The "Strange New Worlds" bunch animated. (The art shift is blamed on the Orion drinks.)

Nothing about Ortegas suggests that she's a lightweight. One gets the impression that this is a strong drink - or at least a strongly flavored one.

Then baby Uhura chugs hers like water a moment later - to the alarm of the usually unflappable Mariner.

Turns out she's tougher than she looks.

Spotted a Miss Piggy outside getting some sun before her journey off to go explore the storms :3

Artemis I Moon Mission: NASA's Large Next Generation Rocket Launches THIS DATE - details here

Artemis I Moon Mission: NASA’s Large Next Generation Rocket Launches THIS DATE – details here

The US space agency has now set another launch attempt for the Artemis I Moon mission on November 14 after facing two failed attempts due to a liquid hydrogen leak in one of the engines. The launch of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft is scheduled during the 69-minute launch window. Artemis I is an unmanned flight test to launch SLS and send Orion around the Moon…

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Jake & Rosemary CC List:

This family is part of the Lizzisimss CC Save File.

Jake

Body: kiwitrait_draguntattoos_MERGED, kiwitrait_minimoles, cowplantpizza_plantmomtattoo, okruee-misc-face-details-SKINDETAIL, [PEACHYFAERIE] HURRICANE NOSE PRESET #3, nesurii_lightitup-highlight, Simbience_HauteSkinblend, miiko-lip-presets-01, PS - Eyes_N157

Accessories: Magnolia C - Grayson Necklace

Everyday: JohnnySims_Michael_Hair_M, CLUMSYALIEN [CASPER SHIRT], [Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla] Chino Pants, [Jius]LowTopSneaker02-Male

Formal: JohnnySims_Hunter_Hair_M, serenity_am_FredSweaterVest, AdrienPastel x 2022HenryTrousersHW, [Jius]LeatherDerbyShoes01-Male

Sports: JohnnySims_Darren_Hair_M, AdrienPastel x MickeyT-Shirt, AdrienPastel x Jan2022_PeteSweatpants, Caiocc_Set_Warm(beanie), [Mochizen CC] - Everyday Sneakers Male Vers

Sleep: daylifesims_ymHair_morpheus_nohq, [Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla] Basic Knit Sweater, adrienpastel_SP34_pantslace, Solistair_ToastyToes_05_Tennis_MF_Hibiscus

Party: okruee-sebastian-hair, adrienpastel_top_elliot, [AxA]-DariusJeans_NoBelt, [RONA] Dr.Martens Wincox

Swimwear: JohnnySims_Michael_Hair_M, adrienpastel_EP13_Shorts, [Jius]LeatherFlipFlop01-Male

Warm Weather: JohnnySims_Riley_Hair_M, adrienpastel_EP13_PoloShortSleeves, CLUMSYALIEN [ORION TROUSERS], [amelylina] - Tenya shoes, Pralinesims - UltimateGlassesCollection

Cold Weather: JohnnySims_Michael_Hair_M, Madlen Himesh Jacket (Adult Male), adrienpastel_jeans_melvin, adrienpastel_SP34_beanie_male, [QICC]Soft_Scarf_Season_Collection_M_Bodhi_Boots

Rosemary

Body: nesurii_bodypreset02_pear, EVOXYR_presetNose_01wavyBaby, okruee-misc-face-details-SKINDETAIL, [PEACHYFAERIE] FREYJA EYEBROWS SET, [PEACHYFAERIE] SUNKISSED FRECKLE COLLECTION (OVERLAY), ratboyMouthPresetTen, Pralinesims_Nails_Female_N27_SugarMilk, heihu-niunai_cleavageoverlay_mouthcrease, nesurii_lightitup-highlight, Simbience_HauteSkinblend, PS - Eyes_N157

Make-up: JH Cosmetics - Eyeshadow 114, [ d r e a m g i r l ] 3 D_l a s h e s_V6, Pralinesims_Lip_N236_LucidDream, breezytrait petals makeup pack (merged), Twistedcat_Lashes_NO1, Twistedcat_Prism_Eyeshadow, TwistedCat_DarkHour_Eyeshadow, Pralinesims - UltimateEyelinerCollection, Pralinesims - UltimateLipstickCollection

Accessories: serenity_af_LizzieNecklace, serenity_EternityNecklace, serenity_EvaNecklaceRedux, TwistedCat_Helios_Earrings_V2, Pralinesims - UltimateNecklaceCollection_Female

Everyday: daylifesims_yfHair_nina_nohq, [greenllamas] SKYLIGHT_Taylor_Tank_V2, adrienpastel_skirt_electra, SLYD_Chloe_Bag_Drew_LeftHand

Formal: simstrouble_FemaleHair_MatildaV2, serenity_CherDress_LongVersion, [Jius]LeatherPumps06

Sports: [AH00B]-MonaHair, [oydis] Pretty Chaos - Constance Top, [Blue Craving] Easy Yoga Bottom, [Blue Craving] Sporty Lydia shoes, Solistair_ToastyToes_04_HighAnkle_MF_Hibiscus

Sleep: [AH00B]-QuinnHair_V1, [Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla] Short Piping Pajama Shirt, [Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla] Short Piping Pajama Shorts, [Jius]HouseSlippers02

