he came to agree with Abrams, especially after he counted the number of times Luke was mentioned in the screenplay – he thinks it was more than 50: “I don’t want to say, ‘That’s the greatest entrance in cinematic history’ … but certainly the greatest entrance of my career.”

Johnson turns to Hamill. “Did I ever tell you that early on when I was trying to figure out the story for this,” he says, “I had a brief idea I was chasing where I was like, ‘What if Luke is blind? What if he’s, like, the blind samurai?’ But we didn’t do it. You’re welcome. Didn’t stick.” (He adds that this was before a blind Force-using character showed up in 2016’s side film Rogue One.)

Hamill laughs, briefly contemplating how tough that twist would’ve been: “Luke, not too close to the cliff!”

He had a hard enough time with the storyline Johnson actually created for Luke, who is now what the actor calls a “disillusioned” Jedi. “This is not a joyful story to tell,” Hamill says, “my portion of it.” Johnson confirms that Hamill flat-out told him at the start that he disagreed with the direction Luke’s character was taking. “We then started a conversation,” says Johnson. “We went back and forth, and after having to explain my version, I adjusted it. And I had to justify it to myself, and that ended up being incredibly useful. I felt very close to Mark by the end. Those early days of butting heads and then coming together, that process always brings you closer.”

Hamill pushed himself to imagine how Luke could’ve gotten to his place of alienation. A rock fan who’s buddies with the Kinks’ Dave Davies, Hamill started thinking about shattered hippie dreams as he watched a Beatles documentary. “I was hearing Ringo talk about ‘Well, in those days, it was peace and love.’ And how it was a movement that largely didn’t work. I thought about that. Back in the day, I thought, by the time we get into power, there will be no more wars. Pot will be legal.” He smiles at that part. “I believed all that. I had to use that feeling of failure to relate to it.” (We do already know that Luke was training a bunch of Jedi, and Kylo Ren turned on him.)

Hamill’s grief over the loss of Fisher is still fresh, especially since the two of them got to renew their bond, and their space-sibling squabbling, after fallow decades that had given them far fewer reasons to get together. “There was now a comfort level that she had with me,” he says, “that I wasn’t out to get anything or trying to hustle her in any way. I was the same person that I was when she knew me. … I was sort of the square, stick-in-the-mud brother, and she was the wild, madcap Auntie Mame.” Promoting the movie is bringing it all back for him. “I just can’t stand it,” he says. “She’s wonderful in the movie. But it adds a layer of melancholy we don’t deserve. I’d love the emotions to come from the story, not from real life.”

I mention how hard Luke seems to have had it: never meeting his mom; finding the burnt corpses of the aunt and uncle who raised him; those well-known daddy issues; the later years of isolation. “It’s the life of a hero, man,” says Johnson. “That’s what you’ve gotta do to be a hero. You’ve gotta watch people that you love burn to death!”

Hamill notes that reality is not so great either. “Sometimes,” he says, softer than usual, “you think, ‘I’d rather have Luke’s life than mine.’”

Adam Driver has a question for me. “What,” he asks, “is emo?”

Between training for the Marines and training at Juilliard to become one of his generation’s most extraordinary actors, Driver missed some stuff, including entire music genres. But the rest of the world (including an amusing parody Twitter account) decided there’s something distinctly emo about his character, with his luxuriant hair, black outfits and periodic temper tantrums. “You have someone who’s being told that he’s special his whole life,” Driver says of his character, “and he can feel it. And he feels everything probably more intensely than the people around him, you know?”

As anyone who’s seen Driver in practically anything, even Girls, could tell you, the actor himself seems to feel things more strongly than most. “I don’t think of myself as a particularly intense person,” he says, possibly not unaware that he is making intense eye contact, and that his right knee is bouncing up and down with excess energy. “I get obsessive about certain things and, like, enjoy the process of working on something.” He’s in a Brooklyn cafe, on a tree-lined street, that seems to be his go-to spot for interviews. He arrived early, fresh from shooting the new Spike Lee movie, wearing a dark-blue sweater over black jeans and high-top Adidas. Driver has a certainty to him, a steel core, that’s a little intimidating, despite his obvious affability and big, near-constant laugh. It’s not unlike talking to Harrison Ford, who played his dad. Until Driver’s character murdered him.

Driver, raised by his mom and preacher stepdad after his parents divorced when he was seven, doesn’t flinch when I suggest his own father issues might be at work. “I don’t know that it’s always that literal,” he says. He mentions that Kylo Ren also murders Max Van Sydow’s character, who was sort of a “distant uncle” to him. “No one asks me, ‘So you have a distant-uncle problem?’ ”

John Boyega told me in 2015 that Driver stayed in character on set, but that seems to be not quite true. Driver just tries to keep focused on his character’s emotions in the face of an environment he can’t help but find ridiculous. “Watching Star Wars, it’s an action-adventure,” he says. “But shooting it, it’s a straight comedy. Stormtroopers trying to find a bathroom. People dressed as trolls, like, running into doorways. It’s hilarious.” And when he wears his helmet, he can’t see very well. “You’re supposed to be very stealth, and a tree root takes you down.”

