IKEA Weaponry: There are a number of these, mostly analogous to their real-world equivalents. The exception is Eye-in-the-Flame Arms’s Puzzle Pistol, which is a 3D puzzle made from geometric chunks of blue-black diamondoid that can be disassembled from its polyhedral resting form and reassembled into an oddly-shaped cartridge (i.
Tempting as it is, I should probably not declare the official English translation of the Eldraeic “elén tramoc arkúël” (“servitor-robot blobs”) to be “shoggothim”…
I Don’t Like The Sound Of That Place: The Last Darkness constellation (centered around the black hole, Eye of Night) would be one of these – even though it’s actually quite a nice place to visit – as would the three stargates leading into the Leviathan Consciousness Containment Zone, Hell’
I Did What I Had To Do: This is the defining trope of the Fifth Directorate, whose entire existence as a too-black-to-even-have-a-budget quasi-independent, not asked about and definitely never telling, doing things which not only should decent people not know about but which it is important that they don’t
Having used the word, guess I should define it, huh? sédármódan (pej.): 1. Democrat. 2. Voter. 3. Mutual slaver (lit. “owned owner-of-sophonts”); compare dármódan (“slaver”). It should be noted that the definition of this term reflects Imperial local attitudes and political taxonomies, in which any governance apparatus not meeting their
No Place For Me There: Again, the Fifth Directorate. They may be necessary monsters1, but they know that they’re monsters. Retirement from the Fifth involves an extensive memory wipe and having the traits that made you useful to them and dangerous to everyone else wiped away, a degree of
“Lunar Transshipment One, Station Ops, this is CMS Greed and Mass-Energy in slot ailek corse three five on flight plan code niner-three-zero-eleven-one. Request taxi instructions for orbital maneuvering transfer zone, over.” “Greed and Mass-Energy, Station Ops. You are cleared to proceed from outer docking to transfer zone via outbound lane
I Come In Peace: Actually, the usual first words exchanged are usually something like 0000 0001 0001 0010 0011 0101 1000 1101, or some such, while communication is still being invented between the contactor and the contactee (i.e., First Contact Math). But if we’re limiting ourselves to words
Named Weapons: Inevitably, since mechanimism is such a pervasive memeplex, where all the custom-designed and customized, personalized, prototype, historically significant, or merely used-by-one-person-in-a-tight-spot-or-for-a-long-time weapons are concerned. Even leaving aside the ones which are run by animating intelligences, who of course have names by virtue of being animating intelligences. Granted, while
Since today’s trope-a-day was quite short, and tomorrow’s will be also, I thought I’d take a moment and share my Pinterest board where I stash assorted imagery that I find inspirational, writing-wise, for general delectation. (Note that none of these are my pictures, nor were any drawn/
I Am Legion: Any Fusion (permanent hive mind, although Self-Fusions, being copies of the same mind to start with, often stick to the singular) or conflux (temporary ad-hoc group consciousness), for a start… (Notably, the Transcend as a whole is not known for this: as a collective consciousness of individuals
Hyperspeed Escape: A theoretical tactic, beloved of armchair admirals: drag half of a stargate pair with you to the battle, and then – if you’re losing, or if you’re ambushed – escape through it and disable/collapse it behind you such that the enemy can’t follow. This, of course,