Party: simstrouble_FemaleHair_NaiaV2, Kumikya – Stella Dress Stars, [Jius]BowknotHeelPumps02

Swimwear: [GegeSims] - Mariana Hair V2, Sentate-2022-AmberSwimsuit, [Jius]FlatSandals01

Warm Weather: [AH00B]-NessieHair, adrienpastel_top_electra, CLUMSYALIEN - Bellatrix Skirt, [Jius]MaryJanePumps02

Cold Weather: greenllamas - BRATZ Cloe Hair, Trillyke_Azalea_Cardigan_Sweater, AdrienPastel x2022MidnightSkirtPatterns, [arethabee] teddy hat, [QICC]Soft_Scarf_Season_Collection_F_Bianca_Mid-Calf_Boots, CLUMSYALIEN [RAE SCARF]

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Please consider supporting if you wish :)

— my fave bluelance quotes <3

“I’m going to put myself between you and death at every chance I get, and maybe that scares you, but it doesn’t scare me, Blue. It gives me a purpose I’ve never had before, and I never want to let go of it.”

“The girl was important. She was the centre of the universe, a goddess who ruled me, and I gladly submitted to that rule. She was fury and light and a taste so sweet I would never forget it.”

All I knew for sure was when I was with him, it felt like the stars were singing our names.

I had to make it through this for her. My final light. The girl who was worth a thousand years in hell.

She was the sun embodied and I’d spent so long in the dark, all I wanted was a few moments in its heat.

She was a goddess who had so easily plucked my heart from my chest, deciding whether or not she wanted to take a bite out of it.

Because this girl was everything good in the world I’d been missing and I had to know what it felt like to drown in her. Even if it meant my downfall. Even if I corrupted her to her core.

“You always have so much faith in me.”

“You’re a queen destined to rule. I knew that the first moment I saw you.”

He loved me. Lance Orion loved me. And I loved him back with every corner of my heart and all the spaces in between.

“When I’m queen, I’m going to buy you this library,” I decided and he lifted his head, his eyes sparkling with surprise. “Then you can do whatever you like with these books, because they’ll be all yours.”

Because she awoke something in me which I missed, and that part of me was begging for another day in the sun.

“I want you like I’ve never wanted anything or anyone. And I will fight to make you mine, no matter what it takes. No force in Solaria will rip us apart.”

Darcy's eyes locked with mine and my lungs compressed. Why was it so fucking difficult to cut her out of me? One look was enough to make me consider risking everything I’d ever worked for.

“For you, anything’s worth it,” he said and my heart broke because I knew he meant it and it was almost too much to bear.

“If you hurt her, I’ll kill you. I don’t care if you’re an Heir or if I end up in Darkmore Penitentiary for the rest of my fucking life. I’ll take any fate for her, so just remember that when you’re playing your little game, Capella.”

“He kissed me like he wasn't allowed to kiss me, but if he didn't he'd die”

“I’m supposed to be some all-powerful Phoenix but look at me now. I’m nothing.”

“You are everything,” I said firmly.

I miss her too. I miss her in every moment of every minute of every day. I will always miss her.

I just needed it to stop. All of it. I couldn’t believe after all this time I still felt like this. Like the world began and ended with him and I would never belong to any other man.

“You are meant for the sunlight, Lance Orion. So you’ll stand with me in it or else we’ll stay in the dark together.”

“I knelt for Darcy in the arena,” I admitted, staring him straight in the eye. “She is my queen, whether that be by the choice of the stars or a fate carved by my own hand. I was always meant to kneel for her.”

“She was my sunshine after an eternal winter.”

That girl could bring about an apocalypse on this world, and I knew in my heart that she could defend herself. She was a force of nature, a fucking hurricane.

“Look at him. He’d find a way to lasso the sun out of the sky and bring ruin on us all if it saved you from Lavinia’s curse.”

She was the summer sun after the longest winter of my life and all I wanted to do was bask in her glow.

“I loved you when your soul shone with all the starlight in the night sky, and I’ll love you now when your soul is the blackest you’ve ever known. I will love you whole and I’ll love you in pieces.”

Redesigning some stuff from season 3

Made these a bit ago, because some of the designs bother me.

space is like one of the coolest aesthetics ever and i feel like the canon designs would fit better in season 2 actually. Considering the fact that S3 takes place in the past, the whole Astronaut theme clashes with the rest of the Gormiti, who are all literally made of their element, making them feel somewhat primal. The fact that the Heralds only got one suit but recolored is kinda sad aswell. (And another thing that bothers me is the fact that they took Orions skirt away, despite having a really good design opportunity. A ROCKET SKIRT! Like, they gave Hurricane airplane gloves. Why not Rocket skirt?)

the main issue i had was Trityons face. The body was actually kinda cool, being made of water and all (also they didn't need to give him hips like that. But they did. And i'm grateful for it.) His tentacle arm didn't bother me too much, but i was doing a redesign, so crab arm :)

And gave him a thick braid, because yes.

Ikors there aswell of course, being his fabolous self.