He refuses to see his character as bratty. “There is a little bit of an elitist, royalty thing going on,” he says, reminding us that the character’s estranged mom is “the princess. I think he’s aware of maybe the privilege.” He does acknowledge playing Kylo Ren younger than his own age of 34: “I don’t want to say how much younger, 'cause people will read into it… .” He flushes, and later says he regrets mentioning it at all. If it’s a plot spoiler, it’s unclear exactly how, unless it’s related to his unexplained connection to Rey. The two apparently spend serious time together in this film. “The relationship between Kylo and Rey is awesome,” says Ridley, whom Driver calls a “great scene partner,” apparently one of his highest compliments.

At first, Driver wasn’t totally sure he wanted to be in a Star Wars movie. I’m always skeptical of Hollywood movies because they’re mostly just too broad,“ he says. But Abrams’ pitch, emphasizing the uniqueness of Kylo Ren’s character as a conflicted villain, made the sale. “Everything about him from the outside is designed to project the image that he’s assured,” he says. Only in private can he acknowledge “how un-figured-out he is … how weak.”

Driver can make a passionate case for why Kylo Ren isn’t actually a villain at all.

“It’s not like people weren’t living on the Death Star,” he says, his brown eyes shifting from puppyish to fierce without warning. He seems almost in character now. “Isn’t that also an act of terrorism against the hundreds of thousands of people who died there? Did they not have families? I see how people can point to examples that make themselves feel they’re right. And when you feel in your bones that you’re supported by a higher power on top of that, and you’re morally right, there’s no limit to what you’ll do to make sure that you win. Both sides feel this way.”

You’re starting to talk me into joining the Empire, I say. He laughs and shifts his delivery one degree over the top. “So, the rebels are bad,” he says, connecting his fist with the table. “I strongly believe this!”

On an extravagantly rainy Thursday evening in Montreal, I’m sitting at crowded, noisy Le Vin Papillon, a wine bar ranked as Canada’s fourth-best restaurant, holding a seat for a Jedi. Ridley arrives right on time, in a fuzzy faux-fur coat and a jumper dress – “the dregs of my wardrobe,” she says. Her shortish hair is in a Rey-ish topknot that makes her way too recognizable, but she doesn’t care. “This is how I have always had my hair,” says Ridley. “I am not going to change it.” She’s been in Montreal for three months, shooting a Doug Liman-directed sci-fi movie called Chaos Walking – which “is a little bit chaotic, in that we’re writing as we go and everything,” she says. “I’ve realized I don’t work well with that.”

She’s on the second of two unexpected days off thanks to co-star Tom Holland (a.k.a the latest Spider-Man) suffering an impacted wisdom tooth, but she’s still deeply exhausted.

“I need a [vitamin] B shot in my ass,” she muses, in the kind of upscale British accent that makes curses sound elegant. It seems already clear that typecasting won’t pose the kind of problem for her that it did for the likes of Hamill and Fisher. Instead, she’s just busy in a way that only a freshly minted 25-year-old movie star could be – and she still managed to fulfill a pre-fame plan to go back to college for a semester last year. “I have no control in my life at all,” she says. She has four movies on the way, not even counting the Liman one. “So there is a lot going on, and I have never had to deal with that before. I don’t think my brain can really keep up with what is going on.” She has full-blown night terrors: “I wake up and scream.”

Rey had an epochal moment in the last movie, claiming her lightsaber from the snowy ground, and with it, her power, her destiny, her place at the center of the narrative. Her turn. Ridley is still absorbing what that moment, and that character, mean to women and little girls. But she definitely felt more pressure this time around, especially because last time, “it was all so insane, it felt like a dream,” she says. “I remember saying to Rian, 'I am so fucking neurotic on this one.’ I was like, 'I am going to fuck this up. All these people think this thing. How do I do that thing?’ ”

Part of the problem may have been Ridley’s tendency to downplay what she pulled off in the first movie. Her heart-tugging solo scenes in the first act, especially the moment where she eats her sad little “one half portion” of green space bread, created enormous goodwill, in seconds, for a character no one had seen before. She mentions Harrison Ford’s effusive praise for that eating scene, to the point where he was “getting emotional.” “I don’t know,” she says with a shrug, ultimately giving credit for the impact to Abrams and the movie’s cinematographer, Dan Mindel. “I was just eating!”

But in other ways, Rey has given her confidence. On her current film, she says, she was offered a stunt double for a scene where a door would swing open and knock her back. She took Liman aside and said, “'Doug, I don’t need a stunt double to do that.’ And I thought, 'I don’t know if this would’ve happened if it was Tom Holland.’”

Unlike almost everyone else in the world, Ridley has known for years who Rey’s parents are, since Abrams told her on the set of The Force Awakens. Ridley believes that nothing ever changed: “I thought what I was told in the beginning is what it is.” Which is odd, because Johnson insists he had free rein to come up with any answer he wanted to the question. “I wasn’t given any directive as to what that had to be,” he says. “I was never given the information that she is this or she is that.”

The idea that Johnson and Abrams somehow landed on the same answer does seem to suggest that Rey’s parents aren’t some random, never-before-seen characters. All that said, Abrams cryptically hints there may have been more coordination between him and Johnson than the latter director has let on, so who knows what’s going on here – they may be messing with us to preserve one of Abrams’ precious mystery boxes. In any case, Ridley loves the speculation: Her favorite fan theories involve immaculate conception and time travel. It seems more likely that she’s either Luke’s daughter or his niece, but again, who knows.

Back in 2015, Ridley told me she was fine with the idea of being seen as Rey forever, the way Fisher was always Leia. Now she’s changed her mind. “There are literally no similarities with Carrie’s story and mine,” she says, adding that while Fisher ultimately embraced writing over acting, she plans on continuing to “inhabit” as many characters as possible. On the other hand, “a lot of Rey is me,” she says, “but that is not me being Rey. That is parts of me being a character as Rey, because how could it not? So in that sense, I understand it, because so much of Leia is Carrie.”

This trilogy will end with Abrams’ Last Jedi sequel, and after that, it sounds like the main thrust of the franchise will move into Johnson’s mysterious new movies, which look to be unconnected to the previous saga. As far as Abrams is concerned, that will be the end of the Skywalker story. “I do see it that way,” he says. “But the future is in flux.”

As far as Ridley is concerned, the future of Rey is pretty much set. She doesn’t want to play the character after the next movie. “No,” she says flatly. “For me, I didn’t really know what I was signing on to. I hadn’t read the script, but from what I could tell, it was really nice people involved, so I was just like, 'Awesome.’ Now I think I am even luckier than I knew then, to be part of something that feels so like coming home now.”

But, um, doesn’t that sort of sound like a yes? “No,” she says again, smiling a little. “No, no, no. I am really, really excited to do the third thing and round it out, because ultimately, what I was signing on to was three films. So in my head, it’s three films. I think it will feel like the right time to round it out.”

And how about coming back in 30 years, as her predecessors did? She considers this soberly, between bites of Brussels sprouts roasted on the stalk. (We split the dish, which means she got … one half portion.) “Who knows? I honestly feel like the world may end in the next 30 years, so, if in 30 years we are not living underground in a series of interconnected cells … then sure. Maybe. But again, it’s like, who knows. Because the thing I thought was so amazing, was people really wanted it. And it was done by people who really love it.”

She thinks even harder about it, this new Star Wars trilogy that we’ve made up on the spot. “How old will I be?” she asks, before doing the math. “55.” She looks very young for a moment, as she tries to picture herself as a middle-aged Jedi. Then she gives up. It’s time to go, anyway; she has a 5:25 a.m. pickup tomorrow for her new movie. “Fuck,” Ridley says. “I can’t think that far ahead.”

###

#oscar isaac #poe dameron #star wars #the last jedi #rolling stone #rian johnson #mark hamill #luke skywalker #adam driver #kylo ren #daisy ridley #rey #john boyega #finn #carrie fisher #general leia #jj abrams

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junkyardlynx · 7 years

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As I entered the cockpit of my war-frame, something of a sigh escaped my psionic and vocal apparati. I had expected something…more. Maybe the Helyne were the remnants of galactic conquerors who saw the destruction and grief that they had wrought and, in their regret, allowed their societies and species to regress until the spark of sentience no longer lit their actions. Perhaps the Helyne were the watchers of the universe, sending their observations to a great cell that recorded all knowledge and meticulously cataloged it.

Yia, thus these were not the answers. The Helyne were…pets. As they always were. Spread by one sentient creature’s earnest wish to share their love with the universe expanded. This made them no less special, but in the moments as the Earth shrunk in the real-time visual feeds, I felt two things. Disappointment, followed by immediate guilt. The blackness of the space between stars swallowed the war-frame and I closed my eyes, allowing myself to process information more efficiently.

My issue was that I always craved the darker things.

“Was I everything you hoped for, Spiderman?”

The sudden voice snapped me from my thoughts as pinpricked black gave way to a warm and terribly constant light brown colour, a visual effect of the method that powered our faster than light travel. A projection of Emma-Uh lit up the soft golden glow of the cockpit, slender hands on her cheeks in an apparent show of mockery.

“I…yes, to find a remnant of a precursor civilization is alway-”

“Remnant? Wow buddy, you gotta work on your people skills. Listen. I may be a collection of data inside your sick 2030s anime mech, but I have feelings.”

“You are correct, I apologize. Emma-Uh, allow me to begin again. To meet a brilliant mind such as yours would be a pleasure in any circumstance, but to know the pinnacle of Earth-form achievements personally and to talk to them inside of Ashir is quite another. I am glad to have found you.”

“Okay, two things. Three, maybe. Let’s just start at one. One, my name is just Emma. The “uh” was a vocalization of hesitation. Two, if I had cheeks they’d be burning so watch it with the compliments. Three, is Ashir the name of your Ikari Shinji wet dream here? Four, why does it look like I spilled my mocha latte over all of everything?”

I was momentarily floored as I began to process the information. Translators were never good for popular culture references, so I filed “Ikari Shinji”, “wet dream”, and “mocha latte” away for later. The burning cheeks part…that I understood. Embarrassment causes a similar reaction for my people, lighting our psionic nodes up a peculiar purple. Best to play dumb though, I conclude.

“I apologize once again, Emma. It was not my intention to misname you, nor cause a simulation of physical agony.”

“That’s not what I…I mean…” My only thought was that her reaction was “cute.” Pointed retaliation. I continued.

“To answer your questions, Ashir is the name of my exalted war-frame. As Radiant Prime, I am naturally the most fit to pilot our finest craft, but that aside, Ashir is a dear friend to me. He spends most of his current existence in a form of stasis, acting as the core and power system of the war-frame. It is for this reason we describe them as war-frames - all machinery and technology is a housing for the being at the heart of it.”

“Wait, like, an actual perso- ah. I see now.” She was silent for a time, arms crossed in front of her torso, head inclined in thought. When she spoke, her voice was distant, analytical, but not cold. Just immersed in her thoughts.