Even so, the new Hyperbeast designs, Sol and Eklos kinda make up for the um... other stuff. (Except for Orion's skirt, i'll never forgive.)

slides in here 🧎‍♂️ Fans, Baby, Wild card!

questions here!

This got so long I had to stop myself finally.

Fans: How is their relationship with their fans? Do they go out of their way to interact? 

Look, Jennifer Lamb is a category 5 hurricane of emotion on the average day, but something about the fans just twinges something in her brain. In the small bars, yeah she'd be more than happy to sit around the bar later, chatting with the ones who'd hung around, let them buy her a beer or two, and go on her way. Sign some things, and y'know throwing out the usual guitar picks and broken drumsticks to the local small crowd. Discounting shirts and homemade merch at a bar while they were one of the bands to float through the night. Maybe throwing everything in a free tote bag that has a scribbled logo. Especially as favours to any bar owners who let them in, then it'd probably get a lil more of a personal touch especially if they had kids of their own who were fans and/or they were fans themselves, then it would still largely be merch. More or less short circuits her because people like the band. And Her. And the Music. And they want to HAVE something of hers. Wild.

But her interaction with fans is actually her being an absolute nutjob and trawling fansites. Most of her private life has already ended up online or splashed across local magazines, especially because of the very public fight/breakup with Seven, and then recently finding out from Maya that the number one fansite is run by a teenager… it's quite accessible in the worst way. Jen is super interested in reading fansites, just to see what they've posted/what they know. The kind of manic 'I should be sleeping 3am but I'm on wikipedia energy' but instead she's going down a rabbit hole of her own history, especially when people still keep up photos of Seven in the band - and she fucking loves polls. (Jen you would've loved og gossip girl fr). Definitely has made a throwaway account on a forum more than once (she forgets the password not long after making an account) and like. Loves to deep dive on timelines and people breaking down the meaning in her songs. She is that one person who responds to the song meanings like 'its about having sex relax its not that deep' and then is like. Told she's wrong and banned. Also it's so funny for her, when she's wrangled into appearing on their social media, to drop like some batshit insane comment or demo, and then has her little 1 hour scroll through these people going bananas. She has a few favourite accounts bookmarked, even. Stupid head.

Sheenas as the fan name for her came about after one of Jen's first solo covers (pre-breakup actually) was her doing 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker', but also dressed like Sheena, Queen of the Jungle from the comics, at a Halloween party for the local crowd, and it kind of stuck... she only found out why recently from Maya. So not only is she like, confused anyway, but then she's like doing maths about when this kid would've seen that video. Did they see all of it? Should she check what versions were uploaded? Can she get a copy?

But essentially she's now very much publicly in the space of actually having Orion largely coach her through interactions because... she's floundering. Literally becomes a publicist's wet dream with how she can get the smiles and the eyes and the hand movements, and mostly manages to not let her mouth run, but it's like she needs to be micromanaged because this is no longer the comfortable small bar shit she loves and wants to go back to. Even before ending up on the TV, really. A lot of the focus is also on (pretty much) deflecting questions about Seven, but in particular the like months following it all. There was one very salty former fan who took it quite personally and just missed Jen's eye with a pin (that they actually had handed out at one gig many moons before). And her pre-pin incident comments about him weren't even bad! People just lost their marbles.

She did actually set up a PO Box at one point, with the intent of people sending fanmail to because she has a soft spot for handwritten letters, but it hasn't been advertised since the pin incident. Superfans may know about it, but Jen also hasn't checked it in years.

Baby: How do they feel about Jazzy leaving? How are they coping? What are their plans to stay in touch?

I looked back on my answer for this and. Okay no, we're changing our tune a bit.

Whilst Jen is happy for her, and knows that fundamentally Jazzy wanted something different from her life than Jen did... a part of her resents that Jazzy was able to walk away. And it's not even resenting Jazz! Realistically, it's easier to think that, even for Jen, that she's just so mad that even after everything, Jazz is able to walk away with the house and the husband and the white picket fence (not really but y'know). Those are also just like little bitey thoughts that plague her and make her do the what-if spirals that always end up "why didn't I just walk away, too?" because Jen doesn't even know if she wants any of the other things, anyway.

So Jen's coping is like correlation and causation type scale nonsense going on, especially with choosing to tour with Soft Violence, the way Jazzy reacted, even, and she's like. In such a place where she doesn't even know if she wants to reach out, keep updated and update Jazz, etc, etc. Because she also absolutely loves Jazz, and is so happy for her, and honestly wants to be there with her through this rollercoaster she's about to get on, because it's Jazzy. It's Jazzy. And god, she misses her so much already.

Wild card: Tell us something about your MC! Feel free to really just roll us over with an emotional steamroller and crush the souls out of our bodies, if you’d like. (You’re also welcome to choose one of the other questions to answer!)

Only other tattoo is the one on her lower stomach (Medusa head) (yeah that got repurposed sry Harper I'm doing smth else with you) but she absolutely loves the awful jokes she can make about it when people react after seeing it for the first time. "If someone is getting to a point where they can see it, [she] definitely knows that something turned to stone."

Jen does not understand how her putting on her glasses and Depression Greys™ makes her like. Walk around Clark Kent style. Fascinates her and compels her to try to do stupid shit with it.