“Your species commands immense psionic power. Psionic power, being the manifestation of thought and emotional energy leaving imprints on the world. Theoretical uses range from telekinetics to mind-reading to seeing into memories of the past. You also appear to be long lived, but that’s just conjecture based on your physical form. Psionics were something we dabbled in but it never got out of its infancy because the kids kept frying their minds. No proper channeling organs. No natural aptitude. But you. Those crystalline nodes. With training you could turn your entire body into a conduit. Training, or…an accident…” She trailed off.

“You have the framework of it, as it were. The greatest fear in psionics is losing one’s self in the flow and to become unable to turn off our connection. That being becomes a torrent of power, suffering something akin to a death of the self as a singular mind cannot separate from the flood. Two options remain at that point. True death, or service. Ashir kept enough of himself to choose service to his friend. So we shackled his disintegrating form to a binding crystal and built him a new existence..” Mutual silence filled the war-frame. In the aftermath of this revelation, the geometry of the space felt akin to one of our necropoli, quiet and permeated old grief.

“Well, I’ve heard of friends giving you a ride but this is a whole other level.” Her humor was appreciated. As if in affirmation of this Earth-form, the golden glow of the cockpit intensified and became laced with warm reds.

“I believe he likes you” I attempted a smile. Though Ashir did not often directly communicate, he retained awareness of what happened in the confines of his form, and would often reflect his emotional state with the lighting. I…made many attempts to avoid blue lighting.

“As for the color of the space outside, its the determinate average colour of this galaxy. Our war-frames and ships use our unique power sources to complete normally impossible feats. I’m sure you know of the idea of folding space - connecting two faraway points by “folding” the distance and punching a hole through.“

Emma nodded, whispering something about “can’t fucking believe Dune got it right” under her breath. What did sandscapes in desert climates have to do with this?

“Our method is similar. A psionic who becomes a conduit is privy to an unprecedented amount of information. They see their current point in space, and their destination as well, and every single connection between the two - from dead space to blazing stars. We observed a peculiar law of the universe thousands of cycles ago. To merely observe changes the outcome of an event. If simple observation has such an effect, can you not affect events with raw willpower? And so, the psionic sees himself in space-time, sees his destination and determines that he has arrived at his destination. With the backing of such psychic force, the universe cannot challenge this without creating a paradox of observer inconsistency. We do not move the stars, but they move for us.”

Emma was stunned for the first time. It was an expression that I could find nothing but charming.

“So you lie to the universe so hard it gives up? That. That’s awesome. But in, if the travel is as instantaneous as it sounds, why has it been twenty minutes in a Starbucks latte for us?”

Through cross referencing of Ashir’s databanks on Earth broadcasts and media, I found that a latte is a drink of steeped bean juice and cream. It sounded delicious. My only record of a Starbuck pertained to the late human period of Galactica, in which living robots overthrow their creators. Was this their downfall? Dark, to be sure. Returning in the blink of an eye to the question at hand, I answered.

“Though we move instantly, the universe refuses to bow to our will completely. We are forced to wait an amount of time before we can leave a set boundary field, or we risk causing a chain reaction of paradoxical inconsistencies. So…ten more of your minutes, I’d estimate, given the distance from your Earth to my Empire.”

“Huh. Wait. Your Empire, Ves? Like, you run it or…”

“Emma, perhaps I should have explained. In our Empire’s military, we are granted titles based upon our rank. The titles are named as such for the beacon of knowledge we have proven to shine with, along with a numerical designation.”

“The words Empire and military make me suspicious of what kind of knowledge that is, you know. But uh, illuminate me. Hehehe. Illuminate.”

My lips formed a wry smile at the joke. Ashir and I built a very good translator to be able to allow such easy jokes.

“Very well. An enlisted member is first ranked at Dull. Disparaging, but with promise. From there, Dim. At the top of the main corps, Gleaming. No numerical designation is given for the first three ranks, because we simply do not have the patience to ascribe numerals for trillions of people. From there, Glowing, Lustrous and Lucent. The leap from being a Gleaming soldier to a Glowing one is quite large, and as such, Glowing receive a numeral. Our lowest Glowing is Six Hundred Thousand, Forty Three. The numbers shrink from there, to a mere four digits for a Lucent.”

Emma was miming at me, nodding furiously and pretending to take notes. As if she needed to. I knew first hand her sharp intellect.

“We have specialists above those, each in lateral ranking. Penumbral officers are those who have delved far into the psionic record and lost a piece of themselves in exchange for martial prowess. Incandescents are those that work with psionics to create dazzling illusions for both recreation and war. But from there, the ranks thin considerably.”

“Yayayaya, you’re all really bright kids. This sounds like a practiced speech so I’m gonna hurry you along.” Her flippanch betrays her voracious eyes, eagerly devouring this alien culture. Through years of study and bloodshed alike, I have learned that most sentient races with classical “faces” perform many of the same expressions. She craved more. More of this second chance at existence. A bemused part of me eagerly awaited her first contact with a Shalui. Most were visibly bewildered.

“As you wish, oh enlightened one. Speaking of, Enlightened is after Lucent. Its said that one reaches this rank when their actions have left a permanent mark upon the starscape. Much like you.” Emma was quiet, but her digital form averted its eyes as its cheeks flushed a sweet red.