This combined with her absolute inability to understand nor use social media has compelled some to see her as a #cryptid, which just further confuses her. She's seen her face on a post. She knows it exists. Yes she knows the name of the app? (don't embarrass her, man, there's hot people here)

Oh! And combining this with her Average Voice Resting Time™, where she's Clark Kent-ed out, wheat bagged and this close to just turning into a burrito, she uses a small whiteboard to talk. She's quite verbose, unfortunately.

Her fave flower is Queen Anne's Lace, because its a complex lil flower made up of dozens of others, and at the centre is a tiny lil red bud. The apparent story for it's naming is a provocation of Queen Anne to make a more complex lace flower than another king's wife, and in doing so she pricked her finger, so a little droplet of blood landed in the middle. There's also a poem! It's also for safety and refuge, because it turns inwards and seemingly 'dies' when it is actually ready to grow. Also attracts wasps lmao. It's commonly mistaken for baby's breath, which is everlasting love… which isnt wrong for Jen either, however it is that inward protection. At the centre of it all, there is a burst of colour, and she wants to protect it… the internalisation of it all.

During high school, she ran one of those ‘Ask Annie’ columns in the school paper. Her advice was ridiculous, and it was really well received even if she was pulling answers out of thin air. She's not sure if anyone cracked that it was her.

It did lead her to testing out some situations on people before answering, even. Or outright going 'hey if xyz happened do you think doing abc would work'. She wasn't even trying to be subtle by the end.

Jen has a pet bearded dragon. Named Lizanardo Da Vinci.

Just like how she has Vlad the Impala

Was voted most likely to date a rockstar. Made out with her own mirror image in response.

Turns out she’s got a real knack for maths. No one knows where it came from. Jen was one of those 'coasted through on C+/B-' kind of students. But no one is ever ready for the quick maths.

The first time Jen went in to get contacts, and was trying to put them in, and her arm was weirdly angled and the optometrist was patient but it freaked her out to think about putting something basically on her eye. Seven kind of like, went through the motions with her until she was comfortable.

He still has the pair of glasses that were always left in the right side pocket of his jacket. The case is worn and faded and cracked and still has all the stickers and scribbles on them, but the frames are still fine, lenses are only a check or two old, but Jen never knew how to ask for them back.

With Seven, especially when they were much younger, watching scary movies was such a big deal and like they were breaking the rules at sleepovers, even if it meant they were literally terrified. For days. It became "their thing" and especially as they got older with rewatches and marathons, and then the band, and eventually dating, the inside jokes were always there. Sometimes, they even used it as bad flirting, which weird people out just as much, if not more, than the fact that they were attached at the hip. Jen hasn't even looked at one of those movies since, and deleted OSTs, etc, off of any and all things.

Is a big fan of meditation because a girl sometimes has a lot of pent up energy and just wailing on the mic doesn't cut it. Quiet time, Jen is in her attempt at a lotus position.

Now that we’re (somewhat) back to Valjean, Hugo automatically makes sure we know his thoughts on one of the main themes of the book: poverty (and budgeting. He likes telling us everyone’s budgets).

“This vessel, battered as it was,—for the sea had handled it roughly,—produced a fine effect as it entered the roads. It flew some colors which procured for it the regulation salute of eleven guns, which it returned, shot for shot; total, twenty-two. It has been calculated that what with salvos, royal and military politenesses, courteous exchanges of uproar, signals of etiquette, formalities of roadsteads and citadels, sunrises and sunsets, saluted every day by all fortresses and all ships of war, openings and closings of ports, etc., the civilized world, discharged all over the earth, in the course of four and twenty hours, one hundred and fifty thousand useless shots. At six francs the shot, that comes to nine hundred thousand francs a day, three hundred millions a year, which vanish in smoke. This is a mere detail. All this time the poor were dying of hunger.”

Unlike with individual characters, we don’t know how much money the state has here. It’s not important. What is important is that rather than choosing to spend money on the poor, the state invests in spectacle, even for “battered” vessels like this one. The Restoration is, above all else, a façade; it hasn’t brought about a return to the old order because it can’t erase all of the changes brought about by the Revolution and Napoleon, but it also does nothing to address the problems in French society, instead covering them up, ignoring them, or distracting from them with as much pomp as it can manage. The “Spanish War” highlights this; it might be a financial war for the monarchy, but those fighting were trained under Napoleon, and it was revolting to the people because of the democratic beliefs instilled by the Revolution.

This isn’t analytical, but this passage is really beautiful:

“There comes an hour, nevertheless, when the gale breaks that sixty-foot yard like a straw, when the wind bends that mast four hundred feet tall, when that anchor, which weighs tens of thousands, is twisted in the jaws of the waves like a fisherman’s hook in the jaws of a pike, when those monstrous cannons utter plaintive and futile roars, which the hurricane bears forth into the void and into night, when all that power and all that majesty are engulfed in a power and majesty which are superior.”

Hugo is excellent at portraying the terrifying power of water (especially the sea), and this passage really highlights this strength.

The description of the incident aboard the Orion continues to display this talent, but it also parallels an earlier incident: the rescue of Fauchelevent. Like back then, there’s a crowd of onlookers who can’t/won’t help the dangling man, with his situation worsening until Valjean intervenes with a spectacular feat of strength. Like with Fauchelevent, he’s applauded, but it marks an end for him as well. With Fauchelevent, he sacrificed his freedom by revealing himself to Javert; here, his fall marks the end of 9430. Even the reveals are similar, with the name “Jean Valjean” appearing after we’ve seen this person act for some time. Once again, we see him as an outsider, ending even further from the scene that we began (a newspaper article vs the ship). He may be the main character, but we only know so much about him.

My big thoughts on the LD/SNW episode:

I always thought the LD uniforms were kind of blah in the cartoon but they are SHARP in live action and I want one, even if there’s no good cosplay for me on the show.

Something very sad is going to happen to turn Spock back into “Vulcan Spock” and I might not be able to handle it.

Mr is trying to find an Orion Hurricane recipe and when he does I’ll let you know if it’s any good.

Pike is right, flipping the communicator open IS the best part. I was so bummed the day I got a slide phone and couldn’t Kirk-flip it anymore. I busted the hinge on my first phone doing that buuuuuuuttttttt we don’t talk about that incident.

While I’m on the subject of flip phones, anyone else remember Nextel DirectConnect? Ahhhhhh yeah.

Artemis I Rollback Preparations (NHQ202209260002) by NASA HQ PHOTO NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as teams configure systems for rolling back to the Vehicle Assembly Building, Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA made the decision to rollback based on the latest weather predictions associated with Hurricane Ian. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber) https://flic.kr/p/2nPimCK

Do you think like a hurricane Kate and Anthony give their kids typical celebrity out there middle names (a la midwife Antony)

The first names are so tame for a rockstar and edgy stylist, I feel like they would have fun with the middle

I think they probably do have edgier middle names. As you said, hurricane Kate and Anthony are both bigger personalities and they really did pick such classic names for their children that Anthony wanted to get a little bit creative for their middle names.

Each of them Have a Constellation middle name. And he likes to joke it's because their mother makes him see stars. Kate is not fond of this joke. Except she is.

And so one by one they welcome into the world

Edmund Orion

Miles Perseus

Charlotte Andromeda (Anthony admits this one is a little dramatic)

And finally,

Mary Cassiopeia

Me: *realizes Chapel and Mariner never interact in Those Old Scientists* Me: …hold my Orion Hurricane

it was one of the few times iris had seen orion looking un-something. unhappy. uncomfortable. unsupportive. narrowed eyes and hand on chin. blink-and-she’d-miss-it pose of damn near nail-biting. not that he was the only one, standing off in the wings. watching the show like the rest of them, as misfit alley had jennifer — their jennifer — belting out alongside G.

hands in hair. grinding, in a way that had the crowd surge. jennifer bends back, still vocalising, playing out to a camera, while G has their hands on her. not fully practiced, but there was no doubt about the way everything popped and sizzled. it was,

and iris feels her lips twist, wrong. the first and only word her mind supplied, while rowan started to pace. that mile a minute discussion, to anyone who would listen. something about chaos theory. something about cheating. and were it not for the way they continued to watch, in almost horror, as a hand was in G’s hair, pushing them down, there were only a couple of ways to interpret that comment.

devyn and august flank orion, silent in their assessments. which suited iris perfectly fine, letting rowan take up all the air. filling in the gaps between thoughts. swearing, pissing, whining. because the crescendo hits, the sound drops, and she doesn’t have to be a psychic to know what kind of shot would be plastered over ‘the beat’ soon.

image firmly stuck behind her eyelids, as jennifer and G are heaving chests, foreheads against the other. cheers blowing out whatever they had said to each other. separate, after forever and a day, for G to shout out to her. to have her wave and walk and skip and run off stage, thanking, loving, waving at everyone.

and then she sees them. like her band, her friends, are the ones in the wrong. iris would like to say she knew jen better than this, better than the back of her own hand, but there’s a fury there, wrapped under glitter and leather. it’s hidden by the jacket she pulls on, pushing past them all, and out the exit before they can get in another word.

but it’s carried in the stiff shoulders and slap of her boots.

rowan doesn’t know any better. quick and loud and while they all file out, one by one, watching jen throw her shit in a bag and keep moving, rowan can’t help it. hand on her shoulder, pulling her around, as he is yelling. “are you kidding me?!”

“leave it, rowan—” hand in unhelpful hand, iris tries to pull him off. stop shaking her, she wants to say, yet she is shaken off.

“no wonder people think we cheated! you were practically fucking on stage!”

hurricane jen. silence of the lamb. jokes they had since the beginning, for those times when jen had been a single-minded angry girl, in ripped jeans and band-aids on her hands. setting her off in one direction, and watching her explode. devyn had said something only a few months before, about being more concerned than usual with jen. like they hadn’t seen her let off steam in far too long.

on some level, as her lower lip twitches, iris sees it. like a car crash she just couldn’t turn away from. orion might’ve tried to get between the two, safety first, while iris pushes august back but. jen still gets a hand in.

no slap, just a sob. low. from too deep down in her to be anything but honest.