“After that, Luminous. And last, Aureate. There are only twenty Aureates, and one could bring down a star system with just their War-frame and personal armaments.”

“Okay, well, that’s somewhat terrifying if cool in a wish fulfillment power fantasy kinda way. You guys sound very warlike, but I suppose humanity doesn’t get to talk about other species being warlike. Anyway, I didn’t hear about any Radiant.”

“Ah. Yes. I am Radiant Prime. There are only two Radiants, currently. The war prince and his younger sibling. She is Radiant Second.”

“So, Ves…you’re an older brother?” She skirted around the question, obviously wanting me to answer as clearly as possible.

"Yes, Emma. I am first in line of the royal family. My mother’s royal, personal title is Her Burning Will, and has been for the last four hundred cycles. Those equate to years in your parlance. The hellion that is Radiant Second is named Selin, and I love her dearly. Even if she insists on being a…royal pain in my side when she gets the chance.” I couldn’t help but fill with pride as I spoke. I had been bred and engineered for royal perfection and bearing, a kingly child since I emerged from my crystal, but this went beyond that. I rarely had the chance to speak about my beloved little sister and my strong, amazing mother.

"Your job description is literally war prince and your mom has been top dog for 400 years. I. I went to MIT.” She went silent again. I assume that whatever institute she attended was quite prestigious on Earth, to have turned out such a person.

“Well, you’re just Ves to me. Or is that gonna lead to my deletion at the hand of some uppity noble?”

I laughed. My psionic nodes sang joyfully and my own voice rang out with them.

“No, Emma. We encourage people to treat us as they would any other. Even if not…well. No one would harm the Radiant’s charge. Especially since I plan to make you a member of the royal court. It’s more like an extended family than a traditional court, being composed of close advisers and trusted compatriots.” My words ended with a flourish as we returned to normal space, and the shining capital of Iluria Mari sprawled out before us. The cockpit retracted as I set Ashir down on the red grass of the Imperial Courtyard. Golden pedals shining with bioluminesence whirled around us and the smell of my beloved Haja fruit trees warmed the air. I wished she could smell it.

“Family…”

“Yes, family. I cannot accept that you have been alone for so long after your wondrous deed. You deserved more. I demand the universe repays its debt to you, and I make it so with my will. Welcome home, Emma.”

#writing #i think this is weak but eh #my writing #short story

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jenniferisacommonname · 6 years

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You’re Wrong About Hamilton

Man, could I have come up with a more clickbaity title for this post? (To be honest, yes, I could. “The Top 8 Reasons Why You’re Wrong About Hamilton,” perhaps, or “Lin-Manuel Miranda Can’t Stand This Texas Mom.”) Anyway, like all clickbait, I’ve attempted to sucker you in with an emotional response that won’t be supported by the text. You are right—assuming you’re one of the musical’s bajillion fans—that Hamilton is incredible. What you’re wrong about is why it is incredible.

Yes, the lyrics are inspired, and the melodies are heartrendingly cyclical, and the thematic mise-en-scene is nothing short of a Marshall McLuhan wet dream. But in the end, the true power of any story comes down to the emotional hook, which gets its barb not from suspense, or pain, or triumph, but from human relatability. Weakness in times of struggle, cowardice in the face of danger, base temptation when everything is on the line.

Nearly every moment in the show is one of these, from Hamilton’s inability to “say no to this,” to Burr’s fear of orphaning his daughter, to Washington’s need to “be real a second, for just a millisecond.” But to me, the best example comes near the beginning of Act I, just as Hamilton is joining up with his new crew.

HAMILTON:

Give me a position, show me where the ammunition is!

—Oh, am I talking too loud?

Sometimes I get overexcited, shoot off at the mouth.

I never had a group of friends before

I promise that I’ll make y’all proud.

LAURENS:

Let’s get this guy in front of a crowd!

Cue the enthusiastic chorus about not throwing away one’s shot. Hamilton’s little aside does nothing to advance the plot, and its characterization is in frank opposition to the rest of the song, which is about what a revolutionary badass he is. Everyone else on stage basically ignores his moment of apologetic self-deprecation. But we see it. And don’t doubt that it’s important—whole songs, equal in lyric brilliance to the rest of the work, had to be cut for length and pacing. Yet this stark interruption stayed in, because Lin-Manuel Miranda knows how to compose a hook.

But I’ll not rest on just one example, oh no! Let’s take an even more direct comparison: Battlestar Galactica and Titanic. (I know, but stay with me here.) In the latter, smarmy Cal escapes onto a lifeboat by effectively kidnapping a small child and claiming, “Please, I’m all she has in the world.” In the 2004 remake of Battlestar Galactica, there is a similar scene in which only a few refugees can fit onto a ship leaving a doomed planet. They draw numbers, and accidental-turncoat Gaius Baltar tricks a blind woman into giving him her winning ticket. Both men are ruled by self-preservation, but Cal is played—both in this scene and throughout his story—as a one-dimensional villain. He is arrogant and entitled, with a sheen of cruelty. Baltar, on the other hand, is portrayed as a coward. He dithers over his transgressions, and frequently switches sides. His face is full of self-loathing as he steals the woman’s number, while Cal is busy calculating the next step in his lie, should it come to that.

I mean no discredit to Billy Zane; it’s how the character was written and how he was directed to play it. But it explains why everybody hates—yet also largely forgets—Cal, and why Gaius Baltar still enjoys legions of sympathetic fans long after the show’s end, despite having a hand, multiple times, in the widespread death and destruction of the human race.

Imagine, instead, this scene for Cal: decades after his safe arrival on shore, he is on his deathbed, lovingly cared for by his adult daughter. Unable to withstand the guilt any longer, he admits that she is not his biological child, but rather a tool he used to escape a sinking ship so long ago. He attempted to redeem himself by raising her as his own, but there’s no way to know who her parents were, whether they died on the ship, whether they would have lived but stayed behind looking for her—or whether, in all likelihood, she would have died with them, and is only here today doing good in the world because of his weakness.

It doesn’t make him a good guy. But it hurts to think about, just a little bit, the way a hook should. Now go back through Hamilton, and try to count all the times that the good guys falter and the bad guys have at least a partial moral justification. You’ll run out of fingers and toes. (While you’re at it, go watch all of Battlestar Galactica, and use up your friends’ fingers and toes, too.)

#Hamilton #titanic #lin-manuel miranda #battlestar galactica #gaius baltar #clickbait

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roamingshano · 4 years

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A day in Singapore Universal Studios

No matter how many times I visit Singapore in the future, Universal Studios is going to be definitely on my to-visit list in Singapore.Universal Studios Singapore is a theme park located within Resorts World Sentosa on Sentosa Island. It features 24 rides, shows, and attractions in seven themed zonesSave this on pinterest to read later

In this article, I will share with you How to reach Sentosa and getting to Universal Studio Universal Studio tickets Universal Studio attractions Tips to avoid long queue

How to reach Sentosa & getting to Universal Studio

Get down at Harbourfront MRT station, get into Vivo City mall and take return tickets of Sentosa Express at 4 SGD.Get down at the first stop which is Resort World Sentosa and from there walk to Universal Studio entranceAlternatively, you can also reach Sentosa using MRT + Cable Car, MRT + Walk or directly by taxi but I would recommend using MRT + Sentosa as it's much cheaper and easy

Universal Studio Tickets

There are plenty of sites selling Universal Studio tickets but I prefer Klook because after comparing a few websites I have found Klook gives cheaper rates compared to other websites, also it's fast, convenient and gives a discount to first time users as well.

Top Attractions in Universal Studio

You can enjoy these shows/rides for an unlimited number of times because you have bought one day pass.

TRANSFORMERS The Ride: The Ultimate 3D Battle TRANSFORMERS The Ride: The Ultimate Battle - This is perhaps everyone's favorite ride which makes us scream with excitement. It's a 5-minute high voltage ride which takes to the fighting scenes between Autobots where you'll experience rushing between the bots, flying over buildings, insane driving. You'll get to meet and take pics with autobots at 12 PM, 12:25 PM, 2 PM, 2:25 PM, 4:30 PM, 6:30 PM, 6:55 PMCrowd Intensity - HIGH

Revenge of the Mummy Revenge of the Mummy - This is quite similar to Transformers but without 3D glasses and involves sudden dramatic acceleration, sudden dropping, fire. It's like a combination of a roller coaster, haunted house, and special effects. Before entering, you need to put everything in your locker which is free of cost for 60 minutes.Crowd Intensity - HIGH

Battlestar Galactica: Human vs Cylon Battlestar Galactica - If you like high speed roller coaster then this is just for you. There are 2 roller coasters available and you can choose your side of this duel between Human vs Cyclone.Before entering, you need to put everything in your locker which is free of cost for 60 minutes.Crowd Intensity - MEDIUM

Puss in Boots Giant Journey - This is a low-speed fun roller coaster suitable for kids and first-timers like me. It is located in the Far Far away zone. It may not interest high-intensity thrill-seekers.Crowd Intensity - MEDIUM

Water World - This 20 minutes show is based on the movie Waterworld where you can witness deadly stunts, explosions, and drama. People sitting in the front row, expect to get wet through interactive water spilling by performers.Do check out the showtime on the map or you can find out while entering.Crowd Intensity - HIGH

Inside Lights, Camera, Action Lights, Camera, Action - This show is hosted by Steven Spielberg displaying visual & sound effects of a category 5 hurricane that hit New York City. It's a must-try for film lovers where you can experience a real shooting environment with thunder, fire, and explosions.Crowd Intensity - LOW

Far Far away Castle Shrek 4D Adventure - This show is a continuation of Fiona, Shrek and the donkey on a honeymoon adventure of the movie Shrek. You'll have to wear 3D glasses and the show includes jumps, bounces, water sprays, wind effects. The prelude of this show is quite long around 5 minutes which is quite boring. However, its worth the wait. Crowd Intensity - LOW

Sesame Street Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase - This is a cute show for kids. The ride will take through illuminated tunnels with sesame street characters on both sides. Its a fun activity but doesn't have much traffic so, you can try if you have time. I tried this while at the end of the day when the studio was about to close.Crowd Intensity - LOW

Madagascar: A Crate Adventure Madagascar: A Crate Adventure - It's a 5 minute water ride that goes through various turns and introduces to Madacascar characters, their mischiefs and ends with my favourite song - WE LOVE TO MOVE IT MOVE ITCrowd Intesity - MEDIUM

If you have more time then do check out these rides/shows as well

Enchanted Airways - RideDonkey Live - ShowJurassic Park Rapid Adventure - RideAmber Rock Climbing - ActivityTreasure hunt - ActivityDino Soarin - RideUnfortunately, there is no harry potter in this Universal Studio.