“holy shit.”

only words iris gets out, as jen shoves that finger at rowan’s chest, despite orion’s best effort to keep them apart. “do you think i wanted to do that?!”

she’s arguing, far too fast and far too loudly, finger still jabbing into rowan’s chest. rowan, who tried his damndest now to press for peace, hands in the air, words tumbling out. “jen, jennifer, what—are you o—”

“you made me be the leader! everything i’ve done has been for us! the execs told me i had to, or we’d be in trouble,” too many tears, and that hand finally gets removed, to rub furiously at her eyes. “so yeah, i had to fuck G onstage—”

“—wait, hang on, jen, your mascara—”

“—tissue, orion, where’s the tish—”

“—jen, breathe, hang on, sit, or—”

they’re clamouring now, and iris doesn’t know where to put her hands. where to stand safely. if she should just put some weight on jen’s shoulders to get her down. mostly too, because there was something just so funny about this, about a crowd around one sobbing singer, wiping her nose not nearly fast enough. no, this shouldn’t be funny — maybe later.

“i’ve had to duet with seven, i’ve had to interview with blake! i’m doing the hard shit! so fuck you, rowan! fuck you all for thinking that of me!”

she’s pitchy, hitting that note that fucks with her own ears. hands clamped down on the sides of her head, and jen drops to a squat in the middle of the damn hallway. bawling her eyes out, snotty and gross and iris kind of wishes that jazzy was here. not the first time, and not in that kind of lingering, nostalgic way they all had. but the fact that jazzy was not about smacking some sense into jen, and she always went along with it.

but jazzy wasn’t here, and people were taking notice. iris can’t believe she was going to do this, but the tissues had been retrieved, and subsequently snatched out of orion’s hands. her turn to squat now, shoving at least five of them at jen’s nose.

“get your shit together, lamb.”

channel jazzy. that’s what she was telling herself, as now devyn is like, hey, come on, iris, maybe don’t say that. it’s fine. it was fine. because jennifer fucking lamb was a goddamn prima donna at the best of times, and iris loved her for it. but this was not one of those times — this was something eating her from the inside out.

“yeah, you’re doing the hard shit. rowan can apologise later. but crying in a hallway? are you out of your goddamn mind, princess?” okay, she had to wince at herself there, maybe that had crossed well past whatever jazzy would normally do, but jen was all slow blinking.

big fat tears still leaking out of those eyes of hers, but iris had managed to get her to stop. wiping at makeup, more or less smearing it more than it already had been, but. “you’re the leader. we know that means you have to do some fucked up shit for the rest of us—right, rowan?”

sharp look over her shoulder gets rowan to immediately crumble. “r—right. sorry, jen, i—”

but there’s no time for him to finish that sentence. “so you get up, you wash your face. and we go back to the bus. okay?” and iris asks, “okay?” once more, for good measure, when jen doesn’t say anything.

“yeah, okay, sure.”

“good, now get your ass up, you’re too fucking heavy to carry.”

jen does as she’s told, if only because that look on her face tells iris she’s not sure if she should test otherwise. a mute nod, and into the room they were only half a metre from, their logo on the outside. could’ve avoided this public display, and iris takes devyn’s offered hand to get upright. if there was going to be anything else said, perhaps some part of people’s brains kick in, as some go to follow jen into the room.

just her and devyn, and a very heavy, “holy shit.”

with that, iris finally laughs. the kind of laugh that fizzles out into a note of exhaustion, but for what exactly, she wasn’t sure. “tell me about it. i need a smoke.”

Casting off Death

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https://starr-fall-knight-rise.tumblr.com/post/182501791735/master-post

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jzEIdDAB4omdO2JcQVMObfrhLJ5kX4ONmSsLypM1ks0/edit?usp=sharing.\

It felt like a million years since Tala Kelly had seen Earth, but floating overhead in the planetbound shuttle, she relished every fluffy white cloud and dash of blue sea. The “blue planet” was a lot like she had remembered, though she was saddened to see the scars of war still visible. As they cut over the bank of clouds, vast stretches of land could be seen from space, scarred by the void invasion, all the plant life dead and the soil charred.

But Earth was resilient, and the wounds on her surface were quickly scabbing over. The livid red she had seen from previous images had faded away as new plant growth sprouted from the soil. The void invasion was the most recent catastrophes in a list of problems the Earth had faced since her disappearance, and she couldn’t help but feel that none of this would have happened if she hadn’t died.

The realization hurt, and the guilt was real despite none of this being her fault.

She imagined this is what a mother would have felt like leaving her children against her will, still guilty but with an abiding sense of sadness. 

Kelly had been doing some reading on the void invasion and the long term effects. Surprisingly enough, the void had not destroyed the livability of the areas it had infected. In fact, dissolved particles from the strange, fleshy substance that had coated the ground had dissolved into the soil making the dirt incredibly fertile. Plantlife was already beginning to spring up from wasted land. New trees had to be planted, but just like the forest after a devastating wildfire, things would recover.

In a way the void had done good things for the land, returning minerals back to the earth that well-farmed dirt hadn’t had in a long time. The animals that had been affected were recovering nicely and with no ill side effects except for looking a little mangy for the duration of their hair loss.

So earth itself was recovering just fine.