Travel Tips

Try to visit Sentosa on weekdays as the rush is quite lower.In case you cant and ready to spend some extra cash on express entry then you can save a lot of time - I don't recommend.Visit attractions with Low & Medium crowd intensity first so that you can check out High crowd intensity attraction in the afternoon with very little waiting time.Before entering any attraction, do check the wait time displayed at the entrance.Download the Universal Studios MAP Read the full article

#Singapore

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panda-noosh · 7 years

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Pidge Meets The Original Green Paladin

This one is really short because I have mild writers block and all I wanna write is The Walking Dead. I'm sorry.

Pidge always found intelligence attractive.

She hated the stereotype of women being dumb, blondes being stupid or the likes of such a thing. She loved it when people knew how to do things, when people showed off their intellectual ability with no sign of embarrassment.

Someone who was like her.

She never thought she would actually find this person. Her intellectual abilities were beyond what anybody else seemed to be able to possess, and so it was rare that she ever found a person confident enough to face up against her in that aspect of things. She hated that. She wanted a challenge, a way to show people that there was always something else she could decipher.

But now you were here, standing in front of her like a mimic of her personality come to life. You had that bubbly smile on your lips, holding a deck of cards which you shuffle through quickly. Pidge is amazed at how fast you can do it, none of the cards slipping between your fingertips.

“Is that the new Galactica wide screen computer?” you ask, and Pidge near enough loses it. Her face goes pale as you march past her, your green suit making you easy to follow.

“Is this real?” Pidge whispers, leaning over to make sure Shiro can hear her. Shiro simply shakes his head and, for once, he seems genuinely stumped of an answer. “Um – s-strange person? Can I ask your name?”

You turn on your heel, the cards in one hand and the remote for the computer in your other. “Y/N. Green paladin of Voltron. Nice to meet you.”

Pidge's fingers tighten on the leg of her green suit, her mouth becoming dry. “I'm sorry. Can you repeat that?”

You raise a brow. “I'm called Y/N. I'm the paladin for the green lion. I assumed you knew what that was, saying as your currently standing in the place it is kept.”

Pidge nods. “Oh, I know what it is. The green lion and I have some history.”

“Is that right?” You smile a little brighter, suddenly feeling an uplifting sense of familiarity with this strange girl. Perhaps it was because you saw yourself in her more than you would like to admit, saw your similarities like they were at the forefront of everything else. This girl was bizarrely like you in ways nobody else has been like you.

The doors to the main room open, revealing two people you were familiar with; Coran and Allura. Your smile tightens when you see them, though they don't show you the same amount of excitement. Instead, Allura stops dead in her tracks and stares at you with an open mouth as if she was about to scream to high heavens.

Coran really does scream, covering his ears. “Y/N? What – Oh my quiznaks! This is insane! What are you doing here? Wait, no, don't answer that.”

You chuckle. “Hello, Coran. Long time no see.”

“Long time indeed,” Coran chuckles, hopping over to you with that usual excited skip in his step. He wraps his arms around you and Pidge feels herself getting light-headed. This was so strange. This person who claims to be the green paladin – clearly not true, right? - was just making their way into the lives of her friends.

Most of all, she was questioning Pidge's intelligence. Making Pidge think she wasn't the smartest person here.

“Hey, hey, hey!” she exclaims, jumping up. “Still exceptionally confused here! Who is this girl?”

Allura comes up behind Pidge, laying a hand firmly on her shoulder. “Pidge, this is Y/N L/N. The original green paladin.”

#voltron imagine #voltron one shot #voltron drabble #voltron headcanon #pidge gunderson #pidge voltron #takashi shirogane #shiro voltron #lance mcclain #lance voltron #hunk garrett #hunk voltron #keith kogane #keith voltron #voltron

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weerd1 · 5 years

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Star Trek DS9 Rewatch Log, Stardate 1908.25: Missions Reviewed, “Apocalypse Rising,” “The Ship,” “Looking for par’Mach in All the Wrong Places,” and “Nor the Battle to the Strong.”

“Apocalypse Rising” begins with an all-out war raging between the Federation and the Klingons. Sisko receives orders from Starfleet based on Odo’s revelation that Gowron is a Founder that they need to reveal that publically to the Galaxy in any way possible. Sisko, O’Brien, and Odo disguise themselves as Klingons and along with Worf plan to infiltrate a ceremony in the heart of the Klingon Empire, where Gowron will be presiding.

They have to install small transmitters that will keep the Changeling from maintaining shape. They catch a ride on Dukat’s stolen Bird of Prey, and infiltrate. Once there, nothing goes according to plan, and they are captured. Martok, Gowron’s General talks to them in jail, and reveals that he has suspected Gowron for some time. Martok releases them, but without the devices, they will have to kill Gowron, so the Changeling will revert to a liquid state. As they make their way to the hall, Worf attacks Gowron and is about to kill him, when Odo comes to a realization- Martok is the Changeling.

He attacks, revealing the Founder whom every Klingon in the room collectively shoots. Gowron calls a cease fire, and negotiations are set to begin.