The greatest devastation had been on the people.

Collective trauma had seen a skyrocketing increase in PTSD, Anxiety, and Panic disorders over the last few months. Thousands of people had been displaced as their houses and lands were completely destroyed. Cities were struggling to handle the influx of visitors from moe rural areas.

But still.

Life moved on.

And just like the aftermath of a hurricane, people were already starting to rebuild, pulling their houses together and making their living on the land that had been scorched and barren. Some of those houses would never be reentered as the homeowners couldn’t go back to the scene of such horror, but others were determined to stay put. The residents of Orion Mericanda were some of the hardest hit, being so close to the epicenter.

Adam Vir’s place of origin had been nearly destroyed, but with a hefty sum of donations from Arcadia, it was getting back on its feet, and the people were slowly beginning to return. The crop conglomerate that surrounded Orion was already making plans to plant this year, and even add a few new crops now that the soil was more conducive. 

Things would recover.

They generally did.

But they would do better if she was there.

Soon the curvature of the earth vanished behind a bank of clouds, and the shuttle rocked gently around her and Hye. He reached out absently to hold her hand, face pressed up against the window as they descended from the sky, “Look, sunlight!”

Kelly smiled and patted his arm, “Look an ocean.”

“I’m going to go look at some fish!”

His excitement had her smiling. He had been working very hard on Arcadia’s inland sea, and the project was both tiresome and frustratingly complicated. It would be nice for him to get away and touch some real earth fish. 

They landed at the spaceport just outside of Fort Harmony’s territory. From there they drove to their hotel and Hye went to stand out on the balcony face turned up to the sun. Kelly lingered behind him staring out at a city she wasn’t entirely sure she recognized. Strange how only a few ears can change so much. 

Funny how much she had changed in a few years.

She looked down at herself absently catching her body as it glitched slightly, a void of stars peeking through her silhouette before she returned to normal. What would people think of that little problem? She had been consulting with doctors and psychologists on the topic, and over the past few months they had seen a steady decline in the length and duration of the glitches, but recently they had leveled off and stopped, not getting worse but not getting any better .

Hye turned to look at her his smile falling a bit.

He reached out to take her hand, “hey, you okay?”

She gave him a nod, “I’m fine, just a lot has changed.”

He took her other hand and stepped a bit closer his grip firm, “Cosmetically yes, but everything important remains just as it was.”

Kelly smiled and rested her hand against his cheek. She leaned up on her toes, brushing her lips gently over his before lowering herself to rest on her heels, “Your sense of optimism is unshakable.” She patted his face and then withdrew her hand, “But I should get going, before I change my mind.”

“Go get em.” he said raising his fists to cheer her on, “And tonight victuals!”

She smiled and rolled her eyes, “Goofy man.”

And then she stepped from the room and out into the hallway. She paused for a moment as the door closed and took a deep breath. Could she do this? 

She hadn’t been alone in a long time now and the world around her seemed to vast and empty. She had to take a breath to steady her nerves. Before all of this she had never been unsure of herself, never questioned her decisions. She tried to conjure up the young Tala kelly hungry for blood and danger. She tried to imagine the pull of G forced against her body and the thrill of danger.

She tried to conjure up the woman that had run for the presidency.

But even though the feelings were still there, she had to acknowledge that she was a different person. That year in the voidblack had changed her, and not necessarily for the better, but resolutely she straitened herself and composed her mind.

Even if she didn’t feel hr old self, she had to act like it for the people of earth.

And she left.

***

No one had ever deactivated Tala Kelly’s military ID badge. In all the comotion it had simply slipped someone’s mind, and anyone else who caught it didn’t see the need to deactivate a dead woman. She had been well liked and respected, so to delete her from the system felt like  some sort of betrayal.

So when Tala Kelly rocked up to the gate at fort Harmony wearing an admiral’s uniform with an active ID badge, the MP and guard at the gate didn’t question it. Things might have been different if the gate guard and the MP were completely politically illiterate and didn’t recognize either the name or the face of one of the most influential political figures in recent earth history.

Instead she got a salute and was allowed through.

A flood of memories washed over her as she made her way up the sidewalk and towards the front doors. Not much had changed here. Off in the distance she could still hear the sound of engines powering up. The misters were on filling the air with the smell of wet grass and topsoil. A lawnbot was mowing the lawn adding the smell of grass clippings on top of the smell of wet earth.

The sound of voices and the marching of boots garnished the symphony of her old life and memories, almost overwhelming her with nostalgia before she managed to rein herself in.

How strange it all was.

Her keycard opened the door with a sharp beep and she stepped inside, feeling a rush of cooled air conditioning.

Somewhere she could hear the sound of a vacuum cleaner, and smelled the aroma of cheap musty carpet.

Glass cases lined the walls on either side displaying images and commendations.

Stepping forward she was surprised to find her own face staring back at her from one of the cases. It was a commissioned portrait she didn’t recognize, so it must have been done after she died, and all around it were photographs and pieces of other memorabilia on display.

Looking at the name plate below her image was surreal.

Reading her own death date.

Feet shuffled some distance away and she heard the voice speak softly in her head. Tala kelly had trouble  with telepathy where the others did not. Conn, Adam and Celex were all quite proficient, but something about her time in the void made it difficult for her, and she had to strain to hear what was being said.