This is a pretty well made episode, but follows a long standing Starfleet tradition of BATSHIT CRAZY MISSIONS. Starfleet intel doesn’t activate agents they must surely have operating in the Empire, no! They take three humans (Odo counts right now) and surgically alter them, making them learn to be Klingons in a couple days, and send them with an actual Klingon, who is the most reviled man in the Empire right now. This whole plan is nuts. But, it’s fun watching Sisko lean into being a Klingon, similar to how he leaned into being Mirror Sisko in the MU episodes. At least this time he only slaps around a fellow crewmember rather than have sex with two of them. The Klingon Hall of Heroes having a statue of Chang from “The Undiscovered Country” is a nice touch. It’s also neat to demonstrate that the Klingons didn’t go bad for going bad’s sake…but the threat has been the Founders all along.

‘The Ship” begins with the Federation looking to mine a small world in the Gamma Quadrant when a Jem’Hadar ship crashes there. Sisko and team go to claim it when another Dominion ship arrives and destroys their Runabout in orbit. The Defiant is on the way, but will be a couple days before it will get there. Sisko plans to keep the ship, but expects a direct assault.

Yet, the new Vorta on the scene, Kilana, wants to negotiate. After several feints and attacks, Sisko and Dax finally find what’s so important: there is a wounded Founder on board who dies. Sisko and Kilana realize that if they had tried to trust one another, each of them would have had what they wanted, her the Founder, and him the ship…and he wouldn’t have lost five crewmembers along the way.

A neat little siege episode with a small mystery, and another look at how cruel the Dominion can be. There’s a subplot with a dying crewmember who didn’t take too bad of a hit, but keeps bleeding out because Jem’Hadar weapons are made with a built in anti-coagulant. There is mention of Weyoun from ‘To the Death’ whom we still think is dead rather than cloned; though, the show in the future is a little cloudy on how many of a Vortas memories get transferred into the next clone. This is something that Ron D. Moore will of course play with more in “Battlestar Galactica,” as the Cylons’ minds are transferred during their resurrection process.

Grilka, the Klingon woman Quark was once married to, comes to visit DS9 and Quark is hoping to rekindle something between them in “Looking for par’Mach in All the Wrong Places.” Problem is Worf is rather smitten himself and feels the touch of par’Mach—Klingon love—and hopes to try to win her. When he is rejected for being from a fallen house, a weird Worf/Quark collaboration opens up a-la Cyrano De Bergerac, with Worf even letting Dax wire him to Quark’s brain so Quark can challenge Grilka’s head body guard to a bat’leth fight.

While this is happening, Kira is living with the O’Briens and begins to develop an intimacy with Miles that neither of them are very comfortable with. When Keiko tries to force them to go on vacation together to “ease tensions” both realize what a terrible idea this is, and put a stop to it. Meanwhile, Worf is frustrated that Quark has now managed to win Grilka, while Dax is frustrated Worf hasn’t noticed HER intentions. She challenges him to a swordfight, and the episode ends with all four of them in the infirmary due to the extremely physical nature of Klingon mar’Mach.

A cute episode, with lasting consequences as we FINALLY have Dax and Worf hook up. The interaction between Worf and “The Ferengi Barkeep” is always fun to watch, and getting Joseph Ruskin (Galt from TOS) back as Grilka’s right hand is nice. The Kira/Miles thing is a little creepy, and odd that it never really gets mentioned again; though if my wife were forcing me to rub Major Kira’s feet…well, let’s just not do that.

In “Nor the Battle to the Strong,” Jake and Bashir are cruising along on a small mission during which Jake is supposed to write a piece on Julian. Julian is being very verbose about medical things when they receive a distress call. The cease-fire with the Klingons has broken down and they have invaded a Federation colony. There is a lot of ground fighting and the hospital needs doctors. Bashir is reluctant, but Jake talks him into it, hoping for an interesting story. Instead they walk into a bloodbath. Jake helps out in the hospital all he can, including talking to a Starfleet security officer who shot himself in the foot with a phaser to get off the front lines.

Eventually the Klingons advance, knocking out power. Bashir and Jake plan to run back to the Runabout to get a portable generator, when they fall under enemy fire. Jake also freaks out and runs, ending up in a foxhole with a dying officer who admonishes him for leaving the Doctor on the battlefield. When the officer dies, Jake makes his way back to the infirmary to find Bashir is back and got the generator himself.

Jake is ashamed of having run, but when the Klingons attack, he is pinned down by their advance. He grabs a phaser rifle and starts randomly firing, which collapsed the tunnel, halting the Klingons. That also brings the roof down on him. He awakens to Bashir and his Father as the Defiant has arrived and the Klingons are pulling back. Jake writes about his experience, brutally honest with himself about what fear can do to a person, and Benjamin tells him that anyone who has been in combat would recognize what Jake says, and that honesty is a bravery itself.

Pretty heavy episode and well told. Cirroc Lofton carries this episode and doesn’t shirk at all when it comes down to it. It’s a powerful performance watching him go from eager to see some action to realizing what war REALLY means. His discussions about being on the station when it is under attack versus receiving fire from an enemy one can see are interesting from the SF standpoint, and his fear in combat is well handled from a human standpoint. Nice to see the Klingons as scary one more time before the inevitable peace to fight the Dominion as well. Trek doesn’t cover a lot of ground war usually, and this is a well DS9 will drink from again, and in each case, do it with intensity. One last note- Bashir getting the generator back on his own; a reference to his superior genetic engineering?

NEXT VOYAGE: A temporal displacement sends the Defiant back a century in time to face a turning point in history in “Trials and Tribbleations.”

#star trek #star trek: Deep Space Nine #DS9 Rewatch

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