A four star Admiral? No one I recognize? No handlers either? I’ve never seen an admiral without a possy of lackeys, and now shes showed up without someone to greet her, and of course who is going to get reprimanded for not knowing she was coming? Me its going to be me.

“Admiral? My apologies we didn’t know you were co-”

Kelly turned to face the man watching the inner workings of his brain as his entire system short circuited, rebooted and shorted again. Through his eyes she briefly saw what he saw, a familiar face,  with the image on the wall for comparison, the name plate, and one of his own memories. He had been a newly commissioned officer then, just promoted, but they had met in passing one or two times.

And then she glitched.

He took a step back, eyes widening, “I… h how. I….” his mind was a mixture of fear and concussion. Hundreds of thoughts ran through his head, was he seeing things, was someone playing a trick on him, was this the void back again to torment them, what was going on.

“Captain O’nelle congratulations on your promotions. You always did show some promise.”

His mouth hung open chin swinging towards the floor.

“But… h…” His hand reached towards the implant on his wrist, ready to call someone for help.”

“Its alright, you can call them. I wouldn’t trust me either.”

She watched him subtly make the call, but didn’t try to stop him as she heard the sound of rushing feet.

It didn’t take long for the five MPs to come rushing up the hall.

Fortunately for her, these MPs had worked there for a very long time. Each one she knew by name, and they knew her. All five of them skidded to a halt bumping into each other and nearly falling over themselves in their confusion.

Kelly smiled at them.

“I don’t suppose you left my office vacant/” 

Liftoff! NASA’s Artemis I Mega Rocket Launches Orion to Moon Following a successful launch of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world, the agency’s Orion spacecraft is on its way to the Moon as part of the Artemis program. Carrying an uncrewed Orion, SLS lifted off for its flight test debut at 1:47 a.m. EST Wednesday from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch is the first leg of a mission in which Orion is planned to travel approximately 40,000 miles beyond the Moon and return to Earth over the course of 25.5 days. Known as Artemis I, the mission is a critical part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, in which the agency explores for the benefit of humanity. It’s an important test for the agency before flying astronauts on the Artemis II mission. “What an incredible sight to see NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft launch together for the first time. This uncrewed flight test will push Orion to the limits in the rigors of deep space, helping us prepare for human exploration on the Moon and, ultimately, Mars,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. After reaching its initial orbit, Orion deployed its solar arrays and engineers began performing checkouts of the spacecraft’s systems. About 1.5 hours into flight, the rocket’s upper stage engine successfully fired for approximately 18 minutes to give Orion the big push needed to send it out of Earth orbit and toward the Moon. Orion has separated from its upper stage and is on its outbound coast to the Moon powered by its service module, which is the propulsive powerhouse provided by ESA (European Space Agency) through an international collaboration. “It’s taken a lot to get here, but Orion is now on its way to the Moon,” said Jim Free, NASA deputy associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. “This successful launch means NASA and our partners are on a path to explore farther in space than ever before for the benefit of humanity.” Over the next several hours, a series of 10 small science investigations and technology demonstrations, called CubeSats, will deploy from a ring that connected the upper stage to the spacecraft. Each CubeSat has its own mission that has the potential to fill gaps in our knowledge of the solar system or demonstrate technologies that may benefit the design of future missions to explore the Moon and beyond. Orion’s service module will also perform the first of a series of burns to keep Orion on course toward the Moon approximately eight hours after launch. In the coming days, mission controllers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will conduct additional checkouts and course corrections as needed. Orion is expected to fly by the Moon on Nov. 21, performing a close approach of the lunar surface on its way to a distant retrograde orbit, a highly stable orbit thousands of miles beyond the Moon. “The Space Launch System rocket delivered the power and performance to send Orion on its way to the Moon,” said Mike Sarafin, Artemis I mission manager. “With the accomplishment of the first major milestone of the mission, Orion will now embark on the next phase to test its systems and prepare for future missions with astronauts.” The SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft arrived at Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B on Nov. 4 where they rode out Hurricane Nicole. Following the storm, teams conducted thorough assessments of the rocket, spacecraft, and associated ground systems and confirmed there were no significant impacts from the severe weather. Engineers previously rolled the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) Sept. 26 ahead of Hurricane Ian and after waving off two previous launch attempts Aug. 29 due to a faulty temperature sensor, and Sept. 4 due to a liquid hydrogen leak at an interface between the rocket and mobile launcher. Prior to rolling back to the VAB, teams successfully repaired the leak and demonstrated updated tanking procedures. While in the VAB, teams performed standard maintenance to repair minor damage to the foam and cork on the thermal protection system and recharge or replace batteries throughout the system. Artemis I is supported by thousands of people around the world, from contractors who built Orion and SLS, and the ground infrastructure needed to launch them, to international and university partners, to small businesses supplying subsystems and components. Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone for astronauts on the way to Mars. TOP IMAGE....NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. SLS and Orion launched at 1:47am ET from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls LOWER IMAGE....NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. SLS and Orion launched at 1:47 a.m. EST, from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. Credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky